Fairview Lounge

Since I needed to cross the river into Illinois this weekend, I met a fellow foodie friend for lunch. Since it's mostly chain restaurants in Fairview Heights, she came up with a super unique place to eat that's within walking distance from her house.

Unique reason #1: It's in a gas station
Unique reason #2: It's Peruvian cuisine

When I walked in, instead of rows of chips and gum, the inside floor space really is used for tables and chairs as well as a bar in the back, with quite a few taps.

Bar

Since I had some partners in crime to help me, we started with a large order of Yucas Fritas, which came with three different sauces.

Yucas Fritas

We started on those since we had to wait on the empanadas and they were worth the wait. The empanadas were jammed packed with beef, onions, tomatoes, olives, and spices.

Empanada

We also started with an order of Boudin balls, which were densely packed with sausage, rice, and red pepper inside. You can find these listed on the back of the menu with a few Cajun chicken options as well.

The highly recommended chicken kabobs definitely lived up to the hype. The large hunks of chicken were incredibly tender. Almost forgot to get a picture in time!

Chicken kabobs

Since I don't know of any other Peruvian restaurants in the area, I have to admit that I'm really curious and hope to try it again sometime. I might have to make more friends on that side of the river!

Resources:

Fairview Lounge: http://www.bnd.com/living/magazine/article20032563.html

Riverbend

Unfortunately, this restaurant has closed.

Even though we're a year and a few weeks late, I finally got to take Patience to Riverbend so she could enjoy New Orleans-style cuisine for her birthday.

The new location is a lot closer to us so that worked out really well since we had to wait. There is a small bar and plenty of TVs everywhere, so it's a very casual environment with the menu listed on a folded piece of paper. And if you have kids with you, you can play "count the number of fluer de lis" since they are everywhere!

Yet, the simple menu is chock full of all your favorites like gumbo, po-boys, etouffee, hush puppies, and jambalaya. It was very hard to narrow down our choices.

The cocktail list is also New Orleans influenced and Patience tried her first Sazerac...quite boozy!

Sazerac

We started with a cup of chicken & sausage gumbo and crab cakes.

Gumbo

Crab Cakes

I went safe for my first time with a Fried Shrimp Po-Boy, with a side of Red Beans & Rice. The sandwich was so large that it was easily two meals.

Shrimp Po-Boy

Red Beans & Rice

Unfortunately, Riverbend has closed.

With the waiter's help, Patience chose the Crawfish Margaret Pasta. It had quite a kick and lots of little crawfish throughout. Also, two meals!

Crawfish Margaret Pasta

Since we were celebrating a birthday, we just had to get dessert to go with my singing. Highly recommended, we finished off the night with a House-made Creole Bread Pudding in whiskey sauce. Very heavy and sweet.

Creole Bread Pudding in whiskey sauce

We are definitely going back to try more...

Resources:

Riverbend = http://www.riverbendbar.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Wine Merchant Cheese Class

It has been so long since I went to a Wine Merchant cheese class, that I hadn't gotten to try out the new location yet. I was concerned since I had a hard time finding the parking lot behind the building but all my concerns went to the wayside as soon as I walked inside.

First off, kudos on the huge ramp to the back door.

Second, there are two floors and a separate tasting room that looks like a board room with comfy leather chairs. And then there is STILL room for a tasting area.

Two bathrooms and an elevator. It's that sweet.

Although my favorite part was these giant maps!! (Don't worry, there is still a ton of room for wine on the floor.)

Wine maps!

Since I was there on a Friday night, they had a California bubbles tasting going on... great way to start the weekend!

Now on to the class... I wish I had taken a picture of the board room, I mean tasting room. You feel like a posh executive. It was even better with this wine and cheese list.

Wine and Cheese Pairing list

The first two wines were whites and were plenty high in acid to cut through the richness of the goat cheeses. Both cheese were soft and not too gamey, which you can get with goat cheese. The second pairing was a nicely matched wine and cheese from the Loire Valley, France.

A red wine was definitely needed to be paired up against the Black Truffle cheese from Italy, so a Primitivo  from Puglia, Italy was paired. Both had bold flavors, and that was just the start of the "in-your-face" flavors for the night.

A little bit of an "opposite" pairing was the Cabernet Sauvignon from Yakima Valley AVA in Washington state paired with the Cabot "Clothbound" cheddar from Vermont. This cheese is one of their special edition ones and  had quite a kick to stand up to the Cab.

The most intense pairing was the 2013 Herman Story Syrah, made from grapes all over California so it has a generic Califnoria AVA label. The Amirabella reminded me a lot of Epoisses. Both the wine AND the cheese had that barnyard smell and very funky taste! Woah! But what an explosion of flavors together!

