Tenacious Eats Soul Food

I finally made it out to a Tenacious Eats event at Meyer’s Grove and it definitely lived up to the hype. This event combines two of my favorite things to do…gourmet dining and watching classic movies. My friends kept posting pictures of all the fun they were having on Facebook, so I knew I was missing out and picked a movie that I thought would make for an awesome event: Soul Food.

I haven’t seen the movie “Soul Food” in years, but I knew exactly what type of cooking I was getting into. There was no way I was counting calories that night either!

Meyer’s Grove has a small bar in the front and has an equally small “stage” area in the back where cocktail tables are set up for intimate dining. You have to sign up early because this room will sell out quickly, and you will definitely get to know your neighbors! Definitely a good place to take a date!

The best part about Tenacious Eats is that Chef Liz and her staff do NOT take themselves too seriously even though the five-course meal is certainly worthy of a fancier establishment. And you can see Chef Liz cooking over on the side for everyone to see, although most people are busy engrossed in the movie.

Here was the menu for “Soul Food”:

“More Folks, More Eats, More Souls, More Soul Food”

Pan seared bone-in ham, Coca COla braised collard greens, macaroni and smoked gouda cheese on house-made roasted corn butter biscuits

"Bird's Sunday Dinner"

Seared Cajun crab cakes, flash fried gruyere grits, sweet potato and butternut squash puree and St. Louie Sauce.

"Hell Hath No Wrath"

Cholula sauce and garlic butter hot wings, shaved root vegetable salad, Walsburg Blueberry Balsamic vinaigrette and fresh lime Creme Fraiche

"Sunday at Big Mama's"

Free range chicken and dumplings, black-eyed peas with smoked ham hocks, East STL green beans, pickled mach choux, and sweet corn bread

"Thanks Big Mama"

House-made, "way-old-school" orange buttermilk pie, blackberry and mandarin orange compote

I enjoyed myself so much that I signed up for a second one this upcoming Sunday! The American Wine Society of St. Louis is throwing a Tenacious Eats dinner while watching Sideways…perfect pairing of course! 

The only downside is that it did take a while for five courses to be served during the movie and the entire evening went almost 4 hours after a lengthy intermission. I didn’t mind the time too much since most of the time you’re busy eating and distracted by the movie, but it got to be a little too late for me on a school night.

Resources:

Tenacious Eats = http://www.tenaciouseats.com/

Meyer’s Grove = http://meyersgrove.com/

St. Louis Magazine article = http://stlmag.com/Blogs/Relish/January-2013/The-Ultimate-Movie-Snacks-Tenacious-Eats-Goes-for-Broke/

Cat Neville talking about Tenacious Eats = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQQCmSKxeA