On Sunday I brunched at Panorama Restaurant in the St. Louis Art Museum, the spacious contemporary restaurant that lives up its name.
Visitors love the venue with the stunning-floor-to ceiling view overlooking Art Hill. As you would expect in such a setting, the trendy dishes are well-prepared and artistically presented, making it a perfect place to eat with out-of-town friends, which is what I was doing.
Since there were five of us, I got to photograph a variety of dishes. My friends were patient and forbearing as I snapped, rearranged, and snapped some more. Eating food a little less warm is what happens when you dine with a food blogger. And, yes, every dish was just as good as it looks in the photos.
We shared one crème brulee. Such a huge sacrifice can make you feel exceedingly virtuous. I was fascinated by the decorative touch on the dessert next to the fruit skewer. (See center above). At first, I thought it was a chip of some kind, perhaps an apple chip. But it was a thin, buttery nut delicacy that chefs often use to accompany desserts called a tuile. The word means tile in French and refers to the roof-tile appearance of the cookie. The shape is achieved by curling the pliable cookie around a rolling pin to cool. I want to make this sometime; it sounds like fun. I’ve put it on my kitchen Bucket List.
Panorama: St. Louis Art Museum, Forest Park. Open: Tue.-Thu. 11a-2p; Fri. 11a-2p and 5p-8:30p; Sat. & Sun: 10a-3:30p.
