Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.
Union Loafers' Pizza
Hey Spencer, didn't you already write about Union Loafers' pizza? I sure did. Back in the old days (this summer), Loafers only made pizza once a week. If you were busy on a Wednesday, you missed out. Lines were long. Life was hard. Then pizza stopped all together. Ted giveth and Ted taketh away.
After installing a new walk-in fridge and perfecting his already perfect pizza, Teddy Wilson and BMan have re-launched pizza night—and now it's Wednesday through Saturday. Lemme walk you through this menu.
You're going to start off with BMan's Italian salad. It's the only non-pizza item on the dinner menu, so you don't have much of a choice, but it's worth your dollars. This is another salad from the inventor of their lunch time Little Gem. Have faith. BMan loads it up with garbanzo beans, fennel, olives, pickled peppers, fior di latte (no provel ropes, sorry), and a delightful vinaigrette. Pair that with some bubbles or beer.
On to the star of this show: the pizza. They're wonderful. They're enormous. I've yet to have a single person tell me they didn't enjoy them, and this includes other chefs who own pizza joints. I'll go so far as to say that if you don't like the pizza at Union Loafers, you're probably better off eating Lunchables at home.
You have six options for pizza, excluding any potential specials. First up, the Classic: tomato, mozzarella, basil & extra virgin olive oil. It's a classic for a reason.
Next, the lactose-intolerance friendly Marinara. Tomato, garlic, basil, oregano & chili oil. It's like a more grown up version of their pizza rossa, available at lunch.
Pepperoni, the love of my life, is paired with Calabrian chilis, tomato sauce and mozzarella. 9 times out of 10, this is the pizza I'm getting. LOOK AT IT.
The sausage, a simple herbs, tomato & mozzarella pie.
For the more adventurous, try the mushroom. Pickled shallots, Tuliptree Creamery's Foxglove, mozzarella & oregano. Foxglove is a funky, intense cheese, so if you can't handle that, don't order this. Weakling.
Last, but certainly not least, is the spinach pizza. This is probably my second favorite, behind the pep. Maybe it's my favorite. I don't know. As I look at this picture, I think it's my favorite again. Thick cut bacon, garlic, lemon, parmesan, mozz, and a mountain of spinach.
Go eat it. You can call it in and take it to go, you can sit there, whatever. I don't care what you do, as long as it involves Union Loafers pizza.
italian salad
classic pizza
marinara pizza
pepperoni pizza
Sausage pizza
Mushroom pizza
spinach & bacon pizza
Schlafly Farmers Market
Too lazy to wake up in time to get to the Tower Grove Farmers Market before everything's been bought? Me too. Lucky for us, there's another option: Schlafly Bottleworks' Wednesday afternoon Farmers Market. With upwards of 40 vendors (some of my favorites include Baetje Farms, Ozark Forest Mushrooms, and Biver Farms), it's a large affair, full of all sorts of goodies. The Schlafly team arranged a special media day visit plus dinner a few weeks back, which also happened to be a day where it was hot as Hades outside. Smart thinking: dehydrate us to make the beer even more delicious.
We all wandered around, taking in the options—fruit (including white raspberries, which I didn't know existed), cheese, beautiful veggies, more cheese—then stopped by The Tamale Man's tent for a glass of Agua Fresca. If you haven't had Tamale Man's tamales or ice cold agua fresca, make sure you remedy that.
Nothing gets the appetite going like shopping. The Tower Grove market has Kitchen Kulture's confusingly amazing egg sandwich, but Schlafly has a whole restaurant. Who doesn't love shopping local then eating and drinking local?
Before heading inside, we took a walk through their enormous garden, helping to supplement the restaurant's local-focus. If you recall my interview with KT Ayers from earlier this year, you'll catch more insight into that.
schlafly farmers market restaurant garden
Another reason to stick around for dinner is Ayers' new Farmers Menu, a set of specials where all ingredients come from a 100-mile radius of the restaurant. On our visit, we got a big ol' tomato caprese plate, lamb kebabs, a veggie sauté, and, my personal favorite, the burger. Any burger topped with local goat cheese and crispy bacon will get a thumbs up from me. The dessert, a goats cheese cheesecake, was a great way to finish out the meal—and that's coming from someone who thinks most cheesecakes are gross.
The most important part of our dinner wasn't the food or farmers though. No, it was the St. Louis-exclusive Expo IPA. Eight hop varieties, three continents. I'm admittedly not a big hop-head, but what brewers have created is well balanced enough that I was able to enjoy a bottle or six. You can get it on draught or in six packs at either of Schlafly's locations.
Summary: you should spend your next free Wednesday afternoon shopping local at the Schlafly Farmers Market, then go inside and fill yourself with their farmers menu (or regular) dishes and beer.
Niche's 10th Anniversary Dinner
I find myself in Niche’s kitchen, perched between the pastry station and the pass, surrounded by some of St. Louis’ greatest culinary talent. I wasn’t expecting this, mind you, so I’m not dressed for the occasion—I’m wearing a wool sweater in a very hot kitchen. Even as I slowly roast, I can feel the excitement in the air, the electric buzz of old friends getting to work together again, the nervous energy of putting on what will be one of the year’s best dinners. This evening, Niche is celebrating their 10th anniversary.
You can view the photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spencerp/albums/72157660494148410
The dinner, a small affair attended by a who’s who of St. Louis chefs, bon vivants, and family, is a celebration of Niche, past and present. Ten years ago, a 25-year old Gerard Craft opened Niche in a small Benton Park space (which has since been remodeled and expanded, home to Peacemaker), a restaurant that gave way to some of St. Louis’ best restaurants in Brasserie, Pastaria (now expanding to Nashville), Taste, and Porano Pasta.
The dinner is a mostly hands off affair for Craft himself. After passing on Niche’s executive chef title to Nate Hereford last year, he’s taken on a Yoda-type role somewhere between a life coach and mentor for the chefs.
The always impeccably dressed Chris Kelling, Niche’s general manager, beckons the chefs and servers to the restaurant floor for a pre-service meeting. Each of the Niche Food Group’s executive chefs will be in charge of one course this evening (that’s 7 courses, plus one from Craft himself), and they describe it in great detail for the servers. Questions are asked, notes are taken. Craft steps up and gives a speech, praising the greater Niche family for all their hard work and giving thanks to his childhood nanny, Dia, for helping to inspire his love for food. I too thank Dia, for without her, there'd be no cheese bread.
With diners set to arrive soon, the evening’s starters make their way out front. Cacio e pepe popcorn to one side, an upsized version of the Dia’s Cheese Bread dish—charcuterie, pickled vegetables, and, of course, Dia’s cheese bread—cover the bar. I manage to grab a couple of the cheese bread balls that were leftover. God, it's good.
As the first course begins to go out, I take my seat at the end of the long table, right next to Sarah Osborn’s hilarious parents. The meal kicks off with Craft’s signature dish, The Egg. Like Dia’s cheese bread, I’ll never tire of it. An eggshell, top removed, is placed on a bed of moss and filled with a maple custard, crisp roasted shiitakes, then topped with Missouri trout dashi ‘caviar’.
I return to the kitchen just as Brasserie’s Nick Blue begins plating his course, a roasted winter vegetable salad. I’m surprised that the chef responsible for some of the richest and heaviest food in St. Louis has chosen a salad in lieu of something with bacon and/or cream, but as he plates up the first salad, I see my doubts are unwarranted. It’s a beautiful mix of whipped goat cheese, roasted butternut squash, carrots, and beets, watermelon radish, pickled radish gel, chestnut chips, and a lemon vin.
Pastaria’s Ashley Shelton follows with her cannellini bean and tuscan kale fagottini, a delicately made pasta with a parmesan brodo. The whole kitchen takes turns trying the brodo, everyone oohing and ahhing as they sip, so I join in too. My eyes roll into my head.
Having already tasted the broth, I rush to my seat at the table and let Sarah’s parents know that we’re in for a treat. Our plates arrive sans-brodo, which is then poured in slowly, its smell permeating the air. The dish hammers home the notion that simple food can be absolutely sublime. As I make my way back to the kitchen, I consider asking for a cup of brodo and some more bread. I decide against it—I still have 5 courses to go, after all.
Michael Petres, a chef with pirate tattoos who I may or may not be intimidated by, begins his dish. Every plate is given a swoop of sauce gribiche, which is like a chunkier, more flavorful mayo, and a bit of herbs, fresh radish, and pickled radish. I ask Matt McGuire, director of service, what the main component of the dish is, to which he replies with a grin, “a crispy pig’s head rillette.” I scurry back to my seat and patiently wait.
Things go dark as I cut open the crunchy rillette and get hit with the smell of pork. I devour the dish in seconds and think to myself, this is one of the best things I’ve eaten this year.
Without asking, I can tell Taste’s Heather Stone is up next because Josh Poletti just brought her a mountain of duck kielbasa. The kitchen temperature seems to rise as Stone gets a massive pot of spaetzle going, Poletti sears off kielbasa, and all of us around them are narrowly avoiding streams of duck jus exploding from said sausages. In rapid succession, the kielbasas come off the heat and are sliced, their juices and emmentaler cheese go in with the spaetzle, and plating begins.
This dish is why I love Taste. All the comforts you look for in food—it’s cheesy, smoky, fatty—taken to another level.
Nate Hereford, the man running the show for the evening, pulls his lamb out of the oven and the kitchen fills with the sweet, sweet smell of roasted meat. I’m shocked at the sheer quantity of lamb, but Nate’s clearly going big on this dish. The cooks begin pulling the shoulders and legs apart, then stacking the meat high on serving platters. For the first time in my life, I’ll be eating communal-style at Niche. I’m excited. I’m scared.
The pass is quickly covered in plates. Lamb, sourdough crepes, and little platters with yogurt, herbs, peppers, and hot sauces begin to head to the tables. Build your own epic lamb tacos! I’ve always dreamed of having an all-you-can eat feast at Niche and it’s finally happening. Sarah’s dad tries to keep the lamb from me, but I manage to get my hands on it. It is everything I thought it would be. I tell Nate’s wife that I love her husband.
I disgust myself at the amount of lamb I consume, knowing full well that I still have treats from Anne Croy, Elise Mensing, and Sarah Osborn left. As the meal starts to dwindle down, I go and sit with Mai Lee’s Qui Tran for a few minutes, during which I realize that I’ve missed Anne’s popsicle course! I dart back to the kitchen where she has dozens more, luckily. It tastes exactly like prosecco and pears. I don’t know how Anne extracts flavors so adeptly, but I tip my hat off to her.
As everything’s coming to a close, I get swept up in kitchen conversations, only to realize that Sarah’s caramel lava cake has already been served. Fearful that her dad has eaten my dessert, I quickly head back to the table. I scarf down the wonderful cake, complete with hubbard squash, honey, apples, and buckwheat, only to realize I’ve forgotten to take a picture of the plated dish. I go back to the kitchen to see if there are any extras, but get caught up along the way by everyone wanting pictures of Gerard and the crew.
People start leaving and I notice that Qui’s eating a macaron. During the chef photoshoot, I missed Elise Mensing’s mignardises, but manage to grab some in the kitchen before Poletti eats them all. The cornmeal macaroon with beet and lemon buttercream feels like an ode to summer, the brown butter sage marshmallows with pecan brittle a perfect expression of fall.
When you think of eating a 10 year anniversary dinner at what is arguably St. Louis' best restaurant, it's easy to imagine a group of pretentious chefs serving an even more pretentious group of diners. No truffles were shaved, no foie gras was seared, no foams were foamed. The meal was as much a reflection of Craft as it was an homage to him. Every one of his chefs rose to the occasion, creating Niche-level French brasserie, casual Italian, bar friendly, Modern American dishes, all of which highlighted simple ingredients being made into something special.
Craft would be the first to tell you it wasn't about him, it was about the team, the Niche Food Group family, and he's not bullshitting. I've never met a business owner who so clearly understands that the better the team, the better the organization. Yet, at the same time, it was very much about him. For us diners, the dinner was a way to celebrate not just the restaurant, but the man himself. He was a major catalyst in the St. Louis food scene not just moving forward, but leaping forward. Without him, we wouldn't have Niche, Brasserie, Taste, and Pastaria and all the great chefs that have worked in those kitchens. Without him, all the great experiences we've all had at his restaurants wouldn't have taken place. He's our first James Beard winning chef, and he certainly won't be our last.
Here's to another 10 years of not just Niche the restaurant, but the whole Niche Food Group, setting the bar for what St. Louis restaurants can and should be.
Local Eats at Larder And Cupboard
After years of ignoring Maplewood, I now find myself there on a weekly basis. I pick up whatever meats I'm feeling like from Bolyard's, maybe a donut or 12 from Strange Donuts, stare longingly at Reed's American Table (open today!), then head into Larder & Cupboard (L&C). You want to eat locally? You need to get over there. Even I didn't know the extent of local goods available. Here's your guide to my 10 favorite locally made products you can find there:
All the Cheeses
Like most trustworthy people, I love cheese. When I was young, it was the fried mozzarella cheese bombs at Seamus McDaniel's. After a trip to France, the obsession became European imports. Then it was California cheeses. Larder & Cupboard has helped me the see the light: Missouri and Illinois have some badass cheeses. My current recommendations: Marcoot Creamery's scamorza, Baetje's Morbier-inspired Amoureux, and the amazing Flory's Truckle from Milton Creamery.
Larder and Cupboard Cheeses
Kuva and Stringbean Coffee
The local coffee scene has shot off like a rocket in recent years, with places like Sump and Blueprint gaining notoriety on a national scale. We have our share of great local roasters who don't have stores, as well. Kuva has been around since the early 2000's, while Stringbean arrived in 2011. I may not know much about coffee, but I know I like Kuva's Peru Chilchos and Stringbean's smooth Sumatra.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Coffee
Inappropriate Apiaries' South City Honey
If you live in South City, this honey could have been made because of your garden! Wow! Good for you. Tommy 'Salami' Andrews (of Truffles Butchery) has been producing this honey for years, but this is the first time he's sold it. It is good honey, too. It's been flying off the shelves for a reason (and it's not just the great logo).
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Honey
Hammons Black Walnut Oil
Trying to be healthy makes salads so boring. You don't get to use any of that creamy stuff, so you're stuck with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Or are you? Open up your wallet, cheapskate, and buy some walnut oil. It's got a delicate, nutty flavor that gives an extra umph to any salad or veggie dish. Drizzling it over a fall-flavored pasta instead of olive oil is sure to impress the ladies, too.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Black Walnut Oil
Banner Road Granola
When Anne Croy isn't making her perfect gelato's, donuts, and desserts for Pastaria, she can often be found pumping out tube after tube of granola for her Banner Road Baking Company. You'll be hard-pressed to pick a favorite: is it the pecan heavy Original? The blueberry filled Bye Bye Blues? Or the Sump coffee and Askinosie chocolate KickStart?
The correct answer is the KickStart, but I love all three. She recommends eating them with a spoon, I recommend pouring them directly into your mouth.
Larder and Cupboard Granola St. Louis
Ozark Forest Shiitake Soy Sauce
Bluegrass Soy Sauce, seen on the left side of the photo, has been growing in popularity for years thanks to the likes of Sean Brock and Ed Lee. I prefer Ozark Forest's shiitake mushroom soy sauce, though. It's less acidic and has a nice, subtle mushroom note. That woodsy flavor is the perfect addition to your next stir fry.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Shiitake Soy Sauce
Legacy Chutney
Ahh, my first love at L&C. The recipes all come from the owner's Pakistani family, and they are beyond addictive. There are four flavors: Cherry Kiss, Date Night, Mango Mania, and Sweet Fruit. Sweet Fruit & Mango Mania are thinner, and in my opinion, more versatile. I've used both as condiments and for marinades with chicken and fish. Cherry Kiss and Date Night are a little thicker, lending themselves more to desserts and cheeses.
These are my favorite items in the whole store. I've had them stocked in my fridge since Larder & Cupboard opened.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Legacy Chutney
Salume Beddu
You know that I loveSalume Beddu. What Marco and his team are creating is nothing short of amazing. Most groceries in St. Louis sell the Veneto, Calabrese, and Finocchiona now, but they don't have the fiery nduja, a spreadable salami fit for kings, nor do they carry a range of Beddu's sausages. If you're ever making a "Best of St. Louis" gift basket, these need to be at the top of the list.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Salume Beddu
Mac's Local Buys Sausage
The same sentiment as above goes for Mac's. Chris McKenzie works with a number of local farms to procure great locally sourced meat, which he then turns into great sausages (amongst other things). Keeping a pack or two...or ten...in your freezer is a smart move.
Larder and Cupboard Mac's Local Buys St. Louis
Larder and Cupboard Sweet Olive Spread
So far, Larder and Cupboard has made just one product themselves: a sweet olive spread. They aren't tooting their horn about it too much, and it's almost hidden away in the cheese case, but it is one of the more unique things I've eaten—in a good way. Apparently it's used in Italian bakeries, but I prefer spreading some onto crackers and cheese.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Sweet Olive Spread
Bonus Round!
Newberry Cheese Boards
I couldn't keep myself at just 10 items, plus these aren't edible. Newberry Furniture makes these fun Missouri and Illinois shaped cheeseboards out of local wood. They make great gifts—in fact, they're so great that L&C is often sold out of them. Make sure to call ahead if you're looking for these.
Larder and Cupboard St. Louis Cutting Boards