April 2011 by Sauce Magazine

11 visionaries who have altered St. Louis’ culinary scene.

inside: our guide to enter taining · great grilled cheese · midtown’s new brewer y April 2011

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Allyson Mace Katie O’Connor Meera Nagarajan Stacy Schultz Ligaya Figueras Katie O’Connor Matt Berkley, Emily Lowery, Beth Styles Emily Lowery Stacy Schultz Rebekah Wessels Noah Berman, Ashley Gieseking, David Kovaluk, Wesley Law, Laura Miller, Jonathan S. Pollack, Greg Rannells, Carmen Troesser Shana Cook Erin Anderson, Erin Keplinger, Allyson Mace, Brenda Pollom, Angie Rosenberg Jill George Glenn Bardgett, Matt Berkley, Pat Eby, Ligaya Figueras, Kellie Hynes, Byron Kerman, Anne Marie Lodholz, Dan Lodholz, Diana Losciale, Meera Nagarajan, Katie O’Connor, Liz O’Connor, Shannon Parker, Michael Renner, Stacy Schultz

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contents APRIL 2011

departments d9 À LA CARTE 14 SEASONAL SHOPPER

The Sausage Kings of St. Louis BY PAT EBY

16 CHEF TALK Whimsically Serious

BY LIGAYA FIGUERAS

19 COOK’S BOOKS Cooking in the Moment BY SHANNON PARKER

20 GOURMET GURU Versatile Via Vino BY MICHAEL RENNER

22 OLD SCHOOL Trattoria Marcella: Still that good BY LIZ O’CONNOR

25 REAL DEAL South City’s Wicked Good Pub Food BY DAN AND ANNE MARIE LODHOLZ

27 STL SCENE Hop to Midtown’s Latest Beer Hall BY MATT BERKLEY

49 STUFF TO DO

30 features

cover details

29 SHORT LIST Grilled cheese BY STACY SCH U LT Z

30 TAPPING TRADITION Midwestern maple syrup is made the old-fashioned way BY LI GAYA FI G U ER AS

50 FOOD BY BYRON KERMAN

55 ART BY BYRON KERMAN

58 THE NEW CLASSICS Acero’s Egg Raviolo BY KATIE O’CONNOR

36 POACHING FROM THE PROS A home cook’s quest to master the fried poached egg BY K ELLI E HYN ES

38 GAME CHANGERS

Supatana “Pat” Prapaisilapa, owner of Thai Cafe, Thai Country Cafe, Thai Gai Yang Cafe, Thai Pizza Cafe and Thai Nivas Cafe, photographed on Delmar Boulevard at 6:15 a.m.

11 visionaries who have altered St. Louis’ culinary

Photo by Carmen Troesser

scene. Their experience. Their words.

GAME CHANGERS, P. 38 great grilled cheese, p. 29 midtown’s new brewery, p. 27

I NTERVI EWED BY LI GAYA FI G U ER AS

= recipe on this page

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

ou’d be hard-pressed to put together a more diverse group than the 11 St. Louisans we’ve profiled in this month’s cover story, Game Changers. They’re all so different: Some have been in business for five years, some for 35. Some names are familiar, others are not. Some have charted new territory, others have kept a legacy going. And yet they do have things in common: perseverance, a willingness to do the not-so-fun parts of the job, an ability to learn from mistakes. And, most importantly, they’ve all helped the local food scene become what it is today. They’re not the only ones, of course. The culinary scene here in St. Louis gets better almost daily – and it’s a group effort: A chef opens his own restaurant after years of running the kitchen for others (Chef Talk, page 16); a sommelier moves back to her hometown to open a new wine shop (Gold Medal Hospitality, page 10); local meat producers use heritage breeds and nose-to-tail approaches to bring fresh new foods to market (Seasonal Shopper, page 14). And there’s someone out there, right now, dreaming of opening a restaurant. Or a bar. Or a catering company, market or farm. And if they succeed in getting it off the ground, who knows? It might be the next big thing, it might help revitalize a neighborhood. It might be a game changer.

Katie O’Connor Chef Wes Johnson’s new restaurant, Salt, will feature dishes like fennelpork meatballs with blackberry jam, pictured here. Read more about Johnson’s plans for his CWE restaurant on page 16.

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April 2011

PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER

Cheers,

INTERVIEWS| Love the illustrative stories from this month’s Game Changers? Read the parts of the interviews with the culinary visionaries you didn’t see throughout the month in the Extra Sauce section of SauceMagazine.com. VIDEO| Are you inspired to make the fried poached eggs Kellie Hynes prepared in Poaching From the Pros for your Easter table? Watch as Hynes shows you how to execute this tricky – and tasty – technique in a quick how-to video. Help us celebrate our 10th year in print! Check out Independent Risk-Takers and Page Makers, Part I to see what local culinary pros have to say about St. Louis’ dining scene and our role in it. JOIN US ON FOODSPOTTING| Finally, the social media outlet for foodies and your ultimate source for recommendations on the local dining scene have come together – Sauce is on Foodspotting! Follow us, share some of your favorite meals with us and complete our many guides for a chance to earn a Sauce badge, win prizes and much more.

PHOTO BY GREG RANNELLS

RECIPES| Find recipes from our 11 game changers all month long in the recipes section.

Check out our Facebook page for behind-the-scenes pics from this month at Sauce. April 2011

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April 2011

EAT THIS

We can’t think of a better way to spend a post-work hour than at MODESTO, where weeknights at the bar offer a variety of bites at prices that can’t be beat. 50-cent champiñones (stuffed mushrooms)? Albóndigas (veal-pork meatballs) for a quarter? Montaditos (Spanish crostini, including tomato-Manchego and tomato-serrano ham) for 25 PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER

cents to a $1.50? We’ll drink to that. MODESTO TAPAS BAR AND RESTAURANT • 5257 SHAW AVE. • ST. LOUIS • 314.772.8272

April 2011

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BREWER’S DAY OFF F LO R I A N K U P L E N T “[I like] The Good Pie, because the beer selection is very nice, it’s close by and the pizza is fantastic. The beer selection rotates frequently – they have about 10 beers on draft – and I don’t think I’ve had the same thing twice. I like to explore things when I have the opportunity.” – Florian Kuplent, brewmaster and co-owner, Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. Read more about UCBC in this month’s STL Scene on page 27.

WASTE-LESS BAGS

Asked at the age of 10 what she was going to be when she grew up, Renee Skubish would have answered, “an Olympic equestrian.” Her parents bought her a pony, and then came the quarter horse. Today Skubish is the sommelier and managing partner of West End Wines, a new shop in the CWE that was, a little over a year ago, the sales offices for Park East Tower, which looms across the street. She describes her place, not without pride, as “clean, sophisticated, yet warm.”

Hit the farmers’ markets in style this season with Waste-Less grocery bags. They hold up to 20 pounds and come in a variety of styles, including strawberry and watermelon. Best of all, they fold up into a light, tiny package, so you can save space while saving the earth. $5, AVAIL ABLE AT TROVA, 190 0 PARK AVE., ST. LOUIS, 314.776.2141

Inside, it’s white wines up front arranged by price, then the reds arranged by region and then by price. “When I selected the portfolio, it was really important to me that no matter what [price] level, it would be a quality bottle. If someone spends $9.50 and gets a good bottle, he or she will come back. There will be no buyer’s remorse.” The tipping point, pushing her from horsewoman into the world

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of wines, occurred in her midteens when Skubish worked in a mom-and-pop place as waitress, fry cook, grill cook – “everything” – and realized it was all about service, about customers returning time after time because of a good experience. And that’s what makes West End Wines special. “It’s all about hospitality, greeting and working with shoppers who come in the store.” As well as those who don’t, because Skubish also does offsite tastings and pours at parties, gracefully educating. When pressed, she named a favorite wine: a 1955 Château d’Yquem. She keeps the empty bottle. “You can still smell the wine on the cork.” Skubish gained her hospitable know-how at La Guardia Community College-City University of New York, where she earned a degree in hospitality, travel and tourism. Wanting more, she

completed the course work at the Sommelier Society of America, and then knocked on the door of NYC’s Italian Wine Merchants, asked them to give her a shot, and was hired and mentored by CEO Sergio Esposito. Back in St. Louis, she chose the Central West End for its New Yorklike qualities, not the least of which is its pedestrian traffic, great for the shop. “The CWE is diverse, … it’s eclectic, urban. The people here are open and embracing. You couldn’t ask for anything better.” Above all, she noted, “It’s good to be home.” What’s next? Skubish looks forward to eventual shop expansion, perhaps another shop, and will likely pursue certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Like the cork and empty bottle of her favorite wine, Skubish still has the same beloved quarter horse. She has resumed riding lessons. The Olympic dream lingers. – Diana Losciale April 2011

PHOTO BY NOAH BERMAN

USE THIS

GOLD MEDAL HOSPITALITY

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Annie Gunn’s wine director Glenn Bardgett weighs in on which wines to drink this month, while Sauce Elixir columnist Ligaya Figueras offers her suggestions for which spirits to sip. Check your favorite wine shop or liquor store for availability.

The Royale’s Morning Glory Fizz and bartender Robert Griffin.

EGG-CENTRIC We’re on an egg hunt this month, but we’re not looking to fill our basket with hard-boiled, pastel pretties. We want them raw and we want to drink them. Cocktails that call for raw eggs are not new – think Pisco Sour, Ramos Gin Fizz or Clover Club. With bartenders in town showcasing more fizzes (basically a combination of liquor, citrus juice, sugar or simple syrup, and sometimes an egg white shaken, strained and topped with a carbonated beverage) and whipping up concoctions of their own design, eggs – the whites, in particular – are entering into the recipe. This time of year, Robert Griffin, bartender at The Royale in South City, really gets cracking on egg drinks. For Easter, he will offer a slate of egg-only cocktails, such as Morning Glory Fizz. A

creation of the late 19th century, the flavors of absinthe and citrus juices dominate the palate in this scotch-based fizz. Patrons who hit The Royale on Sunday evenings for its themed Cocktail Museum will almost always encounter at least one drink from the cocktail canon that calls for an egg product. The comprehensive 150-drink Sanctuaria Cocktail Club menu, designed by bar manager Matt Seiter and lead bartender Joel Clark, includes nine cocktails with egg whites. The classics are present, but so are creations like Missouri Beach Front Property, a beer cocktail that features locally brewed Cathedral Square White Ale; and Sour Sloeberry Fizz, a superb, slightly tart mix of sloe gin, yellow chartreuse, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white and a house-made

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At the newly opened Water Street in Maplewood, owner Gabe Kveton offers the egg-centric Rye Half Flip (as opposed to a true flip, which uses a whole egg). The drink features rye whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white and a twist of orange. Were it not for a light top coat of froth, tasting notes point the Rye Half Flip in the direction of a whiskey sour. That foamy mouth feel is one reason why bartenders don’t balk at breaking eggs. Egg whites also add body to cocktails, harmonize strong flavors that would otherwise compete in the drink, and give a great frothy head, summed Seiter and Clark. Some imbibers may be reticent to drink these types of cocktails because raw eggs pose the risk of salmonella contamination. “In the year and a half I’ve been serving them, no one has taken ill,” said Griffin about his egg drinks. While salmonella contamination is rare, the risk is further diminished when bars adhere to certain practices. According to an official from the St. Louis City Department of Health, establishments must use pasteurized eggs and the eggs should be stored at no more than 41 degrees to “slow down the potential risk for bacterial growth.” – Ligaya Figueras

ARNALDO CAPRAI GRECANTE GRECHETTO DEI COLLI MARTANI DOC 2008, UMBRIA, ITALY 100 percent Grechetto – sound familiar? Probably not; it’s one of the old grape varieties. But don’t overlook this one; it’s a slam dunk for anyone who likes white wines, a fun, refreshing sip of ripe juicy peaches and pears. HATTER ROYALE HOPQUILA, NEW HOLLAND BREWING CO., HOLLAND, MICH. Barley gets twice distilled, then steeped in Centennial hops. Try this brewer’s invention as a shot or in reimagined tequilabased cocktails. $25. WILD TEA VODKA, ABSOLUT VODKA, ÅHUS, SWEDEN Flavored vodka enthusiasts are going wild over Absolut’s newest flavor, a blend of elderflower and black tea that tastes like boozy Southern-style sweet tea with a floral splash. $19. LOS NAHUALES REPOSADO MEZCAL, DESTILERÍA LOS DANZANTES, OAXACA, MEXICO The reposado, aged in French oak barrels, boasts a soft smokiness, full body and deep, long finish. $67.

April 2011

PHOTOS BY LAURA MILLER

rhubarb tincture plus a garnish of fresh sage. Another original, Hell’s Fire Fizz, is made with gin, ginger liqueur, papaya juice, heavy cream, housemade raspberry syrup, orange flower water, egg white and a topper of club soda. The fruity sweetness and dairy frothiness make this near-milkshake an optimal liquid dessert for sweet tooths.

BIN 36 SAUVIGNON BLANC 2009, MAURITSON VINEYARDS, DRY CREEK VALLEY, CALIF. Brian Duncan, wine director of Bin 36 in Chicago, has done it again with this beautiful white. The wine is made at the Hahn Winery in California’s Monterey County under Duncan’s capable direction. This $16 stunner is perfect for pairing with a bowl of cold shrimp on a sunny spring day. R COLLECTION FIELD BLEND LOT NO. 7 2008, CALIFORNIA A field blend used to indicate whatever grapes the winemakers in California had in the vineyard that were of unknown variety. But this is an organized effort by the Raymond Winery, a blend of seven varieties, including a punch of Zin and a whack of Petite Sirah. About $15.

Also known as pigweed or Mexican tea, this culinary herb has an assertive taste and a pungent kerosene odor. Epazote is a must in Mexican dishes like sopa de menudo and esquites, standard street fare of seasoned toasted corn. South-of-the border cooks will swear that the plant is also a fabulous foil against black beaninduced flatulence. Use it: As a seasoning for soups and blackbean dishes. Try it in other Mexican classics such as quesadillas, tamales and enchiladas. Find it: El Torito Supermarket, 2753 Cherokee St., St. Louis, 314.771.4049

SOPA DE MENUDO ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ALAN TOBEY

Courtesy of La Vallesana’s Hilario Vargas 6 TO 8 SERVINGS 2 lbs. menudo blanco (white tripe) Salt to taste ½ bunch fresh epazote, divided 10 whole dried guajillo chile peppers, stems removed 2 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped ½ yellow onion, coarsely chopped 2 cloves garlic

April 2011

10 whole black peppercorns 4 cloves 1 chicken bouillon cube 5 liters water (or substitute chicken stock for bouillon cube and water) • Place the menudo in a large pot and fill it with enough water to cover well. Add a pinch of salt and one stem (leaf intact) of epazote. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 90 minutes. Remove the menudo, allow it to cool slightly and cut it into bite-size pieces and set aside. • Meanwhile, place the peppers in a small pot of boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes to soften, then remove the peppers from the water using a strainer. • Put the softened peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppercorns, cloves and salt to taste in a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve. Set aside the liquid and discard the solids. • Place bouillon cube in a large pot filled with 5 liters of water (or chicken stock, if preferred), as well as the menudo and the strained chile pepper liquid. Cook over medium heat until the soup is warmed, then add the remaining epazote. Cook for 5 minutes more until the flavors have combined. For a stronger flavor, cook the soup for up to 15 minutes. • Ladle into bowls. If desired, serve with halved limes, diced onion, dried arbol chiles (to use, break open the chile and sprinkle the seeds and skin on top of the soup) and warm tortillas.

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SEASONAL SHOPPER

close to heresy for me. Throw that bias out the window. This cheese kielbasa is so good it nearly polkas. Hinkebein uses a mix of meats weighted more towards beef than pork. He spices with a sure hand. The grind he’s developed bites perfectly. The casing snaps just so. Hinkebein suggested slicing the fully cooked sausage to eat with crackers or bread. Great idea, but don’t stop there. Grill these babies, wrap chunks in pastry dough with a dab of mustard and bake for a great appetizer, throw them in soups or casseroles for can’t-miss easy dinners. Find Hinkebein sausages at Local Harvest Grocery. For a different sausage experience, try fully cooked fresh liver sausage from Live Springs Farm, which sells at the Tower Grove, Maplewood and Ferguson farmers’ markets. The creamy, fine-grained sausage loops bigboned and fat in a whitish natural casing. I hadn’t seen this old-style German sausage since I left Cincinnati. My father cooked it in a pot with a little water to spoon over pan-fried cornmeal mush. He called it liver pudding, and we kids loved every stinky, nasty-looking bite.

THE SAUSAGE KINGS OF ST. LOUIS BY PAT EBY • PHOTO BY LAURA MILLER

he farm-fresh breakfast sausage sputtered and spat as I hovered near the stove, my hand wafting its delightful aroma towards my face. The scent of good pork, black pepper and salt came on clean and strong. A few well-browned bits jumped onto my spoon. Pared down to the basics, the salt and pepper sausage Karlios Hinkebein learned to make from his grandfather tastes so simple it’s pork-perfect. “Salt and pepper sausage was the only sausage I ate growing up,” said Hinkebein. “It’s not a big seller at the St. Louis markets, but in southern Missouri, folks still want it.” When St. Louis cooks discover this simple sausage with the big taste, that could change.

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The jumbo breakfast links go down easy with scrambled eggs. Frizzled bits removed from the casings cook up a dynamite gravy to top potatoes, biscuits or fried mush. Try browned chunks in quiches, egg casseroles and stratas, too. Combine cooked sausage bites with uncooked diced potatoes, julienned onions and green peppers. Toss with olive oil and sea salt, spread on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast a terrific sandwich filling for pitas, flat breads or hoagie rolls. This month, Hinkebein offers a new beef and pork kielbasa with cheese. My hometown of Cincinnati, once known as Porkopolis, reveres all things pork, in a traditional way. Cheese in a sausage comes

Slice fresh liver sausage, slather some Champagne mustard on pumpernickel and add onions for a very German lunch. Chop the sausage fine, mix minced onion, Dijon country-style mustard and cream cheese to make a cracker spread. I cooked my dad’s liver pudding and mush with great trepidation. It looked terrible, but the taste brought back sweet memories and surprised me: I liked it. New to the market last year, Lucian Matoushek and his mother, Anne Matoushek, of The Farmers’ Larder wrangled a new business model to deliver charcuterie fresh from the farms. In addition to raising animals at their home farm, this mother and son buy humanely raised animals from neighboring farms. The two took time to develop their charcuterie recipes as well, tweaking and tinkering over the winter. Their mild kielbasa, Polish-style, remains a top seller. You’ll find them at the Tower Grove, Ferguson and Webster Groves markets; shop early, though, because they tend to sell out quickly most market Saturdays.

Jeremy Parker of Missouri Grass Fed Beef makes an all-beef knockwurst once a year, usually in April, for sale in May. “The texture is firmer, because we use beef in a sausage that’s typically a blend of pork and beef.” Colby Jones of Farrar Out Farm sells sage sausage patties, chorizo, Italian hot and regular breakfast sausages made from his Berkshire hogs; look for them at the Kirkwood and Maplewood markets. “My sausage tastes clean and fresh,” he said. Good enough reason to sample the farmfresh offerings these conscientious farmers bring to market.

SALT AND PEPPER SAUSAGE QUICHE 8 SERVINGS 6 Hinkebein Hills Farm salt and pepper sausage links 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 medium red bell pepper 1 9-inch pie crust, unbaked 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 4 large eggs 2 cups half-and-half 1 tsp. salt 3 ∕4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. • Remove the casing from each sausage and divide the meat into 1-inch chunks. Cook the sausage pieces in a large skillet until browned and cooked through. Remove to a paper plate or towels and reserve. • Heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the onion and cook until translucent. • Roast a whole red pepper, remove the charred skin, seed and cut into ½-inch slices. • Sprinkle the pie shell evenly with the sautéed onions. Add the roasted peppers and top evenly with the cooked sausage pieces. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top. • Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Add the half-and-half and stir to mix. Add the salt and pepper and stir. • Pour half of the egg mixture over the quiche and allow the liquid to settle. Add the remaining liquid, but don’t overfill the shell. • Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the center doesn’t jiggle. If the crust is browning too much after 20 minutes, cover the crust edge with aluminum foil strips. • Cool slightly on a rack. Serve warm.

