Flaco's Cocina

Unfortunately, Flaco's Cocina has closed.

I had being hearing about some great fish tacos from my friends so I had to go and check it out for myself. Flaco’s Cocina (http://flacoscocina.com/) has a great location at 170 and Delmar and you can’t miss the rainbow-colored patio area, which is heated in the winter.

Anyway, I was dead set on having fish tacos but I immediately got tripped up over the appetizers. For a split second, I almost went with an appetizer meal…one of each please: crab cakes, seared tuna, baked goat cheese, hot crab dip, and mussels. But I was good and stayed on my true path. I am thinking that I need to round up some friends and make it a “tapas” night.

Flaco’s has a lengthy menu and I am a sucker for seafood. There are a couple of shrimp and lobster dishes, but I finally made it to the taco section of the menu, only to find out that there are quite a few to select from and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. There are five different kinds of fish tacos as well as a couple types of chicken, beef, tofu, and veggie tacos. Tacos I had never even heard of! But I was fortunate in that I was sitting at the bar and was able to get some personal advice from an off-duty server.

Her recommendation was the tempura baja and the seared tuna fish tacos. The baja came with chunks of mango on top but both tacos tasted light and sweet. Both tacos came piled high with pico de gallo and sauce, so I expected to be wearing most of the taco home with me. The soft taco shells held up well and I barely spilled at all.

I was also told that Flaco’s has “killer drinks” and I figured I would probably have to break down and have a margarita instead of sticking with my safe, favorite Mexican beers. I went with a Raspberry Margarita so I could still have something fruity although the Sangria drink looked really tasty as well. A bar neighbor was on her third or fourth so I know they went down easy.

This is definitely someplace I plan on going back to but be aware that it’s pretty small inside. There are maybe only eight tables so they rely on the outside seating on busy nights. The bar has quite a few seats too so it’s a good place to sit if it’s crowded. Luckily, Flaco’s takes reservations so you can ensure you get a spot.

1111 Mississippi

I finally made it over to 1111 Mississippi which is a popular, trendy restaurant in St. Louis City. It had been on my list ever since I went to Vin de Set, which I believe is owned by the same management. I couldn’t help but take a sneak peak of their menu here (http://www.1111-m.com/menus.html) before I went.

I was tempted to start with a cheese course and since it is a Tuscan-themed restaurant they had Italian cheeses: fontina, gorgonzola, tallegio, and pecorino.

Instead I went with the sautéed crab cakes as a starter, which is one of my personal favorite foods, and it was mixed with a thyme remoulade and mango chutney. The fish and sweet flavor combination was excellent. Just wish they could have been a little bigger.

Then instead of salad, I tried the butternut squash soup, again one of my favorites. So smooth and creamy – great for wintertime. I was almost full by the time the main course arrived so I knew I would need to box up half for another time.

Since it was a special occasion, I went with the grilled beef tenderloin medallions with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and sangiovese demi glace. The glace tasted like a heavy plum sauce and overwhelmed the meat and broccoli. I probably would have been happy without it. I also got to taste the trout and I thought it was a little bland.

I think the next time I go, I’ll just order several appetizers a la tapas style since there were a few others I wanted to try. That would leave more room for dessert! The gooey butter cake was delicious!

And for tradition's sake, I went with a glass of their house Riesling…luckily a German Riesling.

Wine and Cheese French Edition

I was super stoked when I walked into the class and saw that we would be having some of my all time favorites: Pouilly Fuisse and Epoisses!

Since this is the French version of the wine and cheese series put together by Angie Ortmann, aka STLwinegirl (http://www.stlwinegirl.com), I was really hoping that we could actually have some champagne but we had a Francois Montand Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine instead. There were few bubbles in it, which seemed strange, and it was quite tart. This was a paired with a St. Angel Triple Crème and they both tasted rather barnyard altogether.

Luckily, my favorites saved me since next up was a Bucheron Chevre with my favorite Chardonnay-style wine, Clos Reissier Pouilly Fuisse. It doesn’t have the oak or buttery taste of a California Chardonnay and instead there is more crispness and flavor, which helps cut through the thick, creamy cheese.

One of my all time favorite cheeses, Epoisses, is a small wheel with a creamy center. Since it was still fairly chilled, the cheese was not as oozing as I prefer it to be after it sits for awhile, but it still stood up well against the Jadot Marsannay, which is made from the Pinot Noir grape. The cheese by itself is quite pungent so it really helps to have a wine with some bite to it so they both calm each other down.

The Mimolette is French’s version of cheddar, which was aged for 18-months. Unfortunately, I don’t think this was old enough, meaning not sharp enough, to stand up to the Eschappe Bel Bordeaux, a very dry wine made from the merlot grape.

And for dessert, a Blue d’Auverge was paired with a super sweet Chateau Gravas Sauternes, which could have been dessert all by itself. The blue really did not calm it down enough to make it drinkable for me.

Since it’s the holiday season, there aren’t any more classes planned for awhile but I’m sure things will pick right up in January!

Beaujolais Nouveau 2010

I got to celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaujolais_nouveau) with my cheese class friends on the third Thursday of the month for one of Jill Aboussie’s (http://www.facebook.com/jaboussie) wine classes. The theme was holiday wines and Beaujolais Nouveau fits in quite well, but Ellen still brought an aged Beaujolais so we could compare the two. While I don’t mind the full fruity flavor of the Nouveau, the aged version was still smoother.

The hard part about Jill’s classes is that you have to share all the cheese with everyone. And with the eight different glasses of wine, it was hard to make the cheese stretch!

My favorite pairing is always the lightest ones…the sparkling wine with the triple crème and chevre. Jill says that the better sparkling wines have smaller bubbles, more bubbles overall, as well as longer lasting bubbles. But everyone agrees that you should NOT drink so slowly that you find out how long your bubbles last!

It was a good thing I was in Whole Foods that night so I could stock up on cheese for trivia night, the following evening. At the end of the night, I was happy that the Midnight Moon (one of my favorites) was the biggest hit. Hehe

Then Saturday, the FAC club tried out Ichigo (http://www.ichigomodern.com) in Clayton, which is right next door to The Wine and Cheese Place on Forsyth. The restaurant has plenty of space inside with high ceilings and was very casual. I was very surprised that there weren’t that many types of rolls, and the list was split into raw and cooked. But they did have a very different menu from your typical sushi restaurant so it was good to try new things.

I had a Crunchy California roll and a Soft Shell Crab (Cucumber, Avocado, Scallions), which were the “cooked” rolls. For the raw roll, and my favorite, I got a Shangri-la (smoke salmon, avocado topped with tuna, white tuna, and yellow tail).

But my favorite sushi restaurant in Clayton is still Tani Sushi (http://www.tanisushi.com/). I have been a couple of times now and the décor is more what you’d expect from a classy sushi place. They have quite a few rolls named for Rams players but the most fun roll is the “Oh My God”, which they set on fire! Hehe Just about every table orders one so you see the flames going by all night. hehe

Spanish Cheese Class

Even though Italian cheese class was cancelled, Spanish cheese class at The Wine and Cheese Place (http://www.wineandcheeseplace.com) was a huge hit and required two tables to seat everyone. Hosted by Angie Ortman, (http://www.stlwinegirl.com), Spain is mostly known for their sheep’s milk cheeses and they tend to have a little more of a bite. All of the cheeses were paired with Spanish wines, of course.

We started with a lighter wine, a cava, or what Spain calls their sparkling wine. This was a Brut Rose so it had a pretty strawberry shade but tasted dry and the bubbles didn’t last too long for the finish. Instead of going with a light cheese, it was paired with a Roncal, a drier sheep’s milk cheese. The two made a great pairing because the sharpness of the cheese was toned down and it helped bring out more of the fruit of the Rose.

When I first smelled the Verdejo, I immediately thought Sauvignon Blanc. Turns out I was right! Once again, it’s the Spanish version of the same wine and this was paired with a goat’s cheese that was mixed with parsley and garlic. The cheese was VERY creamy and it helped to balance out the crispness of the Verdejo. This cheese was definitely my favorite and I purchased a jar of it.

My favorite pairing of the class was a Valminor Albarino white wine and Mahon. The wine was a bright yellow color, like a Chardonney, so I immediately guessed oak! Both wine and cheese had a creamy, full flavor and managed to balance out each other quite well.

We only had one red wine and the Rioja was very smooth but once again, had a fruitier taste once paired with the dry Manchego.

Last was the dessert wine, a brand of sherry, which of course was paired with a blue cheese. I could barely make it through either of them. I tried to take a few sips of the sherry since it was an expensive brand but could not handle it for long. Luckily my table neighbors helped me out with all my wine leftovers!

Here are the pairings:
Cristalino Brut Rose – Roncal
Esperanza Verdejo/Viura – Le Call Bardines
Vlaminor Albarino – Mahon
Montebuena Rioja – Rosemary encrusted Manchego
Michel Couvreur PX – Blue cheese

While there aren't any Provisions classes planned for this year, November is still a busy month. Next week is the Ernesto’s event on Monday, November 8th, and seafood class at Whole Foods on Tuesday, November 9th.

Then Thursday, November 18th is Beaujolais Nouveau and I will be at a cheese class at Whole Foods so hopefully they’ll break some out for us!