Where we are quaran-dining February 2021

We're still waiting for our turn for a vaccination so it looks like we'll be doing this for several more months...

February 5th = One of our favorite teenagers told us he made his own Flying Pig sauce and then guess what we ended up having for "Take Out Friday"! Guerilla Street Food!

Flying Pig

February 6th = We kept tradition and swung by Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream for National Eat Ice Cream Day for Breakfast as well!

Ice Cream for Breakfast 2021

Then later that night we tried a NEW pizza place! Motor Town Pizza, a ghost kitchen out of Revel Kitchen! The name refers to Detroit style pizza, and boy was this pizza THICK, filling, and tasty! Definitely a must order this winter!

We ordered a few larges and just added our own toppings, although there are many pizzas to choose from. One person can only eat 2-3 slices, they are so thick and heavy, so I'm happy to report there were LOTS of leftovers!

Check out the giant slices of pizza!

February 12th = Farmhaus had been on my list for a while now since they are so close to us, but held off since they are more upscale. Pai and I have only been once, for her birthday, years ago. 

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of picking them the Friday before Valentine's Day as they had a separate menu for the "holiday" weekend that was not published online. 

Our poor Postmate driver had to read the special menu to me over the phone and so our delivery was quite late. I made sure to tip her extra too.

Regardless, our meals were delicious, although a little small. Pai and I split Sea Scallops and a Venison Bolognese with cavatelli noodles. 

Toasted Bread, Venison Bolognese, and Sea Scallops

Farmhaus is probably a better choice for in-person dining.

February 19th = Since Patience had to work late and it was her turn to pick, I asked myself, "What would she pick after a long, cold week of work?" Mai Lee Restaurant of course. I ordered her favorite for her: ducky curry.

Duck Curry

February 27th = When we heard about the flooding problem at Cafe Natasha , you know we wanted to do our part to help out by moving them to the top of the list for "Take out Friday"! Since it's during lent, they had a baked fish special with rice.

Baked Fish Special

Farmhaus

I finally got the chance to pay back my friend Beth for taking me out for her birthday, so we both got to try Farmhaus for the first time. I was very surprised that the restaurant itself is very unassuming as it is very small with plain, white walls with interesting photography and art on the walls. All the servers were in plaid shirts and all the napkins were large dishtowels. Now I understood the real reason for the required reservations, very little room!

Now I had heard that Farmhaus was known for their piggy selection and yes, there were quite a few pork items such as the Butcher’s Plate and a salad that came with a bacon vinaigrette dressing. But our server informed us that the chef’s specialty was actually seafood since he is a passionate fisherman.

Of course, the best part about Farmhaus is that the menu is served on paper since it changes daily. Chef Kevin Willmann believes in partnering with the local community in order to have the freshest ingredients, other than the fish, which comes from the Gulf Coast.

Farmhaus has a handful of small plates and even the main courses are appropriately sized in order to share all the courses. This was definitely the best approach in order to try as many items as you can although I still overate regardless.

We started with the Summer Salad, which was a large plate of fresh vegetables (grilled corn, okra, sweet peppers, cucumbers, roasted beets, zucchini, squash, and heirloom tomatoes with Baetje Farms goat’s milk cheese) in Muscat vinaigrette. I wish there had been more cheese to go with every bite!

Next was the House Mozzarella Bruschetta, which was a crostini topped with Marcoot Jersey Creamery curds, heirloom YellowTree Farm tomatoes (such pretty colors!) with a balsamic reduction. Lovely amounts of cheese on the bruschetta! I probably could have gone for a whole plate just for myself.

The Smoked Fish Cake was a little small and I think both of us would have loved to have had one more all to ourselves. There was a sweet flavor to the fish cake thanks to the pickled fennel, Builla Farms tomatoes, and banana pepper vinaigrette, along with fried Louisana crawfish tails decorating the outside of the plate.

Our main course, if you want to call it that, was a grilled Grouper with more pickled green beans and tomato jam that was actually more sweet than savory. I would have liked a little more jam to go with the fish though. Even the spoonbread, served underneath the fish, was also another delicious sweet and savory combination.

And you can’t have a birthday dinner without dessert and luckily Beth agreed to the Peanut Butter Cup instead of all the fresh fruit options. A thin, circle of chocolate held the peanut butter mousse with a thick layer of peanut butter nugget on the bottom. It melted in my mouth! Oh my!

With all the fish that we had that evening, and since it was still a warm St. Louis summer day, I went with a refreshing 2011 Yealands Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough from New Zealand. At first, the wine tasted a little grassy and barnyard, but after it was opened, the wine calmed down and was a good match for all the pickled and savory flavors in the food.

Resources:

Farmhaus = http://farmhausrestaurant.com

Celebrity Chef Tour

Last month, I went to one of those “once in a lifetime” kinds of dinners that I just had to take advantage of because something like this is somewhat rare for St. Louis. The Celebrity Chef Tour came through town thanks to a couple of local chefs, Gerard Craft (Nice), Kevin Willmann (Farmhaus), and Josh Galliano (formerly of Monarch) who received James Beard nominations this year. Finally…we are on the map!

