Market Watch: Maplewood Farmers’ Market Starts Today
Apr 1, 2009 St. Louis, farmers' markets, groceries, missouri
What many consider to be the most festive market–The Maplewood Farmers’ Market–begins it’s season today (Wednesday April, 1) and will run through the end of October.
I think this is a little earlier than in the past because it actually caught me off guard. But it’s totally sweet news, right?
Tags: farmers, Maplewood Farmers Market, MO
Assumption Greek Orthodox Church
Mar 7, 2008 events
Here are some pictures from one of the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church Friday luncheons I went to.
The menu changes weekly, and you can see what’s available in advance on their website.
Tags: Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Avgolemono Soup, Des Peres, Dolmathes, Galatobouriko, MO
Lunch at Sycamore – Columbia, MO
Nov 21, 2007 beer, restaurants, reviews, trips
There are a few things I didn’t get to over the past few months so travel back in time with me as I cover a little lost ground Nakamura style.
From Mastodon to moe., and all points in between, over the years I’ve been to far more than a handful of concerts at The Blue Note in Columbia, MO. For years, each time I arrived with little time on my hands, I’d peer into the windows of Trattoria Strada Nova and quietly say to myself “someday” before scurrying across the street to Ninth Street Deli or Bangkok Gardens short of the necessary finances and time to do so.
Unfortunately the only someday that came was that someday most good things come to an end. With business apparently faltering, the Trattoria was non più. I’d missed my chance.
But then through the grapevine known as Chowhound I heard that the “good chef,” Mike Odette, had rounded the corner opening up a spacious new restaurant called Sycamore at the corner of Broadway and Eighth. Specializing in local seasonal food, Sycamore, like 222 Artisan Bakery, is the kind of place you step into and wonder how it ended up where it is in the first place. With a section of about 6 tables just inside the front windows, my quick gazes while passing by never yielded a real grasp for the restaurants size. Once inside, however, it’s an absolutely enormous space, and frankly, really cool.
Three to four times as long as it is wide, the restaurant seems even larger do to the high ceilings. Along with the warm color scheme, the floors, a combination of wood and vintage looking tile, reminded me of an old drug store soda fountain and gave the restaurant a familiar welcoming feel. A well stocked bar runs briefly down the right side before the room narrows and you find yourself looking at the seemingly mandatory open kitchen in back.
Making the kitchen especially unique, it is also elevated up a short flight of stairs so that everyone in the restaurant can easily see it. On the side of the line facing the restaurant a short bookshelf is lined with cookbooks obviously tattered by cooks and chefs scouring for inspiration — which did not go overlooked. For me a kitchen with cookbooks is one where the staff is always interested in learning; understanding that no matter how great a cook you are, there is always room for growth, and there is always someone better. Sycamore it would seem, gets it.
Seated in the narrow section of the restaurant near the kitchen, we looked over the menu making our final selections as the scent of a kitchen deep into their Friday morning prep work wafted into the dining room from the elevated kitchen. The unmistakable smell of bacon roasting in the oven, the perfume of grilling onions as they caramelized slowly making them something better than before, and the sound of cold butter hitting a hot pan; its scent signaling its change from yellow to brown confirmed even before a bite was taken, that good food was being cooked here.
The lunch menu at Sycamore is made up of salads, soups, sandwiches, and a handful of lighter lunch entrees. Also listed is an option of 1/2 a sandwich & any side item for only $6.25. Although I don’t recall what Ellie had, she wisely made this choice. I however was starved, and having read about their use of Patchwork Farms pork on their website, combined with the heavenly sent of bacon in the air, I knew I had to have a full Peppered Patchwork pork loin and bacon served on focaccia with grilled onions, fontina, sundried tomato mayo and housemade barbeque sauce with a side of fries as soon as I saw it.
Initially I was a little worried that so many flavors might make the sandwich overwhelming. The flavors melded together nicely, however, with the smoke of the bacon and the strong pork flavor of the loin being complimented nicely by the bite of the fontina and the zip of the light-handed addition of barbecue sauce.
At $7.50, it was also incredibly reasonable because it was an absolute monster. A testament to its deliciousness, it was one of those items where you know you should stop eating, but it tastes so good that unless someone physically removes it from your sight, it begs you to keep powering on even though you know you shouldn’t.
