400 Olive's is described on its website as an "urban grille [that] takes advantage of our location by placing diners in an elevated corner of the hotel’s atmospheric charm. Warm and welcoming." What they should have said is "a typical overpriced, underwhelming hotel restaurant that is strangely located next to the reservations desk."
This was a Groupon we kept putting off, so long so that we had three days left on this one-year valid discount. I didn't know at the purchase time that this restaurant was in the downtown Hilton, otherwise I would have keep looking. We arrived around 6:30 and the hostess sat us quickly in a small table along the wall, which was fine. Our waiter came over and took our wine order and asked if "I was familiar with that wine." What is that supposed to mean? It sucks? We waited and waited for bread service, which every other table had; finally I asked and our waiter exclamed "Oh sorry about that!" Actually, no. He said, "uh yeah." Good thing we asked for it because the spreadable herb butter was the best part of the meal.
Tim and I ordered the same salad, the namesake salad that came in at an astounding $9 each. I thought the salad tasted fine but Tim said his had enough dressing only to cover about 20% of the leaves. He was eating dry salad. Dry nine dollar salad. For the entree, I ordered the beef tenderloin which was good but suffered from a sauce and vegetables that reminded me of many-a wedding reception dinner. Tim ordered a pork chop that at a glance looked medium rare. He said it was really not good at all. Tim had to nearly trip our waiter to get just one water refill. The whole experience was just weird.
400olive.com
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
She Said A-Trisket A-Brisket
Bogart's Smokehouse is St. Louis' newest BBQ joint in a city that is known for its BBQ but has no BBQ. It is a cleverly re-packaged "Pappy's II" with prime Real Estate across from the Soulard Farmer's Market. Today was a nice but not warm spring day, but we were pleasantly surprised to find parking (keep heading west on Lafayette about 1/2 block) amid the many market goers. This space is small and primed for carry-out; we arrived on time to eat indoors and enjoy the Blues City Deli-esque piped soundtrack. By the time we left the line was almost out the door, but staying true to Pappy's business plan, Bogart's is overstaffed with smiling t-shirt wearing employees, and today, two were handing out riblets to sample for patient patrons(right after we arrived).
Bogart's did a decent job of masking its connection to Pappy's, although the owner, Mike, who is instantly recognizable (although I had to look up his name) was leaving as we were arriving. He is also the face of Pappy's too, as I have seen him there on the floor once or twice. The offerings are standard BBQ joint fare, with the addition of the Sausage Fatty (??) and the subtraction of the Adam Bomb. Tim and I are die-hard brisket fans and both ordered a sandwich instead of the platter, which we split last time at Pappy's. Each sandwich came with two sides: I went with the baked beans, which were spicy and had burnt ends mixed in, and the potato chips, which a local business "Billy Goat Chips" provides. This is a great deal for the price ($7.50), considering the chips alone probably cost around 2 bucks if you purchased them at Schnuck's. Tim had the coleslaw in place of the baked beans, which he described as "nothing spectacular." It's unfortunate that the Broadway Oyster Bar has such awesome coleslaw because no other coleslaw can compare, according to my husband, although he continues to order it again and again and complain.
Bogart's is another good edition of non-healthy food to a overall non-healthy food neighborhood (see July 2010 blog on Soulard Gyro and Deli). Maybe next time we'll bike here to burn off some calories-or I will.
http://bogartssmokehouse.com/about/
Bogart's did a decent job of masking its connection to Pappy's, although the owner, Mike, who is instantly recognizable (although I had to look up his name) was leaving as we were arriving. He is also the face of Pappy's too, as I have seen him there on the floor once or twice. The offerings are standard BBQ joint fare, with the addition of the Sausage Fatty (??) and the subtraction of the Adam Bomb. Tim and I are die-hard brisket fans and both ordered a sandwich instead of the platter, which we split last time at Pappy's. Each sandwich came with two sides: I went with the baked beans, which were spicy and had burnt ends mixed in, and the potato chips, which a local business "Billy Goat Chips" provides. This is a great deal for the price ($7.50), considering the chips alone probably cost around 2 bucks if you purchased them at Schnuck's. Tim had the coleslaw in place of the baked beans, which he described as "nothing spectacular." It's unfortunate that the Broadway Oyster Bar has such awesome coleslaw because no other coleslaw can compare, according to my husband, although he continues to order it again and again and complain.
Bogart's is another good edition of non-healthy food to a overall non-healthy food neighborhood (see July 2010 blog on Soulard Gyro and Deli). Maybe next time we'll bike here to burn off some calories-or I will.
http://bogartssmokehouse.com/about/
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Pork-Extravaganza
Today's review is UG road edition, featuring The Vintage Restaurant at Stone Hill Winery. We were on a get-away for our first anniversary, with all major events (eating, sleeping) planned by Tim. Since I plan 90% of our food outings and Tim plans for Red Lobster, I wasn't sure what was in store. He assured me he "did his research" and since I had been to Stone Hill several times but had not patronized this winery restaurant, I was excited to check it out.
Tim booked The Vintage several weeks in advance, which turned out to be necessary, as on a Saturday night IN MARCH, there was a 90 minute wait. Sheesh. We arrived about 30 minutes early to have a free wine tasting to determine which wine to order without hesitation. It was a pleasant surprise to see a minimal (1$?) mark-up of the wine; even though all of the offerings are estate bottled, this is where most dining establishments keep their bottom line in the black. We opted for Hermannsberger, which can only be said we a pathetic German accent, which tastes something in the Pinot range. To start off the meal, the only option Tim saw was a variety of cured sausages, so that's what we had. All three were good, but the Knockwurst was especially outstanding. Tim had a 6 oz. filet that was good-but not the best he's had-and I had pork schnitzel with a sauce recommended by our waitress which was underseasoned and nothing to write home about. The schnitzel was good, however. My "traditional German dish" came with a salad and more "traditional German sides," of which I chose spatzle and potato pancakes. Full.
But of course, we couldn't pass up dessert. Tim had the cheesecake and I had carrot cake, both totally unnecessary after pigging out but might as well keep going in that respect.
The clientele did scream "Missoura" with Tim and I feeling slightly overdressed in a sweater and button down shirt. There was even a Chad Kroger doppelganger sighting.
http://www.stonehillwinery.com/locations/hermann/restaurant/dinnermenu.aspx
Tim booked The Vintage several weeks in advance, which turned out to be necessary, as on a Saturday night IN MARCH, there was a 90 minute wait. Sheesh. We arrived about 30 minutes early to have a free wine tasting to determine which wine to order without hesitation. It was a pleasant surprise to see a minimal (1$?) mark-up of the wine; even though all of the offerings are estate bottled, this is where most dining establishments keep their bottom line in the black. We opted for Hermannsberger, which can only be said we a pathetic German accent, which tastes something in the Pinot range. To start off the meal, the only option Tim saw was a variety of cured sausages, so that's what we had. All three were good, but the Knockwurst was especially outstanding. Tim had a 6 oz. filet that was good-but not the best he's had-and I had pork schnitzel with a sauce recommended by our waitress which was underseasoned and nothing to write home about. The schnitzel was good, however. My "traditional German dish" came with a salad and more "traditional German sides," of which I chose spatzle and potato pancakes. Full.
But of course, we couldn't pass up dessert. Tim had the cheesecake and I had carrot cake, both totally unnecessary after pigging out but might as well keep going in that respect.
The clientele did scream "Missoura" with Tim and I feeling slightly overdressed in a sweater and button down shirt. There was even a Chad Kroger doppelganger sighting.
http://www.stonehillwinery.com/locations/hermann/restaurant/dinnermenu.aspx
Saturday, February 19, 2011
A Trans-cendental Experience?
Fritanga is "St. Louis' only Nicaraguan restaurant" and we're lucky that it's a mere five minute drive from our house. It is located on south Jefferson in a stretch of boarded up businesses and an occasional storefront church. The owners took a gamble putting their business here, but everytime we drive by most of the tables are occupied, though the place is small. This was our second time at Fritanga, but it had been awhile, and they made a small remodel to include a separate bar area with bar height tables.
Nicaraguan cuisine is similar to Cuban or any other Central American country's, with emphasis on meat, plantains, and rice and beans. I went with chancho asada, grilled pork with sides of black beans and rice, sweet plantains, and coleslaw. Tim ordered carne asada, with the typical grilled skirt steak and above sides. I also wanted a side of mojo yuca, as yuca is such an interesting tuber and I have to order it whenever I see it on a menu. We were also give a sampler of three different sauce accompaniments: a cilantro/parsley, a vinagre, and pickled jalepenos. I stayed with the first two but Tim went ahead and dove into the jalepenos, which he may be paying for this AM.
We each ordered a mixed drink with tamarind juice. Tamarind is very sweet, almost sickeningly so, but I enjoyed my rum and tamarind and Tim seemed to like his margarita. Our waiter, (see "gay" below), thought my pronunciation was bueno.
Totally unrelated to the food experience, Fritanga is owned by one, two, or three gay men, each more flamboyant than the last. These are Nicaraguan gays, and if you've been any time around Latinos, being out and proud is not common. Putting their flamboyance to shame last night, however, was a 6 foot tall tranny WHO WOULDN'T HAVE FOOLED MY DAD! She made no attempt to hide her deep baritone when yelling across the bar and during her numerous trips to the "ladies" she walked like she had just had gotten off the old steed. Anyway, this is an inner-city hangout and diversity is expected. Food is good too.
http://www.fritangastl.net/
Nicaraguan cuisine is similar to Cuban or any other Central American country's, with emphasis on meat, plantains, and rice and beans. I went with chancho asada, grilled pork with sides of black beans and rice, sweet plantains, and coleslaw. Tim ordered carne asada, with the typical grilled skirt steak and above sides. I also wanted a side of mojo yuca, as yuca is such an interesting tuber and I have to order it whenever I see it on a menu. We were also give a sampler of three different sauce accompaniments: a cilantro/parsley, a vinagre, and pickled jalepenos. I stayed with the first two but Tim went ahead and dove into the jalepenos, which he may be paying for this AM.
We each ordered a mixed drink with tamarind juice. Tamarind is very sweet, almost sickeningly so, but I enjoyed my rum and tamarind and Tim seemed to like his margarita. Our waiter, (see "gay" below), thought my pronunciation was bueno.
Totally unrelated to the food experience, Fritanga is owned by one, two, or three gay men, each more flamboyant than the last. These are Nicaraguan gays, and if you've been any time around Latinos, being out and proud is not common. Putting their flamboyance to shame last night, however, was a 6 foot tall tranny WHO WOULDN'T HAVE FOOLED MY DAD! She made no attempt to hide her deep baritone when yelling across the bar and during her numerous trips to the "ladies" she walked like she had just had gotten off the old steed. Anyway, this is an inner-city hangout and diversity is expected. Food is good too.
http://www.fritangastl.net/
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Regal Eating
I decided I was in charge of Valentine's Day plans this year, even though Tim did an outstanding job last year. I went to OpenTable, which had a specially designed website for all of your VDay needs, including reservations, naturally. I chose Monarch in Maplewood after hearing positive reviews from coworkers.
Our last upscale dining experience was an utter disaster (see last post) so I had my fingers crossed and lowered my expectations. The latest time available was 5:45, so I was pleasantly surprised when the average age of the diners at this time wasn't much older than us. I was also glad I went with the skirt option and Tim, some chinos as everyone here was dressed to the nines, I'm guessing because of the holiday.
We started off with a charcuterie and cheese platter, which wasn't necessarily self-explanable on the menu. Apparently, the waitress thought the same thing and had to carry a cheat sheet to make sure she described everything correctly. Even though we had just had homemade Bleu Cheese burgers the night before, Tim was all over that option; I saw sheep's milk and thought, "Yes." For the meats, we had some sort of hard pork salami and a huge chunk of country pate, which had venison in it-good.
For the entrees, we both went fish: Tim the flounder and me the skate. Each fish came with some interesting side options. Mine had these pistachio and horseradish sunchokes-wow! and Tim had deep-fried chickpeas. By this time, Tim's hangover had taken over and I flew solo with my dessert: a dark chocolate souffle! Ok I'm stuffed now.
The wine list was very easy to navigate and had options at every pricepoint. The service is outstanding with a separate breadserver, handing out individual garlicky slices, as well as a water girl who kept her left hand behind her back at all times-fancy! The atmosphere is really cool with hundreds of paper-mache butterflies hanging from the ceiling. Finally we found a restaurant that deserves a repeat.
http://monarch.tophatandmonocle.net/
Our last upscale dining experience was an utter disaster (see last post) so I had my fingers crossed and lowered my expectations. The latest time available was 5:45, so I was pleasantly surprised when the average age of the diners at this time wasn't much older than us. I was also glad I went with the skirt option and Tim, some chinos as everyone here was dressed to the nines, I'm guessing because of the holiday.
We started off with a charcuterie and cheese platter, which wasn't necessarily self-explanable on the menu. Apparently, the waitress thought the same thing and had to carry a cheat sheet to make sure she described everything correctly. Even though we had just had homemade Bleu Cheese burgers the night before, Tim was all over that option; I saw sheep's milk and thought, "Yes." For the meats, we had some sort of hard pork salami and a huge chunk of country pate, which had venison in it-good.
For the entrees, we both went fish: Tim the flounder and me the skate. Each fish came with some interesting side options. Mine had these pistachio and horseradish sunchokes-wow! and Tim had deep-fried chickpeas. By this time, Tim's hangover had taken over and I flew solo with my dessert: a dark chocolate souffle! Ok I'm stuffed now.
The wine list was very easy to navigate and had options at every pricepoint. The service is outstanding with a separate breadserver, handing out individual garlicky slices, as well as a water girl who kept her left hand behind her back at all times-fancy! The atmosphere is really cool with hundreds of paper-mache butterflies hanging from the ceiling. Finally we found a restaurant that deserves a repeat.
http://monarch.tophatandmonocle.net/
Sunday, January 30, 2011
In France, We Call it Mal
Clayton, MO, like many municipalities, puts on a restaurant week in the dead of winter. I have no idea how I found out about it (possibly Sauce Magazine), but I can't resist a restaurant week, complete with a limited, and usually subpar, prix fixe menu.
The organizers had a nice website where they listed all of the restaurants along with the menus. I chose the restaurant with the most expensive regular menu, Chez Leon, since the price was already set (25/per). Chez Leon originally was in the Central West End, right across the street from my apartment on Laclede. As a grad student, going there was only a pipe dream. Time to make it reality.
We had reservations and were promptly seated when we arrived by the owner, who was doubling as the maitre d'. We were given the smallest table hugging the wall. The waiter could barely walk between the tables. My head was against a painting by "D. Byrne" (David??) and I was concerned with giving myself a concussion and/or ruining a Jackson Pollock-esque creation that was probably very expensive. Since the menu was prix fixe, we were able to order a starter, an entre and a dessert. No explanations of the mostly French-language menu were offerred so we just made some uneducated guesses: Le gâteau à la Jeanne d'Arc/ crème anglaise must be Joan of Arc's cat creamed English-style. I had to order that.
Our soup of lobster bisque was quite good, with a bit of spice at the end. We both ordered the beef tenderloin, reminiscent of many-a-wedding dinners. Meh. For dessert, my martyred cat actually came out as an espresso cake, which was good but not crazy. Tim had tarte tatin, and apple pie ala mode with a fancy name, and slightly better than my gateau.
The biggest problem we had was with the wine. We each started off with a cocktail, but I wanted to have some wine with my dinner so I asked for a wine menu, which strangly was never offered to us at a French restaurant. It was very modest, with only one page each of white and red. I ordered the Beaujoulais and waited. And waited. Our entrees came out with lightning speed (wedding dinner style) and still no wine. The waiter came back with a Pinot, which is not even close to Beaujoulais, but whatever-I'm almost done with my entree at this point. The wine was bad, and I even considered sending it back but was too scared. We came home and had a 3 Buck Chuck Beaujoulais Neauvou. Much better.
Guess what, we're never coming back
www.chezleon.com
The organizers had a nice website where they listed all of the restaurants along with the menus. I chose the restaurant with the most expensive regular menu, Chez Leon, since the price was already set (25/per). Chez Leon originally was in the Central West End, right across the street from my apartment on Laclede. As a grad student, going there was only a pipe dream. Time to make it reality.
