Chris Bolyard of Bolyard's Meat & Provisions, p. 36
THE NEW
AMERICAN
BUTCHER
TOP 3 TACOS AL PASTOR P. 34
A S I A N ( S P I R I T S) INVA SION P. 30
ST. LOUIS’ INDEPENDENT CULINARY AUTHORITY
February 2015
T A L E S
O F
R E S TA U R A N T R O M A N C E P. 46
4 NEW PLACES T O
T R Y P. 10
FREE, FEBRUARY 2015
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F E B R U A R Y 2 015 • VO LUM E 15, ISSU E 2 PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ART DIRECTOR MANAGING EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR PROOFREADER FACT CHECKER PRODUCTION DESIGNER EDIBLE WEEKEND EDITOR CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
What's your favorite flick and food combo?
CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rushmore while eating yogurt raisins. I lose all control once I crack open a container of the ones from Trader Joe's.
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Allyson Mace Ligaya Figueras Meera Nagarajan Dangerous Liaisons Garrett Faulkner with a glass of Dom Catherine Klene Pérignon. The food is beyond my control. Garrett Faulkner Emily Lowery Kristin Schultz Michelle Volansky I Love You, Man and pad Thai. Catherine Klene Bromance and Thai pair excellently. Jonathan Gayman, Ashley Gieseking, Elizabeth Jochum, Elizabeth Maxson, Greg Rannells, Carmen Troesser, Michelle Volansky Vidhya Nagarajan Glenn Bardgett, Matt Berkley, Julie Cohen, Garrett Faulkner, Ligaya Figueras, Sara Graham, Kellie Hynes, Byron Kerman, Jamie Kilgore, Ted Kilgore, Cory King, Catherine Klene, Spencer Pernikoff, Michael Renner, Dee Ryan Rebecca Ryan Rebecca Ryan Soylent Green Allyson Mace with White Castle Jill George, Angie sliders Rosenberg, Jackie Wagner Jill George Georgia Kaye, Rima Parikh, Victoria Sgarro
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St. Louis, MO 63103 February 2015
contents FEBRUARY 2015
editors' picks 9
EAT THIS Dumplings at Lona's Lil Eats
10
HIT LIST 4 places to try this month
12
INSIDE THE SERVER'S STOMACH compiled by sara graham
reviews
24
COCKTAILS
15
NEW AND NOTABLE Grapeseed
by michael renner
by garrett faulkner 26
18
VEGETIZE IT
Whitebox Eatery
by kellie hynes
POWER LUNCH by byron kerman
Osso buco
MAKE THIS
Anthony's Bar
by dee ryan
Chocolate meringue cups
by matt berkley
PHOTO BY JONATHAN GAYMAN
23
A SEAT AT THE BAR
A SPIRITED ASIAN INVASION Far East drinks migrate to the Midwest by julie cohen
34
last course dine & drink
Features 30
29
21
NIGHTLIFE
Pork chop at Grapeseed p. 15
Rock of ages
SHORT LIST Tacos al pastor
44
by spencer pernikoff
by byron kerman
36
STUFF TO DO
Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake
46
by glenn bardgett, cory king, and ted and jamie kilgore
Rick Kazmer and Sam McCulloch
THE NEW AMERICAN BUTCHER St. Louis’ rising cadre of chefs turned butchers
by ligaya figueras
by michael renner
February 2015
WHAT I DO
COVER DETAILS The New American Butcher Chris Bolyard of Bolyard's Meat & Provisions is a main player in St. Louis' butchery renaissance. photo by greg rannells p. 36
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letter from the editor Sam McCulloch (p. 46). Kazmer is the chef de cuisine at Cleveland-Heath. He moved here from Arizona when C-H was in its infancy to help his buddy, Ed Heath, get the restaurant off the ground. McCulloch, as GM at Taste, oversees the cocktail lounge’s smooth operation. Kazmer and McCulloch appreciate that in the restaurant world, someone has to have your back or the whole house can crumble. And on days when service isn’t running smoothly or when the kitchen can’t find its groove, they’ve found each other to be the best outlet for venting steam. “The fact that we both work in the industry is what makes it work,” said Kazmer of their restaurant romance, which will begin a new phase when they tie the knot this fall. There are countless industry couples in town who can attest to how much they rely on one another for support. I especially admire Chris and Abbie Bolyard for the risks they took in opening Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions in Maplewood. Chris Bolyard is one of the local faces of the new American butcher (p. 36), but together, the Bolyards represent a growing crowd of young entrepreneurs who are dreaming big as they open small independent shops, bars and restaurants. In this lovey-dovey month, I applaud family business owners. It’s because of their personal sacrifices – the long hours, the time away from family, the financial investment – that the rest of us can dress to the nines to drink and dine well. And not just on Feb. 14, but every day of the year. Cheers,
Peacock Loop Diner 6261 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314.721.5555, peacockloopdiner.com
As we got cozy in the 24-hour diner’s Peacock Carousel of Love, our nonchalant, how-are-the-kids conversation shifted to a discussion of the joys and pains of owning a restaurant. While Randolph and Schmidt are the faces and the engines of their eateries, their wives, Liz Randolph and Genevieve Cortinovis,
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From left, Liz Randolph, Mike Randolph, Joe Edwards, Ligaya Figueras, Joe Gudiswitz, Genevieve Cortinovis and Tom Schmidt enjoy a date night at the Peacock Loop Diner.
were as much participants in that conversation as their husbands. Randolph, Schmidt and I agree that our spouses are our backbones. When we’re having a bad day, we turn to them for words of encouragement. Time to make a tough decision? They are our sounding board. And when little victories come our way, they are the first to share in our successes. Everyone needs a pillar of strength to get through the day. That’s especially true in the restaurant industry, as I learned in this month’s chat with Rick Kazmer and his fiancee,
This issue is dedicated to the memory of Richard I. Figueras (1935-2015) Save some pierogi for the rest of us, Dad! February 2015
PHOTO BY JONATHAN GAYMAN; MR. FIGUERAS PHOTO BY GREG RANNELLS
A
n evening on the town is a rare treat for someone who runs a business. Too much work leaves little time for play, a fact felt by plenty who bear the responsibility of keeping an operation up and running, including restaurant owners Mike Randolph (The Good Pie, Half & Half and his newest, Público, opening Feb. 13) and Tom Schmidt (Salt + Smoke, Franco), who took a night off with their spouses to join my husband, Joe Gudiswitz, and me for a date night at Joe Edwards’ recently opened Peacock Loop Diner.
Ligaya Figueras Executive editor
February 2015
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editors' picks
EAT THIS
There’s nothing little about the flavor of the hand-made DUMPLINGS at LONA’S LIL EATS. Steamed for chew, then pan-fried for crunch, each plump half-moon pocket holds umami-packed bites of minced mushrooms or a mixture of ’shrooms and tender steak. Order both varieties and dip them all in a vibrant house-made chile oil seasoned with PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER
garlic, cilantro, roasted spices and black vinegar. Why play favorites? Lona’s Lil Eats, 2199 California Ave., St. Louis, 314.925.8938, lonaslileats.com
February 2015
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hit list
4 new places to try this month
1
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custom-built grill to cook up cuts of beef (our pick: LA-style short ribs) or pork and enjoy it with rice and sides like egg soufflé, soy bean sprouts, kimchee and Korean-style beef croquettes, plus four house-made dipping sauces. Wash it down with bottled craft beer, makgeolli (a carbonated sweet rice wine) or cocktails featuring soju, a Korean spirit. (For more on makgeolli and soju, see p. 30.)
6665 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314.925.8445, seoulqstl.com
2 1 The main attraction at Seoul Q is Korean barbecue, which guests prepare themselves using grills built into the tables. 2 Chicks in the Tub hotpot at Seoul Q
On this month’s Sound Bites segment, Sauce executive editor Ligaya Figueras joins Seoul Q owner David Choi at his restaurant to learn the art of barbecue, Korean-style. Tune in to St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 KWMU’s Cityscape Friday, Feb. 13 at noon and 10 p.m. February 2015
PHOTOS BY MICHELLE VOLANSKY
The space at 6665 Delmar Blvd., is now home to two sister restaurants: the newly relocated Seoul Taco and Korean barbecue-hotpot spot Seoul Q. After an order of Seoul wings, move on to the seductively aromatic Chicks in the Tub hotpot, a homey dish of Asian-style chicken stew with carrots and potatoes that stays warm on the induction stovetop fitted into your table. Seoul Q is full-service, but get ready to work for your meal when you order from the barbecue menu. Use your table’s
SEOUL Q
3
The Southern cuisine and food truck trends have hit the highway together in The Southerner. The mobile eatery serves reimagined barbecue and comfort food engineered by Natasha Creel and Emily Matthes. In addition to dishes inherited from the duo’s former Clayton restaurant, Roxane, don’t miss the Mason-Dixon Melt. Hickory-smoked turkey is griddled between slices of sourdough, along with cheddar, bacon, tomato, pickles, mayonnaise and house barbecue sauce. Order it with a side of addictive fried potato salad served warm and chile-studded mac-n-cheese. As the side of the truck proclaims: “It’s damn good, y’all.”
