April 2015 Feast Magazine

counting on sheep

the road to regionalism

winemakers think pink

GREEN DIRT FARM

NICHE FINDS ITS NICHE

ROSÉ BLOSSOMS

Inspired Local Food Culture | Midwest

feastmagazine.com | aprIL 2015

Fresh perspeCtIve

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D AT E N I G H T

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APRIL 2015

You don’t need reservations. You don’t even need shoes. Just two glasses and a bottle of Chambourcin. As the moon rises over a quiet lake, you wonder: “Did the winemakers know how perfect the ripe-cherry fl avor would be on nights like this?” They’re Missourians; of course they did.

missouriwine.org

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APRIL 2015

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APRIL 2015

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FEATURES Inspired Local Food Culture | midwest

52

APRIL 2015 from the staff |9|

Meet OUr CONtrIBUtOrS

| 10 |

frOM the PUBLISher

Regionalism reigns.

| 12 |

dIgItaL CONteNt

What’s online this month.

| 14 |

DINe

DrINK We’re sipping whimsical cocktails in St. Louis and speakeasy-inspired ones in Lawrence, Kansas. We also talk to owners of three Missouri coffee shops to learn how they make matcha lattes – and offer a recipe for how to create one at home.

| 35 |

shoP We visit two regional shops – a beloved seed and garden store in Kansas City and a new bakeshop in Alton, Illinois. We also catch up with Caroline Leemis, an interior designer based in Columbia, Missouri, to learn what inspires her approach to restaurant design.

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The chefs at niche in Clayton, Missouri, are finding limitless creativity within a 300-mile radius.

| 42 | Seed tO taBLe farmer Crystal Stevens shares how to forage for morel mushrooms to make goat-cheese stuffed morels.

| 44 | MyStery ShOPPer

60

| 46 | MeNU OPtIONS

taste of the exotIc from Thailand to Greece to Turkey to Egypt, lamb plays a starring role in each of these five globally inspired recipes.

With the right spice blend, making Indian-style chicken at home is a snap.

We’re dining at two restaurants in Kansas City – an Ethiopian restaurant and the new Dining Experience at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts – and two restaurants with newly revamped menus – Juniper in St. Louis and County Seat Cafe in Edwardsville, Illinois. In our monthly travel piece, Road Trip, writer Amy Lynch travels to Bloomington, Indiana, and shares where to dine, drink and stay this month as the city’s highly revered farmers’ market opens for the season. We also talk to chefs across the region about how they’re cooking with rabbit and white asparagus.

| 27 |

cooK

Meet: grape molasses.

feaSt tv

A peek at the April episode.

| 17 |

| 41 |

the roaD to regIoNalIsm

APRIL 2015

| 48 | Sweet IdeaS Pastry chef Christy Augustin shares how to make her favorite Easter treat: lemoncoconut layer cake.

73

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Of DISHES AT nICHE RESTAuRAnT In CLAYTOn, MISSOuRI, (P. 52) BY

Emily Suzanne McDonald TABLE Of COnTEnTS PHOTO Of MISSOuRI STuRGEOn AnD CAVIAR, YuKOn GOLD POTATOES AnD nASTuRTIuM LEAVES AT nICHE (P. 52) BY Emily Suzanne McDonald

76 82

everythINg’s comINg uP rosés Interest in dry rosé is growing at wineries across the region.

east meets mIDwest Meet the man who created cashew chicken at his family’s restaurant in Springfield, Missouri.

lucKy ewe Green Dirt farm in Weston, Missouri, counts on sheep to make high-quality cheese and dairy products.

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Inspired Local Food Culture

APRIL 2015

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Magazine Volume 6

| Issue 4 | April 2015

Publisher Catherine Neville, publisher@feastmagazine.com Director of Sales Angie Henshaw ahenshaw@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1298 EDITORIAL Senior Editor Liz Miller, editor@feastmagazine.com Director of Digital Content Sarah Fenske, sfenske@feastmagazine.com Assistant Editor Bethany Christo, bchristo@feastmagazine.com Assistant Digital Editor Heather Riske, web@feastmagazine.com Kansas City Contributing Editor Jenny Vergara Editorial Assistants Tessa Miller (Kansas City), Alex Wilking (St. Louis) Proofreader Christine Wilmes Contributing Writers Christy Augustin, Jonathan Bender, Ettie Berneking, Gabrielle DeMichele, Pete Dulin, Kyle Harsha, Valeria Turturro Klamm, Amy Lynch, Stacy McCann, Brandon and Ryan Nickelson, Ryan Sciara, Matt Seiter, Matt Sorrell, Crystal Stevens, Shannon Weber, Danny Wood ART Alexandrea Doyle, adoyle@feastmagazine.com Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Judd Demaline, Teresa Floyd, Jonathan Gayman, Jill Heupel, Emily Suzanne McDonald, Aaron Ottis, Jennifer Silverberg, Jessica Spencer, Alistair Tutton, Landon Vonderschmidt, Cheryl Waller FEAST TV

Because you make it

producer: Catherine Neville production partner: Judd Demaline of Graine Films

COnTACT US Feast Media, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., 4th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63101 314.475.1244, feastmagazine.com

Home

DISTRIbUTIOn To distribute Feast Magazine at your place of business, please contact Bill Morlock at bmorlock@stldist.com.

Feast Magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Submissions will not be returned.

All contents are copyright Š 2010-2015 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.

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ContrIbutors

04.15 danny wood

The Art of

Entertaining Join Feast Magazine for an open house party at

Kansas City, Writer Danny is an Australian journalist based in Kansas City who writes for Midwest Wine Press. He also researches wine industry issues and works at Belvoir Winery, where between serving tastings, he’s trying to tame an unruly half acre of Norton vines. Danny became smitten with wine (and his American wife) while living in Spain, reporting for BBC News, and he has anchored radio news programs including Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) on American public radio. Together with his two younger brothers, he presented the BBC TV history and travel documentary On Hannibal’s Trail, which followed the invasion route of the Carthaginian warrior Hannibal, bicycling 2,000 miles from Spain, through France and over the Alps into Italy.

teresa floyd

Huntleigh Ridge 140 Huntleigh Drive Wentzville, MO, 63348 | 314-220-2861

Saturday, April 18th 1:00 – 4:00 Come experience one of Wentzville’s newest communities, perfectly located, just northwest of the I-70 and US 40/61 interchange.

Each floor plan boasts a kitchen and café that will be highlighted at Feast Magazine’s “Spring Soiree”. Join the fun as you explore life inside a Huntleigh home.

Enjoy an hors d’oeuvre buffet with spirit and beer pairings

Kansas City, Photographer Teresa Floyd is a Kansas City-based photographer with a focus on food photography and styling. Her lifelong passion and study of photography naturally incorporated itself into her professional pastry career. She received formal training in French patisserie from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and honed her skills in pastry at The French Broad Chocolate Lounge, in Asheville, North Carolina, and then at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida. She now works at Christopher Elbow Chocolates in Kansas City. Teresa is the creator, author and photographer of Now, Forager (now-forager.com), where she shares her current seasonal food and pastry creations. Her photographic work and food writing have been featured in Edible Kansas City and on websites such as Edible Feast and the Today Show’s Today Food. In her free time you can find her strolling through farmers’ markets, traveling or eating chocolate.

ettie berneking Springfield, Missouri, Writer

TRy one of THe feATuRed RecipeS being SeRved!

Recipe courtesy of Butler’s Pantry

Crostini 12 ea crostini 1 cup ricotta 1 each fresh lemon zested and juiced salt & pepper to taste 1 cup fresh peas (or in a pinch or slightly out of season, frozen is best) 1 each small shallot, minced 1 cup vegetable stock 2 T micro greens 12 ea seared asparagus tips

- Mix together the ricotta, lemon juice and zest.

-Season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust - Place peas, minced shallot and vegetable stock in small stock pot and bring to a boil - Place in Vita Mix or blender and puree smooth - Assemble, garnish, serve

After growing up in the Kansas City area, writer and editor Ettie Berneking moved to Springfield, Missouri, to join the team of writers at 417 Magazine. From the latest restaurant opening to meeting the farmers who stock the local markets and health food stores, Ettie gets to see the very best of what southwest Missouri has to offer. Her love of food began while watching her mom and grandmothers work in the kitchen, and it grew to become a passion after she started meeting the talented chefs, bakers, bartenders and restaurant owners who put their hearts and souls into the food they serve. When she’s not driving around the Ozarks or spending time at the lake, Ettie is often in her own kitchen trying out new recipes or working in her small garden.

emily suzanne mcdonald St. Louis, Photographer Hailing from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Emily followed her passion for photography and her need to create art into an ongoing search for beautiful images all around her. It was this zest for life that drove her to join Fedele Studio in St. Louis in March 2013. Her keen eye for beauty has led her to collaborate with a variety of clients including the Kinfolk and Bleubird blogs, designers Another Feather and Hackwith Design House, as well as Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. When she is not photographing, Emily continues to express her creativity through music. An avid singer and multi-instrumentalist, Emily enjoys playing in various small venues in her new city with bandmate and composer Drew Sheafor.

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publisher’s letter

the surge of interest in everything “craft” is a direct result of the late20th century trend toward homogenization.

By the ‘90s, chain restaurants and big box stores were as ubiquitous as the highways that connect us from coast to coast.

While this business model created efficiency in the food system and cut costs to consumers, people gradually In the April episode of Feast TV, I pair Augusta Winery’s La Fleur Sauvage with a became, in a word, bored.

Thai-inspired lamb dish by Shannon Weber. Turn to p. 60 for the recipe.

Go to Anywhere, USA, and you’d find the same offerings from the same chains – we were losing our connection to our cultural identity and what makes each region across this vast country unique. Food shouldn’t taste the same in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and St. Louis, Missouri, but because of industrialization, that’s exactly what was happening.

Gradually, a new culture began to emerge. Consumers were craving a connection to their community and a flavor that reflected a sense of place. Farmers’ markets sprang up, specialty shops opened, locally produced items began to appear on grocery store shelves and farmers’ names began to appear on restaurant menus. Now, it’s almost a given that chefs source at least some of their ingredients from local producers.

This sea change has resulted in an explosion in the food industry across the U.S., and today, when you travel to new places, you can experience unmistakable regional flavors in dining rooms big and small.

FeAst eVeNts stl

Opera tastings Fri., March 27 and Sat., March 28, 7pm; Moulin and The Dark Room; $10; opera-stl.org

A new series from the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis will delight your taste buds while introducing opera newcomers to the great range of music across the history of opera. stl

6th Annual Maplewood Coffee Crawl Sat., March 28, 8am to 1pm; Downtown Maplewood, Missouri; cityofmaplewood.com/coffee

Meet regional coffee roasters and sample coffee from around the world. stl

KMOX Food Fight Thu., April 2, 7 to 10pm; Hollywood Casino; $75; kmox.com/foodfight

Watch as the top two chefs battle it out in a live cooking competition. Attendees will be able to taste each creation and vote for their favorite dish in this delicious duel. stl

slow Down and indulge Dinner series Thu., April 16 and Thu., April 30; The Dark Room; $49; thedarkroomstl.com

Enjoy a four-course prix fixe menu with wine pairings by in-house sommelier Denise Mueller during this series of Thursday night dinners. stl

the Art of entertaining Sat., April 18, 1 to 4pm; Huntleigh Ridge; Wentzville, Missouri

Enjoy an hors d’oeuvre buffet with spirit and beer pairings, and experience one of Wentzville’s newest communities – the budget-friendly, quality-built and serene Huntleigh Ridge. stl

schnucks Cooks: spiced indian-style Chicken with lime Wed., April 22, 6 to 9pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School; $40; 314.909.1704; schnuckscooks.com

Join us in the kitchen and learn how to make spiced Indian-style chicken with lime, Moroccan vegetable tagine, rib rub for oven-roasted pork ribs and Indian rice pudding KC

4 hands brewing Co. Collaboration series beer Dinner with the local pig Wed., April 22, 6pm; The Local Pig; $50; 816.200.1639; thelocalpig.com

In Clayton, Missouri, Gerard Craft and his team at Niche are taking the food-industry’s focus on regionalism to another level. They are sourcing almost all of their ingredients from within a 300-mile radius of the restaurant. This means all fish, meat, veggies, fruit, oils – basically everything but salt, white distilled vinegar, agar-agar and xanthan gum – are sourced locally or produced in house. It’s a challenge that has led to immense creativity in the kitchen and food that reflects the full and true flavor of Missouri. Turn to p. 52 for senior editor Liz Miller’s indepth feature examining how this regional focus plays out in one of the state’s best restaurants.

A five-course dinner featuring dishes from The Local Pig paired with 4 Hands Brewing Co. beers. stl

Feast Magazine’s taste & toast Fri., May 1, 7 to 10pm; St. Louis Union Station; $50 VIP or $25 general admission; feastmagazine.com

Sample award-winning wines from across the region and dishes from area restaurants at Feast’s Midwest wine social. stl

Feast in the park May to October, 5 to 8pm; St. Louis County Parks

This weekly festival gathers great mobile eats and popular local bands in parks across St. Louis County. Get the full schedule in the Events section at feastmagazine.com.

Until next time, stl

Cat’s picks Wednesdays, 8:35am; The BIG 550 KTRS

Tune in as Feast publisher Catherine Neville chats with host McGraw Milhaven and gives her weekly picks for the best places to eat and drink in the St. Louis area.

Catherine Neville

publisher@feastmagazine.com

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APRIL 2015

@cat_neville

@cat_neville

CINCO DE MAYO

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Celebrate in ELEGANCE at Sanctuaria in The Grove!

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Saturday, May 2, 2015 • 3pm - 6pm

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Best Derby Hat CONTEST, Mint Juleps, Tequila Juleps, Featured Cocktails, Hot Brown Beignets, Benedictine Tea Sandwiches Sanctuaria Wild Tapas ◉ www.SanctuariaSTL.com ◉ 4198 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109 (314) 535-9700 ◉ facebook.com/SanctuariaSTL ◉ twitter.com/SanctuariaTapas

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DIGITAL CONTENT

hungry for more?

feastmagazine.com

connect with us daily:

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MABEL SuEn

onLInE ExTRA In this month’s Dine section, we focus on how rabbit is trending at restaurants across the region (p. 18). Though often overlooked by home cooks, chefs love rabbit for its delicate sweetness. Visit feastmagazine.com for two extra rabbit recipes: rabbit clemençeau by chef Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe in St. Louis (pictured), Peruvian fried rabbit by chef Joseph Gidman of Cafe Cusco in Springfield, Missouri, and braised rabbit by chef Michael Foust of The Farmhouse in Kansas City.

FACEbook. See where we’re dining across the region (like the newly opened Taco Circus in St. Louis) at facebook.com/feastmag.

TWITTER. Follow @feastmag to check out behind-

the-scenes event photos, like Feast Your Eyes at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEnniFER SiLvERBERG PHOTOGRAPHY BY AnnA SiMPSOn

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JuDD DEMALinE

PInTEREST. Find refreshing spring recipes (like these Bomb Pop-inspired paletas) on our Mad About Mexican board at pinterest.com/feastmag.

THE FEED: Keep up with what’s happening in the region’s food-and-drink scene by visiting our daily updated news blog, The Feed, at feastmagazine.com/the-feed. We recently shared lists of our favorite brunch spots in St. Louis and Kansas City, checked in with Springfield’s thriving White River Brewing Co. and got the scoop on a new bacon alternative: Schmacon.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: Win a pair of tickets to Feast Magazine’s Taste & Toast Midwest wine social on Fri., May 1. Head to the

Promotions section at feastmagazine.com for all the details.

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APRIL 2015

InSTAGRAm. Hashtag your local food and drink photos with #feastgram for a chance to see them in Feast! Details on p. 90.

Watch our videos and Feast TV.

youtube.com/FeastMagazine

T C KENTUCKY DERBY • PREAKNESS • BELMONT STAKES

ALL EVENTS BEGIN AT 5 P.M.

MAKING DISHES LOOK ALMOST TOO GOOD TO EAT. ALMOST. April is a great time to get out and about in the city and enjoy the Spring weather. Whether you are in town for a business meeting, Cardinals baseball or for leisure; 400 Olive Restaurant and Bar is the perfect stop. Centrally located in downtown, our restaurant and lounge menus offer a wide variety of selections.

For information, please visit stlouisdowntown.hilton.com or 314-554-7098.

400 Olive St. | Saint Louis | MO 63102 | USA ©2014 Hilton Worldwide

KENTUCKY DERBY MENU - MAY 2 · Hot Brown Beignet & Benedictine Tea Sandwiches · Mint Juleps, Tequila Juleps & More Featured Cocktails · BEST DERBY HAT CONTEST PREAKNESS STAKES - MAY 16 · Crab Cakes & East Coast Fried Oyster Slider · Mint Juleps, Black-Eyed Susans & More Featured Cocktails · “DRESS YOUR BET” CONTEST BELMONT STAKES - JUNE 6 · Waldorf salad & Wood fired pizza · Mint Juleps, Black-Eyed Susans, White Carnations, Belmont Breeze, Belmont Jewel & Beer with Shot Specials · BEST INFIELD OUTFIT CONTEST SanctuariaSTL.com ◉ (314) 535-9700 ◉ 4198 Manchester Ave.

America's Greatest Big Band Show

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Hand Crafted Coffees Importing Fine Coffees from 20 Countries • QUALITY • EXPERIENCE • SERVICE

—Brad Downall, Madisonville, KY

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Full Service Coffeehouse & Restaurant Supplier Fourth Generation Family Owned Coffee Roasters Since 1930

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Inspired Local Food Culture

APRIL 2015

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FEAST TV

TV

Look for the Feast TV splat throughout the magazine. It tells you which articles are part of this month’s episode!

Egg custard made with Illinois maple syrup and maple vinegar, roasted shiitake mushrooms and Missouri trout caviar at Niche in Clayton, Missouri. Turn to p. 52 and watch the April episode of Feast tV to learn more.

watch this month’s episode to:

Segment 1: Travel to Green dirt Farm in Weston, missouri, to see how the farm’s incredible sheep’s milk yogurt and cheeses are made.

Segment 2: Visit Torn Label Brewing Co., a new Kansas City-based regional production brewery, and learn what inspires its creative ales.

PHOTOGRAPHy By emiLy suzAnne mCdOnALd

Segment 3: meet the man who created cashew chicken at his family’s restaurant in springfield, missouri.

Segment 4: Learn how the chefs at niche restaurant in Clayton, missouri, find limitless creativity within a 300-mile radius.

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

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APRIL 2015

Missouri Wines

Whole Foods Market

in April, reach for a bottle of Augusta Winery’s La Fleur sauvage. Feast TV producer Catherine neville pairs the rosé wine with rack of lamb with Thai pan sauce and coconut-cilantro rice.

Get cooking at home! Pick up the recipes and ingredients from Catherine neville’s April Feast TV demo at the Brentwood and Town and Country locations of Whole Foods market in the st. Louis area.

WATCH FEAST ON THESE NETWORKS

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) to see Feast TV on Sat., April 4 at 2pm and Mon., April 6 at 1pm. Feast TV will also air throughout the month on nineCREATE.

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19) on Sat., April 11 at 2:30pm.

You can watch Feast TV throughout midMissouri on KMOS (Channel 6) on Thu., April 23 at 8:30pm and Sun., April 26 at 6:30pm.

Feast TV will air in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8) at 10am on Sat., April 4.

Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

15

Three Sixty Rooftop Bar, St. Louis

TA K E S B A L C O N Y S E AT S TO A W H O L E N E W L E V E L .

Whether you’re looking for the hottest restaurants to raise a glass, or the coolest venues to let down your hair, the Show-Me State has your VIP ticket to a memorable night.

Enjoy the evening.

16

Plan your getaway at VisitMO.com feastmagazine.com

APRIL 2015

where we’re dining

pick up a southern accent on p. 20 photography by jennifer silverberg

trending now: rabbit

on trend

WrITTeN bY beThaNY ChrISTO aNd LIz MILLer

Rabbit is often overlooked by home cooks, but many chefs are adding it to their restaurant menus for the delicate sweetness it imparts. mo

fried rabbit

sPringField, mo. Traditional peruvian deepfried rabbit is made by brining the front and rear legs in apple cider vinegar before dropping them in the fryer – no batter involved, just crispy skin – and then smothering the fried rabbit in an onion-packed peanut sauce. joseph gidman, chef and co-owner of Cafe Cusco in Springfield, Missouri, tones the dish down by diluting the brine with water and removing the onions from the sauce – although he still encourages diners to eat the dish with the hands-on peruvian approach. “You’re not going to get a rabbit fillet or breast,” he says. “You’re going to have to pick it up and get a little messy.” –B.C.

Cafe Cusco, 234 E. Commercial St., Springfield, Missouri, 417.868.8088, cafecusco.com online eXtra

Find the recipe for Cafe Cusco's fried rabbit at feastmagazine.com.

kc

braised rabbit

kansas city. For the past six years, The Farmhouse

has received monthly shipments of local rabbit – but it’s only been lately that dishes like rabbit ragù with sweet potato gnocchi and rabbit banger sausages with sweet potato mash have been selling out.

