Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.

Spencer 6/4/15 Spencer 6/4/15

Husk

My two favorite food-related shows - behind the modern day classic Guy's Grocery Games - are Netflix's Chef's Table and PBS' The Mind of a Chef. The Mind of a Chef follows one or two chefs per season as they explore the things that interest them in the food world. David Chang, chef of Momofuku in NYC and one of the men behind Lucky Peach magazine, was the first season's star. He explored NYC and Japan, cooking with rotten bananas, and getting shitfaced at the Buffalo Trace distillery with season two's star, Sean Brock. Brock's season had a heavy focus on the South and cooking with local ingredients. I don't think he was as captivating as Chang (who is like a less wordly, more brash Anthony Bourdain), but I have longed to eat at both of their restaurants ever since.

I was in Nashville for a wedding a couple weeks back, so I finally got my chance: time to eat at Husk - Nashville. The restaurant's located a short walk from the main downtown area in a renovated old house. The lighting was romantic (dark), which made photo taking a little difficult, but I still think you'll be able to gauge the deliciousness levels.

Things kicked off with the Cheerwine Glazed Belly Ham Soft Rolls, which were astoundingly good. Like one of the best things I can ever remember eating good. I've only been fortunate enough to eat day-after-Christmas ham leftovers a few times, but take the deliciousness level of those leftover ham sammies and imagine replacing your Honeybaked Ham with the most delicious ham ever created, a freshly baked soft roll, pickled onions and cucumber, then a little smoked Duke's mayo. They're that good.

I want to go back to Nashville and eat these again, then find whoever produced the ham, marry his daughter, and become the heir to their porky throne.

Next were the best Fried Chicken Skins I've had. Granted, I haven't had a lot of fried chicken skin appetizers because my body is a temple, but these things were perfect. They were not at all greasy - just chips of audibly crunchy, wonderfully seasoned chicken skins. They were drizzled with white BBQ sauce (my drug of choice), and a sprinkle of thyme. I had trouble getting a good photo of the shrimp & grits, mostly because my tablemates wanted to eat it as soon as it touched the table. For those of you who don't know, Brock is known for his shrimp and grits - and I can see why.

The grits were creamier than any I've had before, but what surprised me the most was the flavor of the dish: it tasted like my grandma's gumbo more than any shrimp and grits I've had before. Like a mix of a smokey sausage, shrimp (obviously), and hot sauce - that distinct trifecta that I've always associated with her gumbo. We devoured it. It definitely lived up to the hype.

The last of the appetizers was the Snapper Collar with cucumber, herbs, radishes, and benne seeds. Crispy, smokey, way bigger than expected.

We wanted to to try as much as we could, so we decided to share entrees. First up was the Husk Charcuterie plate with pickles, dijonnaise, and these monstrous cheddar biscuits. I'd kill to eat those biscuits for breakfast everyday - especially with some of that Cheerwine belly ham in there.

I foolishly forgot to write down what was on the platter, but it was all good. So good.

Another shareable entree is the Plate of Southern Vegetables. On our night, the dish included:

Geechie Boy grits, charred preserved tomato broth, pickled spring onion, 65 degree egg
Oat croquette, pokeweed, lemon, sheepsmilk cheese, smoked mayo, malt vinegar powder
Grilled brassicas, harissa peanuts
Cucumber salad, grapefruit, grapefruit yogurt, tsire spice blend
Farro, zucchini, spinach, basil pesto

All were good, minus the brassicas. Too much spice and bitterness for me.

By this point, I had stretched my stomach about as far as it goes - but I still had to eat the [symple_highlight color="blue"]NC Catfish[/symple_highlight]. We'd all been drinking quite a bit by this point, but I do remember that the fish was a big hit. Green garlic dressing, smoked potatoes, nettles, and toasted buckwheat groats gave it a nice Spring taste.

To finish the meal, we got the O&S Chocolate Pie, a dessert as delicious as everything else we'd had that night. Served with peanut butter ice cream and a brown butter caramel, it was the perfect amount of decadence to close out the meal.

We were so full that we Ubered back to our hotel - two blocks away. Our meal at Husk was one of the best I've had since starting this blog. This is a must visit for anyone going through Nashville.

Husk

37 Rutledge St

Nashville, TN 37210

(615) 256-6565

Spencer 4/20/15 Spencer 4/20/15

La Patisserie Chouquette

My favorite way to spend a Saturday is to go to La Patisserie Chouquette, buy one of everything "for later", then shamefully eat half the box in the car. After the guilt wears off, I hop back on the highway and go to Salume Beddu for lunch and do the same thing, substituting pastries for pork. I think Chouquette's creations speak for themselves, so I'm going to let them. Here's a collection of recent purchases I've made there. Chouquette, Early Spring, 2015.

Marshmallows at La Patisserie Chouquette

The Darkness at La Patisserie Chouquette

Bird Macarons at La Patisserie Chouquette

Confetti Macarons at La Patisserie Chouquette

Peach and raspberry coffee cake // White Forest Gateau: Cherry yogurt mousse, cherry citrus gelee and kirsch soaked joconde (almond sponge cake) and gold leaf

White Forest Gateau at La Patisserie Chouquette

Tiramisu // Calling it now, the "Pastry of the Year": Canele

Lemon Thyme and Traditional Caneles

Lemon Canele at La Patisserie Chouquette

The Damiano: Tiramisu Cream Puff. Dark Cacao Barry Extra Brute Cacao Powder, Sweet Mascarpone Mousse and Espresso Meringue

Damiano Choux at La Patisserie Chouquette

Roasted Peach Frangipane

No, it's not a donut. This is their Choux-nut, a modern take on the classic Paris-Brest. This one was filled with an apple cream.

Apple Paris-Brest at La Patisserie Chouquette

Chouquette's recent collaboration with Sump Coffee to create a striking black macaron made with Sump's coffee. The coffee is subtle but outstanding.

Coffe Macarons at La Patisserie Chouquette

Food photography note: if you're an aspiring food photographer/instagrammer, Chouquette is perfect to work on technique. A few of these were shot in the shop, but most were taken home so I could play with different lighting, backgrounds, etc. The frangipanes, tiramisu, and coffee cake were all taken with a studio light (I hate the wood background, but I had already eaten everything by the time I realized that). The Sump macarons, last two canele shots, and the choux-nut were all taken with natural lighting. Working with beautiful products makes your photos instantly look better.

La Patisserie Chouquette

1626 Tower Grove Ave

St. Louis, MO 63110

314.932.7935

Spencer 3/18/15 Spencer 3/18/15

Brasserie by Niche

Maybe I'm lying to myself when I say I don't like French food. Every time I eat at Brasserie by Niche, I end up with enough food to choke a horse. As usual, it was packed on the Friday I went.

I was feeling particularly indecisive that night, so rather than make any tough decisions, I just got it all. First up were the classic Burgundy Escargot, swimming in little pools of herbs, garlic, and butter. Thinking with my tongue and not with my brain, I dove straight into these bad boys. There go the taste buds - these things were still hot as hell! Not one to be defeated by stupid little snails, our table still managed to decimate these.

Hidden away to the right are the gougeres, little poofs of cheese bread. I stand by my previous statement that Gerard Craft is the master of cheese breads.

Organ meats - liver in particular - are typically not my favorite due to their minerally flavor. However, if you think wayyyy back to my first Niche post, you'll see that I raved about a play on Peanut Butter & Jelly using chicken terrine. The Brasserie Chicken Liver Terrine is that terrine! I didn't even know! That ramekin left the table clean as a whistle.

Now onto our fourth appetizer (stop judging!), the Steak Tartare. We finished this baby off, too. The meat had a good amount of capers mixed in, giving it a nice salty punch.

Full yet? We weren't. It's entree time!

To share, we got the Moules a la Normande, mussels cooked in a broth with country ham, cider, leeks, garlic, and creme fraiche. I wasn't keen on ordering these (mussels are mussels are mussels, right?), but lo and behold, these are now my favorite mussels in town. They're smokey from the ham and sweet from the cider, giving them a different flavor profile than most places. I drank that broth like it was soup.

My main was...vegetarian? Yep, I went meatless. I picked the MASSIVE Roasted Vegetable Tart. Lentils, cauliflower puree, caramelized onions, and all sorts of other veggies were piled high and cooked spectacularly. This was my dish of the night. The different vegetables and cooking styles gave it all sorts of textures and a deep, complex flavor.

Roasted Vegetable Tart at Brasserie Niche

This is not a great shot, but it's just there to reiterate that Brasserie's roasted chicken is great.

The final entree was the Trout with fingerling potatoes, lemon, brown butter, capers, and parsley. It's a solid, healthy dish.

At this point in the evening, it felt like death was near. Clothing was tighter. Breathing was labored. I was sweating butter. I thought the evening's eating marathon was over, but Brasserie's great manager, Jen, and chef Nick Blue disagreed. Out came a chocolate mousse and the floating island. A few bites in and I passed out on the table.

Another successful meal at Brasserie completed.

Brasserie by Niche

4580 Laclede Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63108

314.454.0600

Spencer 2/26/15 Spencer 2/26/15

Dinner Lab: Nini Nguyen

This is a big post, and I mean that both figuratively and literally. If you stick with it until the end, I've got my first video and my first promotion.

Since my girlfriend was not in town this past Valentine's Day, I decided to spend the evening at Dinner Lab's How to Nguyen at Lovewith chef Nini Nguyen. Nguyen's pedigree includes working at Sucre and Coquette in New Orleans, followed by Three Michelin Star (!) Eleven Madison Park in NYC. She's a pastry chef by trade, but as you'll see, she's an all around badass in the kitchen.

The meal took place at NHB Knife Works, a factory just behind Civil Life Brewery churning out handmade artisan knives with stunningly beautiful handles, as you can see below.

In typical Dinner Lab fashion, Nini and her team cooked out in the open so the diners could watch.

Plating at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

The meal, in her own words, was supposed to feel classy and heartfelt, a series of romantic dishes meant to be enjoyed with your loved one. Or, in my case, your camera. Her first course was [symple_highlight color="blue"]The Egg[/symple_highlight], highlighting the 5-minute soft boiled egg. A half moon of whipped homemade creme fraiche served as a creamy base, countered by "grainola", a crunchy mixed of puffed rice, quinoa, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, shallots and garlic. A sexy, savory take on granola that left us all wondering where this subtle garlic taste was coming from. Pickled onions and toasted brioche were added and, finally, a dollop of caviar.

Egg Dish at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Cracked Egg at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Egg Prep at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Nini's second course may have been the healthiest I've ever had at a Dinner Lab. It looked like it was just a mound of vegetables, but the taste was anything but plain. In her take on a Coquette dish, Nini makes a raw cashew puree and dots it with her nicoise olive brittle - something I know I've never had before. She dehydrates, candies, then crumbles olives, turning them into what I would call an olive candy. Incredibly creative and equally delicious. The mixed vegetables are blanched in salt water then dressed with a very tart meyer lemon vinaigrette. Wonderfully balanced dish.

Veggie Prep at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Veggie Salad at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

The main course for the evening was [symple_highlight color="blue"]"Honey and Spice"[/symple_highlight], an ode to Nini's love of pork and the mix of sweet and savory. Perfectly cooked honey glazed pork loin was topped with a somewhat bitter coffee crumble (another favorite of mine from the evening) that made the main really pop. It was accompanied by a creamy squash "ravioli", but who cares when you've got a giant piece of pork?!

Pork Prep at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Me and this next course? Love at first sight. I knew I would like it before I even tasted it. Nini's [symple_highlight color="blue"]Hot Triple Cream[/symple_highlight] started with her making sheets of puff pastry and baking them in cupcake tins, something I've never thought about doing. She followed that up with whipping the brie and piping it into the pastry, then reheating the cheese grenade, making this a handheld and absolutely amazing version of brie en croute. I'd put it up there with Gerard Craft's gougères and Dia's cheese bread as far as baked cheesy puffs go.

While I would have happily eaten that by itself, she wasn't done. Honey was drizzled over the puff pastries when ready to serve and served with toasted baguette, candied black walnuts, and a caramelized onion mostarda.

Cheese Course at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Cheese and Toast at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

The evening's grand finale was Nini's vision to create a dish with the beauty of white chocolate and strawberries without actually using white chocolate. I imagine that if this dish was plated on a stark white or black plate, it would look stunning. She made (white) meringue tubes that were filled with a sumptuous dark chocolate cremeaux, which I thought was brilliant.

Accompanying the chocolate tube were freshly chopped strawberries and an ice cream made from steeping cocoa nibs in milk and cream, allowing it to keep its white color.

Dessert Prep at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Dessert at Nini Nguyen's St. Louis Dinner

Dinner Lab has been 3/3 with out of town chefs so far, in my mind. We've had modern Asian food from Chris Bailey, upscale Mexican from Danny Espinoza, and now this sexy/romantic meal from Nini Nguyen.

I've had a lot of questions asked about what Dinner Lab is like, is it worth the subscription, etc. Because of all the questions, Dinner Lab has been kind enough to offer a promotion available exclusively through Whiskey and Soba. If you use this link, you can buy tickets to their upcoming "CLASH OF THE CRAWFISH", Saturday, March 14th at 2pm, without being a member. It's $35 per person and is a great opportunity to meet the Dinner Lab crew and see how fun their events are. Check it out! You won't regret it.

Spencer 2/16/15 Spencer 2/16/15

Sidney Street Cafe

Kevin Nashan and his team are killing it right now. Peacemaker is the hottest new restaurant in town (for good reason) and this past trip over to Sidney Street Cafe was a standout. I've written about meals there previously, but this one takes the cake for best overall, I think.

Our visit to Sidney Street came during a particularly heavy eating streak, so we went sans appetizers for the evening.

Those at the table who opted for a salad instead of the evening's soup special suffered from a severe case of order envy. While it may look like your run of the mill butternut squash soup, it certainly was not. It had been Nashanized, its flavors so intense and rich I nearly picked it up and gulped it straight out of the bowl like a ruffian. A few crunchy pepitas countered the creaminess, and an intense, slow burning spice gave it a delightful aftertaste. Almost every bowl was left bone dry.

This thing of beauty you see below is the lamb wellington, a beautiful take on what most American's think of as "that dish Gordon Ramsay makes". Lamb loin is topped with herbs before being wrapped with puff pastry and baked. The result is perfectly cooked lamb swaddled in a flaky dough, each slice resting on creamed kale and crispy lamb sweetbreads.

The dish is really more of a duo of lamb than just a wellington. The merguez meatball ragout behind was absurdly good - like I have been thinking about it for weeks good. There's something about North African spices make the lamb flavor pop. If those meatballs showed up as a Peacemaker poorboy special, I would not be disappointed. Fingers crossed.

Before I talk about this dish, I have to say that I love Sidney Street's plating. I'm not sure anyone in St. Louis is putting out prettier plates of food right now - follow them on Instagram for sneak peeks at upcoming dishes. This is the first time I can remember having a pheasant entree, but it will not be the last. Juniper cured pheasant breast can be seen on the far ends, along with braised Belgian endives, thin slices of citrus and quince celery. The stand out was easily that thing that looks like a prop from a Tim Burton movie with a bone sticking out: the crispy ballotine made of pheasant leg confit, pheasant tenderloin, citrus, and herbs.

This is the best gourmet smoked brisket in town. I wrote about it in great detail already here. Must read, must eat.

We felt too guilty and fat to get appetizers, but apparently not too guilty to go for dessert.

Our first choice was a classic: the [symple_highlight color="blue"]dark chocolate turtle brownie[/symple_highlight] served with pecan brittle, vanilla ice cream and, by special request, some chocolate sauce. Intensely chocolatey in the best way.

I pushed for the seasonal [symple_highlight color="blue"]Blood Orange[/symple_highlight] dessert and won, of course. Like a blood orange, the dish hovered between sweet and tart. Down the center of the plate you can see a twisting block of very sweet white chocolate ganache, flanked by pistachio crumble, cranberry sorbet, and all things citrus. It came with a Gran Marnier creme brûlée, served separately, which happened to be my favorite component of the dessert. A normal creme brûlée does nothing for me, but add a flavored liquor and I'm all in.

As I said at the start, this was a memorable meal at Sidney Street from a taste perspective - everything was delicious. The kitchen was firing on all cylinders. I got the brisket myself, but I would have been happy getting any of the other entrees we ordered. I tend to go through obsessive phases with my eating; for weeks at a time I'll go to the same place over and over until I'm ready to move on. Earlier this year, that place was Niche. After this meal? It's Sidney Street. I'm watching the menu like a hawk, just waiting to see something so tantalizing I can no longer resist the temptation.

My return is imminent.

Sidney Street Cafe

2000 Sidney St

St. Louis, MO 63104

314.771.5777