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
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
Fast Food V. Slow Food
Dec 3, 2008 MO, St. Louis, events, restaurants
There is a bar called Maryland House @ Brennan’s in the Central West End. I have never been there and honestly had no idea what it was until the owner of Pi, Chris Sommers, told me about a little something they do the first Wednesday of every month (that’s tonight). On that day (tonight I say) is Brennan’s Arguments and Grievances which is, in their own words, “a monthly event wherein the good citizens of St. Louis can stand up for the causes that matter least and, with their masterful oratory, command the minds and mirth of the crowd to decide the fate of such long standing and ridiculous feuds.”
Specifically Sommers told me about it because he was to be one of the opponents in Harley V. Vespa which you can catch online.
Specifically I tell you about it because (a) I’ve yet to make it and it sounds like a hell of a good time (especially if you could see a showdown like Jaws V. Jurassic Park) and (b) because the undercard tonight is a topic that doesn’t matter least to me, it’s Fast Food V. Slow Food with Sauce’s own April Seager taking the Slow roll of Carla Petrini.
Tags: fast food, jurassic park, Pi, slow food
Change comes before January 20th
Nov 11, 2008 MO, St. Louis, missouri, restaurants
Last Tuesday saw 52.6% of America step into the voting booth and mark their ballots “change.” Of course it won’t be until January 20th that they’ll begin to find out if their hopes and dreams are met by President-Elect Barack Obama. For the people of St. Louis, however, we’ve got Pi, and thinking we shouldn’t have to wait that long, a change to their menu will leave us waiting only until Friday. It’s then you’ll be able to head on down to the East Loop restaurant and order up their new creation–the Obama inspired Broccoli O’Bama–and hope that it tastes alright.
Topped with broccoli, seasoned potatoes, applewood smoked bacon, gruyere cheese, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, minced garlic, fresh chives (after bake) atop a vegan thin crust and served with a side of sour cream dip, I’m not sure they could have squeezed anything else on. Not to mention it’s like a sort of pizza lovechild where the upscale pizza Pi normally serves had a one night stand with Gumby’s.
For the Republicans amongst you, you’ll undoubtedly be convinced that even the pizza of your foe has a sort of metaphoric flaw. Topping it with all requests in an effort to please everyone it could result in pleasing no one because broccoli isn’t exactly going to have carnivores celebrating in the streets, and all that cheese and bacon is going to leave the vegetable-loving vegans hungry as well.
I’ll personally be sticking with the Lincoln Park. It’s sure to remain Pi’s best pizza. But then what the hell do I know? Maybe the Broccoli O’Bama will be delicious like everything else at Pi.
See, I can poke fun at the businesses I’m friends with.
Two-Hearted Ale Sighting
Sep 26, 2008 St. Louis, beer, missouri, restaurants
Back to back nights of eating dinner at Pi before concerts means that along with a Lincoln Park, a Berkeley, and a K2, I’ve downed quite a bit of beer because their new 5-Day replacement is a tap handle for Two Hearted Ale.
Back to back nights also means I was around long enough to notice that during their Green Hour (aka Happy Hour) from 11AM-7PM they offer a beer a day at two bucks per pint and Saturday’s selection still read “5 Day.” It will, in fact, now be Two Hearted Ale.
That’s a reason for an early Saturday dinner if ever I saw one.
Tags: Pi, Pizza, Two Hearted Ale
The Blogging Ball Has Been Dropped
Mar 28, 2008 restaurants
As I am crazy busy and my free time has not quite pulled together a post on my visits to Pi for now I will just suck it up and say this:
I’d scanned the menu but not gotten around to posting it. But now it doesn’t matter because their site is up and running complete with the menu.
So here’s your weekend task list if you choose to accept it…
- Go to Pi
- Order a 5 Day IPA
- Order the Bucktown
- (a) Realize that the Bucktown is probably the best pizza you have ever eaten and thank me profusely for telling you to get it but only after thanking the employees of Pi for giving it to you in the first place.
- (b) Dislike the Bucktown and stop reading my blog forever because you apparently don’t like food.
(well not really, but it’s just so damn good that unless you’re a vegan or part of the Provel Mafia you’d be crazy not to like it)
Pi
Feb 25, 2008 general food
No matter how many times I see this sign, or hear the name of the restaurant and when they’re opening, I think the following two things.
- Damn that’s clever even if it is painfully obvious.
- Why the hell didn’t I think of that? I mean come on…pizza across from The Pageant…even it it turns out to just be just okay they’re going to rake money in hand over fist–especially when you factor in the fact that you can take basically any food into The Pageant.
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?