When a restaurant has been around for a while, it's often necessary to shake things up a bit with fresh new ideas. This is one reason why Jimmy Fiala, owner of a string of successful restaurants including The Crossing in Clayton, Acero in Maplewood, The Terrace View at City Garden (just read on St. Louis Beacon this is closing the end of the year), and Liluma at Euclid and Maryland, decided to open the "Side Door" in Liluma's back room. As noted in the lead-in to the new menu (below), customers frequently asked Jimmy what he was going to do with the back room. The area was formerly used for overflow seating when the restaurant was crowded, but because of Liluma's configuration it somehow felt as though you were being shuffled off to the back room, and it didn't have the same vibe as the front of the house.
Now the back room has a new identity and its own entry (just south of the corner on Euclid), with Italian food and wine references stenciled on the windows, and a casual atmosphere with red-checked tablecloths. An imaginative small-plate menu created by Fiala and chef Brad Watts features dishes that range in price from $4 to $10, and wines for as little as $12 to $15 a bottle. The Side Door is open from 5 until closing Monday through Saturday. The hope is that this will become a favorite neighborhood destination. When asked if children were welcome, Jimmy replied that he would always be happy to cook up some "fries for the kiddies." Reservations not necessary.
Meanwhile a few doors south, Nicolas Guzman, a 2011 graduate of Amherst, and his partner Sarah Haselkorn, a Systems Engineering student at Washington University, are opening Green Bean at 232 N. Euclid. The space is currently undergoing major renovation, and the young entrepreneurs hope to have it all wrapped up and ready by mid-October. Green Bean, riding the wave of the local sustainable food movement, will feature pre-fixed salads, or you can create your own healthy combination. If all goes according to plan, the restaurant will also offer wine and beer.
I was quite surprised to see that Pick Florist has left the CWE and moved to Crestwood. Banners on the window announce that another froYo yogurt operation (the froYo on Maryland being the first) called "Swirling" is opening on Laclede just west of Euclid in the Spring. More is more, as they say….
This has nothing to do with this wonderful post about the new restaurants-can’t wait to try both- but about a previous post from maybe last year. Today I drove by the corner of West Pine and Euclid, the site of “the lake” as I think it was referred to. It certainly is better then it was, but what is up with these owners? There is still an old rusted out ‘office” trailer on the site, some half swung open gates, and a Rallo (?) Construction machine sitting there amongst the rubble and trash! It is still a terrible eyesore. Can we do anything more about this ugly site?
(Sorry….When I drove by and was struck by this I didn’t know where else to post my comment on your blog.)
Looking forward to the healthy salads!