Perhaps you remember that we had driven to Omaha Nebraska for a family visit capped by our grandson Emmett’s high school graduation ceremony…or not. In any case, once our Omaha adventures were concluded, we headed down to the St. Louis Missouri area to spend some time with Laurie’s family…
Of the
posts that I’ll publish about this portion of our road trip, you may be happy
that this one will be the only post that is almost totally focused on food and
dining out…with an interesting local neighborhood weed/flower explored at the
end.
As usual when we visit the St. Louis area, we spend a lot of time with Laurie’s sister Bonnie and her husband Bill. They are always introducing us to different restaurants serving a variety of food choices.
On this
visit, our first dining experience with them was at the Frisco Barroom. It is billed as an American corner tavern and
gathering space and its located in a historic corner building that once served
as the general store to the old Orchard Railway Station on the Frisco line in Webster
Groves Missouri.
The menu
is considered rustic American and, as you will see and read, it’s very diverse.
The bar is huge, attractive and has that old time vibe. The restaurant’s layout and décor projects an old time feeling. Note the mirror photo with yours truly taking a photo of Laurie, Bill and Bonnie in one of the dining areas or rooms that make up this restaurant.
The
Frisco Barroom is a lively place, featuring regularly scheduled live music and
a “Happy Hour”, actually ‘hours’, Tuesdays thru Fridays from 2PM until 6PM.
As is our practice when this foursome dines together, we started out with a few ‘light’ appetizers. These Deviled Eggs ($9.00) were quite good…although they don’t measure up to the ones that Laurie makes.
Another
appetizer of interest was the Smoked Whitefish Dip with crostini ($10.00) but
we resisted temptation.
Does a charcuterie board count as an appetizer? This version is called “The Frisco Board”. ($26.00…$24.00 in May) The Frisco Board includes Veneto salami, beef jerky, smoked trout, sharp cheddar cheese, blue cheese, pickled vegetables, dried blueberries, caper berries, walnuts, rose raspberry jam and of course, crostini. It was very nice, except for the fact that as usual these ‘boards’ are never served with enough crostini so we had to order more for the table. ($1.00)
Bill loves fish…actually seafood of any type. So for his entrée he ordered the farm-raised Rainbow Trout coated with toasted parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley. ($24.00) It came with 2 sides so he chose the steamed squash and the wild rice mix. He really enjoyed the trout!
Other
entrees on the menu included a Sirloin Steak ($30.00), Grilled Kielbasa
Sausages ($19.00), Grilled Half-Chicken ($22.00), Grilled Shrimp ($26.00) and
Gnocchi with Seasonal Vegetables. ($19.00)
Laurie loves onion soup and I don’t care for onions so it’s never something that we have at home. So, she looks forward to ordering French Onion Soup with grilled croutons/crostini and Swiss Cheese whenever she sees it on a menu. ($9.00) She was extremely happy with this classic version.
She also
ordered an adult beverage that we hadn’t heard of before... (No photo) It was
the “Bees Knees”. This Prohibition Era
cocktail is made with gin, fresh lemon juice and honey. It’s served shaken and chilled with a lemon
twist. Its name comes from Prohibition
Era slang terminology which meant “the best”, as in that party was the “bee’s
knees”.
This sandwich is the Old Orchard Grilled Cheese. ($13.00) It consisted of smoked Gouda, cheddar and American cheeses with tart apple slices and bacon on grilled house-made honey white bread.
Other
sandwich options on the menu included the following: Perch Sandwich ($15.00);
Salsiccia ($14.00) and: a Beet Reuben…with beets, sauerkraut and 1000 island
dressing on rye bread. ($14.00) Of course, this begs the question…when is a
Reuben not a Reuben?
This was the Chicken Sandwich. ($14.00) A marinated and grilled chicken breast was served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and cheese. Upon request, it can come ‘Buffalo style’.
As I’d
mentioned earlier, Frisco’s menu is very diverse. Other items that one can find here include
pierogis, pasties, smoked trout toast, brie puff pastry, buffalo roasted
tempura coated cauliflower, poutine with 2 gravy options and Swedish meatballs.
The
Frisco Barroom is located at 8110 Big Bend Boulevard in Webster Grove
Missouri…a St. Louis suburb. Phone:
314-455-1090. Website: The Frisco Barroom
(thefriscostl.com).
Moving from Missouri in May to East Tennessee in the present, these beautiful blooms have sprung up in the neglected building lot across the street from our house. The lot was cleared months ago and nature has run her course. The lot is filled with lots of weeds that are going crazy with all the rain we’ve had. Included in the weeds are a couple dozen of these large plants with dozens of these attractive blooms...which fully open up in the evening.
I finally
was able to identify them! They are
jimsonweed...aka, thorn apple, moonflower, devil’s snare, devil’s trumpet,
moonflower and several other appellations.
A member of the nightshade family, this invasive weed has frequently
been used to treat a variety of ailments.
All parts of this plant are toxic and it has been used as a hallucinogen
taken to induce intense sacred or occult visions. These plants produce egg-shaped 1” to 3” seed
capsules either covered with spines or bald…time will tell with the type across
the street.
These plants
played a role in early North American history.
Another name for jimsonweed in the USA is rarely used nowadays. “Jamestown weed” was derived from the town of
Jamestown Virginia where English soldiers consumed it as food while attempting
to put down Bacon’s Rebellion…the first rebellion in the American Colonies. (Learn
about this bit of history at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_Rebellion. In any case, the soldiers spent “11 days in
altered mental states” and had to be confined for their own safety.
I just
had to end this edition of my blog site with something other than yet another
food ‘report’!
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
I love that stone oven outside the restaurant. Did they bake pizza or bread there? Both fish and cheesy onion soup look great, but I would love a big fatty juicy ribeye or porterhouse though :-)
ReplyDeleteI believe I would have been full after the deviled eggs and charcuterie but everything looked good and I'm with Bill on the fish.
ReplyDeleteJust those appetizers would have been enough for me as well, Dave. The grilled cheese with gouda would have been my choice along with some onion soup. I'm with Laurie on enjoying it anytime it's on the menu as it is something we never make at home, ever.
ReplyDelete