Monday, June 30, 2008

If I were a red curry....

Then I'd probably first live at Thai Country Cafe. This curry broke me; supposedly, red is the hottest, although I can't really support that with fact. Nevertheless, when I first began my first venture into red curry, I'd order it mild and sweat and gulp down water as I worked my way through a few bites of mostly rice. However, like a good foodie, I persevered and now I'm thoroughly "medium" with occasional forays into "spicy"; what? Yep!

So TCC curry: I've eaten here regularly (sometimes every week) for years--5, 6, 9? Don't know; but suffice it to say, it's good, it's consistent, they know their regulars, and they do it right.

TCC red curry comes vegetarian with steamed tofu, red and green peppers, and basil. I always order "extra extra vegetables," which for $1 buys me broccoli, mini corn, bamboo shoots, carrots, and mushrooms. The sauce is coconutty, a little trace of peanutty, and very very curry. It's just freaking delicious.
But although technically my second place winner would be The King and I, that's partly out of deference and respect for the last 9 years, because in many ways, KI trumps TCC.

The red curry at KI is much thicker; best I can figure is that they use coconut cream vs. coconut milk. It's very very rich. And it's spicy and a little bit more peanutty. Theirs comes standard with bamboo shoots, tofu, peppers, corns, mushrooms, and basil, as well as eggplant. For $1 I can add a vegetable, so I always choose broccoli. Overall, it's fantastic. Much richer, so you leave feeling a little roly poly, but still good.

Besides the richness--which may change your choice of restaurant (in 100 degrees you may prefer lighter curry?)--the restaurants vary. The wine list at KI is superior; I probably wouldn't drink the wine at TCC. But it's packed on the weekends and you may wait up to an hour, which is always a bummer. Finally, TCC is in the loop and KI is on the southside, so it really depends on where you're at for the evening.

If I were to be allowed to give a tie, I think I'd give them a tie for first. Wait. My blog. My rules. I tie TCC and KI for first.

Following behind in second, then, is the only other candidate up for review today: Basil Spice. This is the new Thai place on South Grand, which is ballsy, I'd say, not only opening up amidst several other established Asian restaurants, but also opening just doors from KI, which has been around since the 80s at least. Anyway...

Their red curry was very mediocre. If I were reviewing others today, BS would most likely be pushed back to 3rd, 5th, maybe even last place. It wasn't hideous; but it wasn't anything to go gaga over. In fact, the dish my dinner partner had, a basil dish, was far superior. So maybe it's jut not the place to order a curry.

Their curry was very watery. My request for "extra extra vegetables" bought me a little of this and a little of that, but nothing major. And the tofu was fried; that's always tasty, but unnecessary. If I went back there, I'd get something else.

Other solid red curries in town, if you're not on Delmar or Grand (or if you don't feel like heeding my advice): Rearn Thai in Clayton. It's good. Blue Elephant in Clayton; also good, but I think it's more of a lunch place. And Thai Cafe, TCC's sister-restaurant East of Skinker. It's a slightly more upscale red curry. Actually, it's exactly as if KI and TCC had a curry baby--it's a little rich, but not too thick, a little pricier, but not too crowded, etc. And I hear (although tasting is believing) that Sen Thai is very good. We'll see about that.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Happy Hour: Sapphire

To make those post-work hours happy, you need two things: Martinis and Small Plates. There are variations on this theme (beer and snax, wine and cheese, you get it), but essentially, that's what's up.

A new restaurant in the CWE, Sapphire, replaced one of my favorite old restaurants, Zoe, which was a great destination for Happy Hour. Zoe was especially great because the standard CWE happy hour destination, Balabans, doesn't open til 6 and that, frankly, is just too late. But we tried this new place anyway, seeing as how it was open and it was about that time.

So we ordered a few martinis, enjoyed the complimentary fried chile snax, and set to work endeavoring to be happy.Sadly, of the three martinis experienced by myself and friend, only one was drinkable. It was a "passion plum" or something, which was basically a cosmo, which I enjoyed. But the "green tea" and the "melontini" were bad, though, seriously. I don't know how you mess up ice, vodka, juice, sugar, but they did.










The Small Plates, I must admit however, were phenomenal. Spicy chile beans and spicy chile sweet potato fries.
Sapphire digs their chile flavoring, but if it works, it works!
Although I might not venture back there again for happy hour (cocktails are a necessary element of the happy hour equation; otherwise, it's just dinner), I enjoyed myself and I did, in fact, spend that hour happily. I did! And I hear they're great for lunch!

Killer Q

Friends had a barbecue. Typically, I go over the top, buying too expensive rare ingredients and coming armed with too much food (I swear). Not so much this time.

Too bad, too, because these foodies would have really dug meg's famous guac or meg's very own original roasted tomato green been salad or even meg's amazing sesame asparagus. Instead, I went to Straub's (gulp!) and brought Thai pasta salad (blush) in a non-recyclable plastic container (eegads!).

Anyway, on the menu was the most phenomenal barbecue food I've ever consumed. Here you didn't see any Dogs-in-casing orWonder Buns. Nope, this stuff was fresh made, homegrown, and organic. For real.

Bean dip. This rivals any hummus I've ever had. The black beans are Missouri-grown--from the farmer's market! Mixed in are fresh herbs from the host's garden, including chives and such. And also friend's famous "ugly dip": this stuff is just whatever's handy mixed up--tomatoes, onions, olives, corn, etc. Nothing beats fresh salsa.










Grilled curried squashes...









Since mac seems to be the thing to eat lately, we also had homemade mac-and-cheese, perfectly cheesy with swiss and cheddar, perfectly melty, and perfectly browned on the top.



Don't peek underneath because you'll see those Straub's noodles lurking down there.

And then, oh my god, fresh broccoli (from friend's garden), spiced up with herbs (also from the garden!), then grilled! Grilled herbed homegrown broc!

Delicious.

To complete the meal, hostess baked her famous cupcakes. Now these aren't vegan, I guarantee, but they were chocolate and peanut butter and cream cheese. And they came in two sizes!
Never again should "ham salad" or "Lays" be a part of Q talk... this is the way to do it up right. What a Q!!!

Just call me for dinner...

So I’m not a restaurant reviewer and I’m not an event planner. I do have a job. Really. But the truth is, I eat out a lot. And much of my time is spent planning. And much much of my time is spent planning where to eat. And I’ve got ideas. So maybe, just maybe, I should review restaurants and I should provide people with the answers to their questions. I think maybe I should. In fact, sometimes I do.

Case in point: Friends are coming to town for a concert. One such question posed was, “where do we eat?” with the added stipulation that fine dining wasn’t on the agenda. Just “cheaper food and good drinks.” But of course, I read into this statement, thinking, “you can’t just go to dinner. There’s post show drinks and post-post show drinks, and then if you really do drink that much, you’re gonna wanna have some food along the way too!”

So here was my answer:

Dinner at The Scottish Arms or Newstead Tower Public House. I know that your traditional pubs are more like the O’Connell’s of the world, but I like a pub that has intelligent food. Typically, the Royale would come to mind; but I’m saving that for later, so hang on.

Pluses for The Scottish Arms: mushroom, tomato, goat cheese omelet, black tea (OH MY) scone with marmalade, and french toast with whiskey syrup. Now I understand that you might not eat this for dinner, but if the breaky is good, then I’m sure that the dinner abides, too.





Pluses for NTPH: cheese plate, yum! And other stuff too. Actually, the menu is pretty impressive.
Post-concert drinks at The Royale. Why I like the Royale: the Caprice Salad, the Hummus, among other things. I’ve eaten it all at least thrice. Oh and the drinks, too.



Post-post show drinks at Atomic Cowboy or Mangia.

Pluses for the Atomic Cowboy: vegetarian burrito, chips and guac, roasted veggie and rice bowl (this is actually quite yummy), margaritas, chips and guac again… again, you might not be eating dinner at this point, but still if the food is good, the bar beckons. Right?

And Mangia, sweet Mangia. I like the pastas, the salads, the artichoke hearts, and the late night cocktails.


If you actually make it through this tour (which is totally doable, by the way, assuming you're considering your portions), then post-post-show-drinks food is in order at City Diner. I recommend the veggie eggs benedict, but eat what you will.

