Valentine's Day

The Secret to Fighting the Flu This Season? Eat Yer Fruits and Veggies! (Gut Check Tells You Where)

Lately, it seems like everyone Gut Check knows either has a cold, is recovering from a cold or is awaiting the arrival of a cold. Now, Gut Check's general recommendation for fighting off a cold is to dose a bowl of pho with twice as much Sriracha as you can stand and then chase it with half a bottle ... More >>

Ten Songs for Celebrating President's Day

It is that time of year again. That special time after Mardi Gras, in the middle of Black History Month, when we drop our Valentine's Day chocolates and honor the past and present Presidents of the United States of America (for the shortest month of the year, February seems to really be collecting h ... More >>

Mizzou Study Says Happily Married People are Healthier, or Another Reason to Hate V-Day

In case you need another reason to hate Valentine's Day, the University of Missouri has some exciting news for you. Christine Proulx, an assistant professor in the department of human development and family studies, has discovered that happily married old people are healthier than divorced or widowe ... More >>

Hate Valentine's Day? Enjoy an Offal (Late) Dinner at Five Bistro

"We've been wanting to do an offal dinner," says Anthony Devoti, owner and chef at Five Bistro (5100 Daggett Avenue; 314-773-5553), "so we were sitting around drinking beers one night, kicking around what would be hilarious: 'Oh, well, Valentine's Day is just offal.' "And then it's like, well, what ... More >>

Ten Songs To Get Busy To On Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, one of the most polarizing of all holidays. Do you enjoy taking this day as a reminder to appreciate your loved ones and get romantic? Or are you annoyed by a manufactured holiday that brings out candy-coated bullshit and makes the lonely feel lonelier? Either way, we a ... More >>

14 St. Louis Celebrities Who Ought to Name a Candy After Themselves

In the lead-up to this past weekend's Grammy Awards, Gut Check received a press release announcing singer Chaka Khan's new line of chocolates and candles, which were released in the Grammy "gift lounge" this past Thursday. The singer sure had fun naming these new products. The chocolates are called ... More >>

Missourians Warned to Stay Away From Skunks

Skunks. So cute, so cuddly, so (if Looney Tunes is to be believed) romantic. You almost want to run out and trap your girlfriend one for Valentine's Day this Thursday, don't ya? Well, don't. Skunks are wild animals, ya'll. And they've got those musk glands they can squirt you with. That stuff will ... More >>

St. Louis Food Blog Digest, 02.04-02.10

Gut Check dishes on our favorite St. Louis food blogs. One Hot Stove: Nupur made green peas pulao. Iron Stef: Stef shared crab cake scotch quail eggs. Family Style Food: Karen made chocolate hazelnut baci cookie kisses. Eat Write: Judith shared barbecued beef made in a slow cooker. Rhubarb and ... More >>

Bestsellers: For Valentine's Day, Read About the Marriage From Hell

Here's your weekly St. Louis bestseller list for the week ending February 3, as compiled by the St. Louis Independent Booksellers Alliance and based on sales at Left Bank Books, Main Street Books and Subterranean Books. If disappointment in the dream of romance has turned your heart into a black, ... More >>

Baileys' Chocolate Bar's Laura Therina: Featured Bartender of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Jaime Lees profiles Laura Therina of Baileys' Chocolate Bar. Below is a Q&A with Therina, followed by the recipe for the Mexican Chocolate Martini.With the most romantic day of the year ... More >>

The Best Concerts in St. Louis this Week: February 4 to 10

Between the Superbowl, Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day, there's no shortage of excuses to celebrate something somewhere sometime soon lately, or even retroactively. Find a place to party this week from a varying list of tasty shows -- just choose your flavor. This week's recommendations await after t ... More >>

St. Louis Food Blog Digest, 01.28-02.03

Gut Check dishes on our favorite St. Louis food blogs. A Periodic Table: Shannon made buttermilk raspberry swirl ice cream sandwiches. Sounding My Barbaric Gulp: Kelly shared a liver recipe for Valentine's Day. Cupcake Project: Stef made gumbo cupcakes for Mardi Gras. The Sweets Life: Natalie s ... More >>

Announcing the Winners of the First Voice Media Group Music Writing Awards

By Ben Westhoff Each week in our print editions and every day on our blogs, the 13 Voice Media Group papers feature some of the best music writing in the country. That's why we're excited to announce the winners of our first VMG music writing awards. The honor goes to the authors of one blog post ... More >>

