February 2018 Feast Magazine

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Inspired Local Food Culture | M i dw e st

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P. 74

go 650 feet beneath kansas ’

Salt City

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the history and diverse styles

of the essential seasoning

+7 creative ways to cook with salt

sour , salty beer makes a comeback


E S TA B L I S H E D 2 0 1 1

SPRINGFIELD, MO.

IT’S ABOUT

THATTIME. M PA N Y ING CO ’ S B R E LW SOURI S I M , D MOTHER E I SPRINGF

COMING SOON TO THE LOU. 2

AVA I L A B L E T H E W E E K O F F E B R U A R Y 1 9 T H

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at the

Saturday, February 10 th • 7 – 10pm VIP Entry 6 pm

• Featuring 80+ Beer Tastings • 4 Tasting Plates

• Science Demonstrations • Live Music: The Loot Rock Gang

Join Starlite Events and the Saint Louis Science Center on February 10th for a beertasting event for your brain. Learn about the chemistry and science behind the entire beer brewing and bottling process. Test your hand-eye coordination through vision distortion goggles, see your beer as it is chilled instantly through the magic of liquid nitrogen, along with other science demonstrations at this truly unique event.

Tickets on sale now!

$45 Members, $55 non-Members or $60 at the door the day of the event. VIP tickets $75. All tickets include entertainment, four tasting plates, beer tastings, parking and more! slsc.org • 314.289.4400 5050 Oakland Avenue SPONSORED IN PART BY:


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Thursday, February 22, 2018 Taste Girl Scout Cookie-inspired desserts created by top local chefs and join Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri as we celebrate our 100th anniversary at Dessert First! All proceeds benefit girl leadership development.

2018 Participating Restaurants 23 City Blocks Catering • The Chase Park Plaza Cielo at Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis • Clementine’s Creamery EdgeWild Restaurant & Winery • Edibles and Essentials Element Restaurant and Lounge • Kakao Chocolate • Kaldi’s Coffee L’École Culinaire • Mango Peruvian Cuisine • Piccione Pastry Ruth’s Chris Steak House • St. Louis Kolache • Strange Donuts The Tipsy Goat • Winslow’s Home

Purchase tickets at girlscoutsem.org/dessertfirst

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's

lo ca l ch ef s

& b e e ri t s spir

awa w i n nri d w i n en g

l i v ei c mus

this month

Sweetheart Special

Buy one, get one ticket visit feastmagazine.com/events for more details 6

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offer expires 2/28/18


Vintage Valentine Wine Pairing Dinner February 14, 2018 | 7:00PM

5 Courses of Gourmet Delights paired with an International sampling of Fine Wines! Smoked Salmon Caper Crostini, Cioppino, Sweet & Smoky Duck Breast & Greens, Veal Osso Bucco, & Blackberry-topped Chocolate-marbled Cheesecake!

Buy your tickets now limited seating available.

All pictures shown are for illustration purposes only. Actual product may vary.

Tickets: www.SanctuariaSTL.com/Vintage SANCTUARIASTL.COM • 4198 MANCHESTER AVE., ST. LOUIS, MO 63110 • 314.535.9700 • 

Surf N’ Turf Valentine Dinner February 14, 2018 | 7:00 PM

3 Course Valentine Dinner for TWO! With your choice: 1 Bottle of Wine (House Red or White)

OR

4 Old Fashioned Cocktails

Smoked Salmon Cakes

Crown Valley Big Bison Tenderloin Filets

Chocolate-marbled Cheesecake with Strawberry

Buy your ticket now, space is limited!

www.HendricksBBQ.com/SurfNTurf HENDRICKSBBQ.COM • 1200 SOUTH MAIN ST., ST. CHARLES, MO 63301 • 636.724.8600 •  All pictures shown are for illustration purposes only. Actual product may vary.

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now booking weddings for 2018 and 2019

DINNER: Friday and Saturday 5pm-8pm LUNCH: Wednesday through Sunday 11am-4pm WINERY HOURS:

Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday – 11am-6pm Friday and Saturday – 11am-8pm

12237 Peter Moore Lane | DeSoto, MO 63020 636-586-2777 | lachancevineyards.com

y 24th - Marc r a h2 u br nd e F

February 24th - March 2nd Shop, dine, and patronize Waldo businesses and get 25% off at participating merchants during this one time a year event. #waldoweekkc

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waldokc.org

Like us on facebook


february 2018 62 69 74

from the staff

pass the salt

Salt can make or break any meal. Understand the diverse styles, properties and characteristics of this essential seasoning and learn how to cook with salt like a pro.

good to gose

The sour, salty style almost went extinct in germany. Now, it’s making a staggering comeback at American craft breweries, thanks in part to destihl Brewery in Normal, illinois.

rock of ages

Travel 650 feet beneath Hutchinson, Kansas, to explore the fascinating evolution of its prehistoric salt vein.

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from the PUBLIsher

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dIgItaL content

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feast tv

Well seasoned What’s online this month On the rise

dIne

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on trend

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where we’re dInIng

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one on one

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one on one

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In season

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one on one

Poké concepts Tinga Tacos, Frankly on Cherokee, O’Dowd’s Gastrobar Mark Hinkle of The Clover and the Bee and Olive + Oak Calvin Davis of Revival and Freshwater Brussels sprouts Renee Kelly of Harvest with Renee Kelly

drInk

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on trend

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one on one

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where we’re drInkIng

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one on one

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the mIx

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on the sheLf

Dry cider

Darcy Heine of Fiddlehead Fern Café Nomads Coffee & Cocktails, 1764 Public House and Silverball Stacey Uchtman of White River Brewing Co. Smoky Paloma with chile-lime salt What to drink this month

shoP

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shoP here

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get thIs gadget

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one on one

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cULInary LIBrary

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shoP here

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artIsan ProdUcts

Bonboni Home & Gift Co. A Himalayan salt grater and a Bluetooth smart thermometer Cindy Higgerson of Larder & Cupboard Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat The Candy Wizard Facture Goods pinch dishes and Oakridge BBQ Game Changer Salt Brine & Injection

cook

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COvER PHOTO By EMiLy TEATER

Andouille chicken sausage and farro skillet mystery shoPPer

Himalayan black salt

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qUIck fIx

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sweet Ideas

TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO OF BACON, “Egg” ANd TOAST RigATONi (P. 52) By jENNiFER SiLvERBERg

heaLthy aPPetIte

Salt-baked chicken and potatoes Bananas Foster bread pudding


Volume 9

| Issue 2 | February 2018

Vice President of niche Publishing, Publisher of feast Magazine

Catherine Neville, publisher@feastmagazine.com

sales

director of sales

Angie Henshaw, ahenshaw@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1298 account Manager, st. louis region

Jennifer Tilman, jtilman@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1205 account Manager, Kansas city region

Pete Nicklin, pnicklin@feastmagazine.com, 785.431.8025 sPecial Projects editor

Bethany Christo, bchristo@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1244

eDITORIal senior editor

Liz Miller, editor@feastmagazine.com Managing editor

Nancy Stiles, nstiles@feastmagazine.com digital editor

Heather Riske, web@feastmagazine.com Kansas city contributing editor

Jenny Vergara st. louis contributing editor

Mabel Suen editorial intern

Lauren Smith fact checKer

Danielle Lacey Proofreader

Erica Hunzinger contributing Writers

Christy Augustin, Shanley Cox, Gabrielle DeMichele, Kristen Doyle, Ana Elliott, April Fleming, Natalie Gallagher, Hilary Hedges, Mallory Mast, Lauren Miers, Brandon and Ryan Nickelson, Jackson Roman, Jenn Tosatto, Jessica Vaughn, Shannon Weber

aRT

art director

Alexandrea Povis, apovis@feastmagazine.com Production designer

Jacklyn Meyer, jmeyer@feastmagazine.com contributing PhotograPhers

Angela Bond, Neil Burger, Shanley Cox, Judd Demaline, Ana Elliott, William Hess, Kristen Doyle, Aaron Ottis, Anna Petrow, Amy Schromm, Jennifer Silverberg , Mabel Suen, Emily Teater

FeasT TV

producer: Catherine Neville production partner: Tybee Studios

COnTaCT Us Feast Media, 8811 Ladue Road, Suite D, Ladue, MO 63124 314.475.1244, feastmagazine.com

DIsTRIbUTIOn To distribute Feast Magazine at your place of business, please contact Thomas Norton for St. Louis, Jefferson City, Columbia, Rolla and Springfield at TNorton@post-dispatch.com and Jason Green for Kansas City at distribution@pds-kc.com. Feast Magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Submissions will not be returned. All contents are copyright © 2010-2018 by Feast Magazine™. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents, without the prior written permission of the publisher, is strictly prohibited Produced by the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, LLC

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For the bread episode of Feast TV, I had a chance to get in the kitchen with Union Loafers’ Ted Wilson and see how he and his team craft their unbelievably good bread. Visit feastmagazine.com to meet the team at Union Loafers in St. Louis and see how other regional bakeries are also on the rise.

publisher’s letter

s

alt is essential. It’s essential for life, but it’s also essential for flavor, the lack of which would make life pretty boring. In our February issue, as we endure the tail end of winter and rock salt is used to keep us from sliding on sheets of ice, we’re exploring culinary salt in its many forms. Senior editor Liz Miller made the trek to Hutchinson, Kansas, to descend below the surface of the earth and explore one of the largest salt deposits in the country. The town, which locals call “Hutch,” was built on salt, and to this day, the mineral is being pulled up to the surface for a wide range of uses. To be honest, I never really gave much thought to where table salt came from until I read Liz’s piece, Rock of Ages, on p. 74. Turns out, those salt deposits were formed over a period of 40 million years, so the next time you reach for a canister of seemingly mundane table salt, take a moment to appreciate that you’re tasting the remnants of a long-ago evaporated inland sea. It’s a fascinating story, one that I’m happy we’re able to bring you this month. Culinary salt takes many forms, from the table salt that Liz explores, to fleur de sel, delicate flakes of salt that are gathered by hand from the southern coastline of France. Turn to p. 62 for Mallory Mast’s Pass the Salt, a double feature that offers a primer on the various types of salt you can employ in your kitchen along with recipes from some of the region’s best chefs that use salt in interesting ways, including a look at Liz Huff’s Himalayan salt-block griddle

at Catalpa in Arrow Rock, Missouri. She upgraded her griddle with thick blocks of salt years ago, and now she’d never cook any other way. Turn to p. 64 to learn how she constructed this unexpected cooking surface. And along those unexpected lines, a salty style of sour beer known as Gose has been making a comeback recently. Digital editor Heather Riske digs up the history of this unique brew and profiles Destihl Brewery in Normal, Illinois, one of the first breweries to reintroduce this almost-lost style of beer as part of its Wild Sour Series (p. 69). If a sour, salty beer sounds a little weird, try one anyway. You’ll be surprised how refreshing and enjoyable Goses are, and we have a roundup of local and regional breweries that are offering this esoteric style of beer. Salt is necessary to developing flavor – you can sense when there’s not enough and you definitely know when there’s too much. Finding that balance is one of the key skills every good cook must learn, and hopefully this issue will encourage you to explore how salt can be used in new and delicious ways. Until next time,

Catherine Neville


02.18 mallory mast St. Louis, Writer “This article has been like a song you can’t get out of your head. It’s seeped into my brain every time I’ve been in my kitchen. Last week, I reached for kosher salt, but instead used a finer-grain salt in chocolate chip cookie dough, and then sprinkled finishing salt on the cookies post-baking – what a game changer! The past few times I’ve grilled a steak and veggies, I long for a Himalayan salt block grill so I can emulate chef Liz Huff’s mad salt science. I’ve also achieved a perfect scallop sear, which is no longer a mystery to me thanks to chef Michael Corvino’s brine recipe. This story helped me become a better home cook, more so than any other I’ve written. I hope it does the same for you.” (Pass the Salt, p. 62)

anna petrow Kansas City, Photographer “I always love discovering a new coffe shop, so Nomads Coffee & Cocktails and Fiddlehead Fern Café were exciting assignments. Nomads in Kansas City is a great spot to buckle down, get some work done and reward yourself with a cocktail after – I’ll be spending some serious time there! In St. Louis, Fiddlehead Fern is a new favorite. It’s the loveliest spot to relax and enjoy a lavender-rose latte.” (One on One, p. 33, Where We’re Drinking, p. 34)

emily teater

NEW ROLLOUT STARTING JANUARY 26

TURKISH LATTE house-Made cardamom and cinnamon syrup combined with espresso 700 And whole milk

St. Louis, Photographer “Working with salt for this month’s issue was a fun challenge. After gathering the many types of salt, I wanted to ensure that they were each given the opportunity to shine. I enjoyed playing around with different tabletop colors and layouts to find what really helped each grain and color stand out. Not only was I able to explore ways to be creative with a simple ingredient, I learned a lot about the ingredient itself. I honestly didn’t know there were so many kinds of salt. I look forward to readers learning more about this (sometimes) overlooked ingredient.” (Pass the Salt, p. 62)

ana elliott Springfield, Missouri, Writer & Photographer “If you ask me, tacos shouldn’t just be reserved for Tuesdays. Needless to say, I truly enjoyed working on this piece about Tinga Tacos. Talking with the owners gave me a lot of insight into their inspiration for the space, and I loved hearing about their journey to opening the restaurant. Above all, the real highlight for me was photographing their creative menu. Between the new vibe they brought to a familiar space, the beautiful natural light and those pops of orange (soda), Tinga Tacos is a photographer’s dream. After I shot the photos, I got to try a few of the tacos, and each one impressed me in a different way. Soft shell, crunchy shell, cheese curd tacos and more? Count me in!” (Where We’re Dining, p. 22)

GOLDEN MILK TEA Firepot Breakfast tea, steamed soy milk, turmeric, agave, and a dusting oF cocoa and cinnamon

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Wine and Chocolate are Aphrodisiacs.

KC

2/10

the ameriCan ConCept series: FrienDs oF James BearD FounDation BeneFit Dinner Sat., Feb. 10, 6pm; $175, inclusive of tax and service charge; The American, 200 E. 25th St., Kansas City, Missouri; call 816.245.7331 for reservations; theamericankc.com

Friends of James Beard Foundation (JBF) Benefit Dinners are fundraising events hosted by chefs and restaurants around the country, with proceeds supporting JBF’s general operating fund and scholarship programs. The American executive chef Andrew Longres is collaborating with six guest chefs from across the country to host a multicourse menu with wine pairings.

In case you needed a date night idea. Love, Handcrafted

STL

2/10

sCienCe on tap Sat., Feb. 10, 7 to 10pm; $45 members, $55 nonmembers, $60 at the door, $75 VIP; Saint Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Ave., St. Louis, Missouri; 314.289.4400; slsc.org/science-on-tap

The fourth-annual Science on Tap is a hands-on night of experimenting, learning and beer-sampling. Along with demonstrations about the chemistry and science behind the beer-brewing and -bottling processes, Science on Tap will feature 80 different beers, catered food, live music and more.

STL

2/212/24

STL

2/22

32 Maryland Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63108

handcraftedbybissingers.com | (314) 367-7750 Photo by Abbie Takes Pictures

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Centennial Beer Festival Wed., Feb. 21 to Sat., Feb. 24; various prices; various locations in St. Louis’ Lafayette Square; 314.621.1996; centennialbeerfestival.com

The Centennial Beer Festival is the most comprehensive beer festival in St. Louis, featuring the best local, regional, domestic and international breweries from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24. Celebrating 10 years, the weeklong celebration of the St. Louis beer scene features events including Yoga + Beer with Yoga Buzz and the all-new Local Brewers Brunch at Vin de Set.

Dessert First Thu., Feb. 22, 6 to 9pm; $150; The Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta Hotel, 212 Kingshighway Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri; 314.592.2373; girlscoutsem.org/dessertfirst

To commemorate Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s 100th anniversary, they’re skipping the birthday cake and celebrating with Girl Scout Cookie-inspired confections created by prominent St. Louis-area chefs. The evening begins with a cocktail hour, where guests sample and vote for their favorites. A seated dinner follows a brief program recognizing the extraordinary achievements and contributions of three Legacy Builders and two Girl Scouts.


KC

2/243/2

STL

2/28

Third-annual Waldo Week Sat., Feb. 24 to Fri., March 2; participating locations in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City; 816.286.4523; waldokc.org

The third-annual Waldo Week is a weeklong celebration of one of Kansas City’s oldest neighborhoods. From Gregory Boulevard to 85th Street, participating Waldo restaurants, stores and services are offering 25 percent off select merchandise and services if you mention Waldo Week during this once-a-year event.

schnucks cooks: salT-Baked chicken and PoTaToes Wed., Feb. 28, 6 to 9pm; $45; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School, 12332 Manchester Road, St. Louis; 314.909.1704; nourish.schnucks.com/schnucks-cooks

In this class you’ll learn how to quickly spatchcock a whole chicken. You’ll also learn how to make an easy and foolproof crème brûlée.

COMO

3/13/4

STL

3/23/4

IL

3/33/4

True/False Film FesT Thu., March 1 to Sun., March 4; pass prices vary and start at $35; throughout downtown Columbia, Missouri; 573.442.TRUE (8783); truefalse.org

True/False Film Fest in Columbia, Missouri, is a four-day celebration of nonfiction cinema featuring live music, art installations, food and drink, and even a parade. Passes are on sale now, and ticket reservations begin Sat., Feb. 10.

arT in Bloom Fri., March 2 to Sun., March 4; additional auditorium programs TBA; Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, St. Louis, Missouri; 314.534.1111; slam.org/bloom

Art in Bloom returns to the Saint Louis Art Museum, featuring local florists’ unique interpretations of 40 works in the museum’s collection. Experience a weekend-long celebration of art and flowers, with floral-inspired events exploring botanical mixology, outdoor entertaining, plant science and family fun. See our very own Cat Neville presenting at the festival on Fri., March 2!

Wine & Food FesTival Sat., March 3 and Sun., March 4, 12 to 6pm; $20, $18 early bird through Feb. 28; Eckert’s Belleville Country Store, 951 S. Green Mount Road, Belleville, Illinois; 800.745.0513; eckerts.com

Taste your way through Eckert’s Belleville Country Store at the annual Wine & Food Festival. Enjoy cooking demos and tastings, live music, and tastings of more than 30 wines and craft beers. Serious Wine-lovers will appreciate the wine-tasting room featuring local, domestic and international wines.

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this month on

feastmagazine.com the feed

sPeCial giveaWay

PhoTograPhy CourTeSy Parker

We’re giving away two tickets to Science on Tap at the Saint Louis Science Center on Sat., Feb. 10. Just head to the Promotions section at feastmagazine.com for all the details.

KC The swanky new Parker is now open inside the Fontaine Hotel, serving classic American fare with local touches, including spiced shrimp, five-spice braised short ribs and meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

Most Anticipated

PhoTograPhy by JeSSiCa SPenCer

From a revival of a storied restaurant to two industry pros teaming up on a new concept, St. Louis has a lot to look forward to in 2018.

Hotel Vandivort will soon expand in Springfield, Missouri, with a brand-new rooftop bar. Aptly named The Vantage, the bar is located just behind the hotel and will offer can’t-beat views of historic downtown Springfield.

PhoTograPhy by MabeL Suen

PHOTOgraPHy By jennifer silverBerg

-

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Honey Pit Smokehouse brings a new kind of ‘cue to Kirkwood, Missouri. True to its name, the barbecue joint uses honey in place of sugar in many recipes, resulting in Georgia-style baby-back ribs, brisket and more.

feastmagazine.com

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9 1 0 w e s t p o r t P L A Z A d r i v e • s a i n t l o u i s , m i s s o u r i 6 3 1 4 6 • 3 1 4 .5 4 8 . 2 8 7 6

YOU LEAVE IT ALL ON THE COURT. WE’LL LEAVE IT ALL ON STAGE. “Classic Italian Food. Authentic and made with care.”

– Dan B.

“I had my wedding dinner celebration at Favazza’s. Everything was amazing and the staff was great! ”

FACE OFF AGAINST YOUR FRIENDS AND ROCK OUT TO SOME LIVE MUSIC, EVERY WEEKEND.

– Chloe A.

“Perfect night on the patio! Music, fresh sunflowers at every table and a garden lining a beautiful mural. We’ll definitely be back! ”

– Jess S.

w e s t p o r t s o c i a l- s t l . c o m

5201 Southwest Street, St. Louis, MO | Favazzas.com

experience spirits from mid-missouri’s premier craft distillery locally made spirits well crafted cocktails

0 pm - 10:00 pm open tuesday - saturday | 4:0 | columbia, mo 65201 210 st. james street, suite d (573) 777-6768

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Artisan bread is on the rise here in the Midwest, and in this episode we’ll meet the bakers making amazing bread possible from crust to crumb. For many years, we lost touch with what great bread was, but recently there has been a huge resurgence in quality and creativity. Bakers are using locally milled flours, wild yeasts and long fermentation times to turn out beautiful loaves that have people rethinking what American bread can and should be. From small bakeries to large, flavor is the focus as we explore local bread.

At Ibis Bakery in Lenexa, Kansas, it takes 30 hours for dough to go from mixing bowl to finished loaf, with deep flavor, a moist crumb and a wonderfully crunchy crust.

Get in the kitchen with host Cat Neville as she makes a savory bread pudding with sausage and bitter greens, an unusual and delicious way to use leftover bread.

At Union Loafers in St. Louis, wild and conventional yeasts are used to produce loaves of bread that beg for nothing more than a dip in olive oil and salt.

feast tv is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsors:

Missouri Wines supports the more than 125 wineries operating in the state and is focused on promoting the industry’s growth and vitality.

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With a focus on sustainability and great design, IKEA is your destination for affordable, innovative and high-quality kitchen products.

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Kaldi’s Coffee is dedicated to creating a memorable coffee experience for customers and guests via sustainable practices and education.

Ole Tyme Produce provides some of the finest produce in the St. Louis region, serving restaurants, hotels, food service and catering companies.

The Raphael Hotel is Feast’s official hotel, offering luxury accommodations and dining near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.


Romance has its place Kansas City’s most romantic boutique hotel & restaurant

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) to watch Feast TV Mondays at 9:30pm.

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19) Sundays at 8am and 6:30pm.

Celebrate your special love, reserve one of our three unique romance packages at raphaelkc.com/romance or memorable dinner for two at chazontheplaza.com.

Historic Hotels of America

325 Ward Parkway I Country Club Plaza I 816.756.3800

raphaelkc.com chazontheplaza.com

KMOS engage

educate

entertain

You can watch Feast TV throughout mid-Missouri on KMOS (Channel 6) Saturdays at 10am.

Feast TV airs in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8) Saturdays at noon and Mondays at 12:30pm.

Check mylaketv.com to watch Feast TV in the Lake of the Ozarks area.

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small game hunting

Learn about

at MDC© s five shooting range and outdoor education centers. Regardless of your experience or skill level, our staff of specialists can help you or your group master firearms and archery, as well as wildlife identification, and many other outdoor skills. Visit mdc.mo.gov/ shootingranges to learn more.

Discover

Nature

VISIT ONE OF OUR CENTERS SOON! 1 Andy Dalton – Ash Grove 2 3 4 5

mdc.mo.gov/andydalton Lake City – Buckner mdc.mo.gov/lakecity 4 Jay Henges – High Ridge 2 mdc.mo.gov/hengesrange 1 Parma Woods – Parkville mdc.mo.gov/parmawoods August A. Busch – Weldon Spring mdc.mo.gov/buschrange

5

3

Boone County burgoo with squirrel

Serves 6 to 8

2 pounds squirrel meat (about 4 squirrels) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 6 cups water 1 cup white hominy 1½ cups lima beans (or other dried beans) 1 cup diced potatoes 2 carrots, diced 2 stalks celery, chopped 1 cup chopped onion 1 bay leaf 1 cup sliced okra (or fresh green beans) 1 to 2 red bell peppers, diced (or combination of sweet and hot roasted peppers) 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes 1 cup fresh corn kernels 1½ to 2 teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon (or more) coarsely ground black pepper ½ to 1 teaspoon chile powder (depending upon desired heat) ½ teaspoon red-pepper sauce, such as Tabasco 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Clean 3 or 4 squirrels to obtain 2 pounds of meat on the bone. Rub the meat with salt and pepper and broil the whole squirrels for about 30 minutes (keeping squirr squirrels about 8 inches from the heating element). Turn halfway through to brown both sides. Alternatively, you may put your squirrels in a large pot, cover them with water, and boil them lar for 2 to 3 hours (older squirrels take longer to cook until tender). Debone and cut into bitesized pieces. Heat oil in the bottom of a big pot and brown squirrel pieces for 4 or 5 minutes, turning them frequently. Add water to the pot and then the hominy hominy, lima beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and bay leaf. Simmer for 1 carr hour and skim of off grease (if any). Add okra, bell pepper, tomatoes, corn, salt, pepper, chile powder, Tabasco and Worcestershire pepper sauces. Bring the stew back to a boil, stir well, and reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered for 2 more hours or until it is as thick as you like.

Find more wild recipes in Cooking Wild in Missouri. Order yours at mdcnatureshop.com.

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taco time

Grab street tacos with nontraditional ingredients like cheese curds or tofu at Tinga Tacos in Springfield, Missouri, on p. 22. photography by ana elliott


pokÉ

concepts Sushi isn't the only way to enjoy raw fish. Written by natalie GallaGher and nancy stiles

|

PhotoGraPhy by amy schromm

you can hardly take a casual scroll through instagram without encountering colorful food bowls. PoKé , a traditional hawaiian staple, has popped up on midwest menus before, but now restaurants are emphasizing fresh fish and bright flavors with hawaiian and poké-centric concepts.

Bistro 913 oVeRland PaRK, Ks. When tim boller and steve nguyen opened Bistro 913 two years ago in overland Park, Kansas, they weren’t sure people knew what poké was. to get diners in the door, nguyen, also the executive chef, serves a Vietnamese menu of pho and stir-fries alongside a fully hawaiian menu of mostly poké. nguyen grew up in hawaii, where he learned to make the dish at his mother’s poké shop in honolulu. “he tries to stay very authentic to his mother’s recipes,” boller says. “they call it the barbecue of hawaii: here in Kansas city, everyone’s about barbecue. in hawaii, everyone’s about poké.” choose from raw tuna or salmon or cooked octopus, shrimp or scallops to pair with one of five housemade sauces. the hawaiian sauce – which boller calls “a taste of the ocean” – is made with hawaiian salt, chile flakes, sesame oil, hawaiian seaweed, white onion, scallions and cabbage. as the weather gets warmer, boller says he’d like to see bistro 913 experiment with some nontraditional ingredients such as fresh papaya and pineapple, but for the most part, nguyen stays true to his mother’s time-honored recipes. “everything tastes better when you’re in hawaii,” boller says. “you’re relaxed, you have the sun, the salt, the air – but when people come [to bistro 913] in the dead of winter and want something like that, we try to give them that.” –N.S.

7702 Shawnee Mission Pkwy, Overland Park, Kansas, bistro913.com

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KC PoKe Bar gladstone, mo. eric Phan and Kien nguyen opened KC Poke Bar in Gladstone,

missouri, just north of Kansas city, last november. nguyen is a Kansas city native, but Phan is a california transplant and longtime chef who’s owned restaurants in both his home state and missouri, including broken rice, the Vietnamese restaurant neighboring Poke bar. Poke bar offers a build-your-own approach to poké bowls. Guests are guided through five steps: picking the base (rice or spring mix), the protein (salmon, white tuna, yellowtail, spicy tuna, scallops or crab mix), toppings (mango, corn, roe, seaweed salad, ginger and cucumber), the sauce (spicy wasabi, sesame, ponzu and avocado) and toppings (fried onions, wonton strips and peanuts). Phan has designed several signature bowls, but so far, the customized options have been most popular. “We're hoping that this is the right time to bring poké to the area,” Phan says. “in california, there are quite a few concepts like this already, but there were none in Kansas city yet. We're hoping we can tap into the healthy and fresh side of the food industry.” –N.G. 6575 N. Oak Trafficway, Gladstone, Missouri, facebook.com/poke-bar-361922247564728


“Premium quality produce and specialty products from around the world and around the corner” For over 30 years, Sunfarm has been proudly serving • Restaurant • Hotels • Caterers • Fine Institutions

Sunfarm Food Service 2427 North 9th St., Saint Louis, MO 63102 314.241.1288 • www.sunfarmfs.com

asian CaFe Bar & Grill

PokeDoke

#1

aRles County

Rant in st Ch au st Re e es am n et Vi d Chinese an

ST. LOUIS. Every time Andrew Shih

At PokeDoke, opt for a base of wonton chips for poké nachos.

and his family traveled beyond St. Louis, they found themselves eating poké bowls. In California, he saw that poké shops seemed as ubiquitous as Starbucks. “We were seeing how saturated poké is in bigger cities,” he says. “It felt like on every corner, there was a poké place.” Shih knew that sooner or later, the poké craze would make its way to the middle of the country, so in October, he and his siblings opened PokeDoke in St. Louis’ Central West End. Shih has frequently compared PokeDoke’s concept to Chipotle: Guests come in and pick their bowl size and base (white or brown rice, buckwheat soba noodles, mixed greens or wonton chips) before designing their custom poké meal. PokeDoke has the typical raw fish options, but they also have cooked proteins – shrimp, octopus and tofu. Toppings include everything from cucumbers to kimchi and avocado. You can get even more creative with PokeDoke’s condiments: Choose from teriyaki mayo, sweet Thai chile sauce, eel sauce, gochujang and more. “Every day, we explain to people what poké is,” Shih says, “but we definitely have a good number of people that know exactly what it is. I think that shows that we have a great future here, and that poké has a place in the St. Louis dining scene.” –N.G.

happy hour everyday 5pm - 7pm Appetizers And drink speciAls

1260 Bryan road, o’Fallon, Mo 63366

(636) 272-4429

http://www.asiancafebg.com/

Sun-Thur 11am-9pm Fri-SaT 11am-10pm CloSed 3pm-5pm mon-Fri

8 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri, facebook.com/pokedokestl

Inspired Local Food Culture

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where we’re dining From new restaurants to renewed menus, our staff and contributors share their picks for where we’re dining this month.

Frankly on cherokee Story and photography Mabel Suen

ST. LOUIS. Frankly Sausages has arrived on Cherokee Street with the aptly named Frankly on Cherokee, featuring the popular food truck’s from-scratch sausages and signature hand-cut fries alongside new offerings such as shareable plates, desserts and bottled cocktails. at the new brick-and-mortar restaurant, guests can get a glimpse into the kitchen, where sausages are stuffed by hand. Choose from rotating favorites such as a chicken sausage topped with roasted butternut squash and caramelized leeks, or a chile-verde sausage with avocado and tomatillo relish, queso fresco and lime. exotic offerings include lamb with red onion, Feta and oregano, or alligator with chayote squash, radish and pickled jalapeños. new items include chicken-liver crostini with balsamic and chives, as well as a salad with bibb lettuce, bacon lardons, pickled shallot, housemade chicharrones and buttermilk dressing. For dessert, choose from selections like maple-pecan cheesecake served in a Mason jar. Fries with melted imported Swiss raclette cheese – a food-truck favorite – are also on offer, showcasing how simple yet delicious casual dining can be.

2744 Cherokee St., St. Louis, Missouri, franklysausages.com

Tinga Tacos Story and photography by ana elliott

SPRINGFIELD, MO. the highly anticipated Tinga Tacos is now open in Springfield, Missouri. tinga is the newest concept from local restaurateurs Clayton and anne baker, partners at Civil Kitchen (anne is also a partner at Sequiota bike Shop and Finnegan’s Wake). along with co-owners thomas hong and Jessica oliva, the bakers completed a full remodel of the former brick Slice house pizza space before opening in late november. “Tinga basically means 'stewed meats' in Spanish,” anne says. “it all comes down to [the quality of] our meats.” the fast-casual spot boasts creative takes on street tacos, using nontraditional ingredients like cheese curds, fig jam, tofu and more. there’s no shortage of options for sauces at tinga tacos, which customers can order either on a taco or on the side, including mango-habanero, lime crema and citrus syrup; sweet-chile vinegar is available tableside to drip (or drench) on plates. open tuesday through Saturday, tinga tacos serves its unique street-inspired fare during late-night hours thursday through Saturday.

308 W. McDaniel St., Springfield, Missouri, facebook.com/tingatacos

o’DowD’s gasTrobar Written by Jenny Vergara

|

photography by anna petroW

KANSAS CITY. When o’dowd’s little dublin opened on Country Club plaza in Kansas City more

than 20 years ago, it was one of the few casual spots in the area, focused on just a great pint and a good time. that all changed when restaurant group KC hopps – which also owns Stroud’s, among others – closed the irish-themed pub last year to relaunch it as O’Dowd’s Gastrobar in october. With the name change came a new, open and airy dining room, a bar and rooftop patio, along with a complete menu overhaul. KC hopps corporate executive chef ryan Sneed brought more variety to his menu with a funky and fun collection of shareables, like shrimp wontons, garlic-lemon hummus, crispy zucchini chips and fresh burrata cheese with roasted vegetables. the rest of the menu is a surprisingly wide selection of flatbreads, salads, soups, sandwiches and entrées that include – but also go beyond – the typical irish classics. the drink menu has more craft cocktails, including two that are bottled in-house. the lavender bee’s Knees and the old Fashioned come pre-batched in small bottles, ready to pour over ice. 4742 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, Missouri, odowdskc.com

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RiVeR MaRket location 412 Delaware St Kansas City, MO 64105 816.541.3695

mark hinkle

co-owner, the clover & the bee and olive + oak Written by nancy StileS

|

PhotograPhy by mabel Suen

WEBSTER GROVES, MO. not long after opening in January 2016, mark hinkle and greg ortyl’s Olive + Oak in Webster groves, missouri, had a months-long reservation list. led by executive chef Jesse mendica, the team serves up comfort-food classics made with fresh, local ingredients. that ethos carries over to olive + oak’s new fast-casual sister café, The Clover & The Bee, which formerly housed a bookstore for 50 years. conveniently located next door to olive + oak, it debuted breakfast and lunch in December, followed by dinner service last month. hinkle says the menu was a collaboration between himself, mendica and chef mike risk; look for items like a roasted chicken hand-pie with root vegetables and tarragon gravy, or a burrata sandwich with lemon, pine nuts and charred broccoli pesto on a ciabatta roll. risk runs the kitchen on a day-to-day basis; he’s been with olive + oak since the beginning, and the clover & the bee features the same attention to detail and thoughtful hospitality.

noRthlanD location 1628 Frederick Ave St Joseph, MO 64501 816.273.0582

HAppy HOur every DAy FrOM 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm & 10:00 pm – close

Be sure to check out the upcoming Valentine’s Day menu!

Why did you decide to open a fast-casual restaurant? you know, it was more about the space opening up and figuring out what the neighborhood needed. We knew when we moved [into the olive + oak space] that the bookstore space could potentially open itself up. it happened more quickly than we expected it to, but it was too good to pass up. i’d call it a fast-casual café: just good, fresh food, affordable, fast. it’s a similar kind of approach that we have at olive + oak – great quality, ingredient-driven, just trying to put out tasty food. Did any menu items carry over? no, really not a single item. you can tell it’s our approach to food and our style, but very different. So, no burger here – at least not currently. you’ll still have to come to olive + oak for that. We were trying to make a place that we would want to go to – everything we do is super collaborative. i think the end product turned out to be something pretty cool. Where does the name come from? it’s from an emily Dickinson poem called “to make a Prairie.” We were looking at a lot of literary references for inspiration due to the bookstore being in this space, and came across this poem about two seemingly simple things building something amazing. Did you expect Olive + Oak to be so successful? no – never in a million years. you try really hard and you hope for success, and we really love what we do. We try to put something together that we’re going enjoy coming to and being a part of every day. We think that shows in the end product; we certainly hope it does. What does The Clover & The Bee bring to the area? i think it’s a fun addition to the neighborhood. it offers really good food that you can get quickly.

We’re doing stuff like breakfast sandwiches: You can grab one and a coffee and be in and out in a minute, and spend less than $10. We have some fun beverage

options, both on the coffee side and on the booze side. overall, i think it’ll be a cool addition to the neighborhood and St. louis as a whole. 100 W. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, Missouri, facebook.com/cloverstl

Vibrant flavors. Real ingredients. Thoughtful recipes. Made from scratch. Inspired Local Food Culture

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calvin davis

executive chef, revival; chef-owner, freshwater Written By Jessica Vaughn

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PhotograPhy By aaron ottis

BOONVILLE, MO. aptly named Revival, calvin Davis’ new restaurant inside Boonville,

Missouri’s hotel Frederick has brought a refreshing, contemporary dining experience to the century-old landmark along the Katy trail. he calls revival a dining destination – an eatery that fosters a warm combination of relaxation and sensory stimulation. Davis also owns Freshwater in Kansas city, which was forced to temporarily close last year after a car accident destroyed the space. Davis visited hotel Frederick at the request of owner and longtime family friend Bill haw, and immediately recognized its potential. a total kitchen renovation, which included the addition of a chef’s table, amplified the restaurant’s culinary possibilities – and it’s just the beginning of what’s to come for the riverside hideaway. For fans of Freshwater, how does Revival compare? they’re two very different animals, [but] you can definitely identify my cooking in both places. the best way that i can kind of put my arms around it is that Freshwater is very european-focused in terms of where our thought process starts. We definitely still have that whole-animal, whole-plant mentality, but here we try to focus on some Missouri classics with an emphasis on barbecue and smoked items. it’s less of a special occasion restaurant and more of an everyday restaurant than Freshwater. it’s having a city home and a country home, is kind of how i look at it. Tell us about the kitchen renovation. [the cooks] enjoy an open kitchen as [do the guests], so we really wanted to

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have that as a common theme among both restaurants. i always like having people come back to the kitchen; it makes for a more open, interactive and one-of-a-kind experience. redoing the kitchen allows us to make whatever food we wanted. We didn’t want to be limited by the space, and we use so many different modern techniques and things like that, we needed a little bit more modern space. so now it’s a lot more modular; we can change the whole flow of the kitchen on a dime, which is obviously very helpful for us. How do you responsibly source your ingredients? it’s one of those things that we have to bring to scale as we grow because we need time, we need the full growing season and all those things. We do everything that we possibly can right now, but it’ll get even more expansive. We just started making our own butter, and all we use is our own butter. everything that we can feasibly do in-house, we do, and we don’t let convenience or the amount of work interfere with those decisions. What inspires Revival’s menu? Most menu items start as a problem that we need to solve. We’ll have a ton of turnip-top greens, or pork scrap, or rabbit belly – all these kinds of odds and ends, things that stack up when you buy whole animal like we do. instead of saying i want to do a jambalaya dish, it’s a lot more organic. it’s all very purposeful and needs to be there in order for the whole menu to work. i really am diametrically opposed to food waste. nothing goes to the trash; the worst thing that might happen to the end of a piece of celery that we can’t use is that it goes into stock. 501 High St., Boonville, Missouri, hotelfrederick.com


[

iN IN GOOD

BAECHU KIMCHI

WITH with

WHY A CENTURIES-OLD DISH IS A BOON FOR MODERN DIETS WITH DR. YIKYUNG PARK

Washington University associate professor of surgery at Siteman Cancer Center Kimchi is a staple of Korean cuisine that has recently gained an enthusiastic worldwide following. Typically made from napa cabbage, daikon, garlic, scallions and red chile powder, it ferments over several days, then transforms into a beautifully crisp, piquant food that can be served as a side dish; in stew with pork or tuna; stir-fried with rice; or as kimchijeon, a sort of Korean pancake. Kimchi has been an indispensable part of the Korean diet for centuries, so it’s no exaggeration to say the varieties are endless. Some recipes incorporate fruit, seafood or a particular blend of spices. Other recipes forgo fermentation entirely. Because there are so many ways to prepare this popular food, kimchi’s health are equally wide ranging and that’s a good thing, says Dr. Yikyung Park, a researcher for Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. “Kimchi is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2 and C, carotenoids, calcium, phytochemicals and capsaicin. These vitamins, carotenoids and phytochemicals help keep you healthy and feeling energetic, and they also have cancerability,” she says. Leafy greens most notably napa cabbage are at the heart of many kimchi recipes. They are an excellent source of , which helps regulate the digestive tract, and they make you feel fuller for longer. “Researchers know that being overweight is linked to many erent types of cancers, and

GREEN ZUCCHINI KIMCHI

foods like it contributes to chronic diseases. Eating kimchi can help you maintain a healthy weight,” Dr. Park says. the greens have been salted, soaked in water and dry, they are ready to be mixed with the other vegetables and spices, then placed in an airtight container for several days. Fermentation occurs during this time, spurring the growth of several important probiotics organisms more commonly called “good bacteria.” Inside and out, our bodies are full of microbiomes, Dr. Park explains, and allowing these cells to is essential to maintaining health. Kimchi grow and in particular creates Lactobacillus, a probiotic that may help improve skin conditions and boost the gastrointestinal system. Though probiotics are also available as pills and supplements, Dr. Park says it’s far superior to consume them as actual food: Other than kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt and kombucha are also great options. It’s true that spicy pickled cabbage isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth giving it a try and giving it some time. Dr. or mellow and Park suggests waiting a few days to let the evolve. “It will develop a tangier, more sour or, so try it a few times and see when you like it best,” she says, adding that it sits for a week or two. Look most people prefer kimchi for kimchi in Asian markets, or try the simple recipe for green zucchini kimchi at right. It’s ready to eat in just half a day.

YIELDS | CUPS |

2 1 3 1 1 2 2 1

medium green zucchini tsp kosher salt cloves garlic, minced bunch green onions, small dice 1-inch knob ginger, grated Tbsp. rice vinegar Tbsp. gochujang tsp granulated sugar tsp sauce

| | Slice zucchini in half lengthwise and then into thin halfmoons. Place zucchini in a glass bowl and sprinkle with salt; allow to sit for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and set aside.

Recipe content and photo by Sherrie Castellano, withfoodandlove.com

]

YOUR GUIDE TO KIMCHI

30 minutes, squeeze moisture out of zucchini and discard all liquid from bowl. Toss zucchini into prepared mixture, using your hands to massage and combine vegetables. Place kimchi in a 32-ounce glass jar, cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. 12 hours, kimchi is ready to serve. It can also be stored for up to one week in refrigerator.

There are thousands of variations on kimchi, but baechu kimchi, made with napa (Chinese) cabbage, is the most traditional one. But don’t confuse “traditional” with “boring.” There are interpretations of baechu kimchi itself: It can range from mild to spicy and can be served alongside breakfast, lunch or dinner. The heat comes from Korean red chile es (known as kochukaru).

BAEK KIMCHI Though kimchi is known for its distinctive red color and trademark heat, baek kimchi brings neither of those things. Like most versions, baek kimchi is made with salted napa cabbage, daikon (Korean radish), garlic and ginger, but heaps of chile powder are replaced instead with red bell pepper or chile threads. A zing comes courtesy of onion and chives, but baek kimchi’s overall taste is soothed by sweet Korean pear and a fruit called jujube, a red date.

DONGCHIMI KIMCHI People all over the world mark the change of seasons in erent ways. For many Koreans, the taste of dongchimi or winter kimchi heralds the arrival of the cold months to come. Made from small Korean radishes harvested in late fall, dongchimi is part food, part drink: The radishes mingle with ginger, garlic, onions, Korean pear and red and green chiles in a few liters of water. In about three days, the liquid turns cloudy and it’s ready to use as a broth, a drink or a base for rice or noodle dishes.

KKAKDUGI KIMCHI Think of kkakdugi kimchi as a counterpart to baechu kimchi in that it’s extremely versatile when it comes to spiciness, and it can be a part of just about any meal. In this version, however, daikon is the star. It’s cubed, mixed with equal parts salt and sugar, then drained before the regular cast of green onion, garlic, ginger, sauce and red pepper comes into play.

OISOBAGI KIMCHI In the U.S., we typically slice pickled cucumbers lengthwise and call them spears, or into discs and call them chips. Most of us haven’t considered slicing them like hoagies, but that’s precisely how oisobagi kimchi is prepared. salting the cucumbers and slicing them not quite all the way through, they are ed with a mixture of wonderfully contrasting ingredients. Inspired Local Food Culture

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in SeaSon: SePteMber to MarcH

Il lazzarone

Brussels sprouts Brussels sprouts get a bad rap. A member of the cabbage family, the little leafy greens are high in vitamins C and K, yet they’re more than just good for you: When roasted, they develop a crispy texture and earthy flavor. Raw sprouts can be shaved into salads or pasta or served atop pizza. Local chefs are coming up with delicious ways to convince you that Brussels sprouts aren’t so bad after all. Written by nancy StileS

KanSaS city. brussels sprouts may not seem like an ideal pizza topping, but Il Lazzarone owner Josh young implores you to give it a try. at the Kansas city pizzeria, which has locations in the river Market neighborhood as well as St. Joseph, Missouri, the bruxelles pizza starts with basic dough topped with garlic, fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and smoked bacon; brussels sprouts are shaved over the top before it goes in the oven. “We’re still looking for them to have bite and crunch, so [we get] a little bit of browning from the fire,” young says. you can also catch brussels sprouts on the Supremo pizza, along with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, pepperoni, italian sausage, red onion, garlic and basil, plus on the house vegan pizza. “the majority of people are like, ‘… Why would you use brussels sprouts?’” young says with a laugh. “We encourage people to try it. around 95 percent [of guests] have this newfound love for brussels sprouts.” at home, young suggests roasting them with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan, or frying them with salt and pepper.

multiple locations, illazzarone.org

Molly’s In soulard St. louiS. Molly’s in Soulard is known for its expansive

patio, a huge draw during the summer months in St. louis’ bustling Soulard neighborhood. the menu leans toward cajun- and new orleans-inspired fare, but one of its most popular dishes is the flash-fried brussels sprouts, which debuted a few years ago. “People seem to love them,” says creative Food Director rick Gould. “it’s the kind of vegetable people used to not like, but now they’re trendy.” brussels sprouts are blanched, deep-fried, halved and tossed in a sweet-chile ponzu, a citrus-based Japanese dipping sauce, with scallions and bacon. “it’s interesting,” Gould says. “the vegetable [people] hated as children, they love as adults.” 816 Geyer Ave., St. Louis, Missouri, mollysinsoulard.com

The levée Café laWrence, KS. Mary Holt can get kids to eat brussels

sprouts. at first, the children of regulars at her lawrence, Kansas, restaurant, The Levée Café, would order the b.S. Grilled cheese – with cheese, caramelized onions and brussels sprouts – but sans the sprouts. With some coaxing, the kids took a chance, and now they’ll order the full sandwich. brussels sprouts are quick-pickled and then sautéed with caramelized onions before they’re grilled with Provolone, Swiss and Gruyère cheeses on eight-grain Farm to Market bread. “We do get a lot of questions,” says Holt, who owns and operates the levée café. “People say, ‘ooh, brussels sprouts on a grilled cheese? i’m gonna try it.’” Holt developed the recipe when she was looking for things to cook for her vegetarian daughter that weren’t just vegetable sides. “i found that my whole family liked them – it was requested! [even by] my son – he’s a meat-eater,” she says. “When we opened the restaurant [in october 2016], my daughter was like, ‘Mom, you have to put the grilled cheese on the menu, because everybody’s gonna love this.'” you also have the option to add a fried egg to your sandwich, which Holt says is even better. 239 Elm St., Lawrence, Kansas, theleveecafe.com

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traditional chinese dining with a modern twist

q&A

2620 S Glenstone Ave, Springfield, MO 65804 (417) 864-6994 farmersgastropub.com

from our house to yours since 1981 573.445.8800 2101 W Broadway Columbia, MO 65203

renee kelly host, harvest with renee kelly Written by natalie GallaGher

|

PhotoGraPhy by anGela bond

KANSAS CITY. in 2015, renee Kelly made a name for herself as the self-proclaimed sassy chef on bravo’s Top Chef. She didn’t take home top honors, but her restaurant, renee Kelly’s harvest, located in the historic Caenen Castle in Shawnee, Kansas, flourished with a focus on farm-to-table ingredients and dishes. yet in october, after four years, Kelly shuttered the restaurant, in large part because her local television show, Harvest with Renee Kelly, has taken off. Harvest with Renee Kelly airs Sunday mornings on KCWe, featuring a host of local farms and the restaurants that work with them, including Pearl Family Farm, Jarocho Pescados y Mariscos and hank Charcuterie. each season includes 13 episodes, and Kelly is currently slated to do at least two seasons a year. Kelly and her parents still own Caenen Castle; she has several cooking classes planned in the space, including one on aphrodisiac foods on Feb. 8 and paleo desserts on March 1.

Was closing the restaurant a difficult decision? i think it’s always a difficult decision for someone to close the business that they spent so many years working on, but there are so many opportunities coming my way that are brilliant, and it’s time for a change. i’ve been on the line for 21 years, so my career is at its “drinking age;” i think it’s oK for me to break out and do something else. Tell us about Harvest with Renee Kelly. how many people get the opportunity to do a television show right out of the gate? the possibilities are kind of endless right now. the goal is to link together the farmer and the soil to everyone’s food. right now, it’s a 30-minute show, and we do a farm segment, and the following segment is a restaurant featuring that farm, and in the future we’ll mesh those together. People have been asking for recipes; i’ll most likely do a short recipe demo, too. What do you enjoy most about doing the show? one of the things that's really advantageous about me being a farm-to-table chef is that i have a little black book of farmers in the area, and what Harvest with Renee Kelly does is shine a huge spotlight on those people and really explore their expertise. each farmer – they all have their signature on how they do things, and that’s what makes them an expert. it’s so enriching to tell their story and be a part of their day. What else do you have in the works? i’ve just launched alphie treats, which is a line of therapeutic equine treats, bone broth for dogs and cats, and therapeutic dog and cat treats. i collaborated on this with my vet; for example, three equine cookies have enough turmeric for their daily allowance. it’s been interesting to do the research and development. We send everything down to Kansas State University to get tested, and i go to horse shows and get feedback. it’s been cool because animals don’t lie – if the food is good, they’ll gobble it up! it’s kind of crazy, but i have a 17-year-old dog. i figured, since i’ve been fixing my dog food for the last 10 years and treats for about that long, why not do this, too? Do you see yourself ever returning to the kitchen and running a restaurant? i’ve been asked to open a couple concepts in 2018, and i’m going take a really hard look at them. if it’s the right space and opportunity, then why not? reneekellysharvest.com

Downtown St. Louis 14 Beers on tap

photography by mabel suen

oN

Farm to Table comfort food

N eo o

Tues-Sunday Dinner, Saturday & Sunday Brunch 2101 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, MO 63103 | 314.241.4677

Grand Opening

St. Louis’ Newest Paint Studio Perfect for bridal showers, bachelorette parties, birthdays and more!

Valentine’s Day Special February 14, 2018 $65/person. Limited seating available. Tickets include: • (1) 11x10 canvas and paint supplies • (1) glass of wine and a 4-course meal* *Menu to be posted online by 1/31/18.

Visit nakedcanvasstudios.org for more details on this and other grand opening specials

Call 314-403-1020 to book today! Mention this ad & receive 15% off your first booking 18 Fee Fee Rd. Maryland Heights, MO A sister company of

Spiced Just Right

Inspired Local Food Culture

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Regional RestauRant guide

SGF

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4 Hands Brewing Co. 1220 S. Eighth St. St. Louis, MO 314.436.1559 4handsbrewery.com

Café Ventana 3919 W. Pine Blvd. St. Louis, MO 314.531.7500 cafeventana.com

Edg-Clif Farms & Vineyard 10035 Edg-Clif Drive Potosi, MO 573.438.4741 edg-clif.com

Hidden Lake Winery 10580 Wellen Road Aviston, IL 618.228.9111 hiddenlakewinery.com

21st Street Brewers Bar 2017 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.6969 21stbrew.com

Caffetteria 25 on the Mall Prairie Village, KS 816.756.2300 caffetteriakc.com  Coming soon

Eleven Eleven Mississippi 1111 Mississippi Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.9999 1111-m.com

Hofbräuhaus St. Louis 123 St. Eugene Drive Belleville, IL 618.800.2337 hofbrauhausstlouis.com  Coming soon

Asian Cafe Bar & Grill 1260 Bryan Road O’Fallon, MO 636.272.4429 asiancafebg.com

Charleville Brewing Co. & Tavern 2101 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.4677 charlevillebeer.com

Farmers Gastropub 2620 S. Glenstone Ave. Springfield, MO 417.864.6994 farmersgastropub.com

The Homesteader Cafe 100 E. Seventh St. Kansas City, MO 816.474.8333 thehomesteadercafe.com

Aya Sofia 6671 Chippewa St. St. Louis, MO 314.645.9919 ayasofiacuisine.com

Chaz on the Plaza at the Raphael Hotel 325 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 816.802.2152 raphaelkc.com

Farm to You Market Cafe 5025 Old Highway 100 Washington, MO 844.682.2266 farmtoyoumarket.com

House of Chow 2101 W. Broadway Columbia, MO 573.445.8800 houseofchow-como.com

Basso 7036 Clayton Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.932.7820 basso-stl.com

Cleveland-Heath 106 N. Main St. Edwardsville, IL 618.307.4830 clevelandheath.com

Favazza’s on The Hill 5201 Southwest Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.772.4454 favazzas.com

Il Lazzarone 412 Delaware St. 1628 Frederick Ave. Kansas City, MO | St. Joseph, MO 816.541.3695 | 816.273.0582 illazzarone.org

Beast Craft BBQ Co. 20 S. Belt W Belleville, IL 618.257.9000 beastcraftbbq.com

Cork & Barrel Chop House and Spirits 7337 Mexico Road St. Peters, MO 636.387.7030 corkandbarrel.com

Ferguson Brewing Co. 418 S. Florissant Road Ferguson, MO 314.2547359 fergusonbrewing.com

Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co. multiple locations kaldiscoffee.com

Bella Vino Wine Bar & Tapas 325 S. Main St. St. Charles, MO 636.724.3434 bellavinowinebarstl.com

Diablitos Cantina 4198 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.535.9700 diablitoscantina.com

Fox & Hounds Tavern 6300 Clayton Road St. Louis, MO 314.647.7300 cheshirestl.com

King & I 3157 S. Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 314.771.1777 kingandistl.com

Bissell Mansion Restaurant & Dinner Theatre 4426 Randall Place St. Louis, MO 314.533.9830 bissellmansiontheatre.com

Duke’s 2001 Menard St. St. Louis, MO 314.833.6686 dukesinsoulard.com

Fratelli’s Ristorante 2061 Zumbehl Road St. Charles, MO 636.949.9005 fratellisristorante.com

LaChance Vineyards 12237 Peter Moore Lane De Soto, MO 636.586.2777 lachancevineyards.com

Boundary 7036 Clayton Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.932.7818 boundary-stl.com

Earthbound Beer and Mothership 2724 Cherokee St. St. Louis, MO 314.769.9576 earthboundbeer.com mothershipsaintlouis.com

Gallagher’s 114 W. Mill St. Waterloo, IL 618.939.9933 gallagherswaterloo.com

Lenexa Public Market 8750 Penrose Lane Lenexa, KS 913.477.7516 lenexapublicmarket.com

Cafe Cusco 234 E. Commercial St. Springfield, MO 417.868.8088 cafecusco.com

Eckert’s Country Restaurant 951 S. Green Mount Road Belleville, IL 618.233.0513 ext. 3 eckerts.com/country-restaurant

Hendricks BBQ 1200 S. Main St. St. Charles, MO 636.724.8600 hendricksbbq.com

Mai Lee 8396 Musick Memorial Drive Brentwood, MO 314.645.2835 maileestl.com

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SGF


We encourage you to visit any of these

The Mixx multiple locations mixxingitup.com

fine establishments as proud supporters of Feast Magazine. From fine dining to fast casual to wineries and breweries, there is an array of experiences to choose

Molly Darcys 26 N. Meramec Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.863.8400 mollydarcyspub.com

SGF

Mother’s Brewing Co. 215 S. Grant Ave. Springfield, MO 417.862.0423 mothersbrewing.com

The Muddled Pig Gastropub 2733 Sutton Blvd. Maplewood, MO 314.781.4607 themuddledpig.com

from, so support and eat local!

BY REGION: Smitty’s Garage 8811 State Line Road Kansas City, MO 816.731.1455 eatatthegarage.com

Must Try

: The Big G is a Smitty’s spin on a classic burger with two patties (one cooked fried-onion style), pickles, onion, special sauce and American cheese.

Original Springs Hotel Restaurant 506 N. Hanover St. Okawville, IL 618.243.5458 theoriginalspringshotel.com

Square One Brewery and Distillery 1727 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.231.2537 squareonebrewery.com

Porter’s Steakhouse 1000 Eastport Plaza Drive Collinsville, IL 618.345.2400 porterscollinsville.com

Stone Hill Winery 1110 Stone Hill Highway Hermann, MO 573.486.2221 stonehillwinery.com

PW Pizza 2017 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.7799 pwpizza.com

Three Sixty 1 S. Broadway St. Louis, MO 314.241.8439 360-stl.com

St. Louis St. Charles County Kansas City Columbia, Missouri Springfield, Missouri Mid-Missouri and Southern Missouri Southern Illinois Winery and Vineyard Brewery

Visit Rockfair Tavern 506 S. Franklin St. Cuba, MO 573.885.7518 facebook.com/rock.fair.tavern

Trattoria Giuseppe 5442 Old State Route 21 Imperial, MO 636.942.2405 trattoria-giuseppe.com

Ruth’s Chris Steak House 1 N. Brentwood Blvd. #150 315 Chestnut St. Clayton, MO | St. Louis, MO 314.783.9900 | 314.259.3200 ruthschris.com

Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. 3229 Washington Ave. 4465 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.222.0143 urbanchestnut.com

Sanctuaria 4198 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.535.9700 sanctuariastl.com

Vin de Set 2017 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.8989 vindeset.com

Feastmagazine.com to view the regional restaurant guide and read more about some of the places listed here.

Stay up to date with the latest restaurant news by connecting with Feast: feastmag

@feastmag

@feastmag

feastmag

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freeze frame

Columbia, Missouri's newest bar features arcade games, frozen cocktails and more on p. 34. photography by aaron ottis


broadway brewery COLUMBIA, MO. Since debuting in 2009, Broadway Brewery

in Columbia, Missouri, has been focused on collaborations and sourcing local ingredients, thanks largely to founder and co-owner Walker Claridge. Broadway’s Blue Heron Organic Apple Cider is no exception: It’s made with organic apples from Dan Kelly’s five-acre certified-organic Blue Heron Orchard in Canton, Missouri. Claridge met Kelly nearly 15 years ago and has always admired his product, so when it came to adding a cider to the Broadway portfolio, he turned to his friend. “It’s a great apple with high sugar content,” Claridge says. “We typically get Jonagolds, Winesaps and Red Delicious; at the end of the year, we take whatever crops did best, combine all the apples and press them together.” Broadway’s cider is dry and smooth with a tart, crisp finish. “We use an aggressive Champagne-style yeast to dry it out as much as we can, and since Dan’s apples have such a high sugar content, when we ferment it, we come out with a high alcohol content.” Broadway’s cider is nearly 8 percent ABV; most ciders typically weigh in around 5 percent.

dry ciders

816 E. Broadway, Columbia, Missouri, broadwaybrewery.com

Skip the sweets; these ciders are more beerlike in flavor and feel. Written by natalie GallaGher

|

Kansas City Cider Co.

PhotoGraPhy by anGela bond

KANSAS CITY. At Kansas City Cider Co., cidermaker Trafe Brewer uses a dry-hop method – adding a blend of hops post-fermentation – to make So Hopped Right Now. “This infuses the aroma and gentle hop flavor to our cider,” he says. “As opposed to hoppy beers, a dry-hop method doesn’t add the same bitter characteristics.” Brewer uses a selected blend of Mosaic, Citra and Ekuanot hops that balance the flavor of the hops and the cider into a fruity, citrusy and herbal profile. Kansas City Cider Co.’s other offering is the Prohibition Dry Cider, made with local apple varieties all grown within a 100-mile radius. Both ciders hit Kansas City bar taps last fall (Kansas City Cider Co. doesn't have a taproom). “We wanted to hold to the traditions of the ciders that have been made in Missouri in the past,” Brewer says. “We have unique apples that are only found in the Midwest.” The Prohibition Dry Cider has a heavy mouthfeel and a full, rounded profile. These two products are a reflection of the dry-cider movement, Brewer says. “Just like with the beer industry, it wasn’t until people started using traditional methods for making cider that they realized it's supposed to be dry and showcase the unique characteristics of the apples.”

kcciderco.com

briCK river Cider Co. ST. LOUIS. “The primary difference between brewing and

when america was first being colonized by the british, most people didn’t trust water. they stuck to beer, brandy and, of course, cider. the colonists’ cider was dry and crisp, as it was made with bittersweet apples. today, as the craft-brewing movement continues to grow, more brewers are branching out from sweet apples and reviving dry cider.

cidermaking,” explains Brick River Cider Co. cidermaker Evan Hiatt, “is that much like winemaking, cider starts with fresh fruit.” Hiatt spent his early career in wine at Les Bourgeois Vineyard in Columbia, Missouri, and River Ridge Winery in Scott City, before going on to work as brewmaster and partner at Six Row Brewing Co. and PaPPo’s Pizzeria in St. Louis. At Brick River, which celebrates its grand opening this month, Hiatt makes four ciders: Homestead, an unfiltered, cloudy, semi-sweet cider; Cornerstone, a sparkling semi-dry cider; Firehouse Red, a tart cider with Montgomery sour cherry juice; and Brewer’s Choice, dry-hopped with Alsatian hops. Hiatt avoids popular eating apples, as he feels they lack sufficient body and acidity; he uses a blend of six to 10 varieties to add complexity. Next fall, look for cider made from founder Russ John’s own apples, with European cider varieties like Kingston Black, Dabinett and Chisel Jersey. 2000 Washington Ave., St. Louis, Missouri, brickrivercider.com

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On

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q&A

darcy heine owner, fiddlehead fern café Written by Jackson roman

|

PhotograPhy by anna PetroW

ST. LOUIS. in october, Darcy heine opened Fiddlehead Fern Café on a lot formerly occupied by an old gas station in her native shaw neighborhood in south st. Louis. in the months since, the café has found its niche as a neighborhood gathering place. Fiddlehead Fern café serves up coffee from georgia-based Perc coffee roasters, as well as a food menu built around loaded toasts served on bread from local baker Joey Vitale. also available are Firepot loose-leaf teas, heirloom bottling co. shrubs, cocktails and cookies from Whisk: a sustainable bakeshop, plus croissants and scones baked in-house by heine herself.

