The Big O ginger liqueur has found a happy home on bar shelves in St. Louis and around the country since hitting the marketplace less than two years ago. This weekend, The Big O will be poured big time as bartenders battle it out with Boston shakers at the Classic Couples Cocktail Competition.

St. Louisans Bill Foster and Kathy Kuper, makers of the ginger liqueur and sponsors of the competition, have challenged bartenders to create a drink worthy of becoming a signature cocktail for their sweet-yet-sprightly, rhizome-laden liqueur. To add playfulness to what is shaping up as an entertaining afternoon, the drink must be named after a classic couple, real or fictional.

The event takes place at Salt, located at 4356 Lindell Blvd., on Sunday at 3 p.m., and will showcase the talents of 10 finalists who hail not only from St. Louis, but also Kansas City, Mo., Chicago, and Grand Rapids, Mich. Local names (and their affiliations) include: Nicholas Crow (Mission Taco Joint and Milagro Modern Mexican), Nathan Doyle (Hendricks BBQ), Joe Duepner (Sanctuaria), Mandi Kowalski (Sanctuaria) Todd Levy (Demun Oyster Bar), Hilary Lewis (member, USBG-St. Louis chapter) and Layla Linehan (Brasserie). Driving the distance to compete are: Kenny Cohrs (Cafe Trio, Kansas City, Mo.), Carol Donovan (The Hearty Boys New Old Bar, Chicago) and Torrence O’Haire (SpeakEZ Lounge and The Starving Artist, Grand Rapids, Mich.). A panel of judges will determine the winning cocktail based on creativity, ability to replicate, drinkability, sustainability and marketability.

What’s in it for you? Besides a front-row seat at the shake and stir show, you get to sample all 10 of the ginger-centric cocktails and cast a vote for the people’s choice winner. You’re going to get hungry, and Salt’s exec chef (and member of the Sauce Ones to Watch class of 2013) Bradley Hoffmann has you covered with hors d’oeuvres, which are included in the ticket price. And then there’s the do-gooder element: A portion of the proceeds will benefit local food bank Operation Food Search. Bring along a canned food item and you’ll not only give OFS a boost, but your name will be entered into a raffle for prizes that will get any boozehound excited. (How about a bottle of The Big O and a 1-liter cask to age it in?) More information is available on The Big O’s website.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $15, here. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $20. Or even better, enter to win two tickets, here. Our ticket giveaway will end at 3:30 p.m., and then this afternoon, we will email you to let you know that your name has been put on the events guest list.

***This giveaway has ended. Allie Ammons, you are our winner! Thanks for playing! Look for an email from the Sauce crew!***

{John Perkins}

A Good Man is Hard to Find: 360 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis, 314.632.6754, entrestl.com/presents

If you’ve ever had John Perkins’ food, you know that it is as creative as the ways he delivers it – from his Entre Underground dinners to his first chicken-themed pop-up, Le Coq, this past winter. So hurry up and snag a seat at his newest pop-up, a southern-comfort concept named after the classic Flannery O’Connor short story. Start with a basket of house-baked bread, then bask in the supporting characters – from the pickled beet terrine with goat cheese and blood orange to the jarred sides of house-brined pickles, spiced nuts, sunchoke relish and chow-chow (a low-country mustard-based staple). When you finish off your entree with a blueberry buckle, order it topped with a scoop of buttermilk ice cream, a slightly sour foil to the sweet, juicy berries. This short story ends on Derby Day, so better crack it open soon.

Mission Taco Joint: 6235 Delmar Blvd., The Loop, 314.932.5430, missiontacostl.com

From Adam and Jason Tilford, the busy brothers behind Milagro Modern Mexican, Barrister’s and Tortillaria Mexican Kitchen, comes this über casual ode to the taquerias dotting San Francisco’s Mission district. Seat yourself, then go with the a la carte tacos, wrapped in house-made tortillas and served with a bowl of onions, cilantro and hunks of lime for the squeezing. Brave souls should try the extra-fiery Nopales Taco (That’s Spanish for cactus.), while carnivores who can’t pass on pork belly will enjoy the crispy bits crumbled atop the tender Roasted Duck Tacos. The bar is in the creative and capable hands of Sanctuaria alum Joel Clark, who opted against an obvious tequila-heavy theme (There’s just one, solid margarita.) in favor of unique bottles like Blackwell Jamaican rum and Del Maguey Single Village mezcals. Sip apricot-heavy The Chaplinesque or place a pint glass under one of the 10 local taps.

