Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa's Lautrec Restaurant

A Perfect Dining Experience!

While attending Sue's class reunion, in Pennsylvania, we had the extreme good fortune of staying at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington, PA. This facility is an amazing example of excellence in hospitality and Sue will explain more about this destination next month.

While there are fifteen dining options available to all guests, Lautrec is the fine dining choice that you must experience at least once.

Lautrec, is one of just 30 restaurants worldwide to earn Forbes Five Stars and AAA Five Diamonds for 10 years in a row, at that! Lautrec Executive Chef Kristin Butterworth is the only woman to helm such an acclaimed restaurant. These are just a few of the many well deserve accolades held by Lautrec.

The ambiance is perfection. As you walk through the wrought iron gates to the dining room you will be comforted with cherry wood walls and ceiling, along with well spaced dining tables and art work that makes you feel that you may have just entered a private European club. There is only one service per night, so you will never be rushed because they want to turn the table.

Our menu was personalized with our names printed at the top. This was not a mimeographed sheet of paper, but a multi-colored hard printed menu. That was my first clue that this would be a memorable dinner.

Some unique items included a flight of various caviar, and while the left Coast no longer serves it, Lautrec offers a roasted fois gras with a truffle brioche, berry preserves, honey and sea salt. This place has class!

Lautrec's wine cellar has more than 21,000 bottles with a selection of more than 1800 different wines, ranging from $40.00 per bottle to over $14,000.00 each if you would like a 1947 fine Bordeaux.

The service is very attentive, but certainly not pretentious. Terry, our server, felt more like a good friend that had invited us to his home for dinner. He seemed to enjoy describing the menu items and offering a suggestion or explanation if we had a question. He made sure that there was no rush, but he also saw to it that all items arrived at the table when expected.

It has been said that we eat with our eyes as well as our mouths and I was totally impressed with the presentation of everything that came to our table.

Our evening began with an amuse bouche of pea soup with buttermilk cream and begonia petals. The bread platter included pumpernickel and sourdough rolls along with truffle scones. French sweet cream butter with Henri Toulouse Lautrec's logo in ash, Cypress salt, Sicilian olive oil and local honey was a perfect accompaniment.

Sue started with the Peeky Toe Crab, spring pea- preserved lemon- radish- caviar- buttermilk creme fraiche- pea tendrils & blooms. My starter was Grilled Gem Lettuce with a cured farm egg- pickled red onion- garlic crumb- white anchovy- parmesan dressing and aioli. Terry explained that the egg yolk was pickled for a week and the dry-aged in a cheese cloth bag for a month in the wine cellar. It is then grated like cheese. WOW!

I then had a tempura fried squash blossom stuffed with ricotta and rabbit sausage - charred green garlic aioli with powdered tomato and chive blossoms. Sue had the local Footprint Farms Asparagus with an herb crepe- goat rodeo chevre- pickled peppers- morels and sherry cream.

For an entree, I chose a wood oven roasted rib-eye of black angus wygu beef which was cooked sous vide and then finished in the wood fired oven. It was served with crispy wild onion & potato tart- morel mushrooms- favas- sous vide egg yolk and a ramp chimichurri. An engraved steak knife was a nice touch although I could have cut the steak with a fork. Sue's main dish was a Footprints Farm chicken and dumplings. The dumplings were purple potato gnocchi and tender roasted chicken breast served with roasted petite carrot- charred onion- celery and a black truffle velouté.

Micha, the Cellar Master, served me a glass of Maipe Malbec and sue chose a Cantina Tramin Pinot Grigio.

An interemezzo was a small raspberry sorbet cone served in a sugar bucket and a miniature bottle of watermelon/mint soda with a red and white paper straw.

I then had a Lemon Possett, lemon infused local cream- blueberry granita- frozen blueberries- white chocolate pearls and matcha. Sue had a S’more, a graham cracker cake- smoked chocolate- toasted lavender marshmallow- local light & amber honey. This came to the table under a silver cover, which when lifted, released a bit of hickory smoke for that campfire experience! Once again, perfection.

At this point we thought we were finished until the pastry/candy cart came to the table. There were a number of gorgeous selections and Sue had her mandatory raspberry macron. I had white chocolate bark with espresso and hazelnut flavorings. If you want a flashback to childhood, there is even a box of candy cigarettes and bubblegum cigars.