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CHEF TALK

WHIMSICALLY SERIOUS BY LIGAYA FIGUERAS • PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER

hef Wes Johnson has worked in kitchens in his native Springfield, Mo., in Seattle and in St. Louis. During his 18 years in the biz, he’s helped launch eight restaurants, most recently Eclipse in the East Loop’s Moonrise Hotel. Now he’s ready to venture out on his own. “I’ve looked at a lot of buildings over the last two years, and this is the only one that really just felt right,” said Johnson about the location he chose in the Central West End for restaurant, Salt, opening this month. We spoke with the easygoing Johnson about his plans for Salt, how food can be fun and why farm-to-table should be the standard in today’s restaurants. You’ve wanted to open your own place for a long time; why is it so important to you to have your own restaurant? It’s about getting to shape it the way I want. You really can’t do that with someone else’s restaurant. They already have a business plan and you are just fitting to what that is. The other thing is, I’ve moved around a lot. St. Louis is home now. I want to put down roots here. Part of that is tying myself down to a restaurant that is mine. In a word, what is “Wes cuisine”? Whimsy. It’s not about kitsch, it’s about doing something and having fun with it. You can still be serious and have fun. I realized over the years that I wanted to be this serious chef, but I’m not a serious person. You’ve worked at The Scottish Arms, The Shaved Duck, Eclipse. Those are fun places, staffed with fun personalities. Should food always be fun? Food should always be fun. If you are not enjoying it and having a good time, then all you are doing is eating. There’s a huge difference between eating and dining. Dining, you should be enjoying yourself. Eating is just sustaining life.

Chef Wes Johnson’s pork rillettes with black garlic.

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Tell me about Salt. It’s about us really taking the time to break down our own meats, to source local product. Not just to buy local, but to be engaged in the farm community. I want to be involved in their business. My success is directly tied to their success. I don’t think farm-to-table should be a marketing tool as much as it should

be a standard. The name Salt is about the simplicity that food can be and still be really good. You don’t have to overwork a dish. You can do simple, great food. What kind of place do you envision Salt to be? An everyday dining place. We don’t want to be that special-occasionsonly kind of place. Especially in this neighborhood, we want it to be more an extension of your kitchen. You don’t want to cook today? Come by here. That’s why we are trying to keep the price point as reasonable as we can. Tell me about some highlights from the menu. Small plates: We have a fennel and pork sausage meatball with a blackberry jam, pork fat-fried almonds with rosemary, garlic and sea salt. Somewhat tapas-y, but salads and soups will fall under that small plates category too. On the entrées: butterpoached fillet with bone marrow, cornbreadstuffed saddle of rabbit with braised greens, a peppercorn-seared duck breast with shoestring sweet potato fries. And we’re going to have a cheese and charcuterie selection, and a small dessert selection. You chose a very large space for Salt. You’ve got a main dining area, a bar, banquet space and theater upstairs, a wine room in the cellar, an outdoor patio. How will you fill all that space? The building is just over 10,000 square feet. It seems like a lot, but the building is well compartmentalized, so we can break it down into spaces that are far more manageable. There are pocket doors in each dining room, [so] we can shrink to size as we need. How is the concept for Salt reinforced by the space? The décor projects whimsy to me. It says, “I’m really fun. I don’t take myself too seriously.” The food will be innovative, thoughtful, farm-to-table fare. But again, we want to have fun. I’ve been doing this 18 years now, and I don’t want to do anything that’s not fun. SALT 4356 Lindell Blvd. St. Louis, 314.932.5787 April 2011

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April 2011

REVIEW: COOK’S BOOKS

COOKING IN THE MOMENT BY SHANNON PARKER I read a lot of cookbooks and usually, within the first couple of pages of reading a new one, I can pinpoint its genre. A cover photo of a heavily tattooed, angrylooking man means it’s the latest tome from a rock star chef. If the prep time is in big bold print, it’s one of those “fast and easy” books, the spawn of Rachael Ray. Numerous photos of salt-of-the-earth farmers and vegetables with artful clumps of dirt still clinging usually means the book is of the “fresh from the market” ilk. One look at Cooking in the Moment, a new book written by chef Andrea Reusing, and you know it falls firmly into this category. Reusing, the chef and owner of Lantern in Chapel Hill, N.C., is a self-taught cook, and her cuisine incorporates many local and seasonal ingredients. The book, due out this month, is subtitled A Year of Seasonal Recipes. While that statement is not entirely accurate, the book does provide a number of flavorful and interesting recipes.

Cooking in the Moment is broadly organized into sections concerning the four seasons and then further subdivided into segments such as July or Early March. The recipes utilize ingredients that are in season in North Carolina during those time periods, so each section contains recipes for entrées, side dishes and desserts. As a result, the reader must take a more leisurely approach to discovering recipes. Be sure to look at the table of contents for each section, which lists all the recipes at a glance. Understandably, Reusing utilizes ingredients that may be unfamiliar to readers outside of her immediate locale. A recipe for Pan-Roasted Black Drum (a meaty fish that she says has a taste similar to grouper) comes right before one for Smashed Candy Roaster. Candy roaster refers to several varieties of intensely sweet winter squash. It is interesting to learn of such regional specialties, and Reusing does a good job of suggesting appropriate substitutions for readers in different parts of the United States.

The recipes by and large are simple yet sophisticated, with very few requiring more than 10 ingredients and two paragraphs of instruction. Carrot Soup With Toasted Curry and Pistachios made for a rich and complex starter to a recent late winter meal, and I’m looking forward to trying out the recipe for Asparagus With Butter and Soy when asparagus season kicks in. Slightly less successful are the essays, which accompany a number of the recipe sections. These run the gamut from informational (male asparagus plants are “ridiculously more productive and longer living” than their female counterparts) to the just plain twee. Do I really care that Reusing’s young son refuses to eat anything cut into small pieces, preferring his heirloom apples be served “whole big”? Not really. I do care, however, about the clearly written recipes and the obvious respect for local ingredients and traditions that are at the heart of Cooking in the Moment.

COO KI N G I N TH E MOM ENT: A YEAR O F SEASO NAL RECI PES, BY A N D RE A REUSI N G, CL A RKSO N P OT TER

THE FOUR COOKBOOKS EVERY SEASONAL COOK SHOULD OWN Chef Brian Hardesty of Guerrilla Street Food offered these cookbook suggestions for those looking to master classic techniques and a seasonal approach to cooking. He noted that once a cook has the techniques down pat, it is easy to adapt to different vegetables.

Think Like a Chef, by Tom Colicchio “This one is all about classic technique. It’s rustic, not about fancy dots on the plates. He lets the ingredients shine. … You can learn a whole lot about being a cook from this book.”

PHOTO BY NOAH BERMAN

Chez Panisse Vegetables, by Alice Waters “Alice Waters has a simple approach, a great way to approach the seasons. She is all about the promotion of seasonal food. You can apply her techniques to different vegetables. All her recipes are solid. I’ve never made a recipe of hers that didn’t work.”

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The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques and Science of Good Cooking, by Madeleine Kamman “This is an updated version of an old favorite. It’s the definitive book on ‘how to’ everything. … It’s irreplaceable and one of the best cookbooks out there.”

Harvest to Heat: Cooking With America’s Best Chefs, Farmers and Artisans, by Darryl Estrine and Kelly Kochendorfer “This is all about chefs who buy local and work with what they have. They’re not going to major chains and buying strawberries in December. It reflects their specific reasons for buying the products.”

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REVIEW: GOURMET GURU

VERSATILE VIA VINO BY MICHAEL RENNER • PHOTOS BY DAVID KOVALUK

Via Vino’s tagliatelle in a porcini broth with sliced truffles.

ichael Del Pietro’s latest offering, Via Vino, comes not only on the heels of his wildly successful Sugo’s Spaghetteria, it’s joined at the hip. The adjacent restaurants are located in a sliver of a strip mall just west of Le Château Village and across from Plaza Frontenac. Where Sugo’s is all Italian, casual and raucous, Via Vino is worldlier, more refined and … just as raucous. But while Sugo’s dishes out large quantities of pasta and pizza, Via Vino bills itself as an enoteca, an Italian concept of a wine-centric, bistroinspired eatery or, as the Web site states, “a contemporary wine bar with global cuisine.” The menu focuses on small plates (cold and hot), salads and a handful of large entrées, delivering familiar favorites with a few original touches. A standard seared yellowfin tuna is given new context: Slices of bright red soft tuna rubbed with five-spice powder atop same-sized crunchy slices of cucumber provides a study in contrasts; squirts of spicy Thai sriacha sauce provides brashness. More a consort than a peer of wine, the dish requires consultation from the bar; a glass of 2007 Laetitia Californian Pinot Noir held up fine to the dish’s spiciness. A plate of crushed ice holding six cold and briny Blue Point oysters served on the half shell is as fine a way to start the evening as any. The accompanying Mignonette sauce of sherry vinegar, white

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wine, shallot, cracked pepper and a douse of the juice of the freshly shucked mollusks makes for some fine slurping. It seemed a little early in the season for an off-the-menu plate of “softies,” two soft shelled blue crabs simply breaded and fried, atop a smattering of diced asparagus and delicate rosemary-shallot scented broth, but I wasn’t about to deny myself a taste of spring, no matter how premature. And, yes, a glass of white Burgundy sufficed with these little beauties. Assorted bruschetta arrived four to a plate, neatly arranged in a row, spilling over with tapenade, eggplant, tomato-basil and pesto and showered with grated Parmesan. Your visit may bring a different arrangement, which, too, will not disappoint. A small plate of tagliatelle is in a porcini mushroom broth, aromatic with warm spice (nutmeg?) and made even earthier with healthy slices of truffles. Pair it with bruschetta and a salad for a wellrounded, lighter meal. Yes, the Del Pietro salad – first served in 1976 at the original Del Pierto’s restaurant – is available. Order it if you must, but we found the salad of roasted beets, frisée and fried goat cheese far more interesting, though at $7, the two half rounds of cheese and four thin slices of beets seemed a bit miserly.

The five entrées come right out of the comfort food playbook, except perhaps the Chilean sea bass we eschewed due to overfishing. There’s grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and bouillabaisse, but we settled on the double-cut pork chop and steak au poivre, the former a baseball mitt-sized bone-in chop made for gnawing served slanted against a mound of mashed potatoes mixed with a few roasted apples and the latter a medium-rare New York strip with a mountain of tangled pomme frites. Both benefited from a good char crust. For the price, both could have used at least a token vegetable. As a wine bar, Via Vino does fine. As an enoteca, it could use more wines available by the glass and smaller pours to allow broader sampling. The well-chosen wine list features French and domestic varietals and blends, including 23 available by the half bottle or split representing new and Old World styles – something more restaurants should do. Sometimes it’s the little things that distract the most. Serving good bread (from Companion) with insipid, tasteless olive oil should be grounds for something. The spinach salad suffers from tasteless, out-ofseason strawberries (though the pancetta vinaigrette makes up for the disappointment). A generous conviviality fills the room, but the sheer popularity of the place means it can

be lively to the point of insanity. An eclectic group of diners were enjoying themselves despite the out of control soundtrack: Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Seal, Black Eyed Peas and Michael Jackson. Too bad the music isn’t as well-chosen as the wine list. The ever-changing dessert lists includes tiramisu, light yet rich and creamy, but otherwise desserts like lava cake, crème brûlée and carrot cake are standard issue. Except when one of the bartenders makes a blood orange pound cake, luscious and light, with honey-soaked blood orange compote or a chewy chocolate-almond torte topped with almond whipped cream. That’s some bartender.

