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The following tidbits appear on the "Food & Drink" home page of stlmag.com.
Stout & Oyster Festival: We're giving fair warning this year, because this event is a don't-miss. We speak, of course, of Schlafly's annual Stout & Oyster Festival, its most popular event of the year, when a group of the country's master oyster shuckers (yes, there is such a thing) fly in to shuck a half-dozen varieties of oysters from both coasts—30,000 of them. Order a dozen (you'll be chided for ordering less), pair 'em with a pint, and save us a seat. This year the fest is March 7 and 8—10,000 of your soon-to-be-closest friends will be there. 2100 Locust, 314-241-2337.
Goin' Bananas Over Banana Bread The first time we ordered a slice of Deer Creek Coffee's chocolate-chip banana bread we had full intentions of taking it home, but the inch-thick slice made it only as far as the Ladue city limits. Owner Rick Williams has come up with what may be the perfect coffee companion: it's melt-in-your-mouth moist, yet crispy on the edges, and baked daily. The secret, says Williams, is adding "the perfect amount of sour cream," which is, at the present time, a family secret. (But we're wearing him down.) Available by the slice ($3.25)) or loaf ($20). 9820 Clayton, 314-262-8494.
Bad Barstools Hey, it's fine with us if bartops are made of rock (many are), but not so for the stools we dutifully occupy in front of it. While the cold, hard metal (and often backless) perches might be a welcome diversion in the summer months, in the dead of winter they're just an unnecessary reminder that we live at an often inhospitable latitude—which is one of the reasons we're perched at the bar in the first place.
