Stloueats a Year Later…

Tags

food, Las Vegas, Scorpions, St. Louis, Uzbekistan, weber grill, weber kettle

The lovely wife reminded me last night that I used to be a blogger.  Apparently, I was a fairly good blogger from time to time.  Yet, about a year ago, with a final flourish, I ceased to be a blogger.  I wrote a very well received goodbye letter to St. Louis*, (read over the air on Y98FM…the peak of my fame) and I closed that chapter of my life to go on to bigger and better things.

*Apparently the St. Louis metro area responded to my goodbye letter by going through a period of rather self-destructive behavior.  I really hate to see it, and I hope this difficult period brings about some real change to the whole area.

That bigger and better* place is Vegas.  LAS Vegas.  Spanish for “the meadows.”  If there is a more inappropriately named city in the United States, I’d like to find it.  We have settled in nicely, with our children’s resentment of our move lessening each day. Except the days we find scorpions.  In the toilet**.

*Completely inaccurate.  St. Louis metro is bigger, and Las Vegas is only questionably better…

**We previously lived in Las Vegas for four years and NEVER saw a scorpion.  That has not been the case this time around.  Earlier this summer, around bedtime, my daughter bellowed from upstairs words you never think you’ll hear, “DAD…THERE IS A SCORPION IN THE TOILET!”  He had himself(herself?) nestled in the front of the lower bowl…Let’s just say you were sitting down to do some business, it would have been primed to strike in a number of unfortunate areas.

Las Vegas is well known as a culinary destination, but the vast majority of the famous, high end establishments are located on the strip.  I like to avoid the strip like the plague.  It is Vegas’ reason for existence, and I am thankful for those who choose to partake in its hedonistic excess, but the lovely wife and children don’t seem to be terribly interested in high-stakes baccarat or clubbing.

So, what to write about?  Well, I think I’ll focus on local establishments on the west side of town.  I also have developed a new passion over the last year, and that is the humble Weber Charcoal Grill.  I’ve collected a few, and find myself wanting to grill everything, as it gives me a chance to get outside, make fire, and cook something delicious.  I’m not sure if I’ll have any revolutionary tips, but that’s where my life is right now.  Finally, I think I’ll try to share tidbits of my life every now and then.  I still think my favorite post was about my trip to the dentist, and I’d like to share more of that.

Overall, I think I am starting this up again with the intent to flex my creative muscles, and give the random reader out in let’s say, Uzbekistan*** (ONE VIEW ACCORDING TO WORDPRESS!) something to brighten their precious time for a few minutes.

***Sorry…last thing!  I was just reading an article in National Geographic the other day that the government of Uzbekistan FORCES its citizens to pick cotton every year at harvest time.  HOW DO PEOPLE NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?  Government forced labor in 2015.  Scary.  Soooo…if you ARE that reader in Uzbekistan, I sincerely apologize for my incredibly easy life.  ALSO, RUN AWAY!  FLEE!  ESCAPE UZBEKISTAN!

I have just been banned in Uzbekistan.

An Open Letter to St. Louis

Tags

Arch, Cardinals, Forest Park, Gooey Butter Cake, Imo's, India Palace, maull's, Missouri Botanical Gardens, Pastaria, pork steak, Provel, Restaurants, Science Center, St. Louis, St. Louis Symphony, Zoo

Dear St. Louis,

I’m leaving you.  Again.  We’ve been through this before, but this time it’s different.  Last time, I couldn’t wait to leave you, and swore I’d never return.  This time, you made it so hard to leave that the mere thought of leaving you was one of our top reasons we thought we’d stay.  Last time I left you, I was young and alone.  This time, I’m twice as old, and have been blessed with a wife and wonderful children.  Last time I thought I’d never be back.  This time, we swear we will return*.

*My son said in the car the other day out of the blue, “I think I’ll live in Missouri again someday.”

Regardless, we are leaving for Las Vegas again.  They made an offer we couldn’t refuse.  It is with a heavy heart we pack, we visit places we love for the last time, and say goodbye to many friends and family here.  But I suppose the fact that it’s hard this time means that it has been good.  And so with that, I’d like to say thank you and tell you why you’ve come to mean so much to our family.

Thank you, the Arch.  I think I’m starting here not because you’re my favorite thing about St. Louis (you’re not), but because of the history you represent and the opportunities you’ve given my family over the last few years.  You’re still visibly stunning, and I think you’ll only get better with your renovation connecting you with the rest of the city.  My seven year old son REALLY LOVES YOU and wants to visit you all the time, and I’m sorry I didn’t visit you as often as he would have liked.  Finally, I am looking forward to telling people it’s the ARCH not the St. Louis Arc…no joke, I’ve heard this more than once, and I will be more forceful in correcting these ignoramuses in the future.