Why did you want to open a café in Shaw? i’ve lived in shaw pretty much my entire life, and a big part of my decision to open a place was about this neighborhood. i’ve worked in coffee since my first job at age 15, so a café made perfect sense. i wanted to do something that was good for the neighborhood from a commercial-development standpoint, and that i was passionate about. What was the vision for Fiddlehead Fern Café? a lot of the inspiration came from the [missouri] botanical garden, which was such an instrumental part of the neighborhood’s growth. When henry shaw opened the botanical garden [in 1859], this was thought of as being out in the country; the community really grew around it. inspiration from that botanical theme, as well as the desire to create a place that fostered community and people coming together over coffee, food or cocktails really drove the concept. You have the first Modbar coffee setup in St. Louis. What exactly does that mean? The

Modbar has all the hardware under the counter with these really attractive taps above the counter that dispense the coffee. it allows for a more

personal experience between the baristas and customers, since there aren’t giant machines between them on the counter. We focus primarily on pour overs instead of batch-brewing coffee, and the modbar allows us to set up specific programs for each of our different single-origin coffees. Why is using local products so important to you? it all comes back to that desire to help our community develop. brad [Zulick] from heirloom lives two blocks away, and kaylen [Wissinger] from Whisk and i went to grade school [together] right here in shaw. one of the few exceptions is the Perc coffee: i worked there several years ago when i was living in georgia, and i really believe in the product. Will you be using fiddlehead ferns in dishes this spring? the season's in early spring, and it’s really short, so we’re thinking about having a fiddlehead fern festival with food and music over a weekend. We have a relationship with bluegrass music with our bluegrass brunches, and our name serves as kind of a double entendre: Just like grateful Dead fans are Deadheads, i guess you could call us Fiddleheads. 4066 Russell Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, fiddleheadferncafe.com

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where we’re drinking Check out what we’re sipping at bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries and coffee shops. silverball Written by Lauren MierS

| photography by aaron ottiS

COLUMBIA, MO. Level up your evening with a

stop at Silverball, Columbia, Missouri’s newest arcade bar. you’ll find a selection of bottled and canned beers and spirits, but frozen drinks are the focus. twelve tasty options spin hypnotically in mixers behind the bar. Step on up to the token-covered counter and order a princess peach, with white rum and peach purée, or a Silverballer, with 190-proof grain alcohol and orange juice concentrate. grab a can of bur oak brewing Co.’s latest beer, or ask the bartender to make your favorite cocktail. then you’ll want to hit up Silverball’s 40-plus pinball machines and other classic arcade games, including Dance Dance revolution, Zoltar, pac-Man and Skee-ball. With an upstairs bar, gaming area and a party room, Silverball is adding new fun and old nostalgia to downtown Columbia. 122 S. 9th St., Columbia, Missouri, silverballbar.com

Nomads Coffee & CoCktails Written by Jenny Vergara

|

photography by anna petroW

KANSAS CITY. not all those who wander in search of

refreshment on 39th Street are lost: a new café has opened serving quality coffee and cool cocktails in equal measure in Midtown Kansas City. Nomads Coffee & Cocktails is the passion project of husband-and-wife team Dr. andrew park and Dr. Megha ramaswamy. Located where stalwart dive bar D.b. Cooper’s operated for years, guests won’t recognize the sleek new space with floor-to-ceiling windows that let in plenty of sunlight. Specialty coffee drinks and pastries are served all day with beans from Messenger Coffee Co., including a proprietary Sherpa blend, made with beans from india, peru and Colombia. the cocktail menu is deceptively simple, created by andrew olsen, bar manager at rye on the plaza. the drinks are smooth and balanced, a testament to the talent behind the bar and the premium spirits used: the old Fashioned employs redemption rye whiskey, the Vieux Carré uses old grand Dad bourbon and the bohemian features J. rieger & Co. Midwestern Dry gin. the beer list leans local and is quite affordable, and the wine list speaks mostly French, along with wines from oregon’s Willamette Valley. Keep in mind, with alcohol served all day long, you must be 21 or over to enter and enjoy. 1804 W. 39th St., Kansas City, Missouri, nomadskc.com

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1764 PubliC House Story anD photography by MabeL Suen

ST. LOUIS. the latest venture from gamlin

restaurant group, 1764 Public House recently debuted in the Central West end neighborhood of St. Louis, joining the brand’s other establishments in the area: Sub Zero Vodka bar and gamlin Whiskey house. the spot opened in late october, featuring modern spins on St. Louis food-and-drink traditions

combined with those of its sister city, new orleans. in the big easy-inspired setting, choose from 16 taps and a long list of bottled beer, wine, fresh-fruit spritzes, classic and signature cocktails, and several different Mules made with belvedere vodka – including a massive shareable 168-ounce option. nitro coffee from Kaldi’s Coffee roasting Co. is also available for bombs or cocktails, as is a selection of single-barrel spirits. 39 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri, 1764pub.com


Rockfair Tavern

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q&A

stacey uchtman head brewer, white river brewing co. Story and photography by ana elliott

SPRINGFIELD, MO. Stacey Uchtman was raised on a dairy farm, yet he didn’t realize until years later that many processes for milking cows are similar to brewing beer. “you want it to be consistent and repeatable, like a factory,” he says. after gaining hands-on experience homebrewing and an education in brewing science at the Siebel institute of technology in Chicago, Uchtman brought his “factory-style” mindset to White River Brewing Co. in Springfield, Missouri, aiming for consistent, repeatable execution of flavor. Uchtman put out four new releases last fall, including date lady double made with local date syrup from the date lady, and Mahogany, a collaboration with Springfield favorite lindberg’s.

How has White River changed since opening five years ago? White river’s sole owner is John “buz” hosfield, and i came into the head brewing position in 2014. When i joined, we lowered the abV on many beers. i tend to lean more toward american, hoppy beers than belgian ales; we’ve made our ipas more drinkable and less bitter. i’ve been using Mosaic and Citra [hops], which are flashy hops that people are wanting to drink right now. they’re really bright. What’s your favorite beer that you’ve made at White River? i like every style of beer, and i want to brew what people want to drink. We still brew a lot of belgian beers and german-style beers, and i’ll do small batches of those for the tap room. our flagships are more hop-forward, though. We’re brewing in

A Classic for More than 30 Years

WINE& CHEESE ADVENTURE!

Restaurant and Lounge 3 Blocks South of Route 66 506 S. Franklin St., Cuba, MO 65453 573-885-7518

cheese and charcuterie boards wine and cheese pairings gourmet sandwiches

~ ~ ~ homemade ice cream ~ local small batch delectables

YOUR SOURCE FOR THE FINEST

• Maine Lobsters • Jumbo Lump Crabmeat • Dry-Packed Scallops • Jumbo Shrimp • Smoked Salmon • Wide Selection of Oysters & Fish

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1099 Welt Street, Weston, MO 64098

GREENDIRTFARM.COM/CREAMERY

8660 OLIVE IN U CITY

FRESHEST SEAFOOD IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1978! bobsseafoodstl.com

a little more american, new-world style now. My favorite of ours is

the Gravel Bar IPA. It’s a really soft, delicate brew – an unfiltered New England Style IPA. We push all the hops to the end, so it’s more aromatic and flavorful; it has peach undertones and bright notes of mango and citrus.

How did your collaboration beers come together? We enjoy collaborating with local businesses. once i talk with the key people, i’ll create a recipe and we work together. the team at lindberg’s knew what they wanted out of a lager, but had never brewed before or seen the process. they did most of the brewing themselves, and i guided them. it’s a great connection to our local area. We’re all of the mindset that if we grow [Commercial Street] as a whole, it benefits all of us. Where do you see White River going in the next five years? i hope to get to a stable point with a predictable production schedule. We’ve been growing a lot recently, but i don’t want to overstretch. i think we’ll always have our gravel bar ipa, but i see us changing and adapting to the new hop trends in the beer world. Someday soon, i’d like to start a barrel-aging program. For our tap room, i’m hoping to get more regulars who come in two or three nights a week. it’s great to have that consistent support. 505 W. Commercial St., Springfield, Missouri, whiteriverbrewingco.com

20 SOUTH BELT WEST | BELLEVILLE, IL | 618.257.9000

WWW.BEASTCRAFTBBQ.COM

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StoRy, REcIpE And photoGRAphy by ShAnlEy cox

Smoky Paloma with Chile-lime Salt SERVES | 1 | Chile-lime Salt

1 tsp chile powder zest of 2 limes 2 Tbsp sea salt

Paloma

2 oz fresh grapefruit juice juice of 1 lime 1 tsp agave nectar pinch chile-lime salt (recipe below) 2 oz mezcal 1½ oz club soda grapefruit wedge, for garnish

| preparation – chile-lime salt | In a small bowl, combine chile powder,

lime zest and salt and set aside.

| preparation – paloma | In a cocktail glass, combine grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave and a pinch of chile-lime salt; stir well. Add mezcal, fill glass with ice, and top off with club soda. Garnish with grapefruit wedge and extra salt, if desired, and serve.

Smoky Paloma with Chile-lime Salt

It’s simple to upgrade traditional cocktails: Just add salt. A small amount of salinity brightens citrus, suppresses bitterness and enhances the flavor of almost any drink – a massive task for a tiny mineral. Here, put salt to work in a spin on a Paloma, featuring homemade chile-lime salt, grapefruit and lime juice and mezcal to add a bit of smoke. Instead of a customary salt rim, this spicy, citrusy salt gets a starring role, as it’s mixed into the cocktail. For those new to incorporating salt in cocktails, think of it as bitters and use it sparingly – a pinch is often sufficient to radically change the flavor. Shanley Cox is a writer and photographer and owner of Shanley Cox Creative, a Kansas City-based content studio.

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on The shelf : february PIcks

WINE

Valentine’s

Wine Paring Dinner Sat Feb 10th- 5pm

Four horses anD a Dog vineyarD + winery’s 2016 missouri CharDonel

*5 Course Meal with wine paring. $60 ea.

written by Hilary HedGes

Sat Feb 17th – Crawfish Boil

Provenance: excelsior springs, Missouri PaIrIngs: Smoked salmon • Margherita pizza • Gouda cheese

Chardonel is a hybrid grape that's a cross of Chardonnay and seyval blanc, and it can be used to produce many different styles of wine. Four Horses and a Dog Winery in excelsior springs, Missouri, makes an excellent off-dry medium-bodied Chardonel from grapes grown in excelsior springs and st. Genevieve. Cold fermentation in stainless steel tanks makes this wine aromatic and fruit-forward with flavors of stone fruit and melon. the finish is crisp and clean with bright citrus notes. you can find it at the winery’s tasting room and willow springs Mercantile, which is also in excelsior springs. fourhorsesandadogwinery.com Hilary Hedges is a former newsie whose passion for wine led her out of the newsroom and into the cellar. She is currently director of sales and marketing and assistant winemaker at Amigoni Urban Winery in Kansas City.

BEER

*Boil 2pm $20 ea.

Music from 2pm to 6pm by Dave Simmons Our Food is handmade at Hidden Lake Winery By Chef Margaret Rodenhouse who is a graduate from the French Culinary Institute. Chef Margaret has meticulously chosen each dish on our menu. Come enjoy!

hiddenlakewinery.com - Winery Open 7 Days a Week! Winery•Dining•event Center•Cabin rentals

10580 Wellen Rd | Aviston, IL 62216 | 618-228-9111

Fun Food, Happy People, Great Drinks! Stop in and try

Gift Certificates our new Winter Menu! Make Great Gifts! At Cleveland Health weprepare comfort foods

CenTer iCe Brewery’s ameriCan golDen ale

Join us Brunch! withfor an upscale attention to detail Saturdays 10-1 for lovers of great food!

written by ryan niCKelson

106 N. Main St. • Edwardsville 618.307.4830 • clevelandheath.com

sTyle: Golden ale (5.2% abV) PaIrIngs: Barbecue • Hot chicken

Mon-Fri 11:00-close, Sat 10:00-close Offering Saturday brunch • First Come - First Serve (No reservations) Do Not Take Reservations10am-1pm Join us for We Brunch! Saturdays

Center Ice Brewery in st. louis wanted to brew a beer to bridge the gap between the bud light hockey fan and the craft-beer hockey fan, and american Golden ale does just that. it’s subtle and well-produced enough for the former, yet delicately complex and slightly nontraditional for the latter. Citrus notes balance a malty sweetness, and the crisp mouthfeel keeps it interesting without distracting from the game. centericebrewery.com Brothers Brandon and Ryan Nickelson are available to help with beer picks and pairing recommendations at their store, Craft Beer Cellar, a craft beer shop in Clayton, Missouri, with an upcoming location in South City. To learn more, visit craftbeercellar.com/clayton.

SPIRIT

*ADVANCED TICKETS NEEDED Please call to secure your reservations.

ST LOUIS’ ULTIMATE SPORTS BAR Exceptional Food, Craft Beer & Spirits

Tom’s Town DisTilling Co.’s The PenDergasT maChine no. 1 anTique gin written by Jenn tosatto

Provenance: Kansas City (45% abV) Try IT: in a gin old Fashioned

Tom’s Town Distilling Co. has shaken things up once again, and boss tom Pendergast would be proud. after the success of the first run of no. 1 antique Gin in the distillery’s the Pendergast Machine series last year, it’s been rereleased. the gin is lightly aged in oak barrels, and the result is a soft, intricate gin with plenty of nuance. the nose is utterly gin, bright and juniper forward, but the surprise comes on the palate. the juniper takes a back seat to soft baking spices, and most noticeably, wood. every sip gives you something new, and despite its heat, it’s quite drinkable on its own. be careful using this in cocktails, though: it plays very well in classic stirred drinks, but can be finicky when paired with citrus. toms-town.com You can find Jenn Tosatto running the bar at Mission Taco Joint's Kansas City location. She also loves donating her skills to many charity events around the city, as well as working private events.

Who Said a Sports Bar Can’t Have Amazing Food?

Grilled Shrimp & Crawfish Po’ Boy

B30+ Big HDTVs B3 Great Bars B Free Shuttle to all Home Games B Brunch Every Saturday & Sunday

2001 Menard (Corner of Menard & Allen) In the Heart of Soulard Facebook: fb.me/dukesinsoulard

Duke’s Crab Cakes Benedict

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just a pinch

Upgrade your salt-and-pepper shakers to delicate pinch dishes from Facture Goods in Boonville, Missouri, on p. 44. photography courtesy facture goods


BonBoni Home & Gift Co. STory AND phoTogrAphy By MABel SUeN

ST. LOUIS. At a petite storefront in St. louis’ historic Shaw neighborhood, a homegrown boutique opens its doors every Saturday to showcase a selection of home and gift items culled from antique and salvaged wares, as well as new handmade pieces. Bonboni Home & Gift Co. comes from shopkeeper and stylist lauren Thorp. “The feel of the shop is a mix of old and new,” Thorp says. “you’re going to find vintage items from estate sales and gems from friends’ grandparents’ basements. We mix it up with new gift-type items to make up a collection that’s the best of the best.” Bonboni gets its name from the property’s former life as a candy store in the ‘40s. The interior features a bohemian vibe, blended with a bit of farmhouse style. Much like Thorp’s hand-refurbished furniture, the room gets its character from a blend of textures and colors. Thorp welcomes custom commissions on all types of furnishings, including dining sets, which she carefully updates to client’s tastes. The shop’s selection includes everything from tea towels and dishware to mirrors, candles and soap. highlights include old-school honey pots embossed with patterns of bees; bar accessories including wine-bottle stoppers, copper Moscow Mule mugs and whiskey stones; loose-leaf tea from companies such as pinky Up and Big heart Tea co.; and heirloom-quality, heart-shaped pewter measuring spoons. like everything in Thorp’s quaint community showroom, the lovingly curated goods are meant to pass on for generations to come.

2246 Klemm St., St. Louis, Missouri, bonbonistl.com

WriTTeN By NANcy STileS

himalayan salt with grater even the simplest dishes will feel luxe when you grate pink himalayan salt over the top. With a beechwood base and stainless steel grater, the salt also looks sharp displayed on your kitchen counter. For more information or to purchase the salt and grater, visit uncommongoods.com. phoTo coUrTeSy UNcoMMoN gooDS

lavatools carbon lite bluetooth smart thermometer Not only does this magnetic Bluetooth thermometer conveniently attach to your oven, grill or smoker, it guarantees you’ll achieve the right temperature every time. The stylish app is equipped with a library of gourmet and U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved temperatures – choose items like ham, lamb, pork, beef – and pairs with a dual-sensor probe that measures both food and ambient temperatures. For more information or to purchase the thermometer, visit lavatools.co. phoTo coUrTeSy lAvAToolS

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325 S Main St,, Saint CharleS, MO 63301 636-724-3434

www.bellavinowinebarstl.com

Peruvian Dining

in SpringField MO Tapas, soups & salads, sandwiches and peruvian beverages

See Feast magazine’s Cat Neville on Friday, March 2.

234 East Commercial St, Springfield, MO | 417.868.8088 | www.cafecusco.com

r u o y t a Tre theart in Swee March 2–4, 2018

l a n i g i r O The s Hotel Spring g

n Featuri

century ay in a ineral t s g in a relax ith a m Enjoy wind w atic dinner n u l, e t old ho take in a rom urant. d n resta a , a sp r Room e il o B at the

Other Lodging and Restaurants Eats & Treats Bakery LLC.

611 Hanover 618.243.6284

Bunkers Bar & Grill

Friday, March 2

Saturday, March 3

The Magic of Outdoor Living with Margot Shaw, Editor-in-Chief of Flower magazine* Buzz-Worthy Botanicals with Feast magazine’s Cat Neville and Vicia pastry chef Summer Wright* Mixology 101 with Pickney Bend Distillery master mixologists and Panorama Executive Chef Ivy Magruder* The Way of Tea and Flowers traditional Japanese tea ceremony and ikebana demonstration*

Beyond Flowers a look at the science of plant growing with Missouri Botanical Garden staff* Flower Happy Hour with live music and refreshments for sale

Sunday, March 4 Family Storytelling with natureinspired Choctaw storytelling. Free. Family Florals hands-on art activities. Free.

Free Museum admission. Tickets required for events marked with an *. For ticket information and prices, visit slam.org/bloom.

at Roland Barkau Memorial Golf Course 1501 Waterworks Rd. 618.243.6610

Presented by

SLAM.org/bloom

#slamartinbloom

Okawville Chamber of Commerce

618.243.5694

One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park

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cindy higgerson owner, larder & cupboard

n EO O

nE

On

WrITTeN BY JACKSoN roMAN

q&A

|

PHoToGrAPHY BY AMY SCHroMM

MAPLEWOOD, MO. In late 2014, Cindy Higgerson opened specialty food store Larder & Cupboard with Kakao Chocolate owner Brian Pelletier in hopes of creating a one-stop shop for St. Louis cooks. Several years later, Higgerson is the sole owner, and Larder & Cupboard is an integral part of the local food scene, beloved by professional and home cooks alike. The shop carries local, regional and national small-batch artisanal brands, but recently, Higgerson’s housemade products have gained attention as well: Larder & Cupboard’s strawberry-lemon verbena preserves and apricot-lemon-thyme preserves jointly won a 2018 Good Food Award in the preserves category.

What prompted you to introduce housemade products? That had really always been part of the plan for us. It took a little bit longer to start implementing than we had originally planned, but that was a factor in the decisions we made even when we originally bought the space. The idea of house products was why we chose to build out a full kitchen, so that I could make some of the products in-house that I’m known for, like the preserves. Is that something you’re planning to expand? Absolutely! We’ve still been a little bit tight-lipped about it, because we want to be able to surprise people when we introduce things, but one thing I can say is that eventually I want to add on some housemade carry-out items. What has surprised you most about running Larder & Cupboard? Sometimes it’s just really surprising which products sell or don’t sell. I’ll find something that I think is really cool and it just doesn’t move at all, and then two years later it catches on and I can’t even keep it in stock! Mike’s Hot Honey was one of those things. I had his stuff shipped here, and it wasn’t until he was on a couple of Food Network shows that it really caught on here. What’s changed at Larder & Cupboard over the past three years? When we first opened, we were on kind of a shoestring budget, and we spent so much capital on building the kitchen that we didn’t have a lot of inventory. As we’ve become successful and reinvested money back into the store, it’s allowed us to realize the vision we had for the store in ways that we couldn’t before. What’s next for Larder & Cupboard? Definitely more housemade products! In addition, we’ll be doing collaborations with local makers in town to offer products that we think people will be excited about. You can also watch for us to expand our class offerings, and more tastings too. And as always, new products! Larder & Cupboard’s housemade preserves won a 2018 Good Food Award.

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7310 Manchester Road, Maplewood, Missouri, larderandcupboard.com

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Salt, Fat, acid, Heat WrITTeN BY JACKSoN roMAN

The vast majority of cookbooks follow a fairly straightforward formula: a collection of solid recipes, some appealing photographs and a few charming anecdotes to spruce things up. Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat abandons that formula entirely. The first recipe doesn’t even appear until more than 200 pages in. Instead, Nosrat dedicates the first half of the book to a fascinating crash course in nearly everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the way food looks, feels, smells and tastes. For example, she explains the chemical processes by which salt is absorbed and how it affects each type of food, from meat and eggs to vegetables and fungi. Then, after demystifying the finer points of the Maillard reaction, oxidation and everything in between, Nosrat turns the reader loose. recipes include building blocks like salsa verde and pesto variations, as well as fully fledged dishes such as pasta alle vongole (pasta with clams in white wine and butter) and roasted radicchio and roquefort. By Samin nosrat, simonandschuster.com


The premier consignment gallery serving the St. Louis community for 24 years.

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11493 Olive Blvd nudostl.com @nudohousestl

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8396 Musick Memorial Dr maileestl.com @maileestl

Spring is an ideal time of the year to host events and festivals for foodies to enjoy. In this special advertising section, you can profile your upcoming event, with a focus on events that highlight wine, beer and food. PR OM OT ION

Vineyard Tours • Wine Tasting • Craft Beers

3rd Annual Scott Knopfel

Memorial Dine-Out

kc | 4/27 Forks & cor

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s City Ballroom, Kansa 017 available; Grand orks-corks-2 admission, VIP harvesters.org/f $100 general evening 816.929.3014; 6:30 to 9pm; , Kansas City; s & Corks is Thu., April 27, 13th St. #100 s lief effort, Fork Center, 301 W. rs’ hunger-re area restaurant Convention Kansas Cityort Harveste

to supp more than 50 a variety of Created in 1997 and wine from t auction for c and a silen gourmet food include early of sampling well as live musi available and purveyors, as packages are and beverage packages. VIP entertainment food, drink and

stl | 3/2

TuesDay, March 6, 2018

Feast You

Participating restaurants will make a donation based on the day’s sales. Help local restaurant and hotel employees with the cost of their education while dining out with family and friends. Scott Knopfel was a lifelong St. Louisan who touched many lives during his career in the restaurant and hotel industries. He died tragically in January of 2015.

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More information and participating restaurants: MoRestaurants.org/scott-knopfel and MRA--314-576-2777

the con r eYes at

$75, na of 7pm dinner; Michael Galli 6:30pm tour, feast meal by chef Sun., April 2, d will be four-course 60; camstl.org/ ; 314.535.46 The dishes serve an intimate Blvd., St. Louis Tara Gallina. followed by

Dine out on March 6 and fund scholarships for area restaurant and hotel employees. The first two Scott Knopfel Memorial Dine-Out events were a terrific success. Scholarships have been awarded to 32 students. Help fund even more scholarships in 2018.

For Food Lovers

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sip &

savor

Fri., May 19, 6 to 9pm; $55, St. Loui $75 VIP; s; 314.9

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/28

Hilton St. 93.1100; Sample angelsarm Louis Fron incr Sip & Sav edible food alon s.org/event/sip-sa tenac, 1335 S. Lind bergh Blvd or. This vor-2 gside an year percent ., array of of the proc ’s event feat ures live wines, spirits room with eeds will and bee music, premium benefit r at auction Angels’ food and items, Arms. raffl beverage s and spec VIP tickets inclu es and a pho to booth, de acce ialty raffl and 100 ss to an es. exclusiv e tasting

Coming in the april issue Call 314-475-1298 for more information Inspired Local Food Culture

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The Candy Wizard Written by jenny VerGara photoGraphy by anGela bond

KANSAS CITY. a few years ago, now-newlyweds

john stein and mark deshazar saw that city market was fast becoming a food-focused shopping destination, and decided to tweak their gift-shop inventory toward something sweeter, and rebranded as The Candy Wizard. the impressive candy selection includes 72 kinds of saltwater taffy in traditional flavors such as peppermint and banana, plus wild new ones like chicken and waffles, carrot cake and buttered popcorn. pick up fun retro treats including Zotz, pop rocks, atomic Fireballs, chick-o-stick, Good & plenty and bit-o-honey. For Valentine’s day, choose from heart-shaped boxes of lindor truffles, a box of sweethearts or conversation hearts. For the animal-lover in your life, pair chocolate with stuffed animals of your favorite internet pet sensations, like lil’ bub, the kitty with his tongue sticking out. purchase a lil’ bub, and the candy Wizard will donate 100 percent of the sale to the humane society of Greater kansas city.

400 Grand Blvd., Ste. 414, Kansas City, Missouri, facebook.com/thecandywizard

artisan products oakridge bbq game changer brine & injection Written by jackson roman

facture goods pinch dishes Written by nancy stiles

BOONVILLE, MO. aron Fischer has been carefully crafting dishware and culinary

tools, from loaf pans to condiment spoons, in boonville, missouri, since 2014 under the name Facture Goods. Fischer makes his wares from wood, metal and ceramic by hand with a self-described “primitive modern” aesthetic, and he holds a master of Fine arts in sculpture from the University of missouri. Fischer’s three-inch glazed pinch dishes will make a stylish addition to your table; fill them with salt, spices or use them as spoon rests. some of the ceramic pinch dishes also feature a delicate 22-karat gold rim. plus, Fischer makes beautiful metal and wood salt spoons with accompanying dishes if you’d rather scoop your seasonings. facturegoods.com photo coUrtesy FractUre Goods

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KEARNEY, MO. Famous for both its award-winning barbecue rubs and stable of high-level competitive barbecue teams, the team at Oakridge BBQ in kearney, missouri, also knows a thing or two about brines. Game changer brine & injection mix takes the signature secret brine recipe and reformulates it into a dissolvable powder. mix it with water or any nonacidic liquid, and infuse your pork chops, chicken or turkey with unbelievable flavor. try combining it with apple juice or ginger ale for a sweet and tangy kick.

oakridgebbq.com photo by jacklyn meyer


Centennial Beer Festival Feb. 21 - Feb. 24 Celebrating 10 years, the Centennial Beer Festival is a weeklong celebration of events highlighting the rich history and rebirth of the St. Louis beer scene. Explore both longtime favorites and brand-new offerings from 200-plus beer selections of the best local, regional, domestic and international breweries at three tasting sessions throughout the weekend. Other events range from Yoga + Beer to the all-new Local Brewers Brunch at Vin de Set.

Schedule of Events

Wed., Feb. 21

Yoga Buzz | Yoga + Beer Event | 6:30pm

Thu., Feb. 22 Brewmaster Dinner Featuring Cathedral Square Brewery | 6pm

Fri., Feb. 23

WHETHER YOU’RE

Explore 200 plus beers from 80 breweries, including pours from  4 Hands Brewing Co.  Earthbound Beer  Ferguson Brewing Co.  Mother’s Brewing Co.  Square One Brewery and Distillery  Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.

Festival Tasting plus Homebrewers Competition | 6 to 9pm

A CHEF, A CEO, A PARENT OR A KID YOURSELF, YOU CAN HELP

SaT., Feb. 24

END CHILDHOOD HUNGER IN

Festival Tasting plus VIP Option 2 to 5pm | 6 to 9pm

THE U.S.

SaT., Feb. 24

Local Brewers Brunch at Vin de Set 11am to 1pm

APRIL 23, 2018 612 NORTH

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612 NORTH 2ND STREET | ST. LOUIS, MO 63102 For tickets and information, visit

NoKidHungry.org/StLouis NATIONAL CO-PRESENTING SPONSOR

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Visit centennialbeerfestival.com for more information Inspired Local Food Culture

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Furniture Repaired, Furniture Refinished 5 Year Workmanship Guarantee Quality Craftsmanship • Refinishing • Reupholstery Antique Restoration Repair • Custom Made Draperies Custom Made Furniture • New Furniture • Antiques Monday - Friday 8am - 4:30pm Appointments & Service Available

Since 1893

24 Hrs. A Day, 7 Days A Week Just east of 3400 S. Kingshighway We accept Discover, Visa, Mastercard and American Express

4821 Fairview Ave., St. Louis • 314.832.1555 • zollingerfurniture.com

Now in the Central West End An Oil & Vinegar Emporium Help us to welcome our newest Extra Virgin Olive Oils... Including three big winners at the New York International Olive Oil Competition. Including oils from Italy, Spain, Sicily, Greece and California Shop with us for your gourmet salt, pasta and seasoning needs. NEW for 2018, HEMP SEED PASTA. Limited Quantities Available. Check Website for Class Availability • diolivas.com St. Charles 617 S Main St St Charles, MO 63301 (P) 636.724.8282

Central West End 115 N. Euclid between West Pine and Lindell

Destination: Waterloo, Illinois

ChiCken DinneR SunDayS! Buy One Get One

Chicken Dinner

Expires 2/24/18 Dine-in Only. Limit one coupon per table. Not to be combined with any other offer.

FRee

GALLAGHER’S Just 15 Minutes froM the JB Bridge!

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LOVE...TURKISH STYLE! EnjOY A SpEcIAL pREfIx VALEnTInE© S DInnER On wEDnESDAY, fEbRUARY 14TH In ST. LOUIS© Most RoMantic RestauRant. Lunch: Tues-fri - Dinner: Tues-Sun - Sunday brunch Happy Hour: Tues-fri Visit ayasofiacuisine.com for reservations. Turkish Mediterranean cuisine

6671 Chippewa Street • St. Louis • 314.645.9919 • ayasofiacuisine.com

TRY US FOR YOUR SPECIAL OCCASION! Chi Mangia Bene Vive Bene! ªT o Eat Well is to Live Wellº Proudly Serving Authentic Italian Food in a Family Atmosphere. Birthday, Graduation, Retirement, Corporate Parties! Let Us Cater Your Special Occasion Try Our Party Pans For A Delicious Meal For Any Size Group Prime Rib Dinners the last weekend of every month Now selling our Signature Salad Dressing and Pasta Sauce. Bottled with love by our family for your family. Reservations Recommended, Hours of Operation: Tuesday - Saturday 11am-10pm • Sunday Noon-9pm • Closed Monday

5442 Old Hwy 21• Imperial • 636.942.2405 • trattoria-giuseppe.com

ªM ayhem in Mayberryº Interactive Comedy Murder

Welcome to the annual “Miss Mayberry”contest. YOU decide who will walk away with the crown as the contestants are chosen from the audience. They will be judged on beauty, poise, cookin' skills and a new category this year ± hog callin.’ Join Sheriff Andy, Deputy Blarney and Aint Bee for a night of merriment and murder in this interactive comedy mystery served with a 4-course meal to DIe for! Call for reservations today at 314-533-9830 Bring this ad in for $10 off per person. Valid through February 2018. Not valid with groups or Valentine' s Day

Bissell Mansion Dinner Theatre

4426 Randall Place • St. Louis • 314.533.9830 • bissellmansion.com

Farm to You Market

Saturday, February 17 and March 31 Prix Fixe Menu Plus Pairings Space is Limited! R e s e r v e Y ou r S e a t Now ! Farm to You Market * Washington, Mo * 1-84-Got-Bacon

www.FarmTOYouMArket.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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a portion of every purchase is donated to a local park, organization or collaborative work space. With your help we have contributed close to $100K back to STL!

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worth the salt

This salt-baked chicken yields juicy meat with a rich flavor and can be made in a snap on p. 54. photography by jennifer silverberg


healthy appetite

Story, recipe and photography by KriSten doyle

Andouille ChiCken SAuSAge And FArro Skillet

Farro absorbs moisture and doubles in size as it cooks, so use a stockpot large enough to hold twice the size of dry farro. ServeS | 4 to 6 |

1 2½ 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 ½

cup farro, rinsed cups chicken broth or salted water Tbsp olive oil 12-oz rope andouille chicken sausage, sliced into ¼-inch thick coins red or orange bell peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped small yellow onion, coarsely chopped 15-oz can diced tomatoes Tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped cloves garlic, minced tsp red pepper flakes salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

| preparation | in a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add farro and chicken broth or salted water. bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. if some liquid remains after 30 minutes, strain farro in a fine-mesh colander. remove from heat. in a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. add chicken sausage coins and sauté until browned, 5 minutes. add bell pepper and onion and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. add tomatoes with juice, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes and cooked farro. Stir until combined and cook on low for 5 minutes or until hot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. divide evenly into 4 to 6 serving bowls. Season with more salt and pepper to taste and serve.

%PG

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Andouille ChiCken SAuSAge And FArro Skillet if you love quinoa, try switching things up this month with another popular ancient grain: farro. With a chewy, almost pastalike texture and mild flavor, farro provides a hearty base for grain bowls or salads and can also replace noodles or rice in your favorite dishes.

in this simple skillet meal, farro is prepared in chicken broth and then mixed with cooked andouille chicken sausage. Whether you make this to celebrate Mardi gras or just as a comforting weeknight dinner, it's an easy meal sure to make you a farro fan.

Kristen Doyle is the creator of award-winning website dineanddish.net. Since early 2006, she has been sharing her favorite recipes, photos and life stories with an ever-growing audience of engaged readers. Beyond her blog, Doyle has expanded her freelance food and travel writing and photography career to include work with major brands as well as providing editorial content and direction for nationwide print publications and websites. Follow her on social media @dineanddish.


Cheer On Your Favorite Chef in the CompetitionI

th 6 ANNUAL

“INSPIRED CHEF COMPETITION”

“Bud”

A MOTHER & DAUGHTER TEAM COOKOOF

“Broadway”

From our Cooking Stage, watch New Country 92.3 Bud and Broadway Emcee the Cookoff Sunday at 1:15 PM! Team 1: “Mother & Daughter Team” from the Ultimate Girl’s Day Out attendees. THE WINNING TEAM WILL BE AWARDED: N Instant Pot Duo

Team 2: “Mother & Daughter Team” from the Bud and Broadway New Country 92.3 listeners.

N Printed Hats and Aprons for the winner

N Gift from Missouri Pork Association N $100 Gift Certificate for Dierbergs School of Cooking for two N Runners up Mom & Daughter team will receive a $50 Visa Gift Card

Feb. Friday 23rd

11am-8pm

Professional Chefs that will be on the Cooking Stage: Chefs from MO Pork Assoc. Chef Martin

Feb. Saturday 24th

10am-8pm

Chef Jack Mac Chef George Guthier Chef Casey Shiller Matthew Sherman Chef Matt DuBois And more

Feb. Sunday 25th

11am-5pm

400 EXHIBIT SPACES WITH UNIQUE PRODUCTS & SERVICES, SHOPPING, EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT, TRAVEL, FOOD SAMPLING, MAKEOVERS & MORE! Presented By:

Special G Guest Speaker

Samantha Harris S

“Dancing with the S Stars” & “Entertainment Tonight”

Feb. 24th Saturday @ 3pm

Also Including: 30 Spectacular Features & Seminars Pampered in Paradise - The Fashion Stage Mixology Stage “Make-it and Take-it”and more. The Wine Garden | Wineries The Missouri Lottery Entertainment Stage The Ultimate Girl’s 5K Run/Walk “Escape Room” Firm, Fit and Feminine Stage

www.WWSSOnline.com | www.WWSSBlog.com

FOR ALL SHOW AND TICKET INFORMATION 800-762-9973

Inspired Local Food Culture

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story and recipe by shannon weber photography by jennifer silverberg

Bacon, “Egg” and ToasT RigaToni serves

|4|

1½ Tbsp unsalted butter ¾ cup panko bread crumbs pinch kosher salt 1 Tbsp olive oil 6 strips thick-cut bacon, crisped and chopped, 1 Tbsp bacon fat reserved 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup heavy cream 1¼ cups ricotta cheese ½ cup freshly grated Romano cheese 1 tsp Himalayan black salt, plus more for garnish ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp chile flakes 5 quarts water kosher salt 12 oz rigatoni 4 tsp fresh roughly chopped chives

| preparation | in a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter; add panko and salt and stir to coat. toast, stirring frequently, until crumbs are golden and fragrant; remove from heat and set aside. in large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil and reserved bacon fat; add garlic and cook until fragrant and soft, 2 minutes. whisk in heavy cream and heat until steaming; add ricotta and whisk slowly until blended and smooth. continue whisking and slowly add romano cheese, stirring continuously until blended. add himalayan black salt, pepper, chile flakes and bacon and stir to incorporate; reduce heat to low and let cook while you make pasta. in a large stockpot over high heat, add water and salt and heat until boiling. add rigatoni and cook according to package instructions; strain, reserving 1 cup pasta water. add rigatoni to sauce mixture, folding into sauce with a spatula until combined, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time as needed until sauce is creamy and pasta is coated. sprinkle himalayan black salt over top and fold to incorporate; check seasoning to taste and add more salt, pepper or chile flakes if desired.

| to serve | divide evenly onto 4 plates and sprinkle with toasted panko; top with chives and serve immediately.

mystery shopper

meet:

Himalayan Black Salt What Is It? himalayan black salt, or kala namak, begins its life as pink sea salt. along the way, however, it gets mixed with seeds, spices and bark and cooked at searing hot temperatures until it becomes a shadow of its former self. not black, as the name would suggest, but a stormy blend of bruised pink, purple and gray, with the aroma and flavor of hard-boiled eggs, thanks to the activated iron and sulfur compounds in the mix. What do I do WIth It? you could use the salt as folks do in pakistan and india in curries, chutneys and pickles (think mango pickle, not dill.) it’s a main ingredient in chaat masala, an indian spice blend that gets sprinkled on everything from vegetables to beverages. don’t want to jump into all that right away? Keep it simple: himalayan black salt is trendy among vegans for imparting an egg flavor and aroma into mild ingredients such as chickpeas and tofu. Use it to make “egg” salad with mashed chickpeas, egg-free quiche or tofu scrambles. or give it a spin in this riff on classic carbonara with crispy bacon, himalayan black salt standing in for the eggs and panko “buttered toast” on top. weird? yes. delicious? also yes. Shannon Weber is the creator, author and photographer behind the award-winning blog aperiodictableblog.com, and her work has appeared on websites such as Bon Appétit, Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen. She is a self-taught baker and cook who believes that the words “I can’t” should never apply to food preparation and that curiosity can lead to wonderful things, in both the kitchen and life.

a salt that tastes like eggs? sounds impossible. and yet, here we are.


“As your agent, I know, ‘home IS where the heart is’, so let’s partner together and discover the love of your life.” Looking for your ‘home sweet home’? Let’s get started! 314.352.5200

Inspired Local Food Culture

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quick fix

story and recipe by Gabrielle deMichele photoGraphy by jennifer silverberG

Salt-Baked ChiCken and PotatoeS

Salt-Baked ChiCken and PotatoeS

sometimes playing with your food can – and should – be fun. case in point: encasing poultry or fish in layers of salt before baking. it's fun to assemble and ensures extra-juicy results. the salt used here is purely acting as a casing – don’t worry, your chicken won’t taste overly salty.

serves | 4 To 6 |

chef’s tip

6 9 2 2 6 3 1 8 1 1

egg whites cups kosher salt, divided Tbsp freshly ground black pepper Tbsp ground coriander small Yukon gold potatoes lemons, thinly sliced bunch fresh thyme garlic cloves 3 to 4 lb skin-on chicken, spatchcocked and patted dry bunch fresh parsley, washed and dried, ends trimmed

| preparation | preheat oven to 425°f.

