August 24, 2015 by davidcraigstl

Wing Ding Fun (And The Winners!)

On Thursday night, August 20, the 5th annual UCP Wing Ding at Queeny Park attracted about 1,500 chicken wing fans.

The wings, served up by an impressive group of restaurants, ranged from very good to spectacular.

A group of judges, mostly from the media world, some of whom are pictured below, had the difficult task of choosing the winners. All tastings were blind; we did not know who submitted which wings.

Here is the list of the 2015 Wing Ding winners:

Traditional

The Kitchen Sink
Joe Buck’s
Winfield’s Gathering Place

Specialty

Sugarfire Smokehouse (loaded potato skin stuffed wings, wrapped in bacon)
St. Louis Wing Company (bacon wrapped wing with miso glaze, wasabi and sriracha aioli, and spicy soy glaze) (pictured below)
Three Kings Public House (chicken and waffles with bacon jam and maple syrup)

Dry Rubbed

Sugarfire Smokehouse
Walnut Grill
St. Louis Wing Company

Hottest

Ozzie’s at Lumiere Place

Judges’ Overall Favorite

Sugarfire Smokehouse Specialty Wing

People’s Choice

St. Louis Wing Company

The event offered St. Louis wing lovers the opportunity to taste a wide variety of wings from a large assortment of dining places. The Wing Ding also offered participating bars and restaurants a chance to share their wares with an enthusiastic group of attendees AND to put their best wings up against all the others in a friendly competition.

Nobody went home hungry and a significant amount of money was raised for the great work United Cerebral Palsy Heartland does in the St. Louis community!

August 12, 2015 by davidcraigstl

Yes, We’re Gonna Have a WING DING!*

If you love chicken wings, or even if you merely like chicken wings, you must attend the 2015 UCP Wing Ding on Thursday, August 20, 6:00 p.m. at Queeny Park. The event is in the Greensfelder building on the Weidman Road side of the park in west St. Louis county. (And, yes, the Cardinals are off that night.)

Tickets are 25 dollars. That gives you the opportunity to sample wings from all 22 (at last count) participating restaurants plus 2 drink tickets. A VIP ticket is priced at 45 dollars. VIPs get unlimited drinks, reserved seating and early admission (5:30 p.m.)

Tickets at the door are 30 and (VIP) 50 dollars. Order online by Monday, August 17, to get the advance ticket price.

Click HERE to buy your tickets and to check out the full list of participating restaurants.

Along with wing sampling, there’s also a competition! Last year St. Louis Wing Company dominated the awards, so this year everybody else will be upping their game a bit.

Celebrity judges include radio folks Guy Phillips, Trish Gazall, Patrico, Rizzuto, Staci Static, Joe Roderick and Howard Balzer. Also: food journalists George Mahe, Joe Bonwich and Michael Renner. Gabe Hartwig, Joe Holleman and Dan Neman represent the Post-Dispatch. Social media maven Chris Reimer, STL Winegirl Angie Ortmann, Grillin’ Fool Greg Thomas, BBQ “Godfather” Terry Black, FOX-2/KPLR newsguy Patrick Clark and myself are also among the judging contingent.

I have participated the last 3 years and can assure you that this is fun event. You will get to taste a wide variety of delicious chicken wing serving styles and can enjoy the company of several hundred fun folks. Plus—there will be beer!

Click HERE to visit the Wing Ding’s Facebook page.

*(Opening lyric to Donald Fagen’s song New Frontier from his 1982 album The Nightfly.)

July 10, 2015 by davidcraigstl

Throw Back (A Cocktail or Two) Thursdays at The Ritz

Beginning July 16, on Thursday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis, The Lobby Lounge will step back into the days of Prohibition for Barrels, Bourbon and the Bee’s Knees.

For fans of classic cocktails and nostalgia, here’s your fun! There’s no cover, no reservation required.

For each week’s event, The Lobby Lounge lighting will dim to replicate historic Edison light bulb levels, and vintage cocktails will be created throwback-style. Beverage offerings will include the Bees Knees — influenced by the honey, lemon and orange initially used to mask the taste of Prohibition’s “bathtub gin,” as well as the Mary Pickford, the Champagne-based French 75, and the Ward 8, shaken with rye.

The signature drink for the Ritz’s Prohibition nights will be a classic Manhattan, prepared in 1930s style using beakers and pipettes, and featuring Missouri’s own Defiance Rye Bourbon along with sweet vermouth, house-crafted orange-infused bitters, bourbon-marinated cherries and lemon juice.

Prohibition nights will continue each Thursday evening at the Ritz through August. The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis is located at 100 Carondolet Plaza in Clayton.

July 2, 2015 by davidcraigstl

Bud And Burgers Championship July 11

You have seen the TV spots that tout Budweiser as the beer to enjoy with a great burger. Now you have a chance to taste the top burgers in the U.S. and enjoy them with a Bud!

Budweiser has been conducting a nationwide contest to pick the best burger to go with your Bud. The champion will be chosen Saturday, July 11 at the A-B brewery in St. Louis. The event will feature an appearance by celebrity chef David Chang (pictured below) who will serve as one of the judges.

Tickets for the Bud And Burgers Championship are on sale now for $20/person ($25 on day of event). To order click HERE. You can sample burgers from all ten semifinalists. You can enjoy Budweiser Signature Draught samples at a frosty 32 degrees. And you can take a selfie with the Clydesdales. The event begins at 5:00 p.m.

The Esquire Network will be filming at the brewery as part of the new show, “The Next Great Burger.” The winner of the Bud & Burgers Championship Finale will also be featured on the show.

Live music will be provided by Matt Stillwell.

June 26, 2015 by davidcraigstl

Soused—Vodka and BBQ! Coming July 8

Isn’t it about time that one of the hottest categories in food (BBQ) comes together with one of the hottest categories in drink (vodka)? Yes, it is.

Capitalist Pig, located at the Mad Art Gallery, 2727 South 12th Street, just north of the A-B brewery, has a big event set for Wednesday, July 8, 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Sowsed (get it?), a vodka-themed barbecue dinner featuring Cardinal Sin vodka from St. Louis Distillery, will infuse vodka into every aspect of the meal, from smoking to sauces.

Among the menu items for Sowsed from Capitalist Pig chef Ron Buechele:

Barrel-smoked pork and pear with lemon vodka compote. (Smoked over wood from the vodka aging barrels.)
Vodka braised smoked brisket with with roasted grapes, carrots and garlic and more (pictured below).

Black bean salad with corn, hominy, red peppers and avocado in a vodka-lime cilantro vinaigrette.
Stuffed conchiglie with pork belly bacon and vodka arribiata sauce.
Drunken summer vegetables.
And… a vodka-infused dessert!

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Of course, the meal will be accompanied by a flight of Cardinal Sin vodka cocktails.

Hot jazz/swing band Miss Jubilee will provide live music.

But wait, there’s more! Each diner age 21 and over will take home a 375mL bottle of Cardinal Sin Starka.

Cost of the dinner is 49/person and tickets may be purchased from BrownPaperTickets.com or by clicking HERE.

One more thing: If you’ve never been to the Mad Art Gallery and Capitalist Pig, you should know that the building has a big sign out front that reads “Police.” It’s there for a reason. The building is the former Third District St. Louis Police Station.

June 16, 2015 by davidcraigstl

BPV Crawfish Fest Saturday (June 20)

St. Louis’s Ballpark Village will host its 2nd annual Crawfish Fest on Saturday, June 20, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Budweiser Brew House. Two packages are available.

For $25, you get unlimited crawfish, jumbo shrimp, red potatoes, corn on the cob and smoked sausages plus $3 draft Abita Beer specials. (Abita is brewed about 30 miles north of New Orleans.)

For $50, you get all that PLUS early admission at 4:00 p.m, a commemorative Crawfish Fest t-shirt and glass and reserved seating in the Budweiser Brew House Garden.

BPV will have a thousand pounds of crawfish to boil Saturday, so don’t be timid about going back for seconds.

The very cool North of the Quarter band will provide live music during the event.

For more info, go to stlballparkvillage.com.

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