Creature Comforts

While assembling the RFT's 2012 "Best of St. Louis" issue, we got this great idea:

A Build Your Own Best of St. Louis® Kit!

Wait! We're serious! It's really not that complicated! Sure, there are a lot of moving parts (three hundred seventysomething pieces), but the principle is straightforward: You find a bunch of people who are opinionated, passionate and hard to please, turn 'em loose with instructions to bring back a list of stuff they really, really like.

On second thought, better make that an annotated list of stuff they really, really like. In addition to being opinionated, passionate and hard to please, your team members need to be thorough.

No, that last requirement ought to be optional. (Say you want a swimming pool: You don't need anyone telling you how big a hole to dig.)

Truth is, you don't need a kit to put together your own "Best of St. Louis." You just need the inclination and the time. If you're looking for pointers (or if you're too lazy to write your own), by all means read ours. We guarantee you'll find something new to try or, at the very least, a choice or two to argue about.

And if you do happen to Build Your Own Best of St. Louis®, do us a favor and send us a copy. We're always looking for contributors.

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Contributors
Writers: Mike Appelstein, Jessica Baran, Dennis Brown, Michael Dauphin, Gail Dixon, Kholood Eid, Tom Finkel, Paul Friswold, Ian Froeb, Julia Gabbert, Chad Garrison, Leah Greenbaum, Daniel Hill, Deborah Hyland, Roy Kasten, Cassie Kohler, Josh Levi, Aimee Levitt, Jessica Lussenhop, Kiernan Maletsky, Kristie McClanahan, Bob McMahon, Liz Miller, Dean C. Minderman, Liz Ortmann, Nicholas Phillips, Suzy Rust, Christian Schaeffer, Aaron Schafer, Alison Sieloff, Ryan Wasoba, Chrissy Wilmes
Operations manager: Kristie McClanahan
Ballot tally: Liz Miller
Fact-checking and proofreading: Meghan Edmonds, Julia Gabbert, Liz Miller, Mabel Suen, Chrissy Wilmes
Editorial coordinator: Liz Miller
Design: Tom Carlson
Creatures: Rick Nadeau (Rick's Custom Squirrels), Frank Temares (Frank's Taxidermy and Wildlife Art)
Photography: Jennifer Silverberg, Rick Nadeau, Istockphoto.com
Photoillustrations: Jeff Drew (section openers), Tom Carlson
Special thanks to: Thomas Bond