While we were not able to try Lautrec's Sunday Brunch, because we were having breakfast at rockwell's, one of the other restaurants at the resort, we did view the more than 100 items available and it was more than impressive!

Dining at Lautrec is definitely a world class experience. My only other experience that came close to this was three decades ago while having dinner with Quincy Jones at Roger Verge's Moulin de Mougins on the French riviera. This was one of the best meals I have ever enjoyed!

We are at the IPW International Travel Conference in Denver, Colorado, Six thousand plus travel people saw the B-52s play for our lunchtime entertainment!

This is a video of Rogers and Nienhaus doing a few Byrds songs

This musical duo have amazing harmonies and exceptional musical skills.

They are based in the St. Louis, MO area where they also bring together 8 other musicians to do a phenomenal tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young!

Please enjoy!

We will interview Eddie Money on the Travel Planners Radio Show on Saturday, April 14th, we talk about how to travel like a rock star as well as his new AXS-TV Show, "Real Money".

Eddie and I go a long way back to the days of KHTR-FM. This should be a fun one!
He gave us a link to a preview of his show and here it is:
https://vimeo.com/260444278/c97528b4bc

And here is the video of Eddie with me at KHTR. We come in at the 10 minute mark.

 https://youtu.be/oqStvG2XAhI

CASEY ILLINOIS' GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

Springfield, Illinois' World Famous Horseshoe Sandwich

Joe Schweska, who was the chef at Springfield, Illinois' Leland Hotel, in the late 1920s, needed a new item for his lunch menu. His wife suggested a sandwich featuring a Welsh rarebit sauce.
 
The first horseshoe sandwich got its name because the meat was ham cut off the bone in a horseshoe shape. It was served with potato wedges instead of fries.
Today's horseshoe, usually presented on Texas toast, features a variety of meats — most often hamburger, chicken, or pork tenderloin as well as ham and “secret rarebit style cheese sauces.

You will find the horseshoe available at almost all of Springfield's bars and restaurants.
This one, from Gabatoni's Italian Restaurant, is a pork tenderloin “Pony shoe”, which is half of a regular horseshoe. The meat covered a normal dinner plate and the fries were stacked at least six inches high! 
 
I could only eat less than half of this half-sandwich! All this for less than $9.00!!
Gabatoni's Italian Restaurant has been family owned for more than sixty years. Also pictured is a sausage and pepperoni pizza and a chicken-bacon alfredo pizza. Gabatoni's is frequently voted the best pizza in Springfield and I agree! The small house salad also great.

The horseshoe has been featured on national TV shows as well as. The Wall Street Journal 

Red Carnation's Chesterfield Palm Beach Hotel

The Chesterfield Palm Beach Hotel is THE place to stay in the playground of the rich and famous, Palm Beach Florida. This Hotel is the only Red Carnation Goup hotel in the United States.

The Leopard Lounge is where you want be tosee and be seen. Presidents, movie stars, singers, musicians and more have been known to frequent this luxury bar and gourmet restaurant. JFK, Lionel Ritchie, George Hamilton, Rod Stewart and are just a few well known customers of the Leopard Lounge.

The Chesterfield Palm Beach Hotel, located in the heart of Palm Beach, is also family friendly.

World class ambience and service is yours at the Chesterfield Palm Beach Hotel.

Please view our video to see all the details of the Palm Beach Hote.

We had a great Christmas with family and friends and Kevin also had the honor of being the Emcee for a Christmas party at the Missouri Veteran's Home.

Frank, who is 91 years old, and was part of the invasion of Iwo Jima, showed us why he and his friends are known as "The Greatest Generation". Please click on the link below to see why.

https://youtu.be/7SQIa7ftzpk


Merry Christmas to all!

If you are a musician or just love music, here are two videos from The Gibson Guitar factory in Memphis, TN and a tour of the Gibson Tour Bus. It's easy to see why Gibson guitars are some of the best in the world as they are all hand made. Enjoy!

A Great St. Louis Bistro

I recently got an e-mail from the Quincy Street Bistro inviting me to check out their Lobster Festival event. After looking at their website I found a familiar face; Chef Birk.

I remembered Chef Birk from many lunches at Cousin Hugo's on Hanley Rd.

Chef Birk, Matt Birkenmeier, got his start at Cousin Hugo's and considers Tommy Bahn as his mentor. From there he has worked for the Millennium Hotels, Wolfgang Puck’s, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ritz Carlton Resorts-Montego Bay Jamaica, Owner of Biggs BBQ-Montego Bay Jamaica, currently Executive Chef at Quincy Street Bistro; bringing his flare for Southern American Classics and Midwestern BBQ back to South St. Louis.

Mike and Sue Enright are the owners of Quincy Street Bistro . They have been married 28 years and call St. Louis Hills home. Both grew up in South St. Louis; Mike actually grew up on Quincy St.. They look at Quincy Street Bistro as an extension there family and home. The atmosphere they hope to provide is as if they are welcoming each guest into their home with a comfortable atmosphere, courteous service, and great food.

The building, formally a bar known as Jimmy’s Saloon, is 110 years old. The upstairs was four separate apartments with bathrooms down the hall. It is now, all open seating for approximately 100 for large parties etc.

The Lobster Fest offered a wide variety of the tasty crustaceans from appetizers, to soup, to entrees.

The appetizers included butter poached lobster salad, lobster cakes, lobster bruchetta, and a classic lobster bisque.

The entrees included tempura fried, or fire grilled,lobster tail, open lobster ravioli, and a lobster roll.

The menu also offered a cast iron chicken dish with a mushroom and artichoke mornay sauce, a Chef's cut tenderloin with caramelized onions, and a blackened salmon entree.

I ordered the lobster bisque, fire grilled lobster tail with roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts with lardons and homemade bread pudding for dessert. Each item was perfection. Chef Birk has come a long way from flipping burgers at Cousin Hugo's!

There were plenty of local craft beers as well as National brands, a good wine list and some house special cocktails. To be specific, the in house, barrel-aged Manhattan was amazing! Other offerings included a barrel-aged Sazerac, Old Fashion and a Manhattan De Sarona. They definitely have a well stocked bar.
I found it very refreshing to enjoy gourmet food in the setting of a neighborhood bar. It was truly a great experience! They also have table seating. The service was great, the staff was friendly and I think the Quincy Street Bistro has become one of my favorite places in St. Louis.

The Quincy Street Bistro offers special event menu's on a regular basis so check out their website, www.quincystreetbistro.com to see a schedule of upcoming events. You will also see some great photos of Chef Birk's culinary skills.

I am also tempted to try their private Chef Tasting for 2 to 10 people which includes wine, beer, scotch, bourbon, paired dinner of 3 to 6 courses priced from $100 to a market price per person depending upon the meal and number of people.

Reservations are accepted but you can also eat at the bar. The Quincy St. Bistro is closed on Sundays. They ar located at 6931 Gravois Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63116
For information or to make a reservation call (314) 353-1588

BB King Day Recognition

We have another trophy!

After video taping the 3rd annual BB King Day symposium in Indianola, MS, we were acknowledged for helping promote the event etc.

It was a group of long time, famous, blues musicians, many of whom actually played with BB King, discussing the "Chittlin' Circuit" and its affects on American music.

The event was followed by a jam session at the legendary Club Ebony. WOW!! It was incredible!!
We will be there again next year as well!

Boombozz Pizza, Louisville, KY

We ate dinner tonight at Boombozz Pizza on Hurstborne and left with mixed emotions.

This is a typical pizza and beer joint in the outer lot of a shopping center. The interior is typical industrial style with loud music, so loud that we asked to move to another table that was not under the speaker!

We started with soft pretzels and beer cheese queso dipping sauce. This was a very tasty appetizer! Next was a thin crust NONNA pizza. Once again, very tasty! I had a Blue Stallion Hefe Weitzen beer which was a true European style light beer. It was also good, but served too cold. I let it warm up a bit to get the great taste of the this beer.

We finished the night with an order of Nutella biegnets with a vanilla cream sauce. Caution, be careful when biting into these. They are filled with molten Nutella and you may easily end up wearing it on the front of your shirt or blouse. It did wash out easily with a napkin and water) Again, very tasty.

I would give this restaurant a somewhat high rating were it not for their staff. The hostess NEVER smiled the entire time we were there. This is certainly not the way to greet and seat your customers. The rest of the staff's appearance included what appeared to be members of the local skin-head club, and rejects from a tattoo class with a couple of man buns and saggy pants thrown in. None of this group added anything to my dining experience. The entire staff could certainly improve their appearance!

Overall, the food was good, but as they would text; "I prolly wont go back"

The "Street Rod" is a true American art form and thousands of them are coming to Louisville, KY on August 3rd - 6th. Swap meets, women's programs and more are all part of the party. Bring you cameras and we will see you there!

B B King Day 2017

The third annual B B King day will be Sept 7th, 2017.

The symposium will be at Mississippi Valley State University all day Thursday, the 7th. During this event you see dozens of legendary Blues musicians from Chicago, Memphis and the Delta region participate in panel discussions. This year's subject is "The Chittlin' Circuit and it's effect on American Music". You will have the opportunity to join in the discussion as well. The sessions are separated by live music performances.

Thursday night there will be a live "JamSession" at B.B. King's historic Club Ebony in Indianola, MS. You will never have the opportunity to see these musicians playing together anywhere else! The Club Ebony is part of the B.B. King Museum and Interpretive Center and you should definitely plan to arrive early and tour that facility. It is an amazing collection of memorabilia and displays of B.B King's life story.

The best part of this event is the fact that it is all FREE!

If you plan to go, you should make hotel reservations ASAP as they are selling out fast. We will see you there!

Kevin Is In The Kitchen

Kevin's In The Kitchen

My Sister and her husband recently built a new kitchen in their home. They designed it themselves with the help of Lowe's, where they bought their materials.

They took a few pictures and soon found out they had won a national contest for kitchen design. Their kitchen was featured in the local newspaper and Lowe's employee magazine!

I immediately said “I wish I had a kitchen like that to cook in”. Their response was “Why don't you fix us one of your fancy meals”? So the gauntlet was set! They invited a couple and we did the same, and it was dinner for eight.

I went for a five course feast with items from five different nationalities.

As our guests gathered, we had a buffet of double crème Brie, salami, and an Italian cheese and meat roll served with pretzel bread. The center piece was a pretzel bread with miniature flags from the five nations. I also printed a menu for the evening complete with the flags of the various nations. Each course was preceded with traditional folk music from the various countries and I include food quotes from famous people throughout the evening.

The first course was a Svekla Po Gruzinski, a Russian beet spread with walnuts, garlic and mayonnaise

served with pumpernickel black bread and a shot of chilled vodka.

The second course was an American butternut squash soup seasoned with curry, chives and cream sherry. This was served with a chilled Rose' wine.

Up next our culinary tour of the world took us to Italy with a recipe of my own. I did an form of lasagna with a base of fresh spinach and shredded Asiago cheese, Heirloom tomatoes from our garden with a bit of pizza seasoning, a slab of Norwegian salmon, and finally, a layer of shredded Parmesan cheese. Each serving was sprinkled with fresh dill, capers and a lemon slice. I served this with a sauvignon blanc wine.

Our next destination was France with a Salad Nicoise. Gordon Ramsey described this salad as “:possibly the best summer salad”.

For me, when I lived in Paris, a long night on the town was not complete without a salad Nicoise and a bowl of French onion soup at the Peid du Cochon resturant in the Les Halles market at 2 or 3 in the morning. Along side French Society in the tuxedos, and Butchers in their bloody aprons,, it was the perfect way to end the evening!

The salad Nicoise is a perfect example of French cuisine. Home grown, red leaf lettuce, with a vinaigrette dressing laced with fresh tarragon and parsley, accompanied by boiled fingerling potatoes, green beans, shallots, tuna, hard boiled eggs and anchovies. In larger portions, this could be a meal in itself. This was served with fresh baked baguettes, sweet cream butter and a classic Cote Du Rhone red wine.

At this point it was time to clear the pallet with an intermezzo of a small serving of raspberry sorbet.

Our next culinary destination was Germany. A standard fare in a local Gasthof, or restaurant, is Schwein Medallions mit Phefferligne (wild mushrooms) in a cognac cream sauce, buttered spaetzle noodles with fresh cut chives and green beans with specke, also known as bacon. This was served with a choice of Hefe Weitzen beer and/or a Pinot Noir wine.