Chef-owner Michael Foust says his favorite way to prepare rabbit is low and slow. “I love braising rabbit because you’re stretching the beautiful, delicate flavor from the rabbit through the liquid, and that richness gets incorporated with the vegetables,” he says.

Foust usually cooks rabbit whole or quartered, and recommends adding fennel seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaf, black peppercorn or thyme to the dish. –B.C. The Farmhouse, 300 Delaware St., River Market, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.569.6032, eatatthefarmhouse.com online eXtra

Find The Farmhouse braised rabbit recipe at feastmagazine.com.

stl

rabbit

clemençeau st. louis. Kevin Nashan believes rabbit is overlooked in most restaurant kitchens. The chef-owner of Sidney Street Cafe in St. Louis has been working with the game meat for years and describes it as a highly versatile, lean protein that has a noticeably nuanced flavor. In March, Nashan ran rabbit clemençeau as a special, a riff on the traditional New Orleans chicken clemençeau. Nashan’s interpretation plated hearty seared rabbit with brabant of chayote, radishes, preserved lemon and black truffles in a rich mushroom velouté sauce. “It’s one of those dishes – whether you grew up with it or not – it’s familiar,” Nashan says. “You eat it, and it’s very comforting.” –L.M.

Sidney Street Cafe, 2000 Sidney St., Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.771.5777, sidneystreetcafe.com

confit Rabbit legs Serves | 8 | 1 1 1 1 2 2 12 2 1 ½

cup salt cup sugar zest of 1 orange, lemon and lime tsp ground coriander tsp freshly ground black pepper ground star anise ground bay leaves rabbit legs quarts duck fat Tbsp butter cup chicken stock

| Preparation | In a large bowl, combine first 7

ingredients and mix thoroughly. Transfer rabbit to cure and evenly coat; refrigerate overnight. preheat oven to 225°F. rinse rabbit legs to remove curing mixture.

In a deep-bottomed pan over high heat, heat duck fat until it reaches 225°F on a meat thermometer.

Submerge rabbit in fat and transfer pan to oven to cook for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Once rabbit is finished cooking, remove from oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes. remove legs from fat and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before carefully deboning. portion meat as desired.

In a skillet over medium heat, sear meat until golden brown and then remove from skillet. add butter and chicken stock to pan. Turn heat down to low and return legs to skillet to warm. Serve immediately. online eXtra

For chef Kevin Nashan’s full rabbit clemenÇeau recipe, visit feastmagazine.com. rabbIT CLeMeNÇeau phOTOgraphY bY judd deMaLINe

one on one

como

michael urban co-owner, harold’s doughnuts Written by Valeria turturro Klamm

photography by aaron ottis

COLUMBIA, MO. michael and Karli urban dreamed about opening their own donut shop for years before launching Harold’s Doughnuts in Downtown Columbia, missouri, in January. michael comes from the world of marketing and technology, and Karli is a practicing physician in family medicine and geriatrics, but both fell in love with making donuts at home late at night fiveplus years ago when michael’s mother gave them a cookbook with a yeast donut recipe. last summer, the urbans and their staff began baking out of a commercial kitchen and delivering donuts to offices around town. this past September, they built momentum by rolling out a donut-bar concept at the local roots n blues n bbQ Festival. the couple’s newly opened shop now has a donut bar thursday through Saturday from 7 to 10pm, allowing customers to fill, top and glaze donuts based on the day’s availability.

MUST-TRY DISH

Kc

burgers and bloodys written by Jenny Vergara

KAnSAS CITY. start a new saturday tradition at Genessee royale bistro, with chef-owner todd

schulte’s $13 cheeseburger and a bloody Mary special. schulte’s version of an “adult” combo meal starts with his spicy housemade bloody Mary, an ideal pairing for the restaurant’s juicy cheeseburger topped with white Cheddar, parsley-shallot butter and bibb lettuce on a toasted english muffin.

Genessee royale bistro, 1531 Genessee St., West bottoms, Kansas City, missouri, 816.474.7070, genesseeroyale.com photography by teresa floyd

Who is the shop’s namesake, Harold? it’s named after my grandfather. He loved donuts himself, and he was one of the few entrepreneurs in my family. i’ve always wanted to be a small -business owner. it makes sense because of his entrepreneurial spirit. our motto is “love your craft.” He loved leading his small business every day and making people happy. that’s the essence of what we do. We hope to make people happy every day.

Tell me about the ingredients the shop uses and what flavors we can expect to find. everything we do is made from scratch. We make our own jams, sprinkles, dough and glazes. We’re in some sense a small-batch shop, although we’re producing thousands of donuts every week. We have an extremely talented pastry chef, melissa Poelling – the “donut magician.” We prioritize local ingredients wherever possible, like Patchwork Family Farms bacon on the maple-bacon donut.

We have a classic menu with glazed, sprinkled, old-fashioned bar, chocolate-frosted cake, jam-filled, powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar. then we have our craft variety that includes white chocolate velvet, maple bacon and boston crème. We had a blueberry muffin-citrus donut over the summer that was a huge hit that we’ll bring back, as well as a s’mores donut and pumpkinspice donut in the fall. We’re constantly introducing more in that craft category. You’ve already collaborated with some Columbia businesses on donuts. Why is that important to you? this is home for me, my wife and our 3-year-old daughter. Columbia is so supportive to small businesses, so it’s important to us to see what’s possible with people that we work next to every day on ninth Street, like Sparky’s Homemade ice Cream, or nearby, like Cafe berlin or 44 Stone Public House. We want to have an open-door policy to other chefs and restaurants to come in and collaborate and see what we can do together. What’s coming up this year? We’ve been approached by some grocery stores in the area about wholesale opportunities for our donuts and donut holes, which are much different than a lot of donut holes. they’re baked and rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar, they’re a little bigger than your traditional donut hole and they age really well. Since the end of February, our donut holes and gluten-free donuts have been available at Clover’s natural market in town.

Harold’s Doughnuts, 114 S. Ninth St., Downtown, Columbia, Missouri, 573.397.6322, haroldsdoughnuts.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

APRIL 2015

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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 across the region this month.

county seat cafe

photography by jennifer silverberg

il

stl

written by bethany christo

photography by emily suzanne mcdonald

edwArdsville, il. the family-friendly, distractionfree atmosphere at County Seat Cafe in edwardsville, illinois, was purposeful – you won’t see any tvs on the walls, which are decorated with charming burlap drapes and historic photographs of edwardsville. the owners wanted to create an environment where locals, out-of-towners and customers of all ages could grab a hearty american-style breakfast, lunch or dinner. coowner stefanie franklin recently revamped the restaurant’s menu, which debuts this month. for breakfast, start off with pillow-y scratch-made biscuits and gravy, cheerful pineapple upsidedown waffles or pancakes; for lunch, indulge in rich five-cheese mac ‘n’ cheese and a plate of fried chicken made with county seat cafe’s signature breading; and for dinner, try a blue plate special – daily rotating specialties that include dishes like kielbasa and ‘kraut, slow-roasted pork steak or chicken pot pie.

County Seat Cafe, 316 S. Buchanan St., Edwardsville, Illinois, 618.307.9617, facebook.com/countyseatcafeedwardsville

juniper

awaze written by pete dulin

KANsAs CitY. Awaze offers expertly

st. louis. In January, Cassy Vires was named head chef at Juniper,

KC

spiced ethiopian and caribbean aribbean cuisine in Kansas city’s midtown idtown neighborhood. owner pablo brown prepares specialties like jerk chicken, curried goat, fried plantains and blackened jerk tilapia. the restaurant takes its name from an ethiopian hot sauce that adds flavor to its sambusas, fried dough shells stuffed with spiced ground beef, chiles and herbs. a vegetarian version uses spiced lentils, onions, peppers and herbs. Shiro wat, ground split peas simmered in a spicy berberé sauce, is served with injera, spongy flatbread made with teff flour. use the injera to scoop up extra sauce and meat and vegetables, like cooked collard greens, called gomen, made with seasoned onions and garlic, or atkilt wot,, a turmeric-laced blend of carrots, nother standout is lamb cabbage, potatoes and peppers. another tibs,, lamb cubes sautéed with clarified butter and seasoned with onion, garlic and ginger, which comes with three vegetarian sides on the dinner menu.

Awaze, 3415 Main St., Midtown, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.756.5111, awazefusion.com

photography by landon vonderschmidt

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APRIL 2015

written by liz miller

the St. Louis Southern comfort restaurant owned by chef John Perkins. Since taking the helm, Vires, formerly owner and head chef at Home Wine Kitchen in Maplewood, Missouri, has made the menu her own, pulling inspiration from her childhood spent in Tennessee and Alabama. Some of her new menu items pull from low-country classics, like the Country Captain, made with curry-glazed quail, Carolina Gold rice, currant stew and pistachio granola, while others borrow from coastal traditions like the seafood muddle, a stew filled with a rotating variety of whitefish, clams and shrimp, plus potatoes, carrots, jalapeños, bacon and a duck egg. The hearty meal is seasoned with fennel and smoked paprika and served in antique cast-iron Dutch ovens. Be sure to share an order of “hoe cakes,” cornmeal pancakes topped with either bacon jam, blue cheese and maple; crème fraîche and trout roe; or duck rillette and pickled apples, as well as new side dishes like goat cheese mac ‘n’ cheese, “Awendaw” corn soufflé and Brussels sprouts with soy and apple butter. In February, the restaurant debuted a new event space, Eva’s Attic, above the main dining room, with capacity to serve parties of 60 for sit-down meals and up to 80 for cocktail events, including an adjoining back patio and skybox.

Juniper, 360 N. Boyle Ave., Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.329.7696, junipereats.com

KC

where we’re dining

dining experience

at the kauffman center for the performing arts writtEn by JEnny VErgara

KANSAS CITY. you can now coordinate the logistics of “dinner and a show” with ease at the Kauffman center for the performing arts in Kansas city by

reserving a table at its newly opened Dining Experience. located inside the Kauffman center’s south entrance in the sleek Founders’ lounge, the full-service, 65-seat restaurant keeps the same hours as the Kauffman center, but guests must reserve a table and meal 48 hours before a show (no walk-ins allowed).

Exclusive to Dining Experience is the meal itself, served in an americanized bento box called a marquee box. icon architecture designed the white ceramic serving dishes, whose lids are shaped to mirror the Kauffman center itself. local sculptors at red Star Studios in the belger arts center made the serving dishes, whose meticulously prepared contents are also works of art, an entrée and two sides consisting of 30 different ingredients curated by executive chef philippe lechevin. the seasonal boxes come in four options: air, sea, land and garden. the price per meal is $40, including a nonalcoholic beverage (not including tax, gratuity, alcohol and dessert). preorder your gourmet meal when you purchase event tickets online or by phone.

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway Blvd., Downtown, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.994.7222, kauffmancenter.org/the-center/dining photography by aliStair tutton

photography by Emily SuzannE mcDonalD Inspired Local Food Culture

MARCH 2015

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destination: Bloomington, indiana

road trip

WRITTEN BY AMY LYNCH

Home to Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, hosts one of the largest seasonal, open-air farmers’ markets in the Midwest, bringing its community together since 1975.

On Saturday mornings from April through November (as well as Tuesday evenings in the summer), shoppers gather next to City Hall to browse a selection of locally grown fruits and veggies from asparagus to zucchini, along with mushrooms, free-range eggs, flowers, artisan meats and cheeses, maple syrup and more from a group of almost 130 vendors.

sleep

IMU Biddle Hotel and Conference Center Indiana University alumni wouldn’t dream of staying anywhere else. Located in the middle of the stunning limestone campus within the handsome Indiana Memorial Union building, this 189-room boutique hotel offers access to a food court, a bowling alley and the IU bookstore right on site. It’s also within quick walking distance to the eclectic shops and restaurants that line vibrant Kirkwood Avenue.

900 E. Seventh St., 812.856.6381, imu.indiana.edu/hotel

eat

Restaurant Tallent James Beard-nominated chef-owner David Tallent hones his fine-dining chops here with a seasonally changing menu of organic ingredients. Tallent prides himself on promoting local farms and food purveyors; springtime often means appearances by fresh asparagus, peas and the elusive morel. Tallent’s wife, Kristen, capably handles the delectable dessert and wine portions of the program. You won’t regret timing your visit to catch one of the special-event wine dinners.

208 N. Walnut St., 812.330.9801, restauranttallent.com

FARMbloomington Serving familiar comfort food with flair, FARMbloomington feels like settling in for a meal at grandma’s house, complete with country-chic décor. Chef Daniel Orr gives classic Indiana Hoosier fare a twist; the “Lugar” bison burger (named for the former Indiana senator) draws consistent raves, and breakfasts are outstanding with choices like peppered bacon or buttermilk biscuits made with a fourth-generation family recipe and housemade apple butter.

108 E. Kirkwood Ave., 812.323.0002, farm-bloomington.com PHOTO COURTESY OF vISIT BLOOmINGTON

Grant Street Inn

local gems

Oliver Winery & Vineyards

The oldest and biggest winery in the state of Indiana sits in an idyllic setting just north of Bloomington. With grapevines out front, a rustic tasting room and a pretty pond, this is prime picnic territory. The sweet Soft White and jammy Soft Red wines are the best sellers among the winery’s expansive selection of dry, semidry, semisweet, sparkling and dessert wines and hard ciders.

Fourth Street Restaurant Row

Settle into historic digs at this inviting turn-ofthe-century bed-and-breakfast. The welcoming property makes guests feel right at home with 40 distinctive accommodations that cover a range of styles from Victorian to contemporary.

A full hot breakfast is part of the package, sending guests off happy and well-fed.

For a midsized college town, Bloomington is home to a surprisingly diverse array of ethnic eateries, many located in distinctive bungalows and former residential homes along the 400-block stretch of East Fourth Street paralleling the Kirkwood Avenue main drag – think Turkish, Thai, Indian, Korean, Tibetan, Mediterranean, Chinese and Middle Eastern.

310 N. Grant St., 812.334.2353, grantstinn.com

Fourth Street, between South Dunn and South Lincoln streets

PHOTO COURTESY OF vISIT BLOOmINGTON

PHOTO COURTESY OF vISIT BLOOmINGTON

8024 Indiana 37, 812.876.5800, oliverwinery.com PHOTO COURTESY OF OLIvER WINERY & vINEYARDS

Upland Brewery Co. Boasting a new addition to its family-friendly property, “The Upland” (as it’s known to locals) brings folks together over pub grub and pints of wheat ale, IPA, porter and a range of seasonal brews. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, guests can get a peek at the brewery and tasting room during tours.

350 W. 11th St., 812.336.2337, uplandbeer.com PHOTO COURTESY OF vISIT BLOOmINGTON

Janko’s Little Zagreb A Bloomington fixture since 1979, Little Zagreb is often the restaurant of choice for special events and celebrations. The intimate space is known for its whopping USDA choice steaks, its excellent wine list and its refreshingly unstuffy atmosphere capped off with casual red-andwhite checkered tablecloths.

223 W. Sixth St., 812.332.0694, littlezagreb.com

Nick’s English Hut Springhill Suites Newly minted in 2014, Springhill Suites elevates stays with local art, a free hot breakfast and craft beers at its on-site bar, The Ave. The hotel’s prime location just four blocks off the town square (anchored by the handsome Monroe County Courthouse) puts guests in the heart of Downtown Bloomington and in close proximity to the farmers’ market.

A quintessential Bloomington stop since 1927, this cozy nook brims with IU memorabilia; expect to wait for a table on weekends and during basketball games. The tiny kitchen turns out a casual menu of tasty pizzas, burgers, stromboli, chili and such, using locally sourced meats and produce. Make sure to start with an order of spicy “Sink the Biz” fries with garlic mayo for dipping.

501 N. College Ave., 812.337.7772, marriott.com

423 E. Kirkwood Ave., 812.332.4040, nicksenglishhut.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF vISIT BLOOmINGTON

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICK’S ENGLISH HUT

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feastmagazine.com

APRIL 2015

The Chocolate Moose John Cougar Mellencamp fans might recognize this Bloomington landmark ice cream stand as the Tastee Freez from the singer’s Jack & Diane music video. The Moose was originally known as the Penguin when it opened in 1933; these days, soft-serve fans queue around the building for cups and cones of Moose Chocolate, sweet cinnamon and lemon custard flavors. Bonus: The shop also now serves vegan treats.

401 S. Walnut St., 812.333.0475, chocolatemoosebloomington.com

one on one

stl

tamara keefe

RANKED ONE OF THE BEST NEW RESTAURANTS OF 2014 BY STLTODAY RAnkeD Top 100 RESTAURANTS BY ST. LOuiS POST-DiSPATch

flavor temptress, clementine’s naughty and nice creamery Written by bethany Christo

photography by emily suzanne mcdonald

st. louis. at Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery, the fresh-yetvintage 550-square-foot ice cream parlor opening this month in Lafayette square, owner tamara Keefe offers two lines of ice cream made up of 24 to 30 rotating and seasonal flavors. there is the “nice” line, with flavors like gooey butter cake, toffee-butter brittle and Manchego with truffle and honey, and “naughty” flavors ranging from maple-bourbon with salted candied pecans to chocolate stout. before launching Clementine’s, Keefe was a successful 15-year veteran of the food industry who came to the realization that her passion has always been ice cream, stemming from when she and her mother purchased a secondhand ice-cream maker during her youth.

You describe Clementine’s as a microcreamery – what does it mean to operate a microcreamery? From the latest definitions that microcreameries are working with, a microcreamery only makes super-premium ice cream, which is technically defined as [ice cream] made with more than 16 percent butterfat (ours are usually between 16 and 18 percent). Microcreameries have to also have small-batch, hand-crafted, all-natural ice cream with less than 20 percent overrun – the higher the overrun, the more air and less actual ice cream used. When you eat my ice cream, it’s thick, dense and rich. What motivated you to open the shop? honestly, i just wanted to be happy. even though i was successful, i broke down the summer of 2013 visiting friends, and they suggested i open an ice cream shop in st. Louis since i was always complaining about the lack of quality ice cream. now, i’m working with a product that makes me and everyone else happy. What are some of Clementine’s signature flavors? My boozy line of ice creams can have anywhere up to 20 percent abV. i have a special trade-secret process: alcohol doesn’t freeze, but i’ve figured out a way to make it freeze so that it’s just like any other pint of ice cream that you could open up and eat months down the road – should it last that long. it took me six months to develop the process, mainly stemming from being surrounded by and working with the best in the food-science industry. When you make true artisanal ice cream, you have to let all the ingredients rest and moderate the temperature – it truly is a science. My “nice” flavors are not just your standard chocolate, vanilla and strawberry – they’re hip, exquisite and bold.

My strawberry has balsamic and white pepper swirl and one of my chocolate flavors uses a homemade Mexican mole. Who do you work with locally? it really does start with the cows – we’re using two local dairy farmers with grass-grazed and rbst-free cows. We use Park avenue Coffee’s nationally recognized gooey butter cake; Whisk: a sustainable bakeshop makes all of the bakery products that i don’t make from scratch; Woodside honey; Columbia’s Patric Chocolate; and we have an exclusive partnership releasing limited pints using Perennial artisan ales’ specialty barrel-aged beers. i also have chef collaborations with Pi Pizzeria, Cleveland-heath and old standard Fried Chicken – right now there’s lemonbuttermilk chess pie and southern sweet corn ice creams on [old standard’s] menu, among others. What are your long-term goals? i’m taking it one handpacked pint at a time. i just want to make st.

Louis proud.

*Offer ends 5/31/15

Experience True Diversity in Authentic Indian Cuisine

Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery, 1637 s. 18th st., lafayette square, st. louis, Missouri, 314.858.6100, clementinescreamery.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

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APrIl To junE: wHITE AsPArAgus

IN SEASON

KC WRITTen BY BeThAnY ChRISTO And LIz MILLeR

White asparagus season lasts only two months, from late April to early June. The vegetable gets its color from etiolation – crops are shielded from sunlight to prevent photosynthesis.