Thank you, Missouri Botanical Gardens.  You are my favorite.  We have visited you so often through the years, and even joined you as a member for the last several years.  Heck, we visited you today for the last time.  We’ve LOVED the Chihuly glass exhibit, the Lantern Festival, the Christmas lights, and just regular afternoons strolling your beautiful grounds.  We’ve fed the koi, watched the bullfrogs in the Chinese Garden, and the geckos in the Climatron.  We’ve sampled the Best of Missouri Market, handled the hordes at the Japanese Festival, gotten lost in the maze, toured the Tower Grove house, and taken the Tram tour enough that I’m fairly positive I could give the tour.  But mostly, we loved the regular days where we stroll through the English Country Garden, and watch our kids race leaves that they place in the stream that runs through it.  My wife loves the irises that bloom in May, and I love the day lilies that are blooming as I write this.  I truly think it’s the best attraction in St. Louis and has something different every time you visit.

Thank you, Forest Park.  You are amazing.  The view from the top of Art Hill when the fountains are going below are spectacular.  But really it’s what’s inside you that counts.  The Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, and Science Center.  With that said, here’s a mini message for each of you.  Thanks St. Louis Zoo, for the numerous days we’ve spent gawking at your spectacular creatures.  From the terrible tarantulas in the insectarium to the hilarious hippo habitat, you’ve entertained my family many times through the years.  I LOVE that you’re free.  However, sometimes your crowds make me hate you just a bit.  Also, until this weekend we’d never seen that sneaky cheetah…until this Sunday he appeared.  That was awesome.  Thanks, the Art Museum for letting people see some of the world’s greatest paintings for  once again, FREE.  I love your collection of George Caleb Bingham works showcasing Missouri in the 1800s.  More people should visit you.  Thanks, Missouri History Museum.  I feel like I should have used you more.  Thanks, the Science Center for both terrifying and thrilling my children.  Both my children had trouble with the T-Rex when they were younger (that poor triceratops has been waiting to be put out of his misery for years now), but have enjoyed your various exhibits as they have grown.  Hey, did I thank you for being free?  Overall, I’d like to thank the people of St. Louis City and County for subsidizing our visits through the years.  They voted in 1969 to have a portion of their property tax support these great institutions.  There is NO WAY such a thing would pass today, but man, it sure makes St. Louis a GREAT place to have kids.

Thank you, unique food.  St. Louis, you don’t get the credit you deserve.  You’ve got some great signature foods going for you.  Thanks Pork steaks, for being a super cheap, super delicious slab of meat to feed a crowd with.  Give me some Maull’s Sweet n Mild, a cold beer, and you’ve made my weekend.  Thanks, Gooey Butter Cake.  It’s pretty obvious why you’re good, and Tina from church makes it best.  Thanks, Provel cheese.  Don’t let the haters hate.  “It’s a processed cheese.  It’s too rubbery.  It tastes weird.”  They’re all just jealous.  Your rope goodness is perfect on salads, no one can touch you.  A St. Louis style Italian salad with Provel CANNOT be beat.  Our friend Tracy makes the ultimate salad with Zia’s dressing.  I could eat it all day long.  We are going to miss St. Louis style pizza.  My wonderful wife recently had an opportunity to photograph THE Imo family, and they were so kind and friendly.  It makes me feel even better about supporting a local product.  Here are my top five reasons St. Louis style pizza is fantastic.

1.  The small square pieces mean you can eat innumerable pieces before being full.  If I counted them, there are many times I’d be ashamed (maybe a little proud?) of what I’ve done.

2.  You can fold said squares into mini pizza sandwiches.  Delightful!

3.  You really taste the toppings, and not a mouthful of dough.

4.  The small pieces are easy to handle.

5.  It is NOT Chicago style pizza.  I do not want a giant dough blob with the cheese under a pile of greasy toppings that takes a thousand years to bake.  Boo.

Thank you, beer.  First off, although none of us were fans of the Belgians taking over AB, the side result of that has been some wonderful microbreweries starting up in the St. Louis area.  I’d especially like to thank Schlafly Kolsh and Urban Chestnut Zwickel for quenching my spring and summertime thirst.  Schlafly Pumpkin Ale for easing me through fall, and a wide variety of beers from O’Fallon, Schlafly, and Urban Chestnut for seeing me through the winters.  O’Fallon, bring back your Wee Heavy!  It was AMAZING.  Finally, Thank you, AB.  Your brewery tour is great.  It makes the Miller tour look like some guys threw a brewery together over a weekend.  Beautiful flowers, Clydesdales, stained glass, a spotless factory, and free beer make for a happy local and tourist alike.  Also, Grant’s Farm is quite possibly the best idea ever.  A ZOO WITH FREE BEER.  “Hey kids, here’s a dollar.  Go defend yourself against hungry baby goats.  Daddy’s going to have a beer then watch a ginormous African Elephant blow up a ballon, play a harmonica, and spray children with water.”  Presidents.  Mini-safari.  Ravenous goats.  Entertaining elephants.  Free beer.  Oh, AND GIANT HORSES.  It is the American dream in miniature.

Thank you, the arts.  First off, I’d like to thank the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for offering dozens of memorable date nights for the lovely wife and I.  We have subscribed the last few years, and your programming has taken us through time and around the world through music.  I love the symphony because it gives me about 90 minutes of time to stop, listen, and think without distraction.  We will truly miss you.

