Ann Lemons Pollack

  • Local Chef Kitchen

    I am sorry to report that Local Chef Kitchen is closing. I am even sorrier that we lost chef Rob Uyemura to cancer in February. It wasn't widely reported, and my only excuse for not knowing is that I had my head in the throes of the upcoming book. Rob was a fine chef, a

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  • New Chow in the Loop

    The name "American Felafel" definitely doesn't mean you're getting dumbed-down fare from the Fertile Crescent. This is Jordanian-style food, a short menu and a variety of choices, many of which are vegetarian.  https://www.stlmag.com/dining/american-falafel-opens-on-the-delmar-loop/

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  • Hmmm…

    I have a soft spot for gin, I admit. But whoever thought this would come to be? https://food52.com/shop/products/7384-monday-non-alcoholic-gin?utm_campaign=20200511_shop_gin_v2_buyer&utm_content=B&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_term=20286451

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  • Theatre in the Year(s? I hope not plural!) of the Plague

    Things are starting to stir a little, which is exciting. Here's a chance to livestream something new, make a contribution if you choose, and avoid the potential for being Zoombombed. ERA is presenting MOSCOW!, Chekhov with vodka. Yes, it's Three Sisters with alcohol, livestreamed with social distancing. Because why not? Three performances for each of two weekends,

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  • Awards!

    Finally, we have news about the St. Louis Critics Circle Awards for 2020. We will be livestreaming the awards on HEC TV on April 7, at 7 p.m. We will be practicing social distancing so we won't be hanging out in the studio reading and laughing and celebrating, but we are, with the help of

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  • Awards!

    Finally, we have news about the St. Louis Critics Circle Awards for 2020. We will be livestreaming the awards on HEC TV on April 7, at 7 p.m. We will be practicing social distancing so we won't be hanging out in the studio reading and laughing and celebrating, but we are, with the help of

    read more

  • Annapurna

    Things come in cycles sometimes, don’t they? I’ve found myself in the midst of one that involves people from the past coming together again and resolving, at least, halfway, their questions. It’s been all around me. First-person stories in the New York Times, tales from people I know, episodes in literature, even in my personal

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  • The Mystery of Irma Vep – A Penny Dreadful

    Nelson T. Eusebio III’s production of The Mystery of Irma Vep – A Penny Dreadful at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis gives us a comedy so broad the Veiled Prophet could steer his entire float, queens and all, through it. Irma, the brainchild of the late Charles Ludlam, was never meant to be subtle,

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  • Dress the Part

    It must be quite a show if the names Sondheim and Stupefyin’ Jones pass through my mind in the first thirty minutes or so. Dress the Part, from Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis is a take on The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Explaining it’s set in an American high school, Verona Prep, and done mainly

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  • Wildfire

    Because of my own life, I've long been fascinated by the question of nature versus nurture. Upstream Theater looks at just that as it presents the American premiere of Wildfire by Quebecois author David Pacquet, the English translation by Leanna Brodie. Phillip Boehm’s company has never hesitated to present the new and different, and here

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