Pom Pop
1 serving
The Scoop: Racanelli to open Market Pub House
John Racanelli, owner of Racanelli’s New York Pizza, will launch a new restaurant in roughly a month – and it won’t involve pizza. The Market Pub House will occupy 6655 Delmar Blvd., the former site of Racanelli’s Cucina, which closed in February. “The target date is April 27, but I know we’ll be open that…
Let HOT Sauce add spice to your e-mail each day
Everyone savors a sizzlin’ deal – and now, get set to fire up your spring with one from us: HOT Sauce. Starting in April, you’ll have the chance to sign up online to be e-mailed daily about not just a single deal but a trio of deals. What sorts of deals? Glad you asked! HOT…
Gitto’s expands to Chesterfield
Folks who can’t get their fill of T-ravs and marinara should celebrate this summer, when Charlie Gitto Jr. launches his third namesake restaurant, in Chesterfield. The eatery will be located at 15525 Olive Blvd. and will seat roughly 175. Gitto himself confirmed by phone that the third location will serve both lunch and dinner and…
History museum showcases a true can-do effort
Castles made of sand have a way of washing into the surf, but castles made of canned tomatoes, it turns out, are a good deal more practical. The annual Canstruction design competition and canned-food drive nets a lot of help for the St. Louis-area needy; this year, the project is expected to rake in more…
Monarch Mixologist Nate Selsor Wins Cocktail Contest
A Saucy congrats to Nate Selsor, winner of the DonQ Rum Mix Off cocktail competition held last week at Sanctuaria in The Grove. Selsor, who tends bar at Monarch Restaurant in Maplewood, took first place for his recipe, Tektite. Selsor competed against nine other area mixologists at the event organized by the St. Louis chapter…
Murray’s greets spring with a twofer
Just in time to help St. Louisans welcome rising temperatures, Murray’s Shaved Ice reopens this Saturday, April 3 – and it’s doing so with a deal. The St. Louis Hills stand is celebrating opening day with a buy one, get one free offer on its New Orleans-style shaved ices. Murray’s offers more than four dozen…
Donnelly discusses Atlas sale
Michael Roberts and Jean Donnelly, the husband-and-wife team behind Atlas Restaurant, are selling the CWE bistro to Diane and Bryan Carr of Pomme Restaurant and Pomme Café & Wine Bar – and Donnelly just chatted with us about the transaction. “Nothing terribly specific” prompted it, Donnelly said. “When we decided to move here from San…
Celeb vegan chef coming to Brentwood
There must be something in the air … and local vegans likely couldn’t be happier. Following Bryant Terry’s two-day appearance at Washington University early this month, a second nationally acclaimed vegan chef will visit St. Louis late next month: Tal Ronnen. Ronnen – author of The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the…
Griffin puts history in his mixes
What started as a gig managing the door at The Royale has now progressed to a position as one of the more historically accurate cocktail-makers in the city. He’s been a cab driver, a punk rocker, the owner of a record label and a runaway in Ireland. But what Royale bartender Robert Griffin has no…
Kota shakes up shakes
Ya know, when Archie and Betty and Veronica and Jughead would get together at the malt shop for burgers and shakes, it was a different time, a more innocent time, as people like to say. Few people realize, however, that the gang from Riverdale High was actually getting high, drinking hard milkshakes with enough kick…
The Scoop: Roland comes to Wild Flower
Chef Josh Roland has joined the CWE’s Wild Flower and will launch a new menu there likely during the first week in April, co-owner Phil Czarnec just told us. Roland previously developed the menu and cheffed at Jim Edmonds’ Fifteen. Lately, though, he’s been working on projects in Washington, D.C., that involved consulting more than…
The Scoop: Moxy Bistro closed
Citing the economy and his growing consulting business, chef and owner Eric Brenner has closed his Moxy Bistro after seven years. “People are just spending less and we couldn’t sustain that lower check average with so few seats,” Brenner said of the Central West End restaurant. “[I] really just want to focus all of my…
Seafood City moving in May
You don’t have to be a big fish-eater to get your kicks at Seafood City. Just seeing the live eels, crabs, catfish, carp, bass and so on swimming in their respective tanks makes for a fascinating stop for you (and your kids). The popular grocery in U. City’s “Little Asia” is prepping for a move…
Breaking: Craft nabs Beard nomination
