STLCheesegirl Top Posts 2015

It's that time of year to do the Top 10 posts of 2015 and there was definitely a beer theme that stood out the most as well as repeat top ten location from last year!

Some cool facts: This was my busiest year with 62 posts with March being my busiest month with 12 posts! Funny thing is that is when I changed jobs and started working on putting my condo on the market with less trips to the gym. More time for dining out I guess? I'm definitely paying for it now!

This year I went to several "cheese and beer pairing" classes at Dierberg's Des Peres that was new this year and those posts were very popular, probably due to the rise of craft beers. Although at this point, I am not sure you can still call Goose Island and Sam Adams craft beers, but I really enjoyed the pairings because you don't normally think to add cheese when you're chillin' with a beer!

Hopefully, there will be more cheese pairing class in 2016!

Dinner Lab - Crawfish Boil - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/03/dinner-lab-crawfish-boil.html
This was my first Dinner Lab and this was a great way to try one out even though we weren't members. I had heard about it from fellow food blogger Whiskey & Soba, which I read religiously. Since crawfish is one of Patience's favorites, it was worth the price to try this out and they kept bringing out MORE crawfish until we cried uncle. If you're a foodie, definitely worth trying out at least once.

Cheese and Beer Pairing - O'Fallon Brewery - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/04/cheese-and-beer-pairings-ofallon-brewery.html
I'm sure folks wanted to support a local brewery and there was a lot of hype about the new location being built in Maryland Heights. It was nice for me to finally get to try all their beers since I was only familiar with their Wheach.

Cheese and Beer Pairing - Sam Adams Part 1 - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/02/cheese-beer-pairings-at-dierbergs.html
This was the first of three Sam Adams pairings, which surprised me because I didn't realize they had so many beers! This first one covered their year-round beers, while the later two focused on their seasonal selections.

Cooper's Hawk Winery - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/09/coopers-hawk-winery.html
The winery is a big hit since you can have your own decanter at your table. It is super cool to watch and the service was right up there with the ambiance. Oh, and we started in the lobby with a wine tasting while we waited for our reservation. My friend was right, a destination spot for any wine lover!

Cheese and Beer Pairing at Larder & Cupboard - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/04/beer-and-cheese-tasting-at-larder.html
This pairing class was held at Larder & Cupboard to help feature their cheese case and it was hosted by The OG: St. Louis Women's Craft Beer Collective as well as Femme Ferment. After sampling 11 beers, I really hope they'll do another one. Definitely a good time was had by all and I learned a lot from these ladies!

Cheese and Beer Pairing - Urban Chestnut - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/01/cheese-beer-pairings-at-dierbergs.html
This was the first class in the cheese and beer pairing series and again, a local brewery was featured. I also quickly learned that I would be full just on cheese for these classes!!!

Libertine Clayton Restaurant Week - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/07/the-libertine-clayton-restaurant-week.html
Libertine was the top post of 2014 for me where I talked about their fried chicken. This time, the Libertine has a new chef and a new menu so we had to check it out and support Chef Matt Bessler. Even with all the changes, it's still one of the top restaurants I recommend to people here. Their cocktail program is still killer.

Cheese and Beer Pairing - Sam Adams Part 2 - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/06/cheese-and-beer-pairings-sam-adams-part.html
For the second Sam Adams pairing, we got to taste their summer seasonals and they included Angry Orchard in the list as well. Plenty of porch pounders!

O'Fallon Brewery - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/07/ofallon-brewery.html
I wanted to go and support the opening of the new O'Fallon Brewery right away since it was right in the backyard of my condo when I lived in Maryland Heights. Opening night was insane, but I was able to attend a couple of weeks later. I love all the space for happy hour and plenty of tables for sit down dinner. Definitely upscale bar food and plenty of TVs for Cardinals baseball. Maryland Heights is very lucky and I wish I still lived over there to visit more often.

LuLu's Local Eatery - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2015/03/lulus-local-eatery.html
This small, vegan-friendly restaurant was recommended to us by foodie friends and it took us a couple of tries to get there after the winter, but it was worth it. Now I know what the hype was about and I was really impressed with the whole place. It's small and busy on the weekends, but it's a place you feel good about supporting.

PW Pizza Six Mile Bridge Beer Dinner

I had been really curious about Six Mile Bridge brewery since they started up in Maryland Heights (right after I moved out) so this was the best way to check out their beers.

Menu

Instead of a light salad, we had a unique starter of Eggplant Rotolini. Breaded eggplant shaped like a cannoli with goat cheese inside. This was a great pairing with the easy drinking Bavarian Hefeweizen, which was so smooth and refreshing.

Eggplant Rotolini

The ultimate course was the Thanksgiving Pizza... I have never had turkey on a pizza before! But it really did taste like thanksgiving dinner with the celery, corn, mashed potatoes, and cranberries on top of the turkey and brown gravy. I was shocked how deliciously "Thanksgiving dinner" this was. Also, I thought it was perfectly paired with the well-balanced Irish Red Ale. Most creative pizza yet!

Thanksgiving Pizza

Of course the Session IPA was paired with the Spicy Sausage Pizza, but the IPA was not too hoppy at all, so the spicy sausage definitely dominated. I definitely prefer this style of IPA myself with only 50 IBUs.

Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Chimichanga

The dessert course was also well paired with a Chocolate Strawberry Cheeseake Chimichanga and an Irish Stout...both were thick and rich!

Make note that half the schedule for 2016 have been set!

2016 Schedule

Resources:

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

Six Mile Bridge = http://sixmilebridgebeer.com/

Reeds American Table

Janet Jackson had to cancel on us and we suddenly had an opening on our calendar. We decided to keep date night to try out Reed's American Table. Let's just say it was still a night of watching super stars.

We really had a hard time picking out what to eat since we had seen so many recommendations online, and there were small plates as well as entrees. We couldn't decide between cocktails or wine either.

So we told our server, just order for us!

That's really the best way to try several dishes and we didn't have to make any decisions! (That's important during the work week.)

We ended up starting the evening with four small plates, splitting them all. The first two were some of the most popular dishes: Bacon Fat Fried Corn Bread with honey and thyme butter on top and a Pork Belly with shaved brussels, shiitakes, leeks, carrots, and maple-date jus.

Corn Bread

Pork Belly

If you look at the menu, each of the small plates listed below are paired with a cocktail! The first two came with a Martinez Lacuesta and a Dolin Blanc.

Small Plates Menu

The second round of small plates included the Roasted Cauliflower and a Pork Scrapple that came with a poached egg, brussels, and sage aioli. These were paired with a Imbue and a Ransom Dry cocktail.

Roasted Cauliflower

Pork Scrapple with a poached egg

I didn't know what a scrapple was and our server explained that it is pork mixed with polenta, chilled, then fried.

We really had our heart set on the Braised Beef Cheek so we had an extra small plate come out and I think this was the best one of them all! The beef cheek came on focaccia bread with oven dried tomatoes, arugula, and foie gras cream. So no wonder it was so rich and delicious!

Braised Beef Cheek

Then it was time for our main courses and we both already knew we'd be taking home enough for lunch the next day.

Again, we both got winners: Steelhead Trout on top of mushroom risotto and fried brussels and the Pork Chop on top of sauteed greens, mushrooms, potato, caramelized onion, marsala cream, and black walnuts.

Steelhead Trout

Pork Chop

These were perfectly paired with a Paul Vattan Sauvignon Blanc and a Etna Rosso, respectively.

Even though there were a few chocolate items on the dessert menu, we really just could not eat anymore!

Just a heads up... if you like what you see here, you might need to hurry because they definitely will be changing their menu up.

I was thrilled the experience lived up to the hype and I really like what they've done with the upstairs space. The lighting was a little dim so although it was romantic, I did struggle to read the menu. But it all worked out in the end when we tossed the menu to the side.

Resources:

Reeds's American Table - http://reedsamericantable.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

PW Pizza Schlafly Beer Dinner 2015

Since Patience is a huge fan of Schlafly, we didn't want to miss this year's pizza and beer dinner with them. We guessed correctly that their fall beers would be featured.

Menu

We started the night outside in the perfect October weather for the first course: Caprese Crostini with roasted tomato, parmesan, and a balsamic reduction paired with one of our favorites, Kolsch.

Caprese Crostini

The first pizza course was my favorite since the Chicken Alfredo had so much flavor and was paired with another favorite, Oktoberfest. You can see the provolone and blue cheese oozing on top with red onions and spinach.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

I think the Roasted Butternut Squash pizza could have been just as good, but the goat cheese, broccoli, pecans, and cranberries kept falling off the crust. I made a huge mess trying to serve it. This was paired with the old stand by, Pale Ale.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza

And of course the dessert course paired the Pumpkin Ale with a Apple Roses pastry. This had a beautiful design that included apricot, coffee beans topped with caramel sauce and more ground coffee beans.

Apple Rose

Yet, the best part of the night was going downstairs to the 21st Street Brewer's Bar and getting to sample a new Schlafly beer. No photos were allowed so let's just say it's very light and refreshing!

Resources:

Schlafly = http://schlafly.com/

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

21st Street Brewers Bar = http://21stbrew.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

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