SOUTHERNER FOOD TRUCK PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SOUTHERNER; SPOON BAKING AND THE OLD BAKERY BEER CO. PHOTOS BY MICHELLE VOLANSKY
THE SOUTHERNER
4
Tucked in a tiny corner storefront under a Tiffany Blue awning, Diana Schuler is whipping up delightful, decadent treats in Alton. The pastry counter inside the 350-square-foot shop offers a rotating selection of freshly baked goods like cookies, scones, bars, quiches and layer cake by the slice. Order a latte made with Door County Coffee and enjoy it with a Spoon Cookie made with oatmeal, coconut and walnuts. Save room for Schuler’s gooey butter cake, which strikes a perfect balance of sugar and butter. Be sure to purchase a bag of Spoon’s house-made marshmallows, ethereal pillows of soft gelatinous sugar that beg to be dropped into a cup of cocoa.
Alton is luring St. Louisans over the river with the opening of its new 18,000-square-foot brewery housed in a former industrial bakery. Stroll past the 15-barrel brewhouse to the back of this massive facility and grab one of nearly 200 seats in the tasting room. All Old Bakery beers are made with organic American-grown ingredients. We’re partial to the rich dark mild, served smooth on nitro, or the golden, single-hopped magnum pale ale. Non-beer drinkers can choose from a small list of classic cocktails, a fine whiskey selection or a glass of Illinois or Missouri wine. Like the space, the meals at Old Bakery are sizeable, too. Try the mixing bowl filled with house-pickled beet-and-kale salad, or a hefty Cuban sandwich packed with pulled pork, ham, house-made pickles, mustard and gooey Swiss cheese pressed between a split Companion baguette.
4 E. Broadway St., Alton, Illinois, 618.374.6098, spoonbakingcompany.com
400 Landmarks Blvd., Alton, Illinois, oldbakerybeer.com
314.814.2287, Facebook: The Southerner – STL, Twitter: @SouthernerSTL
SPOON BAKING CO.
February 2015
THE OLD BAKERY BEER CO.
3 The Southerner food truck 4 A magnum pale ale, one of eight Old Bakery beers currently on tap 5 The Old Bakery Beer tasting room 6 Hand-tinted sprinkles at Spoon 7 Spoon Baking Co.
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I N S I D E T H E S E RV E R ' S
STOMACH
Ever wonder what servers order for themselves? Here’s the insider intel on what to eat at St. Louis restaurants right now. – Compiled by Sara Graham
“THE SIGNATURE CHOCOLATE PICCIONE CREAM CANNOLI. IT’S TRULY WHAT MY DREAMS ARE MADE OF.” – Darryl Merriweather, Piccione Pastry
“BRAISED BEEF AND LAMB PAPPARDELLE. THE BEEF AND LAMB ARE BRAISED IN ORANGE, BAY AND CARROTS AND SERVED OVER PAPPARDELLE NOODLES, THEN TOPPED WITH PISTACHIO GREMOLADA. IT MAKES THE PASTA SUPER BRIGHT AND NUTTY.” – Kristin Mefford, Ernesto’s Wine Bar
“CHICKEN SERVED ON A BED OF COUSCOUS IN A WARM BROTH. IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITES BECAUSE OF THE VARIETY OF VEGETABLES, THE COMPLEX FLAVOR AND THE GOOD-SIZED CHUNKS OF MEAT.”
– Lara Mooney, Baida Moroccan Restaurant
– Jeremy Thomas, Small Batch
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– Jasmine Bernard, Balaban’s
– Charlie Unger, Frida’s
“The NY strip with the wilted arugula, bacon and asparagus salad is literally everything. If I were Taylor Swift, I’d write a song about it.” – Amber Lanwermeyer, Three Sixty
“Our American-style rigatoni with housemade noodles, seasonal veggies, blackened cremini mushrooms and Cajun cream is my go-to. And it can’t be matched with anything but Hudson Manhattan rye.”
“I’M OBSESSED WITH OUR FRIDA BURGER TOPPED WITH A FARM-FRESH EGG. IT’S INSANELY JUICY AND DELICIOUS.”
“THE APPLE-WOOD BACON FLATBREAD NEVER LETS ME DOWN. THE FRESH BLUE CHEESE, MASCARPONE, APPLEWOOD BACON AND PEARS MELD PERFECTLY. I’VE SEEN IT TURN NON-BLUE CHEESE LOVERS INTO BELIEVERS.”
“OUR 12-OUNCE, CHARCRUST, DRY-RUBBED RIB-EYE WITH TILLAMOOK CHEDDAR POTATO GRATIN TOPPED WITH GORGONZOLA BUTTER. IT IS THE BEST STEAK I’VE EVER HAD.” – Russell Messer, Eleven Eleven Mississippi
“THE BIANCA, OUR HOUSE WHITE PIE. IT’S THE SLEEPER HIT ON THE MENU.” – Kevin Berg, Pizzeoli
“The New York Philly with our spicy giardiniera relish. Philadelphia cream cheese pairs with our homemade roast beef and sauteed peppers and onions so well, it makes my mouth water just thinking about it.” – Kylie Applewhite, Gioia’s Deli
“Lobster BLT. The lobster claw meat is abundant and juicy, the fontina cheese adds a mushroom-y, smoky taste, the bacon is cooked to perfection, and the cherry tomato halves are ripe, lightly dressed with arugula and drizzled with creme fraiche.” – Karl Schmitz, Bocci Wine Bar
“I LOVE THE MUSSELS SAUVIGNON. I WORK SIX DAYS A WEEK HERE, AND ON MY DAY OFF I COME BACK AND ORDER THE MUSSELS. THAT’S HOW GOOD THEY ARE.” – Will Salomon, Evangeline’s Bistro and Music House February 2015
February 2015
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February 2015
reviews All Sauce reviews are conducted anonymously.
Shrimp and grits at Grapeseed
new and notable
Grapeseed
N
BY MICHAEL RENNER | PHOTOS BY JONATHAN GAYMAN
eighborhood restaurants are risky ventures. Without the advantage of a recognizable location, familiar name or easy visibility, their existence hangs on the buzz of adventuresome diners hungry for something off the beaten path. They are true destinations: Think Jax Café, Farmhaus, The Purple Martin, Ernesto’s Wine Bar or The Piccadilly at Manhattan.
n e w a n d n o t a b l e G R A P E S E E D p . 1 5 / p o w e r l u n c h W H I T E B OX E AT E RY p . 1 8 / n i g h t l i f e A N T H O N Y ' S B A R p . 2 1 February 2015
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the juicy, blushing pinkness desirable with pasture-raised pork. The steak arrived much rarer than the requested medium-rare.
reviews
Shrimp and grits, a Gist carryover, may become Grapeseed’s signature dish, and rightfully so: Anderson makes a mean rendition. Here, centered in a bowl of creamy grits – thickened with cheddar cheese, speckled with Granny Smith apples and bacon and a streak of pepper pesto – sat five plump, spice-rubbed, wildcaught Texas whole shrimp, their heads (rightfully) still attached.
NEW AND NOTABLE p. 2 of 2
Grapeseed's ravioli stuffed with shredded, grass-fed beef short rib served with crimini mushrooms and thick-cut root vegetables in a goat cheese cream sauce.
I love neighborhood restaurants. One particular stretch of Macklind Avenue in St. Louis’ South Hampton area is a neighborhood of destinations: Russell’s on Macklind, Macklind Avenue Deli and The Mack Bar and Grill all keep side-street parking at a premium. Add Ben Anderson’s 5-month-old bistro, Grapeseed, to the list. Anderson has opened two restaurants – Canoe Regional American Fare and Gist Bistro – both popular, both closed and, in some ways, both preludes to Grapeseed. Each had a scratch kitchen, locally sourced and seasonal ingredients, interesting wines and an emphasis on new American cookery. Grapeseed’s menu leans heavily toward small plates, a trend more restaurants are adopting in an effort to keep prices
AT A GLANCE Grapeseed
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down while still offering variety and creativity. Consider this flavorful spin on nachos: pulled, smoky pieces of turkey leg piled on a bed of house-made sweet potato chips layered with red onion, roasted red pepper, tomatoes and microgreens drizzled with buttermilk dressing and spicy firecracker sauce. Balancing smoky, sweet, spicy and savory sensations, I wasn’t surprised to see a parade of orders streaming out of the kitchen. Three house-made pastas shared billing on the small plates menu. The most inspired of the three was ravioli stuffed with shredded, grass-fed beef short rib served with crimini mushrooms and thick-cut root vegetables, all coated with a goat cheese cream sauce. This is the kind of dish that’s toothsome and ribsticking enough to graduate to the big plates category. It was that good.
Where 5400 Nottingham Ave., St. Louis, 314.925.8525, grapeseedstl.com
Don’t Miss Dishes Short rib ravioli, shrimp and grits, turkey leg nachos
Olson knows his fish, so count on at least a couple choices among the menu’s compact entree section. The selection varies – during one visit, there was a beautiful serving of meaty, flaky Florida wild black grouper painted with pepper jelly atop a salad of winter greens dressed with a citrus vinaigrette. What at first seemed like a plate trying too hard eased into several layers of flavor. Modest appetites will find the serving just right, but for more substantial eaters the lack of a starch did little to warm the heart or fill the belly on a cold January night. Meat, like the bone-in pork chop and grassfed flatiron steak, is sourced from local farms. Both the pork and steak are splashed with richly flavored sauces: the pork with a wild mushroom-Madeira sauce, the steak with a red wine demi-glace. Both suffered from timing flaws, however. The chop was about two minutes overdone and lacked
Vibe Casual, convivial eatery with well-curated wine, beer and cocktails serving relaxed, but creative, American cuisine
Given its name, you’d expect a lot of wine at Grapeseed. It delivers with an accessible, affordable list of nearly 70 bottles, most less than $40, 16 of which are available by the glass. Straddling Old and New World styles and balancing single varietals with blends, this is what all wine lists should look like. The beer and cocktail selections are no slouches either, with six local brews on tap, a long list of bottles and an array of cocktails with catchy names like Double Freedom Rocket, a Manhattan enhanced with both bourbon and rye. For dessert, most compelling was the house-made lemon-coconut roulade, the pastry’s delicate sweetness complemented, not overrun, by its two headlining ingredients. The interior of the renovated turn-of-the20th-century building is one big open space, with half-walls partitioning the dining and bar areas, pressed tin ceiling, exposed duct work and modern brass chandeliers fitted with retro Edison bulbs. Snagging a table on busy weekends can be as dicey as the parking, but there’s seating around the perimeter of the bar area and an eight-seat sharable bar table in the middle. Grapeseed finds that elusive balance between a go-to Friday night burger-andbeer neighborhood joint and a restaurant good enough to be a destination. The result, while not flawless, is a convivial gathering spot with a talented kitchen putting out simple yet creative American food using local ingredients. I say again: I love neighborhood restaurants.
Entree Prices Small plates: $4.50 to $16; entrees: $18 to $25
When Tue. to Sun. – 5 p.m. to close
February 2015
February 2015
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reviews POWER LUNCH
Power Lunch
WHITEBOX EATERY BY BYRON KERMAN | PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH MAXSON
At Clayton’s upscale Whitebox Eatery, originality and care go into every sandwich, soup and salad – yet the tastefully curated, subdued fare doesn’t always reach truly delicious heights.
4 1
CLASSY AMBIENCE & SPEEDY SERVICE Presentation is a big deal here, encompassing both Whitebox Eatery the food and aesthetics. 176 Carondelet Plaza, From the stylish banquettes Clayton, 314.862.2802, to the light fixtures to whiteboxeatery.com the rhomboidal serving plates, this is a place to be seen [4]. Whitebox is, after all, only a few limousine-lengths west of the Ritz-Carlton. Still, the restaurant keeps some things casual, like counter ordering with tableside delivery. This is where the industry is trending, and it works. The kitchen and servers were fast and friendly.
ALL ABOUT THE SANDWICH Whitebox’s lunch menu is represented by more than a dozen sandwiches. My favorite was the roasted mushroom [1], starring tender cremini mushrooms and melted mozzarella with a tasty, nutty basil pesto. The paninilike ensemble was reminiscent of a slender grilled cheese sandwich. The menu’s actual grilled cheese plays second banana. It arrived to the table late, after the cheese had begun to congeal and harden. The kettle chips on the sandwich, a fun idea in theory, had been absorbed inside the brick of cheese and were no longer crunchy. The chipotle chicken salad sandwich is pinkish in hue, presumably from the peppers, with the barest whisper of heat. The pan Cubano bread is the scenestealer here; sourced from Breadsmith, it’s one of the softest and chewiest I’ve had. The sandwich lineup stands on the freshness of the meat. The ham is baked, the beef roasted and the tuna poached in-house, and you can taste the quality. SOUP’S ON (AND OFF) The roasted chicken noodle soup [2] flexes its muscles with a rich, delicious housemade stock. A smoked tomato bisque was creamy, but the tomato flavor itself was strangely absent. The chili, while generous with the ground beef, was soupy instead of thick and served with a disappointingly dry cornbread mini-muffin. SALAD SALUTE Mediterranean potato salad was a filling, satisfying choice for winter. Arugula, slices
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THE TAKEAWAY Everything at Whitebox is inventive, classy and serviceable. Yet like the restaurant’s name, what emerges from the kitchen sometimes tastes more bland than big-time. It would be gratifying to see its sandwiches and soups taken to the same level as its salads and pastries.
2 of boiled potato, chopped egg, roasted red pepper and kalamata olives were united by an herb vinaigrette, which balanced the bitterness of the arugula. The house Whitebox salad was also a winner. Its stellar yogurtand-herb dressing marries chopped egg, blue cheese, garlic croutons, cherry tomatoes, peas, corn and avocado in chopped lettuce. DOUGH PROS The pastry counter here is no afterthought. A goat cheese-tomato-herb tart offers a nearacre of decadent herbed goat cheese filling lusciously topped with tomatoes. The pain
au chocolat [3] is a double-barreled shotgun of buttery dough filled with two separate bursts of molten chocolate. A doublechocolate cookie, made with almond flour, marked a rare moment when the glutenfree version tasted better than the original; it was as chocolate-y and chewy as a fudge brownie. And then there are those delightful Vincent Van Doughnuts in an ever-changing rotation of flavors. They’re made daily by Brian Marsden, brother to Whitebox owner Brendan Marsden. Talk about a talented family. Whatever treat you order, ask the staff to heat it in the toaster oven. The warmed version was always superior.
3 February 2015
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nightlife
reviews
Anthony’s Bar
NIGHTLIFE
BY MATT BERKLEY | PHOTOS BY JONATHAN GAYMAN Joe Blaies, bartender at Anthony's Bar
for an ultramodern beverage menu or signature drink. Bartenders here excel at the classics: gin martinis, whiskey sours, Tom Collinses, Manhattans, even bloody marys. If Anthony’s Bar you order only one 10 S. Broadway, thing, make it the St. Louis, 314.231.7007, Old-Fashioned. saucecafe.com/tonys Generously aswim in Rittenhouse Rye, it’s an ideal salve to your troubles. Even tableside, the bartenders pretty much serve as the waitstaff, and they’re nothing but professional. The service is just like the pours – generous and no-nonsense.
I
’m still kicking myself for not reserving a few tables at Anthony’s Bar for dinner during my bachelor party last spring. Stiff martinis and thick, juicy steaks at one of downtown’s classiest watering holes would certainly have been more memorable than the craft beer and pizza we had. Plus, just imagine the valet’s expression at Anthony’s (which shares parking and real estate with Tony’s, its venerable sibling) when our dubious, 15-seat rental van crammed with boozedup guys fresh off a brewery crawl pulled up to the entrance on Market Street. Months later, I much more fittingly ended up at a corner table at Anthony’s with my wife, who loved the old-school vibe. The
February 2015
bar, which has long served a more mature, upscale clientele, is a step back in time. Rich wood paneling sprawls above the noir-ish square bar, the kind Don Draper and Roger Sterling might kick back at for one, or six, martinis after landing a big account. While big and bold at first glance, Anthony’s is actually a quiet, intimate space with room for only eight small tables. On weekend nights, these are occupied mainly by smartly dressed, 30-and-up couples. No jacket required, and on a Cardinals game day, the bar even turns a shade rowdy. To order anything but a cocktail here is a sin – even though beer is available, as is wine (glass selections running $8 to $12 each). Don’t hold your breath
Anthony’s is decidedly more casual and affordable than Tony’s. Besides the cocktail program, patrons benefit from a shared kitchen. With only four or five entrees and two specials, the bar menu is pared down considerably, and looking at the selections – salmon, steak, pork chop, risotto – it’s obvious no one here is reinventing any wheels. Like the cocktails, creativity in the kitchen may be a little static, but the quality of the food, ferried by runners from next door, is nothing short of phenomenal. My perfect meal here is the fried calamari, a shared flatbread (the selection rotates), sirloin steak with melted porcini butter and a robust bacon and sour cream twice-baked potato (plus one or two of those OldFashioneds). Everything on the Tony’s menu is technically available at Anthony’s, but unless you’re after a dessert, there’s no reason to look beyond the truncated bar menu. Located across the street from the bright neon, bull riding and beer swilling at Ballpark Village, Anthony’s Bar couldn’t be a more opposite number. With its masculine cool and authentic mid-century swagger, it’s a throwback to quiet cocktail joints where good drinks didn’t have to be “crafted” or “infused” or served in Mason jars. With a sexy atmosphere and well-executed food and drink to match, Anthony’s is one of the best date spots our city has to offer – which means it was probably for the best that the bachelor party dinner there didn’t pan out.