White asparagus is labor-intensive to grow and harvest, which makes every bite special. mo

for breakfast

osAgE BEACH, Mo. On the Rise Bakery in Osage Beach, Missouri, uses white asparagus in three different menu items: its popular

eggs Benedict served with blue crab; a crêpe with prosciutto and an omelet with Parmesan and ham. Owner Mike Castle says white asparagus pairs well with many breakfast dishes at his fine-dining restaurant, which he says “just happens to only be open for breakfast and lunch.” At the restaurant, white asparagus is peeled and steamed, and Castle says it takes a bit of babysitting to perfect: “It’s more pliable and doesn’t hold up as well as green asparagus,” he says. “It’ll go limp on you faster, and you really have to be careful that you don’t overcook it.” –B.C. On the Rise Bakery, 5439 Osage Beach Parkway, Osage Beach, Missouri, 573.348.4224, ontherisebakery.com

STl

two ways

sT. louIs. every spring, Kevin Willmann,

chef-owner of Farmhaus in St. Louis, looks forward to white asparagus season. he always sources it from don Ross, who has been growing white asparagus on his farm in freeburg, Illinois, for almost 50 years. Willmann first heard about Ross from Josh Galliano, chef-owner of The Libertine in Clayton, Missouri, who also sources from Ross. At farmhaus, Willmann prepares white asparagus two ways: pickled and grilled. “We use a lot of anise in our pickling, and that licorice tinge lights up the grassiness in the asparagus,” he says. “We grill them raw; we don’t brine them, cure or soak them – just simple oil, salt and pepper, then straight onto a hot fire. It really draws the sugar out, and the texture completely changes. There is a quick window where it’s still crunchy in the middle, but tender and cooked.” –L.M. Farmhaus, 3257 Ivanhoe Ave., Lindenwood Park, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.647.3800, farmhausrestaurant.com

tasting menu

kAnsAs CITy. Born and raised in Germany, Matthias Seyfrid, chef de cuisine of Grünauer in Kansas City, doesn’t let anyone else handle the shipment of white asparagus that comes directly from Marchfeld, Austria (one of the largest asparagusgrowing regions in the world). The Austrian restaurant celebrates the vegetable’s limited season by preparing a special white asparagus menu from late April to early June.

The menu features the quintessential Austrian and German preparation of freshly cooked white asparagus with a crêpe, butter, new potatoes, ham and sauce hollandaise. “When you create a dish with white asparagus, you want it to be the star of the show,” Seyfrid says. “You don’t want anything to overpower its flavor.” –B.C.

Grünauer, 101 W. 22nd St., Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.283.3234, grunauerkc.com

Traditional Austrian White Asparagus with Sauce Hollandaise ReCIPe COuRTeSY Of MATThIAS SeYfRId, Chef de CuISIne, GRünAueR

Serves | 2 | AsPArAgus

2

water (to just cover asparagus) dash salt dash sugar lbs peeled white asparagus

sAuCE HollAndAIsE

½ 4 4

lb unsalted butter egg yolks Tbsp white wine salt and freshly ground black pepper lemon juice Tabasco

| Preparation – Asparagus | In a large pot over high heat, bring water to a boil and add salt and sugar. Place asparagus in boiling water, turn heat to low and cook until stalks are tender, between 8 and 12 minutes.

| Preparation – Sauce Hollandaise |

CHEF’s TIP “White asparagus is best-cooked with a good amount of steam or water,” says Grünauer chef de cuisine Matthias Seyfrid. “For some people, it may be an acquired taste. I recommend blanching it in water with butter, sugar and salt until al dente – you don’t want [it to] overcook – and then just enjoy it with a small amount of butter or sauce hollandaise over the top.”

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter and skim off white solids as they rise to the top. Repeat until no solids remain and keep warm. In a double boiler, whisk together yolks and wine until hot and creamy. Slowly drizzle warm butter in, whisking constantly.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice and Tabasco. Pour sauce over asparagus and serve with country ham and potatoes.

PhOTOGRAPhY BY ©ISTOCK.COM/eGAL

one on one

KC

eric willey

managing partner, cleaver & cork

Written by Pete Dulin

kansas city. As cleaver & cork’s managing partner,

eric Willey brings solid experience to chef Alex Pope’s new butcher-driven gastropub, which opened in late February in the Kansas City Power & light District. before joining Cleaver & Cork, Willey was the general manager and sommelier at bluestem. He also previously worked as food and beverage director at the national Golf Club of Kansas City and managed lucky brewgrille in Mission, Kansas.

mUST-TRY DISH

people in the community say they would not normally visit Power & light, but now we are giving them a reason to. With the existing residential development of One light tower and future residential development, and the accessibility that the streetcar brings, Downtown will be an exciting place to be. We’re excited to be on the forefront of shaping Downtown into a place to frequent more often.

Visit feastmagazine.com to read Pete Dulin’s extended interview with Eric Willey. cleaver & cork, 1333 Walnut st., kansas city Power & Light District, kansas city, Missouri, 816.541.3484, cleaverandcork.com

photography by alistair tutton

How will cleaver & cork differ from other businesses around town? Cleaver & Cork’s culinary offerings are butcher-driven with Alex’s direction. it features Midwestern offerings with fresh, seasonal ingredients from local farmers. We are taking a serious but casual approach to service, where the guest feels [like] part of a family. Who is running the bar program? i looked for someone to take over the bar program who was well known for craft cocktails and was a friendly face to create an overall experience for guests. the first person i thought of was Andrew Olsen, formerly with the rieger Hotel Grill & exchange. i loved the way Andrew interacted with guests and knew he would be a natural fit for patrons at the Cleaver & Cork bar. Guests will come to visit Andrew at the bar for that reason only, and that’s a huge asset to have. What are a few

must-try dishes and drinks? it’s really hard to hang our hat on one or two specific items. i can see the smoked rib eye being a fan favorite.

Andrew has done well with the craft cocktail list, which will change with the seasons, but there will be some staples.

What aspects of the restaurant and bar are you most excited to share? We focused on making the space come full circle from where it was previously. you will see Midwestern influences, from reclaimed wood used on the ceiling and columns, and blending it with a little bit of butcherdriven edginess. i can see the meat hook light fixtures above the high tops at the bar being an instagram favorite. the patio is by far the best on the block for concerts and dining: We’ve upgraded it with fire tables surrounded by herb-filled planters that linda Hezel, owner of Prairie birthday Farm, will cultivate for our kitchen and bar use. Flowers from her farm will also be used for our tablescapes. What else would you like guests to know about cleaver & cork? Our guests can access the restaurant via the Walnut Street entrance without entering through the District. i hear

stl

pizza alfredo written by liz Miller

UnIVeRSITY CITY, mo. Mario esquivel was born in

guatemala, but his passion is Calabrian cuisine. esquivel’s family hails from the Calabria region of italy, which is also where he attended culinary school. in 2012, esquivel moved to st. louis and opened a catering company in Clayton, Missouri, focused on serving italian classics. in December, he expanded the scope of his work with the opening of AlFOrnOé in the Delmar loop. esquivel says pizza at alFornoé – italian for “in the oven” – is Calabrian-style, with a distinctive crust, two signature tomato-based pizza sauces – one accented with red wine, the other with white – and a selection of specialty cheeses like smoked gouda, dill cheese, brie, chipotle gouda and red wine-infused. try the 16-inch alfredo pizza, where artichokes, cherry tomatoes, spinach, herbs and the red wineinfused cheese mingle in a white-wine sauce.

AlFOrnOé, 567A Melville Ave., Delmar loop, university City, Missouri, 314.757.6542, facebook.com/pages/ AlFOrnOe/383369865156732 photography by juDD DeMaline

Inspired Local Food Culture

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Augusta

A sCENiC gEtAWAY WitHiN REACH!

13th ANNUAL AUGUSTA PLEIN AIR ART FESTIVAL FEATURING SMALL TOWN AMERICA ORIGINAL ART FOR SALE FROM THE EASEL AT DAILY EVENTS

Historic Augusta Nestled in the Bluffs Overlooking the Missouri River Valley Take a relaxing drive through the rolling hills to Augusta, Missouri and let your worries fade away. The town, founded in 1836 is a scenic 35 mile drive from St. Louis and sits on the bluffs above the Missouri River Valley. Originally a river port town, Augusta used to sit right on the Missouri River until the 1870's when the river cut a new channel leaving the town with out its boat dock. Instead it left the town with several hundred acres of fertile river bottom land. While other small towns suffered from the change in the river, Augusta has continued to thrive and offers many amenities to visitors.

Visitors can enjoy this quaint village for a day or an extended visit with over 15 Bed and Breakfasts to stay in. Take the time to relax in Augusta at the coffee shop or full service spa.

If being in nature is more your style try biking along the Katy Trail or head over to Klondike Park for a hike. The scenic Katy Trail is the longest "National Rails-to-Trails" project that spans most of the state of Missouri. Also in the area is the Daniel Boone Home and The Lewis & Clark Trail giving visitors yet another facet of entertainment to enjoy.

Augusta, Missouri is home to several excellent Missouri wineries where visitors can sip wine and enjoy picnic lunches with spectacular views of the rolling hillside. Not many know, but Augusta, Missouri was the first designated American Viticulture Area (AVA) in the United States, even before California. If wine is not your style then stop on in to the Augusta Brew Haus offering a variety of selections unique to the area. A walk through town will uncover B&Bs, restaurants, local produce from family farms, and unique specialty shops, like antiques and glass blowing. Three special events are hosted year round by local businesses and towns people. The first event in April highlights the Plein Air Art Festival. September holds the second event which is the towns Harvest Festival and December is the annual Candlelight Christmas walk. However you choose to spend your leisure time, you will find a special experience awaits.

One visit will keep you coming back for more! Visit Augusta, Missouri, a town for all seasons.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FULL SCHEDULE

WWW.AUGUSTAPLEINAIR.COM APRIL 23rd - MAY 3rd UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES OF HISTORIC AUGUSTA Friday, April 24, start 9:00 am, judging 1:30 pm at Ashley's Rose Restaraunt

NOBOLEIS VINEYARDS Friday, April 24, Quick Paint 5:30 to 7:30 pm judging to follow

MONTELLE WINERY Saturday, April 25 Children's Paint Out- 10:00am to 12:00 pm, judging 12:15 pm Artist's Paint Out- start 10:00 am, judging at 3:30 pm

"A NIGHT IN WASHINGTON" Saturday, April 25, starts 5:30 pm, sunset judging 9:00 pm and nocturne judging 12:00 am at John G's Tap Room

"A DAY IN DEFIANCE" Sunday,April 26, featuring "The Barns of Defiance" start 11am judging 3:30 pm at The Inn at Defiance

DANIEL BOONE HOME Wednesday, April 29, start 10:00 am judging 2:30 pm

CHANDLER HILL WINERY

EVENts

Wednesday, April 29, start 4:00 pm, judging 6:30 pm

ANNuAl AugustA PlEiN AiR ARt FEstiVAl WHEN: 10 day event falls on the last full week of April through the beginning of May (April 23-May 3, 2015)

"A DAY IN NEW MELLE"

WHERE: Augusta, Defiance, Washington, New Melle

Thursday, April 30, start 11:00 am

judging 5:30 pm at Seven Stones Wine Garden

COST : Free to Public

BALDUCCI VINEYARDS SUNSET PAINT

ANNuAl HARVEst FEstiVAl WHEN: Third Friday and Saturday of September (Sept. 18-19, 2015)

Friday, May 1, start 4:00 pm, judging after sunset 8:15 pm

WHERE: Historic Augusta, Missouri COST:

Friday Night: Reservations required Saturday Day: Free to Public Saturday Evening: Reservations required

"A DAY IN AUGUSTA" Saturday, May 2, start sunrise, judging 5:30 pm at Augusta Winery.

"Cream of the Crop" Theme Paint judging 11:45 am at Stone Ledge Antiques.

"Artist's Choice" & "People's Choice" judging 12"30 pm to 4:30 at Kate's Coffee Courtyard with Festival Pre-Sale.

ANNuAl CANdlEligHt CHRistMAs WAlk WHEN: First and Second Friday of December (Dec. 4 and 11, 2015) WHERE: Historic Augusta, Missouri COST: Free to Public

FOR MORE DETAILS ON ANy EVENTS VISIT WWW.AUGUSTA-CHAMBER.ORG.

Plan Your Visit!

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APRIL 2015

P.O. Box 31, Augusta, MO 63332 (636) 228-4005 www.augusta-chamber.org

FINAL SALE AT MOUNT PLEASANT ESTATES Sunday, May 3, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Awards at 12:00 pm

FREE ADMI SSION TO ALL EVENTS!

must-try drink

squeeze in your daily fruits and veggies on p. 33 PHOTOGRAPHy by zAcH bAumAn

trending now: matcha lattes

on trend

Written by bethany Christo photography by Jonathan gayMan

In Japan, antioxidant-rich matcha is traditionally made by taking tender green tea leaves, grinding them into a powder and combining with water. Matcha lattes are usually made with ground matcha plus a sweetener, which is then steeped in milk. kc

blueberry

and lavender kansas city. “Matcha is so intense and so

flavorful – it’s like the espresso of the tea world,” says nancy schneider, co-owner of Headrush Roasters Coffee & Tea in Kansas City. the twoyear-old shop has been serving matcha lattes since it opened, mainly thanks to schneider, who hails from China and got hooked on matcha 10 years ago after moving to the U.s. and seeking out substitutes for the green tea she grew up drinking. “Matcha is amazing because it is both uplifting and energizing, but simultaneously calming, so it’s very good for concentration and meditation,” schneider says. headrush sources its powder directly from a Japanese tea company established in 1910. Using an espresso machine steamer, the matcha powder is steamed with milk at 160°F and made in three flavors – blueberry, lavender and plain, available hot, iced or blended. the shop also serves matcha bubble tea and sells matcha powder to make drinks at home.

Headrush Roasters Coffee & Tea, 7108 N. Oak Trafficway, Gladstone, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.888.4675, headrushroasters.com

Headrush matcha latte reCipe CoUrtesy oF nanCy sChneider, Co-oWner, headrUsh roasters CoFFee & tea

Serves | 1 | 11⁄3

3½ 1 1

tsp matcha powder tsp hot water (approximately 175°F) cup milk or almond milk Tbsp raw cane sugar or honey

| Preparation | in a cup, add matcha powder and slowly add hot water to form a paste. stir briskly but carefully until paste becomes smooth, no more than 30 seconds, so as not to over extract matcha. in a small saucepan over low heat, heat milk and sweetener until mixture reaches a gentle boil. allow mixture to cool slightly before pouring into the cup with matcha.

Mix well to combine and serve.

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mo

unsweetened

stl

sweet

sPringField, mo. at European Cafe in springfield,

st. loUis. Jackie James, co-owner of The

Missouri, co-owner and general manager Khrystyna savva says matcha lattes are made by combining cold milk with organic matcha powder that is quickly steamed and allowed to rest for two minutes to let the matcha infuse the milk. it’s then given another quick steam to produce silky foam and is served with a sprinkle of matcha powder on top. “We serve it unsweetened because the distinct flavor of the matcha doesn’t always need it,” savva says. Customers can add syrup and sweetener after the latte is prepared, however. savva says about half of her customers love it, and half just find the flavor and texture off-putting – it’s thicker than a normal latte and leaves deposits on the cup as you drink it. “i definitely recommend people try it – at least once,” savva says.

London Tea Room in st. Louis, says many purists would turn up their noses at the sweet matcha latte served at the café, as it uses a lower grade of the ground green tea leaves, plus it is then “diluted” with sugar and milk. but James says the latte is a bit easier to swallow, flavor-wise. “Matcha has a very unique, vegetal taste – i would describe it as almost grassy or umami,” she says. “i prefer the latte because that taste is balanced with milky creaminess.” at the London tea room, single-serve packets of matcha powder are also available for purchase, which can easily be added to warm or cold drinks for at home or on the go.

European Cafe, 207 Park Central East St., Springfield, Missouri, 417.942.5055, 417europeancafe.com

where to get matcha High-quality matcha powder produces velvety, creamy and flavorful cups of tea.

Nancy Schneider says the best matcha comes directly from Japan, where the traditional process of making it has been carefully preserved and maintained for generations. The following are great online sources for purchasing matcha powder. To keep matcha fresh, Schneider recommends storing it in the refrigerator or even the freezer and keeping it sealed to avoid contact with moisture and light.

DoMatcha Organic Ceremonial Matcha domatcha.com Aiya Matcha Ceremonial Matcha aiyamatcha.com AOI Tea Co. Matcha Delight store.aoimatcha.com

The London Tea Room, 3128 Morgan Ford Road, Tower Grove, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.241.6556, thelondontearoom.com

one on one

il

brent boesdorfer co-owner, custom cup coffee Written by bethany Christo

SPRINGFIELD, IL. the two-

person operation at Custom Cup Coffee in springfield, illinois, started after a successful Diy youtube video and Christmas gift exchange.

Co-owners brent and Kendra boesdorfer roasted their first green coffee beans in an old-school popcorn machine in october 2013, and once the smoke cleared, they haven’t looked back. Family members received the first iterations of Custom Cup roasted beans that Christmas, talks then began with the health department the next month, beans were sold at springfield’s old Capitol Farmers Market after that and in november 2014, their 300-square-foot retail and coffee shop opened.

Custom Cup currently sells three flavorful customizable roasts in its shop and online at customcupcoffee.com.

Custom Cup Coffee, 321 East Monroe St., Springfield, Illinois, 217.652.6154, customcupcoffee.com

PhotograPhy by jill heuPel

What was the process behind opening Custom Cup? From January 2014 to november, we were roasting beans at a local catering company’s kitchen when it sat empty at night. We were really focused on just being a roaster and then opening a shop five years down the line. but we found the perfect property, so we thought we might as well take a shot at having a storefront, too. Tell us about your roasts. We want to offer coffee to people’s tastes – not to what i think is good or right. We do one-off roasts within 48 hours after a customer orders it and will deliver it free to your door if you live in springfield. We have a light roast where you can really taste all of the different flavors of the coffee because it’s not covered by a heavy roast.

People saw light [roasted beans] as kind of weak and flavorless when in reality it’s the exact opposite – if you start with good coffee. Medium roast is right in the middle of the road where you’re still getting a lot of that flavor, but it’s not quite as acidic, and you start to get a little more sweetness. there is a literal “sweet spot” that you can hit where the inherent sweetness in the coffee comes out. a lot of people who normally take sugar [with their coffee] start not using it with our beans. then for the dark roast, you lose a lot of the individual flavor of the coffee and just get a general dark roast overtone. How much of your job is educating customers? When we first started out in retail, dark roasts would fly off the shelves. through education, that has flip-flopped and we can’t keep light on the shelves. Where do you source beans? For most of our roasts, our supplier is the only one between us and the farmers. the shipments come from all over the world within the coffee belt, which is 30 degrees north or south of the equator: indonesia, Guatemala, ethiopia, rwanda and more. We recently added our first coffee sourced directly from a farm, a Castillo from the huila region of Colombia. We see ourselves slowly migrating to this farm-to-roaster model.

Inspired Local Food Culture

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29

the mix

the martini When you sit at a bar and order a Martini, you usually know how you’d like it served. there are certain specifications – gin or vodka (and likely a certain brand of either), shaken or stirred, served up or on the rocks, the level of dryness or dirtiness and even the temperature all factor into an order. Knowing how you like your Martini is important, as most bartenders will make it however you request it, and knowing exactly what to order will help speed up the process. historically, Martinis are made with gin, vermouth and bitters – that’s it. if there’s anything more or less in your glass, you’re not drinking a Martini. if you prefer vodka instead of gin, it’s technically not a Martini – it’s called a Kangaroo. the earliest published recipe i’ve seen for a Kangaroo is from The Stork Club Bar Book published in 1946, which calls for vodka, vermouth and a lemon twist. the first recipes for Martinis were printed in the 1880s and call for italian vermouth, also known as sweet or red vermouth.

Shortly after, a new product called French vermouth – dry or white vermouth – entered the american market. From that point on, you see references to dry Martinis and even dry

Story and recipe by Matt Seiter photography by Jonathan gayMan

Manhattans, referring to the use of French vermouth in lieu of italian. “dry” refers to a lack of sweetness – it doesn’t mean less vermouth. and if you want no vermouth in your Martini, just know that you are simply ordering a hearty dose of gin or vodka, chilled and put in a fancy glass – in other words, a large shot of cold booze.

Since the Martini was first created, bartenders have argued over whether it should be shaken or stirred. even some of the most revered classic cocktail books can’t agree on one method over the other. in Harry Johnson’s Bartenders’ Manual (1882), it says to stir; in Barflies and Cocktails (1927), it instructs to shake; in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), it states to shake; and in The Stork Club Bar Book (1946), it says to stir. if the bartenders of the past couldn’t agree on the correct method, why should we try to now? instead, i propose taking a cue from this bit of wisdom from The Stork Club Bar Book: “bar practice at the Stork favors the noncontroversial stirring or spooning, but the management will oblige by having [Martini cocktails] compounded in a cement mixer or butter churn if that is what the customer wants. ‘When drinking Martinis,’ cookie, the barkeep, remarks, ‘the customer is almost always right’.”

Matt Seiter is co-founder of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s St. Louis chapter, a member of the national board for the USBG’s MA program, author of The Dive Bar of Cocktails Bars, bartender at BC’s Kitchen and a bar and restaurant consultant.

Martini Serves | 1 | 2¼ ¾ 2

oz Tanqueray gin oz Dolin dry French vermouth dashes orange bitters ice lemon peel (for garnish)

| Preparation | combine first 3 ingredients in a mixing glass. add ice and stir for 20 seconds. Strain mixture into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with lemon peel. Serve.

