Polite Society 9-18-2021

This place is quite a trek from our house.  It is way down south of downtown St. Louis.  It is literally south of Union Station.

Chris our waiter was super!  He knew about drinks, food, and desserts.  

We weren't in a hurry so we enjoyed a leisurely multi-course meal. 

I started with some kind of cocktail that was both strawberryish and sourish.  

It was interesting and good.  Mike had a gin and tonic with some kind of interesting gin.  We ate some spinach artichoke dip.  It was warm, cheesy and yummy.  

Mike narrowed it down to 3 and with Chris' help, we opened (to let it get some air) a Barbara Italian wine.  It tasted a lot like a Chianti.  Their list of wines online was not as complete as the list we were given in the restaurant.

This bistro style restaurant did lean toward the French foods.  So, we figured their French onion soup would be good and it was.  Super homemade, tons of Gruyere cheese...yum.  It was a big bowl.  Looking back, Mike and I said we both could have stopped eating right there...and probably should have, but we were both intrigued by their entrees.  (Oh, when your eyes are bigger than your tummy!).

  

I tried a mushroom ravioli.  It had MANY kinds of mushrooms both in the ravioli and on the alfredo style sauce.  There were pickled mustard seeds on top for a contrast of flavor.  I am not much of an alfredo girl and I found the sauce kind of heavy and somewhat overwhelming for the mushrooms.  I wish it would have been in a lighter mushroom stock type of sauce.

Mike had the steak, fries and roasted Brussel sprouts.  Mike really liked the steak and the fries.  He will sometimes like Brussel sprouts, but they need to have a bit of tweaking.  These didn't.  They were roasted well, but they were just plain Brussel sprouts...no sauce/glaze of any kind.  

Both of us packed up over 1/2 of our dinner to take home.  We wanted to try their desserts.  Mike got a sundae that had crumbled waffle cone in it and I got chocolate bread pudding with crème anglaise.  It was super rich.  

   

I thought this was a fun place with an interesting vibe.  It has a unique menu.  The wine list is a little small but OK.  The wait and bussing table staff is GREAT.  I would totally recommend trying this place. 

 

Vito's in the Valley for Happy Hour (on a weekend!) 9-11-2021

 I don't think we intended on only eating from the Happy Hour menu, but who knew that Vito's had a Happy Hour menu 7 days a week!

All their appetizers (in a smaller size) are only $5.  Drinks are also cheaper. 

I met Laurie, Beth, and Vickie there on our way to see the movie Respect.

We each ordered a drink and then couldn't decide what appetizers to order, so we ordered them all!!  I think we got 6 or 7 different appetizers.  They were on the smaller size, so we had to cut things in half and split things up, but the 10" pizza was almost too big.  It was a lovely afternoon/evening and we sat outside.  

We had arancini:

Toasted ravioli:

Bruschetta:

Whiskey Shrimp:

Meatballs:

Mushroom Pizza, Cannelloni, Bruschetta Frittes (french fries), and Mediterranean Bean Dip.

It was all good.  We couldn't finish it all.  I would say no to the bean dip and the cannelloni next time.  Super yes to the meatballs, arancini, and the shrimp.  

It is a fun happy hour that you can go to on a Saturday or Sunday!

Antonino's on Macklind 9-4-2021

 Mike wanted pizza.  He wanted to try some new pizza place.  We had been to Antonino's a loooong time ago (I think it was 2013), but I don't think Mike got pizza.  I remember Mollie and Bonnie splitting a gyro pizza.  Anotonino's is famous for being the children of Greek and Italian immigrants, so the menu is a combo of both.  

We started with toasted ravioli and I ordered calamari.  The calamari was good.  I little chewy, but that's because some of the smaller pieces were over-cooked.  Anna didn't like the toasted ravs as well as her favorites at Cunnetto's.  She said the middle part was fuller and filled with a softer filling...so they just felt "mushy" in her mouth compared to what she was used to.  The marinara sauce that accompanied them was fine.  

   

So far, things are fine.  Their wine list is small and doesn't really have anything especially good on it (but neither does Cunnetto's, so I can't fault them on that).

For dinner, Anna ordered pasta carbonara, Mike ordered a pizza with pepperoni and proscuitto, and I ordered the "tutti mare" (it is a pasta with a variety of seafood).  Here's where things got weird.  First it is spelled wrong...it is Tutto Mare.  It means "total sea" or (all things from the sea).  Tutti is the wrong word.  Secondly, the "sauce" that goes with Tutto Mare is typically a fish broth/white wine/butter/garlic sauce.  At Antonino's I asked for Tutto Mare and the waitress asked me what kind of sauce I'd like.  My choices were: alfredo, marinara, or olive oil garlic.  Right there I should have changed my order.  But I didn't.  I said marinara and lived to regret it.  The marinara just covered up the taste of the fish.  I didn't really like it much.  I ate the fish out of it and ended up leaving the pasta.

Anna's carbonara was not the same as Cunnetto's.  She couldn't really describe why she didn't like it.  I know neither of us was used to fresh made pasta, but that was just different, not bad.  Anna LOVES pasta and to see her not like some kind of pasta dish is unusual.

Mike has determined he doesn't like wood fired pizzas.  He likes pizza oven pizzas.  When a pizza comes and has a lot of "char" on it (on the top and/or the bottom) he doesn't like that.  I know some people LOVE that...he doesn't.  So, Antonino's pizza has char.  The crust is also a little thicker than he likes it.  So, this was a no for pizza for him.  Of course we brought the leftovers home and are eating them for lunch, but we don't need to go back.  

I don't know if it is just personal preference, but we don't have any desire to return to Antonino's, yet they keep getting REALLY high ratings on TripAdvisor and Yelp.  People love them.  I say...good for them, but we will keep looking.