Froyo – new location, Lou connection
How now, Froyo? The self-serve frozen-yogurt dessert parlor is opening a new location in Creve Coeur (10909 Olive Blvd.) the first week in May, explained regional manager Jason Jan. A little investigation revealed that this will bring the grand total of Froyo locations in the known universe to four – two in California and two…
Thomas Coffee launches antioxidant-rich coffee blend
In an attempt to bring sustainability and health into the java-making process, St. Louis-based Thomas Coffee has launched an antioxidant-enriched coffee blend. The new specialty coffee uses the whole coffee fruit – the bean and the outer casing called the coffee cherry, which is known to be high in antioxidants. “Rather than discard the coffee…
The Scoop: Monarch renovation means new menu
Aaron Teitelbaum and Jeff Orbin, owners of Monarch Restaurant, have provided further details regarding an upcoming renovation that will require the Maplewood eatery to temporarily close starting June 1. According to a press release, Monarch is closing not just for “a massive interior renovation” but also to prepare for the launch of an additional dining…
The Scoop: More details about Monarch’s new menu
Monarch Restaurant co-owner Jeff Orbin has provided us with a few more details about the changes to come at the Maplewood restaurant. First, the new southern-inspired menu by chef Josh Galliano will only be offered in what Orbin referred to as the “casual area,” which includes the bar and bistro at the front of the…
Iced-coffee cube fun at Foundation Grounds
Your eyes are not fooling you – the cubes in your iced coffee at Maplewood’s green café, Foundation Grounds Coffee House, are brown. That’s because – drumroll, please – they’re made of coffee. That’s so when the cubes melt, they don’t turn to water and dilute your drink. This simply marvelous idea came from Foundation…
Mobile restaurant trucks it around town
The Dairy Queen Blizzardmobile left town yesterday, but we’ve got an update on a food truck that won’t be hitting the highway. Last year, catering company Famous Gourmet Meals on Wheels launched a mobile restaurant and it’s back again this year with more homemade cuisine, including a full lineup of chicken, beef, turkey, pork, fish…
Cake couture is in vogue at The Ritz
If Mom is a foodie – or a fashionista – then you gotta make The Ritz-Carlton part of your Mother’s Day plans. Executive pastry chef Simone Faure’s Edible Fashions Collection, purse- and pump-shaped cakes that look so real it’s hard to believe they are meant to be eaten instead of toted around town, will be…
The Scoop: Milagro Modern Mexican offers upscale taste of Mexico
Milagro Modern Mexican opens today. There’s a lot to like about this upscale eatery in Webster Groves, the sister restaurant to owner and chef Adam Tilford’s Tortillaria in the Central West End. While the latter is a place you might scarf south-of-the-border street food, Milagro is one of the few places in town that offers…
Iron Chef Cat Cora to appear here
With her ever-expanding multimedia career, restaurant ventures, philanthropic work and four young sons, trailblazing chef Cat Cora ranks as one busy lady – but not too busy to visit St. Louis in little more than a month, and we’re thrilled to offer you a chance to meet the busy chef. Sauce Magazine and Left Bank…
The Scoop: Artisan Caffé to close this week
Though chef Steven Baumgartner of Artisan Caffé filled us in on his plans for a new menu just 10 days ago, it looks like it’s not to be; the Maplewood café will close this week. The Post’s Evan Benn, who broke the news this morning, has the scoop here.
