December 2014

w i n tae r with

t wist

root celery soup with sorrel sorbet at niche, plus more dishes with citrusy zing, p. 46

9

t r e n d wat c h

r e v i e w

wine bars

uni, pine, fish doughnuts

peacemaker

p. 40

p. 16

p. 21

t o p

December 2014

FREE, december 2014

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december 2 014 • VO LUM E 14, Issue 11 What are you gifting yourself this year?

PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ART DIRECTOR MANAGING EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL SPECIAL SECTIONs EDITOR PROOFREADER Fact checker PRODUCTION DESIGNER EDIBLE WEEKEND EDITOR CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

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The publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy of all information or be responsible for omissions or errors.

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editorial policies The Sauce Magazine mission is to provide St. Louis-area residents and visitors with unbiased, complete information on the area’s restaurant, bar and entertainment industry. Our editorial content is not influenced by who advertises with Sauce Magazine or saucemagazine.com.

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St. Louis, MO 63103 December 2014

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contents december 2014

editors' picks 11

EAT THIS Fettuccine Alfredo at Il Bel Lago

13

HIT LIST 4 places to try this month

16

trendwatch A look at what’s on the plate, in the glass and atop our wish list right now

reviews

30

BEER Belgian bubbly

21

NEW AND NOTABLE Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.

by michael renner

32

VEGETIZE IT Ramen

24

POWER LUNCH Lulu's Local Eatery

by byron kerman

by kellie hynes 35

MAKE THIS Fruit and nut clusters

27

NIGHTLIFE

by dee ryan

The Wheelhouse

by matt berkley

dine & drink Photo by jonathan gayman

Peacemaker Po' Boy at Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. p. 21

by eric hildebrandt

last course 56

STUFF TO DO

29

by byron kerman

A SEAT AT THE BAR

58

Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake

by glenn bardgett, cory king, and ted and jamie kilgore December 2014

WHAT I DO Carl and Nancy McConnell of Stone Soup Cottage

by ligaya figueras

Features 36

Blessed are the Cheesemakers Paying homage to house-made fromage

cover details root celery soup with sorrel sorbet at niche photo by greg rannells p. 46

by kellie hynes 40

Where to Explore Next Wine bars by angela ortmann 46

Winter with a Twist by ligaya figueras

saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 7

letter from the editor

The Searzall is this crazy-cool torch tricked out for the kitchen. The idea is that it can quickly sear something – scallops, foie gras, cheese on a burger – so that the food gets great char and crispness on the outside while staying tender and succulent on the inside. And there’s no yucky torch taste. The gadget was created by Dave Arnold, owner and inventor at Momofuku’s Booker and Dax food lab, and was funded late last year through a Kickstarter campaign.

One of the backers was St. Louis chef Gerard Craft, now the proud owner of a $75 Searzall.

Since the Searzall is already out of stock, I elbowed my way into Craft’s kitchen at Niche to try my hand at it. Craft let me zap perfectly good trout, beef and squash so I could get the hang of working with infrared, radiant heat (just like he and

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rest of the culinary wonks at Niche will do long before you see something Searzall-ed on the menu).

The Searzall fascinates me because it exemplifies how, just when you think there’s only one way to accomplish a technique (e.g., searing by using high heat over the stove), someone invents another way to do it. I’m mainly a conventional cook, but just like induction stovetops (got one) and immersion circulators (still on the wish list), I’m interested in testing the culinary potential of new appliances. All around us, our food community is learning and acquiring new skills. A great example: area chefs are refining their artisanal cheesemaking talent and even starting in-house cheese programs (p. 36).

But you and I should hardly stand back and watch the pros.

Why be a spectator? If you always go to the same place for a glass of wine, it’s time to take a tour of this town’s best wine bars (p. 40). I also challenge you to consider what’s on your plate this winter. Instead of settling for heavy food all season long, lighten up with citrus (p. 46).

Winter can put you into a routinized slump. This issue is full of ways to keep things bright and lively, even when skies

are gray. I’m going to start by toasting the holidays with a bottle of bubbly – beer, that is (p. 30) – just as soon as I put down this Searzall and wash off these badass tattoos.

Cheers,

Ligaya Figueras Executive Editor

On this month’s Sound Bites, Sauce restaurant critics Michael Renner and Matt Berkley join executive editor Ligaya Figueras to sound off on the top dishes and drinks of 2014. Tune in to St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 KWMU’s Cityscape Friday, Dec. 26 at noon and 10 p.m.

December 2014

photo by jonathan gayman

W

hat are you gifting yourself this year?

That’s this month’s masthead question (p. 4), or what we refer to in-house as the “masthead game.” I don’t usually play the game, since I’m the one who decides the question and the participants. However, were I to play this month, my answer would be a Searzall.

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editors' picks

eat this During winter’s onslaught, there’s nothing we crave more than a bowl of rich FETTUCCINE ALFREDO from IL BEL LAGO. photo by carmen troesser

Twirl the toothsome noodles around your fork, coating them in a decadent sauce of cream, butter and Parmesan. It’s an old-school Italian-American classic that will warm you even in the face of another polar vortex.

11631 Olive Blvd., Creve Coeur, 314.994.1080, bellagostl.com

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December 2014

hit list

4 new places to try this month

photos by michelle volansky

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Chef-owner Bryan Carr’s Clayton restaurant is one part Avenue Pomme, one part Pomme Café and one part something new and different. While regulars of the now-shuttered Pomme will still find their favorites on the dinner menu (rainbow trout amandine, eggplant involtini and Apples for Olivia dessert, to name a few), Carr has added new entrees, small plates and even a daily selection of fresh oysters.

Don’t miss a starter of wild mushrooms with burrata on December 2014

toasted baguette, or a fresh kale salad sporting farro, snap peas, roasted apples and walnuts. With weekday breakfast beginning at 7 a.m. and a late-night bar menu of sandwiches and light bites (that you can enjoy with a classic cocktail, glass of wine or a bottled brew), Avenue has something to nosh almost any time hunger strikes.

12 N. Meramec Ave., Clayton, 314.727.4141, avestl.com

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1 The dining room at Avenue, Bryan Carr's new Clayton restaurant 2 Wild mushrooms with burrata over toasted baguette at Avenue

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hit list /p. 2 of 2 Promising “Everything Pie,” pastry ace Carolyn Downs and the team at Sugarfire Pie needed some elbow room in which to bake – so they set up shop two doors down from sister restaurant Sugarfire Smoke House in Olivette.

The hip interior (murals of aproned homemakers holding up pie, Twin Peaks memorabilia and Cyndi Lauper spinning on vinyl) seats 40 with room to stand at the glass wall and observe the pie production in the kitchen. Try the seasonal versions of baked creations like bread pudding, hand pies or whoopie pies, then move on to the candy baresque pie Hello Dolly or one of Downs’ decadent pie cakes (yes, pie baked inside a cake). For dessert (ha!), wash it down with an all-local float made with Excel soda and Ronnie’s ice cream, or hit up the self-serve frozen custard bar and its myriad toppings, including pie crumbles.

Sugarfire Pie

4

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photos by michelle volansky

9200 Olive St., Suite 108, Olivette, 314.736.6300, sugarfirepie.com

The Side Project Cellar is the The Side newest watering Project Cellar hole for those seeking wellcrafted brews. Among the 24 taps, expect Belgian ales, rare brews and, of course, creations from Side Project Brewing, the gypsy beer operation by founder Cory King (also head brewer at Perennial Artisan Ales). The Side Project Cellar is serious about serving beer at its best. Consider: a three-temperature draft system that King built himself, 10 types of glassware and even traditional wicker lambic baskets to keep the bottle on its side so the yeast doesn’t cloud your glass. Beer nerds can camp out at one of two bars in this wood-heavy, 50-seat spot, along with whiskey drinkers who can swirl and sniff dozens of whiskies served neat, on the rocks or with water. No mixers – this is a tasting bar, after all.

3 The Side Project Cellar 4 A selection of beers at The Side Project Cellar 5 Artisanal products from Larder & Cupboard

Does anyone need artisanal barrel-aged fish sauce? Maybe not, but you’ll come up with plenty of reasons to stock up after a visit to Maplewood’s newest specialty food shop. Once an interior design showroom, the space is now filled with delicious small-batch goodies. While St. Louisarea labels such as Marcoot Jersey Creamery (cheese), SeedGeeks (honey, heirloom seeds and more) and Salume Beddu (cured meat) are represented at Larder & Cupboard, explore edibles new to The Lou like the unbelievably satiny Annabella Buffalo Creamery dulce de leche and sweet-tart Wineforest elderberry shrub. The shop even carries foodstuffs by producers who have earned national accolades for their sustainable production methods, which means you can fill your shopping basket to the brim guilt-free.

larder & cupboard

5

7310 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314.300.8995, larderandcupboard.com

7373 Marietta Ave., Maplewood, 314.224.5211, sideprojectbrewing.com

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A look at what’s on the plate, in the glass and atop our wish list right now By ligaya Figueras

Top muffins What could go better with eggs than a homemade English muffin? You don’t have to head to David Chang’s Momofuku Ko to get a killer house-made version.

Restaurants like Death in the Afternoon and Winslow’s Home ditched the bag of Thomas brand rounds and baked their own.

Grab a fried egg sandwich at Winslow’s to experience the difference. And any time you eye the sporadically available English muffin at microbakery Comet Coffee, snatch it. Prepare to become an English muffin addict when cafebakery Union Loafers opens (“Soon!” promised owner-baker Ted Wilson.). Look for the breakfast staple at the Botanical Heights shop along with a bialy, a Polish roll that’s a cross between an English muffin and a bagel.

