Farmhaus in St. Louis

If there was a lunch spot like Farmhaus, I would by giddy with joy.  I didn't get to try Farmhaus for dinner, but I was able to try it on Monday's lunch.  Lunches are a set menu - for a very accessible price of $10, you get to a salad, main course, and tea.

That's right. For $10 you get an extraordinary lunch.  I wanted to visit Farmhaus several more times while I was in St. Louis, but alas, my schedule didn't allow it.

So here it is, my only meal at Farmhaus.  It started with a delicious spinach salad with a sweet onion dressing that made me reconsider my stance on salads.  I don't often have cravings for salads, but this one was darn good.  The dressing was amazing that I asked for the recipe to make at home. 

In addition to the preset lunch menu, I ordered an appetizer of porchetta slider.  It was topped with house made kimchee.  The luscious savory fat of the pork belly melted into the fluffy steamed bun topped with crunchy, tangy kimchee.  Ohhhhhh yes! 

The main course was fried chicken, mac and cheese, and mashed taters.  The chicken had familiar flavor quality that I couldn't quite put my finger on.  It reminded me of having fried chicken at a friend's house as a kid.  It was perfectly crispy, perfectly seasoned, and satisfying.  The sides were really fantastic.  They were well executed, had a subtle gourmet flair, yet they weren't over done. 

Last was the dessert - a baked peach dessert.  The dessert menu wasn't printed so I don't remember the exact name.  What I do remember and will recommend is to enjoy it!

Dad's Cookies in St. Louis

During my trip in St. Louis, we had a little meet up.  It was just a little meet up with beer, wine, and snacks.  I decided to pick up some desserts for the week.  A quick search on the Interwebs reveals a place called Dad's Cookies.  When I first drove by, I nearly missed it as it is located in a residential area. 

Dad's Cookies has been around since 1938, and they sell by the pound.  The cookies are kept in giant bins.  You order your desired amount by weight, and they are weighed out on an old fashioned scale. 

A large part of the charm of this place is the scale, and the history.  The owners also mentioned that these were the original recipes (made with lard).  The original recipes were created prior to the ice boxes being widely accessible. 

I purchased several flavors including the Scotch Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Double Chocolate, and Chocolate Chip.  The cookies weren't crazy flavors, but good and old fashioned - perfect for a gathering. 

Pastaria in St. Louis

One of the delightful things I learned about St. Louis was that their food community was blossoming strong.  The chefs are close with each other, and they have the "rising tides lifts all ships" mentality.  It made me feel, amazingly, like I was home in Austin.  Pastaria, Farmhaus, and Libertine are some of the newer restaurants pushing their community forward.

When I was glancing at the menus, I saw this raspberry black pepper soda.  I've been intrigued with the idea of black pepper in sweet offerings.  This drink had just a bit of berry tang and zing of black pepper with the pop of carbonation.  This is something to would have paired well with a sandy beach and warm sun. 

I saw the chicken ramen on the menu, and I had to try it.  The parmesan broth was intense with flavor, but not overly salty.  The well-executed chicken was well-balanced against the broth and springy noodles. 
My favorite part was the egg.  I've been fascinated with poached, sous vide, or fried; I love eggs with the runny yolks.  I am a bit (actually very) sad that I only got to try one dish.  However, it was my second lunch for the day, and I needed to save some stomach space.  I hope to visit Pastaria during my next trek to St. Louis. 

Libertine in St. Louis with @CookingKid

The Libertine isn't just an eatery, it is like a secret meeting ground for food and beer lovers.  The staff was one of the most well-educated and cultured I've met.  I'm pretty sure they were 10000x more knowledgeable about food and beer than I was.

I arrived pretty late on a Friday night and sat at the window.  It was great for people watching and relaxing.  David Cohen actually recommended this place to, for which I am very grateful. 

Chef Joshua Galliano generously spend his time chatting with my about the St. Louis food community, and the similarities to Austin's food community made me homesick for Austin.  However, it also made me really happy that to know that St. Louis gets to enjoy a supportive and tight knit community. 

One of the first dishes I ordered was the carrot dish.  The carrots are ash roasted, served with pea cavatelli, served on miso-carrot puree, topped with hickory-pecan soil, and pea shoots.  This dish was brimming with unami flavors from the miso-carrot puree and the smoke gave it depth. 

This was a really delightful dish because it had a comforting Asian flavor in the undertone, but it was so subtle that it leaves you wondering, "How did they do that?"  This is one of my favorite vegetable dishes, ever. 

This was a gift from Chef.  And OMG, it was amazing.  The foie torchon's cold and rich flavors and the tart jam was perfect.  I took the leftovers home and had the rest on some toasted naan.  And then I thanked geese for having the biological mechanisms for fat storage in the liver. 

This was another dish that I was very pleased with.  These were crispy pig tails prepared buffalo style served with whipped gorgonzola brown butter polenta.  The crunchy exterior, chewy piggy goodness, and the pungent gorgonzola was a nice twist on familiar flavors. 

And finally, we have dessert.  They were out of gooey butter cake; so I decided to get the cheesecake.  The cheesecake was delicious.  However, my favorite part is the crust - embedded with cocoa nibs.  The dark bitter bits gave the sweet crust some crunchy bits and hints of chocolate.  I usually put toasted walnuts in my cheesecake crusts.  Next time, I'm stealing this idea for my own cheesecakes. 

A big thanks to @Explorionary for introducing me to @Cookingkid and @TheLibertineSTL.  A big thanks to Chef and staff of the Libertine for making me feel like home.