Month: August 2013

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More Food TV: Movable Feast, Coming to Channel Nine

Movable Feast with Fine Cooking, a series of 13 half-hour TV shows spotlighting food and chefs across America, will premiere on KETC, channel 9 in St. Louis on Saturday, September 14 at 1:30 p.m.

Here’s a quick sample of what looks to be an enjoyable show, featuring spontaneous, pop-up feasts.

Host for the show is Australia’s Pete Evans. Among the chefs to be spotlighted are Jacques Pepin, Marcus Samuelsson and a man who touched down in St. Louis briefly, Larry Forgione.

The food looks good and the settings are spectacular. For more info, click on this link for finecooking.tv.

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WING DING 2013

Thursday (8/22) night’s Wing Ding at Queeny Park was a great night with wonderful chicken wings and tasty beer. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit with the other judges, event guests and the restaurant folks who prepared the wings.

That Pecan Brown Ale from Ferguson Brewing Company was a perfect way to quench my thirst after a plateful of wings. Big thanks, FBC!

Results of the competition follow below. But first, a few photos…

Judges included Allyson Mace of Sauce magazine, Michael Renner of Sauce magazine (preserving his reviewer anonymity) and Falk Harrison’s Chris Reimer (aka @RizzoTees on Twitter).

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Also on hand, KTRS radio producer Todd Wise and FOX-2’s Tim Ezell.

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More judges: Scott Roberts of weeklyfirecast.com, Steve Gontram of Five Star Burgers and Evan Jones of Feast magazine.

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Joe Buck’s provided delicious wings to Wing Ding guests and judges.

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St. Louis magazine’s George Mahe visited with VIP guest Brice Donnelly.

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These judges were brave enough to take on the really hot wings: George Mahe, Stephanie Tolle (aka @ironstef on Twitter) and Joe Holleman of the STL Post-Dispatch.

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These folks from Gobble Stop on Olive at Fee Fee in Creve Coeur won the HOT wing faceoff.

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Here are all the winners of the Wing Ding competition:

Traditional
1st – Three Kings Public House
2nd – Fallons Bar & Grill
3rd – Lester’s

Specialty
1st – Three Kings Public House – Chicken & Waffles with Bacon Jam and Maple Syrup
2nd – Gobble Stop Smokehouse– Sweet & Spicy
3rd – St. Louis Wing Co. – Thai Sweet Chili

Dry Rubbed
1st – EdgeWild Winery
2nd – St. Louis Wing Co.
3rd – Gobble Stop Smokehouse

Hottest
Gobble Stop Smokehouse

Judges Overall Favorite
EdgeWild Winery’s Dry Rubbed Wing

People’s Choice
Three Kings Public House

I have to agree: Those Chicken and Waffles wings from Three Kings (right across from the Tiv in U City) were pretty special!

Hats off to Erin Wheeler Boyle and the United Cerebral Palsy Heartland staff and volunteers for staging a fun event!

If you missed the Wing Ding but might like to make a donation to UCP to support their programs, you can donate by clicking HERE.

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Wings! (+ Beer and Vodka)!

The UCP Heartland Wing Ding is set for this Thursday night (August 22) at Queeny Park in the Greensfelder building (that’s on the Weidman Road side of the park). Doors open at 6:00 p.m. (Scroll down for full details on the event poster.)

Your ticket to the event allows you to sample wings from 14 different restaurants, along with beer from Ferguson Brewing, Schlafly and A-B/InBev. (With a VIP ticket, you can enjoy early admission plus specialty vodka drinks from Pinnacle/Major Brands!)

I am honored to be one of the judges for the competition. Last year, I enjoyed the best wings I’ve ever tasted! Below is a photo of one of the judges’ tables from the 2012 Wing Ding.

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Below is a photo of Scott Thomas, aka the Grillin’ Fool, responding to one of the extremely hot hot wings at last year’s Wing Ding. (Pardon my wimping out, but I’ll pass again on the hot wing judging.)

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Gather a group of wing lovers and join us this Thursday evening!

Flyer 8-14 v 2-1

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Location, Location, Location

Someone expressed disappointment last week via a social media post toward Kirkwood and its fine citizens for the closing of the Local Harvest store on Big Bend at I-270.

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But the issue, I believe, is not the residents of Kirkwood and the greater southwest St. Louis County area. Had Local Harvest stepped into a better suburban location, I think they would’ve had a greater shot at success.

Big Bend is a main drag but doesn’t match Manchester or Kirkwood Road (aka Lindbergh Boulevard in other locales) in terms of shopping opportunities. Global Foods thrives on Kirkwood Road. West of I-270, Trader Joe’s on Manchester—despite access issues—is always busy.

This is not to say that Local Harvest would’ve necessarily had huge sales in the ‘burbs if they were in an ideal location. There may have been other issues at play as well. However, on each of my visits, I was impressed by the store and its fare.

Had they located in a busier shopping area, they would likely have had more store visits and more opportunities to convert newbies into partisans. And that, for any retail business, is a vital key to growth and success.

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Fish Market, Birmingham

Last month I finally had the opportunity to eat at the Fish Market in Birmingham. I met the owner George Sarris at Railroad Park in B’ham last year and my dad had told me that his restaurant was excellent.

Fish Market

I took my dad out to dinner (for his 85th birthday) at the Fish Market (dining area pictured above) and it was good (and plentiful). Our visit was just a few days after a Birmingham News feature on the restaurant and just a couple of days before the Fish Market was featured on a Bizarre Foods segment that spotlighted Birmingham. (Included in the Andrew Zimmern visit was a stop at Jim ‘N’ Nick’s, a barbeque joint, at whose Gardendale location I dined in May.)

Fresh fish

At the Fish Market you can go to the counter and order from among the many fish on display (above). You can also select a live lobster or a live trout (below). Or you can opt for table service (as we did).

Trout

My dish was a grilled red snapper and barbeque shrimp combo, pictured below.

Grilled Fish

My dad ordered (and loved) a fried fish platter. He also enjoyed his gorgeous Greek salad with feta, pictured below.

greek salad

If you enjoy raw oysters, The Fish Market has several different types of oysters available at their oyster bar.

Should you find yourself in Birmingham, Alabama, check out the Fish Market. On 6th Avenue South, between 21st and 22nd Streets. Official address is 612 22nd Street, 35233.

If you didn’t click the link to the Fish Market’s website at the top of this post, click HERE for a (quick) fun video intro from owner George Sarris.