One 19 North Tapas Wine Bar

I have a friend who enjoys doing “food research” with me. We try to pick someplace where neither of us has eaten, which isn’t hard to do in St. Louis with the frequent opening of new restaurants. Last week we drove over to Kirkwood for lunch. My favorite shopping areas in Kirkwood are the farmers’ market and Global Foods. Both are worth the trip.

As to lunch sites, we had several recommendations; it was a tough call. We made our decision after seeing that one of the places, One 19 North Tapas Wine Bar, was across the street from Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate. That cinched it.

After lunch we could go to CCC and top off our meal with a smidgen of chocolate. I always look for those candied orange rinds dipped in dark chocolate and, sure enough, they had them. They sell for the price of a fine Stilton, so I only got a handful.

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Sorry to have brought up the candy store before I finished telling you about the tapas place. I loved the feel of One 19 North. Its planked walls and dark ceiling give the place the feel of a wine bar in Jackson Hole, though the funky ceiling lights would fit better at Seoul Taco. They don’t offer a full menu of tapas at lunch, but they had the one we wanted: the flatbread tapas with figs and prosciutto. We split an order. Good choice.

I ordered a tilapia sandwich topped with sautéed spinach and caramelized onions on a toasted Asiago roll with a caper remoulade spread and slaw ($8.99). My friend got the equally innovative charbroiled chicken with sweet paprika aioli, local smoked bacon, avocado and melted Fontina on a toasted Asiago hogie with homemade chips ($8.99). Both sandwiches tasted far better than they photographed, but only a food blogger would give a flying fig about such things.