This was definitely my most expensive dinner I have ever gone to, although we got lovely parting gifts from the sponsors: a Mercedes-Benz credit card holder and a Stella Artois glass with velvet pouch. The Stella glass is SO beautiful!

The Celebrity Chef Tour is a fundraiser to benefit the James Beard Foundation, an organization that supports events and programs in the culinary world, along with the annual awards for naming top restaurants and chefs.

The dinner was held at Sidney Street Café and consisted of an eight-course meal with a top chef in charge of each course. I wondered how the courses got assigned to eat chef…did they draw straws? A different wine was paired with each course so I knew I was going to seriously have to pace myself and leave a lot of wine behind to make it through the night. The restaurant staff was just incredible keeping up with the wine pouring with each course and clearing away dishes and glasses as the night went along.

Not only were there eight courses, but the evening started off with hors dourves, including a charcuterie table. I may have tried a few different items, but I’m sure they were mostly salami and pickled vegetables. We were also served a complimentary glass of Stella Atrois after sitting down at our tables. I was seated with a gentleman who had recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and another couple who were enjoying a birthday present.

Here are the courses along with a few notes:

1) John Shields (Philadelphia, PA): Oyster seasoned with the new spruce, spinach, and infusion of fresh seaweeds, black radish paired with Segura Heredad Brut Reserva.

Chef Shields actually got his start at Cardwell’s so he was happy to be back in St. Louis. His oyster dish had very rich, bold flavors so the sparkling wine helped cut through them.

2) Josh Galliano (St. Louis, MO): Illinois asparagus, stinging nettle cavatelli, local pecans, bottarga, purslane paired with Chase Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 2012.

The white asparagus (from Freeburg, IL) was actually covered from the sun in order to get its ghostly appearance and tasted so much lighter and less earthy than regular asparagus. This helped to not overpower the wine, which actually tasted more like an overly creamy Chardonnay. I now think all asparagus should be white.

3) Gerard Craft (Nice, St. Louis, pictured at the top): Cauliflower, lamb, ramps, mint, and lemon paired with Rodney Strong Russian River Reserve Chardonnay 2009.

I wish all cauliflower side dishes could be served this way: cooked with braised lamb and served with a crispy lamb topping and a side of mint sauce. This Chardonnay was not oaky and had a crisp flavor to it but overpowered the lighter cauliflower dish.

4) Kevin Willmann (Farhaus, St. Louis, pictured on the right): Grilled wild caught Gulf Cobia filet with ramp and its belly “bacon”, golden raisin chutney, sauce soubise paired with Bethlehem Valley Chardonel 2009.

This light fish went well with the crisp wine to help mellow out the creamy sauce and chutney topping that came with it. The Chardonel is actually made from a hybrid of Missouri grapes and had a fruity finish.

5) Debbie Gold (The American Restaurant, KC): Mackerel, ramps, morels, sake miso paired with Domaine Serene “Evanstad Resrve” Pinor Noir 2007.

Besides the St. Louis chefs, I was most looking forward to Debbie’s course due to her prescense as the only female chef of the dinner. The pickled mackerel was very rich and so I was glad to have a fruity Pinot paired with it. I finally figured out that a “ramp” is a type of onion!

6) Martin Rios (Restuarnat Marin, Sante Fe): Crispey Newman Farm pork belly, roasted tenderloin, cherry-soy caramel, celery root, polenta parchment paired with Hirsh Vineyards Pinot Noir 2008.

I really enjoyed the tenderloin in this course, especially since it was cooked just right and paired very well with a drier Pinot Noir. I am sure the same could have been said for the pork by those who are fans, but I did not enjoy the fatty bite I took.

7) Alex Lee (Glen Hill Country Club, NY): Roasted Eieio Acres lamb loin and pulled shank with Moroccan spices, olives, spring turnips and radishes paired with Ethos Reserve Syrah 2008.

I learned that Alex is the former executive chef at Danielle. The lamb was delicious but there was still a hint of gaminess to it so the drier red wine was a good pairing. Since the meat was tender and soft, it didn’t exactly match up with the crunchy nuts that came with it.

8) Kevin Nashan / Robert Zugmaier (Sidney Street Café, St. Louis): Green strawberries, black sesame cake, balsamic, dill, buttermilk sorbet paired with Chateau Ste Michelle Late Harvest Riesling 2008.

This was my least favorite course since both the food and the wine were way too overpowering. The green strawberries were very tart and dessert wines are often overly sweet. Even the sorbet was too much instead of being light and palate cleansing. At this point I was ready to be done eating and drinking so I didn’t mind leaving behind some leftovers anyway.

I had definitely paced myself well with the wine but was very tired after four hours of nonstop eating and drinking. This is probably not something you’d want to do every day, but definitely a great experience.

Resources:

James Beard Foundation = http://www.jamesbeard.org/

Sidney Street Café = http://www.sidneystreetcafe.com