I had a great weekend. A great weekend for me consists of the following:
1. Getting to work out
2. Getting to hangout with good friends
3. Eating my face off
4. Having at least one good cocktail/glass of wine
Mission accomplished. Working out is #1 due to items 3 & 4 which are usually exacerbated by item 2.
Friday, I didn't have plans and wanted to have plans. Normally I do not have to seek out events, but Friday was different. I realized that night that almost ALL of my friends are married and/or have kids at this point. I don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner, but it was apparent after trying to make some last minute plans. So, after exhausting my friends options, I proceeded about my evening alone. First stop, the Galleria. I typically am not a mall person. I need to go there to make my monthly trek to Sephora for some sort of overpriced face product that I simply can not live with out. After that I continue to Nordstrom, where I had a very pleasant interaction with a sales person in the accessories department who learned of my belt neurosis. She overcame my affliction and I ended up purchasing a darling belt. Done.
After my shopping excursion, I was exhausted. I have been wanting to try and I mean really try (eat my face off) at Taste since it abandoned our delightful Benton Park neighborhood for the CWE (note the bitterness). I decided Friday was the night. I pulled on to Laclede and promptly found a metered space less than a block away (the stars aligned). I walked into Taste (http://tastebarstl.com/) and immediately was greeted by Ted Kilgore, mixologist extraordinaire. This made me very happy, because part of my love for the original Taste, was having access to him and his extensive knowledge of all things alcohol. I looked over the drink menu which I'll be honest, is a bit overwhelming. I fancy myself very knowledgeable about food and drink, but I was at a loss. There are two drink menus, one that is normal and I did understand, but why go to Taste and get something normal? Anyway, I ended up saying to Ted, "My favorite drink is a Negroni. Could you make me something that is along those lines?" He didn't even hesitate and made me a cocktail which he stated was his favorite creation of late and it would be on the menu sometime shortly. It was delightful! Bitter, aromatic, slight orange essence. Really great.
I proceeded to order the toasted radish bruschetta. How often do you see toasted radishes? I was intrigued. The one medium sized piece of bruschetta came out in a cute little cast iron dish. My first bite was just of radish and it was SUPER salty. Then I realized, you really need to each the radish with the bread and the ricotta. Seriously delightful. More of an earthy dish, suitable for the fall, but radishes are in season, so I get where they were going. Following that, I ordered the pate, which if I remember correctly was pork with cherries and a side of heavily dressed arugula. This was served with toasted, bruschetta crunchy slices of baguette. This was good also, although really not as flavorful as it should have been. If you don't really usually like pate because it can taste irony (liver) then I would suggest this. If you like irony or offal type things, this was kind of a throw away.
Beyond the food, the company at the bar was really great. Those who know me, know I am not outgoing with strangers, but sitting alone at the bar, I met some really great people who loved food and/or drinks as much as I did. It was a fantastic low key evening. I should mention, it wasn't cheap-think $10 cocktails and $9 small plates. Well worth it, for a once-in-a-while excursion.
No comments:
Post a Comment