Stop Me if You've Heard This One....

Let's see...it starts off like this....

"T. S. Eliot's Grandfather, a Catholic grade school boy's soccer team,  and a bunch of Hookers......"


Actually, I can say for certain that the histories of the three listed above all merge at one place....and that place is on "The Hill." Why am I certain?  Because I was on that Catholic grade school soccer team.

Bob in his "Glory Daze"....(back row second from the left)

Many years ago, when I was a young, up and coming soccer player, I played many a game at the Sublette Park soccer field for the Resurrection of Our Lord boy's soccer team.  In fact, even today I ride by this park most days, on my way to work, never realizing the history of the location.

Little did I know, that when I was scoring my one and only goal as a Winger, or intimidating opponents with my dazzling and unpredicatable clumsiness on defense, that this very site played a major role in St. Louis' experiment with legal prostitution.  For located on the exact site of the field was the Social Evil Hospital (a medical center for the legal prostitutes of the city) , and it's companion, The House of Industry (to "teach" the "working women" more socially acceptable "workplace skills").

Photo from Missouri History Museum

Current soccer field where the hospital was located.

Below are two links that tell the story much better than I ever could.  And even though this location does not technically land within the boundaries of "The Hill" neighborhood, it is nevertheless located on "The Hill."  So it is close enough and interesting enough to warrant mention in this blog.

And if you really want to know what "The Saint of the West," the Reverend William Greenleaf Eliot (grandfather of THE T. S. Eliot), and what THE Josephine Baker had to do with all this....you'll have to click on one or both of the links below.

Seriously....this one is really, really, interesting:
https://www.distilledhistory.com/socialevil/


http://www.stltoday.com/news/archives/look-back-st-louis-briefly-experiments-with-legalized-prostitution/article_cbff5b95-42bb-5f16-a221-13aa03984301.html


And a post script to this post.  I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to my employer's role in planting pollinator gardens all around the city.  Below is a sign from Sublette Park that explains our involment and how a group of St. Louisans are trying to help Monarchs and other pollinators.

Click this text to find out what your Center for Native Pollinators is doing.

Gardens and sign are located at the Northwest corner of the park....and elsewhere throughout the City.
Check out that Saint Louis Zoo logo!

Viviano's continues to surprise

Before we started this "Hill of a Year," blog, I had no idea that John Viviano & Sons had a deli.  I had shopped there multiple times. 

I have scoured the aisles for obscure cans of Eggplant appetizers, perused the salamis and chesses, or mulled over the seemingly endless varities of homemade frozen ravioli, but somehow missed the deli, tucked in the far back corner.

The deli has a simple set menu and they offer daily specials.  We both ordered off the daily special menu.  I got the Viviano Special, 'cause...why not?  

Mel got the BBQ Chix Brst on French Bread (see menu above), because they were out of eggplant and our chef behind the counter cajoled her out of a cheese and tomato offering.  I will say that for vegetarians, though, the salads looked fabulous and substantial.

Bob's sandwich

Mel's sandwich

You can dine inside or out.  There are a couple of tables outside on the sidewalk, or inside, is like eating is at a friend's kitchen table....a friend with a really big, fancy kitchen.

But Viviano's will always be a Grocery to me.  You can find the most amazing specialty items, fantastic cheeses,

meats 

 

  and pastas.






But the aisles are loaded with goodies and exotic offerings that are tempting to try.

So, we did.  We walked away with a box full of groceries.  

I would certainly say that if you have never been, or haven't been in a while....skip an upcoming trip to a chain supermarket and give Viviano's a try for a week.  Support a local family store and deli.

And then there were....???

Here's our recent list and here's our dilemma.    Note the question marks next to Giovanni's.


Places we have eaten:

• 2nd Shift Brewery

• Adrianna's

• Amaghetti's

• Anthonino's Taverna

• Cha,Cha,Chow

• Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

• Dominic's

• Favazza's

• Five Bistro

• Gaslight

• Gelato di Riso

• Gioia's

• Guido's Pizza

• Joe Fassi's

• Joey B's

• J.Smugs GastroPit

• Leo Oldani Sausage (Eovaldi's Deli)

• Mama Toscano

• Mama's on the Hill

• Milo's

• Missouri Baking

• Mona's

• Rigazzi's

• Shaw’s Coffee

• Steve's Hot Dogs

• Vitale's Bakery

• Viviano's 

• Zia's

Places we have left to eat at:

• Charlie Gitto's 
• GianTony's
• Giovanni's ???
• Lorenzo's
• Marconi Bakery
• Pop's Blue Moon

On a recent visit to The Hill, Mel and I dropped by - Giovanni's.

This is because on January 25, just a few weeks into our Hill of a Year quest, Giovanni's caught fire.

Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

So we decided to check on the progress this past week to gauge how soon we might be eating there.

And this is what we found.

Still boarded up with no real indication of opening anytime in 2017.






