Culinary Institute of America

Saint Louis Art Museum Recruits Chef Edward Farrow for New Restaurant

Gut Check heard through the grapevine a few weeks ago that chef Edward Farrow, most recently of Phoenix, Arizona, would be moving to town this summer to oversee the new restaurant and café at the Saint Louis Art Museum (Forest Park Street; 314-721-0072). Yesterday, a press release from the museum ... More >>

Loving Pig's Face and Learning to Leave His Roast Chicken Alone: A Q&A with Vino Nadoz's Chris DiMercurio

This is part two of Gut Check's Chef's Choice profile of Chris DiMercurio of Vino Nadoz. Read part one, a profile of DiMercurio, here. Part three, a recipe from DiMercurio, will be published on Friday. Chris DiMercurio worked alongside -- and learned from -- some of St. Louis' talented young chefs ... More >>

Chris DiMercurio of Vino Nadoz Wants You to Trust Him

This is part one of Gut Check's Chef's Choice profile of Chris DiMercurio of Vino Nadoz. Part two, a Q & A with DiMercurio, will be available Wednesday. Part three, a recipe, will be published Friday. You could easily miss Vino Nadoz (16 The Boulevard, Richmond Heights; 314-726-0400), dwarfed as it ... More >>

The Culinary Institute of America Holds its First St. Louis Prospective Student Reception Tonight

Are you waiting for the right excuse to ditch town and leave it all behind to pursue a lucrative career in a mile-high chef's hat? Tired of getting taunted by daytime infomercials? Well, look no further. The Culinary Institute of America forgoes that other CIA's incognito M.O. by hosting its first ... More >>

Chef Eric Heath of Cleveland-Heath Calls Edwardsville "An Awesome Place"

This is part one of Gut Check's Chef's Choice profile of Eric Heath of Cleveland-Heath. Part two, a Q & A with Heath, will appear Thursday. Part three, a recipe from Heath, will be available on Friday. "Sometimes, we'll get cooks in here who are like, 'You don't sous-vide? You don't do this? You ... More >>

Q: What do you call a restaurant-winery combo in Chesterfield? A: Tame old tame old.

Comfort Shmumfort: Edwardsville newcomer Cleveland-Heath defies categorization most tastily

Review Preview: Cleveland-Heath

This week, I travel to Cleveland-Heath (106 North Main Street, Edwardsville, Illinois; 618-307-4830), a new restaurant that boasts quite the pedigree: Cleveland-Heath takes its name from partners (in life as well as in business) Jennifer Cleveland and Eric Heath. The name is a rather audacious move ... More >>

Mathew Unger got a job at a brokerage, then realized he was selling the wrong kind of stocks

Call Them "Favorite" Foods: Cleveland-Heath Nears Opening

​Gut Check reported last month on Cleveland-Heath, the new restaurant opening at 106 North Main Street in Edwardsville, Illinois (the former Fond space). This week, Jennifer Cleveland, who owns the restaurant with partner (in life as well as business) Eric Heath, checked in with us to say that the ... More >>

Mathew's Kitchen Opens in South City

​Mathew Unger took his first cooking class at the age of eight, a schoolkid with the sisters of Notre Dame. He studied international business at the University of London. He has been both a stockbroker at Paine Webber and the executive chef of the Missouri Athletic Club-West."I have a weird backgr ... More >>

St. Louis Chefs Are an Educated Lot

Chrissy WilmesChris Williams of Franco studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.​Last week Eater asked chefs if they thought culinary school was worth the time and expense for aspiring chefs. The answer was a resounding "probably not." The discussion made us wonder how well-e ... More >>

Memphis Chef Kelly English Follows the Fleurs-de-Lis to St. Louis

Courtesy: Harrah's CasinoKelly English, owner of Restaurant Iris in Memphis, will open a steakhouse at Harrah's Casino.​Harrah's Casino (777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights; 314-770-8100) announced last month that it will open Kelly English Steakhouse this fall in the location now occupied b ... More >>

Chris Williams of Franco: Recipe for Chicken Roulade

This is part three of Chrissy Wilmes' Chef's Choice profile of Chris Williams of Franco. Part one can be found here. Part two, a Q&A with Williams, is here. Chrissy Wilmes​When it comes to education, some chefs choose the formal route, attending culinary school and working externships, while ... More >>

Chris Williams of Franco

This is part one of Chrissy Wilmes' Chef's Choice profile of chef Chris Williams of Franco. Part two, a Q&A with Williams, will be available tomorrow. Look for part three, a recipe from Williams, on Thursday. Chrissy Wilmes​Chef Chris Williams' journey from his first experience in a kitchen t ... More >>

Agi and Aaron Groff of 4 Seasons Baked Goods & Catering, Part 2

This is part two of Holly Fann's Chef's Choice profile of Agi and Aaron Groff of 4 Seasons Baked Goods & Catering. Part one is available here. Part three, a recipe, can be found here. Holly Fann​Did your family cook when you were a child? Agi Groff: My granny is Hungarian, so we ate a lot of ... More >>

Agi and Aaron Groff of 4 Seasons Baked Goods & Catering

This is part one of Holly Fann's Chef's Choice profile of Agi and Aaron Groff of 4 Seasons Baked Goods & Catering. Part two, a Q&A with the Groffs, is available here. Part three, a recipe, can be found here. Holly FannAgi Groff takes a torch to a batch of ganache-covered tarts as husband Aaron look ... More >>

Gerard Craft Sells Taste by Niche to Adam Altnether

Jennifer SilverbergTaste by Niche's current digs. The new space will also feature a new owner.​Gerard Craft announced today that he has sold Taste by Niche to Adam Altnether. The 24-year-old Altnether, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, has worked for Craft for ... More >>

Bob Colosimo of Eleven Eleven Mississippi, Part 2

This Q&A is part two of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice profile of Bob Colosimo of Eleven Eleven Mississippi. Part one is available here; part three, a recipe, we'll publish on Friday. Robin Wheeler​Did your family cook when you were a child? If so, what meals stand out? Growing up in an Italia ... More >>

Bob Colosimo of Eleven Eleven Mississippi

This is part one of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice profile of Bob Colosimo of Eleven Eleven Mississippi. Part two, a Q&A with Colosimo, will be published Thursday; part three, a recipe, we'll publish on Friday. Robin Wheeler​Eleven Eleven Mississippi's Bob Colosimo always wanted to be a chef. ... More >>

Top 10 Food Films to Watch on a Cold Autumn's Night

True story: Late 1990s, on the campus of the renowned Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York. It's a movie night, and the feature is Big Night, which is to be screened in the main auditorium. The buzz that day on campus is that someone had spotted the movie's star, Stanley Tucci, on th ... More >>

Sidney Street Café Hosts "Operation Charcuterie!" Dinner to Benefit Operation Food Search

​Sidney Street Café (2000 Sidney Street, 314-771-5777) will host "Operation Charcuterie!", a six-course dinner to benefit Operation Food Search, on Tuesday, September 28. This dinner is the culmination of an event organized by Kevin Nashan, owner and executive chef of Sidney Street Café, to incr ... More >>

St. Louis to Sitka: Chef TJ Weston Publishes Alaskan Seafood Cookbook

​TJ Weston, a St. Louis native and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, has published his first cookbook, Eat, Fish & Be Happy: Salmon and Halibut Recipes to Celebrate the Taste of Alaska. The book draws from the 28-year-old Weston's time as the chef at a fishi ... More >>

Amy Zupanci of Fond and Township Grocer

This is part one of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice profile of Amy Zupanci of Fond and Township Grocer in Edwardsville, Illinois. Part two, a Q&A with Zupanci, follows on Friday and part three, a recipe, on Monday.Robin WheelerAmy Zupanci, chef and owner of Fond and Township Grocer​When Amy Zupa ... More >>

Freddie Holland of Match Foods, Inc., Part 2

Robin Wheeler​This is part two of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice profile of Freddie Holland of Match Foods, Inc., maker of Match Meats. Part one is available here, and part three, a recipe, follows on Friday. Did your family cook when you were a child? If so, what meals stand out? Our family n ... More >>

Freddie Holland of Match Foods, Inc.

