Robust is only one of two restaurants I’ve found in St. Louis that transported me back to New York City with its style, its service, and its patronage. When I walked in the door, the diners on the patio and at the bar were smartly and stylishly dressed. The hostess knew before I even mentioned twitter exactly what the tweet-up was and where the girls had been seated. The menu a touch of chic and a lot of subtle, and the servers knew or were willing to seek out answers to any questions that we had.

Before the meal, Stanley the voice of Robust Wine Bar on twitter (and, I believe, the owner) introduced himself to us.  A waitress showed up at our table with complimentary sparkling wine for the table, and we toasted twitter, wine, girlfriends and Robust.

Robust Wine Bar gets social media. As a business, seeking out key users on twitter, blogs, facebook, Yelp! or other online forums where clients or guests can formally or informally review your business is a smart move. Last night was an excellent example. Six of the seven of us at the table are active twitter users, at least two of us have active blogs, and another girl is employed at one to city’s fast-growing interactive agencies.

We’re activators in our respective social networks. In other words, we’re the girls who organize the parties, talk about our great restaurant experiences with friends online and offline, and go out of our way (this blog post, for example) to recognize businesses and people whose services exceed our expectations.

Stanley and his staff at Robust get it. They recognized that while we may not have had the deepest pockets of all the guests in the restaurant, we have some of the biggest megaphones. He and his team rolled out the red carpet for us, and the girls have raved about him and about Robust on twitter ever since.

Speaking of Ro(lling) Out the Red Carpet, that was the name of the flight of red wines I ordered last night. The wine menu was filled with clever but eloquent names for flights, bites and wines. There was one dessert, however, which has not yet been named. We cast our vote that the dessert be called the “St. Louis tweet-up sweet treat”, because based on our experience at Robust Wine Bar, there’s nothing about the place that isn’t a sweet treat for a twitter girl.

Robust Wine Bar is located on West Lockwood Avenue in historic Webster Groves, Missouri. Learn more about Robust by visiting them online or following them on twitter.

It should be noted that both of these coworkers are my elders, and both eat beets regularly at lunch. Being the young, tactless coworker that I somehow manage to be all too often, I chimed in that I also associated beets with old people, specifically with nursing homes.

Flash forward a few days…

Great friends, great beets. @ Local Harvest Cafe, photo my MilliGFunk

Yesterday I took two of my very close San Franciscan friends to lunch at Local Harvest Cafe in South City, St. Louis. Having recently developed a fascination with borscht, my friends ordered a bowl of it with their sandwich. I ordered the Farmer’s Market salad, which came loaded with beets.

Farmers Market Salad from Local Harvest Cafe, photo by MilliGFunk

If you love beets, or if you’re old…or if you’re not old and you don’t like beets…or if you’re vegetarian, vegan, a fan of local foods…and/or if you’re looking for fantastic soups, salads, coffees and deserts in St. Louis, I highly recommend Local Harvest Cafe.

Across the street from Local Harvest Cafe is the Local Harvest Grocery, which carries – among other things – my favorite Missouri brie, made by Baetje Farms in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. I wrote about Baetje Farms last fall.

Local Harvest Cafe is located at 3137 Morgan Ford Road, just south of Tower Grove Park in St. Louis, Missouri. Local Harvest Grocery is located diagonally across the street at 3148 Morgan Ford Road.

***

I dedicate this post and my beet-filled salad yesterday to my two fantastic, beet-eating coworkers. Judy and Cat, beets aren’t just for old people. Thanks for opening my eyes to the beauty of the vividly-colored root vegetables. And to my coworker Julianne, thank you for teaching me about Local Harvest last year when I’d just moved back to this area.

Or should it?

At Friday night’s #stl #tweet-up, @Tojosan and @MattHomann, determined to convince me that St. Louis isn’t just BBQ and steak, drafted a list for me of the best restaurants and bars in St. Louis. Here’s what they came up with: (note: their original list has been extended to include more recommendations from friends reading this blog and following me on twitter).

33 (wine bar)

Absolulty Goosed

Bailey’s Chocolate Bar

The Bleeding Deacon (for good bar food)

Boogaloo’s (Maplewood)

Farotto’s (great lasagna!)

Franco

Frazier’s Brown Bag

Grazzi’s (The Hill)

Hodak’s (for fried chicken)

Iron Barley

La Vellasana

Niche

Olympia (Greek – try the flaming cheese!)

Pi

Porch (store)

Ravanelli’s (Collinsville, IL)

Red Sea (Ethiopian)

Venice Cafe

Do you think my twitter friends have omitted great St. Louis restaurants? Leave me a comment, and I’ll add your suggestion to my list!

Hansome Man, photo by smalltowngirl

Oh, that thin little tie! Oh, that bright white smile! Oh, those dimples! And with spectacles like those, I’m sure he’s a smart and successful man.

I never expected to find love in such a small town, but my encounter with the gentleman in the top hat has inspired new faith. There may be love in Small Town, Missouri for a girl like me, afterall.

Missouri’s spring showers have been a welcome home, of sorts, after ten years away, missing the storms that Missouri is well-known for.

Another kind of shower came up this weekend, as a close family friend and her husband (also a long time friend of mine) prepare for the birth of their first baby, due July 20th. My mom and I threw the mom-to-be a baby shower on Saturday for them.

My mom made every invitation and every party favor by hand from scratch, matching everything to the baby’s brown and blue nursery decorations. I followed suit with chocolate fudge mini cupcakes with blue mint icing topped with miniature chocolate chips.

Chocolate Fudge Mini Cupcakes with Blue Mint Icing and Mini Chocolate Chips, cupcakes and photos by smalltowngirl

Whether it’s rain showers or baby showers, seems Missouri has welcomed me back with much adue. I felt really good about being home again after all these years to be present for these special days in the lives of my friends. Now if we can just do something about these rain showers…

The rain fell, the wind bent the trees, and from the Facebook and Twitter status messages of friends in Missouri, it sounds like Sunday afternoon naps were enjoyed all-around.

Following my own two-hour nap, I enjoyed a Missouri rib dinner with my parents and then indulged in the rainy weather as a perfect opportunity to stay indoors and try my recently-discovered recipe for chocolate mint bars.

To start, I made homemade brownies – something I’ve surprisingly never before attempted. Sixteen ounces of chocolate syrup, flour, eggs, and a few other ingredients later, I was putting the brownies in the oven to bake.

While the brownies baked, I prepared the first of two layers of icing; a blend of milk, confectioner’s sugar, green food coloring, and mint extract.

Twenty-five minutes later, I pulled the brownies out of the oven to cool. Once cooled, I added the mint icing and prepared the final layer; a dark chocolate icing that, when chilled, turned firm and almost cruncy.

The final result was a three-layered brownie desser that even my dad, who I wouldn’t have pegged as a dark chocolate and mint kind of man, enjoyed.

Life in NYC rarely allowed time for me to bake things like this. The transition back to Missouri life hasn’t been all easy, but rainy days spent inside, baking make  me glad I made the decision to move back here.

Dark Chocolate Mint Bars baked and photographed by smalltowngirl