Revisiting the sounds, flavours of St. Louis
ST LOUIS is my home away from home. It’s where I was born, and while I wasn’t raised here, it’s where I spent the bulk of my childhood vacations chowing down on gooey butter cake with grandparents and feeding goats at Grant’s Farm with cousins.
It’s also a place I’ve learned to appreciate, in its own right, as an adult. Last year, I visited five times, and between toasted ravioli crawls on the Hill - the Italian neighbourhood where the deep-fried finger food was invented - uncovered a deeper appreciation for the Lou.
The city, just a hop across the Mississippi River from Illinois, is a modest one. It has a rich musical history tied to the blues, but you don’t hear people bragging about it. It has a colourful beer history tied to Anheuser-Busch and, more recently, some solid craft brews, but no one puts on airs over it. And it has a fun food scene, laying claim to a number of unexpected originals (such as that toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake, for starters).
It’s also home to the EeroSaarinen- designed Gateway Arch, arguably the most recognisable monument in the Midwest. And Forest Park, a wellspring of green, dotted with free museums and a zoo, is one of the largest urban parks in the country. A work-hard, playhard attitude is the sod beneath it all. The locals I know love the Gateway City and talk it up at every turn. But they’re happy that, among mid- size cities, it has maintained a small-town friendliness and easy-to- getaround comforts. When visitors stop in, those St. Louisans are proud to take them on a t-rav tour and stock the fridge with locally brewed Schlafly.
In some cities, you do a bar crawl. In St. Louis, I do a toasted ravioli crawl. Toasted ravs are a signature dish of the Gateway City stemming, the story goes, from a mistake a cook made decades ago when he dropped the pasta into the fryer.
Forest Park New York has Central Park. Chicago has Grant Park. And St. Louis has Forest Park. There’s a world to discover in this cultural campus, which measures in at 450 acres larger than Central Park. Beyond the rolling green grass, forests, lakes and, yes, waterfall, there are three museums ( Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum and Saint Louis Science Centre) and the Saint Louis Zoo, all of which are free. You can also play a round of golf, take in musical theatre at the Muny amphitheater, rent a stand-up paddleboard, kayak or canoe and row around not one but two islands in Post-Dispatch Lake, grab a lakeside cocktail and a bite to eat at the Boathouse, and so much more. It’s a great place to take a Frisbee or just flop in the grass and watch Missourians in their natural habitat.
There really is no other museum like the City Museum, and its name is spoken with reverence by all who have sweated here. ( Exploring is a workout!) Imagine a museum that’s a little bit “Goonies,” a little bit Willy Wonka and a lot funhouse, where you can tunnel through caves, barrel down slides, discover secret passages and burrow through hamster-like rooftop tunnels, most of which are constructed from reclaimed items from St. Louis and beyond - a school bus here, two airplanes there, a pipe organ and Ferris wheel for good measure.
The 600,000- square-foot building once was home to the International Shoe Company and has been transformed by visionaries and artisans into an urban playground complete with a cantina, barbecue joint, cafe, bar and sandwich shop for quick refuelling.
Free Beer Not only is admission to Grant’s Farm free, so is the beer. (Although, parking costs US$ 13.) The petting zoo, park and landmark is the ancestral home still owned by the beer-famous Busch family and operated by Anheuser-Busch. Guests 21 and up get two complimentary beer samples at the Bauernhof (that’s German for “farmstead”), and can enjoy those samples on a lovely patio while snacking on bratwurst and pretzels.
Before and after you enjoy the beer, there’s plenty to do at this Bavarian- style farm. The outdoor space is lined with stables and has an old carriage house that still displays the family’s collection. On a tram ride, you can catch a glimpse of the cabin where Ulysses S. Grant lived before he became president, pass by a fence made of rifles that were used in the Civil War and spot dozens of animals, including elk, deer and bison.
The real crowd-pleasers here are the goats and their kids. For US$ 1.50, you can buy a bottle or a grain cup and watch the goofy animals fall over each other to have a handheld snack.
If you’ve never been to the top of the Gateway Arch, you’ve got to do it. And if it’s been a while, it’s time to do it again. While the 630-foot edifice remains the same skyline icon it has been since opening in 1965, the surrounding area has been transformed in recent years, and the formal reopening is set for July 3.
The US$ 380 million renovations replaced a parking lot with a welcoming riverside park - which was established as Gateway Arch National Park in February - complete with miles of walking trails, an amphitheatre and plenty of picnic space. A new museum and visitors center will pay tribute to Americans who helped shape this country of ours. Before the recent changes, the arch was separated from downtown by a freeway.
Now, thanks to a landscaped pedestrian bridge, it’s accessible by foot and acts as a kind of front yard to the city. If you plan on taking the tram to the top of America’s tallest manmade monument to peek out the narrow windows, you might want to book your ticket online and ensure yourself a seat.
Local Favourites The hot salami served at Gioia’s Deli may sound like a punchline to a joke - so does the “Porknado,” also served there - but it is serious business. Like any processed meat, you don’t necessarily want to know what goes into it. You just want to eat it. And “it” is as fall-apart tender as it comes, served on either white, wheat or garlic cheese bread, toasted and topped with your choice of cheese and garnish. It is sandwich perfection, and its revered reputation is wellearned: The restaurant has multiple locations, including one in St. Louis’ famous Italian neighbourhood - the Hill - and is celebrating its 100th year in business.
Last year, it was honoured by the James Beard Foundation with an America’s Classic award. — Washington Post.