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The following modules appear on the "Food & Drink" home page of stlmag.com.
Burnin' Love Festival: Appropriately named, the inaugural event for our city's 250th birthday party (originally slated for February 14, now rescheduled for February 18) kicks off in Forest Park, with entertainment by Erin Bode, Pokey LaFarge, Steve Davis' Memories of Elvis, and the Royal Rhythm and Blues All Stars. There'll be couples getting engaged, activities for the kids, and a slew of food vendors, plus coffees, teas, beer, and wine. Get your hunka-hunka on over to Art Hill from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Admission is free, food and bev samples are a few dollars per. (Editor's Note: Due to the postponement, stay abreast of updates and changes here.)
Spectacular Spiedini If you ask us, there's a lot of average chicken spiedini out there and not enough of the good stuff, so let it be known that Vito's in the Valley serves some of the best we've had. A half-breast is pounded thin, then liberally stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, pine nuts, shallots, pancetta, and a touch of mozzarella before being Italian bread crumbed, rolled, and sauteed. You'll seek out Chef Gianfranco and thank him for what his family calls Pollo alla Fiorentina. It's what those sad-chunks-of-dried-out-chicken-on-skewers all wish they could be. 138 Chesterfield Towne Ctr, 636-536-3788, vitosinthevalley.com
The Worst Seat in the House It never fails. It's after the lunch rush, the restaurant is nearly vacant, and we get seated at a godawful table, immediately next to other diners suffering the same predicament. Yeah, yeah, we know about server's having stations and all that, but at non-peak periods our arses should be planted in the best seats in the house, not the worst. The next time it's 2 pm and you get seated at the table in the far corner, the one right off the kitchen door and five feet from the bus station, the only table catching a blinding sunlight, the one under the AC vent--that's way too close to an unvented bathroom and way too near a busboy vacuuming the carpet--look around and say hello. That's us at the next table.
