Ann Lemons Pollack

  • Kingside Diner

    It could be – and probably has been – argued that the Kingside Diner isn't truly a diner. The mere presence of the word quinoa on the menu allegedly proves it, let alone things like the use of cloth napkins. (I do admit that they're quite sturdy ones, rather like dish towels, homey rather than

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  • Anthony’s – The First One

    St. Louis has never had a restaurant more elegant for its time than the original Anthony's. The French sibling of Tony's, it was lush and intimate and left clients feeling as coddled as if they were on eiderdown. Here's a little more about it. And I certainly remember a particular romantic lunch, but that's another story. 

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  • Chiles In The Heat

    Have you heard of Hatch chiles? They come from an area of southern New Mexico near the Rio Grande River, around the town of Hatch. So it's a geographical name, not a variety of chile pepper. The harvest is in – and St. Louis has some. They're at the two Lucky's Markets, and I write about

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  • Felix’s Pizza Pub

     What a good idea: A pizza place that's not just a pizza place. Think about how many arguments Felix's Pizza Pub has saved. "I want pizza, okay?" "Aw, man, you always want pizza. How about a sandwich, or maybe some wings?" "But I've just got a craving for pizza. You can get a sandwich at

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  • The Amish Project

    Autumn is here. Yes, it's not yet Labor Day, and no one is wearing sweaters (except indoors at cold offices), but the theater season has opened. "The Amish Project", by Jessica Dickey, kicks off the ninth season for Mustard Seed Theatre. Somewhat based on the Amish schoolhouse shootings nine years ago, it gains an accidental

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  • Evangeline’s Bistro and Music House

     Whee! Jazz brunch! Forget the raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens; jazz brunches certainly are among my favorite things, expecially when it's New Orleans-style. And that's what Evangeline's Bistro and Music House is delivering on Sundays. Brunch starts at 11 and music starts at 11.30 a.m. The group Miss Jubilee plays the Sunday brunch,

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  • Sweetie Pie’s: An Introduction

    As I said recently, I do St. Louis things for an international foodie website called FoodieHub. Our fearless leader asked me about Sweetie Pie's, which he'd read a little bit about. The result was this story about the inimitable Robbie Montgomery. And if you're serious about the Fried Chicken Wars, Sweetie Pie's entry for that needs

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  • Fried Chicken Wars: Hiro Asian Kitchen

     Another fried chicken stop, this one with limited availability: It's Hiro's Asian Kitchen, which is offering Miss Leon Braxton's yardbird on Sunday evenings – and at this writing, there's also chicken and waffles at their Sunday brunch, too. There's a real home-style feel to the chicken, the crust relatively thin but nicely crisp, very flavorful

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  • Pi Breaks A Hundred

    The website The Daily Meal has announced its list 101 Best Pizzas in America. Not just pizza places, mind you, but specific pies. (Anyone ever noticed that the word "pies" isn't used in St. Louis much to refer to pizzas? It's always seemed to me an East Coast thing – I began my serious pizza

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  • Oklahoma!

     When I was growing up, the Muny – or as the shorthand for it was then, "the Opera" – staged a lot of Sigmund Romberg operettas. Or at least they seemed to, and although I'd only seen them on film, I loathed them. They seemed to me to be some sort of Basic Grownup Boring

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