just my opinion June 20, 2008

I realized something last night…..Pat at the Shaved Duck is one damn good bartender.  The drinks there are really really good.  Yes, I mostly drink beer there….but he made a Manhattan for Si last night that was simply amazing.  The drink menu there is innovative, delicious and so, so reasonably priced.  There ingredients are freshly prepared….for instance, there is a jar of fresh peach puree, house preserved olives and cherries, fresh picked herbs…and always a BIG bowl of fresh citrus.  Good job, Pat!!!  I’ve decided that next visit I will have the mojito….served with a sprinkling of rosemary….reminds me of Simon’s famous rosemary pineapple martinis.

Food and Wine: June Issue May 3, 2008

**Photo by Jonathan Swegle

Be on the lookout for St. Louis’ favorite new pastry chef in the upcoming issue of F&W. That’s right, Mathew Rice will be the featured pastry chef for The Last Bite. Wonder what they will feature….some would say red velvet cake….some would say the kulfi….what dessert do you think they will feature?

Whatever it is, it will be delicious. Be sure to pick up June’s issue of Food and Wine and support our local chefs!!

The Shaved Duck –worth the wait May 2, 2008

We stopped in the Shaved Duck last night for a bite to eat….the place was packed!  I was so happy to see that.  We opted to eat at the bar to save us the wait for a table.  The front bar area is great…looking forward to it on a blustry winter night….just the kind of place you want to have a nip.

Technical difficulties aside (which ALL restaurants have on their very first night) the food was excellent!  I had the duck liver and some cheese (of course….it came from my husband).  Si had the hot and sour duck soup…almost a consommé…delicious.  Our guest had a scallop wrapped bacon (that’s right…scallop AROUND bacon) and we dug the duck frites (uber shoestring curls of potatoes fried in duck fat)  Jesus H Christ those were good.  I will say this though:  I wish the fries were bigger…more of a traditional frites…but amazing none the less.  My biggest pet peeve (and you will be reassured that I will write/call and tell them this) :  They spelled Anheuser wrong on the menu.  Now, I know that tons of you won’t care b/c you think Anheuser Busch is the devil…but this is St. Louis and I do believe we need to show a little respect to the King of Beers as they have done a great deal for our city and especially my family….AB has been putting dinner on the table one way or another for my family for over 100 years…sooooo….get the name right.  It’s ANHEUSER not Anheiser.  My grandfather would thank you.

They are finding their pace and working their way through a new service very well.  All employees were courteous and helpful.  The food is delicious with small places of charcuterie, cheese, lots of duck..even a great confit, larger plates of market fish, game and chicken and house cured meats….desserts are by Serendipity….which are good…but they should go for Veruca….and knock everyone’s socks off.  The beer list is well, amazing (thanks to MIke at STLHops.com) and varied.  I stuck with the Schlafly Summer Kolsch…my fav this time of year…and soooo easy to drink.

And, for those of you who were there with me last night….we have decided to make a new tradition for the Shaved Duck….upon leaving for the night….you get a nice big slap on the keister….don’t ask…just know it could be coming. 

Breaking News April 30, 2008

Simon just got a call from the boys at the Shaved Duck….license came in…open tomorrow after 5 p.m.!!

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO

Wait….WAIT…..SOON….WAIT SOME MORE…YOU CAN DO IT April 30, 2008

Found out the Shaved Duck is still waiting on the liquor license. (CITY OF ST LOUIS, WHAT IS THE DEAL)

No opening this week as originally though.

Patience is a virtue.

so excited…and i just can’t hide it April 14, 2008

going to an early dinner with Si tonight at the long awaited Shaved Duck. hee hee hee…..i’m giddy with excitement. if you could see me now…i’m jumping up and down in front of my computer screen with a growling belly……

Philadelphia Solo April 9, 2008

First off, just to set the record straight…I did NOT bring a camera with me to Philly. I just couldn’t fit it in the suitcase and/or my computer bag. Afterall, this was a trip for work: the amazing restaurants were a by product. And not to mention my best friend from college still live in Philly so we for sure were not going to do any beer drinking, socializing or generic getting jiggy with it.

