Ann Lemons Pollack
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Flashback: Al Baker’s
If someone’s looking for yet another example of how Time Marches On, recall, please, that Al Baker’s, one of the perpetually popular restaurants of the area, was at Clayton and Brentwood. Ah, the indignity of being replaced by a Linens-n-Things, which, of course, was in turn replaced by a megapharmacy. Al Baker was a guy
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Three Tall Women
Every few years, St. Louis has a period where remarkable theater performances pop up on multiple stages simultaneously or nearly so. We may be having one right now. In another anniversary season, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, celebrating its 10th, has opened with Three Tall Women. Playwright Edward Albee, who died recently, is in a class
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Just One Bite: Al’s
There are a few dishes in St. Louis that are legendary in their greatness. One of them is the onion rings at Al’s downtown. The o-rings there have, in my history, always been at one of the first levels of divinity, and they continue to excel. The batter is tempura-ish, light and flaky, the width
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Sister Act
It takes a lot of work to make a decent show out of a weak script. That was the task Stages assigned itself when it chose to close their 30th season with “Sister Act”. They’ve managed pretty well, but nothing can help the script enough, not even the occasional really funny lines that are scattered
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A.O.C.
Everyone needs a little French bistro. Even if it’s not in a nearby arrondisement, it’s a place to go in one’s daydreams, to escape the mundanity of vegetable medleys and garlic mashed potatoes. I found one, way not in our neck of the woods, but in a place that’s not totally impossible, at least for
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A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Any old movie buffs out there? Do you remember Kind Hearts and Coronets, with Alec Guinness? That’s an ancestor of the newest offering at the Fox, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder. Except. After some legal wrangling, authors Steven Lutvak and Robert Freedman went back even further, to the novel on which the film
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Follies
Let’s cut to the chase here. The Rep has hit another one out of the park with Follies. In their fiftieth season – yes, and where, indeed, did the time go? – they’ve opened with the demanding, much-loved but less-commonly-seen Sondheim show from 1971. And they’ve brought in Rob Ruggiero, who’s partnered up with the
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The Muddled Pig Gastropub
It’s slightly disconcerting to this particular swinophile to say that the salads at The Muddled Pig Gastropub – an establishment dedicated, in part, to the glories of the hog – are quite excellent. Austin Hamblin and Michelle Allender acknowledge that the Berkshire breed, from Missouri farmers, are the focus of their work. We’ve been saying
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The Unloved Lunchmeat
Soon on the internet, there’s going to be one of those lists, this one titled “The Ten Most Unfashionable Items at Your Supermarket”. One of them will surely be braunschweiger, at least if the writer is from the Midwest. It’s true. But someone must be eating it; it remains in the refrigerated cases at supermarkets
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A Little BBQ Joint
I’m probably prejudiced when I say every Missourian should visit the Truman Library in Independence, MO. My parents were living in Independence when I was born during the Truman Administration. Furthermore, coming out of a family of Democrats (who worshipped FDR because he made sure teachers got paid during the Depression), it always seemed to