St. Louis Food Blog

This Monday, November 9, 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar (1913 Park Avenue; website) will host a special cocktail event. Blood & Sand will bring together some of the area's leading mixologists, including Ted Kilgore and T.J. Vytlacil, to kick off the new local chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild. There will also be a wine tasting -- this is 33, after all -- as well as a beer tasting hosted by STL Hops beer guru Mike Sweeney. The event begins at 6 p.m. Admission is free. Call 314-231-9463.

Central West End bistro Moxy (4584 Laclede Avenue; website) is hosting a tasting of single-malt scotches on Saturday, December 5. Participants will get to try Macallan 18-year, Glenfarclas 25-year, Glenmorangie 18-year, Ardbeg Nam Beist, Bowmore 18-year and Highland Park 25-year. There will be two tastings, one at 5 p.m., the second at 7:30 p.m. Each is limited to 49 participants. The cost is $50 per person, with proceeds benefitting the Seven Rivers Highland Society. Call 314-361-4848 for reservations or more info.

Jennifer Silverberg

​My review of the Terrace View is now available online. The Terrace View is the restaurant in downtown's new sculpture park, Citygarden, headed by Jim Fiala (the Crossing, Liluma, Acero). In this week's Back of the House slideshow, Jennifer Silverberg gives you a look at the Terrace View's cool interior as well as the food being prepared by its kitchen.

Local Harvest Café & Catering (3137 Morganford Road; website) -- the Riverfront Times Best New Restaurant 2009 -- will host the first of four "Big Night" dinners on Monday, November 16, at 7 p.m. The four-course meal will feature Italian cuisine and the artisan salumi of Salume Beddu. The cost is $35 per person, with wine pairings available for an additional $15. Reservations are required. Call 314-772-8815 for more info.

The menu, after the jump...

Ian Froeb

Tumo's, soon to be come A'mis

​A few restaurant tidbits that my colleagues around town have posted: Joe Bonwich of the Post-Dispatch notes that Italian restaurant A'mis will open its third location at 6419 Hampton Avenue, the former location of Tumo's. Bonwich also reports on Phelim O'Toole's, a new firefighter-themed (and firefighter-owned) restaurant opening at the old Soda Fountain Square location in Lafayette Square.

Finally, in his latest gossip column, Jerry Berger includes a small item on a possible downtown location for the popular Clifton Heights spot Chris' Pancake & Dining.

Monarch (7401 Manchester Road; website) is hosting "Operation Give Thanks" to benefit U.S. military families this Saturday, November 7, from 7-11 p.m.

The restaurant will donate a portion of the proceeds from a select bar menu to the non-profit Operation Shower, which the organization's own website describes thusly:

Operation Shower is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that recognizes and honors the sacrifices military families make by producing and coordinating unit-wide baby showers and "showers in a box" for pregnant or expecting military families in a deployment or high stress situation.

For more information on the event, contact Operation Shower through its website.

October has ended its wet, wet reign, so we look back on the soggy month's restaurant openings and closings. As always, if I missed one, please let me know in the comments. Gracias in advance.

Ian Froeb

Beechwood Bistro by Sage fell victim to the Union Station curse.

​Openings

The Wedge (under new management)
Sevens (Casino Queen)
Las Palmas (Maplewood location)
Pi (Kirkwood location)
Foam

Closings after the jump...

Audi-K's is now open at 235 North Euclid Avenue in the Central West End. The tiny restaurant serves hot dogs in numerous variations, from plain to Chicago-style to chili cheese to the "BLT Dog" (exactly what it sounds like). The menu also includes nachos, a few sides (beans and weenies!) and New Orleans-style snow cones. Audi-K's is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call 314-361-0270 for more info.

This week I visit the Terrace View, Jim Fiala's new restaurant within the Citygarden sculpture park. After the jump, check out a preview of my review.

Jennifer Silverberg

​

Espresso Mod (210 North 9th Street) closed last week. The downtown coffee house opened in late 2005. A post from user "espressomod" -- presumably, but not definitely, connected to the business -- on the Urban St. Louis message board (scroll down) is critical of the incentives that Schnucks' new Culinaria market received from the City of St. Louis: "[Culinaria] should have been an addition but instead their business model was copy what was there already and do it cheaper. So therefore everyone surrounding them has lost 1/2 of their business."

​After two years of anticipation, Foam Coffee & Beer at 3359 Jefferson Avenue has finally opened its doors! For the most part.

Owner Mike Glodeck says he's already secured his city liquor license but is still waiting on the state's imprimatur. (When Foam gets going, it'll be pretty much the only bar on Cherokee west of Jefferson).

In the meantime, he'll be selling hot coffee drinks and light snacks. (Our fearless music editor Annie Zaleski blogged about Foam back when the idea was hatched as a possible music venue).

