Our First Time to Taste of St. Louis with a Bonus Half Pint Sighting
If you have noticed by now, Katie and I have like – or love – food trucks. I’m not exactly sure why, but if I had to pinpoint a reason it would be the variety and quality.
Normally food truck gatherings offer a variety. Each truck picks 4-5 things they do well and concentrates on that. You aren’t going to find onion rings or jalapeño poppers from Sam’s frozen section on a food truck. It’s going to be original offerings with quality ingredients. And if it’s an actual event then the variety. You can pick and choose from several different trucks to design your own hand picked meal.
Now we don’t really have food trucks in our other than fairs or festivals which for the most part involve fried food or BBQ. So to get the variety you may have to drive a bit.
So if this blog title mentions The Taste of St. Louis, why am I rambling on about food trucks? Because the TasteSTL inspired our love of food trucks.
In 2014 I finally was able to make the arrangements to attend TasteSTL after a a few years of wanting to go. My schedule along with Katie’s and my sister Lindsey’s (We both have sisters named Lindsey Ann.) managed to work. Lindsey’s main focus wasn’t the food, she was tagging along for the second half of the evening which I will get to later.
It was a Friday evening and we were heading out right after school to be able to squeeze everything in for the evening. Leaving at the time put us arriving just a little after the opening of the event which helped with the lines.
At this event and others, food is the focus but they offer others draws too. Usually live music. Since this was a food focused event, a few cooking demonstrations were offered as well. But normally we are just there for the food.
If you plan on attending one of these events, you need to go with the right people. Meaning that you need someone who isn’t real picky and is willing to try new foods. Someone who is ok sharing food, utensils, or eating after one another. If you share items, you can sample more. And finally someone who is willing to spend a little bit
of money. You don’t have to spend a lot but if you go in thinking this is dinner plus entertainment then you realize you may spend a little more than normal. (I will say Katie realized this because I remember her specifically asking if I thought a $100 cash was enough. Uh yeah)
Upon arriving, I suggested we make a loop to see what all was being offered. If you are a planner like I am then you print the menu and make three copies so each person has their own. And if you are dorks like us, you strategically circle and plan which items you want making sure that you select a variety. Yes we actually did this.
The beauty of TasteSTL is that they realize this is a sampling event. Thirty different restaurants have booths with tasting portions ranging from $2 – $8. And when I say variety, the restaurants range from Steve’s Hot Dogs on the Hill to Ruth’s Cris Steakhouse.
We finished our loop then decided to divide and conquer. Each of us would get in a separate line, buy an item, then we would meet back to sample and share. Discussing what we liked, didn’t like, and what we were ordering for the next round. If my memory is correct, we had about four rounds of eating and sharing.
What we tried goes like this:
- Grand Marnier Creme Brulee
- Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese
- Brazilian Garlic Beef
- Key Lime Cheesecake
- Cannoli
- Gooey Butter Cake Doughnut
- Samosa
- Reshmi Kabob
- Ruth’s Cris Sweet Potato Casserole
- Chicken Satay
- Peking Duck Tacos
- Lobster Spring Roll
- Spicy Tuna Roll
- Fried Philly Roll
- California Roll
Yes the three of us ate all of that with no regrets. And I would gladly do it again.
Because of the garlic beef, we found the Tucano’s Brazilian Grill. It is a food experience – an enormous salad bar then rounds and round of meat and sides until you say stop. And 
the “lemonades” need to be tried as well. We were brave enough to try chicken hearts. Tried them didn’t really care for them. The grilled pineapple is scrumptious. It’s not a cheap meal but it is a meal experience that we would have never tried if it hadn’t been for TasteSTL.
After our four rounds of eating, we were headed off to the second stop of the evening and the reason my sister was along for the ride – a Melissa Gilbert Cookbook signing. My Lindsey Ann is a HUGE Little House on the Prairie Fan and when I heard that Half Pint was going to be in town for a Q&A session and book signing, I did the sisterly thing and arranged for us to go.
The book signing hosted by Left Bank Books was being held at Maryville University which worked well for us because it was just down the road from TasteSTL. We arrived early, purchased our cookbooks, and found seats fairly close to the front. Some fans even went so far as to dress in Half Pint dresses and bonnets. If Lindsey had known, she probably would have worn them as well. No joke.
The Q&A session lasted over an hour while Melissa Gilbert sat on a stage with a moderator answering questions. She also fielded questions from the audience. The evening ended with an hour long wait to have our books signed and a photo opportunity. It was a nice event for Little House fans. I would say Lindsey Ann was over-the-moon.
And Katie and I were over-the-moon after Taste of St. Louis. I would say Lindsey even enjoyed it as well.
If you have the opportunity to make it to this year’s event, GO! You won’t regret it and may even find a few new restaurants to try out later on.
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