Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Bellwether

Our dining-out friends recently bought a new home, but we didn't make it in time to enjoy their rooftop deck during the fall weather. Since the chillier temperatures showed up so quickly, we were forced to try a new restaurant near them instead. I think it worked out just fine...

When a restaurant closes, after the sadness fades, we can't help but hope something tasty moves in next. We were definitely rewarded for our wait!

I was happy to see they made good use of the space in front of the bar, with booths lining the wall, and plenty of regular seating in the open area that used to be the lounge. This means the servers have to bring up all the dishes from the second floor kitchen though. (To sound old, they could have brought up the lights a little bit more too. No reason to hide these beautiful dishes! And yes, I did make this suggestion to the restaurant directly.)

A magazine article raved about their pastas, so that totally affected my menu choice. Hopefully we'll be able to go back to try a regular entrees.

Patience saw the Goose Ravioli Doppio on the appetizer menu online, but it got promoted to full entree status. Yet, our server allowed us to order it as an appetizer, although still priced as a regular item. Still delicious nonetheless as the fresh pasta with braised goose was quite rich.

Goose Ravioli Doppio
I had seen a Short Rib Ragout on the menu, but by the time we got to the restaurant, it was now a Short Rib Stroganoff. I guess this makes sense since tomatoes are now out of season. This was still a winner with the large noodles and hunks of beef. This dish was so filling, I had to take some of it home.

Short Rib Stroganoff
Patience ordered the Basil Pesto Campanelle, which quickly disappeared.

Basil Pesto Campanelle
Jamie ordered the English Pea Ravioli, which was also devoured.

English Pea Ravioli
I would love to go back and try some entrees, but honestly, I'd love to try more pastas too.

Cocktails were top notch as well.

Resources:

The Bellwether = https://www.thebellwetherstl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Saturday, November 9, 2019

PW Pizza Center Ice Beer Dinner 2019

We actually have never been to Center Ice (even though it's not that far away from us) so we were happy to try their beers!

Of course the hockey-themed brewery was over the moon with the Stanley Cup win and I'm sure it'll be even more festive there now.

I love how the chef encorporated hockey into the menu as well since we started off the night with Risotto Arancini "pucks". I could have easily eaten ten of these and skipped over the pizza. This was well paired with the Checkerdome Pils.

Risotto Arancini Pucks and Checkerdome Pils
The Chicken Nacho Pizza was "the spicy pizza", which is now expected ate every beer dinner at this point. Of course it was paired with the Hop Shelf IPA. I did love the extra cheese though!

Chicken Nacho Pizza
This is not the first time for a Poutine Pizza and french fries on a pizza is totally awesome. The Double OT Winner Strong Ale was still too hoppy for me, but paired well to cut through all that grease on a pizza.

Poutine Pizza
My second favorite course was dessert since it was chocoletey! A soft baked chocoalte pretzel (it was huge!) was paired with the Peanut Butter Cup Stout. Of course Patience loved it, but I could have used a stronger peanut butter flavor since the coffee flavors overpowered the beer.

Soft Baked Chocolate Pretzel
I probably need to put this on my "to visit" list to taste more of their beers, and they offer up a shuttle on Blues game nights from the bar.

Resources:

PW Pizza = https://pwpizza.com/

Center Ice = https://www.centericebrewery.com/


Wednesday, November 6, 2019

INDO

Patience had been bugging me for WEEKS wanting to try out this new restaurant, but I knew it would be so pricy, even with the a la carte menu.

But then I found out Zac Adcox had started working there after Reed's closed (moment of silence), and then next thing I knew, Patience had slapped a date night on the calendar.

While I try not to go too early to new restaurants, this one totally lived up to the hype.

We decided to just order all the things we were interested in, but then we also wanted to order from each section of the menu. We chose a bunch of hot tastings, then a couple of cold tastings, and last we picked out sashimi and nigiri to cover all the bases.

You can order everything all at once, like we did, and then just wait to see what comes out next, or just order a few things at a time, gauging your hunger.

Hot Tastings

The Tom Yum Pork Skins were basically pork rinds, but came with a slightly spicy shrimp topping, along with a chive aioli to help cool things down. This is probably a dish you can skip since all the other dishes just stood out so much more.

Tom Yum Pork Skins
Both Patience and I love Gyoza, so it's almost a tradition for us to order it at different Asian restaurants. This version did not disappoint!

Gyoza
The dumplings (about eight of them) are hidden under the crust.

Although not fish-based, the Lamb Ribs had to be one of the best dishes they offer!

Lamb Ribs
Another personal favorite, because it's lobster, the Lobster Thermidor is a winner. Quite rich!

Lamb Ribs
While not in the Hot Tastings section, we also ordered the special of the night, Hamachi Kama, which is fish cheek. There is a thin breading on it, and we both dug out all the white meat. Also spectacular!

Hamachi Kama
Cool Tastings

Am I allowed to have more favorites? The Sake Sashimi (salmon) was amazing. I think this is also a must order dish.
Sake Sashimi
Our other "cool tasting" was a Vegetarian Hand Roll, which was served in a shot glass. Adorable! Patience and I took turns taking bites.

Vegetarian Hand Roll
Last but not least, we had our server pick out nigiri for us since there are always quite a few on the menu, and they prefer serve what has been flown in fresh that morning. We had a Saba nigiri, better known as mackerel.

Saba Nigiri
No room for dessert after all of this, but we did manage to find our way to Olio across the street for a night cap. (They were still slammed.)

Special thanks to Zac Adcox for all the delicious wine that perfectly paired with our meal.

Indo Menu
Resources:

INDO = https://www.indo-stl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon