The Bellweather is at a bit of a disadvantage in that the space it occupies used to be the old City Hospital Power Plant Building. This leaves the restaurant chopped up across several floors and requires either a climb of three flights up to the main dining room or a short elevator ride. We arrived for dinner to the main dining room to immediately be taken back down to the second floor. The resturant is utilizing their private event space for additional seating, which given the continuing Covid situation in Missouri, is completely reasonable and probably wise. The event space has a cozy library feel with floor to ceiling book shelves filled with leather bound books and various artfully styled decor. It lacked some of the energy and buzz of the main dining room but I happily I settled into a comfortable table up against the back wall with my two dining companions.
The menu is described as "New American" and includes a nice selection of small plates (think carpaccio, seared ahi tuna and dumplings) , salads (a kale caesar, but who doesn't have a kale caesar on their menu these days?), house made pastas and entrees that make up the traditional fish, meat and vegetarian trifecta. The cocktail menu feels fresh and unique with a nice selection of spirits that does seem to lean a bit more to the brown liquors, like rye and scotch. We selected the 2666, a tequila and cucumber sipper with a nice acidity and balanced finish and the Paradise Lost, a rye based cocktail served up with dry vermouth, brown turkey fig leaf syrup and lime. My partner Branden always orders a rye manhattan up, with organge bitters instead of Angostura bitters, no matter where he goes. He feels strongly that if a restaurant can't make a manhattan right, then he's out. I can report the cocktails were all very good and we were allowed to stay for dinner.
We started with the seared ahi tuna, the mushroom ginger dumplings and the kale caesar. Which come to think of it, Branden typically orders the kale caesar whenever he finds one on a menu. I appreciate his consistency and commitment to ordering what he knows he will like as well as ensuring he can comfortably continue to proclaim the Pastaria kale caesar as the best in the city. Spoiler alert, Pastaria is safe for now. The most successful small plate was far and away the dumplings. They were visually beautiful, the hand made dumpling wrapper a moss colored green, and perfectly al dente. The tamari braised mushrooms, garlic and ginger all came together to deliver a delicious umami, especially after dipped in the black vinegar dipping sauce. The seared ahi tuna, while artfully plated, was unremarkable and felt too big for a small plate. Five little nests of tuna atop salad nicoise started to feel overwhelming to finish. The kale caesar dressing was very well executed, however Branden nailed it when he looked up after eating and contemplating for a few minutes, the kale was not massaged enough. Anyone who has used kale in a salad at home knows that you truly have to commit to the massage. If you don't, you'll end up with very fibrous leaves that are challenging to get down.
Our dinner guest was feeling full and satiated with our small plates, but Branden and I were looking forward to splitting one of the entrees. After much contemplation we agreed on the halibut. At first I was very hesitant as the menu described the halibut as encrusted with dehydrated blueberry. I am always up for new flavor profiles and typically jump at the opportunity to try an untraditional combination but fruit and seared halibut did not call to me, at all. However, I threw caution to the wind and was very pleasantly surprised. The halibut was perfectly prepared with no hint of blueberry anywhere other than the lone orb that ended up in my portion of the salad that accompanied the fish. Grilled asparagus was nestled under the fish and exactly as I like it. It still had a bit of a bite but had enough of a sear from the grill to give it a beautifully smoky finish. But the star of the plate was definitely the soubise. Yes, you read that right, the soubise. It's rare I meet a menu that I don't know my way around but I had to Google soubise. Soubise is a thick white sauce made with onion puree and often served with fish or eggs. I would liken it to a more flavorful bechamel sauce. When I finished my portion of the halibut and asparagus I wanted to lick the silky sauce off the plate. Fortunately for my dinner companions, I showed restraint.
We completed our meal with a s'more tart. It was the perfect size for sharing, served in a creme brulee dish. The graham cracker crust held a dense milk chocolate filling covered with a lid of toasted marshmallows. It was my favorite type of dessert, sweet with just a bit of salt in the chocolate and truly indulgent. My only complaint is that I wish it had been served warm. When you think of a s'more you think of the heat of the toasted mallow surrounding and melting the chocolate bar. This dessert was cold and while very good, didn't quite live up to the expectation and nostalgia that seeing a s'more on a menu will stir up.
I've dined at The Bellwether several times and every experience has been similar, the dishes are inconsistent. One or two might be very good but the rest fade into the background. The main dining room is fun and lively if you can snag a table there or enjoy a drink at the bar. My rating for ambiance (out of a total score of 1.5) is a .5. The space we were seated ended up being near or right behind the kitchen and we were assaulted a few times by the clanging of stacking dishes and aggressive knocks against the wall that startled us. Service I will rate at a solid 1 (out of 1.5) as we had a very attentive server who was eager to take our orders until we were ready to order dessert and then she seemed to disappear. Given the staffing situation, I will assume she got busy and probably had more tables than she should have under normal circumstances. And finally, the food rates as a 1 (out of 2). My final rating is a 2.5 out of 5.
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