Tapping into local maple syrup

Funk’s Grove was once the only local choice for sweet tree sap, but now the maple syrup market is booming, and chefs are stocking up. Just a year after its first bottling, DeSoto homestead Such & Such Farm saw its liquid amber stocked in pantries at Juniper, Dressel’s and The Libertine. New among maple syrup suppliers is Michael Gehman, the man formerly known as Veggie Boy, now the owner of Double Star Farms. Gehman peddles Raber’s Sugar Bush, a grade B maple syrup from Flat Rock, Illinois, to numerous area restaurants.

Lobster beignets at Three Flags Tavern

A side of flan Jiggly flan always equals caramel custard, right? Wrong. Stop looking for the silky egg custard on the dessert menu and check out the entrees instead. Find carrot flan served on the side of duck confit at newly opened Avenue in Clayton, spoon up the horseradish flan served with rainbow trout at Three Flags Tavern or try Modesto’s goat cheese and salmon flan.

Don’t be a chicken – eat the skin.

Fishy doughnuts French fritters stuffed with fish and seafood have been washing up on menus all over town. Even if you missed Niche’s smoked trout beignets with sorghum butter and chives, you can still bite into beer-battered brandade beignets of salted cod, potatoes and garlic at Urban Chestnut’s Brewery & Bierhall in The Grove, lobster beignets at Three Flags Tavern and spicy crab beignets at Vin de Set. The classic French market doughnut has never tasted so much like the sea.

We all know the best part of fried chicken is the crispy, greasy skin. Recently, area chefs indulged us by ditching the meat altogether and taking strips of fatty chicken skin straight to the fryer. During the summer and into fall, Juniper featured fried chicken skins as a starter, and during a one-night-only event at the CWE restaurant, guest chefs Jeff Friesen of Farmhaus and Andrew Jennrich of The Butchery unveiled their ingenious idea for chicken skin: Wrap it around okra. At Franco, it wasn’t decadent enough for chef Jon Dreja to roll chicken around black truffles and pistachios; he served the roulade with a wedge of crispy chicken skin.

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Forest on the plate Cooking with conifer is an art form at René Redzepi’s restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen, and pine has popped up on plates here at home, too, at places like Sidney Street Cafe, where spruce oil brightened pistachio-encrusted scallops, or Blood & Sand, where they’re grinding toasted juniper berries to season chicharrónes. Also spied at B&S: an Asian pear salad with a buttermilkjuniper sauce and juniper-hemp seed crumble.

Everything’s better with uni

Whether it’s Peter Gilmore at Quay in the land down under or April Bloomfield at The John Dory in NYC, top chefs around the world are diving into uni. When the sushi chefs at Baiku get their hands on the sweet, briny roe sacs from a prickly sea urchin, they get egg crazy with an uni shooter special: The creamy uni, a quail egg, masago and tobiko (capelin roe and flying fish roe, respectively) all swim in a sake-filled champagne flute. Or, try the spreadable version when Baiku runs its special of salmon with uni butter. The Libertine’s Josh Galliano proved uni has a place outside of Asian and seafood restaurants when he pureéd the raw orange lobes with sungold tomatoes for an uni sorbet to accompany tomato toast. Uni is nothing new to Vince Bommarito Jr. When the venerable Tony’s chef gets the itch to cook with the delicacy, it usually ends up on a billowy bed of house-made fettuccine. And we thought the egg-on-everything trend was nearing an end.

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reviews All Sauce reviews are conducted anonymously.

new and notable

The Maine lobster roll at Peacemaker

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.

by Michael Renner Photos by jonathan gayman

T

he text message the next day read, “We’re still salivating over the lobster rolls and I didn’t think it was possible!” I didn’t think it was possible either, given that my dining guests grew up in the Northeast. “They greatly exceeded my expectations,” came another text, followed by: “And you have no idea how many lobster rolls I’ve eaten over the years!”

Glowing reactions like this aren’t uncommon for Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co., chef-owner Kevin Nashan’s hotly awaited new venture in Benton Park. Then again, Nashan is used to high praise: Aside from his James Beard Award nomination earlier this year for Best Chef: Midwest, his much-lauded Sidney Street Cafe down the block has burned bright

new and notable Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. p. 21 / power lunch Lulu's local eatery p. 24 / nightlife the wheelhouse p. 27 December 2014

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What’s stuffed inside the po’boys doesn’t have to be shellfish, though. There was the brisket, piled slices of crimson, tender beef complemented by horseradish aioli. One unusual po’boy came with roasted cubes of sweet potato and corn nuts, adding a pleasant salty crunch to the soft potato, while a topping of sour cabbage balanced the creaminess and flavor of garlic aioli. The Peacemaker po’boy, from which the restaurant takes its name, was a beauty: plump, crispy fried oysters, bright red tomato, house-made pickles and a smear of piquant remoulade.

reviews new and notable p. 2 of 2

Peacemaker’s interior so resembles a seafood shack that I half expected shanties piped through the stereo and a rain-slickered fisherman behind the 1880s stone oyster trough. It was actually a cook in chef ’s whites, but you can sit at the small bar in front of that trough and watch your oysters being shucked. The selection varies depending on availability, but count on around four to six East Coast varieties.

I’m no oyster savant, so I appreciated the server who described the characteristics of each variety – mineral, sweet, briny – which I promptly forgot while slurping down a few Taunton Bays and Wellfleets. A few times I bit down on stray shell pieces, suggesting a bit more skill and attention is needed in the shucking department. since he bought the place 11 years ago.

Peacemaker’s menu spans the cuisine of New England, the mid-Atlantic and Louisiana, and with stints in New York (Daniel) and NOLA (Commander’s Palace) under his belt, Nashan has the culinary chops to pull it off.

into a soft, split-top brioche bun griddled to buttery crispness and served with house-made chips. Nashan’s Connecticutstyle roll was tossed with drawn butter and served warm, causing a Bostonian at the table to state that it was better than the one she had on Martha’s Vineyard this summer. It was my favorite as well.

So how good were those ecstatically praised lobster rolls? For purposes of research and comparison, I traveled to New York City last month to experience the supposed spiritual qualities of a lobster roll. In short, my Maine-style roll, traditionally served cold on a toasted hot dog bun, paled in comparison to Peacemaker’s version: chunks of tender, sweet meat dressed with mayo and stuffed

AT A GLANCE Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.

All of this proves that, when it comes to rolls and po’boys, fresh seafood and quality bread matter. Nashan flies in shellfish an average of six times a week. The French-style bun is made to his specifications by Companion bakery; the soft outside yields to your fingers, and the grilled inside is sturdy enough not to disintegrate.

Where 1831 Sidney St., St. Louis, 314.772.8858, peacemakerstl.com

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Don’t Miss Dishes Lobster roll (both styles), Peacemaker po’boy

The rest of the décor is pure Americana: upside-down washtub pendant lights, rustic plank tables and metal chairs painted in retro colors, canning jars for glasses, a massive antique sideboard supporting galvanized water coolers. It was designed as a casual spot to drink, dine and slurp, and if the motif felt a touch too arranged, at least everything had utility and, thankfully, didn’t take any cues from Joe’s Crab Shack.

Those wanting to indulge in whole shellfish – lobster, crab, shrimp, mussels and clams – will gravitate toward the boils and steamed dishes. The former includes potatoes, corn on the cob and andouille boiled with the shellfish. We picked our way through a tray of four steamed Maryland blue crabs

Vibe Loud, fun, laid-back seaside vibe, where everyone from grizzled lobstermen to wellheeled urban sophisticates can feel comfortable

encrusted in Old Bay seasoning, a laborintensive process that yielded more fun than actual meat, but worth the effort because the crustaceans were steamed just right.

(Note: Crab is out of season until March. A crawfish boil will take its place for winter.)

Beer makes for fine accompaniment, especially Peacemaker, the Belgian witbier 4 Hands brews for the restaurant.

Side dishes range from the expected (french fries, coleslaw, cob corn) to the whimsical, like lobster Frito pie and a corn dog that likely will obliterate any others you’ve had. Nashan unleashes his prodigious charcuterie-making skills on the carnival classic by making hot dogs from beef and pork and coating them in the same batter used for his hush puppies, frying them to a crispy yet springy texture.

Also not to be missed: creamy, garlicky clam chowder, collard greens smothered in pork fat with pronounced notes of brown sugar and red pepper, fried green pickled tomatoes in a crunchy coat that didn’t slide off after the first bite, and multicolored succotash juiced up with harrisa vinaigrette.

For dessert, the snow cones seemed more cute than desirable, and a blackberry pie suffered an anemic crumb topping and a crust too tough to cut with just a fork.

Some diners may express sticker shock at a few prices. Nashan buys his seafood direct, and that can be costly, even when cutting out the middleman. But while noshing my way through a warm lobster roll that glistened with melted butter, the $19 price tag (current market price) seemed a bargain. In fact, compared to that mediocre $18 roll in New York, it was.

Peacemaker won’t shake things up like Niche did in the same space back when Nashan’s buddy (and fellow Beard nominee) Gerard Craft sparked a revolution in St. Louis dining, which Sidney Street Cafe continues today. But in Peacemaker, Nashan has caught the right balance of simplicity, value and extremely high quality. And that’s worth texting about.

