Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Venissimo Cheese Lovers Club

A friend of mine, who of course knows I love cheese, sent this link to me today.

What better gift is there than finding cheese in your mailbox on a regular basis!

http://www.venissimo.com/Cheese-Lovers-Club/

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Robust Wine Bar MX

I have actually been to the Robust Wine Bar in Webster Groves several times, but have never sat down to dinner there. So I jumped at the chance to visit the new location downtown on Washington Avenue for a wine tasting with the American Wine Society, ran by Jeff Callahan.

Willamette Winery, from Oregon, brought a few wines for us to taste, and of course they brought a pinot gris and two pinor noirs. The pinot gris was crisp and refreshing as expected, but I was surprised by the multiple flavors of pinot noir...one made with the whole cluster, causing a fruitier nose and finish, and the second one was more of traditional pinot with a bolder ending. Willamette also let us finish with a dessert Riesling as well but it was far too sweet for me, believe it or not.

I was happy the wine tasting hour went quick because I had really been looking forward to dinner.

We got to stay in our private dining room, although I didn't get to check out the large dining area. The Robust menu was lengthy enough that our server had to walk us through the pages, although most of it was various wine selections and flights. On the dinner page, we still had a large amount of choices and went with a combination of small plates and main course.

Almost as an appetizer, we started with two sea scallops, which was the usual “melt in your mouth” flavor.

The Shrimp & Grits were more of a side dish size than a small plate and the course was very filling. The grits were smooth and creamy, more like a risotto than crunchy grits like you normally think.

We went with the special, a skate wing, as our main course, and I was quite surprised by the smoky flavor that doesn't typically come with a white fish. Quite excellent and unique flavor!

Sea scallops, shrimp & grits, and skate wing
Definitely a place to take out of town guests and wine lovers, where everyone wins.

Resources:

Robust Wine Bar = http://www.robustwinebar.com/

The Fountain on Locust

I had been wanting to go to the Fountain on Locust ever since I met a really cute red-head who worked there and claimed to make some of the best ice cream martinis. I never had an ice cream martini before and this quickly moved to the top of my list of things I had try!

Luckily, I had an event on Locust so naturally it made sense to stop by The Fountain on the way. It was meant to be, although my new friend was not working.

Of course I ordered the Grand Chocolate Martini, which was filled with all kinds of chocolaty goodness: Godiva Chocolate liqueur, chocolate vodka, and chocolate ice cream. Don't worry, I shared this drink since it was quite strong!

Grand Chocolate Martini
I was really impressed with the “soda fountain” feel of the décor and the long list of "sammiches" just felt right for the place. I went with the “adult grilled cheese” that I had heard about, the Royal Grille, which consisted of three types of cheese, apple slices, and some turkey as well!

Patience ordered one of her favorite too...the High Hat, which consisted of creamy, smooth egg salad. I got the pickle though!

We both combined our half sandwich with the St. Louis City salad, which is their version of a Rich 'n Charlie's salad...delicious!!

Even though we had ordered an ice cream martini, our server still offered us ice cream for dessert, but our drink was plenty dessert for us!

Resources:

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