Uh-Oh! Bob's Quoting The Bible!

Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. 
-  Isaiah 43:18

I've been spending the past several posts writing about when I used to cover The Hill for the Bugle Newspaper.  So this week, we did not "ponder on things of the past..."  Instead, Mel and I went to what has to be the newest restaurant on The Hill.

Up until very recently our increasingly shorter list of places to eat had Leonardo's Kitchen and Wine Bar.  Well that establishment closed some time ago and, in it's place, popped up J. Smugs GastroPit.

  So Mel and I went this past week to try the place out.

The "pit" in GastroPit referrs to a barbeque pit.  To view the menu click here.

The restuarant is located in a former gas station on the corner of  Bischoff and Mackland.

There are quite a few reminders of the building's past history.

As well as some new additions to give the pleasant outside dining area some flair. They have covered dining under the old pumping station....and even several indoor seats - in the air conditioning- in a counter style seating arangement.

We were told by Kerri Smugala that J. Smugs GastroPit opened only three weekends ago.  It was a new adventure for the Smugala family with brothers Joe and John along with their wives Kerri and Linda.

She mentioned that they were still working out some kinks, but we couldn't tell.  Service was prompt and very freindly.  In fact the entire place had a real family, neighborhood feel to it.  Folks were driving by and honking and waving.  And everyone seemed to know each other.  This is one of the things about The Hill that impresses me.  It is a stable neighborhood that supports its businesses, and because of this, everyone knows one another.


Mel and I each had the pulled pork.  I got a pretzel bun for mine (very pleased with this choice)...Mel got hers sans bread.  It was a lot of meat.  I got slaw with mine...and Mel got a side of vegtable medley something or other.

They had a very interesting sauce selection.  It was a choose your own sauce selection, so I tried a few. 

For the most part, I had the Dr. Pepper sauce, but also tried the Memphis and the Bianca -white barbeque sauce.  This was interesting and worth trying again on other dishes.

What really impressed me, though, was the beer menu.  Very extensive.

This is only side one of their extensive beer menu.

They seem to already have a thriving carryout business going.  And much to our delight, they did not have pastics, styrofoam or throwaway cups for dining in.  They had real glasses for our beers, and the take out boxes were heavy paper.  They get our eco-stamp of approval.

Beer! Glorious Beer!

2^nd Shift Brewing and Tasting Room on the Hill. Hallelujah!

As you may know by now, my beverage choice comes before food. So when 2^nd Shift relocated their brewery from New Haven I was thrilled. The move stopped just a block into the Hill boundaries. It’s also in the middle of an industrial area, and it can be difficult to find. You’re going to have to figure it out all by yourself just like we did. www.2ndshiftbrewing.com/

Bob and I stopped by 2^nd Shift to check it out earlier this year. Since they didn’t serve food yet, we didn’t include 2^nd Shift. I guess we do have some rules in this endeavor. (However, we can change them whenever we want.)

Bob and I drank our way through many of the beers. Getting through the 30 or so will take a few more visits. My favorite of the night was Katy, an American Brett saison. Bob liked Art of Neurosis, an India pale ale. Yes, microbreweries often go crazy with beer names, maybe to mirror some of the unique beer styles. The beverage menu also contains guest beers and several wines. I guess soft drinks are available.

2^nd Shift has a small kitchen which was operated by Mission Taco Joint. We had pub pretzels, a duck quesadilla and brisket nachos – all quite tasty. (No photo, so use your imagination.)

While the space itself is like a warehouse; the arrangement of various tables, a wall of barrels and some quality tunes make for a pleasant tasting room.

Like many bars, 2^nd Shift offers shelves of games, magazines and books; probably to keep patrons occupied so they drink more beer. Smart trend.

We enjoyed a fun surprise when Meg and Pat joined in our festivities. We listened to some diverse tunes (Blondie, Beatles, Bruce, Beach Boys…) and drank more beer.

Through the barrel wall, I spied some employees standing around a table just chatting. I couldn’t help myself, so I barged in on their conversation. I introduced myself and found I was talking with the owner and head brewer, Steve Crider, as well other employees and friends. Most were new to town and wanted to know just about everything – mainly restaurants and bars. I helped them out as much as I could. I didn’t take the beer they offered. I know, shocking. Even I have a limit.

Of course, we will visit 2^nd Shift Brewing again. After we finish the rest of our Hill of a Year…

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...Gelato

Gelato vs Ice Cream, what’s the difference?  Both are made with a base of milk, cream, and sugar, and flavored with fruit and nut purees.

