Q • Oceano Bistro’s Smoked Salmon Frittata is one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s drizzled with a tangy cream cheese and caper sauce. — Charley Taylor, Kirkwood
A • Oceano Bistro aims to be St. Louis’ seafood destination, and its spring menu includes five new fresh-seafood dishes. Executive chef Jon Hoffman is especially pleased with the Canadian walleye, seared skin-on and served with a garden vegetable au gratin.
Oceano is also known for its weekday Happy Hour, half-price appetizers, beer, wine and cocktails. Hoffman says, “People have been known to leave work early; people have been known to leave here late.”
But come Sunday, it’s brunch time, a sit-down affair with a special brunch-only menu. The most popular items are a classic French toast (served with fresh berries, a dusting of powdered sugar and maple syrup) and “Crab Benny” (toasted English muffins topped with crab cakes and poached eggs).
The Smoked Salmon and Tomato Frittata is a breakfast riff on lox and bagels, a colorful three-egg open-faced omelet drizzled with a cream cheese and caper sauce. Oceano uses the same sauce on a new salmon flatbread appetizer and mixes it with clams and shrimp for a stuffed clam appetizer. Hoffman says, “The lemon really shines through. And it’s surprisingly light; the sour cream and lemon make it feel and taste lighter.”
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Hoffman recommends making the sauce a good 24 hours before serving, allowing the flavors to meld. The cream cheese should be at room temperature before mixing.
Oceano’s Smoked Salmon and Tomato Frittata is usually only served for Sunday brunch but this week only, it will also be available for lunch.
Oceano Bistro
44 North Brentwood Drive, Clayton
314-721-9400; oceanobistro.com
Special Request is written by Town and Country resident Alanna Kellogg, author of the online recipe column KitchenParade.com and “veggie evangelist” at the food blog about vegetables, A Veggie Venture.
