For this week's review, I returned to one of St. Louis' many established sushi restaurants. Still, we can't seem to get enough nigiri, sashimi and rolls. Yet another new sushi restaurant has opened: Café Mochi at 3221 South Grand Boulevard.
Mochi opened in early May in an attractive new space at the corner of South Grand and Humphrey Street. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It also features a happy hour with half-price sushi from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information call 314-773-5000.
Also in the Tower Grove South area, the ice cream parlor at 3101 South Grand is no longer a branch of Boston-based Emack & Bolio's. Instead, the shop, which opened last September, is now known as Ice Cream on the Park. For more information call 314-865-0854.
Slow Food St. Louis has announced this year's Art of Food fundraiser. The event benefits both the organization, which promotes local and sustainable food, and Fair Shares Combined Community Supported Agriculture, which seeks to connect local farms with consumers. Art of Food will take place Saturday, July 25, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Mad Art Gallery (2727 South 12th Street).
Participating restaurants include Niche, Monarch, Sidney Street Café, Local Harvest Café, Erato on Main and Annie Gunn's. An auction will feature local art and gift baskets. Tickets cost $40 ($30 for Slow Food St. Louis members) in advance and $50 at the door ($40 for Slow Food St. Louis members). You can purchase tickets at the Art of Food website, www.artoffoodstl.com. For more info, contact Bill Burge at [email protected].
The bistro Five has completed its move from Forest Park Southeast's Grove neighborhood to the Hill. The restaurant is now open at 5100 Daggett Avenue, the former Pizzeria della Piazza space. I spoke with owner and executive chef Anthony Devoti about the new space just before the original location's final weekend.
"It's a gut-rehab job," Devoti told me. "We ripped everything out. The idea is to be the same restaurant as the original Five. We're keeping the same color scheme. We'll be bringing all of our paintings over. We have beautiful new lights."
Are you opening a new restaurant? Know of a place that has closed? Something else for Ian to chew on? E-mail [email protected]. And check out this column's virtual doppelganger here.
