Blogs

A fire at Copia Urban Winery (1122 Washington Avenue) seriously damaged the restaurant and forced the evacuation of nearby loft apartments, reports KMOX. More details as I learn them.

UPDATE: Investigators have determined it was arson, reports the Post-Dispatch.

UPDATE #2: Here are a couple of photos I took this afternoon. The first is from across the street; the second is right up at the police warning tape.

-Ian Froeb

We interrupt Gut Check's holiday hiatus -- as well as a wicked hangover -- to inform you that this week's issue is now available online. In lieu of an actual review, I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes of 2007. Click here to read.

Sound familiar, loyal Gut Check readers? That's right -- I repurposed content!

Also in this week's issue: Kristie reflects on her three favorite Drinks of the Week of 2007.

We now return to merry-making and chasing cats out of the Christmas tree. See you in a week.

-Ian Froeb

www.sopwithproductions.com

I hope you enjoyed the first annual Gut Check Year-End Bonanza! This year -- both reviewing restaurants for the paper and producing the blog -- has been a blast. I don't know where we're headed in 2008, but I promise Gut Check will continue to grow.

First, though, a rest. Gut Check will return on Wednesday, January 2, with all the usual goodies, including my first review of 2008. Will the new year begin with a bang or a whimper? Here's an awful big hint: We already have a clear -- maybe prohibitive -- favorite for the worst dish of 2008.

Safe travels, if you're headed out of town. Wherever you go, have a great holiday season, and eat something good.

Peace,
Ian

E. coli

www.wikimedia.org

I know, I know. Why would I choose a potentially deadly bacterium as the Thing of the Year?

First of all, it's not a slight against the other nominees. (Especially you, Aaron!) Second of all, it's not an excuse to run that disgusting image again.

When Gut Check spun off from the main RFT blog this spring, I had no idea what it would become. I've been making it up as I go along. For instance, I expected more blog-only reviews than I've written. (Next year, I promise.)

At any rate, what Gut Check has become, more than anything else, is a place to discuss what we eat and why. And this year no topic has been hotter than the source of our food.

"There's shit in the meat," is the disturbing refrain of Eric Schlosser's groundbreaking Fast Food Nation. While this was literally true more than once in 2007, the phrase is an apt metaphor for our concern about the provenance of our food, whether domestic or imported, processed or "organic."

I don't think it's a coincidence that "locavore," a funny term few of us had even heard twelve months ago, was the Oxford Dictionary's word of the year. Even if you don't subscribe to the 100-mile diet, you have to ask yourself: How much is it worth to me in time and/or money to seek out the better product? How do I even know what the "better" product is?

There are no easy answers. But the events of this year have reminded us how great the stakes are. There's shit in the meat.

-Ian Froeb

This week I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes of 2007 -- and the absolute worst thing I ate all year.

#1. Sweetbreads at Franco

I loved the sautéed sweetbreads I had on my first visit to Franco (the RFT’s and our readers’ pick for Best New Restaurant 2007) so much that I tried to order them again when I returned a few days later. (They were sold out.) That was almost one year ago now, and on the first draft of this list, I had the sweetbreads penciled at No. 2. But then I decided to pay another visit to Franco (where, I must admit, they have figured out who I am) and try executive chef Justin Keimon’s current sweetbreads dish.

This was fantastic, even better than the original: sweetbreads and mushrooms in a Madeira glaze between two thin layers of pastry shell and sitting atop a cauliflower purée. The composition looks an awful lot like biscuits and gravy, and the flavor is incredibly rich -- meaty, yes, with the sweetbreads’ mild earthy notes and a passing sweetness from the Madeira glaze.

Franco
1535 South Eighth Street
314-436-2500

-Ian Froeb

Yet more news from the Delmar Loop -- though not because it's where my office is and I'm lazy. (Though my office is here, and I am lazy.)

The Market in the Loop (6655 Delmar Boulevard) -- former home to Big V's Burger Joint and current home to Pearl Express, Wong's Wok and Racanelli's -- will close sometime around the beginning of next year. (Pearl Express has already closed.) In its place will be a stand-alone, sit-down Racanelli's.

-Ian Froeb

A quick review of the five nominees for the inaugural Gut Check Thing of the Year award.

Land Crabs

Aaron Proctor

Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt

E. coli

Charlie the Pie-Eating Bichon Frese

The winner will be announced at 4 p.m. sharp!

-Ian Froeb

This week I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes of 2007 -- and the absolute worst thing I ate all year.

"Baseball's Best Slider" at GCS Stadium

Baseball’s Best Slider is the sort of thing you should order only when drunk or on a dare. It’s a White Castle cheeseburger breaded and deep-fried, served with a side of cheese sauce, for dipping. It looks more or less like what you’d imagine a breaded and deep-fried White Castle Slyder® would look like: dark brown and crusty, generally burger-shaped -- albeit with knobs of gnarled batter that give it the appearance of a fried chicken thigh.

It tasted like ass.

-- from "Infield Hit" (June 27, 2007)

GCS Stadium
2301 Grizzlie Bear Boulevard, Sauget, Illinois
618-337-3000

-Ian Froeb

I'd heard rumors about this, but Sauce has the confirmation: Mirasol (6144 Delmar Boulevard) is closing.

Word on the street is that a "San Francisco-style" pizza parlor is taking over the space. I'll try to find out how much of that is true.

-Ian Froeb

www.wikimedia.org

One more China story to round out the year? Why not?

Chinese government officials urge consumers to use common sense when shopping for food. Like, don't buy the expired or botulism-bulging cans. (Reuters)

Looking forward to some humpback sashimi? Screw off. Japan has "temporarily" stopped hunting for humpback whales under pressure from the international community, especially Australia. (CNN)

-Ian Froeb

A four-pack of 16-oz. cans is just $2.99 at the Schnucks on the Hill! More to come...

[UPDATE: No wonder they don't advertise this stuff. Why ask why, indeed. -- Friday, 4:50 p.m.]

-Ian Froeb

As part of our year-end celebration, Gut Check is highlighting the people, places and things that have made the blog's first year (well, seven months, actually, but who's counting?) so much fun. There are five nominees for the inaugural Gut Check Thing of the Year award. I'll announce the winner on Friday.

Charlie, the Pie-Eating Bichon Frese

www.lep.co.uk

Pros: As noted haters of eating contests, we fell hard for Charlie after he ate all the pie crusts on the eve of the world pie-eating championship in England.

Cons: The pie-eating championship was held eventually. And we suspect Charlie was acting out of instinct, not principle.

-Ian Froeb

www.teamlorenz.com

There are many reasons to love Nachomama's, the Mexican restaurant in Rock Hill (9643 Manchester Road) that's sort of a cross between a taqueria and an American fast-food joint. The tortilla chips served in flower pots. The hot salsa. The soft taco platter. (I prefer the beef, personally.)

Today, however, I come to praise not Nachomama's food, but its décor. Though I've visited it many, many times, today was the first time I noticed that on its ceiling is a mural featuring a giant bottle of Bud Dry.

Don't remember Bud Dry? Or only vaguely? You're probably not alone. It's still brewed, apparently -- dry-brewed, that is; check out its ratings on Beer Advocate -- but never advertised. This will correct that:

(Recognize the woman in the ad?)

-Ian Froeb

I neglected to mention in yesterday's casino-themed post that Asia, serving pan-Asian dishes (duh), is now open at Lumiere Place. Hours are from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fri.-Sat. and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun. Call 314-881-7777 for more information.

Asia's menu (or part of it, at least) is published in the "Menu of Menus" supplement tucked inside this week's hard copy of the RFT. Notable items include bird's nest and shark fin soup, both priced at $59.95. That's not a typo, by the way.

-Ian Froeb

This week I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes of 2007 -- and the absolute worst thing I ate all year.

#2. Pork at Niche

Pork cheeks are served as a cake (as in a crab cake), letting the cheeks’ fat soften the deeply flavored meat. For an even more indulgent version of this effect, try the pork belly entrée. The sinfully fatty meat -- you know it in its cured form: bacon -- is braised overnight for ten hours and then served over baby Brussels sprouts and chopped apple in a cider jus. The amount of fat on the dish might strike you as overwhelming, but it acts as a second sauce, seeming to melt over the meat as you chew. The crisp apple and the sharp, but not at all bitter, Brussels sprouts provide the ideal counterpoint to all this richness.

It’s safe to say that if you remove barbecue from consideration, Niche is now the mecca for pork lovers in St. Louis. Excellent house-made pappardelle with mascarpone, lemon, pear and parsley is taken to a nearly ethereal level by the addition of smoked pork shank.

-- "Fat City, Baby!" (December 20, 2007)

Niche
1831 Sidney Street
314-773-7755

-Ian Froeb