It's not too early to make dinner reservations for the week long "Dine Original" event to be held Sunday, Nov 29 through Saturday, Dec 5, hosted by the St. Louis Originals, a 38-member restaurant group whose mission is to raise awareness of the importance and ramifications of dining locally.

St. Louis Originals' Restaurant Week is similar to Downtown Restaurant Week, where participating restaurants offer a 3-course meal for $25, but it goes one step further. Diners who have joined the Original's "Rewards" program earn double points during that week, good for future dining discounts (rewards cards are free and available at member restaurants). For more details on the Originals, the Rewards program, and the list of participating restaurants, click here.

"Dine Original" is an economical way to visit that place you've "been meaning to try" or revisit that tried and true standby that you've otherwise been neglecting. In any case, you are supporting "the locals," which is never a bad thing. -- George Mahe  

The following restaurants have their "soft" openings this week:

Sanctuaria (Agave), 4198 Manchester, November 10

Hanley's Grille & Tap (J Buck's), 79 West County Center, November 11

Brasserie by Niche (Chez Leon), 4580 Laclede, November 13

What is arguably the finest food and wine event of the year, In the Vineyard, is being held next Saturday, November 14. It may be my favorite charity food/wine event and here's why:

1. The venue: Plaza Frontenac is long on grace and space.

2. The crowd: Manageable and negotiable. No long crowds at the tasting tables.

3. The personnel: Local wine wholesalers not only bring their better bottles, they bring their most knowledgeable staff.  

4. The food: The area's top chefs showcasing top-shelf offerings. Doubtful you'll find pizza or pork sliders at this gig. Here's the list: Annie Gunn’s, Anthony’s Bar, ARAKA, Bissinger’s, Cardwell’s at the Plaza, BC’s Kitchen, The Crossing, Fleming’s, Harvest, Herbie’s Vintage 72, Monarch, Niche, Portabella, and Villa Farotto.

5. The wine: approx 90 selections, 50 or so on the main floor (av retail: $20-40) and another 40+ at the "Master Sommelier" tasting upstairs (av retail: $100-150). Bonus: "Private cellar" offerings have also been poured upstairs in past years.   

6. The auction items: Well-chosen and curated. Here's this year's list: VIP behind-the-scenes tour of "Mad Men" during Season 4 shooting (airfare included), One case of Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, One case each of Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir 2005, Five-year Vertical of Joseph Phelps Insignia Magnums, Bryant Family Vineyards 3-Year Vertical, Four St. Louis Blues Plaza seats and a period in the KMOX booth with Kelly Chase & Chris Kerber, "Green Seats" behind homeplate for 8 St. Louis Cardinal's games, Getaways to Hawaii and Arizona.

In the Vineyard is an annual event and the biggest fundraiser of the year for Edgewood Children's Center. Tickets are $100 (downstairs) and $200 (downstairs and upstairs). 

Before you write it off as "too extravagant," consider that $60 of the base ticket is tax deductible and $140 from the premium ticket. My advice: no option, buy the better ticket. Rarely do you get a chance to sample that many premium wines and premium goodies under one roof. It might be the best wine/food deal in town and it's all for a worthy cause. -- George Mahe

Listeners to NPR this morning heard this "Morning Edition" report: "Program Trains Enologists in Midwest Grapes," which looks at the University of Missouri – Columbia's fairly new Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture & Enology and its goal of educating future winemakers who can handle the unpredictable weather of the Midwest. And look: There's already a snarky comment!

Related: Chris Hoel's "55 is Alive!" column and my own September feature "What We Talk About When We Talk About Wine," which included a few nods to Missouri wine (and which had a highly visual presentation which at least so far we haven't replicated online). 

Related Only In That It Has To Do With Wine and I Came Across It This Morning: Video of a guy opening a wine bottle with a shoe. -- Stephen Schenkenberg

Well, less tips than instructions: "100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)." And not our instruction's but Bruce Buschel's -- he's opening a seafood restaurant and blogging about it for the New York Times. The list is for the staff he's hiring. Among the 100 (which include don'ts and also dos):  

8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.

18. Know before approaching a table who has ordered what. Do not ask, “Who’s having the shrimp?”

23. If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc.

Love that last one. Thoughts from St. Louis diners -- and owners, GMs, and, of course, restaurant staffers? -- Stephen Schenkenberg

On November 1, former Renaissance Grand St. Louis executive chef Tim Grandinetti will assume the long and lofty title of Executive Chef and Director of Farmstead Operations at Overlook Farm in Clarksville, MO, a growing conglomeration of properties and businesses owned by Nathalie Pettus.

The real estate goes something like this...in Clarksville, there's the 200 acre farm itself, two very nice inns, and the Clarksville Station Restaurant (all of which can host a private event, and any of which is reason alone to make the one-hour drive to Clarksville); then there's "Overlook Farm in the City," the St. Louis-based special events venue located at 4356 Lindell, site of the former Savor (which Pettus also owns). OFC's first event was Farm Aid in the City, a "top chef and local farmer dine around" where a dozen of the city's finest partnered with their favorite local farmers in one of the kickoff events to the wild and wooly Farm Aid Weekend earlier this month. 

Grandinetti's "coming out party" will be the Beaujolais Around the Bonfire dinners to be held on November 20-21 at Overlook Farm. Hors d'oeuvres will be served on the new patio by the bonfire, accompanied by champagne and the newly released 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau. Dinner will be served either indoors or out, depending on the weather. The cost for the 5-course dinner is $59 pp, which includes paired wines by sommelier Darin Link, formerly of Busch's Grove. (Menu and wine pairings to come soon on Overlook's website.)   

The multi-award-winning Grandinetti is relocating from the Twin City Quarter in Winston-Salem, NC, where he was Regional Executive Chef. He's also cooked for Presidents Clinton and Bush, was featured on the Food Network and in the Wall Street Journal and visited St. Louis in June, staying just long enough to win a Celebrity Chef BBQ throwdown, besting Cary McDowell and even Dr. BBQ himself, Ray Lampe.   

Grandinetti's one to watch. Look for more of Overlook's "Farm to Fork" events in the future, both in the city and on the farm. -- George Mahe

When Pat Rutherford pulled the first pie out of the oven at Sugaree a year ago, she had no idea if the locals would embrace the idea of scratch-baked, deep-dish pies, available in 10 flavors and 2 sizes, or whether her making-ends-meet concept would even make it through the holidays. Turns out the locals all went pie crazy...Sugaree sells out almost every weekend.  

The hook for me was the thrifty, nifty, no-guilt, just-enough, $5 size...no better self-indulgence for the money. 

Some questioned Rutherford's decision to bake and sell the pies only on Fridays and Saturdays. And I was one of them. Then I thought about it...limiting production virtually guarantees freshness and quality, an interesting business philosophy in this "I want it now" age. (Who else thinks this way? Mike Emerson of Pappy's, and look where it got him?) 

Sugaree is celebrating its brilliant business decision and first "pie" anniversary this weekend with special Halloween cookies and cupcakes and a special Halloween bag large enough to hold...at least a pie or two, I hope. -- George Mahe 

According to a recent Zagat survey, St. Louis tied with Philadelphia for having the best tippers in the country, averaging 19.6% per transaction. I'm not sure why, but that percentage is shocking news to me.  

According to the same Zagat survey, the average tip in the country is now 19.1%. Shocked again. Those who say that "20 is the new 15" apparently are speaking the truth. 

And the lousiest tippers? They're in Seattle (18.4%) and San Francisco (18.5%), two of the nation's heralded foodie meccas, cities you'd think would be the setting the tipping standards, not dragging them down. 

Although I rarely tip less than 20%, I thought most locals still tipped between 15 and 20% (skewed to the lower end) and that my 20% was still the exception rather than the rule. But alas, according to Zagat, that's not the case, and I am...just average. Shocking. -- George Mahe

One of the city's better niche restaurants, Crepes in the City (at 14th and St. Charles), has indeed--and unfortunately--closed, according to this confirmation in Steve Patterson's post on urbanstl.com this morning.

What did SLM think of Crepes? Quite a lot. It was featured in the "Cheap Eats" feature last June. And in this month's "Best New Restaurants" issue, the restaurant received a rare double billing, being named one of the area's 15 "Best New" restaurants and also receiving a favorable Frugal Foodie review from critic Rose Martelli in the Food and Drink section.

So why the demise? My guess: underexposure and poor marketing. (A restaurant in 2009 not having a website? C'mon.) 

While it's true that many locals loved Crepes' wide-open-and-cheery interior space, and others found their "new favorite place" on its hidden little pocket patio, I found that even after being open for more than a year, Crepes was still on most folks' "yeah, been meaning to get there" list. Now they'll never get the chance. Equally upsetting, they may have missed the opportunity to get to know the owner, Jose Castro, one of the nicest and likable guys in the restaurant business.

Are there plans to relocate? I know of an available space that would be ideal for the concept; for better or worse, though, it's in the County. -- George Mahe