Lost Tables: Fio’s La Fourchette

Fio’s La Fourchette

Fiorenzo (Fio) Antognini was born on December 26, 1954 in Locarno, Switzerland. At the age of 15, he began studying the classic French approach to food preparation, first in Ascona and then in Zurich. While in a cooking class in Zurich, Fio met Liselotte (Lisa) Reust. Their careers took them to Hawaii, where they were married on March 22, 1976.

From Hawaii, Fio and Lisa Antognini made their way to Vail, Colorado where their burgeoning culinary magic was observed by St. Louisans Carole and Hal Kroeger at the Vail Racquet Club. The Kroegers persuaded the Antogninis to come to St. Louis and open a restaurant.

Fio (front left) and Lisa (front right) Antognini, St. Louis, 1982

Fio’s La Fourchette opened in the Westroads Shopping Center in Richmond Heights in November of 1982. Two years later, the shopping center would morph into the St. Louis Galleria.

According to Lisa Antognini, the restaurant's name, which means "the fork" in English, was chosen in homage to a restaurant in Zurich.

We dined at La Fouchette in Zurich and realized that we are good together . . . we got married in Hawaii since my visa expired, good enough reason, right!!!

The Kroegers invited 70 guests to an opening night party on November 4, 1982. Fio's inaugural meal was chronicled by Joan Dames in her November 7, 1982 St. Louis Post-Dispatch column.

A pate of veal with spices and cognac, presented in a fresh herb sauce in which delicate red flowers had been traced, and a fragile cream of pumpkin soup were followed by fresh salmon and scallops in a vermouth lime sauce so delicious I wanted to stand up and cheer.
Then came broiler pork medallions served with exotic mushrooms and garden snow peas with a piped rosette of zesty garlicky butter, a salad course of spaghetti squash, tomatoes and mushrooms in fresh herb vinaigrette, and a light vanilla cake layered with praline cream. The portions were perfect enough to be finished with regret and small enough to leave an appetite for those that followed.

Fio’s La Fourchette's formal address was 1013 South Brentwood Boulevard. It was tucked away at the northwest side of the shopping center, behind a white-painted brick façade, and was not visible from the street.

The restaurant, decorated in peach tones and floral prints, had a small main dining room, seating 58, and a private dining room, seating 30. There was also a second-level lounge which overlooked the main dining room. The blue-tile and copper kitchen was visible to guests through a large window in the dining area. In front of the window were two fish tanks – one fresh water, one salt – where the night’s main course might be seen swimming.

Lisa managed the front of the restaurant and Fio starred in the kitchen. The menu, which changed frequently, was hand-printed by Lisa and offered an innovative blend of classic and nouvelle French cuisine.

Fio’s La Fourchette offered a standard a-la-carte menu, a "lite menu" (containing fewer than 750 calories) and a five or six course tasting menu. The latter included a choice of appetizer, second course, entrée, salad, dessert and coffee.

1985 Fio’s La Fourchette Menu
(click image to enlarge)

The portions on Fio's tasting menu were relatively small, but diners had the unique option of a second helping, often at the server's suggestion. This practice continued as the tasting menu evolved into set five or six course prix fixe menus, Fio's signature offering.


1989 Fio’s La Fourchette Menu (click image to enlarge)

Soufflés were Fio's signature dessert and Fio Antognini thought he knew why.

Probably because they're so good. Very few restaurants offer soufflés and we have 25 flavors that we rotate on the menu.

Three flavors were featured each evening. Fio's chocolate soufflé was a standard, with the Grand Marnier close behind. There were fruit flavors, such as lime, banana and orange, sweet flavors, such as chocolate-hazelnut, pistachio and caramel/white chocolate, and savory soufflés, such as one laden with mushrooms, garlic and Gruyere cheese. There was even a wild-game soufflé, made with venison, wild boar, pheasant and partridge.

Fio's Soufflé

Fio was enthusiastic about his move to St. Louis.

We love St. Louis and are happy to be here. We were here for a year prior to opening the restaurant. During that time we did special parties, while getting to know the people and the city. St. Louis is a good marketplace for our kind of restaurant. People here appreciate our cooking; they are willing to try new foods and learn. The metro area has a stability, a year-round clientele, that is lacking in resort areas.

