Saint Louis: Taste Bar & Brasserie by Niche

I think most people associate BBQ and pork with Saint Louis so when I visited Diana while she was there for her internship with Purina, BBQ was definitely on the top of my list.  Diana told me how she attended a speaker session on how a chef expressed the importance of design in his restaurants and how it was really memorable.  Just so happens, the chef, Gerard Craft, owns a few of the top restaurants in Saint Louis, so we decided to check out two of the restaurants while I was there!

We stopped by Taste Bar for a quick late night dinner on the night I arrived and then Brasserie by Niche the next night for a more proper dinner.  Taste Bar is a super hip spot with a professional mixologist on site.  Definitely expected a place like Taste Bar to be in SF or the hipster areas of LA, but not STL!

Taste Bar

4584 Laclede Ave 

Central West End

St. Louis, MO 63108

tastebarstl.com

Taste Bar.  Sorry for the crap lighting haha.  Had the camera on the wrong setting.

The open kitchen.

Paper coaster.  Saint Louis and Taste loves pork!

Food menu.  Since it was late, we decided to get one small plate and one large plate.  Had to get two pork dishes haha.

Since the drinks menu was created by a professional mixologist, I had to get one, and went for the Big In Japan, which is made with Yamazaki 12yr Whiskey, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Byrrh, Cocchi di Torino Vermouth, Cherry Herring, and Laphroaig Scotch.

Diana's Far And Away, made with Fiji Apple Infused Hendrick’s Gin, Cocchi Americano, Lemon, Smoked Rosemary, and Don’s Spice.  Fancy fancy :P

Pork tartine with orange, fennel, walnuts, and pickled caramel apples.

The pork was super tender, but all the toppings was what made this open-faced sandwich bomb.

Pork burger with bacon & fries.  Had to add $1 for the cheddar cheese!

Nice thick pork patty.

Crunchy fries!

For the 2nd drink, I wanted to test the mixologist's skill and ordered an Old Fashioned.  Yea, he knew what he was doing haha.

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Brasserie by Niche is a French bistro by Gerard Craft.  Totally different vibe from its next door cousin, Taste.  It's loud and fast-paced, just like how a French bistro should be!  Good thing we made a reservation too cause the place was packed.

Brasserie by Niche

4580 Laclede Ave

Central West End 

St Louis, MO 63108

brasseriebyniche.com

Brasserie by Niche.

Front of the menu.

S&P.

Fresh bread!  Warm!

Since I liked the cocktails so much from Taste, decided to get another whisky cocktail.  Forgot the name, but whoa it just punches you in the face.  Definitely a sipping drink haha.

Had to get the French Onion at a French bistro!  Love the thick layer of cheese on the top, and the soup is piping hot too!

Diana's Mixed Lettuces with goat cheese, hazelnuts, and roasted shallots vinaigrette.   The hazelnuts were candied!

My entree, white bean with duck confit, pork belly, and sausage in tomato sauce.  I couldn't resist since it had three of my favorites: pork belly, duck, and sausage!

The pork belly hiding under the white bean tomato stew.

Diana's white fish, clams, mussels, potato, and croutons in a light cream sauce.   Very light and I actually liked this over mine!

I think overall, I preferred Taste Bar over Brasserie, just because I liked the creativeness of the dishes there.  There's also a high end restaurant in the Niche family, Niche, which does French cuisine.  Maybe sometime in the future!

New York: Becco

We were all able to secure a flight out of NYC that week on Friday so Thursday night was our last dinner in NYC.  We walked around Hell's Kitchen for a bit, looking for a place to eat.  At first we though sushi, then it turned into BBQ, and then we finally decided on Becco. 

Becco

355 W 46th St 

Between 9th Ave & 8th Ave 

New York, NY 10036 

Hell's Kitchen

becco-nyc.com

Becco, means to peck and nibble.  The bird logo is quite fitting haha.


Complimentary starters.


I forgot what they called it, but I'm just gonna call it white bean hummus :P  It's exactly like a hummus but instead of garbanzo beans, they use white beans.


Olives.


Assortment of bread.  The bread at the front with the rosemary and caramelized onion was very good.  Salty though.


Becco is known for having a $25 wine list, so we picked a Fattoria Paradiso Sangiovese.


Our antipasti.


Prosciutto San Danielle.  You can choose between San Danielle or di Parma.  I'm a fan of San Danielle.


Chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano.


Tonnato di Vitello.  Roasted veal loin sliced paper thin & topped with diced plum tomato, capers, scallions & tuna aioli.  I was not a fan of this... thanks to the tuna aoili.  It was like tasting creamy canned tuna on top of veal.


So we found out that the only pasta option is if you order the Sinfonia di Paste, which is unlimited pasta.  There's three different pastas daily and those are the options.  Instead of ordering individual pastas, the guys just ordered an entree, with the unlimited pastas as an add-on.  Janice just got the Sinfonia di Paste.


Penne Bolognese.  Probably my favorite out of all of them.  Heaty meat sauce.


Gnocchi Gorgonzola.  It was good, but gnocchi was definitely overcooked so it was very soft and mushy.  


Server serving the spaghetti from the pan.  That's probably the reason why the pastas are so overcooked since it just sits in the pan while the servers are serving it.


