SLM contributor Joe Bonwich weighs in on local food events, happenings, and dining news of note. Look for his observations every other week in On the Burner, SLM’s dining e-newsletter.
Hopskeller’s Return
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Owner Matt Schweizer awoke in Chicago on Sunday, October 23, 2016, to the news that a fire had severely damaged his new Hopskeller Brewery in Waterloo, Illinois. Slightly less than a year later, it’s back. Schweizer and team are holding a grand reopening this weekend in the restored 1850s-vintage building at 116 E. Third Street in downtown Waterloo.
Taking Flight
Airport fixture India Palace is ending a 23-year run in its perch atop the Airport Plaza Hotel at I-70 and Lindbergh Boulevard, eliminating the best spot for aviation fanatics to dine while watching planes take off and land from Lambert. (Even if you don’t care about the planes, it has some very good Indian food.) The new location will be at the corner of I-270 and Dorsett Road, in the space that was formerly Standard Brewing. India Palace had previously closed its then-two-year-old second location at 711 Locust Street downtown in 2016.
Five Years of Drinks, Desserts, and Decadence
Where else can you find a blackberry Norton truffle, a Moscow mule, smoked peach ice cream, an excellent craft beer selection, and a latté under the same roof? VB Chocolate Bar celebrates five years in business from 4–7 p.m. next Saturday, October 21, in its Cottleville shop, bakery, and bar (5326 Highway N). It’s all the handiwork of self-taught chocolatier Conor VanBuskirk.
