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Monday, December 12, 2011

Queen of the Hill

Six days.

That's longer than I have been away from this blog since I started it in July.  I'm practically getting separation anxiety.

This past weekend David and I went on a long-overdue visit to see my parents in St. Louis.  We ate incredibly well and my parents were also kind enough to host our friends Scott and Kathy, who moved to Kentucky but came up to visit.  Scott and Kathy married David and I, so they have a special place in our lives.

 
Scott and Kathy outside the Anheuser Busch brewery in St. Louis, a surprisingly fun tour.

One of the highlights of the trip was walking St. Louis' "The Hill" neighborhood, which was settled by Italian immigrants in the later part of the 1800s and remains a hub of Italian culture today.  There are two good-sized grocery stores, DiGregorio's and Viviano's, as well as butcher shops, bakeries, a gelateria and of course the bocce ball club.


If you're interested in Italian culture in the Midwest, this is a must-stop destination.  Despite the city of St. Louis falling on hard times, the Hill remains vibrant and bustling.  My father stood in line outside the Missouri Baking Company to get cannoli for Saturday's dinner.  Lots of places claim to have the best cannoli in St. Louis, but the lines outside Missouri Baking Company make a strong statement that theirs really might be best.
I don't really like cannoli, and theirs are awesome.

Stop at one of the two groceries (or both) to fill up your trunk with high-quality salumi, cheese and fresh pasta, along with Italian wine.  I found varietals represented in both of their wine departments that I haven't seen in many places in the United States.  And the prices?  For the quality, dirt cheap.

I preferred Viviano's.  It feels like a relic from the 1950s, slightly dingy and crammed to the brim with products.  Fifty kinds of olive oil?  Check.  Twenty varieties of fresh ravioli?  Check.  A cheese and meat counter with a sassy counterman who knows every olive, meat and cheese in his area?  Check.  It isn't as organized or as well-lit as DiGregorio's, but I loved the chaos of it. 


After purchasing a case of wine, along with some olive oil, dried pasta and items for Saturday's dinner, I couldn't resist the gelateria.  Called Gelato di Riso, it's just a block down from Viviano's and has at least twenty flavors of both fruit-flavored and creamier gelato, and they'll let you have two flavors in a dish.  The lime gelato was to die for, creamy and tangy, and was even better next to the pomegranate gelato, which was sweeter and silkier.  My mother and Scott both flipped over the seasonal eggnog gelato, and David pretty much refused to let anyone at his blood orange gelato. 

This neighborhood makes for a great walking tour, and also claims some top-notch old-school Italian restaurants.  If you're anywhere near St. Louis, it's worth the detour.

19 comments:

  1. sound like a nice place to visit, I hope I have DiGregorio's and Viviano's at my town, that could be my fav grocerys store to visit,btw I love the hanging price list :)

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  2. Your post bring back memories of my trip to Italy and yes, plenty of different types of olive oil which I did not buy back as its pricey if converted to currency and its actually cheaper to be bought at my place. For sure I did enjoy the Italian ice-creams and coffee.

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  3. I really enjoy going to little independent places like this, so few exist any more with so many superstores cropping up. I have been looking into some walking tours on the east coast, but have yet to commit to anything.
    This does look like your tour made for an fun day-thanks for sharing your adventure in St Louis!

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  4. I'm totally drooling over the gelato. WANT! Glad you had a great (and well deserved, I'm sure) holiday :)

    buzzed!

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  5. Pittsburgh, Pa. has a great area called the Strip District which has a similar atmosphere and to die for pasta, cheese and fish items as well as plenty of small shops with wall to wall customers buying plenty of fresh foods..I bet you had a great time..I know we do! Thanks for sharing!

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  6. I am obsessed with a salumi store in St. Louis and won't rest until I go there. I even follow them on Facebook! Sounds like the perfect break for you!

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  7. Welcome home...what a fun time! I'm more likely to get to St. Louis than Anchorage, so thanks for sharing some of your favorite spots :)

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  8. I love St Louis!!! We have been there a couple of times when we would drive from Ft Leavenworth KS-Home, it was always such a nice stop for our family. Unfortunately, we never made it to "The Hill" Hopefully I never have to go back to the Mid West, but if I do at least I have new places to visit to look forward too :)

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  9. We know what you mean bout your blog! We've been away for two weeks and am surprised we haven't broken out in cold sweats. Italian grocery stores are so much fun just to go into and inhale the aromas, o say nothing of buying all those amazing goodies. Sadly we are far from anything like these stores in your post so we'll live vicariously...

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  10. Gelato looks yummmm sound like a nice place to visit u:)Thanks for sharing ur experience.

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  11. Welcome back! It sounds like you had a terrific time and it's always nice to take some time off and re-charge your batteries! (I nearly swooned when I read 50 kinds of olive oils!)

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  12. I'm glad you had such a nice visit with your family and friends! That gelato looks amazing! :) Happy you're back to blogging again. :)

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  13. Ah look at that gelato! I'm obsessed with the stuff. I would LOVE to get my hands on some of that eggnog gelato!

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  14. Dang...I spent some time in St. Louis this fall but never made it down to Little Italy. I really hope I have another opportunity to go sometime, its such a great city with awesome food. Looks like you had an awesome time!

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  15. I am glad that you had some nice time at St. Louise. I like to explore and try new things like you.

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  16. A friend of mine was in St. Louis last year. I told him he had to check out the toasted ravioli. SO, fast forward a year later, and I'm in St. Louis, on my way to my 20th Highschool reunion and what do I eat when I get there? Korean food! LOL!

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  17. This is such a fun post. I want every kind of gelato for the record. Where I live is just void of anything culinary chic. It's so sad.

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  18. Thanks for sharing some pictures from your trip. I have never been to St Louise so it was fun to hear a little bit about it. Gelato is my favorite and I always stop by when I find the store (no matter how cold outside!). :-)

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  19. I love stuff like this. Local destinations are the best when traveling to get the flavor of the city! I have these marked and that gelato pic is making me crazy!

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