Entree Prices $7 to $33 (or market price)

When Mon. to Thu. – 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. – 4:30 to 10:30 p.m., Sun. – 1:30 to 8:30 p.m.

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reviews 2

power lunch

4

Power Lunch

Lulu's Local Eatery

by Byron Kerman | photos by Elizabeth maxson

Lauren Loomis (aka Lulu) and her husband, Robbie Tucker, have turned a food truck into a thriving brick-and-mortar business and created an all-vegan menu of dishes that stick to your ribs. Would you believe they serve a vegan slinger?

And that it’s fantastic? Even carnivores can leave this place full and happy.

furnished by local bakery Whisk resembled a Clif or Mounds bar. It was tasty, but served cold from the fridge, which muted the flavors.

Viva Las Vegans Lulu’s shtick – vegan translations of popular dishes sourced as sustainably and locally as possible – wouldn’t work if it were serving fistfuls of sprouts chased by wheatgrass smoothies. Instead, a from-scratch ethos and creative cheffing has yielded satisfying soups, veggie burgers and the immensely popular sweet potato falafel. There is not a trace of meat, fish, eggs or dairy on the premises.

Lulu’s Local Eatery 3201 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314.300.8215, luluslocaleatery.com

Lulu’s does fast-casual counter service [4].

You order up front, runners deliver the food to your table, then disappear. It works well and probably helps diminish the lunchtime rush, which never seemed an ordeal. Employees were uniformly deferent and chipper.

You've Got Kale Naturally, Lulu’s offers a kale salad. The faddish green is tossed with cranberries, shredded carrots, walnut “Parmesan” (the nuts shredded into a fluff) and a maplemustard vinaigrette. The dominant, tangy dressing alleviated the usual bitterness of kale. Simply put, this salad is good and good for you. An off-menu special, Thai carrot soup, was milkshake-thick, sweet from coconut milk and spicy from Sriracha. The soup’s garnish of chopped peanuts and cilantro completed the tasty Thai theme, though a little lime juice wouldn’t have hurt.

Eats for People Who Love to Eat Volcano Tots [1] are the vegan version of our town’s slayer of hangovers, the slinger.

A huge mound of crunchy, golden-brown tater tots is topped with chili (made with red and black beans), sweet potatoes, tomatoes and quinoa. The mountain erupts with a ladleful of creamy butternut squash “cheese” sauce. The transformed squash has the molten texture of the real thing and

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The Speed of Lunch

The Takeaway

3 gets high marks for effort, but it doesn’t exactly taste cheesy. The dish that put the Lulu’s truck on the map, sweet potato falafel [2], easily stands toe-to-toe with a chickpea version. The vibrant orange falafel balls offer a crunchy, fried exterior yielding to soft, moist sweet potato. House-made nondairy tzatziki sauce and veggies join the falafel in a soft, grilled pita for a party where every texture – crunchy, creamy, chewy – is in attendance. The sweet potato burger [3] is similar to the falafel. The panko-breaded patty works inside a pretzel bun as well as falafel does on a pita. The Buffalo Blue Burger adds vegan “ranch” dressing (made with lemon, cucumber and eggless Vegenaise) and a creamy hot sauce to the thickly formed patty; if you

can make a better vegan burger, we’d love to see it. The Portobello Philly Cheese was less successful. As a translation it’s a noble attempt, but mushrooms and squash don’t compare to the glory of real steak and cheese. The African peanut stew lacked a distinctive peanut butter flavor, dominated instead by carrot and sweet potato.

Lulu’s vibrantly colored, locally sourced dishes aren’t just healthy; items like the Buffalo Blue Burger and Volcano Tots are delicious wintertime winners that will sate meat lovers, too. Score one for the vegans.

1

Local Drinks & Sweets Though they come in interesting flavors like hibiscus-blackberry, the unsweetened artisanal ice teas concocted by the locals of Conscious Teas were blandly herbal and too astringent. Craft beers brewed by the likes of Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands and Schlafly are available. A Healthy Cookie dessert December 2014

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December 2014

nightlife

reviews

The Wheelhouse

nightlife

by Matt berkley | Photos by JONATHAN GAYMAN

outdoor benches, is filled to capacity with smartly dressed 20- and 30-somethings who have no intention of turning in.

Stephen Savage, co-owner of The Wheelhouse

I

f you’re looking to recline in front of flat-screen TVs and blow the froth off a few beers, game days at The Wheelhouse are hard to beat. And while the sports bar’s original location in Clayton is not without its charm, the real party is downtown. Late at night, The Wheelhouse’s new location on Spruce Street transforms into a bumping party machine fueled by sound and flavor.

It’s massive. It’s loud. It’s engulfed with booze and people. It’s the kind of 3 a.m. joint downtown has needed for years.

Although The Wheelhouse occupies 10,000 square feet in the Cupples 8 building two blocks west of Busch Stadium, signage is minimal – you could easily buzz by the place and miss it. Neon beer signs and kitschy knickknacks or sports memorabilia are absent in favor of natural wood, exposed brick and slick metal. The understated December 2014

The next morning, patrons slowly file in to catch Sunday football and dip into the $5 bloody mary bar or $10 bottomless mimosas. While the bloody marys are spicy and satisfyingly doused with vodka, The Wheelhouse’s signature drinks, which include a smattering of margaritas, mojitos and other supposedly “crafted” cocktails, were underwhelming. The worst offender might have been the Summer Spritzer, a tangy white wine-, vodka- and pineapple-soaked mess that went down The Wheelhouse like cheap perfume.

1000 Spruce St., However, whiskey and St. Louis, 314.833.3653, bourbon lovers are wheelhousestl.com/ in good hands with downtown the bartenders, who deftly mix the singlebarrel and reserve options into excellent Manhattans and OldFashioneds. The bar is stocked with around 30 draft beers, dominated by big name favorites (Shock Top and Guinness), but also a handful of local brews (O’Fallon Wheach and four Urban Chestnut taps).

warehouse is dominated by the enormous rectangular main bar in the center. An amply spaced mezzanine with built-in metal benches sits above the kitchen and overlooks the main floor, and there’s a smaller bar and game space (complete with shuffleboard and skee-ball) tucked in back. Patrons can sit in tall wooden booths with leather cushioning or one of several high-top tables.

At around 11 p.m. on a Saturday, I’m bumped off my barstool – not by some rowdy barfly but by the bartender, who has dragged away the stools to make extra space for the late-night crowd. I order another round and the lights dim. The music accelerates from muted alternative rock to Top 40 and ’80s/’90s remixes. The DJ keeps at it until the early morning, the crowd dancing and overwhelming both the front and back bars. Seemingly every space in The Wheelhouse, from the mezzanine to the

If the booze occasionally falls short, the food at The Wheelhouse scores some touchdowns. The kitchen successfully elevates bar and comfort food staples like mac-n-cheese, seasoned with smoked jalapeno or dressed up five other ways, including Creole (shrimp, Andouille sausage and Frito crumbs) and lobster and goat cheese. The appetizers here are the real winners; best among them is the shrimp and chorizo quesadilla, packed with thick mozzarella and accompanied by a baconflavored avocado aioli. While the sauce was rich and delightful, it was nothing compared to the roasted garlic dipping sauce that comes with the mac-n-cheese fritters, which are lightly breaded and swim in smoky jalapeno cheese. These kind of intelligently indulgent dishes are served in large portions and with more-than-reasonable price tags.

The Wheelhouse is wisely cashing in as a homegrown, non-corporate, non-touristy food and beer destination. Indulge your inner night owl here – but remember not to sleep through game day.

order it: The Wheelhouse

Skip the other cocktails in favor of expertly mixed Old-Fashioneds, Manhattans and other whiskey drinks.

Mac-n-cheese fritters and other starters prove that The Wheelhouse’s kitchen hasn’t skimped on small plates.

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dine

& drink Order 2013 Quivira Sauvignon Blanc at Herbie’s Vintage ’72 and pair it with fare from the restaurant’s weekends-only raw bar. 405 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.769.9595, herbies.com

A Seat at the Bar

ILLUSTRATIONS BY VIDHYA NAGARAJAN; PHOTO BY elizabeth maxson

Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake Many years ago, I heard about a divine oyster tasting at Quivira Vineyards in Sonoma County. I have long wondered what that legendary bivalve and Quivira sauvignon blanc pairing tasted like. The glenn bardgett ethereal experience finally Member of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board and wine came true for me at a director at Annie Gunn’s recent event where perfect Rappahannock River oysters were offered less than 10 feet from a table pouring 2013 Quivira Sauvignon Blanc. The wine was round and ripe with a grassy aroma and lovely acidity to cleanse the palate after slurping down oyster after oyster. If this shellfish is on your holiday menu, pairing it with this $15 bottle will be cause alone for celebration.

December 2014

Celebrate the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition (Dec. 5) with a Cocktail à La Louisiane, a New Orleans classic that tastes like a delicious blend of a Manhattan and a Sazerac. We usually use Rittenhouse rye as the base spirit for this cocktail, but when ted and jamie we splurge, we mix with Thomas kilgore H. Handy Sazerac, a barrelUSBG, B.A.R. Ready, BarSmart strength rye loaded with the and co-owners/bartenders at lingering flavors of orange spice, Planter’s House caramel, nut and leather. To make a Cocktail à La Lousiane, stir together 1½ ounces rye whiskey, ¾ ounce Punt e Mes vermouth, ¾ ounce Benedictine, 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters and 1 dash absinthe in a glass filled with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Scotch ale is the kick-back beer of winter. Also known as Wee Heavy, this strong, full-bodied brew holds a velvety malt profile enhanced by fruity yeast. I love its oaky character with hints cory king of smoke and peat. Savor Certified Cicerone, head the sweet caramel finish brewer at Perennial Artisan of this style of beer while Ales and founder of Side admiring its beautiful color, Project Brewing which ranges from dark ruby to rich mahogany. Two of my favorite Scotch ales are Traquair House Ale and Founders Dirty Bastard. Enjoy them as if imbibing a nice whiskey: Serve the beer at 55 degrees in a tulip glass, then head to the living room, kick your feet up near the fireplace, and sip slowly and thoughtfully. The smoking jacket is optional. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 29

beer

By Eric Hildebrandt photo by elizabeth jochum

Brouwerij Bosteels Deus, $34. The Wine and Cheese Place, all locations, wineandcheeseplace.com

Bière de Champagne, also known as bière brut, is made with Champagne yeast, which yields a dry, light, effervescent beverage akin to Champagne with the body and hoppiness of beer. The style developed in Belgium, where only a select few bières undergo the méthode champenoise just like Champagne. This long process involves shipping the beer to the Champagne region of France for

bottle conditioning, maturation, riddling and dégorgement.

Since production of bière de Champagne is costly, only a handful of breweries around the world make it. Deus, by Belgian brewery Brouwerij Bosteels, is the most widely available example of the style.

Deus looks like a wheat beer with a light straw color and fizzy head. However, one sip elixir will tell you otherwise. With spicy, peppery notes up front and a fruity, dry finish, this beer is sure to be a hit with both beer enthusiasts and their Champagne-toasting friends.

For a similar, locally produced beer, take a seat at newly

opened tasting room The Side Project Cellar and order a bottle of Side Project Blanc de Blancs. “I didn’t set out as much to make a true bière de Champagne as I did to make a beer that reminds me of Champagne,” said Side Project head brewer (and Sauce beer columnist) Cory King. His bière brut-American wild ale hybrid is brewed with a bière de Champagne malt bill and fermented in chardonnay barrels with chardonel grapes from Charleville Vineyard in Ste. Genevieve. The beer is bottleconditioned with Champagne yeast, and the wild Missouri microflora found on the grapes adds a sour complexity that takes bière brut to the next level.

Side Project Blanc de Blanc, $25. The Side Project Cellar, 7373 Marietta Ave., Maplewood, 314.224.5211, sideprojectbrewing.com. For more about The Side Project Cellar, turn to p. 15.

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Photo by jonathan gayman

Belgian Bubbly

As the holiday season rolls on and New Year’s Eve approaches, it’s easy to fall back on familiar celebration beverages.

Champagne and sparkling wine are the traditional choices, but beer lovers have a bubbly option, too.

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vegetize it

Ramen at Death in the Afternoon

Ramen BY kellie hynes Photos by carmen troesser

C

ertain foods are invariably connected with a place. Hot dogs and ballparks. Popcorn and movie theaters. Cold cereal and Grandma’s house. (Grandma preferred not to cook.) So when the editors at Sauce told me ramen soup is on menus at haute restaurants like Death in the Afternoon and Pastaria, I gently suggested they put down the beer bong. Instant ramen, with its dry noodle packs and mystery spice envelopes, is dollar store manna for broke college kids (and the guilty pleasure of adults who should know better). But if our favorite chefs are serving the real thing, maybe I, too, could make a vegetarian noodle soup more elevated than the stuff I scarfed down in college.

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The original Japanese ramen soup contained noodles made with four ingredients: wheat flour, salt, regular water and alkaline water called kansui.

Locally, Midwest Pasta in Benton Park makes fresh ramen noodles to order in this manner and sells them wholesale.

(You can taste them in the noodle bowls at Baiku, the new Japanese restaurant at Hotel Ignacio.) But given enough notice, the team at Midwest Pasta will set some fresh noodles aside for you on ramen-making day.

I neither had the patience to wait for fresh noodles nor was I planning a trip to Japan, so I begged Bernie Lee, owner of Hiro Asian Kitchen and ramen genius, for advice. Like many of the items on Hiro’s menu, a vegetarian or vegan version of Lee’s ramen soup can be yours if you ask. But if you’re a pescatarian or a vegetarian who’s willing to cheat, I wholeheartedly recommend the Spicy Laska, in which noodles bathe in a burn-your-lips spicy, roasted shrimp broth.

Lee reassured me that any kind of noodle is acceptable in ramen soup, just as “you can use any kind of bread and still make a sandwich.” Indeed, I poked around two Asian supermarkets, and found more varieties of dried noodles

than loaves at Companion. In the end, I selected wheat noodles labeled “ramen” because I’m a rule follower. But glutenfree folks, rest assured that rice noodles have Lee’s stamp of approval, too.

Three-Mushroom Ramen

When I told Lee I wanted to make a mushroom-based ramen broth, he suggested soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in room-temperature water overnight, instead of the usual 15-minutes-in-boiling-water technique, to extract maximum mushroom flavor.

Lee also divulged that baby bok choy is less bitter and holds its texture better than its full-sized relative. But his best advice came when I asked if I could use Sriracha to make my vegetarian version as spicy as his shrimp ramen.

5 dried shiitake mushrooms 8²∕³ cups water, divided 3 large eggs, refrigerated ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce ¼ cup plus 1 tsp. mirin*, divided 12 oz. button mushrooms, sliced 1 medium yellow onion, quartered 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled 2 bay leaves 1 tsp. sea salt, plus extra for seasoning to taste 3.5 oz. enoki mushrooms, rinsed, woody base removed 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks 2 heads baby bok choy, rinsed, trimmed and chopped 3 Tbsp. mild yellow miso* (optional) ½ tsp. togarashi*, plus extra for seasoning to taste 4 oz. dried wheat, egg or rice noodles ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (no stems) 1 green onion, thinly sliced

Lee: I don’t use Sriracha. I use togarashi. It’s Japanese, containing seven spices.

Me: I’ve heard of Chinese five-spice powder. What’s the difference?

Lee: Two more.

The chile pepper-based togarashi is my new favorite heat-maker, adding plenty of kick to an otherwise mild broth.

I also added miso for more umami flavor, though Lee advised against it because miso makes the soup cloudy. If you don’t like miso or you prefer clear broth, leave it out.

This soup requires some planning and a lot of chopping, so it’s not as quick and easy as instant ramen or my Grandma’s specialty, Grape-Nuts. But it is light and nourishing, and you get to use ingredients that may be new to you – which, of course, is the tastiest kind of education.

6 servings

• Day 1: Using cooking shears or a sharp knife, separate the shiitake caps from the stems. Reserve the stems. Rinse the caps with hot water, place them gill-side down in a bowl and cover with 1 cup tepid water. Let the mushrooms soak 8 hours or overnight.

• Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath by filling a small mixing bowl with ice cubes and water. Set aside.

• Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat.

Using a ladle, gently place the cold eggs into the boiling water. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer

7 minutes. The water should be moving, but the eggs should not hit each other. Remove the cooked eggs and plunge them into the ice bath. When the eggs are cool to the touch, peel them.

• Combine the soy sauce, ¼ cup mirin and ²∕³ cup water in a quartsized zip-close bag. Add the eggs.

Seal and refrigerate overnight.

• Day 2: Remove the mushroom caps from the liquid. Slice them thinly and set aside. Pour the soaking liquid through a small strainer lined with a coffee filter or triple layer of cheesecloth and reserve the strained liquid.

• Fill a large pot with the remaining 7 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Rinse the reserved shiitake stems in hot water and add them to the pot. Add the button mushrooms, onion, garlic, ginger, bay leaves and 1 teaspoon salt.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool 15 minutes.

• Pour the stock through a cheeseclothlined strainer, reserving the liquid and discarding the solids. Return the liquid stock to the cooking pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium.

Add the reserved shiitake liquid, sliced shiitake mushroom caps, enoki mushrooms, carrot, bok choy, miso and ½ teaspoon togarashi. Cook 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon mirin.

• Prepare the noodles according to package directions.

• Meanwhile, remove the eggs from the marinade and slice in half vertically.

• Divide the soup and noodles equally among 6 bowls. Garnish each with fresh cilantro, green onions and half an egg. Season to taste with salt and togarashi. * Available at Global Foods Market, 421 N. Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood, 314.835.1112, globalfoodsmarket.com

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MAKE THIS Fruit and Nut Clusters active time: 10 minutes

A last-minute invite to a holiday party shouldn’t stop you make this in your tracks. You can whip together two dozen heavenly, chocolaty nuggets in less time than it takes Santa to get from New York to California. In a medium bowl, mix together ¹∕³ cup toasted pecans, ¹∕³ cup macadamia nuts, ¹∕³ cup dried cranberries and 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest. Place 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips in a glass bowl and microwave on high 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour the melted chocolate over the fruit and nut mixture and stir until coated. Drop by the tablespoonful onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Place ½ cup white chocolate chips in a separate glass bowl and microwave on high 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Use a fork to drizzle the melted white chocolate over the clusters. Refrigerate 30 minutes or freeze 10 minutes, until chocolate is set. – Dee Ryan

photo by greg rannells

Experiment with different ingredient combinations like almonds and dried cherries, macadamia nuts and candied ginger or peanuts and marshmallows.

Find bulk nuts and dried fruit at Golden Grocer.

