November 2014

REVIVING

FRENCH BARBECUE

GUIDE TO THE HOLIDAYS

TOP 11 NEW

(FLIP THE MAGAZINE OVER.)

COOKBOOKS

TURKEY CHILI

P. 16

P. 35

November 2014

THANKSGIVING

6 NEW PLACES T O

T R Y P. 13

FREE, NOVEMBER 2014

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N O V E M B E R 2 014 • VO LUM E 14, ISSU E 11 Allyson Mace Ligaya Figueras Meera Nagarajan Garrett Faulkner My awardCatherine Klene winning sweetand-salty cake Garrett Faulkner Emily Lowery Rosa Heyman, Rebecca Koenig Michelle Volansky Catherine Klene Jonathan Gayman, Ashley Gieseking, Elizabeth Jochum, Elizabeth Maxson, Greg Rannells, Carmen Troesser, Michelle Volansky CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR Vidhya Nagarajan CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Glenn Bardgett, Matt Berkley, Garrett Faulkner, Ligaya Figueras, Jackie Fogas, Cranberry-orange Kellie Hynes, Byron Kerman, Jamie couscous with orange Kilgore, Ted Kilgore, Cory King, Catherine blossom water Klene, Meera Nagarajan, Maggie Pearson, Michael Renner, Dee Ryan EVENTS COORDINATOR Rebecca Ryan I make a mean LISTINGS MANAGER Rebecca Ryan cornbread ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Allyson Mace pudding. No ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jill George, Angie Rosenberg, one can resist its power.

Jackie Wagner ADVERTISING ACCOUNTS COORDINATOR Jill George INTERNS Georgia Kaye, Grace Kennedy, Kristin Schultz PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ART DIRECTOR MANAGING EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR PROOFREADER FACT CHECKERS PRODUCTION DESIGNER EDIBLE WEEKEND EDITOR CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

What's your go-to potluck dish?

Bring one of the above proven dishes to your next potluck.

Find the recipes online at saucemagazine.com/blog.

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

To carry Sauce Magazine at your store, restaurant, bar or place of business Contact Allyson Mace at 314.772.8004 or amace@saucemagazine.com.

All contents of Sauce Magazine are copyright ©2001-2014 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.

Additional copies may be obtained by providing a request at 314.772.8004 or via mail. Postage fee of $2 will apply.

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.

Sauce Magazine is printed on recycled paper using soy inks.

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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St. Louis, MO 63103 November 2014

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contents NOVEMBER 2014

editors' picks 11

EAT THIS Spiedini di Gamberi at Trattoria Marcella

13

Shells ragu at A Pizza Story p. 21

HIT LIST 6 places to try this month

16

OUR FAVORITE NEW COOKBOOKS

reviews 21

NEW AND NOTABLE

30

BEER Beer and a bonbon

by cory king

A Pizza Story

by michael renner

32

VEGETIZE IT

24

POWER LUNCH The Wolf

by byron kerman

Vegan cupcakes

by kellie hynes 35

MAKE THIS

27

NIGHTLIFE The Engine Room at Feraro's

White turkey chili

by dee ryan

by matt berkley

last course dine & drink 29 PHOTO BY JONATHAN GAYMAN

A SEAT AT THE BAR Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake

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

November 2014

52

STUFF TO DO by byron kerman 54

WHAT I DO Douglas Denney at The Crossing

by ligaya figueras

Features 38

THE FRENCH CONNECTION Reviving 18th-century barbecue on the banks of the Mississippi by matt berkley

(Flip the magazine over to read the Guide to the Holidays.)

Our Guide to the Holidays has everything you need to make this season memorable. You'll find dozens of gift ideas for bringing cheer to everyone on your shopping list – plus everything you need to be a pro at the potluck party.

Cover photo: Ichabod Punch. Photo by Jonathan Gayman

44

SHAKEN A bartender's journey in a world without smell or taste by ligaya figueras

COVER DETAILS French voyageur-style braised pork shoulder meets 21st-century St. Louis photo by greg rannells p. 38

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letter from the editor

Rooster 3150 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314.772.3447, roosterstl.com

Sauce publisher Allyson Mace, however, has 15 years’ worth of war stories from her former life as a server and bartender at places like Big Sky Cafe, Broadway Oyster Bar, Fio’s La Fourchette, McGurk’s, The Ritz-Carlton and Sidney Street Cafe. She claims she could handle a 16-top solo. Whether that’s fact or fiction, it is true that this town has plenty of outstanding servers. These professionals bring you exactly what you need before you ask for it. They dance around you so lightly, you barely know they are there. They make

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you feel not only like they have nothing better to do than take care of you, but also that it is their greatest pleasure to do so. One of my favorite servers is Carlos Alvarado from The Restaurant at The Cheshire. Another is Sarah Frager, who usually goes by the name Kentucky. Sadly for St. Louis, she recently moved to her home state of, you guessed it, Kentucky. (You can find her serving at The Silver Dollar in Louisville.) She never stayed in one place too long, she once told me, because she loves the thrill of helping to open new restaurants. The thrill? If 12 consecutive hours on your feet are a thrill, hospitality truly does run in your blood.

Servers, the unsung heroes of the restaurant universe, are on my mind right now because November marks the start of the holiday season. Restaurants will open doors to office parties, family gatherings and even the guy about to pop the big question to his girlfriend. All these guests want the evening to be “just right,” and the front of the house is as integral to making that experience special as the cooks in the kitchen, a current that runs through my Q&A with The Crossing’s veteran server Douglas Denney in What I Do (p. 54).

Restaurateur Dave Bailey gives Sauce executive editor Ligaya Figueras basic server training at his newly opened Rooster, while Sauce publisher Allyson Mace effortlessly balances a stack of loaded plates.

magazine over to check it out), you’ll find unique ideas for gifts to buy or even make at home. And, if you’re competitive like me (I know, I really need to develop some redeeming qualities), we’ve got some very special ways for you to one-up all the potluckers at those holiday parties on your calendar.

Cheers, PHOTO BY JONATHAN GAYMAN

I

have zero experience as a restaurant server. Frankly, the world is better off without me as a waitress. I talk too fast. I can’t remember anything unless I write it down (and what good is that, since my handwriting is illegible?). I’m highly opinionated, not to mention judgmental. Worse, I’m clumsy. My family loves to remind me how, when I was about 6 years old and learning to ride a bike, I ran into the only pole on the blacktop of DelmarHarvard Elementary playground in University City. (Ha ha. Shut up.) It was only after I took ballet classes as an adult that I stopped bumping into stuff. In short, despite restaurateur Dave Bailey’s plate-carrying tutorial – he’s given a lot of those lately during training sessions at his new Rooster (p. 15) – I could never cut it as a waitress.

Ligaya Figueras Executive editor

Restaurants are gearing up for the busiest season of the year, but so are you. In our annual Guide to the Holidays (flip the November 2014

November 2014

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editors' picks

EAT THIS

PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER

A plate of pasta will always hit the spot at South City’s TRATTORIA MARCELLA, but its SPIEDINI DI GAMBERI holds the best qualities of Italian comfort food. A pillow of sauteed spinach is the bed for a soft, creamy risotto cake, seasoned with fennel and a hint of garlic, and surrounded by a handful of plump, tender Gulf shrimp. It all gets swaddled in a soothingly rich Marsala sauce that begs to be sopped up with chunks of crusty ciabatta hot out of the oven. After eating this hearty meal, you’ll be warmed to the bone and ready for a long fall hibernation, er, nap.

TRATTORIA MARCELLA, 3600 WATSON ROAD, ST. LOUIS, 314.352.7706, TRATTORIAMARCELLA.COM

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hit list

6 new places to try this month

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CABANA ON THE LOOP

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OLD STANDARD FRIED CHICKEN

1 2 1 Smoked whitefish croquettes and fries at Old Standard Fried Chicken 2 The dining area at Old Standard 3 Ben Poremba, proprietor of Old Standard

The intersection of Tower Grove and McRee avenues is beginning to look a lot like a scene out of Richard Scarry’s Busytown. Restaurateur Ben Poremba’s new Old Standard Fried Chicken joins his other bustling destinations in Botanical Heights: Olio, Elaia and La Patisserie Chouquette. Old Standard dishes up Southern cuisine daily. Fried chicken is king here, but sides, salads and snacks like Charlotte’s Mother’s Dressed Eggs and smoked whitefish croquettes are well worth exploring. Indulge in biscuits or cornbread and opt for one of the compound butters served in ramekins, each with a fancy paraffin cover bearing the restaurant’s logo.

American whiskey, especially bourbon, is the spirit of this casual, 55-seat spot. But you won’t go wrong sipping soda pop; choose from more than a dozen bottled varieties and another handful of fresh, herbaceous house versions.

1621 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, 314.899.9000, oldstandard.co

November 2014

Breakfast food is trending in The Loop, and at Cabana, it’s out with the liquor bottles and in with the 20 cereal dispensers displayed at the bar like a circle of beer taps. Order a bowlful – with a Danish on the side – or dive into Southerninspired mains, such as the workmanlike fried catfish with grits that cling together with melted cheddar and a Cajun spice blend. In a space where the themes – Southern food meets tropical, ultramodern decor – can feel mismatched, the food is on point.

