Yummy!

Post by: Beth

I know it's been a while since we've been able to really post, but things have been super busy with both of us working and the lovely March Madness that has taken over our home. (All I ever hear now are the sounds of crowd noise and the screech-y sound of players' sneakers on the gym floor.. I even hear it in my sleep. I can't get away from it. I now curse this home audio system that runs throughout the entire apartment. CURSE it.) So things have been picking up for us a lot, but I've still managed to carry the camera around with the great intentions of posting whenever I get a chance. :)

One of the best things about STL so far is the restaurants. They have GREAT restaurants.. lots of different things you don't find in every city, and lots of culture woven into their menus and flavors. St. Louis is divided into little sections that have all these different names that mean nothing to a newcomer: Central West End, The Loop, Soulard, The Hill, etc... The good news is that each of these little sections boasts lots of restaurant that can sometimes help you pin down that section's history. For example, many of the restaurants on The Hill are Italian restaurants, and about 90% of the area's residents hail from Italy. The roots seem to go really deep and it's a place where the Italian heritage and culture still thrives. For example, I work with a girl named Ginger whose grandmother moved to the area from Sicily many years ago. She settled into her home at The Hill years ago, and in 1975, a restaurant was built on the corner lot right next to her house. The restaurant was named "Giovanni's on The Hill." For years before the openings, Ginger's grandmother had been making this sauce (from a Sicilian receipe she brought with her) for her pasta dishes that became well-known in her little neighborhood.. So well-known that when the restaurant opened, they paid her to make about 6 huge pots of this sauce per day and carry it over to the restaurant where they served it to their guests. The restaurant has come a long way, as the owner, Giovanni, has created dishes for President Reagan, President Bush, and Oprah Wynfrey... all still on the menu today. Raja and I haven't yet gotten to try this restaurant as it's a bit of a new find for us, but we're very excited to go, and think this restaurant on The Hill gives a good example of what I mean by the cool restaurants available in the area.

As for places we HAVE gotten to visit already, there are 2 standouts:

Before we even moved to STL, Raja was enticing me with an Indian restaurant that is housed on the 11th floor of a hotel that overlooks the airport's runways here in St Louis. We weren't real sure about an Indian restaurant in a hotel, but he'd actually read some great reviews about the food, so we were game to try. We did this on the 2nd weekend we were in St Louis, and it was such a fun experience! The restaurant itself is gorgeous, and there was still snow leftover from the big snowstorm featured earlier in the blog. I took some pictures to give everyone an idea of what makes the restaurant so special:

Raja thought it was VERY comical to watch me try to scramble and take pictures as quickly as the planes were moving and before they got too far away to even be seen. The batteries in his camera hadn't been charged in a while, so the light kept flashing and it was the slowest process EVER to try to take a picture. Needless to say, each time a plane took off I was diving over the table for the camera and Raja was laughing hysterially as the camera stalled out until the plane was almost entirely out of sight. It would FINALLY flash and take the picture when you couldn't even see the plane anymore. Here's the best I got on the takeoffs:

Not very impressive, huh? It was very sad, actually. The planes were HUGE when they started taking off and I was SO excited, and by the time the stupid camera actually took the picture, the plane would be a tiny dot in the sky, and I was frowning. Raja thought it was just too funny. I did not.

Below is Raja's version of taking a picture of me. You can't even see the people in the pictures he takes.. It's so tiny and far away. That's okay though.. I really thought I took more pictures of the inside of the restaurant because it was so pretty, but most of them must not have taken at the end because the battery did in fact die. So at least this picture below gives you an idea of how pretty it is inside:

The 2nd great restaurant we've gotten to visit is called "Modesto, " which has an emphasis on Mediterranean/Spanish cuisine and culture. The restaurant itself is gorgeous in fiery yellow-reddish hues with dark wood and copper-colored accents. The menu is comprised entirely of "tapas," or "small plates." They have about 20 hot dishes and 20 cold dishes, and the idea is to get a few of each and share them so everyone in your party can try different things. The food here was REALLY good.. We tried dishes featuring lamb, shrimp, and tomato sauce/goat cheese, and they were all wonderful. I also tried a glass of White Sangria which was also really good --- This restaurant has definitely been one of my favorites so far. Here are some pictures of our visit:



And this is me on the way out the door to go to Modesto. My hair's a bit messed up but hey... that's what happens when you're taking a picture of yourself. :)

So that's a little bit of what we've been able to do as far as dining goes... I love the restaurants so far, and am so excited to try more soon. On another exciting note, my Mom & Dad are visiting this weekend since it was Mom's Spring Break, so look for more pictures soon from their trip up here! :) Until then, it's basketball, basketball, & more basketball...