Spaghetti Marinara.  Overcooked as well.


Comes with Caesar's Salad.


Jimmy's Porterhouse d’Agnello.  Grilled domestic porterhouse lamb chop with scaffata, and finished with extra virgin olive oil.


Edwin got the Osso Buco alla Becco.  Braised veal shank served with farro tossed with butternut squash.  Very heavy and hearty.  They also give you a small spoon for the marrow.


Link and I went for the Costoletta di Vitello alla Joe.  “Joe’s Veal Chop” grilled & served with garlic mashed potatoes, caramelized shallots & escarole with prosciutto, then finished with extra virgin olive oil.  Very thick piece of veal.  Cooked perfectly.


The super garlicky mashed potato.

In the end, Becco was more like an Italian steakhouse than a pasta place.  Nothing to complain about, but we had crazy food coma once we were done.  I think Edwin, Link, and I were tired both mentally and physically from everything that happened that week when Sandy hit.  It was fun since it was with good friends (bromantic trip) and everything is more fun with alcohol but we were definitely ready to go home.

New York: Pure Thai Cookhouse for the Best Dry Noodles

No joke, I had one of the best dry noodles in NYC this time around, and it is from Pure Thai Cookhouse!

Hungover once again, we woke up late and got ready for a late lunch.  From Jimmy's place to here is actually not that far, but that trek was hard, especially when you have nothing in your stomach after a night in Ktown.  Took about 15 minutes to get there, and found out we had to wait for another 40 minutes.  Edwin and I weren't too happy about it, but damn, it was worth it.


Pure Thai Cookhouse
766 9th Ave
Between 51st St & 52nd St
Hell's Kitchen
New York, NY 10019
purethaicookhouse.com

Pure Thai Cookhouse.  With a name like that, I expected really authentic Thai food, and it really is legit.

To-go menu and their lunch menu in the back.  Menu's available on their website.

Small restaurant.  The kitchen up front is just for noodles only.

Definitely reminiscence of food vendors in Asia with the way it is set up.

I like the transparency here hahah.

Jimmy & Janice ordered the Shrimp Calamari Herb Salad to share.  Kaffir lime, lemongrass, mint, shallot, peanut, ginger, and chili lime juice.  Intense flavors.  The ginger was a little too much for some, but I liked the spiciness from it.

Grilled shrimp and calamari.  Beautiful.

Edwin ordered the Chicken Satay to share.  Rubbed with coconut milk and tumeric.  Served with a side of pickled veggies and peanut sauce.

Tumeric gives the chicken that orange-ish color.

Pickled veggies.  Very vinegar-y.

Peanut sauce.  Generally not a huge fan of peanut sauce since I was mildly allergic to peanuts just a few years ago, but it's light and whatever they add to it makes it really good.

Chicken with the peanut sauce.

We also got the Steamed Fresh Roll.  Definitely favorite out of the three we got to share.

Crab meat, pork sausage, cucumber, smoked tofu, and tamarind reduction.  I think the fresh crab meat and that tamarind reduction set it all apart from the others.

Link's Fried Rice with Lump Crab Meat.  Egg, Chinese broccoli, tomato, scallion, onion, light soy sauce, and lime.  Solid fried rice.  Again, the crab meat was bomb.

Good fried rice means it should look fluffly and light!  Also, if I ordered this, I would've requested 10 limes and go crazy with it haha.

The noodle dish I'm still obsessing over a month later, the Ratchaburi Crab & Pork Dry Noodle.  That handmade egg noodle is a MUST here.

Handmade egg noodles, roasted pork, lump crab meat, yu choy, and scallion.  I love everything about this dish.  The colors, the seasonings, the toppings, the noodles.. The dish is seasoned lightly and you can just taste it without the toppings overpowering it.

The roasted pork is very tasty, and again, delicious crab meat.  The pork is flavorful and not too fatty, with a good bite to it too.  I can't express enough just how much I like this noodle dish.  It really is one of the best dry noodle I've had anywhere, and that includes Asia too.  Pretty much, I inhaled it, and even thought about ordering another one, but I was stupid.  Should've done it.

You can get it with soup or soup on the side, and I went for the latter.  Soup is a very simple broth, sorta reminds me of the soup they give you in Taiwan night markets to go with your porkchop rice.

Janice's Krabi Seafood Noodle Soup.  It had chili peppers next to it on the menu haha.  Looks like such a busy bowl!

Flat rice noodle, shrimp, calamari, water spinach, bean curd, fermented tofu, fish ball, and tomato pork broth.  There really is a lot going on haha.  The heat slowly creeps up on you.

I was craving milk tea of some sort and I wanted a drink for the walk back, so Jimmy and I got a Thai Iced Tea there.  Doesn't taste artificial, which is a good thing!

On our way back, I was already getting hungry so I made the gang go to a dollar pizza store with me to get a whole pie.  Went to Roll And Go, which is Jimmy's favorite in his area.

Whole cheese pizza for $8?  Yes.  

Edwin and I went crazy with the garlic seasoning, chili flakes, and oregano haha.

I really am still thinking about those noodles even today.  The firm handmade egg noodle, the flavorful pork and crab, and all the other toppings & seasonings make it so good.  There is Thai Town in LA, but I don't think any of them can be comparable.  Sad.