(Why yes, I did purchase some Epoisses using my class discount!)

Then Jason was super nice and gave us a bonus pour of Non Vintage G.D. Vajra Barolo Chinato Vino Aromatizzato paired with dark chocolate almonds. I almost ate the entire box myself.

Resources:

Wine Merchant = http://www.winemerchantltd.com/

Cheese and Beer Pairings - Sam Adams Fall Beer

I was able to squeeze in a cheese and beer pairing class before a busy weekend of packing, and it was just what I needed to relax a little. Samuel Adams featured their fall beers and they were all new to me.

Cheese lineup

Accoutrements

We kicked off the class with their version of Octoberfest, which was easy drinking beer with a low ABV and IBU.

The first beer was actually a cider by Angry Orchard, but even though it's called "Hop'n Mad", I really tasted all apple and not hops. I guess the hops are there to reduce the sweetness and give the cider a dryer finish. This was an amazing pairing with the Grafton Village 2-year raw milk cheddar. The sharpness of the cheese cut through the sweetness and in turn, the sweetness helped to tame down the sharpness. What bliss! Vermont knows their cheese!

Then the two were paired with the dark chocolate!!! Oh my goodness...

Next up was the first non-summery shandy that I've ever had. The Jack-o Traveler had a pumpkin flavor, but the shandy aspect added a citrusy finish. Also quite easy to drink without being overwhelmed by the pumpkin. I think it's a good way to ease into the pumpkin beer season. The cheese stood out again as I am a huge Gruyere fan. Another sharp cheese flavor took on the pumpkin and spice quite easily. These were paired with the caramelized walnuts.

The official pumpkin beer came next, Pumpkin Batch, but it was not your typical pumpkin since it's actually a saison. This had a little too much spice or perhaps the hoppiness bothered me. Luckily, the roasted red pepper creamy goat cheese came to the rescue and cut right through once again. Intense goaty flavor and the creaminess just melted in my mouth. I probably could eat a container of the cheese with a spoon! These were paired with marcona almonds, but the cheese stood alone on this one.

The last two beers were super hoppy with high IBUs, and their names say it all: Hoppy Red and Rebel Rouser Double IPA. Again, I credit the cheese as saving the day since it was hard for me to get past a taste or two of the beer.

This was the first time for me to try Champignon Cambozola, which is an interesting combination of camembert and gargonzola. While there were large mold lines like a regular blue cheese, the creaminess of the triple creme was like tasting butter. The blue aspect was very mild and was easily tamed by the spoonful of honey. Just divine.

The full flavored Cotswold from Britain easily gave off chives and onion in each bite, which was completely necessary to stand up to the double IPA. While the cheese was very much "in your face", the soft cheese was complex and delicious. The intensity was cut by the gerkins or baby sweet pickles. I could have made a meal of just those two as well!

Resources:

Dierbergs Cooking School = http://www.dierbergs.com/School

Samuel Adams = http://www.samueladams.com/

Edgewild Bistro & Tap

Since I had missed the BBQ restaurant that was in this spot before, I didn't want to miss trying Edgewild Bistro & Tap, especially since we loved Edgewild Winery out in Chesterfield.

Now I had heard that it was not exactly like the one in Chesterfield, but I didn't realize that it was completely different! While they do serve wine, this version of the restaurant was definitely focused on beer and had a very extensive list. Luckily, we did our homework and narrowed down our choices before we got there or else we would have been there a while trying to decide.

Unfortunately, with all the TVs, decor, and loudness of the restaurant, I felt like I was more in a Texas Roadhouse or a sports bar. While I do enjoy those places, I was really caught off guard and it was hard to hold a conversation at the table as well as with the server.

Since I felt like I was at a bar, we went with bar food (pizza and sandwiches dominate the menu), although Patience and I tried the Duck Burger since that sounded unique. The duck burger  was on the dry side although it had a decent flavor.

Duck Burger

The real winner was the Baked Italian, which was loaded with salami, turkey, pepperoni, prosciutto, swiss, provelone, mozzerella, lettuce, tomato, amd pepperoncinis, all on a baguette. It wasn't as massive as you might fear, but plenty of Italian flavors.

Baked Italian

We even tried a couple of sides to share. Of course my favorite was the White Cheddar Mac & Cheese, although the Sweet Potato Gratin was tasty as well.

Mac & Cheese and Sweet Potato Gratin

If you're in the mood for a lengthy beer list and sports, this might be a fit.

Resources:

Edgewild Bistro = http://www.edgewildbistro.com/