Golden Grocer 335 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.367.0405, goldengrocer.com

If you enjoy Dee Ryan’s quick and easy recipes in Make This, don’t miss her online column, Just Five.

Go to samg.bz/saucejust5 to find recipes you can whip up in a jiffy and that require just five key ingredients.

December 2014

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Blessed are the

c h eesema k e r s Paying homage to house-made fromage

BY KELLIE HYNES | PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER

F

ood trends are like popular kids in high school. Some are beautiful, but unsubstantial (ahem, foam). Follow them blindly, and you’re left feeling unsatisfied, with a dusty bag of goji berries in the pantry where your Fruit Roll-ups should be.

Other trends are bandwagon-worthy specimens of culinary evolution. Here I’m thinking about cheese (as I often do). Nearby artisanal dairies like Baetje Farms and Marcoot Jersey Creamery have elevated cheese from macaroni’s sidekick to fine cuisine, which is why you can’t throw a fork at a menu these days without it sticking in a cheese plate full of rich fruits from the local milk gods.

I am pro-artisanal cheese, and I hope the trend catches on so completely it makes the balsamic years look quaint. But when I learned a few restaurant menus now feature their own “housemade” cheeses alongside the artisanal superstars, I got a little huffy. Was this a referendum on my beloved Baetje Bloomsdale? A my-small-batch-issmaller-than-your-small-batch ego trip? I dabbed a little Limburger behind my ears and sat down with a few cheesemaking chefs to determine if their hearts, and their milk fat, were in the right place.

But first, Cheesemaking 101: Cheese varieties are described as “fresh” or “aged.” This has

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less to do with how long a particular cheese lurks in the refrigerator drawer and everything to do with how it’s made. Fresh varieties like ricotta, stracciatella and paneer are divined from a fairly simple process. The milk or cream is heated. An acid such as lemon juice or vinegar is added to separate the curds from the whey. The curds are skimmed off and snuggle together in cheesecloth for a few hours. Just like that, you have fresh cheese that can be enjoyed the same day it’s made.

Aged cheeses, on the other hand, undergo a more sophisticated process involving hands-on curd management, regular cheese wheel-flipping and fermentation. Hard cheeses also require much longer than a day to age. For example, Monterey Jack ripens in a month. Slow and steady cheddar may be aged nine to 12 months. Some superaged varieties are nearly old enough to vote.

Since I fully appreciate instant gratification, I understood why quick-cooking, house-made fresh cheeses have appeared in several restaurants around town. What I didn’t expect was how well these mild-mannered curds partnered with so many kinds of dishes. At Mike Shannon’s Steaks & Seafood, executive chef Josh Roland combines Gruyere, fontina and cheddar with white wine to make the house-made American cheese that accompanies the restaurant’s cheeseburger.

During the height of tomato season, Jamey

Tochtrop of Stellina fashions ropes of fresh mozzarella, which make a delicious addition to the caprese salad and, often, one of the menu’s four rotating pasta dishes. At Juniper, chef-owner John Perkins and team use milk and vinegar to make a creamy ricotta-like “farmhouse” cheese for the farmer’s market plate.

In some cases, the in-house cheese mania has been by popular demand. The fresh goat cheese devised by Cielo’s Shimon Diamond and Brasserie’s Alex Feldmeier for a special dinner last summer was such a hit that Diamond has brought it to Cielo’s salumi and cheese platters, the bruschetta of the day and several salads.

He starts with unpasteurized fresh goat’s milk and uses a vegetable rennet to produce a rich, creamy cheese in about an hour. owever, the most common fresh cheese H popping up in area kitchens is ricotta.

Anthony Devoti, chef-owner of Five Bistro,

started making his own when one of his cooks offered to bring fresh goat milk in from Ste. Genevieve. Devoti credited Five Bistro chef Mark Mulitsch with perfecting the restaurant’s ricotta, which appears in a variety of items on Five’s ever-changing menu, including gnocchi with pork trotter ragout and Bolognese with pappardelle noodles. Never one to waste good ingredients, Devoti also cooks with the goat milk whey. A recent seasonal starter featured

December 2014

Roasted Cauliflower Roasted cauliflower with whipped ricotta at Basso

Rocker Fella Pizza Basso's Rocker Fella pizza features house-made ricotta purĂŠed with oysters

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Camembert House-made Camembert appears on cheese plates at Niche

If cheesemaking is an education, Brian Lagerstrom, sous chef at Niche, has been schooling himself since last winter. While the rest of us ate pie and watched infomercials, Lagerstrom learned to make aged farmhouse cheddar by watching videos online and reading cheesemaking manuals. “Homemade cider … bread … cheese. I’ve always got a project,” he explained. agerstrom brought his new skill to L Niche, where the chefs also make their own butter, yogurt, buttermilk and ricotta. He

currently makes 10 to 12 wheels of Camembertstyle cheese for the restaurant’s cheese plates every week. The same way sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it’s from that region of France, soft, creamy, surface-ripe cheese is only called Camembert if it’s made in Normandy. (I tasted Lagerstrom’s version, and it was so velvety and buttery that if it can’t be called Camembert, I submit “Holy Moly This Is Good” as an alternative honorific.)

turnips that were steeped in whey, then pureéd into a warm, hearty soup.

Basso executive chef Patrick Connolly has made his own cow milk ricotta for a decade, frequently tweaking the flavor with ingredients like rosemary and orange zest. “There’s so many applications for ricotta,” Connolly said. “You can smoke it, whip it … I’ve even braised meat in the whey.” One of his favorite dishes is Basso’s Rocker Fella pizza, which includes fresh ricotta puréed with oysters.

If you’ve ever tasted Basso’s roasted cauliflower side dish, you’ve enjoyed Connolly’s whipped ricotta, which coats the inside of the bowl.

The ability to manipulate ricotta’s texture is one of the reasons Truffles and Butchery executive chef Brandon Benack makes his own for a crowd favorite, spinach and ricotta ravioli. The dish, explained Benack, needs a firmer ricotta, one that can withstand the cooking process. David Rosenfeld of Death in the Afternoon and Derek Roe of Dressel’s are similar devotees of the cheese, which they both serve on grilled bread. Like Devoti and Benack, Rosenfeld strains off more whey to make his ricotta firmer, which complements piles of hearty, house-cured coppa and a

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vibrant salsa verde. At Dressel’s, Roe presses the curds to make firm, creamy ricotta for Dressel’s Pub Toast, which is kissed with truffle oil and adorned with earthy smoked oyster mushrooms and crunchy radish sprouts. relative of mozzarella, stracciatella is A another pet project of Rosenfeld’s, though he’s quick to share the credit with the

Lagerstrom uses whole milk from pastry assistant Angela Commean’s family farm in Osceola, Missouri. Each batch is aged in a “cave,” a dedicated refrigerator Lagerstrom retrofitted with a special thermostat. He takes copious measurement and fermentation notes on every batch he makes, so if a cheese behaves unexpectedly, he can pinpoint the exact moment the process went awry. “The notes are so important,” he said, showing me his data on more than 80 batches of cheese. “You have to be meticulous – from a sanitation standpoint, obviously, and also from a taste perspective. I’ve done a lot of research on how to do this properly.

This isn’t some sort of cowboy, Wild West thing.”

rest of the kitchen. The stracciatella appeared in Death in the Afternoon’s late-summer heirloom tomato salad and shared a plate with sungold granita, gremolata breadcrumbs and sea urchin at Death’s sister restaurant, Blood & Sand. “It’s a very versatile cheese,” Rosenfeld said. “I’m thinking of using it in a winter salad with delicate squash, basil and pine nuts.”

In addition to the Camembert-style, Lagerstrom is experimenting with another aged cheddar, as well as a washed-rind cheese, which gets its name from the cheese-fermenting bacteria that Lagerstrom applies almost daily to the outside of the wheels. So far, he’s made six batches, and has considered putting the cheddar on the Niche cheese plate.

Controlling the consistency and quality was the principal reason Rosenfeld and Roe gave for making their own cheeses. But both chefs are passionate about educating the younger cooks in their restaurants’ kitchens, too. “I (make ricotta) to train the kids,” Roe explained.

“Sure, you can just call and order bread or meat or cheese. But when you … make the cheese from start to finish, you learn to really respect the ingredients.”

It was clear I was wrong in thinking that house-made cheeses were simply a competitive restaurant response to the artisanal cheese movement. Whether cheesemaking chefs are inspired by fresh ingredients, a need to oversee every aspect of a dish or a desire to teach others (and themselves), they appreciate food craftsmanship above all. And that is passion that will endure long after the trends have moved on.

December 2014

Pub toast Dressel's Pub Toast with ricotta, truffle oil, mushrooms and radish sprouts

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wine bars by angela ortmann

photo by cARMEN TROESSER

Where to explore next

St. Louis’ wine hotspots and sipping selections are better than ever, but you don’t have to book a table at a cutting-edge restaurant to enjoy a pour of unique or renowned vino. Belly up to these local wine bars to give your glass a swirl and your palate a whirl.

Wine and antipasti at Olio

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photo by elizabeth maxson

The selection at Cork Wine Bar

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33 Wine Shop & Bar

Balaban’s

Brennan’s

Tucked away in Lafayette Square, the inconspicuous 33 boasts one of the most extensive wine lists in the city. With more than 600 bottles priced from the tens to the hundreds, you’ll be hard-pressed not to find a fresh or favorite pick.