We saw a permit for a dumpster to be placed outside, posted in the window.

This, however, does not indicate if the restaurant will even open again.  It only indicates an attempt to clean things up a bit.

So, we shall see.  If Giovanni's opens prior to Dec. 31, 2017, we will include it.  But, things don't look good for this restaurant contributing to our 'Hill of a Year."

Fiesta de la casa/ Festa in casa

Forgive me Father for I have.......   

I am so sorry for this, but..just hearing "Guido's on The Hill" 

....I have a certain image in mind.

 There are so many stereotypes about Italians...especially in in America...that when I pictured a restaurant called Guidos.....

Well, I won't say what I thought ....but it is probably not fair. 

However, to my defense....the soundtrack playing softly underneath the sounds of the restaurant was mainly Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Anyway, Guido's Pizzaria and Tapas blew those sterotypes out of the water.  It was a Spanish/Italian house party!

They bill themselves as  "the best of Mediterranean Cuisine...with a menu full of Classic Italian Fare and Traditional Spanish Entrées and Tapas, delivering a Taste of Spain in the Middle of Italy."




And they delivered.

They had both the Spanish and Italian national football jerserys placed prominently on the walls. And they offered a variety of other geegaws, t-shirts and food products from both countries.

Located at the corner of Hereford and Shaw...catty-corner from Adriana's, Guido's has plenty of outdoor seating, bar seating and dining room seating.  They even had a special events room (with a bar) that was open on the Saturday night that we went for general seating.

We went early, but the place started hopping by 6:30 or 7:00 pm.  Beer was bottle only, but they had a nice selection of domestics, Italian and local microbrews.  Mel, however chose the Sangria...

and we steered clear of the Italian food offerings and went for the Spanish cuisine.  This was a nice change from our regular "Hill of a Year" fare.

We decided to have some fun and order several Tapas.  Good choice!  All of them were fantastic.

First we ordered Homemade Empanadillas.  These were puff pastries filled with chicken and other goodness.   

We also ordered the Queso de Cabra....some sort of  goat cheese maravilloso plato that my phone did not save a picture of......but they were delicious.

Since the wait staff was soooooo good....our waiter suggested that we casually order what we wanted as we went along.  This was a great strategy for us.  We could casually assess what we had eaten and how hungry we were before ordering the next dish.

What was nice is that we knew that they had 50 reservations for that evening...but we were never, ever rushed.  As far as we could tell, it was all about the experience.

Next up, we ordered some Croquetas Caseras. Yummy!  These are Croquettes made with Chicken and Tomato Alioli.

Next up, we went for the Albondigas Caseras con Patatas.....and holy moly.....these are Spanish Meatballs with onions, garlic and white wine, topped with fried potatoes.

They were a meal!  This did us in....unfortunately.

No desert.  No Italian fare.  ...and the Pizzas that I saw going by looked fantastic.

And on a final and maybe most important note...check this out!

It’s a Family Affair

The time had finally come to loosen the purse strings and visit Dominic’s, one of the most expensive places to eat on The Hill. We brought my brother and sister-in-law along to make it more of a special occasion. Because me paying a couple hundred bucks for dinner counts as quite special.

We stopped by the bar for an aperitif. I finally found a place that could make a proper spritz, an ideal summer cocktail.

I feel that dining at Dominic’s encompasses the service and atmosphere as much as the food. We enjoyed all aspects. We were tucked away in our own nook – maybe they knew we were coming.

Ok, here’s the best part. The food. Because I like to give accurate information, I looked up the exact dishes from the menu, which is mainly in Italian. When the menu popped up, the computer asked if I wanted it translated. Well, sure. Who wouldn’t? Here’s the breakdown:

• ·         Marty – Linguino con pesce or linguine with fish
• ·         Me – Eggplant alla parmigiana or eggplant alla parmigiana
• ·         Bob – Breast of chicken spiedino or chicken skewer
• ·         Belinda – Capellini primavera or spring caps

The computer must’ve had too many spritzes because my eggplant didn’t change and I have no idea what Belinda ate.

You know when your food comes out and the server says, “Careful, the plate is hot?” Dominic's really means it. Our two servers warmed our plates table-side. All our dinners were well received. Belinda gave me her leftovers and I had leftovers too. So the next night, Bob and I had eggplant alla parmigiana and spring caps for dinner.

History time. Dominic Galati immigrated to the United States from Sicily in 1964, bringing with him a passion for food and life. He settled in St. Louis and, after learning the business, opened Dominic's on the Hill with his wife, Jackie, in 1971.  On the corner of Hereford and Wilson, Dominic’s sits just a few blocks within The Hill boundaries.

Several years ago, the Galati family opened Dominic’sTrattoria in Clayton. Managed by Dominic’s and Jackie’s daughter, Maria Galati, the Trattoria runs more on the casual and affordable spectrum. Very unlikely we will visit anytime soon since it’s not located in The Hill. Well, probably never. We generally only eat out in the city.