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.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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/
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Molly's Follies
My cache of Groupons (www.groupon.com) and Groupon-knockoffs SaucyHotDeal coupons(saucyhotdeals.com) was growing and growing without redemption. Friday night, it was time to cash in and try a new restaurant.
I had been to Molly's before (coincidentally, with Tim long before we were dating), back when they were known mainly as a hang-out for twenty-somethings with make-out cabanas and fire pits. A few years back they bought out their neighbor, Norton's, and took on a major expansion of their patio and menu. The menu is NOLA-centric, as are all of the menus in Soulard, with typical sandwiches such as muffaletta, Po'Boy, etc, and entrees like etoufee and jambalaya.
I was eyeing both the app of fried green tomatoes and bbq shrimp, although more South Carolina than Lousiana, and the oyster po'boy. Tim always prefers peel-n-eats, but he acquiesced and we ordered the FGTs. I thought it was quite tasty, but Tim was "eh." FGTs-the food and the movie-are both an acquired taste, I suppose, but I was pleased with the dish and that I got to try the oyster po'boy as my entree. I was plowing along with the flash-fried oysters, crunchy french bread, and remoulade when BOOM! BAD OYSTER! Now if you've ever had a bad oyster, or should I say if you live in the Midwest and you eat oysters at all, this is just the worst. It's like enjoying your grapes and that bad one comes along and you don't buy grapes for a year. But worse. Tons worse. I was only half way through my sandwich and I wanted to stop then and there. But I soldiered on through two more oysters without incident. But oh, the bad oyster.
Tim ordered the creole burger, a regular burger topped with a crawfish concoction that looked somewhat like etouffe minus the rice. He said it was utterly disappointing. I wasn't interested in eating a burger, and after he said it wasn't great, I took his word for it. He said the burger itself had zero seasoning in it (ooo! Tim becomes an unabashed food critic!) and the creole topping was bland as well.
No more Molly's for us. Broadway Oyster Bar, here we come.
http://www.mollysinsoulard.com/index.php
I had been to Molly's before (coincidentally, with Tim long before we were dating), back when they were known mainly as a hang-out for twenty-somethings with make-out cabanas and fire pits. A few years back they bought out their neighbor, Norton's, and took on a major expansion of their patio and menu. The menu is NOLA-centric, as are all of the menus in Soulard, with typical sandwiches such as muffaletta, Po'Boy, etc, and entrees like etoufee and jambalaya.
I was eyeing both the app of fried green tomatoes and bbq shrimp, although more South Carolina than Lousiana, and the oyster po'boy. Tim always prefers peel-n-eats, but he acquiesced and we ordered the FGTs. I thought it was quite tasty, but Tim was "eh." FGTs-the food and the movie-are both an acquired taste, I suppose, but I was pleased with the dish and that I got to try the oyster po'boy as my entree. I was plowing along with the flash-fried oysters, crunchy french bread, and remoulade when BOOM! BAD OYSTER! Now if you've ever had a bad oyster, or should I say if you live in the Midwest and you eat oysters at all, this is just the worst. It's like enjoying your grapes and that bad one comes along and you don't buy grapes for a year. But worse. Tons worse. I was only half way through my sandwich and I wanted to stop then and there. But I soldiered on through two more oysters without incident. But oh, the bad oyster.
Tim ordered the creole burger, a regular burger topped with a crawfish concoction that looked somewhat like etouffe minus the rice. He said it was utterly disappointing. I wasn't interested in eating a burger, and after he said it wasn't great, I took his word for it. He said the burger itself had zero seasoning in it (ooo! Tim becomes an unabashed food critic!) and the creole topping was bland as well.
No more Molly's for us. Broadway Oyster Bar, here we come.
http://www.mollysinsoulard.com/index.php
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Unabashed Glutton's Diatribe About Stupid Restaurant Tag Lines
Saint Louis recently celebrated its Restaurant Week, a week where participating restaurants prepare a prix fixe menu at a set price (this year 25 dollars). The event organizers did a nice job of designing a website that made it easy to explore the various menus as well as reserve a spot via Open Table. In conjunction with Restaurant Week, the charitable organization "Operation Food Search" was running a campaign to add an "extra helping" to your check for a donation to its cause.
