Idol Wolf at 21c St. Louis — Restaurant in St. Louis

Upon entering 21c for brunch on a Saturday and approaching Idol Wolf no host was present and all I could see was a few staff sitting down at the bar. I honestly thought they were closed still or just opening.Once we found someone and let them know we were there to dine the host took us to the patio which was nice. However, the seating was a little rocky because she took a chair away from our table and didn't know where to put it and brought it back over and left it at our table after all. Just a weird action for what should be a fine dining experience as they rave on social media that they provide. Our server came out next and she was great. She introduced herself right away and started the experience asking if anyone at the table had allergies. The human I was dining with does in fact have a tree nut allergy. We promptly let her know that information and she wrote it down and proceeded to take our drinks order. I did have to wait almost ten minutes for the one bartender to make a mimosa although the there was no other guest dining with them at the time. We then made our food selection and ordered the eggs benedict and the french toast. It is very important to note that on neither the online brunch menu or the printed menu given to us in person at Idol Wolf outline that the french toast come with almonds.... Fast forward to our food coming out. The food runner dropped the food off on the table and we instantly noticed the french toast was covered with almonds. The allergy we had told the waitress means no almonds and means should human eat the almonds they could die. We let the food runner know that we did not want the dish and she in a very condescending tone said she would see what she could do. About two minutes later she walked back out to the table and let us know if we wanted she was going to take it off the bill...? That whole sentence is the start of the end for this experience in my opinion. Had the food runner taken the food that could have killed a human off the table and then the manager came out and said sorry and handled the situation I wouldn't be writing the review. But INSTEAD, upon asking for the manager to come speak to us after the food runner made that comment. The manager stepped out to the patio and in my opinion was already on the defense with us. He was holding our food ticket in our hand and started talking about our order. I had to interrupt him and introduce myself for him to even tell me his name. I was hoping once we knew our names and realized I was a human he was going to help us. However he kept talking about our ticket and how the ticket didn't say anthing about food allergies. I let him know that even if the ticket didn't say anything about allergies the menu surely did not say that the french toast came with almonds. We NEVER would have ordered it if it was in the description. Alex decided to tell me it was in the description and I was wrong. I then asked Alex to grab one of the printer menus on the table next to us and show us where it was in the description. He picked the menu up and found out that we were in fact correct and the French Toast does not mention the possibility of almonds on the dish. Alex sluggishly moved his shoulder and said he guesses he needs to update that. As Alex was talking with us his body language was very dismissive of the problem and how serious it was. He was backing away from our table towards the door as he said would take it off the bill. Alex going to take any sort of ownership in the mistake because he had yet to even say the words sorry. Our server then came back out to the table after Alex left and that is when we actually received the first verbal apology for the mistake that was made. I asked the server for our check and paid for the drinks we had gotten and we left. As we got into the lobby of 21c and towards the door when I looked back I could see all the staff members minus the sever that waited on us sitting in the corner and pointing at us so I hope Alex enjoyed the gossip hour...

We went to Idol Wolf about a month ago on a Saturday at 5:30. We knew it was a risk to go without a reservation, yet we were pleased to know that the front room is open for walk-ins only.

The downside about the front room is that it’s very loud. This is due to the high ceilings and decor wall that separates the front room from the main dining room.

Overall the athletic is really lovely but the noise level really took away from the atmosphere. The table we sat at had one side as a booth and the other as a chair. Neither were particularly comfortable after the long wait for our meal.

The cocktails were imaginative and super tasty. I got the Oh, Behave cocktail- TWICE. Definitely recommend! The bar was super backed up, even though when we arrived the whole restaurant (front and main room combined) was barely 1/6 full.

To eat we decided on the Fried Cauliflower, “Chorizo” Roasted Hen of the Woods, Beef Tartar, and the Seafood Paella. All portions were a tad small for the price but the taste was spot on.

The Fried Cauliflower was perfectly flash fried and still kept its integrity (crunch) while feeling indulgent. The mushroom dish could be doubled in size and served with greens to be an absolutely remarkable entree (dreaming here). The “chorizo” spice was such a perfect contrast to the rich, crispy, and creamy masa cake. The hen of the woods mushroom was cooked to perfection. To be honest, I dreamed about this dish for many weeks after our visit.

My partner found the thickness of the grilled toast under the tartar to be a bit distracting and hard to eat. The seafood paella was absolutely delicious! The seafood was cooked to perfection and although the dish needed a touch of salt (which was provided as the meal was delivered) it was really delicious. We both felt the price was a bit extreme though.

We ended the meal with churros and those were the only thing we wouldn’t order again. They were not cooked long enough and the batter was not authentic (based on the taste). There was also barely any cinnamon sugar on the outside.

Overall, I feel prices should be lowered by about $2 on each item but that and the slow service aren’t enough to keep us from coming back. We will be back! If a few things change, I could see us coming twice a month rather than once every few months (we live 8 min away).

I recommend making reservations and enjoying a night in the lovely remodeled 21c. Hotel...

While the credits provided by the American Express program were probably only good enough for one meal here, most of the dishes that my partner and I had were tasty and it was an enjoyable experience overall. We tried to keep our options limited so we could keep our spending reasonable, but I can already say that I would recommend people visiting St. Louis or even staying at the hotel check this establishment out.

In terms of the tapas, the patatas bravas had some very tasty potatoes! The aioli complemented the existing flavor very well, and the potatoes themselves were fried on point. They also had very nice crunch and texturally maintained a good balance between crunchiness and softness. The "chorizo" roasted hen of the woods dish had a masa cake that resembled polenta in terms of both flavor and texture, and the smoked aioli offered a nice addition. The mushroom on the top was way too salty and oily, though, so I really had to eat it with the masa cake to make it work.

Under "from the sea" category, the tuna on toast offered a juxtaposition of various flavors because of the ingredients from tuna to tallow aioli to the herbs. The toast itself also tasted really good, so whatever I placed together with the toast simply offered an amazing taste. I enjoyed it thoroughly. As for the squid ink pasta, the calamari was a bit chewy, and the pasta was definitely overcooked beyond al dente, on top of the fact that every bit of pasta was a small piece of pasta noodle that couldn't even stay on my fork. I think using spaghetti or bucatini in the future may be a better idea so customers can use their forks to roll the pasta noodles. The tomato sauce had a strong taste, which wasn't a bad thing. It was a very specific kind of tomato sauce and I couldn't quite tell what was included.

Once again, for those visiting St. Louis and / or staying at the 21c Museum Hotel, I would recommend them giving this establishment a try, and maybe even choose different dishes across several tries so that there would be a comprehensive...