It’s a good point, really.  Pizza by the pie–or slice–should be eaten in a pizzeria or pulled from the oven in your own kitchen.  To stuff a pizza into a cardboard box to steam away or, in the case of slices, stuffing pizza onto several paper plates and then forcing the whole thing into a white plastic bag for consumption elsewhere, is a crime.

But more than that, it’s sad that the classic American pizzeria, with its moderately priced pies, has faded away.  As a kid I fondly recall many a post-game celebration in pizzerias where graffiti-clad wooden booths lined the walls, red and white checkered tablecloths covered the tables, and each had its prerequisite video-game room stocked with Froggers and Ms. Pac-Mans in the early days, and Castlevanias and Spy Hunters–a game at which I am particularly adept at–in the later ones.

Those days are long since gone, however, and convincing people that they shouldn’t eat pizza that got made and delivered by a cadre of under-paid teens is a battle you’ll never win.  America as a whole is lazy when it comes to food–more interested in cheap convenience than the quality that often comes with effort.

Enter in again, the slice–a sticking point between Veety and I.  He laments the lack of slices in St. Louis and speaks fondly of his time in Brooklyn where, on his walk to the subway ride home from work, he’d grab a quick slice.

Expanding on the idea, it could be said that the slice is pizza at it’s best.  It’s rarely taken to go and, if it is, it’s usually consumed on the go, not later.  So the slice—the complete opposite of the delivery pizza—is pizza at its full potential: fresh from the oven.

But here’s the thing: it’s hard to compare something like pizza by-the-slice in New York to St. Louis. We just don’t have the foot traffic. There are things that can only exist in cities like New York–and really thrive–because they have thousands of people walking by these places every day.
To get a slice in St. Louis, you get in a car, you drive there, you get your slice, you drive back. It’s not the same as grabbing a slice around the corner from your job because you’re headed that way in route to the train to get your ass back to Brooklyn.

In a way, it’s similar to the hot, out-of-the-oven, freshly sliced, pastrami and corned beef at Katz’s. It will always trump what we get in St. Louis because in St. Louis, they’re likely reheating it because they don’t have the necessary volume.

That being said, I have reluctantly been duped.

As I mentioned on the latest episode of the StewedSTL podcast, tucked away in a strip mall behind a Valvoline Quick Lube on Howdershell Road in what—let’s be honest here–might possibly be the world’s worst location, sits Mario’s Pizza.  Not to be confused with the St. Louis Style, which formally occupied the space at the corner of Clayton and Baxter in which the Chesterfield Pi now resides, this Mario’s serves New York style pizza.  Good New York style pizza.  Even by the slice!

Open since April, it took a slow drive in rush-hour traffic ,only a few weeks ago ,to spot it and, always being on the hunt for something worthwhile near home, I pulled in to check it out.
On that visit I had a slice of pepperoni and it was a revelation to find a pizza this good in Florissant.  The sauce was tangy and well seasoned without being overly herby, the bottom was nicely browned and crisp the way a good New York style pizza should be, and the crispness yielded to an interior that was chewy without being a workout.  Putting it in context, La Pizza is the only place I’ve had a better New York style pizza in St. Louis.

Wondering why a slice this good was hidden away on a secondary street in North County, I asked just that.  Turns out the owner had originally been one of the owner/operators of BT Pizza on Washington Avenue.  As things started to go in a direction he didn’t care for, he got out and opened Mario’s.

Having now consumed three–one, in fact, being that night as I returned only a few hours later to get a pie to go—I can also confirm Veety’s original point.  It wasn’t as good to go.  The crunch was gone, and the pleasant chewiness of before had given way to something more akin to density. But you know what?  It was still pretty damn good.  I just make sure to eat a slice on the way home now to get that first crispy slice that always burns me, but also leaves a smile on my face that something this good is so close to home.