SPATcH 101. to spatchcock a chicken, press down on the breast to completely flatten the

bird. Using a sharp knife, make a deep cut at the joint between the leg and thigh, and then another one between the wing and breast. cutting poultry this way allows it to cook faster. DRY RuN. be sure to thoroughly pat chicken dry after spatchcocking it, as salt will adhere to any remaining exterior moisture.

the Menu • Arugula, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad • Southwest Corn • Salt-Baked Chicken and Potatoes • Chocolate Crème Brûlée

In this class you’ll learn how to easily and quickly spatchcock a whole chicken. You’ll also learn how to make a foolproof crème brûlée.

in a large mixing bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy. add 8 cups salt, pepper and coriander. Mix together until well combined and salt forms a consistency like wet sand. set aside. in the bottom of a roasting pan large enough to fit chicken, add potatoes and cover with remaining 1 cup salt. lay a bed of lemon slices, thyme and garlic over salt. add chicken on top and then place parsley over chicken. pour salt-egg white mixture over chicken. roast chicken for 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads an internal temperature of 165°f; chicken will continue to cook after it’s removed from oven. allow to rest for 10 minutes. Using a small mallet or the flat handle of a knife, crack into salt-baked chicken. peel away salt, remove herbs and transfer chicken to a serving platter. dig out potatoes and brush salt away using a dry pastry brush. add potatoes to platter and serve.

get hands-on: Join Feast Magazine and schnucks Cooks Cooking school at 6pm on Wed., Feb. 28, at the des Peres, Missouri, location to make the dishes in this month’s menu. tickets are just $45 for a night of cooking, dining and wine. RsVP at nourish.schnucks. com/schnucks-cooks or call 314.909.1704.


WATCH IT ON THESE NETWORKS

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) to watch Feast TV Mondays at 9:30pm.

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19) Sundays at 8am and 6:30pm.

You can watch Feast TV throughout mid-Missouri on KMOS (Channel 6) Saturdays at 10am.

Feast TV airs in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8) Saturdays at noon and Mondays at 12:30pm.

Check your local listings to watch Feast TV in the Lake of the Ozarks area.

feast tv is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsors:

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sweet ideas

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

story and recipe by christy augustin photography by jacklyn meyer

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding serves | 8 to 10 |

Banana Bread (Yields 2 large loaves) 3¾ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 1½ tsp baking soda 4 overripe bananas 2¼ cups tightly packed brown sugar 1 tsp kosher salt ½ cup canola oil 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 5 oz whole milk, divided Custard ½ cup tightly packed brown sugar 1 tsp kosher salt 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 2 Tbsp dark rum 4 eggs 1 cup whole milk 3 cups heavy cream Foster sauCe ½ cup unsalted butter 1 cup tightly packed brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp kosher salt 1 Tbsp honey or corn syrup ¼ cup heavy cream ¼ cup banana liqueur ¼ cup dark rum 1 cup pecan pieces, toasted (optional)

| preparation – banana bread | preheat oven to 350°F. butter and flour 2 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. in a mixing bowl, sift flour and baking soda; set aside. in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat bananas, brown sugar and salt on medium speed until smooth. With mixer running, add oil, eggs and vanilla until combined. reduce mixer to low, add ¹⁄₃ dry ingredients and ½ milk; repeat until fully incorporated. divide evenly between 2 prepared pans; bake until golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes. cool bread in pans for 10 minutes.

| preparation – custard | in a mixing bowl, whisk all ingredients together until smooth and thoroughly combined.

| preparation – foster sauce | in a saucepot over medium-high heat, heat all ingredients except alcohol and pecans until thick and bubbly, 5 minutes, stirring. remove from heat, add liqueur, rum and pecans. allow to cool.

| assembly | preheat oven to 350°F. cube bread and add to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. pour custard over top and bake until firm, 45 to 60 minutes. pour cooled sauce over bread pudding and bake 10 minutes more. serve.

bananas Foster is a flaming, rum-soaked dessert that’s synonymous with new orleans. invented by brennan’s restaurant in 1951, the restaurant now flambés more than 35,000 pounds of bananas each year to serve over ice cream with a boozy caramel sauce that’s prepared tableside. celebrate mardi gras this month with my homage to the famous dessert, which requires far less fire and fanfare than the traditional dish. When i worked as pastry chef at sidney street cafe in st. louis, the restaurant would close on the day of the mardi gras parade to throw a huge dinner and party for staff and friends. one year, i developed a version of this same bread pudding with chef-owner kevin nashan, yet i must sheepishly admit, we used store-bought king cake for the bread – our shared love of new orleans and mardi gras made us do it! here, the base of the bread pudding is banana bread (developed by my lovely business partner nancy boehm), but any tender baked good will do: king cake, croissants, cake donuts, cinnamon rolls or even white bread. Christy Augustin has had a lifelong love affair with all things sweet. After working as a pastry chef in New Orleans and St. Louis, she opened Pint Size Bakery & Coffee in St. Louis’ Lindenwood Park in 2012. She calls herself the baker of all things good and evil. Learn more at pintsizebakery.com.

rm or at Serve wa perature room tem oop of with a sc cream e vanilla ic asted to a tr and ex pecans.


Wine & Food Festival Sat., March 3 and Sun., March 4, 12 to 6pm

Eckert’s Belleville Country Store, 951 S. Green een Mount Road, Belleville, Illinois Taste your way through Eckert’s Belleville Country Store at the annual Wine & Food Festival. Enjoy cooking demos and tastings, as well as live music and plenty of product and wine sampling – more than 30 wines and craft beers will be offered. Serious wine-lovers will appreciate the wine-tasting room featuring local, domestic and international wines. More information call 800-745-0513 ext.0 eckerts.com

$20, early bird special of $18 through the end of February

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Feb. 16-18 • Overland Park Convention Center

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Dishes & Drinks

promotion

We Love

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edited by bethany christo

Feel the love at some of our favorite bars, wineries, breweries, restaurants and more. We asked the chefs and owners what to order this month at their establishments, from romantic Valentine’s Day appetizers and cocktails to warming, seasonal entrées.

Dishes ishes Walnut and Fried Goat cheeSe Salad

The seasonal salad at The Muddled Pig Gastropub in Maplewood, Missouri, is an explosion of flavors and textures. The cool crunch from greens and veggies including broccoli stems, Brussels sprouts, kale, radicchio, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and Peppadew arm, fried peppers contrasts with a bite into the warm, goat cheese, all drizzled with fig vinaigrette. What’s What’ not to love?

Sicilian chicken

Italian cooking is full of love and flavor: Get a taste of some of the best in St. Louis with an order of the signature Sicilian chicken at Favazza’s on The Hill. Juicy, marinated chicken breast is dredged in Italian bread crumbs, charbroiled to toasty perfection and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and a fresh lemon wedge. Favazza’s on The Hill, 5201 Southwest Ave., The Hill, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.772.4454, favazzas.com

Build-Your-oWn BoWl

Warm up this winter with the build-your-own quinoa bowls at The Mixx. Create a bowl to fit your lifestyle or current mood: Pick from proteins like grilled shrimp, house-roasted pork, tofu and more. Then, add “mixx-ins” from the long list of real ingredients. Bowls are sautéed with quinoa and kale and served warm. Build-your-own bowls are available at any of The Mixx’s Kansas City-area locations, and look for Caffetteria, a new modern café coming soon to The Shops of Prairie Village. The Mixx, multiple locations, mixxingitup.com

d., Maplewood, The Muddled Pig Gastropub, 2733 Sutton Blvd., Maple Missouri, 314.781.4607, themuddledpig.com

WaGYu BriSket

When the brisk winds blow on your doorstep, warm up with a plate of Beast Craft BBQ Co. brisket. The barbecue restaurant in Belleville, Illinois, has a hyperfocus on only serving the best possible meats each day, bar none, and the brisket is no exception. Sourced from Snake River Farms and smoked on white oak, the wagyu brisket is supermarbled for the utmost moisture and flavor. Beast Craft BBQ Co., 20 S. Belt W, Belleville, Illinois, 618.257.9000, beastcraftbbq.com

BBQ mad man'S Smoked ham

Warm Winter Salad

In St. Louis, there are plenty of ways to feel the love and goodness of Paddy O’s signature smoked ham by BBQ Mad Man CJ Baerman, which is smoked for 24 hours for a clean, smoky flavor without any saltiness. Try it in the Ham Reuben with Russian dressing, sauerkraut and Swiss on rye or in the Pit Ham Slider, where the ham is tossed in housemade Hog Sauce, grilled and topped with melted Swiss. Or, try the ham in the Que’Bano with pulled pork, whole-grain mustard and homemade pickles on French bread or even a good ol’ hot ham and cheese.

When it’s cold outside, The Homesteader Cafe in the heart of Downtown Kansas City has a healthy, filling choice to fight the freezing temperatures. The name says it all: The Warm Winter Salad features a bed of butternut squash and roasted Brussels sprouts topped with pecans, cranberries, maple-Dijon glaze and the option to add grilled chicken.

Paddy O’s, 618 S. Seventh St., Downtown, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.588.7313, stlpaddyos.com 58 feastmagazine.com febr ua ry 2 0 1 8

The Homesteader Cafe, 100 E. Seventh St., Downtown, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.474.8333, thehomesteadercafe.com


Drinks

Loomer

We love a Rosé Sorbet for its light, slightly sweet flavor: The drink is made with a bottle of locally produced Edg-Clif Farms & Vineyard’s Rosé, as well as a cup of sugar, juice from one lemon and a pint of raspberries. It’s perfect with dark chocolate for a Valentine’s Day treat. For a taste, head out to the winery in Potosi, Missouri, or pick up a bottle and visit Edg-Clif's Facebook page and website to make at home yourself.

Take a slow dive into the Loomer; this dreamy drink can warm even the loveless. The refreshingly complex cocktail at Il Lazzarone is made with Uncle Val’s Botanical Gin, St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram, crème de violette, lemon and soda and is available at the Kansas City River Market location. The delicate visual wall of gray and the allspice’s wintery warming sensation hint toward warmer times with a springy floral finish.

Edg-Clif Farms & Vineyard, 10035 Edg-Clif Drive, Potosi, Missouri, 573.438.4741, edg-clif.com

Il Lazzarone, 412 Delaware St., River Market, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.541.3695, illazzarone.org

LaChanCe Vineyards’ doré

One of the new hybrids revolutionizing Missouri winemaking, Doré combines intense tropical fruit with underlying minerality to bring out a perfect balance of zesty, zippy lemon and rich fruit. Many wine professionals have identified this dry white wine from LaChance Vineyards as a Loire Valley French that would cost much more than the version you can taste at the De Soto, Missouri, winery. LaChance Vineyards, 12237 Peter Moore Lane, De Soto, Missouri, 636.586.2777, lachancevineyards.com

4 hands brewing Co.’s zeLLige

Spice things up with 4 Hands Brewing Co.’s Zellige. Try this Moroccan coffee stout paired with grilled beef or instead of your after-dinner coffee. The beer is brewed with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, black pepper and sea salt and features subtle complexities of spice and coffee.

4 Hands Brewing Co., 1220 S. Eighth St., LaSalle Park, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.436.1559, 4handsbrewery.com

rosé sorbet

Creamy ChoCoLate raspberry martini

The Creamy Chocolate Raspberry Martini tastes like you took it from a box of chocolates, with a creamy texture, bold raspberry notes and a hint of chocolate. It’s easy to make and low in alcohol – so you can enjoy more than one. With Columbia, Missouri’s DogMaster Distillery Vodka as its base, the drink is made with Irish cream, half-and-half, DaVinci Gourmet sugar-free raspberry syrup and chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream. Try the temptation in the tasting room. DogMaster Distillery, 210 St. James St., Suite D, Columbia, Missouri, 573.777.6768, dogmasterdistillery.com

mother's brewing Co.'s winter grind

‘Tis the season for Mother’s Brewing Co. in St. Louis! The launch date is Feb. 20; make sure Mother's beloved Winter Grind is one of the first brews you try. This English dry stout sets a nice roasty foundation for the large dose of Springfield, Missouri-roasted Mudhouse Coffee – 1½ pounds of coffee are added to every barrel. English-roasted barley and roasted wheat turn this beer an opaque black with a light caramel colored head – perfect for cold, blustery nights and warming up by the fire with someone you love.

La Lager and Light

Billy Busch introduced these local brews bre six years ago, and e still lo love them. Many St. we breweries are Louis-area bre introducing lighter lagers, but Kräftig äftig pro provides beer-drink beer-drinkers with an affordable, distinctiv ordable, distinctive brew w with o over 30 competitiv competitive awards to its name. At just 109 calories, Kr Kräftig Light is a w well-balanced and guilt-free alternativ alternative to a typical light lager beer beer. And if your Valentine alentine pref prefers beer over er chocolates, Kr Kräftig Lager is an e excellent choice, starting with a wonderful onderful hop char character and finishing with a roasted car caramel malty eetness. sweetness.

Mother’s Brewing Co., 215 S. Grant Ave., Springfield, Missouri, 417.862.0423, mothersbrewing.com

hazy hayden

Mixologists at Chaz on the Plaza at The Raphael Hotel created the Hazy Hayden as an homage to Kansas City’s famed reputation for barbecue and smoked meats. The well-balanced cocktail blends Basil Hayden’s bourbon with sassafras and housemade cinnamon simple sugar, which is then infused with smoke for both flavor and dramatic presentation. Although popular year round, the smoky look and the sweet heat from the bourbon and simple sugar mix is especially warming this time of year. Chaz on the Plaza at The Raphael Hotel, 325 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.802.2152, raphaelkc.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

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PASSES NOW ON SALE 60

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pass the salt

Salt can make or break any meal. Understand the diverse styles, properties and characteristics of this essential seasoning and learn how to cook with salt like a pro.

| 69 |

good to gose

The sour, salty style almost went extinct in Germany. Now, it’s making a staggering comeback at American craft breweries, thanks in part to Destihl Brewery in Normal, Illinois.

| 74 |

rock of ages

Travel 650 feet beneath Hutchinson, Kansas, to explore the fascinating evolution of its prehistoric salt vein. pHoTo BY emIlY TeATer


S

alt is arguably the most important and common ingredient in cooking – its role in flavoring alone could win it this title. But it’s also a diversely functional antimicrobial preservative with chemical and nutritional properties and that humans can’t do without. Without salt, ice cream wouldn’t freeze, pasta would stick, bread would rise too quickly, cast-iron would rust, french fries would taste lackluster and pickles wouldn’t pickle. It adds texture, tenderizes, draws out and helps maintain moisture. Just the right amount of salt can transform a dish by enhancing, minimizing or balancing flavors.

Salt can make or break any meal. UnderStand the diverSe StyleS, propertieS and characteriSticS of thiS eSSential SeaSoning and learn how to cook with Salt like a pro. written by mallory maSt

Most chefs try to get away with adding as much salt as possible to a dish – and will encourage you to do the same. That's because learning the tricks and characteristics of salt can make you a better cook. Since understanding its characteristics and how to use it is an imperative skill, we asked a few local chefs to share recipes, tips and tricks to help you make the most of this essential ingredient.

Fini shing Salts and F lake Salt

Finishing salts are all-natural and unrefined. There are multiple types of finishing salts, including sel gris, flake salt and fleur de sel, to name a few. As the name suggests, these are meant to sprinkle on finished dishes to add extra flavor and texture.

Table Salt

Fine-textured, dense, all-purpose table salt is particularly great for desserts since it disperses evenly. Iodized table salt has a slightly metallic flavor and commonly contains anti-caking agents to keep it smooth and dry, especially in damp weather or environments.

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Himalayan Salt.

Mined from an ancient salt deposit in the Himalayan mountain range, this pink salt has a larger grain and rocky texture great for seasoning delicate flavors. It’s also often used as a finishing salt.

Himalayan Black Salt.

Better known across the world as kala namak, Himalayan black salt is made by combining pink Himalayan salt with seeds, spices and bark cooked over extreme heat. Turn to p. 52 to learn more about Himalayan black salt, including how to cook with it at home.


SALT GLOSSARY Spice up your home cooking routine with these nine salts.

Salt takes on the properties and flavors of the environment it came from as well as the process used to produce it. Salt is produced in three ways: Most rock salt is mined from the earth where it naturally exists as deposits. Most table salts come from solution or evaporation mining when deposits of salt are forced out of the earth by pumping water in and extracting the salt brine. Other salts are harvested in areas where the sun evaporates shallow water. photo by emily teater

Smoked Salt

Smoked salt is sea salt that has been smoked over wood and takes on the flavor profile of that wood. The salt is most often used to add smoky flavor to dishes and is also a great bacon substitute for vegetarians.

Sea Salt

Sea salt is what’s left behind when seawater evaporates. It’s an all-purpose salt sold either refined or unrefined, and its coarseness adds texture to dishes.

Black Lava Salt

Harvested from the coasts of Hawaii and Cyprus, black lava salt is a rock sea salt that’s ideal for finishing dishes. While the more common red lava salt combines white sea salt with volcanic clay, the black version is infused with activated charcoal.

Visit feastmagazine.com for a recipe for black lava salt-and-pepper chicken wings.

Kosh er Salt

Affordable all-purpose kosher salt is best for daily cooking. The crystals are slightly larger than table salt and provide a nice texture and mild flavor. It’s easy to control and versatile, but it’s not as great for baking, as a finer grain distributes more evenly.

Fleur de Sel

“Flower of salt” is a higher-end all-purpose sea salt from the southern coast of France. Because it evaporates naturally, it forms a thin crust and has a flakier texture, making it the perfect finishing salt.

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Liz Huff knows a thing or two about cooking with Himalayan sea salt. Everything she grills at Catalpa, her restaurant in Arrow Rock, Missouri, is cooked on slabs of the stuff. But had you asked her four years ago what would happen if she created a griddle out of 2-inch salt blocks attached to her gas grill, her guess would have been as good as yours. Huff was inspired by a Himalayan sea salt block salesman’s live cooking demonstration at a vintage market a few years ago. After the demo, she did a little research of her own. She then built a 24-by-24-inch salt griddle by fitting and applying six blocks of high-grade Himalayan sea salt to her kitchen’s flat-top gas grill – but couldn’t find anyone who had built this exact setup before. “The key is experimentation, because I didn’t know if that was going to work – I had no idea,” she says. “I just spent $300 on salt blocks and put them on my grill to see what would happen.” Her gamble paid off: Although it takes three hours to fully heat the grill, the results were better than expected. Huff likes how evenly it cooks food compared to a standard grill, how it requires little to no cooking oil, the slight saltiness and mineral flavor complexity it adds to food, and how fun and unique it is to use. She says that if her kitchen had the space, she’d double the size of the grill. “It’s the best surface I could imagine," she says. It works so well because Himalayan salt blocks are great conductors of heat. They hold and distribute heat much more evenly than traditional grills or ovens, and their lack of porosity lightly seasons food with earthy mineral flavor. Huff cooks almost everything on it, from Alaskan salmon and mushrooms to asparagus and fruit. “Anything you can put on a grill works well," she says. Over time, her light-pink salt griddle has deepened into a darker black, almost like cast iron. It’s now seasoned so well that to clean it, all Huff does is spritz it with a little coconut oil from a spray bottle each night. The veggies, fish and meats cooked on the griddle require no oil or salt. Huff has a few recommendations for anyone hoping to replicate a similar setup at home. For starters, don’t go for inexpensive thinner Himalayan salt blocks. Salt blocks are graded, and the higher grades have been X-rayed to make sure there are no microscopic cracks, which is an important element of how they hold even heat. Second, you should introduce the blocks to high heat gradually by heating them in the oven at escalating xx

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temperatures so as to not cause immediate fissure. Huff heated her blocks in a standard oven for 12 hours at 250°F, then for 12 hours at 300°F and then for another 12 hours at 500°F. Her most important advice: “Keep cooking! You can’t give up, that’s the thing. If it sticks, you have to just keep going.” Early on, when the salt blocks became sticky, Huff bought the most inexpensive meat she could find at the grocery store and cooked it on the griddle until the blocks were well seasoned. Four years later, after cooking countless meals on the griddle, Huff says it’s completely nonstick. In a few years, when the more loved portions of the surface have disseminated further, Huff says she’ll have to take a sledgehammer to the griddle and build a new one. Yet knowing what she knows now, she wouldn’t have worried so much in the first place. “It turned out great,”’ she says. pHOTO OF LIz HuFF BY jEnnIFER SILvERBERg InSET pHOTO OF SALT gRILL BY AAROn OTTIS


The science of salt offers us so much more than flavor. Use these tips and tricks in your kitchen to get the most out of your salt cellar.

