From the article by Bill Burge.

"From the moment you grab the door handle and its interesting texture strikes you as you pull it open, to the moment you exit realizing that as cool as it looked on outside it’s nothing compared to it’s warm glow within, when David Schefer Design was designing Araka they didn’t stop in the front of the house — oh no — they took the vibe right on into the oft-overlooked but always necessary bathroom."

Joe Bonwich of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently wrote a review of Araka, here is a quote.

"God bless the chef that puts up his own charcuterie... It's that level of attention to detail that's key to the success of Araka, a striking new Southern European-themed restaurant in a brand-new building that once and for all has put to rest memories of the hole in the ground long known as the Clayton Lake."

From the article by Josh Monken.

"Upon entering Araka – the sparkling gem of a restaurant in the new Crescent building in Clayton – for the first time, nearly everyone’s reaction is the same. People step through the door, look up quickly once and then, as the realization of what they have just seen sets in, they stop dead in their tracks, concentration slips, the phone slides away from their ear and they stare at the interior with a Keanu Reeves-esque “Whoa!” plastered on their face. I know this because this was what happened to me, and I watched it happen to oodles of other diners over the course of my visits."

Joe and Ann Pollack came by and wrote up a nice article about their experience, here is a quote... "Main courses show imagination and wide-ranging use of ingredients. A veal chop includes sweetbreads, creamy polenta, pancetta and cipollini onions, a combination that would make its own exciting entree."

T.J. Martin wrote a review of his experience at Araka for the Winning Concept section of Ladue News, and had great things to say.

Catherine Neville of Sauce Magazine did a write up of Araka for KMOV's Sauce on The Street column, here is a quote...

"Chef Marc Curran is creating dishes with French technique, Italian sensibility and Spanish flair. In other words, wonderfully balanced food flavored by Mediterranean culture and ingredients."