The difference – Fat.

Ice cream legally has a minimum of 10 percent fat. Gelato is made with a greater proportion of whole milk to cream, so it contains more like five to seven percent fat.

Keep that in mind for your next Trivia Night.

We visited Gelato di Riso after lunch at Milo’s. Click here for our post about Milo's. I chose coffee chocolate chip from the 16 flavors offered. It was quite tasty. Not sure what Bob ordered.

As it turns out, Gelato di Riso is a café with as many coffee drinks as gelato flavors. Scones and coffee may warrant another visit. Inside seats about 30 and a few wrought iron provide outside seating.

Gelato di Riso sits at the SW corner of Marconi and Wilson - quite a location. It shares the intersection with Hill stalwarts: Milo’s, Amighetti’s and Saint Ambrose Church.

http://gelatodiriso.com/  

Fishbowls and Friends

Rigazzi's is a St. Louis Instituition.  It is the longest established restaurant on The Hill, founded in 1957, by Louis and Josephine Aiazzi and business partner John Riganti.  They smooshed the two surnames together to get Rigazzi's.  How 'bout that?

In front of the Frozen Fishbowl sign.

I learned this information from a column that I wrote in November of 1990 for the Bugle Newspaper.  Other than that, I'm not sure how much of the information in that article is still accurate.

Not sure if folks still show up for breakfast - even though they have no breakfast menu.  I'm not sure if the restaurant is still of favorite of Blues fans and even players.  I'm not even sure if Mark Aiazzi is still running the place.  But you can find out more here:  Click for history.

When any St. Louisan thinks of Rigazzis, they think of "The Frozen Fishbowl."  This is a 32 ounce chalice filled with the beverage of your choice....but most adults choose beer.  

Some holy grails for St. Louisans.

And they know this fact.  And they are consistent and thorough in their marketing.  "The Frozen Fishbowl" is on their signs, on art glass windows for the building, on the menu, etc.  

Frozen Fishbowl in the Art Glass.

So we ordered some.  I got a classic Budweiser, although some others got the Rigazzi's Golden Ale, handcrafted locally for the restaurant.  Click here for the drink menu.

 As you may have gathered, we visited with some very dear, longtime friends: Colleen and Joe, and Kristin and Kyle.

It's been a while, but we finally got the band back together.

The upstairs dining dining area was roomy and very classic, with the red/white checked vinyl tablecloths and red back basic chairs.  It was also nice because it got us away from the hustle and the bustle downstairs.  We could easily talk to one another and enjoy  the company.  They had tiny, autographed hockey jerseys framed and hanging on the wall.  I'm guessing toddler sized, or put in the dryer for waaay too long.

Since I don't care about food much, I won't go into details very much.  I got a pizza, my favorite from childhood visits here.  I will say that the crust was not at all like I remember it, but the cheese had that same "stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth" quality that I remember from when I was a kid.

Personally, I find pictures of food especially unappetizing.  But, if you are into that sort of thing...Have at it!

Mel enjoyed hers...the Eggplant Parmesan.  You can click here to see their menu.  And I didn't really assess what everyone else thought.

It had been a very, very long time since I had been there....I'm going to say, decades....with the "s" to indicate somewhere over 20 years.  Since I last visited, I know that they had a fire somewhere in there, added a formal patio and (as learned on this most recent visit) changed their pizza crust.

This patio is new to me....

 I must say, it was a fun "throwback" evening for me, punctuated with Fishbowls and Freinds.

Just a thought....

Wrap your head around this:  For 113 years, the Italian language newspaper Il Pensiero has been documenting Saint Louis' Italian-American community's stories.  One hundred and thirteen years!

In that time. the Missouri Intelligencer has gone out of business. As has the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St. Louis Sun.  Heck, even the self-proclaimed, "World's Softest Newspaper," The Bugle folded.

In fact, the only other newspaper remaning in St. Louis is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  All the rest are gone.  Click here for a link to the Il Pensiero website.

In fact, the year this paper first published, the 1904 World's Fair was in full swing, and this also was the last time the Olympics were held in St. Louis.

As we know, ice cream cones and hot dogs were barely invented.  Radar, color photography and the X-ray machine made their debuts the same year as Il Pensiero.  It is a survivor.

This paper not only documents local goings on in both Italian and English, it sprinkles in a bit of news and opinion from "The Old Country," for good measure.