And St. Louis was enthusiastic about Fio's. In 1985, Fio's La Fourchette was chosen by Esquire Magazine as one of the "Top 35 New Restaurant in America." That same year, Bon Appetit declared Fio's "The Finest Meal in St. Louis."

If you think you have to travel thousands of miles to find a world-class restaurant that serves wonderful gourmet cuisine, think again. One of the most exciting dining establishments you'll ever discover, Fio's La Fourchette, is located in St. Louis, tucked away on the west side of the St. Louis Galleria. Fio's specializes in blending the best of traditional French cuisine with chef/owner Fio Antognini’s very own personal creations. Since its opening in 1982, this award-winning "gem of a restaurant" has won top honors and rave reviews from food critics and loyal patrons alike, who regularly drop by to savor its new offerings and old favorites, on a constantly updated menu. Nothing is ordinary, it's extraordinary at Fio's.

In the fall of 1987, the Antogninis opened Fio's Ocean Grill in the Saint Louis Galleria Atrium. The restaurant, which featured a bar area and a main dining room, was decorated in salmon and teal blue, with porthole-style mirrors and prints of boating scenes.

The menu featured innovatively prepared fresh seafood. Starters included scallops smoked in-house with a honey mustard sauce, oysters in mushroom caps with sun dried tomatoes and fresh herb butter, and a mussel and potato seafood chowder. For entrées, selections included poached Maine lobster on a bed of fresh papaya sauce, Pacific pink snapper atop leeks in a shallot sauce, and a hearty version of the club sandwich, made with shrimp and crabmeat.

The Oyster Bar, located just outside the main seating area, featured a dramatic ceiling-to-floor sand blown glass window with relief figures of ocean life and a large fresh water aquarium with rare tropical fish. The menu offered a variety of fresh oysters, cold seafood dishes and beverages, including beer and fine wines by the glass.

Fio Antognini (left) at Fio's Ocean Grill
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 10, 1988

In March of 1994, Fio's La Fourchette left the Saint Louis Gallery and moved to 7515 Forsyth Boulevard in Clayton, in the corner of the old Famous-Barr annex, a space once occupied by the Leather Bottle restaurant.

Fio’s La Fourchette, 7515 Forsyth Boulevard

The new restaurant had a dining room seating 60, a private dining room seating 30, and a larger kitchen with state-of-the-art equipment. The new space was all on one level, with pale pink walls and low light that combined to create an attractive rosy glow.

Fio’s La Fourchette Dining Room, 7515 Forsyth Boulevard

Fio and Lisa Antognini

Fio’s innovative prix fixe menus became legend. A World Seafood Celebration menu was offered in the spring and a Wild Game menu in the fall. The latter could include wild turkey, quail, wild duck, pheasant, partridge, wood pigeon, grouse, goose, caribou, elk, antelope, blue hare, reindeer, black bear, venison, moose, buffalo, rabbit, wild boar, rattlesnake, turtle and musk ox. There was an annual Asparagus Festival, with the vegetable offered in 20 different styles (including chocolate-covered), a Soufflé Festival and a Tribute to Down Under, featuring the cuisines of Australia and New Zealand.

In the November 24, 1999 Riverfront Times, Joe Bonwich reviewed one of Fio's wild game dinners.