The Fabulous Fox Theatre is stunning, and we’ve seen some great shows through the years.  I got a wow out of my daughter the first time I took her this year to see Alton Brown.  Finally, we JUST saw Circus Flora for the first time.  I’m sorry I’m such a fool for not visiting you sooner.

I’d like to thank the many restaurants that have enriched our daily experiences and broadened our children’s horizons.  There are a few of you I’d like to mention.  Thank you, The Bridge, for being so unique and fun.  Some of our favorite evenings out have either began or ended in your balcony seating.  I could eat your foccacia bread with assorted cheeses forever.  Thank you, Pastaria for being so good that my 10 year old daughter would choose to have her birthday dinner in your restaurant…who am I to argue with her on that?  Finally, I’d like to thank India Palace.  I still think you are one of the gems of the area.  If I said, “Hey, I’ve got an idea.  Let’s start a restaurant with a mildly intimidating ethnic cuisine.  Then let’s put it at the top floor of a slightly run down hotel that you need to take a vaguely marked elevator to get to.  Oh yeah, let’s make it hard to get to, with no obvious road access, even though you can see it from a major highway.  Oh, the restaurant used to have some Polynesian Tiki Bar theme?  KEEP IT!”  If I came up with that plan, I would fail.  Yet, you somehow manage to not just survive, but thrive.  It is the best buffet I’ve ever had.  I would eat it every day.  You have been wonderful to my kids.  They absolutely love it.  I have yet to go when you have charged me full price for both of them.  Thank you.

There are many more restaurants out there that we love, and I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I’d just like to say, GREAT JOB.  The food in St. Louis has gotten so much better the last nine years, and I think it’s only going to improve in the years to come.

Thank you, the Cardinals.  I will always be a baseball fan first, but you have worked your way into my whole family’s hearts.  Cards games are clean and I’ve never had to explain something bad to my kids later on.  The games are still (relatively) affordable, and the product is fantastic.  I try to explain that the Cardinals are to St. Louis what the Packers are to Green Bay.  It’s the closest thing I can compare it to.  We recently went to the new museum in Ballpark Village.  It brought me to tears.  The kids loved it.  Heck, I got to HOLD Stan Musial and Willie McGee’s bat.  You are a class act and we will continue to love you from afar.  We’ll always have 2006 and 2011!

And then there are the Rams and Blues.  Blues, keep trying hard, you can do it!  I wish I could take my kids to your games, but the things I’ve heard there may melt their delicate ears.  Rams, I like football, I’m just not sure if you guys like football.  It seems like you struggle with it.

Finally, I’d like to thank our family, friends, students, parents, and church members for enriching our lives so much since 2005.  You are truly what will keep us coming back.

Sincerely,

Jason, Sarah, Katie, and Brendan Crowder

Food Media Forum Day Two

Tags

barbaric gulp, copper river salmon, cupcake project, food media forum, St. Louis

Today was the first big day of sessions at this year’s food media forum. We started off the day with a satisfying hearty breakfast from the Culinary Institute of St. Louis.

The sweetest words in the English language may be “breakfast buffet.” I took full advantage of waffles with chocolate chips and pecans. Also, I must say the house made sausages with diced green chiles were a treat.

In the morning session I went to a forum hosted by Kelly from BarbaricGulp.com. It made me ponder three things:

My use of the word perfectly, How someone can love an orange so much (North Dakota is a bleak place), and to take steps to improve my writing in the year ahead.

Afterward, I went to a forum on food presentation and plating. I got to meet Natalie from TheSweetsLife for the first time in person since 1998. It’s a truly small world.

From there we had a morning snack where we experienced the safety and flavor of pasteurized eggs (purchasing this product may result in cookie dough never being baked).

One of the real treats of the day was meeting the rep from Copper River Salmon in Cordova, Alaska. She was super nice, and the Coho salmon for lunch was excellent.

Steph from the Cupcake Project hosted a forum regarding what makes a good blog and it got me thinking about how my blog is formatted and if I need to have more of a theme in my blog.

We’ll see.

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to photography and video…not my main area of interest, but very helpful.

I was feeling a bit down around 3pm, (possible food coma), but rallied in time for the marvelous happy hour hosted by Chipotle. There, we received swag bags and got to have some wonderful food from Chipotle and more great Schlafly beer.

All in all a great day, and I’m looking forward to another tomorrow.

Thanks to Food Media Forum and Chipotle for making this weekend possible for me!

Food Media Forum Night One

Tags

blogging, blogs, Chipotle, food media, ideas in food, LaRussos, Operation Food Search, Poptions, Poptions Popcorn, RIcardos, Schlafly, Schlafly Tap Room, Sqwires, St. Louis, St. Louis Food Media Forum, Sunset 44, The Bridge STL, The Bridge Tap House and Wine Bar

A year ago at this time, I was new to blogging.  The lovely wife suggested I go as something to do aside from teaching.  A year later, I find myself back at the Food Media Forum, sponsored by the FANTASTIC PEOPLE AT CHIPOTLE, being served delightful treats from various restaurants from around St. Louis including Bridge Tap House and Wine Bar (A favorite), LoRusso’s, Sqwires in Lafayette Square, Ricardos in Lafayette Square, and Sunset 44.

The lovely wife was not able to attend tonight, and let’s just say I’m not the best at mingling solo*…however beer was involved because we were hosted by the good people at Schlafly Tap House.

*At one beer, I may strike up a conversation along the lines of, “Hey, what are YOU drinking?”  At two beers, it becomes “Hi, I’m Jason, pleased to meet you.”  At three beers, I may start expressing mildly interesting opinions or philosophies.  At four beers, I may be inclined to hug.

I had four beers this evening…but I repressed my hugging instincts.

A few food notes from this evening:

The chocolate chocolate chip cookies from Sunset 44 were heavenly.

The tapenade from LoRusso’s was amazing.

The meatballs from Ricardos were outstanding.

Bridge had all poultry dishes, so I couldn’t partake, but it looked amazing, and I heard good things (as usual).

So, the keynote speakers this evening were from Ideas in Food, and they passed along info and hints into what makes a blog successful and helpful.  They were great, but I think the real treat of the evening was interacting with people who love St. Louis and love food.  I got to meat the charming couple who run Poptions Popcorn in Frontenac, Fr.  Dominic Garramone, who used to have a cooking show on PBS, and now has a blog called The Bread Monk, and a wonderful representative from Operation Food Search who helps feed the hungry in St. Louis, a nobler cause than all the four and five star restaurants combined.

All in all, it was a fun evening, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Forum bright and early tomorrow morning!

Anthonio’s Taverna

Tags

Anthonio's Taverna, caprese salad, fried pickles, gyro burger, macaroni, St. Louis, St. Louis Zoo, The Hill

The wonderful children and I have adventure day once a week this summer.  On that day we go and do something fun or different around town.  Last Tuesday, we went to the zoo on a very rainy, cool morning.  There is nothing better than an empty St. Louis zoo.  After a pleasant morning petting stingrays, admiring penguins, and gazing at gazelles, we were hungry for a new place for lunch.  So we headed off to the Hill for something different.

I’d heard of Anthonio’s Taverna before, but every time we’d tried to visit, it had been insanely busy.  On this Tuesday, that was not a problem.  The children and I were promptly seated, and we quickly decided on our meal.

First off, go for the fried pickles.  I’m a total sucker for fried pickles, but only if they are fried pickle CHIPS, and not fried pickle SPEARS.  Anthonio’s serves them with a tzatziki sauce, and they were fantastic…we ate them so quickly that I neglected to get a picture.  Regardless, they are lightly battered, perfectly crisp, and a perfect match with tzatziki (which also has cucumber in it).

The wonderful daughter had a Caprese salad, while the delightful son had macaroni and cheese.

The Caprese salad was excellent with wedges of roma tomatoes served with big chunks of fresh mozzarella.  It was served with a helping portion of herbed olive oil, placed on a bed of large fresh basil leaves.  It was excellent.  She ate it right up.

As for the macaroni, the delightful son kept saying how buttery it was.  Usually he demands bright yellow macaroni, but even in this cheesy white sauce, he was satisfied.  And I must say, I snuck a few bites, and it was extraordinarily creamy.  The waitress (who was wonderful) told my son that she regularly orders the mac and cheese herself.

As for me, I had a Big Anthony burger.  This cheeseburger comes with a healthy dose of gyro meat on top.  Overall, the burger was juicy and moist, and the gyro meat was perfectly spiced.  I had it with a side zucchini salad, rather than fries, seeing that I’d already gorged myself on fried pickles.

The salad was a real treat.  Diced zucchini was contrasted by tart, crisp apple chunks.  It was a very refreshing summer salad, and was a great way to end my meal.

Our service was excellent, and we were in and out, and on our way to an afternoon fishing expedition to complete our adventure day.  We didn’t catch anything, but that was okay.  Anthonio’s had already been the real catch of the day.

Five Star Burgers

Tags

Best Burger, Blue Ribbon Burger, Burgers, Clayton, Five Star Burgers, Gateway Burger, St. Louis

I may be late to the party here, but Five Star Burgers is incredible.

I am now on Summer Vacation, or as I like to call it, mini-retirement.  The school year has ended, and I am now taking care of the kiddos at home instead of at school.  We’ve been having a very relaxing, low key summer thus far, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

The lovely wife, however, must continue to toil in the real world.  Yesterday, I was tasked with getting new tires for her vehicle.  I dropped the kiddos off at Grandpa and Grandmas when I received a text asking if I would like to meet for lunch near her office.*  Not wanting to miss a chance to spend some alone time with my beautiful bride, I happily said I’d meet her at her office.

*The lovely wife gets an hour lunch break.  Though she rarely uses it fully, the idea of an hour for lunch seems OPULENT to a teacher.  In the last 13 years, the longest lunch break I’ve had was 26 minutes.  In my current position, I serve milk to students, record their milk credits or debits, sit at a bench style table meant for 6-12 year olds, and keep watch over the herd as they devour their brownish lunches 174 days a year.  When I worked at a public high school in the area, lunch was 19 minutes long!  Now, I certainly realize teaching has many perks, but man, an hour lunch break to do with what you want sure is nice.

