Slow Food St. Louis is pleased to announce that our annual fundraiser, Art of Food, will be held on Saturday, July 24^th, from 6:00 to 10:00 pm, at Mad Art Gallery (2727 S. 12th Street, 63118). Proceeds from the event will benefit Slow Food St. Louis’ Small Farm Micro Biodiversity Grant, which over the past two years has given more than $12,000 to local farmers.

Art of Food will showcase the area’s top restaurants, serving up delectable hors d’oeuvres using as many fresh, local ingredients as possible, all prepared in the Slow Food tradition. Confirmed restaurants include Farmhaus (Kevin Willmann), Harvest (Stephen Gontram), Local Harvest Café (Clara Moore), Kakao Chocolate (Brian Pelletier), Monarch (Joshua Galliano), Niche/Taste by Niche/Brassiere by Niche (Gerard Craft), Bridge/Rooster/Bailey’s Chocolate Bar (David Bailey), Five/Newstead Tower Public House (Anthony Devoti), Winslow’s Home (Cary McDowell), Companion Bakery (Josh Allen), Franco (Matt Abeshouse) and Annie Gunn’s (Lou Rook III). A cash bar is also available.

Food-themed art by local artists and a multitude of gift baskets filled with specialty goodies from boutiques, wineries, and restaurants are also up for auction. Confirmed artists include Cbabi Bayoc, Mitch Huett, James Ibur, Tommy Lawless, Josh Monken, Marie Oberkirsch, and Lindy Sullivan. Additional artists will be announced soon.

Tickets for the event are $30 for Slow Food members and $40 for non-members in advance; $40 for Slow Food members and $50 for non-members at the door. Sponsors include Mad Art Gallery and Schlafly. St. Louis Earth Day and Replenishing the Earth will be managing the recycling/composting efforts as Art of Food is a low-waste event.

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic, member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

For more information about this event visit www.artoffoodstl.com. To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/114836.

And as promised, the menu…

Annie Gunn’s – Lou Rook III

Roasted Viking Village Sea Scallop with Annie Gunn’s Bacon and Ratatouille.

Companion – Josh Allen

1. Panzanella “Bread Salad”  – Companion Roasted Garlic Fougasse w/ local heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers (working to identify farmer this week)

2. Grilled Bread Station with assorted pestos & tapenades

Five – Anthony Devoti

Benne’s Farm Pork confit, sesame cracker, tomato jam and pickled Claverach Farm baby carrots.

Harvest – Stephen Gontram

Harvest Bread Pudding

Kakao Chocolate – Brian Pelletier

1:Bacon Caramels Made with bacon from Hinkebein Hills Farms and local honey.

2: Chocolate Dipped Double-Layer Pates de Fruits

Local Harvest Café – Clara Moore

Horseradish Pickled Heirloom Tomato Relish on a Prairie Breeze Cheese Biscuit

Monarch – Josh Galliano

Prairie Grass Farms Goat Terrine, eggplant tapenade, Greek yogurt, fennel mostarda

Niche – Gerard Craft

white gazpacho, smoked grape sorbet

Sidney Street Café

Rabbit bratwurst with Companion brioche and house made sauerkraut

Winslow’s Home

Winslow’s Farm Cucumbers and Heirloom Tomatoes with pulled Prairie Grass Farm Lamb

and dishes still to come from…

Bailey’s Chocolate Bar, Farmhaus, Mad Art Gallery, Franco

Slow Food St. Louis is pleased to announce that our annual fundraiser, Art of Food, will be held on Saturday, July 24^th, from 6:00 to 10:00 pm, at Mad Art Gallery (2727 S. 12th Street, 63118). Proceeds from the event will benefit Slow Food St. Louis’ Small Farm Micro Biodiversity Grant, which over the past two years has given more than $12,000 to local farmers.

Art of Food will showcase the area’s top restaurants, serving up delectable hors d’oeuvres using as many fresh, local ingredients as possible, all prepared in the Slow Food tradition. Confirmed restaurants include Farmhaus (Kevin Willmann), Harvest (Stephen Gontram), Local Harvest Café (Clara Moore), Kakao Chocolate (Brian Pelletier), Monarch (Joshua Galliano), Niche/Taste by Niche/Brassiere by Niche (Gerard Craft), Bridge/Rooster/Bailey’s Chocolate Bar (David Bailey), Five/Newstead Tower Public House (Anthony Devoti), Winslow’s Home (Cary McDowell), Companion Bakery (Josh Allen), Franco (Matt Abeshouse) and Annie Gunn’s (Lou Rook III). A cash bar is also available.

Food-themed art by local artists and a multitude of gift baskets filled with specialty goodies from boutiques, wineries, and restaurants are also up for auction. Confirmed artists include Cbabi Bayoc, Mitch Huett, James Ibur, Tommy Lawless, Josh Monken, Marie Oberkirsch, and Lindy Sullivan. Additional artists will be announced soon.

Tickets for the event are $30 for Slow Food members and $40 for non-members in advance; $40 for Slow Food members and $50 for non-members at the door. Sponsors include Mad Art Gallery and Schlafly. St. Louis Earth Day and Replenishing the Earth will be managing the recycling/composting efforts as Art of Food is a low-waste event.

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic, member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

For more information about this event visit www.artoffoodstl.com.  To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/114836.

The Good, The Big, & The Ugly, a celebration of the locally-grown tomato!

Slow Food St. Louis and Farm to Family Naturally, a Missouri Farmers’ Union Cooperative effort, are pleased to announce The Good, The Big, & The Ugly Homegrown Tomato Festival, a celebration of the locally-grown tomato, will be held on Saturday, July 31st, from 12:00 to 4:00 pm, at Sappington Farmers’ Market/Orlando’s (8400 Watson Road, 63119).

At the heart of the event will be a homegrown tomato contest, where tomatoes will be judged on weight, brix (sugar content), and taste, and of course, the best looking and the ugliest tomatoes will be awarded prizes as well. Both conventional and heirloom tomatoes are welcome, as are first-time tomato growers. A $1.00 entry fee will charged for each tomato entered into the contest.

In addition, this event will feature a tomato cocktail contest, where professional mixologists will be paired with local tomato growers–all of whome have received Slow Food St. Louis Small Farm Biodiversity Micro-grants. This year’s pairs include Matt Seiter of Sanctuaria and Justin Leszcz of Yellow Tree Farm, Ted Kilgore of Taste by Niche and Karrie Johnson of Red House Farm, and Nate Selsor of Monarch Restaurant and Gabriel Walbridge of Ozark Harvest Farm.

The Good, The Big, & The Ugly is an event for all ages; seed saving and preservation demonstrations will interest adults, while the children’s booth will provide fun for kids of all ages. Live music will be provided by FolknBluesGrass. This event is sponsored by Absolut Vodka and the United States Bartenders Guild.

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic, member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Farm to Family Naturally is a Missouri Farmers’ Union Cooperative effort, dedicated to bringing the highest quality, local, affordable, sustainable, organic, and natural foods straight from the farm to your table.

• What: Slow Food St. Louis The Good, The Big, & The Ugly Tomato Festival
• When: Saturday, July 31, 12-4PM
• Where: Sappington Farmers’ Market & Orlando’s, 8400 Watson Road, 63119

Events include:

• $1 Entry Fee for Tomato
• Judged on weight, brix, taste, best looking and most ugly
• Conventional and heirloom tomatoes, and first-time growers, welcome!
• Professional mixologist/grower tomato cocktail contest
• Seed Saving/preservation demos, kids booth… fun for all ages.
• Live music by FolknBluesGrass (folknbluesgrass.com)

The event will take place approximately one and a half hours from St. Louis at Prairie Grass Farms in New Florence, MO.  We encourage guests to arrive early for small talk and snacks at 2:00PM.  A walking tour of the farm with Dave Hillebrand will commence at 3:00PM, and dinner will begin at approximately 4:00PM.  As slow food takes time to serve and enjoy, the ending time of the event is open.

Proceeds from the event will be used to support Slow Food St. Louis’ Micro Grant program.  Started in 2009, the program has given more than $12,000 to area farmers to encourage them to produce heirloom and heritage vegetables and livestock.  It is our hope that by taking on a share of the financial burden farmers are faced with by subsidizing the purchase of the necessary seed, livestock or equipment, that we can foster biodiversity to both maintain and enrich our region’s agricultural heritage.

You can find more information about our Micro Grant program on our website: www.slowfoodstl.org

Please note: Although dinner takes place under the cover of a three-sided barn, this is ultimately an outdoor event, and will take place rain or shine.

As mentioned, with only a handful of tickets still available, we expect the event to sell out fast.  If any tickets remain after May 29th, the cost will increase to $120.

• Monarch – www.monarchrestaurant.com
• Yia Yia’s – www.yiayias.com/stl
• SleeK Steakhouse  – www.fleurdelyssf.com
• Entre Underground – www.entreunderground.com
• Five Bistro – www.fivebistro.com
• Sidney Street Café – www.sidneystreetcafe.com
• Niche – www.nichestlouis.com
• Farmhaus Restaurant – www.farmhausrestaurant.com
• Schlafly Beer – www.schlafly.com
• Les Bourgeois Vineyards – www.missouriwine.com

As they are donating the space, please purchase the book from Puddn’Head Books and mention that you are buying it for the Book Club.  You will receive a 20% discount off the price of the book.

Please read a copy of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle prior to the meeting, and arrive ready to discuss any thoughts or ideas that it inspires in you.

You can also check out the book’s website: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

See you there!

• Date: 2010-06-24
• Start Time: 07:00PM
• Location: Pudd’nHead Books, 37 S. Old Orchard, Webster Groves, MO 63119 (in the shopping center that includes Ben Franklin)

But, dear friends, those days are behind us.  A new calendar with solid functionality that doesn’t look completely ridiculous has been born.  So now you’ll be able to keep track of the sweetest Slow events happening around the area put on by both us, the fine people of Slow Food St. Louis, as well as other organizations who are up to some sweetness.

And that’s where you come in.  If you know of an event happening in the are that you feel would be a good fit for our calendar, let us know at webmaster@slowfoodstl.org.  Heck, we may even think it’s so outrageously fantastic that, like the free Food, Inc. screening with the Healthy Youth Partnership, we’ll even promote it to our front page.

That’s just the kind of swell people we are.

Come see a FREE screening of the film Food Inc. Tuesday, June 1, 5pm, at the Life Victory Center, 2922 North Grand, 63107! This event is a part of the national Ingredients for Change Campaign, sponsored by Active Voice and is sponsored by Imhotep Academy and Healthy Youth Partnership.

Featuring:

• Guest Speakers Darvin Green of the Missouri Agricultural Products Cooperative and Ben Graham, Certified Holistic Health Consultant
• Childcare
• Door Prizes

Details:

• Date: 2010-06-01
• Time: 5:00 PM
  
• Location: Victory Center, 2922 North Grand, 63107
• Link out: Click here

Thanks for the heads up.

Sunday, April 26 Slow Food St. Louis will once again have a booth at the St. Louis Earth Day festival.  If you’ve been wondering who we were and what we’re about, or simply wanted to say hello, come on by.

We’ll be located in the Farmers’ Market area and one of our co-leaders along with our other volunteers will be there all day.

Thank you to KMOV for the opportunity.