ORDER IT: Anthony's Bar
The perfect meal here includes the sirloin steak and robust twice-baked potato.
Don’t be surprised if Don Draper gives you a tip of his hat, and his Old-Fashioned, from across the room.
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dine
& drink
See the Kilgores' pick for a grenadine drink
A SEAT AT THE BAR
ILLUSTRATIONS BY VIDHYA NAGARAJAN; PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER
Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake
Hefty holiday credit card bills are piling up. Deal with bill shock by uncorking an incomparable Napa Valley value red wine. Priced around $10, the 2013 Ca’ Momi Rosso di Napa is a bargain bottle GLENN BARDGETT that boasts pedigree and Member of the Missouri Wine style. Cabernet sauvignon, and Grape Board and wine zinfandel, merlot and petit director at Annie Gunn’s syrah blend together for a deliciously fruity sip that tastes like a jammy cabernet or raspberry-ish zin with a velvety texture and full mouth feel. A dry red this round, rich and complex sold at a box wine price is a rare thing. Stock up – you’ve still got to get through tax season. February 2015
Grenadine is a great way to give your valentine a rose-colored cocktail. Your drinks will taste as lovely as they look when you make your own grenadine instead of purchasing bottles laden with corn syrup and food coloring. In a saucepan over medium heat, TED AND JAMIE combine 1 cup pomegranate juice KILGORE with ½ cup sugar. Stir to dissolve USBG, B.A.R. Ready, BarSmart sugar and bring to just under a and co-owners/bartenders at Planter’s House boil. When thick enough to coat a spoon, remove from the heat, add a drop of orange flower water and let cool. Use the tart-sweet syrup to make a Jack Rose: Combine 2 ounces apple brandy, 1 ounce lemon juice and ½ ounce grenadine. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
When I think of Italy, I think luxury: exquisite wines, sprawling villas and high-end sports cars. Beer doesn’t usually make that list. However, Italian brewery LoverBeer is out to change that. With its lineup CORY KING of wild ales, fruited sours and Certified Cicerone, head Imperial stouts, LoverBeer is brewer at Perennial Artisan putting Italy on the world beer Ales and founder of Side map. Its brews are expensive Project Brewing (and hard to find), but the quality is well worth the price. This month, seek out a bottle (my favorite is BeerBrugna, an aged sour ale brewed with plums) at Randall’s Wines & Spirits in North County and split it with a deserving beer lover who has a taste for the finer things in life. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 23
COCKTAILS
Hochstader’s Slow & Low Rock & Rye is available at Friar Tuck, 9053 Watson Road, Crestwood, 314.918.9230, friartuckonline.com
Rock of Ages BY GARRETT FAULKNER PHOTO BY ELIZABETH JOCHUM
In eastern Kentucky, the few banjo players still left play an early 20th-century ballad called “Morphine,” an opioid dream which contains a spectacularly strange line: “It’s peach and honey, rye, Rock and Rye / Baby, I’ll tell you my dream.” The ballad’s inventory of American vice – morphine, games of chance – pauses twice on the far more salubrious Rock and Rye, a whiskey infusion of citrus, spices, herbs and rock candy syrup historically used as a palliative for colds. In 1882, bartender Harry Johnson prescribed rye, a halftablespoon of rock candy syrup and lemon juice, saying it “helps to heal sore throats.” Another of his recipes was the brandybased Peach and Honey, “called for as often as Rock and Rye is now,” suggesting a rapid cross-community transfer of medicinal beverages around that time – cough syrup fit for backwood folk singers and New York bons vivants alike. Today, the boozy tincture is enjoying a resurgent demand for its gentle, Old Fashioned-like flavor. Fittingly, the cocktail resembles the wildly varied, self-subsuming American musical canon. Whiskey stands in for the plunked, unsubtle notes of early folk and field hollers. Add a touch of Latin rhythm, jazz, zydeco and Hawaiian melody. The recipe became a crazy quilt of cultural emendations – later barkeeps added orange, apricot, cinnamon sticks, tropical fruits and horehound leaf, an herbal cough suppressant.
Low appears in the Low Rye-da at Planter’s House, and Leroux Rock & Rye is used in Mission Taco Joint’s Glühwein-like Vino El Invierno cocktail. By creating my own batch, I could customize the fruit, control sweetness and increase texture. Rock candy syrup, the chemically supersaturated dregs left behind after making rock candy, is less fashionable but more exact than candy-on-a-stick. The syrup process takes time, but it’s worth the effort for the soothing, coating effect it has on the throat. Even rye drinkers free of whooping cough will enjoy Rock and Rye’s warm sweetness cut by the citrus and the 100-proof bite of whiskey. Pour it over ice, sip and porch-sit.
ROCK AND RYE 12 SERVINGS
Bottled varieties, like Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock & Rye, are similarly concocted with an exotic bill of ingredients. Slow &
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1 750-ml. bottle Rittenhouse bonded rye whiskey
2 wheels lemon 2 wheels blood orange 1 1-inch-thick ring pineapple 1 kumquat, halved (optional) 1 slice persimmon (optional) 1 cinnamon stick 3 to 4 whole cloves 1 star anise Rock candy syrup (recipe follows) or 1 to 2 sticks rock candy Pinch dried horehound* • In a large jar or pitcher, combine the whiskey, lemon, blood orange, pineapple, kumquat and persimmon (if using), cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and rock candy syrup. Let steep at least 24 hours, occasionally stirring or shaking gently. • Using a tea ball, steep the horehound in the whiskey mixture no more than 1 hour. Remove the tea ball and the solids from the liquid and discard, then strain the liquid into a clean jar through a finemesh sieve lined with cheesecloth.
• Pour 2 ounces into a glass over ice and serve. * Available at Cheryl’s Herbs, 7170A Manchester Road, St. Louis, 314.645.2165, cherylsherbs.com
ROCK CANDY SYRUP 1 QUART • Fill a 1-quart mason jar about ¹∕³ full with distilled water. Place the jar in a small saucepan filled with water over medium heat. Bring the water to a simmer and add 1 cup sugar to the jar, stirring constantly, until dissolved. Add another 1 cup sugar, stir to dissolve, and repeat until the syrup reaches the top of the mason jar. The liquid will be about 1-to-3 parts water to sugar. • Remove the jar from heat, cover loosely and let cool overnight. February 2015
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VEGETIZE IT
Osso Buco BY KELLIE HYNES | PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER
L
ike participle and Benedict Cumberbatch, braise is a term that people often toss around but don’t really understand. Braise is a two-step cooking method, in which you first sear the food in a hot skillet, then cover and bake it with a little liquid. If that sounds like one step too many, remember that ordering pizza is even more work because you have to find the phone first.
