For their pm service, Death in the Afternoon is offering a simple, very straightforward, almost minimalist menu of housemade meatballs, sauces and sides created by Chef Adam Guess. “We’re going for simple, straightforward, and very delicious,” Guess succinctly explains. While the menu options may seem limited, each item has been crafted and executed with finesse and great care as regulars of the DITA established lunch menu would come to expect.
Three is the magic number with the menu offering three varieties of house made meatballs – spicy pork, a vegan lentil-quinoa and turkey (3.50 ea). Your choice of one of three classic sauces – roasted tomato, fennel pistou or a mushroom gravy, have been crafted to compliment any of the varieties of meatballs and three optional starches/sides – organic creamy polenta, thick spaghetti or a small salad (2.00 ea) are available to keep your meatballs in tasty company. Meatballs can also be served on crusty baguette as an individual slider (4.00) or as a sub (12.00).
The amount of research and recipe development and testing behind each singular item is impressive and Chef Guess has a charming enthusiasm for pontificating on the creation of the menu. “I read these ancient Chinese cookbooks from thousands of years ago on ‘meat in ball form’ – meatballs have quite a history.” Beyond reading ancient texts, Guess and his team went to work to create meatballs and sauces which were exemplary and abundant in flavor by crafting them practicing skilled cooking techniques. Each step that Guess shared described a careful attention to individual component, each building upon the next until, voila, a plump turkey meatball with the tooth of a fine chicken terrine, a pistou that exploded with vibrancy and complex flavor, firm, beautifully textured spaghetti hand cranked through a brass die. It’s the small details that make this small menu so attractive.
Perfect for a happy hour visit, the menu can be mixed and matched enough to feed even a very hungry diner but not one looking for lots of variety and a standard sized dinner menu. Death in the Afternoon offers something not too serious for the evening, but with all the great attention to detail and complex flavors they are known for.
gastronomicstl 