6100 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314.875.0532, Facebook: Cabana on the LOOP

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hit list

In the mood for Japanese? Hit BAIKU SUSHI up Baiku, the LOUNGE new restaurant at Hotel Ignacio.

The sushi menu features nigiri and sashimi, along with a careful selection of eight specialty rolls. The sushi bar also puts out a number of appetizers; try the scallop carpaccio dressed with a colorful nest of shredded beets. On the hot side, try the lobster shumai (Chinese-style dumplings) and the char siu (barbecue pork) steamed buns, or for a larger plate, get the Korean-style hanger steak. If you’re into slurping noodles, Baiku offers five noodle bowls, including udon or ramen, the latter made in St. Louis by Midwest Pasta Co. Pair your Asian eats with premium sake, a Japanese beer or an Asian-inspired cocktail.

3407 Olive St., St. Louis, 314.896.2500, baikustl.com

5 6

Craving a milkshake at 2 a.m.? Follow the 11-foot neon peacock signage to the home of Peacock Loop Diner, the new 24-hour diner by longtime Loop business owner Joe Edwards (Blueberry Hill, Pin-up Bowl, Moonrise Hotel, Eclipse). Eclectic eye candy is everywhere in the 5,000-squarefoot space: neon lights, bric-a-brac collections, Skee-ball, a jukebox and even a rotating eight-person booth you can rent by the hour. Take it all in while perched at one of four U-shaped counters. The menu is classic American diner fare: eggs, biscuits and gravy, waffles, burgers and fries, sandwiches, salads, soups, house-made pies and shakes. Let the bar spike that milkshake (among the 17 boozy options, we like the mint julep notes in The Furlong), or wash down your fried food with beer, wine or a specialty cocktail.

BAIKU AND PIZZEOLI PHOTOS BY MICHELLE VOLANSKY

PEACOCK LOOP DINER

6261 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314.721.5555, peacockloopdiner.com November 2014

The second location of Dave Bailey’s breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant offers the same morning and midday bites as its sister spot downtown, but the new Rooster is larger and serves dinner. The massive 225-seat interior features two 40-foot community tables that extend the length of the dining room, floor-to-ceiling glass windows and artwork by 7 elementary kids. The dinner menu, which Bailey called “country French with a South City influence,” is divided into starters and entrees. Of the former, try the mac-ncheese, which holds the heat of poblano peppers. Among main courses, monkfish stew, root vegetable hash and beef brisket with braised cabbage and house-made spaetzle will warm you up on a chilly autumn evening.

ROOSTER

3150 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314.772.3447, roosterstl.com

Neopolitan pizza enthusiasts, particularly vegminded ones, have a new spot to try. Pizzeoli offers an entirely vegetarian menu of 12-inch wood-fired pies.

House-made dough puffs up to a charred, toothsome crust in the custom pizza oven on display in the tiny, 25-seat restaurant. Grab a craft brew on draft or a bottle of Mexican Coke from the bar and order a Margherita topped with house-made tomato sauce, dots of mozzarella, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, basil and a drizzle of fruity extra-virgin olive oil. For a more decadent option, order the pizza bianca with creamy bechamel, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, fragrant rosemary and garlic.

PIZZEOLI

1928 S. 12th St., St. Louis, 314.449.1111, pizzeoli.com

5 Scallop carpaccio at Baiku Sushi Lounge 6 Margherita pizza at Pizzeoli 7 The interior at Rooster

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this cookbook – including her handwritten notes to guide you through each lovely dish. – M.N.

Our Favorite New Cookbooks HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING FAST BY MARK BITTMAN Paella in 45 minutes? It can be done in Bittman’s newest addition to his How to Cook Everything series, which advocates “real-time cooking,” combining ingredient prep and cooking in the most efficient order. You’ll be making lamb stew on weeknights in no time.

– Catherine Klene HERITAGE BY SEAN BROCK The chef behind acclaimed Southern restaurants Husk and McCrady’s pays homage to the food of the South. The writing is thoughtful, and the photography is beautiful. – Meera Nagarajan MASTERING MY MISTAKES IN THE KITCHEN BY DANA COWIN This book gives me a severe case of food editor envy. Food & Wine’s head honcho got David Chang, Daniel Boulud, Roy Choi, José Andrés and more than 60 other superstar chefs to give her one-on-one cooking classes. – Ligaya Figueras

Join Sauce Nov. 19 when Michael Ruhlman teams up with The Cheshire’s executive chef Rex Hale for a five-course dinner and discusses his new cookbook, How to Roast.

Make your reservation at restaurant-stl.com/ happenings.

Each week in November, we’re giving away one of these cookbooks.

Don’t miss out! Follow Sauce on Facebook and Twitter for a chance to add one to your library.

TACOLICIOUS BY SARA DESERAN Deseran stylishly extols the tortilla-as-canvas, stuffing it with everything from butternut squash to chile con queso. Using imaginative yet accessible ingredients, taco night at your home will be as popular as Deseran’s taquería in San Fran’s Mission District.

– Garrett Faulkner PRUNE BY GABRIELLE HAMILTON Fans of Hamilton’s memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter, can once again enjoy her voice steeped in every page of

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BITTER BY JENNIFER MCLAGAN Three cheers for chicory, coffee and Campari! By the time you finish reading about the science, culture and history of bitter foods and drinks, you’ll be won over to the deep, dark and dangerous side of the most forsworn of the five tastes – and dying to cook one of the 100 recipes in the book. – L.F. PLENTY MORE BY YOTAM OTTOLENGHI Vegetables can be the hit of any dish at any meal. The Israeli-born, London-based chef shows you how with vegetarian recipes you will make again and again. – L.F. HOW TO ROAST BY MICHAEL RUHLMAN Just in time for the holidays, Ruhlman debuts a cookbook dedicated to that most delicious preparation: roasting. Learn how to apply this versatile technique to everything from chicken to cauliflower. Now bring on that Thanksgiving turkey! – C.K. MARCUS OFF DUTY BY MARCUS SAMUELSSON What unites Ethiopian, Swedish, Mexican, Caribbean, Italian and soul food? Star chef Marcus Samuelsson cooks them all at home. – L.F. THE FAT RADISH KITCHEN DIARIES BY BEN TOWILL AND PHIL WINSER More vegetables and less meat is the prescription for our plate in the 21st century. Towill and Winser follow suit with recipes that are easy, seasonal – and stylish. – M.N. BUVETTE BY JODY WILLIAMS What American chef has the guts to open a French restaurant in France? Jody Williams. Her first cookbook will transport you to her tiny bistro and inspire you to cook (and eat) like a Parisian. – M.N. November 2014

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reviews All Sauce reviews are conducted anonymously.

Fantasy pizza at A Pizza Story

new and notable

A Pizza Story

BY MICHAEL RENNER PHOTOS BY JONATHAN GAYMAN

O

nce upon a time, there were three guys from Egypt who were passionate about eating. Though they worked at Washington University, their friendship and love of food got them thinking: “If we opened a pizzeria, we could eat all the pizza we ever wanted.”

Don’t quote me on that last part, though. What is for certain: The three-man brain trust opened A Pizza Story, the newest addition to Maplewood’s burgeoning restaurant row. Boldly advertising wood-fired Neapolitan pizza on the front window, it’s also one of the latest in the flourishing field of pizzerias touting the same.

new and notable A PIZZA STORY p. 21 / power lunch THE WOLF p. 24 / nightlife THE ENGINE ROOM AT FERARO'S p. 27 November 2014

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reviews NEW AND NOTABLE p. 2 of 2

especially with its Margherita, the simple, defining pie of any Neapolitan pizzeria.

Consisting of tomatoes, tomato sauce, pats of fresh cow’s milk mozzarella and verdant basil leaves, this was the best of the several pies I ate – the edible equivalent of a hardcover page-turner.

cheese or charcuterie plates – though neither is made in house, the cheeses were good and the meat was an assortment of chorizo, salami, mortadella and prosciutto. But the accompanying rosemary and sea salt house bread, a slight variation of its pizza dough, was so good it was gone in a flash.

Other pies allude to literary genres, like the appropriately named Adventure, topped with toasted pistachios, sun-dried tomatoes, manchego cheese and green olives.

Everything worked – the sharp burst of briny tang from the olives and tomatoes, the crunchy nuts, the piquancy of the sheep’s milk cheese. As one dining companion described it, “It’s like Spain on a pizza.”

The only drawback was the swollen crust, looking like an over-inflated inner tube and pushing the toppings to the middle. A hotter oven may have prevented this: A Pizza Story’s pies spend an average of 90 seconds in a 750- to 800-degree oven, not the 900 degrees prescribed by the Associazione.

Of the two pastas I tried – fettuccine all’amatriciana and shells ragu – I favored the latter, its savory shredded beef simmered in red wine and tomato sauce.

The fettuccine, with its simple Roman-style crushed tomato sauce, was competent but the pieces of marble-sized diced pancetta proved too chewy at that size.

The Legend and Fantasy offerings also were standouts: the former, spicy with slices of hot capocollo tamed by mild, nutty fontina and sweet caramelized onions; the latter, balanced by dabs of burrata and salty prosciutto di Parma, with the peppery bitterness of fresh arugula added right after the pie was plucked from the oven.