Five Star Burgers is just down the street from her office, and I had gone here once before with the kiddos back in December.  Yesterday, however, we had the opportunity to eat out on the patio, and I left pondering if there is a better burger in St. Louis.

We were promptly seated and our drink orders were taken.  I ordered a Schlafly Kolsch and the lovely wife got an iced tea (she was still at work, after all).

Schlafly Kolsch is a summer favorite!

I had had the Dad’s Green Chile Cheeseburger on my previous visit, and thought I’d try something else today.  So I ordered the Blue Ribbon Burger, medium rare.  The burger is topped with bacon, port braised onions, and Gorgonzola cheese.  Meanwhile, the lovely wife ordered the Gateway Burger, which comes with bacon, cheddar, onion rings, and barbecue sauce.

Finally, to go with our burgers we ordered a small basket of sweet potato fries to share.

While waiting for our burgers, I sipped the Kolsch and we enjoyed watching busy Claytonians (is that the correct demonym?) stroll by on their lunch break.  We were further entertained by a group of financial wizards at the table next to us discuss the S&P 500 and their various off-color misadventures.

After a reasonable wait, our burgers arrived.  The burgers are very large, and the lovely wife gave me half of hers.  I intended of eating half of mine and hers, but that plan fell by the wayside upon biting into the Blue Ribbon Burger.

My blue ribbon burger up close.

First off, the burger was cooked perfectly.  Amply pink and exceptionally moist, the ground beef by itself was a treat.  However, paired with the delicious meat were the oh-so-sweet braised red onions.  They were a wonderful complement to the savory beef.  Another thing I really enjoyed about the burger was the bacon.  Rather than strips, it is served crumbled on top of the burger.  Finally, the sharp, tangy Gorgonzola added a nice contrast to the sweet onions, savory beef, and salty bacon.  Taken together, it was an incredible burger served on a lightly toasted bun.

The entire Blue Ribbon Burger plate.

As for the Gateway Burger, it too was good, but not quite as exciting as the Blue Ribbon.  Once again, hers was cooked to her specifications (medium well), and the meat was very flavorful.  I liked the cheddar, bacon, and onion rings on the burger, but found the barbecue sauce to be too sweet for my liking (In full disclosure, I much prefer ketchup and mayo on any burger to barbecue sauce).

The delectable Gateway Burger

Finally, the sweet potato fries were a treat.  Served with maple cream, they were a fantastic complement to our meal.  After devouring our meal, our check was promptly taken care of, and I drove the lovely wife back to her office fifty-five minutes after we had left.  It was a nice mini-date, and I headed back to St. Charles satisfyingly full and ready to take on another day of summer relaxation.

Sweet potato fries with maple cream.

Five Star Burgers worthy of your time over your opulent one hour lunch break.  I really enjoyed everything about our visit: good staff, good beer, great burgers, and lovely company in an enjoyable setting.

If you find yourself in Clayton craving a hearty lunch, Five Star Burgers is sure to satisfy.  Check it out.  And if you do, you may find me there on my wife’s lunch break.

Let the grilling season begin, plus other assorted thoughts on a spring day.

Tags

chimichurri, grilling, morel mushrooms, ribeye steaks, ribeyes, spring, St. Louis

I am really afraid this is going to be one of those years where we really don’t have a spring.  I just get a feeling it’s going to be cool right up to the last day of school (A month from today, not that anyone is counting…22 actual school days left…154 hours of instructional time…) then BOOM!  Summer will hit with full force 95 degree heat, and we will commence with three months of midwestern misery.  However, this has been a lovely weekend, if a bit on the cool side, and for the first time this year, I fired up the old Weber Performer Grill and made some fantastic ribeye steaks that I purchased at Costco yesterday.  

I made this purchase in hopes that we would have friends over today, but sadly things fell through with both families we invited.  On the bright side, I now have additional steaks for future guests.  Also, I now am fully confident I can make some amazing steaks for that time. 

I am somewhat intimidated by thick-cut meat, whether it is pork, chicken, or steaks.  There is always the challenge of doneness vs. dryness.  I certainly understand the need to cook pork and chicken to the point where micro-badguys meat their doom, yet I also HATE cooking any meat to the point where they resemble the briquettes they were cooked by.  

At the same time, I also hate the look of horror on my guest’s face when a piece of meat is not cooked to their liking.  I tend to like things on the rarer side, while my mom likes things partially mummified.  My wife is a little picky about doneness as well, and I always feel like a total failure when things need to be put back on the grill (or worse, the microwave!)

Anyway, tonight I grilled three VERY thick ribeyes from Costco.  After about 7 minutes of direct heat right over the coals, I moved them around the edges of the coals and put the cover on the grill for another eight minutes of cooking.  Took them off the grill, let them rest covered for another seven minutes, and then we dug in to some of the best steaks I’ve ever made.  They were perfectly medium to medium-rare throughout, with a nice brown crust on the outside.  The lovely wife and I paired it with both chimichurri sauce (which is becoming a real house favorite) and Malbec wine…very Argentinian.  

People often mistake me for a gaucho.

The lovely wife took some fantastic pictures of our delightful dinner, and you may commence mouth watering now.

As an aside, the lovely family and I did some hiking this weekend, and I looked for some morel mushrooms without any success.  Today I went out again looking without any success.  So, if any of you are amateur or professional mycologists (people who study mushrooms and other fungi) and would have any tips for me, or where I should be looking in the St. Louis area, let me know!

All in all, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and a great week ahead.

 

Gelateria Del Leone

Tags

billy goat chips, caprese salad, focaccia, gelateria, gelateria del leone, Gelato, italian sandwich, missouri botanical garden, pesto, south grand, St. Louis

The lovely family plus the fun-filled sister’s family went to the Missouri Botanical Garden today.  It was a warm sunny day, and we were able to fully appreciate the Japanese Cherry Blossoms “snowing” on the kiddos, a plethora of daffodils, and an abundance of tulips.  MoBot is fantastic at any time of year, but during the spring, you really wish you could visit it every day.

We left at closing time, and upon the lovely wife’s recommendation, we headed over to South Grand and Gelateria Del Leone.  She had recently met clients and taken their picture there, and thought I’d love it.

The lovely wife knows me so well.

First, a few words on gelato.  I first had gelato as a 19 year old during a visit to Rome back in 1997.  I was young and on a very limited budget.  I’m pretty sure I hadn’t had anything to eat that day and I ordered a gelato from a back-street gelateria.  I’m not sure if I knew the taste of alcohol back then the way I do today, but let me tell you, there was a hefty dose of rum in my chocolate gelato I ordered that day.  Happily buzzed, I savored the creamy, rich texture of that Italian treat while being exposed to art, history, Italian Communist Farmer’s Political marches, and home-cooked Italian food made by an Indian-Italian, on what was possibly one of the most bizarre days of my life.  After that, gelato sort of disappeared from my life for quite some time.

Today however, gelato is fighting for its spot in our frozen dairy loving hearts.*  I’ve seen gelato popping up in local supermarkets and in other locations around town.

*I think there will come a point where we as the human race will be confined to our Hoverounds, amiably joysticking our way from Dairy Queen, to Culver’s Frozen Custard, to Fro Yo, to a local Gelateria.  Seriously, our love of frozen dairy treats knows no limits.

Of the frozen dairy treats however, gelato is the healthiest choice (relatively speaking, of course).  Gelato generally has less cream and more milk in the recipe.  How is it so rich, dense, and creamy then you ask?  Well, gelato is churned at a very slow speed, and very little air gets whipped into the mixture. Therefore you get the dense creamy texture that gelato is known for.

Anyway, back to Gelateria Del Leone.  We actually went there for dinner, and the gelato was truly an added bonus on an excellent meal.  I ordered the Italiano Panini while the kiddos got the Pesto Grilled Cheese sandwich.  There was no kids meal options available, so if you’re going there with the kiddos be prepared to spend a little more than usual, but the sandwiches were served with Billy Goat Chips (which are an AWESOME St. Louis product) and a drink.  The lovely wife ordered a Caprese salad and bruschetta for everyone to share.  The bruschetta was fantastic, with a fresh mix of tomatoes, shallots, and basil on crispy toasted bread.  It was definitely lighter and brighter than most bruschetta I’ve had.

The sandwiches came after a short wait, and were fantastic.  The Italian came with prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, shallots, provolone, pesto mayo.  First off, the focaccia bread is house made and was a perfect blend of crunchy and soft.  The sandwich had a reasonable amount of meat and cheese, not neither overwhelming the flavor of the other.  I appreciated how reasonable the portion size actually was.  Sometimes Italian sandwiches tend to be meat heavy, leading to a cured meat coma…not so here.  It was satisfying yet not overwhelming in size.

The kids’ sandwiches were a real highlight however.  First off, I do hate lying to my son, but sometimes you need to make compromises to get them to eat food.

The delightful son is particular about his cheese.  Basically it must be yellow, or yellowish.  You can get Muenster cheese by him, but that’s as far as he’ll go on the whiteness scale.  Except pizza.  He’ll eat pizza.

Furthermore, he’s not wild about pesto…but he has loved the chimichurri sauce I’ve made recently for steak dishes.  Chimichurri is a vivid green.

He was a bit shocked when his grilled cheese sandwich came with white cheese with green topping.  So I proceeded to tell him it was pizza cheese with chimichurri sauce on top.  Although not convinced, he gave it a go and ate half his sandwich, knowing that he needed to save room for gelato.  That was okay by me, as it allowed me to eat the other half of his sandwich (I saved half of my Italian for today’s lunch).  The cheese, pesto, and focaccia was a heavenly combination.  Once again, each ingredient was balanced, and it was one of the finest grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve sampled.

The lovely wife’s Caprese salad looked delightful and although not in season, the tomatoes looked fresh and tempting.

