Local St. Louis Food icons in the National Spotlight

Congratulations to the local St. Louis (and the St. Louis area) restaurants and food sources that have earned their "15 minutes of fame", and have been featured in national media:  Food Network and Oprah's list of Favorite Things in her "O" magazine.


First up:

The Blue Owl Restaurant

The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery is located in the quiet, sleepy little river town,  Kimswick, MO (located 45 minutes from my home).  I ate at this restaurant after their second appearance on the Food Network.  If you go to this restaurant, it would be in your best interest to either put your name on the waiting list to get in, or call for reservations.  If you do not have reservations, you can shop while you wait. It will be about a 2 hr. wait to get a seat if you don't have previous reservations.  They were featured on this channel for their famous Levee High Apple Pie:

Recently, this restaurant - and their pie - has been featured in Oprah's "O" Magazine, as one of her Favorite Things:

Since their appearance in the "O" Magazine, their website has crashed often due to the high volume of hits. I did get on this site this morning.

The Blue Owl's website:

http://www.theblueowl.com/

Second up:

Jilly's Cup Cake Bar
(4.2 miles from my home!)

"Chocolate Thunder"

A few years ago, I was introduced to Jilly's Cupcakes at the annual Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Jilly's started out in a small shop in a strip mall on Delmar Blvd in the St. Louis area.  They have since expanded their shop - twice- and now occupies 3 shops in that strip mall.  Jilly's was a contestant on Food Network's "Cupcake Wars",  and they won that episode.  (Was there really any question that they wouldn't win?  :)  )

More info on their Cupcake Wars appearance:

http://www.jillyscupcakebar.com/cupcake-wars.php

Jilly's website - take a look at their cupcakes!  Bet you can't eat one - in just one sitting!  These are "not yo mamma's cupcakes!"  Not even close.

http://www.jillyscupcakebar.com/

Jilly's - because of you, and my generally weak constitution, I now live on an exercise bike!

Last on this list: (but the list could continue....)

Sweetie Pie's on the Mangrove
(8 miles from my home!)

Ronnie Montgomery, the founder and chef at Sweetie Pie's started her career as an Ikette.  For those of you have been born since then, an "Ikette" was a back-up singer for Ike and Tina Turner, who got their start in East. St. Louis, IL - just across the river from St. Louis.  Ike and Tina worked in many clubs St. Louis' Gaslight Square district "back in the day".  Ronnie has several photos on the walls of the restaurant of herself, along with the other Ikettes when they are a part of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue.

The food at this restaurant is billed as 'Soul Food', but the only 'Soul' that I can find in this food is that that originates from the core of her own heart.  This food is more 'Southern comfort food' than 'Soul Food'.  I have read many review that were written about Sweetie Pie's, and many of them state, "Your mother only wishes she could cook like this!"

The food is served 'cafeteria style', and feature several different meats, sides, and a couple desserts each day.  I have been to this restaurant many, many times.  Even though Ronnie is famous for her Mac & Cheese, I was put here on this Earth to tell you that I have never in my life tasted better Fried Catfish!  It does not have a "muddy, river" taste, and will stay crispy several hours after you take it home.  Their serving portions are HUGE, and it is almost expected for you to ask for a take-home container at the end of your meal.  

The service at the restaurant is almost uncomfortable and uncanny, in the fact that they are definitely on their job!  It has been several decades since I have seen such good service in any restaurant.
If you go to Sweetie Pie's on a weekend, while you eat,  you will often be entertained by live jazz music, provided by a small band, and often played on the grand piano that is painted to match the decor of the restaurant.

Recently, Sweeties has secured a spot on the OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), and she has her own show - "Welcome To Sweetie Pie's!"  The show airs on Saturdays at 8 PM Central.

More info on "Welcome To Sweetie Pie's" on OWN Network:

http://www.oprah.com/own-sweetie-pies/sweetie-pies-blog.html


Robbie's appearance on Food Network's  Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri:

This clip is a longer interview, and goes into a bit more depth.  This Ronnie Montgomery's appearance on Channel 9 (Public TV), making her Famous Mac & Cheese, and a couple other delights:

These are just a few local food finds that have made their way into the national spotlight.  There are many more notable food and drink spots in this area that I have not covered that will include (but are not limited to):

1) Crown Candy Kitchen:
  Although the candy is featured, there is more to this spot than the candy.  In fact, I have never bought candy from them...because I go to eat in the attached diner.  If you go to this are, you must be aware of the area that you are in.  They know they are in a bad area of town, but as the owners / operators have said, "We have been in this area since 1913.  We were here before the area turned bad, and we are staying here."  My advice:  Go early.  The line to get in will literally go out the door at lunch time.  Park as close to the door as you can - and always get an old-fashioned Malt!  Great diner food.  Great nostalgia.

