Grand Tavern

I can remember sitting in the original Dark Room looking up at the building that is now the Angad Arts Hotel and hoping that it could be put to good use someday.

Well, the building is finally finished and on the main floor is the Grand Tavern by David Burke - a fancy NY chef. I knew I had to try it and the Sorrells were kind enough to take me there for my birthday.

I was excited about the high-end restaurant, but with it comes high-end expecations and I'm not quite sure all the kinks are worked out just yet. Since the restaurant is in the arts district, theater timing is very important. Another issue I found is the high ceilings in the main room, which leads to a loud dining experience. And in our situation... a large and obnoxious birthday party sitting next to us caused our server to have to apologize. Even the table behind us requested to move to "the red room", which seems to be a far more intimate area.

Other than not being able to talk to each other, our courses were pretty amazing. And I do mean "courses" because the food just kept coming.

There was a small cocktail list, but the prices were a little higher than we prefer.  I did enjoy the garnishes for the cocktails...my Bee's Kneeds is so pretty!

Grand-hattan

Bee's Knees

We got to start with an amuse bouche...I believe there is lobster on top there.

Amuse bouche

Even the bread service was "big", since we each got a popover the size of our heads!

Popovers

Patience and I were very curious about the Emotional Lobster Dumplings. athough I'm not sure which emotion we were supposed to be feeling.

Lobster Dumplings

Of course we HAD to get David Burke's "famous" Clothesline Bacon, where they torched it by hand at the table. Entertaining if nothing else!

Clothesline Bacon

Finally on to the main courses...I played it safe with the branzino (white fish) on the menu, but Patience ordered the steak special.  We both added on a vegetable on the side since they are all a la carte. I ordered the Angry Brocoli...angry because they were spicy!

Branzino

Steak Special with Pasta

Angry Brocolli

And Pai got to load up on Brussels sprouts. Both are shareable for probably two people.

Brussels Sprouts

Beth went all out with the Saturday special: Surf and Turf on a bed of polenta

Surf and Turf

I believe Matt chose a clams and linguine dish.

Clams and Linguine

Special thanks again to the Sorrells, since the desserts never stopped coming!

Dessert Tray

We each got our own "dessert tray": Strawberries, small cake, a David Burke Cheesecake Lollipop, cotten candy, and a gooey butter donut!!! All of these were amazing!!

Although it couldn't top my personal "birthday dessert"!!!!!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse

On the menu for anyone, birthday or not, I was very blown away by the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse - "radio city rockette style" with raspberries. Isn't she sexy??

Then we got to have a complimentary macaroon along with our bill. SO! STUFFED!

Coffee Macaroons

This is definitely a special occasion type of place, but probably not before a theater show unless you go very early. Check out the menus before you go...

Dinner Menu

Drink Menu

Dessert Menu

Resources:

Grand Tavern = https://grandtavernstl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

PW Pizza Left Hand Brewing Beer Dinner 2019

I looked back in my notes and the last time Left Hand Brewing visited was 2016, so I was happy to see them back again!

We kicked off the night with a Caribeean Caesar salad which had a spicy dressing, but that paired really well with the super light and easy to drink "Travelin' Light". I gotta remember this beer when I'm out! Perfect for summer drinking...

Caribbean Caesar

The first pizza was my favorite of the night since I tasted mostly sweet flavors with cheese totally covering the pizza. The Juicy Goodness, a New England style IPA, was big on the citrus and Patience and I could actually handle these hops.

Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

The Pot Roast Pizza was a little funky in taste, but it was a great pairing for the heavier Death Before Disco Porter. It was soooooo easy to drink for a porter!

Death Before Disco Porter

The Raspberry Milk Stout had a big raspberry finish so it's definitely a dessert beer. Of course it was paired with an Almond Lemon-Raspberry Fool. (I had to look up what a fool was...an English custard dessert with fruit folded in.)

Almond Lemon-Raspberry Fool

It just needed a magic chocolate shell on top or chocolate syrup!

All winning pairings and a great way to start off the new year of beer dinners!

Left Hand Brewing Menu

Resources:

Left Hand Brewing = http://lefthandbrewing.com/

PW Pizza = https://pwpizza.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Crispy Edge

It was my birthday and so I get to choose! I chose Crispy Edge because quite a few of my fellow city friends had swung by a couple of times before I even had a chance to get there once.

Since it's located in the middle of Tower Grove, it was easy for them to stop in. Their experiences had been mixed over time so I wanted to see for myself.

And then there were a lot more choices to make! Patience and I like to be able to order one of everything and we had to divide and conquer for sure.

We stuck to the "Crispy Stickers" list and made it most of the way through. Unfortunately, you can't just order one of each kind...you have to pick a set of three or a set of six. This makes sense as far as the kitchen goes, but I would have probably preferred two of each. Luckily, we always ordered in pairs so that we had six come out at one time to help us keep things even.

I wanted to start with the Traditional pot sticker, with soy sauce, and the Mediterranean Lamb, which came with Tzatziki.

Traditional and Mediterranean Lamb

The Vietnamese Spring Rolls came wrapped in a bibb lettuce with a lime on the side.

Vietnamese Spring Roll

Patience was brave and tried a spicier "Dragon" pot sticker, the special for the night and not on the main menu. It tasted just like a Dragon sushi roll, but it wasn't too spicy after all!

Dragon Roll

For our second round of pot stickers, we had a hard time telling them apart: Chorizo Date and Lemongrass Chicken.

Chorizo Date

Lemongrass Chicken

We finished off our meal with one of each of the "dessert" pot stickers, since you can order those as a single: Apple Pie and Cherry Blossom. Once again, Patience and I each preferred a different flavor so it was good we ordered both!

The apple pie sat in a bourbon caramel sauce...

Apple Pie

 The Cherry Blossom had a mascarpone cherry filling...

Cherry Blossom

But of course, there was always more to try...there are salad and small plate options if you want to try something BESIDES a pot sticker. (But why would you?)

I WAS very interested in the "Dinner Entrees" because they listed even more unique pot stickers that I was really curious about, but those were only available after 5pm.

Dinner Entrees

Menu

If you zoom in on the menu, there are several vegan and vegetarian items so there is something for everyone to try!

Resources:

Crispy Edge = https://crispyedge.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

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

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