Charcuterie and cheese loom largest on the food menu, but owner James Smallwood brings in a local chef once a month for the highly popular Dorm Room Dinner, a five-course menu prepared in 33’s stripped-down kitchen.

Open more than 40 years, Balaban’s is one of those social landmarks everyone has a story about. Half wine bar and restaurant, half bottle shop, aromas of classic French bistro fare beg you to stay for dinner while you peruse the wine racks. The restaurant even allows you to pick any bottle from the shelves to enjoy in-house – particularly ideal for those seeking rare library wines.

Brennan’s may be one of the most inimitable wine bars in St. Louis, from the main floor Bottle Shop & Bar for sipping and purchasing to the entertainment stage in the basement.

Upstairs, you’ll find a speakeasy-like space, perfect for private events, and a members-only cigar lounge that spins vinyl records. The building’s historic feel and relaxed vibe is perfect for beginning an evening – or finishing with a nightcap.

Drink this: 2010 Ruffino Tenuta Santedame Chianti Classico

Drink this: Mouton Noir Horseshoes & Handgrenades

1913 Park Ave., St. Louis, 314.231.9463, 33wine.com

Drink this: 2013 Bonny Doon Vineyard Clos de Gilroy

Olio

1634 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, 314.932.1088, oliostl.com Olio’s metamorphosis from a run-down oil change station to a wine bar mecca made it a trendsetter from the day the doors opened. Some of the city’s most distinctive selections are found on this wine list, curated by certified advanced sommelier Andrey Ivanov. Looking to step out of your comfort zone? Try the monthly wine flight, which arrays three wines by geography or grape for $15.

Drink this: 2012 Copain Tous Ensemble Pinot Noir

1772 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield, 636.449.6700, balabanswine.com

4659 Maryland Ave., St. Louis, 314.361.9444, cometobrennans.net

The Dark Room Wine Bar and Photo Gallery 615 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314.531.3416, thedarkroomstl.com

The Dark Room is a new kid on the block where each experience is different, thanks to the ever-changing wine list and rotating artwork on the wall. On Wednesday nights, a jazz trio is added to the mix and wine flight specials flow aplenty.

A small plates menu will tickle your fancy, too, as you taste your way through a veritable photo album’s worth of wine.

Drink this: 2013 Hamacher Pinot Noir Rose

Cork Wine Bar

Sasha's on Shaw

When many wine bars are going for the dim-lit look, it’s refreshing to walk into a vibrant atmosphere to enjoy a few sips with friends. With an extensive yet approachable roster of wines, Cork beckons you in and keeps you there. Wine flights are creative and agreeably priced. Combine that with live music every Friday and Saturday and cozy, intimate environs – what more could you ask for?

Drink this: 2012 Steele Pacini Vineyard Zinfandel

Remy’s Kitchen and Wine Bar 222 S. Bemiston Ave., Clayton, 314.726.5757, remyskitchen.com

It’s no secret that Remy’s, whose owner Lisa Slay has accrued nearly 40 years in the business, is a major player in the local wine scene. Not content with a mere happy hour, Remy’s hosts Ecstatic Hour Monday to Friday, when foods and wines are priced less than $5. And don’t miss the monthly Tuesday Tasting, a themed three-course food and wine pairing that will set you back just two 20-spots.

Drink this: 2013 Bodegas Naia Verdejo

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sasha's on shaw photo by elizabeth maxson; the dark room photo by michelle volansky

423 S. Florissant Road, Ferguson, 314.521.9463, corkwinebarstl.com

Robust Downtown at the MX 635 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314.287.6300, robustwinebar.com

Sleeker and more modern than its sister restaurants in Webster Groves and Edwardsville, Robust’s Mercantile Exchange location has sex appeal, from the rainlike iridescent light fixtures above the bar to the stunning plates of Continental and American cuisine that pass by. Wines are categorized by their Robust Factor (with such descriptors as Bubbles, Crisp, Mellow and Luscious), making it easy to find a glass that suits your style.

Drink this: Gruet Brut

Sasha’s on Shaw

sasha's on shaw photo by elizabeth maxson; robsut photo by michelle volansky

4069 Shaw Ave., St. Louis, 314.771.7274, sashaswinebar.com Sasha’s on Shaw is a magnet for neighborhood residents, industry colleagues and wine lovers citywide. Along with the eclectic but modern interior, Sasha’s has a dog-friendly patio complete with fire pits. An always-rotating glass list and beer menu emphasizing local suds makes imbibing here with friends, or even solo, a pastime of many.

Drink this: 2012 The Four Graces Pinot Gris

#SauceWineBarTour Show your love for wine on the #SauceWineBarTour!

Compete in our monthlong Instagram contest @SauceMag and you could win a $100 gift certificate to Starrs wine shop. Go to saucemagazine.com/blog Dec. 1 for contest details.

December 2014

Cozy up to the fire at Sasha's on Shaw

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fa r ro s a l a d wi t h bl o o d ora n ge a t b ra s s e r i e , re c i p e on p. 51

by ligaya figueras | photos by greg rannells 46 I SAUCE MAGAZINE I saucemagazine.com

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I

t’s only December, but I’m already sick of hearty, heavy fare. Comfort food? Bah, humbug!

My moans and groans began sometime in October or November. These are rough times for this fruit lover. I am done with apples – done, I say!

And I’m sugared out by all those berry jams I put up this summer. I desperately yearn for the days of delicate apricot, the scarlet plums I plucked in July from a tree at my community garden, the wee, wild strawberries that grow in my yard. I don’t want a (bleep)ing roast right now. It may be comfort food to everyone else, but not to me. Fruit. That’s what brightens me up. And I ward off winter’s chill with juicy, sun-kissed citrus.

During cold weather, grapefruit, along with every member of the orange family – from navel to mandarin to blood orange – makes frequent appearances on restaurant menus, especially in salads. Pastaria’s delicious orange salad is as fruit-forward they come, but there are plenty of places that add fruit segments to a bowl of greens. I found my winter rabbit food at Evangeline’s in its spinach, orange and cinnamon salad, featuring ripe fruit and a standout dressing. “It’s a simple vinaigrette,” said Evangeline’s chef-owner Don Bailey, who ticked off an ingredient list that included mandarin orange juice, orange zest and cinnamon. With just the right amount of acidity, hint of warm spice and tropical fruit boost, the vinaigrette has become a staple for Bailey, who brought the salad to the Central West End from his previous restaurant, Eurorleans Bistro.

The roasted pork and ruby grapefruit salad at Bridge Tap House is another example of a one-two punch of fruit. Supremed grapefruit and oranges are tossed with mixed greens, while apple juice- and brandy-poached apricots, smoked pulled pork, goat cheese and candied almonds lend heft, flavor and texture. The medley, conceded owner Dave Bailey, is “a touch on the sweet side.” Offsetting it is a blood orange vinaigrette that straddles the line between sweet and tart by combining blood orange purée with bracing sherry vinegar, lemon juice and fresh herbs.

Bridge’s grapefruit salad is a meal in itself. Yet bulky grains, too, can accompany citrus fruit with aplomb, such as in Brasserie’s new farro salad with blood orange slices, toasted pistachios, celery and a white balsamicginger vinaigrette. For Adam Altnether, corporate chef and partner of Niche Food Group, not just any fruit can couple with the notes of oat and barley that characterize the nutty Italian grain. He and Brasserie

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executive chef Nick Blue, who developed the salad together, consider the blushing red fruit, with its trace flavor of raspberry, integral to the dish’s composition.

“Without the blood orange, it wouldn’t be what it is,” Altnether said. “It’s something we like to use. Go to Paris ... Italy. That’s a fruit that they use at all times.”

Citrus and fish will forever be a match made in heaven, since the acid fabulously counterbalances the brininess of seafood. Sure, you can bake fish with lemon slices or hoard limes to make ceviche, but for something more nuanced, I looked to Stellina.

Chef-owner Jamey Tochtrop created a delightful seafood entree perfect for sweater weather: panseared scallops with smoked baby fingerling potatoes, leeks and oyster mushrooms. Enveloping the dish was a charred lemon beurre blanc. Normally, this classic butter sauce is made with vinegar or white wine. However, Tochtrop found that mixing the wine with lemon played well off the leeks and the smoked potatoes. “We had a lot of earthy flavors going on,” he said. “It brightened the dish.” As for charring lemon (or any other citrus fruit), that’s a chef ’s move to achieve robust acidity and concentrated floral sweetness. “Straight lemon is a bright flavor in itself.

Charring it gave another dimension to everything else,” he said.

Tochtrop’s trick reminded me of citrus dust, another cheffy move that’s in vogue these days. A light sprinkling of dried, ground tangerine peel tastes like you just popped an entire clementine in your mouth.

Whisk it into salad dressing, rub it on fish and fold it into baked goods. You’ll look like a kitchen genius and add speckles of beautiful color to your dish.

T

he smugness I felt about my growing citrus playbook was quickly replaced with a bout of locavore guilt. This is the season for Northern Hemisphere citrus, but the fruits don’t grow in Missouri. So I began to ask about substitutions.

Does anything from this neck of the woods offer citrus flavors? The chefs at Niche have been asking the same question, and the answer is a resounding yes. “We’re getting away from citrus in our food,” said Niche executive chef Nate Hereford, explaining that the restaurant is adapting its cuisine to use as many locally grown ingredients as possible. Hereford has culled lemon notes from herbs like sorrel and lemon verbena and even from the lactic acid he uses to make yogurt. “It turns into a super acidulated product that almost tastes like lemon juice,” he said.

That’s cool science, but even cooler is how Hereford is transforming sorrel to enhance a celery root soup.

The Niche team freezes the tangy green herb in liquid nitrogen to make a crystalline sorbet that shatters into glass-like shards when hit with a spoon. A few of these fragments get scattered in the soup bowl (with other components like sprouted rye, rye cracker and toasted walnuts), and when the soup is poured tableside, the pieces of sorrel sorbet melt, while their tart, lemony flavor creeps its way into the creamy soup. “When the sorrel hits it, there’s enough acid to lighten it up,” Hereford said.

I

don’t have a tank of liquid nitrogen, but I can get my hands on locally grown sorrel and mimic another area chef who is using it. Veritas chef Mathis Stitt makes a sorrel vinaigrette by giving the plant a whirl in a food processor and combining it with champagne vinegar, lemon, green onion, Dijon mustard, olive oil and minced parsley. For this application, he doesn’t cook the sorrel. “Blanching and shocking can hurt the acidic flavor,” said Stitt. He tosses the dressing atop a salad of arugula, potatoes and oranges, but its sour power could also enliven poached eggs, bean soup or fatty fish, such as salmon.

If sorrel is the secret citrus weapon of Missouri flora, the liquid version is what this town lives for: beer.

Holed up at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, executive chef Matt Bessler is no stranger to cooking with beer. He reaches for a Hefeweisen or a hoppy beer (“because hops have a lot of citrus on their own”) and recommended using it as a marinade for fish or seafood. Just don’t let it swim too long, he warned.

Marinate shellfish such as scallops for no more than an hour, and two hours tops for fish. For oysters, the crew at Bridge suggested adding beer to a mignonette sauce, a typical condiment for the bivalve normally made with minced shallots, cracked pepper and vinegar.

The Humboldt Nectar IPA “is light in color and very citrus-forward with a great hop bite,” said Dave Bailey.

“It is the perfect pairing to the tang and brine that you are going to have from the vinegar and oysters.”

With all these light, bright cooking ideas, I felt less like Ebenezer Scrooge and more like Tiny Tim as I bade a “God bless!” to the chefs, every one. Their ideas will surely see me through the winter. As for the final course, fruit is my usual dessert, but when I want more than broiled grapefruit I’ll splurge on orange and espresso creme brulee. Better yet, I’ll order it at Small Batch with a Roasty, the whiskey and cold-brew coffee cocktail for which it was created. Citrus is a comfort, but whiskey brings out the caroler in me.

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The

Raw Oysters with Champagne Vinegar-beer Mignonette

Farro Salad

Courtesy of Baileys‘ Restaurants AJ Benga and Bridge Tap House’s Erik Peterson

1 lb. farro, rinsed 4 bay leaves 3 blood oranges ½ cup white balsamic vinegar 1 tsp. Dijon mustard 2 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger 1¼ cups olive oil 6 oz. pistachios, shelled and toasted ½ cup diced celery 2 Tbsp. parsley (leaves only) 2 Tbsp. chives, cut to matchstick length Kosher salt to taste 2 Tbsp. celery leaves

6 to 8 servings 1 whole shallot, finely diced 1 tsp. vegetable oil ½ cup champagne vinegar 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 scant tsp. kosher salt ¼ cup Humboldt Nectar IPA* 2 Tbsp. oyster juice 2 dozen oysters • In a saucepan over medium heat, sweat the shallots in the oil until just soft.

• Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, then simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.

• Add the pepper, salt (oysters are salty by nature, so salt sparingly) and beer.

When the liquid returns to a simmer, remove from heat.

• Stir in the oyster juice. When the sauce has cooled completely, transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate until chilled.

• To serve, shuck oysters and spoon ¼ teaspoon mignonette over each. *Available at all The Wine & Cheese Place locations, wineandcheeseplace.com

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Courtesy of Brasserie’s Nick Blue 6 servings

• Put the farro in a medium saucepot and fill with enough water to cover the farro by 1 inch. Add the bay leaves. Simmer over low heat until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the farro, discard the bay leaves and set the farro aside to cool.

• Using a sharp knife, remove the peel and pith from the blood oranges and discard them. Cut the fruit into thin rings. Set aside.

• Prepare a vinaigrette by whisking together the vinegar, mustard and ginger in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.

• To a large bowl, add the farro, blood orange slices, pistachios, celery, parsley and chives.

Generously toss the salad with the vinaigrette. (The blood orange rings should break into bite-sized pieces

while tossing.) Season to taste with salt and garnish with the celery leaves.

Charred Lemon Beurre Blanc Courtesy of Stellina's Scottie Corrigan 2½ cups sauce 4 lemons 2 small shallots, sliced 8 sprigs fresh thyme 2 tsp. sea salt 4 black peppercorns 2 cups white wine 1 cup heavy cream 1 lb. cold butter, cubed • Carefully remove the peel from the lemons, leaving no white pith on the peel. Set peels aside. Slice the lemons in half.

• Char the lemon halves in a castiron skillet over high heat 3 to 5 minutes. Juice the lemons into a pot, discarding solids and seeds.

• To the same pot, add the reserved lemon peels, shallots, thyme, salt, peppercorns and wine. Simmer slowly over low heat until the liquid is syrupy and has reduced to about ½ cup.

• Add the cream and simmer gently over low heat until the sauce has thickened and is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. (A slow reduction will ensure a creamy, white sauce.)

• Remove the pot from the heat and strain the liquid into another pot, discarding the solids.

• Whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time. Make sure the first addition is melted before adding more. If the butter doesn’t melt, slide the pot over medium heat for a moment to increase the temperature. Continue until all the butter is melted. Serve immediately over seafood or fish.

Pan-seared Rainbow Trout with Schlafly Beer Brine Courtesy of Schlafly Bottleworks’ Matt Bessler 4 servings 4 rainbow trout*, butterflied and bones removed Juice of 1 lemon, divided 12 oz. Schlafly Tasmanian IPA ¼ cup honey 3 Tbsp. light brown sugar 3 Tbsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 2 cloves garlic, smashed 1 bay leaf, crumbled Canola oil, for cooking 2 to 3 Tbsp. butter, melted • Place the trout in a large, deep pan big enough to submerge all the fillets.

• In a large bowl, make a beer brine by combining half the lemon juice with the beer, honey, brown sugar, salt,

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pepper, garlic and bay leaf. Whisk until the salt and sugar are dissolved.

Pour the brine over the trout and refrigerate 1 hour.

• Remove the fish from the brine, rinse and gently pat dry with paper towels.

• Lightly brush the trout with canola oil.

• Coat a large (preferably cast-iron) pan with canola oil and set over high heat.

When little tufts of smoke begin to rise from the pan, place the fillets flesh-side down. Cook 2 minutes, then flip and cook 1 minute, until the flesh is golden brown and flaky.

• Plate the fish, brush with the melted butter and drizzle with the remaining lemon juice. Cover the plates with foil and let rest 5 minutes before serving. * Local Westover Farms trout available at Bob’s Seafood, 8660 Olive Blvd., University City, 314.993.4844, bobsseafoodstl.com

Chocolate Orange & Espresso Creme Brulee s or re l s orb e t at niche

Courtesy of Small Batch’s Jeff Schaffer 6 servings 1 quart heavy cream ¹∕³ oz. Grand Marnier 1 oz. brewed espresso Pinch kosher salt Zest of 1 orange 2 oz. 58-percent dark chocolate 1 vanilla bean 8 egg yolks 3 oz. granulated sugar Raw sugar, for coating Powdered sugar, for garnish Espresso dust, for garnish Blueberries, for garnish

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• Preheat the oven to 210 degrees.

• In a medium pot, combine the heavy cream, Grand Marnier, espresso, salt, orange zest and chocolate. Split and scrape the vanilla bean into the pot, along with the pods. Warm the mixture over medium-high heat. (Do

not boil.) When tiny bubbles begin to form, remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl, discard the solids and set the liquid aside.

• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until the mixture is light yellow and smooth. Slowly add the warm heavy cream mixture, a little at a time, whisking continually.

• Divide the mixture evenly among 6 ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot tap water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 10 minutes, rotate the pan half a turn, then bake 13 to 16 minutes longer, until the creme brulee is set but still trembling in the center.

Remove the ramekins from the pan and refrigerate until chilled.

• Sprinkle raw sugar evenly on top of each serving. Using a broiler or hand-held torch, heat until the sugar caramelizes to form a crisp, deep amber crust. Garnish with powdered sugar, espresso dust and blueberries.

Sorrel Sorbet Courtesy of Niche’s Nate Hereford 4 servings 1 cup sugar ½ cup plus 4 Tbsp. cold water, divided 2 cups raw sorrel* 2 ice cubes Special equipment: ice cream maker • In a small pot over medium heat, make a simple syrup by combining the sugar and ½ cup water. Heat until the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.

• Using a blender or food processor, purée the raw sorrel with 2 ice cubes and 2 tablespoons cold water. (If necessary, add more cold water by the teaspoonful to make the purée as smooth as possible.)