Friday: Day of arrival. I can’t begin to tell you how good it was to be back in the Philadelphia. I did a brief, albeit, culturally and culinary full stint in this old town back in the early part of 2004. I fell in love instantly. I lived in Center City but dreamed of a day when I would own a townhome on Washington Square. (still dreaming). Philly has a car share service so Blair picked me up in an Audi. Yep, an Audi. PhillyCarShare is no joke. So, first things first…Jim’s. Got a cheesesteak: order was for ‘american wit”. If you have ever ordered a cheesesteak you know what that means. If not….well, it just means I got one with american cheese and onions/peppers. Lucky for me B hid some Bell’s in the Audi and we had a nice little snacky snack on the corner of South Street and 6th. I dropped my bags at B’s minuscule apartment. (it was like living in a dorm room….loft bed and all) and we picked up Kitty and headed to Marigold Kitchen. The Marigold Kitchen is on the corner of 45th and Larchwood…nestled in a residential neighborhood. If you blinked you would probably just think it was somebody’s house. Very minimalist in it’s interior but welcoming. It’s a BYO so B brought a red and his buddy J brought another red. Fun huh. They were good little wines…jammy with great notes of spice. Have to be honest and say I didn’t pay too close attention to them. One was French the other from the pacific NW. Dinner was good. I started off with sweatbread nuggets and puy lentils and a chicken liver terrine on brioche toast with apricot mash and pickled celery. That was the high point of my evening. Not to say that my main course was bad…it wasn’t…it just didn’t pop. It was underseasoned and there was no salt on the table to use. But…despite that it was good. The chicken was tender and the cornbread stuffing was well…corny. The roasted cipollinis and brussel sprouts were done perfectly….it all just needed a bit of salt. The final course was a banana bread pudding. It was painfully obvious that they used the same dinner rolls for the bread pudding. There really was no custard aspect to the dish…they looked like cut up rolls with bananas on them. The flavor was good but I like really dense bread pudding….i like the custard aspect. Kitty had the chocolate cake with vanilla malted milk shot. The malted milk shot was good. Probably the best part of the dessert. B had a tart…i didn’t taste it. He said it was okay.

Next morning: Breakfast at Sabrina’s. By far the best french toast i have ever had outside my own kitchen. Challah lightly battered and pan fried golden brown. Had just enough crispiness and tenderness to make a great french toast. Real maple syrup and crispy bacon. It was nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the morning.

More to come on DiBruno Bros, D’Angelo’s and The Black Sheep Pub. So much to say…not enough time to write!!!

Over the river and through the woods to Kevin Willmann’s house we went March 22, 2008

Last night marked our first visit to Erato on Main Street in Edwardsville, Illinois.

I was born and raised in the city….almost downtown to be honest. I grew up thinking everything I needed was within my reach in the confines of the 9th and 7th Wards. As I aged, I found myself leaving St. Louis and realizing that there is a great big world out there to experience. I moved back to St. Louis in 2004 and made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t pigeon hole myself to my pre-conceived notions of my hometown. I think I have done a pretty good job of that. Yes, I hate going outside the 170 inner-belt….I still think 270 is a hassle and crossing the Mississippi is a weekend trip.

But, earlier this year, I was lured to the quaint little town of Edwardsville by some mind-blowing, make you slap your mama, fresh baked artisan breads and sweets at 222 Bakery. Down the street is a wine bar, Erato. Little did I know that they served a full menu….and then a fellow StL food blogger had a spot on his site about it. I decided then and there that we would head back over the great muddy Mississip to check this place out.

Then life got in the way…broken foot, trips to Ireland….until last night. We kept our Friday night completely free to make the 30 mile drive to Edwardsville to eat at Erato. And, after the meal I had….I would run the 30 miles to dine there again.