The Nine Best Hotels in St. Louis

The 2012 Best of St. Louis issue is fast approaching. Have you voted yet? Go do it now before it's too late! Have you finished debating the finer points of the 2011 issue? We haven't, hence this list. While researching contenders for a certain Best Of category last year, we realized our town has a h ... More >>

Scientists Figure Out How Red Wine Keeps You Young

The glory days of Mad Men, when doctors prescribed regular cigarette smoking and judiciously-administered (daily) glasses of alcohol, are, sadly, long gone -- except for red wine, that miracle drink that keeps us young and healthy while also getting us drunk. Good Lord how we love it! For a long ti ... More >>

Shamus Aid: Chris Ward Creates Benefit Album to Revive Fallen Wizard Entertainment CEO

Gareb Shamus was a colossus among men, founding Wizard Entertainment and turning it into the go-to source for news and views on collectables. For years he was on top of his fantastical world, running a company that produced widely-read publications such as Wizard Magazine and Toyfare Magazine. Yet ... More >>

St. Louis Is the Fourth-Most Romantic City

​Just in time for Valentine's Day (ugh, thanks Hallmark), Foursquare has determined that we're the fourth-most romantic city in the country. This information was gleaned by searching more than 1.5 billion check-ins made by couples on the social media system at typically romantic places such as win ... More >>

A Poetry Reading for Your Valentine's Day Pleasure

We don't know how you can possibly not know this, but here's a gentle reminder, dear readers: Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. So why not celebrate with what is arguably the most romantic of the arts: poetry! (Argument may come from those who support cooking) C.D. Wright and Forrest Gander, who also ha ... More >>

The Gut Check Valentine's Day Reservation Guide: One Week Out Edition

Image via​Valentine's Day is a week from tomorrow, you guys! Last week's edition of our Valentine's Day reservation guide found some decent tables available, via OpenTable, at some of St. Louis' favorite restaurants. Seven days later, many of those prime tables are gone, and we've given one m ... More >>

Hamm-O-Gram Contains No Real Ham

​Truly, we live in an age of marvels. Hamm-O-Gram is a new online service that will send a personal letter -- that's an actual letter transcribed from your form, not an email -- to the friend of your choice. What's so amazing about that? The letter includes "a picture of Handsome Man Jon Hamm, a u ... More >>

Bewitched, Bedazzled and Blingin'

Picasso's Bistro and The Artist

Kholood EidThe entrance to Picasso's Bistro.​At Picasso's Bistro (138 Chesterfield Towne Center, Chesterfield; 636-532-5353), very little of the art hanging on the walls resembles Picasso's signature style, distorted and dark despite splashes of vibrant color. Instead, you'll find hearts in al ... More >>

Plush is Ready to Open in Midtown

Back in October, RFT Music reported that Plush would be opening "next month," which is new-club code for "we'll let you know when we know." Owner Maebelle Reed has been laboring to get the club off the ground for more than two years, but renovating the 40,000 square foot behemoth hasn't been a walk ... More >>

The Thanksgiving Tradition

Onesto Pizza & Trattori's Todd Brutcher: Featured Sangria Master of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Sarah Baraba profiles Onesto Pizza & Trattoria's Todd Brutcher. Below is a Q&A with Brutcher, followed by his recipe for Butternut-Apple Sangria. Sarah Baraba​Todd Brutcher has a ... More >>

We All Scream For I Scream

Tucked into the row of antique stores and Mexican restaurants on Cherokee Street is the newly opened I Scream Cakes (2641 Cherokee Street, 314-932-5758), where owner Kerry Soraci's artistic vision has influenced everything from a kaleidoscope mural painted on the ceiling to the wacky designs of her ... More >>

Who Made That Lionel Richie Missing Person Poster? Randy Osborne, Ex-RFT Staffer, Knows

Randy Osborne?Street art, internet meme, or both? That is the question.​But let me start by saying ... I love you. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about art. Specifically, street art. As Exit Through the Gift Shop so poignantly illuminated, street art has in recent years become qui ... More >>

Steven McCoy: St. Louis Man Charged with Beating Infant Son

Steven McCoy​The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has charged 21-year-old Steven McCoy with critically beating his three-month-old son.St. Louis police report that they were called to a local hospital the night of Valentine's Day to investigate "critical injuries" to the infant. Their investiga ... More >>

Hear Beth Bombara's First Love Song for Free

​On Valentine's Day, Beth Bombara posted "Don't You Know" -- her "first love song," she says -- for free download over at ReverbNation. The song is from her late-2010 album, Wish I Were You. It's a strikingly beautiful song that starts with buckling banjo and then makes room for lush, lacy str ... More >>

