Well, Andrew and I are back from St. Louis and we had a great time. As you know, we were worried about the weather, but everything worked out in our favor. We had a bit of a rocky start in Tulsa (check engine light came on and our neighborhood was an ice skating rink), but once we got on the road, it was smooth sailing. We started our journey around Noon on Wednesday and arrived in St. Louis around 5:30 p.m. So, we made pretty good timing. The weather in St. Louis was cooperable over the weekend, but it was COLD. The morning we left to come back to Tulsa, it was -10 degrees fahrenheit with the wind chill. Brrr.
Throughout the weekend, we ate at our favorite restaurants, did a little bit of shopping, hung out with one of Andrew's friends, celebrated Christmas with Andrew's family and really just chilled out. It was very nice visit.
Here are the restaurants that we enjoyed on this trip.
Dewey's Pizza: Thursday night was the first time that we ate at this restaurant. With a garlic flavored crust, the pizza was delicious. The interior had a bar, a place to watch the pizzas being made and had a contemporary, laid back feel. The price of the pizzas weren't too bad ($17.99 for a large), but they weren't as cheap as Dominos and Pizza Hut. I would definitely eat here again. Yum!
Stir Crazy: Andrew and I LOVE this restaurant. I really wish we had one in Tulsa. It's funny because each time that I eat here, I always think that we should open a franchise in Tulsa. The thing that is special about this place is that you can make your own stir fry. You are given a pan, you can choose your own vegetables and seasonings and you can mix and create your own sauce. Once you have finished your creation, you give it to a chef and then they cook it up with your meat and serve it to you on a bed of rice. It's really reasonably priced at about $10 per person, for chicken as your meat. Forget about substituting and replacing ingredients, you can create a meal that you want to eat.
California Pizza Kitchen: Andrew loves this place for wood oven pizzas. I normally have the spaghetti marinara, which is delicious. Of all of our restaurants, this is definitely one that is moderately expensive, but it's so good.
Penn Station: This place is to die for! If you love fresh cooked subs, then you will love this place. They bake their own french bread every morning. Plus, when you order your sandwich, they carve your meat and/or grill your vegetables after you have ordered your meal, so everything is fresh! My favorite is the 6.5" sub with grilled onions, grilled green peppers and lettuce. Andrew enjoys the Dagwood, which is a turkey sandwich. For a side, we normally share some fresh cut french fries. It's roughly the same price as Subway, maybe a little more, but it's so much better than Subway and Quiznos.
Melting Pot: Eating at the Melting Pot is a Christmas tradition with Andrew's family. At this restaurant you get to experience fondue, which is delicious. The waiters prepare the fondue cheese, broth and chocolate at your table, but you are given the freedom to cook your own food. It amazes me every time because you eat small portions throughout the entire meal, but you are always full at the end of the meal no matter what. You begin the experience with a cheese fondue (We always have Fiesta Cheese, which is a queso), which comes with "unlimited dippers" like bread, tortilla chips, apples, carrots and celery. Then it's onto the salads before it's time for the main course, the meats. To cook our meats, we enjoy the Coq au Vin cooking style, which is a broth of fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and burgundy wine. We use this to cook our chicken, lobster, shrimp and steak. After we finish our main course, then it's time for dessert, chocolate fondue. We always choose the "Oreo Dream Marshmallow Cream", which is milk chocolate and marshmallow cream mixed together with crushed oreos. It's delicious. Plus, you get to enjoy bananas, strawberries, brownies, cheesecake, rice krispy treats and marshmallows. Overall, the meal is amazing. It's expensive (special occasions only type of restaurant) at about $80 a couple, but you will be eating for about two hours. If you have a chance to go, I would highly recommend it!
I have to share one of the places we ended up stopping to shop in St. Louis. Have you ever heard of Straub's? It's a St. Louis based fine grocers and it's AMAZING. Andrew and I really enjoy looking around these type of grocery stores. This grocery store definitely knocked our socks off though. We are still talking about it! It's a mixture between a Harrod's, Whole Foods and a normal grocery store. You can get the foods you would normally get at a grocery store (ex. Bisquick, Kellogg Cereal, Lays, etc.), but you could also get specialty items as well. So, you have you meats, vegetables, bakery, frozen foods, deli, etc, but they also have 20 beers on tap, a cafe to grab lunch, as well as classrooms for cooking lessons. Additionally, I was in awe of the baking aisle because a quarter of the aisle was dedicated to sprinkles, there were over 20 kinds of vanilla and they even had pre-cut chocolate curls. Andrew's favorite part of the store was the meat market. He really wished he could have brought back to Tulsa a steak and a kobe beef hamburger. Anyway, if you every have a chance to take a look at this grocery store, do it! We will definitely be making a visit when we go back to St. Louis.
-N
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