I had 28 restaurants to choose among, and I had only been to two or three previously, so the first task was making a selection. After scouring over each and every menu, I decided on Mosiac Modern Fusion (?) Tapas, which was generously offering a five-course menu instead of the customary three-course.
Mosaic has moved sometime in the last four years from where Tim had his first experience ("like a bar") to where it is currently, with an upscale lounge and separate dining room outfitted with high-back booths and tall windows for great Washington Avenue people watching.
The first course-the 'Amuse Bouche'-not really a course at all but a mini-tapa (tapita?) sort of adventure complete with truffle foam (huh?) and greenish something. It was just ok. Tim would have rather had a basket of bacon and I would have rather had something I could have copied to make at home, or better yet, identify. The second and third courses were soup and salad. Tim went traditional (safe) with baked potato soup and I ventured out with the watermelon/sriracha chilled soup. Now, if you know me well, you know I don't touch ANY melon, ever. However, it is not the taste but the texture and all puried up baby food style, this soup was a tasty, spicy concoction. We both had the arugula salad with a soft boiled egg to smoosh all over the place along with "speck" (just say bacon, for Christ's sake).
The main courses did leave a bit to be desired. Tim had 21-day dry aged sliced NY strip (meh) with fried manchego balls, which sound really awesome but tasted like fried dough. I had the king crab over foie gras (ha Chicago) and truffle emulsion, just because it sounded uber-expensive. Just sounded, not tasted.
Although we were ordering from the prix fixe menu and didn't venture into Mosaic's odd and somewhat limited tapas offerings, I have to make a comment here on its cuisine description, of which it is very proud, "modern fusion tapas." What the hell does that mean? The mere fact that you're using a Spanish word should imply Spanish food. Otherwise just say small plates. "Modern?" This allows Mosaic to use weird shit like foam and green stuff. And "Fusion"-I guess this is what allows to usage of the now colloquial "tapas." If we use manchego, we can call anything we want tapas. Hell, I'm calling tortilla chips tapas from now on. As long as they're a small portion and overpriced. Soapbox.
www.mosaictapas.com
I had 28 restaurants to choose among, and I had only been to two or three previously, so the first task was making a selection. After scouring over each and every menu, I decided on Mosiac Modern Fusion (?) Tapas, which was generously offering a five-course menu instead of the customary three-course.
Mosaic has moved sometime in the last four years from where Tim had his first experience ("like a bar") to where it is currently, with an upscale lounge and separate dining room outfitted with high-back booths and tall windows for great Washington Avenue people watching.
The first course-the 'Amuse Bouche'-not really a course at all but a mini-tapa (tapita?) sort of adventure complete with truffle foam (huh?) and greenish something. It was just ok. Tim would have rather had a basket of bacon and I would have rather had something I could have copied to make at home, or better yet, identify. The second and third courses were soup and salad. Tim went traditional (safe) with baked potato soup and I ventured out with the watermelon/sriracha chilled soup. Now, if you know me well, you know I don't touch ANY melon, ever. However, it is not the taste but the texture and all puried up baby food style, this soup was a tasty, spicy concoction. We both had the arugula salad with a soft boiled egg to smoosh all over the place along with "speck" (just say bacon, for Christ's sake).
The main courses did leave a bit to be desired. Tim had 21-day dry aged sliced NY strip (meh) with fried manchego balls, which sound really awesome but tasted like fried dough. I had the king crab over foie gras (ha Chicago) and truffle emulsion, just because it sounded uber-expensive. Just sounded, not tasted.