NEW AND NOTABLE WHERE: Via Vino, 10427 Clayton Road, Frontenac, 314.569.0405

WHEN: Mon. to Thu. – 5 to 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. – 5 to 11 p.m.

DON’T MISS DISH: Tagliatelle pasta with porcini

mushroom broth and truffles; double-cut pork chop over garlic mashed potatoes and roasted apples. VIBE: Affluent people of all ages; dizzying din. ENTRÉE PRICES: Small plates: $6 to $14; large plates: $18 to $26.

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REVIEW: OLD SCHOOL

Trattoria Marcella’s agnolotti del plin.

noodle enveloped in a dreamy creaminess, each bite comforts like a long hug. Just as wonderful is the agnolotti del plin, a dish typical of the Piedmont region of Italy. It comprises diminutive “pinched” pasta stuffed with meats or cheeses. Trattoria Marcella’s rendition stays true to form with a meat and rice filling. The agnolotti are delicious on their own, but add a flavorful, light sauce of herbs, butter and cheese, and these bundles are something special. It seems hard to go wrong with any of the pasta dishes here. Each one is elevated to new heights with flavorful and textural enhancement here and there. The slow, careful braising of boar in aromatic vegetables and wine is evident in each bite of ricotta agnolotti smothered in a boar ragu, a special one night. The potato gnocchi in another ragu, this time pork and mushroom, are light and smooth in texture, not too dense or tough. The pastas beat out the selection of pizzas, hands-down. As I crunched into the cracker-thin Roman-style crust, brushed with arugula pesto, strewn with bits of mineral-y shrimp, oven-roasted tomatoes and goat cheese, I was left longing for one of those impeccable pasta dishes. While I like the idea of a lighter, healthier pizza, I’m still looking for lots of flavor. A heartier dose of pesto would have helped with the dryness, and enhancing the shrimp with some garlic and lemon would have maintained the lightness of the dish without weighing things down.

TRATTORIA MARCELLA: STILL THAT GOOD BY LIZ O’CONNOR • PHOTO BY ASHLEY GIESEKING

our girlfriends are sitting in a corner booth at Trattoria Marcella in South City. They’re gabbing about wedding dresses and relationships, hopes for the future, reminiscing about the past. There is a slight pause in the conversation as big white bowls descend before each of them, then they launch into a new topic: pasta.

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They gush and swoon, helping themselves to tastes of one another’s dishes, each forkful more enticing than the last. The favorite was the Straw and Hay, a spinach (the hay) and egg noodle (the straw) dish rich and sumptuous with mascarpone cheese, salty and earthy with morsels of coppa ham and crimini mushrooms, sweet and crisp with sugar snap peas. With every

Instead, stick with salads and starters if you’re looking to eat light. The spinach salad is a good place to start. Smoked salmon “bacon” and thin, crispy shoestring potatoes do great things for this salad, which is tossed in a sweet and tangy vinaigrette. Despite being fried, the fritto misto feels light as a feather. The calamari is tender under its crispy golden coat and the spinach is delightfully brittle. There’s no accompanying dipping sauce, but rather a light shaving of Asiago and a wedge of lemon for squeezing on top. Perfect. Another starter that is fried but doesn’t feel overly burdened by grease is a

little plate of polenta fries with wild mushrooms in a Marsala-spiked cream sauce and Gorgonzola. The “fries” are cut from a pan of firm polenta then dropped into a fryer until they gain a rich caramel brown crust. Inside, the polenta is soft and steamy. Drag one through the pool of the sweet and earthy mushroom cream and devour this twist on classic smothered fries. Save some bread to sop up the remaining sauce after the fries are gone. Polenta showed up in its more common creamy form on a scallop special one evening. The polenta was luxuriously good, cheesy and savory. The scallops tasted nice and fresh, but their light breading was a little soggy or saturated. The wine list is extensive, and reasonably priced glasses and carafes are offered. Service is friendly and informed. Desserts, especially a tiramisu that’s at once delicate and decadent, are fine. The décor is simple: golden yellow walls and white clothed tables. When the dining room is full, a jubilant buzz radiates from the dining rooms and bar, which always seem to be full. I wouldn’t go without a reservation. If you can’t get a reservation on your desired day and time, don’t worry. This place should be open for a long, long time. Brothers Jamie and Steve Komorek opened Trattoria Marcella in 1995, naming it after their mom. The crowds have been stampeding to their door ever since, whether to celebrate one of life’s milestones, to enjoy a cozy dinner for two or to catch up with the girls over a bowl of comfort.

BACK FOR SECONDS WHERE: Trattoria Marcella, 3600 Watson Road, St. Louis, 314.352.7706

WHEN: Tue. to Thu. – 5 to 10 p.m., Sat. and Sun. – 5 to 11 p.m.

DON’T-MISS DISHES: Spinach salad, fritto misto, Straw and Hay, agnolotti del plin, tiramisu

VIBE: Lots of special occasion diners and bigger groups,

bustling and jubilant. More quiet and cozy before and after peak hours.

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REVIEW: REAL DEAL

The Wicked Lady’s burger stuffed with blue cheese.

SOUTH CITY’S WICKED GOOD PUB FOOD BY DAN AND ANNE MARIE LODHOLZ • PHOTOS BY DAVID KOVALUK

e’re not sure if The Wicked Lady is a quarry owner or a mason, but she is a sinfully good cook. The new pub, which opened last fall in the Bevo Mill neighborhood, sports a strange décor of brick, tile, stone and Formica booths, ironically separated by armrests of hardwood flooring. The octagonal bar has a deal every day, from Tuesday’s Punk Beer Rodeo (deals on PBR) to Sunday’s Hangover Afternoon (special prices on burgers and shots), although – oddly – nothing is on tap. But no matter; the food is the mortar that holds this Wicked Lady together. She features your typical pub grub, with a few additional – and unusual – treats. House-made sausages – long, skinny links similar to a breakfast sausage – were savory, sweet and just salty enough to make us crave a fried egg over easy or a beer. The Scotch egg, a hardboiled egg that’s wrapped in sausage and deep-fried, is rich and savory, but could use some mustard for dipping. Bridies, a Scottish April 2011

puff pastry stuffed with ground beef and onions, featured light and flaky pastry and seasoned beef that was mild and satiating. Of the other items listed under the pub grub section of the menu, skip the wings and chicken strips. Both were too heavily breaded, and the Wicked sauce, described as the spiciest, had more of a sweet, smoky barbecue flavor than the kickin’ heat we look for with wings. Do, however, go for the fish and chips. The hand-battered pieces of fresh cod were fried to flaky, golden perfection; a few dashes of malt vinegar were all they needed. The chips, available waffle cut or regular, were still good cold the next day. The rest of the menu is dedicated to casual fare: soups, salads, sandwiches, pizza. The Peasant Salad, which included cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, onions, feta, and a light vinegar and oil dressing, is a standout, as are the strombolis and pizzas, both featuring a masterfully hand-tossed

dough that was crispy and yet had a good strong chew. But the stars here are the burger and The Steaker. The burger – prepared as ordered, which rarely happens – had a nice char on the outside, and the patty had the light texture of house-ground beef. Be sure to upgrade to the cheeseburger – your choice of American, Swiss, Cheddar, pepper Jack or blue cheese is stuffed into the burger, resulting in melty cheese making it into every bite. Bacon can also be added but we’d advise skipping it; the Lady’s bacon was a little too thick yet lacking in fat and had a tough, cardboard-like texture. The menu claims that The Steaker, the pub’s version of a Philly cheese steak, comes with Cheez Whiz, but, sadly, the yellow stuff is no longer offered. Go for blue cheese as a replacement; it made for a great pairing with the tender steak. A word of warning: The Wicked Lady somehow gets around the new smoking ban, and, as it’s one big room, there’s no

avoiding the smoke. And when it’s busy, service can be wicked slow. But if you need a place to entertain 30 or so of your naughtiest friends, check out The Wicked Lady Pub. There’s plenty of room, and charmed food and drink for all.

FILLING UP FOR $20 OR LESS WHERE: The Wicked Lady Pub, 4534 Gravois, St. Louis, 314.448.1978

WHEN: Tue. to Fri. – 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., Sat. and Sun. – noon to 1:30 a.m.

DINE-IN-ABILITY: With a huge bar, giant booths and

a game room, you’ll want to hang out. However, smoking is allowed, and that might make carryout more attractive. FEAST OR FAMINE: The Wicked Lady’s bar food with an attitude should please all palates. TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE IT: House-made sausages, The Steaker, burger with cheese.

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REVIEW: STL SCENE

HOP TO MIDTOWN’S LATEST BEER HALL BY MATT BERKLEY • PHOTO BY ASHLEY GIESEKING

he most recent in the string of new microbreweries popping up around our fair city, Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., mixes innovative flavor with traditional, Old World style. Drowning out corporate stereotypes, the barkeeps here shell out tall frosty ones that remind drinkers why St. Louis is the beer capital of this hemisphere. Moreover, this is a fun place to be. Housed in a renovated 1920s garage on the quiet western strip of Washington Avenue, UCBC is the latest addition to the rapidly growing nightlife renaissance of the upand-coming Midtown Alley area. Smartly situated blocks away from the thumping house music, watered-down cocktails and incessant traffic of downtown Wash. Ave., the microbrewery is well-suited for a laidback night out or post-dinner drinks with friends. The space: The main hall, or tasting room, located on the east side of the vintage structure, sits adjacent to an enormous brewing room stocked with custom-made equipment visible through massive glass doorways. Patrons grab what chairs they can around a handful of dark wooden tables and the bar, which fill up a minimalist space replete with exposed brick walls and a stone floor. Still under construction is an outdoor German biergarten with traditional narrow wooden tables shipped in from Europe that will seat about 100 when it’s up and running. The scene: Live acoustic performers and a steady hum of lively chatter fill the tasting room, which is full by 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. Just a couple months old, UCBC is already packing in tables full of thirsty masses of trendy, attractive, upwardly mobile, post-college, craft brew connoisseurs from throughout the city. Dress code? Not so much. Think casual, come as you are. Think flip-flops. The booze: Now to the important part. Like any good beer hall, Chestnut focuses on one thing and one thing only: the brew. In this regard, Chestnut is a standout. Co-founders April 2011

Florian Kuplent and David Wolfe honed their craft during tenures at AnheuserBusch, the former as a brewmaster and latter as a marketing director. Their brewery offers a dual approach with two beer lines: Revolution, or artisanal modern American craft beers, and Reverence, which embraces more classical, European styles. The rotating draft menu features about a dozen varieties, which, on my visits, ranged from a sweeter Weissbier to a rich, dark English porter (the Harwood Myth, probably the best offering in the house), each in their own distinctive glasses. To my disappointment, the Zwickel, UCBC’s smooth flagship lager, was unavailable on my visits. Still, the other options didn’t disappoint. A good starting place would be the Hopfen, a Bavarianstyle IPA dry-hopped with a variety of Hallerhau hopfen (hops) that gives it a swift kick. Still can’t make up your mind? Not a problem. Without a doubt, the best aspect of UCBC is the free sample tastes generously poured by the congenial staff behind the bar, who provide prompt service despite the occasional overcrowdedness. Though it’s still getting on its feet, UCBC is already a happening place to pass a fun evening on the lesser-trodden section of Washington Avenue. And with the promise of the addition of a new biergarten to St. Louis’ social menu, expect UCBC’s popularity to only increase as the weather warms.

STL AFTER DARK WHERE: Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., 3229 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314.222.0143

WHEN: Tue. and Wed. – 11 a.m. to midnight, Thu. to Sat. – 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

CHECK IT: Massive, custom-made brewing equipment pumping in fresh suds.

HIPSTER OR HOOSIER: An enjoyable mingling of craft

brew enthusiasts, ex-frat boy types, laid-back groups of friends. SUDS OR ’TINIS: Suds and only suds. Ask the bartender for a sampling.

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A great grilled cheese is something you build memories around. I can still taste the grilled cheese I’d nibble on as a kid in between dips in the pool during steamy St. Louis summers and, come winter, the one I dunked piece by piece into a bowl of thick, creamy tomato soup. The bread, sliced thick, slathered in butter and toasted to a brownish-black perfection. The cheese, a spectrum of bright yellows and deep oranges that oozed from the bread’s crisped corners. The perfect grilled cheese is a heavenly ratio of bread to butter to cheese that can trigger even the most forgotten of childhood days. Better get your bib out – this one’s gonna get greasy. – Stacy Schultz

Schlafly Bottleworks

PHOTOS BY ASHLEY GIESEKING

7260 Southwest Ave., Maplewood, 314.241.2337 Chef Josh King has figured out a way to pack so much flavor into so few ingredients, he should be given some sort of medal. The best part: He works all that lipsmacking magic with just the cheese itself. By adding bold smoked Gouda to mild Provolone and super-sharp Cheddar, he created a bacon-like smokiness without pushing it into the meat section of the menu, and thus crafted an utterly addictive flavor combination. Smashed inside two thick slices of Companion’s bistro Pugliese and given a few minutes on a hot grill, this is a crispy, melty success.

April 2011

Companion

8143 Maryland Ave., Clayton 9781 Clayton Road, Ladue, 314.352.4770 Anyone can add another slice of bread to a sandwich and call it improved. But when Companion piles on three slices of its thick, buttery brioche and toasts each layer until it reaches peak crispness, double-decker becomes something to aspire to. Thick slices of tomato add welcomed sweetness to the sharp Cheddar and sour Swiss comprising each layer, but what truly sets this grilled cheese apart from its peers is the ooze factor: A rainbow of silky orange and white ribbons flows freely from the sandwich’s corners, inviting bite after bite of sweet, salty, cheesy deliciousness.

Winslow’s Home

7213 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314.725.7559 The version at Winslow’s Home takes things down a notch in the best way possible. A mellow mélange of creaminess comes from layer after layer of soft, white cheeses including white Cheddar, Fontina, Gruyère and mozzarella. The mildness of the cheeses leaves room for the bread to take center stage – and boy does it. Brushed with just a touch of butter and dusted with beautiful bits of thyme confetti, it adds an herbal and delicious layer of flavor that truly dances across your tongue.

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Right: Collecting the sap from maple trees is the first stage in the maple syrup production process. During the winter, sap is stored in the roots of the tree. When a freeze-thaw cycle begins, usually in midFebruary, temperatures rise above the freezing mark during the day and cause sap to flow to the tree’s branches. When the temperature drops below freezing at night, the sap returns to the roots. It is during this brief window that the sap can be captured using spouts, or “taps,” that are inserted into holes drilled into the trees. At Funks Grove, approximately 3,000 trees are tapped. The sap drips from spouts into galvanized maple syrup buckets, which can fill in as little as 12 hours. Far right: A 3,500-gallon storage tank holds the sap, which is then pumped through a filter into the sugarhouse for processing. Since sap is highly perishable, the Funks process all the liquid that is collected in a day.

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midwestern maple syrup is made the old-fashioned way photos by greg rannells | text by ligaya figueras Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup, located about 200 miles north of St. Louis in Shirley, Ill., is one of the region’s largest maple syrup makers, producing an average of 1,800 gallons of the sticky stuff each season. Sixth-generation owner Mike Funk and his wife, Debby, have added modern technology to their artisanal operation, yet the care they take with the native timber and the sweet sap that flows from it is the same as Isaac Funk, founder of Funks Grove, took when he first began cooking the sap down in kettles over a fire back in 1824. As part of their respect for tradition, the Funk family spells “sirup” with the letter i, the way the word was spelled when the business began more than 185 years ago.

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Top left: Owner Mike Funk and his nephew Levi Kirby work in the sugarhouse, where an evaporator boils the water out of the sap. Top right: The syrup is filtered multiple times, including in this 30-year-old filter press that uses diatomaceous earth as a filtering agent; when the syrup leaves the filter press, it is nice and clear. Bottom right: The evaporator at work. Bottom center: Sap drips as a clear liquid from a tap into a bucket; 50 gallons of sap are required to make 1 gallon of syrup. There are a total of 7,000 taps at Funks Grove, as some trees hold multiple taps. Tapping does not harm the tree, since only a small portion of the treeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sap is collected and the holes naturally heal. Bottom left and opposite: A thermometer measures the temperature of the sap in the evaporator. Sap is boiled until it reaches 219 degrees, at which point it becomes syrup.

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Opposite page, top left: Owner Mike Funk checks the density of the syrup using a hygrometer. Right: Isaac Funk founded the farm in 1824. The property is situated off of Old Route 66 in Shirley, Ill., just south of Bloomington-Normal. A cabin that served as the syrup farm’s cooking house once stood on the ground that is now occupied by a rest stop along Interstate 55. Bottom left: Maple syrup flows into a half-gallon bottle. Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup sells its maple syrup by the gallon, halfgallon, quart, pint and half-pint on its Web site, funksmaplesirup. com, and at its on-premise store. The syrup is available March through August. This page: Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup makes light, medium and dark maple syrup, although customers must request light or dark varieties when ordering. Light syrup, also called “fancy,” is made from the sap collected early in the season. Because this sap holds a high sugar content, it requires less cooking time and results in a light flavor and golden color. Sap collected at the end of the season has a higher amount of water, requiring a longer cooking time; the longer the syrup is cooked, the more the sugars will caramelize, producing the strong flavor and burnished hue that characterizes dark maple syrup.

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a home cook’s quest to master the fried poached egg by kellie hynes | photos by greg rannells

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Poaching eggs in plastic wrap – a trick author Kellie Hynes picked up at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant – results in uniformly shaped eggs.

April 2011

To watch Kellie Hynes demonstrate how to fry a poached egg, visit the videos section of SauceMagazine.com

I have this charming (to me)/annoying (to everyone else) personality quirk: If someone can do something, then I’m positive I can do it too. Which is why it is vitally important that you never, ever tell me you need your oil changed. Or a tooth removed. Consequently, I usually order restaurant entrées with tricky preparations, just to see if I can duplicate them. So when I saw a menu item titled Fried Poached Egg Over Baby Greens, I was hooked. A fried poached egg? Isn’t that the apex of an Eat Rite slider? Was this white-linen establishment pandering to closet junkfood junkies like me? Were eggs becoming the newest old favorite food trend? No. Yes. And yes. At first glance, the dish was disarmingly humble. A modest bed of greens. A drizzle of vinaigrette. And, perched in the center, a perfectly fried orb. Fueled by curiosity and a Martini, I dove into the egg. A yellow-orange stream of sunshine burst forth. The yolk was hot and gooey, gliding over the greens like a second dressing. Its soft texture and custardy taste softened the bitter lettuce. And the crust – ah, the crust was the hero of the story. Solid. Peppery. And fried, so it was just a little bit naughty. Simple, and simply delicious. I had to make it myself. Furthermore (Martini talking), I would do so for company. Why bother cooking unless you have an audience of admirers? I stocked up on eggs and started to re-create the recipe. The greens were a given, but how should I poach the egg? Normally, I’m Team Swirling Vortex. But my dinner guests would revolt if I served One. Egg. At. A. Time. The answer came in Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant while on a trip to London. He serves a not-fried poached egg over potatoes. (I told you eggs were trendy.) Now, poached eggs will never win a beauty contest. But these arrived perfectly round and dumpling-like. The April 2011

server explained that the eggs are boiled in plastic wrap, which preserves the puffy shape. Brilliant! Added bonus: I could poach several eggs at once. Next I had to replicate that perfect golden color. Thinking that the choice of breadcrumbs would make a difference, I experimented with panko, white, whole wheat and rye. Panko was certainly the quickest and easiest to work with, but the eggs turned out bland and anemic-looking. Ditto for breadcrumbs made from white sandwich bread. Eggs rolled in rye breadcrumbs looked better, but the strong rye taste overwhelmed the egg. Breadcrumbs made from whole-wheat sandwich bread earned the highest marks for their mild taste and pretty tan color. But no matter how finely I processed them, I couldn’t get the breadcrumbs to uniformly cover the egg. As so often happens, my friend Sheila saved the day. She suggested dredging the egg in flour first, then the breadcrumbs. I added an egg white wash to hold the layers together, and the result was an even, beautifully colored coating. Poaching, check. Frying, check. But how long should I do each? Armed with eggs, canola oil and a stopwatch, I poached and fried in 5-second increments, trying to get the perfect balance of hot yolk to crisp crust. It soon became apparent that the starting temperature of the egg was the critical factor. A cold egg had to be cooked longer, yielding rubbery whites, overcooked yolks and burned crusts. But – pay attention, this is the key to the whole shebang – an egg that is brought to room temperature before poaching and again before frying will give you beautiful results every time. Now that you know the secret, creating this intriguing salad is really pretty easy. You can even poach the eggs the night before your party and save the frying until just before you serve. It’s a fun, delicious dish that will truly impress.

