#stl Twits
Feb 11, 2010 St. Louis, foodster, general food, groceries, missouri, restaurants
For weeks I’ve scoured many of your Twitter feeds. Sometimes I found the St. Louis restaurants, chefs, and other food-related accounts I hoped to. But then I also found things that would make for a bizarre demographic study of St. Louis foodsters. Like, apparently, a lot of you are LeVar Burton fans. At first I wondered, are you Reading Rainbow fans or Trekkies? And then I looked at LeVar Burton’s Twitter feed and along with learning that he felt The Who’s halftime show sucked and if you call him during Lost he will hurt your feelings, he has 1,607,229 followers.
But why the research? Because Twitter blessed us with lists so that we can create organized feeds of people we don’t actually want to follow personally. And that gave me the opportunity to waste my time assembling four lists that encompass every restaurant, chef, grocer and coffee shop located in St. Louis currently on Twitter. Word Up!
Click the links above and if I missed any, let me know @stlbites.
Tags: levar burton, Twitter
From the Vault: Flaco’s Tacos
Feb 9, 2010 St. Louis, menus, missouri, restaurants
Although I’ve slacked a bit in recent years, for the meals outside of St. Louis, I have the vast majority of every restaurant menu I’ve ever eaten from over about the last 12 years. Or at least that’s what I thought. As it turns out, that must be a recent thing because I apparently used to keep them from St. Louis too. Tonight’s find amongst a stack of assorted menus from the mid to late nineties, filed next to a two-year run of clipped Post Dispatch Patricia Corrigan reviews in which you can read again and again that quantity apparently trumps quality, I spotted the Holy Grail of shuttered St. Louis restaurant menus: Flaco’s Taco
Three shots at glory are yours, after the jump…
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Tags: Flaco's Tacos
From the Vault: Arthur Clay’s
Feb 9, 2010 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
A mailer from 2003/2004 (or so) for a free martini in March at the always missed Arthur Clay’s Bistro in Maplewood, MO.
Tags: Arthur-Clays
Buckle Up For Caffeine Insanity*
Jan 31, 2010 St. Louis, coffee, missouri, restaurants
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| Pi’s 2-group Linea w/ PID rebuilt by Barry Jarrett–formerly of Riley’s. |
Due to the unfortunate closing of the Central West End location of Companion Bake House, today was to mark the opening of Chris Sommers’ new Pi Coffee Bar–located under the loft of Pi’s new Central West End location. Teaming up with Matt Herren and Debbie Sultan of Edwardsville’s Goshen Coffee and 222 Artisan Bakery, the plan was to begin carrying a full line of Goshen’s coffee and teas as well as Sultan’s award winning pastries.
Of course, to run a great coffee bar, you need a great manager and barista, and when the topic of who to run the bar came up last Thursday, Herren told Sommers there was only one choice: Alex Brooks. In a whirlwind of a day, the call went out, and an offer was made, mulled over, and accepted by Brooks.
For St. Louis coffee fans, this is great news. A more passionate coffee professional you will rarely find. It does, however, mean that the opening has been delayed as Sommers feels it wouldn’t be right to open without Brooks at the helm. Sommers is, after all, hoping to raise the level of what coffee can be in the Central West End saying about the Brooks acquisition, “I can’t afford him, but I can’t afford not too.”
Speaking with Brooks last week, he is currently putting the finishing touches on his employment in Portland and is excited for the opportunity to be back amongst his friends putting his mark on St. Louis coffee.
At this time, the plans are to now open Monday, February 8, with the hours being Monday-Saturday 6-11AM. Be sure to stop in to welcome Alex home.
Full Disclosure: Alex Brooks, Matt Herren, Chris Sommers, and Debbie Sultan are all friends of mine.
* The title is lifted from a text message Sommers sent to me.
Tags: 222 Artisan Bakery, Alex Brooks, Chris Sommers, coffee, Debbie Sultan, Goshen Coffee, Matt Herren, Pi
Just How is That Burger at O’Connell’s Pub?
Jan 27, 2010 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
It’s been years since I’ve had a burger at O’Connell’s Pub, so I can’t personally weigh in with an opinion, but The Burger Busters review of O’Connell’s is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a while.
A highlight quote from another review:
“Overview: If you eat this burger, the terrorists win. “
WHERE IS THE REAL BEST BURGER IN STL???????????
Jan 26, 2010 St. Louis, foodster, general food, missouri, restaurants
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| Photo by J. Pollack Photography |
On any food-related message board, in any given city, at any given time, the debate of “who has the best hamburger?” always arises. That’s because American’s love hamburgers—to the tune of 14 billion burgers consumed per year!
Many of you have been debating this very question over the last few years, but the debate took on a new fervor last year when Mayer Slay’s staff posed the question on mayorslay.com at approximately the same time Alex Csank brought it up once again on the stlbites.com forum. Still, there was no unanimous winner. The question remained unanswered. To truly answer the question it was clear some capable man or woman would have to step up and consume all these burgers because you can’t say the Newstead burger is better than the O’Connell’s burger if you’ve never had the O’Connell’s burger.
And that’s where Andrew Mark Veety comes in. He has risen to the challenge and, in twelve months time, you will have your answer. Sort of.
Taking votes to establish St. Louisian’s top picks via twitter and his website, Veety has tabulated the data and narrowed things down to the top 12 contenders. In reverse order, one Sunday a month, he’ll be consuming each of the burgers to lay the question to rest in what has been dubbed, The Church of Burgers.
Full Disclosure: I’d never met Veety in person until he invited along a small entourage of St. Louis Foodsters to partake in the consumption of contender #1. Via the power of the internet he always seemed like a cool guy and I jumped at the chance to put down my keyboard and cell phone and have some bonified social interaction. I’m happy to report he is, in fact, a cool guy and as hilarious as I figured he’d be based upon his online persona. Plus, I obviously like hamBURGErs.
Tags: Andrew Mark Veety, hamburger, hamburgers, J. Pollack Photography, St. Louis
Doing Good at The Good Pie
Jan 19, 2010 St. Louis, chefs, missouri, restaurants
If I’d compiled a list of what I felt were the best things to happen to St. Louis food in the aughts, somewhere near the top of that list, you’d have found pizza. From Pi, to La Pizza, to Ohio-native Dewey’s, the stylistic selection of pizzas in St. Louis has become somewhat staggering. But as much as I love the pizza from many of the newcomers, it’s my love for what goes down at The Good Pie that’s without parallel. The taste of their chewy crust, slightly burnt, and with just the right touch of salt, is one of the few things I’m confident I could consume nightly. And that’s not to say I dislike other pizzas–far from it–it’s just that to me, pizza is a lot like barbecue: everyone has their own idea of what makes the perfect pie, and my perfect pie is found at The Good Pie.
I mention it, belatedly, because while today many restaurants in St. Louis are generously raising money for the people of Haiti—and in turn sending every blogger in town an email hoping we’d mention it–I was shocked to find that Good Pie owner, Mike Randolph, isn’t just donating a percentage of the restaurant’s profits from this evening to Mercy Corps, but literally 100% of the profit. That’s a huge thing for such a small business to do, and while it might not ultimately equal the same amount of money as a larger business, I wanted to single them out and publicly commend it. For a business I was worried about finding its niche not all that long ago, to be able to do this means, I hope, that things are looking good and a steady stream of great pies will continue to fill my belly for years to come.
For other restaurants donating money to a host of worthy charities in support of Haiti tonight (1/19/2010), head over to Gut Check as Ian has done a far better job keeping up with them than anyone else I’ve seen.
Full Disclosure: I eat in The Good Pie often and am terribly biased because the thought of never again being able to consume the broccoli raab and Salume Beddu topped pizza is shear horror.
Tags: Haiti Earthquake, Mercy Corps, Mike Randolph, The Good Pie
Brasserie by Niche to Begin Serving Lunch
Jan 6, 2010 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
Well here’s some exciting news from the Central West End…
Starting next week, new St. Louis favorite BRASSERIE by niche will begin serving lunch and brunch.
Hours are as follows:
Lunch: Tues-Friday 11-2
Brunch: Sun 10-2
Restaurant Gripes #1 and #2
Jan 6, 2010 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
Over at Winemag.com Erika Strum today posted a list of 10 Unspoken Rules of Restaurant Service Etiquette written up after a bad experience at New York’s, Michelin two star award winning, Gilt Restaurant. What she left off the list, however, is my number one service gripe: SERVE WOMEN FIRST!
From taking their orders to placing their dishes in front of them, women are always to be served first. It’s such a basic service rule that even at the most basic of diners a server ought to be capable of handling it. Still, amongst St. Louis’s finest restaurants, only two, in my recollection, have pulled this off on 100% of my visits with women: Sidney Street Café and Atlas. And that includes all of the usual suspects where one would assume such a basic service rule would be followed easily.
Of course that’s not my only restaurant gripe and, in an attempt to post a little more this year—a task at which I will undoubtedly fail—I’ll start writing, occasionally, about restaurant gripes that I feel could (and should) easily be avoided.
Now that you know my #1 gripe, rather then heading straight into #2 and picking on service staffs alone, let’s turn things to the back-of-the-house shall we?
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Tags: Atlas Restaurant, butter, gilt restaurant, restaurant gripes, service etiquette, Sidney Street Cafe
A Slow Taste of Tuscany @ Onesto November, 18
Nov 11, 2009 St. Louis, chefs, events, menus, missouri, restaurants, slow food, sustainable agriculture
A Slow Taste of Tuscany
St. Louis, MO / November 10, 2009 / www.slowfoodstl.org/sfstl_tuscan_dinner.pdf – Wednesday, November 18, 2009, join Slow Food St. Louis and Welcome Books as they team up with Onesto Pizza & Trattoria to present a celebration and special dinner commemorating the release of Welcome Books’ new book: SLOW: LIFE IN A TUSCAN TOWN.
In the spirit of The Oxford Project and American Farmer, SLOW: LIFE IN A TUSCAN TOWN, by Douglas Gayeton, is a magical and utterly unique portrayal of rural Italian life, and a tribute to the region’s kaleidoscope of charming local characters whose livelihoods and shared culture center on the growing, preparing, eating, and everyday pleasures of food. Gayeton’s imaginative and interactive portraits are layered with handwritten notes, anecdotes, recipes, quotes, historical facts and sayings that cleverly bring context and color to the subject of each sepia toned image. The book also features a preface written by Slow Food International founder, Carlo Petrini, and an introduction by notable Slow Food USA member, Alice Waters.
With support from Zagat, in celebration of the book’s release, Welcome Books has contacted leaders of Slow Food and other sustainable food organizations nationwide to host dinners across North America.
As Slow Food St. Louis co-leader, Bill Burge said, “When Welcome Books contacted me about finding a local Italian restaurant doing things ‘Slow’, Vito was the first person I thought of. Every Wednesday we see him hounding the best farmers at the Maplewood Farmers’’ Market to source the finest products he can for his customers. He obviously feels it’s the right thing to do, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have the opportunity to have teamed up with Vito and Michele.”
The dinner will feature
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Tags: Michele Racanelli, Onesto, Slow Food St. Louis, Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town, Vito Racanelli, Welcome Books, zagat
From the mountains of Panama and Ethiopia, to the urban-jungles of Portland and Chicago, journalist Michaele Weissman takes us behind the scenes for a look at the world of third-wave specialty coffee. How did we get to Starbucks, and where we go from here?