St. Louis Eats and Drinks

Just a Bite: The Grill at The Ritz Carlton

 The rumblings heard from the direction of Clayton may have been at the Ritz Carlton. Changes are afoot in their restaurants. I went to a press meal at the Grill last week, and found several things worth remarking on.

Certainly I never thought I'd be nodding approvingly while eating a kale salad. Chic often doesn't do it for me, and kale often leaves eaters resembling cows with cuds. Tender, small-cut kale, goat cheese, almonds, heart of palm, an occasional strawberry and orange segment, all this with a citrus dressing - it sounds like something for The Ladies Who Lunch. But it was very good, and any sweetness was under absolutely strict control. I don't care for sweet salads, but I liked this. (When I said this aloud, another attendee replied, "I do like them, and I like this, too.)

Two entrees also were noteworthy, uncommonly tasty versions of menu warhorses. Salmon filets are gently hot-smoked and served with a smoked tomato coulis, a surprise to the tongue and a party to the palate.

The other entree was chicken. Let me preface this by saying that you haven't lived until you've heard a French chef, here the estimable Damien Faure, pronounce the words "beer can chicken". Yes. The chicken is moist and flavorful and the rub Faure has created is an assertive one. Here's hoping it doesn't get dumbed down lest it offend a very cautious diner.

They're throwing out the white tablecloths and encouraging people to order the way they want to - all appetizers, dessert first, just forget the fancy protocol.

And there's rumors of outside dining coming by next summer for the Ritz.

 

The Grill at The Ritz Carlton

100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton

314-863-6300

Website

Dinner Tues.-Sat.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No, but cigar lounge next door

Entrees: $26-$36

On London: Food and Otherwise

The single best thing I think I ate on the trip in May was an omelet Arnold Bennett at The Delaunay. Made with smoked haddock, plenty of cream and, combining two traditional versions of it, both hollandaise sauce and cheese, the whole thing glazed under the grill before it's served. I'd read about them for years, and passed up a chance for my favorite English breakfast, a kipper, to try one. Very rich, and I practically wept when I couldn't finish it all. The Delaunay is an elegant place near Covent Garden that does a booming breakfast business, and is so civilized, they provide newspapers. Excellent service, professional and welcoming.

London is expensive, and the dollar is currently pretty weak against the pound. We'll talk more about this in a bit when I offer a few bits on shopping, but while we're on the subject of breakfast, I had one at the Churchill Hyatt Regency near Marble Arch. They do a buffet for 30 pounds, which brings it in a few pennies over $50. No kippers there, I noticed, but plenty of nice Scottish salmon. Not nearly as large a variety as what one might find at their hotels in Asia, and mostly pretty ordinary stuff, good-to-excellent quality but little that was truly exciting. The single thing that absolutely sang was the hummus. That's right. The hotel has a large Middle Eastern clientele so the presence of it was no surprise. I have read about hummus that was described as silky, but I never came across it until the Churchill. I think part of the secret may be plenty of olive oil and tahini. Aside from the exquisite texture, the flavor was great, carefully seasoned and with the potential to be quite addictive.

The antidote to $50 breakfasts is, quite rightly, a fish and chip shop. Between Sloane Square, the entry to Chelsea, and Victoria Station, is The Friars Inn on Elizabeth Street. At the periphery of neighborhoods out of "Upstairs, Downstairs", it's a very simple little place, office worker clientele during the day, quieter at night. I repeat my advice of a few days ago not to get your fish and chips at a pub, especially one that's part of a chain. The Friars Inn is just down the block from The Ebury Wine Bar, much spiffed up from my first visit many years ago, but just as pleasant and welcoming.

And two blocks from the Churchill, just off the uproar of Oxford Street, is a modern Indian spot called Roti Chai, quite inexpensive given the neighborhood and quite good. The main level features lighter Indian street food; I read that there's a lower level with a more traditional menu, but at lunch there was no offer of it. This is a lentil-based crispy snack with a tamarind sauce.

Over two visits, I spent two out of five weeks in London, and on the whole, it really looks like the happening food scene is moving east, east of Covent Garden, east of The City. The neighborhoods aren't so beautiful and the history so famous, but that's where the action is. There are at least four restaurants there I'm aiming for on my next visit.

 

On the non-food front, I was shocked to see that Westminster Abbey is charging 18 pounds, around $30, for admission. Free to come in and pray, otherwise go to a side entrance and pay. No discussion of what happens to folks who pray and then stroll around admiring the interior. And three royal properties, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace are all charging similar prices, although there are passes that reduce the cost somewhat. Happily, great museums like theVictoria & Albert, the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection are still free. They're also often pleasant spots for tea - this is one of the dining rooms at the V&A.

Shopping? Oxford Street is still the hugely busy heart of it. Selfridges is still fun, but mostly I prefer elsewhere. Still, if you're looking for inexpensive right-now clothing, head for Primark, at each end of Oxford, Tottenham Court Road and Marble Arch. Very inexpensive and equally chaotic but fun, especially if you're young.

Harrods? Wonderful food halls to view but overall increasingly geared to high-income non-Brits. If you absolutely must bring back a small gift with the Harrods logo (and there are now a plethora of them), the duty-free shops have Harrods branches and the tchotchkes are less expensive there. Slightly.

Elsewhere, there are interesting shopping streets. Marylebone High Street has lots of more local shops, including the wonderful Daunt Books+. Lambs Conduit Street - I don't make these names up, you know - in Bloomsbury is another small shopping street, a little more upmarket than Marylebone High Street, and it has the headquarters and bookstore of Persephone Books, which reprints "neglected ficrtion and non-fiction by mid-twentieth century (mostly women) authors". Fascinating and, for some of us, as irresistible as the omelet Arnold Bennett.

Portobello Road Market on Saturday is mobbed. The serious antique dealers who have shops there are open during the week; Saturday brings flea market-type stands. At the north end, there's food being sold, too, viz, these spiral potato chips. But the main reason to go for some is Books For Cooks a half-block off Portobello Road. It's across the street from a good spice shop and the shop where "Notting Hill" was filmed.

And on Sunday, there's the Brick Lane Market in east London. Coming in from the south, at the Aldgate East tube station, one thinks one's in the wrong spot. It's quiet, businesses are closed. but things build. Old buildings like the former Truman Brewery turned into flea markets, open air stalls - and an immense amount of international food, not just the South Asian that fills Brick Lane's restaurants. Curry Mate and I had Malaysian pancakes, mine filled with coconut and black rice, hers with Nutella. At the far north end, heading for the Shoreditch High Street tube station, it becomes very basic, men selling computer parts and bicycle wheels. Keep an eye out for street art on walls and stuck to utility poles; this part of London is a hotbed of it.

 You will be happier with comfortable shoes, a credit card or two that has the chip mechanism in it and a vigorous curiosity. 

Katie's Pizza and Pasta

A handsome restaurant, Katie's Pizza and Pasta is, but a little wonky. No longer affiliated with its original site across from the Esquire Theatre, the new Katie's has a larger menu and a larger dining room. True to the times, it's noisy, but the outdoor tables - which were usable for perhaps a month since they opened, I suspect - are on the side away from Manchester Road, so they'll be quieter.

With a name like this, there's no surprise that a meal might be a carbohydrate festival, of course. We began with a burrata plate to share. Burrata, mozzarella's softer, richer cousin, arrived in its traditional ball, with some mushrooms, both tame and wild, sauteed in garlic and olive oil. Two crostini rode alongside. (Question: If there were three of us, why don't servers offer an extra slice or just ask the kitchen to add a third?) The burrata was properly creamy, the mushrooms rich and flavorful. Only the crostini, two slices of bread that had the stale crunch of having been left out to air dry for a long time, didn't come up to standards. Having to assemble crostini isn't too much to ask. But these were slices more than two bites each, and trying to break them up left a shower of pieces.

Pappardelle with a wild boar ragu was excellent. The pasta, housemade, just slightly chewy, wore sauce that managed to be flavorful but not too heavy on a hot late spring night. Part of this may have been due to the sprinkling of lemon peel and parsley called gremolata, not traditional with this particular item but good with many richer red-meat dishes.

