Happy Hour Has a Menu

Above: A happy-hour photo without a glass in sight! It looks pretty happy to us—and delicious.

By Wini Moranville

Within minutes of hearing that St. Kilda had unveiled a new happy hour menu last week, I rustled up a pal to go check it out with me. Finally, I thought—just maybe—I could kick my avocado toast habit (with two poached eggs, please), and get an idea of what other fine flavors this kitchen sends out.

Let’s get something straight, though: This doesn’t seem to me like a “stuff yourself full of food and call it dinner” kind of happy hour. Certainly, you could make a meal out of the selections, which include eggplant caponata toasts ($8), dip duo of house-made baba ganoush and tzatziki ($9), pulled pork sliders ($8), olives ($6) and house-roasted nuts ($6).

However, the actual occasion reminded me more of what late-afternoon Spanish tapas and the French apéro (France’s take on the cocktail hour) are all about: easing out of the workday over a few nibbles and a drink with friends before you head on your merry and separate ways. It’s so … civilized.

With stewed eggplant, red peppers, tomatoes and raisins slathered on crisp baguette toasts, the caponata brought lively sweet-and-sour flavors. House-roasted nuts—definitely a deluxe mix—were enticingly honey-roasted and salted, and the olives especially stole my heart: The trio of olive-oil bathed olives arrived in a cute clip-top jar, with generous sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary. A nice touch: slices of toasted bread you could dip in the olive oil that had become infused with the flavors of the herbs.

The happy hour also features $1 off beer and wine and $2 off cocktails. St. Kilda is located on the corner of MLK Parkway and S.W. Fifth Street. Phone: 515-369-7854; stkildadsm.com.