I won’t go into specifics about the meal, but Erato has been put into my top 5 meals in my adult life and my top 5 local eating spots. Do yourself a favor. Gas up the car, get a sitter and head to Erato on Main Street and let Kevin Willmann make you one of the most amazing meals you’ll ever eat. The wine list is wonderfully organized with some great (and reasonable) selections. The beer list is above par compared to most St. Louis spots. The deserts were scrumptious. It’s amazing what comes out of that tiny little kitchen those guys make their magic in. It’s a comfortable, laid back restaurant for folks who appreciate locally grown, amazingly prepared meals and taking time to experience a local chef’s ingenuity. I’m almost tempted not to publish this post because I want to keep it all for myself…..but…I won’t hide Chef Willmann’s light under a bushel basket and share him with the world. Go to Erato on Main.

And I’d like you to spoon feed me too…. March 12, 2008

How much do you expect from your chef? Some folks are pretty damn nervy if you ask me. Sitting at fine dining establishment recently (not in St. Louis…for those wondering) I saw countless amounts of patrons just walk back to the kitchen DURING DINNER SERVICE to thank the chef. While the praise is welcomed…the invasion of this kitchen was not. I just find this practice to be so very very rude. Unless you are good friends with the chef (and good friends know when their buds are busiest) you should not go back in the kitchen unless invited.

This rant was born after reading an article NY Times this afternoon. The role of the chef.

photo by Evan Sung; David Chang, chef at the new Momofuku Ko in New York, serves with a smile.

Grab a stool and belly up to a new brand of upscale dining, where closeness to the cook comes with your meal as routinely as bread. Although counter seating, open kitchens, and chef’s tables are not new to the scene, Momofuku Ko and a few other restaurants are reaching for a new level of intimacy. The chefs are not only cooking and plating the food, but also serving it, taking coats, recommending wine and confirming reservations.

“Everyone who works here is a chef, and everyone is also a dishwasher,” said Michael Carlson, the chef at Schwa in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, which serves elaborate multi-course menus of dishes such as parsnip custard with ice-wine vinegar caramel, candied sweetbreads and a lavender lecithin bubble. (It’s a dessert.)

So often patrons want that intimacy with their chef….and the feeling of prestige or entitlement arises when spending your valuable time & money in their restaurant.

But I ask this…how much can one person do? They are only human…why do we constantly expect super-human from a person who just has a passion for food and wants to share it with you.

this little piggy went to market March 7, 2008

It’s March. It’s St. Louis. It’s cold…but according to Mother Nature, Spring Equinox is slated for March 20, 2008. uh..right.

All I know is that the River Hills Farmer’s Market opening day is tomorrow. If you have never been to the River Hills Farmer’s Market, located just about 70 miles NW of St. Louis in the quaint little town of Silex, MO…you should come with me tomorrow. It seems that on Saturdays into the 1930s the city fathers would gate off Main Street into stock pens so butcher stock could be loaded onto the Short Line. Eggs and cream were bartered for essentials, and horses and mules were traded on one end of town. Inspired by this in its search of a community-service project, the Silex 4-H Flyers club decided to recreate the traditions of a Saturday Market Day and thus, River Hills Farmers Market was born.

Amish baked goods, green beans and tomatoes, table eggs and hatching eggs, baby chicks, peafowl, goats and sheep are just a few of the weekly offerings. I can’t wait to gas up the truck and head up north for a day of fun in Silex.

From Localharvest.org:

River Hills Farmers Market is entering our 18th year. We are open on the 2nd and 4th Saturday, starting March the 8th. We offer a variety of market items, from Heritage poultry to Heirloom vegetables. On any given Saturday you can find Welsummer chickens, fresh country eggs, honey, fresh baked goods, Royal Palm Turkeys, local fruits and vegetables.

The Cheesemonger will be at the shop that day and unable to travel to the market. That means I will be left to my own devices. muuwhaaaahaaa!

**we will be leaving St. Louis at approx 8:45 am from Clayton.