Paul Manno's 10-16-2021

 We went to Paul Manno's with our best friends Tim and Vicki who were visiting from Minneapolis.  We know that there are very good places to get Italian on The Hill, but if you want to go out "nice" this is a great place.  It is smaller, quieter and more intimate.  The room is dim and the waiter was superb.  

When I called for a reservation they told me that they had one for 5 p.m. or 8:30.  So, we chose 5.  It is a good thing we did, because we were there until 8!

We started with a cocktail and appetizers.  For the appetizer we had the cold antipasto plate.  It was fine...salami, prosciutto, a hard cheese, a couple soft cheeses and some pickled veg in the middle with a very syrupy balsamic vinegar drizzled over it.  It was a nice start.   

We asked that a bottle of Chianti be opened to serve with dinner.  Vicki and I ordered soup (pasta fagioli) while time and Mike had house salads.  The soup was yummy.  

For dinner Mike had veal parm, Tim made up his own order (he wanted a linguini with a Bolognese meat sauce mixed with a cream sauce).  They happily accommodated and suggested he add some additional protein...he added chicken.  It ended up being very good.   Vicki ordered the seafood linguini (without clams...not her fav).  I had eggplant rigatoni.  Vicki really liked hers.  It did look better than mine.  I guess I just didn't think my dish through.  I expected a slab of fried eggplant with some rigatoni.  What I got was rigatoni mixed in sauce with some diced and fried eggplant mixed in.  It was just not enough eggplant for my liking.  It wasn't their fault.  I was think of an eggplant parm type of dish...they were thinking of a rigatoni dish that happened to have some eggplant in it.

We just had the best waiter.  He was super helpful and just kept sweeping by and looking over the table but not actually bothering us.  He took plates and poured more wine (2 bottles) as needed, but was not overly intrusive.  He allowed us to have some good hours talking.  

For dessert we ordered every dessert they had except the cheesecake, as our waiter said it wasn't make in house.  There was tiramisu, and chocolate cake (but I can't remember the 3rd thing).  They also brought a frozen chocolate drink from the bar in a martini glass that we shared that had a name like a "flying squirrel" or something like that.  

It was a wonderful 3 hour meal with wonderful service.  We had a "wonderful" time.  

The Scrambler House in O'Fallon 10-10-2021

 Hey, there's a place that has been packing them in for breakfast for quite awhile now (couple of years) and I only figured it out because the parking lot is so full of cars every weekend morning.  It is called the Scrambler House and it is right by my school in O'Fallon, MO.

Mike and I went on Sunday morning.  It is a busy place.  We arrived before 9 and had a 20 minute wait.  While we were eating I heard the wait get up to 35-40 minutes.  It is a basic breakfast/lunch place.  Mike and I both got the Double Up.  It has 2 eggs, 2 pieces of meat (sausage/bacon), hash browns, and 2 pancakes or 2 pieces of French Toast. 

The food was good.  Mike said it is hard to screw up breakfast, but we've all seen that done before (greasy eggs, overly done potatoes, floppy bacon).  This didn't do any of those things.  The food was good and done well.  

We did have quite a wait for our food and it was quite cool in the restaurant (but remember, Mike and I are getting old and are cold all the time anymore).  

The service was good and it was nice to try a new breakfast place so close to home.

If you want breakfast (they also do burgers and sandwiches for lunch), give it a try.

Carnivore 10-2-2021

 I know "The Hill" is known for great Italian restaurants, but what about a steakhouse??  We decided to give it a try.  Carnivore had barely gotten their feet wet as a restaurant when the pandemic hit.  The fact that they are still open boded well in my book.

