F is for Family, the Feasting Fox and Fountains on Locust

Well, we deviated from the usual.  Wendy and I are usually alone or accompanied by our pre-teen aged foodie, but on this night, we had my daughter and her two children (5 years and 20 months) with us. 
 
Pre-teen foodie is easy to take anywhere even when he's whining about our dining location choice.  The other two children and their mother are another story.  On this evening, we were later than usual getting to the restaurant.  When we arrived, their were two couples in the VERY QUIET dining room.  There was music coming from the bar area, but it didn't overcome the VERY QUIET.  Let me tell you, my two small grandsons do not do VERY QUIET often.  It didn't take long before the 5 year old was building scaffolding out of the multitude of silverware on the table.  The little one did not want to sit in a high chair and the food needed to arrive quickly before my very stressed and tired daughter (she teaches first grade and had been with children since waking) exploded.
 
We ordered multiple appetizers.  All of us enjoyed the Parmesan Cheese Puffs.  The cheese had been piped onto the center of small pieces of toasted French bread using a large star tip and then it looked to have been put under the broiler to get a quick brown.  The older of the two grandchildren could have eaten the whole plate of these things.  They were good and he loved them.  His dairy intolerant brother only got the dry toast, but he, too enjoyed the appetizers.

The German Sausage Sampler was also enjoyed by all.  The plate held a variety of sausages including our Sausage Wellington, a mild sausage wrapped in puff pastry, sliced thin and served with horseradish cream sauce.  I believe that puff pastry makes everything better, but believed that this sausage and cream sauce would have stood alone.  It was delightful.

The reason my one and only child joined us was for the potato pancakes and she chose the right time and place for great potato pancakes.  They were perfectly seasoned shredded potatoes with just the right amount of crisp and fluffy.  Served with chunky applesauce, they were a big hit with all six of us.

The chicken tenders were ordered for the grandchildren's dinners.  They were also a big hit.  Large pieces of chicken, perfectly breaded and fried.  Served with ranch dressing, they were really good.

Our waiter, Brad, was very patient as he continued to refill the lemonade that the kids drank as though it were from the fountain of youth. 

Pre-teen foodie ordered French Onion Soup, that he didn't like.  It was not Famous-Barr's recipe, but had a nice flavor in spite of having a much thinner broth that what was expected.  He also ordered scallops that were served on a bed of creamed spinach along side mashed potatoes.  He said they were good and from the looks of his plate at the end of the meal, they were very much enjoyed.

His mother ordered Huhn Schnitzel.  Since Wendy doesn't like mushrooms, I got the mushrooms and some of the cream sauce that it the tender chick was served with.  Yum!

My daughter enjoyed the special - baked Pork Loin with mashed potatoes and glazed shredded carrots.  Carrots that the mother of my grandson's said that she could eat all day long.  She loved them even though she thought the pork was a little dry.

I had the sauerbraten.  Tender pieces of beef that were also served with mashed potatoes and sweet and sour cabbage.  Wendy and I both worked for Grone's Cafeteria and even though we were employed there ten years apart, both of us recall the wonderful taste of the Monday Night Special of sauerbraten and potato pancakes.  While my dinner was good at the Feasting Fox, it did not compare to that of the sauerbraten served by the Grone family.

With all of us full, almost content to sit in our chairs and the scaffolding taken down, we decided to head to Fountains on Locust for dessert.  The orders included Brownie in a Cup, served with ice cream, two Bearcat Specials, two Banana Bourbons and one Pinapple Cup made with dairy-free raspberry sorbet.  I could go on and on about Fountains on Locust, but let me just tell you that you must try it yourself and that all adults with any sense of good taste should try the Banana Bourbon.  Their website:  www.fountainonlocust.com

E - Eleven Eleven Mississippi is Excellent

E was great!  Their website is www.1111-m.com.

Eleven Eleven Mississippi is Excellent

Although tucked away in a an easy to miss location, I can't say enough about Eleven Eleven Mississippi.  The services was terrific and the food was wonderful.

We started out with appetizers that were terrific.  I had the shrimp and corn bisque.  It was almost a meal in itself.  Perfectly seasoned and beautifully presented.

Wendy ordered the beet salad and a glass of Moscato.  I don't know which was best.  The wine was perfect (although I only had a taste) and the dressing on the beet salad should be bottled and sold.  I was so enchanted with the fresh beets served over a mixture of greens and dressed with a perfect dressing, that I have been having beet salad for the last several days at lunch.  Mine can't hold a candle to the salad served at Eleven Eleven Mississippi.

Wendy ordered the Prex Fixed special.  The first course was a smoked brussel sprout salad made with apples, red onions, pecans, goat cheese and a Dijon vinaigrette.  The second course was a Wonderful pasta served with dried tomatoes, thinly sliced fennel, a six minute egg and served with white balsamic butter and truffle salt.  The third course was pan seared snapper serves with mustard greens orzo, artichoke puree and a basil-caper gremolata.   Although all three courses were good, we both agreed that the brussel sprouts were a little too smoky, that the pasta was handmade and terrific.  We disagreed on the snapper.  I like my fish a little milder and I'm not a huge fan of capers, but Wendy was pleased. 

I ordered one of the four Oak Oven pizzas on the menu - I love mushrooms and the wild mushroom – sun dried tomato pesto pizza with spinach, caramelized onions and smoked gouda was not only great for dinner, but I brought pizza home with me because I saved the best for last - dessert!!!

Wendy enjoyed the Apple Caramellata, pieces of cooked apple served in puff pastry and sitting in a great caramel sauce and served with her favorite ice cream - cinnamon. 

I made the better choice - I had the Napoleon!  It was crispy layers of sugared phyllo that had the consistency of the top of crème brulee!!! I would have been happy with just the phyllo, but did Eleven Eleven stop there?  No, they added layers of amazing creaming vanilla custard and carmelized bananas.  Nothing I've had before or since has ever been better.  I will be returning, if only for dessert. 

D #2 - Dooley's Beef n Brew House

Our second attempt at a D restaurant on St. Louis was to Dooley's Beef n Brew House601 N. Grand, St. Louis, MO 63103.  We enjoyed this experience much better than D #1, but I still wasn't overly impressed.

Seems our server was on his first day back after a hospitalization from a brown recluse spider bite, the details that I didn't need, but Wendy suggested that I asked the questions that prompted the answers. 

The building is also old, but except for one booth that looked like it may have come from a Las Vegas establishment that was being torn down in the 70's, the interior appeared well maintained and it was definitely clean (a server who was three days in to her new employment and was stuck with a family of four who were out of control - parents AND older children - vigorously wiped tables all evening). 

Again, we had fried pickles.  They were good and served with a chipotle sauce that didn't have much chipotle in the mix.  We also ordered the Irish fries - cheese fries with corned beef and Provel cheese.  Wendy, who isn't a corned beef fan, even enjoyed the fries.  They were different than normal cheese fries, but the corned beef was mild and it made a great start to the meal.

I had the Louie Burger for dinner.  It was a traditional hamburger that I wouldn't go back for - good, but not great.  Wendy had the Cardinal, a chicken sandwich made with traditional wing sauce.  She enjoyed it.

Overall, D was not a winner for me.

D is for do-over or Dubliner Distaste

We narrowed down our D choices to three.

We chose, by randomly drawing a piece of paper, the Dubliner (www.dublinerstl.com) at 1025 Washington.  A mistake!!!

The building is amazing with lots of woodwork and windows.  The interior has a huge wooden bar, a window spot for live bands, and seating that includes benches along one wall.  All have seen better days.  The wear and tear on the benches looked like the result of too much Guinness and few punches thrown. 
 
The soup of the day was chili, odd for an Irish bar, so we passed on the soup.  Instead we ordered fried pickles and potato cakes as appetizers.  Both were okay, (the potato cakes did not have the same consistency I expected, they were not as good as German potato cakes) and both presented nicely.  The dipping sauce for the pickles was good, but nothing to write about.

For our entrees, Wendy chose the Shepherd's Pie and I ordered Bangers and Mash.  Both were a huge disappointment.  The pie tasted like chili, sans beans, with mashed potatoes piped on top.  The (bangers) sausage on my plate were white, no sear at all, and contained at least two pieces of unchewable and questionable items (at that point, I knew I was finished).  I questioned the server, asking if the sausage was made in house, he said no, that it was made locally, but he didn't know by which company.

We met two nice women who were seated beside us.  They had been to Dubliner's previously and liked the pickles, too.  First time I haven't brought leftovers home and won't be returning!