Oct 22 2012

Ernesto’s Wine Bar, Saint Louis, MO

Several months back, there was a Groupon for a restaurant named Ernesto’s Wine Bar in Saint Louis, MO. This restaurant and bar is located in the Benton Park neighbourhood, which is just off of the 55 motorway near the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

Though their food menu isn’t very extensive–consisting of primarily some appetisers, flatbreads, salads, and a couple larger plates–the food was fairly tasty for the price. We started with the House Chips (which were actually crisps, not chips), and they were quite nice. They were cut from Russet potatoes, and were lightly coated in truffle oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano. As I’m highly allergic to cheese, I had to be careful, but it wasn’t all that big of a deal to avoid the cheese. For dinner, I had grilled chicken and vegetable linguine, which was nice. The sauce was a bit thick for my liking, but it was easy enough to simply use less of it. She had the fancied-up grilled cheese, which was apparently quite good (for obvious reasons, I couldn’t try it). For our wine offering, we went with a 2010 Pinot Grigio from Lagaria. Though overpriced for the vintage, it nicely complemented our entrées.

The best part, in my opinion, was neither the food nor the wine, though. Instead, the atmosphere is what made the evening fantastic. It was a lightly cool night, and we were sitting out on the back patio near the fireplace. The heat from the fire was just enough to take the chill out of the air, but not so hot as to be uncomfortable. The service was a bit slow, but that was to be expected on a Friday evening, and sitting out enjoying the light breeze made time pass quickly.

Overall, Ernesto’s is a nice change of pace from the typical dinner, but the cost seems to be out of alignment with the quality of the food and drink. That being said, it isn’t so outrageously off-balanced as to be off-putting. I would like to go back another time to try some of the flatbreads and another bottle (but this time, of a rustic red).

Cheers,
Zach

Oct 19 2012

DisneyNature – Crimson Wing review

Not all that long ago, I reviewed African Cats from DisneyNature. Around the same time that I watched that film on Blu-Ray, I also watched Crimson Wing.

DisneyNature - Crimson Wing

Crimson Wing traces that fascinating story of the life cycle of the flamingo. In particular, the documentary follows the migration surrounding Lake Natron in Tanzania, Africa. It details the courtship of adult flamingos, the birth of their offspring, and many of the struggles which the birds must endure to sustain life in a rather hostile environment.

Unlike African Cats, this film didn’t have a stunning colour palette that really came to life on Blu-Ray. Instead, the most prominent colour spread was comprised of whites, greys, and some blues (not as much crimson as I would have thought). I don’t believe that this was the fault of a bad transfer to Blu-Ray, but rather, the somewhat washed look of the environment in which the film was shot. Coupled with the slightly disappointing visuals, the narrator had very little vocal and tonal fluctuation, which made the presentation a little dull and monotonous. Also, the balance between information delivery and entertainment was skewed toward the former. Not that facts are bad in a documentary, but it seemed to lack a lot of the charisma of other DisneyNature films. To make matters worse, I didn’t come away from this one knowing much more about flamingos than I did before I started watching.

Overall, though it wasn’t awful, it was certainly not my favourite of the DisneyNature series. However, it is still worth a watch, especially if you are a nature lover.

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Cheers,
Zach

Oct 18 2012

Yo-N-Go frozen yoghurt – Saint Louis, MO

Back in early August, there was a Groupon for a new frozen yoghurt place called Yo-N-Go in Saint Louis, MO. Located in the “downtown” area near Laclede’s Landing, the location can be somewhat difficult in terms of parking. However, just a couple blocks to the north, there is plenty of free street parking available.

The establishment looks very similar inside to many of the other premium frozen yoghurt places in the area (and elsewhere, for that matter). One thing that caught my eye, though, is that the flavours are displayed on the machines via a digital screen instead of just a sign above them. Not that the display impacts the quality of the yoghurt, but I just thought that it was neat. Now, interestingly, the only legitimate review on Yelp (I say “legitimate” as the other review was a customer who was angry that her attempt to abuse the Groupon policy had failed, and she decided to lash out at the owner) indicates that the yoghurt was lacking flavour. I would have to strongly disagree. I had a combination of red velvet cake and carrot cake, both of which were very tasty! Deb had the sugar-free chocolate which was surprisingly not gritty (many of the sugar-free flavours tend to have a less-than-pleasing texture). That being said, there were not as many topping offerings as I would have liked. Some of my favourites (like graham cracker crumbs, and a wide assortment of fresh fruits) were not available.

Also, unlike the upset reviewer on Yelp, I found the owner (Matt) to be quite helpful and friendly. We used our Groupon according to the terms and conditions, and didn’t have any problem doing so.

In any case, though, I think that Yo-N-Go is a good addition to the host of premium frozen yoghurt venues in the Saint Louis area, and it is good to see one that isn’t in the county. I wouldn’t say that it is the absolute best frozen yoghurt that I’ve ever had, but it ranks significantly higher than many of the others around town.

Cheers,
Zach