Where we are quaran-dining

Yesterday I was asked where we are ordering from as I have been promoting a once a week "order out" to everyone.

I feel like A LOT of restaurants now have their curb side or delivery services set up so there are quite a few choices out there. But my strong recommendation is to order your favorites so that your favorites will still be there after this is over. Also, order local or hyper local in your area of town.

We have mostly chosen places that we can order through Postmates, but there are also a handful of delivery services so that you do not have to leave your house!

You can find a restaurant on the St. Louist Post-Dispatch's page:
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/dining/restaurants/restaurants-where-you-can-get-takeout-and-delivery-in-the/html_fc41d5c6-d9ec-5031-858b-0236b6deb60b.html

Both of the STLfoodie magazines have lists on their websites as well.

Anyway, here is our list thus far:

Week 1 - March 18th: Our beer dinner was cancelled so we ordered PW Pizza. Looks like it's going to be cancelled agains this month as well.

Week 2 - March 27th: Pai was craving Mexican, so we ordered from Mission Taco Joint, which then lead us to purchasing avacados and queso each week.

Week 3 - April 3rd: When Pai isn't craving guac, she craves ramen. Nudo House was the easy choice there.

Nudo House Ramen

Week 3 1/2 - April 7th: We ordered various sundries from the Tower Grove Farmer's Market, which they deliver on Saturday mornings. Boxes of produce, meat, etc, go live on Tuesdays at Noon! We finally got our hands on some Larder & Cupboard jams and Baetje Farms goat cheese.

Larder & Cupboard Jam

Week 4 - April 10th: A this point, I had been getting inaundated with Pasta House emails. (They have some really good deals and they deliver!)

Week 5 - April 17th: Pai saw a Facebook post that Felix's Pizza would be selling all their pizzas in 18 inches! We also got the trashed wings too.

Week 5 1/2 - April 21st: I had ordered from Katie's Pizza and Pasta as they have switched to selling frozen pizza and pasta bakes. Since their delivery takes 3-5 business days to order, it made for an easy meal during the week. It's easy to order from their website, and it makes a great gift to someone (just make sure it's in their delivery range).

Katie's Pizza and Pasta - Pasta Bake

Week 6 - April 24th: Pai had ANOTHER crazing for Mai Lee. You can't go too long without it! Nothing really needs to be said here... you know how good they are.

Week 7 - May 1st: Since this question was originally asked by our friends in Webster Groves, they said they had ordered from Guerilla Street Food repeatedly, so I felt as though we needed to take our turn. We hadn't had it in forever and we had really missed it.

Guerilla Street Food Chicken Adobo

Week 7 1/2 - May 5th:We celebrated a friend's 40th birthday in her front yard spaced apart with Olympia Kebob House. It was a little messy to eat, but it made for a fun picnic.

Olympia House Baklava 

Week 8 - May 8th: Since the birthday dinner fell on Cinco de Mayo, we celebrated Ocho de Mayo instead with El Paisano, which is our neighborhood Mexican restaurant and I walk by it just about every day on my walk.

El Paisano 

Week 9 - May 12th: Pai wanted Nudo House again...she has to have it at least once a month! At least I mixed it up by ordering Yo Lo Mein with chicken this time around.

Yo Lo Mein with chicken

Week 10 - May 19th: SOMEONE wanted a margarito and we knew that we could get some to go from La Catrina, which is our friend's favorite place. I always get soft tacos and the usual rice and beans come with it. To prevent a fight, we each got our own bag of chips, guac, salsa, and queso! hehe We did have some leftovers, but definitely on purpose.

Tacos, chips, salsa, guac, queso, and margaritas!

Week 11 - May 26th: I've been focused on dining at restaurants in my neighborhood and luckily I have A LOT of options. I'm biased when it comes to Aya Sofia since the owners are good friends. I really should go more often and I really should order something different. But I get the same thing EVERY TIME! Musakka!!

Turkish Salad

Musakka

This was plenty for two meals!! And don't forget about dessert! Baklava!

Baklava

To see where we ate in June for Quaran-dining, go here: https://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2020/06/where-we-are-quaran-dining-in-june.html

Aya Sofia Traveling Table

Earlier this month, I got to attend Aya Sofia for a second time thanks to a STLwinegirl Traveling Table, and even though I already completed a blog post about them, I did get to try all new dishes and yes, it’s very deserving of a second blog post.

While Aya Sofiya does serve a number of Turkish dishes, we focused on the familiar Mediterranean dishes that most people are familiar with. We started off with Borek, or simply, a feta and spinach pie in filo dough. I loved the feta cheese…and the spinach flavor was strong so that paired VERY well with the Giocoto Pino Grigio from Slovenia. This wine is very quaffable and would go best on a warm, summer day. The flavor really stood out on its own but also stood up to the spinach. I was already thrilled after just the first pairing!

The second course included Sarma, grape leaves stuffed with beef, onions, and rice, and was paired with my first Lebanese wine: Musar “Jeune” Blanc. The wine had a strong herb smelled but once again, the flavor was able to melt well with such a rich dish.

The third course was of course, my favorite, since it was the Sebzeli Mussaka, the vegetarian version. Rumor has it that this version is better than the one with beef and it came with a side of pearl couscous. While the first two courses were appetizers, this was a full dinner-size portion and I still managed to “help” a few others. This course was also paired with a Musar “Jeune” wine from Lebanon but this time it was the red or “Rouge”, tasting much like a Cabernet. Although it was a little dry for me, the rich, fruity flavors did pair well with the heavier tomato sauce.

Last but not least, you cannot leave a Mediterranean restaurant without the proper dessert. We each received a small serving of baklava…just the right size since we were all so full. Dessert also came with an “evil eye bead”, which is often given as gifts as it is thought to give protection and bring luck!

Resources:

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com

Aya Sofia = http://ayasofiacuisine.com/

Aya Sofia

I had moved Aya Sofia to the top of my birthday dinner wish list because I had heard so much about the restaurant through Jill Aboussie and other friends. Luckily, they happened to be hosting a wine tasting for Sheridan wines and I needed to eat dinner before going to the theater. I feel really bad for not stopping in long before since it is SO close to Ted Drewes on Chippewa that I know that I’ve driven by it hundreds of times!

Of course my favorite was the white wine, La Belle Blonde, and I managed to get a second glass from a friend! It worked out well since I traded her my red wine leftovers because Sheridan offers a L’Orage, (named after the big storm that hit the vineyards), which is 65% Cabernet and 35% Cabernet Franc, in addition to a 100% Cab Franc. My favorite red was the Mystique, since it had the least amount of tannins and is made up of 50% Merlot.

Aya Sofia let us all try the Kibbe with the wines, which looks like a breaded meatball but has a much sweeter flavor, especially once you cover it in the yogurt sauce. My friend also shared her Sakasuka with me and this time it was eggplant mixed with the yogurt sauce and was just delicious.

Even though Aya Sofia offers Turkish dishes as well as Mediterranean cuisine, my love of eggplant always causes me to order the same thing: Musakka. It was a huge plate and came with a side of couscous as well. I probably could have made two meals out of it but I wasn’t able to stop in time!

I was also told there is a vegetarian version of the Musakka that is just as tasty and I admit I would love to go back to work my way through all the eggplant and lamb dishes! Not to mention that I just realized I forgot about dessert….

Resources:

Aya Sofia = http://www.ayasofiacuisine.com

Sheridan Wines = http://www.sheridanvineyard.com