So that’s a pretty good tour of the haps in STL, if you’re on a budget and you’re just looking for fun times. Right?


Next up? Tour of red curry. Stay tuned!!!!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

St Louis Tea Room (Not the Russian Tea Room)

Where do you go to lunch with Granny? The St. Louis Tea Room.


There you’ll find house baked
scones (with sprinkles even!),
either plain or peach ginger (dang!), clotted cream, homemade sangria jelly, and lots and lots of teas. Those are the standards.




If it’s your birthday, you get an exploding
mint tea flower… now that’s awesome!


You can also order an artichoke-heart/cream cheese-stuffed portabella mushroom for an appetizer, and for lunch, a variety of sandwiches, salads, soups, and quiches.



I had the garden veggie salad with
sunflower seeds, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., plus the vegetarian (I asked!) cream of asparagus soup. And even the salad dressings are house made here… this one was cabernet wine dressing. The veggie of the day was corn soufflé, if you’re into puffed food, and if you are, be sure to order the ambrosia as well!

At various intervals throughout the meal, one of the period-dressed waitresses will read to you from their favorite books; maybe a little Edgar Lee Masters or Edgar Albert Guest. I requested a little Ogden Nash, but apparently, he’s “hard to read”*.

*I have to respectfully disagree on that point, and I leave you with these words by Mr. Nash:

My Dream



This is my dream,
It is my own dream,
I dreamt it.
I dreamt that my hair was kempt.
Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.

Easy, right? But maybe it doesn’t go with scones.

Save Me!

Holy Revival!

Whenever I hear the word revival I inevitably think of some sort of saving—the kind where you have hands laid on you and you writhe a little from the ecstasy. That almost happened to me at Al Green’s Church in Memphis, TN, but my friend saved me from such saving.

This REVIVAL is not so much about hands laying on, but it could be religious. If you’re food obsessed, anyway.

It’s the old King Louie’s, which I never had the pleasure of patronizing, but I can’t imagine anything better than this incarnation anyway.

First, the menu. I love it. I love everything about it. It’s got lots to offer—lots of small plates, cold and hot, salads, snacks, soups, and also entrees. But not snax like chips; rather, it’s nice foodie food. Yes, they do the “new” STL standard mac-and-cheese (and yes, I know that’s so 5 years ago everywhere else in the country… but give us a break, dude, we’re a little slow on the uptake), but they also offer a beet and beet green salad (holy revival!), chilled cucumber and potato soup (holy revival!), a chilled zucchini, tomato, and mozzarella salad (holy revival!) and so on.

There were veggie entrée options, plus pizzas and such, but truly, there were so many yummy sides I didn’t even look at them. This is one of the first places I’ve ever been in STL where I felt like there were choices! I’m a woman, I like my choices, but usually, it’s a pizza, not a choice in these parts. But I didn’t even have to consider the pizzas this time. Wow!

And then friend wanted the bread pudding , and I’m not usually into bread pudding, but I’m kinda off the desserts lately for some reason, so I didn’t argue; however, the dessert menu was equally bountiful, offering spiced nuts, donuts, cake, ice cream, you name it.

This was some sort of brioche, I think, and the top was super crusty, and then it was topped with melty chocolate, not Hershey’s, and wow. Just wow. The bread pudding connoisseur wasn’t thrilled with it, so maybe it was not standard, but I thought it was divine.


The thing I like best about Revival is that it’s in the super industrial area, with literally nothing around, but the patio is this lush oasis filled with flowers and herbs and plants and bamboo and lovely people and yummy smells. And the chef totally spilled the beans on the cucumber soup recipe, too, which is so freaking awesome!! I’m going back without a doubt. I feel a stirring inside, it’s time to be saved, lay those hands on me, people! Amen!


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A Good Space, Scape

Friend and I tried SCAPE, a new restaurant in town (or at least newly refurbed) and it was awesome. It really was. OK I don’t necessarily feel chemistry with Scape, but I really liked the food. Not necessarily love, me and Scape, but like. Definitely a strong like.

The menu, though “eclectic” in the most contrived way possible (coconut-saffron halibut AND mac and cheese were offered), afforded me a variety of options as a vegetarian: a couple of salads, several sides, and a veggie entrée that wasn’t the standard pasta/pizza/risotto/eggplant option. I felt loved, I did!

First, the server brought out a small square of watermelon “compliments of the chef”; we laughed at that—you’re not making me feel special with a square inch of watermelon. But anyway, it’s always fun to have a pre-starter. It had a little finger-hole in it filled with honey and balsamic; the truth was, you couldn’t really taste the topping, but it was nice.

Next: bread course. One was a raisin and grape (how deliciously odd!) focaccia and the other was just standard warm French bread. The spreads were unsalted butter and white bean paste! I heart white bean paste!

Then we ordered two starters: the asparagus salad and the truffle fries. Again, I’m not sure about the mixture of low- and high-culture foods, but if it tastes good, then the shoe fits. Or wait, if the shoe fits, then your menu is OK? Whatever. So the asparagus was cooked then chilled, tossed with radish slices, and coated in a cider champagne vinaigrette. It was totally yummy—really cold and tangy and light. Then the fries: they were standard fries with a hint of truffle/parmesan at the back end. Pretty yummy. For the entrée, it was French-style gnocchi with tomatoes and roasted veggies. Now because of the salmonella scare, we couldn’t order any of the tomato salads, and the entrees subbed sundrieds. The chef, the maitre d’, and the waiter all apologized for this, so those tomatoes in the gnocchi must be phenomenal usually. But even still, this dish was to die for. OK first the gnocchi were nice and tender inside, but had a little bit of a crispy outer texture. They instantly tasted nutty, lemony, and thymey. In fact, my first thought was “this is lemon thyme,” which is a very odd herb. The veggies included the summer squashes, kalamata olives, and sundried tomatoes, and they were so so good—perfectly cooked and seasoned. And it was in a brown butter glaze. I learned something: the dish was not salted at all, from what I could tell. Now I’m not a salter—I hardly use it to season or cook. But with my first bite of the gnocchi, though delicious, I thought “salt”; then I tried again, thinking that there’s no way a chef would put so much thought into a dish and forget to salt it. So I took a bite NOT avoiding the olive this time, and that was the secret! The gnocchi in brown butter were nutty, the sundreids tangy, and the olives salty. It achieved an end of taste balance through vegetable means! Amazing!
Well I raved and ate and shared and called the waiter over to ask the big secret—what was that flavor? He couldn’t tell me, but chef Eric Kelly came out and gave me the whole secret! (Now, that is SO much cooler than Mr. Blackberry with his secret hummus! And you know what? That makes me want to go back. Take note, chefs. Take note.)

Here’s what he does:
  1. He makes a noodle gnocchi (not potato!) from flour, salt, egg, oil, etc. and boils it.
  2. Then he browns whole milk fat at high heat—this makes it taste nutty, and sautés the veggies and gnocchi in there. This gives them their outer crisp.
  3. Then he squeezes lots of fresh lemon juice and sprinkles a handful of fresh parsley on top.
  4. Viola!

Amazing. Truly. All you veggies/non-veggies out there—you have to try this gnocchi. And you know what else? Milk fat aside, the secret is NOT in the chicken stock, my friends!!!!

Know what else besides that? The chef chatted with us for about 10 minutes, then bought us a round of drinks. I mean, that’s how you do it. (Thumbs up, SCAPE).

I was too full for dessert, but we tried a little anyway. We heard that the crepes were to die for, so we ordered the bananas foster crepes. Here’s how they went:


The combination of the eggy crepe, the super sweet and warm bananas, and the cold vanilla/chocolaty gelato was impressive. This guy really knows how to mix flavors, textures, and temperatures.

The review from Sauce was pretty good; in sum, the more casual version of SCAPE is preferable to the past formal menu. And I have to agree: I thoroughly enjoyed my (yes, 3 hour) meal there, the food was better than noteworthy, and the added personal touch from the chef was really cool. Now if they could tone down the Cheesecake Factory décor and educate the waiter about wines just a smidge more, SCAPE would be well on its way to high honors. But even without, the food is really just really good. High five!