Bone Appétit

I fell in love with osso buco just a couple of weeks ago at Villa Farotto, the new Chesterfield Valley restaurant with ties to the familiar Farotto's in Rock Hill. Odd, I know. I've had my share of veal chops, veal scaloppine, braised veal and rack of veal, but the appeal of osso buco (meaning "bone with hole" or "pierced bone"), with its creamy, delectable, unctuous marrow, has always eluded me. Then again, it's rarely found on St. Louis menus.

To be perfectly honest, I should say -- lest you think me some kind of monstrous carnivore who has it out for the poor little calves -- that I'm not much of a veal fan. To my palate, meat not marbled with fat has so little flavor that it all tastes about the same, whether it's pork, very lean beef or veal. For another thing -- yes, I'll admit it -- I try not to think about those baby cows, raised in small quarters and fed milk so we can enjoy their tender white flesh. (I know it's no picnic for just about every other animal we slaughter for food, but there's something about veal.) But as a restaurant critic, I feel compelled to urge you to order the osso buco -- scruples be damned.

Originated in Milan, the dish is typically pan-seared, then braised for hours with olive oil, vegetables, wine, garlic, stock and grated lemon peel. But within those parameters, delicious variations can occur. The chefs at Villa Farotto flour the shank and deep-fry it for less than a minute, imparting a crisp crust. Then they braise the meaty hind shank in a pan full of aromatic vegetables (carrots, celery and onions, plus peppercorns and bay leaves), red wine, veal stock and a bit of beef stock for four to six hours. Rather than the expected gremolata (a garnish of minced parsley, lemon peel and garlic), this osso buco comes bathed in a rich jardinière sauce. Take that braising sauce, strain it, reduce it with some butter, then close your eyes and smile.

Special spoons, made especially for digging out the delicious marrow, were on order (and have since arrived), but that didn't stop me from using a knife to slather the soft delicacy onto a thick slice of olive-studded bread. You can be traditional and order the osso buco with lemon-infused risotto on the side. But really, who can resist a bed of garlic mashed potatoes? A bellyful of such hearty fare will soften the long, cold nights of the approaching winter.

I declined the braised-rabbit soup du jour at the start of the meal, fearing that consuming rabbit and veal in one meal might summon a tactical PETA squad. I opted instead for a warming bowl of brick-red roasted-tomato-and-pepper soup. With a drizzle of olive oil, the freshly puréed soup was hearty, with just a bit of zing. Another appetizer, a two-inch-thick risotto cake, was an ingenious combination of Italian sausage, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, and risotto (nothing but Arborio rice is used here, as it should be), grilled and placed atop a light, fresh-tasting red sauce.

Sipping my soup in the fine-dining "Vineyards" section of the restaurant, I bathed in the pleasant ambiance of the contemporary Tuscan design that co-owner Lisa Parrott LaRuffa and her husband, executive chef Gerard LaRuffa, spent two years conceptualizing. (Parrott-LaRuffa is the daughter of the owners of the Rock Hill Farotto's, long popular for its pizzas and casual meals.) Villa Farotto was built from the ground up, Parrott-LaRuffa says, and it cost more than $3 million, if you count all the equipment and accouterments.

Villa Farotto is really four operations operating under the same roof: the Vineyards, a spacious bar complete with fireplace, a separate café section serving lighter fare (envision the other Farotto's) and a market inside the café that sells wine and order-out cold meals.

The warm, earth-toned restaurant is expansive, with curving walls, large windows and a glass wall between the bar and the dining room. Sitting next to that glass wall, however, feels a bit like eating in a fish tank, especially when you and the person on the other side turn to face each other at the same uncomfortable moment, then quickly break eye contact and face forward again. The big-screen TV in the bar is visible from the dining area, something I usually despise, but this night I was happy to watch the American League playoffs from behind the glass wall, protected from any stray smoke emanating from the bar.