For the second year in a row, St. Louis’ Gerard Craft has been named as a finalist in the James Beard Foundation Awards, the food world’s highest honors. Finalists were announced this morning at the Palace Café in New Orleans. Craft – the man behind Niche Restaurant and Taste by Niche in Benton Park and…
Herbie’s debuts vegetarian menu
The greening of local palates continues. Following fast on the release of a gluten-free menu, Herbie’s Vintage 72 recently launched a full vegetarian menu. Five appetizers, four salads, two flatbreads and eight entrées form the new menu at the Central West End restaurant. Four vegan options make an appearance, three of them among the entrées.…
Molecular brewing comes to Modesto
Famed Spanish chef Ferran Adrià has co-created a beer – and Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant has it. Inedit, the beer, became available in the United States only in 2009, and Modesto has been working roughly a year to obtain it. At least for now, the Hill restaurant has it exclusively in St. Louis, a…
Fear Factor Food for teens at the library
Fans of the classic 1973 children’s book How to Eat Fried Worms can read it with the vicarious pleasure that comes from hearing about someone else doing something disgusting. But sometimes a kid wants to do something disgusting himself. That’s what the St. Louis Public Library Fear Factor Food events for teens offer. The branches…
Blues present TUMS Free Food Game
We love TUMS – and not just because it’s “smut” spelled backwards. No, we love it because, as you surely know, TUMS candy-colored antacid tablets were created right here in the StL about 80 years ago, and they’re still manufactured here, too. So it is with special pride that we enthuse about the St. Louis…
A great time at Grape Arts
They make sure you don’t get bored at the annual Grape Arts wine extravaganza to benefit Art St. Louis (Sunday, March 21, at Windows Off Washington above the City Museum). With four separate silent auctions, a live auction, formal and informal wine tastings, hors d’oeuvres, a celebrity host, live jazz, dessert and coffee, the afternoon…
Home cookin’ is where the heart is
“Wash your hands and pull up a chair,” Mary Samuelson said with a laugh, “’cause supper’s on the table, and it’s time to eat.” Samuelson, the owner of Mama Josephine’s, was quoting Josephine Spallino – her late mother and the namesake of the restaurant celebrating its grand opening today at 4000 Shaw Blvd. Mama Josephine’s,…
The Cakewich strikes!
Who is the Cake Witch? And why does she fly around on her broom, swooping down to steal cake from children with a gleeful cackle? No, no, that’s Cakewich, as in sandwich made of cake. The Cakewich is a sort of inside-out cupcake offered at the Central West End’s adorable Cupcakery. The treat consists of…
Woodland Wonders: Local mushrooms offer a taste of spring
There is much to love about mushrooms – that savory, earthy taste; textures that range from delicate to medium to meaty-firm; curious, whimsical shapes; and a full spectrum of colors that can light up a sauce, a soup, a soufflé and a myriad of other dishes. Members of the Missouri Mycological Society are gearing up…
Changes hit Niche this weekend
Look for changes to occur at Benton Park’s Niche Restaurant starting this Sunday. “I walked into the dining room last week,” chef-owner Gerard Craft just told us, “and I was like, ‘God, really kinda getting fancy in here.’ I mean seriously, I don’t know if you’ve seen me, but I’m not the fanciest guy in…
A fish fry – sans fish
Heard of fish fries, right? Well, tomorrow evening the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis is hosting the Unfish Fry. The vegetarian dinner runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the CWE house of worship, event chairwoman Sue Herzberg told us, and costs $6 for adults and $4 for children. The meal includes a choice…
Short List: The house salad
The era of pale, wilting iceberg lettuce topped with a few slivers of yellow onion, two cucumber slices and a lonely tomato wedge all soused with stale commercial salad dressing is long over. These days, the house salad often involves a refined presentation of fresh, even locally grown, spring greens; crunchy, colorful vegetables; and a…
Scape offers prix fixe vegetarian-raw menu
Those hoping to sample the debut prix fixe vegetarian and raw menu at Scape should do so soon. “Right around the 21st, we’re going to change it out to our spring menu,” chef Eric Kelly told us. The three-course menu debuted in late January at the CWE restaurant, and the response to it pleasantly surprised…
Let the Dunkin’ begin!
