Sunday, January 13, 2019

Red Oak Biscuits

EDIT: Unfortunately, this restaurant has closed.

Patience is a huge biscuit fan so she had been wanting to go to Red Oak Biscuits for weeks and I promised we'd go as soon as we could. Luckily, we needed to find time to hang out with our friend Babsi and she was willing to meet us for breakfast!

While you could get the usual "biscuits and gravy" here, we all went for the "Sandos" or sandwiches using the biscuits as the "bread". We all ordered the "Smashing", which includes an sunnyside egg, goat cheese, avocado, chili oil, pesto, and microgreens.

Now these were big, heavy biscuits so I ate mine open-faced!

Smashing Sando
Of course I had to try some sides...

You can get Loaded Potatoes with any two toppings! Of course I added cheese along with some more avacado.

Breafkast potatoes with two toppings
And then I ordered a side berries just to have something healthy with this heavy meal. I didn't get very many though. Or maybe it just looks likes it since it was spread on a flate plate...

Berries
Turns out that the "biscuits and gravy" were already sold out and there wasn't any smoothies left either. We got there after 10:30AM so be sure to get there early on the weekends!

Seating is limited as well, although there are a few tables in the back, but it is a former small, corner bar.

Resources:

Red Oak Biscuits = https://www.redoakbiscuits.com

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Cinder House

After hearing so many wonderful things about Cinder House, we could not wait until we had a special occasion, our anniversary, to get to experience it for ourselves!

I had been to the restaurant space a couple of times as Cielo so I was curious to see if the new version would be similar or not. The menu is definitely different with a South American influence!

The bar area is still the same wide open space and got noisy at times, but the dining area has dim lighting to make for a romantic, more elegant evening. (Although not so great for taking pictures of our courses!)

We got to start with complimentary rose bubbles...and then ordered cocktails with our meal.

Anniversary bubbles!
I definitely wanted to try the much-talked about Dia's Cheesebread and was surprised to see cheese biscuits with ham and pickled onions so you could make a cute, baby sandwich. I appreciated the fact that there were four instead of us having to fight over a three.

Dia's Cheese Bread
I hadn't seen Piri Piri Chicken on a menu since I visited England, so I had my heart set on it. Fortunately, our server warned me just how spicy the sauce was and suggested that I keep it on the side. I loved the chicken by itself and the sauce definitely had some heat! Yikes!

Piri Piri Chicken
Luckily, my dish came with a side of polenta so I used that as my "dipping sauce" instead.

Polenta
Patience heard about the strip steak on the list of specials and jumped on the chance to order it. Too bad we didn't ask the price first as it was the most expensive steak on the menu. Good thing she thoroughly enjoyed it! hehehehe

Strip Steak
Her steak came with three sauces to try too!

Steak Sauces
I had also heard good things about the carrots so I ordered that as another side, which came in a mole sauce.

Carrots in Mole sauce
And you KNOW we ordered dessert!

We ordered the flan to share and of course I mixed it with my chocolate ice cream!

Flan

Ready to dive into some chocolate ice cream
Cinder House is still an upscale restaurant, but be sure to check the menu first before you go. Great for adventurers!

Resources:

Cinder House = http://cinderhousestl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Saturday, January 5, 2019

STLCheesegirl Top Posts 2018

Another year, even more excuses for fewer posts this year.

At the end of last year, Patience and I bought a house together, so this means less going out and more eating at home. We still kept our PW Pizza Beer Dinners on the schedule as that is one of our favorite activities each month.

Several new places, one old, and some unique stories were the most popular posts for this year, and I'm always thankful to those who put these blog posts over the century view mark!

The Clover and the Bee - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/05/the-clover-and-bee.html
Olive & Oak is busy every night and so it's no surprise folks wanted to know more about their sister restaurant next door. Still great food and service, but more casual and a little easier to get into.

