Ample Vegetarian Options at Robust's New Downtown Wine Bar

By Tara Mahadevan Mon., Feb. 11 2013 at 2:00 PM

Categories: The Veggielante

The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Tara Mahadevan

Beet salad at Robust.

Destination: Robust-Downtown (645 Washington Avenue; 314-287-6300)

Neighborhood: Downtown

Cuisine: Contemporary American

Overview: Webster Groves' wine bar Robust (227 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-963-0033) opened a second location in downtown St. Louis in the new Mercantile Exchange building on December 21, but no customer would be the wiser that it's a newly opened restaurant. The new location's impeccable service, refreshingly vegetarian- and vegan-friendly menu and locally sourced produce welcomes diners of all diets. The menu boasts a wide array of vegetarian dishes, from cheese plates to salads and shareable small plates on its lunch, dinner and brunch menus. Robust's head chef Joseph Hemp's motto is "See what you have time to do and make it better," and he really lives up to it. Robust will prepare guests whatever they like, and will happily create vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free entrées.

Highlights: Robust's beet salad ($8.50) is made with two varieties of local beets, arugula, fresh oranges, goat cheese and a tarragon-champagne vinaigrette. Immediately the sweetness of the beetroot is offset by creaminess of the goat cheese and the bitter arugula. As you make your way through the salad, you soon discover the subtle flavors of the dressing and orange beets -- the oranges offer a zesty zing throughout.