 Their website:
http://crowncandykitchen.net/

2) Anheuser-Busch (self-explanatory!)

3)  Schlafly Brewery (AKA. The St. Louis Brewery).
  Located in the Maplewood area of St. Louis, this brewery has it's own bar and restaurant, and you can get a clear view of the process behind the process of beer making.

 Schlafly Brewery's website:
http://www.schlafly.com/

As I have previously stated:  These are just a few of the food and drink spots in the St. Louis area that have had national coverage.

We could cover the Central West End, The Grand South Grand and the Delmar Loop (featuring the stars of the St. Louis walk of fame!) shopping and restaurant areas....

In summary:
I have said on more than one occasion that if we are going to kill ourselves from over-eating, don't be lame in the way that you go about it.  After all, isn't killing yourself murder?  In my belief system, murders go to a bad place (Hell?) after they pass from this Earth.  If you kill yourself, whether it be from a self-inflicted gun shot wound, or overeating, the results are the same:  you murdered yourself.  I believe that if we do such a thing, we will arrive in that Inferno.  Upon our arrival, we will be surrounded by "Hell Royalty", such as Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro, Adolph Hitler........  When they ask you, "What brought you here?", are you going to embarrass yourself by answering, "I ate a Twinkie?"  or "I had a store-bought, pre-packaged cupcake?" or "I put too much mayonnaise on a plain ham sandwich?"  Good God, I hope you don't have to answer in that manner!  I want you to be proud of yourself!  I want you to be able to answer, "I ate the Cadbury Egg cupbake from Jilly's!" or "I had the Mac & Cheese from Sweetie Pie's!"   However you decide to answer, I would hope that you won't have to answer, "I ate a super-sized order from McDonald's!"

If you are going to do it - do it right, and do it with style!  :)


Happy Eating!

- Michael  

There is no better way to get your adrenaline flowing....

I'm willing to bet that the nice, young utility line workers that met 3 of our 4 dogs in the back yard are probably wishing that they would have notified me that they were back there before I let the dogs out to go potty!

My dogs won't hurt anybody, but they sure will bug the Hell out of them!

We live on a fairly heavily wooded acre, and I can't see all the way to the back of the property. These gents were cutting trees away from utility lines in our neighbor's yard, and I thought I had plenty of time to let the dogs out one more time before they came into my back yard. HOWEVER....I couldn't see back there, and...they had already crossed the chain-link fence, rather than go through the gate to the back yard.

By the time I heard the commotion, and I got back to the back fence, I know one of the lads had the pointy top piece of the chain link fence up his butt, because he was sitting, perfectly balanced, on top of the fence! The other lad was as close to the top of his ladder as he could get!

I am not horribly territorial, and neither are my dogs. Once I got back there to the action, I only had to point to the house, and say, "GO!". All 3 went back home, like they were trained.

I turned to the man with the grimace on his face (the one sitting on the pointy fence!), and I said:

"None of us really cares that you are back here. I know you are just doing your job, and I am thankful that you're here. **IF** there is a 'next time', you might want to come through the front door, and meet the dogs so they won't be taken by surprise by a stranger that suddenly appeared in their own back yard. If you cover those bases, you might not have to do such fancy fence hopping the next time!"

I tried to make good by them, by telling them that they could leave the debris that they cut from the trees in the pile that I already had started in the back yard. It is a LONG WAY to carry all that cut wood back the wood chipper on their truck. I offered them a deal: If you leave the wood in fire place-sized pieces, they can leave it where it falls.

I don't know if offer truly made up for an Olde English Bulldogge nipping at his ...testicles..... (and a Black Lab / Shar Pei and a Yellow Lab / Chow helping him!), but it's not like I didn't try! :)

- Michael

Waiting for the Bus, and Wormwood's Last Hurrah

It is a beautiful November day.  November 14, 2011.  

The time is currently 11:45 AM, and by at least three degrees, the St. Louis area has already exceeded the predicted daily high temperature of 74 degrees.  The temperature is now 77 degrees.  I have seized this opportunity to go outside and clean up the few garden and planting beds that I have around our home.  We had a hard freeze a few days ago that took my Heavenly Blue Morning Glories that was growing thick on our back fence.  I started those seeds indoors earlier in the spring, and these vines decided to wait to bloom until early fall.  I only had a couple months of seeing them in full bloom, but they were beautiful.  That freeze also took Zucchini plants that were still flowering and bearing fruit, and tomato plants, some of which had manage to remain hidden from the squirrels and chipmunks long enough to remain as loaded as possible with flowers and small, green tomatoes.  I will allow no waste.  That is against every fiber of Hindu belief in my body.  I harvested all the small green tomatoes, and I will use them in the vegetables that I eat daily.  

I have also harvested some sprigs of Wormwood (Artemisia), and the French Lavender that did amazingly well this year.   Dried, the sprigs of Artemisia are thin,soft sprigs and they have an earthy, comforting fragrance, which I will not allow to go to waste.  I was surprised to see the beautiful, pastel colors displayed by this plant, as if to give one last "HURRAH!" on it's way out, and in the middle of it's death throws.



(I hate the use of a flash in my photography.  The use of a direct flash is, at best, rude, but it is SOMETIMES an evil necessity that should not be used with any regularity.)

I was pleasantly surprised by the colors this plant exhibited at the dying stage in it's life cycle:  The pastel pinks, yellows, light greens, and ultimately, silver.

In good Hindu fashion, I always thank the plant for it's service, for it's beauty, and for it's sacrifice before I cut it.  I do the same thing with every vegetable I harvest, and for every weed I pull out of my gardens while they are growing.  You have to admit that the tenacity, fortitude, resilience, and the will to survive while combating every means to extricate it are the qualities that a weed possesses that should be admired. If we could only adopt the same values, character and strengths, we should be much better for it.

These unseasonably warm temperatures brings me to an interesting observation.  

Picture it: 

You drive by a bus stop, and see (anyone!) standing there on a day like today.  Even though the calendar clearly states that It is November 13, and that we definitely have had some freezing overnight temperatures, and actual temperature is 77 degrees.  Tonight's low is forecast to be 51 degrees. Chilly - yes.  Cold - no.

I know as sure as I am writing this blog that if there are bus stops in your area, you have passed a bus stop on a day like I have just described, and you have seen more than one person standing there:  Heavy coat on, wearing gloves, and perhaps a stocking cap, or some other type of heavy head protection.  Even upon taking into consideration personal deviations for temperature variances, you will have to admit that wearing HEAVY winter gear on a 77 degree day is over kill.  This is not an unusual or rare phenomenon, dear readers.  I could get in my truck at this very moment, and take a drive through the streets of St. Louis, and I **guarantee** you that, most likely, every bus stop (or shopping mall....grocery store, etc) will contain hot, sweaty folk who have overdressed for today's temperatures.  

Now that you have admitted to yourself that this does, indeed happen, let's examine why they do it.  The reason is simple.  They rationale is this:  The *calendar* says that it is November, so I have to "dress like it is November.  Never mind the fact that it is damned near 80 degrees out there!

Last weekend, Mark and I went to one of our favorite Indian restaurants.  (Yes, another November day!)  The temperature was, once again,  in the 70's.  I was wearing a tank top, shorts, and sandals.  Mark, on the other hand, was wearing a heavy winter coat, long a long sleeved flannel shirt, a pair of heavy jeans, and tennis shoes.   Can you just imagine, if you will, the "sight for sore eyes" that we must have been - sitting at that table?  I was dressed for comfort, and according to the temperature.  He was dressed merely by the calendar.  Then, we got in the car - and he turned the heat on!  He turned it on HIGH!  Why?  "It's November, and we need the heat on!"  I was in full summer garb, and I had to roll my window all the way down.  I thought I was going to suffocate.  Mind you, I LOVE WARM, BALMY temperatures!  I would love to live as close to the equator as possible.  I am very cold-blooded, and would rather life my life being a 'little too warm' rather than 'a little too cold."

Are people really nailed to a calendar so firmly that they can't use the rest of their minds to determine how to live their life as comfortably as possible, and to take full advantage of as many wonderful opportunities (a great, warm day in the middle of November!) as possible?

1) Don't be influenced by others.  You are the one that is living your life.  When it comes time to "do the dying", other people are NOT going to do it for you.  You are going to be "doing the dying" all by yourself.  You should be the one "doing the living", too.  They're not going to be "doing your dying", and they shouldn't be the ones "Doing your living", either.  Don't be afraid to live your own life.  

2) A calendar is just a few pieces of paper. How silly it is to be it's slave!

3) "What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Don't forget to stop and consider the Lilies - AND the dandelions!

4) "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it." -
by Alice Walker
from The Color Purple, 1982

From Michael:
"I think it pisses God off when you don't consider other blessings in your world, and when you overdress on a 70+ degree day!  You were given a rare day with good temperatures, and you fight it!  I think that pisses God off!"

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going back outside to finish my yard work.  I am wearing no shirt, no shoes, and a pair of shorts... in November.  Thank you, God.... Thank you, Ganesha!

- Michael