by EP
As some of you may know, I spent four great years in St. Louis for college, and really loved my time there. Granted, I spent much of it on campus or in the immediate vicinity. There may or may not have been a few adventures to Illinois for some country line dancing (hello, Wild Country!) our senior year, but otherwise we lived in what was known as the “Wash U bubble.”
I revisited St. Louis in 2006 but that was pre-blog so I have no idea what we ate (except I do remember going to Jimmy John’s TWICE for some reason). A few weeks ago, I made my triumphant return with camera and a LONG list of places to eat in hand.
I arrived late on a Friday night and bestie Annie (former CHHS employee, owner and master baker of Annie Bakes, STL resident) picked me up and whisked me away to Pi Pizzeria. Pi is a local chain restaurant serving both thin crust and deep dish pizza pies. Pi is also apparently a favorite of Mr. Obama and there is talk of a DC branch opening, cleverly, on March 14 (3.14).
We arrived at the cozy and hip branch of Pi in the Central West End, and saddled up to the bar.
We chatted with the bartender, ordered a few drinks, and perused the extensive menu (which highlighted their use of local and sustainable food sources - my fave!). Starving, we immediately ordered two highly recommended apps: the proscuitto bites and the garlic bread. The bites were a welcome update to the mozzarella stick: they were balls of fontina cheese blended with bits of proscuitto, breaded in house-made breadcrumbs, then baked and served with red sauce.
The garlic bread was perhaps even better: hot crusty bread + roasted head of garlic + super-garlicky butter = garlicky heaven! We were warned about the intensity of the garlic in this dish, but after growing up on BCD Mom’s caesar salad dressing, I was more than prepared. Bonus: no vampires bothered us all night.
Then we ordered one of their classic cornmeal crust deep-dish pizzas. We actually ordered two different sets of toppings on one pie (half and half): half “south side classico” (mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers and onions) and half “western addition” (mozzarella, spinach blended with ricotta and feta, mushrooms, onions, and garlic).
Both were excellent and had a nice substantial crust, fresh toppings, lots of cheese, and the tomato sauce on top. Great that night AND the next day for a snack (because we apparently never stopped eating the entire time I was there).
After hanging at Pi for several hours, we met up with old WU buddy (and two time Emmy-award winning producer) Max for a few more beers, where we planned more eating adventures. Blog posts on those meals coming soon - seriously!
Happy eats -
Erin
As some of you may know, I spent four great years in St. Louis for college, and really loved my time there. Granted, I spent much of it on campus or in the immediate vicinity. There may or may not have been a few adventures to Illinois for some country line dancing (hello, Wild Country!) our senior year, but otherwise we lived in what was known as the “Wash U bubble.”
I revisited St. Louis in 2006 but that was pre-blog so I have no idea what we ate (except I do remember going to Jimmy John’s TWICE for some reason). A few weeks ago, I made my triumphant return with camera and a LONG list of places to eat in hand.
I arrived late on a Friday night and bestie Annie (former CHHS employee, owner and master baker of Annie Bakes, STL resident) picked me up and whisked me away to Pi Pizzeria. Pi is a local chain restaurant serving both thin crust and deep dish pizza pies. Pi is also apparently a favorite of Mr. Obama and there is talk of a DC branch opening, cleverly, on March 14 (3.14).
We arrived at the cozy and hip branch of Pi in the Central West End, and saddled up to the bar.
We chatted with the bartender, ordered a few drinks, and perused the extensive menu (which highlighted their use of local and sustainable food sources - my fave!). Starving, we immediately ordered two highly recommended apps: the proscuitto bites and the garlic bread. The bites were a welcome update to the mozzarella stick: they were balls of fontina cheese blended with bits of proscuitto, breaded in house-made breadcrumbs, then baked and served with red sauce.
The garlic bread was perhaps even better: hot crusty bread + roasted head of garlic + super-garlicky butter = garlicky heaven! We were warned about the intensity of the garlic in this dish, but after growing up on BCD Mom’s caesar salad dressing, I was more than prepared. Bonus: no vampires bothered us all night.
Then we ordered one of their classic cornmeal crust deep-dish pizzas. We actually ordered two different sets of toppings on one pie (half and half): half “south side classico” (mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers and onions) and half “western addition” (mozzarella, spinach blended with ricotta and feta, mushrooms, onions, and garlic).
Both were excellent and had a nice substantial crust, fresh toppings, lots of cheese, and the tomato sauce on top. Great that night AND the next day for a snack (because we apparently never stopped eating the entire time I was there).
After hanging at Pi for several hours, we met up with old WU buddy (and two time Emmy-award winning producer) Max for a few more beers, where we planned more eating adventures. Blog posts on those meals coming soon - seriously!
Happy eats -
Erin
Nom nom nom!! Gimmee that pizza! Like, immediately- I cannot wait til March!
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