En Papiawesome
Jun 27, 2008 Illinois, chefs, restaurants
Not to be confused with the famous version, at Erato on Main last night, while Kevin Willmann was away at the STL Mag A-List awards claiming his Reason to Take a Drive victory, sous chef Jon Olson was serving up Gulf Pompano en Papillote with shaved fennel, local baby onions, Oregon white truffle & farm butter.
I’m sure the majority of you are familiar with en papillote, but for those that are not, it is a French method for cooking delicate foods inside parchment paper. These days you will see some people cheat by using foil instead, but traditionally you cut a heart shape out of parchment, place the contents on one side (generally fish; vegetables; and some sort of oil, butter or sauce to keep it moist), fold it in half, fold over the seams to seal it, and bake it in the oven. The gist is that the food actually steams which results in an extremely moist outcome.
I have had three en papillotes
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Tags: Edwardsville, en papillote, Erato on Main, Jon Olson, Kevin Willmann, pompano
Niche in the News
Jun 25, 2008 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
Illinois Times review of Niche from June 12, 2008.
…a riff on a Reuben: rye gnocchi with pickled mustard seeds, horseradish, and house-corned meat. In less skilled hands this could have been a disaster - heavy gnocchi, overpowering condiments - but this was fabulous: light pillows with a distinctive rye taste and perfectly balanced flavors. Something familiar was transformed into something completely new.
Tags: Illinois Times, Niche
KoKo NoMo?
Jun 16, 2008 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
I was just told KoKo Restaurant has closed by way of someone from the kitchen staff. Currently the answering machine is simply the standard no one available style message. More tomorrow as I (or someone with more time than I) find out more.
Going Fishing at Erato on Main
Jun 13, 2008 Illinois, chefs, restaurants
This weekend at Erato on Main Kevin Willmann is trying to win some sort of Kona Kampachi contest and will be serving what he once called “assuming fish with unassuming fish.” At least he called it that to me.
Not a fan of the duo overall “because one always upstages the other” he’s all for doing it when it works and the two items truly make something greater together than they would on their own.
The assuming fish is
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Tags: Erato on Main, Kevin Willmann
Vegan St. Louis
Jun 11, 2008 St. Louis, restaurants
While you, like me, might feel that the only life scarier than an ovo-lacto vegetarian is the life of the dairy-less vegan, I am also not a diehard red-meat-loving Midwesterner and have always been interested in tasting what the best vegetarian-oriented spots in St. Louis have to offer. The problem, of course, is that in St. Louis, good food and vegetarian food rarely go hand in hand, and vegetarian cuisine of any sort, let alone the upscale sort, represents a large void in need of options.
With St. Louis seemingly unable to support a full scale vegetarian restaurant in the way that other large cities can, the vegans of our city are left to navigate the meated-menus of restaurants with a token vegetarian option or two–fingers crossed the whole time that the kitchen is being truthful about the omission of stock, or butter, or whatever items their flavor of vegetarianism prohibits.
Worst of all
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Tags: cardwell's, Dave Owens, Margaret Kelly, show me vegan, terrene, vegan, vegetarian
St. Louis Beard-related News
Jun 9, 2008 St. Louis, general food, missouri, restaurants
Unfortunately over the weekend Julia Usher did not win the Food-Related Columns James Beard Award she was nominated for–meaning St. Louis will have to once again live vicariously through a Danny Meyer win. We can, however, rest a little easier with the knowledge that some of our own, in the form of Joshua Galliano and a few of his An American Place crew, were cooking at the gala and serving up genuine Hinkebein Hills Farm pork belly.
And don’t forget you can read Julia’s nominated Prep School articles in the Sauce Magazine archives.
