St. Louis Eats and Drinks With Joe and Ann Pollack

Hospital Food

Those of you who know me beyond the world of food know I spent - well, cough, cough, many years working in hospitals and know well the slings and arrows of cafeteria food. I delivered trays to patients, and shared potluck parties with staff on holidays.

 And while I admit to nostalgia for the brownies and warm doughnuts served at the old Barnes cafeteria - and this goes back to the years of bouffant hairdos - it's mostly been not such a great experience. Finally, things are beginning to change. I went out to Mercy Hospital, what most of St. Louis still calls St. John's Mercy, not long ago, ate fish tacos, toured the cafeteria and looked at menus. It's a brave new world.

http://www.stlmag.com/Blogs/Relish/March-2013/Hospital-Food-On-the-Mend/

From Stove to Keyboard

"I got a million of 'em," Jimmy Durante used to say. Richard Perry probably does, too, when it comes to stories. But St. Louis' first nationally recognized chef and pioneer of the New American cuisine isn't telling his own stories, but another, in a novel about a chef - of course - who finds himself running a hotel. It's a mystery, it's not finished, but in the meantime, there's a website with some of the work.

You can find it at www.chefalexsleuth.com. It's up to you to see if there's anyone you think you can identify.

On Mince Pies

And so it came to pass that the holidays were upon us, and the foods thereof. In this piece from St. Louis Magazine's food blog Relish, I talk about mince pies and why they're misunderstood. Not making any this year, but maybe in 2014....

How Late Did You Stay Out?

St. Louis' fondness for nostalgia applies just as much to restaurants as it does to high schools, sports and goofy items on Facebook. Cleaning out Joe's office - and what a job that's proving to be - I found lots of interesting stuff, but one particularly caught my eye. It was a St. Louisan magazine cover story about late night dining, and it got me started thinking. 

Do folks pouring out of spots at 2 a.m. still feel like the world is theirs and they're really the cutting edge, not the slugs long abed, the way we did? Read the link.

Candy Is Dandy

Plenty of press releases cross the desk. Most of them get read and deleted. Some get filed, a few get responses. But once in a while, there's a giggler.

Such was the case a few days ago when a release for Mentos candy mints arrived. Specifically, it regarded Mentos Singapore and its new advertising campaign. Singapore has been concerned about its dwindling population for a number of years. Aside from a government that's known for worrying about chewing gum, it's a prosperous city-state and a paradise for eaters if they can take its climate, which, being about 85 mies north of the equator is, to be polite, warm and moist.

So Mentos has decided to mark Singapore's National Day, August 9, by encouraging a Mento, presumably to freshen the breath, on the Day's night, and kissing one's partner. Then, they go on, the kissing should proceed to, well, making a baby. Out of civic duty, of course. There's a You Tube music video (no photos, just the lyrics dancing around) that has some local Singaporean references, some obscure, like the one about the government's baby bounty, and others more comprehensible. For instance, dim sum fans may grin at the phrase "a bao in the oven", bao being a word for "bun".

I've heard of Pepsi babies, and Margaux Hemingway said her name referred to her being a Chateau Margaux baby. But Mentos babies? The video, by the way, mentions nothing about it, but its Facebook page puts, in small type, "financially secure adults in stable, committed long-term relationships".

Here's the Facebook link, and for just the video, here's the link for that.  Just watch out for strange guys offering you Mentos Wednesday evening.

Great ice Cream with Missouri Ties

One of the nice things about the Fancy Food Show was the chance to meet some of the people who produce delicious things that I really like. One of them was Jeni Bauer, of Columbus' Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. We blogged about them a couple of years ago, in fact. Here's a story from Relish about her and her St. Louis connections - and her ice cream, too.

Circus Flora: The Wizard

Circus Flora remains irresistible. Even in this age of reality television - and shouldn't that word have quotation marks surrounding it, indicating its dubious accuracy? - an even that brings spectators so close to living, breathing excitement is more than worthwhile.

This year's edition sparkles. Titled "The Wizard", the Arthurian theme allows for some splendid costumes, like those of Cecil MacKinnon, the narrator who plays Merlin himself. (I'd kill for that coat.) It also gives a little more framework for the story line than many of Flora's earlier works. And the sound system, blurry at first, cleared nicely before the end of the first half.

For those of us who are suckers for dog acts, Luciano's Pound Puppies kept necks swiveling, although it's hard to imagine the white standard poodle and the English bulldog could ever have been foundlings. The Flying Wallendas, fixtures at Flora for many years, return with familiar faces and their still-hypnotizing work on the high wire. Another constant and yet always-evolving group are the St. Louis Arches, the leaping, pyramiding, juggling kids who audiences have watched grow up and mentor the newest, smallest members.

Speaking of smallest, there are several things that makes Circus Flora a real family show. One is Nino, Giovanni Zoppe's endearing clown character, always creating shrieks of delight. Zoppe's new sidekick, his toddler son, is already a charmer, coached by dad and a happy young and tender ham. Another is the Bertini family, Dad, who also doubles as a chap wearing a snake, Mom and two daughters. The older one is able to join her parents on their unicycles; the younger one, wearing a blonde wig and a wide grin, can't do much yet except gesture widely to thank the audience for appreciating her. Oh, and her family, too, of course. And then there's the exits. Every one is manned by a gaggle of circus folk both adult and not-adult, thanking the guests for coming, answering questions, and giving even more of a close-up of the circus fairy dust.

Several daylight performances for those who need to have proper bedtimes, and indeed, some morning performances of a shortened version for those who still need that afternoon nap. The adventurous should hope for ringside seats, the better to appreciate the horses thundering by in the final act; the more timorous may appreciate some distance. But everyone can appreciate Circus Flora.

 

Circus Flora

just east of Powell Hall

314-289-4040

www.circusflora.org 

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No way

Tickets: $10-$44

A Coming Attraction

Meeting up with an old pal at the Missouri Botanical Garden, this is what I was greeted with. He's not quite finished yet, and there are a couple of his siblings not quite so far along, but it's clear that the Lantern Festival is going to be something very exciting.

 

Farther along inside the Garden, we saw this pagoda, which is seemingly finished, and you can also watch from a distance as the Chinese artists do their thing in the west parking lot.

 

 

Read more about the festival here.

The Big Meal

William Grimes, who was for several years the restaurant critic for the New York Times, has left that beat. But not, to a certain degree, very far; in today's Times he has a story about "The Big Meal", a play that's set in a restaurant about three generations of a family's life. The foodish among us revel in such comparisons like restaurants and theater, which Grimes does,and you can read about it here.

And for a review, rather than Grimes' feature piece, here's Charles Isherwood's from March 22.

 

Changes to Facebook

 

In response to some people who were uncomfortable seeing Joe's face appearing on Fb with a blog post, I'm getting ready to switch things to my newly-created Facebook account. All postings will appear there as well as on St. Louis Eats and Drinks. I acknowledge that I haven't taken his name off the blog. In time, I imagine I will, but I'm sure readers will understand that it's difficult for me to do all this official obliterating.

So you can find me as Ann Lemons Pollack on Facebook, and we'll continue to meet there as well as on the blog.