Dinner Lab - Crawfish Boil

I recently read about Dinner Lab in a fellow food blogger's post on Whiskey and Soba. I had never heard of Dinner Lab before and I was curious. I had only done the underground dinners by Juniper chef, John Perkins, but this is actually a nation-wide organization to feature up-and-coming chefs.

After clicking on the link to the March edition, I found out that this month's dinner was open to non-members and since it was a crawfish boil, I knew Patience and I had to go.

I was curious as to how they would handle a four course dinner since a crawfish boil is a meal unto itself, but the southern-themed dinner was coursed by its side dishes.

Menu

While you already know the theme, the "underground" part is the unknown location and chef. For some reason, my email address did not go through so I never received a confirmation or the location email. Yet, I easily found the "support" email address and immediately received a reply. The reply contained the St. Louis contact email address and phone number, and Brittany quickly called me back. Once she had my email address, she sent me the information and all was well. (Great customer service!)

Dinner Lab turned out to be held at Create Space in the middle of the Delmar Loop! Create Space is an artisan market where you can find wares from local artists and designers with crafts and specialty foods. Our chef was a very young, Lulu Chustz, and since she was originally from Louisiana (south of Baton Rouge), I knew we were in for a treat.

Chefs in action

When we first arrived, we had a chance to pick out a drink, which was included with the meal. Local beers, Schlafly Hefeweizen and Urban Chestnut STLIPA were the choices as well as a red and white wine. A beer was definitely needed to help cool yourself off from the heat of the spices in the boil!! There wasn't a pairing with each course, but you could have as many drinks as you liked and I saw that everyone was respectful since it was a day time "dinner" at 2pm. As I understand, most of the dinners are in the evening around 7pm so the drink policy may be different then.

First course was the deliciously light watermelon salad with red onion, feta, and a balsamic dressing. I hope to see this dish around St. Louis this summer since it's so refreshing. I thought this was a good palate clenser as well.

Watermelon Salad with red onion, feta, and balsamic

Next up were both sides served together at the same time and at this point we were starving and we ate these quickly. I was happy to find that neither one of these dishes had too much spice to them and luckily they weren't too filling either since the big course was about to come out.

Although there is Cajun listed on the menu, I tasted more of the green onion in the red beans and rice.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice with cajun trinity, green onion, and parsley

I never had a Natchitoches Meat Pie before, but the meat was very mild inside of the crispy dough.

Natchitoches Meat Pie

Now for what you've been waiting for...the Crawfish Boil!

Crawfish Boil with corn, potatoes, mushrooms, and andouille sausage

I took a little bit of everything and for the first time, I saw button mushrooms added to a crawfish boil. Soon after trying the mushrooms, andouille sausage, and corn, my mouth was on FIRE. I decided one of each was enough and I quickly focused on the crawfish, getting better and better and opening them up with Patience's help. Luckily, wet wipes were provided at the end!

The best part about this meal is that opening the crawfish slows you down a bit, so I did not overeat and room for dessert. So I tried both of them!

I believe the one on the left is the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie (needed more chocolate) while the goo on the right was the Peach Cobbler and a little too sweet for me. There was even homemade whip cream that you could take as much as you wanted.

The servers were very generous and kept bringing out more crawfish. Patience was definitely the champ at our table since she asked for a third tray all for herself and wisely skipped dessert when she was done.

I'm not sure when we'll do a dinner lab again since it depends on the menu, but even for a non-member, the meal was quite affordable and fun. Definitely a food adventure for the ages!

Resources:

Whiskey and Soba = http://www.whiskeyandsoba.com/

Dinner Lab = https://dinnerlab.com/

Create Space = http://www.createspacestl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Katie's Pizza and Pasta Passport Dinner: Campania

I probably should just sign up for the 6-month ticket for Katie's Passport Dinner series because I can't stop going. Each month, I'm so curious to see what is going to be on the menu and the only way to find out is to go!

We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us as a container of Katie's fresh homemade pasta greeted us at the table. Now she just needs to sell her own sauce!

Menu and fresh pasta

We started out the evening with a home run as one of my favorite dishes, Eggplant Parmigiana, was served as an appetizer. I have to admit that this was not appetizer size and could have easily been one of the entree courses. Since it was the best dish of the night, it probably should have gotten star billing if you ask me. Now THIS is a dish that should be on the regular menu!! (Please start the write in campaigns now.)

