Il Bel Lago; St Louis, MO

The Anniversary Dinner That Wasn't Supposed to Be

**Modified from the original**

So there we were at 7PM on a Saturday night ... Jay in his three-piece suit and me in black silk crepe and high heels ... all dressed up and nowhere to go. Jay finally pulled into a parking lot, whipped out the phone, and fired up the Urban Spoon application. There wasn't any place on our side of the river that sounded appealing; the weather was foggy and rainy; there were all kinds of festivals and such going on downtown which meant access was going to be limited; and we were now overdressed.

Luckily with help from our dear friendie Chelsi we got our hands on a phone number for Il Bel Lago, which is located in Creve Coeur. I called while Jay was driving, asked if there was any availability, explained briefly what had happened, and was assured that there would be a table waiting for us by the time we arrived.

Il Bel Lago is an elegant Italian place that Jay and I have dined at before only through work functions, so it was nice for just the two of us to share a meal there together. The staff took wonderful care of us throughout the night and we really did have a terrific meal. We had some laughs along to way, too, since there was live music in their bar and we suspect there was some Karaoke. White men shouldn't try to sing Lou Rawls ... that's all I'm going to say.

We ordered a bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse to share and then got down to the serious business of eating.

Smiling Jay ...


Bendy ... with makeup?


First up was some complementary bruschetta with an herbed tomato spread. This was just delicious - grilled garlic bread with 'maters that had been lightly coated in herbed olive oil which smelled and tasted wonderful.

Bruschetta


We decided to split two appetizers: Housemade Lobster Ravioli in Cream Sherry Sauce and Beef Carpaccio. These were both really tasty - I think we both preferred the ravioli just because it was something a little different but the carpaccio was excellent, too. I have to admit that I did find myself wishing that we had a big hunk of parmigiano to gnaw on, but you can't have everything.

Lobster Ravioli


Beef Carpaccio


For our entrees Jay and I both went with specials; I chose a variation of Veal Spedini - veal pounded really thin and then rolled up with spinach, prosciutto, and fontina cheese. I have never ordered veal anything before but this sounded so good that I had to give it a try and it was fabulous! I think it could have been easy for one flavor to overpower another in this dish but it was perfectly balanced and oh-so-enjoyable.

Jason decided on the grilled halibut and it was just as good as my veal. Lightly grilled, dressed with lemon and olive oil, and as fresh as one could hope for in landlocked Stinktown ... it was delightful. We both shared back and forth and were quite happy with our choices. And not being a vegetable person, I have to give a shout out to those veggies on both our plates - they were well cooked and really flavorful.

Veal & Veggies


Veggies & Halibut


We weren't given the chance to look at a dessert menu; our server simply showed up with a complementary tiramisu and said, "We thank you for choosing to spend your anniversary with us."

Wasn't that a kind gesture?

And this tiramisu was awesome. We don't usually order it because it's too heavy and thick and sweet, but this was light and airy and plain old delectable. Turns out their pastry chef is Sicilian and she makes it the "right way." If everyone else made it like this I would order tiramisu all the time and then I would weigh 300 pounds and Jay would divorce me.

Tiramisu


Cappuccino


So ... how do I end this entry?

Well, I must give a huge shout-out to Mike and the staff at Il Bel Lago, who squeezed us in (without pushing anyone else out) and gave us a terrific meal with lovely service. We can't say enough good things about this establishment and will definitely be returning to sample their wares another time.