We had reservations and were promptly seated when we arrived by the owner, who was doubling as the maitre d'. We were given the smallest table hugging the wall. The waiter could barely walk between the tables. My head was against a painting by "D. Byrne" (David??) and I was concerned with giving myself a concussion and/or ruining a Jackson Pollock-esque creation that was probably very expensive. Since the menu was prix fixe, we were able to order a starter, an entre and a dessert. No explanations of the mostly French-language menu were offerred so we just made some uneducated guesses: Le gâteau à la Jeanne d'Arc/ crème anglaise must be Joan of Arc's cat creamed English-style. I had to order that.
Our soup of lobster bisque was quite good, with a bit of spice at the end. We both ordered the beef tenderloin, reminiscent of many-a-wedding dinners. Meh. For dessert, my martyred cat actually came out as an espresso cake, which was good but not crazy. Tim had tarte tatin, and apple pie ala mode with a fancy name, and slightly better than my gateau.
The biggest problem we had was with the wine. We each started off with a cocktail, but I wanted to have some wine with my dinner so I asked for a wine menu, which strangly was never offered to us at a French restaurant. It was very modest, with only one page each of white and red. I ordered the Beaujoulais and waited. And waited. Our entrees came out with lightning speed (wedding dinner style) and still no wine. The waiter came back with a Pinot, which is not even close to Beaujoulais, but whatever-I'm almost done with my entree at this point. The wine was bad, and I even considered sending it back but was too scared. We came home and had a 3 Buck Chuck Beaujoulais Neauvou. Much better.
Guess what, we're never coming back
www.chezleon.com
Saturday, January 15, 2011
"I Already Know the Title of This Blog"
So says my husband this morning, waiting with bated breath for my [hopefully] scathing review of Al Waha. His suggestion is "We're Never Coming Here Ever Again. Ever." or something like that because that is precicely how Tim described this Afghani restaurant.
Having a Groupon that was set to expire in two weeks, I knew that this was probably our only option for dinner on a Friday night. We rarely eat ethnic food, unless you count Italian ethnic, mostly because Tim simply doesn't crave it the way I do. This is probably the case in many households where the woman will eat goofy shit and the man wants "steak." Anyway, Tim was happy to go to Al Waha because of the Groupon, and upon entering, I realized I had been inside this restaurant space before, under a different name.
The room was super warm-like 80 degree warm-fine by me. Service was quick too. The food, however, left a little to be desired. We started off with an appetizer of Sambosa which is Samosa with a "b" They were tasty and spiced right, but nothing extraordinary. We also ordered the Lebnah which was described as: thick, dehydrated yogurt mixed with mint, parsely, red pepper and olive oil. What I got was yogurt, which seemed fully hydrated and crushed red pepper flakes and olive oil. Nothing green and nothing like what I assumed to be roasted red pepper. Ok, moving on.
For the entree, I decided on the Al Waha plate; must be something traditional. I thought it was good, not great-it had ground beef mixed with some dried fruit and a pomegranate (spelled wrong) and tomato sauce. Tim loves a good chicken schwarma, so I talked him into ordering that instead of the beef kabob. Oops. It was salty chicken essentially with little spice or flavor. He left about half on the plate, which is uncustomary for my husband.
I also wanted to try a traditional drink, so I went with the Irfa Beljoze. At $3.50 I thought this must be something good. I ordered it with the appetizer and it came at the end of my meal, so hot I couldn't even pick it up. After about 10 minutes it was cool enough; tasted like cinnamony tea, which was fine except I don't like tea. I tried.
So, we won't be back. The restaurant tries to explain the culture of the dishes but unfortunately, the dishes fall short.
http://alwahastl.com/
Having a Groupon that was set to expire in two weeks, I knew that this was probably our only option for dinner on a Friday night. We rarely eat ethnic food, unless you count Italian ethnic, mostly because Tim simply doesn't crave it the way I do. This is probably the case in many households where the woman will eat goofy shit and the man wants "steak." Anyway, Tim was happy to go to Al Waha because of the Groupon, and upon entering, I realized I had been inside this restaurant space before, under a different name.
The room was super warm-like 80 degree warm-fine by me. Service was quick too. The food, however, left a little to be desired. We started off with an appetizer of Sambosa which is Samosa with a "b" They were tasty and spiced right, but nothing extraordinary. We also ordered the Lebnah which was described as: thick, dehydrated yogurt mixed with mint, parsely, red pepper and olive oil. What I got was yogurt, which seemed fully hydrated and crushed red pepper flakes and olive oil. Nothing green and nothing like what I assumed to be roasted red pepper. Ok, moving on.
For the entree, I decided on the Al Waha plate; must be something traditional. I thought it was good, not great-it had ground beef mixed with some dried fruit and a pomegranate (spelled wrong) and tomato sauce. Tim loves a good chicken schwarma, so I talked him into ordering that instead of the beef kabob. Oops. It was salty chicken essentially with little spice or flavor. He left about half on the plate, which is uncustomary for my husband.
I also wanted to try a traditional drink, so I went with the Irfa Beljoze. At $3.50 I thought this must be something good. I ordered it with the appetizer and it came at the end of my meal, so hot I couldn't even pick it up. After about 10 minutes it was cool enough; tasted like cinnamony tea, which was fine except I don't like tea. I tried.
So, we won't be back. The restaurant tries to explain the culture of the dishes but unfortunately, the dishes fall short.
http://alwahastl.com/
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Forcing the Husband to Do Something He Doesn't Want To, Suprise, Surprise
My boss raves and raves about the Ninth Street Deli's meatball sandwich. Tim rants and rants about the God-forsaken truffle oil the Ninth Street Deli puts on "every single thing they sell." This corner deli was only 1 1/2 BLOCKS from Tim's old apartment and we went there exactly zero times before we moved from Soulard. "I'm not going there, it just sucks." After several years of doing business in Soulard, it closed. "Good, stop bugging me about going there."
Setting out for Blues City Deli for a pastrami or perhaps the special, I was bummed as we pulled up and there were no cars parked outside. Oddly closed on a Saturday. "Where do you want to go?" I had heard that NSD was back open again (from aforementioned boss) and meekly suggested it. "Ok, but if it sucks we are NEVER EVER going again." Well I had NEVER EVER been there before so what did I have to lose?
Without looking at the menu, which is placed overhead ala Panera, I said MEATBALL, PLEASE. Tim hemmed and hawed at such outrageous sandwiches as ROAST BEEF AND CHEESE and TUNA SALAD. No truffle oil in site. Tim settled on the ST LOUISIAN, a standard name for a sandwich in ST LOUIS but not standard in ingredients. His included the standard Italian sub collection of cured porkmeats and some vinegar dressing that was ok but a tad sweet for me. The MEATBALL was gooooood; not slathered in sauce, but just the right amount along with Mozzarella NO PROVEL. Ok, I just checked on the menu, it was provel. I am now officially a St. Louisan because I can't tell a difference.
Tim did admit, "Well that was ok I guess. Not too much truffle oil on the menu there [or none]." We both observed that we were the oldest people in the place-it was half full-and this was one of the reasons Tim left Soulard.
The NSD is no BCD but a good alternative especially in the winter with its ample indoor seating and generous thermostat.
http://www.ninthstreetdeli.net/
Setting out for Blues City Deli for a pastrami or perhaps the special, I was bummed as we pulled up and there were no cars parked outside. Oddly closed on a Saturday. "Where do you want to go?" I had heard that NSD was back open again (from aforementioned boss) and meekly suggested it. "Ok, but if it sucks we are NEVER EVER going again." Well I had NEVER EVER been there before so what did I have to lose?
Without looking at the menu, which is placed overhead ala Panera, I said MEATBALL, PLEASE. Tim hemmed and hawed at such outrageous sandwiches as ROAST BEEF AND CHEESE and TUNA SALAD. No truffle oil in site. Tim settled on the ST LOUISIAN, a standard name for a sandwich in ST LOUIS but not standard in ingredients. His included the standard Italian sub collection of cured porkmeats and some vinegar dressing that was ok but a tad sweet for me. The MEATBALL was gooooood; not slathered in sauce, but just the right amount along with Mozzarella NO PROVEL. Ok, I just checked on the menu, it was provel. I am now officially a St. Louisan because I can't tell a difference.
Tim did admit, "Well that was ok I guess. Not too much truffle oil on the menu there [or none]." We both observed that we were the oldest people in the place-it was half full-and this was one of the reasons Tim left Soulard.
