SAUCE MAGAZINE
Stuff to do: September 2010
FAIRS AND FESTIVALS
Italian Fest
Sept. 17 to 18, Main Street, Collinsville · 618.344.2884
italianfest.net
The ultimate Italian wedding has to be the nuptials of Connie Corleone, daughter of Vito Corleone in The Godfather, right as the film opens. It’s a tapestry of celebration, lust, deception, loyalty, gluttony, revenge and, of course, certain “favors” that will have to be repaid in spades. The wedding scheduled to take place during the opening parade of Collinsville’s annual Italian Fest will probably have a touch less drama, but it still promises to be some kinda spectacle. After the triumphant smooch, head to the vendors’ area and try the spaghetti, Italian roast beef sandwiches, Italian ices and so on. Other foodie fun includes the grape stomp, Italian cooking contest, wine-making contest and wine garden. Other featured events include live music, bocce ball, a bike race, a 5K run/walk, a craft fair and the desperately cute Little Miss and Mister Italian Fest Pageant.
Food and Farmers Expo
Sept. 19 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Webster Groves Recreation Complex · 314.962.7748 · thehealthyplanet.com
If men in overalls are your thing, consider attending the first Food and Farmers Expo in Webster Groves. The gala promises more than 60 booths of produce, products and info from local farmers, farm organizations and so on. Vendors include the Missouri Organic Association, Westphalia Winery, Ah!Zeefa Hummus, Slow Food St. Louis, Dogtown Pizza and Kakao Chocolate (bacon brittle, will you marry me?). Check out a composting demo sponsored by Saint Louis University, interactive displays, kids’ activities, and classes on eating locally, organics and canning/freezing/drying. The expo is sponsored by Farm to Family Naturally and The Healthy Planet.
Holiday Beer & Cheese Taste
Sept. 25 – noon to 4 p.m., Provisions Gourmet Market 314.989.0020 · provisionsmarket.com
It’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa (and Festivus, even, if you will) in September when Provisions puts on the dog at a special holiday shopping preview party. The indoor and under-tent extravaganza is intended to get you thinking waaaaaay in advance how you might like to impress your guests at your holiday blowouts. You’ll see examples of Provisions’ catering prowess, gift baskets and an array of samples that, to say the least, should be sufficiently obscene that you might not want to eat lunch beforehand. We’re talking chefs’ presentations; a spread from Missouri producers; cheese from the shop’s extensive selection of domestic, imported and artisanal cheeses; plus other cheese-based dishes. And then there’s the beer – a passel of area liquor distributors and breweries will tap kegs and pop bottles of some of their swankier brews. Toss them back with a free souvenir beer-tasting glass, if you’re among the first 200 guests.
Taste of St. Louis
Oct. 1 to 3, Soldiers’ Memorial · 314.534.2100
tastestl.com
Yeah, sure, St. Louis is known for toasted ravs and gooey butter cake, but pretend for a moment you’re an out-of-towner who’s dropped by for Taste of St. Louis. What you find at the sprawling street fair is so much more, from the 45 restaurant booths on Sauce Magazine Restaurant Row to the Chef Competitions in the spirit of Food Network-style battles to culinary demos, the new Art & Wine Walk, the Kids Kitchen with fun activities including the Vlasic Pickle-Crunching Contest, and the new Pizza Games, which feature fun competitions like the Fastest Dough Stretch, Largest Stretch and Longest Dough Spin. Visiting biggies include Top Chef Masters’ Hubert Keller, Food Network Chopped champion Marc Bynum and Jeff Ruby of Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse at River City Casino. You’ll hear national music acts on the main stage and iconic local bluesmen on the new blues stage, too. Good stuff.
