Sunday, November 22, 2015

PW Pizza Six Mile Bridge Beer Dinner

I had been really curious about Six Mile Bridge brewery since they started up in Maryland Heights (right after I moved out) so this was the best way to check out their beers.

Menu
Instead of a light salad, we had a unique starter of Eggplant Rotolini. Breaded eggplant shaped like a cannoli with goat cheese inside. This was a great pairing with the easy drinking Bavarian Hefeweizen, which was so smooth and refreshing.

Eggplant Rotolini
The ultimate course was the Thanksgiving Pizza... I have never had turkey on a pizza before! But it really did taste like thanksgiving dinner with the celery, corn, mashed potatoes, and cranberries on top of the turkey and brown gravy. I was shocked how deliciously "Thanksgiving dinner" this was. Also, I thought it was perfectly paired with the well-balanced Irish Red Ale. Most creative pizza yet!

Thanksgiving Pizza
Of course the Session IPA was paired with the Spicy Sausage Pizza, but the IPA was not too hoppy at all, so the spicy sausage definitely dominated. I definitely prefer this style of IPA myself with only 50 IBUs.

Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Chimichanga
The dessert course was also well paired with a Chocolate Strawberry Cheeseake Chimichanga and an Irish Stout...both were thick and rich!

Make note that half the schedule for 2016 have been set!

2016 Schedule
Resources:

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

Six Mile Bridge = http://sixmilebridgebeer.com/

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Reeds American Table

Janet Jackson had to cancel on us and we suddenly had an opening on our calendar. We decided to keep date night to try out Reed's American Table. Let's just say it was still a night of watching super stars.

We really had a hard time picking out what to eat since we had seen so many recommendations online, and there were small plates as well as entrees. We couldn't decide between cocktails or wine either.

So we told our server, just order for us!

That's really the best way to try several dishes and we didn't have to make any decisions! (That's important during the work week.)

We ended up starting the evening with four small plates, splitting them all. The first two were some of the most popular dishes: Bacon Fat Fried Corn Bread with honey and thyme butter on top and a Pork Belly with shaved brussels, shiitakes, leeks, carrots, and maple-date jus.

Corn Bread

Pork Belly
If you look at the menu, each of the small plates listed below are paired with a cocktail! The first two came with a Martinez Lacuesta and a Dolin Blanc.

Small Plates Menu
The second round of small plates included the Roasted Cauliflower and a Pork Scrapple that came with a poached egg, brussels, and sage aioli. These were paired with a Imbue and a Ransom Dry cocktail.

Roasted Cauliflower

Pork Scrapple with a poached egg
I didn't know what a scrapple was and our server explained that it is pork mixed with polenta, chilled, then fried.

We really had our heart set on the Braised Beef Cheek so we had an extra small plate come out and I think this was the best one of them all! The beef cheek came on focaccia bread with oven dried tomatoes, arugula, and foie gras cream. So no wonder it was so rich and delicious!

Braised Beef Cheek
Then it was time for our main courses and we both already knew we'd be taking home enough for lunch the next day.

Again, we both got winners: Steelhead Trout on top of mushroom risotto and fried brussels and the Pork Chop on top of sauteed greens, mushrooms, potato, caramelized onion, marsala cream, and black walnuts.
Steelhead Trout

Pork Chop
These were perfectly paired with a Paul Vattan Sauvignon Blanc and a Etna Rosso, respectively.

Even though there were a few chocolate items on the dessert menu, we really just could not eat anymore!

Just a heads up... if you like what you see here, you might need to hurry because they definitely will be changing their menu up.

I was thrilled the experience lived up to the hype and I really like what they've done with the upstairs space. The lighting was a little dim so although it was romantic, I did struggle to read the menu. But it all worked out in the end when we tossed the menu to the side.

Resources:

Reeds's American Table - http://reedsamericantable.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

PW Pizza Schlafly Beer Dinner 2015

Since Patience is a huge fan of Schlafly, we didn't want to miss this year's pizza and beer dinner with them. We guessed correctly that their fall beers would be featured.

Menu
We started the night outside in the perfect October weather for the first course: Caprese Crostini with roasted tomato, parmesan, and a balsamic reduction paired with one of our favorites, Kolsch.

Caprese Crostini
The first pizza course was my favorite since the Chicken Alfredo had so much flavor and was paired with another favorite, Oktoberfest. You can see the provolone and blue cheese oozing on top with red onions and spinach.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
I think the Roasted Butternut Squash pizza could have been just as good, but the goat cheese, broccoli, pecans, and cranberries kept falling off the crust. I made a huge mess trying to serve it. This was paired with the old stand by, Pale Ale.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza
And of course the dessert course paired the Pumpkin Ale with a Apple Roses pastry. This had a beautiful design that included apricot, coffee beans topped with caramel sauce and more ground coffee beans.

Apple Rose
Yet, the best part of the night was going downstairs to the 21st Street Brewer's Bar and getting to sample a new Schlafly beer. No photos were allowed so let's just say it's very light and refreshing!

Resources:

Schlafly = http://schlafly.com/

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

21st Street Brewers Bar = http://21stbrew.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon