Guilt-free Local Restaurants

Harvest Welcome to Harvest, St. Louis’ home of Seasonal Market Cuisine. We have always been very proud of the quality of our food. We use well-marbled beef, non-endangered fish, and sustainable agricultural products. When available, we purchase many of our products from organic sources. Our products are brought in fresh, not frozen, and yes, we make all of our vegetable, beef, fish, and chicken stocks from scratch – never from a canned base. As our patrons, it is important for you to know that we are cooking not only with fresh, flavorful ingredients in our kitchen, but with the environment in our minds. We strive to excel at “slow food” here, and hope that you will enjoy our daily efforts to combine sustenance with artistry, flavor, texture, and craft. $$$

Cardwell's at Plaza Frotenac With a special devotion to local, seasonal ingredients, our carefully crafted menu boasts the heart of comfort food and the flair of culinary innovation. We believe in ample portions, hearty flavors and lively table conversation. Our menu changes daily to offer guest the season’s best flavors and freshest ingredients. $$

The St. Louis Originals is a collaborative of independently owned and operated restaurants and culinary innovators committed to uniting the energies of local restaurants and celebrating the food and friendship that’s indigenousness to St. Louis neighborhoods.

The Farm Bill

The Farm Bill is a very important piece of legislation for anyone interested in the topic of food and the environment. Lizzy provided a link to the Chef's Collaborative that contains an article which has compiled resources to learn more about the Farm Bill.

Why should chefs care about the Farm Bill? Read all about the
implications ofthis big piece of legislation and how it could
impactchefs’ abilities to purchasethe local and sustainable
ingredients they value.

Job Offer: Teaching Position

A program planner for Meramec Community College in the Continuing Education Department sent me a job opportunity for an instructor to teach some courses related to sustainable eating, healthy food preparation, etc. If anyone is interested let me know and I can put you in contact with her.

Mexican Food

I have only found three tolerable* restaurants in St.Louis that serve Mexican Food. I'm pretty hesitant to eat at Mexican food places here because I know it will probably not live up to my expectations. I have yet to find gooood flour tortillas in this city.
* I'm from San Antonio so if I will eat Mexican food here that means it is pretty good.
**This list is just for my own indulgence, I am not sure whether they get their food responsibly. I will check into it.

Mi Ranchito (on Kingsland one block North of Delmar) I always get the grilled veggie fajita's and they are fantastic. The tortilla's are their downfall. I thought the enchilada's were pretty terrible, probably mostly because of the tortilla. The atmosphere is great for a fun night with friends and pitcher Margaritas.

Canyon Cafe (in Plaza Frontenac) This is a chain (aka bad, don't do it, down with the man) restaurant that is a little more pricey. It isn't authentic at all, but it is still pretty tasty. I enjoy the strongly seasoned chips.

Senor Pique's (on Manchester a few blocks west of 141) This place is authentic and delicious. It tastes very Mexican, meaning not the tex-mex that I'm used to. The chips and salsa aren't anything special, and the flour tortillas are not homemade, but the corn are. The enchiladas were very good, and I think that is usually a decent indicator of how the rest of the food will be.

The Burning Kumquat Farm Party

A collective of Washington University students are starting a campus farm called the Burning Kumquat. The first planting season will be next semester. I stopped by their Farm Party today to meet some of the members. I was happily surprised to see such a large turnout. If you are a Wash U student I'm sure they would love to have more people volunteer to farm next semester.

You can read the Wash U. Student Life article about the farm here.

My dilemma

I recently had a discussion with my friend about our displeasure with people being wasteful ( i.e., leaving lights on when they left the house, etc.) She stopped me in my tracks when she said, “Maybe we’re worse, because we know better.”
As I delve deeper into the topic of food ethics and learn about what my food has been through to get to my plate, I feel increasingly overwhelmed. I want to purchase food that doesn’t keep me up at night feeling guilty, but who am I kidding? I am a product of the 21st century. I like convenience; I’m lazy, and I’m busy. Everytime I think about the food I am buying, I find myself lost on what to purchase based on several factors: health, taste, convenience, and responsibility.
I don’t think the transition to responsible eating will be easy. I caught myself passing out fliers that said “Do you know where your food comes from?” and then buying a package of frozen strawberries in November. Sometimes I think I will move somewhere where I can work on a farm and completely live off of the food that I produce. I know this is not feasible in the long term. There is a serious problem with the food system in our country ( I can’t speak for other countries).Why should I feel that I would have to produce all of my own food in order to have the security that I am not eating an animal that was stuffed in a cage so small that it couldn’t turn around, or a piece of fruit that was picked by someone who wasn’t paid something even resembling living wage and then flown to me from across an ocean.
I cannot vouch that all of my food purchases are responsible. But for now, I am not eating red meat or poultry, and I try to buy local produce most of the time. Maybe I am worse, because I do know better, but at least I am trying.

How to Cook Tofu

Does anybody have any suggestions for cooking tofu in a way that it absorbs the flavor of the dish?

This article seems to be pretty helpful with understanding how to cook with tofu.

Vegetarian Friendly Restaurants

Tip top veggie food in St. Louis:*

The best is Shangri-La Diner (http://www.theshangriladiner.com/) in Antique Row. Weird hours, crazy employees, and a bizarre combination of dishes—but everything on the menu is delicious. It's the only real "vegetarian" restaurant that I've come across in the city. Plus, you can get the St. Louis Slinger vegetarian with veggie chili and either scrambled eggs or scrambled tofu. A must for St. Louis vegetarians.

I also enjoy City Diner (http://www.saucemagazine.com/citydiner/) for classic food—it's not exactly veggie paradise, but most of their dishes have a lot of fresh vegetables and there are several veggie protein-friendly dishes on the menu. Plus, if you're not a vegan, the shakes are delicious.

I've never eaten at Riddles (http://www.riddlescafe.com/), but they're very pro-local produce and meats. They have a great selection of changing seasonal vegetables on their menu, and a different veggie dish every night.

Another good bet for St. Louis vegetarian food is ethnic restaurants. I really enjoy Thai pizza on the loop (cause you can get pizza with tofu!!!), and the vegetarian Mexican options on Cherokee street are always cheap and delicious. There's also an Ethiopian restaurant on the corner of Kingsland and Olive that is really good (although a little pricey for what you get), but has a great vegetarian sample platter. On South Grand, there's the King and I and Lemongrass, both of which are good Vietnamese/Asian food choices. Strangely enough, I also recommend BarCelona in Clayton—the vegetarian tapas options are delicious and filling, and relatively inexpensive in comparison to the meatier choices.

*recommendations from Liz K.

The Vertical Farm

Currently, over 80% of land suitable for raising crops is in use.* Columbia Professor Dr. Dickson Despommier believes that skyscrapers designed for urban farming are a solution that will allow reforestation of current farmland, and local production and distribution of food to urban areas. Read about the project in this article, or at the project's website.

*source: The Vertical Farm Essay

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I just bought The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I'm sure many of you have already heard about.

Wikipedia summarizes the book:
Pollan explores the question What should we have for dinner? To answer this question, he follows four meals from three different food chains from their origins to the plate. Along the journey Pollan examines the ethical, political, and ecological factors that are intertwined in the industrial, organic, and personal (hunted-gathered) food chains, while describing the environmental and health consequences that result from our food choices within these chains. The book describes the shades of meaning related to the term organic.

sounds exciting!