The NSD is no BCD but a good alternative especially in the winter with its ample indoor seating and generous thermostat.
http://www.ninthstreetdeli.net/
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Vin de Set Does Not Mean Wine Set
It apparently means 2017, which is the address of this cozy bistro in Lafayette Square. Vin de Set is situated on the top floor of an old warehouse, which allows it to offer a great outdoor patio (enclosed in the winter) with cool views of downtown. We had reservations (I would say a must on a Saturday night), but opted to go early to enjoy a drink in the covered patio. We had that bar to ourselves; most folks were at the indoor and fancier bar. We were seated a few minutes early, at possibly the best table in the house. We were in a room with a fire place in the corner, with the ability to people watch without being conspicuous.
Vin de Set has a nice wine list which is easy to navigate. It is separated by types, and the list includes bottles from all over the world (except Missouri). We started with a cheese platter, with accompaniments of stone ground mustard (Tim's favorite), fig, and apricot spread, as well as olives and pickled brussel sprouts that were surprisingly good. Our major mistake we made was ordering a second starter of "tarte flambe" which sounded like a tart that was set on fire. It actually was a flatbread covered with cheese and bacon and way too humungous. We finished about 1/3 of it.
Not to be outdone by other gluttons, we then set out for main courses, which by this time we didn't need at all but thought we should order anyway. Tim had steak au poivre, which he practice pronouncing 5 times and then looked to me for my French languange pronunciation approval, which I thought was good considering it initially came out as "oh- poive." I ordered the duck confit. The duck was not dry as it can be, but unfortunately it was REALLY salty and I had to take a swig of water after each bite. It was accompanied by "rocket with apples, onions and citrus viniagrette" Say what? Rocket is apparently just your average arugula which was very very good in the viniagrette. We were disgusingly full by this point; we couldn't even finish our bottle of wine, nor did we make it to our planned final destination of the Chocolate Bar. Boo on us.
We want to go back in the summertime to check out the unencumbered views of downtown when the patio is open.
www.vindeset.com
Vin de Set has a nice wine list which is easy to navigate. It is separated by types, and the list includes bottles from all over the world (except Missouri). We started with a cheese platter, with accompaniments of stone ground mustard (Tim's favorite), fig, and apricot spread, as well as olives and pickled brussel sprouts that were surprisingly good. Our major mistake we made was ordering a second starter of "tarte flambe" which sounded like a tart that was set on fire. It actually was a flatbread covered with cheese and bacon and way too humungous. We finished about 1/3 of it.
Not to be outdone by other gluttons, we then set out for main courses, which by this time we didn't need at all but thought we should order anyway. Tim had steak au poivre, which he practice pronouncing 5 times and then looked to me for my French languange pronunciation approval, which I thought was good considering it initially came out as "oh- poive." I ordered the duck confit. The duck was not dry as it can be, but unfortunately it was REALLY salty and I had to take a swig of water after each bite. It was accompanied by "rocket with apples, onions and citrus viniagrette" Say what? Rocket is apparently just your average arugula which was very very good in the viniagrette. We were disgusingly full by this point; we couldn't even finish our bottle of wine, nor did we make it to our planned final destination of the Chocolate Bar. Boo on us.
We want to go back in the summertime to check out the unencumbered views of downtown when the patio is open.
www.vindeset.com
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Easier Than Getting on a Plane or Reading Joyce's Classic
The Dubliner is a basic Irish pub on Washington street, an unassuming business in a sea of Sushi and Tapas restaurants. We were there with a small group of friends on a Thursday night for a happy hour.
First of all, the Guinness is outstanding. Go to McGurk's for the patio; go to The Dubliner for the pints. The food is higher-end pub fare- "Gastropub" if you will. We decided to start with the Charcuterie platter, which had three or so artisan cheeses and pate as well as a very odd tasting duck (I think) liver. It was not foie gras. Besides the mystery liver, everything else on the plate was very good. For our entrees, Tim kept it simple with a pub burger, but I ventured a little further with the Green Peppercorn Burger, which I can only describe as interesting. I liked it, it just tasted different. Our friends had an array of food as well, ranging from pasties, which I think were described as good, to fish and chips that smelled like the Mississippi River in July. This was the only misstep of the evening.
The service we had was also good. It was a Thursday night, so there weren't many patrons, but we had 10 or so people and no one went without a pint if they wanted more.
The Dubliner is a good option for dinner that isn't trendy or stuffy and a great option for a Guinness.
www.dublinerstl.com
First of all, the Guinness is outstanding. Go to McGurk's for the patio; go to The Dubliner for the pints. The food is higher-end pub fare- "Gastropub" if you will. We decided to start with the Charcuterie platter, which had three or so artisan cheeses and pate as well as a very odd tasting duck (I think) liver. It was not foie gras. Besides the mystery liver, everything else on the plate was very good. For our entrees, Tim kept it simple with a pub burger, but I ventured a little further with the Green Peppercorn Burger, which I can only describe as interesting. I liked it, it just tasted different. Our friends had an array of food as well, ranging from pasties, which I think were described as good, to fish and chips that smelled like the Mississippi River in July. This was the only misstep of the evening.
The service we had was also good. It was a Thursday night, so there weren't many patrons, but we had 10 or so people and no one went without a pint if they wanted more.
The Dubliner is a good option for dinner that isn't trendy or stuffy and a great option for a Guinness.
www.dublinerstl.com
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Franco, Cie Vous Plait
Franco is a cute little restaurant tucked into the corner of the sprawling Soulard Market Lofts. I've driven by this corner many times going to the market and yet didn't notice this place, which is only denoted by a black metallic sign on a brick facade.
We made reservations, which at a French restaurant are NOT necessary at 6 PM but since I get dining points through OpenTable.com, why not? There were a few diners present at that time and a few more in the bar area. This place is quite small, but it added to a nice atmosphere and since this was in a loft building, the brick was exposed as well as having vaulted ceilings. There was a private party being seated as we were leaving in a separate room with this giant painting that just said LIQUOR all over it. I was a fan.
I didn't even open the wine menu as I was nursing the results of an open bar the afternoon before, but the wine "Cellar" is in the dining room and it looked as though there was a decent selection. We started with the odd appetizer combo of raw oysters and pate*. The pate came as a duo, with the traditional chicken and also lamb. The lamb was decent but the chicken was still the star. Unfortunately, after our vacation in the Northeast, we've been spoiled on our oysters; these were fine but not outstanding.
We each ordered fish for our entree, Tim a freshwater trout, and me the saltwater baramundi. Tim's was-I'm guessing here-a lemon/wine reduction and mine (I actually READ the menu) had a pumpkin seed/cream reduction over a polenta-type cake stuffed with arugula. Both were very tasty.
This was definitely one of the better restaurants we've been to lately. The atmosphere was good and the food even better. I think we'll be back.
* How do you add accents and all those other French marks on an English keyboard??
www.eatatfranco.com
We made reservations, which at a French restaurant are NOT necessary at 6 PM but since I get dining points through OpenTable.com, why not? There were a few diners present at that time and a few more in the bar area. This place is quite small, but it added to a nice atmosphere and since this was in a loft building, the brick was exposed as well as having vaulted ceilings. There was a private party being seated as we were leaving in a separate room with this giant painting that just said LIQUOR all over it. I was a fan.
I didn't even open the wine menu as I was nursing the results of an open bar the afternoon before, but the wine "Cellar" is in the dining room and it looked as though there was a decent selection. We started with the odd appetizer combo of raw oysters and pate*. The pate came as a duo, with the traditional chicken and also lamb. The lamb was decent but the chicken was still the star. Unfortunately, after our vacation in the Northeast, we've been spoiled on our oysters; these were fine but not outstanding.
We each ordered fish for our entree, Tim a freshwater trout, and me the saltwater baramundi. Tim's was-I'm guessing here-a lemon/wine reduction and mine (I actually READ the menu) had a pumpkin seed/cream reduction over a polenta-type cake stuffed with arugula. Both were very tasty.
This was definitely one of the better restaurants we've been to lately. The atmosphere was good and the food even better. I think we'll be back.
* How do you add accents and all those other French marks on an English keyboard??
www.eatatfranco.com
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Plush Doesn't Necessarily Mean Fancy
Plush Pig is recently relocated establishment, moving from the more "plush" Clayton to the "lesser plush" Rock Hill. Interestingly, it was moved right across the street from the local chain, Bandana's BBQ. Plush Pig serves...BBQ. It takes balls and a lot of faith in the chain-loving St. Louis population to think folks will make their way across Manchester Avenue to try something different.
I knew this place was here for quite some time, considering its across the street for my gym and less than two miles form work. But Friday night was the first opportunity I had to test it out. A long list of errands found me still out and about at 5:30 PM so I called the number I had looked up days before (easy to remember-the same prefix as my work and then 8888-like I ate ate ate ate too much BBQ). Oddly, I ordered brisket, no plush piggy in that but my favorite 'que meat nonetheless, as a sandwich, that came with the sauce on the side. The sandwich was pretty good. As a side, I ordered creamy slaw, which they also offer in a sweet-n-sour preparation. Also, I threw in some onion straws, which just sounded bad for you and a necessity. Super-salty and a good grease counterpart to the slaw.
The atmosphere of the Plush Pig is somewhat like a Mexican Cantina: neon beer signs in the window and hangy shit on the ceilings with a bar/carry-out counter at the end. I think carryout was the best idea for this place as it was lacking the real hole-in-the-wall feel of Arthur Bryant's (KC) or the fake hole-in-the-wall feel of Pappy's.
Sitting at the stop light at Manchester and McKnight is a real treat. Overkill of slow-roasted meats and I love every minute of it.
http://www.plushpigbbq.com/
I knew this place was here for quite some time, considering its across the street for my gym and less than two miles form work. But Friday night was the first opportunity I had to test it out. A long list of errands found me still out and about at 5:30 PM so I called the number I had looked up days before (easy to remember-the same prefix as my work and then 8888-like I ate ate ate ate too much BBQ). Oddly, I ordered brisket, no plush piggy in that but my favorite 'que meat nonetheless, as a sandwich, that came with the sauce on the side. The sandwich was pretty good. As a side, I ordered creamy slaw, which they also offer in a sweet-n-sour preparation. Also, I threw in some onion straws, which just sounded bad for you and a necessity. Super-salty and a good grease counterpart to the slaw.
The atmosphere of the Plush Pig is somewhat like a Mexican Cantina: neon beer signs in the window and hangy shit on the ceilings with a bar/carry-out counter at the end. I think carryout was the best idea for this place as it was lacking the real hole-in-the-wall feel of Arthur Bryant's (KC) or the fake hole-in-the-wall feel of Pappy's.
Sitting at the stop light at Manchester and McKnight is a real treat. Overkill of slow-roasted meats and I love every minute of it.
http://www.plushpigbbq.com/
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Boo-geddy-Boogaloo
Quick: what is a Boogaloo? Not a nonsense word, but a genre of Latin music and an accompanying dance. What is Boogaloo in Maplewood? An overcrowded yuppie bar serving what this amateur food critic will call Pan Caribbean. In the stack of purchased Groupons, this restaurant's discount was perched on top and yet every weekend it was received with a scrunched up face from That Other Person Who Would Be Eating With Me.
Before an anticipated "Evening With Harry Shearer" (we're weird), Boogaloo was really the best choice since it was #1 Not too expensive and #2 less than 10 minutes from the theatre. TOPWWBEWM gave a scrunched up face, acquiesced, and we departed for downtown Maplewood. Tim had been to this place before, but only for drinks, and thinking that bar service was its main attraction, it didn't occur to me that we would need reservations for a Friday night. We were told that it was a 45 minute wait-unless-we wanted to eat outside. Ok? It was 70 degrees. It was hard to believe that 45 minutes worth of people didn't want to eat on the deck. Our hostess was taking us to our table, did an about face, and took off. To seat someone else. We were standing next to the service area of the bar, right in everyone's way. We looked at each other and shrugged and were about to give up when she returned to seat us.
Out on the deck there were several empty tables, which led me to believe that something fishy was going on at the hostess station. Didn't matter since we had our seats. Three waiters passed us before one stopped and asked if another had helped us yet. We were not in a hurry, so I let this slide. Opening the menu, I saw that ubiquitous annoucement of "TAPAS." The TAPAS, which 10 years ago were known as "APPETIZERS" or even "STARTERS," included about 7-8 Pan-Caribbean offerings, including Jerk Wings and crawfish cakes, which we ordered. The crawfish cakes were pretty good with a basic accompaniment of remoulade, and they gave us a generous offering of 10 jerk wings, and although not spicy enough to be considered jerk, included an interesting cooling sauce of coconut somethingorother. We each ordered the Cubano sandwich, which was just mediocre-go to Luvy Duvy's (see review) or Tropicana (no review) for a much better one.
Boogaloo has an interesting martini and frozen drink list but I was already struggling to stay awake for Montgomery Burns, et al., that I decided that I needed to skip those. The scrunched up face will be happy to get a reprieve-we will not be returning-until the next non-bar Groupon purchased.
http://www.boogaloostl.com/
Before an anticipated "Evening With Harry Shearer" (we're weird), Boogaloo was really the best choice since it was #1 Not too expensive and #2 less than 10 minutes from the theatre. TOPWWBEWM gave a scrunched up face, acquiesced, and we departed for downtown Maplewood. Tim had been to this place before, but only for drinks, and thinking that bar service was its main attraction, it didn't occur to me that we would need reservations for a Friday night. We were told that it was a 45 minute wait-unless-we wanted to eat outside. Ok? It was 70 degrees. It was hard to believe that 45 minutes worth of people didn't want to eat on the deck. Our hostess was taking us to our table, did an about face, and took off. To seat someone else. We were standing next to the service area of the bar, right in everyone's way. We looked at each other and shrugged and were about to give up when she returned to seat us.
Out on the deck there were several empty tables, which led me to believe that something fishy was going on at the hostess station. Didn't matter since we had our seats. Three waiters passed us before one stopped and asked if another had helped us yet. We were not in a hurry, so I let this slide. Opening the menu, I saw that ubiquitous annoucement of "TAPAS." The TAPAS, which 10 years ago were known as "APPETIZERS" or even "STARTERS," included about 7-8 Pan-Caribbean offerings, including Jerk Wings and crawfish cakes, which we ordered. The crawfish cakes were pretty good with a basic accompaniment of remoulade, and they gave us a generous offering of 10 jerk wings, and although not spicy enough to be considered jerk, included an interesting cooling sauce of coconut somethingorother. We each ordered the Cubano sandwich, which was just mediocre-go to Luvy Duvy's (see review) or Tropicana (no review) for a much better one.
Boogaloo has an interesting martini and frozen drink list but I was already struggling to stay awake for Montgomery Burns, et al., that I decided that I needed to skip those. The scrunched up face will be happy to get a reprieve-we will not be returning-until the next non-bar Groupon purchased.
http://www.boogaloostl.com/
Sunday, November 7, 2010
House of Basement Hotel Dining
Sorry about the delay in posts, fan(s)! Delicious food was consumed in Providence and Newport, RI and Boston and after that major blow to our credit card, we've been eating in!
But
It was time to venture out again. After a fun (to me) and very boring and long (to Tim) fondue dinner at home on Friday night, Saturday, I made reservations at Lumiere Place's House of Savoy, thanks to a Groupon purchased a few months ago. Lumiere Place is a newish casino with a really sweet looking Four Seasons attached. The actual Lumiere Place HOTEL is not part of this new complex but a 30 year old converted Embassy Suites that connects to the casino complex via skywalk. We entered the casino and looked through all of the restaurants (see Burger Bar review, June), and finally found a sign pointing us all the way to the basement of the hotel. Surprisingly, this place was almost full at our arrival, and by the time we left, there was a wait to be seated. House of Savoy almost certainly is a former Family Table-esque establishment, complete with mirrored support beams and strange light fixtures. They tried to mask this by using the mirrors as a place to display the wine list but that only: 1) drew attention to the mirror and 2)confirmed the cheap feel of a basement restaurant.
We started out with an antipasti platter which after being announced by our waiter with a "Woo-hoo Antipasti!" had a good selection of meats and a poor selection of cheeses. The cheeses all tasted EXACTLY the same-somewhere in the swiss consistency-and no hard, aged, or molded cheese for variety. They offered us bread service, which we accepted, and then after waiting about 10 minutes for, asked for again. The bread came with tapenade and bruschetta, which unfortunately, were probably the best parts of this meal, given that it was complimentary. We split a salad with goat cheese and pine nuts, also pretty good.