Cupcake mavens visit Left Bank
Of all the precious and clever desserts in the book What’s New, Cupcake?, some of the coolest are the trompe l’oeil cupcakes. Imagine cupcakes that, through an intricate process of kitchen wizardry, are made to look like Chinese takeout, pizza, French fries and even soft-boiled eggs. They’re so realistic that you probably bite into them…
The Scoop: New Midtown hotel will include a café
When SLU and The Lawrence Group announced on Wednesday their joint plans to develop the Ignacio Hotel, a 51-room boutique hotel in the former Interiors Unlimited Building on Olive Street, we wondered whether food-service plans were more involved than simply creating an interior connection to Triumph Grill on the hotel’s west side. SLU’s director of…
Free DQ Blizzard wagon pulls into town
Money might not be able to buy you love, but happiness is given away for nothing when Dairy Queen dispenses free Blizzards from a funky truck. DQ is celebrating the 25th birthday of the Blizzard frozen treat by outfitting a vehicle called the Blizzardmobile that will stop in 25 cities across the United States and…
Innovative nonprofit creates a mobile market
City Greens Produce, a program operated out of Catholic Charities Midtown Center, has been providing underserved city residents with access to fresh, locally grown food for the last two years – first through community gardening, next by opening its own produce market. Now it appears it’ll be taking it on the road with a mobile…
The Scoop: Pita Pit to sprout up in Midtown Alley
Pita Pit, the national chain that serves up a variety of pita wraps, is coming to town. Franchisee Andrew Gibson plans to open the area’s first Pita Pit at 3019 Olive St. in Midtown Alley. “I looked all over town but there was nothing available for the size I needed,” said Gibson, who resides in…
The Scoop: Bistro 1130 to dish up southern French fare
Now we’ve got two reasons to visit Town & Country Crossing this summer. Bistro 1130 is slated to open in late July just two doors down from Eugene’s Custard, where they’ll start scooping frozen treats by mid-May. Located at 1130 Town & Country Crossing Drive, Bistro 1130 will feature southern French cuisine in a menu…
Bristol’s menu changes
The Bristol Seafood Grill franchise, with restaurants in Creve Coeur and O’Fallon, Mo., is unveiling a new four-course chef’s tasting menu that keeps things interesting. The menu, which was previewed last month, features a fruitwood-smoked trout appetizer with pickled cucumbers and onions, dill crème and caraway crackers that plays like a dish at an upscale…
All suds, no duds
Beer and brats. Beer and pizza. Beer and cheese. Beer and … yes … even bingo. Note a motif? If so, celebrate your powers of observation by attending St. Louis Craft Beer Week, which starts this weekend. Technically 10 days, the “week” of beer-related events runs from Saturday, April 24, to Monday, May 3, and…
Short List: Chile verde
April’s unpredictability makes the classic chile verde a good pick for a meal – not too hearty, not too light, but precisely right when the weather flits just this side of chill. Pork cut bite-sized, floured and seared settles into a rich green sauce – the verde – to cook long and slow to fork-tender.…
Artisan Caffé takes it a notch upscale
When Jackie and Stephen Sanders made changes at CooperElla this winter, they did more than simply change the name of their Maplewood coffee shop to Artisan Caffé. The proprietors wanted to transform the moms-with-toddlers hangout into a more upscale, artsy gathering place, so they brought in chef Steven Baumgartner to create a menu featuring bakery…
Chill out with … Chill
Chill, a new Clayton frozen-yogurt shop, should help St. Louisans ease into spring’s increasingly heated days. The shop, at 7610 Wydown Blvd., opened with a bang last Friday, general manager Ryan Kerlick told us. At all times, it will offer 10 varieties of yogurt rotated from among 30 different flavors weekly or biweekly, as well…
The Scoop: New spot to offer food, live music in Maplewood
If you were wondering whether you’d get to hear live music again at the space that housed Deluxe Fine Food & Spirits in Maplewood, the answer is yes. Bob Wilhite, owner of Sky Music Lounge in Ballwin, has taken over the spot at 2733 Sutton Blvd. that Deluxe vacated in January, and his restaurant-bar, The…
The Ritz-Carlton rolls out cheesecake bar
Coffee bar, wine bar, chocolate bar, sushi bar – you’ve done them all. Need something new for date night? Then check out the cheesecake bar at The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis. On Fridays and Saturdays from 8 to 11 p.m., a new cheesecake bar has us shamelessly licking our fingers right in The Lobby Lounge of…
Morton’s mixing up mocktails
Did your friends unexpectedly tag you as the designated driver? Maybe you’re an expectant mom needing a baby-friendly beverage. No matter your reason for steering clear of the hard stuff, Morton’s Steakhouse in Clayton has added some mocktails to the bar menu this season – and all three are sure to please your palate. The…