Finally we come to the gelato.  While all the selections looked incredibly tempting, I sampled some Mayan chocolate (infused with cayenne pepper), but settled on the Dulce de Leche and Chocolate and Salted Caramel.  And there we sat, savoring a spring day with our tiny gelato shovels (I totally love gelato spoons, it’s like you’re an enormous construction worker), scooping out bite size morsels of frozen dairy goodness on a perfect spring day.

There were other touches about Gelateria Del Leone I enjoyed as well.  Real glass cups for water, and to go boxes made from recycled paper.  I liked the vibe of quality and sustainability.  The staff were all super friendly, and although we didn’t partake they have a wide selection of tea and coffee.

All in all, Gelateria Del Leone provided our family with a memorable meal to cap the perfect St. Louis spring day.  We all agreed that we would come back the next time we visited the Botanical Gardens.  If you find yourself near South Grand, treat yourself to a fine sandwich and tasty dairy treat.

11 11 Mississippi: Hobbits would Approve.

Tags

11 11 Mississippi, beef, pork, St. Louis, The Hobbit

First off, a big, BIG THANK YOU goes to our friends Hannah and Chris for giving us the gift certificate that prompted our visit to this fine restaurant on Friday night.

We had been looking forward to Friday night for months.  Last night was the premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  We are huge Tolkien fans and love the Lord of the Rings series.  We decided to make a night out of it by adding dinner as well.  After some deliberation, we decided a matinee showing followed by a late dinner would be the way to go.  If the movie was good, we could discuss it at length over a nice dinner, if it was a bomb (I’m talking about you  M. Night Shama-lama-ding-dong and your The Last Airbender), we could salvage the evening with a great meal.

However, between various stresses of the week and the tragic school shooting in Connecticut yesterday, we weren’t really in a jovial mood going into the movie, and it we still were a little down at dinner, even though the movie was excellent.

With all that said, we had a marvelous dinner.  We were seated at a cozy table on the upper level of the restaurant with a view of what was going on in the kitchen.  I really enjoyed seeing the pizzas going into and coming out of the wood fired oven.  When I go back, I’ll have to give those a try.

I will say, that since I’ve started blogging about restaurants, I have come to pay closer attention to the look of the restaurant and my overall comfort level while dining.  I found two things I really liked about 11 11 Mississippi, and one thing I didn’t.  First, my chair was super comfortable.  I will admit, I prefer booths to tables in restaurants.  I prefer cooshy comfort over hard wood any day.  But, these chairs were incredibly comfortable.  It made me want to settle in for a long meal.  Second, I found the restaurant to be appropriately warm.  Usually I don’t care about warmth that much, but my lovely wife HATES being cold.  When we go into a cold restaurant, it becomes a major topic of discussion and distraction.  She will then proceed to go into Eskimo mode, putting on whatever coat she has at the ready.  That always bugs me.  11 11 was extremely pleasant.  I even commented on it at the end of the meal how nice it felt in there.

However, we were sat at quite possibly the darkest table I’ve sat at in a long while.  I am not Gollum.  Give me light please.  We looked around and saw that other portions of the restaurant were well lit, and it was a bit annoying.  Sadly, our food pictures didn’t turn out well for this post.

Other than that minor quibble, we had a great experience.  Our waiter was excellent, rattling off the night’s specials with ease, and delivering prompt but unobtrusive service throughout the evening.

We ordered a couple of glasses of red wine, (Sadly, not from the Southfarthing) and ordered the Fontina Fonduta, an Italian take on cheese fondue.  Before that came out, we enjoyed the focaccia bread that came with crushed garlic and oil.

The Fondue came with toasted wedges of bread, and was a nice start to our meal.  I did notice at this point that I was falling into the “Filling up on bread trap” and left some of the appetizer uneaten.

Since we had a rather large gift certificate, we went all out on our meals, ordering the 12 ounce ribeye and a special of the evening, Porchetta.

Porchetta is a boneless pork roast that is stuffed with various herbs and roasted over a wood fire.  It had a layer of crispy skin on the outside, and was served with its own pan drippings, atop a portion of Yukon gold mashed potatoes and green beans.  It was fantastic.  Some bites of pork were fork tender, and had a very full flavor, much richer than your average store-bought pork.  I am not sure if it was a heritage breed hog, but it certainly showed how much flavor pork can have.

With that said, the lovely wife’s ribeye was even better.  Served with a gorgonzola butter, it was perfectly cooked to her order of medium.  I have a theory about beef.  Outstanding beef is pretty much better than any other meat, however, most beef is just alright.  This was outstanding.  The lovely wife even commented, “I don’t usually eat fat.  But this fat is amazing.”  Yes.  Yes it was.  Spoken like a true dwarf.

When all was said and done, we were two satisfied hobbits.  All Bilbo Baggins wanted was a quiet hole, a warm fire, a comfy chair, good food, and good company.  He would have felt right at home at 11 11 Mississippi.

And so did we.

