“Flap Faster Winged Warrior”

“Flap Faster Winged Warrior”

We recently had dinner at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill in St. Charles located at 1501 Beale Street, in the Streets of St. Charles, just south of I-70 at 5^th Street. This is where the old Noah's Ark was located.

We had made reservations for four and were quickly seated upon our arrival. The FireBar is a visual experience with it's colorful back bar, and fireplace with what appears to be a cast iron logo of a Thunderbird. So far, so good.

After being seated, our waitress gave us our laminated menus which included a number of very creative items. The problem was that my menu had a good portion of another person's meal smeared all over it. My friends menu was also dirty. We asked for different menu's and got two more smeared menu's. We finally got clean menu's and placed our orders. And yes, I did mention this to the host on our way out and he seemed rather non-pulsed. I expected more.

Sue, and our guests, ordered the evening special, short ribs with Gouda grits and brussel sprouts. This was a very tasty item. I ordered a cup of chicken corn chowder which was also very good. My main dish was steak frites, which our waitress insisted on calling steak fritz! Oh well. I asked for medium rare and it came to the table medium well. After looking at a number of website reviews, this seems to be a recurring problem. The fries were very good.

In the interest of journalistic integrity, I also ordered the seasonal dessert of Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Spice Butter Cake topped with spiced pecans and vanilla whipped cream, drizzled with Woodford Reserve-spike salted caramel sauce. This was the best part of the evening.

The atmosphere could be somewhat romantic were it not so loud. We we there on a week night, so it was not that crowded, and they are definitely in need of some acoustical treatment. It was difficult to carry on a conversation.

The wine list is more than adequate. Cocktails appear to be above average in cost. Food cost is average to a bit above average when you add ala carte side items.

Over all, I will give them another try, but I am not holding my breath. In the words of Ms. Hellfinger, of Chicken Man fame, they need to “flap faster winged warrior”

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is located at the Streets of St. Charles near the AMC theaters. They serve wood-fired steaks, seafood, specialty cocktails and select wines. Happy Hour is Monday thru Fridayfrom 4-7PM in the FIREBAR or on the patio.

They are open 11am – 10pm SUN – THURS and 11am - 11pmFri – Sat . Reservations may be made at 636-866-0984

New Hotel Saint Louis

A Reason To Go Downtown

There has been a lot of well deserved press regarding a new hotel in downtown St. Louis. The Hotel Saint Louis, at 705 Olive street is a $68 million dollar renovation of the historic Union Trust building. It was designed by Louis Sullivan and constructed in 1893. Sullivan is Considered the creator of the modern skyscraper, he is credited with the modernist credo, "form ever follows function.".

In the early 1970's I worked for HFC, now HSBC Bank. Their central collections office was in this building and I spent a number of months working in that facility. When we were asked to review items from Hotel Saint Louis' restaurant at a pre-opening tasting, I jumped at the opportunity!

The Hotel Saint Louis is the first Marriott Autograph Collections hotel in St. Louis. This description is based upon the fact that the hotel features many things that are unique to the St. Louis area. Everything from carpet design to food items have a local, St. Louis touch. Including their Chef.

Chef Birk is a native St. Louisan. I have known Chef Birk since he was flipping burgers at Maplewood's Cousin Hugo's. Since then his culinary journey has taken him to a number of prestigious hotels, Disney Cruise lines, his own restaurant in Jamaica and more. His philosophy at the Saint Louis Hotel's Union 30 restaurant is to serve you gourmet comfort food with a St. Louis flair at a reasonable price. This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner service.

Appetizers include their version of Famous Barr's French Onion Soup, and Mama's Chicken and dumplings. Salads include Al Baker's Chop Salad and the Mayfair's grilled Caesar Salad.

There is a daily special from the smoker which includes, St. Louis Pork steaks, Ribs, chops, Busch's Grove Cottage Fries, Collinsville Horse radish sauce and more.

Sue had the Classic Hill Fettuccine with Blackened Chicken, Parmesan and fresh cracked pepper. I had the Cold Smoked Strip Loin that is custom cut and grilled to the temperature you like. This was served with Creme Fraiche Mashed Potatoes and grilled Brussel Sprouts. Each item was excellent!

For dessert we decided to split the Union 30 Bread Pudding, a wonderful assemblage of bread pudding topped with smoked maple, bourbon ice cream topped with a bourbon caramel sauce and crispy bacon bits! Of course there is also St. Louis gooey Butter Cake if you want to go traditional.

A pleasant surprise ending to our meal was a salute to another piece of St. Louis history. We were presented with a miniature ice cream cone, which was invented at the St. Louis world's Fair.

The menu for each meal service includes a large number of delectable items with a St. Louis flair, all at a reasonable price. There is definitely something for everyone at Union 30 in the Saint Louis hotel.

A very well lighted parking lot is located behind the hotel for your convenience. There will also be food service available at the roof-top bar and pool area.

For more information go to hotelsaintlouis.com or call 314-241-4300.

I think we will be spending a lot more time downtown from now on!

Childhood Memories Still Live!

Childhood Memories Still Live!

Returning from Chicago, we stopped in Springfield, IL to visit a radio friend and Channel 20 meteorologist, Joe Crain. He took us to Keefner's Sandwiches, Subs and Stories for lunch.

Joe told us that the original Keefners was a soda fountain in downtown Springfield and my memory flashed upon huge ice cream sundaes and delicious chocolate malts!

As a child, I would visit my uncle during the State Fair and he would take me to Keefners on each visit. Needless to say, these are very fond memories. I told this to Angie Keefner, who is the second generation proprietor of Keefner's and she pointed to a shelf above the bar. Low and behold, the original, green, Hamilton Beech mixer was sitting there in a place of honor. They also have the old adding machine and cash register on display as well.

The menu is filled with comfort food and gourmet selections as well as some “healthy” items and of course, the mandatory Springfield favorite, the Horse Shoe and Pony Shoe sandwiches. A Horse Shoe is your favorite protein on a piece of toast piled with french fires and covered in cheese sauce, YUM! A Pony Shoe is half the size of the Horse Shoe. Almost every restaurant and bar in Springfield serves their version of this local favorite.

Keefner's also has a small bar and a great selection of craft and premium beers. A large chalk board covers one wall. You will see a very colorful display of the available beers as well as an ever changing, floor to ceiling, tribute to Spider Man. The Chef, another family member, is also the in-house artist responsible for these drawings.

My wife, Sue started her lunch with the Lobster Bisque. It was delicious. I had the home made Mushroom Soup, also delicious. Sue had the Italian Beef sandwich with home made chips and I tried the Braunschwieger sandwich with a slice of onion. It's difficult to find a good Braunschweiger sandwich and this was very good one and larger than I expected. A bit of spicy brown mustard and it approached perfection. I also had a small side salad that was enough for two people.

The portions were large enough that I had to pass on that chocolate malt for dessert, so we will be going back!

The next time you visit Springfield, IL you can experience the history of Abe Lincoln and Keefner's Subs and Stories. Its worth a visit!

Keefner's is open for lunch and dinner! Keefner's is located on the southwest part of Springfield in a small strip mall at 1941 W Iles Ave. Springfield, IL 62704. Their phone number (217) 546-1941 The atmosphere is pure Americana and the food is great!