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+--- Thread: Raves from recent trip to St. Louis (/thread-12413.html)
- stevebody - 01-07-2005
Sometimes the smallest things...
Got up our only Sunday in St. Louis and went up to the city's Italian neighborhood, The Hill, in search of brunch. We're not Catholic, so we didn't get that most of the neighborhood was going to be in church. We drove around for 45 minutes, swung through Dogtown and Forest Park, and came back to a street we had missed. We were VERY hungry and getting discouraged when we found a little place called Mama Cipriani's that had an Open sign in the window. They had no wheelchair ramp, which would normally make Judye turn right around but we were debating it when the floor manager came out and called two large boys to help us get in. Judye was embarrassed but game.
Long story short, I had the BEST Linguine Carbonara I've ever tasted, in 35+ years as a chef. It was impossibly light, perfectly balanced, and beautifully presented. Judye's pet Putanesca was as good as mine and only my overactive ego prevents me from saying it was better. The wine selection SUCKED. Hold onto your hats: They were pouring INGLENOOK CHIANTI!!! Judye heard the waiter tell me that and got that "Don't Start" look in her eye. For a woman who has limited use of her legs, that was a completely adequate kick she gave me under the table.
Later on, we had dinner at Llewellyn's Pub on Euclid and I had a killer Shepard's Pie along with a Felinfoel (sp) Double Dragon Ale. I was a happy Anglophile.
One bad patch: St. Louis, apparently, takes a great deal of pride in their special "thin-crust" pizza, which is basically gummy sauces and leathery cheese served on a large cracker. Our last two nights were spent in Chicago, where I found the antidote in Giordano's Deep Dish Special. Also of note were the Chicago-style red hots at a little Demon Dog, under the El on Fullerton, where I committed a heinous faux pas by asking for catsup. I swear to you, the entire place went quiet. A cop standing next to me asked where I was from. When I said Seattle, he turned to the room and said, "Oh, well, that explains it!" "It's for the fries!" I bleated lamely, but the damage was done.
General conclusions: Beer lovers whose tastes lean toward microbrews will find a hellish wasteland in St. Lou and only a slight improvement in Chicago. I found Red Hook but that's distributed by Budweiser, which is to say by the Devil. They have Red Hook in Afghanistan. No Pyramid, no Deschutes, no Rogue, no Sierra Nevada, no Anchor, no Samuel Smith. But there are not nicer people anywhere I've ever been in this country. Genuinely sweet, helpful, cheerful people who make you feel welcome.
Great trip, all in all. Thanks for your tips about dining out.
- Innkeeper - 01-07-2005
Sounds beery nice.
- dananne - 01-07-2005
I may be a vegetarian now, but being from Chicago, I totally understand the response to putting ketchup on a hotdog. It reminds me of that Dirty Harry movie line, where Eastwood, through clenched teeth, says, "No one, I mean no one, puts ketchup on a hotdog."
- wineguruchgo - 01-08-2005
Steve,
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get a great impression from Chicago. Yes, they do weird things with hot dogs here! I've been here 14 years and I still don't get it.
If you come back please reach out for me. I certainly would have sent you to Hopleaf which is a beer bar. Not just any beer bar mind you. They have over 200 beers and 100 of them are Belgian. In addition, they have 30 beers on tap.
For wine I would have sent you to The Tasting Room that has 100 wines by the glass!
Chicago is a serious town for food and drink. You just have to know where to look.
- stevebody - 01-12-2005
WGC:
Please don't get the idea that I got bad impressions of Chicago! I want to go back, like NOW. I know I didn't, in my day and a half, perform an adequate search for more adventurous beer and wine. I didn't go to Sam's, for example. I LOVE Chicago; always have, since my HS days at Maine East. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker, with a dazzling view of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier, the river, etc., with a bottle of that wonderful Lindauer NZ bubbly and some chocolate-covered strawberries sent up by the conceirge. Then we went exploring and I made my usual pilgrimage to Wrigley Field. Judye had never been there before and she was delighted, too. No, absolutely NO complaints about Chicago. If I could live there, I'd just make my own beer and shut up.
- wineguruchgo - 01-12-2005
Please let me know if you are venturning back here. Also, please make note of those two places: Hopleaf and the Tasting Room.
The Tasting Room was a 10 minute cab ride from your hotel, just on the other side of the river.
Hopleaf was a 10 minute cab ride from Wrigley Field!
Glad to hear you have a good impression of our fair city. Yet, about those hot dogs...........?????
- stevebody - 01-14-2005
BTW, the name of the wonderful restaurant in St. Louis' Hill district is Mama Campisi's, NOT Mama Cipriani's. Just found that receipt last night. Jeez, I can't even pass out a compliment without screwing it up...
- winoweenie - 01-14-2005
As said meeny times previously, Memory's the 2nd thing to go. WW