Email Author Michael Renner

2004 Stories by Michael Renner

• Low Tide

  published December 15, 2004

  As much as I dislike chain restaurants, I wish the new Watercolors Café, occupying the former KC Masterpiece spot on North Lindbergh... More >>

• Little Bosnia

  published December 1, 2004

  Sadik Kukic has a good thing going with his Gulf Coast Café, a spunky little seafood-oriented restaurant amid the ethnic eateries in the... More >>

• Tea for Three

  published December 1, 2004

  Last year I became obsessed with tea. Black tea, green tea, white tea, British blends, herbals, Chinese tea -- each category can fill a... More >>

• Man Overboard

  published November 17, 2004

  I promised myself two things while visiting Wholly Mackerel, a superb little seafood restaurant tucked into the corner of a Ballwin strip... More >>

• Bone Appétit

  published November 3, 2004

  I fell in love with osso buco just a couple of weeks ago at Villa Farotto, the new Chesterfield Valley restaurant with ties to the familiar... More >>

• Raising the Bar

  published October 20, 2004

  What goes around, comes around. The more things change, the more they stay the same. History repeats itself. It's déjà vu all over... More >>

• Family Affair

  published October 6, 2004

  Café Bellagio More >>

• Ragin' Cajun

  published September 15, 2004

  It's not like our fair city has many options when we hunger for Cajun and Creole food. What's available usually loses something in translation... More >>

• A Real Dish

  published September 1, 2004

  Just as the musical Miss Saigon is a modernized version of Puccini's Madame Butterfly, the restaurant Miss Saigon is a... More >>

• Dinarosa Liaisons

  published August 18, 2004

  Philippe Habassi's name pops up every once in a while. "Wasn't he supposed to be the head chef at that new Voilà place in the West End?"... More >>

• Benedetto's Buzz

  published August 11, 2004

  Like every Italian mother who traces her sauce back to her nana, nearly every formal Italian restaurant around here can trace its lineage back to... More >>

• Culture Clash

  published August 4, 2004

  When money started moving into Wildwood, obese houses and suburban trappings followed. Five years ago Wildwood incorporated, gobbling up the rural... More >>

• Cheesy It Ain't

  published July 21, 2004

  I'm a true Gemini and my world consists of shades of gray. I see both sides of an argument while tossing in a few lateral thoughts of my own. I... More >>

• Cut to the Chase

  published July 7, 2004

  Eau Bistro's new chef de cuisine, David Gilbert, thinks the sensory element of St. Louis dining is missing in action. He... More >>

• Parlor Trick

  published June 23, 2004

  I respect urban homesteaders, especially restaurateurs who believe in St. Louis neighborhoods passionately enough to take on the big gamble of... More >>

• Cone Heads

  published June 23, 2004

  Like Point beer, the pride of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Cedar Crest dairy mostly distributes its ice cream within a day's drive of its factory in... More >>

• Far Out!

  published June 9, 2004

  Taylor's More >>

• Stoners

  published May 26, 2004

  Remember the Seinfeld episode where Kramer recruits investors for his chain of make-your-own-pizza parlors? "I'm tellin' ya, people, they... More >>

• Welsh, Welsh, Welsh

  published May 12, 2004

  The urge to revisit Llywelyn's Pub hit while I was watching an episode of Good Eats, the quirky food/science/pop-culture show on the... More >>

• Color My World

  published April 28, 2004

  Stepping into the Graffiti Global Grill and Bar is like opening a box of crayons, the little one with eight colors and no sharpener on the... More >>

• Lively Up Yourself

  published April 14, 2004

  I've never understood why Caribbean restaurants haven't caught on in St. Louis. We love barbecue, we love fried fish, and we certainly love a... More >>

• Boy Meets Grill

  published March 31, 2004

  "Sure are a lot of bar-and-grills around here," my dad noted during a visit from Kansas City a few years back. Coming from a man who'd owned and... More >>

• Tuscany for You and Me

  published March 17, 2004

  What if there were an Italian chain of American restaurants in Tuscany? Perhaps they'd be based in Florence and specialize in hearty American fare... More >>

• When Is a Tavern Not a Tavern?

  published March 3, 2004

  When you think of a tavern, what images appear? Do you envision the well-heeled urban professionals of Clayton drinking martinis and... More >>

• Fuse Company

  published February 25, 2004

  There we were, the five of us, each knowing somebody in the group but none knowing all, sipping drinks and getting acquainted at the U Lounge, the... More >>