Jimmy’s on the Park sits nestled between Sasha’s Wine Bar and Kaldi’s Coffeehouse on quaint DeMun Avenue in Clayton. And nestled between little bottles of herb-infused olive oil and flatware on the tables at Jimmy’s are pint glasses filled with pasta crunchers, whole strands of fettuccine deep-fried to a blistered and golden supercrunch and hit with a poof of flavor dust, a punchy combination of spices that, when you bite into the cruncher, rises in a cloud then settles on your sweater. They are strangely addictive.
Also addictive: the flash-fried spinach that arrived in a heap of translucent, dark emerald green. The leaves are so fragile that they shatter when you stab a bite with a fork. Besides the delicate texture of the spinach, the leafy green itself has such a mild flavor that I could almost taste the frying oil more than the spinach; since I love all things deep-fried, I was quite pleased. Rounding out the dish was a grating of Parmesan cheese, adding saltiness, and lemon, adding brightness. Delicious.
The pasta crunchers and fried spinach are house specialties, offered up by owner and restaurant namesake Jimmy Kristo. Jimmy’s on the Park opened in 1994; a more casual adjacent bistro was added in 2002. Executive chef Derek Craig does a fine job of serving crowd-pleasing food with specialty ingredients and surprising elements here and there.
Beef dishes at Jimmy’s seem to shine brightest – ridiculously buttery, melt-in-your-mouth tender and cooked perfectly to order. The grilled beef tenderloin was exactly this way; it came with asparagus, but more important, with goat cheese macaroni, which was nicely tangy. It could have been a little creamier and more al dente, but it was, overall, a winner. A mushroom stock reduction rounded out the dish with earthy richness.
Another night’s special offered a crab cake-topped steak sitting in a lobster cream sauce. While the beef and lobster sauce were spot-on, the crab cake was left sitting on an otherwise empty plate at the end of the meal, mushy and smelly. If I’d known it would be the same crab used in the crab cake appetizer we started our meal with (and that I refused to touch after one bite), I would have asked them to leave the crab off the dish altogether. Sometimes kitchens create specials to move produce and protein before they turn; this crab-topped dish seemed to fall under this category – a bad judgment call coming from an otherwise competent kitchen.
There were, however, many great dishes with lots to keep the diner’s attention. Duck breast with Wehani risotto (a brown rice variety) and a duck confit-potato hash was tasty. The breast arrived perfectly cooked, exactly as I’d requested. Pork tenderloin was tender and juicy with a nice smokiness, and a mini beef Wellington was fun to eat: a buttery, meaty and mushroomy bundle.
Desserts were good, too. The proper texture of bread pudding is an ongoing debate between me and my dining companions: eggy and loose versus dense and dry. Jimmy’s version was dense enough to cut into a square but was at the same time very light and fluffy and steamy, with depth of flavor and chunks of melty chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, the chocolate mousse that was part of the Death by Chocolate dessert was too good to be true.
Servers were informative and friendly despite minor trip-ups. Wine service wasn’t prompt. One night an order for a glass of wine didn’t get put in, and the server only remembered after we’d finished eating the course it was intended to accompany. On another visit, food arrived before we’d even ordered our wine. I’ve said it before, but when you’re shelling out over $100 for dinner for two, you expect things to happen in proper sequence.
The dining room was packed each night I went, with clientele young and old, stylish and staid, parties large and small. The walls are lined with caricature drawings of local celebs and longtime customers of Jimmy’s on the Park, done by local artist Todd Bauman. They’re a treat to look at in an otherwise slightly outdated dining room. Also a little outdated is the plating of many dishes that come out of the kitchen – a layered, cylindrical tower of food made using a ring mold. At one point, every plate on the table had the exact same cylindrical presentation, just with different foods. It may be time for the kitchen to put down the ring molds and try a more updated approach to plating.
But not much needs to change at Jimmy’s on the Park, because it clearly has achieved a winning formula; tender steaks, live music and a friendly staff are just a few of the many elements contributing to its success.
BACK FOR SECONDS Don’t-Miss Dish: Flash-fried spinach, any of the beef dishes, bread pudding.
Vibe: Young and old mesh in casually upscale style.
Entrée Prices: $16.25 to $29.50
Where: Jimmy’s on the Park, 706 DeMun Ave., Clayton, 314.725.8585
When: Mon. – 5:30 to 10 p.m., Tue. to Thu. – 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. – 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Sun. – 5 to 9 p.m.; Brunch: Sun. – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This article appears in Feb 1-28, 2010.