Email Author Michael Renner

2003 Stories by Michael Renner

• How Sweet It Is

  published December 24, 2003

  Back in the day, you didn't go to Cyrano's just for dessert. You went to Cyrano's to impress your date. Or, at the very least, to practice... More >>

• Back on Tip Top

  published December 10, 2003

  First, a confession: I really miss the Shenandoah Bar and Grill, that veritable hole-in-the-wall tavern in Fox Park that served up homemade... More >>

• Grand New

  published November 26, 2003

  When it comes to the opening of a new Vietnamese restaurant in St. Louis, there seems no end in sight, especially along the stretch of South Grand... More >>

• Have Palate, Will Travel

  published November 12, 2003

  In contrast to the insidious spread of American eating habits throughout the world, a much quieter, more pleasing culinary invasion has been... More >>

• Think Global, Eat Local

  published October 29, 2003

  Stepping through the front door of the Maya Café in downtown Maplewood feels a bit like entering the whimsical world of the City... More >>

• Fun With Figaro

  published October 15, 2003

  Mike Johnson's new venture, Restaurant Figaro in downtown Clayton, is all about fun. From the covered sidewalk dining area that flows into... More >>

• Once More, With Feeling

  published October 1, 2003

  At some point during the past year, during a quiet moment in his new restaurant, Roberto Zanti had to say to himself, "What goes around, comes... More >>

• That's Amore

  published September 10, 2003

  In the century since Gennaro Lombardi opened his pizzeria in New York City, pizza -- or tomato pie, or whatever you want to call it -- has wedged... More >>

• Paradise Found

  published August 27, 2003

  On many levels, nothing in St. Louis compares to Monarch, the new restaurant in downtown Maplewood. First there was all that crazy buzz... More >>

• Tapas 'n' Things

  published August 13, 2003

  According to a friend of mine, you need to rebel against the notion of tapas when dining at Bastante, the fine new Mediterranean... More >>

• The Conquest of Clayton

  published July 30, 2003

  Like Hannibal's march across the Alps, the Del Pietro clan continues its expansion into Clayton with the upscale yet surprisingly affordable... More >>

• Small Wonder

  published July 16, 2003

  "There's so much you can do with a one-bedroom apartment," warbles Barbara Harris' cheery social-worker character in the film A Thousand... More >>

• Chesterfield Trip

  published July 2, 2003

  I don't consider myself a city snob. You know, somebody who considers anything in "the county"-- whether west, north or south -- sterile, boring... More >>

• The Second Time Around

  published June 18, 2003

  I rang up Pepe Kehm exactly one year to the day that a review of his then-new Spaghetteria Mama Mia ran in the RFT. It wasn't a... More >>

• Just Getting Started

  published June 4, 2003

  He drinks neither booze nor coffee, but Troy Williams wants to sell both. In four short years since moving back to St. Louis from Atlanta, the... More >>

• Drink to This, Drink to That

  published May 21, 2003

  Wine bars are about as trendy as those four-button jackets that keep popping up on every guy who still has to wear a suit. Sometimes they're... More >>

• Like Father, Like Sons

  published May 7, 2003

  There is no Jackson at JackSons'. Owners Andy and Dave Dalton say they named the restaurant in honor of their late father, Jack, for many years a... More >>

• More Than Mean Margaritas

  published April 23, 2003

  Veer left, then swerve right," said the guy standing outside Pueblo Solis, shouting directions on his cell phone to his friends en route.... More >>

• 'Cue, Too

  published April 23, 2003

  Owning one restaurant is exhausting enough. Owning two is downright masochistic. But Pueblo Solis proprietor Al Solis grew up in North St. Louis... More >>

• Go Hungry

  published April 9, 2003

  Driving down South Grand one day, en route to that other Ted Drewes, I noticed a new sign on the building at Grand and Gasconade that formerly... More >>

• Built for Comfort

  published March 26, 2003

  There's no shortage of the quick-bite-to-eat type of restaurant in St. Louis. We are busy people, after all. National chains such as Applebee's... More >>

• Into Africa

  published March 12, 2003

  It's not every day that one gets to eat a giant snail.Ditto yam porridge or fried plantains or palm juice. Not around these parts, anyway. But... More >>

• Viva Vito's

  published February 26, 2003

  You can count on one hand -- and perhaps three fingers of another -- the number of places in St. Louis to get a really good pizza. Nothing... More >>

• Slice of Paris

  published February 12, 2003

  If you've never been to Paris but want to experience the essence of the small neighborhood bistros of that magical city, visit Le Petit Paris,... More >>

• Flat-Out Delicious

  published February 12, 2003

  While wandering around Missouri in the early 1990s, Philippe Habassi took stints baking French bread at a Columbia grocery store, making pastries... More >>