• In a bowl, combine the simple syrup and sorrel purée. Strain using a finemesh strainer. Discard solids. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons water to the purée, stirring to combine. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. * Available from Ozark Forest Mushrooms at the Schlafly and Tower Grove winter farmer markets December 2014

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stuff to do:

this month

by Byron Kerman

Louisiana Purchase Exhibition Menu Through April 19, 2015, Bixby’s at The Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 314.361.7313, bixbys-mohistory.com In conjunction with the Missouri History Museum’s new Louisiana Purchase exhibition, Bixby’s diners can enjoy a prix fixe meal of rustic Spanish- and French-inspired dishes that give a nod to our pioneer past. There’s duck rillette, bison chili, buttermilk-grilled turkey medallions and, for dessert, a persimmon-apple buckle with vanilla gelato. Lewis and Clark never had it this good. Reservations suggested.

Shaken, Not Stirred Thursdays – 5 to 7:30 p.m., RitzCarlton St. Louis, 100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton, 314.863.6300, ritzcarlton.com/stlouis Meet the elite in the Ritz-Carlton lobby lounge for what the luxury hotel has dubbed “a celebration of martinis and mixology.” This weekly happy hour features a complimentary half-hour cocktail class, where you learn how to create your own mixers, simple syrups and aromatic bitters. Then look for special pricing on a rotating selection of martinis until 7:30 p.m.

Brothers Lazaroff Hanukkah Hullabaloo Dec. 6 – 8 p.m., Create Space, 6323 Delmar Blvd., University City, brotherslazaroff.com Latkes will be fried onstage and served free to all at the annual Hanukkah Hullabaloo – with applesauce or sour cream, of course.

Area musicians Brothers Lazaroff sponsor the

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rockin’ affair at the newly opened local artisan marketplace, Create Space. Partyers can shop for gifts, dance to DJ Boogieman and enjoy a performance of a Hanukkah collaboration, “Eight Nights,” featuring the Brothers Lazaroff, Rabbi James Stone Goodman and members of the Funky Butt Brass Band. Besides the potato pancakes, the celebration will include food from Mission Taco, Lu Lu Seafood & Dim Sum and Rebel Roots caramel apples.

Kristkindl Markt Dec. 6 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dec. 7 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Stone Hill Winery, 1110 Stone Hill Highway, Hermann, 573.486.2221, stonehillwinery.com Thirty vendors will sell artisanal foods, crafts, Christmas goods and, of course, wine at the annual Kristkindl Markt at Stone Hill Winery.

Under the warmth of a heated pavilion, enjoy hot soup and mulled wine while you peruse offerings like bread from Hummingbird Kitchen, soup and dip mixes by Two Sisters Canning and meats by Hermann Wursthaus and Swiss Meat & Sausage, among other purveyors. Build the perfect gift with a Stone Hill customizable gift basket you can stuff with wine, ornaments, glasses and wine accessories. Substantial fare is available at the winery’s 1847 Vintage Restaurant, where popular dishes include pork schnitzel, shaved sauerbraten, Reubens and the Jager Special, an open-faced beef sandwich smothered in a red wine-mushroom sauce.

Webster Holiday Cookie Walk Dec. 13 – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Old Webster through Old Orchard, Webster Groves, explorewebstergroves.com It’s a bit like Halloween in December when the Cookie Walk returns to Webster Groves.

The holiday tradition means complimentary cookies – and their recipes – at various December 2014

stores along Big Bend Boulevard and Gore and Lockwood avenues. The progressive shopping and dessert experience hits Cravings, Garland Wines, Provalo Deli, Yo My Goodness frozen yogurt and many other shops and restaurants in the 63119. Look for Webster Cookie Walk signs in the windows of participating shops.

New Year’s Eve Party at Steinberg Skating Rink Dec. 31 – 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., Steinberg Skating Rink in Forest Park, St. Louis, 314.367.7465, steinbergskatingrink.com Glide into 2015 at Steinberg Skating Rink’s annual New Year’s Eve party at Steinberg Skating Rink. Regular admission includes a midnight countdown with party favors, noisemakers and, of course, a nice long session of skating in a circle like ya just don’t care. Fuel up at the nighttime appetizer buffet, which includes hot wings, toasted ravioli, mac-n-cheese bites, corn fritters and mini tacos, as well as draft beer, wine, hot chocolate, soda and coffee.

sponsored events

Schlafly Winter Market & Holiday Fair Dec. 6 and Dec. 20 – 8:30 a.m. to noon, Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave., Maplewood, 314.241.2337 x2, schlaflyfarmersmarket.com This popular winter market takes place twice this month at Schlafly Bottleworks. With a December 2014

whopping 45 vendors on hand, you can shop for local produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods and other specialty products, and you’ll find the perfect holiday gift from local artists and craftspeople.

Sauce Celebrity Chef Series: Jody Williams Dec. 8 – 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., The Restaurant at The Cheshire, 7036 Clayton Ave., St. Louis, 314.732.9818, restaurant-stl.com/ happenings If you can’t easily travel to Jody Williams’ esteemed NYC and Paris bistros, Buvette, you can chat with her in St. Louis at the next Sauce Celebrity Chef Series event. Meet and greet Williams during a cocktail reception before sitting down to a multi-course dinner by The Restaurant at The Cheshire’s executive chef Rex Hale. Then prep your questions for a Q&A session with Williams about her restaurants and cookbook of the same name.

Neiman Marcus Cooks Book Launch & Cocktail Reception Dec. 15 – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., The Zodiac (Neiman Marcus upper level), 100 Plaza Frontenac, Frontenac, 314.994.5053, neimanmarcus.com Join Sauce and Neiman Marcus to celebrate the launch of Neiman Marcus Cooks: Recipes for Beloved Classics and Updated Favorites, a new cookbook by Kevin Garvin, vice president of Neiman Marcus food services. Enjoy cocktails and wine, sample dishes from the cookbook and chat with Garvin, who will sign copies at this free event. Call for reservations.

Wine & Dine with Sauce Magazine Jan. 9 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Dierbergs, 1080 Lindeman Road, Des Peres, 636.812.1336, dierbergs.com/school Join Sauce executive editor Ligaya Figueras, art director Meera Nagarajan and wine writer Glenn Bardgett as they host a cooking class featuring recipes and drinks from Sauce’s January issue. Plus, get the scoop on the newest restaurant openings and the latest trends. Seating is limited. Register online. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 57

Carl and Nancy McConnell

Is it possible to run a restaurant and have a balanced family life? “Absolutely,” said Carl and Nancy McConnell in unison.

Here, the husband-and-wife proprietors of 5-year-old Stone Soup Cottage – and parents of two sons, ages 13 and 10 – share their recipe for success.

Carl worked for 10 years as a chef on a cruise ship, and Nancy was an international travel director.

How does your background in the hospitality and travel industry help you?

N: Whereas he was on the ships, I was on the high-end luxury travel side. I would escort guests on trips like the around-the-world Concorde.

The service had to be impeccable.

When Carl and I met on the icebreaker ship where we fell in love, we talked about if we were going to do something down the road, it would be an extension of what we did with our travels and hospitality on a very small, personal level.

creativity with Carl. … Christian is – C: Terrified of it. … Printing menus, being out here with Nancy, polishing glasses. He’s cool with that.

What is the hardest part of operating a destination restaurant?

N: The expectations of the guest.

We are so unique in what we’re doing. For guests who’ve never been here before, (who) may have heard or read something, it’s trying to meet their expectations.

What restaurant decisions do you make together?

N: Almost everything. But we are normal. We fight. We disagree. We have to compromise, and we’re two completely different people.

C: I’m the dreamer. Nancy is the realist. She makes it happen.

Your New Year’s Eve extravaganzas have always surpassed expectations.

What are your plans this year?

N: We’re doing an early seating. Eight courses. At 9:30 p.m., we’re done. Our kids are going to come up for the first time, and we’re going to toast our family. I think that’s going to be the tradition from now on.

Even though you manage the front of the house, do you ever feel like a restaurant widow?

N: I am like a restaurant widow.

C: When I’m working back there, I tune everything out. I’m in the zone and unaware of anybody that’s around me. That can be hard, I imagine.

In what ways has your family benefited from the restaurant’s hours?

N: We are able to make our schedule for the restaurant to not miss out on any major milestones for our children.

We’ve always closed for Halloween.

Any of their birthdays, we close. Band, concerts – anything important to them.

Do they help at the restaurant?

N: Our youngest, Colin, loves the

Will you extend your hours when your sons get older?

N: Yes. We have guests ask us all the time, “When are you going to bring brunch back?” We’ve said from day one, when our kids don’t want to be with us anymore or don’t need us or they have their own jobs, the business will take its twists and turns. But as long as they need us … that is our main job.

Do you ever sneak into the kitchen and give him a quick peck?

N: Absolutely. Many people have caught us giving (each other) a little smooch.

C: I love her! She’s everything to me.

N: If we’re having a crazy night, just a loving hand on the shoulder, or us looking at each other saying, “We can get through this” – that connection gets us both through.

C: But then there are nights when she wants to kill me …

– Ligaya Figueras

Photo by CARMEN TROESSER

What I Do

Stone Soup Cottage is only open three nights a week. Dinner is by reservation only. There is one seating of 40 guests. The menu is a six-course prix fixe with no a la carte options.

Why has this business model worked?

Nancy: We’ve stayed true to the fact that we are not for everyone. We are not in it to feed the masses. We just need to have 40, and that’s OK with us.

Carl: We communicate clearly and honestly with prospective clients about exactly what we are and who we are. We don’t mind telling people we might not be for them.

N: On paper, it should have failed. What happened? Word of mouth. That’s what has made the success of our business – and an extremely loyal clientele.

Stone Soup Cottage 5809 State Highway N, Cottleville, 636.244.2233, stonesoupcottage.com

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