Le Coq

Updated to mention that I returned once more before their closing to drag my darling, Sean H. with me since I figured that a Caesar salad, roasted potatoes, and a whole roast chicken sounds fairly pedestrian and that he’d probably enjoy the food. He actually did like the salad but he somehow didn’t like the chicken skin on top… weird…haha. I thought that was the best part but he said there was something odd about the flavor. He liked the potatoes although he thought they could be crispier (that’s Sean for ya) and he reeallly enjoyed the roast chicken despite the fact that he later found out that it is soaked in a fish based brine for a while before cooking. Little known fact that Sean H. hates seafood of any kind but he really loved the chicken. The fishy brine gave the chicken a rich hearty umami flavor. I ended up taking the left overs home and putting it in ramen noodles the next day. We definitely couldn’t finish the donuts (plus I had 3 of those gin drinks!) so we passed them over to Erin G.‘s dining group which happened to be down the table from us! I love running into friends at restaurants! :D So I passed those along. I did try a bite of one and decided it wasn’t really to my taste, reminded me of burnt sugary lemons and the chocolate dipping sauce was intensely bitter to say the least. But that’s OK I didn’t come here for the dessert alone!
The only bummer? The chicken dinner thing was $ 80. Which I guess isn’t a bad deal considering we also got two kale salads, a gigantic thing of potatoes, a whole freakin’ chicken, and dessert too. But I knew we couldn’t eat that much food. They definitely did us a favor by making the chicken dinner for only 2 people but I don’t get why they’d only have it for four people in the first place? What if one person who eats a ton (Man V Food anyone?) wants to order it for themselves? I don’t know. Minor details though!
I am bummed it will no longer be Le Coq because this would be a great place for Valentine’s dinner or w/​e, special event meals, but I am totally pumped for the next restaurant they have here! Can’t wait! And as Erin G. pointed out, this space would be fab for a private party! Even Sean loved the décor and that’s rare.

Last night the wonderful waiter told me that while this does end on Feb 9, they will open up again in March and the theme will be Southern food! I cannot wait for that!
The space is beautiful. I guess you can rent it for events. If I was having an event, this is where I would go, seriously. Mega ambiance.
We went with the three course and we were very pleased. I ordered the trout rillette and my hubby got the chicken liver pop tart– we ended up trading because while I am addicted to smoked trout, the layer of duck fat on top of it freaked me out. I know, stupid, but the bite I had was just out of this world, but the chicken liver pop tarts were calling my name– omg thats all I can say.
I had the kale ceasar and it was really good, they could have added about 100 more pieces of fried chicken skin on top though.
My main course was Chorizo stuffed Quail, while really good my husbands scallops looked and tasted amazing. I let him keep this dish only because I had stolen his appetizer.
I stuck to wine but my hubby sampled the cocktails and he was raving about them.
The best part of the night was seeing Kate B and Sean and she sent us her doughnuts, they were wonderful!
If you love a unique menu in a gorgeous setting and you love Coq, you should get here while you still can! Feb 9!