FRIED POACHED EGG OVER GREENS 4 SERVINGS 4 slices of whole-wheat sandwich bread 4 large eggs Cooking spray Flour for dredging Salt White pepper 2 egg whites, whisked together for egg white wash Salad greens Raspberry vinaigrette Canola oil • Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. • Place the bread slices on a cookie sheet, and bake, 10 minutes per side. Allow to cool and pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Cover and store. • Remove the eggs from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. • Drape a rectangle of PVC-free plastic wrap over a ramekin and spray it with cooking spray. Crack an egg into the plastic-lined ramekin, without breaking the yolk. Fold the short ends of the plastic wrap over the egg and each other (as if you are folding a letter), then tie the long ends of the wrap (as if you are starting a bow). Repeat with

the remaining eggs. • Fill a pot ¾ full with water and bring to a boil. Working in batches if necessary, place the egg bundles in the water with a slotted spoon. The bundles shouldn’t touch the bottom of the pot. • Cook for 3½ minutes. Remove the bundles using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. The eggs may appear runny, but they will continue to cook while they rest. • Cool the bundles to room temperature. Leave the eggs in their plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours. • Bring the bundles back to room temperature. Untie the plastic and carefully remove the eggs. • Season the flour to taste with salt and white pepper. Carefully dip a poached egg in the egg white wash, then dredge in the seasoned flour. Dip it in the egg white a second time, then roll it in breadcrumbs. Repeat with remaining poached eggs. • Dress the salad greens with the vinaigrette and portion onto individual plates. • Heat 1 to 1½ inches of canola oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water makes it sizzle. Using a slotted spoon, place the breaded eggs in the hot oil for 60 seconds, turning after 30 so that they brown evenly. • Remove from the oil, blot on paper towels and place one egg on each plate.

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11 visionaries who have altered St. Louisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; culinary scene. Their experience. Their words. Interviewed by Ligaya Figueras, photographed by Carmen Troesser

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April 2011

KAREN DUFFY | Co-owner of Duff’s Restaurant 1972 – no one could believe that we would move into this neighborhood with two kids. I lived right upstairs when we opened. We rented: $125 a month for the apartment, $125 for the restaurant. Thank god we met a cook, Gene Smith. He was a personal chef for the Pulitzers. He knew a lot about cooking. He was particularly fond of French-style cooking. He and his wife helped design the menu. It wasn’t about the food. It was about a gathering space, being part of the neighborhood, welcoming those who lived here and serving good food. But the serving good food thing turned out to be really good food because of Gene. It’s not like we were chefs or restaurateurs. We were just following a dream of being intimate with the community. We didn’t know what we were doing. We just knew that the times, they were a changin’. People thought we were hippies. I never thought we were. We were naïve in the business end of it. It became a huge amount of paperwork. It’s wonderful to have good food and customers, but then there’s all the reality of being a business. I think to this day people are naïve about that aspect of the restaurant world. People started calling. “Are you the person in charge of social media?” I was like, I think I am. I’m really social and I do the door. I organize the private parties. “Yes, that’s me. Can I help you?” I told [partner] Tim [Kirby], “We have to get somebody in charge of social media because I don’t know what it is and people keep calling.” That’s when I realized I’m out of the loop here. We used to have the surprise burger, I miss that. It was one of my favorites. I invented it. … I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise. Seems like yogurt, fruit, nuts and honey has been around for a while. I have a T-shirt because that was our softball team: “Duff’s fruits, nuts and honeys.” We had ’em all. That dish was on for a really long time. The outdoor café – that was a huge change. We got to expand into the parking spots. That’s one of the best advertisements, because people see it’s a restaurant. There’s one little yellow tulip that comes out every year. When it comes up, we know that it’s time [to open the patio]. I went to an all-girl high school and college. There was a lot of empowerment and real encouragement to be a strong woman. I got that from Nerinx Hall and from what was called Rosary College at the time. I’m just me. I could be a man or I could be a woman. I’m Karen Duffy. I can hang with the big boys. April 2011

PATRICK HORINE | Co-founder of Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, Downtown Farmers’ Market Co-owner of Local Harvest Grocery and Local Harvest Cafe My wife and I moved to Tower Grove South in 2003. We lived in San Francisco before that and L.A. and Denver before that. We always lived where there were thriving farmers’ markets. We wanted to do something that would be good for the neighborhood. The first season, (2006), I would be there with knots in my stomach wondering how many people would show up, if my vendors would show up. … Now I can go to the market and actually enjoy it. And knowing that the farmers are doing well there and seeing all the people from the neighborhood and that they love it so much, that’s what I would say is the best accomplishment so far. You have to pick your battles. I wanted to make this neighborhood the best

neighborhood I could make it and then we could think about other parts of St. Louis after that. We, at our grocery store and café and farmers’ markets, are pleasantly surprised at how supportive the community is. People here are just more loyal to their local economy in general. It’s a very refreshing, nice thing to see. The farms coming up now are these small farms interested in taking care of their land, growing healthy food – and they seem to be sprouting up all over. In our five years at the market, we’ve seen a year with hardly any apples, hardly any peaches, bad tomato production. Those are fragile crops. As the weather becomes more

extreme, that will affect crop production, crops that people enjoy the most. I come from several generations of grocery store owners, but I thought I had left that all behind. … I’ve come to really enjoy what I’m doing so much that it’s not like working at all. I’ve learned to be patient. When I first started out … I would have an idea for something and think I could have it implemented in two days or a week. It would take two months. The other thing is how to prioritize my time. I have to make sure I have enough energy for my family – to not just give it all to these endeavors, but keep my priorities straight. I should probably give this one to my business partner: I would be lost without Maddie [Earnest]. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 39

SUCHIN PRAPAISILP | Co-founder of Jay International Market, Owner of The King and I, Global Food Market The way I get here, not easy. I traveled by myself from Bankok to U.S. My brother, not Pat [Editor’s note: Pat is pictured at left.], another one [Chat Chai], he here before me in St. Louis and he ask me, “Do you want to come to U.S.?” When you are young man, you dream to go to U.S. because that’s all you see in the movie – San Francisco, New York or Hawaii. And that’s all you know. We open in 1975. Me and my brother, we don’t have much money. $2,800 dollars we had. Today, $2,800 – you can’t do much with. Somehow, we got the space at 3232 S. Grand. The landlord charged us $65 a month. We don’t have air conditioning. One light bulb. We don’t have money for advertising. People don’t know about us. Sometimes we sit all day long and we get only $5. I tell young generation, “We worked so hard to make it.” At one time, I worked three jobs. We had ice cream truck. We sell in north St. Louis. I know trick to sell ice cream: You come same time, same street. That way, the kid is waiting for you.

SUPATANA “PAT” PRAPAISILAPA | Owner of Thai Cafe, Thai Country Cafe, Thai Gai Yang Cafe, Thai Pizza Cafe, Thai Nivas Cafe Thai is very popular. It’s in the top five cuisines in the world. I always do something different than what other Thai restaurants are doing. People know Thai and they know pizza. Put them together: It come out very good. That became Thai Pizza. Before I bought that building at Thai Café, people say, “Loop, Loop, Loop.” I bought that building. Take a chance. That time, east of Skinker, no one go there. I think some day they would cross Skinker. It take long time. But I stand by myself

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and do it. Joe Edwards moves down there. Oh, thank you, Joe! We close each restaurant a different day. That’s the trick. If I open all five, that’s too many. I think restaurants are fun. I meet people, make them happy. [I worked] just six months at King and I. I learned how the kitchen need to be prepared. How the customer likes the food. After that I opened Thai Café. We did very well. A lot of people were waiting outside. It was packed. That’s why I had to

open another restaurant. At the time, I think the price was $4.95 for one meal. Now it’s $7.95. That’s $3 more in almost 20 years! In my mind, I know exactly what Thai fast food can be. I studied Subway, St. Louis Bread, Mexican restaurants and how they are organized. I say, I can do Thai that way too. Fastfood Thai concept – I think it would do well, but I’ve been working so long, I’ll wait for my son to do it. Everything is not easy. You have to work a lot.

I used to work delivering telephone books. They would give you a nickel a book. One night in December it was very cold. An old man say, “Young man, why are you working today? It’s Christmas Eve. Come inside.” He give me a cup of coffee. I stay inside for five minutes. After that, I remember that house. When spring comes, I cut the grass, wash his car. For free. Because he help me. Later on, we became good friends. One cup of coffee. Five minutes. I pay him back. I always remember because he’s the one who was nice to me. In the big storm when we had ice, a lot of Thai restaurants call. They ask me, “Are you open?” If I say yes, they open. Long time ago in an interview on Channel 9, they ask me, “I heard you are the godfather of Thai community.” No, no. Not godfather. Big brother. It’s like a two-way street. You never only take, you have to give also. I’m a simple guy. When you go that route, people respect you. Today, I still carry rice for the customer. When you are small company, you have to be unique and different. Then you can fight with the big guy. My customers drive 100 miles from Cape Girardeau, Columbia, you name it. They come here because we sell product that is unique and different. The King and I: It’s homemade. We start from scratch. It takes a lot of time to do that. It’s real Thai. Thai Thai. Not Thai adapted for Americans. April 2011

April 2011

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TOM SCHLAFLY AND DAN KOPMAN | Co-founders, The Saint Louis Brewery

Tom Schlafly: It was Dan who had an idea to start making beer. I just had an interest.

the long-term success of the city. That has to be part of our job because we’re so heavily dependent on this market.

Dan Kopman: Tom was of the belief that these breweries were opening in other cities. Someone was going to do it here, so why not us? I’m not sure who convinced who. It started as an idea and the next thing you know, we bought this building. Once we owned the building, we had to build it.

DK: 95 percent of the market in St. Louis is still one beer style. Lighter-colored lagers are a great beer style; we make some of them. There’s no doubt that tastes are changing, but to think it’s “mission accomplished” – that we know what’s best, that 95 percent of consumers are wrong in the choice they are making about beer – would be a pretty overconfident statement.

