5-Spot's Regional Menu Currently Focused on St. Louis Cuisine (That's Right, St. Louis)
The 5-Spot, like all of its Chow Foods brethren, is perhaps best known for its rotating regional menu, which typically focuses on the cuisine of well-known locales like Italy and Jamaica; or stateside, Chicago and New Orleans.
But through mid-January, the 5-Spot is currently spotlighting the cuisine of...St. Louis, Missouri. As someone who lived there for four years (2002-2006), I can attest that the River City is somewhat underrated as a culinary destination, but the dishes it's known for are decidedly lowbrow--and all but one notable currently appears on the 5-Spot's menu.
Saint Louis is a big Catholic town, so much so that otherwise liberal Democrats tend to be pro-lifers. Hence, church-hosted Lenten fish fries abound; and lo and behold, there's a "St. Ferdinand Fish Fry" on the 5-Spot's St. Lou menu. Also present is toasted ravioli, sort of a misnomer because the ravioli isn't actually toasted--it's fried. And my personal favorite: The Soulard Slinger.
I lived in Soulard, one of America's great drinking neighborhoods, which sits in the shadow of the enormous and gothic Anheuser-Busch brewery and hosts one of the nation's largest Mardi Gras celebrations. There's literally a bar on about every corner, and the slinger--a heart-racing mash-up of hashbrowns, eggs, chili, and hamburger--is one of America's great late-night/morning-after cures for partaking in the nectar that Soulard has to offer.
"It has all of the elements in it," says the 5-Spot's assistant manager, Jen Gleer, who was born and raised on St. Louis' south side. "You get your protein, your carbs, and your fat. And we can call the beans in the chili a vegetable. That's actually one of the top sellers off our St. Louis menu. It's unfortunate that we don't serve it at two in the morning."
Amazingly, general manager Rich Gantner also hails from St. Louis (the suburb of Florissant, to be exact). It was Gantner's idea to celebrate his hometown cuisine atop Queen Anne, but he made the curious decision to leave perhaps the Lou's most polarizing delicacy off the menu, that delicacy being Provel cheese.
"We looked at bringing it in, but I don't know that it would be received up here in the Seattle market," explains Gantner. "It's essentially processed cheese, and we try to keep things wholesome and natural."
As Gantner lets on, Provel isn't really cheese--it's a processed "food stuff" that's supposed to taste like a hybrid of swiss, provolone, and cheddar. But to me, Provel resembles a cross between Tang, Cheez Whiz, and freshly-excreted diarrhea. And unfortunately for pizza purists who don't hail from the Lou but happen to live there, it's the preferred topping for many St. Louis pie pushers, including the venerable Imo's chain.
Yet Provel has its defenders. My cousin-in-law, Bob Dillon, who lives in Seattle, refuses to return to his native Lou unless his mother promises that the first thing to enter his mouth will be a square slice of Imo's. And Gantner's right there with him. "Without question, if you go to St. Louis, you have to have Imo's," he says.
To each his own.
13 comment(s)
sdhixson says:
Way to keep holding it down for STL and Soulard, Seely
Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 11 2009 @ 4:33PM
Bob Dillon says:
Bob Dillon still loves Imo's
Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 11 2009 @ 6:03PM
Morisseau says:
Imo's gets the gas face. Farotto's is where it's at! Represent!
Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 11 2009 @ 7:25PM
Andrea Benson says:
I can't believe you didn't mention the gooey butter cake! Did you see the gooey butter cake?! It is deeeeelicious. Hope they keep it on the menu.
Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 11 2009 @ 8:31PM
Mike K says:
I agree, gooey butter cake should be there. Also, there's barbecued pork steaks, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis-style_barbecue
and the St. Paul sandwich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_sandwich
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 8:56AM
Seely says:
gooey butter cake is on the dessert menu. sorry for the omission. and mike k: great call on pork steaks. bob dillon's dad, jc, makes the best i've ever tasted.
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 9:43AM
Keegan says:
"Provel resembles a cross between Tang, Cheez Whiz, and freshly-excreted diarrhea."
Spot on, plus it has the grainy texture of potting soil.
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 11:03AM
BW says:
I plan on muscling up to a table at the 5-Spot and doing something I've never done before. Eat a slinger sober! That's right, this time I want to remember it!
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 11:14AM
Ben Westhoff says:
I miss Stl-style thin-crust pizza.
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 2:19PM
Kelli says:
I like the mac & cheese. I should also note that I was raised on Velveeta...
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 4:48PM
sdhixson says:
FoodWire: Serious Eats Samples Imo's Pizza
http://bit.ly/4tFOXe
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 5:42PM
Bryon says:
I worked at Courtesy Diner in the city of St. Louis for a for a few years. The have been around since the 1920s and it's where the Slinger was invented. Try it with sausage patties instead of hamburger and substitute the chili for white sausage gravy (usually found on biskets and gravy). We call it a Hoosier and it's awesome
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 12 2009 @ 6:50PM
chicken fried chicken says:
i love the courtesy diner!!!!!
Posted On: Friday, Nov. 13 2009 @ 2:58PM