St John

Was drawn here after hearing this is many a persons favorite restaurant, including Anthony Bourdain. My criteria for a great restaurant are few: delicious, attentive service, and most importantly, creative flavors I can’t or haven’t easily replicated at home. St. John meets all of these. I particularly appreciate the ethos behind the ingredients, the personable service (shout out to June!) , and the unpretentious ambiance. It’s a bit ironic coming from someone who was once vegan. For fun, I’m gonna give a dumbed down explanation of what I tried. (I’m American, so I’m allowed to be dumb.) Bread: unusually good, nicely chewy Pickled herring: quite well done, not too fishy. It’s toast with fish, sauce, and pickled stuff. Eat the top slice of fish separately because you can’t fit it all in your mouth. Terrine: gamey, which I like. Like a square cold salami. Roast bone marrow: the classic. Fun to eat. Marrow has a subtle flavor. Don’t expect the intense flavor of cabeza. Roast middle white: very good. Like a pork steak, with crispy skin on outer edge. Prune sauce was pleasant. Ox tongue with beet: pleasantly salty, the roast middle white is more substantial. This was two thin slices. Madeleines: divine. I got these with a cup of milk and it was fantastic. Now, were any of these dishes so delectable that I’d come back just for one of them? The madeleines, yes. The bakery is phenomenal—I’d go more dessert heavy next time.