- Braising: A magical transformation from tough to tender (Mar 1st 2007)
- Quick-process and refrigerator are two pickles you’ll want to be in (Oct 1st 2007)
- In the game of pâte à choux, the classical method wins (Dec 1st 2007)
Tags: Hinkebein Hills Farm, James-Beard-Awards, Joshua Galliano, Julia User
Niche on Mondays
Jun 9, 2008 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
Where can you get good food on a Monday?
It’s a great question with few answers. But later this month the list will get another notch when Niche starts serving seven days a week.
June 16th is the day I’ve heard tossed around but I’m not sure if it was stone-set just yet.
June 23rd is the date per Gerard Craft below.
Tags: Gerard Craft, Niche
I Second Barney’s BBQ
May 27, 2008 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
Growing up in Ballwin, each year the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day were not just a little brighter because of the lack of school, the pool, and Spy Hunter, they were brighter because of the enticing scent of smoking meats wafting out from the shack (I think it’s actually an old garage) that is Barney’s BBQ.
Located just West of Clarkson on Manchester Road in Ellisville, I passed it myself Saturday, and after wrestling with the urge to venture inside (we already had lunch plans) I came home to see Bonwich’s recommendation which I will now second–strongly.
Barney’s is rich with personal nostalgia for many a West Countian and I can personally remember many a night where my parents would drag us over to sit outside on the park benches next to the shack that comprise about 90% of the available seating.
As I understand the story, Barney’s is/was only open during summer because the families children would work there during summer to have money for college. If the flavor is any indication I imagine they can afford some pretty good schools, but whatever the reason, for a few months each year they serve up some of the best vinegar-based barbecue in St. Louis.
Don’t go here looking for pork ribs though. They have only giant beef ribs with protruding bones so large they remind me of something the Flintstones would eat.
And don’t miss the pumpkin cake sprinkled liberally with powdered sugar. It’s just not the same without a slice (or two as I used to do).
Barney’s BBQ, 16011 Manchester Road. Ellisville, MO, (636) 227-2300
EDIT: Joe Bonwich thinks they do have pork ribs. Let me know if you see they do–maybe they were just out when I went last year. Here’s to hoping I am!
Tags: Barney's BBQ, Ellisville, Joe Bonwich
Pumpernickle’s
May 16, 2008 St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
This new Pumpernickle’s sign jumped out at me as I was driving down Olive because it’s not as cool as the old one.
As it turns out there was also a new ownership sign in the window as well.They’re saying it’s a “New York Style” deli which I don’t think they’d ever claimed before.
Here’s to hoping they don’t get rid of the The Sloppy Louie which might as well be called The Heart Attack. It’s a triple decker piled high with corned beef, turkey, pastrami, roast beef, slaw and Louie dressing on rye. You literally have to eat it with a knife and fork.
Tags: deli, Pumpernickle's
I really don’t know…
May 15, 2008 St. Louis, general food, missouri, restaurants
The Daily Sauce reported Monday on the graduating classes of two local technical schools culinary programs: Clyde C. Miller Career Academy and North Technical High School.
Calling them chefs aside (tsk tsk), the two schools faced off in the First Annual High School Culinary Cook-Off.
The North Tech team devised a three-course menu featuring pecan-encrusted goat cheese on a bed of greens with diced apple and charred tomato vinaigrette; shrimp risotto with roasted grape tomatoes; and pineapple-glazed pork loin with sweet potato hash and pineapple salsa. Miller’s team countered with a mixed spring salad with smoked salmon, dried cherries, carrots, tomatoes, blue cheese with an apple and pear vinaigrette; a roasted chicken and garlic skewer on spinach pesto; and pork tenderloin stuffed with chorizo and Boursin cheese, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a spring vegetable medley.
First, congratulations to the students. While technical high schools are common place in other countries, for some reason in America, they’ve never taken the same kind of hold. Here we’d rather cram the square peg into the round hole than let a student actually excel at something they enjoy. Here’s to not getting crammed!
As for the high schools,
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Tags: culinary tech high schools in the lou, seasonal vegetable medley, seasonality