Now to find a Spy Hunter…

Marios’s Pizza | 472 Howdershell Rd, Florissant, MO | 314.831.9111

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Florissant Gets its Slice…of Mario’s Pizza that is.

For good or not, Downtown Restaurant Week returns Aug 22-28.  I have posted both Clayton and Downtown Restaurant Weeks on here before.  This time, i would like to hear what you guys think of the concept.  A value, a benefit, good menus or just go away and quit posting here?

This year, I’ll bite…

The idea–getting people to go out and try new spots in the city they might not normally frequent–is great.  The problem lies in the fact that most of the restaurants that participate, in the central downtown area, don’t deliver at any price.  An American Place was, literally, the only restaurant that has ever participated that many had any interest in dining at in the past.

Throw in the blatant marketing behind these events with brands like, Stella, Terrazas, and Pearl Vodka, and it’s a pass for most people that are truly food enthusiasts rather than “foodies” waiting for the next Guy Fieri show to debut.

Speaking for myself, the one restaurant I have some interest in dining at on this years list is Prime 1000.  But then you look at the menu and it’s not representative of why you’d want to go to Prime 1000 for real: steak.

Think about that.  They’re a steakhouse that has pork belly, chicken and shrimp as the entree choices.

So the reality is that most of these restaurants simply approach these nights as another day of doing business with a menu that should cost $25 vs a promotion that gets butts in seats–at a discount–in hopes that they might return at full price another time.  It’s like that time Arthur Clay’s showed up at Taste of St. Louis serving pork steaks.  That was a money grab if ever I saw one, and I loved that restaurant.

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The Downtown Restaurant Week Question

Still in its infancy, Florissant’s Pearl Café began posting pictures to its Facebook page last November in a gallery they call the Spicy Level 25 Plus Club.

As a regular, I’m surprised I hadn’t found out about this sooner.  In fact, I’d even suggested they start one in the past after stories of their Super Bowl specialty: ghost pepper hot-wings.

Speaking with owner, Tommy Truong, while dining last night, it seems the current record is actually a Spicy Level 100!  That diner called into work the next day so you’ll be happy to know it won’t take ousting him for you to get the Pearl Café nod of approval.  While a handful of customers seem to be battling it out—outdoing each other with each visit—it takes a mere 25 heat level to make the Facebook gallery.  It’s at 50+ the ghost peppers get involved, and Truong tells me they’re working on a t-shirt for the first customer that pulled the feat off which will appropriately read, Thai in the Hole.

My recommendation if you attempt this is to stray away from things like soups, curries, and noodles and go for a stir-fried dish of some sort instead.  Having had a spicy level five soup, it’s not the heat that gets you with a dish like that, it’s the fumes.

Hats off to those that have made the cut, and cheers to your following mornings.

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Florissant’s Pearl Café Brings the Heat

In the past, ripples have been things like Grant Achatz opening Alinea.  Heralded as one of the best—if not the best—restaurants in the country, he bucked the typical trend and won quickly.  Another was that in 2007 they altered how the regions were broken up—most notably splitting Chicago out of the Midwest Region.

While I’d noticed both those things two years ago what I did not notice was that not a single nominee in 2007 had previously been nominated.  Graphing out the last four years of James Beard awards, while I can’t tell you who the new addition to the list will be, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good, right now, if your name is Colby Garrelts.

gif Version of the Finalist Chart |     PDF Version of the Finalist Chart

The Finalists…

• Isaac Becker – 112 Eatery, Minneapolis, MN
• Gerard Craft – Niche, St. Louis, MO
• Colby Garrelts – Bluestem, Kansas City, MO
• Tim McKee – La Belle Vie, Minneapolis, MN
• Alex Roberts – Restaurant Alma, Minneapolis, MN
• Lenny Russo – Heartland, St. Paul, MN
• Adam Siegel – Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro, Milwaukee, WI
• Celina Tio – The American, Kansas City, MO

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Predicting the James Beard Awards…Easier Than You Think?

