As we say goodbye to another month, we’re crossing our fingers that April’s abundance of showers really will bring a few flowers. May means ball games, al fresco dining (and drinking!), the reopening of farmers markets and, hopefully, your thriving gardens. But before our next issue hits newsstands tomorrow, we take a look back at some of our favorite stories, recipes, dishes and drinks from April.

Vegetize It columnist Beth Styles got back to salad’s roots with a kale Caesar that turns to seaweed for a taste of the sea; bar-happy couple Ted and Jamie Kilgore gave us inspiration for brunch-time sipping; a familiar face put gourmet twists on some old favorites; spirits columnist Ligaya Figueras told you about a bold, bittersweet liqueur that’s picking up steam behind the bar; we showed you how easy it is to stock your pantry with homemade salts; we went all Buddy the Elf on the perfect pancake stack; we gave you a glimpse of the new taqueria that has everyone talking; you proved that you really, really like us; New and Notable reviewer Michael Renner gave us a seat at his table at The Cheshire’s chic new spot; we proved that sorghum is the new maple syrup; we told you why the Big Muddy had us at hello; managing editor Stacy Schultz revealed what she’ll do for a great cup of coffee; associate editor Julie Cohen paid respect to all things New York Magazine; we tried not to eat the entire Swedish crumb loaf from Federhofer’s; a couple creative bartenders brought the grill to your glass; art director Meera Nagarajan fantasized about summers in Provence; contributing writer Byron Kerman tracked down a stellar slice of pizza; we offered a peek into the coolest pop-up yet; Baked columnist Amrita Rawat welcomed spring with fruit-forward cupcakes; we revealed the trends we’ve got our eyes on; we found the best seat at downtown’s new MX Theater; and a culinary couple announced that they will celebrate spring Spanish style.

Set your annual weight-loss resolution for 2013? Allow us to help. The sweet potato falafel at Lulu’s Local Eatery will have you eating healthy without even realizing it. The falafel is fried, yes, but it’s loaded with sweet potato, which is jam-packed with fiber and nutrients, and studded with good-for-you greens. It gets wrapped in a pita and finished with a figure-friendly tzatziki sauce. Counting carbs? Switch out that pita for fresh greens. This is gonna be your year – or at least your afternoon.

Track down the LuLu’s Local Eatery food truck on Facebook and Twitter or at luluslocaleatery.com

— photo by Carmen Troesser

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rosemarymints
The best Thursdays end at @PerennialBeer.

HilaryPerkins
Just noticed I have an Evernote tag called ‘bacon.’ So awesome.

zimmtv
Starting my second gallon of coffee off right! (@ Comet Coffee) [pic]: http://4sq.com/SwZTGl 

thummprints
Some mornings just require something a little sweet … this explains how #chocolate chips “accidentally” made their way into my #oatmeal.

LHEngert
I’d estimate my office temperature to be around 50 degrees. I could stir a diet coke with my finger to make it cold.

ogbrewer
This part of my day never gets easier….at least I’m getting up this early to make beer… #morningbrewer

EvanBenn
New @bravotv Top Chef starts in 7 min. #padma

tonylovesfood
“Open your mind. Get up off the couch. Move.” – @Bourdain, Thanks for 8 years of inspiring TV!

tonylovesfood
The smell and feel of this dough is amazing! pic.twitter.com/mE3t1U6A

angelamarie85
Heading to Wright City listening to Willie with dad for a restaurant road trip to Big Boy’s. #awesome

billstreeter
Radom fact: my votin’ shirt is also my drinkin’ shirt

Farmhauseric
Gotta find the nearest pizza eating competition. I know I could win it.

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Llywelyn’s Pub is opening in Wildwood. The newest location will sit in the Wildwood Town Center in the Dierberg’s shopping plaza on Manchester/Highway 100, just east of Highway 109. A Wildwood location brings the tally of the locally owned pub to six. (The others are located in the Central West End, Soulard, St. Charles, Webster Groves and O’Fallon, Mo. There is also a franchise in Kansas City.)

