[cheers]
Missouri Wine and Grape Board raised its collective glasses and toasted Annie Gunn’s Executive Chef Lou Rook as its 2014 Friend of the Industry. The award recognizes Rook’s personal passion and professional dedication in promoting Missouri wines and related grapevine products.
[outdoor room]
Café Madeleine, located in Tower Grove’s Piper Palm House, is sporting a new look for 2015: a winterized, luxury tent, complete with chandeliers that will double the café’s capacity while providing a decor that owner Richard Nix Jr. describes as a winter wonderland for diners.
[cajun’s ragin’]
Craving Cajun? Then forgot NOLA and head to Des Peres and Zydeco Blues. That’s where Cajun/Creole plates are created by Chef Wade Waller (formerly of Eleven Eleven Mississippi). Owner Ron Gordon reports fans of the Big Easy will feel right at home.
[add another half]
Half & Half is expanding beyond breakfast, lunch and brunch. Diners now can order dinner Tuesdays through Sundays from a menu sporting such comfy indulgences as braised beef, chops, rainbow trout, and fish & chips. Meanwhile, fans of Four Hands Brewery can order lunch, thanks to collaborative efforts with Fifth Wheel Catering.
[kitchen closed]
Mystery has surrounded the unexpected closing of Home Wine Kitchen and chef/co-owner Cassy Vires, who gained acclaim as a Food & Wine Magazine nominee for Best Chef in the Midwest. All is now illuminated, as Vires has taken the helm at Juniper as head chef. Also new at Juniper: a catering space above the main dining room.
