Taking the Edge off E-Ville
May 5, 2010 Illinois, chefs, restaurants
It’s not my style to alert you to all deals because some deals are at places I wouldn’t want you to eat at in the first place. With a definite amount of bias, however, I’d like to point out that although Kevin Willmann has moved on to great new things at Farmhaus, Edwardsville’s Erato on Main is still chugging along. With the same great wine and beer list they’ve always had (and really that was part of the reason many of you drove to E-Ville anyway), the restaurant is still worth the trek. Doubly so because you’ll get to sample Jonathan Olson’s evolving menus as he finds his personal cooking style. Triply so because if you’re on the fence about the visit, today only you can turn $10 into $22 with the new Hot Sauce Deals of the Day website.
As an added bonus, 10% of all Hot Sauce proceeds will be donated to help fund important programs and services at Children’s Hospital.
For a taste of what’s in store, check out the new Erato on Main website. Menus are updated each Friday so you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re in store for.
Full disclosure: As always, please keep in mind that while I believe my opinion to be correct, there are some establishments where my opinion is personally biased. This is one. Jonny “Style” Olson and other members of the Erato staff have become friends of mine because of my regularity in the restaurant. Heck, Jon even guest-blogged once.
Tags: Edwardsville, Erato on Main, Jonathan Olson
Goshen Coffee @ Foundation Grounds
Jan 12, 2009 Illinois, St. Louis, coffee, missouri
And in still more local coffee news, Ian Froeb and Melody Meiners of toastedrav.com reported that Foundation Grounds is now open in Maplewood. Between the two of them they covered most of the W’s (like it’s being Green) except for one: Foundation Grounds is another Missouri notch for Edwardsville’s Goshen Coffee.
Continuing to increase their West-Side presence, their drip and espresso coffees are becoming increasingly easy to find around town as prominent spots like Pi, Winslow’s Home, Local Harvest Cafe, The Good Pie and Niche turn to them for service.
Tags: Edwardsville, espresso, Goshen Coffee, Local Harvest, Niche, Pi, The Good Pie, ToastedRav.com, Winslow's Home
Fond 411
Oct 28, 2008 Illinois, restaurants
Yet more info on recently opened Fond…
For those of you looking for pertinent details, Fond is located at 106 N. Main Street, Edwardsville, IL 62025 and their number is 618.656.9001. Thought out extremely well their website is www.fondfinedining.com. It is well done both visually and informationally and contains everything a new restaurant’s should upon opening. This includes, of course, a sample fall menu complete with a tasting menu (which they call a Market Menu).
Willing to put my foot somewhat in my mouth, it all sounds pretty damn tasty in a comforting sort of way. Here are just a few items I hope taste every bit as as good as they sound…
- Pumpkin Soup with cumin-coriander creme
- Veal Terrine with mustard, pickles and grilled toast
- Parmesan Ravioli with lemon, mint and black pepper
- Free-Form Lasagna with mild mushrooms, smoked celery root puree, goat cheese fondue
- Brown-butter cake with spiced pecans and bourbon buttercream
See, I can be nice too.
Tags: Edwardsville, Fond
Fond Opens
Oct 27, 2008 Illinois, restaurants
Word on the Edwardsville streets last Friday was that the butcher paper is down and Fond is currently having a soft opening.
If you check it out, let us know how it is over on the forum.
Tags: Edwardsville, Fond
Fond
Oct 1, 2008 Illinois, restaurants
With the clothing store long gone and the butcher paper in the windows, Fond, Amy Zupanci’s soon to be opened restaurant in Edwardsville, grows nearer each week.
Some of you may recall that Zupanci tipped off a bit of an Edwardsville uproar earlier this year when she was quoted as saying that she’d be opening her restaurant because she wanted to “…bring back Main Street because our standards have raised.”
It would seem now, that if the RFT can be used as an any kind of barometer, (and I think it can), that the line should have read, “continuing the Main Street standards set by soon to be neighbors Erato on Main and 222 Artisan Bakery.” Both businesses received nods in the RFT’s 2008 Best Of (222 / Erato)
So while we’ll still have to wait a few more weeks to see Fond’s first crack at simulating Savoy’s style, here are a couple things to mull over:
- We’re going to get a flurry of cutesy headlines once the reviewing begins. Things like:
- There’s something to be Fond about in Edwardsville
- Fond of Fond
- Fondness is found in Edwardsville
- If you were opening a restaurant that the Edwardsville Journal said “will feature local fruits and vegetables, herbs, meats and chicken, with a seasonal menu,” would it not be best to open when these things are going to be in season for a while? Like, I don’t know, at the beginning of the growing season?