Vero Pizza and Pasta - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/03/vero-pizza-and-pasta.html
I'm a huge fan of Katie and was a backer for her Rock Hill location of Katie's Pizza and Pasta, so we had to try her "pizza box line". It was quite a fun mess and they make a great gift or family activity. Even though we were the ones playing "chef", it still turned out quite delicious!

I Fratellini - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/02/i-fratellini.html
You can never go wrong with one of Zoe's restaurants and this one is my favorite. Her new restaurant, Billie Jean (http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/08/billie-jean.html) almost made my top ten list as well.

PW Pizza Firestone Walker Beer Dinner - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/04/pw-pizza-firestone-walker-beer-dinner.html
I didn't know much about this brewery, but I guess they have a big following?

PW Pizza Brooklyn Brewery Beer Dinner - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/05/pw-pizza-brooklyn-brewery-beer-dinner.html
Now this brewery I am a big fan of so I was happy to see they DO have a strong following.

Rack House and Big O Cocktail Dinner - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/05/rack-house-and-big-o-cocktail-dinner.html
I love supporting the Big O even if it means I have to drive to St. Charles County! Hopefully they'll do more pairings like this in the future!

PW Pizza Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/03/pw-pizza-sierra-nevada-beer-dinner.html
Sierra Nevada feels like they have been around forever so this makes sense to me.

Polite Socity - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/03/polite-society.html
One of the new restaurants that recently opened in Lafayette Square. I'm not sure when we'll go back though, but definitely worth a try if you like NOLA-style cuisine.

Benevolent King - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/06/the-benevolent-king.html
One of the BEST new restaurants to open last year and I really hope we go back again sometime because they're so close to us.

Making the Big O - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2018/03/making-big-o.html
Helping out my favorite company was a huge honor and I was thrilled to get to do my part to create the next batch of the Big O!

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Hamilton's Urban Steakhouse & Bourbon Bar

We are huge fans of PW Pizza's Beer Dinner series (we're there every month) and had already visited Charleville Brewery right before they made it smaller and created Hamilton's Urban Steakhouse.

With the recent opening of the Rhone Rum Bar and 21st Street Brewers Bar, I didn't think the Hamilton's needed to add the "Bourbon" part at the end of the name, but there is quite a bit of it in the menu!

This was a great way to end the year - with a restaurant that totally met our high expectations. (Even our foodie friends were pleased!) The only thing short were the number of seats in the restaurant, and the bar area was full the whole time we were there. Be sure to make a reservation!

I had eaten a late lunch so I didn't have room to try any appetizers, soups, or salads, but the complimentary garlic bites were a nice treat and Jamie and Shannon enjoyed their wedge salad.

Garlic Bread Basket
Let's be honest, we were there for the steaks! Everything was cooked perfectly.

Jamie and I played it safe by ordering a filet. You get to order two sides so wild mushrooms and mac and cheese were on my plate!

Filet with Mac & Cheese
WIld Mushrooms on the side
Patience ordered a Ribeye, adding two large scallops with the "surf and turf" option you can add to any steak! The Brussel Sprouts were a popular side at our table as well.

Ribeye with Scallops and Brussel Sprouts
Shannon also chose a winner with the Osso Bucco. (No knife necessary!)

Osso Bucco
Cocktail and wine list were great too and why yes, we did try something from both of them.

Best Lemon Drop

Bourbon n Bubbles
Luckily, I stopped at the right time and took home plenty of leftovers because Patience always orders dessert.

The carrot cake was a little dry and could have used more icing.

Carrot Cake
But the Bourbon Bread Pudding was very moist and melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Bourbon Bread Pudding
I was afraid Patience would be up all night when she ordered a Bourbon Coffee with dessert: Old Grand-Dad, Brown Sugar Syrup, House-Made Pumpkin Whipped Cream and coffee.

Bourbon Coffee
Definitely put this on your list for the new year!

Resources:

Hamilton's Urban Steakhouse & Bourbon Bar = https://www.hamiltonsteak.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon