Bloomington/Normal Day 2: Destihl

So, Destihl is this brewery/restaurant that had told us the previous day that they only take reservations.  So, I we made reservations and when we got there, we still had to wait for a table.  I'm sure there is a Jerry Seinfeld episode about the purpose of having a reservation and this always reminds me of that.  When I worked at a restaurant and I heard that we had a reservation coming in an hour or even coming at a certain time, I quickly went into action putting a table together.  Under my supervision, I never had a reserved table wait.  I'm not saying wait a few minutes or wait longer, but I mean that the party would come in, tell me their name and their reservation and I would sit them: that easy. 

So, this place does what Schlafly does, for example.  They have a brewery/restaurant combo.  We sat down, ordered our food and was stuck in the curse of slow food and service, which we have been experiencing the whole trip so far then.  So, besides the slow service, what did we get?  The first item was deep fried bacon, tempura style.

Crispy crunchy fried batter on maple bacon.  A 3 out of 5 stars.

I ordered one of their signature dishes: Thai Fried Chicken.

It was a drumstick and breast piece, fried lightly with a thin coating and covered in these Thai flavors, like the flavors in a Phad Thai noodle dish.  It was a 3 out of 5 stars.

So, it was an okay place, not very child friendly and if you are hungry and you want to order, get a beer and get food within 30-40 minutes, then this isn't the place for you.  We also happened to seat in "Spot A" as I had mentioned earlier.

DESTIHL® - Opened November 2007
318 S. Towanda Avenue 
Normal, IL 61761 
P: 309-862-2337  F: 866-381-0349

Let's make bacon!

I can't help it, the Simpson phenomenon has entered my mind and set up shop as references involving Homer Simpson abound.

(Lisa) “I’m going to become a vegetarian”
(Homer) “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?”
(Lisa) “Yes”
(Homer) “Bacon?”
(Lisa) “Yes Dad”
(Homer) "Ham?”
(Lisa) “Dad all those meats come from the same animal”
(Homer) “Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!”"

Homer is right though, the idea that bacon, ham, and so many other parts come from the same animal not only dances on the line of a mythical and magical animal but also shows the state of human ingenuity as we can eat just about every part of the animal (more-so if you are Andrew Zimmern).

My favorite part of pork, is in fact bacon.  I thought I would try making some.  After being inspired by Chef Robert Sills, I thought I would get some pork belly and try it out.  So, I spontaneously stopped into Matekers Meats, near Tesson Ferry Road, and asked if they had any bacon that was nitrite free.  They didn't have any but suggested to me that I get pork belly.  So, they gave me a good deal and I went home with 1 &1/2 pounds of pork belly.  But, what should I do with it?  Well...

So, the first one was for a maple brown sugar type of bacon: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/maple-cured-bacon.html .

I went ahead and did the marinate, where I didn't have any pink curing salt and instead just used regular Kosher salt.  After 7 days in the refrigerator, 250 degrees and 2 hours later, I then put them back in the oven at 350 degrees and cooked them up nice and good. Also, of note: I sprinkled some pure, unbleached, sugar on them before they finished cooking.

Next, what was I doing with the other side?  Korean style: http://seoulfuladventures.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/makin-bacon/ 

I will say that after I followed pretty much the same steps as the first batch of bacon, I noticed that it didn't really have a taste of anything other than the soy sauce. I wanted it to have a really bold Korean chili powder flavor, like the Korean chili powder that my brother-in-law's wife brought me, from Korea.  Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, it really didn't have as good as a flavor as the maple one did.

 I think if I do it again, the maple ones will cure in salty maple syrup and brown sugar; large amounts of both.  As for the Korean one, a lot more chili powder.  I did like that it didn't taste like store-bought bacon.  My made at home bacon still tasted like pork, which is something so unusual, because store-bought bacon tastes nothing like pork.  Anyhow, if you are looking to make your own bacon, give it a try on either of those links.

 

A new season at Farmhaus

What is really good for me, when it comes to writing about Farmhaus, is that they change their menu so much that every time I have gone there, they have a different menu.  Things that are locally found change throughout the weather patterns and the seasons so everything is new and different.  My wife and I went to Farmhaus this past Friday night.  We thought that we would enjoy our Black Friday out while the rest of the world was still shopping.