Dirty Work putting a salty brine in a Martini is a century-old practice and the one Martini request that i have the most trouble with. i found a recipe called the onion cocktail in the 1914 edition of Beverages de Luxe – it’s a Martini recipe with the addition of three or four dashes of onion juice. this is the earliest reference i have found to what is now known as a dirty Martini. although this 100-year-old recipe calls for onion juice instead of olive juice, it’s flavoring the drink with a similar saltiness. it’s natural to assume, then, that around the same time, a request for olive juice in a Martini wouldn’t have been far-fetched. the thing about dirty Martinis that boggles my mind is how much olive juice to use. i’ve had customers order all types of dirty Martinis – regular dirty, extra dirty, slightly dirty and even the measurement of dirty that has no name but comes with the visual aid of an index finger and thumb held at a certain distance from each other. it’s always a gamble when i make a dirty Martini. Some have been sent back due to a lack or overabundance of brine; some have been ordered all night long. if you like dirty Martinis, play around with different amounts of olive juice at home to determine your preference; if you can instruct a bartender on exactly how much you want in your drink, you’ll likely get what you want every time.

on The shelf : aPrIl PIcks

WINE

FenCe StiLe VineyarDS & Winery’S MiSSouri SeyVaL written by ryan SCiara

BISTRO & MUSIC HOUSE SIGNATURE STYLE ‘NEW’ NEW ORLEANS CUISINE

Provenance: excelsior Springs, Missouri PaIrIngs: Chicken with roasted vegetables and

potato purée

like Chenin blanc, which is one of my favorite grape varietals, Seyval wine ranges from bone dry to dessert-style sweet. also like Chenin blanc, Seyval is great all by itself but can also benefit from aging in oak. Fence Stile Vineyards & Winery ages its Seyval in Missouri oak barrels, which gives the wine added complexity. this Seyval is intensely aromatic with green orchard fruit – think crisp apple and pear – on the palate. bright citrusy notes of lime and orange, plus the added touch of oak, round out the lengthy and dry finish.

512 North Euclid Central West End — 314.367.3644 — evangelinesSTL.com

Fence Stile Vineyards & Winery, 816.500.6465, fencestile.com Ryan Sciara has been in the wine business for more than half his life and has spent the past nine years dedicated to selling wine, spirits and craft beer in the retail market. His latest venture, Underdog Wine Co., is the culmination of 23 years of knowledge and experience all crammed into a 600-square-foot retail shop in Kansas City.

BEER

Breakfast Items

Omelet Station • Eggs Benedict • Scrambled Eggs • Biscuit and Gravy • Hash Browns g from Servin 3pm Ham • Sausage • Bacon • Muffins • Bagels • French Toast • Danish • Assorted Fruit o 9am t unday Salads rS Easte vation Chicken Salad • Cucumber Salad • Surimi Crab and Tomato Salad • Pasta Salad • House Salad r e s e R ed Hot Items mend Recom Shrimp Creole • Fried Chicken • Baked White Fish • Roasted Chicken • Meatloaf Baked Ham • Carved Sirloin Roast with Horseradish Mousse • Green Beans Cream of Spinach • Honey Glazed Carrots • Cilantro & Corn Rice • Roasted Red Potato

Desserts

Cookies • Brownies • Cheesecake • Apple Bread Pudding • Banana Cake • Eclairs

4 HanDS BreWing Co.’S aLter ego

2495

$

per adult

695

$

children 12 and under

written by brandon niCkelSon sTyle: black iPa (5.5% abV) PaIrIngs: Burgers • Grilled meats • Cheddar

342 West Port Plaza

314.878.6767 www.PatricksWestport.com.

WESTPORT PLAZA

deeply dark in color and enticingly citrus on the nose, alter ego by St. louis-based 4 Hands Brewing Co. is dangerously easy to drink. Since opening in 2011, 4 Hands has quickly become a beloved St. louis craft brewery, and that’s because their brewers do hops right. alter ego is a bold but incredibly approachable beer, and its depth of character pairs well with a wide array of foods, from delicate and sweet to spicy and savory.

4 Hands Brewing Co., 314.436.1559, 4handsbrewery.com Brothers Brandon and Ryan Nickelson are available to help with beer picks and pairing recommendations at their store, Craft Beer Cellar, the only all-craft beer shop in the St. Louisarea. Craft Beer Cellar is located at 8113 Maryland Ave. in Clayton, Missouri. To learn more, call 314.222.2444 or visit craftbeercellar.com/clayton.

SPIRIT

St. LouiS DiStiLLery’S CarDinaL Sin Starka written by Matt Sorrell Provenance: St. louis, Missouri (45% abV) Try IT: in a Velvet Sin, a combination of Starka, apple butter and ginger beer

Vodka has the reputation of being fairly flavorless, but St. Louis Distillery’s Cardinal Sin Starka proves that if you age the spirit, you can add quite a lot of flavor. the spirit is a nod to the starka vodkas traditionally made in eastern europe. in Polish tradition, distillers barrel vodka to commemorate the birth of a child. then, the barrel is opened and served on his or her wedding day. the first of its kind in the U.S., Cardinal Sin Starka is aged for six months in new charred Missouri white oak barrels, giving the spirit notes of vanilla, toffee and wood, and a deep amber color.

St. Louis Distillery, 636.925.1577, stldistillery.com When he’s not writing, Matt Sorrell can be found slinging drinks at Planter’s House in St. Louis’ Lafayette Square or bartending at events around town with his wife, Beth, for their company, Cocktails Are Go. Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

31

where we’re drinking Check out what we’re sipping at bars, breweries, wineries and coffee shops across the region. stl

frazer’s restaurant & lounge

wrIttEN by KylE harSha

ST. LOUIS. the story of Frazer’s Restaurant & Lounge in

photography by JENNIFEr SIlVErbErg

the benton park neighborhood of St. louis is parallel to the progression of the city’s food scene. Frazer Cameron opened his restaurant in 1992, serving lunch to a crowd that largely consisted of shift workers at the nearby anheuser-busch brewery. twenty-three years later, Frazer’s has outgrown its humble beginnings, expanding into a popular neighborhood restaurant serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, and a lively selection of cocktails. Frazer’s has long been known for having an interesting wine list, but the bar’s focus on cocktails has increased in recent years, with its current menu as lively and robust as it has ever served. try the fruity and sweet Soda pop Fizzle, a delightful blend of gin, Campari, lemon, egg whites and cream soda, or the Five points, which combines several whiskeys with Fernet-branca, vanilla syrup and walnut bitters.

Frazer’s Restaurant & Lounge, 1811 Pestalozzi St., Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.773.8646, frazergoodeats.com

photography by laNDoN VoNDErSChMIDt

Ks

john brown’s underground wrIttEN by JENNy VErgara

LAWRENCE, KS. being a college town,

lawrence, Kansas, has no shortage of bars to serve the bustling student population. yet for years, lawrence didn’t have a quality craft cocktail bar. that changed this past august with the opening of John Brown’s Underground, where cocktails, food and freedom are served in equal measure. located just east of Seventh and Mass streets, this small basement bar has a plain 32

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APRIL 2015

black awning and a lamp in the window that glows green to indicate when the bar is open and red to signal that the bar is at capacity. there is no signage announcing its presence; you just have to follow the lights, the sound of cocktail shakers rattling and the smell of fresh, meat-filled pockets called bierocks baking to know you’re in the right place. owner Scott Elliot originally planned for the bar and restaurant to be open by invitation-only, in keeping with the

tradition of the prohibition-era speakeasy. bar manager Kate brubacher, formerly of 715 restaurant in lawrence, is responsible for the drink menu, which features a mix of classics like the French 75, blood and Sand and pisco Sour, as well as some original creations like the Kansas red Deer made with bourbon, lillet rouge, maple syrup and Chianti. In addition to cocktails, the bar also offers a selection of beer and wine. Sarah hess, former head chef at the burger Stand

in lawrence, is responsible for the food at John brown’s. In addition to an excellent burger and beautiful purple-tinged beetpickled eggs, the bierocks are a must-try; these golden brown baked pockets come stuffed with ground beef, cabbage, onions and thyme.

John Brown’s Underground, 7 E. Seventh St., Downtown, Lawrence, Kansas, freelawrence.com

MUST-TRY DRInK

kc

ninja sunrise written by pete Dulin

KAnSAS CITY. customers flock to

Succotash for the funky art and décor, terrific breakfast, owner beth barden’s eight-layer rainbow cake and freshpressed juices that are made to order. whether dining for brunch or lunch, ordering one of the 11 juice combos like mr. green Jeans or pink carnation is a smart, delicious way to enjoy a healthy dose of vitamins. try the vibrant, magenta-colored ninja Sunrise, which combines carrot, orange, grapefruit and beet juices with ginger in one sweet and slightly spicy drink.

Succotash, 2601 Holmes St., Dutch Hill, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.421.2807, succotashkc.com photography by zach bauman

one on one

kc

rafi chaudry and travis moore

owners and brewers, torn label brewing co.

WRITTEN BY PETE DuLIN

KANSAS CITY. Founded by Rafi Chaudry, Travis Moore

and Carol and Chad Troutwine, Torn Label Brewing Co. launched in Kansas City in late 2014 with statewide distribution capacity. Currently, Torn Label’s beers are only sold in Kansas City, but its founders hope to expand into new markets later this year. The brewery has also inked a distribution deal to bring its beers to Kansas. Torn Label’s core brews are House Brew, a coffee wheat stout brewed with Sumatra toddy from Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters; Monk & Honey, a Belgo-American brewed with honey from Peculiar, Missouri; and Alpha Pale, a sessionable pale ale with an aggressive West Coast-style hop profile.

new guard, like Bier Station -T.M. How do you plan to innovate as brewers while honoring craft brewing tradition? We try to approach traditional beer styles creatively by putting a thoughtful, intriguing spin on them. Rather than replicate Belgian or English ales, it excites us to think of new ways to complement and amplify flavor profiles of classic styles, such as introducing wildflower honey to emphasize the ester-y, clove character of a Belgian table beer -T.M. With our small-batch offerings, we love to create unexpectedly compelling collisions of flavor: guajillo chiles and sweet Belgian candy syrup; tart, sour mashed grains and floral, citrusy Pacific Northwest hops; blood orange zest and rich, roasted malts.

-R.C. Where can people find Torn Label on tap?

Currently, all of our beer is kegged. Our next step is to begin canning our flagships and seasonals. Torn Label can be found on draft at around 40 bars and restaurants around Kansas City. At the onset, we will focus on Kansas City, but we are excited to have the opportunity to expand into Columbia, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri. In Kansas, Torn Label plans to concentrate on Johnson and Wyandotte counties, but we have statewide distribution capacity to expand our footprint to Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita and Topeka in the future. -T.M.

photography by zach bauman

What distinguishes your beers from others made in Kansas City? We aim for the intersection of approachability and adventurousness. We take pleasure in creating beers that entice novice and expert craft beer drinkers toward new and exciting flavor experiences. -Rafi Chaudry We are informed by a diverse range of influences as brewers and beer travelers. Although we grew up and discovered craft beer in Kansas City, we also spent the past decade living in and exploring wildly disparate brewing cultures in southern California, Chicago, New York and Belgium. We filter those distinctive stylistic approaches through a thoroughly Midwestern sensibility that balances experimentation with accessibility. -Travis Moore When do you anticipate your tap room will open? We hope to open the tap room by late 2015. We are primarily a production brewery, but it’s also important for us to have a community connection point. It will be modestly sized [with] limited hours. We think people will enjoy being able to come in on weekends to fill a growler, take a tour or try a flight. -R.C. Why did you choose to be a production brewery? We wanted to keep the focus on the beer. It was a sufficient challenge as new brewers to concentrate on executing creative, compelling batches of beer. We didn’t want to create an elaborate food menu and maintain a full kitchen.

We take great pride in being able to distribute Torn Label to regional craft beer bars and restaurants that are a mix of old guard, like Waldo Pizza, and

Torn Label Brewing Co., 1708 Campbell St., Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri, tornlabel.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

APRIL 2015

33

fea st

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invite you to

celebrate

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april 2015

shop here

get a spoonful of hand-tinted sprinkles on p. 39 PHOTOGRAPHy by jill HeuPel

KC

PHOtOgraPHy by tereSa flOyd

Shop here

planters seed & spice co. written by Jenny Vergara

KANSAS CITY. the history of Planters Seed & Spice Co.

stretches almost as far back as Kansas City’s City Market itself. Since 1924, when german immigrant Henry wertheim opened the store to sell farm and garden seeds, local farmers have visited the shop to purchase seeds on their way to sell produce at the farmers’ market. green thumbs and urban gardeners will find plenty to dig into at Planters, as its original hardwood floors are lined with wooden shelves chock-full of vegetable, herb, bird feed and flower seeds. you can even buy a kit to grow your own

microgreens. Home cooks should also browse the store’s large dried and ground spice selection, including unusual finds like anise oil, whole green pod cardamom and ghost chile peppers (ground or flaked). Part hardware store, part gardening store, you’ll want to put Planters on your list to hit after you’ve purchased your produce for the week from the farmers’ market, which is one of the largest in the region, open every Saturday and Sunday year-round.

Planters Seed & Spice Co., 513 Walnut St., River Market, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.842.3651, plantersseed.com

ArTISAN produCT

stl

legacy chutney’s sweet fruit chutney

written by liz Miller

ST. louIS. When Uzma Quader was growing up, her mother would prepare and jar her chutney for friends and family. The chutney recipe was passed down to Quader’s mother from her own mother, who brought it with her to America from her native Pakistan. That treasured family recipe is the foundation of Legacy Chutney, Quader’s St. Louis-based company, which sells chutney in four flavors: sweet fruit, date nite, mango mania and cherry kiss. Sweet fruit is the flavor that started it all, made with a savory blend of peaches, apricots, onion seeds, vinegar, salt and pepper. Try it smeared on top of pork chops or burgers, folded into vanilla ice cream or simply enjoyed with cheese and bread. To learn more or place an order, visit legacychutney.com.

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pro series cookware 13-inch braiser “Our students have been asking us for 17 years what kind of cookware they should buy. it’s high time we designed this new line of high-quality professional cookware for the home cook, all acid-etched with a food quote on the side. it’s what we use in our cooking classes and in our homes. the braiser is a “stove-to-table” piece that is beautiful and functional, and it is perfect for braised dishes that are so heartwarming, as well as for dishes like paella.” –Laura Laiben, owner, The Culinary Center of Kansas City

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culinary library

The SouThern Foodie’S Guide To The PiG

By Chris Chamberlain thomasnelson.com written By Liz MiLLer

in Chris Chamberlain’s The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig (2014), he diplomatically lobbies that no city or state’s approach to pork is better than the next’s – but that each is a reflection of a specific set of traditions and the land where it was cultivated. to get a richer understanding of how approaches differ across the South – native mesquite wood is the popular choice for smoking pork in texas, while in Mississippi, pecan wood is more common – Chamberlain embarked on a road trip spanning 12 states and picked up wisdom and recipes from pitmasters and restaurant chefs along the way. the first section of the book details whole-hog butchery and cookery, from what to look for when buying a pig to how to build a pit, plus prepping and cooking belly, bacon, shoulder, butt, ham, ribs, loins and chops. From there, he shares the basics – sauces and rubs – including recipes for Kansas City rub and rib sauce, South Carolina mustard sauce, Memphis barbecue sauce and St. Louis rib sauce. the second section of the book shares restaurant profiles, and the third section includes recipes from across the region, such as Gulf shrimp with tasso cream sauce and old-fashioned cornbread, chicken fried pork chops, and braised pork belly with juniper and ginger beer over stone-ground grits. Chamberlain even manages to work pork into a handful of desserts, such as bacon ice cream-Coke floats and Southern peach cobbler with bacon confetti.

Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

37

one on one como

caroline leemis

owner and principal interior designer, caroline leemis design Written by alex Wilking

COLUMBIA, MO. it’s been a busy three years for

independent designer Caroline leemis. Since launching her firm, Caroline Leemis Design, in 2012 in Columbia, Missouri, she has used her interior design work to not only enhance businesses in the community, but has also made every effort to give back to it. With the help of leemis’ husband and business manager, eric, her company has designed environmentally conscious and energy-efficient spaces in Columbia such as Peggy Jean’s Pies and gumby’s Pizza’s original Downtown location.

PhotograPhy courtesy of choPstir

get this gadget

IL

chopstir “our no. 1 item year after year is the ChopStir. it’s made in the u.s. and breaks up ground beef in half the time on the stovetop with the chop and stir design, as the name implies. Plus, it does [so] safely in your skillet. –Lori Peifer, owner and culinary instructor, Lori’s Kitchen Store

What inspires you as a designer? a lot of my inspiration comes from the client and the organization itself. i try to pull a lot of their brand and their stories into whatever designs i’m working on with them. My goal as a designer is really to create unique environments that fit each of the clients i work with. beyond that, i’m frequently getting inspiration from other designers across the country, nature and things i see when i travel. What is your approach to restaurant design? it’s about really getting to dig in and getting to know the story of that restaurant – figuring out where they’ve been, who their clientele is and why their clientele comes there. Or if it’s a new restaurant, trying to develop what type of clientele they want to reach – [seeing] how we can design around that and create an environment that those people will want to dine in. it’s also about the full experience, from the moment someone walks in the door to when they leave – how that space

is laid out, how does it flow, how are the noise levels, what type of ambience with the lighting and other finishes. You renovated the interior of Peggy Jean’s Pies. Any challenges along the way? Using the resources they had budgetwise and spacewise. i worked with them on ideas on how they could better display things and where a good spot was for their menu board because at the time they didn’t have one. they always had customers coming in asking, “What types of pies do you have?” and they have around 30 pies on their list. they have a really tall ceiling they left open, so we tried utilizing those tall walls with elements that would bring the eye up a little more to fill the space. We also did a bit of work on their branding and the packaging of their products. You recently finished designing the cafeteria for Schneider Electric in Columbia. What was that process like? they wanted to enhance their employee culture [and see] how they could provide a better space for employees during lunchtime. they were focused on how they could bring employees together and get them interacting more. So we talked a lot about booths, longer tables and spaces they could use to increase employee morale and engagement with their culture. Any new projects in the works? We really saw big growth last fall, and i’m hoping that continues through 2015. i’m looking to keep expanding and working with local businesses.

Caroline Leemis Design, 500 E. Walnut St. #105, Columbia, Missouri, 479.871.3757, carolineleemisdesign.com

lori’s kitchen Store, 110 n. Main St., Washington, illinois, 309.444.5674, loriskitchenstore.com

“It’s about the full experIence, from the moment someone walks In the door to when they leave.”

PhotograPhy courtesy of caroline leemis

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shOp here

il

spoon baking co. written by stacy Mccann

ALTON, IL. inspired by various bakeries from around the country, Spoon Baking Co. in alton, illinois, serves from-scratch treats made by owners Diana and ryan schuler. the bakery has been in the making for more than 10 years, and when the schulers found the 350-square-foot space in alton, they knew it was time to go all in.

PhotograPhy by Jill heuPel

spoon’s cupcakes and specialty desserts change with the seasons and holidays – one day the shop might have jumbo chocolate-chocolate cupcakes in its case, while the next day’s cakes might be red velvet topped with cream cheese frosting – but it’s the shop’s mainstays that keep customers coming back. specifically, spoon’s personal-sized gooey butter cakes, cinnamon and pecan rolls, and its packaged granola and caramel corn. the schulers have drinks covered, too, with coffee from Door county coffee & tea co., which they found during cross-country travels, and specialty drinks such as belgian drinking chocolate and chai tea lattes.

| 1 | the bakery’s signature treat is the

| 2 | Housemade marshmallows make ideal Spoon cookie, made with oatmeal, coconut additions to one of the shop’s piping-hot and walnuts. the cookie is always available, drinks. sold in blocks bigger than any mug, and samples of it are usually offered. you’re sure to have plenty leftover.

ArTIsAN prOduCT

Kc

sustained juice written by Jenny Vergara

KANsAs CITY. Steven Jennings, owner of Kansas

City-based Sustained Juice, has taken a cue from the chefs and bartenders that he works with at Michael Smith restaurant to create a line of vegan, gluten-free, cold-press juices made with organic seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. Kansas Citians can order juices online, and Jennings or his business partner Brett Calka will deliver them to your home or office. Each 16-ounce, recyclable glass bottle costs $11. Sport juices are also available, which include additional protein and supplements, as well as fruit and vegetable cleanses and five- or 10-pack juice subscriptions. To learn more or place an order, visit sustainedjuicekc.com.

PhotograPhy courtesy of Paul hart PhotograPhy

| 3 | spoon’s eye-catching hand-tinted sprinkles are sold in a rainbow of pastel colors to suit any occasion.

spoon baking co. also recently introduced quiche in flavors like smoked ham, Monterey Jack cheese and jalapeño. be sure to arrive early, though: like most bakeries, the schulers’ goal is to sell out by the end of business each day.