You know how people say “Kleenex” for any tissue? It’s the same when “Neapolitan” is used generically for any thin-crust pizza baked in a wood-fire oven. But those aspiring Neapolitan pizzerias must follow the rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the organization founded in Naples whose mission is to cultivate – and codify – the art of making Neapolitan pizza.

The official requirements dictate pizzas must be baked in a wood-fired dome oven stoked to 900 degrees. Cooking time should not exceed 90 seconds. The dough can only be made with flour, water, salt and yeast. The flour must be of ultra-fine consistency and the salt has to be sea salt. There are dictates on the type of tomato and olive oil used.

AT A GLANCE A Pizza Story

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Then there’s the proper preparation of the dough and appearance of the final pie. The arbiters of Neapolitan pizza are as serious as my Sicilian great-grandmother, who routinely wore black and a scowl.

If A Pizza Story isn’t quite by-the-book authentic, it’s close. The two critical things about any pizza are not toppings but rather (and in this order) crust and baking temperature. True Neapolitan pizza is slightly larger than the diameter of a Frisbee, with a narrow, charred, slightly puffy, sauceless rim. The crust is elegantly tender and light, floppy in the middle and characterized by a bit of tug and chew. Here, A Pizza Story scored points,

Where 7278 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314.899.0011, apizzastory.com

All pies arrived with hearth-blistered bottoms and properly charred collars. The crust was fluffy without being doughy, crispy without being crunchy. The tomato sauce was rich and applied with a light hand to avoid eclipsing the toppings.

There was a fine array of salads, soups, appetizers and pasta, which makes A Pizza Story a much more versatile dining spot than its name lets on. Onion ring-sized hoops of fried squid – no rubbery tentacles to wrangle with – were tender and lightly coated with a peppery batter. The accompanying puttanesca dipping sauce was quite good (it would make an ideal pasta sauce, too).

There was nothing spectacular about the

Don’t Miss Dishes Pizza: Margherita and Fantasy; Pasta: Shells ragu

Vibe Casual yet stylish, from the typewriter font on the logo to photography on the walls

The wine list offers a handful of reds and whites, and the draft beers were mostly local.

The bar experimented with a few classic cocktails, like the Baked Apple Manhattan, a deceivingly dry drink, despite its sweet aroma.

Among the trio of dessert offerings, panna cotta achieved a trifecta of sweettart-nutty flavor: creamy custard topped with berries reduced in balsamic vinegar and toasted pistachios.

I love that the owners – Muhammad Alhawagri, Sherif Nasser and Nael Saad – used a typewriter font for the APS logo, an homage to the building’s former long-time tenant, Jones Typewriter. Inside, the singleroom space is divided by a long communal table fashioned from three Schlafly beer barrels and two large doors. Photographs of St. Louis street scenes, shot by Alhawagri, line the walls. In the back corner sits the double-insulated dome oven made of refractory concrete and covered in stucco, an updated version of what Alhawagri’s and Nesser’s respective grandmothers baked bread in back home in Egypt.

The pizza stories in this town scroll ever onward: from St. Louis thin crust to Sicilian deep dish, Provel to mozzarella, wood-fired to conveyor oven, pick-up to sit-down to delivery. A Pizza Story just happens to be the latest, delicious chapter.

Entree Prices Pizza: $12 to $16; pasta: $13 to $14

When Tue. to Thur. – 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. – 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Sun. – 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

November 2014

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reviews POWER LUNCH

[3]

Power Lunch

THE WOLF

BY BYRON KERMAN | PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH JOCHUM

The Wolf is designed to look like a wood cabin transplanted from a Colorado resort, but the warm and welcoming vibe can’t overcome middling dishes that relegate the grill to a convenient stopover instead of a dining destination.

[1]

DRINK ME The Wolf ’s conscientious menu-planning extends to its selection of seven local craft beers, Mississippi Mud coffee and Excel The Wolf soda. Keeping the local 15480 Clayton Road, economy humming, Ballwin, 636.527.7027, according to a sign thewolfstl.com near the door, is the company’s goal.

APRÈS SKI (OR SHOVELING THE DRIVE) The rough-hewn ambience at The Wolf is a story unto itself. Various watercraft hang from the wooden ceiling and walls, along with bicycles and skis. The decor is rustic enough to make a Missourian feel guilty for spending the winter on a treadmill at the gym instead of snowshoeing the back 40.

LUNCH TRAFFIC APPETIZERS, SOUPS AND SO ON

Diners order at the counter, and runners deliver the food when it’s ready. The line can grow long at the peak of lunchtime, but I didn’t witness any logjams. The staff was uniformly attentive and considerate.

The food isn’t quite as carefully appointed.

An appetizer of house-made hummus was disappointingly bland, and the roughchopped artichoke tapenade was missing the sharp tang one expects of the dish. However, the Billy Goat potato chips drizzled in melted Gouda and balsamic glaze made for a surprisingly substantial nosh with a kick.

A three-bean chipotle chili certainly brought the heat, but underneath the peppers there was little in the way of complex flavor. The soup that day, French onion, was made with an oddly thin broth, as if the stock had been yanked from the stove too early. Using Swiss cheese, rather than the traditional Gruyere, didn’t do the dish any favors either.

SANDWICHES, BURGERS AND SIDES The highlight of the grilled sandwiches selection is the Double Dill [1 ]. Made with dill pickles and dill-havarti cheese between buttery, grilled slices of marble rye, it’s a grilled cheese for grown-ups – and a great one at that.

The most popular item on the menu at The Wolf is the Black Bear black bean

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THE TAKEAWAY

veggie burger. Combining a loosely packed veggie patty, avocado and a toasted brioche bun by local bakery Breadsmith, it certainly carried the heat of chipotle mayo, but more complex flavors again proved elusive.

The Goddess Burger [2], with its hormone-free beef, avocado, sprouts and Green Goddess dressing on a toasted brioche, was a lovely textural trinity of meaty, creamy and snappy.

Sides included the Smashed Potatoes, diced breakfast potatoes made with less oil but offering only a stingy kick of pepper. Spice seems to be the kitchen’s utility player, but it’s applied erratically.

EAT DESSERT FIRST The strongest dishes at The Wolf may be the house-made desserts. (Others, including the cheesecakes and a gluten-free coconut roulade, are made off-site by Sugaree Baking.) The gooey butter bar, made with local honey, was a 3-by-3-inch revelation, sidestepping the cloying sweetness that so often hamstrings St. Louis’ signature dessert.

A chewy raspberry jam oat bar also had a winning, muted sweetness. The cookies, in flavors like chocolate chip [3] and peanutbutter cup, were enjoyable, if unusually doughy and dense. Not so rewarding, however, was a pumpkin scone that offered little pumpkin flavor and none of the firm texture that makes for deserving scones.

With its welcoming wood-and-stone design and emphasis on sustainability, recycling and eating local, The Wolf is doing everything right, nominally. Yet much of the fare, with its humble combinations and inconsistent seasoning, hovers closer to so-so than stellar.

[2]

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November 2014

nightlife

reviews

The Engine Room at Feraro’s

NIGHTLIFE

BY MATT BERKLEY | PHOTOS BY JONATHAN GAYMAN

blues bands, even the occasional reggae act. Acoustically speaking, it’s a small space. The sound definitely bleeds over to the restaurant proper. There’s no hiding from the The Engine Room at tunes, unless you Feraro’s step outside.

7700 Ivory St.,

ORDER IT: The Engine Room at Feraro's

St. Louis, 314.256.0500, ferarospizza.com/events

The clientele varies with the entertainment. This certainly isn’t a spot with normal barflies.

Most of the music is geared toward young, urban-dwelling professionals in their 20s and 30s. On nights with hard rock bands, the place is clotted with scenesters downing PBR longnecks and sporting strategically torn jeans. On karaoke nights, there might be 20-something erstwhile coeds singing their hearts out to country songs. In between, there will be random walk-ins, young couples and neighborhood regulars in the mood for a tall gin and tonic.

M

uch to the dismay of its fans, Feraro’s Jersey Style Pizza in Soulard packed up its Parmesan and East Coast knickknacks earlier this year and skedaddled to a new location on a quaint little corner in the Carondolet/Patch neighborhood. It was a smart play for a popular pizzeria that had long outgrown its meager space. The pizzas are now available for delivery, and as for the new place, it rocks – literally.

The rising sound of a live heavy metal band slamming through its first song feels like an electric shock to the heart of an otherwise subdued commercial strip on Ivory Avenue. It’s Friday at 9 p.m. and The Engine Room has sprung to life. Opened under the auspice of the shiny new Feraro’s next door, The Engine Room is a little corner music venue and saloon that jams late into the night (1 a.m. on Friday and November 2014

Saturday). Though it operates regularly as a bar, the venue hosts live music acts several times a week with Sunday night karaoke thrown into the mix, along with ladies night on Tuesdays, featuring discounted booze.

The fanciest thing behind the bar is a Guinness tap. Don’t expect a drink menu.

