St Louis: Sasha’s on Shaw

 

A great shot taken by Rod Mackie through the window to us inside

A Lovely Wine Bar
4069 Shaw Boulevard, St Louis (corner of Thurman)
Not far from the entrance to the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Open Mon-Sat 11am-1am, Sunday 10am-12am

A delicious plate

http://www.sashaswinebar.com

Rod M outside on the patio

Our daughter lives in St Louis and we have visited Sasha’s many times, at different times of the year—in the warmer weather we sat outside on the patio but in the cooler weather people can still sit outside, as two outdoor fireplaces have lovely fires. Inside, in winter, there’s also a cozy fire with big stuffed chairs and couches around it. We sat there December 2013, to celebrate our daughter’s graduation from nursing school.
It’s a lovely place to go for a small celebration, or just to hang out with family or friends. Buy a bottle of wine—or two—and a cheese or meat platter for a relaxed couple of hours.
The last time we were there in October we were happy to use their new menu on individual tablets (some iPads), which was easy to navigate. The wine selection is pretty extensive (whites, roses and reds), plus there are a number of local beers too.

Sonya D and Nathalie M. Happy graduation

We’ve always been happy with the service there and love the ambience—informal, but bustling. The wine racks stacked at odd angles up to the ceiling are different to most others we’ve seen and the toilet doors are covered in wine corks—very innovative, as all wine lovers realize that corks collect up very quickly and then…what to do with them?

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Rise Coffee Is Rising In The Grove, St Louis

The side of Rise’s building sports a colorful mural

Rise Coffee, 4180 Manchester Ave, The Grove (the street with a lot of fun murals).

This is a relative newcomer to the coffee scene in St Louis and has become a new favorite for many, including our St Louis family.

It opened in October 2013 in the re-emerging Grove neighborhood. Rise is locally owned by Jessie Mueller and her husband Ron Mueller, and they want to focus on creating a local community in the area. The great coffees and baked items from nearby bakeries (donuts, pastries, vegan cookies, quiche, for example) certainly help with this aim. Their coffee speciality is hand-brewed “pour over” style, which we found very good. They also offer many other kinds of coffees and teas.

At the entrance

Another notable feature is that Rise encourages “pay it forward” as part of a Coffee For The People program and there’s a corkboard with coffee sleeves noting various cups of coffee or other items that have been bought and paid for by a patron, to be used by another patron. This way, folks who cannot usually afford to hang out in coffee shops will be able to join in this community.

The smallish two-story building has a lounge and kids area on the second floor, as they want to encourage people to linger. The Muellers have used handmade lighting and a mishmash of reclaimed, upcycled furniture. There are many other small interesting touches in the décor, which was Bohemian-inspired, and locally crafted.

Different reviewers have used words like quaint, hipster, a gem, cool, with an eclectic chill vibe, neighborly, and we’d have to agree with them all! The servers are all really friendly and the atmosphere is great.

Rise now also has a mobile Coffee Truck (probably the first in St Louis), which started in October 2014. It’s co-owned by Jessie Muelller and Nick and Sara Endejan, both of whom have been very involved in the Rise coffee shop—he as the manager and she as a barista.

A very nice place and well worth a return visit.

Check out their website for all the details:

http://risecoffeestl.com

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More Public Art—Earth Rabbit

Rabbits are one of my favorite animals and I love outdoor public art, so when the two are combined it’s a hit!

We found these one of the days when we were out hunting for the St Louis birthday cakes to celebrate St Louis 250 years of history.

See the blog about the St Louis cakes here:

https://mackie250stl.wordpress.com

This unusual seated rabbit sculpture is in Strauss Park, a small park on Grand, almost opposite the Fox Theater, St Louis.

 

First Night-Saint Louis commissioned this lovely piece of public art.

Artist Catherine Magel directed its creation in 2009 in a partnership between Craft Alliance and Grand Center, Inc., a local organization that promotes public art. Students from three different schools helped to create this 14-foot mosaic sculpture; Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, Metro High School, and Cardinal Ritter College Prep School. They each took part in a one-week intensive studio session, where they helped design the sculpture using ceramic objects, mirror, tile and glass.

Magel chose the rabbit because of its universal appeal and cultural significance, such as luck for the New Year, and fertility for creative ideas. The rabbit is seated in a type of yoga pose, it seems, with its hands/paws in a praying position. There are colored decorations dotted all over its body, some of known objects, some patterns, and some probably symbolic. It’s very thought-provoking, when one takes a closer look. If we think about world mythology and folklore involving rabbits and hares, there are many universal stories that can relate to our lives today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facing the Fabulous Fox Theater, Strauss Park also has a bronze portrait bust of Leon R. Strauss (1928-1999), an urban pioneer and preservationist. It was created by Jesse Vonk in 1999.

As the plaque below the bust reads, “ His vision changed the face of St Louis. Strauss’ accomplishments included the restoration of the Fox Theater with his wife Mary and Fox associates, the development of Debaliviere Place and Kinsbury Square and a deep commitment to the Saint Louis Symphony.

This monument stands in Grand Center as a tribute by a grateful city to keep Leon Strauss forever close to its heart”.

Hence the name of the park.

 

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St Louis: How About A Cuppa (Tea)?

An interesting old building indeed

The London Tea Room: An Anglophile’s dream in St Louis

The thought of real hot tea sounded very welcoming, so last weekend after ambling around the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market we were happy to try a new place (for us) in St Louis—the London Tea Room in the Tower Grove South neighborhood, just a block off the south side of the Tower Grove Park.

This location of the London Tea Room has been open for 5 months, in a re-habbed historic building (it was Hyde Park Beer) but the British owners have another location 4 miles away, open since 2007. I spoke briefly to owner Jackie James and she said they are very happy with this new location.

The tea room was certainly doing well the Saturday morning we were there. The warm and cozy main dining area seats about 25 people and there is limited seating outside too. Down a few steps beyond the counter is the Hyde Park Room, bright and elegant, which is for special Afternoon Teas (reservation required) or special events, like birthdays, baby showers, or anniversaries (reservation required).

The staff, all wearing matching “Tea Shirts”, take your order at the counter and bring it to your table. There are about 80 varieties of loose-leaf tea available, plus all kinds of delectable goodies, from pastries, to English shortbread, to scones, to quiche, all in glass display cases. It’s mostly tea-time goodies, but some light lunch items are also available.

Deciding what to order

It’s a bit of a dilemma as to which tea to choose. The cafe’s tea options take up four pages of a laminated menu in these categories: breakfast teas, smokey teas, flavored black teas, single estate black tea, oolong tea, green tea, white tea, red tea, and herbal tea. They start at $4 per individual pot, which gives about two and a half cups—more than enough for a relaxing tea and chat session with friends or family.

We opted for a pot each of jasmine green tea, regular Earl grey, Earl Grey with lavender, and the Naughty Vicar (black with a hint of vanilla), plus a shortbread and a spinach and cheese croissant. The staff steeps your tea order behind the counter and carries out the pots of these fragrant teas, in real china pots and we drink from real pottery cups. What a treat.

 

Nath and Sonya at our Paddington Station table

Brunch/lunch options

We (as ex-British colonials) felt right at home with the decorations, which are British/London themed, such as table order numbers with mini London Underground station names, biscuit tins with English themes, miniature Union Jack flags on top of shelves etc. Loose-leaf tea is for sale, plus tea pots and cups, tea cozies (we loved the one shaped like a Scottie dog!) and other fun things linked to tea. We bought a tea cloth (kitchen drying cloth) with a “letter to my son” (see pic), which is hilarious with its typical dry British humor.

Hours: Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Address: 3128 Morganford Road.

It now offers tea education classes twice a month (starting again in September).

Can buy tea and tea ware there, or online at http://thelondontearoomshop.mysupadupa.com

PS. Take the time to read the words of this the cloth—most visitors to the tea room laugh out loud when they do! (Click on the picture to see it bigger)

 

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St Louis: Cakeway to the West

STL250: Cakeway to the West

What a clever name for this celebration—a play on Gateway to the West, the nickname for St Louis, as it was the gateway city to the westward expansion of the USA.

This year, 2014, St Louis is 250 years old and the city and surrounds are commemorating this in many ways. STL250 is a city group that’s celebrating the founding of the city—officially on February 14, 1784—and the events, people, places, and cultures that have shaped the city.

Chuck Berry—one of the movers and shakers of St Louis history

(See a good historical summary of the city here

https://stlouis-mo.gov/visit-play/stlouis-history.cfm )

One of the year-long activities is the Cakeway to the West. 250 cakes are dotted around the city—cakes to mark a birthday and 250 for the number of years.

These 250 cakes are part public art exhibit, part scavenger hunt, and part history lesson. The STL250 committee chose 200 of the locations and the other 50 were chosen by public vote.

Each two-tier ornamental birthday cake stands 4-feet tall, and is decorated by local artists, reflecting the notable location. Each is unique.

I’m sure that we will not have the opportunity to find all 250 cakes, as we only visit St Louis about 6 times a year, but we will do our best!!

Here are the first two cakes:

Blueberry Hill cake

Blueberry Hill, a famous restaurant on Delmar

1) at Blueberry Hill, 6505 Delmar, University City. Blueberry Hill is a landmark restaurant and music club that started the revitalization of The Loop area in University City. The artist is Indy Bowers.

Most people probably know the famous song called Blueberry Hill, first written in 1940 but made famous by the 1950s rock n’ roll version by Fats Domino.

Listen to a YouTube audio file here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQCPrwKzdo

 

 

Cake to celebrate the St Louis Walk of Fame

Chuck Berry statue

2) one outside by the Chuck Berry statue at 6605 Delmar to celebrate the St Louis Walk of Fame (with sidewalk stars). This is also the 25^th anniversary of the Walk of Fame—one of the first inductees was Chuck Berry, a pioneer of rock ‘n roll music. He performed his 205^th show at Blueberry Hill on June 18^th, 2014, at age 88 (born in St Louis October 18, 1926). Wish we had been there!

The artist is Gina Harmon. Many names are inscribed on this cake—note especially Maya Angelou, who died recently, a world-famous author, poet, singer and civil-rights activist who was born in St  Louis in 1928.

Maya Angelou star: each star also has a plaque for a brief summary of the person

 

 

 

 

Hopefully I’ll have more cakes to share in the coming months.

 

 

 

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The Gardens Are Glowing

Entrance Plaza with Garden Glow sign

The front entrance to the Garden welcomes with many lights

Your journey begins through this arch

St Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden

Visual Magic and Sensory Light Tunnels

The Missouri Botanical Garden, rated one of the best in the country, is lovely at any time of year. The permanent plant collections are especially beautiful in spring, summer and fall, but there are regularly special exhibitions or events too. We’ve been to a Chapungu exhibition, a Dale Chihuly exhibition, a Japanese Festival, a Tulip Festival and a Green Homes, Great Health Festival, for example.

This year, the Garden staged something new: The Garden Glow, its logo “Your wish for a winter wonderland has been granted.”

We went one frosty night in late December to find out what it was all about, as many pictures had already been put up on various social media sites and it looked gorgeous. Well, it was just as gorgeous and fun as we’d expected, with hundreds of thousands of colored lights and light balls illuminating part of the gardens.

The Field of Lights leads to the Illumitron

The Garden Glow organizers set out 18 light exhibits, arranged on a looping one-way path about a mile long, each one with a fanciful name and a different theme. The front entrance of the Garden building offers a Shimmering Welcome with “moving” lights on the trees along the entrance road. Once past the Sparkling Plaza, the actual walk starts with the Glittering Gateway. We wander past Northern Lights and Field of Lights to the domed Greenhouse, normally called the Climatron, but now called the Illumatron.

