A rat cooking in a great Paris kitchen? Pixar pulls it off with panache
It’s a funny thing about Pixar, that revolutionary animation studio. Each time they start dropping hints about their newest project, I’m convinced I won’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a huge fan of animation. Give me a cold six-pack of soda, a bowl full of popcorn and a marathon of Chuck…
After a run with his second love, Jahidi White returns to his first
It’s not exactly a new trend: athletes who turn to music as a secondary (or second) career. But while the list of jocks turning into musicians isn’t a short one, the accompanying list of critically and commercially successful crossover acts is wafer thin. Jahidi White knows all about those lists, symbolized by big-budget bombs; take…
Moldy Masterpieces: Blue cheeses are marbled works of culinary art
Cheesemakers are alchemists at heart. Warm milk and carefully selected cultures are the makings of their brew. Time and temperature are also to be considered. But whether the goal is Cheddar or brie, the basic concept of cheesemaking is the same. Fundamentally, the same is true of blue cheese, but this legendary cheese also carries…
Spirited Debate: Municipalities find liquor licenses can be a boon or a bane
One of the city of Festus’ former names, Tanglefoot, purportedly poked good-natured fun at the glass workers who staggered back into dry Crystal City after enjoying libations in the town that sprung up outside its city limits in the 1870s. Those boozy roots dogged Festus through the early 1990s, when about a dozen liquor establishments…
Larger Than Life: Local comics collectors size up superheroes on the big screen
Superheroes are big this summer – at the movies and especially at the St. Louis Science Center, where the Marvel Super Heroes exhibition opened just over a month ago. You can learn a lot there – how, neurologically speaking, the Hulk gets so angry, how synthetic materials could soon have the strength of Spider-Man’s webs,…
Rude Awakening: Area wineries wait to learn what the spring cold snap will mean for their grapes
Every year at Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden, Ill., proprietor Brad Genung looks forward to budbreak. But the early awakening of spring this year transformed his excitement into tense anticipation. Untimely warm temperatures left Genung’s Missouri neighbors concerned, too. “What we saw in February and March was making me anxious,” said Tim Puchta, who runs…
Review: Acero in Maplewood
There are times in your life where you simply have to thank someone. If this were an Oscar speech, we would be at the point of the very special thank you. The one where I thank the person who helped me in my darkest hour, when I thought my career was in jeopardy, in this…
Review: Wm. D. Alandale Brewing Co. in Kirkwood
Guy’s Perspective The American beer market is showing some refinement. Gone are the years of solid growth for standbys Bud and Miller. Instead, craft and import brews are exploding like a can of Busch in the freezer. Last year, according to Information Resources Inc., supermarket sales of import beers (Heineken, Corona, etc.) increased 10.8 percent,…
Verjus Vinaigrette
About 2
Crab and Snow Pea Vietnamese-style Spring Rolls
About 8 2- to 3-oz. spring rolls
Lemongrass-Mint Dipping Sauce
About ½ cup
Spring rolls have freshness all wrapped up
The spring roll, according to some sources, made its first appearance in ancient China stuffed with fresh bamboo shoots and deep-fried. This timeless finger food has come a long way since then. In sampling spring rolls at Asian restaurants about town, I found that no two were exactly alike. At first, the wide-ranging interpretations confused…
East coast and Midwest foods mesh in Brad Isaak’s kitchen at Lester’s
Talk about a TV dinner! Walk into Lester’s Sports Bar and Grill, the newest eatery from Lester Miller of Busch’s Grove, and the first thing to strike you will be the number of TVs scattered around the space – 68, plus a projection screen. This is a sports bar and then some: At each table,…
Clear Winner: Versatile vodka plays well with others
My first experience with vodka – at age 21 of course – was with the cheap stuff from the gas stations, Congress brand to be specific. My girlfriends and I would mix out the sharp alcoholic bite with orange juice or soda. We liked it because it was cheap, effective and easy to mix. These…
The steaks at Hendel’s may wake you up to a new brunch favorite
Across the street from Sacred Heart church in Old Town Florissant stands Hendel’s Market Café and Wine Bar. Rich in history and firmly rooted in the neighborhood, it was originally a grocery store that dated to 1873 (a friend of mine remembers going to Hendel’s after school to buy candy). It opened as a restaurant…
Color, texture and farm-fresh tastes star in locally grown salad mix
If you think salad mixes are limited to prechopped lettuces entombed in plastic bags and shipped from California, think again. Sam Hilmer and Joanna Duley of Claverach Farm in Eureka offer wonderful medleys of locally grown baby greens. Flavorful, colorful and consistently good quality, Claverach’s greens are irresistible even to many restaurant chefs. A long…
A shot of attitude fuels this year’s new drinks at Red Moon
If you like to spend time in bars, this is the year to do it – at least according to Red Moon, which has put a unique twist on the Chinese Year of the Boar by proclaiming 2007 the Year of the Bar and adding visually appealing, conversation-inducing drinks to its menu. Ryan Carbery, Red…
Opportunities for wine education abound – but the best begin in the bottle
It doesn’t matter what grape was used or even where in the world a wine was made; wine basics are the same everywhere. White or red. Dry or sweet. Light or heavy. But once you understand the elementary aspects of wine, there is so much more to learn. Yet trying to educate oneself about wine…