Sidney Street Cafe sows self-sustaining seeds
Consider it the latest wave in the locavore movement – because it doesn’t get any more local than produce grown just outside the kitchen door. From pots on the patio to beds on the roof, chefs all over town are planting gardens at their restaurants, allowing diners to eat buttery lettuce greens, sweet petite carrots…
The Scoop: Entre enters catering biz
The Clandestine Chef, originator of Entre:underground dinners in St. Louis, has revealed to Sauce that his heretofore secretive operation will now become at least partway above ground. Chef John (revealing his full name would spoil all the fun) has formed a catering company, Events by Entre, and has moved into the space formerly occupied by…
New cooking school coming this summer
Chef Chris Desens acknowledges that the celebrity chefs of the Food Network have brought a new generation of young, would-be food artistes to the restaurant industry. “But the caution I would say is, that’s the TV world,” he said. “The real world requires something different.” That something is kitchen fundamentals, and that’s what will be…
Bixby’s honors all guys named Thomas at grand opening
The folks at Missouri History Museum are celebrating the transformation of the museum’s lunch destination in right historic fashion. The grand opening of Bixby’s was held yesterday, April 13, which is no less than Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, and through the end of April, anyone whose first or last name is Thomas can receive a free…
The Scoop: Two STL chefs headed to culinary olympics
A Saucy congrats to St. Louis chefs Ben Grupe and Kevin Storm for making it to the Olympics – the culinary Olympics, that is. Grupe, currently sous chef at St. Louis Country Club, and Storm, executive chef at Bellerive Country Club since 1996, are among the six chefs named to the American Culinary Federation Culinary…
Hill Brewing opened today
A quick call to Hill Brewing Co. just confirmed that it opened today instead of this Thursday. Color us ecstatic, frankly – we’ve been eagerly awaiting the launch of the Ferguson operation at 418 S. Florissant Road for months. Moreover, the staff member who answered the phone (at what was originally slated to be called…
Kaldi’s does California
They’ll be jetting to the West Coast later this week to compete in the United States Barista Championship. In a sense, though, Kaldi’s Coffee’s Mike Marquard, Joe Marrocco and Micah Svejda began that journey months ago. Last October, all three baristas placed in the Midwest regional competition held by the Specialty Coffee Association of America,…
The Scoop: Eugene’s Custard to open in Town and Country
The weather’s turning warmer and we’re already thinking about where to get our fix for a frozen treat. Eugene’s Custard, coming soon to Town and Country, is going to be one of our next stops. Located at 1138 Town and Country Crossing Drive in the development located at the intersection of Woods Mill and Clayton…
The Scoop: Karen Hoffman Leaves Cielo
Karen Hoffman has left her position as executive chef at Cielo, the restaurant at the Four Seasons downtown. According to the hotel’s director of marketing, Melissa Lorenz, last Wednesday was Hoffman’s final day at Cielo before she returned to her hometown of San Francisco for personal reasons. Serving as interim executive chef is Simon Purvis,…
Ride the rails to a mystery dinner
Feel like a train trip? How ’bout a smidgen of sweet secrecy, too, coupled with an Italian buffet? Then the American Association of Railroaders has just the thing for you. Next Saturday, April 17, the AAR – an educational and historical nonprofit headquartered in the Holly Hills neighborhood – will sponsor the Italiano Mystery Dinner…
Scape offers pad thai, three-course midweek deal
On a visit to Scape yesterday evening, we gently chided chef Eric Kelly about his second vegetarian-raw prix fixe menu. When he first described it to us in mid-March, he’d planned to include a curried crêpe as one of the two entrée choices for spring. Instead, as we discovered yesterday, Scape’s vegetarian-raw menu offers an…
Eli Kirshtein rolls into STL next week for Top Chef: The Tour
If you’re both a foodie and a sucker for reality TV, you spend Wednesday nights glued to Top Chef Masters on Bravo. And you’ve probably been watching the original Top Chef season after season, through every clever triumph of fusion cuisine and each sickening failure of raw meat inadvertently served to a judge. Meet your…
Tasty deals at all four Fiala restaurants
If you’re a Jim Fiala devotee – that is, you make The Crossing, Liluma, Acero and The Terrace View part of your dining circuit – you’re going to love the deal that the chef-restaurateur is offering throughout the month of April at all four of his restaurants: a four-course dinner for $25. While the menu…
Science never tasted so good