Tried and true cocktails and rounds of straight shots reign supreme at this music house, including regular specials like $1 Stag, $2 PBR, and $3 shots of Jaeger or Fireball. You can also hole up at a table and order a six-pack of Schlafly, Budweiser or other domestics for around $15. Service at the bar was solid, as was the generosity of the pours.

Rock bands regularly blow the doors off this place, but The Engine Room turns it down a notch on other nights for jazz and

Like Feraro’s, The Engine Room is a slick rehab of a grand old storefront in the commercial center of the neighborhood. The near-ground-level stage pretty much smacks you in the face as you walk inside. Past a handful of tables in the dimly lit room is an amply stocked bar illuminated by random neon beer signs and a flickering flat-screen TV. Further back are a pool table and dartboard.

The new Feraro’s, which also serves patrons of The Engine Room, holds its own. The same thick slices of crispy, beautifully charred pizza dough are piled with thick mozzarella and all the usual fixings. The Jersey Style specialty pizza, with crispy bits of smoked ham, onion, tomatoes and fresh slivers of garlic, is probably the best antidote for someone fed up with thin crust and Provel. Food service is not lacking, but be prepared to settle in for a few drinks before seeing anything come out of the kitchen.

Bottom line: It took moving away from home for little Feraro’s to come of age. As a venue and lounge, The Engine Room stands admirably well on its own. But it certainly doesn’t hurt when you have good pizza arriving from the kitchen.

The Boss pizza, loaded with pepperoni, olives, mushrooms and more, pays homage to everything Jersey.

Six-packs of Schlafly or Budweiser brews are available for groups or concertgoers on the move.

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dine

& drink

Check out the Kilgores' pick for a Brandy Crusta

A SEAT AT THE BAR

ILLUSTRATIONS BY VIDHYA NAGARAJAN; PHOTO BY CARMEN TROESSER

Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake

It’s time to tackle the pumpkin pie wine pairing predicament. Unlike chocolate or fruit desserts, the classic Thanksgiving denouement holds traces of baking spices like cinnamon, GLENN BARDGETT nutmeg, cloves and ginger.

Member of the Missouri Wine What wine holds up to and Grape Board and wine pumpkin spice flavors and has director at Annie Gunn’s enough acidity to cut through the pie’s rich, creamy texture?

Korbel Sweet Rosé. This California sparkling wine is a blend of red and white grape varieties – pinot noir, zinfandel, sangiovese, gamay and chenin blanc – with lots of fizz and bright fruit flavors and aroma. Priced under $20, this bubbly will play well with the innumerable pumpkin pies needing companionship on Turkey Day. November 2014

The pinnacle of fancy cocktails is the Brandy Crusta, precursor to the Sidecar. Invented in New Orleans around 1850, the Brandy Crusta is one of the few cocktails that is garnished before the drink is made. Begin by moistening the glass rim with a lemon wedge and TED AND JAMIE coating the rim with a generous KILGORE crust of sugar. Next, cut a long, USBG, B.A.R. Ready, BarSmart wide strip of peel from a lemon. and co-owners/bartenders at Curl the peel around the inside Planter’s House of the glass, positioning it so it stands above the rim. Combine 2 ounces brandy (or cognac, the Rolls-Royce of brandies), ½ ounce dry curaçao, ½ ounce lemon juice, ¼ ounce maraschino liqueur and a dash of Angostura bitters. Shake with ice and strain into the prepared glass. Snap a photo, then imbibe.

The right level of acidity in a drink is a thing of beauty.

Whether the beverage is a cocktail, wine or beer, acidity impacts the beverage’s mouth feel, perceived dryness and overall balance.

CORY KING In beer, bright acidity is most Certified Cicerone, head attributed to bacteria such as brewer at Perennial Artisan Lactobacilli and Pediococci.

Ales and founder of Side Although all beers once Project Brewing exhibited a greater level of acidity, the renewed love of sour beers has produced an influx of acid-forward brews that range in style from a Berliner Weisse to an American wild ale to a Belgian lambic and lambic variants like a gueuze. Some beautiful examples include Brasserie Trois Dames Grande Dame, Jolly Pumpkin La Roja and New Belgium La Folie. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 29

BEER

Beer and a bonbon

BY CORY KING PHOTO BY ELIZABETH JOCHUM

ELIXIR

You’ve been drinking beer all meal long. Then the dessert course arrives, and drink options suddenly switch to coffee, port or ice wine.

Bring back the beer! With all its allowable ingredients, different styles and varying flavors, beer can enhance any dish – even dessert. There are two basic rules for pairing a brew with food. First, match intensities; if the dish overpowers the beer or the beer overpowers the dish, you won’t get the most out of the pairing. Second, decide if you want the beer to complement or contrast the food. Pairing a beer whose flavors and aroma match those of a dish will create harmony.

However, you can set up a pleasant contrast by pinpointing a specific flavor that the beer and the dish have in common. Whether you’re in the mood for decadent chocolate, poached pears or Grandma’s cookies, there’s a beer to make the final course memorable.

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Cookies Like craft beer, cookies come in a wide range of styles, ingredients and flavors. An American brown ale, with its softer sweetness, slight hop bitterness and roundness, works well with sweeter cookies, including chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and peanut butter. The richness of a Doppelbock, Weizenbock or Belgian dubbel provides a great backbone to oatmeal raisin, gingersnaps and other savory bites that hold warm baking spices.

Chocolate Chocolate is one of the more versatile foods to pair with beer.

A porter complements softer, sweeter chocolates, while a stout can be a best buddy to heavier, darker chocolates. For contrasting flavor, consider fruit and fruitforward beers. The dark fruits of a Belgian quadruple work well, as does a fruit lambic, whose vibrancy and tartness help to tone down rich chocolate.

Complementary beers Chimay Red Cap, Schneider Weisse Tap 6 Unser Aventinus, Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Complementary beers Left Hand Milk Stout, Sinebrychoff Porter, Founders Imperial Stout

Contrasting beers Big Sky Moose Drool, Civil Life American Brown, Schlafly American Brown

Contrasting beers Petrus Oud Bruin, Lindemans Framboise, Trappistes Rochefort 10

Fruit-based desserts For fruit pies, poached fruit and other fruity desserts, you have to be more particular with your beer selection.

Fruit beers aren’t necessarily the best marriage for fruit-based desserts since the flavors can compete and cancel one another. For a complementary pairing, opt for a beer that holds the same fruit undertone as the dessert.

For a contrasting pairing, seek out a beer that has a spice in common – cinnamon or nutmeg, for example – with the dessert.

Complementary beers Traquair House Ale, Panil Barriquée, Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne Contrasting beers 2nd Shift Hibiscus Wit, Deschutes Jubelale, Perennial Artisan Ales Abraxas

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VEGETIZE IT

Vegan cupcakes

BY KELLIE HYNES PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER

A

s a relatively new vegan cook, I’ve never felt compelled to bake. Baking is a science, and honestly, I chose my college major because it didn’t have a biology requirement. But all that changed when I inhaled a vegan cupcake at SweetArt Bakeshop and Art Studio in the Shaw neighborhood. The cake was a deep, dark chocolate, moist, with just the right amount of crumb. But it was the buttery-yet-no-butter-added frosting that really rocked my world. If this was vegan baking, I needed to figure it out.

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Because SweetArt owner Reine Bayoc is an incredibly kind person (or maybe she just wanted me to stop licking the display cases), she agreed to talk with me about vegan baking. SweetArt isn’t a dedicated vegan bakery – only two to three of its 10 to 12 cupcake varieties are vegan – but vegans-in-theknow flock there. What makes Bayoc’s vegan cupcakes so memorable is that their taste and texture is completely indistinguishable from traditional cupcakes. “Just because you can’t – or choose not to – eat eggs and butter, you still need food to be delicious,” Bayoc explained. And then, in her sweetest move yet, Bayoc divulged some of the ingredients that make her from-scratch vegan desserts so special.

I wasn’t surprised that Bayoc uses only high-quality pure vanilla extract. Even I know that imitation vanilla, while less expensive, is less flavorful. However, my jaw dropped when she told me that the creamy texture of her magical vegan frosting is due in part to vegan cream cheese. Regular readers know I don’t like to cook with manufactured vegan ingredients like soy substitutes or seitan because, generally speaking, they’re weird. But the cupcake crumbs on my chin left me in no position to argue.

With Bayoc’s final advice to “just keep playing with it until you get it right” ringing in my ears and an extra three cupcakes in my hand, I headed home to teach myself vegan baking.

Bayoc mentioned that it’s difficult to make a moist vegan vanilla cupcake (although, of course, she can). I was happy to take the hint and experiment with chocolate cake, especially since I’d had success making a velvety vegan chocolate mousse using avocado and

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inexpensive cocoa. Unfortunately, what worked in the raw mousse yielded a bland, gummy cupcake. For my second attempt, I switched to a darker, premium cocoa and used vegetable shortening instead of avocado. The resulting cupcakes tasted better, but since they were egg-free, the texture was still too dense. Hoping for a charmed third try, I substituted coconut oil (one of Bayoc’s favorite ingredients) for the shortening, and added apple cider vinegar, which left no taste but gave the baking soda and powder a little extra leavening oomph. The result: a delicious dark chocolate cupcake that neither felt nor tasted muddy.

but clearly can work wonders as an ingredient. The other lesson was that Bayoc was absolutely right about fighting with recipes until they taste good, not just good-for-vegans. In an era when everyone has a dietary requirement, delicious should be one of them. And if you can’t figure it out, I know a nice lady who will help you.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t duplicate the fresh, buttery taste of Bayoc’s vanilla frosting. Instead, I made a peppermint frosting since peppermint and dark chocolate go together like English majors and science-avoidance. Peppermint extract is readily available at the grocery store, and chopped peppermints add a fun little sparkle to the finished cupcakes.

