Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.
Kitchen Kulture
I can't recall if it was last winter or the winter before it when I first encountered Kitchen Kulture, but I remember it like it was yesterday: I was at the Tower Grove Winter Farmers Market, contemplating if I should attempt to eat the Rebel Roots caramel apples I had just purchased on my drive home, when I turned and saw their booth. I'd followed them on social media and seen their Sump lunch menus, but I'd never managed to actually eat their food. I wandered over and perused the menu, when chef/co-owner Mike Miller and co-owner Chris Meyer offered me a sample of their Mofu Tofu Saag Paneer. I'm pretty sure my response was something along the lines of, "Why is this so good?" I sampled everything they had to offer and left with pounds and pounds of Kitchen Kulture food. Soba noodle salad, Khao Soi curry, vinaigrettes, whatever. If they were selling it, I was buying it. Weekly Kitchen Kulture purchases became part of my life.
Flash forward to summer of 2016, and Kitchen Kulture (the restaurant is known as Kounter Kulture) has moved into the former Pint Size Bakery shop off Watson. You can still find them at the weekly TG Farmers Market, of course, but the take-out only restaurant, open Monday-Friday, 4:30-9:30pm, offers a totally different menu of food cooked to order.
Kounter Kulture St. Louis
Kounter Kulture st.louis interior
Kounter Kulture st.louis mike miller
Chris Meyer Kounter Kulture St. Louis
If I'm passionate about any type of food, it's Asian food—a cuisine that continues to disappoint here in St. Louis. I've tried to explain it before, but there's this whole wide world of Asian food, ingredients, flavors, cooking techniques, etc. that just aren't being tapped into here. Mike Miller gets it. Seriously, no other chef in St. Louis has been able to grasp modern Asian flavors—particularly Southeast Asian and Japanese—like he has. And he's doing it using locally sourced produce.
On the lighter end of the spectrum, there are dishes like the White Peach and Pepper salad with a creamy miso vinaigrette and crunch coming from a sesame-togarashi brittle that shatters like sugary glass. The seasonal greens spring rolls, packed with rice noodles, cilantro, mint, and mango, come with a carrot-ginger sauce, and remind me of a meal I had just outside of the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia.
A Mofu tofu green curry with summer vegetables and ramen noodles gives Reeds American Table a run for their money as far as authentic curry goes—a pungent curry paste, made from scratch, mixed with coconut milk, fish sauce, and all those other funky Thai flavors delivers a Muay Thai elbow to your tongue.
ari ellis Kounter Kulture st.louis
Kounter Kulture decor st.louis
Kounter Kulture st.louis tofu curry
Kounter Kulture St. Louis spring roll
On the heartier side of the menu, there's a Korean BBQ chicken rice bowl that makes your Chipotle burrito bowl look like it's child-sized. Crunchy, spicy, and sweet, the bulgogi chicken combined with heirloom tomatoes, fresh avocado, and a lime-cilantro dressing doesn't disappoint.
People typically generalize Japanese food as healthy, but believe me, the Japanese love fried food just as much—if not more—than Americans. They just don't eat buckets of it. The ping-pong ball-sized shrimp and pork gyoza tossed in tsume—a sweet, seafoody sauce—are perfect. The braised beef gyudon bowl is equally delicious.
I could write a book on my love of okonomiyaki. These Japanese pancakes are tied with takoyaki (basically grenades made of pancake dough and octopus) for my favorite Japanese food. Kounter Kulture's is kind of like if an okonomiyaki knocked up a Korean jeon pancake. Or maybe a frittata. Possibly a Dutch Baby? It's basically a puffed up egg-based pancake stuffed with your choice of kimchi, bacon, squid, and/or mushrooms, then topped with a sweet bbq sauce and mayo. It will feed you for days.
But their buns...their buns are out of this world. If Kounter Kulture only sold buns, I'd still tell you it's one of my favorite places in St. Louis. Do you go for the pork with smoked onions, chile-mustard sauce, and jalapeno slaw? Or the tofu bun with sesame cabbage, homemade kewpie mayo, and Japanese BBQ sauce? It doesn't matter, as long as you also get the catfish bun.
If I make a "Top 10 Dishes of 2016" list, there's a 95% chance this will be own it. Togarashi-spiced catfish is fried until as crunchy as possible (without overcooking the fish!), then tucked into a bun with a shishito pepper and cherry tomato remoulade. This is one of those bites where if you don't like it, you're wrong.
Kounter Kulture st.louis kitchen
chicken salad Kounter Kulture st.louis
Kounter Kulture st.louis beef gyudon bowl
tofu bun Kounter Kulture st.louis
gyoza Kounter Kulture st.louis
catfish bun Kounter Kulture st.louis
okonomiyaki Kounter Kulture st.louis
Summer Corn Bruschetta
I've had my share of haute cuisine, dishes with ingredient and instruction lists as long as the Torah, but I'm still more impressed by a simple dish executed perfectly. My first bite of Matt Daughaday's food came during my first meal at Taste when he brought out his sweet corn bruschetta. It sounded like something I'd whip together at home with leftovers. Corn, peaches, bacon, shiitake mushrooms, ricotta, cilantro, chilies—I almost always have these around. Yet, one bite in, I knew I had never made anything so simple and so perfect in my life. I hated it for reminding me that I am just some measly home cook and loved it because it was such an outstanding dish. I needed it again, but alas, it was not to be. A few days after my meal, I found out Matt would be leaving and starting his own restaurant, Reeds American Table.
For a very brief time, a risotto version of this dish popped up at Reeds, and it was glorious, but the Chef Matt giveth and the Chef Matt taketh away. Finally, a few weeks back, I got the text I longed for so badly: "Corn bruschetta is back on the menu. Come get it!"
I've gone three times just to have it, really. Matt was gracious enough to give me the recipe to share with you fine people—if you scroll to the bottom, it also includes his housemade ricotta recipe. It's easy to do, but if you don't feel like it, you can use store-bought stuff. Matt only makes it when corn is in season, but I have no qualms about making the creamed corn ricotta using the frozen stuff during the winter. Add peaches, add bacon, add whatever you'd like: just make sure the corn ricotta is on there.
Yield: 6 portions
Ingredients
CREAMED CORN RICOTTA
1 lb fresh ricotta (about 2 cups)
1 c fresh shucked corn
3 T canola oil
Salt to taste
CORN ‘RAGU’
3 T canola oil
4 c fresh corn kernels
1-2 red thai chili, sliced as thinly as possible
18 cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 tsp marjoram, chopped
2 T butter
2 limes, zested
4 oz. queso fresco
6-8 sprigs of cilantro, picked
Salt to taste
6 slices fresh country loaf, 1/2” thick
METHOD
CREAMED CORN RICOTTA
Turn on sauté pan over high heat, add the oil and let it come a point where the oil just begins to smoke.
Turn off the flame to avoid a flare up from the moisture in the corn, add the corn to the pan and turn flame back on high. Season with salt and allow to cook till you see the corn begin to caramelize. Toss corn once and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Corn will begin to pop when done. (Not into popcorn, just loud pops, with the occasional kernel flying out of the pan and onto your neck like a tiny missile)
Place cooked corn on a plate to cool.
Once corn is completely cool, place fresh ricotta and corn into your food processor and turn on and let whip till the mix seems smooth and almost shiny. Put into a bowl and leave in the fridge to cool and set up.
CORN ‘RAGU’
Put sauté pan over high heat, add oil to the pan and let it come to a smoke point. Turn off the flame, add your corn, turn the pan back to medium high and let cook until you begin to see the corn caramelize. Add your butter, Thai chili, marjoram, and cherry tomatoes, toss to mix everything and cook an additional minute. Turn off the heat, add lime zest and season with salt.
Plating:
Add a little oil and salt to the bread and grill either on a grill pan or an actual grill if you happen to already be using one for your meal. Don’t be scared to get nice dark char marks.
Once bread is grilled spread a nice layer of the corn creamed ricotta on top of the bread, then top with a couple spoonfuls of the corn ragu and press it into the cheese lightly so it doesn’t fall off on you.
Next, sprinkle with a little of the queso fresco and picked cilantro. Cut the piece of toast into three or four slices and you are ready to serve.
This is what happens when you don't turn your flame off. You don't want this to happen in your house. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.
ricotta
Yield: 2lbs of Cheese
INGREDIENTS
1 gal. whole milk
2 c heavy cream
2 T salt
1/2 c distilled vinegar
METHOD
Place milk, cream and salt in a heavy bottom pot big enough to leave at least 6” of space from the top of the liquid to the top of the pot. Place on the stove over high heat.
Bring milk up to a boil (this is where you will need to watch it closely because once the milk reaches a boil it will climb quickly in pot and overflow, leaving a big mess on the top of your stove that is not fun to clean)
As the milk comes to a boil it will begin to rise to the top of your pot. As soon as it hit the top of the pot, turn off heat and pour in the vinegar and give it one good stir with either a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
Pull the pot off the stove and let it rest on your countertop for at least 10-15 minutes before attempting to strain. During this time you should start to see your cheese coagulating on the top of the pot.
After letting the cheese rest and set up for the allotted time, set up a colander lined with cheese cloth over a bucket to catch the whey. Use a mesh skimmer, or slotted spoon if you don’t have a skimmer, and skim off the cheese and place it in the cheese lined colander to drain.
Place cheese in the cooler and let sit to set up for at least 1 hour, up to overnight. The longer you let it sit the drier your cheese will come out.
Buckwheat & Pecan Waffles
People often ask me, "Spencer, how do you keep such an amazing physique while eating out so often? I didn't know it was possible for a food writer to have such defined abs!" in my dreams. The answer is simple: I start the day off right! I wake up every morning looking just like Patrick Bateman, and while I do my stomach crunches (I can do 1,000 now), I heat up some waffles. Waffles?! you gasp. Yes, waffles. Buckwheat flour waffles with toasted nuts keep this machine running all day.
I'm a morning person, but that doesn't mean I want to spend time cooking right when I wake up. I want to have things that are easily crammed into my face so I can move on with my day without being hangry. Back when I worked a 9-5, this often meant toasting some kind of whole grain waffle I picked up at the grocery, but once I started reading the ingredient lists, I decided I'd be better off just making them myself. I make them, let them cool, then break them apart and freeze. All it takes is a quick visit to the toaster—or the microwave if you're really lazy—for these to be ready for a quick breakfast. Cover them with a little almond butter and honey and you're golden.
I set off on months of waffle research, ultimately finding my favorite recipe and waffle maker. My favorite base recipe for waffles came from all-time great Alton Brown. Whether you're looking for crispy waffles or softer Belgian waffles, it works great. This is an adaptation of his, which you can read here.
As for the waffle maker itself, I use this Chef's Choice 840 WafflePro Express. The packaging looks straight out of the 90s, but this thing spits out either wonderfully crispy waffles or puffy, Belgian style ones. I love it. Plus, it's super easy to clean and doesn't require any cooking spray.
So here you go, a relatively healthy addition to your breakfast portfolio. Also, waffles are 1,000x better than pancakes.
Buckwheat & Pecan Waffles
Buckwheat & Pecan Waffles
YIELD: 5-8 | PREP: 15 MIN | COOK: 10 MIN | TOTAL: 20 MINUTES
INGREDIENTS
1 C AP flour
1 C buckwheat flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 T sugar
2 eggs, beaten
16 oz buttermilk, room temp
2 oz butter, melted
1 C nuts (pecan/walnut)
METHOD
Toasted Nuts
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, 5-10 minutes. Remove and let cool. Chop (or HULK SMASH) into little pieces.
Waffle Time
Plug that waffle maker in and get it heating up.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and butter, then add the buttermilk. Add the wet mix to the dry mix (not the other way around or you’re the worst) and stir. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.
The WafflePro recommends 1/2 cups of the batter, but I find just under 1 cup works better. You do you. Put the waffles on a wire rack when they’re done if eating later, otherwise you can go ahead and nom away.
Kim Cheese
Unlike those of you who work in Clayton or downtown, I don't have access to a lot of locally-owned lunch spots. I work in Creve Coeur, land of the chain restaurants. Even food trucks don't venture out here. One of the few bright spots we have on the culinary front is Kim Cheese - and now we have two of them! Their original location, just off 141 and Olive, is a tiny old place, but they've recently opened a second location near the AMC Creve Coeur Theater. If you're familiar with the area, it's in the spot where Oberweiss used to be. Sean Moon and the Kim Cheese family went all out on this place; it looks like a modern Korean take on Chipotle. With the opening of the new spot, they've also expanded their menu to include fish tacos, pork belly, hot wings, and even a new Kalbi burger.
This is a mix of a few recent trips. Below is the their [symple_highlight color="blue"]Bi Bim Bap Bowl[/symple_highlight] with spicy pork. Under that runny fried egg (I have never loved fried eggs more than when paired with Korean food) are cucumbers, water fern, carrots, zucchini, bean sprouts, yu choi (Chinese greens), mixed spring greens, and rice. You take all that, toss a little of the spicy gochujang on top, then mix it up real good. The result is something like a Chipotle burrito bowl, just with a lot more veggies. This has become my go-to meal there, since if I can avoid the rice (I can't), it's pretty healthy.
Bibimbap at Kim Cheese
Tacos at Kim Cheese
If I'm feeling like a slightly smaller meal - usually the result of a visit to La Patisserie Chouquette the day prior - I'll go for the tacos. You can't tell from the pictures, but I got a crispy fish taco, a bulgogi beef taco, and, of course, a spicy pork taco. Whether here or at Seoul Taco, I cannot resist the spicy pork. Koreans know pork.
I just want to reiterate how delicious the spicy pork is. I've also been told by a trusted food friend that their quesadilla with spicy pork and kimchi is a perfect hangover cure.
The newest addition to the Kim Cheese family is their Kalbi burger. Kalbi is a marinated beef short rib typically grilled and served with veggies. These geniuses have taken the marinated kalbi, minced it up with some green onions and white onions, then turned it into a hamburger. You've seen short rib, right? It's got beautiful marbling - now imagine that as a burger patty. Mmmmmm, meat.
It's thrown onto a buttery Companion bun with some lettuce, tomato, cheese, mayo, and ketchup. This is all well and good, but to make it really delicious, you've got to throw some of the housemade BBQ sauce on there. It's got this spicy, smoky kick from the gochujang that sends shivers down my spine.
The burger is only available at the Creve Coeur location, currently.
Pork Tacos at Kim Cheese
Burger at Kim Cheese
Kalbi Burger at Kim Cheese
I love you, Kim Cheese. Thank you for saving me from having to eat Potbelly's.
What's your go-to meal at Kim Cheese?
13435 Olive Blvd
Chesterfield, MO 63017
314-485-1408