November's dinner took place at Alumni, a downtown restaurant celebrating all things St. Louis. Errin was the host that chose this spot, but I missed this dinner myself. I'm sorry to have missed this one. Diner reviews seem all over the board, so I wish I could report a personal opinion.
On atmosphere, Alumni got mostly "fair" and "good" ratings, with one excellent. Some folks had parking woes, not realizing there was a parking garage available. Yet another diner mentioned that Alumni puts St. Louis trivia on the table, and called it "a fun place."
As far as service went, these answers were really skewed. One diner said service was "excellent," while another, "disappointing." It seems the server was nice but not very attentive. And - she broke a cardinal server rule - she didn't offer dessert, and instead just brought checks to the table. Some diners had hoped to try the Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake (apropos for the St. Louis-themed restaurant I might add), but decided against it since the waitress finalized tabs prematurely.
Food. It thankfully got mostly good and excellent scores. One diner said, "my duck pasta in a sherry sauce was absolutely excellent! I wasn't that excited about the old Famous Barr french onion soup but I think it really did taste like the old Famous Barr french onion soup." Well done, chef.
Overall, Alumni got mostly "good" scores, and seems a welcome addition to the downtown restaurant scene. I'll give it a solid 3.5 spoons based on diner feedback, and hope to try it out for myself soon.