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Osso buco is a quintessential braised Italian dish. It’s flavorful, filling and completely verboten to vegetarians because it’s made with veal shanks. I wondered if I could make a vegan version that was just as warm and wonderful without the baby cow. I sought advice from Cielo executive chef Gianni Colucci, who appreciates osso buco so much that his eyes twinkle, and he says things like, “When making osso buco, you have to respect the tradition. It’s like a poem.” That might be the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard about cooking. Or cattle. Colucci encouraged me to give the osso buco treatment to seasonal root vegetables, including fennel, a vegetable I never remember because it’s not peas or carrots. He also told me to use wine, an ingredient I never forget. I sauteed the root vegetables, deglazed the pan with equal parts vegetable broth and red wine, and baked the whole shebang until the vegetables were soft. The result was a boozy vegetable soup that lacked the gravitas of osso buco. I thickened it with flour, but the starch didn’t help the thin flavor. Brandon Benack, executive chef at Truffles and its meat market, Butchery, solved my problem when he revealed the method for his braised lamb saddle chops. In the first step of his braise, Benack coats his sauteed vegetables with tomato paste and allows the paste to caramelize. The darkened tomato paste adds a savory flavor to the sauce and thickens it. Sure enough, a can of tomato paste worked its magic on my root vegetables, giving weight to both the texture and taste. I was getting close. Before I finalized my recipe, I asked the venerable Vince Bommarito, executive chef at Tony’s, to divulge how he makes his osso buco, a St. Louis favorite for about 27 years. Bommarito told me his (no longer) secret ingredient: a tiny bit of puréed anchovy in the sauce. Far from making the osso buco fishy, the anchovy lends a layer of umami, exactly what my recipe needed. Since I was going vegan, I used a dollop of miso, which is savory, salty and, more important, already in my refrigerator. Use porcini powder, soy sauce or even balsamic vinegar if that’s what you have handy. Osso buco is traditionally served with creamy risotto. To up my veggie content, I made an equally creamy February 2015
vegan cauliflower purée and brightened it with saffron, an idea I shamelessly stole from Colucci. I finished the plate with a verdant gremolada, which sounds as pungent as a Benedict Cumberbatch character, but is actually the traditional osso buco garnish of chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Don’t confuse zest with the whole lemon peel, or you’ll get a bitter, inedible garnish. Like osso buco itself, your gremolada should be tasty and fortifying. (And in case you’re wondering, that last phrase is a present participle.)
ROOT VEGETABLE OSSO BUCO 6 TO 8 SERVINGS 4 sprigs fresh thyme 2 fresh bay leaves 1 cup vegetable broth 2 Tbsp. white miso (optional) 1 fennel bulb 3 Tbsp. olive oil 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-by-2-inch pieces 1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1-by-2inch pieces 1 large onion, quartered 8 oz. whole baby portabella mushrooms ½ tsp. kosher salt ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper 5 cloves garlic, minced, divided 1 6-oz. can tomato paste 1 cup pinot noir or other dry red wine Zest of 2 large lemons 2 cups loosely packed parsley leaves, minced Saffron cauliflower purée (recipe follows) • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. • Make a bouquet garni by placing the thyme sprigs and bay leaves in an 8-by-8-inch square of cheesecloth. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth and set aside. • Warm the vegetable broth in a small pot over medium heat. Add the miso (if using) and stir until it is dissolved. Set the broth aside. • Remove and discard the stalks and root end from the fennel, reserving
some of the fronds for garnish. Cut the fennel bulb into ½-inch wide wedges. • Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add the fennel, carrots, turnip, onion, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to brown, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add 3 cloves minced garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste, stirring to coat the vegetables, and cook until the paste starts to darken, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the warmed broth and the wine, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. • Add the bouquet garni, cover, and bake until the vegetables are tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bouquet garni. • In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest, parsley and the remaining 2 minced garlic cloves. Set aside. • To serve: Spoon an equal portion of saffron cauliflower purée onto each plate. Place a portion of the vegetables atop the purée, followed by a ladle of the sauce. Garnish each plate with 1 or 2 tablespoons gremolada and a few wisps of reserved fennel fronds.
¼ tsp. kosher salt ¼ tsp. white pepper ¼ tsp. garlic powder • Cut the cauliflower into 1-inch florets. • Add 1 inch water to a large pot. Put the cauliflower florets in a steamer basket and set it in the pot. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and steam until the cauliflower is very tender, about 20 minutes. (Alternatively, place the florets in a dish filled with ½ cup water, cover and microwave 5 to 8 minutes, until tender.) • Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium-low heat, warm the soy milk, margarine, saffron, salt, white pepper and garlic powder until just below boiling. Remove the soy milk mixture from the heat and set aside. • Drain the water from the cauliflower and transfer the cauliflower to a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. With the food processor running, pour the warmed milk mixture into the bowl of the food processor, and purée until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste.
SAFFRON CAULIFLOWER PURÉE 4 CUPS 2 heads cauliflower, stems and leaves removed ½ cup soy milk 1 Tbsp. vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks 2 pinches saffron threads
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MAKE THIS CHOCOLATE MERINGUE CUPS ACTIVE TIME: 15 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS
MAKE THIS Float on cloud nine this Valentine’s Day with light, airy meringues. 1 In a blender, beat 4 egg whites with ∕8 teaspoon cream of tartar and a pinch of salt on high speed 1 minute, until soft peaks form. Mix in 1 cup superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stop the mixer and sift ¼ cup natural cocoa over the meringue, then beat on low-medium speed until combined. Add 1 teaspoon each white vinegar and vanilla extract, and beat on high speed 1 minute, until the meringue is glossy. Drop the meringue by the heaping tablespoonful onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a spoon, make an indent in the center of each meringue. Bake 2 hours at 225 degrees. Let cool completely on the baking sheet. Blend 1 cup heavy whipping cream on high, 2 to 3 minutes, until soft peaks form. Add ½ cup mascarpone cheese, 2 tablespoons superfine sugar and ½ cup whole raspberries and mix 30 seconds on high speed. Spoon 2 tablespoons whipped cream in each meringue cup and top with diced kiwi. – Dee Ryan
Want to get fancier? Transfer the meringue mix to a pastry piping bag affixed with a pastry decorating tip. Pipe a 4-inch spiral (starting in the center and working out), then pipe a ring on top of the outermost edge.
PHOTO BY GREG RANNELLS
Only use natural, non-alkalized cocoa (such as Hershey’s, Nestle or Scharffen Berger) for the meringue. The alkali in Dutch-processed cocoa will turn the meringue to liquid.
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. February 2015
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A SPIRITED ASIAN INVASION Far East drinks migrate to the Midwest BY JULIE COHEN ILLUSTRATION BY VIDHYA NAGARAJAN
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We’ve had a hunch for a while, but when Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2015 declared a Japanese single malt the best in the world, it became clear that Japanese whiskey is having more than just a moment. In St. Louis, Asian alcohols have arrived. One is the top-selling liquor in the world, but you’ve probably never heard of it. One you’ve never tried – and maybe never should. Another you’ll only know if you were a fourthcentury Korean farmer in a past life – or if you’re David Choi, owner of Seoul Taco and the recently opened Seoul Q.
SOJU In Korea, soju is ubiquitous. You’ll see bottles of it in the hands of businessmen meandering down city streets, and it serves as the drink of choice at any family gathering. In fact, Korea’s Jinro soju sold more than twice as many cases as any other liquor in the world last year. While predominate throughout Asia, the odorless, slightly sweet rice liquor is steadily growing in popularity in the U.S. Not to be confused with Japan’s shochu, soju has a relatively mild ABV of just 20 percent. Seoul Q offers soju by the bottle and in cocktails. To preserve the tradition among dining companions of pouring each other’s glasses before, during and after the meal, the cocktails can be ordered by the pitcher. Going to a party? Grab a bottle from The Wine and Cheese Place. SAKE Sake appears on every sushi menu in town; we can even find the fermented rice wine in delicious cocktails like the Bloody Tokyo at Hiro and the Oinari at Baiku Sushi Lounge. But like that Panama hat
you only wear while traveling abroad, sake can feel unnecessary and silly to indulge in out of context – say, anywhere but a sushi bar. Monica Samuels, national sake sales manager for Vine Connections and renowned sake expert, gave us a few tips for sating our thirst with sake. First, sake doesn’t have to be consumed with sushi, and it is actually more versatile in food pairings than grape wine. Second, sake doesn’t need to be expensive. There are plenty of ginjo (premium) sakes that run between $18 and $35 a bottle. When buying, though, look for the “born on” date. Don’t drink anything more than 18 months old; most sake is brewed like beer and should be consumed fresh. However, once opened, sake keeps even longer than wine. An open bottle stored in the fridge will still taste good two weeks later. Finally, since sake is free of gluten, tannins and sulfites, you won’t feel crummy the next morning, even after one too many. Cheers to that.
registers somewhere in the middle, hovering between 30 and 35 percent. Try a taste of shochu at Tani Sushi Bistro, or if you’re looking to cut sugar and calories, buy a bottle at Friar Tuck and substitute it for vodka in your next bloody mary.
MAKGEOLLI
Makgeolli is another Korean alcohol experiencing a rebirth. Even as recently as a couple years ago, many Koreans hadn’t even tried the unfiltered rice wine, relegating it to an elixir of myth consumed by fourth-century farmers. Thanks to a government-funded initiative to revive extinct traditional alcoholic beverages, as well as a downturn in the economy, the modestly priced makgeolli is making a comeback among the liquor scenesters of Korea’s biggest cities. Here in St. Louis, look for this undistilled, 6- to 7-percent ABV, sweetish, opaque and (reportedly) healthy drink at Seoul Q.