Eggplant Parmigiana

The mozzarella and parmesan cheeses really made this dish amazing, and it was paired with a Lacrima Christi Bianco, which tasted like an oaky Chardonney to me. With all the cheese, the pairing went well together, although I think a light red would have done just as well.

The second course was a lot lighter, and I might have called it a "seafood salad" with so many greens and lemon flavor on top. The prawn is center stage in this dish, surrounded by squid rings and a couple hunks of potato.

Squid, Prawns, Potato, Chive, Fennel, Frisee, Lemon

This was perfectly paired with the Falanghina from Villa Matilde, which had more of a crisp finish to go with the seafood course.

I was thrilled to see one of Katie's pizzas on the menu this time, since I don't usually order it from the regular menu. I'm just too in love with the unique salads and pastas. (Really you should bring friends so you can split a pizza, a pasta, and a salad among all of you!) Again, I'm pretty sure I am biased about the gobs of Bufala Mozzarella cheese, but there is a reason Katie's pizza is always a winner. You know you need a red wine for this, and the Aguanico, also from Villa Matilde was a good choice.

Neapolitan Margherita Pizza, San Marzano Tomatoes, Bufala Mozzarella, Basil

Speaking of pasta, the Spaghetti with Botarga and lemon zest was the fourth course. Bortarga is a cured fish roe and helped to decorate the edges of the plate. This was served with a big red, a Lacrima Christ Rosso. By the way....placing the eggplant on top of this bed of spaghetti would have been an amazing meal!!

Spaghetti with Botarga & Lemon Zest

Last but not least, the dinner was rounded out with gelato adorned with three blackberries. The pastry next to it is Sfogliattelle Ricce. Katie did not even attempt to pronounce it herself, so let's just say that this pastry topped with powdered sugar used to be prepared only for the Italian aristocracy during the Reenaissance.

Dessert was served with a homemade Limoncello that was sweet enough to make you pucker!

Resources:

Katie's Pizza and Pasta = http://www.katiespizzaandpasta.com/

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com

Cheese and Beer Pairings - Schlafly

As a huge fan of Schlafly beers, I was especially excited about this month’s cheese and beer class at Dierbergs Des Peres. Believe it or not, I actually got try some beers that were new to me: the Bier de Garde and the Lewis Osterweis Ginger beer.

Schlafly lineup

Our welcome beer was the easy-drinking Summer Lager, and is brewed only during a specific season in St. Louis called “baseball season”. Also a good palate cleanser!

The first beer was the Lewis Osterweiss & Sons Hard Ginger beer, following a ginger trend these days. The ginger beer is actually recommended to be used in mixed cocktails although you certainly can drink it on its own. The sharp ginger flavor really helped to cut through the cheese, Reypenaer, a one-year aged gouda. Paring the two together gave off a sweet flavor. Mixed with a pear paste, the combination actually created a maple flavor altogether.

Cheese lineup

Next up was one of my favorites, the very popular Hefeweizen, because it’s so light and refreshing. I learned that Hefe is German for yeast, which is a good name for an unfiltered wheat beer. This was paired with a Wensleydale cheese with cranberries, so it had a butter finish that was slightly chalky, but still a hint of fruit to cut through. These lighter beers pair well with the fruit, although the two together gave a pancake flavor. The best part of this pairing was adding a bite of milk chocolate, which made for a super sweet combination like a rich dessert! Chocolate cream pie!

An ale/lager hybrid, Kolsh, is another beer I enjoy regularly and I learned that not too many breweries make it because the yeast strain must come from Koln, Germany. Luckily, co-founder Tom Schlafly happened to marry a native of Koln and they were able to make the proper connection. This beer was paired with a Karst (meaning cave) cave aged cheese (around 7 months). The toasted rye bread flavor of the beer paired well with the cooked butter and nutty flavor of the aged cheese. The beer did a good job to cut through the creaminess of the cheese and the oil from the addition of salami.

Now the Biere de Garde came in a tall bottle so I automatically assumed it’d be a big beer, but that wasn't the case at all and I found it very easy to drink. This beer is traditionally aged (hence the name) and has secondary fermentation in the bottle resulting in small, tight bubbles. The beer helped to chill out the cheese, which was thick, creamy, and intense. The apricot dried fruit helped to add sweetness to tame down the cheese some more.

At the end, we finally had the big beer, Extra Irish Stout, which was paired with the flavorful Apple Smoked Cheddar. I found this cheddar to be fairly mild in its flavor and I probably would have swapped it with the previous cheese. The stout had a roasted coffee and chocolate flavor and a thick, creamy head. The creaminess of the cheese fit well, but the beer really dominated this pairing. The added Spanish almonds helped to take away some of the smokiness of the cheese for a mild flavor as well, but I really would perfer the bigger beer to help cut through a bigger cheese.

Resources:

Schlafly (St. Louis Brewing Company) = http://schlafly.com/

Dierbergs = http://www.dierbergs.com/

Seedz Cafe

I made it to another Green Dining Alliance dinner and this time was a little different since there were two locations to choose from: PuraVegan and Seedz Cafe. I hadn't been to either one yet, but Seedz Cafe was a little closer to me since it's located in the Demun neighborhood.

As one of the last cold nights in St. Louis, I ended up parking right outside the restaurant. I felt a little bad for parking in the neighborhood instead of on Demun itself. At least now I know for next time, and hopefully it won't be so miserably cold so I wouldn't mind a short walk.

When I got inside, I was really surprised at the length of the menu choices and I really was curious about all of them since there were a lot of "mock" foods such as Rockin Mockin Tuna, Tempeh Reuben, and a Rawvioli!

My first question at the register, though, was to see if they had any soup available to help warm me up. They had a West African vegetable soup with faux sausage. I couldn't tell which chnunks were the sausage, but the soup had a kick to it and I warmed up quickly. Very delicious and it was enough soup to share.

For my main dish, I ordered a Mediterranean Wrap and that wasn't too adventuresome since it was just their house made hummus with olives, tomatoes, cucumber, and tahini in a sprouted grain wrap. It was a large wrap and I could only make it through half of it after the soup. Now I really wish I had tried their Veggie Burger or the Raw Pad Thai made from zucchini noodles. I already know I want to go back!

My friend was much more brave and ordered the Rawfreddo, which was long slices of raw zucchini noodles with a cashew cream and pesto (for cream sauce?), served on a bed of spinach and topped with sun dried tomatoes. While the dish was tasty, it wasn't too filling and seemed more like a giant salad.

We probably should have ordered some dessert since they did have a Raw Cacao Brownie on the list!

I really hope to be back to try more and to see what other vegans think!

Resources:

Seedz Cafe = http://www.seedzcafe.com/

Green Dining Alliance = http://www.greendiningalliance.org/

SOHO Brunch

I was invited to brunch by some city-livin' friends because otherwise I never would have thought that SOHO Restaurant & Lounge would have a brunch. SOHO looks like a really hip club in the really hip Grove area with an industrial look and feel on the inside.

Brunch runs from 11am-3pm on Sundays only and it has a "southern" theme to the menu thanks to a lineup of Catfish and Grits, Chicken and Waffles, and a Smothered Pork Chop. None of us were brave enough to try these specialties, but I was blown away by how many people ordered the Chicken and Waffles!!

Our table stuck to the usual breakfast foods, but there were some pretty amazing dishes like the Red Velvet Pancakes and the Beignet French Toast. I wish I would have gotten pictures of these two dishes because they were beautiful against the white plates. We were so hungry and completely forgot about taking pictures.

The Red Velvet Pancakes were stacked three high and definitely could be two meals or shared easily. It really tasted like dessert!

The Beignet French Toast were dipped in beignet batter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and came with a bourbon syrup! A good portion for one person.

I was happy that I could get my usual...an omelet, with all four veggies available: peppers, onion, spinach and tomatoes. Adding meat cost extra, but I didn't miss it. My meal came with breakfast potatoes, which were very small diced "home" potatoes. I think they're a little more tasteful when they're cut bigger though.

Another friend ordered the Biscuits and Gravy...and when they say large buttermilk biscuits, they meant LARGE! Definitely a two person dish and very hearty.

You can still order small side items like eggs, bacon, and toast, at a reasonable price. Another friend ended up making a meal out of just sides, and might be the best option for a breakfast traditionalist. We made sure to order two servings of Cheddar Cheese Grits and I easily almost ate one entirely by myself!

There was no wait to speak of and we were the first people in the restaurant right at 11AM. I guess the word hasn't gotten out yet, but the breakfast was great. We are all very curious about some of the southern style dishes, which may lead to a return visit...

Resources:

SOHO Restaurant & Lounge = http://www.eatplaysoho.com/

SOHO Brunch Menu = http://www.eatplaysoho.com/site2/restaurant/brunch-menu