Plane Tickets - Chk
Maps and Guide Books - Chk
Flip Video, Camera, Computer and Food Journal - Chk
Expandable Clothing - OK, this could be a problem!!
We are leaveing tomorrow for the ultimate food fantasy vacation. Oh yea, this isn’t vacation, it is actually work. I knew there was a reason I loved my job. Check in daily to find out where we are and what we have discovered besides our cloths getting tighter.
It was October, 2002 and Wendy and I were traveling to a villa in the tiny town of Volte-Basse in Tuscany. We were joining friends from our travel days at Clipper Cruise Line and Intrav. Little did we know this trip would inspire us to open Eleven Eleven Mississippi a year later. What is even more amazing is that one of our best friends, Scott Gaghan, was with us on this trip and played an integral part in opening the restaurant in December of 2003 and continues to support Eleven Eleven, Vin de Set, Moulin and Grand Petite Market as our Wine Director. Back in our cruise ship days, I was Executive Director of Hotel Operations, Scott was Manager of Hotel Operations and Bob Colosimo was Director of Culinary Services for four international ocean going vessels, one European riverboat and the American Orient Express luxury train. We were a tight knit group and did some extraordinary things together. Bob joined us as General Manager and Executive Chef at Eleven Eleven in 2008 bringing us together again. To bring this story full circle, Bob, Wendy and I are traveling to the hill towns of Tuscany next month. Bob’s culinary background, Italian heritage and our personal travel history together will make this trip beyond special. While we ate and drank our fair share of food and wine in 2002, this trip will be a true culinary journey. To say we are excited about this trip is an enormous understatement.
But wait, there’s more!! After Tuscany we are traveling to St. Remy de Provence to meet up with Kirby Jones our Executive Sous Chef at Vin de Set. Again, this will be our first time back to this region since we traveled there with Ivy before opening Vin de Set in 2006. Kirby has a great deal of experience in a variety of French kitchen’s and is well versed in Provencal cuisine, but he has never traveled to this region as a culinary observer. After one trip Wendy and I conceived the concept of Vin de Set. To say this area of the world is inspiring is, once again, an understatement. If you can’t tell, we are serious about what we do and are passionate about the cuisine we offer to the St. Louis dining community. Join us this fall for the most authentic cuisine from these two regions you will find in our city. To share in our culinary journey follow us on our blog from September 3rd to September 20th.
Scott Gaghan’s our very own wine guru helped coordinate Feast Magazines/St. Louis Originals very first wine tasting with columnist and STL Wine Girl Angela Ortmann and Publisher/Editor Catherine Neville. More that 50 guests showed up to the sold out complimentary tasting which included 2008 Gaierhof Pinot Grigio, 2008 Adelsheim Pinot Gris, 2008 Fun House Pinot Grigio and 2009 Point Concepcion “Celestina”. Complimentary appetizers included baby endive w/ herbed goat cheese, wild flower honey & walnuts, chilled watermelon w/ aged balsamic vinager & fresh ricotta salata, assorted artisanal cheese and cucumber rounds w/ smoked salmon, creme fraiche & italian parsley. A good time was had by all.
Gilberto has taught me so much since we have been working together. One of the things is how to cook true Mexican food. I look foward to sharing what he has taught me with others. Of course he will be there to make sure that I don’t screw things up
We finished the year on a positive note and had a great crowd ring in 2010 with us. For many January brings a time to reflect on the year past and plan for the future. We are no exception.
At Moulin 2010 brings a new event space on the rooftop dedicated to private events. We finished consruction on it in late 2009, but were only able to use it a couple of times once the weather turned so 2010 will mark the 1st full season. In addition to the private rooftop deck, we are starting plans for the cellar of the Centennial Malt House. 1st step is the build-out and refining the use of the new space, but if anyone has ever seen it, you know it is one of the coolest spaces in the building.
In March of 2009 we started the Centennial Beer Festival as a one day tasting and have expanded it this year to include a Friday Brewmaster dinner, Saturday Tasting, VIP Beer session and a Sunday Pub bus the last weekend of January. What a great way to get out of the winter funk.
Moulin also was able to finish the year with the strongest October and December in it’s brief four year history. As a reward we are going back to Las Vegas for the Catersource show This show encompasses everything catering, banquets and events and last time we returned with a wealth of knowledge on new trends, ideas and direction. Julia Eubanks ,Corporate Sales Manager, Tony Cole, Executive Chef, Amanda Hazel, Banquet Captain and I will be headed out there in March and will look forward to sharing our ideas and bringing other ideas back to St. Louis.
All the best in the New Year and please stop down to say hello. Cheers.
Wow has October been miserable-rain, rain, rain. From a venue that has a lot of rooftop outdoor space, we sure have been dissappointed with the weather. Surprisingly though, we have been as busy this month as any in history. October is traditionally a strong wedding month and we have hosted our fair share, but it has also been an extremely busy social and corporate month as well.
We have always found that as planners finish up their summer vactions, they start to focus in on planning the rest of the year out that includes the meetings, retirements, birthdays and holdiay get-togethers. Even though this October has not been great weather wise, it can be a great month to plan a party. The good news is that people are actively booking November and December events, which gives us a more optimistic view of the economy.