The only thing I liked about going to work at 3 a.m. for my stupid summer job slinging packages at a warehouse in Kansas City was stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts for a large coffee, a French cruller and a blueberry cake doughnut. Maybe a glazed apple fritter, too – I was in high school, after…
Pomme does vegetarian
Diners seeking a vegetarian option can enjoy a quality entrée at Pomme, whose menu confusingly lists it as Tonight’s Vegetarian Dinner. A few days ago, we briefly buttonholed one of the servers at the Clayton restaurant about that listing. “It doesn’t include a salad – it’s all à la carte,” Mike, the server, told us.…
The Scoop: Vickers leaving Market at Busch’s Grove
Sarah Vickers will leave her post as director of operations at The Market at Busch’s Grove this Friday, she just told us. “I’m going to start at County Market in Quincy in the middle of April,” Vickers said. She’s worked at the Ladue grocery since it opened. Why the change? “They offered me an opportunity…
Vegetarian cuisine at Beef Central
Craving vegetarian? Well, then – head to Sleek. Consider that a tiny tease. Most folks would sooner associate Hubert Keller’s acclaimed steakhouse in Lumière Place with Kobe and Ridgeland Harvest premium beef than with vegetarian cuisine. Nonetheless, in addition to giant bone-in rib-eyes and other daunting cuts of meat, Sleek offers a four-course prix fixe…
Perhaps the season’s last chili cook-off – vegan-style
What heartier and healthier way to give winter a hopeful heave-ho than by enjoying a vegan chili and dessert contest this Sunday, March 7? The contest will start at 4:30 p.m. at the Seventh-day Adventist Church Fellowship Hall in Chesterfield. Admission will cost $6 at the door. Preregistered contestants with crock pots of vegan chili…
New Asian fusion restaurant coming to the Loop
Ginger Asian Bistro will focus on “ways to blend Western food flair with some of the time-tested recipes from the Far East,” co-owner and general manager John Huang just told us. The restaurant – which also operates in Springfield and Orland Park, Ill. – will open this summer at 6665 Delmar Blvd., the former site…
Northwest Coffee steams up barista eggs
We’ve seen a lot of interesting cooking techniques, but nothing quite like Rick Milton’s unconventional use of an espresso machine steamer to cook eggs. Crack a couple of eggs into a stainless-steel steam pitcher, blast ’em with steam, and about 25 seconds later you’ve got light, fluffy barista eggs. No oil, no butter, just the…
Kakao tempts customers with a vegan curry truffle
Chocolate and curry might strike some folks as an odd couple, but not Brian Pelletier. In fact, Pelletier, the owner and chief chocolatier at Kakao Chocolate, added a curry truffle to his Fox Park shop’s offerings just last month, and he told us, “We’ve had nothing but a positive response on it.” The new confection…
Ernesto’s launches supper club
Ernesto’s Winebar in Benton Park has announced a supper club to be held the last Sunday of each month. “It’s gonna be comfortable, it’s gonna be affordable, it’s gonna be food that you recognize but that is done really well,” executive chef Cassandra Vires told us. Meals for the supper club will cost $35, which…
A second round on iTAP No. 2
Excitement filled Brad Lobdell’s voice when he described the forthcoming second location of the International Tap House, which he co-owns with Sean Conroy. iTAP announced the June debut of that location – at 1711 S. Ninth St., a few blocks northwest of Soulard Market – yesterday afternoon. “It’s got these cool punched-out box skylight things,”…
Red’z ribs resurrected
What to do when you have the most popular rib shack on the East Side, sell out and move to the Caribbean? Why, move back home and reopen your shack, of course. That was the story in the Friday edition of Edwardsville’s paper, The Intelligencer – good news for those of us who frequented Red’z…
Campus cooking – and competing – the vegan way
Saucy congrats to Washington University student sous chefs Joanna Wang and Julia Wong, as well as chef Gary Suarez and manager Cathy Causey, who won last night’s first North vs. South Champion Chef Competition there. The hour-long event focused on preparing dishes using tempeh and occurred in Danforth University Center’s Tisch Commons. The competition honored…
Social House fully opens in Soulard
Few things can banish the Tuesday blues like a cold brew and some pub grub, so yesterday evening we visited Soulard’s Social House. The cavernous establishment – it has a capacity of 250 – sits across Carroll Street from Soulard Market, at 1551 Seventh St. Its menu features such mandatory apps as T-ravs and tater…
Kevin Willman brings his Locavore philosophy to Farmhaus
Kevin Willmann is well known in foodie circles as a chef who passionately utilizes local produce. Most recently chef at Erato in Edwardsville, where his upscale rustic cuisine drew diners from throughout the St. Louis region, Willmann has struck out on his own, opening a small, 50-seat restaurant in the midst of a residential section…
Herb Society wins national award
A Saucy shoutout to the St. Louis Herb Society! Its Herbal Cookery: From the Kitchens and Gardens of the St. Louis Herb Society just placed second nationally in the Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards sponsored by McIlhenny Co. “We were notified a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve been flying high since then,” said Stephanie Prade,…
The Scoop: Soulard to get second iTAP
The International Tap House will have to revise its tagline of “500 beers, 40 on tap, 20 countries, 1 location” – because representatives of the company just confirmed with Sauce that a second operation will open by June in Soulard. Watch this space for details, suds-lovers!
