Ann Lemons Pollack

  • Laganini Pizzeria & Restaurant

    Visitors to Laganini Pizzeria and Restaurant may think they’re just walking into an old Captain D’s, but the sight of a handsome wooden bar will immediately correct any perceptions. And while this is a restaurant whose prices are extremely moderate, there’s a nice note of dignity about the dining room, which reminds us of some

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  • Seasonal Food Alert

    Seasonal food alert: From now until March 19, Missouri Baking Company is making zeppole. What are zeppole? .We wrote about it in Relish, SLM's food blog. Run, don't walk.

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  • The Baltimore Waltz

    Paula Vogel's brother, Carl, died of AIDS in 1988. She wrote "The Baltimore Waltz," as a tribute to him and an expiation of her own grief. It's a wild ride of explanation and fantasy, of frustration, dark wishes and overwhelming love, with believable acting and first-rate direction. The Muddy Waters Theatre production opened last night

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  • Two Gentlemen of Verona

    Proteus and Valentine, the title characters in William Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona," and in the Galt McDermot (music)-John Guare (book and lyrics) musical adaptation, are more rounders than square shooters as they talk about wedding while aiming at bedding someone of the opposite sex. The play isn't great Shakespeare, nor is it great McDermot-Guare,

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  • Charlie Chaplin Series

    Now that the super-hype of the Academy Awards is over, there isn't much to see on big screens around town. With one huge exception. The Webster University Film Series, under the leadership of James Harrison, is devoting March to a great collection of movies, all eight feature films of Charlie Chaplin. A consummate writer, director

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  • Local Wine Conference Open to the Public

    We know that our readers know a lot about everything, but we sometimes wonder just how knowledgeable they are about the wines of our state. More than a century ago, Missouri grapes helped save the world's wine industry; about a century ago, Missouri was one of the world leaders in wine production. Today, Missouri is

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  • The Housemaid

    Stark and visually striking, “The Housemaid” revisits a classic, 50-year-old film of the same name. With a plot that has fueled thousands of pornographic tales, the Korean film that opens today has some nudity, more sex and a story of wealth, stealth and revenge all sitting as the whipped cream atop a milkshake of wealth,

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  • Modesto

    Some of these days we’re going to go to Modesto and try the paella – but we haven’t yet, despite quite a few visits. The tapas menu just lures us, time after time. Chef Grace Dinsmoor is back in the kitchen and things, both in the dining room, and the bar, rock on, especially on

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  • Carol Schmidt

    Carol Schmidt and friends played the Kranzberg Center last night in what she called a cabaret performance, but which felt more like an evening at someone's home, pickin' and cluckin' and having a high old time. At least the musicians did, and they will repeat tonight. Schmidt and Michele Isam, part of the late, lamented

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  • Nenette

    "Nenette" is a sultry, 40-year-old redhead, certainly worthy of a movie named after her.             She's an orangutan, the longest-living resident of Paris' Jardin des Plantes, or Zoo, and the subject of a fascinating documentary from director Nicolas Philibert, which opens here today.              Philibert, working with cinematographer Katell Djian and editor Lea Masson, skips

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