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No, not that Middle of Nowhere.

Better to call Park West Grille a neighborhood joint, a place to drop in for a beer and a bite to eat. But even that description doesn't quite hit the target. When Park West Grille opened in January, a few colleagues asked whether I knew about this new place "in the middle of nowhere." In truth, it's not the middle of nowhere, but the eastern frontier of Benton Park West, the triangular neighborhood bordered by South Jefferson to the east, Gravois to the northwest and Cherokee to the south. Yet, knowing this, when a colleague just now asked where Park West Grille is located, I basically said, "In the middle of nowhere."

Will I stop calling the edge of Benton Park West "the middle of nowhere"? And what besides a neighborhood joint could Park West Grille be? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this week's review.

-Ian Froeb

The Burger Chronicles is an occasional feature that chronicles burgers.

We cheated, stopping by O'Connell's Pub the day after St. Patrick's Day. I doubt we were alone. Driving there, we passed a small group walking along Kingshighway all decked out in green and gold, wearing beads around their necks and cheap, plastic leprechaun hats on their heads. Unless, of course, they were only then straggling home from the previous day's revelry.

I like that the burgers at O'Connell's come with nothing but one fat pickle, one thick onion slice and, if you want it, cheese. It's a primal burger, all acrid charbroiled scorch and blood-red savor. Every time I order cheese, and every time I think, "What's the point?" This is the apotheosis of ground beef and flame, not something to be topped or stacked or dressed, however simply.

I like also that the burgers come with a steak knife, the implication being that a burger this large you must cut to pieces. But, really, nine ounces is downright average these supersized days, and even cooked medium-rare, it holds together well. The steak knife is for show. Besides, burgers are meant to be handled; they're designed to stain. Cutting them up for your own convenience? That would be cheating.

-Ian Froeb

"Please don't eat me."

This crab was a fat Dungeness, sitting in an orange-red sauce studded with whole chiles, bright red and dangerously small. When I turned the crab over to reach its apron — essentially the shell's handy pull-tab — I saw the kitchen had done the work for me.

Why wouldn't I want the kitchen to clean my crab for me? And what's more painful than a cut from a jagged crab shell? Learn the answer to these questions and more in this week's review.

-Ian Froeb

What's new on South Grand? Wat's new on South Grand!

Add Ethiopian to South Grand's impressive roster of ethnic cuisines. Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant opened on Friday, March 9, at 3210 South Grand Boulevard, the space formerly occupied by Jasoom Mexican Revolutionary Restaurant & Cantina. Meskerem is open from 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Call 314-772-4442 for more information.

Meanwhile, this morning the James Beard Foundation announced the nominees for its annual awards celebrating excellence in restaurants and food media. No local chefs were recognized in the "Best Chef: Midwest" category, which covers Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Wisconsin. Nods went to two restaurants in Kansas City, two in Minneapolis and one in Milwaukee.

-Ian Froeb

www.pictureninja.com

Downtown St. Louis is about to get a new restaurant or seven.

Want to open a restaurant downtown? You might have to stand in line.

The Downtown St. Louis Partnership recently announced that seven new restaurants will open downtown in the coming months, the fruits of the group's joint effort with the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Development Corporation to attract more retail and restaurant business to the downtown core.

The locations and opening dates that follow all come from the Downtown St. Louis Partnership press release. I add this caveat: Consider any restaurant's scheduled opening date — even a very broad time frame like spring, summer or fall — tentative.

Simply Fondue, a franchise of a small, Dallas-based chain, will open this spring at 1627 Locust Avenue. Opening this summer will be the Irish restaurant-pub Tigin (333 Washington Avenue); Jim Edmonds' restaurant-lounge fifteen on locust (1900 Locust Avenue); and a new outpost of J. Buck's Restaurant (1000 Clark Avenue).

Also slated to open this summer will be New York-style pizzeria Bridge & Tunnel Pizza (1235 Washington Avenue) and the restaurant Franco Latino (1511 Washington Avenue). Chef John Mortimer opened the original Franco Latino in Eagle, Idaho, near Boise. According to its Web site, Franco Latino offers "a unique culinary fusion of European techniques with Latin flavors." (Franco Latino is not connected to Franco in Soulard, Franco co-owner Tom Schmidt told me.)

Finally, Mizu Asian Sushi Restaurant will open this fall at 1015 Washington Avenue. I'll give you more information about each restaurant, including specific opening dates, as I learn it.

-Ian Froeb

www.historyplace.com

"The 'A' stands for 'Appetite.'"

We've come to Columbia for the True/False Film Festival, a celebration of documentary filmmaking. Our schedule is tight, but I'm determined to sample — sample being the key word here — as many of Columbia's restaurants as I can in 48 hours.

How many restaurants can I squeeze into 48 hours? Where, exactly, do I go? Is this the first restaurant review to mention both Chester A. Arthur and marshmallows? Learn the answers to these questions in this week's review.

-Ian Froeb

We are not amused.

It's Friday -- and warm! -- so you probably don't give a shuck. But if you do, the Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust Street, 314-241-2337) is hosting its annual Stout & Oyster Festival from 5 till 10 this evening and from noon till 10 tomorrow. Enjoy oysters both raw and cooked, "star" oyster shuckers and Schlafly's Oatmeal, Irish and Kaldi's Coffee Stouts. (I'm a big fan of the Kaldi's Coffee Stout.)

Do you know what you're cooking for your Easter Sunday feast? Can't stand the thought of having ham again? I suggest this recipe.

Have a great weekend. Eat something good.

-Ian Froeb

Acero is now open at 7266 Manchester Road in Maplewood (the space last occupied by Arthur Clay's). The restaurant and wine bar featuring northern Italian cuisine -- an enoteca -- is the third area restaurant from Jim Fiala, who also owns Liluma and The Crossing. Acero is open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Mon.-Sat. For more information, call 314-644-1790.

Meanwhile, Marion's St. Louis Rib Co. has closed. Its storefront at 5860 Delmar Boulevard is empty, save for a few chairs and campaign signs from this week's municipal election. I never had a chance to visit Marion's, but my predecessor Rose Martelli was a fan. You can read her review here.

Finally, several food-related articles (all registration required) to recommend this week. After blogging last week about how much protection diners need from "risky" foods, I was intrigued by this New York Times article about the unintended consequences of New York City's ban on trans fats. Also from the Times, this article shows how Coca-Cola and Pepsi are trying to reposition their most popular brands as healthy beverages. Um, good luck with that.

This fascinating Washington Post article details Philadelphia's thriving scene of bring-your-own-booze restaurants. While this is largely a result of Pennsylvania's strict control of liquor sales -- as anyone who has ever lived in or visited the commonwealth can attest -- it's an interesting and, in my opinion, very cool business model. Wonder if a restaurateur here would ever give it a try?

-Ian Froeb

www.nationalpunctuationday.com

No, it sure isn't.

Dolce' opened in October of last year, with a menu devised by co-executive chefs Jeff Thomas and Darrin Conarroe. That menu is nearly as difficult to explain as the apostrophe at the end of Dolce'. It's Italian, essentially, though not in the conventional sense. You can have osso buco, carpaccio and calamari, but you'll find only one pasta dish, linguini pescatore, amid interlopers like oyster "shooters" with chipotle a�oli and pork ribs in a roasted hoisin sauce. The Italian dishes have a specific regional focus (and an uncommon, potentially fascinating, one at that: Sicilian), but this manifests itself mainly in meats coated with seasoned bread crumbs.

What is the deal with Dolce's menu? And will I figure out what that apostrophe is doing there? Find the answer to at least one of these questions in this week's review.

-Ian Froeb