Miso expansion opens soon
Swankiness, thy name is Miso on Meramec. It wasn’t exactly surprising to learn that the Clayton sushi spot and place-to-be-seen played host to one George Clooney when the heartthrob was in town filming last year’s Up in the Air. After all, with its cozy, dimly lit, Manhattan-lounge vibe; relentlessly modern DJ’ed music; and Pan-Asian menu,…
Recipe: Franco’s Zucchini and Yellow Squash “Pasta”
Who said vegetarian pasta has to be boring? Or even pasta, for that matter: At Franco, chef Matthew Abeshouse’s creative reimagining of vegetarian standards allows the ingredients to shine. Like his take on fettuccine Alfredo, which subs squash for noodles and cauliflower purée for cream sauce. Even better? Just a few simple tweaks make this…
Review: JFires’ Market Bistro in Waterloo
A woman once told me she didn’t eat anything with a face. That seemed a bit dramatic, so I jokingly asked, “What about a head of lettuce …” Hardy har har. She was not amused. That sort of summed up my impression of vegetarians for a while. Now, I’ve never been anti-vegetarian – I regularly…
How Watercress Can Spice Up Your Spring Dishes
When Greg Parkinson wades into the spring-fed creek on his family’s Moder Valley Nursery and farm to harvest watercress this month, he’ll carry on a Parkinson family tradition that dates back to the early 1940s. Back then, his great-uncle harvested and delivered watercress to the tony Chase Hotel in St. Louis. “My family’s been on…
Review: Tribeca Bistro & Lounge in Chesterfield
Since taking the stage in October, Tribeca Bistro Lounge has become a fast favorite amongst the martini-sipping, cocktail-stirring, see-and-be-seen crowd of Chesterfield Valley. Gunning on a cool, New York theme, Tribeca seems to throw out pretentious vibes, helped in no small measure by its Web site. (Do we really need a picture of two girls…
Burmese Dressing
2 servings
Chickpea Fritters
30 fritters
Red Wine Vinaigrette
• Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a stainless steel bowl. While constantly whisking, slowly incorporate the oil into the mixture. ½ cup red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard ½ tsp. dry oregano ½ tsp. dry basil 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar 1¼ cups canola oil
Cress and Citrus Salad
4 servings
Buddha’s Delight
2 Servings
Franco’s Zucchini and Yellow Squash “Pasta”
4 servings
Vegetarians Eat Well at Big Sky Cafe
Big Sky Cafe has been serving revitalized American favorites and excellent wines in Webster Groves since 1992. When I think of my favorite American classics, I think of meatloaf and pot roast and macaroni and cheese (with bacon). So does Big Sky, as these are all on the menu. But I didn’t try any of…
Meatless Evolution: Vegetarian cuisine leaves its salad days behind
Vegetarian cuisine – bean there, done that, right? Not quite. On menus and off, meatless dishes have proliferated during the past few decades for reasons relating to health, economics, sociopolitics – and, oh yeah, taste. By and large, they’ve settled comfortably into the culinary consciousness. At the same time, though, such dishes continue to challenge…
Student chefs compete using tempeh
To honor vegan soul-food chef Bryant Terry’s visit to Washington University, its Dining Services organization will host the North vs. South Champion Chef Competition tomorrow evening. The competition, which will revolve around vegan recipes using tempeh, will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Danforth University Center’s Tisch Commons. Each team will comprise two student sous…
An Artful Approach to Meat-Free Fare
Anyone who thinks that vegetarian cuisine is just bland tofu and boring sprouts has clearly not been to Sweet Art, because the Shaw neighborhood café lets its customers know that there’s a lot more to meatless fare than just soy and mung beans. All items at the café and bakery are vegetarian or vegan, including…
Takin’ a Shine to Moonshine
The Thaxton Speakeasy, the lounge located in the basement of the Thaxton Building downtown, has become known by an insider group of guzzlers as the place to go for moonshine. Well, not technically – no one’s actually distilling alcohol, but its homemade fruit-infused liquor, dubbed Moonshine, is a tasty treat that packs one powerful punch.…
In Praise of Braises: A primer on simmering vegetarian dishes
Key the word “braising” into Google, and recipes for pork shoulder and short ribs will run off the page. That’s culinary typecasting, though, like saying that baking is just for pastries or poaching belongs to eggs – braising can enhance vegetarian dishes just as much as meat-based ones. Braising is the transitional domain of late…
Bandana’s opens 30th eatery
According to the Wikipedia entry on barbecue, there are dozens of regional styles of grilling, smoking, rubbing and saucing (or not saucing) beef, pork and so on. What the article doesn’t dwell on, though, are the fierce allegiances that each part of the U.S. feels for its particular ‘cue. In North Carolina alone, whether you…