Spoon Baking Co., 4 E. Broadway, Alton, Illinois, 618.374.6098, spoonbakingcompany.com

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menu options

spice up dinner with a taste of india on p. 46 photography by JENNIFEr SILVErbErg

seed to table

Goat Cheese-stuffed Morels as blossoms begin to open and the first pollinators appear, the sweet, earthy fragrance of spring permeates the air. this time of year, farmers are busy sowing seeds for summer and cultivating early spring crops, while foragers take full advantage of the warmer weather to hike in wooded areas to collect wild edible plants. the exciting search for morel mushrooms almost reaches a fever pitch in april, when the quest for a full basket of morels leaves my family and me searching the woods near our illinois home for hours on end. fortuitously, by foraging close to the earth, we are able to stop and really take notice of the symbiotic relationships taking place around us. the vibrant moss and lichens cling to limestone rocks; various shades of green unfold like magic; buds form on trees and insects are everywhere. if you’re lucky, you may even see May apples, an umbrellalike woodland plant, poking out through the top layer of the soil. the air is fresh, crisp and damp. Morels tend to arrive after spring storms bring warmer weather. as a general rule, the soil temperature

must reach about 45°f before morels will fruit. When hunting for them, my eyes are fixed on a narrow path, searching diligently inch by inch at a slow and steady pace. as i eagerly survey layers of fallen leaves, seeds, pods, acorns and hickory nuts, glowing morels eventually pop out. foragers will tell you that once you find a morel, it’s likely that there are many others surrounding it – but you must tread lightly. it helps to stop in your tracks and kneel down right next to the morel and gaze slowly, left to right, again and again until you spot a second, third or fourth. look at the base of dead elm trees, at the base of May apples and along streams and south-facing hillsides. at the end of the day, the search for morels sometimes feels like a game of pure chance. if you lack the time or patience for the hunt, you can find freshly foraged morels for sale at farmers’ markets this time of year, or online at hillsmorels.com. frozen and dried morels are also available to order online throughout the year at morelmasters.com.

Crystal Stevens is a farmer at La Vista CSA Farm on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in Godfrey, Illinois, where she farms with her husband, Eric. They have two children. Crystal is an advocate of integrating creativity into sustainability through writing, art, photojournalism and seed-to-table cooking.

Find more of her work at growingcreatinginspiring.blogspot.com, which she created to launch her forthcoming book, grow create inspire.

story and recipe by crystal stevens photography by Jennifer silverberg

Goat Cheese-Stuffed Morels Earthy, robust stuffed morels are one of my favorite ways to enjoy the mushroom.

I prefer to stuff them with award-winning Coeur de la Crème garlic and chive goat cheese made by Baetje Farms in Bloomdale, Missouri, though any herbed, garlicky goat cheese will work. serves | 12 | 1 ¼ ½ 12 1½

tsp extra virgin olive oil tsp sea salt gallon water morel mushrooms oz-package garlic and chive goat cheese, softened

| Preparation | preheat oven to 350°f. grease a baking sheet with olive oil and set aside. in a large bowl, combine salt and water and transfer morels to soak. agitate morels lightly, dunking them below the water several times to remove silt and sand that may be caught between grooves. transfer to paper towel-lined plate and pat to dry. slice morels in half lengthwise. add a spoonful of goat cheese to each of the 24 halves and place onto prepared baking sheet. bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on desired consistency. remove from oven and serve alongside a spring salad and roasted potatoes.

Morel Hunting 101

Before you venture out to forage for morels, you should know what you’re looking for. The Missouri Mycological Society is a great resource for those interested in identifying and collecting edible mushrooms. The organization also hosts mushroom-identification workshops regularly.

When searching for morels, it’s equally as important to identify deadly morel lookalikes, also known as false morels.

For more information, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation at mdc.mo.gov.

YELLOW MORELS have a honeycombed cap with yellow to yellow-gray or yellow-brown ridges and pits; they are completely hollow.

BLack MORELS are a prized edible mushroom. they have a honeycombed cap with black to brownish-black ridges and yellowish-brown pits. they are completely hollow.

HaLf-fREE MORELS are completely hollow.

they have a honeycombed cap with brownish-black ridges and yellowish-brown pits. the bottom half hangs free from the whitish stalk.

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APRIL 2015

43

mystery shopper

MeeT: Grape MolaSSeS

SToRy AnD RECIPE By ShAnnon WEBER PhoToGRAPhy By JEnnIFER SILvERBERG

Grapes are essential to winemaking and a favorite childhood jam for sandwiches, but that’s not all this familiar fruit is good for; they have a bewitching, alternative life you may not know about in the form of grape molasses.

content; Turkish parents make their children tahin-pekmez for breakfast – a generous swirl of the sweet syrup into a pool of tahini – to keep them warm and energized throughout the day.

What Is It?

What Do I Do WIth It?

Quite simply, grape molasses (also known as petimezi in Greece or pekmez in Turkey) is an ancient food made with reduced grape must that is thought to be one of the first sweeteners before cane sugar and honey were introduced in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Considered a pantry staple in Turkey and other parts of that region, grape molasses is prized for its high iron and potassium

If tahin-pekmez isn’t your thing, try pouring grape molasses over pancakes and waffles, or upgrade yogurt and granola parfaits with a hearty drizzle. Use it as a 1-1 ratio to substitute for maple syrup or honey in baked goods to impart a distinct grape flavor and subdued sweetness. The thick syrup works as a meat glaze as well, and plays beautifully with fresh herbs and tart citrus in grilling sauces.

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 the words “I can’t” should never apply to food preparation and that curiosity can lead to wonderful things, in both the kitchen and in life.

Candied Walnuts Yields | 2 cups | 1 ¼ 2 2

Tbsp unsalted butter cup grape molasses tsp brown sugar pinch kosher salt cups walnut halves

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a lipped baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in grape molasses, brown sugar and salt until combined. Bring to a boil and allow to bubble undisturbed, 3 minutes. Add walnuts; stir to coat. Remove from heat and spread in a single layer onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, mixing halfway through.

Remove from oven and mix to recoat walnut pieces with glaze. Allow walnuts to cool on sheet pan for 30 minutes until hardened.

Break apart and store in airtight container.

Bitter Greens Salad with Grape MolassesRosemary Vinaigrette Serves | 4 | VInaIgrette

8 1 2 ½ ¼

Tbsp olive oil, divided tsp finely diced shallots tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves cup grape molasses cup plus 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar sea salt

salaD

1

small head radicchio, washed and torn into pieces 4 oz washed escarole or frisée, torn into pieces 2 oz washed spinach 12 Turkish figs, quartered 4 oz Saint Agur cheese 1 to 11/3 cups candied walnuts (recipe above) sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

| Preparation – Vinaigrette | In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat 2 Tbsp oil. Add shallots; heat for 1 minute until soft. Add rosemary leaves and stir over heat until fragrant, 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Discard shallots and rosemary leaves. Add grape molasses and vinegar to bowl and whisk to combine.

Continue to whisk while slowly streaming in remaining 6 Tbsp oil until dressing has emulsified. Season with dash salt, transfer to a jar and cover tightly. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to blend flavors. | Preparation – Salad | In a large bowl, toss first 3 ingredients to combine. Divide onto 4 plates and top with remaining ingredients. Serve with vinaigrette.

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PROMOtiON

abilities. NRF technology is so advanced and specific it can determine hormone imbalances, organ function weakness, and much more.

Inspired Local Food Culture | Midwest

A Personal Recipe for Your Individual Health Challenges Dr. Bryan Deloney, Chesterfield, is bringing one of the newest advancements in natural health and healing to local residents.

Deloney is helping patients reverse health challenges, such as excess weight, diabetes, sleep apnea, thyroid disorders fibromyalgia and autoimmune issues, using the NutriMost Resonant Frequency Technology (NRF).

Deloney explains, “we determine your personal recipe for healthy weight and healing using resonant frequencies”.

Using an understanding of resonant frequencies, Dr. Deloney can determine precisely what the body needs to bring it into its optimal fat burning zone and keep it there. This is done by measuring the baseline of each factor being measured (hormone, neurotransmitter, heavy metal, bacteria, virus, organ, etc.), and then the doctor can determine what supplement or formula is needed by observing what the effect of that item is on the baseline (whether it makes it more coherent or less coherent).

The program displays the results and identifies the biomarkers (vitamins, minerals, hormones, neurotransmitters, toxins, microbes, etc.) that are out of range regarding the fat burning zone. Once the outof-range fat biomarkers are identified, the program will determine exactly what is needed to bring the biomarkers back into fat burning. It will identify what is needed nutritionally; but more than that, the foundation of the whole program is the ability to determine the exact “recipe” for each person’s fat burning. The program creates a “recipe” for hormones/ neurotransmitters, a “recipe” for detox and a “recipe” for the fat burning formula.

Everyone Gains Weight Differently Due to Hormones

The NutriMost Ultimate Fat Loss System is safe, fast, and effective. You’ll clear out harmful toxins and balance your hormones as you lose fat at an unbelievable pace.

Typical results see patients losing 20 – 40 pounds in 40 days. And the best part? The results are permanent.

Following your 40 days of fat loss, NutriMost will reset your metabolism and weight set point, so you can keep the weight off for good. This safe, doctor-supervised system works in just 6 weeks, guaranteed.

N

Once in this balance state and fat burning zone: • You experience no hunger or cravings, unlike other weight loss programs • The typical fat loss is between ½ pound and 2 pounds of fat per day • You will have more energy, better sleep, and you will be in a better mood • Your hormones will become more and more balanced • You will enter a state of autophagy, which helps the body overcome all sorts of health challenges

Yo u

First, patients undergo a fast, painless scan of their body’s cells by using the comprehensive electroimpedance resonant frequency (NRF) technology. This allows Dr. Deloney to take a “hormonal fingerprint” of every factor that affects weight gain, including fat burning, fat storage, metabolism, the organs involved, hormones, neurotransmitters, vitamins, minerals, metals, toxins, bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma, candida, parasites and nanobacteria. It gives him the capability of measuring and assisting the body’s innate healing

LEt tHE BaLaNciNG aND HEaLiNG BEGiN!

W h at

NRF technology can target your hormone imbalances and get to the cause of your weight gain, overcoming weight loss resistance and solving your weight challenges.

ee

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Dr. Deloney Holds a Free Bi-monthly Workshop Participants may purchase: > Body Composition Analysis $27 Value: $100

Contact NutriMost Missouri at 844-STL-MOST for more information or to schedule your free consultation with Dr. Deloney

www.nutrimostmissouri.com Simply Health | 126 Hilltown Village Center | Chesterfield MO 63017

april Workshops: April 11 April 25

Inspired Local Food Culture

APRIL 2015

45

menu options

SpiCed indian-StyLe ChiCken with Lime

sTORY And RecIPe bY GAbRIelle deMIchele PhOTOGRAPhY bY JennIFeR sIlVeRbeRG

Most home cooks have a drawer, cabinet or rack of spices filled with familiar whole and ground jars of cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, turmeric and paprika. In addition to these staples, it only takes a handful of others to create exotic spice blends. For example, when cumin, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg and fenugreek are mixed together, they form the spice blend for tikka masala.

Cumin, a seed from a small herbaceous plant, will provide a nutty flavor and soothing aroma. We find coriander – as an herb, we know it as cilantro – in a surprisingly infinite number of preparations. Cardamom is used extensively in Indian, Iranian, Moroccan, Middle Eastern and Ethiopian cooking, and it’s an essential component of spice blends like garam masala and ras al-hanout. Allspice is aptly named, as hints of

cinnamon, nutmeg and clove can be detected when it’s used to make ketchup, barbecue sauce, chewing gum, soft drinks and much more.

Nutmeg is the kernel of a seed that is used as a spice, with a sweet, warm aroma and hints of camphor, pine, clove and woody accents. It’s used extensively in sweet as well as savory dishes, and pairs well with lobster, scallops, lamb, beef, goat and even tomatoes and avocados, as well as in myriad sauces, breads, pastries and soups. As for fenugreek, it plays an essential component in many curry powders and is often used to evoke or enhance maple flavoring. Fenugreek is popular in Egyptian, Turkish and Iranian cooking, where it’s traditionally used to flavor curries, chutneys, pickles, relishes and many vegetarian dishes.

Make the Meal • Spiced Indian-Style Chicken with Lime • Moroccan Vegetable Tagine • Rib Rub for Oven-Roasted Pork Ribs • Indian Rice Pudding

Learn More. In this class you’ll learn about different types of spice -blending at home. You’ll learn how spice combinations are used to flavor cuisine across the world, including a recipe for spiced Indian -style chicken with lime. To complete the meal, we’ll learn how to make Moroccan vegetable tagine, rib rub for oven-roasted pork ribs and Indian rice pudding.

get hands-on: Join Feast Magazine and schnucks Cooks Cooking school on Wed., april 22, at 6pm at the des Peres, Missouri, location, to make the dishes in this month’s menu. tickets are just $40 for a night of cooking, dining and wine. RsVP at schnuckscooks.com or call 314.909.1704.

Spiced Indian-Style Chicken with lime Serves | 6 to 8

|

SpICe BLend

½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1

tsp fennel seeds tsp allspice Tbsp coriander seeds tsp fenugreek seeds Tbsp cumin seeds tsp black peppercorns

MarInade

½ 3 1 ½ 1 1⁄3 3 1

bunch fresh cilantro leaves (plus additional for garnish) smashed garlic cloves large shallot, minced bunch parsley leaves tsp ground turmeric cup freshly squeezed lime juice Tbsp grapeseed oil tsp kosher salt

ChICken

2 1 1

whole chickens, broken down into pieces marinade (recipe below) bunch scallions, sliced at a 45-degree angle (for garnish) lime, cut into wedges (for garnish)

| Preparation – Spice Blend | In a small skillet over medium heat, combine all ingredients. Toast until seeds darken and become fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and transfer to a spice grinder.

Grind into a powder and set aside. | Preparation – Marinade | In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients with the ground spice blend and process until smooth. Set aside. | Preparation – Chicken | Transfer pieces of chicken to a large bowl and cover with marinade, taking care to coat all pieces evenly. Cover and set aside for 1 hour on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Position 1 oven rack on the second row from the top and another on the very bottom of the oven.

On a lipped baking pan, arrange chicken pieces, skin-side down. Place pan on the bottom oven rack and bake for 25 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, turn chicken skin-side up and bake for another 25 minutes. The skin should get crispy and caramelized. Chicken is finished cooking when the internal temperature of the breasts reaches 155°F and the thighs reach 160°F. After this point, remove from oven and tent with foil for residual cooking.

Serve on a platter with scallions and lime wedges for garnish.

TV

WATCH IT ON THESE NETWORKS

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) to see Feast TV on Sat., April 4 at 2pm and Mon., April 6 at 1pm. Feast TV will also air throughout the month on nineCREATE.

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19) on Sat., April 11 at 2:30pm.

You can watch Feast TV throughout mid-Missouri on KMOS (Channel 6) on Thu., April 23 at 8:30pm and Sun., April 26 at 6:30pm.

HANDCRAFTED

ARTISAN

PRODUCTS LOCALLY MADE!

Feast TV will air in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8) at 10am on Sat., April 4.

In the April episode of Feast TV, we travel to Green Dirt Farm near Weston, Missouri, to see how the farm’s incredible sheep’s milk cheeses are made. Then, it’s off to Springfield to meet the family who invented cashew chicken and learn the history of this Chinese-American original. Next, we visit with the founders of Torn Label Brewing, a new Kansas City-based regional brewery.

And finally, we get in the kitchen with Gerard Craft at Niche Restaurant in St. Louis, where the chef has focused his cutting-edge menu on only Midwest products, creating a unique culinary experience that is a true reflection of the flavor of our region.

WE’RE PROUD TO OFFER A VARIETY OF ARTISAN PRODUCTS* AT SCHNUCKS schnucks.com

Heartland Creamery cow and goat cheeses top the list in Deli. We have St. Louis classics like Salume Beddu, G&W Bavarian Style Sausage Company, Volpi Foods and Imo’s.

You’ll find Windcrest Dairy Yogurt in our Dairy Department. In our Meat Department, we offer handcrafted sausage and salami from Hermann Wurst Haus, Williams Brothers and Wenneman Meat Co. *Artisan products available at select stores.

Feast TV is presented by Missouri Wines with additional support from Whole Foods Market.

©2015 Schnucks

Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

47

sweet ideas

Lemon-Coconut Layer Cake

story and recipe by Christy Augustin Photography by Cheryl Waller

When I was growing up, my grandmother would always serve a coconut lamb-shaped cake for dessert to cap off Easter dinner. A gift from one of her clients, it was always there, always dry and was never eaten. We would poke at the plastic green grass, picking off jelly beans to eat, while wondering what kind of lamb laid eggs.

Years later, I believe this recipe for lemon-coconut layer cake is what

Easter dessert should be all about. Fluffy vanilla bean-infused cake, tart lemon curd and airy buttercream are topped with a covering of sweetened coconut flakes. At my bakery, we use this same recipe every day to make birthday cakes of all kinds. Homemade lemon curd is a delicacy and works best in this recipe, but if you’d prefer to buy it premade at the grocery store, spring for the good stuff.

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.

Lemon-Coconut Layer Cake Serves | 12 to 16

|

Cake (Yields 2 8-inch cakes)

32⁄3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

6 eggs

1 tsp kosher salt 2¾ cups granulated sugar 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped 1½ cup canola oil 1½ cup buttermilk, divided American Buttercream

1 cup room temperature

unsalted butter

1 lb powdered sugar

¼ tsp kosher salt ½ tsp vanilla extract 1 ⁄8 to ¼ cup whole milk Assembly

2¼ cups lemon curd, divided 3 cups sweetened coconut flakes

| Preparation – Cake | Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare 2 8-inch cake pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper; do not spray the sides. Sift flour and baking powder twice and set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla bean on high for 5 minutes. On medium speed, slowly drizzle in oil until fully incorporated. On low speed, begin adding 1⁄3 of dry ingredients, alternating with ½ of buttermilk, repeat and finish with remaining dry. Scrape well to make sure there are no lumps and batter is evenly combined. Divide batter evenly between 2 pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The cakes will be a medium golden brown and the centers will spring back when lightly pressed if finished. Cool completely in the pans and run a knife carefully around the edge to remove.

| Preparation – American Buttercream | Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla on medium for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add 1⁄8 cup milk on medium and then beat on high, 2 minutes.

Adjust consistency with milk as needed.

Buttercream should be soft and creamy. | Assembly | Using a serrated knife,

carefully remove domed top of each cake and discard. Cut each cake in half horizontally to create 4 cake layers. Place bottom layer onto a cake plate, “gluing” it down with a dab of buttercream. Top with ¾ cup lemon curd, spreading evenly to coat. Add next 2 layers in the same manner, saving other bottom layer to invert on top of cake. Using a spatula, spread a thin layer of buttercream over the sides, edges and top of cake. Chill for 1 hour or up to 1 day to set. Once cake is set, spread another ¼-inch layer buttercream over entire cake. Coat cake in coconut flakes, pressing lightly, and dust the excess off plate. Chill to set. Cake will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, but is best after being at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours.

I WIsh I KneW...

JOIN US THURSDAY, APRIL 2ND FOR

TWO OF ST LOUIS’ TOP CHEFS WILL BATTLE IT OUT IN A LIVE COOKING COMPETITION AND YOU WILL HELP DECIDE THE WINNER! YOUR TICKET INCLUDES: - APPETIZERS - DRINKS - ENTREES - DESSERT TICKETS AVAILABLE AT

KMOX.COM/FOOD

which ten items i should always keep in my pantry

#1

boxed or canned stock Recipes may call for either the chicken

#2 #3

salt You simply can’t open a cookbook without seeing the necessity of good kosher salt. Make sure to have a full grinder in your pantry at all times.

#4

italian seasoning and/or all purpose seasoning

variety or the vegetable one – why not keep a supply of both? They make an easy base for soup, casserole and even risotto.

pepper Pepper is another essential – and it’s equally important in this case to go with fresh peppercorns and a grinder, not a tin of the pre-ground stuff. Keep a large supply on hand; you’ll be shocked by how quickly you run through it.

You really should have a fully stocked spice rack, but if you’re just starting out and need to pick one versatile jar, you can’t go wrong with Italian seasoning. A classic combination of dried rosemary, thyme, sage, savory, oregano, basil and marjoram, it elevates many dishes.

#5

olive oil From vegetables to pasta to bread, everything tastes better with a teaspoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. Don’t be caught in a kitchen without it.

#6

canned tomatoes Tomatoes might be

#7

vinegar What’s good cooking without acetic acid? Impossible, or so we suspect. If you’re pinching pennies, don’t feel like you have to hold out for pricey balsamic. A good red wine vinegar works great in many salads and marinades.

#8 #9

rice It’s quick to cook, goes with everything and almost never goes bad.

the only produce that work better in many recipes after being canned. That’s because canning captures sun-kissed tomatoes at the height of the season, sparing you from the watery, tasteless versions that abound in winter months.

Keep a large jar of rice in the pantry and see your quick-dinner options multiply.

pasta What’s a great dinner in a pinch?

Pasta and just about anything. Whatever you have in your fridge, from cheese to vegetables to leftover meat, a simple dried pasta will probably complement it.

#10 soy sauce

It’s one of the most versatile sauces, pairing perfectly with soup and many meats for that prized umami taste. And with ten times the antioxidants of red wine, it’s good for you, too.

Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

49

L i s t e n to t h e

Classic Rock and More

DownLoaD our free app on your our smar smart phone anD Lis Listen to us anywhere!

www.krmsradio.com msradio.com www.lakejob.com 935rocksthelake.com ocksthelake.com 50

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APRIL 2015

| 52 |

the road to regionalism

| 60 |

taste of the exotic

| 73 |

everything’s coming up rosés

| 76 |

east meets midwest

| 82 |

lucky ewe

The chefs at Niche in Clayton, Missouri, are finding limitless creativity within a 300-mile radius.

Elevating lamb in five globally inspired courses.

Interest in dry rosé is growing at wineries across the region.

Meet the man who created cashew chicken at his family’s restaurant in Springfield, Missouri.

Green Dirt Farm counts on sheep to make high-quality cheese and dairy products. phoToGraphy oF GrEEN DIrT FarM ChEESE (p. 82) by TErESa FLoyD

the road to Regionalism

M

Written by Liz Miller PhotograPhy by Emily Suzanne McDonald

Underneath a powder-blUe sky filled with majestic clouds, the soft, low light of early morning casts dramatic shapes across a verdant landscape. a farmer, fishing pole in hand, walks past rows of tall cornstalks on his way to a nearby river. in the distance, a mule stands outside of a barn. From this vantage point, some trees seem tall enough to pierce the horizon, while others slope sideways, providing shade for plants and animals in and along the water. the farmer is so small he almost gets lost in the vast expanse captured in Magnificent Missouri, the mural by Missouri artist bryan haynes that hangs in the dining room at niche in Clayton, Missouri.

“We wanted something that represented our farmers and the bounty that is the Missouri countryside, as well as our rivers,” says gerard Craft, the chef-owner of niche and five-time James beard awards finalist for best Chef: Midwest. although firmly rooted in St. Louis today, Craft wasn’t born in Missouri. he didn’t grow up in the Midwest or spend summers exploring its parks and rivers. his youth was spent on the east Coast, with family ties in new york City and Washington, D.C. When he moved to St. Louis in 2005 to open niche, he was just 25 years old and had never set foot in the city. he recalls his first trip to hermann, Missouri, a few years later and feeling overwhelmed by the region’s lush countryside and robust wine industry.

finding limitless creativity within a 300-mile radius

“i’m a coastal kid, and being on the coast, going to the ocean, does something for me,” he says. “it takes away all of my stress and makes me shed about 20 pounds of the weight i’m carrying in my life. going to the farm in hermann, i felt the exact same sensation, and i realized what a magical place we have right here in our backyard. i don’t think many people think about Missouri and really think about wine country that’s so beautiful.” at niche, Craft’s goal has always been to capture the flavors of the Midwest. years ago, while traveling through italy, he found himself having the same experience at restaurant after restaurant: the food he was eating “tasted like it could have been from anywhere.” nothing about the food or environment evoked a sense of place and time, or a connection to the land where it was grown and raised.

in niche’s early days, Craft struggled with how to best achieve the effect of evoking a sense of place through food. He knew it was more complex than simply sourcing produce and proteins from regional farmers – he wanted to share a true reflection of what it means to live and cook and eat in Missouri.

A few years after opening the restaurant, Slow Food St. Louis sent him to Terra Madre, a biannual conference hosted by Slow Food in Turin, Italy.

“I heard New Zealand aborigines speak about how the rise in lamb farming had ruined the rivers and made it impossible to live off of their own land,” Craft says.

“Something becomes popular and everybody in the entire world wants to consume that one item grown in that one place, and that’s far from sustainable, when we could be living off of what’s right here.”

After his experience at Terra Madre, Craft resolved to slowly replace some ingredients from the menu at Niche, like lobster, hamachi and white truffles, with ones sourced from within the Midwest.

“We pushed a little harder – maybe at the time a little too hard – and we felt some serious revolt,” Craft says. “A lot of the diners just weren’t enthused by it.”

Craft found himself in the heart of the recession – when small businesses were already being stretched impossibly thin – trying to build a framework that customers weren’t embracing. He made the call to ease up on the new focus and add some ingredients back onto the menu. Maybe the timing wasn’t right in 2009, he thought, but that didn’t mean the restaurant couldn’t slowly, perhaps more quietly, make the transformation.

By 2011, he and his team took the next step in moving the vision forward by defining borders for the kitchen – its chefs would only work with ingredients they could source within a full day’s drive. If they wanted seafood, they looked to the Gulf Coast or the Great Lakes instead of Maine or Japan. “We were getting closer, but it still didn’t necessarily feel like us,” Craft says.

“We didn’t feel like we were doing it.”

Much has changed since then – Niche relocated from its original home in the Benton Park neighborhood to a new space in Clayton in late 2012. Bright white Midwestsourced limestone frames the open kitchen, and the flooring is made of reclaimed Missouri wood. Dining room tables were made by David Stine, a woodworker based in Dow, Illinois, and Craft collaborated directly with Haynes to offer direction for the mural that hangs in the dining room.

According to Haynes, the mural doesn’t depict an actual landscape. Craft described several scenes to Haynes, who then illustrated a composite of three or four

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places in Missouri. The painting may depict a fantasy – the very best of what the state has to offer, presented in one scene – but it’s Craft’s vision to share the full scope of that bounty with diners at Niche.

Ten monThs ago, Craft sat down with executive chef Nate Hereford, sous chef Brian Lagerstrom and pastry chef Sarah Osborn, and proposed refocusing the kitchen to work only with ingredients grown, raised or produced in Missouri and southern Illinois. The idea was as innovative as it was risky.

The farm-to-table movement has become commonplace in restaurants across the country, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another restaurant that sources almost all of its ingredients regionally. The model is so groundbreaking that Craft and his team have almost no reference point for how best to achieve it, other than taking it one day at a time.

By September, the restaurant phased out its former menu, offering new dishes developed under the regionalism focus for its fourcourse, a la carte and chef’s tasting menus.

“We said, ‘Let’s go all the way until we really start telling the story – where we are and where we’re trying to go,’” Craft says.

That focus has now developed into what Hereford describes as, “extreme regionalism.” He says the aim is for 90 percent of the ingredients used in the kitchen to be purchased or made in-house with products sourced from a 300-mile radius around St. Louis.

This past winter, that translated into dishes like pumpkin soup made with Missouri miso and pecans; cauliflower with Missouri caviar, sourdough and brown butter vinaigrette; pork shoulder with buckwheat, rice grits and sorrel; and black walnut custard with Jonathan apples and sage.

“It gives the restaurant a sense of time and place; it gives a sense of the winter of Missouri in 2015,” Hereford says.

The only non-native ingredients used in the kitchen are staples – Hereford says they’ve PICTUReD lefT Page (fRom ToP To boTTom): Asparagus soup with spring garlic meringue, black garlic vinegar, and pecan soil; Stinging nettle tea with roasted chicken fat; Housemade Camembert cheese with mixed berry preserves and dandelion root crackers; Missouri sturgeon and caviar with Yukon Gold potatoes and nasturtium leaves.

PICTUReD RIghT Page (fRom ToP To boTTom): Illinois beef with spring onion cream, rice crisps, potato purée and candy onions; Egg custard made with Illinois maple syrup and maple vinegar, roasted shiitake mushrooms and Missouri trout caviar; Sprouted oat English muffin with housemade Reblochon cheese, honey and fleur del sel.

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yet to find regional sources for salt, white distilled vinegar, agar-agar and xanthan gum. Lagerstrom creates many ingredients in-house, including soy sauce, miso and garum, a condiment similar to fish sauce. In place of olive oil, the chefs cook with soybean oil, and because they can’t source citrus, they’ve had to get creative with how to replace acid in dishes, too. Hereford developed reduced yogurt whey that he describes as having a citrusy quality. (“You take the yogurt whey, strain it off and reduce it, and it turns into a lemonlike flavor; it’s concentrated and beautiful,” he says.)

Acid is also imparted with vinegars that Lagerstrom makes from scratch, such as fermented wild apple cider vinegar, hyssop vinegar made with the minty, licorice-flavored herb and red wine vinegar made with Missouri -grown Norton grapes.

“That’s one way I know our food is going to taste a lot different from other people’s food,” Lagerstrom says. “Even good restaurants all use the same red wine vinegar.”

He also bakes all of the bread served at Niche with a blend of 100 percent Missouri grain – think sourdough, sprouted oat English muffins, cheese bread and dandelion-root crackers.

“You have to be good at making bread to make a 100 percent whole wheat bread [well],” Lagerstrom says. “I think where we’re at now, the bread tells as much of a story as any other dish on the menu.”

Lagerstrom makes three cheeses in-house, as well – soft, creamy, ivory-hued Camembert; a smooth, pungent, orange-red washed-rind; and his newest experiment, 14-week aged Cheddar.

He uses milk from a nearby source: The pastry assistant at Pastaria, Niche’s next-door sister restaurant, grew up on a farm in southern Missouri, where her parents still raise a few

dairy cows for milk production. She connected Lagerstrom with her parents, and now milk is delivered fresh to the restaurant each week (and sometimes daily).

“It would be easy to buy milk from a purveyor and make our own cheese, but it’s way better that the milk was milked several hours before I make the cheese,” Lagerstrom says.

To further the regionalism focus, Lagerstrom has immersed himself in other fermentation projects, intent on inventing new ways to elevate whatever ingredients he has at his disposal.

“The thing I really like about fermented foods… there’s a magical quality about them,” Lagerstrom says. “With most of them, across the board, what you’re developing is umami. Eighty percent of the ferments we do are because we’re trying to build umami, which is a flavor that isn’t easily coaxed out of fresh ingredients.”

While researching regional alternatives to fish and seafood, Lagerstrom, Hereford and Craft came upon Missouri-raised trout from Troutdale Farms in Gravois Mills, Missouri, and sturgeon and caviar from Show-Me Caviar in Morrison, Missouri.

“When I read back to what Native Americans were eating, a lot of it was seafood – there was this huge seafood and game-based diet that no longer exists as what people think of as Missouri food,” Craft says. “We want to explore what River City cuisine is and the idea of fish in the middle of the country – because that was one of the things that brought settlers here in the first place.”

Lagerstrom recalls breaking down trout one day and pausing at the fish’s black, inky insides.

After some research, he came across a recipe for garum, a salty, pungent paste popular in ancient Rome made with fish parts fermented in a brine. He was already experimenting with making koji, the building block of fermented foods like soy sauce and miso, by inoculating steamed Missouri rice with Aspergillus mold. The rice must be inoculated at a very specific temperature – Lagerstrom estimates it took him at least a month of time-consuming trial and error to land on the final recipe. Once the koji was finished, he combined it with leftover trout innards and a high percentage of salt and allowed the mixture to ferment to make garum. “After a certain time period, the funkiness turns to an awesome sweetness,” Hereford says.

The trout and garum first came together in a dish with broccoli and hickory nuts. Hereford says the garum intensifies the flavor of the trout while also adding complexity and a depth of flavor to the other ingredients that the trout alone can’t impart.

“A big thing Gerard talks about is that this type of food needs to be luxurious, but the challenge is taking a carrot and making it luxurious, or taking trout – a very humble ingredient – and making that luxurious,” Lagerstrom says.

FOR HEREFORD, much of what the kitchen has gained over the past 10 months has been perspective. When confronted with a surplus of popcorn, he remembered that a former popcorn sauce recipe yielded leftover sediment, or fine grains, that resembled polenta. “We thought, ‘What would happen if you made popcorn like you would polenta?”’ he says. “We did it, and it eats just like polenta, and it tastes just like popcorn. It gives you versatility and something whimsical.”

On the pastry side, Osborn is also using the new limitations to her advantage. Because neither chocolate nor vanilla are grown in Missouri, she is incorporating root vegetables like beets and sweet potatoes into her desserts.

PICTURED: Stinging nettle tea with roasted chicken fat sits beside egg custard made with Illinois maple syrup and maple vinegar, roasted shiitake mushrooms and Missouri trout caviar.

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Inspired by Lagerstrom’s successes with fermentation, she substituted sourdough starter for flour to make sourdough crêpes, which are served with sourdough purée, buttermilk orbs, candied beets, hyssop vinegar and beet syrup.

“Now I see recipes that I like, and if they have a chocolate base to them, I think about how I can get around it,” Osborn says.

One of the first desserts she developed under the regional program was miso ice cream with sweet potato cake, purple sweet potato purée, Asian pears and candied pecans. She made the dessert with Lagerstrom’s miso – he made a batch with such pronounced sweetness that it couldn’t immediately be used in a savory dish, so Osborn took it off his hands.

She played with pairing the miso with Missouri black walnuts, but the assertiveness of both ingredients clashed, so she returned to the kitchen’s pantry and decided to try sweet potatoes with Asian pears. “People are so used to sugar, but it’s almost that perception of chocolate in a dessert that satisfies them,” Hereford says.

“The miso ice cream satisfies those same things.”

The dessert was a gamble, but one that ended up paying off with diners.

“When it went on, we all loved it in the kitchen, but I did not expect people to like it – and people went crazy for it,” Osborn says. “That’s the biggest compliment I can get – to take this unusual thing and make it into something people really love.”

In February, Osborn began phasing cane sugar out of her desserts. While brainstorming ideas for her first no-sugar dish, she circled back to black walnuts and took stock of the other ingredients in the pantry. She thought black walnut custard might work, sweetened with powdered maple sugar and honey. But even folded into custard, she knew she’d need something to cut through the walnuts’ astringency, so she tossed Jonathan apples slices in her own made-from-scratch apple vinegar. To finish it off, she added a powdery, chilled apple “snow” and freshly cut sage leaves from the restaurant’s windowsill herb garden.

“A lot of the natural sweetness from the ingredients shines through,” she says. “The idea to use sage stems from Gerard. He’s always wanted to have some sort of herb component. It’s remarkable how well it rounds out the dish.”

Craft is the first person to admit that eliminating white sugar will be a huge hurdle for the kitchen, one he and Hereford are hoping to overcome this year through a partnership with Berger Bluff Farm in Berger, Missouri. If all goes as planned, Craft hopes to buy a big crop of sugar beets from

the farm and process them to make beet sugar.

The project is part of a bigger effort to grow the restaurant’s larder and pantry.

progress, one he hopes to keep improving upon and evolving – and not just for the restaurant’s legacy, but also for Missouri’s.

“If I took anything away from the first year, it’s that we have to plan one thousand times better this spring,” Hereford says. “How do we build our larder up so we’ll have white asparagus all the way through the fall until next April? Since we can plan better this year, we’ll really be able to elevate the food to the next level.”

“We’re always trying to be a part of something bigger than us – bigger than Niche,” Craft says. “We want to be a part of helping people understand our region and hopefully making our region better.”

As spring flourishes this month, the team at Niche is busy thinking of creative ways to cook with seasonal produce – and also how to preserve it for next winter. Hereford wants to buy triple the amount of ramps this year, while Lagerstrom is eager to work with rhubarb. Osborn has been dreaming of green strawberries since January.

Niche, 7734 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, Missouri, 314.773.7755, nichestlouis.com PICTURED RIGHT: Asparagus soup with spring garlic

meringue, black garlic vinegar and pecan soil.

“We started this at the lowest point of the growing season, and I think we’ve done it well,” Osborn says. “What we’ve learned this winter has been surprising, but spring is going to be a whole new story.”

In the past year, the chefs at Niche have also learned that parameters don’t limit their creative freedom.

In a time when chefs have almost limitless access to ingredients from across the globe, it’s those limitations that may be necessary to drive cooking forward.

“You can pick from all these influences, and in doing so, we lose a sense of our own place and identity,” Hereford says. “I think it’s very important to take a step back and realize that we’re celebrating Missouri ingredients because it helps us celebrate who we are as people who live here, and it also helps us push forward while looking to the past – and by doing both things, that’s the only real way we’re ever going to truly define who we are as a culture.”

When Craft first opened Niche, one of the core values he set for himself and his employees was to create a legacy. He knows the regionalism focus at Niche is still very much a work in

Go behind the scenes with the chefs at Niche and learn what motivates their regionalism focus in the April episode of Feast TV. PICTURED RIGHT: Chefs Nate

Hereford, Gerard Craft, Brian Lagerstrom and Sarah Osborn.

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taste of the

Exotic

elevating lamb in five globally inspired courses Story and recipeS by Shannon Weber

|

photography by Jennifer Silverberg

the U.S. consistently ranks in the top five countries for meat consumption per capita, eating more than 100 pounds annually per person. Where does lamb fit into that statistic? it turns out, it’s a mere footnote, with most of us eating barely 1 pound of it each year. this is perplexing, as lamb is one of the most nutrient-dense, high-quality meats available, and yet most of us walk right past it in our local markets and butcher shops. not everyone makes this mistake; the same lamb many americans relegate to the holiday table is, in other countries, consumed with abandon. Lamb is a staple in australia and many european, asian and Middle eastern countries, and this may be partially due to its mutability – it’s able to hold its own against even the most exotic ingredients. When you eat lamb, you are utterly aware of it: the pungent flavor, delicate gaminess and how it intertwines itself with surrounding ingredients, yet remains apart and always steadfastly itself. if you’re curious about learning how to cook with lamb at home, but you don’t know where to start, worry not – the rest of the world is here to assist, with recipes hailing from countries where preparing lamb is second nature. pick your favorite, then start a conversation with your local butcher about cuts of lamb, proper trimming techniques and the way diet affects the overall flavor and texture of your selection. Whether it’s a traditional Moroccan tagine, turkish-inspired koftas kebabs or a roasted rack with an asian twist, you’re sure to find something to love about lamb in the coming pages.

raCk of lamb wiTh Thai Pan SauCe and CoConuT-CilanTro riCe It’s easy to find Frenched racks of lamb in butcher shops or grocery stores; seek out the smaller ones for this dish. To get a crisp, browned crust with tender meat inside, be sure to trim all but 1/8 inch of fat from the rack.

Serves | 8 |

1 1 1 2 2 ½ ½

CoConut-Cilantro riCe

1 2 1 1 2½

1/3

Watch feast publisher Catherine neville demo how to make rack of lamb with thai pan sauce and coconutcilantro rice in the april episode of Feast TV.

Tbsp coconut oil cups white rice tsp kosher salt cup unsweetened coconut milk, stirred cups water juice of 1 lime zest of 1 lime cup chopped fresh cilantro

raCk of lamb

1 2 2 ¼ 2 2 1 2

Tbsp ground coriander tsp garlic powder tsp ground ginger tsp cayenne pepper tsp ground cumin tsp brown sugar tsp kosher salt room temperature racks of lamb (about 1 lb each), trimmed, excess fat removed

thai Pan SauCe

1

Tbsp grapeseed oil

1

minced garlic clove Tbsp grated fresh ginger 14-oz can unsweetened coconut milk, stirred Tbsp red curry paste tsp brown sugar tsp ground cumin tsp lemongrass paste juice of 1 lime small bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (for serving) lime, cut into wedges (for serving)

| Preparation – Coconut-Cilantro Rice | in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat coconut oil. add rice and salt; stir until coated and slightly toasted. add coconut milk and water and bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes undisturbed. remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes; keep covered. Stir in lime juice and zest and cilantro and fluff with fork.

| Preparation – Rack of Lamb | preheat oven to 425°F. place a lipped sheet pan in the bottom third of the oven. in a medium bowl, mix all spices, sugar and salt together and rub mixture onto each rack of lamb, pressing into the meat.

heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. add racks to skillet, meatside down, until browned and a crust forms, 3 to 4 minutes. Stand racks up in skillet and brown bottoms, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Using tongs, transfer racks to preheated baking sheet and transfer to the oven. roast lamb until the center of each rack registers 130°F to 135°F, 12 to 14 minutes. remove to a platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil. allow to rest for 10 minutes.

| Preparation – Thai Pan Sauce | ln a skillet over medium heat, heat oil. add garlic and ginger, stirring constantly until fragrant, 20 seconds. add coconut milk and stir, scraping spices from the bottom as you go. add curry paste, brown sugar, cumin, lemongrass paste and lime juice; simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened and reduced to 1¼ cups. Set aside. | To Serve | divide desired amount of coconutcilantro rice onto plates.

Slice rested lamb into sections of 2 bones each and divide onto beds of rice; garnish with thai pan sauce and fresh cilantro. Serve immediately alongside remaining sauce and lime wedges.

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Inspired Local Food Culture

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greek Salad wiTH lamb STeakS and Herbed YogurT dreSSing There’s a voluptuousness to lamb that stands out against the bright vegetables and herbs in this salad. Resting the lamb is key to success here; give the steaks enough time to cool down so they don’t lose their juices when you slice them. The dressing can be made the day before.