The newest Llywelyn’s, as seen in the architectural renderings pictured here, will offer 6,400 square feet of space to kick back with a pint of beer and play darts, or enjoy pub fare with family and friends. There will be a game room and banquet space as well as a 3,200-square-foot patio, complete with an outdoor bar.

The menu will be the same as that offered at the other locations. According to director of marketing Sandie Jones, however, all area Llywelyn’s will see some new menu items around the time that doors at the Wildwood location are unlocked, tentatively slated for January 6.

— Rendering provided by Oculus Inc., St. Louis, Mo.

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JJonesing
Mudd House Breakfast sandwiches are better than Oxfords.

brickghost
I’m done with fat free cheese. I don’t know what it is but it is NOT cheese. Some kind of plastic. I’m compromising with 2% #fb

inacamba
I really should stop carb loading recreationally.

stlcolleen
In honor of tomorrow’s predicted “cold snap”, I’m making soup. Zucchini soup. #inseason

ChefCoxCooks
I’m too tired to care about sophisticated pairings today. Twizzlers & Yuengling it is!

threefourteen
You have six taps but only 3 beers on draft… #airportbarfail

sippinstl
Pluot soda, you say? @PerennialBeer

familystylefood
This is what Seattle tastes like – oysters and champagne http://instagr.am/p/OIrabsqHyj/ 

MoEats
Today necessitates an indulgent dinner of lobster stuffed mushrooms and rosé. http://img.ly/lI5E 

BeZbaby
No one needs an official count on creme puffs I’ve eaten today

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After nearly 20 years of working in other people’s kitchens, chef Gregory Owens is finally getting a place of his own. The former chef of WingHaven Country Club and Missouri Athletic Club West and instructor at L’Ecole Culinaire is opening HotPot Smoothie Shop. Located at the intersection of Manchester and Geyer Roads in Kirkwood, the eatery will be an eclectic combo of Asian fare and American cafe.

The morning fare served at the small, counter-service cafe will include breakfast banh mi as well as fruit crêpes and sweet rolls. Lunchtime abounds with build-your-own hot pot bowls. Also available will be banh mi sandwiches, gluten-free wraps plus a smattering of sides. Besides coffee drinks, thirsty patrons will encounter a smoothie bar and a full line of fair trade organic tea.

Owens said that he’s focusing on Asian fare because it lends itself to healthful cooking. In fact, HotPot may turn out to be a hot spot for patrons desiring gluten-free, vegetarian and low carb selections. In addition, Owens plans to source sustainable, organic, and local foods and products. Among area purveyors, HotPot is using Mississippi Mud coffee, banh mi rolls from Clayton’s Bakery & Deli and farm-fresh produce delivered from Andy Ayers’ Eat Here St. Louis. Even serving ware will have a local touch with pottery crafted by artists at the Foundry in St. Charles.

Look for doors to open next week, with hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays and until 2 p.m., on Saturdays.

We salivated back in January at the news that pastry chef Christy Augustin would be opening her own shop, Pint Size Bakery. A month later when she announced the address, 3825 Watson Road, you can bet we started casing the place. The wait is over. Doors open tomorrow at 7 a.m., and Augustin gave Sauce a sneak peek at what’s in store for hungry customers. Check out the delicious details on the Sauce Facebook page. Then stop by tomorrow for opening day.

Whenever I travel, I order my coffee the way the locals drink it. In Puerto Rico, that means freshly roasted beans from the island served as a cortadito: a small cup of strong espresso with a bit of steamed milk. When in Spain, I look forward to getting a java jolt from a café con leche – thick, syrupy, stain-your-teeth espresso with oily crema, topped with steamed milk – before the plane has even landed. I don’t have a trip to Greece or Turkey planned anytime soon, but there is a place to settle my fix for beverages from such Mediterranean countries around town: Café Nova, located in the Princeton Heights neighborhood at 5611 S. Kingshighway Blvd.

