ABOUT US: And our zen philosophy on food

Author: Dave

Tired of fast food? Not happy with refrigerated box meals from the grocery store? Does a buffet restaurant turn your stomach?

Yeah, us too.

Our names are Dave and Kirsten. We have two kids, heretofore referred to as The Girl (8 years, 2nd grade) and The Boy (4, preschool). Kirsten and I will share the load on stlfoodies.blogspot.com.

To us, food is important, not just something to be slapped in a feedbag and rammed down your gullet. We rarely eat fast food ... and since Kirsten's awful experience with a chicken "nugget" at a McDonald's, we have yet to return to the Clown's house. (She found a big bone in a "nugget" and the manager, when learning about this vile discovery, offered a new 6-piece "nugget" order right away. Kirsten said in disgust she didn't want it, that she couldn't possibly eat another "nugget." The reaction? Disbelief and shrugs, but no refund offer.)

We had a mutual friend in a former life (before kids) who measured a successful meal by its quantity and price ... as in "as much as possible for as little as possible." Gerry Tramm (name changed to protect the guilty) led us to believe that Dining Nirvana could be found at Ryan's "Steakhouse," a restaurant I assumed would be at least on par with Ponderosa: Not good ... but edible. As I had done at Ponderosa, I ordered some sirloin tips, rather than just the buffet. Gerry would frown on this waste ... why pay extra to get an entree? There were tables and tables of various hunks and bowls and glops of food at my disposal. I should have listened to my Inner Gerry, because when the "sirloin tips" reached my table, the vegetables were steamed and I'm not certain what they did to the "steak." Everyone knows you grill sirloin tips and the veggies. Even Ponderosa knew this, so I would say the secret's out. I complained. They remade my meal, but it wasn't much better. The buffet was the same quality. All I can remember were the piles of plates collected on other people's tables. One couple must have had 15 half-empty plates piled up as if crafting a foul, college game of Jenga. Meanwhile, we came to a buffet and walked away hungry ... and queasy.

(Gerry, if you're out there, and come across this post ... know that we love you, and we hope your wife has shown you the light.)

On the other end of the scale, we don't think it takes an upscale restaurant to prepare great food. We've likely all been in a place, or heard about places, that will charge you generously for lackluster food. I'd rather endure a Ryan's with low expectations (and prices), than a Frou-Frou LaFancy's that fails to meet lofty expectations that come with the high prices.

Mostly, though, we don't eat out anymore. Most of our meals take place at the kitchen table. A lot of that is because my wife has that Knack in the kitchen -- that Ratatouille quality of being able to marry various foods and spices to create a gourmet-ish meal from humble beginnings. She's been cooking since she was 6, and has been her household's head chef since age 11 when her father died. While young Dave was heating microwaveable breakfasts and bean burritos in my rural Illinois home, halfway across the country young Kirsten was feeding her family roasts and baked ziti in the New York burrough of Queens.

Cut to the present ... we're married and raising our kids in the St. Louis burbs. I've shed my fondness for microwaveable meals, having been spoiled by my wife's cookin'. She's gotten accustomed to the St. Louis area, able to find some foods she dearly missed when she left New York, or at least find enough ingredients to cook some of her own versions. But, she still misses New York's food, especially the delis.

My hope is for Kirsten to share her recipes and ideas for good food, and how she does it on a family budget. Her main challenge will be recalling her recipes. She cooks by feel, which means she doesn't usually measure when creating in the kitchen. I've had coworkers ask for my wife's recipe on a dish I brought to a work party ... and I always have to tell them that Kirsten doesn't have a recipe.

We also plan to do little His-and-Hers opinions on restaurants and foods we try out. We want you to help us pick the restaurants. Our goal isn't to do every popular restaurant in St. Louis that's already been reviewed. You can find existing opinions of well established restaurants on The Hill and in downtown St. Louis and elsewhere. We may go to some of those places ... but what we really want is to "find" places that aren't already on the radar. These may be locally owned ... they could be a chain restaurant that may be new to you ... we won't know until we find them.

This is about FOOD, not just restaurants. One thing we plan to do is to visit as many farmer's markets as possible. Grocery products are also fair game ... we'll tell you about items we like or don't like. Will we skewer businesses when we don't like their food? I can't see that happening, but we'll be as honest and fair as possible.

Plus, we'll write reviews on TV shows or magazines or any other media with food-related topics ... just for fun.

This much is for sure: When we find great food, no matter the source, we're going to let you know. One thing I'd like to do is feature those people bringing us that great food. I want to know their background, their vision, their path to (or plan for) success. As a journalist by training, and with more than 15 years of professional writing experience, I look forward to bringing these stories to you, and have fun doing it.

And, that's the bottome line: We want to have FUN. If we're having fun, hopefully that will come across ... and give you some fun things to read, and good foods to try. To do this, we need you to get involved. If you would like us to visit and feature a local eatery, market, culinary marvel, etc., please email us. Want to share your ideas on food and cooking? Email us. We want to interact with you and learn together.

In a phrase: Let stlfoodies.blogspot.com be the place where St. Louis area foodies come together and share their passion for food. (Or, at least have fun trying.)