Birmingham

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Some 2023 Dining Highlights!

I did lots more restaurant eating this year since before the pandemic began! A few highlights:

Great smash burger at Firefly Grill in Chesterfield Valley in August! Also enjoyed burgers this year at Billy G’s Finer Diner in Chesterfield and at the Duck Inn Market in Valley Park. And at Mac’s Local Eats on Oakland Avenue. And a decent burger was enjoyed at Ruthie’s Family Restaurant in Rosebud MO.

Dined at the Harbor House in Milwaukee in June. Sometimes when you go to a place where the location—in this case right on Lake Michigan—is the main attraction, the food and service may not be up to par. Happy to report that the Harbor House experience was top-notch… had a gorgeous chunk of halibut!

My 2nd favorite out-of-town barbecue joint is Jim’n’Nick’s, a chain headquartered in Birmingham. Had wonderful brisket at their Gardendale AL restaurant in May. Generous portion—had leftovers the next day. And their mac’n’cheese is great, too. (Favorite non-STL BBQ is Saw’s Soul Kitchen in B’ham but didn’t make it to that part of town this year.)

Lunched at Katie’s Pizza and Pasta in Town & Country in July. Had their triangular shaped pasta with pesto sauce. Pretty good!

In April, celebrated my wife’s birthday at Annie Gunn’s and we got one of their “snugs”(private booths). Son and daughter joined us. Food and service were extraordinary. (We had lunched there in December 2022 and were happy to be back.)

Had a nice lunch at Carreta’s in Creve Coeur for my birthday. Looking forward to visiting their new location in Twin Oaks (West County) which has recently opened.

Favorite waffle of the year was at Silver Pancake House in Warson Woods. 

Went back to Busch for a Cardinals game. Had the spicy stir-fry with chicken in the Redbird Club. Tasty and plentiful! (That’s right, the best ballpark food I had this year was stir-fry. Probably should’ve had a brat when we went to the ballpark in Milwaukee.) Despite Waino serving up a homer to Pete Alonso—I yelled at Adam to walk him but did he listen? No!—leading to another Cardinals loss, it was good to be back at the ballpark.

Favorite breakfast of the year—maybe because we had to wait for a table on a busy Saturday and were just a mite hungry—was at Half and Half in Clayton. That place has the strongest coffee in town! Food’s good, too!

In October, after a fall foliage tram ride on the Katy Trail from Rocheport to McBaine and back, we had delicious gumbo at the New Orleans House of Gumbo in Boonville MO. Spicy!

Made a City Foundry visit back in February. Food good. A bit pricey at some of the vendors’ spots. I got an “ancient grains” bowl and grandson got a waffle. Haven’t made it back yet but looking forward to sampling more of the Foundry food. Happy to hear that a coffee spot has just opened there! (I did get to the nearby Alamo Drafthouse movie theater. Anxious to try their popcorn with churros.)

Not the biggest pizza fan but loved the Kosmic Karma pizza I got from Mellow Mushroom in Chesterfield in May.

Biggest disappointment of the year for me was a visit to Nudo House in Creve Coeur. Broth was good. The chunk of pork in my food was not delicious and hard to chew. But worst of all… the place was cold inside on a 35 degree day. The message I got was “eat your food and get out!” We did. Won’t be back.

Happy eating in 2024! Let’s hope everybody working in food and beverage in St. Louis has lots of success and fun in the new year!

—David Craig

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We Make Beer

We Make Beer

The craft beer movement keeps growing and new stories emerge daily about brewers and their beers. Sean Lewis relates several of those stories in his new book We Make Beer. Lewis brings a reporter’s perspective and also shares personal viewpoints. This is Lewis’ first book but he has written for Beer Advocate magazine and is a skilled writer.

The craft brewers Lewis visits and writes about range from small operations just starting out to the two biggest craft brewers, Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. He finds that some are rather casual about their brewing while others exercise strict control of their beer making. Is it okay if particular brew varies in taste from batch to batch? Depends.

Because Lewis lived in Massachusetts when he began the book and in California when he finished it, those two states’ brewers get the bulk of his attention. But he also writes about breweries in Birmingham, Nashville, Austin, Lancaster/Ephrata (Pennsylvania) and Papillion (Nebraska). The craft beer scene in Portland, anchored by Deschutes, gets its due, too.

Sean Lewis author photo_ Credit Victoria Knowles

(Sean Lewis photo by Victoria Knowles.)

Lewis offers inside looks at the brewing process and the brewery business. There’s enough detail about what goes in and what comes out of a brewing tank to satisfy most serious beer geeks. Those of us who may not care so much for the technical stuff can enjoy meeting the individuals who make beer and learning about their motivations and passions.

He spends a few pages of the book addressing the 2011 sale of Chicago’s successful craft brewer Goose Island to AB/InBev. The sale “felt like a betrayal because Anheuser-Busch had long served as the face of the enemy,” he writes.

(I’ve spoken to Goose Island and A-B folks who defend the purchase, saying the main differences are stricter safety standards, better consistency in product and wider distribution. A-B also has the power to aid in sourcing raw materials plus capacity to handle demand in other locations that can’t be met in Chicago, they say.)

Lewis mentions in a footnote that naming a favorite beer is “an impossible question to answer.” But, he writes, “If I had to choose one beer to drink for the rest of my life, it would be Firestone Walker’s Pale 31.” I’ll be checking this weekend to find out if anybody in St. Louis has it!

Click HERE to purchase We Make Beer from Amazon.

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Boiled Peanut Hummus at Saw’s

My family always parched peanuts at our house. When I moved back to the South in the mid-80’s, I became aware of boiled peanuts.

Near my radio station on Jacksonville, Florida’s west side was a tacky-looking roadside stand that sold boiled peanuts. When we vacationed in the Smoky Mountains we saw boiled peanut stands in several spots in North Carolina.

I finally tried them and did not like ’em. Why would someone boil peanuts and make ’em mushy? I always liked my peanuts crunchy.

Boiled Peanut Hummus

Last weekend, on Easter eve, a friend and I stopped at Saw’s Juke Joint in Birmingham where they offered Boiled Peanut Hummus (pictured above). It was delicious! (Yes, those are bacon bits on top of the hummus.)

The peanut flavor was perfect and went great with both stout and saison craft brews. (It might’ve been a better idea to have offered pita bread or toast points—something less flavorful and salty than potato chips—on which to spread the hummus.)

We also enjoyed Saw’s Sweet Potato Fries which were among the best I’ve ever had. They are big.

Sweet Potato Fries

Of course, this is a BBQ joint, so on my next visit, I’ll be tasting some of their ‘cue. Maybe the Chicken Stuffed Tater (a baked potato with green onions, bacon, chicken and BBQ sauce). The guy sitting next to us at the bar was digging into one and it was huge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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.