Farmhouse had a special tasting menu and with some seafood items on the menu, my wife grabbed that as I went ahead and ordered two larger plates from the regular menu.

So, she started her's with a little chef's tasting of a little corn cake with some yummy things on it: like shaved foie gras.

She then had a dish which was potatoes, mushrooms, foamed up eggs and caviar.  

Then the next dish in her tasting list was a sun choke soup with mushrooms on top.

She then had the Bay Scallop Gratin.

Next came a pork loin, with apples and greens and a mustard sauce.

That was all finished with a plate with a piece of chocolate cake and a piece of a coffee flavored cake with little flavors that added up to a Bourbon stout.

Here is how you can judge if the food is good enough for my wife: if she eats all of it or as much as she can. My wife is on a diet and if she eats the food and loves every bite of it and is willing to come back, then you know it has to be good.

What did I get?  I ordered the Porchetta dish.  It is done in a Korean style with home-made kimchi.  The pork belly is sliced thick and cooked tender so it has that looks and smell and taste of bacon and goes so well with the warm puffy pancake like buns.  I like this at a 4 out of 5 stars.

I finished with the bacon meatloaf, which may not seem so great at first, but they slice off these big chunks of meatloaf and then wrap them in bacon, like a Filet Mignon.  There wasn't a dry part in the whole dish.   The yellow potato mash was good at sucking up excess sauce giving it more flavor.  The crunchy onions went well with the tiny pearl onions and everything just went well together.  I'd say a good 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5 on this one.

Overall, if you haven't been to Farmhaus this season, please check them out and enjoy what you can.

http://farmhausrestaurant.com/

Catching up is fun to do

While wanting to write about everything I see and taste, sometimes there isn't enough to write a whole article about.  So, I like to come up with these little bits where I have a few things in one.  First off, a few weeks ago my wife and family and I got a chance to try out a newer restaurant in Kirkwood called Crushed Red Pepper.  The place took up the spot where the San Sai restaurant used to be.  The restaurant lets you go inside and order your own personal pizza, and then you customize it and they make it and deliver it to your table.  Well, they did make some good pizzas.  I think it will work well as a nice restaurant but there was only one problem: the woman, taking my order, behind the computer, entered things in that never made it to my plate.  For example, my pizza originally on the menu had Gorgonzola cheese on it: which I do not like. So, I asked her if I could replace that cheese with another.  It was all approved by her and when she read it back to us, everything sounded correct.  But it was not delivered correctly.  There is no communication between the person taking the orders and the people filling them out.  My wife could have told the cashier that she didn't want anything to eat and then told the two guys making the salads that she ordered something and they would have made it.  So, food was good but the service was just okay.  I'd give this food and the restaurant a 3 out of 5.

Next, last Thursday we had gone to a Crazy Bowls and Wraps restaurant on Tesson Ferry, near the hospital. I had ordered a big bowl of items and chicken, my wife ordered a bowl and my kids both wanted some plain noodles.  I noticed that on the menu, on the wall, it mentioned that you could get noodles as one of your starch options.  So, we thought, that we could get chicken and noodles and everyone would be happy. That was not the case.  The man at the cash register/computer told us that the option of just noodles and chicken was not possible.  The manager came over and said "oh yeah, we can do that."  Then he stepped away and the cashier told us again, "we don't do that."  How lovely.  So, we get our food after a bit and we all try it.  I have to say, that I have never, ever tasted anything so plain and bland.  My food, as well as my wife's and my kids, was so bland, it was as if they just took fresh or steamed vegetables and threw them in a bowl with some plain rice.  I mean, it was bad.  It was actually so bad, that we all thought of and talked of leaving and going a block away to St. Louis Bread Co., and eating our fill.  My kids didn't like it, I was having an open mind and I didn't like, it was just so bland.  I'd have to give the food and service a 1 out of 5.

Now, something that was really good, was my bacon and egg which I had at a store in the Ozarks.

