The Bevo Mill--a part of St Louis'
history
in a beautiful setting with quality German cooking
by Dan Hines
Publisher
America's Seniors/TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com
It is difficult--impossible perhaps more
accurately--to fully appreciate the total wonderful contribution of the Busch family
to St. Louis. And, while virtually the entire world is acquainted
with the Anheuser-Busch brewery, less known is the landmark Bevo Mill
Restaurant.
The history of the restaurant is uniquely
St. Louis and too detailed to do justice in this review , but suffice it
here to note that Bevo Mill is the creation of August A. Busch, Sr., who
use the then-personally owned facility as his private dining room for
travel between the city and the family residence of Grant's Farm. (click
here for the complete history)
For St. Louis residents, they will
recognize the restaurant by its landmark European windmill. For
those who have not visited it before, the sudden appearance of a
windmill among the streets of South St. Louis, one of the oldest areas
of the city, might be somewhat of a shock.
The windmill, however, is only a prelude
to the beautiful dining setting. Our reservations were for a
Saturday evening, and, even though it had been years since I had visited
Bevo, I must admit to getting a sense of excitement as we entered the
spacious dining hall.
Owners Patrick Hannon, Patrick Hannon,
Jr. and David Hannon have excelled in keeping the early 19th century charm
of the restaurant. It exudes a comfortable elegance of a by-gone
era. Norman is a
perfect host to greet guests, as he exemplifies a sense of style in his
manner, dress and attitude that makes one wish other restaurants would
consider hiring him to teach their hosts and hostesses how
to treat people. Also, Patrick Hannon was on hand to greet us.
After being seated, we took advantage of
the fact that there were four of us to order a variety of
appetizers. I started with stuffed mushroom caps filled with baby shrimp
and mozzarella cheese, baked in a tasty tomato sauce. My guest
took a traditional shrimp cocktail, and while the shrimp were of a
medium size, they were both tasty and filling. Our guests had the French
onion soup. It was both thick, rich and was served in large quantities.
My guest and I had the Caesar Salad.
It was wonderful, served with a tasty, light covering over the lettuce
and with finely grated Parmesan cheese throughout the dressing.
Our friends had the house salad and dressing.
We also enjoyed a glass of Pieseporter
Spatlase with our salad and appetizers, but for our main meal, switched
to a fine Kabinnet.
For the entrees, we stuck the middle
section of the menu, which features the traditional German offerings of
Bevo. My friend and I had the Veal Oscar, while our guests ordered
the Sauerbraten. None of us was disappointed either in the quality
or quantity of the meal.
The Veal Oscar features tender Provimi
veal topped with baby asparagus, snow crab and Hollandaise sauce.
It is served, in traditional German style, with fresh vegetables, baby
red potatoes and huge helpings of red cabbage.
One of our guests is a South St. Louis
native, so his choice and recommendation of the Sauerbraten was a given,
based on his past dining at Bevo. It was a wonderful cut of beef,
marinated in a vinegar and spice brine, browned and served with a potato
pancake, spaetzels, a baked cinnamon apple, fresh vegetables, and, of
course, red cabbage.
For dessert, we decided to split our
orders, having only two items for four people since we were not only
delighted with the entrees, but a bit overwhelmed by the quantity.
We had the traditional apple strudel while our guests ordered a bread
pudding. While both were good, the bread pudding left us wishing
that we had followed our dining companion's lead...it was absolutely the
best we have tasted.
Address: 4749 Gravois (at
Morganford)
St. Louis, MO 63111
Phone: 1-800-288-BEVO or 314-481-2626
Fare: Traditional nd authentic German
Location: 12 minutes form downtown, halfway
between two other
famous landmarks, the Anheuser-Busch
brewery
and Grant's
Farm.
Credit cards accepted: All
Reservations:
Recommended
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