Café Nova owners Denis and Anna Kici make a fine cup of Turkish coffee: one heck of a strong brew with just the right amount of sweetness. The whole coffee experience here is so authentic that Anna Kici will even chance to tell you your fortune once the grounds have settled to the bottom of that wee cup.

Another traditional hot beverage offering at Café Nova is salep (pictured). Often consumed in Greece and Middle Eastern countries, salep is made from steamed milk and powdered, dried orchid bulbs. While some versions also include water, honey and dried figs, the salep prepared at Café Nova stays simple with the milk and powdered orchid but gets aromatic heft from ground nutmeg, vanilla bean and cinnamon. It’s a soothing drink that makes for a nice dessert sipper when you don’t feel like a super-sweet finish to a meal.

When it comes to cold drinks, Café Nova more than satisfies with its real-deal frappé. For Starbucks regulars, the word “frappe” likely conjures an image of the company’s trademarked line of chilled coffee beverages known as Frappuccinos. But the global coffee chain’s sweet, milky (Is there even any coffee in there?) drink topped with a mound of whipped cream, pales in comparison to the authentic Greek iced coffee mixed with evaporated milk and sugar served up at this Princeton Heights coffeehouse. The drink is a perfect combination of sweet, creamy and coffee – coffee that you can actually taste – with a hefty layer of froth on top. Served in a large pint glass, it’s no wonder that Greeks, Albanians and other European and Middle Eastern immigrants chat for hours at Café Nova while nursing one of the sweet frappés. Nope, I don’t have a plane ticket to the Mediterranean this summer, but I know where I can survive.

The Mangia Mobile food truck first began serving Italian eats for folks-on-the-go in early 2011. Some eight months later, owners Thomas, Catherine and Alex Daake were forced to change the mobile eatery’s name to Sicily Streat after a federal court judge ruled that the name Mangia Mobile was too similar to that of local restaurant Mangia Italiano (which the truck is not associated with).

To the curbside diner, all seemed to be resolved, but last week, Ian Froeb of the Riverfront Times noted that Sicily Streat had not posted its whereabouts on Twitter since late February. Today, The Scoop spoke with Catherine Daake regarding the status of her mobile food business. “We are still in litigation with Mangia Italiano,” responded Daake. “I actually can’t comment on the current status or where we are going in the future.” Daake added that she does not know when the case will be settled. More as we learn it.

As a kid, sleeping at the Browns’ house was a mixed bag. Mr. Brown ate a Hostess Ding Dong every morning for breakfast, and if you spent the night, you, too, could eat a Ding Dong for breakfast. On the flip side, Mr. Brown loved his Brussels sprouts. And Mrs. Brown seemed to serve those tiny boiled cabbages every time you were invited to eat dinner at their home.

I was a full-grown adult before I brought myself to eat Brussels sprouts again. Clearly, the trick (which someone should’ve told Mrs. Brown) is to cook them with bacon! What I love about this dish is that it marries smoky, salty pancetta with the sweetness of roasted onions, butternut squash and balsamic vinegar. Shaving the sprouts adds a great texture. Hey, it’s no Ding Dong, but it’s the best Brussels sprouts dish I’ve ever made.

Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash and Pancetta
Courtesy of Dee Ryan

Makes 6 servings

1 cup diced butternut squash (1-inch dice)
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 lb. Brussels sprouts
¼ cup diced pancetta (¼-inch dice)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Toss the butternut squash in 1 tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast on a prepared baking sheet for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse the Brussels sprouts and remove the outer leaves. Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, cut the sprouts very thinly.
• Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to a medium oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta, and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onion, and saute for another 2 minutes.
• Add the squash and shaved Brussels sprouts and toss to coat. Place the skillet in the oven for 10 minutes or until the squash is fork-tender.
• Remove and toss with balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and serve.