TS: Dan is the one running the company. I’m smart enough to know what I’m not good at doing. That’s counterintuitive for a lawyer. Lawyers tend to be micro, micro, micromangers. DK: The vision was relatively simple: Create a new brewery in St. Louis, make some really good beer, and throw some really good parties to get people to try these really good beers. And hope that there were enough people looking for something different that we could survive. DK: The basic concept, I always felt fairly certain of: no toasted ravioli, no nachos, no Budweiser, no TV and no music. I always felt that we had to stand out and be different. TS: Our strength as a regional brand is our association with St. Louis. One rule of thumb: Where people are Cardinal fans, they have the potential to be Schlafly fans. That would include areas such as Memphis, Louisville, Evansville. It would not include Chicago. DK: The most important market to us is clearly St. Louis. One of the biggest challenges for us is to play a role in

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TS: The situation that I woke up to a little less than a year ago was that I own 75 percent of the company. I have five nieces, one nephew. None has an interest in running the business. In 30 years, someone else is going to own the brewery. The transition will be either orderly or chaotic. I wanted it to be orderly. DK: We have a direction. It’s built on a passion for doing the right thing by our employees, vendors and consumers. If we look after all our friends, we’ll do well. TS: The reason for offering employees a share in the business is fairness and self-interest on my part. The employees who have been here a long time are the ones who have made the business what it is and who understand our mission, whatever that is. If I want to see that continued, I would trust their vision, rather than some outsider who had never heard of the brewery before. DK: I wouldn’t change what we’ve done. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on the ride. While there were moments of frustration and fear, we had some pretty good parties. At the end of the day, we are left as humans with our memories. April 2011

BILL CARDWELL | Owner of Cardwell’s at the Plaza and BC’s Kitchen I supervised, coast-tocoast, about 125 different restaurants during the early ’80s. Concept development. My frustration was that your ideas weren’t always executed because you had all these employees and chefs and managers that didn’t always agree with you or weren’t on the same page. That was one of the driving forces to want to have my own restaurant. [I opened] Cardwell’s in Clayton in ’87 on my own. It did change Clayton as a restaurant destination. The Clayton restaurant was a very traditional-style restaurant: traditional lunch, traditional dinner. … When I opened Frontenac, we went more upscale casual. I don’t know that you’ve had a change in dining palate. There’s just a lot more available now than in the ’80s. Nantucket Cove was the only seafood restaurant of any size in the Central West End. In those days, Balaban’s was considered the most creative restaurant in town. There are more people who are more aware of what they are eating and where its sources are. And there are people who really don’t care. My definition of value is that people understand the ingredients used to produce a meal and, if they are high-quality ingredients, then the price attached to it. St. Louis restaurant pricing is really reasonable for the ingredients that we use. The same dishes that we do here would be twice as much money in other markets.

April 2011

People go into a restaurant, see it’s really busy and think, “You must be making a ton of money.” We have a good business but we don’t make a lot of money. Everybody gets paid good wages. It’s all about doing it right versus the easy or cheap way. Nothing is more rewarding than if someone considers you a mentor. It makes you proud. It’s not about making a dish well one time. It’s making that same dish well over and over and over again and not losing the passion or the discipline to do it. I get tired of making things. There are a lot of things that you have on your menu that you might go, “I don’t really want to do it anymore because I’m bored with it.” That’s not what business is about. Business is about consistency. People who worked for me would say that I was a real pain in the ass to work for. But that was because my standards are high. I don’t like to make compromises. I’d be lying if I said that there aren’t days when I don’t want to get up and go to work. But that’s part of the discipline. That day when you don’t feel like being here, you have to reach inside and do it a little better and a little harder. Zoe Robinson had Zoe’s on Park Avenue in Lafayette Square when I opened Fedora in 1984. They were doing very innovative food. I didn’t reinvent everything. What else would I do? I only have one outside hobby and that’s skiing. I don’t have an exit strategy.

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GERARD CRAFT | Chef and owner of Niche and Brasserie by Niche I’m still not ready to own a restaurant. It’s a very stressful experience. Any mistake you make personally affects a lot of people. I have over 100 employees. Every choice I make affects everybody. If the economy is bad, it’s not my employer’s problem. It’s me who’s not going to get a paycheck. I’m always doing research. I’m on the computer until 3 in the morning almost every night checking out what other people are doing. If I travel, it’s a food vacation. There’s never been just a laidback vacation. It’s all about learning and progressing. Even when I went to my brother’s wedding in London, I staged at St. John’s. Those who work with me and those who work really hard for me, I want to see become amazing. I want to see them grow and go about it the right way. I watch a lot

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of young chefs just hop around. They are not in it for the right reasons, some of them. It is about learning the process of business, … it’s not just about being a good cook. There are plenty of good cooks out there. Mentor is such a scary word. I don’t know if it’s a mentorship as much as just caring about people. There’s a lot of weight on your shoulders. A lot of people aren’t dining at your restaurant just to enjoy a good meal. They are dining at your restaurant to have, in their eyes, “the best meal” in town. What is “the best meal”? I don’t know. That becomes a weird sort of pressure. Those expectations have become pretty high. It’s easy to make big mistakes. I was very cautious with Brasserie. For almost two

years before that, I was trying to buy Chez Leon. When we did it, I knew it was right. I was still nauseous the entire time, but I knew that it was going to succeed. I started to lose that feeling with Porano. I’d rather eat crow than have a failing restaurant. I don’t know if I’ll ever win a James Beard Award, but getting invited to that party … it’s such a surreal experience. You’re hanging out with so many of your culinary heroes. To me, that’s what it’s all about. Winning or losing? Whatever. These past couple years of the recession have been some of the hardest years of my life. It’s been a really stressful time. It’s been easy to get depressed. You’re not exercising because you are constantly working, eating bad food late at night. That catches up with you. Part of staying fresh is taking care of yourself and keeping

yourself fresh and your brain fresh so you can think. A couple of years ago, my mom got sick with a really bad type of cancer with a horrible success rate. She recovered and had her 60th birthday party here. … A lot of our family and her friends flew in. It was a really scary meal to cook; it was an important meal for me. … It was just a three-course dinner, it wasn’t anything over the top. But I think it was perfect. My wife and kids help keep me grounded. I do everything as a result of them. They are my biggest inspiration. I don’t want to look back and say, “God, what did I do for the past 20 years?” I want to make a difference. I want to be a part of something. I want to enjoy it and I want my family to enjoy it. April 2011

JOE EDWARDS | Owner of Blueberry Hill, Moonrise Hotel, The Pageant, Pin-Up Bowl and Flamingo Bowl When I opened Blueberry Hill, within a week I realized that if I didn’t start to help work on the area, Blueberry Hill wouldn’t succeed. By the 1980s, things were starting to pick up. They were “Loop-ish” businesses: Owneroperated, they had their own personality. By the 1990s, the county part of The Loop was pretty well set. That’s why it was a prime time to start directing things into the City of St. Louis and cross that artificial city-county border. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life. I thought I’d like to open a place where I felt comfortable, program the jukebox and unbox a lot of pop culture collections, and hope that they enjoyed them as much as I do. I changed every record every two weeks so that people had a selection. There were a maximum of 200 selections on a jukebox; at most places, people got bored with them. At Blueberry Hill, you never did because I have 30,000 45 rpm records, and I would rotate those through. It really put us on the map. Music has always been a big part of it. The music-food combination is the big factor. Strong drinks help also. The Blueberry Hill hamburger: Buy the best meat, have a wonderful bun made – which, for all these years until now was made by Pratzel’s Bakery – and cooks who are really good at cooking it the way people ask for it, and let the customer choose what goes on it. It’s a simple formula. There are cooks that have been here 25 years, several April 2011

20 years, quite a few over 15 years. Consistency equals longevity in the restaurant business. The whole basic foundation of Blueberry Hill or anything that followed it was my great desire to treat people with respect and consideration. My goal was just to create an enjoyable work environment, a fun place to work, with fun people who are hardworking and dedicated, but they can be very individualistic. At one time people said, “Do you have to have a tattoo to work at Blueberry Hill?” You don’t. The resurgence of The Loop was because of owneroperated businesses. There are some projects that I do that I know I’m going to lose money on in the beginning, but it’s the right thing in the long term. To finish a project, you have to believe in it wholeheartedly. You always have to be a little naïve and unrealistic going into it or nothing would ever get done. If you know ahead of time how many hoops there are to go through, it would be hard to psych up. I find boundless energy when I really believe in something. My hope is that we are adding to the unique qualities of The Loop so not only is it one of the 10 Great Streets of America, but to see the central corridor of St. Louis stabilized – from Ladue and Clayton to The Loop and Central West End, Grand Center, the Locust area, downtown. When that happens, St. Louis is going to be back.

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PAT SHANNON-VANMATRE | Co-owner of Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood, Lumen and El Borracho

J.W. “TRIP” STRAUB III | President and CEO, Straub’s Markets I had grown up through high school and college working for Straub’s. Each summer I would switch to a different department. One summer I’d do produce … the next summer, deli. One summer I drove our delivery trucks. When we had our bakeries, I’d work overnight at the bakeries. Bagging was my very first job. We moved in in 1947 … at Kingshighway and Maryland – there are not a lot of corners where you can be on the main thoroughfare but also next to the neighborhoods that we serve. Throughout the years, people have come to really love that little store. We get more foot traffic at that store than any other. Clayton and Clarkson seemed to be a phenomenal location [for our fifth store]. That’s why we chose the spot. We wanted to have enough space to do everything that we couldn’t do in the small stores. Just expand on a lot of the good things we were doing in small spaces. We thought that would carry over to the larger space. There were about 137 reasons [we closed Ellisville]. Most were mistakes we made, but certainly the timing as the economy started to tank. I’ve learned multiple MBAs both from an expense standpoint and time … the education was phenomenal; I’m not sure I loved the process of the education.

If you’re going to spend a lot of money to get into business, you need to have a lot more money than you think to weather any temporary storms. You need to be well capitalized if you are going to take a risk of that magnitude. Is that OK, the high-price image? It’s very OK. The quality is higher, therefore the price is higher. And we want to pay our employees what they deserve to be paid. We don’t have self-service checkout. We did in Ellisville and no one used it. We still have a house charge. You can apply for a house charge and we’ll send you a bill once a month. And you won’t find that at any of the big stores. We started taking credit cards in the ’70s. I don’t think it was until the ’90s that Schnucks and those guys started doing it. My great-grandfather would be pleased. We are bigger than we were then. I think he would be a little discouraged that I’m not standing at the front door shaking hands all day every day, because that’s what he did. He would be pleased with what our customers said about our staff. Being in business for 110 years, if you are a longtime St. Louisan, you’ve heard of Straub’s. I believe there’s a market for our store in this town for the next 110 years.

