When you walk through the front doors of Anita Cafe & Bar (2700 Locust Street, 314-669-7700), you’re greeted with a stunning interior design aesthetic. Several multi-tiered crystal chandeliers hang from the soaring ceilings, their light sparkling off two walls of windows that make up the front and one side of the corner storefront. A mix of round and square marble bistro tables surrounded by modern, blond wood chairs provide the bulk of the seating; a handful of high-tops and sumptuous teal and mustard velvet chairs fill the rest of the main dining room, and ivory tweed barstools are placed in a perfect diagonal along the marble bar that lines the entire back wall. That wall, painted emerald green, is a gorgeous backdrop for a gold, Arabic-inspired hanging sculpture, and inside a small, greenery-covered nook to the side of the bar is a gold-framed mirror adorned with colorful flowers.
As visually arresting as such a scene might be, it’s not the first thing you notice upon entry. Instead, it’s the mouthwatering aroma from the kitchen that immediately hits you: a perfume of herbs, spices, simmering pots of slow-cooked Lebanese-inflected stews so intoxicating, it nearly puts you under a trance — and once you come to, you realize that, no matter how stylish the digs, the substance is the most beautiful thing about this delightful addition to the Midtown dining scene.
Considering her background, it’s not surprising that owner Anita Abdul-Karim would be able to deliver such a magical culinary experience. A registered dietician by trade, Abdul-Karim has dedicated much of her professional life to the idea of food as nourishment, not only for the body but for the spirit.