On to the pizza. These are all about 10 inches in diameter - there are smaller ones at lunch - and made in a wood-burning oven. It's not quite a true Neapolitan style - the crust is a little thicker, a little crisper, and lacking the burned spots that are so controversial among St. Louis pizza fans. A margherita, the classic tomato-mozzarella-basil and often the best way to check out pizza basics, was competent but not the sort of comfort-food basic one might hope for. The basil is added before introducing the pie into the oven, cutting its flavor but adding bits of crispy.

The second pizza, titled Kup's Egg, starred more of those mushrooms, thickish slices of a fennel-scented sausage, fontina cheese, an egg and fresh thyme. More complex flavors, of course, and heartier, very tasty indeed. The egg, yolk still mostly liquid, spread appealingly after the first slice was removed. The crust was so firm, however, that it was difficult to swipe it, even the edge, to pick up a meaningful amount of the yolk. A request for a little bread to wipe it up with? No bread served in the evenings. This seems unusual for a restaurant with such strong Italian leanings. None left from lunch? No good answer, but reconnoitering the lunch menu shows no sandwiches. Finally the server, who had really been very good all through the meal, brightened. "I'll bring you pizza points, okay?" We decided she had said "pita", and the narrow wedges, fresh and hot and brushed with a little olive oil, almost addictive, certainly seemed like pita. Whatever the name, they served the purpose and were eaten like French fries, down to the very last one. We have all been witness to the shrinking bread basket in the last few years as the economy wavered. But this was a surprise.

Ricotta doughnut holes for dessert, and some housemade gelato - vanilla was a snoozer but the dark(ish) chocolate and the strawberry were quite good. The doughnut holes, sometimes called bomboloni, had the moist, slightly coarse texture that ricotta often gives. Rather unsweet, with a light dusting of confectioners' sugar and a swirl of honey on the plate, they were easy to share and easy to go down.

Very good service on the whole, on a busy night when our table had a leisurely schedule. Certainly the bread policy isn't the server's fault, and she came up with a good solution. Just be prepared to speak loudly.

 

Katie's Pizza and Pasta

9568 Manchester Rd., Rock Hill

314-962-6555

www.katiespizzaandpasta.com

Lunch and Dinner daily, Brunch Sun.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $12-$18

Billy Elliot The Musical

 The Muny's 96th season kicked off with, in effect, a shout of "Five, six, seven EIGHT!" Monday night as it put "Billy Elliot The Musical" on stage. The show itself may not be the best musical to cross a Broadway stage in the last decade - for instance, it slows a bit late in the second act - but there's a decent story line, taken from the film of the same name, and the score is more than respectable compared to most of its contemporaries. Thank you, Elton John, four words I never thought I'd be writing.

It doesn't feel like a dance musical, thanks to its gritty setting in a coal mine town in the north of England during Margaret Thatcher's evisceration of the unions. But it surely is. The choreography, done on Broadway by Peter Darling and re-created for our marvelous monster of a Muny stage, is remarkable. Early in the first act, the magic emerges as police, miners and dance students work together.

Tade Biesinger is the lad in question, who finds himself in a ballet class by accident. Great footwork and lots of grace for this fellow, who's been Billy on Broadway and in London. Ben Nordstrom, seen on St. Louis stages for more than a decade, it seems like, takes on the role of Tony, Billy's elder brother, like a hungry attack dog, just what's called for, a new Nordstrom for many of us, and a pleasure to see. Speaking of locals, Steve Isom, as Billy's dad's good mate George, may well be doubling as Maggie Thatcher in a Christmas number. And dad, Daniel Oreskes, and the dance teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, delight.

A few quibbles among the delights. Sometimes the accents are too thick for our weak Midwestern ears, and the jokes too British - how many in the crowd knew the word "wanker", to take one example.? At least once, the tide turned too far the other way, at the Christmas party and a fellow announced he was Santa Claus. All good anglophiles (guilty, your lordship) know that it's Father Christmas, but the the followup joke was leaning on the line, so.... And I do wish the delightfully nasty lyrics to "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher" were more understandable.

But this is a marvelous show. The finale is the sort of number the Muny stage was made for. My strong advice is to revel in it and forget getting to the parking lot so quickly.

 

Billy Elliot The Musical

through June 22

The Muny

314-361-1900

www.muny.org

 

Love! Valour! Compassion!

  Love! Valour! Compassion! created such high feelings when it was first staged here in 1996, a year after it was on Broadway, the company had a very difficult time finding somewhere to house the production. (It ended up on a small stage at Webster University.) The play, about eight gay men at a summer house in upstate New York in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, was written by Terrence McNally. It's astounding how rapidly it's aged.

And yet the play is good, although there's another noun that should be included in the title: Temptation! Because much of the story has to do with temptation, feeling it, resisting it, succumbing to it, and dealing with the aftermath of those things. The house belongs to Gregory, here Zachary Stevaniak, a famed choreographer who's dealing with the lightfooted equivalent of writers' block. The holiday-weekend houseparties that happen over the course of a summer bring us the rest of the characters.

A long-term couple, played by Jonathan Hey and Stephen Peirick, a single musical-comedy fanboy schlub of a guy, Patrick Kelly, the ill-tempered composer/accompanist David Wassilak and his hot-body companion of the nonce, Chris Tip, and the composer's twin brother, who arrives mid-play - and who is played by Wassilak as well, arrive, as well as the dancer's boyfriend, the angelic Bobby, Zack Wachter.

It's an interesting group. Hey and Perick feel so much a long-married couple that to 2014 ears, hearing one of them refer to his husband seems utterly normal. Wassilak plays detestible beautifully, which makes his mirror image of a brother, a gentle Quentin Crisp, all the more vivid. There's a scene between the two of them that's remarkable. Tip, as the hot body, a dancer who must be putting up with Wassilak for proximity to Stefaniak's elegant choreographer, practically emits steam. Patrick Kelly's Buzz gets plenty of the laugh lines for those who know musical theater. The weak spot is Bobby-the-boyfriend. Bobby is blind and the portrayal is so delicate that it comes close to stereotype of the saintly handicapped person, if it were't for a bit of that previously mentioned temptation.

There's a scene that involves the lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma, one of the manifestations of AIDS, and quite a bit of discussion of doctors and availability of support services, reminders of the world when anteretroviral therapy was infancy. One wonders if a 20-year-old in the audience would fully grasp how bad things were at that time. A multilevel set of Rob Lippert works well despite the need for several bedrooms.

On opening night, there was considerable difficulty at times with hearing lines from a number of characters - sometimes enunciation, sometimes volume, sometimes laugh timing. This is a play with nudity and adult language, of course, so don't bring the kiddies.

 

Love! Valour! Compassion!

Stray Dog Theatre

www.StrayDogTheatre.org

Tower Grove Abbey

2336 Tennessee Ave.

Thurs-Sat. through June 28

Vinnie's Italian Beef and Gyros

 I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have never said to themselves, "I should be eating more vegetables." I am not one of them. I say it all the time. I like vegetables, I just don't crave them the way I do things like really ripe peaches or a fine lamb burger.

Consequently, when something craveable comes along that is vege-heavy, that's of particular virtue, at least from a rationalized standpoint. Such is the case at Vinnie's Italian Beef and Gyros.

Unlike Chicago-style hot dogs and deep dish pizza, St. Louis really doesn't have much exposure to the Italian beef sandwich from the City of Broad Shoulders. Sliced roast beef, plenty of juice, a length of faux-French bread - then the fun starts. Roasted sweet peppers, sure. But the singular item is giardiniera, a coarse relish of pickled mixed vegetables that's spooned on with a generous attitude. Often, it's spicy, although what I had at Vinnie's was more about tartness than fire. Vinnie also throws on some cheese, generally held to be an option in the city of its birth.

Because of the meat juices, these are almost dangerously moist sandwiches. One British food writer says Americans are better at eating such creations than their transatlantic cousins because our bodies know how to eat leaning over with legs spread apart. It's unclear why the Brits can't sit down to eat, the way one can at Vinnie's. You may be better off flipping the sandwich over so the really moist part is on top. But there are plenty of vegetables.

