Saturday, February 18, 2017

Boundary

I had been hearing about Rex Hale for a long time and since I missed the chance to visit "The Restaurant at the Cheshire", I really wanted to make it to Boundary. I finally got my chance with Beth and Matt for our biannual birthday meetup.

I was happy to see the right-sized menu... not too many choices, but enough for everyone to find something. The dish sizes also made it easy to pick a starter and a main course without being too overwhelmed.

Matt and I chose starters off the Raw Bar. I had a half dozen oysters, three from each coast, while Matt got his favorite, Tuna Poke.

Oysters

Tuna Poke
Patience couldn't resist her favorite Mussels Frites, which came from the "To Share" section of the menu, although I think she attempted most of this by herself! The best part came at the end when there were fries left soaking in the tomato-y broth.

Mussels Frites
Beth had a Bibb salad.

Butter Lettuce Green Goddess Dressing, oven roasted tomatoes, bacon & Maytag Blue Cheese
I admit that I had a hard time choosing an entree since there were quite a few fish entrees as well as specials that sounded amazing.

Patience came through and ordered the Sea Scallops so that I could try the Trout Piccatta. A very simple dish, but light and delicious.

Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic, Butternut & Bacon Risotto

Trout Piccatta in Lemon, Olive Oil, capers, garlic & Autumn Greens
Matt kept it raw and ordered the Peruvian Ceviche, which came in this adorable coconut!

Peruvian Ceviche
Beth ordered the Roasted Buttonwood Farm Chicken Breast off of the specials menu.

Roasted Buttonwood Farm Chicken Breast in an Herbed Goat Champagne Cheese with Wild Mushroom Jus
And since we were celebrating a birthday...how about a pound of chocolate mousse?!??!?! My friends let me eat almost the whole thing myself!!

Chocolate Mousse
Resources:

Boundary = http://www.boundary-stl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Friday, February 17, 2017

Revel

I have to hand it to my juice-lovin' buddy for getting me in to Revel Kitchen as it is next door to Mei Lee, so I had a hard time getting myself to stop in.

I think they were smart to place themselves next to the Shred415 studio next door! This was an easy breakfast/brunch/lunch spot to get into and it felt super healthy.

What was really is nice is that we were all able to get our favorite things here!

I wasn't sure how it worked, but it was easy to get the hang of it. You first pick your style, Egg? Bowl? Salad? Wrap? And then you pick your flavor. That makes it easier than trying to pick out from a long list of specific ingredients.

Since it was morning, I went with my usual breakfast, an omelette, although you can get your eggs done any way you like. I added in organic smoked salmon and the Mediterranean Style! Can't wait to go back to try some of the other flavors too.

Omelette with smoked salmon and Mediterranean Style veggies
Patience got her favorite...pancakes! These are gluten-free of course.

Gluten-free Pancakes
And my buddy, Tony, was able to get his juice... Beets by R.K.

Beets by R.K.
Resources:

Revel = http://eatrevelkitchen.com

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Cleveland-Heath for Dinner

Cleveland-Heath had been on the top of Patience's list for quite a while and let's just say we made the most out of our trip over the river.

I often joke that we try to order everything off of the menu, but this is the closest I have come to actually doing so.
Full table
Excellent wine and cocktail list, so Patience and I tried a few uniquely named drinks. I like it sweet so I ordered a "Five Law & Orders Later", which was like a boozier Pimm's cup.

Five 'Law & Orders' Later - Pimm's No 1, Peach Vodka, Amaretto, Lemon
Patience had the Whiskey River and then a Gin creation from the bartender.

Whiskey River - Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Angostura, OJ, Lemon, Maple Syrup
Gin drink
There are way more small plates on the menu than entrees, so I focused on those dishes instead. I was most curious about the Beef Tongue and Spaetzle, because it reminded me of a Jewish dish. The beef was hard and crispy, which I was not expecting.

Beef Tongue and Spaetzle
The Short Rib and Coconut Rice really stood out and there was also a special smalle plate, Duck Confit on a crostini!

Short Rib in Coconut Rice

Duck Confit on a crostini
We both have a soft spot for Deviled Eggs. They were real thick and creamy.

Deviled Eggs
And we have to get poutine wherever we go! This was a much larger dish than the others so this ended up being a game night treat the next night. The sausage on top really made the dish.

Poutine
Our downfall was ordering "just a few side dishes" since they were "family-sized"! (We completely missed the "sized to share" note on the menu.) We ended up eating these for lunches for a few days, no joke. I wanted the Mac N Cheese....

Mac N Cheese
...while Patience had to get Brussels Sprouts and house made Cheddar Drop Biscuits. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed these Brussels Sprouts! Probably helped they were coated in parmesan! The biscuits were breakfast the next day.

Brussels Sprouts

Home Made Cheddar Drop Biscuits
Patience did attempt a main course and was able to eat just enough of the Vietnamese Noodle Soup (with all the fixings) to fit into a to go container.

Vietnamese Noodle Soup and fixings
Jenny Cleveland was sweet and dropped off a little dessert. Isn't it amazing how you always find room for chocolate!

Chocolate dessert

Chocolate mousse and cake
You know how you say you want to go to Edwardsville, but it's so far? Do it. Incredible cocktails and comfort food. And you must use the "No Wait" app on your phone because it is ALWAYS busy. There is a damn good reason for it.

Drink Menu

Menu
Resources:

Cleveland-Heath = http://www.clevelandheath.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Monday, February 6, 2017

PW Pizza Charleville Brewing Company

As a big fan of Charleville Winery and Brewery in Ste. Genevieve, I was really looking forward to their PW Pizza Beer dinner. They are in the process of rehabbing a building next to PW Pizza/Vin de Set/Moulin Events to open a brewery here in St. Louis now that they're growing.

First off was their world premiere of "Paul's Pils", an easy to drink pilsner, (named after Paul Hamilton - owner of Vin de Set, which was smartly paired with the "salad" course of Pesto Crostinis.

Pesto Crostini with marinated artichokes, mozzarella, tomato
For the first pizza course, the Half Wit Wheat was even lighter and paired well with the Honey Wheat Crust. You know I picked off all the ham from the "Ham & Cheese" pizza, but I loved the gruyere cheese part!

Schubert's Farm County Ham & Cheese Pizza with gruyere, spinach, red onion and a mustard sauce
I loved the second course, a "Mongolian" pizza with roast beef, mozzerella, and peppers, so of course a stronger Hoptimistic IPA was paired with this.

Mongolian Pizza with mozzarella, roast beef, red pepper, green onion, and sugar snap peas
The best pairing had to be the Nutella Cheesecake Pizza (OMG!) since it was paired with a dessert-like Karate Kicks Coffee Stout, which we had tasted at Larder & Cupboard a few times before.

Nutella Cheesecake Pizza with crushed hazelnut and a raspberry coulis

Menu
There won't be a February beer and pizza dinner since the Centennial Beer Festival is this month, but next dinner is in March!

Resources:

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

Charleville Brewing = http://www.charlevillevineyard.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon