MOsanthrope

Posted by Chris on April 2, 2006 at 11:45 am.

Yesterday evening, my wife and I dropped off the kids at grandma’s house so that we might enjoy a meal at a restaurant which offers no entrees accompanied by injection molded cross-marketing trinkets.

We chose Aya Sofia (6671 Chippewa St., St. Louis, MO 63109, 314-645-9919), a relatively new “Turkish/Mediterranean” place located in the small south city building which previously housed Rizzo’s.

It was excellent.

Although the exterior remains 100% Rizzo’s, the elegantly remodeled interior offers a convincing illusion of an Istanbul cafe — or so I suppose. Our server was helpful and personable.

We ordered an appetizer sampler consisting of humus (I’ll use the Aya Sofia menu’s Turkish spellings), fried feta cheese, sarma (stuffed grape leaves) and tabuli. The sarma was the best I’ve had; the humus, which had a pastier consistency and a less pronounced tahini flavor than the version to which I’m accustomed, was also excellent. The wine list was modest but eclectic. Entrees (dinner: $14-$21; lunch: $6-$8) were fabulous and generously portioned. My wife raved about the hunkar beyendi. (Yes, I left with a copy of the menu which, mercifully, contains good descriptions and phonetic pronunciations of the fare).

Drop by if you’re in the neighborhood.

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UPDATE: On Friday, The New York Times ran a flattering travel piece about St. Louis, which featured many of our city’s newer hot spots.

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Filed under: St. Louis, Culture, Food & Drink