Also generously vegetabled is the gyro, ordered, in our case, as a "colossal".The extra dollar's upgrade brings lettuce and feta to the gyro meat, tomato, onion and tzatziki on pita. Definitely a knife-and-fork gyro, although I suspect they roll it up when ordered for takeout. Very fresh-tasting, and quite virtuous-feeling, too, as a bonus.

Sides are more than perfunctory here. What the menu terms fried potatoes are large dice of skin-on potatoes fried until nicely crunchy and seasoned with a light shower of salt and cheese. And then there's the spinach rice. Bits of spinach and tomato are mixed in with long-grain rice, each grain distinct and shiny. The flavor is more tomato than spinach, darn tasty. It's an unusual component to a sandwich shop, but a welcome one

As is the case with Chicago Itaian beef shops, there are sausage sandwiches as well as meatball ones on hand, and hot dogs, too. The only surprise we found was the Greek salad, dressed beforehand in lots of vinaigrette so that the iceberg lettuce had wilted. The requisite onion, olives, cucumber and feta seemed fresh enough, and it was a proper dressing, no sugar. The accompanying pita was fresh and hot, and so was the gyro meat we asked for on top, just cut from the vertical spit of meat, crispy here, tender there. Baklava and sometimes other things for dessert.

Order at the counter. Covered outside seating available.

 

Vinnies Italian Beef and Gyros

3208 Ivanhoe Ave.

314-644-7007

on Facebook

Lunch and Dinner Mon.-Sat.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Fair

Smoking: No

Sandwiches:$7-$9

The Prospect of Whitby

There's nothing wrong in being a tourist. Places become tourist cliches usually because they're worth seeing, things like the London Eye and Big Ben and the British Museum. But after you've seen them, if you have a sense of curiosity, there are other places to explore. Some are slightly off the beaten path. Others are...more so.

When I was in London in May, my now-Norwegian stepdaughter was visiting there, too, and she'd
expressed her desire for a real English pub lunch, which has its roots in the Sunday lunch, or what we'd call Sunday dinner. (In my smalltown childhood, it was always served upon arriving home after church.) The traditional Sunday roast, you know. The Curry Mate was determined to give her ma what she wanted, and we ended up at quite a spot.

The pub is called The Prospect of Whitby. It's old. Really old. It dates back to, they think, the early 1500's - we're talking the reign of Henry the Eighth here. And it's right on the Thames River, between the Tower of London and Greenwich with its Observatory and Naval Museum and Mean Time.

Getting there takes a little work. It's beyond the last tube stop; one has to transfer to the Docklands Light Rail, built as the new construction farther down on the Thames grew. But the Oyster Card, or transit pass, covers that trip. After one alights at the first DLR stop, there's a stroll of perhaps ten blocks through a real neighborhood down to the pub.

Yes, a balcony outside the upstairs dining room, and an outdoor area on the ground floor, all good for looking at the river and thinking about history. Lots of photographs of famous clients - we spotted Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier as part of a group in an old black and white photo, for instance. Curry Mate, being a Pollack, had known to reserve, or book ahead, as they say, definitely a good idea.

Three of us did the roast lunch, one roast beef and two roast lamb, each with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, and "lashings of gravy" per the menu, and indeed, it was generously ladled. The dreaded vegetable medley even reared its hoary head. Our fourth person went for the Cod Father - two large pieces of fish battered and fried, the large English french fries known as chips and mushy peas, which are made from dried peas and often, although not here, seasoned with a little mint. Cocktails for the two other females, draft cider for the Cod Father and me. The food wasn't bad, just very simple.

We sat right next to the table by the bow window that the late Princess Margaret favored. If the balcony outside was as popular on her visits as it was on ours, she might not have seen much, but the view from it was delicious, and the outdoor tables were under a willow tree. Folks pulled up in a small boat, let their dogs ramble on the shore while they had a pint, and left.

Smartphones make the walk from the DLR station much easier, or if necessary, one can print out directions before leaving one's hotel. It would be a challenge for a driver who didn't know the territory. But for an afternoon out, it's worth it if you're tired of Buckingham Palace. And Princess Margaret, I reflected, didn't have to drive herself.

 

The Prospect of Whitby

57 Wapping Wall, London

02074811095

Website

Lunch and Dinner daily

Credit cards: Yes

Brunch: Bixby's

 Maybe it's chancy talking about a restaurant in Forest Park just before Fair St. Louis (I almost wrote "the Veiled Prophet Fair") moves to the park for a few years. But Bixby's, in the Missouri History Museum, will be there after that's finished. And frankly, reserving ahead for brunch is a good idea. This is a deeply popular spot, especially for family groups and celebrations

In fact, it's so popular, they've taken over the large open foyer that stretches between the elevator and the restaurant placing the buffet there so that they can increase brunch seating. The selection, too, is larger than compared to a few years ago. There's both a menu and the buffet, so it's a wee bit confusing, but here's how it works: The price includes the buffet plus any or all of the menu items, which were five in number on our visit. It also includes a glass of sparkling wine and coffee, tea, milk or soft drinks. No mention of juice nor did I see any being consumed.

Nearly all the buffet items on the hot table, the cold table and the dessert table were labeled, a considerate touch. We sampled a fine yellow pepper soup, and were grateful that there was citrus fruit as well as the usual pineapple, strawberries and melon. Caesar salad was properly savory. Even this early in the season, a bowl of caprese-ish tomatoes and mozzarella stood out, bringing to mind a remark by a server at the Union Square Cafe many years ago. Bruschetta with fresh tomatoes in winter? At a place like that? "It's amazing," she smiled, "what good olive oil and fresh herbs can do." And it's true. But the star of the table was a quinoa salad - that's it in the lower right hand corner of the photo - that was described as Moroccan. Very intriguing, a little heat, a little cinnamon and a bunch of other, less obvious layers of flavor. Great stuff.

On the hot line, the first thing to catch the eye was a notation by the chafing dish with bacon and sausage announcing the sausages were from the excellent purveyor on the South Side, G & W. Slices of roast pork with a peach barbecue remained surprisingly moist despite being lean slices obviously from the loin. Buttery biscuits and a well-spiced milk gravy await, and some remarkable mashed potatoes, offered with a variety of toppings, but for potatoes this good, that's lily-gilding. Try them solo before mucking about with them.

There are no eggs on the buffet. It wasn't until one of my pals remarked on it that it actually sank in. On the written menu are a quiche du jour, omelets and a Benedict du jour (on this day made with Black Forest ham) so there are definitely eggs in this kitchen. An omelet requested with ham and cheese, properly cooked, satisfied. I'm guessing a request for a couple of scrambled eggs might not send the kitchen into a panic unless it's a day when they're slammed, but there are enough other options that it seems sort of unnecessary to me. Also on the menu are Belgian waffles with maple butter and strawberry syrup and the house bread pudding.

Ah, the bread pudding. It's not that the dessert table isn't tempting. It is. Some of the offerings come from Piccione Pastry on Delmar and some are housemade. All are in smaller servings, the better to indulge oneself. There are round chocolate-coated bon-bon-ish things that are sort of brownie balls instead of cake balls, and a strawberrry-whipped cream dish that gets some texture from a little granola added in. But it's the bread pudding that ranks them all. Tender and airy, it's topped with caramel, both the sauce and the pudding arriving warm. The serving is small enough that, uh, someone, let's say, pondered asking for a second round. Good coffee, too.

One particularly strange note here is the policy of removing silverware from a plate and placing it back on the table (although setting it on a brought-for-the-purpose paper napkin) when one returns to the buffet. Bixby's historically has had some spells of erratic service, and while most of the work was smooth, there were a few glitches on this visit. For a buffet charging more than $25 for an adult, the silverware quirk seems unusual.

And there's no charge for the great view.

 

Bixby's

Missouri History Museum

5700 Lindell Blvd.

314-361-7313

www.bixbys-mohistory.com

Lunch Mon.-Sat., Brunch Sun.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Excellent

Smoking: No

Brunch: $25.75 adults, $13.50 children

Eating London Tours

 If you are a traveller who likes to eat, I hope by now you have discarded the idea that food in London is still the punchline to a joke. Of course not everywhere is great or even adequate. Even in New Orleans, you can still get a bad meal, a city that used to pride itself on just the opposite.

