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Dining Divas: River’s Edge Social
Dining at the River’s Edge Makes
For an Enjoyable Divas’ Evening
By Lisa Kampeter
This spring, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a new-to-me river pop up in the middle of the city, but I was. The Dining Divas met up at River’s Edge Social, and when I picked the place, I assumed the “river” would be the Mississippi. Wrong. The river in reference is typically a dry, concrete metropolitan river known as River des Peres. And this restaurant sits on the edge of it on Chippewa.
People were socializing on the outside patio and enjoying cocktails in the bar when we arrived. The dining room wasn’t very busy, but it had a good crowd as the night progressed. I was slightly concerned because Mama Diva’s kids had been there before and weren’t fans of what they had. However, the Neighborhood Diva loves the place and had been there multiple times prior.
River’s Edge Social serves American and Mediterranean dishes. We picked this type of restaurant in honor of the Greek Diva as she was to have her final chemo treatment the following week. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the energy to join us, but she was with us in spirit. Together, the group prayed for good results for her as she was to get a scan a couple weeks later.
Our waiter Lou had his work cut out for him, and he was amazing. We knew we’d love him when we gave him a hard time for wearing a Cardinal hat, and he returned with a Blues hat. (This was during the Blues championship run.) Our high-maintenance group kept him running, and he happily obliged.
It felt like we ordered every appetizer on the menu. Moroccan Wings. Lamb Meatballs. Fried Artichoke Hearts. All of it was great. We went really traditional with Saganaki and loved the presentation of the flamed cheese being delivered to us. At the Greek Diva’s recommendation, we also tried what was known as Greek penicillin. It was a chicken and lemon soup, and most of us thought it was delicious. Recognizing we ordered too many appetizers, the Sharing Divas ordered the Wild Mushroom Pizza and really enjoyed it and the leftovers.
The Ratatouille Pizza with eggplant, zucchini, squash, onions, and peppers was amazing too.
The Dating Diva, who brought a visiting houseguest with her this evening, thought the Half-Roasted Chicken was phenomenal. The Breaded Steak Sandwich had a good mix of flavors and the roasted red peppers and mozzarella were a great touch. The Chicken Panini was just mediocre.
We decided to skip dessert only because we were so close to a couple St. Louis favorites, Ted Drewes and Donut Drive-In, so some of the Divas headed down the road to top off the night. A wonderful night it was. We were reminded once again that the comradery of this group means so much more to us than the food that we enjoy. That’s just a bonus. The food here was really good, and a return visit will most definitely happen for several of us. But another get together is what we really look forward too. Just maybe with a little less unexpected water around us.
