Cork & Rind Irish Cheese Class 2019

I was so happy to get the chance to visit Cork & Rind again for another cheese class and to see my former coach and current cheesemonger.

He got into the spirit by wearing a Leprechaun outfit!

Cheesemonger Kevin Kinney

Two of the cheeses were paired with beer and two paired with whiskey!

Cheese Pairing Menu

Starting at the top of the plate, my favorites were the first two Irish cheddars: Truly Grass Fed from Dublin, Ireland and Cahill's from Westmeath, Ireland. (I purchased the former to take home!)

The Cahill's Irish Porter Cheddar  was of course a perfect pairing with a Guinness Extra Stout. The marbling throughout the cheese is just beautiful.

On the left, a blue cheese, Cashel Blue was soft and fairly sweet. Definitely a good dessert cheese, without being overpowering. (I still noticed a few pieces of blue cheese left on plates. hehe)

There was also provided a little chutney, but I just spread it on the homemade bread as a snack.

Cheese Plate

You know I made faces trying to taste the whiskey, Kilbeggan Small Batch Irish Rye Whiskey and Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey, so the Smithwick's Irish Red Ale was the winner for me!

I find ryes to be a lot smoother for me, so that was my preference between the two whiskeys.

I love the classes here and I just wish we weren't so far away.

Resources:

Cork & Rind = https://www.corkandrind.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

58hundred

My "first to try a new restaurant" friends found a winner with 58hundred, which is also its address.  Another bonus is that it's a neighborhood restaurant that's only ten minutes away!

I hope this means we'll go back soon...especially since Patience was sick and I'm not even sure she'll get to enjoy the leftovers I brought her.

I loved the concise menu, focused on locally sourced ingredients.

Something different to start with - Pimento Cheese Toast, which my southern friends say I need to eat more of as the "cheese girl". The toast was thick and hearty and you should probably get some help with this as it could fill you up and not leave you room for anything else.

Nashville's Pimento Cheese Toast

My friends and the servers all said the Braised Beef is their best dish, and I thoroughly enjoyed it on a cold and rainy day. It came with brown butter gnocchi, squash, carrots, sage, in a red wine reduction.

Braised Beef

My friends ordered all appetizers for their meal, and split everything. So wise. Without my photography assistant, I missed capturing the nachos, but managed to get the shrimp.

Spicy Buffalo Fried Shrimp

I finished up the night with a large lemon bar, while my friends opted for a piece of banana cream pie. Of course the lemon bar couldn't stand up to my stepmom's, but I had to try it for myself.

Lemon Bar

I can't wait to go back and bring more friends here!

This place does not take a reservation, but there are several tables in the bar half of the building along with seating at the bar.

Resources:

58hundred = https://www.58hundred.com/

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