Post-Dispatch file photo
Yellowbelly
The new seafood restaurant from Retreat Gastropub’s Travis Howard and Tim Wiggins in partnership with “Top Chef” alum Richard Blais was my most ambivalent dining experience of 2018. The Instagram-bait decor and such visually striking but functionally flawed dishes as a 2-pound hunk of tuna meat-glued to a beef bone pointed to the most tiresome of contemporary trends. But the brilliant flavors of the best dishes overseen by executive chef Kate Wagoner (raw oysters with frozen “pearls” of cocktail sauce; the Wu Tang Clams in a briny, spicy broth) paired with Wiggins’ rum-focused cocktails outshone the safer fare at many of last year’s other debuts. With my memories of these flavors still vivid, and knowing the standard for hospitality Howard established at Retreat and continues here, I’m bullish on Yellowbelly.
Hours: Lunch Wednesday-Sunday, dinner daily
Last year's ranking: New this year
Opened: 2018