Gateway to Gluttony

Tyler and I haven't been in St. Louis together for over five years. We've both had short visits since then but not together. This is the city of my birth, and where my food life began. Its not really a foodie town, but surely has a growing food scene. Right now that scene is focusing on ethnic and international expansion, but in time it will focus on quality and innovation. But not yet.

Last night we went to Asa Sofia, a Turkish restaurant across the street from one of the Ted Drew's - which is a St. Louis landmark. Not a restaurant I would avoid, but its not one that I would seek out. In sum, the prices are too high for the quality of the meal. Turkish is an inexpensive cuisine and only if the service is excellent should prices as high as Asa Sofia charged exist. Cut the prices by 1/3 and its a good restaurant. Avoid the desserts.

For lunch today we opted for rooftop dining at Vin de Set, billed as an American twist of a French Bistro. I started with a Mojito

and then moved to a French Carribean Salad (Confit, greens, mango & curry dressing).


Next we headed off to find sweets. First was Veruca, Niche's companion pastry shop. Niche is our dinner tonight and considered the top restaurant in town. We bought their candy bar and red velvet cake.



And finally we heard that there was a coffee shop selling 64 varieties of Gooey Butter Cake, which is the quintessential St. Louis dessert. They had about six flavors today and we tried three of them (original, blueberry & German chocolate). All were too decadent, but perfect in their own over indulgent way.