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Growing up in the community where everybody knows your dad, when it’s Mike Shannon, it’s so fun. They’ve all got great Mike Shannon stories. I was in Hawaii on vacation with my sister and got a call from my dad saying, “I’m letting the general manager go, and I need you to come home and run the restaurant for me.” I agreed to do it for a couple years. Here I am 12 years later. I fell in love with the business and with my staff. You have to have somewhat of a nurturing part of your personality to be in the hospitality business. Food and beverage is a nurturing business. As a woman, I feel like I have an advantage. Being a mom and knowing when to give the nice, soft love and when to give the tough love was a great precursor for running restaurants. I have hundreds of people working for me. Any given day, any one of them can come in here with issues that might call for a hug and a “hang in there” or a “take the day off and take care of your family” or

a boot in the butt. Those are the things that, as a woman and a mother, I sort of had the training for. I raised my family here. The thing I love about St. Louis is the connections that you make that are so long-lasting and fulfilling. I don’t have to live in St. Louis, but I enjoy it. I live downtown. All three of my venues are downtown. I’m a St. Louisan who loves St. Louis and I don’t apologize for it. If you don’t understand the business part, it doesn’t matter how great of a job you do at putting great food out and great hospitality. If more money is going out than in, you are not going to be around for too long.

I am a huge pairing person: a cold beer with a burger or taco or a hot dog at the ballpark, a steak with a glass of red wine, ceviche and an ice-cold Martini. These are things you live for, right? I enjoy grass-fed [beef]. I also think sustainable beef is a goal that an American who owns a steakhouse wants to work towards. Toasted raviolis: I always keep them on hand because when visitors come to St. Louis, even if you are a steakhouse, if you don’t have toasted ravioli, they are disappointed.

I hop around. I can be in the mood for a burger and fries or trying somebody else’s steak at some other fine-dining restaurant. I’m big into going to independent restaurants.

Sitting in the booth with my dad and Jack, watching my dad and Jack do their job with such passion and enjoyment – even as a young person, that’s what I wanted no matter what I did in my life: to be able to go to work and do it with such passion the way the two of them did.

That the Martini lunch has gone away was a sin. Who could not use a Martini in the middle of a business day? Up and extra olives.

The advice that my dad gave us has been to do the right thing. No matter how hard it is sometimes, make the choice that’s right. April 2011

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STUFF TO DO FOOD page 50 â&#x20AC;˘ ART page 55

PHOTO BY LAURA MILLER

Come Passover, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sure to be dreaming of sesame-seed bagels and sourdough. And while the yeast will have to wait, we can certainly sweeten the deal. Take a break from gefilte fish and fried matzo at the Passover Dessert Cook-Off, where 10 finalists will make everything from mandel bread to macaroons (and beyond!) as they duke it out to claim the ultimate Passover dessert. Get all the unleavened details on page 50. April 2011

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BY BYRON KERMAN

FOOD

TASTINGS Saint Louis Cellars Spring Fling April 2 – noon to 5 p.m., Saint Louis Cellars · 314.880.9000 saintlouiscellars.com “If you drink a 1-ounce pour of everything that’s opened, you’ll drink two full bottles of wine by yourself,” said Diane Blaskiewicz, director of marketing for Saint Louis Cellars. “We don’t recommend it, but we have done the math.” Blaskiewicz is referring to the 90 or more vintages of wine that will be uncorked at the second annual Spring Fling at the Maplewood wine shop. Guests may need to discipline themselves at the popular free sampling event, which also features crackers, chips, meats, cheeses, candies and chocolates to soak up the surfeit of sulfites.

Passover Dessert Cook-Off

April 3 – 10 a.m. to noon, Jewish Community Center 314.743.3660 · stljewishlight.com It’s probably gonna take more than that old family recipe for mandel bread to win the big Passover Dessert Cook-Off sponsored by the St. Louis Jewish Light. Ellen Futterman, editor of the Light, explained that traditional Passover desserts are, by this point, been-there done-that recipes that probably won’t wow the judges. Macaroons, honey cake and mandel bread (Jewish biscotti) have been featured at the Jewish-American Passover Seder meals for so many so generations that a little more creativity may be required to take home the golden afikomen, so to speak. Futterman said that at this month’s showdown for the 10 finalists, she expects she might be tasting, “flourless chocolate tarts and cakes, and dishes involving lot of nuts and fruits.” The desserts, which, per the standard Passover strictures, may not contain most flours, yeast, or baking soda or powder, are available for tasting by all comers at the showdown at the JCC.

FESTIVALS

Taste of Webster-Kirkwood

April 17 – 5:30 to 8 p.m., Kirkwood Community Center 314.395.0988 · shepherdscenter-wk.org You could drive around Kirkwood and Webster, stopping for tequila-lime carnitas

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at Hacienda, a slice of the deep-dish Western Addition spinach-ricotta-feta pizza from Pi, and maybe finishing with a piece of Strawberry Delight from McArthur’s Bakery. Or you could come to the Taste of Webster-Kirkwood and try samples of these sorts of dishes from these restaurants, plus many more. Proceeds benefit the Shepherd’s Center of Webster-Kirkwood, an interfaith volunteer organization that provides programs and services for older adults.

St. Louis Herb Society Herb Days April 28 to 30, Missouri Botanical Garden · 314.577.5100 stlouisherbsociety.com Put the other herb gardens to shame with your own, when you plant and show off your knowledge of 13 basils, eight mints, 13 lavenders, five rosemarys, 13 thymes and 10 sages, thanks to Herb Days. The ninth annual St. Louis Herb Society festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden offers more than 100 varieties of fresh, potted herbs for sale in the Orthwein Floral Display Hall. The society will sell more than 13,000 total herb plants from the common to the obscure, all priced from just $2.75 to $4.50. You can also check out its award-winning cookbook and its homemade curry powders, and listen to a fun talk at 11 a.m. on April 28 about herb gardening in the garden’s Shoenberg Theater.

KIDS Peep-O-Rama

Through May 1, St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park 314.615.8344 · stlouisco.com St. Louis Carousel Facilities Coordinator Trila Fugman said that entries in the annual Peep-O-Rama contest must be child-appropriate. So don’t think you can re-create a scene from Scarface or lash a tiny marshmallow Joan of Arc to a stake and set it alight and enter the competition. (But call me if you do – we need to talk.) The super-fun contest calls for kids to create a diorama with Peeps, those little Day-Glo marshmallow chicks and bunnies, take a photo of it, and turn in the photo at the St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park. Snapshots will be displayed there through the end

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR BRIAN PELLETIER Brian Pelletier said he’s wearing a rut into the street driving back and forth from his original Kakao Chocolate in South City to the new, second outpost in Maplewood. With the annual uptick in business from Easter, the rut only gets deeper, and the chocolate bunnies can’t multiply fast enough. Do you make chocolate bunnies for Easter? We make the world’s cutest chocolate bunnies. They are absolutely adorable. One ear is flopped down a little bit. We made them last year and we couldn’t make enough of them. This year we’re making pink ones, made from white chocolate mixed with raspberry flavor – they’re unbelievably cute. What part of the chocolate rabbit do you eat first? I think most people start with the ears because they’re easy to break off. I think the nose is the best place to start so they don’t … wiggle away. What’s your favorite flavor of jellybean? Black, the licorice-flavored ones. Some

people pick those out and refuse them, so I’ll take them from them. What does it say about you if you prefer milk or dark chocolate? A lot of people prefer dark because they know it’s healthier, but milk is still pretty good for you, as long as you don’t overdo it. Some people don’t like milk because they’ve never had really good milk chocolate. The stuff you can buy at the gas station is not a good way to evaluate it. How much chocolate do you eat daily? I eat chocolate every day, but when you’ve got chocolates as flavorful as these, you don’t need a lot. But I do have to taste everything we make – somebody’s got to do it. – Byron Kerman

April 2011

PHOTO BY MATT MARCINKOWSKI

STUFF TO DO:

April 2011

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April 2011

S T U FF TO D O: FO O D

BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE

first graders, second and third graders, and fourth through eighth graders. In the section for the oldest kids, there are four golden eggs worth $25 each. Sweet! There will also be a coloring contest, bicycle-helmet fittings by St. Louis Children’s Hospital experts and photo ops with a teen inside a bunny suit. Kids from anywhere in the metro area are welcome.

FUNDRAISERS Grape Arts XIX

April 3 – 2 to 6 p.m., Windows Off Washington 314.241.4810 · artstlouis.org They must be doing something right at Grape Arts, the big annual wine-themed benefit for Art St. Louis. This year is the 19th one, fer goodness sake. Maybe it’s the wine, available via two sets of tastings, one casual and the other formal; the latter is led by local restaurateurs, sommeliers, merchants and collectors. Maybe it’s the time frame of the party, in the afternoon, which is unusual for this sort of benefit. You and your partners in crime can walk to a fun downtown restaurant or pub like Mosaic, Bridge or Tin Can afterwards for more celebrating, if you like. Then again, it could be the hors d’oeuvres, live music, silent and live auctions, or desserts. The fundraiser helps Art St. Louis, which mounts fine group exhibitions by local artists, pay the rent and keep its white gallery walls covered in meaningful artwork.

A Tasteful Affair 23: Dine Another Day LEWY NINE’S CAFÉ, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 888.578.7289 The cheerful black-and-white floor and printemps colors at Lewy Nine’s Café make us feel like it’s spring year-round. Post up at the oh-so-smart curved counter, which is ideal for groups of four or more. No more worriying about missing out on conversations down the bar – these seats keep you from missing the punch lines and save your neck from craning all night.

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of the month. Kids’ work will be judged according to four age groups.

St. Louis Hills Neighborhood Association Easter Egg Hunt

April 23 – 11 a.m., Francis Park (near the playground) 314.352.1285 · stlhills.com “Release the children!” That will be the cry of the event organizers when they finally drop the rope and let the kids run April 2011

riot through Francis Park at the annual Easter egg hunt in quaint St. Louis Hills. Inside the 2,500 eggs scattered throughout the park are jellybeans, coupons for mini concretes at Ted Drewes and other coupons redeemable for mystery prizes at the prize table. To keep the party from devolving into complete chaos, the park is divided into five areas – there are egg-hunt zones for toddlers, 3- to 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds through

April 10 – 2 to 5 p.m., Chase Park Plaza · 314.652.3663 foodoutreach.org The hot ticket on April 10 is for A Tasteful Affair, the 23rd annual fundraiser for Food Outreach that features tastings from more than 40 restaurants and caterers. The party has a spies and espionage theme, and guests are encouraged to dress in the James Bond style. (I hope someone comes as Oddjob from Goldfinger.) Food Outreach provides vital nutritional support to low-income men, women and children battling cancer or HIV/AIDS in the area. In 2010, the need for Food Outreach services reached its highest level in the organization’s 23-year history; 473,000 nutritious meals were provided for individuals in 137 Missouri and Illinois zip codes.