Aperi

I had no idea Aperi was a Spanish-style tapas restaurant because I did NOT do my proper homework. So let me do it for you and tell you that it was an amazing experience. 

Aperi

Are there any other Spanish-style tapas restaurants in the STL? I'm not sure, so be sure to check this one out! Bring friends because you'll want to try as many things on the menu as possible!

As someone who loves to order as much as I can, Patience and I took it up a level and chose the Chef's Tasting, which included several of the dishes on the menu as well as some elevated items. Then we didn't have to make any other choices the rest of the night.

Our "anniversary friends" Matt and Alisha, ended up just ordering off of the menu directly, so we really got to try SO many things! 

Anniversary Dinner Friends, Matt and Alisha

The four-course Chef's Tasting often came with multiple items, so there was plenty of food without being overwhelming. I was stoked when we started off with oysters, since that's what I wanted most off the regular menu. Of course I wanted ten more, but it's just as well we didn't have too many since there was so much more dishes to try!

Oysters (East Coast)

My friends started with the House-Made Ricotta, which came large toasted bread to mop it up with.

House-Made Ricotta

Next up for Patience and I was beef carpaccio topped with watermelon radishes and cheese! These homemade chips were perfect for picking up the slices of beef since they were so sturdy. I hope they offer the chips for other dishes because they are amazing. One of my favorite dishes of the night.

Beef Carpaccio

Chips

Both sides of the table ordered the Fried Brussel Sprouts since it's Patience's favorite vegetable and the server said it was their most popular dish. They were served in a black sesame foam so I thought they were actually not bad. Frying them to a crisp is probably the way to go, and I could see why they are so popular.

Fried Brussel Sprouts

A perfect spring or summer dish, this citrus salad with beautifully cut oranges and grapefruit, with pistachios, olives and feta cheese on top. This was definitely a winner for me with so many of my favorite flavors together on one plate!

Citrus Salad

Next up, we started to get into the "meat" of our dinner with the Galician Octopus and Agnolotti. Agnolotti is one of my favorite pastas ever, and they were just adorable! (It's the main reason I agreed to the Chef's Tasting.) The octopus was so delicious with the greens and sweet potatoes, and I didn't feel they were chewy at all. Tasted more like well cooked fish instead.

Galician Octopus

Agnolotti

My tablemates also made excellent choices this round with the Croquetas de Bacalo, filled with fish and a remoulade sauce on top. Yet, the big winner was the Braised Pork Cheek served in a tomato brodo with basil butter on top! Almost too pretty to eat and my friend and I just kept spooning up the tomato from the bottom of the bowl.

Croquetas de Bacalao

Braised Pork Cheek

Last, but not least, was the dessert course, and we got two at once! The Creme Brulee with peaches stood out as the Amaro Sundae was too bitter for me. 

Creme Brulee

Amaro Sundae

My friends and I shared the Basque Carrot flavored Cheesecake. It was a unique take on the combination of concepts, but you really have to like carrot cake with the texture of cheesecake. 

Basque Carrot Cheesecake

If you had to ask me what I'd recommend from the menu, I'd have to pick the Fried Brussel Sprouts and the Octopus, which even surprises me. If you can, the Chef's Tasting is the best way to order if you don't mind a food adventure.

Menu

Resources:

Aperi = https://www.aperistl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Goddesses of the Glass at The Fountain on Locust

The Goddesses of the Glass event was my second event in a row celebrating women in food and beverage! This one was held at The Fountain on Locust, who paired their regular menu items with the selected wine, sake, and cocktail that was the focus of the evening. 

Darryl Vennard was our host as he explained their connection to exceptional women!

Wines and Sake

Honestly, I was also interested in trying some of the Fountain dishes that I normally would never order. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about the pickle soup, and it lived up to the hype! The Fukucho sake was an interesting pairing, but it did cut through the thickness of the soup.

Pickle Soup

The Spinach Artichoke Dip was shared at the table, and this totally could be a full meal. It's very addictive to eat and it stood out because there weren't huge chucks of artichokes to get in the way. Every bite was super creamy. This made the Heron Sauvignon Blanc a good pairing, although normally something more crisp would be required. 

Spinach Artichoke Dip

The Prosperity Panini was actually a vegetarian sandwich of spicy hummus, tomato, onion, red pepper, and zucchini. With all those rich flavors, the Graffito Malbec was able to stand up to it. Unfortunately, I was so stuffed from the previous courses, I had to skip the bread. I would definitely recommend this to a vegetarian friend, although you could add turkey or ham to this sandwich when ordering it off the menu.