- Sta r S a lt l l a Salt Storage containerS. Store your salt near the stove so it’s easy to reach in a salt pig (an open-mouthed container) or salt cellar (a slightly smaller vessel either open or lidded). Salt is antimicrobial and doesn’t require a lid, although it should be protected from humidity.

creative ways to cook with salt at home

How to ProPerly Salt Food. Season food properly by sprinkling salt from about 12 inches above, like rain falling down over the surface.

How to make Flavored Salt at Home. Choose

salt-roasted beets Sardella executive chef Ashley Shelton enjoys these salt-roasted beets served in beet salads, glazed with vinegar or as a start to pickled beets. She recommends spicing the salt with citrus peel, allspice or cloves for added depth of flavor. She also recommends a few easy methods for peeling beets: You can either place hot beets in ice water for five minutes before peeling, or place warmed beets in a large bowl and then rub off the skins using a kitchen towel. ReCipe by AShLey SheLTon, exeCUTive Chef, SARdeLLA in CLAyTon, MiSSoURi phoToS ThiS pAge by eMiLy TeATeR SeRveS | 2 to 3 |

1 1 3 3

lb kosher salt lb whole beets, washed and patted dry sprigs fresh rosemary sprigs fresh thyme

| preparation | preheat oven to 350°f. pour salt into a rimmed baking dish. place beets on top of salt and toss rosemary and thyme sprigs around beets. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes, or until beets are tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. Remove beets from dish and peel. Serve warm, glazed with vinegar, if desired.

Sardella

whatever flavors, seasonings or herbs (rosemary, garlic, onion, celery seed, chile powder, etc.) you desire and grind them together with salt using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder until coarsely crushed. Lay spice blend on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan to dry out any moisture created from crushing ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use flavored salts to enhance salads, french fries, croutons or cheese boards.

deeP cleaning a caSt-iron Skillet or Pan. Cast-iron skillets and pans shouldn’t be cleaned with soap and water because the material rusts easily; instead, clean them with salt. Warm about ¼ inch of vegetable or grapeseed oil in your cast iron for about five minutes. Remove it from heat, discard oil and add the same amount of kosher salt to the bottom of the pan. Using a kitchen towel, rub salt around pan, pressing into bottom and sides, until rust or debris is removed.

USing Salt to SPeed cooling. Understanding the chemistry of salt can help when you need to cool something quickly. Salt depresses the freezing point of ice and water, so you can make an ice bath with one pound of ice, ½ cup of salt and ¹⁄₃ cup of water. This works well for things like chilling room-temperature alcohol, cooling stews or soups before storage or thawing frozen meat. Inspired Local Food Culture

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roasted black cod with chimichurri The brine in this recipe is used in all of the broiled, roasted or pan-seared fish dishes served at Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room in Kansas City. Chef-owner Michael Corvino says the salt seasons and firms the fish and pulls moisture from the skin so it sears nicely when broiled in oil.

Corvino supper CluB & tasting room

Recipe by Michael coRvino, chef-owneR, coRvino SuppeR club & TaSTing RooM in KanSaS ciTy phoTo by williaM heSS SeRveS | 2 to 3 |

Brined Cod 1 qt warm water 1 cup kosher salt 2 lbs ice 1 lb Pacific black cod fillets canola oil (for assembly) room-temperature unsalted butter (for assembly) ChimiChurri 3 garlic cloves 1 large shallot ¾ cup rice wine vinegar, divided 2 bunches fresh parsley, stems removed and roughly chopped 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped 1 cup fresh mint leaves 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves 1 Tbsp chile flakes 2 tsp kosher salt ¼ cup olive oil

| preparation – brined cod | in a large mixing bowl filled with warm water, add salt and ice. once salt has dissolved and water has cooled completely, add to a container large enough to submerge fish fillets; submerge fillets for 1 hour. Remove fish and pat dry with paper towels. Refrigerate uncovered for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

| preparation – chimichurri | in the bowl of a food processer, add garlic, shallot and 6 tablespoons vinegar and pulse until chopped but not puréed. add parsley and pulse a few times. add cilantro, mint, Thai basil and chile flakes and pulse a few more times. add salt and remaining vinegar and pulse. with processor running, slowly add olive oil, and switch processor to emulsify setting; emulsify for a few seconds.

| assembly | Remove fish from refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking. Set oven to broil. oil a rimmed sheet pan; add fish to pan. using a silicone brush, coat top of fish with butter. place pan in the middle of oven and broil until golden with dark charred edges, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. fillets should start to flake apart when ready. Top fish with chimichurri and serve.

brined pork

meat Bolyard's s ion & provis

Chris Bolyard, owner and head butcher of Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions in Maplewood, Missouri, says this recipe works best with pork chops or pork sirloin, as these cuts are easy to overcook and dry out. The brine helps lock the moisture in, much like it does with your Thanksgiving turkey. To that end, Bolyard says the brine also works well with poultry and some game, including pheasant, turkey and duck. Depending on the cut of meat, he’d likely recommend roasting, grilling or pan-searing the meat after brining. Recipe by chRiS bolyaRd, owneR and head buTcheR, bolyaRd’S MeaT & pRoviSionS in Maplewood, MiSSouRi yieldS | 2 quarts |

5 ¼ ½ 3 3 1 2 1 8

cups water cup granulated sugar cup kosher salt or smoked salt cups apple cider vinegar bay leaves tsp mustard seed Tbsp Dijon mustard Tbsp lard or olive oil pork chops or 1 10-lb pork roast

| preparation | in a stockpot over high heat, add water, sugar and salt and let dissolve; add remaining ingredients except lard or oil and remove from heat. Refrigerate and cool completely before adding chops or roast to brine; refrigerate meat in brine overnight. Remove from brine; pat dry with paper towels. in a warmed cast-iron pan over high heat, heat lard or oil. Sear meat 3½ minutes on each side. Rest 8 minutes before serving. 66

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uCha Ce KomB n e u l f n Co aB gastrol and the

nukazuke (rice-bran pickles) nukazuke are Japanese pickles made from a rice-bran pickling bed called nukadoko, which looks like wet sand. (Rice bran is the nutrient-rich outer layer of rice grains.) Nukadoko must be aerated by hand every couple days and topped with fresh rice bran frequently. Chef William Pauley of Confluence Kombucha and The Gastrolab in St. Louis prefers making nukazuke with Korean sea salt; he recommends pickling radishes, cucumber, kohlrabi, apples and celery with it. You can find rice bran at specialty grocery stores, health-food stores or online. Korean sea salt also can be found online. Recipe by williaM pauley, chef-owneR, confluence KoMbucha and The gaSTRolab in ST. louiS yieldS | 6 quarts |

4 1 24 2 1

lb rice bran lb Korean sea salt or sea salt oz gluten-free beer whole lemon peels Tbsp Thai chile flakes vegetable scraps fruits and vegetables (apples, persimmons, cucumbers, celery, radishes, beets, carrots), for pickling

| preparation | in a large container, mix rice bran, salt and beer until a wet-sand texture forms. add lemon peel and Thai chile flakes. Smooth out a layer of rice bran in the bottom of container. layer in vegetable scraps, then more rice bran, then more scraps, and so on. This is the bed you'll use for pickling later. when you reach the top of the container, pack a final layer of rice bran. cover and store at room temperature in a dry, dark place for 2 weeks. aerate daily by stirring and topping with fresh rice bran as mixture becomes wet. add new scraps every few days. Taste scraps after 2 weeks to determine if bed is properly fermented. if scraps taste raw, they may need to ferment longer; the longer they ferment, the saltier they become. once nukadoko is ready to produce pickles, add fresh fruit or vegetables. Some might take a few hours to pickle, others overnight. apples and persimmons take about 1 hour; cucumbers, celery, and small radishes should pickle overnight; and beets, larger radishes, and carrots require multiple days. Rinse pickles in cool water and pat dry before serving.


rozzelle Court re staurant at the nelson-atKin s museum of art

salted caramel brownies Rozzelle Court Restaurant pastry chef Caitlin Hotzel says she uses salt in every dessert she makes – and suggests you do the same. Salt helps cut the bitterness of dark chocolate in these brownies and balance their richness and sweetness. Recipe by caitlin Hotzel, pastRy cHef, Rozzelle couRt RestauRant at tHe nelson-atkins MuseuM of aRt in kansas city pHoto by williaM Hess yields | 24 brownies |

salted Caramel ¼ cup water 1 cup granulated sugar ½ cup heavy cream 2 tbsp unsalted butter 2 tsp sea salt brownies nonstick cooking spray 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cubed 1 cup milk chocolate, roughly chopped 1½ cups dark chocolate, roughly chopped ²⁄₃ cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 6 eggs 1 tbsp vanilla extract 1²⁄₃ cups granulated sugar 2 tsp sea salt flake sea salt, to serve

| preparation – salted caramel | in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid over medium-high heat, add water and sugar and cover. cook without stirring until mixture turns a dark amber color, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and add heavy cream. if part of caramel has hardened, place over medium-low heat and whisk until smooth. stir in butter and sea salt. transfer caramel to a heat-safe container and set aside to cool.

| preparation – brownies | preheat oven to 350°f. line bottom and shorter sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, cutting paper long enough to extend over sides of pan to help remove brownies after baking. liberally spray paper with nonstick cooking spray. in a medium saucepan over medium heat or using a double boiler, bring 1 inch of water to a gentle simmer. place a heat-safe bowl over top of pan if not using double boiler (bowl should not touch water). add butter and milk and dark chocolate and melt. once fully melted, remove from heat. in a large mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder and set aside. in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add eggs, vanilla and sugar and beat on medium speed until lightened in color and thickened, about 3 minutes. Reduce mixer to low speed and slowly pour in melted chocolate. increase speed to medium and beat for about 1 minute more until uniform in color, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in dry ingredients and sea salt. pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. immediately drizzle brownies with salted caramel after removing from oven (you’ll have extra caramel), and set aside to cool completely. to cleanly cut brownies, refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours (or overnight for best results). serve with extra caramel sauce and flaked sea salt.


Celebrate the 2018 honorees, the best of the best in local business, as chosen by Ladue News readers.

2018

T h ursday, M arc h 22 , 20 1 8

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Enjoy live music, passed hors d’oeuvres, food stations and an open bar. Mix and Mingle wiTh The plaTinuM prOviders ThaT bring gOOd business TO Our area. Honorees and local businesses will be on hand sampling products, providing demonstrations, offering giveaways and more.

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Scan the beer list at your favorite local brewery and alongside IPAs, stouts, ales and lagers, you just might spot a Gose. Just a few years ago, though, that wouldn’t have been the case. The historic sour style – known for its tart, mouth-puckering flavor – has been brewed in Germany for centuries, yet almost disappeared entirely several times. Traditionally, the sour wheat beer (pronounced goes-uh) gets its distinct salinity from the addition of salt and subtle floral notes from coriander. As sour styles have exploded in popularity at craft breweries across the U.S. in recent years, Goses are having their own renaissance. To truly appreciate just how unique the style is, however, you need to first understand its unlikely origins.

THE RISE, FALL AND REBIRTH OF GOSES

The sour, salty style almost went extinct in Germany. Now, it’s making a staggering comeback at American craft breweries, thanks in part to Destihl Brewery in normal, illinois. WRITTEN BY HEATHER RISKE PHOTOGRAPHY BY NEIL BURGER

Goses have a long and complicated history. The first mention of the style dates back all the way to 1181, when the beer was initially produced in the tiny town of Goslar in northern Germany. The style takes its name from the River Gose, which, prior to changing course, ran through the town. The small river was purported to have had a high saline content at the time, and, according to legend, that’s what gave the first Goses their distinct saltiness. At the height of Gose’s popularity in the mid-1500s, 387 taverns had been granted licenses to brew the style. “The beer was a phenomenon,” says Fal Allen, author of the upcoming book Gose: Brewing a Classic German Beer for the Modern Era and brewmaster at Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Boonville, California. “By the end of the 16th century, the entire Harz region [of Germany] was covered by Gose fever and the beer was an export hit for the city. The popularity of Gose moved mostly in a southwestern direction, finally ending in Leipzig. There, the beer took on a new life; even as brewing completely vanished from Goslar, it was thriving in Leipzig.” Near the beginning of the 20th century, Leipzig, a town much larger than Goslar, was home to dozens of Gosenschenke, which translates literally to “Gose tavern.” The first Goses were likely produced using spontaneous fermentation, in which the beer is exposed to open air to allow in natural and wild yeasts and bacteria, or fermented through a mixed culture that had taken up residency in the wood vessels used during brewing and fermentation. Although early Goses were said to get their saltiness from the river of the same name, brewers later began adding salt to the beer, a practice continued today. The beer, however, remained a regional specialty and was never produced in massive quantities. When World War II broke out, production of Goses – and all other beers in Germany – declined sharply. At the start of the war in 1939, only one brewery – Döllnitzer Ritterguts Brauerei just outside of Leipzig – was still producing the style. “They were happy to stay pretty small and only brewed 7,500 to 10,000 hectoliters [less than 8,500 barrels] a Inspired Local Food Culture

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year of Gose,” says beer historian Ron Pattinson. “The brewery was nationalized, and closed in [the late 1940s] when the communists came to power in East Germany.” The style was first revived in 1949 when Friedrich Wurzler, a former employee of Döllnitzer Ritterguts Brauerei, opened a small brewery in Leipzig. “He had a notebook that contained the secret of brewing Gose,” Pattinson says. “He’d presumably either made notes or been given [the notebook] while working at Döllnitzer Ritterguts Brauerei. Wurzler passed his notebook on to his stepson, Guido Pfnister, who continued to brew small quantities of Gose after Wurzler’s death in the late 1950s.” Only a handful of pubs were selling Goses at the time, though, and when Pfnister died in 1966, the small, run-down brewery closed. As Allen notes, that might have been the end for Goses if not for Lothar Goldhahn. In 1985, the pub owner read an article in a local newspaper about Gose culture in Leipzig and was inspired to bring back one of the city's most famous Gose houses, Ohne Bedenken. The historic pub had nearly been destroyed after a bombing raid on the city in 1943. The bar, of course, needed to sell Gose, so Goldhahn was determined to resurrect the style. “He interviewed many old Leipzigers to ascertain its precise taste,” Pattinson says. “More importantly, he was able to track down a former employee of the Wurzler Brauerei, who had at least some of Pfnister's notes in his possession.”

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Goldhahn wasn’t able to find a Leipzig brewery to produce the beer; they either didn’t have the correct technology or had no interest in the esoteric style. He brewed a test batch of Gose at the Schultheiss Berliner-Weisse-Brauerei in East Berlin, and the first production batch followed the next year. However, in 1988, the brewery decided not to brew the style any more, and Ohne Bedenken was forced to switch back to serving Berliner weisse.

In 1991, Goldhahn bought the small Löwenbrauerei in Dahlen, Germany, and was able to brew Goses on his own. For a few years, Ohne Bedenken flourished. “In the early 1990s, after decades of suppression of the [Saxony] culture by the Communist Party, a rebirth of the Saxon State was creating a boom in any and everything regional,” Allen says. “[Ohne] became so popular that during the mid-1990s it was impossible to even get a seat without a reservation. Gose culture was back.” Yet by 1995, economic pressures forced Goldhahn to sell the brewery. After about a year, he convinced the Andreas Schneider brewery in Weissenburg, Bavaria, to contract-brew the style. The brewery’s brewer, Thomas Schneider, quickly became intrigued with Goses, and in 1999, opened the Bayerischer Bahnhof brewpub in a former Bavarian Railway train station in Leipzig. The brewery continues to brew the style – and distribute to the U.S. – today. That same year, the Ritterguts Gose returned. Homebrewer-turned-professional Tilo Jänichen and Adolf Goedecke (the great-great-grandson of Ritterguts brewery owner Johann Gottlieb Goedecke) began brewing at Microbrewery Leipzig. Yet as Goses grew in popularity once again, the brewery struggled to keep up with demand. They quickly realized they needed a larger space, eventually settling on the Brauerei Reichenbrand in Chemnitz, just east of Leipzig. In the early 2000s, sour beer styles – including modern spins on traditional German saisons, Berliner weisses and Goses, among others – began to see a spike in popularity in the U.S. “The international craft-beer obsession with IPAs started to wane – albeit very slowly – and brewers and consumers began to seek out things other than the next new high-alcohol hoppy beer,” Allen says. “Brewers and consumers alike started to become interested in sour beers, and this shift led to a fascination and then it turned into a full-blown movement.”

PHOTO BY JACKLYN MEYER

As knowledge of Goses increased in the U.S., several American craft brewers intrigued by the history of the style began visiting German breweries, including Bahnhof. One particular brewer fascinated by the historic Gose was Eric Rose of Hollister Brewing in Goleta, California, who helped introduce the style to the States. Following a trip to Germany to research Goses, he brewed one called Tiny Bubbles and later brought it to the Great American Beer Festival in 2010, where it earned a silver medal. Over the past few years, Goses have become a popular pour at craft breweries across the country. Allen attributes that growth in popularity to a few factors: its drinkability; providing an ideal palate for other flavors; consumers’ desires for “something new;” and its ease of production relative to other styles of sour beer. In particular, one local brewery has capitalized on those factors and, in the process, earned a national reputation for introducing modern craft beer-drinkers to the time-honored style.

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HERE GOSE NOTHIN’ Although some styles of sour beers, including Goses, can take several years to age, many craft brewers have recently begun kettle-souring to speed up the process and make the beer more readily available. Take Destihl Brewery in Normal, Illinois, which has been brewing sour styles since 2008. In 2011, the brewery introduced six of its Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour Ales at the Great American Beer Festival to what brewmaster and chief executive officer Matt Potts sums up as “a lot of overnight fanfare.” Consumer and distributor demand for Destihl’s sours grew quickly – so quickly, in fact, that it allowed Destihl to open its first production brewery. (Up until that point, the brewery had operated brewpubs in Normal and Champaign, so its sours were only available to the public on draft at those two locations or beer festivals.)