This weekend, nab a nosh while you learn about living more sustainably at the Saint Louis Science Center’s second annual Eco Expo. The free event’s displays, booths and activities will include demonstrations from L’École Culinaire and Onesto Pizza & Trattoria. It will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 10 and…
The Scoop: Monarch to Undergo Renovations Soon
Co-owner Aaron Teitelbaum has confirmed a report that Monarch will be closing temporarily for renovations. “We are closing down to renovate the interior,” said Teitelbaum of the popular Maplewood restaurant and wine bar. “It will be in the next couple of months and we will be closed for six weeks.” Teitelbaum could not provide specifics…
JCC hosts Fried presentation and book signing
Mention the Harvey Girls, and folks of a certain age will think of the 1946 Judy Garland movie musical of the same name. In the film (which includes the famous number On the Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe), a bunch of young women with peaches-and-cream personalities are headed west by rail to start another…
The Scoop: Farmers’ Market Coming to Webster Groves
You can add one more neighborhood to the growing list of local communities hosting farmers’ markets now that the City of Webster Groves has approved a farmers’ market. According to Charlie Downs, president of the New Business Development Commission for Webster Groves and co-owner of Cyrano’s Café and Wine Bar, the Webster Groves Farmers’ Market…
Stellina returns tomorrow
Great news for devotees of Stellina Pasta Cafe: the South City spot will reopen tomorrow. The establishment at 3342 Watson Road closed in mid-March for renovation and expansion, and co-owner Lisa Tochtrop just chatted with us about what she and hubby Jamey have accomplished there in the past few weeks. “We had a patio with…
School daze at Schnucks
Welcome to the world, Schnucks Cooks Cooking School. The supermarket chain is now hosting students at informal cooking classes on the swanky mezzanine level of its Des Peres location. Look for convenient noontime Learn at Lunch classes, special classes for couples and for kids, and an impressive lineup of guest chefs. Upcoming classes will cover…
The Scoop: New pizzeria comes to South Grand
Brian Williams is a peacemaker. He’s not gonna tell you that enjoying St. Louis-style pizza makes you a Provel-lovin’ fool or that Chicago-style pizza is a starchy casserole, not a true pizza pie. No, Mr. Williams is going to let you have what you want, from a menu that doesn’t play favorites. His new St.…
Michael Mandato makes the Ritz a place for everyone
For some St. Louisans, The Grill at The Ritz-Carlton has historically been a “special occasion” place to eat. Others think of it as an off-limits high-society hotel restaurant. But as the Clayton hotel gets set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this month, executive chef Michael Mandato is poised to shake up those notions. Mandato, who…
Recipe: Vin de Set’s Provençal Frog Legs
Sure, you’d rather spend April in Paris, supping on frog legs while sitting along l’Avenue des Champs-Elysées. But the classic spring dish is more easily accessible high above Chouteau Avenue, where Vin de Set executive chef Ivy Magruder puts a Provençal spin on cuisses de grenouille, complementing the meat’s subtle flavor with sunny tomatoes, briny…
Carrot Recipes to Try This Spring
Few vegetables have the panache of carrots, freshly washed, greenly frilled, patiently waiting at the farmers’ markets to catch the eye of a shopper like me. Whether traditional long, orange Nelsons or renegades like Purple Haze, Yellowstone and Atomic Red, I am a fool for carrots so gloriously fresh they snap and so sweet they…
Review: Balaban’s Wine Cellar and Tapas Bar in Chesterfield
Back in the heyday of Balaban’s, my grad school roommate would often come home from his job as the restaurant’s maître d’ full of stories about all the beautiful people he sat, most of them holding court along the open-air café windows looking out onto Euclid Avenue in the fashionable Central West End. I think…
Carrot, Ginger and Orange Purée
6 servings
Lemon Sour
• Combine the ingredients. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 2 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice 2 cups simple syrup
Moussaka
15 servings
Pigs on a Blanket
16 to 20 pigs on a blanket
Monarch’s Chai Tea Sour
1 serving
Goat Cheese Balls
24 dates
Shrimp Cocktail
4 to 6 servings
Terrene Restaurant’s The Movie Star
1 servings
Truffled “Deviled” Eggs
12 to 14 servings
Stuffed Mushrooms
24 servings
The Scottish Arms’ Lamb Burger with Fennel Jam
10 servings
Terrene’s Bourbon Sweetheart
1 serving
Green Garlic Fonduta
3 cups
Balsamic Caramel Corn
6 to 8 servings
Vin de Set’s Provençal Frog Legs
2 servings
Brandy Berry Punch
12 servings
Pom Pop
1 serving ½ oz. pomegranate molasses 2 oz. cranberry juice 2 lime wedges, squeezed 3 oz. ginger beer • In a cocktail shaker, combine the molasses, cranberry juice, lime wedges and ice. • Shake and pour into a tall Collins glass. • Top with ginger beer.