With the flavor puzzle solved, I focused on the texture. I started with powdered sugar and then added various combinations of vegan cream cheese, coconut oil, shortening and margarine.

I presented spoons and bowls of frosting to my children for a taste test.

Three stomachaches later, they selected a winner. It turns out that vegan cream cheese really is the secret to making a thick frosting with a creamy texture.

1½ cups all-purpose flour 1¼ cups sugar 1 cup unsweetened cocoa, such as Ghirardelli Premium Baking Cocoa 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder ¼ tsp. sea salt ¼ cup coconut oil, melted 1½ cups plain soy milk 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Besides a dozen and a half yummy cupcakes, my week of immersion baking resulted in two other takeaways. One, I shouldn’t be afraid to use manufactured vegan products.

They might be weird on their own,

minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

VEGAN PEPPERMINT “BUTTERCREAM” FROSTING 1½ CUPS

DARK CHOCOLATE VEGAN CUPCAKES 18 CUPCAKES

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

• In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.

Set aside.

• In a separate bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the coconut oil, soy milk and vanilla extract. Set aside.

• Make a well in the center of the bowl with the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into it. Mix well using the hand mixer. Add the apple cider vinegar and mix again.

• Distribute the batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Bake 25

¼ cup vegan cream cheese, such as Daiya Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread 3 Tbsp. vegetable shortening, such as Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening 1 Tbsp. soy margarine, such as Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks 4 cups powdered sugar 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract ½ tsp. peppermint extract 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. plain soy milk 10 pieces vegan hard peppermint candy, such as Brach’s Star Brites Peppermint Starlight Mints, wrappers discarded • In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the cream cheese, shortening and soy margarine.

With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, blending after each addition. (The mixture will be very dry.) Add the vanilla extract, peppermint extract and soy milk. Mix on low until the texture resembles thick frosting.

• Scoop the frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

• Using a food processor, pulse the peppermint candies until they resemble coarse flakes. Sprinkle over the frosted cupcakes.

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MAKE THIS WHITE TURKEY CHILI

PHOTO BY GREG RANNELLS

ACTIVE TIME: 10 MINUTES

The guests are gone, the fine china is stowed away, and there’s MAKE THIS a pile of leftover turkey in a Tupperware container. Don’t call it a day just yet! Break out the slow cooker to make a hearty white turkey chili for a Black Friday feast while you sleep off that Thanksgiving food coma. In a slow cooker, combine 2 to 3 cups chopped turkey, 3 cups cooked cannellini or Great Northern beans, 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup frozen corn, 1 4.5-ounce can drained chopped green chiles, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons chili powder and 1 teaspoon dried oregano.

Add 4 cups chicken broth and stir. Cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Stir in 6 ounces sour cream, adjust seasonings and serve with shredded cheddar cheese, chopped avocado, chopped cilantro and lime wedges. – Dee Ryan

Want to slash your Thanksgiving dinner shopping bill? This month, we’re giving away a $150 gift certificate to Dierbergs and a Dierbergs floral arrangement ($50 value) for your Thanksgiving table. Visit saucemagazine.com/blog for details.

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.

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the french

connection Reviving 18th-century barbecue on the banks of the Mississippi

BY MATT BERKLEY | PHOTOS BY GREG RANNELLS

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I started my adventure in French braising at 2 p.m. in the backyard, with 2 pounds of Boston butt pork shoulder, a 7-quart cast-iron Dutch oven, a bottle of Côtes du Rhône and fire.

Braising is a thing close to meditation. Like any method of slow-cooking, it takes hours. The technique lacks the machismo imputed by a wood smoker, which earns it little fanfare or popular appeal. (Seriously, how often do you see a line out the door at the newest braising joint?) But even if it has eluded the attention of the trend-conscious, the slow braise can be a joyous ritual for those willing to try it. After all, anyone can throw a few pork steaks on a grill, brush on a layer of sauce, and call it barbecue.

To my mind, real St. Louis-style barbecue is more complicated and more artful, stretching back to the city’s days as a little trading post perched on a steep bluff along the western shore of the Mississippi. The fledgling crossroads town at the confluence of the two major North American waterways served as the supply line for boisterous pioneer feasts and annual trading rendezvous where trappers, merchants, American Indians and mountain men took to gambling, dancing, heavy drinking and serious eating. Much to the delight of French voyageurs (mainly fur trappers), feast days were celebrated with rich, hearty meals slow-cooked over warm embers. Thick stews and wine-drenched braised pork were heaven on earth for those travelers, whose bland diet on board their canoes consisted mainly of corn mush and pemmican, a calorie-dense brick of dried, ground meat, berries and rendered fat.

Along with pork, Europeans introduced cast-iron cookware to the lower Missouri basin. Nestled over a fire or buried with red-hot coals, these kitchenware workhorses incorporated the Old World style of cooking with the New. Taken from the French word for “hot charcoals” or “warm embers,” braiser was one such technique, involving searing and browning cuts of meat and accompanying vegetables at a high temperature, then slowly simmering them in any combination of liquids – fat, stock, wine, beer or water.

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My mouth watering, this is how I found myself resurrecting 18th-century-style St. Louis barbecue at lunchtime on a Saturday. I had just introduced my new Dutch oven to a red-hot pile of coals on an outdoor grill. My objective was a barbecue braised pork shoulder (a la voyageur), a rich and savory meal tailor-made for dinner parties.

While not as daunting as, say, making consommé or even the humble baguette, I was forced to admit I was, by voyageur standards, a braising greenhorn. To gain more insight on modern renditions of the technique, I touched base with a handful of area chefs. Mathieu Lefebvre, executive sous chef of the Saint Louis Club, assured me there was no reason to be intimidated – just take my time.

“It’s not complicated and can be a great way to have an afternoon of cooking,” he said. “Depending on the size and the cut of meat, the braising is something that will usually take three to four hours to make sure it’s fully moist and full of flavor.”

Chef Carl McConnell, who co-owns Cottleville’s Stone Soup Cottage with his wife, Nancy, has adopted a similar laissez faire attitude. “Have patience,” he said. “It’s definitely not a dish that can be rushed.”

Encouraged, I dove right in and made my first attempt at braised pork shoulder, which emerged from the pot as dry as the French Languedoc. The lesson? Regardless of how long the simmering phase seems, marinating the meat beforehand is essential for achieving a more robust taste and color. For instance, when Lefebvre preps a beef bourguignon, he’ll soak the meat and vegetables in red wine at least two days in advance to enhance the flavor.

Maintaining the amount of liquid in the braise is another stumbling block. McConnell checks his pot periodically, every now and then tasting and poking the

meat with a fork to determine its texture, being careful not to over-braise it or let it dry out.

Another key factor in a good braise is the heat source. More than just an excuse to sit outside and sip wine, cooking over the fiery coals offered the best of both worlds: seared meat touched by the smoky fingers of an open flame, then slow, steady heat to add moisture during the simmer. When making his osso buco, McConnell starts off by lightly smoking the meat before braising it in pinot noir and veal stock. He cooks slow and low, carefully manipulating the flames. “The tricky part, especially when using an open fire, is keeping the coals stoked to where they’ll maintain a constant temperature of around 300 degrees,” he said.

With any open-flame cooking, there’s a definite risk of scorching the meal, said Eddie Neill, co-owner of Café Provencal. What first-timers need, he said, is an empty vessel on hand in case they burn the meat. If so, they can immediately pull it, arrest the cooking, get the Dutch oven clean and start over. The dish is easily salvaged by cutting off any bad sections and then reintroducing it to new stock or liquid.

To draw out the best tastes in his braising dishes, McConnell cooks the day before, letting the pot sit refrigerated overnight and reheating an hour or so prior to service. Before popping it in the fridge, he prepares a sauce by clarifying a portion of the braising liquid, straining it through a coffee filter and chilling it overnight to remove any excess fat. The next day, he’ll reheat the dish and thicken the sauce using cornstarch and water, or make a roux with flour and butter. On my second try, I took McConnell’s advice and finished the braise with flour and butter. Redemption!

Classic and hearty braising dishes are especially ideal for small dinner parties. “You don’t want to be chained to the kitchen all night long,” McConnell said. “If you offer a braised item, it’s something that can be simply reheated and thrown in the oven as your guests arrive, and it’ll be ready to serve without you having to really do anything.”

Neill, too, swears by the ease of serving the dish once the advance prep work is done. He also can’t help but be entranced by what he calls the “voilà moment.”

“The old-fashioned Dutch ovens have this heavy gauge and a really neat look to them,” Neill said. “The lid is finally lifted off and you have that great initial smell. You have crusty pieces of French bread and some beautiful wine. And there’s just this wonderful communal aspect of a host pulling off pieces of meat and vegetables and ladling a little extra sauce on there. It really adds to the romance of what is really just very simple food.”

