Email Author Ian Froeb

Awards

• 2011 - Association of Food Journalists Awards, published November 11, 2010

  "Near Beer"

• 2011 - Association of Food Journalists Awards, published November 4, 2010

  "Jeffrey Plaza Jewel"

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2011 Stories by Ian Froeb

• Lumiere Place Replacing Sleek with Stadium Sports Bar and Grill

  published Feb 03, 2011

  Lumiere Place couldn't sustain a high-end steakhouse with a celebrity chef's imprimatur. Now, the downtown casino is banking on a tried-and-true concept to replace Hubert Keller's Sleek -- a sports ba... More >>

• Pappy's Smokehouse Going Whole Hog for Its 3rd Birthday

  published Feb 03, 2011

  No restaurant is without its detractors, but if anywhere in St. Louis comes close to univeral acclaim, it's Pappy's Smokehouse. This here newspaper has dubbed it "Best Barbecue" for three years runnin... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  #28: Seafood at Farmhaus

  published Feb 03, 2011

  If you love seafood, as I do, Farmhaus should leap to the top of you list of favorite restaurants. It isn't a seafood restaurant, per se -- there are far more non-seafood dishes on the menu -- but if ... More >>

• Gut Check Joins Facebook (Poke Us and Die)

  published Feb 03, 2011

  Yes, Gut Check has been dragged kicking and screaming into the Aughts: We now have a Facebook page, which you can "Like." Join us there for all the news, insight and irreverence you've come to expect ... More >>

• Deluded Denny's Now Calling Itself "America's Diner"

  published Feb 02, 2011

  Here is sample of the new ad campaign from Denny's in which it rebrands itself "America's Diner":In case you can't watch the ad, it features various customers sharing the diner-esque nicknames given t... More >>

• Joy Luck Buffet: Review + Slideshow

  published Feb 02, 2011

  Skip the buffet, and proceed directly to the Szechuan peppercorns. My review of Joy Luck Buffet is now available online, as is Jennifer Silverberg's slideshow of the Brentwood restaurant.... More >>

• Stella Blues Reopens in South City

  published Feb 02, 2011

  As mentioned in the January 2011 Openings and Closings post -- and first reported, I believe, by Joe Bonwich at the Post-Dispatch -- Stella Blues has reopened at 3269 Morgan Ford Road. The previous in... More >>

• Videos: New York Soda Anti-Soda Ad Grossout

  published Feb 01, 2011

  The latest weapon in New York City's ongoing war against unhealthy food and drinkr Grossing the hell out of people.New ads from the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene attack sodas with ver... More >>

• Meglio's Episode of Restaurant: Impossible Airs February 16

  published Feb 01, 2011

  The episode of the new Food Network show Restaurant: Impossible featuring Bridgeton Italian restaurant Meglio's Italian Grill & Bar will air on Wednesday, February 16, at 9 p.m. There will be a re... More >>

• #29: The "Edgar Allan Poe" at Dewey's Pizza

  published Feb 01, 2011

  I debated whether to include Dewey's Pizza in my list of 100 Favorite Dishes. It had nothing to do with the quality of the food. If you hadn't noticed after 71 dishes, this list has excluded chains fo... More >>

• January 2011 Openings and Closings

  published Feb 01, 2011

  Sadly, the first month of the new year saw a spate of high-profile closings: Sleek, the Lumiere Place steakhouse from celebrity chef Hubert Keller; Lafayette Square Mexican restaurant Arcelia's, after... More >>

• Follow Gut Check on Twitter for Snowpocalypse Restaurant News

  published Feb 01, 2011

  Chances are, you've already stocked up on ground beef and condoms and aren't planning on leaving the house during Snowpocalypse 2011.However, there are always a few brave or foolish enough to want to ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  What St. Louis Is Stockpiling for Snowpocalypse 2011

  published Jan 31, 2011

  If you stopped by the Schnucks in Richmond Heights between noon and one o'clock today, hoping to find milk, eggs and bread before Snowpocalypse 2011 descends upon us in a fury of snow, ice and wind...... More >>

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  At Joy Luck Buffet, bypass the buffet and focus on joy and luck

  published February 3, 2011

  Have you ever eaten a Szechuan peppercorn? If you need to think before answering the question, then you almost certainly haven't. Eating a... More >>

• Review Preview: Joy Luck Buffet

  published Jan 31, 2011

  This week, inspired by a couple of reader comments on this review, I ventured to Joy Luck Buffet to try the "authentic menu." Follow me after the jump for a sneak preview of what I found. Have you eve... More >>

• Video: Obama Impersonator Crushed by Giant Fish Sandwich

  published Jan 31, 2011

  What else is there to say about this KFC ad from China except that it features a (pretty good) Obama impersonator being crushed by a giant fish sandwichr Enjoy it for the surreal humor or for the poli... More >>

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  Peel Wood Fired Pizza has all of Edwardsville beating a path to its wood-burning oven door

  published January 27, 2011

  Peel Wood Fired Pizza takes its name — the peel part — from the tool used to shuffle pizzas into and out of its wood-burning... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  #30: The "Heart Stopping BLT" and a Chocolate Malt at Crown Candy Kitchen

  published Jan 21, 2011

  The famed challenge at Old North St. Louis institution Crown Candy Kitchen dares diners to finish five malts in 30 minutes. Though I detest eating challenges, I confess an admiration for anyone who co... More >>

• Horseshoe House Coming to East Loop

  published Jan 21, 2011

  Signs in the windows of the former Modai Sushi Lounge at 6100 Delmar Boulevard proclaim that something called the Horseshoe House is coming soon to the address. I don't have much more information abou... More >>

• Taco Bell Disses Its Target Market

  published Jan 21, 2011

  This week, MTV aired the premiere of Skins, an American remake of a British show in which actual teenagers play fictional teenagers who do the naughty things that actual teenagers do, like drink, take... More >>

• Restaurant Tidbits from Hooters, La Gra and Cairdeas Coffee

  published Jan 21, 2011

  A stolen car plowed into the Hooters downtown last night. My colleague Chad Garrison files this report on Daily RFT:According to police, the incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. Thursday when a stolen ... More >>

• The Inevitable Lawsuit Befalls the Food Truck Porno

  published Jan 21, 2011

  Gut Check's exhaustive coverage of The Flying Pink Pig, the porno shot on location in an actual food truck, continues -- though absolutely NOT because we want the producers to send us a free screener.... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Openings & Closings 2010: The Final Reckoning

  published Jan 20, 2011

  A snowy day is the perfect time to look back over our archive of restaurant openings and closings -- and notes on restaurants that we forgot to include on our lists of openings and closings -- and dra... More >>

• "Inception Burrito" Is a 2,410-Calorie Dream

  published Jan 20, 2011

  Foodbeast has posted pictures and descriptions of something it calls the "Inception Burrito." Of course, the film Inception features a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream, etc. The "Inc... More >>

• Arizona Taqueria Puts Lion on the Menu

  published Jan 20, 2011

  Regular readers know that Gut Check loves few things more than a taco. So great is our love that we've developed a sort of sixth sense for when something is...amiss...in the world of tacos. Thus, when... More >>