When picking up my order I put on my old and rarely-seen sleuthing cap and discovered that Indochine will be a new restaurant opening in the former Pho Long space that will “offer more dry items.”  Though these include dry noodle offerings and “more rice dishes” the most notable item is that Indochine will be baking their own bread in house so that they can offer the freshest banh mi sandwiches in St. Louis.  They hope to open within three months and, after a lengthy conversation last night about the care that goes into making their beef broth at Pho Long (they were out and I had to order chicken pho for the first time), I imagine this will be a concept that pays off.

Also, of note, now that they have more space to work with, Pho Long will also look to expand their menu offerings.  No word on what those offerings will include other than the same “dry dishes”, but I cast my vote for bánh xèo.

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Pho Long to Open Indochine in Old Pho Long Space

If you truly love coffee and you’ve written Kaldi’s off, don’t!

While I’ve personally been critical of them in the past, I’ve never disliked them as a roaster and it’s time for an update because over the last couple years, as they’ve gotten into direct sourcing of green coffee and consumer education, they’ve raised the bar in regards to what coffee can be in St. Louis. Many of these beans have been fantastic and Kaldi’s regularly hosts educational cuppings and brewing demonstrations in each of their locations to teach you about what the various regions and varietals of coffee taste like, and how to get the most from them at home.

Additionally, each month one of these coffees is part of the Kaldi’s World Tour and in their Crescent location they feature the month’s bean as Toddy cold-brewed iced coffee, a single origin espresso or cappuccino, or brewed with the Clover.  For October the World Tour coffee is the Fair Trade Rwanda COOPAC.  As espresso it’s one of the best single origin shots I’ve ever sampled–having a wonderful body and citrus notes that go beyond the typical lemon and meander into mandarin orange.  I implore you to go get some.

How much is too much?

I’ve taken quite a bit of flack recently for the amount of money I’m willing to pay for coffee.  It seems that much like the Bud Light drinker can’t fathom why anyone would drink a craft beer, so too the Folgers drinker can’t wrap their head around why someone would pay, say, $40 for a pound of coffee.  Unquestionably my favorite person to have this argument with is the guy that gulps down a couple 20oz bottles of Mountain Dew each day, but what’s especially odd is that even amongst people who take their food seriously (that’s you!), I take a lot more shit for this than I’d have ever expected.  Further confusing me is that some of this is dished out by people whom I know frequent coffee shops daily rather than brewing their coffee at home.

Breaking it down

The accepted standard for a brewed cup of coffee in the United States, as defined by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, is 6oz of water to 10g of coffee.  In fairness, that’s not much coffee.  Like most people, I drink more, and I also like it stronger which means I brew my morning cup with 22g of beans to 12oz of water (though I weigh the water too).

Therefore, for a $40/lb coffee:

• 1lb is approximately 453.59g
• 453.59g yields me 20 approximately 12oz brewed cups of coffee
• $2 per cup

So the next time you’re passing up a $16/lb coffee on the basis that it’s too pricey, consider this: it’s an 80 cent 12oz cup and, by volume, that’s less than Mr. Mountain Dew’s $1.50 for 20oz.

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Two Unrelated Points About Coffee

And so it was with sadness that I heard the news of Pizzaiolo Ryan Skyles hit and run accident while riding his bike to work last week.   He is a great guy and a passionate cyclist who rides his road bike everywhere–occasionally competing on his days off.  Thankfully initial reports were more extreme than his actual injuries, but Skyles suffered a broken ankle and dislocated finger along with other injuries and although it will be some time before he is once again making our pizzas, please get out and show your support tomorrow, Wednesday, September 29^th as three local businesses (The Good Pie, 33 Wine Bar, and Gioia’s Deli) will donate all proceeds from tomorrow’s sales to assist with Skyles medical bills and the purchase of a new bike.

Putting it in perspective, another cook at The Good Pie, Ted Sullivan, told me Saturday that Skyles had just upgraded the rims on his bike for over $1000.  On a cook’s salary that’s a lot of saving, so let’s do our part to get him back out there as soon as possible.

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Wednesday 9/29 Benefit for Good Pie Cook / Hit-and-Run Victim

Bragging about my wife and daughter out of the way, in the few moments of spare time I’ve had this week, I’ve been tracking down chefs to belatedly nail down this year’s Slow Food St. Louis Art of Food menu.  It’s not quite assembled 100% (come on guys!), but I just wanted to let you know one thing:

If you’re in town this Saturday, and you haven’t got anything planned, and you care a lick about local food, you need to get your butt down there. It’s Slow Food St. Louis’s biggest fundraiser of the year and it’s the reason we’ve been able to give over $12,000 to ten small farms over the last two years to increase the biodiversity of what’s available to us locally.

And if that’s not reason enough for you to go, know this: whatever excuse you have can’t possibly top the fact that I’ll be there and I’ll have a 7 day old daughter, and Josh Galliano will be there and he will have a 13 day old daughter.  (we are of course hoping this means stellar birthday parties!)

Here’s the menu thus far if you’re wavering, and I hope to see you there…

Annie Gunn’s – Lou Rook III

Roasted Viking Village Sea Scallop with Annie Gunn’s Bacon and Ratatouille.

Companion – Josh Allen

1. Panzanella “Bread Salad”  – Companion Roasted Garlic Fougasse w/ local heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers (working to identify farmer this week)

2. Grilled Bread Station with assorted pestos & tapenades

Five – Anthony Devoti

Benne’s Farm Pork confit, sesame cracker, tomato jam and pickled Claverach Farm baby carrots.

Harvest – Stephen Gontram

Harvest Bread Pudding

Kakao Chocolate – Brian Pelletier

1:Bacon Caramels Made with bacon from Hinkebein Hills Farms and local honey.

2: Chocolate Dipped Double-Layer Pates de Fruits

Local Harvest Café – Clara Moore

Horseradish Pickled Heirloom Tomato Relish on a Prairie Breeze Cheese Biscuit

Monarch – Josh Galliano

Prairie Grass Farms Goat Terrine, eggplant tapenade, Greek yogurt, fennel mostarda

Niche – Gerard Craft

white gazpacho, smoked grape sorbet

Sidney Street Café

Rabbit bratwurst with Companion brioche and house made sauerkraut

Winslow’s Home

Winslow’s Farm Cucumbers and Heirloom Tomatoes with pulled Prairie Grass Farm Lamb

and dishes still to come from…

Bailey’s Chocolate Bar, Farmhaus, Franco

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Babies, and Art, and Food, Oh My!

As an added bonus, 10% of all Hot Sauce proceeds will be donated to help fund important programs and services at Children’s Hospital.

For a taste of what’s in store, check out the new Erato on Main website.  Menus are updated each Friday so you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re in store for.

Full disclosure: As always, please keep in mind that while I believe my opinion to be correct, there are some establishments where my opinion is personally biased. This is one. Jonny “Style” Olson and other members of the Erato staff have become friends of mine because of my regularity in the restaurant.  Heck, Jon even guest-blogged once.

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Taking the Edge off E-Ville

Anyway, proving that lows can always get lower, White Castle has trumped their fans themselves, and I/we owe George Mahe the Eagle Eye Award for passing it along.  It seems White Castle has created Slider scented candles to benefit…

wait for it…..

Autism.

Like pineapples at the Soulard Market, one of these things does not belong with the other.

And I leave you with this anecdote: one of Ellie’s coworkers has a son with Autism.  They do not buy beef because the beef in the grocery store, being fed corn and soy, and pumped full of the types of crazy non-deliciousness you’d need to be a scientist to properly pronounce, causes some sort of issue with his Autism.  Not having a child with Autism, or a family member with Autism, I don’t know the specifics, but I have no reason to doubt them,

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American Fast Food, Harbinger of Weird