As Potts became more interested in Goses, Destihl began brewing a barrel-aged version for its Saint Dekkera program in June 2013. The beers in that series take between one to three years to age and undergo a secondary wild fermentation, so Potts says the brewery knew they’d need a way to produce higher volumes of sour beer at a faster pace to quench the public’s thirst. When the brewing team at Destihl decides to throw caution to the wind and experiment with something risky, they’ll simply say, “Here goes nothing.” So when they began playing around with a contemporary spin on a Leipzig-style Gose, they already had the perfect name in mind. Here Gose Nothin’ was one of the first two beers (along with Counter Clockweisse, a Berliner weisse) in Destihl’s Wild Sour Series. The brewery considers it a contemporary spin on the traditional style, in that the beer is more full-bodied and sour than traditional Goses. In addition to the sharply


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More Craft Goses Brewed with Key limes, Meyer lemons and orange peel, Perennial Artisan Ales’ Suburban Beverage is inspired by the saltiness of Goses and is often likened to a classic Margarita. perennialbeer.com Dried hibiscus flowers are steeped in Boulevard Brewing Co.’s tangy, sweet Hibiscus Gose after brewing to achieve the beer’s bright pink hue. boulevard.com Set to debut later this year, Schlafly Beer’s Paloma Gose combines the salty, coriander-tinted characteristics of a traditional Gose with the grapefruit and lime notes found in the popular Mexican cocktail. schlafly.com Broadway Brewery celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2014 by brewing its first sour. A traditional interpretation of the style, the 5th Anniversary Gose can be found on the menu seasonally. broadwaybrewery.com

Crane Brewing Co. offers several different seasonal Goses, including grapefruit, orange and gooseberry variations, as well as other popular sour styles. The brewery recently released a more traditional take in its taproom in Raytown, Missouri, and plans to also release a dry-hopped version. cranebrewing.com 4 Hands Brewing Co. originally brewed its Preserved Lemon Gose, which features fresh lemon verbena and lemon basil, as a one-off collaboration with Columbus Park Ramen Shop in Kansas City. The brewery now offers it in cans as a summer seasonal release. 4handsbrewery.com Mother’s Brewing Co. in Springfield, Missouri, puts its own spin on the traditional style with its Lime Gose, which is kettle soured with Lactobacillus and enhanced with kaffir lime leaves, lime zest and salt for a light, bright, thirst-quenching brew. mothersbrewing.com

acidic flavors that result from the wild yeast and lactic fermentation, Here Gose Nothin’ features lemon and lime notes that are balanced by spicy coriander and French sea salt. “The flavors lend themselves to what a tequila chaser would be with salt and lime,” Potts says. Wild Sour Series beers are kettle-soured with native bacteria and wild yeasts, meaning they’re able to be brewed and released within about a month. And whereas many craft breweries purchase Lactobacillus cultures from a lab to sour their beers, the Destihl team created its own culture for the Wild Sour series. True to its name, the series uses a wild, indigenous culture collected from several different sources near the brewery and the air of central Illinois. Destihl has maintained that same culture for years, once the team “finally caged the beast in a small propagation tank for a consistent supply," as Potts says. The Wild Sour Series was initially draft-only until Destihl started canning the beers in September 2014, making it one of the first few canned sours on the market at the time. “It was certainly the only (or one of the only) entire sour series in cans at that time, which created quite a niche for us as a brewery,” Potts says. At a time when sours were typically available in pricier, large-format bottles, the accessibility and affordability of the Wild Sour Series helped make Destihl a nationally recognized player in the sour beer scene. And the risk paid off, quite literally: The beers in the series are now Destihl’s highest-volume products. Goses have also become more popular because they are an ideal canvas for brewers to play around with flavor. Salt is essential to the recipe, of course, but brewers often add other fruits or spices in place of or in addition to the traditional coriander. To that end, Destihl also produces a Blueberry Gose. Fans of the brewery actually helped inspire the beer: The team occasionally came across photos of craft beer-drinkers adding blueberries to a pint of Here Gose Nothin’. Destihl then released its own Blueberry Gose – though, of course, with quite a bit more fruit added – and Potts says the citrusy notes of the Gose pair especially well with the sweet blueberries. Destihl only uses French sea salt in its Goses, as Potts says it has a softer mineral mouthfeel than other salts they tested during R&D. The salt is added during the boil (about midway through the brewing process), so that it will thoroughly dissolve; adding it after the mash also ensures the salt doesn’t affect the mash chemistry. “Essentially, we’re just trying to duplicate the more mineral mouthfeel of Leipzig-style water,” he says. Destihl’s beers have become so popular in recent years that the brewery has outgrown its original production facility. In March 2017, Destihl opened a massive new $14 million production brewery in Normal. The expansion has allowed the brewery to increase its distribution in both existing and new markets, including, as of December, distribution in South Korea. “When we started brewing Here Gose Nothin’, there were so few [Goses] on the market,” Potts says. “I would like to think that Here Gose Nothin’ has had a big role in the broader craft market familiarity with the style.” However risky a move it might have seemed at the time, it’s clear the gamble on Goses paid off for Destihl. The brewery has helped bring the unique, almost-forgotten style to the forefront of the craft-beer scene – and hopefully this time, it’s here to stay. 1200 Greenbriar Drive, Normal, Illinois, destihlbrewery.com

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he skyline of downtown Hutchinson, Kansas, is modest. Here, in the heart of the country, the “prairie skyscrapers,” as The Hutchinson News affectionately calls them, are towering grain elevators storing millions of bushels of wheat. The town of 41,310 people might be best known today as home to the Cosmosphere space museum, which features more than 13,000 spaceflight artifacts, including the Odyssey command module from Apollo 13. To really feel like you’re in outer space, though, you must travel 650 feet beneath Hutchinson (or Hutch, as it’s known to locals). You’ll find a sparkling terrain that feels otherworldly, where the temperature is a constant 68°F. If you close your eyes and take a deep breath, you’ll inhale briny air and feel transported to the seaside. Yet there's no water or sunlight here – no signs of life at all, only tunnels and caverns of salt. This is part of one of the largest salt deposits in the U.S., formed more than 275 million years ago, spanning 27,000 square miles under central and south-central Kansas. Above ground – or topside, as local salt miners say – there are only hints of the natural wonder below. Businesses along Main Street include Salt City Coin and Salt City Land & Title Co. The Hutchinson High School mascot is the Salthawk, and the biggest races in town are the Run for the Rocks half-marathon and The Salty Dog triathlon. For many years, nearby South Hutchinson hosted Salt Fest, an annual fair featuring a parade, horseshoe contest, tractor pull and more. Students once walked the halls of now-shuttered Salt City Business College across the street from the Reno County Museum in Hutchinson. A visit to that museum reveals a rich history of the salt industry in the area. It’s a history that locals know well, says Reno County Museum curator Lynn Ledeboer, yet the legacy is less well-known outside of the area. “For local people, I think the salt industry has always been in their consciousness, because they’ve grown up around it,” Ledeboer says. “But even a little bit farther out, going to Wichita, which is an hour away, I think even that far they are unaware of this little treasure that’s here.” It’s easy to understand why. After all, how often do those of us not from Salt City really think about where the finely ground crystals in our shakers come from? “You go into a store and buy a little canister of salt, and if you’re not involved in that industry, it does come as a surprise that it’s right beneath our feet,” Ledeboer says.

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h T a e n e b o T T , ee s a f g s n n 0 i a 5 T K 6 a n , l s i n e T c o v i s s a a n r f f i T . o h n e c i n h T e o T u v i h T e u T r l l o o a l v s p e x c e i r o T s i h e pr r e l il M d iz d l u j y b y b n e e n y T i h T l p i a a r M r W e g d o T pho



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Of the earth Salt is essential to cooking; you probably have a box of Morton or a cellar filled with Maldon in your kitchen. It’s also essential to human life, as the body can’t produce sodium naturally, yet our nerves and muscles require it. Until the 19th century, when industrialization made it readily available worldwide, salt was a prized commodity. As Mark Kurlansky writes in his book Salt, “The earliest written record of salt production in China dates to around 800 B.C. and tells of production and trade of sea salt a millennium before, during the Xia dynasty. It is not known if the techniques described in this account were actually used during the Xia dynasty, but they were considered old ways by the time of this account, which describes putting ocean water in clay vessels and boiling it until reduced to pots of salt crystals. This was the technique that was spread through southern Europe by the Roman Empire, 1,000 years after the Chinese account was written.” In ancient Rome, the Via Salaria (or Salt Route) stretched from the Adriatic coast, where salt was extracted from the sea, to Ostia, just outside of Rome. Salt was so valuable that Roman soldiers were given special salt rations called salarium argentum. The Latin word for salt, sal, is the root of the word salary. During the Civil War, Union generals strategically targeted Southern salt facilities to deprive Confederate troops and civilians of the vital resource. “Blood was spilled again and again in battles over the saltworks at Saltville, Virginia, and in the nearby Kanawha Valley,” wrote Steve Kemper for Smithsonian Magazine in 1999. “After the Yankees finally captured those places, Jefferson Davis desperately offered immunity from military service to anyone who would volunteer to tend makeshift salt kettles set up along the coast of Florida and the Carolinas to boil down seawater.” During the 19th century, the majority of salt produced in the U.S. was made by evaporating water from Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York. Although the nickname's use has waned, Syracuse was once proudly called Salt City as well.

"the future Great Of Kansas" The story of how salt was first discovered in Kansas is classic American Old West, like something you'd see in an episode of Bonanza. In 1875, while setting up camp about 50 miles from Hutchinson, cowboys came across a natural salt spring, which is created by saltwater in underlying bedrock. A company was soon established in Hutchinson to capitalize on the find, intending to pump the salt brine to Raymond, Kansas, about 10 miles from the discovery site, evaporate it into salt there and ship it out via the Santa Fe Railroad. The plan fell apart, though, as the brine wasn't pure enough to make evaporation profitable. Around the same time, and purely by coincidence, there was a groundswell of activity and growth happening in Hutch. “The fates point with the iron hand of destiny to Hutchinson as the future great of Kansas,” proclaimed The Hutchinson Daily News in August 1887. In a series of stories published to celebrate Hutch’s “centennial of salt” in September 1987, The Hutchinson News wrote that in the late 1880s “construction was going on at an astonishing rate. In all, 14 buildings worth a total of $150,000 were under construction on North Main alone – a rate of growth that supposedly outstripped every other comparably sized city in the country…A brief item in The Hutchinson Daily News noted that there were 120 real-estate agents employed in the city.”


PHOTOS COuRTESY OF THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

One such real-estate prospector was Ben Blanchard. He arrived in Hutch from his hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, on his custom-built private luxury rail car, which he described as a “palace on wheels.” He’s often referred to as a “flashy dresser,” decked out in red neckties accented with diamond stickpins, who rode into the frontier town in search of riches. He quickly earned nicknames such as “Scheming Ben,” “Bold Ben” and “Get Rich Quick Blanchard.” “You’d have thought he was the most wonderful little fellow you ever saw if you didn’t know about his manipulations,” a woman recalled to the Hutchinson News-Herald in 1938. “He would get up and pray in the Methodist church and you’d be carried straight to heaven.” Blanchard founded South Hutchinson in 1887, buying up land and building commercial businesses including a flour mill and a barbed-wire factory, as well as frame homes, all in an effort to draw interest in real estate. Today, the town is a sister city to Hutch. “But as good as the real-estate boom was in those days, Blanchard evidently thought it could be better,” wrote The Hutchinson News in 1987. “Anything that could shoot already-inflated land prices even higher meant money, and oil or natural gas must have seemed like just the thing.” Determined to be the source of that boom, Blanchard began drilling in the summer of 1887. He encouraged investors to visit the area and buy land from him in South Hutchinson, promising them an imminent coal, oil or natural gas discovery. After months of drilling with no results, he hinted to Ralph Easley, editor of The Hutchinson Daily News, that he’d struck natural gas. The editor didn’t wait to confirm facts, and instead penned a sensational story headlined: “We Will Have Light! We Will Have Fuel! We Want the Earth and All There Is In It! Hutchinson Has a Dead Certainty of Gas and Coal Before Christmas.” Instead, on Sept. 27, Blanchard struck the salt vein. Locals weren’t surprised by the find, given the salt spring near Raymond. “But when the coal, oil and natural gas he had promised his investors turned into a much less lucrative 300-foot-thick vein of rock salt, Blanchard’s Hutchinson days were numbered,” wrote The Hutchinson News in 1987. “Less than a year later, with nothing to keep prices high, the real estate boom began to bust.” Blanchard didn’t stick around, and never founded his own salt company. There are numerous accounts of Blanchard being run out of town by incensed townspeople – he had promised them natural gas, after all. The wildest stories allege that he left town disguised as a woman to avoid being tarred and feathered, although Ledeboer at the Reno County Museum is certain it didn’t happen that way. “It’s very romantic and hilarious, but that story has basically been debunked,” she says. Nevertheless, Blanchard's discovery would end up bringing profit and prosperity to the once-quiet pioneer town of Hutchinson, quickly nicknamed “the Salt City of the West.” At the time, salt from Michigan was selling in Kansas for $3.50 a barrel. Within a year, 11 salt plants were in operation in the area and the local price per barrel had dropped to $1.55.

PICTURED FROM TOP: Salt miners at Hutchinson-Kansas Salt, the predecessor to Morton Salt, stand near barrels of salt sometime between 1887 and 1910; salt is carted on train tracks underground at Carey Salt Co.; the Carey Salt Co. exhibit at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson sometime between 1940 and 1960.

Within five years of the discovery, in 1892, Chicago businessman Joy Morton visited the Hutchinson area. Six years later, he bought land in South Hutchinson. “Morton initially set up his operations under Hutchinson-Kansas Salt, a division of International Salt Co., which was owned by a group of investors headed by Morton, who was also president of the company,” John Green reported for The Hutchinson News in 2014. “In January 1910, Morton formally incorporated Morton Salt Co. Although its headquarters were in Chicago, the sales operation remained in Hutchinson until moving to Kansas City in 1914.” Morton has produced table salt in Kansas since. Only three other salt operations have endured in or near Hutchinson: Cargill, which purchased the longtime independent Barton Salt Co. in 1973; Compass Minerals, which is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas; and Hutchinson Salt Co. The latter has changed hands many times, and from 1923 to 1969 it was called Carey Salt Co. Founder Emerson Carey built the first and only salt mine in Hutchinson to produce rock salt. At the time, only solution-mining plants, which make table salt, were operating there. “He saw more of a need for rock-salt mining, because the vein here was so rich that it could support a large-scale operation, and there were already all these other solution-mining operations,” says Chris Albert, assistant curator at the Reno County Museum. Mining rock salt was far more labor-intensive when Carey opened his mine; now, modern machinery bears the brunt of the work, although it’s still very physically demanding. The mine is again owned locally and operates again under the name Hutchinson Salt Co. It still produces rock salt, but the solution facilities producing table salt were closed many years ago due to increasing competition. The key difference between rock salt and table salt is purity. Hutchinson Salt Co. grinds its rock salt into coarse and fine grades used for de-icing roads, tanning hides, making aluminum and adding to livestock feed. Cargill and Morton operate solution-mining facilities in the area for making the salt that ends up on grocery store shelves.

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Out Of the Pan Geologists estimate that the Hutchinson salt vein was formed during the Permian period, which was followed by the Triassic, or “Age of the Dinosaurs.” The vein took 40 million years to form, requiring the evaporation of 80 feet of water to form just a 1-foot layer of salt. Around 275 million years ago, modern-day Kansas was part of the vast Permian Sea, which gradually receded and grew shallower. Evaporation in the then-hot, dry climate surpassed precipitation, and layers of salt settled on the sea floor, creating a bed of salt. A much more refined and mechanized version of this process is used to make table salt today. At the Morton facility in South Hutchinson, table salt is made through vacuum evaporation. It still involves drilling into the salt vein – wells are drilled into the earth, about 500 and 1,000 feet apart. The wells are connected underground through lateral, or non-vertical, drilling. Water is forced down one well, dissolving the salt below into a brine, which is then pumped to the surface through another well. Once topside, brine is placed in a storage tank to await processing. To make table salt, the brine is added to vacuum pans, mammoth closed tanks about three stories high, typically in a series of three, four or five pans. Steam is fed into the first pan, which begins to boil the brine, and the resulting steam then continues to heat the brine in the second pan with less intensity. The steaming process yields more salt per pound than if only one pan was steamed. Coarse and extra-fine grades of salt are then screened and reserved for table-salt packaging. A small amount of calcium silicate coating material is added to salt to keep it free-flowing in damp and humid weather. This is what inspired the famous slogan “When It Rains It Pours," and the iconic Morton Salt Girl mascot. Although it’s standard for table salt to be coated in calcium silicate today, when the anti-caking agent was first introduced by Morton in 1911, it boosted the company above its competition. (Originally, magnesium carbonate was used.) In 1924, Morton marked another milestone when it began selling iodized salt to prevent goiters and combat iodine deficiency. A few other companies also had added iodine to their salt to help eradicate iodine-deficiency disorders, but Morton’s broad distribution encouraged even more competing producers to follow suit. Research has linked the widespread availability of iodized salt, introduced in the 1920s in the U.S. and Switzerland – the first two countries to do so – with improved growth and cognition.

PICTURED: Morton Salt ad from 1967; Postcard from 1910 featuring the Morton Salt plant in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Today, Morton markets 50 grades and mixtures of salt specifically for industrial food manufacturers, the restaurant industry, and of course, home cooks, including coarse kosher salt, table salt, fine and coarse sea salt and various types of seasoned salts and rubs. Morton’s salt facility in South Hutchinson is one of 14 in North America that produces table salt, although only seven of those plants use vacuum evaporation. The others are solar operations, where ocean, sea or salt-lake water are drawn into large ponds, where sunlight and wind evaporate the water until salt crystals are formed and collected.

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Still the Salt City In 2011, a museum, Strataca, was opened inside a portion of the already mined-out Hutchinson Salt Co. mine. The museum is operated by the Reno County Museum and gives visitors a peek into how rock salt is mined. It’s here that you can breathe in pure salt air and see walls and ceilings formed entirely of salt, 650 feet beneath Hutchinson. An electric line runs underground, yet many of the conveniences here are battery-powered, including the trains and golf carts that traverse you through the cavernous mine. The museum is the only one operating in an active salt mine in the Western hemisphere; a few far older ones can be visited in Poland, Romania and Austria. “Tourists always find it fascinating when they go underground on the tour and there’s little markers that show, ‘OK, right now you’re under this street,’” Ledeboer says. “And above ground, [when you’re on that same street, you know that] way down in the depths there’s the salt beneath you.” Long before the Strataca museum opened, inviting people of all ages to don hard hats and descend into the salt mine, another group was doing business down below. Because the mine has consistent and naturally regulated temperature and humidity, and because no weather or natural disasters can damage it, it provides an ideal space for preserving valuable materials. That’s exactly what Underground Vaults & Storage stores there: Everything from priceless original prints to never-before-seen outtakes from Gone With the Wind, Star Wars, and, appropriately, The Wizard of Oz, are safeguarded beneath Kansas. You can get a peek at the collection, including George Clooney’s Batsuit from Batman & Robin and the boxing gloves Will Smith wore in Ali, on the Strataca tour. The company hosts private and special events in the mine, including its 50th anniversary celebration in 2009, which resurrected a long-dead local tradition: The Salt Queen beauty pageant. Strataca also hosts special events underground, including weddings and concerts. Tickets to interactive Murder in the Mine dinner-theater performances are open to the public in October, and an annual Mine Run 5K is held in February. Ledeboer and her colleagues at the museum are extremely proud of Strataca, which was a long-time dream of former executive director Linda Schmitt. From the beginning, the hope was to document and recognize the impact and significance of the salt industry in town, and the ancient salt vein running underfoot. “There’s a lot of pride in the fact that the salt industry is here,” Ledeboer says. “The salt industry and Hutchinson are very, very intertwined, and the memory and legacy that it left, I believe, will continue to grow.”

Strataca, 3650 E. Ave G, Hutchinson, Kansas, underkansas.org

PICTURED FROM TOP: A sign welcoming visitors to the Carey Salt Co. mine when it was officially dedicated in 1923; when Underground Vaults & Storage opened in 1959, it offered all the comforts of home, including hot and cold running water, electricity and a telephone. 80

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE KAnSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Reno County Museum, 100 S. Walnut Street Ave., Hutchinson, Kansas, renocomuseum.org


Inspired Local Food Culture

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When Kansas City fine-dining institution The American closed in 2016 and transitioned into a private event space, wine director Ross Jackson had to figure out his next move. Michael Corvino, former executive chef at The American, and his business partner and wife, Christina, invited Jackson to join them at their new restaurant, Corvino Supper Club and Tasting Room. For Jackson, a level two certified sommelier under the Court of Master Sommeliers, the opportunity to again partner with his friend was too good to pass up. Here, he shares his favorite places to dine and grab drinks off the clock. –Jackson Roman

with Ross Jackson assistant general manager, beverage director and sommelier,

corvino supper club and tasting room

photo by william hess

imagine you have one entire day to dedicate to dining out in Kansas city. Where Would you grab breaKfast, lunch and dinner, and What Would you be ordering at each spot?

Kitty’s café

I don’t get to do breakfast much because I work long hours and my wife is a nurse, but our brunch spot is Krokstrom Klubb & Market for some Scandinavian pastries. My go-to lunch spot is Kitty’s Café – I’m about a 14-year veteran. It’s been there since post-World War II, and the original owners were relocated from internment camps. They have a sandwich that’s pork tenderloin pounded out and tempura-fried with pickles, lettuce and hot sauce – it’s the best sandwich in Kansas City. For dinner, my favorite spot is The Rieger. [Chef-owner] Howard Hanna serves great food, and they make you feel right at home.

KroKstrom Klubb & marKet

Who or What do you believe is a hidden gem in the Kansas city food scene? Ça va

PHOTOGRAPHY COuRTeSY InSTAGRAM uSeRS

Ça Va, despite being well-known for being a great bar concept, is underappreciated for how great the food is. the rieger

sichuan dynasty michael corvino

I just gave Howard Hanna some love, and I’m going to have to do it again, because Ça Va,despite being well-known for being a great bar concept, is underappreciated for how great the food is. They don’t really even have a kitchen, and the food is made behind the bar. All they have is an induction burner, a deep fryer and a cooler with a cutting board on top of it. They make an entire menu out of that, and it’s really high level!

What’s currently your favorite meal at a local restaurant? I think it’s an unknown for most people within the city limits, but if you go out to Overland Park, Kansas, there’s a little place called Sichuan Dynasty, and as far as authentic Sichuan food goes, it’s easily the best I’ve had here. You have to ask for the Chinese menu, because if you don’t, they’re gonna give you the one with General Tso’s. The best dish I’ve had there is the twice-cooked fish. How they cook it twice, I have no idea, but it’s this bread crumb-battered fish that comes in a really classic, melt-your-face-off Sichuan sauce, and it’s just unreal. It’s a trek, but so worth it.

Who in the local restaurant scene inspires you? More than anyone in the scene, it’s my chef, Michael Corvino. He’s always relentlessly seeking knowledge and has a relationship with everyone who comes into contact with the restaurant, whether it’s the farmers, tasting wines with me and bouncing ideas back and forth or really knowing the service staff on a personal level. He comes in at 10am and a lot of days he’ll be here until after midnight. Seeing that kind of dedication – it’s impossible not to be inspired.

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