Chai Tea Sour
1 SERVING 2 oz. strong brewed ruby chai tea* 1 oz. simple syrup ¾ oz. lemon juice • Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. • Add cubed ice and shake the drink hard for at least 20 seconds to ensure the proper combination of ingredients and dilution. • Strain into a chilled…
Athens in the Oven: Import a bit of Greece to your table with moussaka
I ate lamb for the first time at my aunt and uncle’s farm in Tennessee several years ago. My British aunt is always cooking ethnic food, and because of her, I’ve tried many dishes – like moussaka – for the first time. With each bite of that Greek casserole, I noticed something different – the…
A Cellar with History
What happens if you take one of the deepest wine collections of any St. Louis restaurant, move it to West County and put it in the hands of a restaurateur with decades of dining management experience? You get Chesterfield’s Balaban’s Wine and Tapas Bar, run by co-owner Steve McIntyre, former owner of the legendary and…
Dill nabs Herb of the Year honors
Marjoram put up a pretty good fight. Basil was a serious contender, too. But in the end, the winner was dill. The Missouri Botanical Garden has announced that dill is Herb of the Year. In addition to an all-expenses paid cruise to the Caribbean and a life-time supply of Turtle Wax, dill will receive top…
Jampacked Flavor: Both sweet and savory, preserves make entrées pop
Your grandparents were doing this a hundred years ago,” said Wes Johnson, chef at Eclipse in the Loop. “It’s really simple.” We had just been talking about a very old custom indeed: home canning – in particular, homemade jams, jellies and other preserves. In one sense Johnson is right, since anyone with the curiosity and…
The Scoop: Brightman opens deli
You may not know Michael Brightman, but if you’re any kinda culture vulture, you know his successful With Love Catering and Confections business. Brightman & Co. sell homemade pastries and savories at 10 theater venues in the area. His oversized chocolate-chip cookies dusted with powdered sugar and fresh berry tarts are a tremendous improvement over…
Mocktails, Anyone?
Whether you’re the designated driver, a soon-to-be mom or simply don’t feel like drinking tonight, you don’t have to suffer with a glass of tap water or tonic while the rest of your party orders something boozy from the barkeep. Only a few restaurants and bars in town list a mocktail on their cocktail menu,…
At I Fratellini, Simplicity Shines
I’m quite smitten with the dining room at I Fratellini. Stylish and sophisticated, cozy and romantic, no detail seems to have been overlooked, from the black and gold façade outside to the lighting fixtures glowing and warm to the rose-adorned, marble-topped tables. It’s really lovely. And combined with a menu of Italian dishes and gracious,…
Bourbon Sweetheart
1 serving 2 oz. Wild Turkey Bourbon ½ oz. cherry liqueur 4 dashes cherry bitters 4 oz. lemon sour (Click here to find the recipe.) • Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Stir. • Fill a double old-fashioned glass with ice and pour the mix into the glass. • Garnish with an orange wedge.
Wild Things: Spring greens to make your heart sing
The buds bursting on the trees in your backyard might signal winter’s end to you, but chefs take a cue that spring has sprung from the first round of edibles – fiddleheads, nettles, sorrel, wild garlic, onions and other fresh greens and shoots – erupting through the ground this time of year. “There’s no better…