Food tours are a relatively new phenomenon in Europe, with a few exceptions. Now, however,


things are picking up as people realize there are happy monomaniacs like us who want this sort of thing. My tour in Rome last year was such a success that I wanted to try the company's new London operation. (They're starting in Prague and Amsterdam shortly.)

Eating London Food Tours runs six days a week, a walking tour of about three and a half hours. Not all that time is spent vertically - by my count, we sat down at six different places to do sampling, and stood at a couple of others. And it's full of the history of London's East End, which is where it takes place, leaving from the old Smithfield Market.

Our group was around eight people, mostly Americans, three generations, with every degree of travel experience. Our guide, Emily, lived in the neighborhood, which made things even more personal. So where did we go? Here are some of the spots and some photos.

We started out at St. JOHN Bread & Wine with a bacon butty, or sandwich. English bacon, of course, is not like ours, much meatier and not cooked to shattering crispness. Fergus "Nose To Tail" Henderson, whose mother ship St. JOHN Smithfield restaurant this is an offspring of, loves the pleasures of swine. He uses heirloom pork with a careful brining and housemade bread, lightly grilled, with a little butter. (This is leaner bacon than what we see here, of course.) It reminded me of first-rate country ham with its smoke and cure.

Another stop was at a fish and chip shop, Poppie's, that began serving in 1945. The fish is fresh and wondrful, the fat chips absolutely typical. The classic mushy peas, made from dried peas, is the side dish. I think you may have to be raised with it. Insider tip (not from the tour but from a Londoner): If you want fish and chips, don't get it at a pub. It's apt to be mass-produced and awful. Go to a chip shop.

We tasted English cheese, sold, amazingly enough, at a shop run by famous French cheese merchant Androuet, and three curries to sample at Aladin, a restaurant on Brick Lane, a street of Indian restaurants. And then there's the pub. More accurately, there's Lenny and the pub. The Pride of Spitalfields has a plump and serene four-legged greeter. Lenny is actually quite famous, but he graciously allowed our group to sample both lager and cider.

There was more, and plenty of street art that the neighborhood is known for, plus buildings like this Jewish soup kitchen which at one point was so crowded with refugees that they literally ran a line in one door and out the other.

Three and a half hours, a large amount of food and a great deal of fun.

 

Eating London Food Tours

www.eatinglondontours.co.uk

Circus Flora 2014

 Circus Flora is back. The big top is erected behind Powell Hall, the cotton candy is ready, and the air crackles with the excitement of children of all ages - including big kids like me. The 2014 edition is one that would have done the late and much-lamented David Balding, Flora's creator, proud.

The story line, a chess game, is easier to follow, and Cecil MacKinnon as YoYo, the narrator (and, behind the scenes, theater director), teaches even the big kids a little something about the history of the game as things begin. At first, people who've gone regularly over the years, notice that things have changed a little with new faces along with the old. But soon one is swept up in the pageant.

The new faces include Adam Kuchler a pawn in civilian clothes, silent but madly expressive and fey in his approach to the work at hand. He charmed the audience almost from the start. And then there's Duo Kate & Pasi, a married pair from Finland who combine warmth and talent into some amazing acrobatics. Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, was the chorus line of camels and their choreographer Ian Garden, Jr.

Old friends include the Flying Wallendas on the high wire and the Flying Cortes family on the trapezes. But on opening night, the biggest cheers were for the St. Louis Arches, our home-grown world-traveling troupe, some of whom we've watched since they were barely able to walk.

It seemed to me this year that things were paced more briskly than in some years past, a nice thing when you're dealing with the short attention fans of, uh, shorter fans, especially the ones around, oh, three feet or so. It's a particularly worthwhile year to visit, I think.

Not all performances are at night, and there are some one-hour ones for the really short attention fans.

 

Circus Flora

Grand Center

314-289-4040

www.circusflora.org

through June 22