Prosperity Panini

One last Fountain classic was the World's Smallest Ice Cream Sundae and you better believe I somehow found room for this dessert! The Epilogue Cocktail made up of Kamora an Fernett Branca was a bit too bitter and heavy for me.

World's Smallest Ice Cream Sundae

Hopefully there will be more themed dinners on Monday nights while they are closed!

Menu

Resources:

The Fountain on Locust = https://www.fountainonlocust.com/

Mavaro Women

Chef Marie-Anne Valesco and Angela Ortmann (STLwinegirl) have been wanting to do a wine dinner for a very long time, but life kept getting in the way.

So I was super excited to hear that this finally was going to happen, and just in time for International Women's Day too! Chef Marie-Anne has quite an extensive chef resume, and I was excited to see what she would make for us!

In order to honor several female chefs, these dishes were Chef Marie-Anne's own take on them. What creativity!

Turns out Chef Marie-Anne was also quite familiar with shucking oysters and I think this was the largest one I have ever had! I could have used a couple more of these east coast oysters. I think sparkling sake is the best version of sake, so it was a perfect pairing with seafood. 

Eagle's Nest East Coast Oyster

The salad course brought back the famous goat cheese on greens, but this time the cheese was in the form of a crisp on the side. The dressing was delicious...could I buy a bottle of it? The goat cheese crisps were my favorite of course. The Bull and Brook rose stood up to all the flavors and I love that Ashley Trout, the winemaker, also has a wine brand that donates money to the field workers.

Goat cheese sourdough, endive, arugula, parsley, fennel, red wine vinaigrette

I am a HUGE fan of agnolotti or any kind of dumpling, so I would have been happy if this had been the main course. Angela requested a clarified butter "brodo" and Chef Marie-Anne made it happen! I was also blown away by this Luca Chardonnay pairing as well because while there was the traditional oaky flavors, it didn't coat your mouth as a medium-bodied wine. It really let the pasta shine!

Kabocha Squash Agnolini

You can't have a women's themed dinner without a nod to Julia Child, but Chef Marie-Anne's take on it provided a unique version of beef bourguignon that had seared edges. We also got to try her specialty, caramelized pickled onions, which was included on the side of this dish. We definitely wanted a jar of those to take home as well. Of course a big red Cotes Du Rhone was a good match with the beef dish.

Beef Bourgignon on top of a Pomme Puree with mushrooms,
tournee carrots, sunchokes, and caramelized pickled onions

We were plenty full at this point, but the Buko Pandan Cake that looked like a Baked Alaska was so unique. The Moscato from Black Girl Magic was just as sweet, so it was perfect for dessert.

Buko pandan cake, ube custard, toasted meringue

This was just the first-time experiment so look for more to come!

Chef Marie-Anne Velasco and STLwinegirl Angela Ortmann

Menu

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Robin

Earlier in the day, I read that Chef Alec Schingel of Robin had received a James Beard semifinalist nomination. Just to set the stage...

This place is worthy of a special occasion and their four course prix fixe menu is simply, a work of art.

I am so fortunate that this restaurant is in my back yard on the strip in Maplewood!!

Luckily Patience was with me so we could order two out of three dishes for each course, ignoring the "vegetarian" option. On more than one occasion, she scored the best dish.

While I will be sharing our dishes, please note that the menu changes seasonally! But I promise that you'll be blown away, no matter when you go.

First, I need to talk about our drinks for the night. The server said they are known for "Our Martini" made with a Giardiniera Washed Gin and Vermouth Up. The washed gin gave the cocktail such a full mouthfeel! I don't usually order something like that and it ended up being a good palate cleanser between bites.

Our Martini

Patience ordered the Prairie Schooner, which was sweeter and less boozy than mine. It came with a beautiful ice cube with an "R" in the middle. Later, she ordered a "small carafe" of Pinot Noir (Climat Frais SLO Coast), which is very adorable and holds two glasses. Instead of "wine by the glass", Robin offers the eight ounce carafes or a full bottle. A cost efficient method I assume?

Prairie Schooner

For a Prix Fixe dinner, I was surprised to see additional snacks and bread service at the top of the menu, so of course we had to try them!

