Dumplings Divine: Welcome spring with Japanese dango
Finally, winter is on its way out; crocuses have appeared and bare trees aren’t so bare anymore. Nothing says “spring”” like cherry blossoms, though. It’s been a long-standing dream of mine to be in Japan when the cherry blossoms bloom. Each year, during March and April, cherry trees burst into clouds of pink throughout the…
Have Taste, Will Travel: For some St. Louisans, vacation plans start with the food
St. Louisans can be a pretty worldly bunch when it comes to their cuisine. But a few local jetsetters are really putting the “ciao” back in their “chow,” traveling to the farthest reaches of the planet for food and drink. The spice of life In stocking his eclectic kitchen pantry, Allan Cohen believes in cutting…
He Said | She Said: Digging into the je ne sais quoi of onion soup
April: Let it be said that Steve was très enthousiaste about trying this French soup-turned-American classic. In fact, his enthusiasm nearly blew our cover. “I heard you guys have French onion soup!” he told the manager on our first outing. Involuntarily, I shooshed him like a librarian. Steve: Well, I do enjoy classic fare, and…
Beer Dinners A-Brewin’: Chefs and brewers tap into beer’s sophisticated side
It’s no wonder that in a town that boasts the country’s largest brewer and numerous microbreweries, so many restaurants and pubs are hosting beer dinners, educational yet entertaining evenings of fine drinking and dining. Apart from affording beer mavens the chance to taste the subtleties of different lagers, porters, ales and stouts, beer dinners are…
Restaurant Roundtable: A discussion of the local dining scene
There are at least three good reasons to reflect on the vitality of the St. Louis restaurant scene: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Join Sauce Magazine, for a casual roundtable with five chefs and independent restaurateurs with decades of combined experience. The conversation meandered between topics such as population density and foie gras to price-setting and…
Steak With Pan Sauce
2 servings
Review: Home Nightclub at Ameristar Casino in St. Charles
Unless you’ve reserved a booth, achieved C-list Hollywood status or gotten an in with a doorman, when you get to Home, Ameristar Casino’s latest gift to the St. Charles nightclub scene, chances are you’ll end up where I was at 9:30 p.m. a few Saturdays ago: waiting 30 minutes in a thick line of twentysomethings…
Recipe: Harvest’s Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding
Bread pudding’s got its fans, sure, but it’s not for everyone. Except this one; Harvest’s Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding is beloved by all who taste it. Maybe it’s the perfect balance of brioche to custard or (more likely) the bourbon in the sauce. Whatever the reason, it’s the one item that never comes off Harvest’s…
Review: Off the Vine in St. Louis
On a Friday morning, laptop in hand, I visited Off the Vine – the new South City contemporary wine bistro – for coffee, pastries and Wi-Fi. But for executive chef Andy White and another cook, the place was empty. White explained that during the first month of operation exactly six people came in, so he…
Harvest’s Bread Pudding
12 servings
Athena’s Greek fare takes little diners from ‘never had it’ to ‘gotta have it’
As much as we enjoy it, Greek cuisine is something that Kathy and I have rarely shared with the boys, with the exception of hummus as a snack or maybe some feta crumbled on a pizza or salad. We decided it was time to change that, but we weren’t ready to take on all that…
Farm eggs offer high fluff factor and yolks that stand tall
The Harr Family Farms stand at Soulard Farmers’ Market used to feature curled-edge color photos clothespinned to a line, depicting chickens flapping in the barnyard, scratching for bug snacks and chowing down on green tufts of grass. My friend nicknamed the brown eggs she bought there “happy-chicken eggs.” The photos of the Harrs’ freewheeling hens…
You can make a great steak at home, promise
What makes a steak satisfying? When cooked properly, the taste is beefy and succulent, the outside is crusty and caramelized, and the inside is rare, moist and juicy. When a steak is really good, a sauce is superfluous – but I love having a sauce anyway. But you don’t have to go to a steakhouse…
If you give a moose a beer …
It may very well be illegal to get a fish drunk in Ohio. OK, now that I have your attention … The 21st Amendment ended the 13-year nightmare of Prohibition on Dec. 5, 1933. At that time, nearly all authority for regulating the beverage alcohol industry was given to the states. It was once again…
Leave room for dessert on Fridays
Nearly two decades ago, a group of Greek Orthodox Christians decided to build a church in Des Peres. Not having enough money to complete the complex in one go, they decided to build in two phases: first, a dining hall and activities building, and then the church itself. When the small congregation lacked the money…
Katie Lee plays with tradition at her new pizzeria
Some people were just meant to be in “the business.” Katie Lee seems to be one of them. Since the age of 13, she worked in her aunt’s restaurants, washing dishes, bussing tables and hostessing. And her aunt? None other than Zoë Robinson, one of St. Louis’ best-known and most successful restaurateurs. It must be…
Small-batch whiskeys worth extra effort, price
From the Whiskey Rebellion of the early 1790s, when Americans had had enough of rising whiskey taxes, to the famed whiskey runners of Prohibition (think Al Capone), whiskey’s played a big part in American culture. Whiskey and America were meant to be together, it seems, and in America, whiskey is most commonly associated with Tennessee…