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BARBECUE-BRAISED PORK SHOULDER 4 SERVINGS 2 pounds pork shoulder, cut in half 2 Tbsp. salted butter, divided 1 onion, chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped ½ Tbsp. chopped rosemary ½ Tbsp. chopped thyme Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1 cup cabernet sauvignon 1½ cups beef stock Additional vegetables, such as potatoes or Brussels sprouts (optional) 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour • In a charcoal grill, stack and light 12 charcoal briquettes. When they develop a layer of ash on the outside, arrange the briquettes into a single, even layer.

• Grill the pork over direct heat, searing and browning all sides. Remove from the grill and set aside.

• Remove the grate and place a cast-iron Dutch oven directly onto the coals.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the Dutch oven, then add the chopped onions, celery and carrots. Saute the vegetables for several minutes until soft.

Add the chopped garlic, rosemary, thyme and salt and pepper.

• Add the wine, stock and meat to the Dutch oven, making sure the liquid covers about two-thirds of the meat.

Simmer 2 hours, adding or subtracting hot coals as needed. Add additional wine or stock as necessary to keep about half of the meat covered. If desired, add additional vegetables during the final 30 minutes of cooking.

Remove from heat.

• Stir in the flour and remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the liquid to thicken. Season to taste and serve.

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Shaken A bartender's journey in a world without smell or taste

BY LIGAYA FIGUERAS | PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER

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Last December, Joel Clark, one of St. Louis’ top bartenders, lost his sense of smell. It was the result of a head injury that he suffered during a seizure.

“Without your sense of smell, you can’t taste,” said Matt Seiter, veteran bartender and Joel’s former colleague at Sanctuaria in The Grove. “And if you can’t taste, it’s really hard to tell if a drink is too sour, too sweet, boozy or bitter, if it’s balanced. It’s damn near impossible to do that. Of all the senses to lose, that would be one of the most detrimental.”

It’s been more than 10 months since Joel’s fall. He still cannot smell. He can barely detect flavor. Yet he is still bartending.

I became acquainted with Joel in 2009 while researching a feature story for Missouri Life about the best bartenders in the Show-Me State. Joel was one of 15 people spotlighted in that article, “The Art of the Mixologist,” published in October 2010. By then, he’d bartended for six years and was shaking things up at Pi in the Central West End, one of the few places in town to adopt a progressive cocktail program.

After a year at Pi, Joel took a bartending position at Sanctuaria, helping Seiter, the bar manager at the time, turn it into a cocktail mecca, the likes of which St. Louis had never seen before. With a notch or two on his belt and a stronger understanding of vintage drinks, Joel was then hired as bar manager at Mission Taco Joint. He struck gold with a launch list of cocktails that stayed true to the restaurant’s Cali-Mex concept while introducing a craft bartending ethos – freshly squeezed juices, quality spirits, everything measured. “Our first cocktail list was amazing,” said Mission coowner Adam Tilford, lauding Joel’s creativity and use of ingredients. But as soon as Mission opened its doors, it became a high-volume bar.

How many days could Joel stand on his feet for 12 hours at a time and shake made-to-order margaritas until his arms ached? And he wasn’t just a bartender there. He was management, accountable for paperwork and people.

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How did he cope? A drink. A smoke. He’ll admit to both, along with a poor diet and little sleep. By September 2013, he was so overwhelmed that he and Mission parted ways.

Any or all of the former may have contributed to what transpired inside a gas station in Blue Springs, Missouri on Dec. 27, 2013. What is certain is that what was supposed to be a quick stop on a road trip to Estes Park, Colorado for a family gathering changed his life.

Jan. 28 – You are not the person you once were.

Today … you are part yesterday, bit of tomorrow.

Embrace for change - don’t fight it. You are the NOW. You be it. Own it. You. Now! This is the first entry of Joel’s journal, a project I asked him to undertake after he told me about his seizure and loss of smell, a condition known as anosmia. I did not know then whether his story would ever be published, or that I might be one of its tellers. The journalist in me wanted that. The friend in me knew writing to be a form of healing.

I’ve run through a gamut of emotions and confusions, laughs and tears, and even some very real anger. I’m

still hopeful for it to return. I’m told by physicians and neurologists alike to expect it to come back to me.

Well, kind of. In Estes Park, Dr. Chene said it’s about a 51 percent chance, considering the type of injury I suffered. … So, I’m in a coin-toss state of mind. Could be worse. So much worse. Also, a good amount of sufferers of anosmia will have all their sense of smell return ALL AT ONCE! Which, obviously, would be a true moment of overwhelming ecstasy! Fingers crossed.

Joel experienced his first seizure in 2007. He was 26 years old and working at Brennan’s in the Central West End. I’m walking in to open up the store on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, swinging my keys on my finger, whistling a tune, and BOOM! Lights out and down I go, landing squarely on the back of my skull. A nurse happened to witness the fall and his convulsions. Joel spent three days at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. A neurologist concluded that his blood test - aside from low blood-sugar was normal. Overwork and stress caused my brain to hit the reset button. ... He told me to take it easy and improve my diet.

Three weeks later, Joel was shopping at a grocery store when he experienced what he described as “strange visual sensations” similar to those that occurred during the first seizure. This time, I sat

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an oil painting and the next thing I know I’m on a gurney in an ambulance and the only question I can answer is my name. Witnesses said it sounded like somebody dropped a watermelon. My head. I had fallen directly against the back of my skull, again, and had suffered a major seizure, again. This time, things got scary. My blood-sugar dropped to half its normal level. I was approaching a state of diabetic and cardiac shock. Morphine and insulin brought me back to normal. Attending physicians ran all the applicable tests. Negative. They prescribed rest and hydrocodone. That got me to Colorado.

Joel thought it was just one more seizure.

It wasn’t.

What I’m realizing is that I’m in my element regardless of whether or not I can “smell” it. ... I know each and every ingredient in my arsenal from the inside-out. I can’t experience them like I used to, but I KNOW them!!

down immediately, put my head between my knees, and concentrated on my breathing. I was back up and picking out apples and oranges in roughly a minute or two. The thought crossed my mind to call the Drs., but then it went away as I went on shopping. What a dumbass. (Also, I don’t like hospitals.) In 2010, he blacked out during a car accident. Did a seizure cause the accident? Was it a seizure at all? Nothing was confirmed, but he quit driving, fearing for his and others’ safety. Two years passed before another incident occurred. This time, it was in his apartment after church on Christmas Eve 2012. His girlfriend, Melanie Cooper, was in the room with him when he suddenly felt dizzy and light-headed, then collapsed to the ground. He reassured her he would be OK. He was, until Dec. 27, 2013.

We stopped at a mega-truck stop in Blue Springs, Missouri for a bite and a stretch. I ordered my burger and salad and went to look at stupid little gifts that I might get for the kids in the gift shop. I remember looking at the back cover of a Duck Dynasty DVD and then ... the same shit. I feel like I’m inside of

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New Year’s Eve, we were in the cabin, and I was in some real pain ... starting to feel pretty strange. At midnight, I had a Bulleit Rye with my brother Dan to celebrate New Year’s, and I remember looking at the empty glass a little confused. Sure didn’t have the same qualities I so fondly remember(ed) of my favorite rye. ... I woke up in severe pain, couldn’t get out of bed and remained there all day. I was finally able to join the family at the dinner table and realized that I couldn’t taste Dan’s venison meatloaf.

Mostly because I hate venison, but also because he had made bacon to go with it. Couldn’t smell that.

“We only have five senses. When you lose one, it’s a big deal,” said Laura McLaughlin, an assistant professor at St. Louis University School of Nursing, who specializes in taste dysfunction in head and neck cancer patients. “Anosmia is a complete lack of ability to differentiate odors.

It’s global smell loss,” she summarized, before ticking off the major difficulties that the roughly 6 million Americans living with anosmia contend with on a daily basis. There’s the potential for danger, since an anosmic cannot smell smoke, leaking gas or spoiled food. Flavor recognition is also impaired. “Flavors are recognized by taste and smell. Even if you have perfectly intact taste, if you can’t smell, flavors are off. That’s where a lot of pleasure is derived from.”

What has life as an anosmic been like for Joel? It’s fucking weird, he wrote in early February.

It should come as no surprise that 84+ days without my nose has been challenging. My confidence has and is being tested. I’ve had days spent in bed, others spent in anger. I have to continually walk in this “smell.”

It isn’t pleasant, it isn’t offensive. ... It’s just an “as is” feeling. It’s a displacement. ... I’m missing the smell of a cold morning chill. ... I just took a shower and all I can say of that experience is that the hot water felt good.

Everything has an aroma – people, places, things.

Joel couldn’t smell any of them. It’s uncomfortable,

unpleasant and so desensitized it makes me feel disconnected. But it wasn’t just the smells of daily living that Joel missed. Food and drink no longer held flavor. Man, I really, really, really miss the taste of Triscuits and Plochman’s mustard. So bad. Also, Snickers bars. Next to big red wines and mezcal, those might be the two big ones. One day, desperate to experience something, anything, Joel made a sandwich of peanut butter, avocado, bacon, turkey, onion, lettuce and banana. WTF, he wrote next to the list of ingredients.

It would be traumatic for anyone to have his sense of smell and taste impaired, but when your career revolves around food and drink, the loss is more keenly felt. (Read any article about chef Grant Achatz’s bout with oral cancer and you’ll get the picture.) For Joel, the acute scents of the workplace that he was accustomed to were gone, just like that.

Brooke Roseberry, owner of The Purple Martin, hired Joel as bar manager at her new restaurant in the Fox Park neighborhood with full knowledge of his condition. She didn’t think his olfactory impairment would matter much, because she wasn’t looking for a bar that would do “glitzy modern” cocktails. Her vision for The Purple Martin was “a small neighborhood place, get a G&T, maybe a Manhattan.” She deemed Joel’s bartending experience and knowledge of cocktails to be more than sufficient for making unfussy, old-time drinks.

I just made it through the opening of The Purple Martin. I couldn’t smell the fresh paint on the walls, the freshly cut salvaged wood, the few spilled beers or the sweat and energy I’m used to walking into.

I couldn’t smell the lamb, the garlic, the harissa or the vinegar. I couldn’t hover over an earthy tempranillo. ... I couldn’t and still can’t taste a Jack Rose at Purple. I believe it may be one of the best contemporary cocktails in the country. I will make it an “item” at Purple. I just wish I could taste one!

Joel looked to the past for inspiration when creating the cocktail menu for the March debut of The Purple Martin, but he tweaked those recipes – including the apple brandy-laden Jack Rose, the bar’s best-seller this summer – to give the drinks a contemporary bent. How did Joel devise a cocktail menu despite his chemosensory disorder? I pause and reflect and “savor” each flavor in my mind. When it comes to imagining recipes, the mixing is done in my thoughts and begin to make sense or clash or “sour” in there. He relied on information that was already in his head. He knew every bottle behind the bar; his brain held a catalog of proven formulas and ratios for mixing together base spirits with modifiers and what he categorized as “kitchen” ingredients that range from fruit juices to herbs to egg whites. What I’m realizing is that I’m in my element regardless of whether or not I can “smell” it. ... I know each and every ingredient in my arsenal from the inside-out. I can’t experience them like I used to, but I KNOW them!!

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Man, I really, really, really miss the taste of Triscuits and Plochman’s mustard. So bad.

Also, Snickers bars. Next to big red wines and mezcal, those might be the two big ones.

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Anosmia has affected every facet of Joel Clark's life, but in losing his ability to smell, his other senses have become heightened. Pleasure extends beyond smells and the flavor of food, and he has become a more focused and driven bartender.

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“Had he not told me he’d lost his sense of smell before creating this menu, I wouldn’t have known the difference,” Seiter said.

It would have been easier for Joel to shake and stir only proven drinks, a safe route that bartenders like Seiter and Nicholas Crow, Joel’s peer at The Purple Martin, have done when suffering a head cold. But Joel wanted both to put The Purple Martin on the map of cocktail bar destinations in St. Louis and to stay on top of his craft. I would still love to be a part of an STL transformation. I’m so afraid that my situation will prevent that, he wrote. Throughout the spring, he experienced bouts of depression and anxiety as he struggled to imagine achieving those goals.

I think it will never come back. I don’t know if I’m prepared for that. That means I’ll never smell winter, I’ll never smell cinnamon, I’ll never smell banana bread with chocolate chips with my mama again. I don’t know if I’m OK with that. ... It’s not gonna be easy, the rest of my life. My dream was to go to a vineyard in France, spend a year in the soil, learn the grapes, sweat and toil and come back strong. I’ll never get that now. Is everything lost??

Yet at the bottom of the page, in big capital letters, he added, FUCK IT ... KEEP GOING! Joel’s neurologist at St. Luke’s Hospital Brain and Spine Center in Chesterfield informed him that if his sense of smell would return, it would likely occur during the six months after his injury. The end of June came, but the smells did not. At that point, Joel began to curb his emotional trauma and approach his new state more pragmatically.

He subjected himself to tests with whiskey, gin, tequila and other base spirits. He took notes regarding appearance, viscosity (which he labeled “touch,” since he evaluated the spirit by rolling a few drops of the liquid between his fingers or the palms of his hands) and “taste.”

He could detect sensations on the surface of his tongue where he knew he should taste sweet, sour, salty or bitter. Logically, he knew these were the flavors he should be experiencing.

In losing his sense of smell, Joel’s other senses have become heightened. He thinks harder about visual aspects of a drink, like garnishes.

In late June, I watched him prepare drinks for an Asian-themed multi-course dinner at The Purple Martin. He was tying fresh herbs together to serve alongside a shot of the Korean spirit soju. “Having them smell the herb bundle will be like porn to me,” he said. “I want them to be overwhelmed with smell.” For one course, he initially considered serving the cocktail, then walking across the dining room holding a branch November 2014

of burning sage. “Whoever said a garnish has to be in a drink?” he said.

Even his sense of hearing is keener. Joel now rarely serves drinks with a straw. Instead, customers are served their Brandy Old Fashioned or Silver Sour Fizz with a demitasse spoon, the metal utensil clinking when it touches the glass.

Not only has Joel changed his method of making drinks, but he also desires to interact with patrons and staff at the bar more intimately. “I want to create a personal connection with guests at the bar,” he said. That means making eye contact, shaking hands. And when he does, Joel will sometimes cup the person’s hand inside both of his.

“My body is saying, ‘Pay attention.’ It’s bizarre,” he said.

Joel is 33 years old. He doesn’t see himself tending bar forever, but he does plan to remain in the hospitality industry. “I’m a lifer,” he said. “You find what you’re good at and you excel at it. I love making people happy. I love serving people. Hospitality isn’t just serving food or drink. It’s connecting with people.” For him, the most obvious path for someone with his experience is as a brand ambassador. Over the summer, he interviewed for an opportunity with Jim Beam. He didn’t get the job, but he lasted through a couple interview rounds. Through networking, he has also been in talks with a national restaurant group. The job would entail revamping the bar program at its flagship location. If that goes well, there’s the potential for doing the same at the company’s 13 other restaurants.

He began to take better care of himself – and let others take care of him. He drastically cut down on smoking cigarettes (“I can’t taste or smell it anyway,” he said). He focused on eating better so his spindly 120-pound frame wouldn’t whittle away. He’d lost 10 pounds since December. Food offered so little pleasure, and he had always tended to be forgetful about eating; plus, his schedule rarely included time for a sit-down meal. He armed himself with Ensure protein shakes while his girlfriend, who works in the restaurant industry as a server, began to stock their kitchen with healthy snacks. The Purple Martin kitchen manager, KT Ayers, started preparing Joel a balanced dinner prior to his work shift.

On Sept. 8, Joel sent me a text message: He had suffered yet another seizure two days before. It was late afternoon on a Saturday, and he was in the back office at The Purple Martin. This time, he was sitting down. Since his fall last December, Joel has taken the prescription drug Dilantin to control his seizures. He’d forgotten to take his medicine two or three times that week. When paramedics came, his blood pressure was a relatively high 142/70. He didn’t

regain consciousness until he was lying on a gurney, some 30 to 40 minutes after the seizure. “This time, it took me a lot longer to come to. I’m a little spooked by that,” he said. “I’m a little shaken, but I’m OK.” Joel continues to take Dilantin to ward off seizures, but he does not treat the anosmia with medication. He has reached out to the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, the nation’s preeminent research institution for taste and smell. But the answer he received said, essentially, “Sorry, there’s no cure for this.”

At times he is encouraged, like when he puts on deodorant and senses the “awareness of a clean smell,” or during a recent descent into the damp basement at The Purple Martin, when his nose detected something that registered, “Hey, I’m in a basement.”

“I tell myself it’s going to come back. I pray for it to come back,” he said.

But what if it doesn’t? “Humans are amazingly adaptable,” said McLaughlin, noting that people with an impaired ability to taste learn to appreciate other qualities of food and drink. But her observation applies to life’s many unpredictable challenges. In Joel’s case, by early October, his optimism was at its highest level since last December. He and Ayers are slated for a dinner-cocktail event at Kitchen Conservatory Dec. 14, and an ongoing discussion continues with that national restaurant group about the bar management position.

Oct. 6 – My job, my aspirations and goals, and the rewards that I take from this chosen profession of mine are so far outreaching of this one challenge, that it has made me a more focused, more driven and more appreciative professional than I have ever been. ... I don’t think that I’ve ever worked at a higher caliber or done so more willingly or openly. That comes from perspective. I and my perspective have been humbled.

Joel doesn’t know what the future holds for him, but it appears brighter than it has for months. Wherever and whatever it is, I’ll be waiting for my people with a smile and a handshake, a quick joke or a story to tell, and then the best part – “What can I getcha?!”

What is it like for someone in the culinary arts to lose his sense of smell? On this month’s Sound Bites, Joel Clark, bar manager at The Purple Martin, joins Sauce executive editor Ligaya Figueras to discuss how he compensates for the loss of a primal sense when mixing cocktails at the fledgling nightlife venue in Fox Park. Tune in to St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 KWMU’s Cityscape Friday, Nov. 14 at noon and 10 p.m.

