STL DPB On The Road - Pura Vida Una Vez Más

Greeting from our more-or less home from home, the northwest coast of Costa Rica. If you have ever visited, you know that the national slogan, pura vida, means much more than pure life in English. It's a pervasive attitude, a way of life.

Yesterday was a tough travel day. Those of you who know me personally know that my spine and joint problems have been up and down over the last year and at the moment they are really UP. We usually spend a week near the busy town of Tamarindo but we started this trip with three nights down the coast at the much smaller town of Sámara. This is out in the sticks and impossible to navigate in the dark. The hotel clerk recommended a few restaurants, none of which we could find (we got pretty lost on the dirt roads). We chanced by what looked like a Mexican restaurant and tequila bar. Ho hum, but we were tired and hungry. And so we went into La Catrina, which was a blast. Wonderful people, wonderful food. In our opinion, best margarita and daquiri we've  ever had.

Maybe I could say more later, but for now let me note that they have a miniature pet pig named Simone, who loves to squeal loudly. 

After Elvis Left The Building . . .

. . . in Las Vegas, presumably, it appears he ended up at a bar and restaurant in Grafton, Illinois. It's a nice little river town with some marine services and attractions for people driving on the Great River Road along the Mississippi. You quickly notice that most of the buildings below the bluff are built on pillars. The river sometimes floods big time.

We were looking for a lunch place with something Ellie would eat. (Classic chicken nuggets and fries were fine.) You walk up stairs from the parking lot and are greeted by the host.  He neither expects or accepts tips.           

New York Restaurants - Soleluna

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said,
   This is my own, my native land!

         - claptrap poetry by Sir Walter Scott

Back in my old neighborhood, Sunnyside, Queens. It still has a hold on me. Quiet when you get off Queens Boulevard; safe, unpretentious, plenty of services and very close to Manhattan. When I grew up it was a mix of Irish, Jewish and Italian. Now it's Irish, Jewish, Italian, Vietnamese, Colombian, Korean and I don't know what.  It's still just as pleasant. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a small apartment there, a pied-a-terre so we could visit New York more often? So I looked online for one bedroom apartments. A fully rehabbed one-bedroom costs well into the 300's. That's thousands of US dollars. Sigh.

So to console ourselves, we went to our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Soleluna. Very tight storefront Italian place with just delicious food, wonderful people and good prices for NY. They have a gumball machine out front, which I think is charming. We got acquainted with the people at the next table, whose story is too long to repeat here. It was the third time I've been there in the last year, once with the family and once with Olivier. We may return when we are back in town in July.                 

New York Restaurants - Santina

When Mrs. C and I left the Whitney last Monday we had an hour to kill before our dinner reservation. Right around the corner from the museum, sort of jammed under the end of the Highline, is a restaurant called Santina. We went in and sat at the bar.

The place seemed to have some fizz. They gave us the drinks list and the first was a negroni. I love negronis. The price was absurd by STL standards but, what the hell, I love negronis. Down the hatch. (See last photo.) It was the best I've ever had, light on the Campari.

The staff whipped up all kinds of exotic cocktails. The one above looked like - what? - an avocado volcano.  The place was fun and had an eclectic staff. The hostess on the right was taller than me. The wall art below is made of broken painted plates. We would go back to try the food.      

Hardware Failure

My new Fujifilm camera, for which I had such high hopes, has been taken out of service. A few of the autofocus features just don't work and a couple of other things are malfunctioning. Looks like it needs warranty repair or replacement. I spent hours yesterday trying to troubleshoot it. No luck.

So it's my trusty little Olympus for the rest of the trip. Took it out with me to dinner tonight. We'll see what can do in the blinding sunlight tomorrow.  

Lunch And Math

There is a chain of upscale pizza restaurants based here called π. Clever. The family had lunch at the downtown branch after the women's march. I was more interested in a glass of iced tea, though, than the expression of a non-repeating, infinitely long ratio.

Once in a (very) great while I wonder how pi was discovered and calculated. The hunt has been going on for at least 4,000 years. Check here if you give a hoot. 

     

Macedonian Wine

I am really low on material but last night brought an opportunity. There is a hot restaurant in our town, Webster Groves, that's been open about a year. It's called Olive + Oak. We've never gone because you have to book about two weeks ahead and, frankly, it's a bit expensive for our trying-to-retire budget. But my staff gave me a gift certificate for Christmas so off we went last night.

It was a delight. No space here for a full review but there was an unusual treat. The wine list had a page of "no one would ever buy this" bottles at reasonable prices. Absolutely unknown stuff. The owner is also a qualified sommelier and gave us guidance. We ended up with this Macedonian red. Just terrific. Ever drink wine made from kratosija or vranec grapes?         

Goodbye, Julian. See You Later, Celina.

We usually spend the night in Kansas City, a very nice town, on our way to see Mrs. C's family farther out in Kansas. KC has a good restaurant scene and Julian has become our favorite in recent years. When I was about to make a reservation I saw online that it was closing after the Fourth of July! I quickly made a reservation on Open Table.

I got a call Wednesday night from chef and owner Celina Tio. Did I know that they had a special menu planned, a five course tasting menu that she prepared when she won on Iron Chef? With wine pairings? No, clueless, but don't cancel our reservation.

OMG, it was heaven. Food and wine that was simple on the surface but oh so subtle as you paid more attention to each course. The highlight was almost inconceivable, lobster shepherd's pie, seen below. We were so glad we stumbled into the occasion.

The last photo is the rare image of Mrs. C and me, along with Celina and the wine guy (never did get his name).  She has another place, The Belfry, that we hope to visit soon. We may be back here in a month.

La Luna, El Cocinero Y El Capitan

Almost time to go home. We went to dinner last night at the restaurant of a boutique hotel just down the road, Capitan Suizo. Our old friend, Jujo Molina, has become executive chef. He offers a tasting menu on Friday nights at a very reasonable price.

A just-barely-not-full moon was rising over the palm trees as Jujo and his staff served us culinary delights. There was a saxophone player making sure our blood pressure stayed low. It's going to be hard to leave tomorrow.    

Sorry no post yesterday. I shot some video of the sunset Thursday evening but I don't know a thing about editing them movin' pitchers and it took me hours to figure out the basics of iMovie. Then it took three hours to upload the clip to Blogger, and then it didn't work. It may show up here yet.  

The Fat Angel

We had dinner Saturday night at a restaurant called Der Dicker Engel, The Fat Angel. It was recommended by someone back home. We would never have found it on our own. It's a good neighborhood place serving well-made, traditional German food. What sets it apart is the name and theme. Wacky.

The big thing in the top picture soars over the dining room. The Raphael putti are not leaning on the bar waiting for a drink. They are painted onto a glass wall between the dining room and the bar. Everything was simple and good. The wine label translates as "nice dry red wine" and it was. A typical German meal involves pork and potatoes, and lots of it. That's how you get to be dicker.            

Dinner At The Art Museum

From time to time Panorama, the excellent restaurant at the Saint Louis Art Museum, offers a prix fixe tasting menu with beverage pairings (not necessarily wine). Last night the theme was bubbles - prosecco, sparkling rose, champagne and fizzy moscato. Mrs. C and I were in attendance. Executive chef Ivy Magruder and wine consultant Mike Ward explained the offerings to the crowd, at least those who looked up from their phones. Yum.               

Dinner At The Art Museum

The St. Louis Art Museum has an excellent restaurant, Panorama, named, I suppose, for its sweeping view of the statue of Louis IX and Art Hill. The restaurant got terrible reviews when it first opened. The current executive chef, Ivy Magruder, has engineered a complete turn around.

We had not heard about this until a couple of days ago. The museum hardly publicizes it but one Friday a month, Panorama runs a multi-course, prix fixe tasting menu they call Art At The Table. Mrs. C hapened to find out about it and we attended last night's meal. It has a seafood theme. Very, very good. We booked for June on the spot.

That's Chef Magruder in the second picture. Bottom, the entrance to the George Caleb Bingham exhibit. It closes tomorrow. We're going this afternoon.

                         

Kitchen Art

In this country, at least, professional chefs own their personal set of premium knives. My son-in-law, who is executive chef for St. Louis University's arena and athletic facilities, has for years. He is not so extreme, though, as to have them tattooed on his forearm.

Element has an open kitchen, a popular design these days, and we were seated right in front of it Friday night. The people doing the cooking were precise, very organized and obviously enjoyed their work and one another. They had a great air of competence. It certainly showed on the plates put before us.                  

Elemental

Late post today since I literally fell asleep over my laptop last night. The family went out to dinner at Element, a newish restaurant, located between Lafayette Square and Soulard in an old industrial building. We thought it was terrific. The people were delightful, the menu inventive and the wine list of modest size but high in quality and value. We will go back. More about the place tomorrow.