We drove down from La Crosse on Thursday. During the night it snowed a little making for some nice road scenes (again). We have lots of road scenes.
We originally planned to take the “back” route, but with the forecasts for flurries and so forth we decided the low risk approach was best. So we retraced our steps to Rockford, and then stayed straight south on I39 through Bloomington then branching off on I55 to St. Louis. Picture 4 or 5 hours of this:
Although there was the occasional diversion:
But eventually the boredom was over and we arrived at our quarters here in St. Louis.
All through the planning of this trip we had been hoping to be able to join up with our friend from DC who would be back here for the holidays. As it turned out, the only intersection available was last night (Friday), and we decided to meet for an early dinner as we all had stuff to do preparing for the Eve and Day…
We hoped to stay in the area and not journey downtown or up to Clayton. Our friend consulted his daughter who is quite food knowledgeable on the local front, and she suggested (among others) Peppe’s Apt. 2. A quick look at Yelp confirmed that it would be a good choice, Italian, and what better cuisine in St. Louis.
Peppe’s is located on a corner in Kirkwood, and the name arises from the fact that the building that houses it was once an apartment. Consequently it has a couple of “front doors” with the real entrance on the side. Of course we amused the diners by trying each one before tumbling to the real arrangement. Once inside we were seated at a lovely table in the corner of a smallish room, done all in whites, with several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Tables were covered in white tablecloths, with the usual silver and sparkling glassware. The napkins were folded into those sort of little hat things, quite fancy. There is just something inviting about sitting down at such a table, it shows they are proud of the place and are setting the scene for a fine dining experience.
Flashback to the formative years of the Feeder, when he was figuring out what good food and service could be here in St. Louis during the late 70’s and the following decade. One of our favorite “going out” places was a smallish restaurant on “the hill” home of Italian deli’s, and little restaurants. There was a place we found called Gian-Peppe’s, a little place hidden behind a plain front that enclosed just such a place as described above. And the food was heavenly, or at least my memory of the time. So naturally, I was curious if this incarnation related to the past one. The three of us arrived before our friend and his wife, and almost as soon as we were seated, an affable server approached. His first words: “Hello, would you care for a cocktail or glass of wine while you wait for your friends?” and offering a smallish wine list. Despite my initial resolve to stick with wine, in the end I couldn’t resist the drink test. I got through the DMOTR part, and before I could finish, he said “would you like a twist with that?”. That, my friends, is a first. At last…
MFO had a class of chardonnay, and it was brought very quickly, and the drink was perfect. At last…. So at that point I asked him if there was any relation between the place on the Hill and the present restaurant. Indeed there was. This place is run by the son of owner of the original, and our server had been with him for the last decade. When he heard we had been former customers, he said the bread and the veal were the same, and welcome home.. He went over the specials, and upon leaving the table said, if you have any questions, my name is Larry. That’s okay.
Fast forward now (still with me?) to right not. It is Christmas eve, we are getting ready to go over to FOJTE’s annual lasagna dinner. So to my disappointment (and maybe your relief) I am not going to go into my usual detailed description of our dinner at Peppe’s. I had veal saltimbocca, MFO had the special of tagliatelle with beef tips, my friend had a pork chop, and MFOS had a chicken Marsala. A quick note on the menu (with choices for all) contained a spaghetti dish that was described as “fried”, and Larry confirmed that indeed it was sautéed until crispy. Our friend’s wife was tempted, but said she was a little reluctant about the crispy part, maybe another time, and was there any meat sauce with that? No, says Larry, but we could just make the regular spaghetti and chef would be glad to put a little meat sauce on that. They could have said no, that’s what is on the menu we’re sorry. But no, they offered to make whatever the customer wanted.
Everything was cooked properly, with only the fingerling potatoes a little on the dry side. But the veal was tender, the prosciutto salty, and the mozzarella cheese melted just so. We split some panacotti, and our friends a chocolate tart cake.
All through the evening the atmosphere was friendly, service good, and in general a very nice experience. I don’t think that Peppe junior visited the table, although he did appear at another one that appeared to be regulars. I don’t object to that really hard, but it would have been nice if he checked on us.
So you St. Louians, put Peppe’s on your list for Italian…
And finally, I am not sure when next you will see the feeder, tomorrow is Christmas, and we leave for a return journey to Wisconsin on Monday.
So, like us slow down, enjoy friends and family present and memories of those who are not with us this year. Food is kind of secondary to that, but it sure helps.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the Feeder Friends. And by damn, you better be
DFD
and thanks to FOJTE for his network
No comments:
Post a Comment