– photos by Jonathan Gayman and Carmen Troesser

{In The Dinner by Herman Koch, two brothers and their wives dine at a fancy, overpriced Dutch restaurant. But the plot is hardly that simple because things aren’t as they appear. This snarky comedy turns disturbing as what lies under the table is slowly served up, beginning with the aperitif of the house and finishing with a melting dame blanche. And please do share in the comments section about how you’d handle Tonio, the maître d’, and his meddling pinky finger.}

{Five of the six side dishes at Mission Taco Joint are vegetarian, but they’re so packed with flavor that you’ll never miss the meat. Need a hefty veggie medley? Go for chayote calabacitas. Brainy-grain power? Get the grilled vegetable quinoa. For Mission at its core, it’s gotta be the fire-roasted, off-the-cob street corn. — photo by Michelle Volansky} 

{Sometimes you can’t – or really, really shouldn’t – finish that bomber of witbier. Use this Hermetus bottle opener and sealer, and you’ll keep your wits about you. Your beer won’t go flat, and it won’t spill out when you lay the bottle on its side. Order it here.}

Part of Jason Tilford’s job is bouncing between the four restaurants he co-owns with his brother, Adam – Barrister’s, Tortillaria Mexican Kitchen, Milagro Modern Mexican and the newly opened Mission Taco Joint – and the nine others he consults on with buddy Chris LaRocca. With temptations of onion rings, burritos and margaritas galore, he’d have to be battery-operated not to get real fat, real fast. Yet he’s one of the slimmest chefs in the business. Sure, he has guilty pleasures – Barrister’s wings and Milagro’s chicken enchiladas to name a few – but Tilford has found a way to keep the extra pounds at bay, even while working the line. We begged him for his tricks for staying balanced in the most gluttonous profession around. He was happy to oblige.

Eat well, but eat often.
I hardly ever sit down with a plate of food. I eat a lot, but mainly small meals, all day. I try not to eat late at night. I try to skip the sweets and fried food. It’s funny; when you get into a routine, you crave eating healthy, almost. You get so used to it that eventually that Alfredo cream sauce doesn’t even look good.

Mix it up.
I play soccer, but it’s tailed down a lot since I turned 40. I also do some weight training and flexibility stuff. I’m trying to get into yoga, but it might be too boring for me. And I coach my son’s soccer team.

Hit the gym early.
I have to get my kids to school by 7:30 a.m., and the restaurant stuff doesn’t really wake up until 9. If I don’t go in the morning, usually, it’s not going to happen.

If work starts calling?
[Laughs] I can answer the first couple texts and emails of the day on the treadmill.

If you miss the morning window?
I go to Club Fitness and there’s one near my house, one between Milagro and Barrister’s, one near my sons’ school. They’re all in my rat race. There’s even one near Restaurant Depot [a purchasing center for restaurants].

 — photo by Ashley Gieseking, shot on location at Sweat.

Mssion Taco Joint has announced its official opening date: tomorrow, February 28. Hours for the restaurant, located at 6235 Delmar Blvd., in The Loop, will be Tuesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. If  you missed our sneak peek from yesterday, head on over to our Facebook page.

Mssion Taco Joint is expected to open to the public any day now. While brothers and co-owners Adam and Jason Tilford shared details about the menu a few weeks ago, we’ve been itching to see some of those words on paper become edible. Yesterday, the Tilford brothers (who also own Barrister’s, Tortillaria Mexican Kitchen and Milagro Modern Mexican) gave Sauce a taste of what customers will encounter when they order fare from St. Louis’ newest taco joint. The restaurant, located at 6235 Delmar Blvd., in The Loop, has not announced its opening date. Watch for that news to be posted in The Scoop in the next week or so. When doors do open, hours will be Tuesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. For a sneak peek of what you’ll find at Mission Taco Joint, head on over to our Facebook page.

— Photo by Michelle Volansky

Last summer, restaurateurs Adam and Jason Tilford announced their plans to open Mission Taco Joint. Renovations are moving along inside the former home of Delmar Lounge at 6235 Delmar Blvd., and the Tilford brothers are aiming to unlock doors during the last week of February.

With opening day just weeks away, Jason gave The Scoop a peek at a draft version of the food menu he developed. The tightly focused menu begins with a handful of shared appetizers. Highlights include crab taquitos as well as roasted mushrooms with huitlachoche, goat cheese and arugula presented in a fried corn masa base called a huarache. A la carte tacos include popular choices such as baja fish and carne asada, but Mission gets creative with quite a few others, such as the chile-roasted duck with crisp pork belly and avocado serrano sauce. The menu also beckons for vegetarians with options like a roasted cactus taco or one featuring the local product Mofu tofu. The restaurant will feature giant Mission-style burritos wrapped in house-made tortillas, plus tortas served on telera rolls from Diana’s Bakery. Diners looking for a square meal can round things out with side dishes like fire-grilled vegetable quinoa and chayote calabacitas.

Joel Clark, who recently departed from Sanctuaria, will be helming the beverage program. Clark stated that the bar at Mission Taco Joint will be “a very culinary bar,” explaining that “as many fresh ingredients the kitchen is going to get, I’m going to get the same.” The focus on fresh will be seen in the likes of numerous flavors of agua fresca and horchata, available in virgin form or as alcoholic beverages. In addition, he plans on aligning beverages – not just cocktails, but also beer and wine – with the food. “I’m going to work really closely with the kitchen,” he commented. Clark, who’s been part of a local movement in progressive bartending, plans to continue in that direction, preparing house-made ingredients like syrups and shrubs (No flavored vodkas, sorry.) and noted that the Mission bartending crew will be quite capable of crafting classic cocktails. “I want [the bar] to be an extension of [the kitchen] as well as a bar on its own,” Clark said.