What I had purchased, from this candy store, was a milk chocolate covered bacon strip with a white chocolate 'egg'.  The white chocolate egg was hard as it was about a half of an inch thick of solid white chocolate.  The chocolate covered bacon is always a quick favorite.  With every bite, you taste the smoke, the salt, the pork fat and then you taste the sugar and chocolate.  It is a match made in heaven like rosemary and bread or peanut butter and bananas.  It was awesome and was like a 4 out of 5 stars.

Back to Fired UP! (BBQ Food Porn)

Last week, I had to run to the Ozarks for business and as such, only had one hour to eat lunch.  Where did I go?  Fired UP!  I haven't been to Fired Up in a few months and thought it was a good trip to see if anything had changed.  What was interesting, was that our server told us that there is a new, huge menu, coming out.  The new menu isn't just because it is summer time, but also because the restaurant is growing.  Good for them.

So, what should I get?  Fire Up is know for the smoker and BBQ, but if their other food was just as good?  "What if, their burgers were as good as their BBQ", I wondered.  Well, that is what I had ordered.  One of the guys I was with ordered the one pound of smoked sausage and that came out on a nice new plate.  No more plastic baskets here.

So, of course, this was delicious and we get it every time, or at least this time and last time.  If you like smoked sausage, a bit on the spicy side and cut on the bias for the best bite, then this is for you.  This is an easy 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5, so eat it up as it is Very good.

Now, what I had ordered next, just for me, I gave a 4 out of 5.  It is awesome, as in, go and try it at all costs.  I ordered a burger, I think it was called the Smokehouse Burger.  I then picked my usual sides of potatoes dripping in melted butter and cornbread.  The burger was a 1/4 pound burger, and was likely cooked and then placed in a smoker, because it did have a smoke ring around it.

This burger is freakin' delicious.  You want to see what makes it so good?

When you take the top bun off, you see this.  What is this?  That is chopped, smoked, bacon.  The burger, besides being perfectly seasoned and cooked perfectly, and smokey, has bacon all over the top of it.  How could you not want this?  Is your mouth watering yet?  Every bite was smack fun of smokey flavor, and then bacon goodness and then that perfectly salty burger.  Not overly salty, but enough salt that makes you realize that it is tasty beef, like how a good steak has a good amount of salt or how a good loaf of bread has some tasty sea salt on top.  The bacon was smokey, just that slight bit of crunch needed and then tender, not quite crispy or crunchy but almost.  The burger was heavenly.

So, make sure you go there, before they get too busy:

You can see them on Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/FUTAPHOUSE/info

Iron Chef America (duh, duh, duhhhhhhh)

I admit it, I am a fan of the show, even though it isn't the same as the original and is way too easy now.  By easy I mean that instead of the chefs having no idea what the secret ingredient could be they have to think for anything and instead of making one dish of each kind in that hour time, they have to make enough dishes for each judge at that time.  It takes a lot more time to make 20 plates of food than to make 5 plates of food.  Also, they reveal that on Iron Chef America, the chefs are told that there are three possibilities for what the secret ingredient could be, so they prepare for all three.  I remember the old show having no clue as to what it could be.  I think one time the secret ingredient was cheese and one time it is wine and it was difficult.  I also hoped that Iron Chef America would have foods that are more native to the country.  But anyway, I could go off all day complaining about the show, even though I do watch it.

What I also watched was The Next Iron Chef: Redemption, where they took everyone who didn't make it to one of the Next Iron Chef shows and asked them to compete again for the prize of being the next Iron Chef.  The show was interesting as they had a theme for each episode and tried to make dishes tied to that theme, like invention or inspiration.  Anyhow, you start with a load of really good chefs and then weed it down to the chefs that will make good TV.  What you had was 10 really good chefs, all celebrity chefs, all owners of multiple restaurants and all probably doing well; financially.  Then you say, "hey, win this and you will have some extra work to do but will gain fame and some bonus bucks."  Then you have a "Top Chef" knock-off called the Next Iron Chef, where chefs can compete to be an Iron Chef.  Again, my main issue with this is: if you have 10 Iron Chefs, and you can find new ones every year, then the chefs really are not that good.  In the original series show, you had 4 chefs who beat everyone.  They didn't get a new chef each year, they stuck with these and they beat everyone.  Look it up: there are now 10 Iron Chefs for Iron Chef America.  That is a lot of chefs.  I guess at this point, in order to keep the franchise going, they will get a new chef every year forever.

So, Alex Guarnaschelli wins to the dismay of a lot of people and takes the mantle as Iron Chef.  Her first battle, is mortadella.  http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2012/12/chef-guarnaschellis-first-iron-chef-america-showdown/   

Mortadella is a sausage, made from pork, with huge cubes of pork fat.  It is like a fatty bologna and has Italian origin.   The sausage was basically used by the ancient Romans, which indicates that it is an old recipe.  That picture is not of small people either.  The sausage links are huge.  I know this because on Friday, we went to a Schnucks and purchased some slices to make sandwiches.

Yes, this is real and not a fake ruler.  This is a slice of Mortadella, with pistachios, that is about 7 & 1/2 inches in diameter.  It is huge.  I was able to tear off a quarter and tried to fry it in a pan and treat it like a better bologna.

What you have here, is something that tastes like the best bologna, but with huge pieces of pork fat.  In this case, the fat squares that were white originally, had cooked and turned clear.   Then the sides and the fat started to render further and get crispy.  What finished was something that tastes like fried bologna with a slice of bacon on it.  I forget how much it was, for the quarter pound that we picked up, but so far, this is definitely worth it.  I recommend looking for this and eating this and buying this, if you can find it.

Cake time.

I thought I would do something different and decided to make some cakes.  The first is a lime cake.  I used real, freshly squeezed lime juice and lime zest, baked into the cake and for the icing.  All sugar free.

While this was both tart and sweet like the perfect limes, I wanted something a bit more.....different.

I reached into my container of bacon fat and used two tablespoons worth in a cake batter, producing a maple and bacon cake.  

Well, both of these turned out great and while both were also sugar free, both still didn't taste like reduced calorie cakes.  If you are interested in any of these recipes, let me know.

Its a weed! Kill it!

Yes, it is a weed now, but maybe 50 years ago or even 60 years ago, the Dandelion was grown for culinary use.  They are thought to have evolved into their present state 30 million years ago and most of the world has always used them as food and as an herb.

Now, what can you do with them?  Well, you treat it like any other green, like spinach, mustard, or collard.  In this bunch, I did two things.  First off, I boiled them all in water for about 15 minutes, to make them as tender and cooked spinach.  Still a bit crisp.  Then I took the first handful and added it to a hot pan that already had some garlic and oil in it.  I added some red pepper flakes and came out with a spicy and tangy dish.

I then took the next batch, the last of the greens, and threw them in a pan, that had already some black forest bacon, onions and garlic cooking in it.  I sauteed the greens with everything and even included some extra greens, some frisee'.  I then plopped it all on plate where I took that coveted bacon grease and made me a quick dressing with some red wine vinegar.  The dish was super tasty as the acid from the bacon grease went well with the tangy dandelion greens. 

 

For anyone that may be interested in any recipes or ideas, please let me know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum

Food porn part 3

Bacon, bacon, bacon.  Homer Simpson would agree with me that there is no way that there is a magical animal that gives us ham, pork chops and bacon all at once!  I am a fan of bacon and here we have a picture of candied bacon.  It looks like they covered bacon with brown sugar before cooking it.

 

http://www.baconbabble.com/index.php/2009/09/25/candied-bacon/

A lot of people love chocolate.  Some people love the taste and the flavor and others take their obsession to new heights and LOVE chocolate. I know at some spas, like Mist Spa, they even have a chocolate massage.  From their website: "Feed your skin with your choice of four delicious flavors of chocolate oils: Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate Mint, or Chocolate Cake. Your first treatment is a Chocolate facial, using Eminence Chocolate Mousse hydrating masque and moisturizers. Next, our therapist will give you a one hour massage using the chocolate oil of your choice. Following your massage, you will move to our exclusive Oceana spa capsule where you will enjoy a Chocolate Oil Salt Glow Exfoliation. Then, chocolate oil is mixed with Moor Mud for a detoxifying and hydrating 30 minute session in the Oceana. To complete the experience, Chocolate Oil is lightly massaged over your body so you can enjoy the flavors for hours."

 
Whether you want to wear it:

http://oygirl.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/chocolate-shoes/

or eat it:

http://www.newsandreviews.in/index.php/KnowNow/?title=eat-chocolate-improve-your-maths&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Chocolate is a wonderful thing to have.  Dark chocolate has been shown to be good for you, containing certain antioxidants that help rid your body of free radicals and toxins.

Butter is one of the most natural fats that is actually good for you as well and the best for cooking.  Don't let people fool you.  It adds a flavoring that nothing else can replace and in the long run is better for your body than other oils.  It is a natural dairy fat and things from nature are the best.  By the way, who doesn't like butter?  Here we have a statue of butter, a life-size Marilyn Monroe statue of pure butter.

http://echostains.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/melt-in-the-mouth-sculpture/

 

 

So, these are examples of my idea of food porn.  What do you like?

A battle with the Devil...

Just earlier this week, a friend of mine had met the Devil and it had placed upon my friend the most ultimate sin: he didn't like bacon anymore.  What fool what sorcery is that in which a human could be stripped of that God-given love of the most heavenly of all foods: bacon?  How can one lose the taste for bacon?  Bacon is what makes the world go round and probably 4 our of 5 people would rather take a freshly and perfectly cooked pound of bacon over $100.  So, how did it happen?

My friend picked these up before a trip and had one.  They are the worst tasting things and if they were meant to taste like bacon, then they were likely designed by PETA to prevent people from eating more pork products.  They took one of the defining flavors of bacon: the smokiness, and made a candy out of it.  I tried one and spit it out.  It tasted like I put a BBQ charcoal in my mouth.  I tasted pure smoke and char and nothing that would even remotely strike me to swallow the bean.

My friend was put off and didn't want anything to do with bacon so I pulled out my secret recipe: bacon brownies.  What was that?  Wait, you mean regular chocolate brownies with bacon?  No, I mean bacon brownies.  I did these before and are easily accomplished with just a tad bit of molecular gastronomy.

So, you cook the bacon and render the fat out, then add the fat with some things and make some brownies.  They lightly taste like bacon and sugar and vanilla and are perfect. 

The result: my friend said that the brownies may have turned him good again, in that he would soon be able to eat a couple of them, had he not eaten any of those beans.  Likely though, I think he said over time, he could enjoy bacon more, if it tasted nothing like the candy and more sweet.  I did my good deed for the week.

A short allegorical and metaphorical view of molecular gastronomy....

Wow, that title did it didn't it?  I'm sure if you told others what you were reading they would think you are super smart and you are because you are reading my blog.  Some people don't know what I do when I tell the about molecular gastronomy and a good way that I can describe it is this: when you go driving and you see some one's license plate that has a strange saying on it, you try to figure it out but sometimes it is difficult.  So you see a plate that says something like:

PRPLHRT

What could that be?  Well, if you play around with it, prep, preple, preplert?  Well, I made it to say "purple heart".  Do you see it now?

I think of this being a metaphor to molecular gastronomy because with the molecular gastronomy, you some are basically making something of different components that when together may not resemble but work just like the inspiration.  For instance: do you like BLT's?  What if you were offered a plate with two pieces of white toast, with mayo on the sides, a thick and juicy tomato, a crisp piece of lettuce and a few strips of bacon?  That is the traditional view of the BLT.  My take on molecular gastronomy has to do with the science of cooking a BLT and then challenges me to make something that tastes like that sandwich, but to me completely different.  My idea was to have an Asian soup spoon and inside of it place some bread crumbs.  On top of the bread crumbs would be some powdered bacon, then some lettuce foam and on top of the foam would be some tomato caviar.  Should it would look a lot different, but with each bite, you would taste something that tastes juts like a BLT sandwich.  That is molecular gastronomy to me.

So, try to do something different or make some sort of food different.  Make something that tastes the same but looks and feels different.

An ode to Mr. Bourdain...

Many chefs, like Mr. Anthony Bourdain have said that everything tastes better with bacon, and he is correct in that statement.  While thinking upon an idea like that, new ideas fill my head.  Through the theories of molecular gastronomy, one is able to change and alter the texture of our already beloved food items.  In this case, what I did was alter the texture of one of my favorite food items and then do something new with it.

All over the Internet, bacon lovers race to get their recipe of bacon brownies out first, to be the one who invented the bacon brownie, before all else.  The problem is that many of these people make regular chocolate brownies and then add bacon to them.  In that case, it is not a bacon brownie, but a bacon/chocolate brownies.  I wanted to do something different and make pure bacon brownies.

Using about a cup of maltidextrin, I was able to powder some bacon grease and then add it in the brownies batter instead of the cocoa powder and the vanilla extract.  What came out, when finished, were sweet sugary brownies that had an aftertaste of bacon.  Even though I had little pieces of bacon crumbled and mixed in, the sugar still took over with the absence of a strong sour flavor and made the whole thing sweet.

What was pulled out of the oven, was this.  It was a perfectly cooked and textured brownie, but with a hint of bacon within its sugary cell.  People loved it as it tasted like bacon while others just stared at it while eating and muttering the word "interesting".

Mr. Bourdain, wherever you are, or whoever wants to try this for yourself, let me know.

Back to the Stables...

When I review a restaurant, it is impossible for me to test everything on the menu.  I do not make much money at my day-to-day job so I cannot afford to go to a great place like The Stable and order 10 dishes for myself. So, if I am not with a large group of people, I have to go back to a previous location. Going back serves two purposes: first, it allows me to try something new and different and secondly, it allows me to track any changes the restaurant has made, be them good or bad.  This  past Friday, I gathered some friends and foodies and went on a return trip to The Stable.

 People have read my past blog and have started to go to the Stable and I have been asking what they have ordered and what they would recommend. A friend of mine suggested the house beer and the gumbo. Now, I did order the house beer and it was awesome, and of course a basket of bacon was ordered, and then the gumbo.  A fellow foodie and I were very disappointed in this gumbo to the point where I was unable to finish mine. From their menu, the Sicilian Gumbo has salsiccia, shrimp, fava beans, roasted peppers, ground beef and risotto.  While that description sounds good, that is what both of us hoped for. The first bite, was not a very good impression, however. My first scoopful of gumbo, and every bite thereafter, tasted like tomatoes and vinegar. It was a strong, sour taste that I was not looking forward to as I attempted to find those other ingredients in my cup.  I admit that it wasn't the best photo above, but it is enlarged to show that the items listed, were not in my gumbo.  It tasted like someone made a quick tomato sauce for pasta and placed it in a cup. There was ground beef, tomatoes, and a single slice of sausage.  There was no beans, no shrimp, no pepper, and not a single grain of risotto.  I kept talking with my friend, asking him if he has anything in his and he didn't find anything.  Every bit to him tasted like vinegar and with me only have taken 6 or 7 bites, I called it quits.  In my book, that cup of gumbo, read, in the menu as something very tasty, but what we were given, gets about 1 star out of 5.

On the upside, what The Stable really shines at is the variety of their Chef, whether he was in control of our gumbo/vinegar soup, we do not know, but the rest of the food was delicious. The Stable has an entree', so strange and unusual that my friend and I had to order it.  We decided on the Plate of Food. This entree', says that it is the Chef's selection, changes by the minute, changes by the hour, we don't know, $8.95 and no refunds. How much more manly can you get by having a beer, a basket of bacon and a plate of food. This wild card item was ordered by both of us, within a few seconds of each other and ideas began to fill our heads about what it could be.  What was more interesting was the thought that the Plate of Food could be two separate dishes and each of us would receive a completely different dish. Think of the possibilities and in particular, think of how many different possible dishes the chef could create and piece together.  If the chef has the components for every one of his regular dishes, in house, then would else could he have for the Plate of Food?  Are you ready....?

My food turned out to be a giant plate of two large slabs of a spicy meatloaf, a heaping scoop of a red skinned, cheesy mashed potatoes and a side of steamed broccoli.  The potatoes were creamy and rich, the meatloaf had a spice to them that was enhanced and brought upon by some extra richness in the gravy, and the broccoli had a dash of butter on them. My dish was a 4 out of 5.