BAIJIU
KOREA’S JINRO SOJU SOLD MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY CASES AS ANY OTHER LIQUOR IN THE WORLD LAST YEAR. SHOCHU
While sake is often thought to be the premier drink of Japan, that honor actually goes to shochu, the far bigger seller in its home country for the past decade. Shochu is usually distilled from sweet potatoes, barley, buckwheat or rice and, in the simplest terms, tastes like a cross between vodka and sake. Even the alcohol content
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China’s baijiu, a distilled spirit traditionally made from sorghum, is the pulverized lunch that the kids in the cafeteria dare each other to eat; it’s that formaldehydic vinegar that swirls around the little hot peppers inside the bottles at Steak ’n Shake. Ted Kilgore, coowner of Planter’s House, recounted the time in 2007 when he smelled the clear spirit, whose ABV ranges from 40 to 60 percent, and he still hasn’t quite recovered. “It smelled like sulfur and sewage,” he said. Isaac Stone Fish, associate editor at Foreign Policy magazine, likened the drink to the odor of urine and vomit in a bus bathroom. Bon Appétit’s Joanna Sciarrino described it as “a strange mixture of ethyl alcohol and soy sauce.” But all that aside, this gritty firewater is coming for us. First spotted at Peking Tavern in Los Angeles, baijiu hasn’t made it to St. Louis, yet, but it will. Just like it’s hard not to smell something rotten after someone tells you it’s rotten, thrillseeking drinkers (you know, the ones who keep Fireball whiskey in business) are dying to give it a shot – albeit a very small one.
SOJU SHRUB COCKTAIL 1 SERVING Courtesy of Seoul Q’s Alexis Martinez 1½ oz. Jinro soju 1½ oz. ginger-pear shrub (recipe follows) ¾ oz. fresh lemon juice Club soda • Shake the soju, ginger-pear shrub and lemon juice over ice and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with club soda.
GINGER-PEAR SHRUB 12 SERVINGS 2 cups chopped pear 1-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 1½ cups sugar Zest of 1 lemon ½ cup apple cider vinegar • In a blender, pulse the pear and ginger until a mash forms. • In a large bowl, add the mash and the sugar. Stir until combined. • Add the lemon zest, cover, and let sit at room temperature 1 hour. • Add the vinegar, cover and refrigerate 48 hours, stirring twice daily. • Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a glass storage container. The shrub will keep, refrigerated, up to 3 months.
OINARI 1 SERVING Courtesy of Baiku’s Tim Kosuge 1 oz. Tozai Snow Maiden Junmai Nigori or other premium sake* 1 oz. Ketel One vodka ½ oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur ½ oz. ruby red grapefruit juice Fresh mint, for garnish • Shake the sake, vodka, elderflower liqueur and grapefruit juice over ice and double-strain into a sake glass or stemless wine glass. Slap the mint and stir into the cocktail. *Available at Whole Foods Market, 1601 S. Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood, 314.968.7744, wholefoodsmarket.com
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tacos al pastor
After too much cerveza and tequila, there are few things more comforting than juicy, seared meat in the sweet embrace of a corn tortilla. Al pastor, the Turkish doner kebab’s Mexican cousin, is a smoky, spicy tower of meat that’s calling your name. Thin slices of pork shoulder are marinated in a heavenly mixture of vinegar, guajillo, ancho or other chiles, and earthy achiote paste, then topped with a hunk of pineapple and roasted on a vertical spit until crispy. Here’s the king of taco meat’s best of the best in St. Louis. – Spencer Pernikoff
La Tejana Taqueria
El Morelia Supermercado
La Vallesana
3149 N. Lindbergh Blvd., Bridgeton, 314.291.8500, Facebook: La Tejana Taqueria
12005 Saint Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, 314.209.0014, Facebook: El Morelia
2801 Cherokee St., St. Louis, 314.776.4223, Facebook: La Vallesana (The Taco Stand)
While Tejana’s al pastor may not be cooked on a spit, the flavors are spot on. These are the al pastor tacos an abuela would make for family dinner, substituting house-ground pork loin cooked with fresh pineapple chunks and a secret seasoning blend for the more traditional tower of meat. Sit down with a plate of al pastor and a cold horchata before settling down for siesta.
Here’s a life-changing secret: Every weekend, Taqueria El Morelia opens inside Bridgeton’s El Morelia supermarket to make St. Louis’ only traditionally spitroasted al pastor tacos. The glistening stack of al pastor meat just waiting to be carved into is mouthwateringly delicious. Top it with a mix of the homemade salsas and toppings – try the smoky tomato salsa, cilantro and lime – then get back in line for seconds.
If you found yourself on a beach in Mexico ordering tacos, this is what you’d get. Each dark red piece of La Vallesana’s grilled pork is like a tiny, juicy steak. While mild in heat compared to other specimens, La Vallesana’s al pastor has the smoky sweetness of caramelized onion and bright pop of grilled pineapple. My tasting note: pork-fection.
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PHOTOS BY SPENCER PERNIKOFF
SHORT LIST
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The New
American
Butcher St. Louis’ rising cadre of chefs turned butchers
By Michael Renner | Photos by Greg Rannells
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From left: Chris Ladley, Ryan McDonald, Chris Bolyard and Andrew Jennrich are local chefs turned butchers bringing back the meat markets of yore. February 2015
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Between the pig’s head, the hanging quarter of beef and the trays of hocks, trotters and loins, there was barely enough room to move around in the closet-sized walk-in of Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions, the boutique butcher shop Chris Bolyard and his wife Abbie Bolyard opened late last year in Maplewood. Yes, an honest-to-goodness butcher shop. There are meat markets in town, of course, fine ones that cut slabs of meat into smaller portions for sale. Others rely on boxed, case-ready cuts. But a butcher shop that brings in whole pigs and half beeves to “fabricate,” or separate into market-ready cuts and prepared products, is an entirely different, well, animal. If your image of a butcher shop is more Leave It to Beaver than Modern Family, then say hello to the new American butcher. At 35, Bolyard, a former chef at Sidney Street Cafe, is one of several young chefs who recently traded their toques for butcher’s scabbards. These local meat geeks are part of a national butchery revival driven by other erstwhile chefs more interested in animals raised in pastures than fattened in feedlots. It’s a renaissance that largely began in 2004 in the Hudson Valley town of Kingston, New York, where Jessica and Joshua Applestone opened Fleisher’s PastureRaised Meats, the whole-animal butcher shop that helped beget a new wave of similar butcheries in Brooklyn, San Francisco and, now, St. Louis.
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ften described as the new rock stars of the culinary world – evidently there is something sexy about the raw, physically punishing work of cleaving apart huge animal carcasses – these new butchers embrace a dual mission: procure and sell the meat of humanely raised and killed animals while also heightening consumer awareness that there’s more than just ribs, chops and tenderloins. In short, they preach whole-animal eating – nose to tail, hoof to backstrap. Like chefs at chic, open-kitchen restaurants, butchers at these shops are showing off their skill. At Bolyard’s, there’s the cutting room where, visible through a large window, Bolyard breaks down animal carcasses into sections ready to be cut, ground, stuffed, smoked, boiled and pulled. Butchery, another whole-animal meat shop that opened last year at Truffles restaurant in Ladue, has a glassed-in room lined with pink Himalayan salt for dry-aging beef. And while The Block in Webster Groves wasn’t the first restaurant to butcher meat on-site, it’s among the few to sell to retail customers; the cold case, full of the day’s cuts, is the first thing you see when entering the restaurant. As popular imagination tells it, it used to be – before plastic wrap and Styrofoam rectangles replaced brown paper; when boning knives, not meat slicers, were the tools
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Chris Bolyard separates the pork loin from the belly at his butcher shop, Bolyard's Meat & Provisions.
“I think anyone who is a carnivore needs to understand that meat does not originally come in these neat little packages.” – JULIA CHILD, INTERVIEW MAGAZINE, 1989
of the trade – the neighborhood butcher shop was where you went to get fresh cuts from anything that mooed, clucked, baa-ed, quacked or grunted. It was where the guy behind the counter educated and suggested alternatives: “Say, Sam, how do you cook oxtail?” So, what changed? “Wal-Mart,” said 35-year-old Andrew Jennrich, a butcher at Annie Gunn’s and its adjoining Smokehouse Market, and former chef at Farmhaus. “You don’t get a connection to your food at Wal-Mart. You get that connection by coming into your butcher shop, whether you want to be more conscious of where your food February 2015
is coming from, that your food was raised properly or that you’re buying product from an upstanding source.” And although Wal-Mart became the nation’s largest food retailer within 12 years of opening its first supercenter in the late 1980s, Jennrich could have just as easily singled out Costco, Sam’s Club or any large supermarket that sources meat from a few giant food corporations, pre-packaged and ready for the case.
the 1950s, the path from production to consumption has grown increasingly complex. Consolidation of production and supply systems, policy more favorable to corporate agriculture than family farming, mergers and buyouts, increased reliance on low-wage, nonunion and immigrant labor, centralized butchering, aggressive marketing and consumer demand for all things cheap and convenient have made the disconnect
of the Chinese Shineway Group) process 64 percent of America’s pork. With government oversight and enforcement flagging, it’s as if those antitrust laws were never written. Ryan McDonald, who heads up Butchery and was formerly chef de cuisine at Juniper, attributes part of the problem to consumer acquiescence. “It became easy to choose convenience over quality and (for) people not as informed – or choosing not to inform themselves – of where they’re food is coming from,” said McDonald.
