The Very Best Things We Ate in St. Louis in 2018

Grilled bologna sandwich at Grace Meat + Three

4270 Manchester Avenue; 314-533-2700

Grace's signature sandwich is the grilled bologna, a housemade meat that has about as much in common with Oscar Mayer as a McDonald's patty has with Kobe beef. The garlicky meat is sliced to the thickness of a hamsteak, then griddled to give it a bitter punch of char. The sandwich is covered in pimento cheese and crowned with a sunny-side-up egg. Finishing it might cause your heart to stop, though there are far worse ways to go.

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Beef torta at One Way Cafe (now Dos Reyes)

5912 Hampton Avenue, 314-833-5550

It's like the best pot roast you've ever had, this succulent, braised beef seems like equal parts meat and rich gravy. Though the menu calls it barbacoa, the preparation is actually birria, a rich, stew-like concoction filled with hunks of beef so tender they fall apart with just the suggestion of a fork. And you will want one for this beast of a sandwich. It may be designed to be handheld, but the beef's savory jus soaks into every last crevice of the pillow-soft bread, turning it into a glorious gravy sponge and rendering it impossible to keep together. And why bother – all the effort you'd spend trying to eat it like a sandwich is better spent devouring every last morsel.

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The Biscuit Sand at the Clover and the Bee

100 W. Lockwood Avenue, 314-942-1216

The impeccable "Biscuit Sand" is a mammoth breakfast sandwich that layers a large rectangle of fennel-kissed pork sausage and an equal-sized slice of egg (akin to a frittata) with white American cheese on a buttery biscuit that tastes like flaky shortbread. Two people could share this breakfast masterpiece and be satisfied. Splitting the sandwich means you'll have more room for the terrific breakfast potatoes. Chimichurri dresses these roasted beauties, giving them a punch of garlicky tang that brightens their salty flesh.

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Bone-in ribeye at Hamilton's Urban Steakhouse

2101 Chouteau Avenue, 314-241-2333

The beautiful inch-thick cut of beef is the Platonic form of steak: the vision you have in your mind's eye when you muse upon such subjects as "death row meals" or what you'd eat in the event of an impending asteroid impact. Gilded with fat to the point it sparkles, the steak is coal black from the rub's coarse black pepper. Its back-of-the-throat heat is certainly present, but it's subtle, mitigated by a hint of sweetness and zest. The rub forms a coarse crust on every inch of the steak, its particular pleasure realized when you bite into a little pocket of beef and buttery-soft fat.

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Crab rangoon at VP Square

3611 Juniata Street, 314-833-4838

At VP Square, the crab Rangoon may be the restaurant's signature dish, a half-moon-shaped wonton that is as crisp and delicate as a paper-thin potato chip. Somehow, that dainty wrapper is able to contain a cream-cheese filling so interspersed with crabmeat and scallions it could be considered a crab salad. Chef Pham would never dare serve such a masterpiece with cloying, pre-made sweet and sour. Instead, he pairs his Rangoons with a vibrant housemade sweet-and-sour sauce spiked with chiles. There is not a better crab Rangoon in town; there may not be a better crab Rangoon in existence.

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Meatballs at J Devoti Trattoria

5100 Daggett Avenue, 314-773-5553

The fist-sized sphere of pork and beef is perfection of the form: firm yet tender, powerfully meaty yet delicate. The meatball simmers in tomato sauce as it cooks, allowing the pork and beef drippings to infuse it with meaty richness. It's the sort of sauce you see slowly bubbling on the stove, ruby red and slicked with pork and beef fat. And forget spaghetti; Chef Anthony Devoti serves this revelation atop creamy polenta that soaks up every drop.

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Ribs at J Smug's Gastropit

2130 Macklind Avenue, 314-499-7488

J. Smug's ribs are simply dazzling. They smoke a dry-rubbed version, and, more than others in town, their generous, salty rub forms a thick crust that actually crunches when you bite into it. It's reminiscent of the bark you get on a well-prepared brisket, and just as deeply smoky. Underneath this crisp, seasoned layer is succulent, cherry-wood-scented meat that has the proper chew you get from good ribs but still yields without too much effort. They're some of the finest in the city, the restaurant's clear standout.

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Dia's Cheese Bread at Cinder House

999 North Second Street, 314-881-5759

The tapioca-based poufs are delicate, cheese-studded spheres that melt in the mouth before you have a chance to chew. The bread is a masterpiece on its own, but Gerard Craft pairs it with country ham that is shaved prosciutto-thin and a ramekin of salt-sprinkled lardo. Together, they infuse the light cheese puffs with salt and porky flavor.

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Jibarito at Alphateria

4310 Fyler Avenue, 314-621-2337

In place of bread, two patties of smashed plantains, sprinkled with coarse salt, serve as the sandwich's base. Chopped marinated steak covered with melted Swiss cheese evokes a Dominican-style Philly cheesesteak; a chiffonade of crisp iceberg lettuce, sliced ripe tomatoes and rich garlic mayonnaise.

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The Soulard Primer at the Wood Shack

1862 S 10th Street, 314-833-4770

This prime-rib sandwich puts to shame every roast-beef sandwich that came before it. Hunks of inch-thick prime rib, kissed with hickory and mulberry-wood smoke and so tender you could butter your bread with them, are cooked to a quintessential, well-rested medium-rare. Grillers at the city's top-dollar steakhouses should take note of such perfectly cooked beef.