Pastaria: A Plate Full of Pleasure

Tags

Clayton, Gelato, Gerard Craft, Pasta, Pastaria, Restaurants, St. Louis, Tiramisu

My wife recently started a job as a photographer for a rather large St. Louis publication.  One of the perks of her job is that she has the opportunity to visit some excellent local restaurants and shoot their food.  This has been awesome in two main ways thus far:

1.  We have had some amazing leftovers brought home over the last two months.  Last night we had grilled jumbo shrimp seasoned with garlic and herbs, a cauliflower cake (surprisingly good), a marvelous angel hair pasta dish, and prosciutto wrapped fontina cheese.*

*We tried to sell the last item as a bacon wrapped cheese stick to the children.  They found the prosciutto to be too salty and both rejected it.  This meant more for the lovely wife and I.  Hooray!

2.  It has allowed us to learn about new local restaurants that we would like to try.  Last week  she had the opportunity to photograph Pastaria, and came home raving about it.  So, when the opportunity arose for us to go out on our own Friday night, our plans were set.

First off, let me say I have never tried any of Gerard Craft’s other restaurants in the St. Louis area.  I know Niche, Brasserie, and Taste are all very well regarded locally and nationally, and I look forward to trying each when I get the chance.  His reputation and the quality of the food served at Pastaria certainly help explain the crowd that was to be found there on Friday night.

Overall, I really enjoyed the energy of the whole restaurant.  I liked the combination of rustic and modern touches in the decor.  We had red-checkered tablecloths and my wife sat on what looked like an old church pew.  However, this is contrasted with the large open space, open kitchen and modern lighting touches in the restaurant.

Surprisingly, I also enjoyed the closeness between fellow diners.  We were basically sharing a table with the couple next to us, and although I was initially uncomfortable, I enjoyed the feeling of a shared experience.  Also, I think seating diners close together helps keep conversation civil.*  They certainly were having a polite, pleasant discussion, and I feel that it encouraged Sarah and I to keep things light, airy, and fun as well.  We needed that this month.  Additionally, you get to see clearly what your neighbors ordered, which was the primary reason I ordered tiramisu for dessert (which I hardly ever do in a restaurant).  Well played Mr. Craft, well played.

*Restaurant tables and booths are NOT private confessionals.  My wife and I overheard a rather loud conversation at the Melting Pot several years back that prevented us from having any discussion at all.  It was fascinating, but awkward for everyone.

With all that said, it’s on to the food.  I really love when something simple is done extraordinarily well.  Pasta is certainly simple.  Flour, water, salt.  Boom.  Pasta.  However, making and cooking excellent fresh pasta is an art.  I feel that Mr. Craft and the staff at Pastaria have done an outstanding job in demonstrating how good simple pasta dishes can be.

We started by ordering an appetizer of crispy risotto balls.  These bite sized morsels arrived piping hot, were covered with breadcrumbs and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Initially I liked dipping them in the aioli rather than the pomodoro sauce, but our waiter suggested combining the sauces.  My last ball received this treatment.  It almost made me order a second round of these delightful crispy on the outside-creamy on the inside treats.

Choosing our entrees was a bit difficult.  I had checked out the menu earlier that afternoon,and I knew I wanted the Papardelle pasta served with smoked pork, mascarpone cheese, and apples.  I was initially a little concerned by apples in pasta, but I am a complete sucker for the words “smoked pork” and felt that I couldn’t go wrong.  Sarah had a hard time deciding between the pistachio ravioli which she had photographed the day before and the gargenelli, a tubular pasta served with braised beef and olives.  However, upon our excellent waiter’s description of the dish, we went with the gargenelli.

The papardelle was amazing.  Wide flat noodles carrying a creamy tomato sauce with finely shredded pork that had a burst of smoky flavor.  Thinly sliced granny smith (I think) apples provided a nice contrast in both taste and texture.

I also had several bites of the gargenelli.  Here the braised beef was a real star.  It had a bold  meaty flavor that held up well with the thicker tubes of pasta.  Also, there was a burst of citrus flavor in the meat that brightened the whole dish.  We ended up boxing up some of this dish with the intent of eating it on Saturday.  Once home, it didn’t make it till Midnight.

After seeing our close neighbors order dessert, we decided to splurge as well.  This is made easier by the gelato bar located in the restaurant.  Our waiter told us we could go on up and sample gelato before we made our dessert order.

Yes sir!

After two samples each, the lovely wife decided to go with the salted caramel, while I decided that although the gelato was excellent, I had to try that tiramisu our fellow guests had ordered.

My one and only complaint comes with our dessert order.  While I was promptly brought a generous helping of tiramisu by another staff member, my wife’s gelato sat there in plain sight for about five minutes waiting to be brought to our table.  I told a staff member, who promptly discarded that gelato, served a fresh bowl, brought it to our table, and apologized for the inconvenience.

Interestingly, eating gelato is a remarkable cure for any frustrations you may have had moments before.

The tiramisu had very delicate layers of ladyfingers with one of the airiest cheese fillings I have had.  It was a very refreshing way to end the meal…except that Sarah couldn’t finish her smooth, creamy, gelato.  I was happy to oblige.

Overall, we left Pastaria feeling well fed, and well taken care of by the staff.  If you find yourself in Clayton looking for a simple yet satisfying meal, Pastaria is waiting for you.