The bespectacled and bearded Glodeck took an unusual approach to launching his business by soliciting input from neighbors for months, both in-person and online. "We wanted this to be a community hub," he says, "so there was no point in me forcing something down people's throats."

Here's Foam's schedule listed on their front door:

M-Th: 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Fri. 7 a.m. - 1 a.m.
Sat. 8 a.m. - 1 a.m.
Sun. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Check out photos after the jump...

Last week, I noted that Slice, the pizza-centric blog run by national food blog Serious Eats, had filed a report on Thai Pizza Co. in the Delmar Loop. This week, Slice returns to the Loop to check out Pi (6144 Delmar Boulevard; website).

Daniel Zemans, who also wrote the Thai Pizza Co. post, is generally impressed with Pi in his report:

The deep dish, which I got with Berkshire pork sausage and fresh mushrooms, was excellent. It's not the best I've ever had, but it's in the top few. The thick, corn meal heavy crust, was crisp, but not crumbly. It held up well, literally and in terms of taste, to the impressive amount of cheese, toppings and sauce.

Read the entire review for his thoughts on how Pi compares to Chicago deep-dish and, of course, the Obama stuff.

User "tacvbo," Wikimedia Commons

​Yesterday, I humbly suggested a few easy food-related costume ideas for Halloween. One of those ideas? A burrito. Now comes word that if you dress up like a burrito* and visit a Chipotle from 6 p.m. until closing on Halloween this Saturday, you'll receive a free burrito. Tell 'em I sent you.**

* - Or any other Chipotle menu item.

Jennifer Silverberg

​My review of the Indian restaurant Mayuri is now available online. Mayuri is located at 12513 Olive Boulevard in Creve Coeur, in the space previously occupied by the Indian restaurant Ruchi. For more information, call 314-576-7272 or visit the restaurant's website. In this week's Back of the House slideshow, Jennifer Silverberg shows off the restaurant's lunch buffet and takes you into the kitchen.

​Looks like Union Station might have claimed another one: Beechwood Bistro by Sage, the offshoot of Soulard's Sage, appears to be closed. The restaurant was closed during its usual operating hours this afternoon, and the phone number (314-621-1161) has been disconnected. Beechwood Bistro opened in early March of this year, featuring many of the same dishes as Sage, which debuted in the summer of 2007.

User "Bmaganti," Wikimedia Commons

​This week, I visit Mayuri, a new Indian restaurant at 12513 Olive Boulevard (the space formerly occupied by the Indian restaurant Ruchi).

The Andhra chicken curry at Mayuri is named for Andhra Pradesh, the state on India's southeast coast that some claim offers the nation's hottest cuisine. Having yet to travel through India, I can't vouch for that statement, but I did note that while a fearsome lamb vindaloo rated two chile peppers on Mayuri's heat scale, the Andhra chicken scored three. Challenge accepted.

Visit the RFT restaurant page tomorrow afternoon or check back here Wednesday morning to see what I think.

Balaban's Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar (1772 Clarkson Road) has named Kevin Sthair chef. Sthair previously served as sous chef at the original Balaban's, thus giving the new restaurant another tie to the Central West End institution. The new Balaban's is owned by Steve McIntyre, who bought the original restaurant from Herbie Balaban and owned it for much of the next twenty years, and Brian Underwood.

Sthair, a St. Louis native, graduated from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona. Locally, he has worked at Araka and Kreis'. For more on what to expect from the new Balaban's, read my chat with McIntyre from last week.

Wikimedia Commons

​Crepes in the City (500 N. 14th St.) appears to have closed. Tables are still set up and art's still hanging on the walls, but the creperie is shuttered today and its website isn't working. A Facebook fan of the place says, "RIP." No one's answering the phone, either. Anybody have the scoop? They appeared to be doing a bang-up business on the weekends...  

President Obama-approved pizza restaurant Pi (website) has opened its second location at 10935 Manchester Road (formerly Two Nice Guys and Trattoria Two). Pi² is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. Call 314-966-8080 for more info. Now the countdown for the third Pi, opening at the end of this year at the former Sapphire Pan-Asian address at the intersection of Euclid and McPherson Avenues in the Central West End, can begin in earnest.

Oliver Strand of GQ magazine has named Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company one of the ten best places for coffee in the United States. Kaldi's illustrious company on the list includes such nationally well-known coffee purveyors as Intelligentsia of Chicago and Los Angeles and Stumptown of Portland (Oregon), Seattle and New York City. The item on Kaldi's notes its reputation for roasting coffee and its Espresso 700 blend. Congrats to the Kaldi's team!

Well-respected national food blog Serious Eats today pays a visit to Thai Pizza Co. (608 Eastgate Avenue; website). In the article for Serious Eats' pizza blog Slice, Chicago-based Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans stops by the Delmar Loop restaurant to test the "universality of pizza."

Zemans doesn't think that Thai Pizza Co. is up to snuff:

There really isn't much worth reporting on the actual pizza. There are twelve different options for toppings and two different crusts, one thin and one thick. I opted for a thin crust with green curry, which included chicken, mushrooms, onions, green peas, fresh basil, coconut milk and bell pepper. The virtually flavorless factory made crust was neither remotely crisp nor pleasantly chewy. The cheese, listed on the menu as mozzarella but actually a combination of mozzarella and cheddar, was the best part of the pizza.

Worth reading in full.

Jennifer Silverberg

​My review of three new Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants -- Taqueria la Monarca in University City, Amigo Joe's on Southwest Avenue and Latitude 26° in Dogtown -- is now available online. In this week's Back of the House slideshow, Jennifer Silverberg takes you into the kitchen of Taqueria la Monarca, where you can see such delicious dishes as the tamales (pictured right) being made.

I try my best to stay on top of restaurant openings and closings, but more often than I'd like, a specific event slips past me. Case in point: Chesterfield Korean restaurant KoBa has closed. According to George Mahe's recent openings and closings post on Feast, the location at 138 Chesterfield Town Center will become the third outpost of the Italian restaurant and wine bar Trattoria Branica.

Does anyone know when, roughly, KoBa closed? My best guess, based on its Yelp page, is July. But, again, that's a guess.

KoBa opened in late 2006, and I reviewed it quite positively in January of 2007. It was dubbed Best Korean Restaurant in the 2007 edition of Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis.

As I reported last week, Central West End institution Balaban's is making a comeback of sorts as Balaban's Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar at 1772 Clarkson Road in Chesterfield. Steve McIntyre, who owned Balaban's for much of the twenty-year period between 1986 and 2006, is behind the new location, which is slated to open in November. (The original Balaban's location at 405 North Euclid Avenue is now Herbie's Vintage 72.) Last Friday, I had the chance to speak with McIntyre about the new Balaban's.

Las Palmas, a Mexican restaurant, is now open at 7356 Manchester Road (the former location of Tex-Mex joint El Scorcho).Still trying to pin down exact hours of operation, not to mention a working phone number -- if you can help, please leave a comment! -- but I can tell you there are happy hour specials from 4-6 p.m. Because there's a banner in the front window advertising that fact. Oh, and fish tacos are a (daily?) special.

​In this week's review, I visit three recently opened Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants: Taqueria La Monarca, Amigo Joe's and Latitude 26°.

Taqueria la Monarca is the latest addition to the unlikely Murderers' Row of restaurants at the intersection of Olive Boulevard and Woodson Road. Across Woodson from the three-month-old taqueria is Jeffrey Plaza, home to Nobu's, De Palm Tree, Indian Food and Pho Long -- each among the top examples of their representative cuisines. Taqueria la Monarca fits neatly into this lineup, the number-two hitter lining singles to the outfield gaps, setting the table for the heavy hitters.

Check the RFT restaurant page tomorrow afternoon or here Wednesday morning to see what I think.

The totally awesome Blues City Deli (2438 McNair Avenue; website) is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a free street party. Streetfest runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow, October 17. The event features live music from the Rum Drum Ramblers and Pokey LaFarge,Miss Jubilee and theHumdingers, Elliot Sowell and Chris Ruest with Sal Ruelas and Joe Meyer, the Funky Butt Brass Band, Big Mike Aguirre and Rockin Jake and Los Carnales. Don't bring any glass containers. Call the restaurant at 314-773-8225 for more info.

Doesn't seem that long ago that I was reporting on Gerard Craft of Niche, Taste by Niche and the soon-to-open Brasserie by Niche being a finalist for the 2009 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. Now the foundation has opened the nominations for the 2010 awards. Anyone can nominate a chef or restaurant in the appropriate categories -- you simply have to register (for free) on the James Beard foundation website. You have until the end of the day on December 31 to submit your nominations.

Craft was the only St. Louis chef to be a finalist in the "Best Chef - Midwest" category last year, but two other area chefs joined him among the semifinalists for the award: Josh Galliano of Monarch and Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Café.

As I reported on Monday, Steve McIntyre, who owned Balaban's in the Central West End for a good portion of its 36-year run, is opening Balaban's Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar this November at 1772 Clarkson Road in Chesterfield.

Today I received the official press release announcing the opening, and it suggests that retail wine sales will play a large part in the new venture. A couple of choice bits after the jump...

Photo: Jennifer Silverberg

The crew, starting in front, going clockwise, owner/chef Gerard Craft, chef de cuisine Adam Altnether, mixologist Ted Kilgore, cook Nick Blue, pastry chef Mathew Rice and sous chef James Peisker. See a slideshow of photos from Taste by Niche.

​My review of Taste by Niche (1831 Sidney Street; website) is now available online. After the jump, pictures from Jennifer Silverberg of the interior, the food and the cocktails.