{Braised Carrot: barigoule, quinoa, dill, chive, yeast}

Did Gerard Craft break your heart when he moved Niche from the city’s quaint yet quirky Benton Park to the county’s corporate yet classy Clayton? Did you sigh with resignation when you learned the new Niche dropped a la carte entrees in favor of its four-course prix fixe and nine-course tasting menus? Craft offers no apologies. As the owner of four top St. Louis restaurants, he doesn’t have to.

Read the rest of Michael Renner’s review of Niche, here.

— photo by Carmen Troesser

We all know one – that person who takes great pleasure in distinguishing himself from the rest of us mere food enthusiasts. The girlfriend who thinks only sous vide meats are worthy of her palate. The husband who’d never settle for something as utilitarian as Mr. Coffee. Regardless of who the food snob is in your life, these gifts are sure to impress.

For instance, at Williams-Sonoma, you can buy the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker (pictured). For most new parents concerned with what their babies are eating, certified organic brands are sufficient. But food snobs, well they have to make their own. This baby food maker does it all: steams, blends, warms and defrosts vegetables, fruits and meats in one compact appliance. Throw in the travel bag and cute freezer trays (sold separately), and you’ve got fancy baby food anyway (and anywhere) you like it.

For four more gift ideas, check out our slideshow.

In August 2001, Joe Pollack wrote his first restaurant review for Sauce. Over the next nearly four years, Joe was a staple of this publication, writing reviews under the moniker Gourmet Guru, the name he created for his column.

By now, many St. Louisans know that Joe died unexpectedly early Friday morning at his home in Clayton at the age of 81. True to his disciplined nature, he had just completed the last of several film reviews he was writing that morning for the blog he and his wife, Ann Lemons Pollack, publish, St. Louis Eats and Drinks with Joe and Ann Pollack.

The columns and stories he wrote for Sauce are just a drop in the proverbial bucket for a man who seemingly knew everything about everything. He kept the same distinctive voice for nearly 50 years of professional writing in St. Louis, whether he was covering sports, politics, food, wine, theater or film. When I took over the Gourmet Guru column (now called New and Notable) at Sauce a few years ago, I was hesitant to use the name because, well, it was Joe’s.

Joe always reminded me of one of those curmudgeonly, tough talking, hard-boiled, old school journalists pounding out copy on a portable Smith Corona with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He had the quicksilver mind and mouth to match, and I always enjoyed discussing restaurants with him, however briefly, whenever we ran into each other at events. In addition to the culinary reviews he wrote for Sauce, Joe was a sports reporter for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and spent 23 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewing restaurants, theater and film. Along with Ann, he reviewed restaurants for St Louis Magazine, published three books on St. Louis dining and was the local editor for the Zagat Guide. His heavy Brooklyn accent was familiar to listeners of KWMU (90.7 FM), where he also reviewed films.

He may have been born in New York, but he was a St. Louisan through and through. Thank you, Joe Pollack.

Read Joe Pollack’s obituary here.

“Joe was instrumental in the early years of Sauce. He saw the potential in Sauce magazine and our vision for St. Louis and that is why he wanted to be part of it.”

— Allyson Mace, publisher and founder, Sauce Magazine

In 2008, Jeff Siegel, founder of the popular Web site The Wine Curmudgeon, and Dave McIntyre, wine writer for The Washington Post, founded DrinkLocalWine.com as a way to focus more attention on the other 47 states that make wine (i.e. not the COW states: California, Oregon and Washington). Since then, the duo has hosted conferences in Virginia and Texas, educating Americans on wines from these regions. And come the first weekend of April, they’ll be at the Doubletree Westport in St. Louis to tout vino from grapes grown on vineyards here in Missouri.

The Drink Local Wine Conference will feature a slew of intriguing sessions Saturday, April 2, such as the creatively titled, We don’t need no stinkin’ vinifera. Other sessions include: Creating a buzz: How regional wine can grab the public’s attention and Does Locavore = Locapour, featuring our own Glenn Bardgett of Annie Gunn’s; Ann Pollack of St. Louis Eats and Drinks; Debra Grace, owner of Grace Manor; and Todd Kliman, author of The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine.

Also on Saturday, conference goers can join in on a Twitter Taste-Off, featuring 24 Missouri wineries. Yours truly will be tweeting from the taste-off (@saucemagazine using conference hashtag: #dlwmo) as I try to identify a California wine among the group of Missouri wines in a blind tasting. Those successful in ferreting out the West Coast interloper will have their taste-off fee refunded. Then, on Sunday, experience Missouri wines and terroir firsthand with a winery tour hosted by St. Louis Eats and Drinks’ Joe and Ann Pollack.

“The growth of the regional wine movement has been phenomenal,” said Siegel, who started his Wine Curmudgeon web column over a decade ago to shed the mystique shrouding wine. “Wine is made in all 50 states and the number of wineries in Missouri has almost doubled since 2005.” But what about all that prejudice against local wine? 
“More people, and especially younger people who didn’t grow up with rules about what wines are OK to drink, appreciate regional wine and don’t see it as something to be avoided,” he noted.

There are several affordable ticket packages available for the conference, starting at $35. For more information and to register for the event, click here. Can’t make it? Follow me at the Twitter Taste-Off @saucemagazine using conference hashtag #dlwmo.