This is part one of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice profile of Freddie Holland of Match Foods, Inc., maker of Match Meats. Part two, a Q&A with Holland, will be posted tomorrow, and part three, a recipe, follows on Friday. Robin Wheeler​"I was raised on a farm. We raised our cows with bottles, ... More >>

Lou Rook III of Annie Gunn's, Part 2

This is part two of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice interview with Lou Rook III of Annie Gunn's. To read part one, click here. Part three, a recipe from Chef Rook, will be available soon. Robin WheelerChef Lou Rook III in the Annie Gunn's kitchen with Samantha Beard.​Every other year chef Lou R ... More >>

Lou Rook III of Annie Gunn's, Part 1

This is part one of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice interview with Lou Rook III of Annie Gunn's. Part two will be published tomorrow. Part three, a recipe from Chef Rook, will appear on Friday. This week, shallow flood water saturated a field on the north side of Highway 40 in Chesterfield, a reminde ... More >>

The Morning Brew: 5.18

Not only are pesticides bad for bugs, there's more evidence showing how bad they are for humans. Reuters reports that the Harvard School of Public Health has released a study linking organophosphate pesticides to ADHD in kids. Over forty organophosphates are approved for pesticide use in the U.S. T ... More >>

Chef's Choice: Marc Baltes of Pi Pizzerias

This is part one of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice interview with Marc Baltes of Pi Pizzerias; stay tuned for parts two and three. Robin Wheeler​"I was the world's pickiest eater as a child," says Marc Baltes, a Culinary Institute of America grad who now works as executive chef for Pi Pizzeria ... More >>

Chef's Choice: Frazer Cameron of Frazer's Restaurant & Lounge


Frazer Cameron is thoughtful and deliberate, measuring his words as the morning sun warms the bar at the restaurant he has owned for eighteen years. Likewise, Frazer's Restaurant & Lounge is the product of his careful consideration, planning, and making sure everything is just so. Frazer Cameron ... More >>

A Food Writer's List of 10 Essential Food Books

​As much as I'd like to assemble a Top Ten Food Books of 2009 list, I'm so far behind in my reading that I'd struggle to compose a Top Ten Food Books of 2008 list. Best I can do for this year is two books. First, Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan. It's a cookbook, but you can -- and should ... More >>

Photos: The Grand Opening of Red Kitchen & Bar, 9.10.09

Photo: Stew SmithA plate of ahi tuna poke at the opening of Red Kitchen & Bar in the Hyatt Regency Riverfront hotel downtown. See more photos from last night.​ The grand opening of Red Kitchen and Bar (315 Chestnut Street) in the Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront hotel was held last night. Wh ... More >>

Gut Check: Dorm Room dinnertime!

Marc Baltes Storms the "Dorm Room" at 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar

Hedwig von Ebbel, Wikimedia Commons​As I waddled back to my car last night after the latest Dorm Room dinner at Lafayette Square's 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar, the evening air thick with woodsmoke from the grill where Marc Baltes was braising pork shoulder for the next seating, I wondered which ... More >>

Throwback of the House: The Cold War on Cheese

Todd Ehlers, Wikimedia CommonsRobin Wheeler writes for the blog Poppy Mom. After years of making and eating fancy food, Robin is sick of it all. She's returning to the basics: recipes that haven't surfaced in three decades. She reports on the results for Gut Check every Tuesday.If we've learned anyt ... More >>

Gut Check: Café Balaban's successor is a contemporary bistro

Christina Machamer, Winner of Hell's Kitchen, Interview

Thoughts on Michael Ruhlman's The Elements of Cooking

Michael Ruhlman at Viking Thursday

Two Kind

Trattoria Two gives Two Nice Guys something to look up to.

Vintage Balaban's

Chef Dan Joyce could rest on Balaban's laurels -- but he'd rather take St. Louis on some delicious adventures

There Goes the Eruv

You'll dig the delightfully unorthodox (yet totally Orthodox) food at Shmeers

Man Overboard

Don't be thrown by the strip-mall setting -- Wholly Mackerel is seafood heaven

Way Out West

The new Gabrielle's offers high-end cuisine for the west-county dweller

Flying Fish

Goofy name aside, Wholly Mackerel has a promising future

Deli

Pumpernickle's Real Deli

Food for Thought

The exchange between a chef and a Monsanto spokeswoman was civilized, but questions about what we eat leave a bitter aftertaste

Killer B.

One chef makes the jump from country club to Clayton, with delicious results

Smoking Gunn

Annie Gunn's aims to please