The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Half & Half
Cold Toddy Coatapec Mexico
Churros with Citrus and Cinnamon Sugar
Cornbread Stick with Blueberry Butter, Pecans, Honey
Blackberry French Toast with Mascarpone
Ham Biscuit with Raspberry Preserves
Sage Crispy Potatoes
Following our early morning meal at The Brown we made our way west to St. Louis, a city I’d last visited fourteen years prior and one whose culinary scene seemed to focus on two restaurants in fairly close approximation to one another plus a handful of shops specializing in breakfasts, sweets, and desserts – with less than 24-hours in town and plans to visit both the Missouri Botanical Gardens and The Arch I knew the agenda would be packed but in the end everything came together seamlessly – brunch, four stops for snacks, two dinners, and even a stop at Vintage Vinyl accomplished between 10:00am and 10:00pm beginning with brunch at Half & Half.
Located in the Clayton neighborhood and seemingly highly focused on its coffee (to the point of having a cupping program) Half & Half would prove to have quite the buzz on a Saturday morning, a thirty minute wait before our table for two was procured, and although the cupping was not offered during weekends due to the high traffic there is no doubt the coffee shined, both the hot Harrar ordered by my mother and the cold Toddy selected by myself. Less impressive, however, would be more than half of the food and the service – our waitress clearly in training and failing to put in a part of our order thus leading to a substantial delay between the dry churros and admittedly excellent cornbread and the rest of our food.
Sitting amidst the bustling din for nearly 45 minutes before out plates arrived the second part of our meal largely mirrored the first; the potatoes, ham, and biscuit all substantially overcooked – the biscuit so much that it was nearly crunchy – while the daily special French Toast shined as the thick and eggy brioche stood up amicably to the custard and an ample scoop of blackberries and mascarpone proved subtly sweet; the entirety of the composition one of the better French Toast dishes I’ve had and enough to save an otherwise underwhelming brunch, though were I to return I’d certainly target a less busy mid-week time in order to experience the coffee program at its fullest and hopefully avoid the substantial errors in execution that marred our meal.
World’s Fair Donuts
Old Fashioned, Raised Glazed, Apple Fritter
Moving on, three quick points on World’s Fair Donuts are these: #1) This is a true ‘mom n’ pop’ shop where the owners are on site as bakers, servers, and greeters; easily 70 years and happy to talk with anyone who will listen make it a point to give them a few minutes as you’re bound to learn something. #2) The space is no frills and the donuts are dirt cheap. Raised and glazed, cake, Danish, Fritter, Chocolate or vanilla – and cash only, so be prepared. #3) The raised donuts are fine, but what you want is the cake donut and the fritter, the former dense and balanced with tangy buttermilk and sweet glaze while the later presents a crispy golden exterior and plenty of canned, but still delicious, cinnamon apples within; I only wish we’d have been in town another day so I could have tried one fresh out of the fryer.
Ted Drewes
Sour Cherry, Blueberry, Butterscotch, Tedad (Scotch Oatmeal Cookie)
Next up, the iconic Ted Drewes, a spot I’m actually surprised I did not visit even in my youth given its fame but a location that was perfectly situated in our eating agenda following a nearly 100 degree afternoon at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Featuring frozen custard in a single flavor – vanilla – with hundreds of possible combinations of mix-ins to formulate your own customized concrete we were fortunate to arrive at an off-hour and after opting for four “Micromini” cups at $1.80 each the selections were packed in a bag with blocks of ice and spoons putting us back in the air conditioned car to enjoy less than 10 minutes after pulling off Route 66.
Soft, smooth, rich, and not overly sweet on its own I will admit that I did not flip the cup over to see just how “concrete” the concoction was, but certainly thicker than standard softserve despite the heat and humidity I’ve little doubt all but the melted portion would have stayed put. Skipping the sundaes or options with too many variable and instead going with two fruit options but two choices suggested by the young woman at the counter I personally found the Tedad and Blueberry to both be excellent while the butterscotch was a bit thin and the sour cherry too artificial. A fun spot and one of those “must visit” landmarks I cannot say I’d go out of my way for Ted Drewes, but I definitely wouldn’t drive past it on a cross country trip – particularly in the middle of summer.
Jilly’s Cupcakes
24 Karat Cake – Carrot Cake with Vanilla Whipped Cream Stuffing topped with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting, White Chocolate Shavings, Gold Dust
Space Monkey – Banana Toffee Cake with Toffee Dulce de Leche stuffing and topped with Caramel Cream Cheese Swirl and Chocolate Astronaut Ice Cream
Reese’s Chunkage – Vanilla Cake with Peanut Butter Mousse and Ganache Stuffing topped with Chocolate and Peanut butter Buttercream and Reese’s Crumbles
Onward to Jilly’s Cupcakes, a place my mother had actually found in planning our trip west due to their win on “Cupcake Wars,” our arrival to the space on Delmar would unfortunately be only an hour before the shop closed…and in the middle of a 40+ person children’s birthday party that had partially crippled the restaurant’s service and supplies but at the same time led to them baking three of their signature cakes fresh – two of them actually still warm from the oven when we arrived. Ranging from $5 for the Carrot to $6.50 for the Space Monkey these were most certainly not the cheapest cupcakes out there, but given the size, styling, and quality of ingredients I’d be hard pressed to suggest they were ‘overpriced’ compared to what is being offered at Sprinkles or Crumbs – particularly as there did not seem to be any ‘stock’ ingredients here – each cake, frosting, filling, and garnish unique while the overall compositions were well conceptualized and balanced – on par with restaurant quality desserts in all three cases (and weighing in at nearly half a pound each, surprisingly not overwhelming or monotonous, though certainly best shared.)
Park Ave Coffee
Gooey Butter Cake, Red velvet, White Chocolate Blueberry
Last but not least – no trip to St. Louis would be complete without gooey buttercake and although one can easily make this dish at home it seemed only appropriate to sample it at St. Louis’ most famous purveyor of the pastry, Park Ave Coffee. A small shop with limited parking and nearly twenty varieties of butter cake plus innumerable coffees, lattes, teas, espressos, and smoothies to offer the biggest challenge of the visit was deciding what sounded best – a decision process leading to three slices of cake and a cup of rich Lafayette Blend, the coffee definitely necessary to balance the buttery richness of the cake – each slice a semi-solid pudding of butter and cream cheese atop a tender base and literally melting on the tongue. Much like Ted Drewes this is one of those places that focuses on doing one thing and doing it right and much like Ted Drewes, The Arch, and Vintage Vinyl it is a place well worth your time and money if you should ever find yourself in St. Louis.