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hy, then, the recent interest in wholeanimal butchery? Despite rising prices, we certainly are not eating less meat; last year the average American chowed down on about 202 pounds of red meat and poultry, most of it from only a few parts of the animal. Yet consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with the ethics of meat production and processing. “People have always been into meat (but now) care more about what kind of meat they’re eating,” McDonald said. When it comes to pork, he noted, people want a well-fed, well-bred pig raised without hormones and antibiotics. “They don’t want the commodity pork that’s been treated poorly and fed crap food.” Ladley agreed. “One of the good things with the increase in food culture over the last eight years and people’s re-interest in food – whether they’re taking pictures of it because it’s pretty or doing sous vide at home or just cooking food again – is that they are getting connected with their food,” he said. “It’s a very comforting trend, the fact that people are getting more into the quality.”
The walk-in at Bolyard's Meat & Provisions
Even before the big-box stores, the infrastructure of industrialized butchery was already in place a century ago. “It’s like that episode of The Simpsons,” said Chris Ladley, butcher for The Block and cook at Quincy Street Bistro. “The one where Lisa is watching a film about where meat comes from and the cows go in one end of the building and come out the other as burgers.”
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n the early 20th century, even small-time butchers sourced meat from big packinghouses, which operated their facilities near major urban livestock markets and controlled everything, from stockyards to transportation to marketing, before antitrust laws broke their monopolies. Since February 2015
“Understand, when you eat meat, that something did die. You have an obligation to value it – not just the sirloin but also all those wonderful tough little bits.”
easy, if not inevitable. The notion of a family-owned, locally focused butcher shop, as the new generation of butchers imagines it, may be exactly that – hazy, embellished, even somewhat fictionalized.
– ANTHONY BOURDAIN, INTERVIEW WITH POWELL'S BOOKS, 2006
But that doesn’t lessen the importance of the movement, and it’s not as if a problem doesn’t exist. About 60 years ago, the four biggest packinghouses – Armour, Swift, Cudahy and Wilson – controlled 40 percent of the fresh beef trade. Today, Tyson Foods, Cargill, Swift (now JBS) and National Beef Packing Co. are the powerhouses, controlling nearly 85 percent of the U.S. cattle market. Three of those same companies, plus Smithfield Foods (now a subsidiary
Think how the locavore movement of the past 10 years has changed our expectations and raised awareness of issues surrounding sustainability, access, health and animal welfare. When consumers ultimately responded to sustainably grown, locally sourced food, we saw the rise of farmers markets and grocers like St. Louis’ Local Harvest Grocery. Today, even large grocery chains are circling back and listing the local provenance of their produce. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 39
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estaurants have been a driving force in artisanal butchery, with many St. Louis chefs bringing whole animals into their kitchens to break down themselves. Consider how the humble hamburger has been elevated by restaurants grinding their own blends, or the increasing number of kitchens making charcuterie. “The love affair with old school butcheries by my generation comes from the movement of restaurants producing more in their kitchens instead of outsourcing, whether they’re baking their own bread or pastries or making charcuterie,” said Jennrich.
“The gourmet enjoys the less familiar parts of meat animals …... Heads, brains, kidneys, tongues, ribs, shanks, hocks, feet and tails all make delectable concoctions when properly prepared.” – FRANK G. ASHBROOK, BUTCHERING, PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION OF MEAT, 1955
As it did a century ago, meat raises cultural anxieties. Books like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals, movies like Food, Inc. and Fast Food Nation have sensitized people to the perils of industrialized meat production and the dispassionate, often brutal treatment of the animals we eat. “If these animals are giving their lives to feed us, then they should have the best lives possible before they meet their demise,” Bolyard said. Before opening their “whole beast” butchery, he and his wife visited the farms they wanted to work with, insisting that animals be grass-fed, hormoneand antibiotic-free and transported to local processers who adhere to maximally humane slaughter standards. For Ladley, the detachment people have with meat is befuddling. “When I was working at The Dubliner, people would see us carrying the pigs off the truck to the kitchen and think it was gross, but they were perfectly fine seeing a stack of ice-covered boxes full of pork,” he recalled. “I’m not saying we have to go back Butchery's Ryan McDonald trims a 103-rib section to yield a rib-eye and Kansas City strip steak.
From the source Local whole-animal butcher shops and the farms they buy from:
THE BLOCK Pork: Rensing Hog Farms, New Douglas, Illinois ANNIE GUNN’S & SMOKEHOUSE MARKET Pork: Newman Farm, Myrtle, Missouri
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Lamb: Root + Holler, Cape Girardeau, Missouri BOLYARD’S MEAT & PROVISIONS Beef: Shire Gate Farm, Owensville, Missouri; Double B Ranch, Perryville, Missouri
Pork: Newman Farm, Myrtle, Missouri; Circle B Ranch, Seymour, Missouri Chicken: Buttonwood Farm, California, Missouri TRUFFLES BUTCHERY Beef: Price Family Farm,
Troy, Missouri Texas Wagyu beef: Beeman Family Ranch, Harwood, Texas Pork: Newman Farm, Myrtle, Missouri Lamb: Elysian Fields Farm, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
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At Butchery, racks of beef dry age in a room lined with pink Himalayan salt.
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met cheerfully. “We explain where it comes from, how to cook it and what it’s comparable to.” The shop uses every part of the animal to make sausages, sipping broths, lard, smoked hocks and trotters, even dog treats and tallow-based soaps and balms, sold at nearby boutique Maven. It’s a bit different for Butchery because its parent restaurant, Truffles, must stock certain popular cuts like tenderloin, strip loins and hanger steaks. But the butcher shop itself still relies on the half and whole beeves and two pigs it receives each week. McDonald uses the same approach as Bolyard. “There are cool cuts like Delmonico, which is carried over from the ribeye,” he said. “And even at the end of the Delmonico section you’re going to get a couple of chuck-eye steaks, but they’re still great. They have the same kind of fat content and you’re going to pay half the price.” The Block likes to showcase off-cuts like Denver (underblade steak) and culotte (sirloin cap). “They’re really good cuts of meat that are unfamiliar to the general public,” Ladley said. He’s also a big fan of the teres major, a muscle inside the shoulder. “They aren’t gigantic, but they’re a great balance between tenderness and flavor.” For him, it’s all about educating consumers. “I think once we get people into off-cuts and humanely raised and properly butchered animals, the next step is getting more people into eating offal (organs and entrails). That’s what I would want to see.” Chris Ladley prepares to break down a whole hog at The Block.
to Little House on the Prairie, but the better connection we have with our food, the more we’re not going to stand for really horrible farming practices.”
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t Bolyard’s, rib-eyes are the most popular cut by far. At Butchery, beef tenderloin is asked for constantly. This raises a very big question, one that encompasses small business economics, environmental sustainability and consumer education: If you’re buying a cow or two a week, plus a couple pigs, but all that people request are the usual cuts
The Block 146 W. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, 314.918.7900, theblockrestaurant.com/ butcher-shop
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from a very small part of a very large animal, what’s your role as a butcher who wants to stay in business? For Bolyard, it’s information. “It’s our responsibility to educate people on the rest of the animal and all these awesome cuts you can get besides the rib-eyes and strips,” he said. He doesn’t stock casefuls of primal cuts like a supermarket would. “I tell people we get one cow a week and when those cuts are gone, they’re gone. So we turn people on to all these other cuts, like a heel steak or a ranch steak.” Baffled looks are
Annie Gunn’s and Smokehouse Market 16806 Chesterfield Airport Road, Chesterfield,636.532.3314, smokehousemarket.com
Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions 2810 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, 314.647.2567, bolyardsmeat.com
But first there will need to be more butcher shops. “There’s definitely room for more in St. Louis, just for the convenience factor,” McDonald said. Jennrich agreed. “It will come from community support because it requires the consumer be on board,” he said. Of course, price remains the major obstacle to consumer support of local and artisanal food products, including meat. But as awareness and information spread, and as more local butcheries open their doors in town, it’s possible that demand will increase enough to drive prices down and cause meat eaters to recognize the advantages of shopping local. Quality, safety and flavor improve, and customers develop a relationship with their local butcher – like the imagined old days, made real here and now.
Truffles Butchery 9202 Clayton Road, Ladue, 314.567.9100, todayattruffles.com
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"I tell people we get one cow a week and when those cuts are gone, they're gone. So we turn people on to all these other cuts." – CHRIS BOLYARD, BOLYARD'S MEAT & PROVISIONS
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STUFF TO DO:
THIS MONTH BY BYRON KERMAN
I Scream for Ice Cream for Breakfast Day Feb. 7 – 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., I Scream Cakes, 2641 Cherokee St., St. Louis, 314.932.5758, iscreamcakes.com Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (yes, it’s a thing) is celebrated with an early opening at Cherokee Street’s I Scream Cakes. Arrive at 9 a.m. for hot waffles, oatmeal, fruit smoothies, blended iced coffee beverages, Sump Coffee drinks and ice cream sandwiches made with Vincent Van Doughnuts. Mmm…
Run for the Chocolate Feb. 14 – 9 a.m., Bissinger’s Chocolate Factory, 1600 N. Broadway, St. Louis, 314.881.0322, runforthechocolate.com This year’s 5K Run for the Chocolate starts at the Temple of Temptation, aka Bissinger’s new corporate HQ and chocolate factory, then winds through the Old North neighborhood to the Mississippi Riverfront Trail. All finishers receive Bissinger’s customized chocolate medals and hot chocolate at the end. To foster – or deter – any budding romances, race organizers also divide runners into color-coded groups: On the Market, Off the Market, Happy Couples and It’s Complicated.
Glassquerade Feb. 20 – 6 to 10 p.m., Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314.367.4527, stlglass.com This month’s Third Friday party at the Third
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Degree Glass Factory has a Mardi Gras theme. Glassquerade features Hurricanes and noshes from three food trucks: Andrew’s Bayou Ribs, Completely Sauced and The Sweet Divine. Enjoy live music, fire-spinning, glassblowing demonstrations and interactive glass craft projects, too.
Soup’s On & Just Desserts Feb. 22 - 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., St. Louis Community College at Meramec, 11133 Big Bend Blvd., Kirkwood, 314.918.9119, manorgrove.com Some two dozen restaurants will compete for the title of top tureen at the Soup’s On cook-off. Manor Grove’s annual affair offers soup sampling from the likes of Balaban’s, Cafe Bistro at Nordstrom, Cielo, Eclipse, Gobble Stop Smokehouse, McCormick & Schmick’s, Oceano Bistro, Schneithorst’s, Straub’s and The Tenderloin Room. Last year’s slurpables included roasted cauliflower with sun-dried tomato pesto, butternut squash bisque, creamy Reuben, cream of crab and lobster bisque.
FestivAle St. Louis Feb. 28 – 8 to 10:30 p.m., Neo on Locust, 2801 Locust St., St. Louis, 314.733.1241, cff.org/chapters/gateway Winter beers will flow like water from a burst dam at the FestivAle St. Louis, which benefits the St. Louis-area chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. New area February 2015
microbreweries like Earthbound Brewing, Modern Brewery, Old Bakery Beer (p. 11) and Templar Brewing join faves like 4 Hands, The Civil Life, Perennial Artisan Ales, Schlafly and many more for a bibulous sample-fest. Food is provided by Bissinger’s, Pi, HandleBar and Strange Donuts.
Cooking Classes at L’École Culinaire Dates and times vary, L’École Culinaire, 9811 S. Forty Drive, Ladue, 314.587.2433, lecole.edu It’s cool at L’École, where cooking classes for the public are taught by the same tall toques who turn out some of the next generation of fine-dining chefs. Consider instruction in this month’s classes: Chocolate Basics, Regional Italian Cuisine, Regional Spanish Cuisine, Vegetarian Cuisine, Wine Tasting, Fresh Pasta Basics, Grilling Techniques and Basic Baking. Register online.
sponsored events Opera Theatre’s Annual Wine and Beer Tasting Feb. 6 – 6 to 8 p.m., Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel Ave., Webster Groves, 314.963.4229, experienceopera.org Support the Opera Theatre at its annual wine and beer tasting event, featuring February 2015
more than 40 wine and beer samples from Grey Eagle Distributors and area restaurants like Big Sky Cafe, Cedar Lake Cellars and Robust. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres from Small Batch, Three Kings and Vin de Set, as well as Kaldi’s coffee and Kakao chocolate. Tickets available online or by phone.
Schlafly Winter Market Feb. 28 – 8:30 a.m. to noon, Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave., Maplewood, 314.241.2337 x2, schlaflyfarmersmarket.com This popular winter market is held indoors in the Crown Room at Schlafly Bottleworks. Shop for winter produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods and other specialty products from local farmers and artisans.
Falling in Love … in Five Courses Feb. 28 – 6 p.m., Four Seasons Hotel, 999 N. Second St., St. Louis, 314.539.5472, stlcc.edu/foundation Enjoy a five-course meal and meet celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich at a benefit for students at St. Louis Community College. Bastianich will oversee the meal with help from area chefs Gianni Colucci of Cielo, Casey Shiller of Jilly’s Cupcake Bar and STLCC culinary students. Tickets available online or by phone.
A Taste of Fiction March 6 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Central Library, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, 314.539.0305, slplfoundation.org/about/events Join 16 area pastry chefs at the library as they interpret classic works of literature through pastry and enjoy samples of their hard work while you marvel at their creations. Butler’s Pantry will provide savory appetizers, and beer, wine and soda will be available, too. Purchase tickets online. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 45
WHAT I DO
Rick Kazmer and Sam McCulloch
“We’re very nontraditional,” said Taste general manager Sam McCulloch, referring to her upcoming wedding plans. But then, her relationship with fiance Rick Kazmer has been unconventional since the day they met. “The fact that we both work in the industry is what makes it work,” said Kazmer, chef de cuisine at Cleveland-Heath. This charming restaurant couple explains what keeps them connected.
How did you meet? McCulloch: I have this bad habit of getting people’s numbers and texting them and making friends with them over the phone. I go to Arizona every year with my best friend. Jenny (Cleveland) and Ed (Heath) knew I was going, and they were like, “Our friend Rick is out there. You should go hang out with him. Tell him how great the restaurant is and why he should work here.” I got his phone number, and we were texting back and forth. Kazmer: This person was texting me: “Hey, we need to hang out.” I was like, “Who is this?” At the end of it, I still didn’t even know – it was a person named Sam – if it was a boy or girl.
(to help open Cleveland-Heath), and we started dating. Why do they call you Rickipedia at Cleveland-Heath? M: He knows everything. If you have a question on a technique or an ingredient or some fruit that no one’s ever heard of that grows every six years, he’ll know what it’s called. K: I do a lot of reading. M: I’ll come home, and he’ll have three books spread out. One will be about bread, one is about cured meats … You could make a sandwich out of the books. K: We got that sherry book that just came out. I’m ready to dive into that. You both have experience bartending, too. K: It’s a hobby for us at home. We moved into a house that has a bar in the basement. We liked the house for other reasons, but that didn’t hurt.
What’s the house specialty drink? M: We make a lot of tiki drinks. It’s more fun than making a Manhattan. What do you do for fun on days off? M: We eat (out) a lot. We have a couple favorites, but we’ve also got a list of 20 places we haven’t made it to, so we’re not allowed to repeat anywhere right now. What’s your ideal date night? M: I’m obsessed with little tiny dive bars in little tiny towns. We’ll get a shitty pizza and a Stag beer. That’s my ideal romantic night. How are your wedding reception plans going? K: I try not to think about it too much. The (catering) guy we found said, “If you want to work with me on anything, if you’ve got recipes you want to bring in, we can do that.” That was a big deal because we found a couple places that were beautiful locations, but they hand you the menu and – ugh. M: My family would be totally down with only Bud Light and hot dogs. What gift are you dying to get? M: For our honeymoon, we’ll probably go camping, so the more expensive camping stuff is what I really want. What do you want? K: Pots and pans. – Ligaya Figueras
PHOTO BY ASHLEY GIESEKING
When did you finally meet in person? K: I came to St. Louis to visit Ed and Jenny. Ed said, “You are coming to dinner tonight and Sam is coming. I moved here five to six weeks later
Cleveland-Heath, 106 N. Main St., Edwardsville, clevelandheath.com Taste, 4584 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, tastebarstl.com 46 I SAUCE MAGAZINE I saucemagazine.com
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