Serves | 4 | Herbed Yogurt dressing

3 1 1 ½ 1½ ¾ ½ 1¼

Tbsp olive oil shallot, very finely diced minced garlic clove tsp ground coriander seed tsp oregano tsp ground mustard tsp ground fennel seed tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

2/3 cup Greek yogurt juice of 2 lemons 2 to 3 Tbsp cold water Lamb steaks

1/3 cup olive oil 4 garlic cloves, thickly sliced

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2 tsp oregano 1 tsp thyme 2 11- to 12-oz lamb steaks (from leg) kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper greek saLad

6 oz baby arugula or mesclun greens 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise, deseeded, thinly sliced 1 medium fennel bulb, cored and shaved 9 oz halved cherry tomatoes ½ red onion, very thinly sliced 4 oz kalamata olives 1 Tbsp olive oil 12 oz Halloumi cheese, sliced into ¼-inch pieces small bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped small bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped small bunch fresh dill, chopped 1½ Tbsp drained capers ½ cup toasted pine nuts sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

| Preparation – Herbed Yogurt Dressing | In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add shallots and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add coriander, oregano, mustard, fennel and rosemary and cook for 1 minute; remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet to medium high. Add lamb steaks to pan and sear, 2 to 3 minutes each side. Flip again and cook for 4 minutes; turn and cook until steaks reach an internal temperature of 140°F. Remove from skillet and transfer to a platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Stir cooled spice mixture into yogurt; add lemon juice and whisk to combine. Thin dressing to desired consistency using cold water, then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

| To Serve | Divide arugula over 4 plates. Top each with cucumber, fennel, tomatoes, red onion and olives. Slice steaks into strips and divide evenly over plates.

| Preparation – Lamb Steaks | In a large, shallow

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add Halloumi pieces and cook until crispy and golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove cheese from heat and add to salad. Garnish with fresh herbs, capers and pine nuts and lightly season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately alongside herbed yogurt dressing.

baking dish, whisk together olive oil, garlic, oregano and thyme. Generously season lamb steaks with salt and pepper; add them to the marinade, turning once to coat both sides. Cover tightly in baking dish with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.

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garlic-WhiTe bean Purée WiTh dukkah, PomegranaTe molaSSeS and Seared lamb

Dukkah is a traditional Egyptian condiment made with a variety of nuts, spices and seeds, all toasted and pulverized to form a richly flavored, aromatic mix; it’s having a bit of a moment right now, and homemade is infinitely better than anything you can buy at the store. Use this recipe as a guide rather than a rule: Keep the ratios and experiment with spices and nuts to suit your individual taste.

Serves | 8 to 10 |

1 14½-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained 1½ Tbsp tahini, stirred juice of 2 lemons 1 minced garlic clove ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt sea salt Dukkah

½ cup pistachios, shells removed ½ cup macadamia nuts feastmagazine.com

cup sesame seeds Tbsp plus 1 tsp whole coriander seed Tbsp plus 1 tsp whole cumin seed tsp whole fennel seed tsp whole caraway seed tsp smoked paprika tsp Vietnamese cinnamon tsp ground turmeric big pinch ground cloves 1 tsp kosher salt

PomeGranate molasses

Garlic-White Bean Purée

64

¼ 1 1 1½ 1½ 1½ 1 ½

aPril 2015

16 oz unsweetened pomegranate juice juice of 1 lemon ½ cup granulated sugar to serve

1 Tbsp olive oil 1 12-oz center-cut lamb steak (to yield 8- to 9-oz meat), trimmed, cut into ½-inch cubes sea salt and freshly ground black pepper small bunch fresh parsley 6 to 8 pieces warmed pita bread, sliced into triangles

| Preparation – Garlic-White Bean Purée | In

| Preparation – Pomegranate Molasses | In a

the bowl of a food processor, add cannellini beans,

medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add

tahini, lemon juice and garlic and process until

all ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves and

smooth. With the motor running, slowly stream

mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat to low and

in olive oil; continue mixing until homogenous.

simmer mixture until thickened and reduced to ½

Transfer to bowl, stir in Greek yogurt and season

cup. Set aside.

with salt to taste. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

| To Serve | On a serving platter, spread garlicwhite bean purée in a thin layer and sprinkle dukkah

| Preparation – Dukkah | In a dry pan over

over top, just enough to cover in a fine layer.

medium heat, toast nuts until golden and fragrant; transfer to the bowl of a food

In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil.

processor to cool. Toast sesame seeds in pan

Season lamb cubes with salt and pepper and sear

until golden and combine with nuts. Toast

in batches until cooked through, about 2 minutes.

coriander, cumin, fennel and caraway seeds

Transfer to covered plate to keep warm until

until fragrant, then add to mixture. Add paprika,

batches are finished.

Vietnamese cinnamon, turmeric, cloves and salt to food processor and pulse until fine crumbs

Scatter seared lamb over serving platter evenly.

form; do not overprocess, as the mixture will

Drizzle generously with pomegranate molasses.

turn to paste. Transfer to a sealed container

Garnish with parsley and serve immediately with

and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

warm pita bread.

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APRIL 2015

65

TurkiSh kofTaS kebabS wiTh lemon-Tahini Dipping Sauce anD JeweleD couScouS Koftas are elongated, lavishly spiced meatballs that can be served as appetizers or as a meal. For added heat, adjust the paprika from a sweet variety to a hot one; the lemon-tahini sauce will cool the burn.

Serves | 6 | Turkish kofTas kebabs

12 2 2 ½ ½ 1½ 2 1 1 ½

66

wooden skewers cold water lbs room temperature ground lamb minced garlic cloves cup finely diced yellow onion tsp freshly ground black pepper tsp kosher salt tsp ground cumin tsp ground allspice Tbsp sweet paprika tsp cayenne pepper

feastmagazine.com

april 2015

½ 1/3

cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves cup chopped fresh mint leaves

Lemon-Tahini Dipping sauce

½ 3 2 1

cup Greek yogurt Tbsp tahini, stirred juice of 2 lemons Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

JeweLeD couscous

2 2 ½ 10 2 3 3

cups water Tbsp olive oil, divided tsp kosher salt oz couscous Tbsp finely diced shallots oz dried apricots, chopped in ¼-inch pieces oz Turkish figs, chopped in ¼-inch pieces

3 2 ½

Tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves Tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint leaves sea salt and freshly ground black pepper cup toasted slivered almonds (for serving)

| Preparation – Turkish Koftas Kebabs | Soak skewers in cold water for at least 1 hour. Set aside.

and pepper; set aside in refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

| Preparation – Jeweled Couscous | In a small saucepan over high heat, bring water, olive oil and salt to a boil. Stir in couscous; remove from heat, cover tightly and rest for 5 to 6 minutes. Fluff with fork. Stir in shallots, apricots, figs and herbs until evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix with your hands until evenly distributed.

Divide mixture in 12 equal parts and form around skewers into a large oval shape. Set aside.

| To Serve | On a grill, prepare a medium-hot fire and oil grates. Grill skewers until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

| Preparation – Lemon-Tahini Dipping Sauce | In the bowl of a food processor, add yogurt, tahini, lemon juice and herbs and pulse until wellblended. Transfer to a bowl and season with salt

Transfer jeweled couscous to a serving platter, making a bed for the koftas. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Lay skewered koftas across couscous and serve with lemon-tahini dipping sauce on the side.

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NorTh AfricAN LAmb TAgiNe Tagines are a snap to prepare and always impress. You don’t need a traditional terra-cotta tagine to make one; a large, high-quality Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid also does the trick.

Serves | 4 | 3 4 1 3 2 1 2 1½

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Tbsp olive oil lamb shanks, trimmed, silver-skin removed red onion, sliced root to tip in 1-inch slices minced garlic cloves Tbsp grated fresh ginger Tbsp sweet paprika tsp ground cumin tsp ground turmeric

feastmagazine.com

APriL 2015

¼ 2 ½ 1½ 2 1 1 1½ 3 to 4 1¼

2/3

tsp cayenne pepper tsp ground coriander tsp ground allspice tsp Vietnamese cinnamon cardamom pods, crushed 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, roughly chopped with juice Tbsp honey lbs carrots, scrubbed, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces cups beef stock cups golden raisins, divided small bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped cup toasted slivered almonds couscous, rice or pita bread (for serving)

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 300°F. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, heat olive oil. Increase heat to medium high and add lamb shanks (in batches, if necessary); cook until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.

Remove lamb to large platter. Add onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.

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“Eclectic”

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rosés

everything’s coming up

interest in dry rosé is growing at wineries across the region

written by Danny Wood

|

photography by Jonathan Gayman

rosé, the versatile, pastel pink-hued wine that originated in the provence region of France, is increasing in popularity across the U.S. in 2013, retail sales of dry rosés increased by 40 percent in america. in the Midwest, winemakers are crafting a range of food-friendly rosés to meet this uptick in demand – both sweet and dry – with the latter becoming something of a game changer for the regional wine industry.

Jamie Jamison, a wine consultant on the judging committee of two major Missouri wine competitions, the governor’s Cup and the Jefferson Cup, says these fruit-driven wines attract a wider swath of consumers.

“Midwest wineries are making some great rosé-style wines,” Jamison says. “they tend to be on the sweeter side, which i think everybody doesn’t like to admit, but everybody likes,” he adds.

Inspired Local Food Culture

APRIL 2015

73

rosés make great spring and summer wines.

But despite having a sweet reputation, more traditional styles of rosé are emerging in the region.

“Dry rosés have definitely seen an increase in consumer interest, with more Missouri wineries producing in this category,” says Danene Beedle, marketing director for the Missouri Wine and Grape Board, a state agency that supports the research and promotion of the Missouri wine industry. Many of these wines are made from Norton, Chambourcin and St. Vincent grape varieties.

Doug Frost, a Kansas City-based wine consultant, lecturer and author with both Master Sommelier and Master of Wine qualifications, sees something else happening, too: It’s not just dry wine drinkers who are interested in drier styles of rosé.

“What’s been rather curious, frankly, to me,” Frost says, “is that so-called traditional White Zin[fandel] drinkers have been completely comfortable switching to drier styles of rosé wines.”

White Zinfandel, the sweet blush wine made from red Zinfandel grapes, was created in the 1970s and became America’s first mass-produced sweet rosé.

“What people are really looking for now,” adds Frost, “are the fruit aromas and fruit character, rather than the sweetness that so often used to stand in for that.”

Daphne Bowman agrees with Frost. Bowman runs Willow Spring Mercantile, a retail wine, gift shop and restaurant in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, that specializes in Missouri wines. She says the switch from sweet to dry rosés is a result of Midwesterners becoming more educated about the grapes that grow in the region. Because rosé has the refreshing qualities of a white wine, with some of the more robust flavors of a red, she says it’s an especially versatile wine to pair with food. “[Rosés] make great spring and summer wines; it’s like moving from your winter red to your spring pink,” Bowman says. “It will go with pork, chicken and fish, and you can even do it with barbecue.”

Jamison thinks that if sweet blush drinkers can move toward fruity, dry rosé, perhaps consumers

74

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APRIL 2015

who prefer sweet Riesling and Moscato wines, two of the most popular wine styles in the Midwest, can do the same.

and tends to be more floral, with lily of the valley -type aromas and some hints of fruit, generally peach and cherry.”

“You start off comfortable with sweet, and then you realize that your comfort is in the really luscious fruit flavors that give the mind the association with sweet, but not necessarily the sweetness on the actual palate,” Jamison says.

Kooyumjian stops fermentation before it’s complete, leaving both wines with a very small amount of residual sugar, though they’re still classified as dry. He believes the pendulum in the Midwest is starting to swing toward drier rosés. Thinking back on where the industry was 25 years ago, he says they were selling 70 percent sweet wines and 30 percent dry, but today those percentages have been almost totally reversed.

This means that light, fruit-driven wines, lower on tannin, like rosés, have the potential to act as a bridge to transition from sweet wines to dry reds and dry whites. Frost sees that coming in the near future: “I think smart Midwestern producers are going to start drying up some of their rosés,” he says.

Some Midwest winemakers already have.

At Augusta Winery and Montelle Winery, both located in Augusta, Missouri, owner Tony Kooyumjian uses a technique called saignée, or bleeding off, to make two of the winery’s dry rosés using Chambourcin and St. Vincent grapes. According to renowned wine writer Tom Stevenson’s fifth edition of The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia, saignée creates pale, rich, fruity and “exquisitely fresh” rosés.

“With this saignée method we’re putting whole, destemmed grapes in the tank,” Kooyumjian says.

“Through a process of gentle squeezing by the weight of the grapes themselves, we express some of the juice and pump just that juice out to make our rosés.”

The fermentation of that gently derived pink liquid produces Augusta’s La Fleur Sauvage, a blend of 70 percent St. Vincent grapes and 30 percent Chambourcin, and Montelle’s La Rosée, which has the opposite proportions – 70 percent Chambourcin and 30 percent St. Vincent.

“La Rosée is probably more like a Provence wine, so the characteristics would be strawberry, raspberry and melon aromas that follow through into the flavor,” Kooyumjian says. “La Fleur,” he continues, “has a higher proportion of St. Vincent

At Holy-Field Vineyard & Winery in Basehor, Kansas, co-owner and winemaker Michelle Meyer makes a sweet rosé, Racy Red, produced from a combination of two red grapes: Chancellor and St. Vincent. “We make it in a traditional rosé style where the juice is pressed off so it’s lighter in color,” Meyer says, “but unlike traditional rosé, it’s sweet, with about 2.5 percent residual sugar.”

Pressing, or pressé, is one of three methods usually employed to make a quality rosé wine, and the most commonly used method in Provence.

The grapes are gently pressed, separating the juice from the skins, before fermentation begins, just like making a white wine but with red grapes.

Meyer explains, “There’s no ferment on the skins, so you don’t get all the tannin impact and dark color of red wine.”

The amount of each grape variety in the Racy Red blend changes each year. “I’m just working with what Mother Nature gives me,” Meyer says. She describes the wine as having a distinct strawberry characteristic. “And that’s approachable for a lot of people.”

Another method of making rosé is known as limited maceration, based on the maceration method used to make red wines. The limited maceration used to produce rosé is the preferred

production method of François Millo, former president of the Provence Wine Council. Before harvested grapes are pressed in the maceration process, they’re crushed and left soaking in tanks to extract the red color and flavor from the skins, seeds and sometimes the stems. For the limited maceration used to make rosé, the winemaker must shorten this soaking process and stop it once the juice has reached the desired color and characteristics.

At Chaumette Vineyards & Winery in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, the rosé winemaking process includes a very limited maceration. Owner Hank Johnson says this is key to the flavor of his rosé.

“Less than an hour is all the contact it has with the skins,” Johnson says. “It’s enough extraction to put together a beautiful, deep rosé color.”

When guests visit the winery, Johnson likes to show them two bottles of wine: The first, his Chambourcin, is the result of up to 10 days soaking or macerating in its skins.

“Then I pull out the rosé and I say, ‘This is rosé of Chambourcin – less than one hour on the skins,’” he says. Johnson enjoys the surprise on people’s faces as they marvel at the wine’s lustrous pink color and learn about how it’s made. The winery describes the rosé as having delicate aromas of strawberries and a hint of raspberries, crisp acidity on the palate and a clean, refreshing finish.

Johnson says sweet wine drinkers can appreciate his dry rosé. “When they taste it, they like it and they want it,” he says.

Johnson sincerely believes that his rosé stands up to the best he’s tried from across the country and the world. “We make it a point, any time we see a rosé on a wine list in a restaurant, to order it and compare it with ours,” he says. “And I have to be honest – we’ve had some huge disappointments trying to find a rosé that we think is on the same level.”

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holy-Field VineyArd & Winery 18807 158th St., Basehor, Kansas, 913.724.9463, holyfieldwinery.com

missouri Wines And missouri Wine And grApe BoArd 800.392.9463, missouriwine.org

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Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

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the

sto

ry

of s

pri

ngf

ield

Cas

hew

Chi

Cke

n

east meets midwest

Written by Ettie Berneking PhotograPhy by Jessica Spencer

There it was. Scribbled on a small sign near the entrance to one of the many bustling restaurants in Hong Kong, David Leong spotted the words: Springfield-style cashew chicken. But when one of his sons asked if he wanted to try it, David said no. Father and son lingered in front of the sign for a minute, taking in the significance it carried for their family and their home back in Missouri. Almost 50 years before, David created Springfield-style cashew chicken. Back then, he had no way of knowing the dish would one day make its way onto restaurant menus across the world.

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There’s a culTure and ingredienTs specific To springLadled onto plates, Springfield-style cashew chicken almost looks like chicken-fried steak – except instead of a thick slab of breaded beef that’s been doused with peppery white gravy, bite-sized morsels of juicy chicken are fried and smothered in a rich brown sauce. The breading is crispy, and the meat inside is tender. But the real standout is that sauce – the salty, savory brown gravy that coats each bite. Topped with a sprinkling of chopped green onions and crushed cashews, David’s cashew chicken has become one of Springfield’s most well-known dishes.

You’ll find versions of Springfield-style cashew chicken on menus across the city and in Chinese and pan-Asian restaurants across the country – often simply called cashew chicken. Its origin is in Springfield, though, when David whipped up the first batch in 1963.

THE MAN BEHIND THE LEGEND Even at 94, David is a force to be reckoned with.

After nearly seven decades working in kitchens around the world, he has no interest in slowing down. Sharp and quick with a joke, he’s a focused cook – if something is wrong with a dish, he knows immediately and doesn’t hesitate to tell you. Or rather, he’ll tell his son, Wing Yee Leong, who is now executive chef at the family’s successful restaurant, Leong’s Asian Diner, in Springfield.

Wing Yee is one of seven children, and each of his siblings play a different role in the kitchen.

Wing Yee was just 7 years old when he started cooking in his father’s kitchen. “I joke that other

PICTURED LEFT: Wing Yee Leong hard at work in the kitchen at Leong’s Asian Diner in Springfield, Missouri. PICTURED RIGHT: Wing Yee (far right) with his brother Ling Leong (middle), niece Lanie Leong and her children, Hudson and Emme, in the dining room at Leong’s Asian Diner.

kids had square blocks and toys, and we had chicken and flour,” he says. “Little did we know what our dad was preparing us for.”

The first thing Wing Yee learned to make was rice.

“If you screwed up the rice, you heard about it all day,” he says. “We learned to wrap the wontons and make the crab rangoons and pick snow peas.”

David’s children grew up watching their father run a tight ship where hard work was rewarded. And no one worked harder than David.

David grew up in Guangdong, China. His father was a butcher, and his mother was a talented home cook. At age 19, he immigrated to the U.S. with plans to bring his young bride and firstborn son with him. But those plans changed in 1940, when the Japanese government allied with Germany in World War II. David and his wife were separated for 10 years, with neither knowing if the other was alive.

After enlisting in the U.S. Army, David was assigned K.P. duty (kitchen patrol or kitchen police) and spent the duration of the war cooking meals for the troops. That’s where his name, David, came from. “His drill sergeant couldn’t pronounce his given name, Yin Wing, so he renamed him David,” Wing Yee says.

After the war, David was reunited with his family and they settled in Pensacola, Florida, where he opened a Chinese restaurant. By chance, a Springfield-based neurosurgeon vacationing in Pensacola wandered into the

restaurant one day and enjoyed it so much he returned several times. He was so taken with David’s cooking that he made him an offer: If David moved to Springfield, the doctor would make him head chef of his new restaurant, Lotus Garden. David accepted the offer, and he and his family moved almost halfway across the country. But while David was ready to make Springfield feel like home, it seems Springfield wasn’t quite ready for the Leongs.

to shore. So when life in Springfield popped him one, David kept fighting. And in 1963, he created the dish that would seal his family’s place in Springfield’s history.

“I might be the first Asian born in Springfield who was not run out of town,” Wing Yee says, only half-joking. “All the way through high school, there were no other Asian families in Springfield.”

In the kitchen, David cooked seafood, calamari, braised pork belly and savory noodle dishes.

“Our favorite meal was stewed or roasted duck,” Wing Yee says. But demand for authentic Cantonese fare was limited in Springfield in the 1960s, and David needed a way to draw more customers into the restaurant. He looked for ways to blend Ozark flavors and traditions with those of his Cantonese heritage. The result was Springfield cashew chicken.

By 1963, David had saved enough money to open his own restaurant, Leong’s Tea House. But a few weeks before the big opening, the restaurant was the target of an attack – vandals tossed 10 sticks of dynamite through the main dining room window. Luckily, damage was minimal, and the opening was only delayed by a month. “How many other restaurants have overcome [obstacles with] that kind of perseverance?” says Wing Yee. David isn’t the kind of person to be dissuaded.

Now in his 90s, Wing Yee says his father has a boyish strength and determination that his family admires. This was underscored recently when David went fishing along the shores of Lake Springfield last summer and hauled in a 17-pound catfish. The humongous catch broke David’s line, pulled him to the ground and gave him a black eye, but he still managed to wrestle the catfish

FIRST BITE “My dad wanted the tea house to be authentic Cantonese cuisine,” Wing Yee says. “There were white tablecloths, bus boys… The service was impeccable.”

“When he started working on the dish, it was an unbreaded stir-fry,” Wing Yee says. “But he knew the style people here liked – lots of country-fried steak.” With his sleeves rolled up, David got to work deboning the meat, breading it and developing the signature sauce. It was an instant hit.