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STUFF TO DO:

THIS MONTH

BY BYRON KERMAN

Uncorked! A Holiday Wine Experience Nov. 14 – 6 to 8:30 p.m., Louis & Clark Community College, N. O. Nelson Campus, 600 Troy Road, Edwardsville, 618.307.5909, bin51wines.com Bin 51’s fifth annual Uncorked! party serves two purposes: to raise money for the Lynne F. Solon Foundation to fight diabetes and to help you plan ahead for your holiday beverage needs. Guests can taste a variety of wine, beer and spirits and then place orders for them at special pricing. Mingle with reps from Meeker Winery, The Big O and more while enjoying catered hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction.

Gingerbread House Contest Fundraiser Nov. 15 to 23, Saint Louis Galleria, 1155 Saint Louis Galleria, Richmond Heights, 314.771.4411, lydiashouse.org Everyone from professional chefs to high schoolers will take inspiration from national landmarks to create stunning gingerbread constructions during this annual event to support Lydia’s House, which helps those affected by domestic violence. Elaborate past creations have been inspired by Dr. Seuss, fairy tales, Peter Pan and even National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It all starts Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. when the pieces are unveiled to the public.

Share the Harvest Nov. 15 to 25, various locations, 573.634.2322, mdc.mo.gov During Missouri’s short 10-day deer season for gun hunters, the Department

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of Conservation and Operation Food Search sponsor the annual Share the Harvest program. Hunters bring a deer to a participating local processing shop and donate part or all of their kill to OFS. Area processors such as G&W Meat, John’s Butcher Shoppe, Kenrick’s Meats and more will turn quarry into donations to feed the hungry. Prefer to hunt without a rifle? The program runs all deer season long through Jan. 15

Whiskey in the Winter Nov. 22 – 6 to 9:30 p.m., Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch, 315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, whiskeyinthewinter.com It may be wise to get a room at the Hyatt Regency downtown for a short walk to the elevator after imbibing at Whiskey in the Winter. The third annual sample-fest features more than 200 whiskeys – a bevy of single malt and blended scotch, bourbon, Irish, Tennessee, Canadian, Missouri, Japanese and international whiskies – as well as talks by master distillers, seminars, whiskey-inspired foods and whiskey cocktails. Tickets available online.

Schlafly Winter Market Nov. 22 – 8:30 a.m. to noon, Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave., Maplewood, 314.241.2337, schlaflyfarmersmarket.com One of the most popular winter markets of the season is this month at the Schlafly Bottleworks. This cold-weather version of the Schlafly Farmers Market can swell to more than 30 vendors during the run-up to the holidays.

Shop for local produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods and other specialty products to make Thanksgiving more festive – and local.

Denotes a Sauce sponsored event.

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Holiday Cooking Classes Dates, times and Dierbergs locations vary, 636.812.1331, dierbergs.com/school When the holidays come around, a lot of us put on our invisible chef’s toque and desperately hope it fits. Don’t just fake it – nail it. Holiday classes at Dierbergs School of Cooking allow you to practice your holiday menu long before your party.

Consider instruction in classes like The Best of Holiday Gifts for Giving to make smoked sea salt-double chocolate turtles or the Holiday Cookie Bar Workshop for Southern-style pecan bars. You can also try your hand at bacon-tomato mini tarts at the Make It, Take It: Sweet & Savory Party Pastries class or enjoy High Tea for the Holidays with lavender scones with lemon curd. Register for classes online.

Feast of Nations Nov. 12 – 6 to 8 p.m., locations vary, 314.773.9090 x161, iistl.org Take your palate to a faraway place at the Feast of Nations, hosted by the International Institute St. Louis. Participating restaurants like Aya Sofia, Baida, Cleveland-Heath, HandleBar, Mango, Sameem and Yemanja Brasil have donated to IISTL’s programs, and in exchange, a representative will be at the restaurants to explain the nonprofit’s mission.

Green Ball 2014 Nov. 14 – 7 to 11 p.m., Moonrise Hotel, 6177 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314.577.5118, mobot.org/greenball Celebrate all things green at Missouri Botanical Garden’s Green Ball. Dig into locally sourced edibles alongside craft cocktails, beers and wine at the open bar. Enjoy a Green Fashion Contest featuring reused items, a raffle and silent auction. Creative green attire (from the color green to vintage or upcycled costumes) is encouraged.

Sauce Celebrity Chef Series: Michael Ruhlman

sponsored events

Cupcake Wars Nov. 6 – 7 to 9:30 p.m., UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive St., St. Louis, 314.772.8004, stlpublicradio.org/kitchensink Join St. Louis Public Radio and local bakeries The Sweet Divine, Sarah’s Cake Stop and Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop for a decadent dessert battle at Cupcake Wars, part of the Mosby Building Arts Kitchen Sink Series. Taste your way through four entries from each bakery and vote for your favorite to take the grand prize. Then chat with the pastry chefs during a Q&A session about trends in the local baking scene.

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Nov. 19 – 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., The Restaurant at The Cheshire, 7036 Clayton Ave., St. Louis, 314.732.9818, restaurant-stl.com/happenings Food writer Michael Ruhlman is back with a new cookbook, How to Roast, and he’s sharing it with St. Louis at this installment of the Sauce Celebrity Chef Series. Chat with Ruhlman over cocktails before sitting down to a five-course collaboration dinner prepared by Ruhlman and Rex Hale, executive chef at The Restaurant at The Cheshire, then prep your questions for a Q&A session about his career and book.

Wine & Dine with Sauce Magazine Dec. 5 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Dierbergs, 1080 Lindeman Road, Des Peres, 636.812.1336, dierbergs.com/school Join Sauce executive editor Ligaya Figueras, art director Meera Nagarajan and wine writer Glenn Bardgett as they host a cooking class featuring holiday recipes and drinks. Plus, get the scoop on the newest restaurant openings and the latest trends. Register online. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 53

WHAT I DO Douglas Denney

What was your first restaurant job? For a summer job, I was a dishwasher – handwashing, by the way. I went back the second year and was basically what they’d call the barista nowadays.

Back then it was “the coffee maker.”

How did you get a job at The Crossing? I walked in with my resume.

I got lucky. It’s not easy to get in here.

“Anyone can wait on one table,” said Douglas Denney, 47, a veteran server at The Crossing.

“Eight, nine, 10 tables? That’s when it gets difficult.” Here, the native of Edinburgh, Scotland dishes out what he’s learned from more than 30 years spent walking restaurant floors – and why he really hopes you won’t order hot tea.

What’s the staff turnover rate? It’s nonexistent.

What type of personality makes for a good server?

Anyone can be a food delivery man. To be a good waiter, you have to have that sense of hospitality.

I think some of it’s trainable, but I don’t think it all is.

Who is your favorite type of customer? My regulars. When you look on the reservation book at night and see “Mrs. Smith requests Douglas,” it’s kind of flattering.

When someone takes the time to request a particular waiter, you know you must be doing something right.

Is there a drink order you wince at? Hot tea! Most restaurants are never set up to serve it because you don’t sell that much of it. You’ve got to get the teapot, warm it up, get the cup ready, lemons, honey or sweetener or whatever it is.

So you got all these things you gotta bring in. Inevitably, someone else at the table says, “Oh, that does sound good. I think I’ll have a hot tea, too!”

Hot tea – that’s the scourge for all waiters. I drink hot tea at home all the time. I’m Scottish.

Does your Scottish accent benefit you as a server? It probably makes it easier walking up to people you don’t know if you have an accent because they want to listen to you.

What dining habit really irritates you? Cell phones.

Don’t use your cell phone in a restaurant. When you go out to dinner, interact with the people you’re having dinner with.

How do you feel about reservation no-shows? If you’re not going to make it, just call and let us know. That way we can open the table for someone else.

Does it bother you when people show up just before the kitchen is closing? The kitchen’s not closed yet, so it’s no big deal. If our kitchen closes at 10 o’clock and you show up at 10:30 and we’ve still got people eating and we’re still cooking in the kitchen, we’ll feed you.

That’s hospitality. That’s what we do.

What should a customer do when they’ve had a poor dining experience? Tell your waiter if there’s something wrong. If they know what they’re doing, they’ll handle it correctly, seamlessly.

What about when the server is part of the bad experience?

I’ve failed at a table. I had a table that did a grand tasting menu, and I forgot to fire the dessert. I got so overtaken by tables that it just didn’t happen.

They paid their bill and called back the next day. We all make mistakes.

What we try to do when we make mistakes is fix it. Did I fix that? No. But it’ll never happen again.

What’s your post-shift routine? A small glass of wine or a beer and go home. Compare that to 20 years ago ... I’m too old for that.

– Ligaya Figueras

The Crossing 7823 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, 314.721.7375, fialafood.com

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PHOTO BY ASHLEY GIESEKING

What’s the hardest part about keeping customers happy? I don’t think it’s hard when you enjoy doing what you do. The actual dealing with the guest is not hard. It’s a lot harder physically, especially when you get older, than most people would think. Ten to 12 hours on your feet – that’s the tough part of the job.

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