Photo by Hillary Levin (Post-Dispatch)
Alta Calle
I didn't expect to leave Alta Calle raving about black-bean hummus. The new Mexican restaurant on the Tower Grove South side of the South Grand strip features so many dishes worth touting. Shrimp, marinated in guajillo-chile sauce, folded into a cheese-shellacked tortilla with poblano crema and pineapple pico. Sous-vide, flash-fried chicken in pipián mole verde. Even guacamole and queso, the former graced with mint, the latter drizzled with chive and red-guajillo oils. Order all of that, but don't skip the hummus, served with a verdant bounty of fresh and pickled vegetables and topped with fresh herbs, pico de gallo and queso fresco. Like the whole of Alta Calle — from sisters Veronica and Dulce Morales and Veronica's son, Steve Suarez, the chef — it is rooted in familiar flavors but is arrestingly new.
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday, brunch Sunday (closed Monday)
Last year's ranking: New this year
Opened: 2019