Although we were ordering from the prix fixe menu and didn't venture into Mosaic's odd and somewhat limited tapas offerings, I have to make a comment here on its cuisine description, of which it is very proud, "modern fusion tapas." What the hell does that mean? The mere fact that you're using a Spanish word should imply Spanish food. Otherwise just say small plates. "Modern?" This allows Mosaic to use weird shit like foam and green stuff. And "Fusion"-I guess this is what allows to usage of the now colloquial "tapas." If we use manchego, we can call anything we want tapas. Hell, I'm calling tortilla chips tapas from now on. As long as they're a small portion and overpriced. Soapbox.
www.mosaictapas.com
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Unabashed Gluttony-Road Edition II
Oops a little late with getting this one posted. After our fateful run-in with Hurricane Columbia, we were off for the remaining 126 miles to Kansas City*. If you're at all familiar with your grocery store's condiment section, you are privy to "KC Masterpiece" BBQ sauce. Kansas City or "Kay-Cay" as Tim calls it, it the Midwestern capital of BBQ, a style that prides itself with meat, namely ribs, slathered in sweet, sticky sauce. I received several opinions of which joint boasts the best 'Q; I went with my former protege, as she lived there for two years and I assumed she knew what she was talking about.
Jack Stack, not owned by anyone named Jack or Stack, is a local chain. The downtown location was large, sprawling, touristy, and not what I had in mind (hello, big dude slatherin' ribs out back, ala Fried Green Tomatoes, minus the cannabalism). Since we were there for lunch, the "Sampler Platter," although exactly what I wanted, just didn't fit into the game plan, if I wanted to make it through the scheduled day of WWI Museum and Kauffman Stadium. So I ventured over to the sandwich section, and chose the "Burnt Ends" sandwhich, which is basically the crunchy part of the brisket and pork shoulder all chopped up and put on a bun with some 'slaw. I was also able to exchange the fries with bbq baked beans and some crazy creation that paired the cheese from mac 'n' cheese with sweet corn. Interestingly, this sandwhich came with NO BBQ SAUCE. I had to ask for it. I really enjoy places you can go and choose which your sauce because they're just sitting on the table (Pappy's, Shaved Duck). I punted and went with the "spicy" sauce, which was nothing to write home about.
The big disappointment was the pulled pork sandwhich that Tim ordered. The sauce and the pork were pre-mixed, a big no-no in my book, and it resembeled the $6.99 bucket you find in the frozen section. Only about half of the sandwich was consumed.
We're making another trip back to Kay-Cay in September; perhaps we'll try one of the many other recommendations I received for gettin' some 'Q in the city.
*Cool city! Very impressed.
http://www.jackstackbbq.com/info.asp?ii=2&sid=&eid=&tid=
Jack Stack, not owned by anyone named Jack or Stack, is a local chain. The downtown location was large, sprawling, touristy, and not what I had in mind (hello, big dude slatherin' ribs out back, ala Fried Green Tomatoes, minus the cannabalism). Since we were there for lunch, the "Sampler Platter," although exactly what I wanted, just didn't fit into the game plan, if I wanted to make it through the scheduled day of WWI Museum and Kauffman Stadium. So I ventured over to the sandwich section, and chose the "Burnt Ends" sandwhich, which is basically the crunchy part of the brisket and pork shoulder all chopped up and put on a bun with some 'slaw. I was also able to exchange the fries with bbq baked beans and some crazy creation that paired the cheese from mac 'n' cheese with sweet corn. Interestingly, this sandwhich came with NO BBQ SAUCE. I had to ask for it. I really enjoy places you can go and choose which your sauce because they're just sitting on the table (Pappy's, Shaved Duck). I punted and went with the "spicy" sauce, which was nothing to write home about.
The big disappointment was the pulled pork sandwhich that Tim ordered. The sauce and the pork were pre-mixed, a big no-no in my book, and it resembeled the $6.99 bucket you find in the frozen section. Only about half of the sandwich was consumed.
We're making another trip back to Kay-Cay in September; perhaps we'll try one of the many other recommendations I received for gettin' some 'Q in the city.
*Cool city! Very impressed.
http://www.jackstackbbq.com/info.asp?ii=2&sid=&eid=&tid=
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