 

My friend's dish came out as a breast and leg of an herbed, baked chicken, some mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli as well. I think he gave his meal a good 4 out of 5 as well.

The moral of the story, live dangerous, take a risk, and try the Plate of Food.

The horse before the cart

I am like every other German American guy in St. Louis, in that I love pork, beer and sausage. It is something that gets into your genes when you live within the St. Louis area. Almost everyone has seen or eaten some sort of sausage or pork product at almost every BBQ or family event. Beer makes the world go around and when what is probably the largest North American brewery is in your hometown, then beer is definitely part of your life.

Just this past Saturday, I attended a meal at a not so well known spot in St. Louis, called The Stable. This location would be classified as historic as it was the same stable that housed the draft horses that pulled Lemp Fallstaff beer around town, as the Lemp Brewery is right across the street. This was my first time hearing of and going to the Stable and I was very happy that I did. The inside has a high ceiling, plenty of ceiling and a host that will great you immediately and sit you rather quickly. They have smaller 2-top tables for dates and can even make larger tables for 20 or more. The restaurant is decorated with some simple things from the time, like the ol'fashioned chandeliers that resemble wagon wheels, hanging from the ceiling and many things hanging on the wall from the time period. The bar is made from a huge wooden mantle piece and there are two small rooms adjacent to each other that have a distillery for making their own alcohol and beers.

I sat down and was prepared to carefully peruse the menu until something caught my eye: basket of bacon. It was a Starter and it was $5.95 and it was a basket of bacon. How sweet does that sound? Had the food gods noticed my love for food pork and have delivered sacred mana bacon from heaven? What better can you get for a lover of pork products than bacon? Without thinking and acting as if through divine inspiration, I ordered that starter, along with one of their home brewed Marzens. After a few minutes, the basket arrived. The bacon was perfectly cooked for the way I like it. It wasn't too crispy, but still a bit soft and flimsy, perfectly done. It was set in a small basket, lined with some wax paper and the 8 strips were arranged in set a way that the grease would run down and collect in a pool in the bottom of the basket. The bacon, tasted like bacon: no maple syrup, no pepper, no spiciness, no smoked anything, just bacony goodness in a perfect multi-note dish of all bacon. Mmmmmmm..... an easy 4 stars out of 5 for all bacon.

I then received the butternut squash ravioli with a white bean ragout and it arrived shortly after the bacon. The ravioli were perfectly cooked with a filling that was almost too sweet for a savory dish. Unless that was their evil plan. I wonder if it was their plan to pair the sweetness of the pasta with the savoriness of the stew, underneath. With white beans and shaved vegetables it was in a nice salty broth that pulled the whole thing together. Don't get me wrong that the ravioli were very delicious but I just wasn't sure that it went perfectly well with what it was sitting on. 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for me.

The last dish I had was the Cajun sandwich, which was a hoagie roll with andouille, shrimp, a sauce with a side of pasta salad. The pasta salad was your normal cold pasta salad, that I am always a fan of but it was the sausage in the sandwich that was notable. Much like Anton Ego, I almost dropped everything I was holding when I tasted the sausage in that sandwich. It instantly teleported me to a camping trip from my childhood when my father would gather sausage from a meat market and bring it and cook it over an open fire, in the woods. The flavors reminded me exactly of that childhood meal and I could almost feel everything melt around me and transport me directly to that same wooded area, sitting in front of that fire and eating that sausage. I was in shock at the perfect balance of flavors and spices a thought for a brief moment that it wasn't real. It worked perfectly with the sauce, cheese, shrimp and bread as everything came together to fulfil a taste that was almost, no... better than the basket of bacon. Whereas I normally try to train my palette for as many things as I can to help distinguish between foods for my star ratings, this sandwich gets my top score of a 5 out of 5.

For anyone looking for a nice night out with some great food that is in the St. Louis area, I highly recommend the Stable. along with their 24 beers on tap and their 50 bottles that they house as well, it is a perfect beer lovers place, if you are not into sausage or bacon.