St. Louis Food Blog

2007 Domaine Arlaud Bourgogne Rouge Roncevie ($27)
33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar, 1913 Park Avenue; 314-231-9463

Say a hearty hello to 2007 Domaine Arlaud Bourgogne Rouge Roncevie

​Tasting notes:

Pale red in color. The aroma is redolent of tart cherry fruit, but there's an undercurrent of earthiness -- a hallmark of red Burgundies -- and spicy oak. Medium weight in the mouth, where the dark fruit stars again. You get some tannic structure, but nothing overpowering. This wine took a couple of hours to really get singing, so if you're drinking it now, decanting before pouring would be a good idea.

Today's wine is an example of a single-vineyard Bourgogne, from the well-regarded village of Gevry-Chambertin. (It's farmed organically, though this small producer doesn't bother to seek certification.)

For anyone who likes wine, it's worth getting to know Burgundy, because it is the point of origin for two of the finest grape varieties -- pinot noir and chardonnay. In addition, Burgundy is one of the best areas to explore the concept of terroir, that virtually untranslatable French term for the phenomenon that grapes transmit to wine some of the character of the ground they're grown in.

Last summer, Riverfront Times reported on Match, a groundbreaking meat substitute invented right here in St. Louis. Match comes in six different flavors, including beef, chicken and pork, and it has been heralded as the best artificial meat on the market.

Now it has an in-state challenger, at least in the chicken department.

OK. It's a trick question because I'm eating this at my desk here at Gut Check International Headquarters. But from where does this pulled pork and chicken barbecue hail? And where is the cornbread I ordered?

Ian Froeb

​Leave your guesses in the comments. Hints forthcoming if no one guesses correctly.

And, seriously, where's my cornbread?

Updated with answer after the jump!

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​It must have been the five-alarm sauce.

(Ba-dum-cha! Thank you, thank you very much. We'll be here all afternoon, don't forget to tip your waitress.)

Seriously, though, a false alarm closed the St. Peters branch of the wing chain yesterday morning.

Reports KMOX: "It turns out the object consisted of two pipes with wires in a paper bag, which police say was some kind of electrical grounding device."

Gut Check suspects a homemade defibrillator was crafted as safety precaution for consuming the restaurants potato cheese wedges.

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​River City Casino is slated to open Thursday, March 4, which means the p.r. blitz is in full swing. Yesterday, the casino revealed its lineup of restaurants.

This is another property from Pinnacle Entertainment, whose Lumière Place is home to Hubert Keller's Sleek and Burger Bar (among other eateries), so I perused the list with interest.

Dig out your tacky souvenirs from the 2004 centennial celebration of the St. Louis World's Fair and follow me back in time after the jump...

Health officials destroy over $1,000 worth of local fruit over business license dispute. (Chicago Tribune)
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USDA kills never-functional livestock-tracking program. (Des Moines Register)

Brooklyn high school students flock to food justice class. (New York Times)

Need sandwich assistance? There's an app for that. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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​The website Opinionated About Dining has released its annual list of the nation's "Most Important Restaurants." While no St. Louis restaurant was among the 30 finalists on the nationwide list, we did score #10 out of fifteen in the Midwest category list: Sidney Street Café (2000 Sidney Street; 314-771-5777). Congrats to chef Kevin Nashan and staff for the honor.

Chicago dominated the Midwest category, taking twelve of the fifteen spots. Grant Achatz's Alinea was #1. In the nationwide category, Thomas Keller dominated, scoring #1 for The French Laundry in Yountville, California, and #2 for Per Se in New York City.

This week I visit Sammy Scott's, a new, homegrown fast-casual restaurant in Creve Coeur (12766 Olive Boulevard; 314-439-5100).

Jennifer Silverberg

​Follow me after the jump for a sneak preview of my review.

Two weeks ago, after nearly a year of writing Throwback of the House, I finally got the nerve to feed my friends one of my creations.

Three days later, I got a call from my editor, informing me that it's time to end this madness.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a coincidence.

Robin Wheeler

​In bidding farewell to Throwback, I've brought forth one of the first recipes I found. A dish so bizarre that it must be reserved for a special occasion such as this. A dish so potentially vile that it would make me never, ever want to experiment with old cookbooks again.

I present to you, from 1953's 500 Tasty Snacks: Ideas of Entertaining, Aspic Entrées: Jellied Bouillon with Frankfurters.

It's been a good weekend for people who love New Orleans. In Soulard, participating restaurants brought out special menu items with varying levels of Creole and Cajun influences for the pre-Mardi Gras food festival, Taste of Soulard.

Photographer Jason Stoff hit up several restaurants on Sunday afternoon. In between the dozens and dozens of dogs walking the street for the Dog Parade, he shot these dishes.

Here's a full slideshow from the Taste of Soulard.

Photo: Jason Stoff

Chef Eric Brenner is an expert at styling food. Here, a tantalizing glimpse of the BBQ Shrimp and Jalapeño Cheddar Grits at Molly's in Soulard. See the full slideshow here.

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