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Toasted ravioli at Del Pietro's

1050 South Big Bend Boulevard, 314-224-5225

Many restaurants claim to serve the city's best toasted ravioli, but Del Pietro's makes a serious play for the crown. The handmade dough, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and stuffed with a blend of beef and veal, crisps up after a few minutes in hot oil. Unlike the chewy frozen versions you find at sports bars, these are flaky and light as air. Perfect as the original version is, Del Pietro's changes up its t-rav selection from day to day; on another occasion the pasta was filled with mascarpone cheese and chicken — a decadent concoction that evokes the gooey comfort of buffalo chicken dip. Both options were perfection of the form.

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Pizza Bianca at Anthony's Italian Eats

7641 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton; 314-721-3233

In addition to classic red-sauce pizzas, Anthony's offers a handful of "white" pies. Garlic and fontina cheese are folded into heavy cream, forming a velvety sauce that serves as an ideal base for the "Prosciutto and Arugula Bianca." In addition to the white sauce, dollops of fresh ricotta cheese sit atop the crust; they soften and infuse the fontina and heavy cream, forming an even more decadent glaze. Cherry tomatoes are placed on top before the pizza goes into the oven; thin slices of prosciutto the color of rose petals and arugula dressed in olive oil are added when it comes out. Thank you, Anthony's Italian Eats, for not destroying this delicate meat in the oven.

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Cinnamon roll at Bloom Cafe

5200 Oakland Avenue, 314-652-5666

Bloom Café's cinnamon roll is the best thing at this restaurant. This warm, gooey pillow is so fluffy and soft I wanted to give it a snuggle. Every last crevice of the roll is filled with cinnamon and thick, creamy glaze — not, as is so often the case, just the exterior. And that glaze is no thin coating of sugar. It's as thick as cream cheese and positively decadent.

Check it out here.

Egg sausage and cheese sandwich at Knead Bakehouse

3467 Hampton Avenue, 314-376-4361

Ordering anything but the egg, sausage and cheese sandwich, however, is impossible to imagine once you taste this most perfect of breakfast sandwiches. Served on a butter-brioche bun, it presents like a breakfast burger, stuffed with soft-scrambled eggs, smoked cheddar cheese, aioli, sliced tomatoes and greens. Alone, this would be a wonderful breakfast offering, but Chef AJ Brown offers as an accompaniment what could possibly be the best breakfast sausage known to man. Made in-house from pork belly and shoulder, the patty is coarsely ground and filled with a whole hog's worth of porky flavor, its texture and flavor reminiscent of Gioia's hot salami. Perhaps Brown's next business can be a sausage shop.

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Fried burrata at Stone Turtle

6335 Clayton Avenue, 314-349-1933

Fried burrata is a luxurious stand-in for mozzarella sticks. The silken cheese is coated in breadcrumbs and fried to a golden hue. When pierced with a fork, the molten burrata pours out onto the plate, mixing with piquant romesco sauce to form a creamy red-pepper concoction.

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Meatball parmesan sandwich at Parm

2619 Cherokee Street, 314-833-3034

Parm's housemade meatballs are perfection of the form: tender, flecked with parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs and so well cooked they all but melt in the mouth. Piled onto crusty bread and slathered with simple tomato sauce, you'll want nothing more in a sandwich — well, you'll want to ask for the optional cheese on top to make this into a meatball Parmesan. It's flawless.

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Fries at Frankly on Cherokee

2744 Cherokee Street, 314-325-3013

The raclette cheese fries are the first thing you encounter when you walk through the front doors; the smell of the Swiss cheese immediately warms your soul with its funky siren song. The gooey topping could make even fries from the Sysco truck sing, but that wouldn't be Chef Bill Cawthon's style. Instead, he goes through an arduous process, cutting potatoes into thick fries, blanching them and then freezing them. After they've frozen, he fries them at a lower temperature than is normally used, allowing them to develop a crunchy, golden salt-crusted exterior while the inside remains soft and creamy, like deep-fried mashed potatoes.

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Nam Tok beef at Thai Kitchen

8458 North Lindbergh Boulevard, 314-695-5039

The first bite of Thai Kitchen's nam tok beef sets off fireworks in the mouth — not from its heat, but from the bright lime juice that dresses the meat. The flavors are brilliant and the meat tender and caramelized around the edges. It's flawless.

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Shaka poke nachos at Blk Mkt Eats

9 S. Vandeventer Avenue; 314-391-5100

Though the sushi burrito is BLK MKT Eats' calling card, other preparations are equally enjoyable. The "Shaka Poke" seems tailor-made for a brown rice poke bowl. Cubes of garnet-hued, soy-slicked tuna rest atop a bed of Persian cucumbers, avocado, shredded cabbage and tempura crunch for a dish that incorporates two of lunchtime's biggest trends: the grain bowl and tuna poke. For the sake of this version, let's pray that this trend does not pass.

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Duck grilled cheese at Pangea

3245 Rue Royale, St. Charles; 636-757-3579

Pangea's dazzling duck grilled cheese is a sandwich so perfect I'd almost considered packing my bags and moving into the apartments above the restaurant. Pieces of tender, pull-apart duck confit are enveloped in gooey raclette; the funky cheese plays off the duck's rich flavor, creating an impossibly rich, almost fondue-like experience. The heavenly concoction is garnished with peppery arugula and sweet tomato jam to balance out the decadence, then stuffed between two slices of buttery, griddled bread.

Check it out here.