July 2023

JULY 2023 • VOLUME 23, ISSUE 7

PUBLISHER

EXECUTIVE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR

DIGITAL EDITOR

STAFF WRITER

ART DIRECTOR

SENIOR DESIGNER

EDIBLE WEEKEND EDITOR

PROOFREADER

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE EVENTS COORDINATOR

LISTINGS EDITOR

FACT-CHECKER

INTERNS

Allyson Mace

Meera Nagarajan

Liz Wolfson

Lauren Healey

Iain Shaw

Meera Nagarajan

Michelle Volansky

Lauren Healey

Heather Hughes Huff

Ashley Gieseking, Virginia Harold, Lauren Healey, Izaiah Johnson, Carmen Troesser, Michelle Volansky

Lauren Healey, Amy Hyde, Bill Moran, Meera Nagarajan, Alexander Olson, Iain Shaw, Michelle Volansky, Liz Wolfson

Allyson Mace

Kelli Jones

Amy Hyde

Amy Hyde

Alexander Olson

Sam Tarter, Jonas Wall

To place advertisements in Sauce Magazine, contact the advertising department at 314.772.8004 or sales@saucemagazine.com.

All contents of Sauce Magazine are copyright ©2001-2023– by Bent Mind Creative Group, LLC. The Sauce name and logo are both registered to the publisher, Bent Mind Creative Group, LLC. Reproduction or other use, in whole or in part, of the contents without permission of

the publisher is strictly prohibited. While the information has been compiled carefully to ensure maximum accuracy at the time of publication, it is provided for general guidance only and is subject to change. The publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy of all information or be responsible for omissions or errors.

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.

Our reviewers are never provided with complimentary food or drinks from the restaurants in exchange for favorable reviews, nor are their identities as reviewers made known during their visits.

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PHOTO BY IZAIAH JOHNSON

PHOTO BY IZAIAH JOHNSON

Eat This

The spinach pie from The Gyro Co. has countless layers of crispy phyllo, folded into twobite triangles. The thin, lighter-than-air dough marries perfectly with the creamy filling of spinach, fresh herbs and salty feta. Each order of six pieces is served with a cucumber tzatziki sauce, a perfect counterpoint to the piping hot interior. Pro tip: Call ahead and ask them to put an order aside for you before you arrive, as regulars rarely leave without at least one. We get two: one for the car ride home and the other to share. Greek goddess Demeter would be a fan.

IN THE KNOW

FUFU N’ SAUCE

Fufu comes in many different forms across the African continent; food truck Fufu n’ Sauce owner Adjo Honsou makes it in the West African style, with plantain or yam flour boiled, pounded and shaped into starchy balls. “Fufu is just so embedded in our culture,” said Honsou, who was born and raised in Togo. The dish is designed to be shared, with everyone grabbing some fufu from one plate and dipping it into a bowl of stew.

Fufu n’ Sauce offers dishes like egusi (a tomato-based West African stew made with pumpkin seeds), oxtail stew, jollof rice and fried plantains, as well as drinks like hibiscus tea. Customers can order a stew (the “sauce” of the meal) with white rice or fufu, but Honsou said you really need to opt for the latter: “Most people always get the fufu because that’s the experience,” she said.

Find Fufu n’ Sauce at the Be Well Farmers’ Market Bazaar in North City every Wednesday as well as events around town like Taste of St. Louis and Festival of Nations.

Instagram and Facebook: @fufunsauce

DRINK THIS

The barrel-aged, birthday cake, oat-milk latte on nitro tap at LongStory Coffee is just as delicious as it is wordy. Green coffee beans are aged in whiskey barrels for a minimum of four weeks. The flavor-infused beans are then roasted and used to make cold brew that’s blended with cookie butter, vanilla and oat milk and put on the nitro tap. It’s got a whisper of bourbon flavor, and on the sweetness scale it’s a step further than your regular morning coffee. It’s fun and serious and bougie all at the same time.

732 S. Illinois St., Belleville, 618.975.7398, longstorycoffee.com

A percentage of your purchase at these restaurants and will support Pedal the Cause's mission of funding innovative cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Scan the QR code for a more info!