The snacks were fairly small so as not to make us too full, although I think they should have used a smaller plate so it didn't seem as sparse. I also would have preferred two of the smaller items to prevent any fighting among us. Although, I will note that we were well behaved and tried to take half bites to share.

The snacks included summer sausage, cranberry goat cheese tart, liver corn cookie, and giardiniera. Please don't ask me to pick my favorite.

Snacks

It turned out that even though we loved the cultured butter than came with the bread, we mostly used the bread to mop up all the sauces and ended up ordering two more servings!

The first course, I chose Smoked Whitefish Soup, which was perfect on a cold day. Lots of celery and fennel with every bite, and the fish at the bottom.

Smoked Whitefish Soup

Patience chose the Venison Tartare, which was artfully decorated with black radish, deviled egg yolk, and benne, which is like a sesame seed.

Venison Tartare

I was really jealous of Patience's second course dish, the Fresh Cheese Dumplings, since they were cheesy and full of fall squash, brown butter, and sage. It just melts in your mouth.

Fresh Cheese Dumplings

My Pan Seared Trout with braised greens, was still delicious, but it was no cheesy goodness. This is when I was just so thankful there were two of us so I could taste several different dishes. The fish and greens were resting in a broth that I ended up spooning up completely until it was gone.

Pan Seared Trout

The third course also made me super jealous of Patience's pick of the Braised Short Rib, and I knew she was going to order that no matter what. It was laid on top of mashed cauliflower with horseradish and shallots. So incredibly tender.

Braised Short Rib

My Roast Chicken was impressively cut into a rectangle next to a porridge of toasted oat, parsnip, and pickled black walnut.

Roast Chicken

Last but not least, the dessert course was a winner for me since there was a cheese dish just for me. Well, I'd like to think it was for me since I had no hesitation and knew I was ordering it. 

Piper's Pyramide displayed at the top, is a goat cheese with a line of smoked paprika in the middle., and the Kentucky Rose, a soft farmhouse-pressed cow's milk cheese on the left side, were both amazing and came with honey and apple butter on the side as well.

Cheese Plate

Patience enjoyed her Ginger Cake with brown butter ice cream, pecans, and rum caramel. It's very much her thing, but I'll take the cheese any day.

Ginger Cake

AND THEN Chef Alec came by with an extra dessert, which made for a lovely final touch on his part. It's his take on a gooey butter cake!!

Gooey Butter Cake

This place is perfect for a birthday or special dinner. Save up and bring someone who is good at sharing. This chef and this restaurant, is definitely worthy of a James Beard award.

Menu

Beverage List

Resources:

Robin = https://www.robinrestaurant.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Louie

I KNOW we went to Louie before because I remember how loud it was, and then we could never get a reservation ever again. Since it was our 13th anniversary, I wanted to do something special. So a 5:30pm reservation at the bar at Louie it is! 

I figure there must be a good reason it's impossible to get in and we should try again. (I was also inspired by a friend's pictures from their 9:30pm reservation the week before.)

The sound was much better this time, and we had NO problem eavesdropping on the ladies sitting next to us at the bar, not to mention making it easy for us to spy on their meals. 

We started with a complimentary glass of Prosecco and I ended up with a second one. Wild night!

I appreciate a fairly small menu, although the specials ended up capturing our attention.

I started with the Italian Salad, which had a much lighter dressing than the usual Italian restaurants around the Lou. I probably should have shared this...

Italian Salad

Patience was a little wild as well, ordering the Prosciutto di Parma, as her starter, which certainly could have been a meal by itself. I think she had already been planning on taking home her main course so she could have it as a second meal. She was able to make little prosciutto sandwiches in the pita bread.

Prosciutto di Parma

While I normally would have gone with the Roman Gnocco, the Cod special sounded interesting. The fish was fresh and light, and I ended up finishing the whole thing when I should have saved half. I should have known we would want dessert there as well.

Cod special with earthy grains

Patience chose the pasta special, a cavatelli with fresh vegetables. 

Cavatelli pasta special

Honestly, I don't think you could go wrong there.

We each got our own dessert, and you know I chose the chocolate ice cream bar. I did end up taking half of it home. 

Ice cream bar

Patience was way smarter and had the room to devour her blackberry crumble.

Blackberry Crumble with nuts

I'm not sure when I'll make it back, but our meal was amazing, and this place may never slow down.

Menu

Resources:

Louie = https://www.louiedemun.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon