Monday, October 20, 2014

Old Standard Fried Chicken

Last night we went to the newest Ben Poremba creation a fried chicken emporium in the Botanical Heights neighborhood just north of his Olio, Elaia, and La Patisserie Chouquette. I was opening night and it was delightful.

The restaurant has unpainted wood throughout. There's booths and tables,  picture of Abe Lincoln greets you at the door. The atmosphere is welcoming and fun.

The menu is all about fried chicken, natch, and its go-withs. Here's some we tried. For starters we chose Charlotte's Mother's Dressed Eggs. These turned out to be deviled eggs with rings of tiny peppers and tiny sliced pickles. We also had the Fries with Blue Cheese Mayonnaise for Dippin'. The fries were really good, thin, crispy and hot,  plus there was also catsup and hot sauce besides the blue cheese mayo. A real winner.
We also ordered the bread basket that came with two kinds of biscuits and two kinds of cornbread. With that you can mix and match several flavored butters and jellies. We chose the Lemon-Honey and Pistachio-Mint butters and Grape Jelly.

We also had the Watermelon Salad made of whole baby romaine leaves, watermelon and jalapeƱo peppers, it was terrific, and the Tomato and Cucumber Salad, which had a selection of different colored heirloom tomatoes, and small cucumber, which went really well with the chicken. Speaking of chicken, that's what you come here for and it is really GOOD.

You can order the fried chicken ALA CARTE ( thigh,1/2 breast, leg), HALF ( thigh,breast,leg and wing), or WHOLE ( 2 thighs,2 breasts, 2 legs, 2 wings). We opted for ALA Carte, legs and thighs, which are $4 each. Very affordable.

The chicken is mahogany brown and crunchy, just right. The chickens according to the menu are from Miller Poultry, a small, family owned company from Indiana, which have been raised in the most humane manner, fed an all vegetable drug free diet and are hormone and antibiotic free.

There were lots of sides we didn't try but there's always next time.  Also ditto for the desserts, which promise to be delicious.

So take a look at their website www.oldstandard.co. to see the whole menu. You won't be sorry.

Old Standard Fried Chicken
1621 Tower Grove Ave

Saturday, February 8, 2014

De.Lish

This Friday we went to a restaurant in Florissant that a friend of mine suggested. She said it was, well-de-lish! and she was right.

She also told me it was tiny, an historical train depot, painted red. Again, she was right. If you didn't know what to look for you could easily pass it up, which would be a terrible shame because it is really a very good place. It has been open about 2 years. It's owners Jeff and Kris Mullersman are a delightful young couple who believe in quality ingredients fresh every day.

Actually, de.lish is best known for its cheesecakes that are made by Kris. De.lish was voted the Best Cheesecake in St Louis. Kris makes over 40 different kinds and any 5 of them are on offer every day.
The actual name of the restaurant is de.lish Cheesecake Bakery and Cafe. Their motto is "fresh from scratch, everyday".

They serve breakfast and lunch during the week and on weekends they stay open until 9PM. The space may be small but the menu is amazing. The offerings are mouthwatering and the hardest thing to do is to choose what to have they all sound so, well, de.lish.

I chose the McGreggor sandwich, which consisted of oven roasted chicken breast, caramelized onions, smoked gouda cheese,2 slices of applewood smoked bacon,toasted and topped with chipotle mayo, on a ciabatta bun.  Oh brother, it was really de.lish, and enough for two.

Chuck ordered the BLB, which stands for bacon, lettuce bacon. It comes with 10 slices of bacon (one pound! ) romaine lettuce with chipotle mayo on French bread. Fortunately it is available in a half sandwich.

The sandwich I can't wait t try ( among many ) is the veggie which has Japanese cucumber, red onion,fresh tomatoes, roasted red pepper,spinach, feta, cream cheese and avocado hummus on a ciabatta!

Let me just say that you need to go to their website and look at their menus and that you definitely need to go there and try it all out. I may try to eat my way through the entire menu, it is that good.

If you take I-270 to Florissant Rd, go north until you get to St Catherine Street, and look for a tiny, red, historically protected train depot, you won't be disappointed.

de.lish Cheesecake Bakery and Cafe
1060 St Catherine St
Florissant, MO 63031
314-831-7400
www.delishcheesecakes.com



Saturday, January 11, 2014

ELEMENT

Thursday night after being dug out of a snow clogged driveway we were at least a half hour late for our reservation. We had called and let the restaurant know we were having difficulty and they were most understanding. We happened to choose the first night they were open after the Holiday break. The snow was still a factor as many streets had not yet been cleared, so I am sure that all restaurants in our snowy area were experiencing a lower client rate.

We had been reading about Element in both the Post-Dispatch and St Louis Magazine which gave the restaurant very good reviews so we were really looking forward to having dinner there.

The reviewers were right on. Everything we had that night was excellent and the restaurant itself is handsome, with a huge open kitchen. We had a table overlooking the kitchen, which is really a wonderful opportunity to see the chefs in action and, in this case, how close the servers are to the action so they are truly well informed.

We wanted to try the Pork Belly with French Prunes, Walnuts and Blue Cheese, but our server told us they had already sold out of that, however, a new batch would be available in about a half hour. We had just ordered our drinks, so we decided to wait so we could have it. One of our party ordered the Fried Oysters with Tomatillo Aioli, Chorizo, Green Apple,with Barbecue Spices, and another ordered the Bone Marrow, with Smoked Pears, Bacon, Herbs and Grilled Bread. As it turned out the Pork Belly was ready sooner and it was absolutely delicious. The Fried Oysters were perhaps the best ever, and the Bone Marrow was guiltily yummy, all that fabulous fat, but there's not that much to clog your veins, so feel free to order it! The plating for all of these small plates was lovely.

For our main courses two of us had the special Salmon served with the skin over Roasted Vegetables, which got raves, and two of us ordered the Duck Breast with Scrapple, Brussels Sprouts, and Apple Butter. Our other choices were Fish Stew with Potato, Cabbage, Fennel and Kielbasa in a Fish Broth, Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato, Leek, Peppercorn Chutney, Lardo Vinaigrette, or Mussels in a Miso Broth, Shiso Leaves, Thai Chili, Ginger and Lime, and a vegetarian Polenta, Tapenade,Arugula, Blood Orange, Herbs, Goat Cheese Crema.

Why we weren't more adventuresome and tried more of the selections is pretty silly, but it does give us good reasons to return.

I spoke briefly with Brian Hardesty, the executive chef to thank him for the amazing food and his idea of having collaborative chefs as a team. As of this writing they include Sam Boettler, Brinn Coltrane and Chris Dimercurlo.

I heartily encourage you to go to this exciting addition to our city's excellent dining and drinking experiences.

Element
1419 Carroll Street
314-241-1674