The fries were a fit compliment to the sandwich as well. Roof of the mouth searing hot, they were the biggest I’ve ever had by a wide margin.And everything paired nicely with my beer. I’m normally more of a wine man with my upscale dining, but a glance at their beer list quickly changed my mind. Not only do they actually have one, but the beer list at Sycamore is possibly the best I’ve ever seen in a restaurant of this type. It was filled with thoughtful and unusual brews representing some of the finest beers in the world. Listed at an incredibly reasonable $6, I went with the Brasserie des Rocs Triple Impériale Ale. At around 10% ABV you’d expect this Belgian Strong Dark Ale to give an immediate hit of alcohol as you take the first sip, but instead, it’s only somewhat apparent do to the beer’s sweetness. Not cloying in any way, it comes from the punch of funky dried fruit flavors which lingered through the finish. Well played, it was a shockingly good pairing with the sandwich.
We can’t wait to go back for a dinner at Sycamore, and will certainly be making sure to arrive with plenty of pre-concert time from now on.
flickr pictobrowser after the jump
Tags: Columbia, Mike-Odette, MO, Sycamore
Bluestem: Kansas City Part 2
Oct 10, 2007 restaurants, reviews
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So a few months after my culinary awakening at The Stolen Grill my girlfriend at the time and I cruised across the state one afternoon, ate dinner, and cruised on back. Somehow I don’t think she was terribly impressed with this idea, and I’m pretty sure she thought I was just plain nuts. She was wrong though, it was worth every mile.
Several years and a new girlfriend (now wife) later, Ellie and I have discussed a few times whether I would feel as strongly about The Stolen Grill’s food if I ate there today. I honestly don’t know. The memory is clouded with romance so strong that while I’d love to say yes, the reality is probably that it was a long time ago, and some of the memories have been overshadowed by other great meals all across the country.
September 28 was our anniversary. Being our fifth, we had the lofty initial hope of going to Napa Valley since it was a bit of a milestone and we had honeymooned there. As it often does, life got in the way and the plan never quite came together. With a new job and unforeseen car repairs we instead decided on a one night trip to our Western rival, Kansas City, to eat one meal. Ellie did not think I was nuts and in fact, she thought it was a great idea.
I’d spent two years salivating over the thought of going to Kansas City for one meal since reading about Colby Garrelts and his restaurant Bluestem in the 2005 Best New Chefs edition of Food & Wine. I was shocked to see a winner from Missouri and knew I had to eat there after reading just one quote: “Then I got a job at a place called the Stolen Grill”.
We got to our hotel way earlier than needed, and with the restaurant only a few miles away, and time to kill, we decided to make sure we knew where it was so that we might, for once, be early. Venturing down Westport on foot and looking at the various shops the area seemed way to familiar and I made some crack about Bluestem being in the same spot as the Stolen Grill. As we approached the top of the hill, it became clear — it seriously was. I couldn’t possibly have been looking more forward to our meal at this point.
Bluestem has very limited seatings and upon arriving they sat us immediately. Unfortunately there was only one table left and it was somewhat in a corner. True gentleman that I am, I gave Ellie the seat facing the room. She’s a great wife though, and traded with me knowing that it would disappoint me to face a wall as I’d been looking so forward to this meal. You should know, that I’m a beautiful man, and she obviously wanted nothing more than to stare longingly into my eyes — plus of course the fact I complained and she didn’t want to listen to me.
With musical chairs out of the way our waiter greeted us. He and the entire staff were awesome. Throughout the meal they were graceful and attentive; always there when you needed something, but never overbearing. I rarely have questions about a menu, but when I do, they’re generally in reference to ingredients I’m unfamiliar with. Often they leave waiters stumbling for answers because I’ve pinpointed the strangest items on their menu. Tonight’s questions: What is bagna cauda, kalamansi and merluza were each answered eloquently and with terrific detail. Clearly well trained, the servers had obviously been given the opportunity to try each dish in order to better describe them.
The menu at Bluestem is such that on a weekend, besides being able to have anything on the menu a la carte, you can also opt for three courses for $55, five for $65 or 7 for $75. You make the choices yourself picking a combination of items between the left side of the menu (appetizers), and the right side (entrees). We were informed portions would be altered based upon the choice made. Wine pairings for each are $25, $35, and $45 respectively. Monday through Thursday there is also the opportunity to have 12 courses for $100 which they describe as a “Spontaneous Collection From the Chef.”
Ellie and I love menus like this. Rather than being unnecessarily weighed down by one item, restaurants serving small portions allow diners the opportunity to try several items to better see and taste the full range of what a kitchen has to offer. When we were in New York for instance, we ate at a restaurant called Degustation where we literally ended up eating over 80% of their menu.
I will warn you now to brace yourself because this post is ridiculously long. We chose seven courses (4 from the left, 2 from the right, and one dessert) and I will do my best to describe everything in as much detail as I can recall after the jump.
For those of you pressed for time, here is a copy of the menu from 2007.09.28. For the rest of you, get your jump on.
Tags: Bluestem, Colby Garrelts, Kansas-City, MO, Stolen Grill
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