“We were serving shrimp and lobster, but everyone wanted the cashew chicken, even then,” Wing Yee says. “It just took off.”

Other friends wanted in on the cashew chicken

field ThaT have worked Their way inTo asian cooking. craze, and David welcomed them into his kitchen with open arms. “He would share a recipe with anyone,” Wing Yee says.

New Chinese and pan-Asian restaurants slowly started opening around town – some of them launched by David’s friends – serving the popular Springfield cashew chicken. Wing Yee says his father never questioned whether sharing his recipe was a smart business move or not. Often these new restaurant owners joined David and his kitchen staff at Leong’s at closing time, when everyone would gather and enjoy a family-style meal. “All of his friends from other restaurants would show up, and we’d cook for everyone,” Wing Yee says. These meals were where Wing Yee saw flavors from different cultures mix and become one.

“There’s Sichuan and Hunan, and then there’s Springfield,” he says. “I look at it like another province of China. There’s a culture and ingredients specific to Springfield that have worked their way into Asian cooking.”

He says the most obvious differences are the vegetables – in place of fresh bamboo and snow peas, the Leongs use asparagus and broccolini, or whatever is available locally. But he says there is one constant: “The chicken is the same.”

For the Leong family, the chicken, like the rest of the ingredients, has to be fresh. Wing Yee still laughs about how his dad would work out trades with farmers and swap meals at the restaurant

for carloads of chickens, ducks, quail and squab.

“I remember on Sundays, we’d drive out to the country and come back with a load of birds,” he says. “One day, we had a bunch of squab in the garage, and my brother and I let them loose. We had squab everywhere. My mom had to throw things at them to get them off the roof.”

FAMILY TRADITIONS By the 1980s, the restaurant was thriving, but instead of staying in the family business, Wing Yee headed to California to study photography.

“I saw what the restaurant business did to my family,” he says. “On my dad’s day off, he just wanted to sleep or go fishing. He was never that dad who took you to a ball game. He was too busy running the restaurant and keeping a roof over our heads.”

Even thousands of miles away from Leong’s Tea House, Wing Yee still found himself working in kitchens in Santa Barbara. “I saw a different environment from the mom-and-pop restaurant I was used to back home,” he says. “It was just amazing – the culinary [experiences] I got to see.”

Back home, the business was starting to struggle as Wing Yee’s other siblings followed his lead and, one by one, left the family business. In 1997, David closed Leong’s Tea House.

Ten years after shuttering the restaurant, David took a trip to China, where he fell deathly ill.

“We thought this was it,” Wing Yee says. “He couldn’t even walk.”

The family brought David back to Springfield, where his health steadily improved, and in 2010, David – 90 years old at the time – and Wing Yee opened Leong’s Asian Diner and found themselves together in the kitchen once again.

“When I came back, it had been awhile since I had eaten cashew chicken,” Wing Yee says. “I never thought I would have cravings for it. I’ve probably fried enough chicken to go to the moon, but I did have cravings.”

Wing Yee wasn’t the only person craving the dish. Since opening the new restaurant, David’s cashew chicken has remained the best-selling menu item. In fact, it makes up nearly 60 percent of the business at Leong’s.

And one of the key reasons customers still haven’t stopped ordering plates of piping hot Springfield cashew chicken is that rich and savory signature brown sauce. Wing Yee says the key to the sauce is from-scratch chicken stock, which cooks overnight. In the morning, a smattering of ginger, salt, pepper, oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauces, sugar, cornstarch and water are added to the stock, until just the right flavor is achieved.

After years of customers asking the Leongs to sell the sauce, the family finally started bottling it in 2013, as well as its sweet-and-sour and General Tso’s sauces. Jars are sold at grocery stores in

the Springfield area, including Hy-Vee and Price Cutter. The family even gets orders from out of state, and that’s exciting for Wing Yee. “We’ve seen Springfield cashew chicken in Seattle, New York and even Hong Kong,” he says.

“But most people still don’t know about it.”

But in the Ozarks, the story of Springfield cashew chicken is well-known. Back at Leong’s, Wing Yee smiles as he talks about it – the dish he grew up with, the dish his father built a business on, the dish that continues his family’s legacy today.

“I think my dad was a pioneer,” he says. “I don’t think he realizes that. He just did this because it was what he loved to do.”

Leong’s Asian Diner, 1540 W. Republic Road, Springfield, Missouri, 417.887.7500, leongsasiandiner.com

Get inside the kitchen at Leong’s Asian Diner for a firsthand look at how Springfieldstyle cashew chicken is made in the April episode of Feast TV.

Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken This recipe for David Leong’s Springfieldstyle cashew chicken comes courtesy of The Food Channel (foodchannel.com).

Serves | 4 | ChiCken

3 2 2 1 4 3 to 4

boneless, skinless chicken breasts cups all-purpose flour tsp baking soda Tbsp cornstarch eggs cups peanut oil

Gravy

2 2 1 2 ½ 4 1 1

cups chicken broth Tbsp oyster sauce Tbsp white sugar Tbsp soy sauce tsp ground white pepper Tbsp cornstarch cold water cup cashew halves (for garnish) Tbsp chopped scallions (for garnish)

| Preparation – Chicken | Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces.

In a shallow bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and cornstarch. In another small bowl, beat eggs.

Dip chicken pieces into flour mixture, then egg and then flour mixture again.

In a large saucepan over high heat, heat peanut oil and transfer coated chicken pieces to deepfry for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain cooked chicken on paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

| Preparation – Gravy | In a medium saucepan, add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce and white pepper.

In a cup, mix cornstarch with a small amount of cold water. Slowly stir mixture into the broth to thicken and cook for another 5 minutes over medium-low heat.

Pour finished gravy over chicken and top with cashew halves and scallions. Serve with steamed white rice.

Photo of DAvID Leong by vICtorIA CoxSey CourteSy of the Leong fAmILy

PiCTUreD TOP: Wing Yee Leong with a photo of his father, David Leong, inside the family restaurant, Leong’s Asian Diner in Springfield, Missouri.

PiCTUreD BOTTOM: David poses with a plate of Springfield-style cashew chicken. (Photo provided

by Leong family.)

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lucky ewe green dirt farm counts on sheep to make high-quality cheese and dairy products Written by Jonathan Bender

|

PhotograPhy by Teresa Floyd

“I’m going to be a sheep farmer.” it’s the line Sarah hoffmann had at the ready when people asked what she was going to do after she graduated with a degree in chemistry from bucknell University in Pennsylvania. in a rectangular white office ringed with binders on metal shelves, hoffmann smiles as she remembers the flip answer of a college senior. even a few decades later and a thousand miles away in Weston, Missouri, the joke still has legs – somewhere around 880 of them. the sheep at green Dirt Farm stand quietly together, a huddled mass in the pasture a few hundred yards from the front door of the office. on a winter day that has the sun of spring, hoffmann’s boots crunch on the gravel as she steps outside and gives a nod of her tight gray curls to the “ladies,” as the ewes are known on the farm. it’s their milk that will become the washed rind bossa or bloomy rind Dirt Lover cheeses – buttery rounds that taste of earth and the seasons. the farm, which has been producing sheep’s milk cheese commercially for the past seven years, is a dynamic balancing act of weather, live animals and science. With only ewe, a sheep’s milk yogurt line that hoffmann and her business partner, Jacqueline Smith, have grown into a regional favorite, and a fervent local following, green Dirt is on uncommon ground. hoffmann and Smith are striving to build an environmentally and economically sustainable dairy sheep farm. in a paddock on the right of the gravel drive, the rams turn their heads slowly from beneath woolly manes. their horns curl slightly like the phones that used to hang on farm kitchen walls, and they stand placidly alongside a couple llamas that are there to help protect the flock from predators. a farmhouse rises to the left of the drive a little farther in from the road, and then you come to the most common stop for visitors at green Dirt Farm – a wooden barn with an inlaid stained-glass window near its peak, the original multipurpose barn that is now the site of regular farm dinners and cheese appreciation events that run from spring through fall. as the flock swelled from 12 to 220 sheep during the past decade-plus, the farm expanded with it. it now sits on 150 acres – the main dairy pasture, offices, milking parlor and cheese kitchen separated from the original 25-acre plot (with the farmhouse and original barn) by a neighbor’s property and long swath of native prairie grass.

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A little after lunch on a Tuesday, the bleating inside the milking parlor signals that it’s lambing season. The “ladies” will soon make their way from the 30-acre pasture into a holding pen attached to the parlor. In a wire pen bedded with straw, a baker’s dozen of lambs less than a day old greet Hoffmann. Her voice softens as she checks the building where 12 sheep are milked at a time.

The milk is piped into a refrigerated tank that holds up to 150 gallons. It waits there until it is gravity-fed to the cheese kitchen just a few paces downhill.

“Too much agitation can disturb the lipids in the milk and can lead to off-flavors in the cheese,” Hoffmann explains.

In the shiny, white cheese kitchen, the milk is hand-carried and poured into vats. The kitchen has four identical, climate-controlled 8-by-12-foot aging rooms. The effect is akin to the place where Wonkavision is made, and Hoffmann lovingly

refers to the cheesemakers’ attire – hats and white aprons – as Oompa Loompa suits.

“Cheesemakers are constantly changing and growing,” Hoffmann says. “You have to embrace improvisation.”

In order to make the bloomy rind cheeses, the milk is pasteurized and then inoculated with cultures.

Rennet, an enzyme that coagulates the proteins in milk, is added next. Once the milk sets, it’s cut with knives and ladled into molds. The molds are allowed to drain for 12 hours and flipped several times.

After that, the rounds are dried on a rack for about a day before being aged for 12 to 14 days at 55°F and 90 percent humidity. It’s then that they develop the telltale “bloomy surface,” a result of mold and yeast.

“A really good bloomy rind cheese has all these flavors of the farm, grass and soil, and of the forest floor,” Hoffmann says. “It’s buttery and mushroomy.”

To make the washed rind cheeses, cheese is aged in the same fashion and then washed with a saltwater brine two to three times a week for five to six weeks. Though the process remains the same for each batch, there’s a flavor that Hoffmann says only crops up about 25 percent of the time.

“There’s one flavor in our cheese that’s particularly elusive,” Hoffmann says. “I call it honey nectar. I get it every once in a while, but I don’t know why yet. Maybe it’s what the sheep are eating, the time of year or the cultures we add to the cheese.

Sometimes we get it and sometimes we don’t.

That’s why it’s the Holy Grail.”

The latest quest for Green Dirt Farm is to perfect Only Ewe, the three-year-old line of sheep’s milk yogurt in six flavors including its two newest, Madagascar vanilla bean and pear-appletarragon. It’s made with milk from sheep raised in Amish communities near Stanberry, Missouri, and Bethany, Missouri.

PICTURED ToP: Lambs huddled up and resting on the farm. PICTURED boTTom: Milk is received through a series of hoses and pipes from the

milking parlor to the cheese kitchen, where it is then poured into large collection vats to begin the cheese production process.

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a really good bloomy rind cheese has all these flavors of the farm, grass and soil, and of the forest floor.

Inspired Local Food Culture

april 2015

85

i thought, ‘oh my god. these sheep can fly.’

The yogurt is currently available in grocery stores in Kansas City and St. Louis, with plans to soon expand into Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Wichita, Kansas; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Hoffmann grew up on a series of small farms on both coasts. Her father was in the U.S. Navy, but they rarely lived on military bases. The family worked a collection of plots in the rural corners of San Diego and Annapolis, Maryland.

“That was where I learned about relationships with animals and food,” Hoffmann says. “I knew that was something I wanted for my children.”

That’s what she told her husband two weeks after meeting him, and why they bought a 25-acre farm in Weston in 2000. The idea, then, was to grow organic produce. Hoffmann had just finished a two-year apprenticeship under Katherine Kelly (now the executive director of Cultivate Kansas City), and the farm they purchased had existing rows of soybean and corn crops and a pair of tobacco barns.

Hoffmann pictured a vegetable farm, perhaps with a small set of livestock. But a land survey showed that her initial vision wasn’t possible.

“The soil was highly erodible,” she says. “[Crops] shouldn’t have been planted in the first place.”

The topsoil was too exposed to the elements, and the ground had been stripped of nutrients.

What the ground needed was cover – the kind of grass and legumes perfect for grazing. The earth had to be rebuilt, and Hoffmann immediately thought of sheep, as their food source could help bring back the soil.

Maintaining the grass is a dance that involves weighing the seasons, topography and needs of live animals. Hoffmann has a map of the entire property detailing what’s planted where and how

long the sheep have grazed in a given pasture. An internal fencing system is completely portable to continually allow for the paddocks to be shaped and moved with the demands of the farm.

Two years after they bought the farm, the first dozen sheep arrived. Hoffmann intended to crossbreed those sheep with Gulf Coast Native sheep – a nearly feral breed brought to the southern U.S. by the Spanish in the 15th century – that have the desirable and uncommon trait of being parasite-resistant.

“Trying to milk them was a real experience,” Hoffmann says of the Gulf Coast Native sheep.

“I remember we were just trying to catch them to examine them and vaccinate them. I was standing in the pen, and one got so crazed that he jumped right at me and hit me right in the chest. I thought, ‘Oh my God. These sheep can fly.’”

In 2004, Hoffmann began milking the flock regularly. She bought a plastic tent from Costco – the kind you might put over a carport – and then she milked each of the 20 sheep by hand underneath it.

Green Dirt Farm slowly added pieces to the milking process. Hoffmann started experimenting with making cheese in the kitchen – during college vacations she had worked for her aunt, a cheesemonger, in her cheese shop in New Jersey.

“I knew what good cheese was, and that was important,” Hoffmann says.

By the third season of milking, Hoffmann would march six sheep up to a raised platform. The sheep would be placed in head gates (a metal device that holds sheep by their shoulders) and then milked two at a time with a bucket milker (a pump attached to a bucket that automates the milking process).

green dirt farm products Bossa. The farm's signature cheese, Bossa, is one of the only sheep's milk washed rind cheeses made in the U.S. The cheese is aged for a minimum of six weeks, though Hoffmann and Smith say it hits its peak at 10 to 12 weeks.

Dirt Lover. Ash-dusted French farmhouse cheese, Dirt Lover, is made with an edible white bloomy rind that covers an inner layer of vegetable ash. Firm, dense and ivory colored, Dirt Lover has a nutty flavor that deepens with age to reveal earthy, buttery and even citrusy notes.

Fresh Cheeses. Fresh, spreadable cheeses are made in five flavors: plain, nettle, garlic and peppercorn, spicy chiles and rosemary.

Prairie tomme. Hoffmann and Smith liken Prairie Tomme, their French alpine-style cheese, to Gruyère or Gouda. The cheese is aged a minimum of four months.

WooLLy rinD. The farm's take on Camembert, Woolly Rind is aged for a minimum of two weeks, though Hoffmann and Smith say it reaches its peak at six to eight weeks. Covered in an edible white bloomy rind, the cheese has hints of milk and grass when young, which develop into buttery, mushroomy flavors with age. onLy eWe yogurt. Tangy, smooth, fresh sheep's milk yogurt is one of the farm's newest products.

LamB. Standard cuts of lamb like Frenched racks, loin chops, shanks, legs and shoulders are available via special order, as the farm custom-processes lamb to order. Ground lamb meat, lamb bones for making stock and organs are also sold.

“You have to innovate around old technology, or it’s something you dream up yourself to solve a problem,” Hoffmann says of the systems used on the farm in the early days.

In 2008, Green Dirt Farm was licensed to make cheese and produced 800 pounds its first year (last year, the farm made around 21,000 pounds of fresh and aged cheese). Tony Glamcevski, general manager and partner at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange in Kansas City, was employed at Green Dirt at the time and had the idea to begin hosting events after Hoffmann started getting requests for visits and tours.

“I fell in love with it,” Glamcevski says of the farm where he spent five years working. “It was initially about opening up to the community and trying to connect all those dots of local growers, producers, chefs and [diners].”

Open houses and tours gave way to farm dinners in the original multipurpose barn.

“Each dinner was a unique experience with a new cast of characters around the table,” he says.

Uninvited guests (like a black snake along the baseboard and a tree frog on one of the barn posts), Mother Nature (Ted Habiger, chef at Room 39 in Kansas City, once unflappably

served dessert in the basement of the farmhouse after a tornado warning forced dinner guests to seek shelter across the way) and a cast of chefs (Alex Pope and Colby and Megan Garrelts among them) each played a role in ensuring that no two events were alike.

“Given the right weather and the right chef, it can be one of the most beautiful dining experiences in the country,” says Patrick Ryan, chef-owner of Port Fonda in Kansas City, who was the first chef to cook dinner at the farm in 2009.

This is part of Green Dirt’s mission of transparency. Whether for a farm dinner or its semiannual tour, Hoffmann hopes to bring people in to talk about what it means to be a good steward of the soil, which is what she sees as the first step toward helping the Earth as a whole.

“It starts with the dirt,” Hoffmann says. “We need to maintain really good organic matter in the soil. That supports the root structure of the plants. Then we get really healthy plants. And once we have healthy plants, we have really happy sheep. They give us good milk and then we can make fantastic cheese and give back to our community.”

Homemade Greek Food

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Jazz St. Louis Big Band plays Ellington’s Nutcracker

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Classic Rock and More Listen and watch as KRMS presents Lake Race 2015!

Race and Event Schedules 2015: Race Week May 30th through June 7th 2015 Saturday May 30 - Lake Race 5k Run on the Bagnell Dam Strip Registration | Sponsorship - Lake Race Firemen Fun Run (poker run) Friday June 5th - Lake Race Street Party on Historic Bagnell Dam Strip Sat. June 6th - Powerboat Racing Sun. June 7th - Powerboat Racing Detailed 2015 Schedule Coming Soon!!!

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TRY OUR NEW LINE OF MARGARITAS! MANGO | HIBISCUS | STRAWBERRY | POMEGRANATE Come in and try King & I’s new desserts featuring our very own signature Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee.

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LET’S DO BRUNCH! From refreshing Mimosas and spicy Bloody Marys to pancakes and waffles slathered in syrup, brunch is our favorite way to start off the weekend. This month, we invited our Instagram followers to share their brunch photos using the hashtag #feastgram. To get the scoop on the latest latte trend, turn to p. 28, where we explore antioxidant-rich matcha lattes. Then, turn to p. 19 for a taste of the must-try cheeseburger and Bloody Mary weekend special at Genessee Royale Bistro in Kansas City’s West Bottoms neighborhood, and discover the pillow-y scratch-made biscuits and gravy and cheerful pineapple upside-down waffles or pancakes at County Seat Cafe in Edwardsville, Illinois, on p. 20.

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| 1 | Ed AllEr dEsign @allernothingdotcom Check out the brunch menu at Atomic Cowboy on Sunday. 10am to 3pm. Brunch with Mexican flair. Incredible. #AtomicBrunch | 2 | lEsliE AdAms @leslieradams Flat white afternoon. | 3 | mAllory UbbElohdE @m_ubb Simple Sunday brunch at home: roasted strawberry and balsamic grits. #HomemadeDecadence

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| 4 | sArAh cAmillE tErrAnovA @cucinaandcamera Exciting news: There’s a baklava recipe #OnTheBlog today straight from the Mediterranean! | 5 | PAtrick J. hUrlEy @vegandrunkard A delicious #Vegan #Benedict @Treehouse_STL #VegansOfInstagram #Brunch | 6 | kAtE gilliAm @kateheartscake What do you do when you’re working during brunch? Have #Brunch at work!

Strammer Max: ham, Gruyère and a fried farm egg with onion jam on rye toast. (At Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.’s Grove Brewery & Bierhall in St. Louis.)

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| 7 | JEssicA Armstrong @fooddrunk Trout dip and Campari grapefruit #Brunch #GenesseeRoyale @Fervere bread

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| 8 | AnnA simPson @eatanddrinkwithanna Kicking off the morning with #Greek #Yogurt and homemade #Fig #Granola made with @KansasCityCanningCo #Rosemary fig. | 9 | sAshA’s bAking co. @sashasbakingco Breakfast burrito is one of our many #Brunch menu options. Saturdays we do brunch all day with a #BloodyMary and #Mimosa option from our bar as well!

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| 10 | JEFF JonEs

@ohsnapjeff I have always been a breakfast-lover!

This cappuccino and quiche was on fleek @MissionCoffeeCo! Thank you Columbus for little hidden places like this.

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Want to see your photos in the May issue of Feast?

To celebrate our annual wine issue, our focus next month turns to wineries across the region. We want to see the red and white varietals you’re sipping, whether at your favorite restaurant or at the local wineries you visit. To submit your photos for consideration, simply include the hashtag #feastgram and tag @feastmag on your Instagram photos beginning Wed., April 1.

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pHOTOGRApHY COURTESY OF InSTAGRAM USERS

#feastgram

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GRILLING GREATS

Schnucks is proud to offer you Certified Angus Beef ® – the brand experts trust because of its superior flavor, juiciness and tenderness. We trust the brand because they know the farmers and how they raise their livestock.

Here’s to flavorful grilling season with Certified Angus Beef!

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