An American Culinary Curiosity Dinner at Blue Duck

At the end of August, I ended up having a very unique dinner at The Blue Duck, one of my favorite restaurants. I usually jump at the chance to sign up for any type of "special" dinners there because they have one of the top chefs in the area, in my opinion.

I had no idea what I had signed up for, but those who know the name Bill Oakley, already knew they were in for a good time. Bill Oakley is known for his years as a writer on The Simpsons and most of the people there were loyal followers. It turns out he was the "host" for the evening and was the one who came up with this interesting idea of a "Curiosity Dinner".

An American Culinary Curiosity Dinner

It turns out that there are some "delicacies" all across the country and each dining event involves hiring a local chef to cook these unique dishes from other areas. While we may think the dishes are weird, it's considered a staple somewhere else, or at least in the past. If you enjoy the history of food, this dinner is for you!

This dinner was well attended! 

Actually, St. Louis has quite a few dishes that qualify for this event such as our Provel cheese on pizza and gooey butter cake, but this night's menu was all new to me! I tried them all and they all really surprised me in a good way, and I ate way too much trying to finish them all. 

We started out with Carolina Boiled Peanuts, which I at least had tried before, but I did not eat the shells.

Carolina Boiled Peanuts

Cincinnati Sauerkraut Balls were fried and served in an aioli sauce. Not bad. The breading was the dominant flavor and wasn't sour at all.

Cincinnati Sauerkraut Balls

The dinner took it up a level with the third course, a Mini Santa Maria Tri-Tip Sandwich, which is a cut of meat that I've never had before. I would love to have this again. It was a good thing it was a mini serving because it was a heavy sandwich. I was starting to feel full after this and I was only halfway through the dinner.

Mini Santa Maria Tri-Tip Sandwich

The Charleston She Crab Soup was also very filling, but I couldn't stop because it was so tasty, and had to finish it. I would have loved more.

Charleston She Crab Soup

The Key Lime Sorbet was a palate cleanser, thank goodness, since the best course came next.

Key Lime Sorbet

I really didn't have much room left, but this Kentucky Hot Brown was amazing. I MUST HAVE ANOTHER ONE SOMEDAY. You should look it up! The recipe doesn't look too difficult to make at home, but I may have to hire an expert. 

Kentucky Hot Brown

Last, but not least by any means, the Utah Pickle Cake was actually quite delicious! I'm sure it was originally created as a joke, but I would definitely eat it again, although I'm pretty sure it'll never happen.

Utah Pickle Cake

And the stories behind all these dishes? Well, you'll have to read up on the history yourself or hopefully we'll have another chance in St. Louis to attend one of these unique dining experiences! 

I would definitely do this again...

Resources:

Bill Oakley = https://www.billoakley.com/

The Blue Duck = https://www.blueduckstl.com/

Curiosity Dinner = https://www.billoakley.com/events

Del Bono

I was looking forward to trying Ben Proemba's new concept, and didn't realize it shared a building with Nixta in the Delmar Maker's District. The new building is beautiful and modern.

The patio is somewhat tucked away on the west side of the building, and since my friend and I didn't make a reservation, we thought we'd try it out. While it was not too hot, we did get caught in the setting sun. So bring your sunglasses in the summertime!

Heads up...the whole menu is in Italian, but luckily there is a glossary at the bottom to help you with your pizza choices. I would recommend studying before you go, although our server was very helpful.

Del Bono menu mostly in Italian

The salad course was easy, as there were several tasty choices. Our Rucola salad had plenty of cheese on top!

Rucola salad

The pizza was a little more difficult to decipher as my friend wanted pepperoni and mushrooms and they let us add the mushrooms to one of the classic pizzas, the Lu.

There were A TON of pepperoni!

Classic Lu pizza - pepperoni with mushrooms added

For dessert, I really wanted the chocolate gelato, but I felt that I should go with the traditional cannoli while at an Italian restaurant. I was a little sad there were no cute little chocolate chips on the end, but that didn't stop me from devouring it!

Cannoli

Resources:

Del Bono = https://bengelina.com/delbono

Aubrey

I was so happy to see something go into the old Small Batch space since I love the black and white tile floor and long bar. I also love the name of the restaurant, although it may be due to a crush on Aubrey Plaza.

Anyway, I couldn't wait to see what these young chefs had in store. 

For the cocktail menu, they had an amaretto sour on the menu, so I had to try it. Made me feel 21 all over again!

I appreciated the small menu...instead of selection overload!

Since this was a GNO, we shared everything. 

The Caesar salad was covered in Parmigiano-Reggiano...you know this made me happy!

Caesar Salad

We split the seabass, a true test of a good restaurant, Wild Mushroom Risotto, and the Bolognese. Turned out the Bolognese was the best with homemade noodles.

Seabass

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Bolognese

Luckily, we took most of it home so we could have room for dessert. I couldn't say no to a chocolate mousse.

Chocolate Mousse

The Creme Brulée was beautiful as well.

Creme Brulée

Definitely worthy of a date night! 

Resources:

Aubrey = https://aubreystl.com/

Gamlin's Maplewood

While I was super excited that the restaurant in the empty space in Maplewood was going to be filled again, I had my reservations about it since the last two concepts didn't last long.

Patience was craving a steak and I was craving to try out a new restaurant!

We split the ribeye, which is not my usual way to go, but it was the priciest item on the menu so it made sense to split it. They cooked it perfectly!

Ribeye

I still ordered my gnocchi though because that's what I really wanted!

Gnocchi

We couldn't resist ordering oysters as well as a special lobster appetizer.

Lobster appetizer

Dozen oysters

Patience had to have dessert too since there was an unusual Tiramisu on the menu.

Tiramisu

While the food is upscale, the issue with the high ceilings and noise levels still remains. But if you don't mind a lively spot and being able to see the the TVs from the bar, then it's worth checking out. 

Resources:

Gamlin's Maplewood = https://www.gamlinsmaplewood.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Gol Bowl

Gol Bowl recently moved into the old Tapped space, and since it's so close, it made for the perfect "Take out Saturday" meal.

Of course we had to start with some Samosas...always a good tradition when dining on Indian food.

Samosas

I was not too hungry so I just ordered a mixed veggie platter, which also came with more samosas, pakora (friend sweet potato), and spring rolls!

Mix Veggie Platter

Patience was hungrier and she ordered a full dinner of Mango Chicken. I actually could handle the spice on that one! Also, the dinners are large enough, when you add rice, for two meals.

Mango Chicken on rice

When I stopped by the restaurant, it smelled SO good inside...I hope we can dine in next time!

Resources:

Gol Bowl = https://golbowl.com/