DINE OUT

360

4 Hands Brewing (Downtown)

Babbo's Spaghetteria

Basso

Bowood by Niche

Brasserie by Niche

Cafe Napoli

Chicken Out (Loop & Kirkwood)

City Coffee & Creperie

Colleen's Cookies

Companion

Del Pietro's Everbowl

Herbies

Hi-Pointe Drive-In (McCausland, Kirkwood, Wash Ave)

Ices Plain and Fancy

Il Palato

Kaldi's Krueger's Bar

Ladue Taco

Llywelyn's (Webster, St. Charles)

Mai Lee

Manifest Juice and Broth

Napoli 2

Napoli III

Nudo House

Park Avenue Coffee

Pastaria

Pastaria Deli & Wine

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab

Rec Hall STL (St. Charles)

Seoul Taco

Shortleaf Brewing (Winghaven)

Sidney Street Cafe

Source Juicery

Sugo's

Westport Social

SHOP

Barre STL

BOCA Orthodontic & Whitening

College Hunks Hauling Junk

Gifted Gardner

Glenn Betz Jewelers

Glik's (Edwardsville, online)

Happy Up Inc (Edwardsville, Clayton)

Hearth & Soul

Imagination Toys

Ken Miesner's Flower Shoppe

Ladue Pharmacy

Lilly Pulitzer

Mark O. Howald Antiques & Fine Art

Mister Guy & MG Women

Schnarr's Hardware(Webster, Ladue)

Sign of the Arrow

The Nook

Rungolee

Vie Boutique

Special support provided by: pedalthecause.org/awwcd

hit list 4 new places to try this month

Down an alley, through an unmarked door and up the elevator to the third floor of a Central West End building, you’ll find Maryland House by Brennan’s. The vibes here are urban clubhouse chic with stunning patio views of the neighborhood and eye-catching art and books dispersed throughout the large, open space. The interior design lends itself to any occasion and kind of eating. Low couches are perfect for drinks and nibbles like the melted raclette, which is delightfully gooey and served with warm, soft pretzels for dipping, while more robust dishes are best enjoyed at a table. The black garlic pizza gets a creamy boost from burrata, which melds beautifully with the mellow, nutty garlic. Creative, well-balanced cocktails match the fun décor; the Tiki Negroni made with aged rum, bananainfused sweet vermouth, coconut-fat washed Campari and orange and tiki bitters, and Fizzy Lifting Drink – a rich cherry bomb – are both whimsical-yetadult drinks.

Maryland Plaza, St. Louis, 314.497.4449, themarylandhouse.com

Cafe Ganadara, the latest concept from the owners of Chicken Seven, is a welcome addition to the southernmost stretch of Hampton Avenue. While Chicken Seven focuses primarily on Korean-style fried chicken, the menu at Cafe Ganadara offers a more expansive selection of entrees as well as a whole menu of croffles, a croissant-waffle hybrid that can be topped with your pick of sweet or savory toppings. The SDSD, a wooden skewer filled with alternating pieces of juicy sausage and chewy rice cake, is drizzled with a sweet sauce that soaks into the rice cake and provides a nice counterpoint to the salty sausage. The japchae bap features lovely, glassy noodles made from sweet potato starch tossed with stir-fried vegetables, spice-infused oil and, if you’d like, beef. The chocolate creme croffle, topped with chocolate chips, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, held its crisp admirably despite the moist toppings and made for a fanciful end to the meal.

6413 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, Facebook: Café Ganadara opposite page: maryland house's all carrot, no stick cocktail; this page, from top: amuse bougie at maryland house, the interior at maryland house, salmon rice crunch at maryland house

MARYLAND HOUSE BY BRENNAN'S

CAFE

GANADARA

PHOTOS BY MICHELLE VOLANSKY

from top: co-owners jada huffman, left, and brandace johnson; juices from b juiced

DUMPLINGS AND TEA

The northern Chinese-style dumplings are a stand-out of this adorable restaurant’s lengthy menu. Served in portions of six, each dumpling is wrapped in a wheat flour-based casing that’s thick enough to give you something to chew on before you hit the flavorful center. Fillings include pork with kale, shrimp with zucchini and egg, and tofu with cabbage and carrots; preparation choices include boiled, pan-fried or deep-fried. Dip them in soy sauce or order one of the specialty sauces like ponzu, garlic or sweet chile. Another essential order is the Chinese Hamburger (or roujiamo), a flatbread bun stuffed with stewed pork belly, diced green peppers and cilantro. This Shaanxi province specialty is one of several Chinese street foods at Dumplings & Tea that are in short supply in St. Louis. Also in that category are the tasty baozi, fluffy, steamed buns filled with pork or other fillings. Though typically eaten for breakfast in China, these are great any time of day.

RES RANTS

137 Chesterfield Towne Center, Chesterfield, 636.778.9090, dumplingstea.com

When B Juiced co-owner Brandace Johnson caught Covid in the early days of the pandemic and tried to have fresh-pressed juice delivered to her in North County, she learned that no juice bar delivered to her zip code; thus, the idea for B Juiced was born. The bright and refreshing bImmune juice with yellow bell pepper, turmeric, ginger, lemon, coconut water and pineapple is a delicious and unique addition to St. Louis’ juice offerings. You can’t go wrong with the avocado toast with cherry tomato, microgreens, sea salt and a honeybalsamic glaze. The Blue Tropics smoothie bowl is fruity and sweet but not too cloying with blue spirulina, pineapple, mango, banana and oat milk topped with crunchy, cinnamonlaced granola, along with blueberry, strawberry, honey and coconut flakes. The bBoosted wellness shot has quite a spicy kick with pineapple, jalapeno, cilantro and lime.

605 S. Florissant Road, Ferguson, 314.265.8833, bjuicedmo.com

B JUICED

CANVAS Inspired Living

Are you ready to be inspired? Visit CANVAS Inspired Living, a woman-owned boutique dispensary for cannabis, kratom and medicinal mushrooms, in the heart of downtown Maplewood. CANVAS has a huge selection of all-natural products including edibles and drinks, tinctures and topicals, plus flower and vapes. Did you know most cannabis companies use artificial colors and flavors in their drinks and

edibles? You won't find anything like that at CANVAS – everything is all-natural! Plus, CANVAS also has a stunning eco-special gift collection for the cannabis and mushroom fans in your life. Marijuana cookie cutters, a huge book collection on cannabis and psilocybin, plus hemp textile apparel and accessories.

CANVAS is not your typical dispensary nor your typical headshop. CANVAS is for the educated people who love to get high on life and inspired naturally. This summer they have specials on everything Peachy, Bee Peachy tea, Peach CBC mood-enhancing gummies and locally made

sparkling Peach Buzz 10-milligram Delta-9 drinks.

If you love s’mores and want to be a truly happy camper, visit CANVAS for BOGO 50% deals on all chocolates all summer. Make s’mores special with CBD or THC chocolates. Pair your s’mores with some Marshmallow OG THCA flower, which features flavors like butter, vanilla and pepper. The dominant terpene of this strain is calming, relaxing Limonene – perfect for a summer night around the fire.

7312 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314.308.9122, canvasinspiredliving.com

PHOTO BY KELLI JONES

4 Recreational marijuana businesses to check out this summer

Now that recreational cannabis has been legalized in Missouri, we’re loving the variety of marijuana products we can purchase at our leisure. Check out the following businesses for some of the best goods around.

3Fifteen Primo

Experience the pride of St. Louis at 3Fifteen Primo, your premier destination for medical and recreational cannabis. Located in St. Louis and Valley Park, their dispensaries offer a wide variety of high-quality products, including top flower strains, edibles, vape cartridges, disposables, infused pre-rolls, concentrates and more – all at unbeatable prices. Whether you choose to shop instore or pre-order online, they ensure a convenient and elevated experience. Join the Free Rewards Program to access new weekly deals and earn points on every purchase, with a $20 back awaiting you after spending your first $100. Come see why 3Fifteen Primo is the trusted choice for cannabis enthusiasts in Missouri and across the Midwest.

5501 Chippewa St., St. Louis, 314.330.2118; 839 Meramec Station Road, Valley Park, 314.924.0101, 315primo.com

CLOVR

CLOVR is a Kansas City-based, leading manufacturer of Wana, Keef, Robhots, Mountain High Suckers, Funny Bone, and its own line of CLOVR pre-rolls, extracts and chocolates. Offering a wide variety of consumption methods for every patient CLOVR and its partner brands can be found in almost any dispensary in the state of Missouri. Many products contain added cannabinoids like CBD, CBN, CBG and THC for more targeted effects that can easily be tailored to each patient’s individual needs. Clovr partners with world-renowned chocolatier Christopher Elbow to create chocolate products, including chocolate bars, peanut butter cups, and bonbons both in a variety of flavors. The team emphasizes quality raw materials in and quality products out for safety and consistency. clovrcannabis.com

Cookies St. Louis

Welcome to Cookies St. Louis, where they know the true power of the plant and bring you the best selection of premium products, handpicked for the true cannabis connoisseur. They've got you covered with weekly deals and a wide range of premium Cookies flower, along with top-notch edibles, vape cartridges, disposables, pre-rolls, concentrates, drinkables and more. If you want to save more money and earn free weed, join the Free Rewards Program and start earning points on every purchase. Once you spend your first $100, they'll give you $20 back. Whether you want to order online, shop inside the store, or pick up your preorder in the drive-thru, they've got the convenience factor covered too. At Cookies St. Louis, they have the goods and the good vibes, so pull up and experience the best of the best.

11088 New Halls Ferry Road, Florissant, 314.882.2569, cookiessaintlouis.com

raising the bar

Local tavern expert Bill Moran’s top five places to belly up to the bar right now

BY BILL MORAN

The Silver Ballroom

The Silver Ballroom is an iconic dive bar with pinball machines and punk rock music. There are as many as 20 new and vintage machines, and the collection rotates regularly. Hungry? Order a housemade Australian meat pie or dine on some incredible Korean food created by Melanie Meyer of The Tiny Chef.

4701 Morgan Ford Road, St. Louis, 314.832.9223, thesilverballroom.com

The Crow’s Nest

This Maplewood bar can satisfy any hungry crowd.  The diverse menu includes meat and vegetarian options, and the weekend’s Metal Brunch is a hangover-busting breakfast serving cocktails and classic heavy metal music. Enjoy service inside or on the large, covered deck out back.

7336 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314.781.0989, crowsneststl.com

Jack Nolen’s

This Soulard staple has an elevated tavern vibe.  Come for the burgers and stay for the friendly crowd. The patio is comfortable, and the inside bar is great for watching a game or chatting with the many regulars. For whiskey fans, keep your eye out for some surprises: I’ve seen pours of Thomas H. Handy, Van Winkle 12 Year, Weller Full Proof and Antique 107, to name a few.

2501 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, Facebook: Jack Nolen’s

Tick Tock Tavern

For a classic tavern feel and decor unlike any other in the St. Louis area, check out this Tower Grove East neighborhood bar. The theme here is great service, craft beers and owls. The large front patio is dog-friendly and perfect for people watching.

3459 Magnolia Ave., St. Louis, Facebook: Tick Tock Tavern

The Vandy

If craft cocktails and a diverse whiskey selection are more your speed, then look no further than The Vandy.  Not only does this bar serve cocktails created with housemade mixers and locally sourced ingredients, but their curated list of single-barrel whiskeys can also be purchased by the bottle. Boss Taco provides tacos and dips Tuesday to Saturday while Pizza Politano serves up Neapolitanstyle pizza on Sunday nights.

1301 S. Vandeventer Ave., St. Louis, 314.472.5321, thevandystl.com

Bill Moran is the creator of Instagram account @st.louis_taverns, where Moran anonymously reviews bars throughout the St. Louis area. He created the account in March 2021 after seeing many of his favorite bars struggling through pandemic restrictions. It has since evolved into a fun pastime of exploring the many neighborhoods in and around St. Louis.

From dive bars to lounges, cocktail bars to taverns, St Louis has a bar to satisfy all types. I am usually pretty confident when making bar recommendations, but when asked to name my favorite, I stumble: There are so many great bars, and I keep adding more to my evolving list of top spots. With that in mind, here are five recommendations from my rotating list of favorites.

PHOTO BY ASHLEY GIESEKING

chef tour

WITH JESSE MENDICA RISK

Jesse Mendica Risk, executive chef at Olive + Oak, loves eating out; but as a chef married to another chef (Clover and the Bee and O+O Pizza executive chef Mike Risk), getting to new restaurants can be challenging. “Since we’re just off on Mondays and Wednesdays, when possible, that limits us,” she said. “There’s a lot of places that I’d love to go to, but they’re open, like, Thursday through Sunday. So, I’ll never even know [them].” Still, the duo does manage to get out, especially to neighborhood spots they can walk to in Webster Groves, where they live and work, as well as places farther afield. Here, Mendica Risk talks about some of her favorite local eateries, how she likes to order, and the menu details that stick with her after the meal is finished. – Liz Wolfson

Have a Cow

“I just love being in there and talking to the guy that gives you the little stanchion that has a picture of a cow. And he says, ‘She just gave me her first calf the other day,’ and I love how real it is. The guy knows his cows, and he knows his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and it’s great.

What I had the other day that just knocked my socks off was their grilled peanut butter and jelly. And it seems so silly, but I love it that they put it on the menu in the first place, because that’s totally what I want when I go there. But they have a great burger. They have great egg sandwiches. Everything there seems good.”

2742 Lafayette Ave., St. Louis, 314.261.0305, haveacow.farm/cafe

Songbird

“We went to Songbird just the other day, and I

remembered again how much just being around [co-owner] Chris Meyer makes anybody happy. … My favorite thing about their menu is that they give so much respect to all the farms and their providers. That always dictates what I’m gonna get, if it’s the Buttonwood chicken or the Buttonwood eggs. Just reading the respect that they give their farmers. They have this one dish, and … at the end of the description, it says, ‘With this one dish, you supported seven local growers and farmers.’ That’s cool.”

4476 Chouteau Ave., St. Louis, 314.781.4344, songbirdstl.com

Olio

“Olio has food that tastes like I want everything in the world to taste all the time.

PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER

below: sprouted grain english muffin at songbird

It’s such a good menu where everything’s pretty tiny, [so] you can kind of order the whole menu. We bring friends when we go there because when it’s just two people, you want to order too much, and it’s hard to choose. But if you can, just leave off a couple things and then order everything else. You can’t miss the hummus. But honestly, it’s really a matter of getting everything and eating all of it, like, little bite here and a bite from that plate. I love how all of it goes together so perfectly.”

1634 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, 314.932.1088, bengelina.com/olio

Biggie’s Restaurant and Bar

“I didn’t know about Biggie’s until I met [husband Michael Risk] and his family, and I can’t believe I lived my whole life without them. Every time you go, it’s just great. It’s a bar and grill that’s been there forever and, you know, soccer teams go after they win a game or whatever. It’s that kind of place.”

3332 Watson Road, St. Louis, 314.781.0060, biggiesrestaurant.com

Sushi Station

“Sushi Station just makes everybody happy every time. Not only do they have all the veggie sushi that I can get my hands on, but the

opposite page: the bar at louie; clockwise from top left: rips and dips at olio, stuffed pasta at louie and broccolini pizza at louie

orange chicken there –it is so good. We always try to have a glass of wine or beer [with it], but then [co-owner] Pui [Nammakhot] always sends out sake for us, so that happens.”

29 N. Gore Ave., Webster Groves, 314.733.5511, thesushistation.com

DD Mau

“Those tacos that they have are the best – it’s the roti ‘taco shell’ that makes them so amazing.”

20 Allen Ave., Webster Groves, 314.926.0900; 11982 Dorsett Road, Maryland Heights, 314.942.2300, ddmaustl.com

Louie

“We kind of have a formula to how we order [at Louie]. We’ll split an appetizer, we’ll split a pizza and we’ll

get whatever fish special they have for the night and whatever stuffed pasta special they have for the night. Their specials every night are always spot on. We always switch back and forth on the Rosie y Rosa vodka cocktail and the gin cocktail. From there, they pair the wines for us; they suggest it, and it’s always spot on.”

706 DeMun Ave., Clayton, 314.300.8188, louiedemun.com

Balkan Treat Box

“The pide is so good. And so are the cevapi, those sausages and bread that just taste like the fire that they came from. But I love that they always switch up their veggie pide. And so that’s pretty much what we get every time. … I love the way they celebrate all of what’s in season.”

8103 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314.733.5700,

OLIO PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER; LOUIE PHOTOS BY IZAIAH JOHNSON

hot

brunch

fresh

BY MEERA NAGARAJAN

from left: lf bloody mary and oeufs et mayo at little fox

Little Fox

Little Fox is known for its top-notch beverage program, which now includes brunch cocktails. Cold brew cocktails like the Top Hat with chocolate-peanut butter whiskey, Montenegro and coffee liqueur and the Good Morning Manhattan with mezcal, reposado tequila, Averna and bitters elevate morning coffee to boozy heights. Sip on that while you wait for a waffle and lox served with a vibrant red beet-cured salmon, poppy seed crème fraiche, crispy capers and a frisee-arugula salad flecked with parsley, dill and chives. The bread program at Little Fox has also expanded for the brunch menu and can be enjoyed in dishes like the egg sandwich served on Pullman bread or the French toast sticks made with pain de mie (a French-style milk bread) and accompanied by a creamy, maple-flavored coconut sauce for dipping.

2800 Shenandoah Ave., St. Louis, 314.553.9456, littlefoxstl.com; brunch hours: Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Press

With Press’ new brunch, everything familiar is new again and morphed into brunch plates that you can’t say no to. The hamand-cheese smashbrowns are hash browns mixed with ham and cheese and smashed in a panini press until it gets super crispy and plated with whipped quark cheese, roasted tomatoes and hardboiled eggs on top. The “press” theme comes up again with the smashed pancake. A big scoop of batter is poured onto the press, yielding a footwide pancake that’s topped with seasonal fruits and whipped ricotta. Other standout items include the super moist huckleberry scones and gjetost coffee cake; the latter is flavored with honey-colored gjetost – a Norwegian cheese – that lends complex salted caramel notes to the cake, which is finished with a white chocolate-pistachio crumble for sweetness and crunch. The menu also includes Press’ signature pressed pizzas with a brunch twist, like the breakfast stuffed pizza filled with potatoes, cheese, sausage and egg and drizzled with a warm, Aleppo pepper-infused maple syrup.

2509 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, press-stl.com; brunch hours: Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

from left: french omelet, short rib hash and french toast

Bistro La Floraison

The new brunch menu items at Bistro La Floraison are, as the French say, magnifique. The French omelet, which highlights the kitchen’s technical skills, is custardy and delicate on the inside and just set on the outside. It’s served with a local, fresh quark cheese flavored with garlic confit and herbs like tarragon, chives and parsley (think: Boursin). For yet another luxurious component, opt to add a dollop of caviar. Fine details like this can be found in other dishes like their French toast made with Winslow’s Table brioche bread soaked overnight in cream, eggs, vanilla and spices like star anise and cinnamon. No French brunch would feel complete without a croque madame; here, the base is porridge bread topped with ham, cheese, Dijon mustard, a fried egg and a decadent mornay cheese sauce made with Gruyere; notes of nutmeg and clove and a dash of sherry vinegar balance the richness.

7637 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, 314.725.8880, bistrolafloraison.com; brunch hours: Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Rosé by Peno

This Lafayette Square newcomer is dishing out brunch from the start. Try the butter, jams and honeys section for light bites; select your choice of bread and pick two toppings from a list that includes strawberry-lavender jam, butter with herbes de Provence or local honey. Other noteworthy menu items include a tartine with soft-cooked egg, asparagus, smoked mozzarella and bechamel and Sicilian lamb ribs served with a sweet-and-sour agrodolce barbecue sauce, braised Swiss chard and potato salad.

1463 S. 18th St., St. Louis, 314.405.8500, rosestl.com; brunch hours: Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

PHOTO BY CAMERON KENNEDY

FIXATIONS

From chic, leisure soda to gourmet cheesy popcorn, here’s what we’re reaching for this month.

Aceitunas

Losada Pitted Gordal Olives

The green olives that come with the sidecar martini at Wright’s Tavern deserve a standing ovation. The pitted gordal olives (also known as sevillano or queen olive) hail from southern Spain. They are fat and firm, juicy and savory without a hint of bitterness. Order more than one jar because you’ll finish them before you know it.

Casamara Club Alta amaro club soda

This light and fizzy nonalcoholic “leisure soda” is all the things we want in a hot-weather canned beverage. Sweet, citrus-y mandarin orange notes layered with hints of herbal juniper and anise and warm allspice and clove suggest the flavors of a Negroni in the most subtle, easy-drinking way; plus, the chic, mod packaging design feels straight out of a 1960s Alitalia ad.

Four-pack: $11. Wine and Cheese Place, 7435 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, 314.447.9463, wineandcheeseplace.com

$8.50. Terramar Imports, terramarimports.com

Palo Hot Cheddar Popcorn

Palo Popcorn is a small-batch, gourmet manufacturer based in Wisconsin, and their collaboration with local hot sauce company Hot Charlie’s is our current addiction.

Fluffy popped kernels coated in flavorful hot sauce dust strike the perfect textural and flavor balance between moist and crunchy and spicy and sweet. These little gems are so rich, a small handful makes the perfect snack.

$3.50. Schnucks, multiple locations, schnucks.com

Bottle Bubble

These handy sleeves help you transport glass bottles to or from your next trip. Bubble wrap encases your precious cargo while a plastic encasing with a secure seal at the top provides additional protection. Plus, if your bottle breaks, the plastic case can hold all the liquid, protecting your clothes and other things in your checked luggage. Bring your favorite wine to your next destination, and bring some back home, too. It’s an affordable, smart tool to have on hand when you need it.

$3. The Wine Barrel, 3828 S. Lindbergh Blvd. #111, Sunset Hills, 314.842.9463, thewinebarrelstl.com

Izumi onigiri

Our favorite treat from Izumi’s adorable red vintage truck is their onigiri, a Japanese convenience store classic. Tightly packed triangles of lightly salted, short grain rice are stuffed with the filling of your choice (tuna and kewpie mayo, karaage, pickled plum or spicy pollock roe) and wrapped in a blanket of crisp nori. Savory, satisfying and portable, they always hit the spot.

$5. Izumi, izumistlouis.com

Beast Craft BBQ Co. The Standard barbecue sauce

Do your grilled meats a favor this summer and coat them with Beast’s house barbecue sauce. This one has the reassuring sweetness of a traditional St. Louis barbecue sauce, but allspice, cumin, celery seed and garlic give a pop that takes it above and beyond your average store-bought sauce. Its usefulness extends long after your cookout: We’ve also found ourselves using a drizzle to infuse scrambled eggs or a breakfast sandwich with sweetness and a little heat.

16-ounce bottle: $8. Beast Craft BBQ Co., 20 S. Belt West, Belleville, 618.257.9000, beastcraftbbq.com

PHOTO BY IZAIAH JOHNSON

Civil Alchemy’s sake selection

The sake selection here is packed with winners only. Recently, we picked up a bottle of Tensei’s Endless Summer with notes of melon and apple and a crisp finish. Sauce staff favorite Kanbara’s Bride of the Fox, which seems to pair with anything, is available too. Next on our list to try is the Takahiro Noble Arrow Sake, a sake that has pronounced minerality, with notes of citrus and herbs. Whatever sake you’re reaching for here, it’s clear that it was selected with care.

Prices vary. 8154 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314.801.7577, civilalchemy.com

SARAH MILLER

CO-FOUNDER AND CO-OWNER, SWITCHGRASS SPIRITS

Switchgrass Spirits co-founder Sarah Miller possesses several attributes that make her ideally suited to helping run a distillery. A moonshine recipe handed down by a grandparent is not one, but patience and a gift – an appreciation, even – for paperwork are. Thanks to the legacy of Prohibition (and taxes), spirits are highly regulated – meaning, lots of paperwork to do. “We thought, ‘Well, if we’re patient and can do paperwork, this distilling and selling spirits that need to age might be for us,’” Miller said. This year, that patience paid off: Switchgrass’ whiskey turned 4, meaning it’s now officially bonded. Here, Miller explains what that special designation means, as well as some other basics of whiskey-making and Switchgrass’ unique approach to the process. – Liz

Wolfson

“If you ever send a message to our website, it goes to me. And if people buy anything on our store, I’m the one that coordinates that. I’m kind of like the frontline communication.”

“I also do all our bookkeeping … and then also coordinating events off-site Now we have people in Kansas City, so if a bar or a store in Kansas City wants to do a tasting, I’m coordinating people that we have in K.C., to make sure they have everything they need.”

“We do a lot of tastings – we did over 300 events outside of our distillery last year. Just doing tastings and meeting people and introducing them to usually a variety of things; it’s fun to taste the difference between bourbon and rye or an apple brandy.”

“This year our whiskey turns 4, so that means it’ll be bonded, which is a special designation. I guess there was a lot of shenanigans in the world of whiskey back in the day; people were adding color and doing things in order to sell to the consumer, but it wasn’t real whiskey.”

“So, if it’s aged four years, made by the same distiller in the same season and kept on site, and 100 proof, then you can label your whiskey as bonded.”

“Bonded means that you didn’t just buy it from someone else; you made it. … And that’s where our patience paid off; we just didn’t sell someone else’s stuff, we just waited for ours to get older.”

“You might see some bottles of whiskey that are advertised that they’re sour mash; that means they take a bit of the old bacteria, and they put it in with the new batch, and that’s how they do their fermentation. So, it’s kind of like sourdough bread or sour beer. It’s just a very different flavor than when you use yeast.”

“We wanted to have a sweeter product and more control. So, we pitch new yeast every time. And that is more expensive; it takes more time, you have to clean more because you don’t want bacteria everywhere like sour mash. It is worth it though. It’s like how the flavor of an ale as opposed to a sour beer is just a huge difference.”

“We also decided to do a high-wheat mash bill. So that gives it notes of honey. We do that for our bourbon and our rye.”

“We are in the Japanese style of distilling, where we don’t just feel a certain way because it’s an old tradition … we do things because we see it makes a difference and makes better products. In Japan, they’ll take some old traditions and some new ones to make things good.”

“For example, we did experiments with smaller barrels and bigger barrels. We found that the bigger, more traditional 53-gallon barrels, we’d like the flavor more. So, we went with that even though sometimes craft distilleries will use smaller barrels to get their products ready sooner. We were like, ‘No, it’s not worth it. We like the way this one tastes.’”

