Wine and Dine

BY: MICKEY KITTERMAN

Someone had a lot of fun putting together this chic and clever interior. Just gawking at the environment takes several minutes before even picking up the menu and wine list. It is an eclectic mix of granite surfaces, grand mill work salvaged from a Lafayette Square mansion, and wine bottles. While granite surfaces and French empire woodwork sound like a formal and stiff environment, Sasha’s is actually a warm and kickin’ back kind of space. It is almost two restaurants-one smoking, one non-smoking.

BY MICKEY KITTERMAN

Mia Rosa

• 4501 Manchester Ave.
• 314-652-7672

The strip of Manchester Avenue between Vandeventer and Kingshighway, or “The Grove” as it is becoming known, is turning into a dining destination of considerable importance. The complexity and quality of all the currently available dining choices is delightful. Mia Rosa, a beautiful new Italian player, has entered the game.

Near the northwest corner of Grand and Gravois sits Truc Lam, a small, barely noticeable Vietnamese restaurant with a generic dark green awning and a neon sign in the window. Inside, floor-to-ceiling dark wood paneling creates a time warp back to the seventies. Décor is sparse: a plastic clock, a few paintings, and cheaply framed posters grace the walls, while green and orange bamboo paintings on the light panels of the institutional drop ceiling don’t add much charm. All of these elements make the restaurant seem almost dingy, but everything, even the floors, is spotlessly clean.

Sandrina’s, a somewhat notorious after hours South City landmark on Arsenal just west of Schnucks, is now reopened under new ownership. After some restoration and renovation, the place has a great ’60s vibe to it. Mid-century light fixtures, bar stools and dining chairs have been refurbished and re-upholstered for a period look that is authentic and totally cool without being relentlessly “Rat Pack” overkill. Lacy yellow curtains frame windows fitted with pots of herbs, and tabletops are covered in photocopied old newsprint of yesteryear’s headlines under glass.