We are also looking forward to the re-opening of the highway 40/64 project which is the easiest and most convenient way to get here for most of our guests from Clayton, Ladue, Chesterfield and points west. It can only help all of the businesses and events downtown and from a personal standpoint should help congestion on all of the other highways in town.
Couple of things on our radar for the next 3 months:
Now-December-Holiday planning will be in full swing. Maybe the budgets are tighter, but companies are thanking their employees for hanging tough in these uncertain, but improving times.
Holiday season-Valentines day-This has traditionally been the busiest engagement months and venues are the first or second decision a bride and groom make (ceremony site and dress are also a top priority.)
January-2nd Annual Wedding Open House with our preferred vendors. All future brides, grroms and families are welcome.
Jan 29th-Jan31st-2nd Annual Centennial Beer Festival Weekend.
Looking forward to a busy and prosperous year for all. Cheers.
There are some great photos of the Centennial Ballroom Freese/Mansker wedding on Exclusive Events website. They are our preferred designer. Great choice of colors, lights and linens.
So some of the interesting facts about couples getting married today that we learned on our trip.
Average age of the groom…29. Of the bride…27
Weddings in the Midwest are the largest on average, over 180 guests versus the national average of 155 guests.
By the time it is all said and done, a destination wedding (inviting friends and family and getting married in some remote site like Mexico or Hawaii) ends up costing about the same as throwing a traditional wedding ceremony and reception.
Brides spend up to 20 hours a week online preparing for their big day and the high traffic times are the same as most business hours, so what are you doing at work today?
Decisions, decisions, decisions…. the bride and groom have more than 190 decisions to make planning their big day. That is a lot of information overload.
And speaking of the big day, it is more like a big weekend or weeks now that most couple plan or attend a bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception and post reception function.
I would say that this all sounds like what we experience at Moulin. The other interesting thing that we learned is that the bride and groom in the midwest is more apt to marry in a church, synagogue or place of worship versus getting married at a non-traditional site than any other part of the country. Again not surprising.
Let me know what you think of this and whether your experience plays out that way or is entirely different. Cheers.
On the 2nd night Ann and I had about an hour and half so we wandered into the Venetian and sat at the bar at Emeril’s Table 10. Very nice rich decor-back bar was cool-a wrought iron circular stairway and they aslo featured a wide open display kitchen that you could sit in front of-almost on the expo line- and enjoy the view.
We relaxed at the bar. I was drinking for both of us and had a couple glasses of wine. Finished the night with a “French Roast” which was pretty tasty-shot of espresso, starbucks liqueur, 3 olives coffee vodka and creme de cocoa skaken served up in a martini glass with three coffee beans. Expensive at $15, but pretty tasty.
Now on to the food. We mixed and matched and shared a couple of course.
Truffle Mac-n-Cheese
$14-Good but still mac and cheese.
Seared Maine Scallops
Jumbo Lump Crab, Lima Bean & Tomato Succotash, Creole Tomato Glaze, Parmesan Cheese
$38-Our favorite and the succotash made the dish
Cola Soaked Free Range Moscovy Duckling
Glazed Butternut Squash and Apricot Reduction
$32 -1/2 duck -Just alright-Sauce was excellent, but the duck was a bit tough. Good flavor
Salt & Pepper Crusted South Carolina Farm Raised Striped Bass
Skin-on Whole Fish stuffed with Lemons & Herbs and served with Toasted Almond Brown Butter
$32-Very good and cooked perfectly. Too much herb for my liking, but exactly as it was advertised.
The portions were all very good sized and the service was excellent with a couple of bartenders keeping tandom with our meal. Thanks to Wendy and Paul for the experience and would recommend if you like that style of menu. Won’t leave hungry and for Vegas the value was very good.
Next we went to Cirque Mystique at Treasure Island. More about that on the next post.
Ann and I just got back from a couple of days in Vegas. Went out there for the Wedding MBA show that highlights the latest trends in the wedding industry. Stayed at the Wynn hotel and we got a rgeat deal from Southwest Airlines vacations. 6 room nights and roundtrip air for under $1,200.
As far as the Wynn goes, I was not feeling the love. In the past 10 years I’ve been out there 5 times and stayed at the Bellagio, Venetian, Treasure Island and the Planet Holleywood when it was under renovation. Treasure Island was the most fun as far as stuff hapenning. Bellagio was the most opulent and the fountain is now a landmark. I don’t think that the Planet Hollywood was great, but hard to judge as it was still being converted from the old Alladin hotel. Pound for pound the Venetian was the coolest set-up, had the best choice of dining options and was the most fun to explore. The Lake of dreams at the Wynn is great for diner or a cocktail at one of the restaurants and the pool looked amazing when we saw it after the conference, but the rest of the hotel was just alright. Maybe I was expeting more.
More on our trip later including our the meal and show, the conference and some of the new trends in weddings, how the midwest difers fromt he rest of the nation when it comes from weddings.
Cheers.
The latest news and info from the culinary world of the Grand Petite Market, Eleven Eleven Mississippi, Vin de Set and Moulin Events.
© Knife & Cork