I decided to stick to pasta since Family Table doesn't scream "Steak House" and the steaks were ringing in in the 40 dollar range. I ordered carbonara, which is hard to screw up and Tim had lasagna. The carbonara wasn't screwed up, tasted exactly as it should, not innovative but consistent. Tim's "lasagna" came out as papperdelle noodles in a bolognese sauce, which prompted me to ask for a menu to make sure he was given the correct dish. He had been-the Lasagna Matta was described as "baked crazy lasagna in bolognese sauce"-to which I explained that apparently, papperdelle, which you can find in any grocery store, is "crazy" (matta is Italian for madman.) Tim just wanted some regular old lasagna.
The bonus on this Groupon was that it included a 10 dollar bonus to the upstairs bar AND we were given a 10 dollar bonus to blow at the casino afterward*. We went upstairs to find that bar, which is right smack in the middle of the atrium. Tim felt as though he was on a work trip, drinking free booze in a hotel lobby. We skywalked it back over to the casino, dropped the 10 dollars in 10 minutes in a 25 cent slot machine and home we went. There were enough "mattas" patronizing the House of Savoy, they won't need us coming back. Which is good.
*Great entertainment, watching Missourians at a casino. Wow.
http://www.lumiereplace.com/house-of-savoy.aspx
But
It was time to venture out again. After a fun (to me) and very boring and long (to Tim) fondue dinner at home on Friday night, Saturday, I made reservations at Lumiere Place's House of Savoy, thanks to a Groupon purchased a few months ago. Lumiere Place is a newish casino with a really sweet looking Four Seasons attached. The actual Lumiere Place HOTEL is not part of this new complex but a 30 year old converted Embassy Suites that connects to the casino complex via skywalk. We entered the casino and looked through all of the restaurants (see Burger Bar review, June), and finally found a sign pointing us all the way to the basement of the hotel. Surprisingly, this place was almost full at our arrival, and by the time we left, there was a wait to be seated. House of Savoy almost certainly is a former Family Table-esque establishment, complete with mirrored support beams and strange light fixtures. They tried to mask this by using the mirrors as a place to display the wine list but that only: 1) drew attention to the mirror and 2)confirmed the cheap feel of a basement restaurant.
We started out with an antipasti platter which after being announced by our waiter with a "Woo-hoo Antipasti!" had a good selection of meats and a poor selection of cheeses. The cheeses all tasted EXACTLY the same-somewhere in the swiss consistency-and no hard, aged, or molded cheese for variety. They offered us bread service, which we accepted, and then after waiting about 10 minutes for, asked for again. The bread came with tapenade and bruschetta, which unfortunately, were probably the best parts of this meal, given that it was complimentary. We split a salad with goat cheese and pine nuts, also pretty good.
I decided to stick to pasta since Family Table doesn't scream "Steak House" and the steaks were ringing in in the 40 dollar range. I ordered carbonara, which is hard to screw up and Tim had lasagna. The carbonara wasn't screwed up, tasted exactly as it should, not innovative but consistent. Tim's "lasagna" came out as papperdelle noodles in a bolognese sauce, which prompted me to ask for a menu to make sure he was given the correct dish. He had been-the Lasagna Matta was described as "baked crazy lasagna in bolognese sauce"-to which I explained that apparently, papperdelle, which you can find in any grocery store, is "crazy" (matta is Italian for madman.) Tim just wanted some regular old lasagna.
The bonus on this Groupon was that it included a 10 dollar bonus to the upstairs bar AND we were given a 10 dollar bonus to blow at the casino afterward*. We went upstairs to find that bar, which is right smack in the middle of the atrium. Tim felt as though he was on a work trip, drinking free booze in a hotel lobby. We skywalked it back over to the casino, dropped the 10 dollars in 10 minutes in a 25 cent slot machine and home we went. There were enough "mattas" patronizing the House of Savoy, they won't need us coming back. Which is good.
*Great entertainment, watching Missourians at a casino. Wow.
http://www.lumiereplace.com/house-of-savoy.aspx
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Does it Sound Chemical or Earthy?
Terrene is a little restaurant nestled between Midtown and the Central West End, just a stone's throw from the Scottish Arms. With an expiration date on the Groupon looming, it was our choice for a casual dinner on Friday evening.
Once again, we apparently have odd dining hour choices; arriving just after 6 found us in the company of one other couple and a completely bored wait staff. Completely bored and completely strange wait staff. A table runner brought us each glasses of water and about 20 seconds later our waitress, toting identical glasses of water, arrives at our table (for two only) sees the glasses of water and sets down the new glasses anyway. There wasn't an abundance of room, so I push the glass off to the side. Thanks to a boredom, the original glass never got below 2/3 full. The wine list and menus were at our table when we were seated. The waitress introduces herself, says "Can I get you something from the bar? Oh, by the way, we have a beer and cocktail menu too." Well, go get that shit! The seasonal cocktail/beer/soda menu was printed on something that resembled a golf scorecard, making this 30-year-old yearn for some reading glasses. They offered 5-6 original cocktails, two of which called for the same ingredient that the waitress proclaimed, "Oops we may be out, hold on" then returned and said, "Nope full stock I thought this was Tuesday!" Ok. Got that figured out.
We ordered pate for an appetizer, one of my top fav app dishes. It was pretty good. I glanced over at a newly seated couple who was enjoying their breadservice and although I was a little miffed that we were without, I didn't need the carbs anyway and went on with the pate, of which I finished 3/4ths. I ordered the special which was salmon and Tim ordered the burger. I was asked how I would like my salmon cooked (?) and Tim wasn't given the choice for his beef (??) I deferred to the chef on that one, and my salmon arrived in a manner I would call undercooked but it tasted fine so I gladly finished it. What my dish did suffer from was an odd combination of flavors. It had: spinach (good), quinoa(good), some white sauce (good) and balsamic reduction (no business being here). There was way too much going on here that the balsamic reduction just overpowered everything. Tim's burger was good; it was cooked medium-rare, which is a little rarer than either of us like burgers, but tasted good just the same.
Terrene also has a patio, which we probably would have checked out if we were only having drinks, but it is getting dark way too fast now so we stuck to the dining room. By the time we left (around 7) more folks had shown up waking the waitstaff up for a potentially busy night. The owner knew the couple seated next to us and never quite learned what an "inside voice" was so I caught bits and pieces of his "restaurant philosophy" which was just a bunch of bullshit that was ostensibly supposed to be impressive. All I caught was "rich kid whose parents gave him this space to open a restaurant." Jealous.
The website hasn't been updated recently, still featuring summer cocktails. You also can't see the whole menu because the webmaster didn't put a scroll feature in!
www.terrene-stlouis.com
Once again, we apparently have odd dining hour choices; arriving just after 6 found us in the company of one other couple and a completely bored wait staff. Completely bored and completely strange wait staff. A table runner brought us each glasses of water and about 20 seconds later our waitress, toting identical glasses of water, arrives at our table (for two only) sees the glasses of water and sets down the new glasses anyway. There wasn't an abundance of room, so I push the glass off to the side. Thanks to a boredom, the original glass never got below 2/3 full. The wine list and menus were at our table when we were seated. The waitress introduces herself, says "Can I get you something from the bar? Oh, by the way, we have a beer and cocktail menu too." Well, go get that shit! The seasonal cocktail/beer/soda menu was printed on something that resembled a golf scorecard, making this 30-year-old yearn for some reading glasses. They offered 5-6 original cocktails, two of which called for the same ingredient that the waitress proclaimed, "Oops we may be out, hold on" then returned and said, "Nope full stock I thought this was Tuesday!" Ok. Got that figured out.
We ordered pate for an appetizer, one of my top fav app dishes. It was pretty good. I glanced over at a newly seated couple who was enjoying their breadservice and although I was a little miffed that we were without, I didn't need the carbs anyway and went on with the pate, of which I finished 3/4ths. I ordered the special which was salmon and Tim ordered the burger. I was asked how I would like my salmon cooked (?) and Tim wasn't given the choice for his beef (??) I deferred to the chef on that one, and my salmon arrived in a manner I would call undercooked but it tasted fine so I gladly finished it. What my dish did suffer from was an odd combination of flavors. It had: spinach (good), quinoa(good), some white sauce (good) and balsamic reduction (no business being here). There was way too much going on here that the balsamic reduction just overpowered everything. Tim's burger was good; it was cooked medium-rare, which is a little rarer than either of us like burgers, but tasted good just the same.
Terrene also has a patio, which we probably would have checked out if we were only having drinks, but it is getting dark way too fast now so we stuck to the dining room. By the time we left (around 7) more folks had shown up waking the waitstaff up for a potentially busy night. The owner knew the couple seated next to us and never quite learned what an "inside voice" was so I caught bits and pieces of his "restaurant philosophy" which was just a bunch of bullshit that was ostensibly supposed to be impressive. All I caught was "rich kid whose parents gave him this space to open a restaurant." Jealous.
The website hasn't been updated recently, still featuring summer cocktails. You also can't see the whole menu because the webmaster didn't put a scroll feature in!
www.terrene-stlouis.com
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Wanna Taste?
The Taste of St. Louis was yesterday. Being a big fan of Chicago's taste and never having missed one when living there, I wanted to check out what St. Louis could do. I read somewhere that somebody (maybe Midwest Living Mag) rated this event the #1 Taste of event, ranking the huge Chicago event third.
First of all, this is not Chicago's taste, not even in the same class, maybe they paid off the magazine, who knows. I think it was a smart move to have this event in October, when the average temp is 75 and not 105, and having it downtown instead of Forest Park was also smart (and more convenient for us). Also, NO TICKETS! Cash was king.
There was a restaurant row of about 30 choices, which unfortunately leaned heavy on Italian dishes. I can only have so many toasted raviolis. I would have liked to have seen more ethnic places; we have a sizeable Vietnamese and Bosnian population here, yet no restaurant representation at the taste. Interestingly, there were several chain restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen. Pass. The wind had picked up real fall-like by the time we got there, killing any kind of hunger just to stay warm. What we ended up getting: crab rangoons, black bean empanadas, a smoked turkey leg, and a turtle funnel cake. Nothing too earth shattering there; at the Chicago taste, I get African goat rice and crap like that. No restaurant really offered a "taste" portion, so we filled up quite quickly.
There were two stages of music, which were ok. I guess Sister Hazel was headlining Saturday night-if they were any good-It's Hard to Say. There was the obligatory collection of small booths selling crap that makes you wonder, "who the hell buys this shit?"
The oddest part about the whole taste was their go green initiative EGS. They wanted you to place the compostable containers in one place, recycling in another. The organizes did make it easy by having all of the containers and service utensils compostable. I have no problem with all that. What was odd: THEY ONLY HAD CANS AT THE STREET CORNERS. Which made three total. I had to hunt and hunt for one of these cans and even asked someone who was serving food and even they had no idea where they were. I would be very very curious to know how many of those cardboard containers and forks ended up on the ground yesterday.
Will I be back? Not sure. We were entertained a few hours on a Saturday afternoon but the wallet was lightened quite a bit.
First of all, this is not Chicago's taste, not even in the same class, maybe they paid off the magazine, who knows. I think it was a smart move to have this event in October, when the average temp is 75 and not 105, and having it downtown instead of Forest Park was also smart (and more convenient for us). Also, NO TICKETS! Cash was king.
There was a restaurant row of about 30 choices, which unfortunately leaned heavy on Italian dishes. I can only have so many toasted raviolis. I would have liked to have seen more ethnic places; we have a sizeable Vietnamese and Bosnian population here, yet no restaurant representation at the taste. Interestingly, there were several chain restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen. Pass. The wind had picked up real fall-like by the time we got there, killing any kind of hunger just to stay warm. What we ended up getting: crab rangoons, black bean empanadas, a smoked turkey leg, and a turtle funnel cake. Nothing too earth shattering there; at the Chicago taste, I get African goat rice and crap like that. No restaurant really offered a "taste" portion, so we filled up quite quickly.
There were two stages of music, which were ok. I guess Sister Hazel was headlining Saturday night-if they were any good-It's Hard to Say. There was the obligatory collection of small booths selling crap that makes you wonder, "who the hell buys this shit?"
The oddest part about the whole taste was their go green initiative EGS. They wanted you to place the compostable containers in one place, recycling in another. The organizes did make it easy by having all of the containers and service utensils compostable. I have no problem with all that. What was odd: THEY ONLY HAD CANS AT THE STREET CORNERS. Which made three total. I had to hunt and hunt for one of these cans and even asked someone who was serving food and even they had no idea where they were. I would be very very curious to know how many of those cardboard containers and forks ended up on the ground yesterday.
Will I be back? Not sure. We were entertained a few hours on a Saturday afternoon but the wallet was lightened quite a bit.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors
What do you call a brand new sandwich that may cause your blood pressure to spike, to get a splitting headache, and let's face it, have a heart attack, but looks so good? How about a Double Down? Just like splitting those aces, KFC is betting big time the that war on childhood obesity will be lost to fast food giants dubbing their menu items as catchy little slogans such as "Monster Thickburger" or "BK Quad Stacker" What would you rather have a "Grilled Chicken Breast" (8 grams fat, 210 calories) or a FREAKIN' "DOUBLE DOWN" (32 grams fat, 540 calories). Duh! Fearing the war on childhood obersity may be won soon (ha), lest Dr. Slider K. Shaftacular have no fat kids to treat to make him rich, I made KFC stock increase just a little last Friday night because dammit, I wanted a Double Down.
Truthfully, I had been eyeing this advertising slad-dunk for awhile now. I don't really eat fast food other than when we're traveling. The issue was that Tim refused to eat something like that when we "didn't have home court advantage." So looking at my "plans" for last Friday night, I saw nothing but a DVRed Jersey Shore and an all-new Ghost Adventures. The scene was set.
What the Double Down got right: superb marketing scheme, bacon, and a cute little box to put it all in. The DD was smaller than I anticipated, about 1/2-3/4 as big as it shows in the commercials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXaZjyAKTI&feature=related
Where it failed me: somewhere between 1987 and now, Col. Sanders decided that 27 herbs and spices were cutting into his bottom line and one mineral (salt) would do just fine. Holy shit. I had a headache until I went to bed and I had already consumed about 30 oz. of water. The fat created a nice slide in my intenstines. I'll leave it at that.
KFC: you were like a case of Natty Lite; you made that Double Down look so so good, but the next day, I realized that I won't be calling on you again.
Truthfully, I had been eyeing this advertising slad-dunk for awhile now. I don't really eat fast food other than when we're traveling. The issue was that Tim refused to eat something like that when we "didn't have home court advantage." So looking at my "plans" for last Friday night, I saw nothing but a DVRed Jersey Shore and an all-new Ghost Adventures. The scene was set.
What the Double Down got right: superb marketing scheme, bacon, and a cute little box to put it all in. The DD was smaller than I anticipated, about 1/2-3/4 as big as it shows in the commercials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXaZjyAKTI&feature=related
Where it failed me: somewhere between 1987 and now, Col. Sanders decided that 27 herbs and spices were cutting into his bottom line and one mineral (salt) would do just fine. Holy shit. I had a headache until I went to bed and I had already consumed about 30 oz. of water. The fat created a nice slide in my intenstines. I'll leave it at that.
KFC: you were like a case of Natty Lite; you made that Double Down look so so good, but the next day, I realized that I won't be calling on you again.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Pumping Iron
The Iron Barley is not really like any other restaurant in St. Louis. It's in a neighborhood that is devoid of any kind of eating establishment, let alone one that's received numerous accolades. It has a menu that is all over the place and as many specials as established items, and yet it works. The proprieter and the restaurant itself has been featured on both Man v. Food and "Triple D", and yet I heard someone ask about their celebrity status and the Cubs t-shirt clad hostess said "Yeah, I don't know."
This is the second time Tim and I have made the seven-minute drive to Dutchtown to see what kind of chow the Iron Barley was serving up. You can pick up the computer-generated menu, but why? Just wait for the specials. We decided to split a bunch of stuff because we #1: wanted many things and #2 couldn't decide and #3 wanted the same entree. We first split a wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing, complete with a little Jim Bean thrown in for good measure. We then had two appetizers-wait for it-crab cakes with remoulade and potato pancakes with apples. The potato pancakes were a prelude to our cured and smoked (!) pork chops, and oh, so glad we split this as it came with two bone-in chops over home-made saurkraut. The curing is a one-week process and then the chops are smoked for twelve hours or something like that, and the result is a pork chop that needs no accompaniment of a sauce (although the kraut was awesome).
The Iron Barley offers a modest tap beer selection that has a good focus on locally brewed beer that isn't traded publically. This was the first place I had ever had a cask beer (served room temp-good!) and last night I had a porter (oops can't remember the brewery, but I think it was Six Row) and it was first-rate. The beer selection does rotate, and it is one that the owner, with his passion for good beer, takes pride in.
