What dish—either homemade or from a locally owned restaurant—are you most excited about this fall? —Chris S., St. Louis
In our house, October is the month that ye olde soup pot makes its annual pilgrimage from basement storage to kitchen central. I’m feeling the urge for seafood chowder, intensely flavored chicken soup, and my trusty, lusty chili made with shredded beef. At the bar, cold apple cider will soon give way to a spiked version, and Willamette Pinot Noirs have already supplanted bottles of French rosé. SLM‘s dining team appears hungry for the season as well.
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Dave Lowry: Autumn around here is astoundingly glorious; there isn’t much not to like. I adore those four-pack caramel apples; those plastic jugs of chilled cider go down better than Burgundy. Apple crisp, crumble, pie. Apple slump, dowdy, and dumplings. Autumn begins the first time you smell those cinnamon-scented pine cones for sale at Schnucks, and it ends when only the candy corn’s left on the sale shelves there. Every moment in between is delicious.
Cheryl Baehr: It’s available all year round, but I always look forward to colder weather, so I can order the Roman gnoccho at Louie. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve been known to order this indulgent masterpiece in the middle of a July heat wave, but it’s meant for autumn and winter. Tucking into this pork ragu-and-bechemel-covered beauty is the culinary equivalent of wrapping oneself in an electric blanket.
Lynn Venhaus: Apples! I sound like Forrest Gump’s friend Bubba with a litany: apple crisp, apple pie, hand pies, fried pies, apple cake, bread, dumplings, doughnuts, fritters, sliced apples, skillet apples, and all variations with cranberries, caramel, ice cream, and other mix-ins. I’ve already made a trip to Eckert’s and purchased a shopping bag full of different varieties. In the fall, the best oven smell is something baking with apples, cinnamon, and warm spices.
Holly Fann: Every year in early fall, I’ll pull out my 8-quart Dutch oven and place it on top of my range. I may not use it for days, but I leave it out anyway, as if I’m waiting for the Dutch oven fairy to magically fill my pot with Bourguignon. Fall is braising season, and the comforting smell of that first pot of slow, simmering meat, vegetables, herbs, aromatics, and stock is one of the greatest joys of life. Cooking can become a chore for anyone, chef or otherwise, but for some reason, the reset that downshifts me into a more human pace always happens for me in the fall. Time feels slower, more deliberate, while peeling carrots and dicing mirepoix. Cooking again becomes about the joy of the process and the steady and reassuring rhythm of the pace.
Amy De La Hunt: Nothing says fall like the pan de muertos and the galletas catrinas at Diana’s Bakery on Cherokee Street. Yes, I’m a gringa, but my mom is a (now-retired) Spanish teacher, so even though we are not Catholic, we always celebrated the Day of the Dead on November 1 and 2, right after Halloween. It’s a Mexican tradition that I carry over in my own home now, setting up a traditional ofrenda to honor loved ones who are no longer with us, complete with their photos and favorite foods. Throughout the month of October, we talk about the those honored on the ofrenda and stop by Diana’s regularly for fresh “bread of the dead” and brightly decorated skull cookies. If you are lucky, they will have hot drinks like champurrado (Aztec-style hot chocolate) or atole (a creamy vanilla and cinnamon brew with a cornmeal base). Toward the end of the month, my mom sends all of her kids and grandkids a box of her homemade chocolate skull candies. It is a time of connection and reflection for our entire family, and I couldn’t love it more.
Bill Burge: For my money, there’s no cold-weather dish better than cassoulet. When it’s available, the best place to get it in Saint Louis is Brasserie by Niche. [Expect to see cassoulet on Brasserie’s fall and winter menu beginning in early November.]
Denise Mueller: Honestly, a myriad of squash soups done right but at no particular venue. It’s part of that wonderful pivot to fall expressions in the kitchen.
Abby Wuellner: When the daily high dips below 70, I pull out the Lidia Bastianich bolognese recipe and double (sometimes triple) it. Having that ready to go in the freezer makes homemade pasta seem like less of a chore and more of a weeknight comfort meal.
Collin Preciado: I am never more at peace with the universe than when I’m sitting around a group bonfire on a cold fall night with a bottle of beer and a mug full of chili, noodles, sour cream, and a hot sauce so spicy it could ignite the atmosphere.
Pat Eby: Fall is here, and I’m ready for meats braised in the oven to luscious tenderness and maximum flavor, as well as oven-baked, from- scratch macaroni and cheese with a twist. I hunger for chicken, steak, and seafood pot pies, for rich polenta topped with wild mushrooms, and for gumbos with a dark roux, shrimp, andouille, and chicken on top of grits. For dessert, I like bread pudding and impossibly rich crème brulee. I’ll pass on many things pumpkin spice, but I’m game to try that new sweet potato latte from Rooster.
Here’s the rest of my list:
- Louie for Roman gnocco
- Pastaria for Braised Beef Garganelli
- Gjetost mac and cheese from Bridge Tap House
- A pot pie from The Piccadilly at Manhattan (seafood only on Fridays)
- Wild Mushroom Polenta with Pecorino from Eleven Eleven Mississippi
- Steak frites with polenta fries and a side of poblano cream sauce from Sister Cities Cajun
- Gumbo (with bread and butter to sop up every bit) from Grand Pied
- Caramel Brioche Bread pudding from Cyrano’s with a café au lait.
- And the creme brulée? I make that at home on very special occasions.
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