“We strive to reduce our water usage. We’re efficient with our waste. … We recycle water through our floor, for radiant heating, so that we have heat in the winter, and we don’t waste water. And then we have the waste from distilling – we can give the [spent] grain to farmers, their animals really enjoy it. And then we’re getting solar panels. It’s more work, all of this stuff is more work; but it’s totally what we love doing, and so it’s worth it to us.”

6100 Idadale Ave., St. Louis, 314.203.6539, switchgrassspirits.com

PHOTOS BY VIRGINIA HAROLD

JULY

BY ALEXANDER OLSON

St. Charles Riverfest

July 2 to 4 – noon to 10 p.m., Frontier Park, 500 S. Riverside Drive, St. Charles, 636.949.3200, stcharlescitymo.gov

Kickstart the Independence Day holiday with a bang. This three-day event features a carnival, live music from a variety of local bands, a parade, craft vendors and abundant food and drinks. Riverside fireworks on the Fourth of July will round out the festival. Free admission.

The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Festival

July 8 – 11 a.m., Harold Square, 119 E. Clay St., Collinsville, catsupbottlefestival.com

Come celebrate this iconic 170-foot piece of roadside Americana. Throughout the day, folks of all ages can participate in contests and competitions, games and more. Don’t miss the ketchup tasting early in the day, or the live music playing into the evening. Free admission.

Bolyard’s Burger Battle

July 9 – 3 to 6 p.m., 2733 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, samg.bz/burgerbattle

Hear your stomach grumble? Well, let’s get ready to rumble! Sample the sliders of Justin McMillan of Balkan Treat Box and Jon Todd of Fat Fox then vote for your favorite. Perennial Artisan Ales provides beverages for this Slow Food St. Louis fundraiser. Tickets available online.

Take Root Hospitality’s Root Down at Earthdance

July 9 – 4 to 7 p.m., 233 S. Dade Ave., Ferguson, 314.521.1006, samg.bz/rootdown Branch out and try new things at this farm-forward event. Tour the farm that teaches organic gardening to the

community before enjoying the food served around the property, including a taco bar by Taqueria Morita and desserts and drinks by Bistro La Floraison and Winslow’s Table. Live music plays throughout the night by Banda Bavanda. Tickets available online.

Art Hill Film Series

July 14, 21, & 28 – 6 to 11 p.m., Saint Louis Art Museum Art Hill, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, slam.org

It’s a St. Louis tradition: a picnic on Art Hill featuring live music, food trucks and films shown on a huge screen. This year’s theme is “Teacher Feature,” commemorating a century of education programs at the museum. The lineup in order is Top Gun: Maverick, Akeelah and the Bee, and School of Rock. Free admission.

Sauce Food Truck Friday

July 14 & 28 – 4 to 8 p.m., Tower Grove Park, 4501 Southwest Drive, St. Louis, 314.772.8004, saucefoodtruckfriday.com/

Like tough choices? Tower Grove Park offers bites and sips from local food trucks on select Fridays this summer through early fall. More than 20 of our favorite trucks will be there and, luckily, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Free admission.

Kirkwood Peach Festival

July 15 – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Kirkwood Farmers’ Market, 150 E. Argonne Drive, Kirkwood, 314.822.0084, downtownkirkwood.com

Summertime would be incomplete without fresh, juicy peaches, and Kirkwood Farmers’ Market will be filled to the brim with them. Sample local peachy bites while

listening to live music by Back Page Agenda. It’ll be just peachy! Free admission.

Red Lantern City Night Market

July 22 – 5 to 11 p.m., 10 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Instagram: redlanterncity_nightmarket

A celebration of food, art and community. Step inside Saigon Cafe to experience a Japanese tea ceremony before sampling the Asian-inspired street food outside. The market will also feature beverage vendors like High Water Sake and Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. All beer proceeds are donated to the Japan America Society of St. Louis and the Japanese American Citizens League. Free admission.

Pedal the Cause: A World Without Cancer Day

Aug. 4 – participating bars and restaurants, pedalthecause.org/awwcd Support cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids by grabbing food and drink from participating bars and restaurants during A World Without Cancer Day. Seoul Taco, Nudo House, Chicken Out and Ices Plain & Fancy are just some of the local businesses that are donating a portion of the proceeds to Pedal the Cause. Find a full list of participating venues online.

denotes a sauce-sponsored event