Iron Barley: tasty American chow and who cares if it doesn't go together. I just don't want to know how many calories I consumed.
http://www.ironbarley.com/default.asp
This is the second time Tim and I have made the seven-minute drive to Dutchtown to see what kind of chow the Iron Barley was serving up. You can pick up the computer-generated menu, but why? Just wait for the specials. We decided to split a bunch of stuff because we #1: wanted many things and #2 couldn't decide and #3 wanted the same entree. We first split a wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing, complete with a little Jim Bean thrown in for good measure. We then had two appetizers-wait for it-crab cakes with remoulade and potato pancakes with apples. The potato pancakes were a prelude to our cured and smoked (!) pork chops, and oh, so glad we split this as it came with two bone-in chops over home-made saurkraut. The curing is a one-week process and then the chops are smoked for twelve hours or something like that, and the result is a pork chop that needs no accompaniment of a sauce (although the kraut was awesome).
The Iron Barley offers a modest tap beer selection that has a good focus on locally brewed beer that isn't traded publically. This was the first place I had ever had a cask beer (served room temp-good!) and last night I had a porter (oops can't remember the brewery, but I think it was Six Row) and it was first-rate. The beer selection does rotate, and it is one that the owner, with his passion for good beer, takes pride in.
Iron Barley: tasty American chow and who cares if it doesn't go together. I just don't want to know how many calories I consumed.
http://www.ironbarley.com/default.asp
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Fries are Not Infused with Chocolate Truffles
An overall slow weekend allowed for us to have a leisurely dining experience Saturday night. Again, running out of time on some of my Sauce Magazine Groupons, I chose to try Truffles, a Ladue mainstay on Clayton Avenue. We arrived a bit before our reservations, thinking we could get a drink in the bar, but because of a slow evening there (Yom Kipur, perhaps?) we were able to be seated right away.
We were seated right in front of the dining room prep station, which ranged from smelling of fish to nearly flambe-ing my hair during a generous dump of Patron on the bananas foster. We settled in with a couple of drinks; they offer an extensive (and expensive) wine list with about 15 varietals poured by the glass. Since Tim was living it up Irish-style with the Jameson, I went with a glass of Malbec, which was good.
First, Tim informed me that he "wasn't that hungry," then proceeded to ask me if we could get the BBQ shrimp appetizer. Puzzled, but happy to oblige, we ordered, and this app turned out to be pretty good. The BBQ sauce was quite smoky with a deep almost brown color. We also split a salad, which they served already pre-split, which was nice. Nothing fancy, but I needed some greens.
We both ordered a steak for our entree: Tim the filet and I the Wagyu Steak Frites. What I did know: Wagyu is Kobe beef but not Kobe beef since that only comes from Japan. What I didn't know: The "g" is silent. I would have felt more embarrassed if I pronounced frites wrong. Tim's medium filet came out practically mooing and my steak was all over the map, suffering from an uneven cut causing it to have portions that were rare and portions that were well-done. The two steaks tasted great, it just would have been more enjoyable if they were cooked properly. The fries were infused with truffle oil, and I was taken aback when the waitress wanted to know if I would like ketchup. Maybe my FUBAR of saying WAG-YU was screeming [Redneck accent] "I need some Ketchup!"
Truffles is very proud of their logo:
They put it on their butcher paper and on the little towelets in the restroom. I had to explain to Tim what it meant-he thought it was a turtle as a play on chocolate truffles. I explained to him the strange coincidence that mushrooms and chocolates carry the same name and all about the truffle pigs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle_hog
I guess he learned something last evening too.
www.trufflesinladue.com
We were seated right in front of the dining room prep station, which ranged from smelling of fish to nearly flambe-ing my hair during a generous dump of Patron on the bananas foster. We settled in with a couple of drinks; they offer an extensive (and expensive) wine list with about 15 varietals poured by the glass. Since Tim was living it up Irish-style with the Jameson, I went with a glass of Malbec, which was good.
First, Tim informed me that he "wasn't that hungry," then proceeded to ask me if we could get the BBQ shrimp appetizer. Puzzled, but happy to oblige, we ordered, and this app turned out to be pretty good. The BBQ sauce was quite smoky with a deep almost brown color. We also split a salad, which they served already pre-split, which was nice. Nothing fancy, but I needed some greens.
We both ordered a steak for our entree: Tim the filet and I the Wagyu Steak Frites. What I did know: Wagyu is Kobe beef but not Kobe beef since that only comes from Japan. What I didn't know: The "g" is silent. I would have felt more embarrassed if I pronounced frites wrong. Tim's medium filet came out practically mooing and my steak was all over the map, suffering from an uneven cut causing it to have portions that were rare and portions that were well-done. The two steaks tasted great, it just would have been more enjoyable if they were cooked properly. The fries were infused with truffle oil, and I was taken aback when the waitress wanted to know if I would like ketchup. Maybe my FUBAR of saying WAG-YU was screeming [Redneck accent] "I need some Ketchup!"
Truffles is very proud of their logo:
They put it on their butcher paper and on the little towelets in the restroom. I had to explain to Tim what it meant-he thought it was a turtle as a play on chocolate truffles. I explained to him the strange coincidence that mushrooms and chocolates carry the same name and all about the truffle pigs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle_hog
I guess he learned something last evening too.
www.trufflesinladue.com
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Take It To the Bridge
We were invited to a happy hour(s) on Friday night to a newish bar, Bridge. Bridge is owned by David Bailey, of Chocolate Bar fame, and being a big fan of the Chocolate Bar, I was looking forward to checking it out.
Bridge is located on Locust Ave, next to some strange Bridal shop and a branch of Left Bank Books, in a revitilized area of downtown. Bailey probably was banking on attracting some of the Left Bank patrons- doubtful the bridal shop patrons, but who knows-by making an up-scale lounge, with 60-some beers on tap and at least twice as many bottled. The bar has a shot-gun style set-up with a long bar on one side and really nothing in the rest of the downstairs except a long hallway leading to the restrooms. Most of the seating is upstairs, and we were lucky enough to land a small lounge area with love seats and little tables made out of tree trunks.
Bridge has a limited menu, mostly finger good and meat and cheese plates. The finger food, however, is "kicked up a notch" with four or five kinds of nuts sprinkled with various chiles and savory spices. Although we didn't try any, they also have popcorn with about five different spice combos, including chai. I thought that sounded interesting. We ordered two different cheeses a la carte, one of which was quite odd, and the jalepeno summer sausage, not exciting but good. The cheese boards all include foccacia and dried fruit. Another meat option is smoked duck, which I got to sample from a friend's plate.
This is definitely an intimate place; most of the seating is for two or four and we were kind of the beaten path in the lounge area, which seemed to be only one of two places that held more than four patrons. The service is above average and Tim commented on the background soundtrack, which he enjoyed. This was a nice place to chill on a Friday night.
http://www.thebridgestl.com/
Bridge is located on Locust Ave, next to some strange Bridal shop and a branch of Left Bank Books, in a revitilized area of downtown. Bailey probably was banking on attracting some of the Left Bank patrons- doubtful the bridal shop patrons, but who knows-by making an up-scale lounge, with 60-some beers on tap and at least twice as many bottled. The bar has a shot-gun style set-up with a long bar on one side and really nothing in the rest of the downstairs except a long hallway leading to the restrooms. Most of the seating is upstairs, and we were lucky enough to land a small lounge area with love seats and little tables made out of tree trunks.
Bridge has a limited menu, mostly finger good and meat and cheese plates. The finger food, however, is "kicked up a notch" with four or five kinds of nuts sprinkled with various chiles and savory spices. Although we didn't try any, they also have popcorn with about five different spice combos, including chai. I thought that sounded interesting. We ordered two different cheeses a la carte, one of which was quite odd, and the jalepeno summer sausage, not exciting but good. The cheese boards all include foccacia and dried fruit. Another meat option is smoked duck, which I got to sample from a friend's plate.
This is definitely an intimate place; most of the seating is for two or four and we were kind of the beaten path in the lounge area, which seemed to be only one of two places that held more than four patrons. The service is above average and Tim commented on the background soundtrack, which he enjoyed. This was a nice place to chill on a Friday night.
http://www.thebridgestl.com/
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