 

The Illumitron gives off a soft green glow

 

The Solar Woods

Many people stop for a picture at the Glowmen Glen before walking through the Solar Woods on the way to the Candlelight Village.  Close by are a couple of S’mores Toasting Pits, although we didn’t see any toasting, only folks warming their hands! Close to the really fun Labyrinth of Light are a couple of stalls, with gifts, snacks and warm drinks (including gluh wein, and hot chocolate). Snack and beverage tents are scattered in other parts of the Garden too. The Frosted Forest leads us to the Spink Pavilion, which has the Café Flora open inside for this event. The Sassafras Restaurant in the main Garden building is also open at night for this period.

In the Labyrinth of Lights

 

 

The Snow Ball, a huge glittering sphere of lights, is like the MC Station, where announcements are made and various artists come to perform—dancers in warm white costumes, for example. On our way out, we walk through the Twinkling Tunnel, which is a tunnel of pulsating reddish lights. Next is a lighted Kiss Goodnight bower, which invites people to kiss under a huge bunch of mistletoe. What fun!

Part of the Frosted Forest

The stops are all very pretty and hopefully this will become an annual event. Judging from the number of visitors, one would guess that it probably will! In fact, we thought it was a little overcrowded, even though we had to buy tickets for a certain entrance time. It’s a great concept and a nice event for families—we saw many young kids running around, oohing and aahing, older folk in wheelchairs, young lovers etc.

It can be very cold, especially if you stop a while here and there, so dress warmly.

Apparently, the Garden is using sustainable practices to run this Glow. They are using energy-efficient LED lights, and also using the sun to power a solar panel to light the Solar Woods. Good for them!

Dates: November 23-December 19, 2013, Wed-Sun, 5-9pm. December 20-January 4, 2014, nightly, 5-10pm.

Cost: $18 per adult, $10 children 3-12years. $14 for Garden members.

www.mobot.org

Rod, Sonya and Nath by the pond

Inside the Twinkling Tunnel

The Twinkling Tunnel, through which we must all pass

Across the pond to the Illumitron

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St Louis: “Ladies of The Loop”

Musing?

The Loop is a bustling 6-block area on Delmar Boulevard in west St Louis, close to the University area . It has many fun speciality shops, great restaurants and coffee shops. Perhaps the most well-known is Blueberry Hill, a restaurant and music club, inspired by Chuck Berry’s catchy song of the same name. One of the most unusual is probably Cheese-ology, the only place in St Louis where you can find more than a dozen different types of mac ‘n cheese!

The Loop is also famous for the St Louis Walk-of-Fame, which honors famous folk from St Louis with brass stars and information plaques set in the sidewalks.

When we were there last week we found some really fascinating street sculptures of mannequin-type female figures. We dubbed them “Ladies of The Loop”. What fun.

http://visittheloop.com

From another world?

Go green!

 

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St Louis: Update on Endangered Wolf Center

Update on Endangered Wolf Center, Eureka, Missouri

Logo for the center

About 10 years ago I wrote about our experiences at the really interesting Endangered Wolf Center, not far outside the city of St Louis.

Take a look here:

https://viviennemackie.wordpress.com/silver-gypsies/endangered-wolf-center-st-louis-mo/

Well, I’m happy to give an update on the center, which continues to do wonderful conservation work and which deserves our support. If you are ever in the St Louis area, do take a bit of time to visit the Center, as it’s a great example of Animal Conservation at work.

Thanks to Cheryl Hughey of the Endangered Wolf Center, who sent me a copy of the newest press release.

The Endangered Wolf Center is starting its annual fundraiser and has decided to use Apache, a Mexican gray wolf, to serve as their “spokesperson” for their annual campaign. This might seem unusual, but actually this creative move supports their animal-centered approach.

Apache is a very handsome creature

 

As the press release states, “Apache was born on May 2, 1998 to Cheech and Juanita at the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Mo. As the elder statesman of the Center, Apache is a living tribute to the successful reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves to North America.

There are only 75 Mexican gray wolves remaining in the wild. This wolf is the most endangered mammal in North America and the Center has been making great strides reintroducing them back into the wilderness. Every Mexican gray wolf in the wild can trace its lineage back to the Endangered Wolf Center,” said Regina Mossotti, Director of Animal Care and Conservation.

Donations for the Endangered Wolf Center’s annual fund can be made by visiting their website at www.endangeredwolfcenter.org, by calling 636-938-5900 or by mailing a check directly to the 501c(3) at P.O. Box 760, Eureka, Mo. 63025, USA.

For more information about the Endangered Wolf Center, visit their web site, or read my article (above).

 

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St Louis: Winslow’s Home—practically home cooking!

Bright red chairs at the entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House rules above the bar counter

Whenever we’re in St Louis we like to try and eat lunch here. It’s a lovely place in the Washington University area, and is patronized by both students and locals. It has great food, a homely atmosphere and quirky house rules posted.

This fairly small cafe is situated in an old hardware/grocery store, apparently, and it still retains a rather old-time “feel’ to it—wooden floors, shelves with an eclectic assortment of goods to buy along the walls, fridges with local fresh produce and deli items to go, and a long counter area, now the bar and waiting area, but we can easily imagine it as a soda fountain bar in days gone by.

 

Bar counter along one side

 

In warm weather there are bright red tables and chairs outside, under an awning. Inside are about 12 tables, of varying shapes and sizes, all appear to be antiques. Besides eating, people sit and read, and browse the fun items for sale—from kids’ toys and games, to kitchen gadgets and nick-nacks, to cookbooks, to jams and condiments, and chocolates.  You go in and order from the counter at the back, then wait with your number to be given a seat. It always seems to be crowded, so you may wait a little while, but everyone does end up with a table. The servers then bring the food out to you. The food is really good, as it’s all organic, locally sourced (much from the family’s own farm) and freshly cooked on the spot.

An eclectic assortment

They serve breakfast items all day, plus various soups sandwiches and salads. For lunch, our family especially likes the tomato and basil soup, the torta rustica, the grilled cheese sandwich and the fish sandwich (but be careful, as it has sriracha sauce, which is very hot!). The salads are also lovely, especially in the warmer weather. We’ve enjoyed the simple salad, which is arugula with sliced green apples and the signature Winslow’s dressing. You should also try the special cookie with goat cheese frosting. Yummy! They have a number of special supper plates too, that change weekly and vary with the season, but always include a vegetarian, a meat, and a fish dish.

There’s an espresso bar, many kinds of cold drinks and beer and wine too.

 

A simple salad and healthy burger out in the sun

7313 Delmar, St Louis, MO 63130

314-725-7559

See their great web site for the menu and much more:

www.winslowshome.com

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A Bit of Louisiana in St Louis

“All Roostered Up” at Broadway Oyster Bar

The Broadway Oyster Bar is an institution in St Louis. The restaurant-bar in a unique 150-year old building serves great Cajun-Creole cuisine at wonderfully inexpensive prices. The atmosphere and ambience remind us of places in New Orleans, which seems to be the case with all the visitors, judging from the rave reviews on any site you care to check out. Wait staff are friendly and efficient, the beer selection is great and the food tasty and plentiful—find all the New Orleans favorites, like alligator tail, muffulettas, Po’Boys, grinders, crawfish, jambalaya, and red beans with rice.

We’ve been many times and it never disappoints and, best of all, live music features every day/evening—from Blues, to reggae, to rock, to jazz. Last weekend, at a late lunch, we were lucky enough to enjoy the group “All Roostered Up”. They play regularly every Saturday from 2-5pm and it’s worth a visit to the place just to enjoy that group.

Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St Louis (not far from the Gateway Arch, and just south of Highway 64/40).

See their website for all kinds of info:

http://www.broadwayoysterbar.com/index.html

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