CLASSES
Bottle Shock Blind Tasting Wine Class
Sept. 27 – 7 p.m., Balaban’s Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar
636.449.6700 · balabanswine.com
Once upon a time, Northern California was not yet known for world-class wines. The viticulture region of Napa Valley was just finding its legs in 1976, when an Englishman named Steven Spurrier decided to host a high-profile California vs. France blind tasting in Paris. When a group of the world’s most esteemed wine experts actually chose the California Chardonnays and Cabs over their French counterparts, Time Magazine ran the story of the Judgment of Paris, and the California wine revolution was under way. The fruity drama later became the subject of the 2008 film comedy Bottle Shock, featuring Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, and now it’s the basis for a new wine class at Balaban’s Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar. The class offers a blind tasting of California Chardonnays and their French counterparts from Burgundy. Can America do it again? We shall see …
The Cookbook Club: Barefoot Contessa Parties
Sept. 29 – 6 to 9 p.m., Schnucks Cooks Cooking School
314.909.1704 · schnuckscooks.com
Listening to the Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa describe what she’s cooking and how she prepares it just mellows you out. Ina Garten has the low, even, soothing voice of a hypnotist. Nothing can go wrong here. You just chop this, add that and feed it to your husband Jeffrey, who loves it all. Very nice, very nice, yes. Find out just how relaxing it is to prepare Contessa recipes at a class at the Schnucks Cooks School of Cooking in Des Peres. Guests enjoy a three-hour hands-on Barefoot bonanza featuring a climactic meal of potato pancakes with caviar, mixed green salad with warm goat cheese, rack of lamb persillade, buttery herb orzo with roasted vegetables and apple crostata. Lucy Schnuck is the instructor for this rustic, filling, autumn menu, and Schnucks Cooks Cooking School manager Gay DeMichele is the impresario behind this one. “I got tired of hearing people say that they buy cookbooks but never actually get around to using them,” DeMichele explained. “Every month we do a Cookbook Club class or two and show what it’s like to crack them open.”
WINE EVENTS
Fall Open House at The Wine Chateau
Sept. 18 – noon to 5 p.m., The Wine Chateau 636.532.6069 · thewinechateau.com
What wine goes best with bratwurst? I have no idea, but they’ve got some creative suggestions over at The Wine Chateau in Chesterfield. Each year’s Fall Open House, the wine shop’s biggest event, features a complimentary spread of brats, hot dogs, hamburgers and other snacks, plus tasting of more than 20 wines and beers. Five Missouri distributors will try to outdo one another with their decantations, and store personnel will be on hand to guide experts and newbies alike through the wide world of wine. And according to the folks at winereviewonline.com, a freshly grilled hot dog pairs nicely with … Shiraz. Who knew?
Grape Stomp
Sept. 18 – all day, Twin Oaks Vineyard, Farmington
573.756.6500 · twinoaksvineyard.com
This month, some will go west for the annual grape stomp at the Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, while others might consider going south, to the annual grape stomp at Twin Oaks Vineyard in lovely Farmington. Many will enjoy watching stompers compete to see who can squeeze the most juice from the grapes, but others will enjoy getting onstage for an intense stomp-off. According to the winery Web site, “teams consist of three members. Each person will stomp for two minutes in a tub filled with grapes. One will stomp, one clear the bottom of the tub to allow free flow of juice, and one to cheer their team on. We will weigh the juice at the end of the heat. The teams with the most juice will go on to the final stomp,” which determines the champions. Twin Oaks also offers a tasting room in the middle of the vineyards; fresh meats, cheeses, crackers, fruit and chocolates to snack on with the wine; a restaurant and wine shop; and tours. Preregister if you want to stomp. Twin Oaks is an hour south of St. Louis.
SPECIAL EVENT
Whole Foods Market 30th Birthday Celebration
Sept. 11 – 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Brentwood location; Sept. 18 – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Town & Country location
314.968.7744 · wholefoodsmarket.com
Happy birthday, Whole Foods. At 30, you’re still a young’un, but you might want to think about settling down soon, maybe starting a family, buying a home, getting an IRA, a 401(k) – all that stuff. Or you could just party on with beer, wine and cupcakes. Actually, that sounds much better. The birthday party happens Sept. 11 at the Brentwood location, and features a free yoga class and complimentary breakfast, Stray Rescue pet adoption opportunities, food and booze samples galore, a “cupcake tower,” and the Lift for Life hula hooping party. The party is Sept. 18 at the Town & Country store and includes a free Tai Chi class and breakfast, the pet adoption, the food sampling, cupcakes and prizes for kids in the café.