Il Pensiero serves not only as link to the past...but a link to a community.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Full Disclosure:  

In another life....I was a paid journalist.  I'm not at all pretending that I was good at it.  I will only say that I got paid to write articles and even "gussy them up' with photos that I took and then processed in a darkroom in my basement.

A long time ago in a galaxy far,far away....  I used to be a beat reporter for Bugle Newspaper....the "World's Softest Newspaper - Lavatory Tested."  My beat was The Hill.  I covered retiring cops, ventriolquist priests, neighborhood associations.....And I covered Milo's on the Hill.

Clip from my personal file on Milos..back when I was apparently, Robert Merz.  Photo by Bob Merz.

So, just a mere 27 years ago.... I covered this busisness. And it is still there

Milo's has staying power.  It is a neighborhood bar that has a long and rich history.  Just click here and read a nice history provided by, coincidentally enough, my former highschool principal.  I love the fact that there are so many fantastic nicknames involved with the history of this building and business...   “Toots” Pezzani, Joe “Bull” Panneri,  “P.I.” Pisoni , or even  “Butch” Grassi.  Just some great names. Seriously, it is a good history of the building and business, and it covers everything that I would put into a blog post.  Click on that different colored text above to read it.

Anyway, Mel and I went here to eat this past Friday.  This is first and foremost a bar.  But the food was pretty good.  I got the Chicken Parmesan...and Mel got (you guessed it) a veggie sandwich. 

 Mine was pretty solid.  Mel really liked hers.  It's the bread that makes it.  And I will say, with so many of the restaurants on The Hill, it is typically the bread is that makes the sandwich.  There are several fantastic bakeries on The Hill, and all the restaurants seem to buy locally.  So... good for the consumer.

They also have daily specials.

Milo's has the premier Bocce Courts in St. Louis.  If you would like to play...they have open play from 11 am - 6 pm most days.  Bocce is reasonably big in St. Louis.    

In fact, when I was a kid, men would play this every weekend at the park about 1/2 block from my house.  It was part of the fabric of my childhood.  Click here for some of the rules.

Drop by for the food (worth it), the Bocce (pronounced "Bow-chay"....not "Botch-ee."), or just beer with some locals.   I'm really glad that I went back....27 years later.

The Great Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta, Part Three

We’re coming down home stretch for our GMDWT.

Final stop – Five Bistro

As we embarked on our endeavor, we knew a few of the restaurants would be a bit pricey. Five Bistro being one of them. Lucky for us, lunch is served on Saturdays. Also luck for us, or at least me, the lunch menu had just six offerings. Bob chose a burger, and I picked the frittata.

Well, that was until we heard the special. Pizza with freshly-made crust, pork ragu, grilled onions, spinach and goat cheese. No thin crust. No provel.

Yep, Five Bistro was our first stop at a foodie restaurant. One look at the detailed menu demonstrates that.

But look fast. The menu may change daily depending on the farm-to-table food availability. The farmers they work with raise sustainable and ethical products. The bar had several localbrews, many distilled liquors and dozens of wine selections. Of course, I had to give a plug to the beverage choice.

Speaking of beverages, I prefer iced tea with lunch. For whatever reason, restaurants serve the best tea. To my amazement and delight, the tea came with a stainless steel straw – that was a first. Excuse me for going all environmental on you, but plastic straws are a scourge to Earth. Essentially every piece of plastic ever made is still in our environment. Rejecting a plastic straw is one simple was to reduce plastic that will eventually end up in the ocean. Okay, sermon over. Back to the story.

The well-appointed dining area, plus bar and patio seat about 60. Even the lunch atmosphere seemed elegant. Maybe it was the tunes. The fresh flowers on the table. The hospitality of the wait staff. Or maybe the dessert – chocolate espresso cake in a bourbon sauce with espresso ice cream and ground espresso beans. Bob took a couple bites, until I commandeered the rest for myself.

Just a quick mention of the market of fresh produce and bread Five Bistro has on Saturdays. Five Bistro also offers a Bounty Box of the week’s produce.

Serious note:  Memorial Day commemorates the ultimate sacrifice of those who died in service to our Country.  This sacrifice also impacts family and friends for generations. Please take a moment after reading this blog to remember and acknowledge the sacrifice made for us by so many.


"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them."

- John F. Kennedy

http://www.fivebistro.com/about.html

http://thelastplasticstraw.org/