Tags: Edwardsville, Fond
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
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Edwardsville, en papillote, Erato on Main, Jon Olson, Kevin Willmann, pompano
stlbites.com Recipe Exclusive
If you’ve not been paying attention, with three trips in nine days, and probably a dozen so far this year, stlbites has much love for Erato on Main and their entire staff.
But as much as we like the staff it’s Kevin Wilmann’s daily changing menu of whatever looks freshest that keep us addictively trekking back for more; today though we’ll be talking about the one menu that doesn’t change daily.
Doubling as the restaurant’s pastry chef we’ve basically memorized Sous Chef Jon Olson’s dessert menu as he keeps it small almost always having the staples of a chocolate cake with basil ice cream and carrot cake with goat cheese icing.
Mostly this is the result of their kitchen being about the size of my closet. Still, he’s been trying to mix it up recently, and over the weekend served a lemon curd with blackberry tea foam (with I believe preserved lemon rind). The blackberry foam was a subtle flavor to compliment the tartness of the lemon, and while it did need a bit more textural crunch, when asked how he made the curd, he was happy to oblige by sharing the recipe.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: dessert, Edwardsville, Erato on Main, Jon Olson, Jonathan Olson, Kevin Willmann, Sauce Magazine
222 Baking Class
Feb 26, 2008 Illinois, cooking, events
The first post went up last week, and for the high-rolling wanna-be-baker, Matt Herren and 222’s new(ish) head baker Paula will be teach some classes for the adoring public.
So for years now people have been asking me to teach them to make bread. I have always grumbled about “some day” and “when I have time” Well the time is now! Paula our head baker has been inspiring me, and freeing up some time for me as well, and we are going to offer a class…it’s going to be two weekends from 2-5 each Saturday.
They’re only taking six people so head to the blog for more details if interested.
Paula by the way is the one responsible for all the braided loaves they’ve been turning out lately as well as some of the new varieties like chocolate pomegranate.
[As a side note, Bill did this website for South Wedge Farmes' Market in Rochester, NY (where he now lives), and it's pretty slick considering he used the same CMS I do for stlbites.]
Tags: 222 Artisan Bakery, Edwardsville, Goshen Coffee, Matt Herren
222 Artisan Bakery @ Local Harvest
Feb 21, 2008 Illinois, groceries
This just in from the Local Harvest newsletter…
Tomorrow Only (i.e Friday, February 22 from 8am until 7pm) Local Harvest will have baked goods from 222 Artisan Bakery.
For those of you that just won’t believe me when I say that 222 is worth the journey to Edwardsville you get a one day shot to save yourself a drive
Or if you do believe me and you’ve already made the journey, do the earth friendly thing and save some gas.
Tags: 222 Artisan Bakery, Edwardsville
Edwardsville
Jan 6, 2008 Illinois, chefs, restaurants
Amy Zupanci, current employee of Niche but native of Edwardsville, IL, is planning to open a fine dining restaurant around Main Street in Edwardsville later this year.
With my frequent trips across the river I’d heard rumor of this previously, but the Edwardsville Intelligencer has now confirmed it with this article.
It’s safe to say I love Edwardsville, and while I think their community definitely has room for more fine dining, when I read this:
“I will do a lot of my own pickling and canning,” Zupanci said. “I don’t want a greenhouse tomato on a plate.”
The reason for this new restaurant is simply because Edwardsville is currently lacking in the fine dining department, according to Zupanci.
“We just don’t have a restaurant like this,” Zupanci said. “I would like to bring back Main Street because our standards have raised.”
it left me wondering: Just what the hell has Kevin Willmann been doing for the last year at Erato On Main?
- Canning: he does it
- Local sourcing: he’s extremely committed
- Fine dining: definitely
Now, if by fine dining we’re talking suit and tie formal, then no, you won’t find it at Erato or anywhere else in Edwardsville that I’m aware of. However, although I could very easily be wrong, I also don’t think Edwardsville wants a restaurant like that.
So if, presumably, we’re talking about upscale food in a more relaxed environment with a Niche-like dress code, then someone owes Willman an apology because he’s already doing that, and very well.
Tags: Amy-Zupanci, Edwardsville, Erato on Main, Kevin Willmann
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?