Photo by Ian Froeb, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Stone Soup Cottage
The good news is that scoring a reservation at Stone Soup Cottage has become slightly easier since Carl and Nancy McConnell relocated their restaurant from its tiny original location to a converted barn at the same farm that provides much of their produce. The bad news? You still must plan a month or two ahead to eat at this 40-seat restaurant, which serves only one seating three nights a week. The great news? Stone Soup Cottage is worth the effort and the cost ($90 per person for a six-course tasting menu, with wine pairings an additional $55). Carl McConnell combines a modern concern for farm-to-table dining with exacting old-school French technique. My February 2015 meal included a stunning consommé of hen of the woods mushrooms with Bayonne ham and cannellini beans; a salad of lettuces and radishes over lobster; and a perfect miniature beef Wellington. The new dining room is gorgeous, and the hospitality is incredible, even more so considering with how a small a staff Stone Soup operates.