Clownvis Singing Telegrams: The Photo Evidence

In honor of Valentine's Day, Clownvis Presley traipsed all around the region doing singing telegrams for some lucky fans. RFT photo intern Scott Layne followed him around and snapped evidence of the serenading. An entire slideshow is here; some samples are below.Scott LayneEven Clownvis needs caffei ... More >>

St. Louis Food Blog Digest, 2.7-2.13

​Gut Check dishes on our favorite St. Louis food blogs. Cupcake Project: Stef shared a recipe for Chocolate Coconut Rum Cupcakes. Off the Menu: Judith shares her recipe for Mini Chocolate-Pecan Tarts. Iron Stef: Stef shared a recipe for Coconut Peanut Soup, just in case the temperature take ... More >>

Public Display of Affection-Free Valentine's Day Dining Options

image viaPlease, no humping in public on Valentine's Day.​It's the worst night of the year to get a bite to eat without being accosted by crowds of smoochy couples, many who only set foot in a restaurant once a year and don't know how it works. Still, you've gotta eat. Where to go in St. Louis ... More >>

Artgasm: This Weekend's Art Openings, Feb. 11 - 13, 2011

Offset the commercialism and blind consumption of Valentine's Day weekend with some educational art appreciation. One good option is Dreamscapes, an exhibit of works concerned with dreams and their meanings. Get details on this event and lots more in the list below. Photograph courtesy National In ... More >>

Valentine's Dinner Deal at Robust Wine Bar

​The best Valentine's Day dinner deal we've found so far has to be the prix fixe tasting menu offered at Robust Wine Bar & Cafe. Three courses, each with its own three-ounce wine pairing, for $55 per person. Better still, the Webster Groves wine bar will feature this deal all through Valentin ... More >>

This Week's Tip of the Tongue Newsletter

Sign up for Tip of the Tongue here.​Gut Check not providing enough dining tidbits for you? Consider subscribing to Tip of the Tongue, the Riverfront Times' weekly e-mail dining newsletter. This week, take a walk through Winslow's Home and prep for Valentine's Day with "Tony Cole's Chocol ... More >>

Euclid Records: Label Updates on New Sleepy Kitty, Troubadour Dali and a Painkillers Reissue

Jon ScorfinaSleepy Kitty, with their record collection​After Joe Schwab filled A to Z in on Euclid Records' pop-up store at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival, he chatted about what the store's record label -- uh, Euclid Records -- is up to. First, the next installment in its "Euclid Sessions" seve ... More >>

Gay-Friendly St. Louis Lauded by 'The Advocate'

Let it fly, St. Louis!!​St. Louis is sooo gay...and that's awesome! So says no less an authority than The Advocate, the nation's longest-running publication for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.In its February issue, the mag's second-annual ratings of the most gay-friendly citi ... More >>

The top ten St. Louis music news stories in 2010

Top Ten St. Louis Music News Stories of 2010

Wikimedia Commons​As the old saying goes, no news is good news. However, no local news makes for a rather-boring music section - or music blog, as the case may be. If you aren't a regular visitor to this here music blog, definitely become one: We compile breaking news, show reviews and local t ... More >>

Fitz and the Tantrums Comes to St. Louis

"Did Motown and Bowie have a love child?" asks a YouTube commenter underneath the video for Fitz and the Tantrums' "MoneyGrabber." Astute observation: The LA band's modus operandi is indeed horn-laden soul with a twist of glam. Fitz & the Tantrums will be at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room on Saturday ... More >>

Kakao Chocolate to Open Maplewood Shop

Laura Ann MillerKakao Chocolate's original location​Owner Brian Pelletier tells Gut Check that he has signed a lease to open Kakao Chocolate at 7272 Manchester Road in Maplewood. This will be the second location for the shop the RFT named "Best Chocolate" in 2010, following the original at 2301 So ... More >>

You Can Take this Heat

It's just not all in the kitchen

Toulouse-Lautrec

Hammerstone's
2028 South 9th Street
314-773-5565

Feel the Love (or Don't)

Harvest Time

Roger Lassarat 2003 Pouilly-Fuissé

Tony's, 410 Market Street, 314-231-7007.

Sí Me

Holy camarones — Mi Ranchito doesn't skimp on the shrimp

Musical Toques

Wheelin' and dealin' in the culinary world

Side Dish

Vince Bommarito of Tony's is known for his goodnatured charm. But there's one thing that makes him hopping mad.

Side Dish

Truffes promises sweet delights to those who look past its unassuming façade