There are 48 possible combinations if you choose the 3 course menu.
There are 300 possible combinations if you choose the 5 course menu.
There are a billion combinations of rapture if you choose to have dinner at le coq.
Joselyn H. does an amazing job with her review and le coq’s background. Basically it’s a pop-​up restaurant highlighting chicken, which has been open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 6 – 10 PM in January 2013. Scheduled last day is Saturday, February 2, but may be extended (but seriously, don’t even risk that). Just go onto their webpage and make an reservation already.
So I read Joselyn’s review… like three times. Then talked to her about the prix fixe ($ 35 for 3, $ 55 for 5 courses) vs. the family style ($ 40 per person). FYI: they offered the three of us the family style option also even though it’s been stated for four people. Then decided to drag some friends into this. Hopefully Kate B. will be along sooner or later with fabulous pictures, and Amanda K. will let everyone know how amazing the drinks are and how horribly I butchered all of the drink names and ingredients.
Our orders included:
Trout rillettes with pickled apple and lavosh
Chicken liver pop tart with parsley and smoked lemon marmalade
Chicken ballotine with roasted garlic mustard
Kale caesar salad with chicken skin cracklings
Beets with escarole salad with black walnuts and a sous vide farm egg
Duck fat roasted fingerling potatoes with bourbon pickled cipollini onions and rosemary salt
Chicken skin wrapped scallops with grits, fennel, and kimchi
Quail stuffed with chorizo, paired with wheat-​berries and squash
And we had a Genesee Cream Ale, a Tom something (not Collins) drink but it was a gin drink with stuff in it and like a mint leaf, and a what-I’m-gonna-call Tom Rum because it was the same thing, but with rum (not on the real menu).
So I pretty much loved everything except the beets with escarole, the potatoes, and the Tom Rum. My favorite though was the chicken liver pop tart; it was sweet and savory and the pop tarts were in bites. I was literally scraping at the wood block to get the marmalade at the end; it was tangy and perfectly balanced the pastry and the liver. The chicken ballotine was actually a close second; it reminded me of dim sum chicken feet deconstructed… with a lot more substance to it. And I don’t even like chicken feet. The chicken skin cracklings in the kale salad reminded me of the Chinese Roast Pork Skin… perfectly done and crunchy… and I wished I had more in my salad. The beets with escarole improved immensely with a combination bite of the potato dragged through the beet and egg mixture (maybe the escarole wasn’t working for me then?). And the chorizo gave the quail such a spicy pop that was tempered well with the wheat-​berries.
The Tom drink gave me hope as I have never liked gin, but this drink was really really amazing. I’m still not sure how, but it was definitely the gin facing the other ingredients because the same drink with rum instead of gin fell really flat (and I do like rum). I’m embarrassed to say that I ordered the Cream Ale because I thought it was a kind of cream soda and did not realize how very wrong I was until he brought it to the table. Obviously I’m a selective reading idiot. It did NOT taste like cream soda, but as it tasted like one of my other favorites (Schlafly’s Koelsch), it was a hit with me. Note to self: Email Schlafly about possibly creating a cream soda craft beer.
This was easily one of the most innovative and interesting meals I’ve had in a long time. Whichever menu permutation you end up choosing simply gives substantial proof that group theory in the form of seeing chicken in a new light is at work here.

What a neat concept! Brought to by the folks at Entre. I don’t know who all is behind Entre, but i do know that it got is roots from John Perkins (aka The Clandestine Chef) who introduced STL to underground dining. Well, he has recently come above ground. He opened a catering/​event space called Entre. And for the month of January him and his team are using that space for popup restaurant centered around… wait for it… CHICKEN!
Le Coq proves that chicken deserves more cred, often overshadowed by what are thought of as tastier meats (PIG, hello!!). Chicken has become very synonymous with bland and tasteless often because we discard the most flavorful parts of this fine bird. While at Le Coq, the feature them in some very interesting ways!
Just a note. There are two ways to dine at Le Coq. The first option is family style dining with a whole roasted chicken and duck fat potatoes along with 2 additional veggie sides plus donuts for desert. This will run ya $ 40/​person with 4 people. Or you can do a prix-​fixe option. 3 courses for $ 35. I went with on dining companion so we went the 3 course option (you can also do a 5 course but NO WAY i could eat that much food). In my opinion the courses were not dainty but in fact each was easily sharable with one other person. It worked out nicely because we each got three different things and split them and got sizable portions of each.
A run down of what i tried:
Kale Caesar Salad w/​chicken skin craklins
Brussels sprouts with white beans, chilis and apple butter
Duck Fat roasted fingerlings
Trout Rillettes w/​pickled apple
Chicken skin wrapped scalloops on grits
quail w/​wheatberries and squash
Standouts were the kale salad, the trout rillettes (topped with chicken fat in case you are wondering how that fits in to the chicken theme) and the scallops. Everything else was good but i would probably pass on the Brussels next time… i was not crazy about them. That is okay though, everything else more than made up for it. What a delicious and unique meal!
The space is very pretty, reminded me of Taste in the CWE. Speaking of Taste, they have a small list of wines/​beers but they also have a full bar. I can’t wait to give the bartender a workout next time i’m there to see what drinks she can come up with! Oh, and i will be returning before this goes away for ever. Would love to try the full roast chicken!!!
At any rate, i really love what John and team bring to the STL dining scene. He takes chances and you provides unique alternatives to not only how you dine but what you can eat. He is always making you something you really can’t get anywhere else in this city. I really commend him for that, so bravo! Plus, his food is on point. Do yourself a favor and CHECK IT OUT!