Finally, I relinquished the kitchen to my wife Sue. I had worked in an Army kitchen, for a month or so, baking 500 pies, 300 sheet cakes. And a 1000 cookies per night! I don't care to bake anymore!

Sue did her famous Margarita Cheese Cake complete with tequila, triple sec, fresh sliced limes and whipped cream! Trust me, this is true perfection! This was served with Kahlua and coffee.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and I had the experience of cooking in the kitchen of my dreams! I send a special thank you to all who joined us for my attempt at a special culinary experience.

Gasthof Lowen, German Dining and Hospitality at its Best

Fine European Dining With Family Prices

On our recent trip to Europe we visited with family and friends in Tuttlingen, Germany. Tuttlingen is in the South West corner of Germany, near the Rhine river.

We stayed at the Gasthof Lowen in the suburb known as Tuttlingen-Mohringen. The village is a post card perfect southern German village with gabled buildings, lots of fountains and statues. There are flower boxes everywhere. The gasthof is a quintessential, family owned, “old school” gasthof with lots of modern amenities.

The reasonably priced rooms are clean and comfortable with heated towel racks in the bathroom, free internet and flat screen TV's.

The best part of our stay was the food and hospitality of the gasthof restaurant. The hard wood paneled walls, with hand carved cukoo clocks, lace curtained windows and fresh flowers on every table is truly “Echte Deutsch” or truly German. They even had the traditional “stamptische”, a table reserved for regulars who will usually be found playing cards, discussing politics and drinking beer. It is an amazing experience to be asked to join in this wonderful German ritual!

The Gasthof Lowen has been owned and operated by the Rothweiler family for decades. Johanness Rothweiler is the current proprietor and chef.

Chef Rothweiler's skills have not gone unnoticed. Gasthof Lowen has been Michelin Guide rated for the past four years. I must say that I totally concur with this assessment.

Dinner for six included, salads, cream of garlic soup, schnitzel, pork medallions in a cream sauce with Chantrelle mushrooms, a vegetarian dish, fresh asparagus, and a schwein kotlette with delicious French fries. Needless to say, more than a few Hefe Wietzen beers, which is an unfiltered wheat beer that is considered a light beer in Germany. It is a refreshing beer with a great taste.

The ten page menu at Gasthof Lowen literally has something for everyone's dining pleasure and tastes. Like any German restaurant, The desserts are incredible, so try to save some room for them.

The service was pleasant and unpretentious. The Food was excellent and the ambiance was exceptional. Everything about this dining experience was exactly as it should be.

Like most European hotels, breakfast was included. It was served in another dining area decorated with a working, antique radio, fresh flowers, oak side boards and more. Frühstück, or Breakfast consisted of cold cuts, cheeses, cereals, fresh baked breads, jelly and jams, fruit and steaming hot coffee. It is a perfect way to start your day and usually precludes the need for a lunch as you are sight seeing.

Things to see and do in the the area include the Rhine Falls, a beautiful set of water falls on the Rhine river, The Tuttlingen City Hall / museum and a small mountain range similar to the Ozarks that was formed by ancient volcanoes.

If you are lucky enough to plan your trip around FasFest, or Canival, you will be treated to a great festival of costumed parades and party's.

Now comes the best part. I booked our stay through Booking.com for $102.00 per night. The value of the US Dollar is the highest it has been in years and we found our entire trip was very reasonably priced. The cost of our dinner and drinks for six people; $128.00 including the tip! This meal in St. Louis would easily have cost over $300.00 and would have been well worth it.

If you have ever considered a trip to Europe, now is the time to go. Round trip airfare can be had for under $500.00 and a car rental, hotels and food are equally good bargains.

While a visit to the Tuttlingen area may not be considered a “tourist” destination, it is a place to experience the real Germany of today while being able to visit many historical areas as well. Enjoy!

Please check out their website: www.loewen-moehringen.de

Gasthof Lowen, proprietor Johannes Rothweiler
Mittlere Gasse 4
78532 Tuttlingen-Möhringen
Tel.: 07462/6277
Fax: 07462/7050
E-Mail:loewen-moehringen@t-online.de