Over and above the fact that there were four separate game-related courses, each individual course was a medley of three types of game, designed by Fio to achieve the desired harmony and counterpoint of aroma, taste and texture. He started carefully, with stuff most relatively adventurous diners have probably run across in the past – a miniscoop of the delicate but richly condensed liver flavor of foie gras; thin slices of duck breast, feeling and tasting something like gamy lamb loin; and a more full-bodied loin of rabbit, lightly flavored with the vaguely licorice taste of tarragon.
The next course leapt several degrees of exotic, featuring a caribou egg roll, pheasant custard and antelope pâté over a softly sweet sherried veal glaze. The caribou, captured in bite-size form over cabbage inside the egg roll, was probably the densest texture of the evening; conversely, the pheasant was ultralight and airy, with a pronounced fowl flavor but an almost ethereal texture. The antelope pâté came across in both flavor and texture like a finely ground, finely spiced meat loaf.
Again in the next course, Fio played with gradations in boldness, with partridge, venison sausage and wild-boar bacon arranged consecutively across a puff pastry, a small assortment of greens vinaigrette positioned at the top of the plate. The partridge was moist and very subtly flavored; the oval of venison sausage much more powerful; and the boar bacon tasting almost as if it had been cooked into a reduction of itself – a double-barreled boar, if you will.
The largest course, dubbed the "main," featured a scallopine-like slice of grilled elk, a semiboned lacquered quail and – the oddball of the evening – a kangaroo fritter. This final item had a texture like a coarse potato pancake and a flavor like a mixture of several ground meats – another exotic meat loaf, not as herbed as the antelope pâté – and wasn't displeasing but was my least favorite item of the whole safari. The quail, in contrast, was a marvelous game bird, sweetish-tasting both in the lacquering and in its delicate flesh, and the elk was lightly colored, firm in texture and full-bodied in flavor. For a sauce, Fio chose cranberries and roast garlic, and all three meats balanced nicely with this rich and acidic combination.
Dessert was a fresh-fruit terrine, colorful slices of strawberry, banana and kiwi suspended in a thick berry mousse encased in a light pastry, adorned with mint leaves and raspberries over a "collision" of raspberry and custard. For those for whom all this wasn't enough, a tray of petits fours arrived as a final, final course to go with our coffee.

Fio's La Fourchette continued to garner high praise nationally. The restaurant received Gourmet's "Reader’s Choice Top Table" award in 1997 through 2000.

A great restaurant is a winning combination of fabulous food, attentive service, inviting ambiance, creative presentation, and fine wines. For 15 years chef-owner Fio Antognini and his wife, Lisa, have been delighting diners with his contemporary take on French-Swiss cuisine. The menu ranges from classic veal entrees and pates, to low-fat dishes, and there are Fio’s irresistible dessert soufflés.

Fio's was also dubbed Zagat’s "Top French Classic Restaurant" in 1990 through 2001.

This consistently superb French-Swiss pearl in Clayton, has garnered "tres formidable" ratings in the St. Louis Survey, causing many to sigh, it's the closest they’ll come to Paris without TWA's help. Special kudos go to the "heart-safe menu items," the "free seconds" on any part of the meal and the pure romance of the setting; as for the pricing, it's well worth the arm and the leg.

Fio Antognini

In addition to being an enthusiast in the kitchen, Fio Antognini was also an outdoor and adventure enthusiast. His interests included running, cycling, rock climbing, skiing and skydiving – he was a four time world champion as a member of the US skydiving team.

While St. Louis may have been the perfect place for Fio's restaurant, it did not meet the needs of an adventure enthusiast. On October 20, 2001, Fio's La Fourchette offered a special "Patron Appreciation" menu. Shortly thereafter, the restaurant closed its doors and the Antogninis moved to St. George, Utah where they started Fio’s Culinary Adventures.

If you are passionate about great food, this is where the adventure begins. We invite you to tease your culinary imagination, and consider the possibilities that fun gourmet cuisine can bring.
After over thirty-five years of professional cooking experience, twenty of those years as chef/owner of one of St. Louis’ best restaurants, I have decided to share my expertise, and love for cooking, focusing my passion for unique culinary experiences. Whether you are looking for the ultimate in private dining in your home or at the location of your choice, we want to share in your future culinary journeys.
"In the true gastronomic sense, the culinary journey is the destination." Fio Antognini

Fio Antognini (left), St. George, Utah

For 12 years, Fio and Lisa Antognini provided private chef dinners, culinary tours, canyon sunset dining adventures and much more in the St. George area. And then, on March 24, 2018, the following appeared in the St. George News.

An experienced rock climber from St. George was killed after falling 60 feet while climbing in a remote area of Washington County near the town of Motoqua Wednesday.
The climber was identified as Fiorenzo Marino Antognini, 63, of St. George. Antognini was an avid outdoorsman with over 25 years of experience in rock climbing, rappelling and base jumping.
When Antognini fell, he was setting up a climbing route by removing loose rocks from the cliff. His climbing partner was on a different rock face when the fall occurred, so there were no witnesses.

Fiorenzo Antognini