Costa Rica

Maximum Morpho Madness

20 Reasons to Love Winter in St. Louis

We admit it. Winter in St. Louis can be pretty damn dreary. Weeks can go by without a ray of sunlight penetrating the grey sky. And then there's the cold -- a humid frigidity that drills right to the bones. It's enough to bring on a deep depression if you cannot open your eyes to all the great thi ... More >>

Kings for a Moment: The feds attack online poker, killing a $2.5 billion industry

Sunny-Side Uprising: Half & Half gives breakfast the bistro treatment

The Crystal Method's Scott Kirkland talks about the duo's New Year's Eve DJ plans in St. Louis

A Reader Wants More Latin American Cuisine in 2011

Ian FroebThe chicharron de pollo at Fritanga, an example of non-Mexican Latin American cuisine in St. Louis.​We asked what you do and don't want to see on the St. Louis food scene next year. Jim is the first to chime in:I think BBQ places and taquerias have taken steps forward this year in terms o ... More >>

An Immigrant's Heart

To survive the ordeal of escaping Guatemala, Julia needed a big Heart. But not this big.

Claire McCaskill Makes a Boehner Joke on The Colbert Report

Image viaJohn Boehner not happy about the tanning salon tax in the health care bill​House minority leader John Boehner made himself the butt of many jokes when he proclaimed that the passage of health care reform was "Armageddon" that would "ruin our country," but Missouri senator Claire McCaskill ... More >>

Butterflies In Effect

David Carruthers: From House Arrest to Prison

Wikimedia CommonsCarruthers was known for bringing the brains to the scrappy sports gambling outfit. ​After more than three years on house arrest, the former CEO of BETonSPORTS today was sentenced to 33 months in a federal prison. David Carruthers, a Scotsman who helmed the now-defunct cyber-sport ... More >>

Costa Rica Suave

2009 in Review: September

​​September is a very special month here not only at Gut Check International Headquarters but at the RFT as a whole: We release our annual Best of St. Louis issue. Check out our winners in the Restaurants and Food & Drink categories. The rest of the month, after the jump.

Fifteen Shots Later, Part 2: Java Enabled Judges the Midwest Regional Barista Competition

Photo courtesy Kaldi's Coffee​On Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, Zach Dyer helped judge the Midwest Regional Barista Competition, with the winner advancing to the national competition in Anaheim in April 2010. In last week's post, Dyer explained how the competition works and describe ... More >>

Java Enabled: Fifteen Shots Later, Part 1

​When I received an e-mail a few weeks ago inviting me to sit as one of the sensory judges at the 2009-2010 Midwest Regional Barista Competition, I jumped at the opportunity. At my most delusional, it sounded like "celebrity judge" -- at the very least, it sounded like a great time. Last weekend, ... More >>

Former BETonSPORTS Executives Will Be Staying Home for Awhile

​Gary Kaplan's brother and sister have each been sentenced to house arrest for helping to make the now-defunct BETonSPORTS a billion-dollar offshore sports book.U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson yesterday ordered Neil Kaplan and Lori Kaplan-Multz each to spend ten months on house arrest. Both Kapl ... More >>

BETonSPORTS Founder Gary Kaplan Gets to Stay in the Clinker

​U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson has sentenced Gary Kaplan to 51 months in prison. It was the maximum sentence allowed for under a complicated plea agreement that his lawyer struck with federal prosecutors. The millionaire founder of the now-defunct offshore gambling operation known as BETonSPOR ... More >>

Java Enabled Previews the Midwest Regional Barista Competition

​"It's like Iron Chef with baristas making coffee drinks."That's how Josh Ferguson, owner of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, describes the Midwest Regional Barista Competition. The competition gathers the best baristas from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dako ... More >>

Java Enabled's Postcard from Costa Rica: Typical Coffee

At first glance it looks like a baby's sock hanging from a mini oil derrick, slowly dripping the black liquid into the cup below. OK, maybe it's closer to a Chemex than I'm making it sound, but the "typical" -- or "tipico," as restaurant menus across the country will remind you -- percolador style o ... More >>

This Week in Gut Check, Regurgitated

​Another week, another new column. (Just one more new column to introduce, by the way.) We welcomed the Beertender this week. Check it out, if you haven't already. We also heard news on Niche and Pi, paid a visit to Anthony Devoti of Five and celebrated the St. Louis Rams waiting tables and the fi ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Cha-ching: Mexican money mysteries and odd abbreviations explained

Java Enabled: Southwest's Coffee Gets a LIFT

It's been a while since I've taken a vacation and even longer since I've flown. So when a good deal on a Labor Day weekend in Orlando, Florida, popped up, I jumped at the chance to go. As I filed down the ramp with the rest of my fellow passengers, I was surprised to see an ad on the wall for LIFT, ... More >>

RFT readers show no mercy for weak-kneed liberals, Gary Kaplan or Milton "Skip" Ohlsen

Java Enabled: Probat, Unlike Any Other

It's the Cadillac of roasters -- or maybe the Mercedes-Benz, considering its origin. The German coffee roaster Probat isn't a household name, but it's synonymous in coffee circles with high quality coffee roasting. Some of the best artisan roasters in St. Louis -- Shaw's Coffee Ltd., Northwest Coff ... More >>

Feds Let Online Gamblers Lay Claim to BETonSPORTS' Founder Gary Kaplan's $43 Million, Beginning Today

​Gary Kaplan, founder of the now-defunct online gambling business BETonSPORTS, delivered a big win to the U.S. Department of Justice last week when he pleaded guilty to racketeering and fraud. Part of the plea-bargain included Kaplan's forfeiture of more than $43.65 million in proceeds he acquired ... More >>

Founder of BetonSports Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Forfeits $43 Million to Government

​Gary Stephen Kaplan, the subject of a Riverfront Times investigation in '07, has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges of fraud for running an illegal offshore sports wagering business.As part of a complex plea agreement, Kaplan, 50, entered pleas of guilty to charges of conspiracy to violat ... More >>

Java Enabled: This One's Just Right

Cups are a superstitious part of any coffee drinker's routine. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a regular coffee drinker that didn't have a preferred vessel for enjoying their dark drink. There's always that one cup or mug -- for some inexplicable reason, it just makes the coffee taste better. ... More >>

Java Enabled: How Do You Store Your Beans?

The only time I've ever had something remotely close to an argument with another coffee drinker was over how beans should be stored at home. How often have you heard of someone storing their beans one way and thinking, "Oh god, they're ruining that coffee"?For me, the greater question is why there's ... More >>

Java Enabled: Have Coffee, Will Travel

One of the things I love most about travel is getting the chance to try new cafés. (As I wrote last week, some coffee aficionados base entire trips on this premise.) But even when your travels won't lead you to some undiscovered java gem, you might not want to sacrifice the comfort and security of ... More >>

The Best of Gut Check: Java Enabled

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.While Gut Check i ... More >>

Java Enabled's Day at the Roasters

"It smells sweet, like candy," my friend said as I extended my wrist to his nose. My skin had absorbed the caramel flavors that had been wafting around me all day like a welcome second-hand smoke. It was the smell of coffee roasting.It was a bad day to hang out near a coffee roaster -- much less two ... More >>

Java Enabled: Chill Out with Cold-Brewed Coffee

Last summer I was in New York visiting friends over Memorial Day when I first saw the signs. Walking between friends' apartments, going to restaurants and even a backyard barbecue in the West Village, I kept seeing café windows advertising cold-brewed coffee. Between the cafés and people I spoke ... More >>

Java Enabled: Mokka Express, Revisited

My Bialetti Mokka Express stovetop coffee maker was the first specialized percolator I ever bought. With a newly christened driver's license, I used to drive to J. Viviano's and Sons on the Hill to buy Italian coffee in search of the promise of real espresso at home. It will be no surprise to the h ... More >>

Java Enabled: Dedicated to Coffee and Free for All

"If you look out that window, you can still see the original smokestack that they put in when they started roasting coffee here," said Mike Marquard, a barista trainer for Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company.We were sitting in the back room of the roaster's DeMun café. Sure enough, tucked away behind ... More >>

F'ing Golden: Patti Blagojevich Eats a Tarantula, Nearly Drowns on Reality TV

Patti Blagojevich, wife of infamous ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has officially began her stint on the NBC reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here" and she wants you to know she's doing it all for the kids.The potty-mouthed former Illinois first lady took her husband's place ... More >>

Java Enabled: Coffee Break Point

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.The first shot was ... More >>

Actually, Java Enabled Meant to Say Expresso

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.When I was in high ... More >>

Can Java Enabled Win the One-Cup-a-Day Bet?

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I am not addicted t ... More >>

Jave Enabled: Coffee for One

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Betrayal was the fi ... More >>

Java Enabled: Kaldi's Barista Smokes His Way to the Top

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Tobacco smoke, cara ... More >>

Java Enabled: Is Coffee Recession-Proof?

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Is coffee recession ... More >>

Java Enabled: The Café, Unplugged

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I sit at the mouth ... More >>

Java Enabled: Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.A friend of mine in ... More >>

Please Pass the Placenta: Unreal deduces the reason placentas are clogging sewers in Illinois

Placenta for Lunch, Anyone? How About You There In Urbana?

Wikimedia CommonsIf you haven't already eaten lunch today, stop reading now. Seriously. Go eat, come back, then dive into something that's sure to make you lose your appetite.Unreal was browsing news of the weird yesterday when we stumbled upon this whopper of a headline: "Placentas Found In Sewage ... More >>

Java Enabled: The Rise of Joe Double-Shot

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Last September, McD ... More >>

Java Enabled: Blue Mountain Blues

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.It came in a small b ... More >>

Grind It Up | Makin' a List

Ruka Puff dabbles in movie-making, while the members of Ludo share their Christmas wish lists.

Double Down

Gary Kaplan put all of his chips on BETonSPORTS and drew the worst hand of his life. Now he’s making tuna casserole in a St. Louis jail.

We Spy

Old-school private eye Joe Adams and his talented sidekick Jason Walz are on the case -- and they always get their man

Best Place to Buy Coffee

Kaldi's Coffee House & Market Bakery