We did begin with a bit of a hiccup.  There were a bunch of open tables outside when we arrived, but as we age, Mike and I both get cold easily, so we wanted to sit inside.  We had reservations at 6.  When we arrived the seating hostess sat us as a table for 4 that was RIGHT by the exit.  Mike didn't like it and asked to be moved further into the room.  They accommodated, but then they sat us at a VERY small table for two.  I am sure it is difficult to distinguish between diners.  We don't look any different than the mother and tween aged son who sat at a table four near us.  The problem is...there is a difference.  We are here to be diners.  We will order cocktails and an appetizer.  We will get a bottle of wine to share with dinner.  We will probably box up some of our dinner so we can have dessert and coffee.  We are hear for the long-haul.  We need a table that can accommodate all of that.  I can't really fault them...but Mike does.

Now...back to the food.  We started with cocktails.  I tried a strawberry and limoncello martini.  It was good, but still a little too sweet for my taste.  Mike had his standard gin and tonic with lime. 

We ordered the arancini appetizer.  This was the very first food we ever ate when we arrived in Italy and it has always held a special place in our hearts.  They usually have meat and peas in the inside of the fried saffron rice balls.  These had melted cheese in the center.  They were different, but they were still good.  Mike (who was still in a bit of a tiff over the table) commented how he didn't like that appetizers often come in odd numbers when they are often shared by 2 people.  I remember hearing on a food network show that presentations of food should always be in odd numbers as it is more pleasing to the eye.  I don't know if I think that is true...but when the arancini came...there were 3.

Our server was very nice and attentive.  We asked her to open a bottle of cabernet.  It was good and not too expensive. 

For dinner I ordered the lobster risotto.  It was creamy and yummy.  I was surprised that it was spicy.  I like spicy food, but I think it would have been almost too spicy for some people.  It was spicy enough that the lobster taste was somewhat lost...and that's a bummer.  

Mike ordered the filet.  The menu talked about Modiga sauce.  He asked our server.  She said it was super yummy, but it was a mushroom sauce.  Mike decided to get it and pick out the mushrooms (which I ate.  Our server also talked him into getting the carnivore potatoes...loaded (with sour cream, bacon and diced jalepenos).  Mike REALLY liked the steak.  He gave them big compliments on their steak grilling, but he didn't like the potatoes at all.  He wished he had gotten a regular baked potato...loaded.  These were small whole potatoes and all the toppings melted and slid right off.    

After dinner, Mike asked about cappucino, which they did not have (often Italian restaurants do).  We split a chocolate cake.  It was not really a lava cake and it wasn't super great...just a bite of sweet at the end of a meal.

Overall, I'd say the food was good.  I wouldn't worry about the desserts.  Next time go somewhere else for dessert.  But if you want good steak and you are near The Hill, this place is worth a try

 

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.  

La Bonne Bouchee Bakery in Creve Couer 8-28-2021

 For years Mike has thought that St. Louis needed more dessert spots that are open in the evening.  One of our favorite things to do is go to Farrara's bakery in NYC after a Broadway show or after an evening meal.  So many of the bakeries in St. Louis close after lunch.  St. Louis Baking Co. on the Hill has a wonderful array of cakes, pastries and cookies.  But they close most days at 4 p.m.  

After going to One 19 North Tapas in Kirkwood, I googled for someplace to go for dessert.  Happily we were led to La Bonne Bouchee Bakery in Creve Couer.  I can't believe we've never been here before.  It is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.  Almost as long as Mike and I have lived in the St. Louis area.  

I looked it up (for you, like me, who don't speak French).  The name means...the good mouth.

They are a full-fledged restaurant with a French theme.  They do soups, sandwiches, quiche, and best of all...desserts.  I think are open as a restaurant most of the day, and then after dinner, they just serve desserts.  The restaurant part was closed when we arrived...around 8:30 p.m.

Their dessert cases are vast.  I didn't take a ton of photos...just look on Yelp.com!  They have dozens of kinds of macrons (I only learned this summer the difference between the macron and the macaroon). 

Mike ordered a chocolate éclair and I got a blueberry tart.  Mike also had a cappuccino.  We sat outside in their outdoor garden area and had a nice end to our evening.  

   

I KNOW this is some place we will return to.  Now that I know it is there, I think I want to try it for lunch/dinner, too.