The Farmhaus

This tiny restaurant is one of the best things that has come to St Louis this year. Kevin Willmann, chef and owner, has created a foodie's oasis on Ivanhoe Avenue between Bradley and Fyler.

His concept is simple; the best ingredients he can find, used in fresh and imaginative ways, served beautifully and when ready.

The place holds about 50 people.  There's a bar room that has about 3 more tables of 4 and there are stools at the bar that might hold 8 more.  During the warm months he has a few tables on the sidewalk in front.

Eating here is an unbelivable treat. The menu changes daily, so what I describe here may not be available when you look at the menu, but that is part of the charm of this place.

Eric Scholle is the manager and a great personality for the front of the house.  He knows all the ingredients, where they come from, and he's wonderfully helpful when you just can't make up your mind.

I have to admit that we've been there for dinner at least once a week since Kevin Nashan, chef and owner of Sidney Street Cafe, told us about it,  unless we've been out of town. I can't wait to see what's on the menu.  It's all delicious.

The menu selections are so enticing that I find myself ordering all sorts of small plates because I don't want to miss anything. For instance last week I had the Roasted Ozark Forrest Mushroom Salad.  It consisted of Terra Bella Farms greens, with goat cheese and toasted pecans and was served warm with a hot bacon vin. Then I chose the Peach Salad, after all, this is peach season and it doesn't last nearly long enough.  This was made with Grandpa's  Berry Farm peaches, house ricotta, with a raspberry-honey vin balsamic reduction. My next choice was the Fried Green Tomatoes; Fournie tomatoes and okra, with a bacon goat cheese dressing. I never got to the fish or the Chilled Roast Beef with Horseradish panna cotta, that came with a truffle espuma ( whipped cream with truffle juices), I was just too full. 

Fortunately for me, we were with friends and they shared their Blue-Green Snapper(Uku) that was roasted in duck fat, and was served over the most melt in your mouth creamed corn I have ever tasted, with tomato comfit, oven dried tomatoes and a choron sauce (which is a hollandaise sauce tinted pink with tomatoes). The other entree was the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with mashed sweet and Yukon Gold poatatoes, sous vide pearl onions ( that means that the pearl onions were cooked for a very long time at a low temperature until they becomes creamy and yummy), and tomato sauce.  Both guys at our table loved it.

By that time we could only share dessert, and the choice was a peach dessert in a flakey pastry with a homemade peach sorbet.

This will not be my only report about this fabulous restaurant.  We have a date to introduce some other friends to it next week.  Keep tuned, and take a look at their website.

The Farmhaus
3257 Ivanhoe Ave
St Louis, MO 63139
http://www.farmhausrestaurant.com/.