Three Weeks in the Midwest: St. Louis
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, I was thrilled to have three weeks of concerts, fourteen in all, in three of my favourite cities in the centre of the USA. I had been to all of them often, even lived in one of them for over five years, but because of the pandemic, I had not visited them for some time.
To save this piece becoming as long as a Victorian novel, I will split the weeks up, one per city, beginning with St. Louis, Missouri, the first stop on my trip.
On January 14th 1979, my 29th birthday, I flew from London to St. Louis to take up what I thought would be a short stint as an Artist in Residence at Washington University. Little did I know that I would end up staying until 1985 when I moved west to the Bay Area. Since then, I have been back to St. Louis almost every year. In 1986, I conducted the marvellous Symphony in Powell Hall for the first time. It was Messiah, and Lorraine Hunt, then a soprano, was one of the soloists. For both of us, it was our first time doing the whole piece and I have never forgotten the thrill of making music with such wonderful people. Now, thirty-five years later, almost to the day, I was back in Powell Hall, my first time there since February of 2020. The programme was all Bach, both J.S. and his son C.P.E., and performing this glorious music with the Symphony was a total delight. The soloist in Emmanuel’s Cello Concerto in A was Yin Xiong and she was simply brilliant. She made one’s heart leap in the outer movements and found such a deep sadness in the middle one. Making music with friends, as so many of the St. Louis Symphony musicians are, is one of my greatest joys and it was terrific to be back.
I was also fortunate to take part in a pair of concerts given by the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis at the Sheldon Theatre, one of the best venues in town. It was so much fun and all the sweeter for not having played this kind of music for over a year.
Even though I had five concerts in the week, there was still time to see friends and to dine. Sadly, Dressel’s Welsh Public House, my go-to hang out, was closed, I hope only temporarily. Jon and Barbara Dressel opened the place in 1980 and I was there on the first night, playing some Bach on the piano which used to be close to the Carmen poster in the photo above. I can’t quite believe that it was over forty years ago! Barbara passed away in 2019 but it was always a joy to visit them whenever I was in town. The food at the bar was hearty with some delicious Welsh treats on the menu. My favourite was their home-made potato chips with a Welsh Rarebit dipping sauce. I do not have their exact recipe, which is probably a state secret, but this one is I hope very similar:
WELSH RAREBIT
1 knob of butter
1 tbs white flour
1tsp English Mustard Powder
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
A jigger of Worcestershire sauce
1 Cup Welsh beer or Guinness
1 ¾ cups of grated strong Cheddar or Double Gloucester, if you can find it
Serve hot with potato chips, the Dressels’ way, or on toast.
Method
Make a roux with the butter and flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the cheese has completely melted and the texture is smooth. Either use it as a dipping sauce or spread it on toast and put under the grill until the sauce is golden brown (or a little more than that!) and piping hot. At least one pint of beer is the perfect accompaniment.
I sincerely hope that Dressel’s will reopen soon and be serving this soul-warming treat once again.
Another place that I really enjoy is the Brasserie by Niche and I was lucky to visit twice on this trip. It is a great place and also one that stays open later than most, so it is the perfect spot to go to after a concert.
I was advised to order the escargots, which were perfect, as was their French Onion Soup. Here is the recipe.
French Onion Soup
4 cups of very thinly sliced peeled yellow onions
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups rich chicken stock
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 slices toasted bread or crostini to fit in soup bowls
3 cups grated Franche-Comté, Gruyère or Swiss cheese
Fresh chives for garnish
Method
1. Thinly slice the onions and place in a large bowl. Toss to separate the rings and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a 5-quart pot over medium low heat. Add the onions and salt.
3. Caramelise the onions very slowly over medium-low heat. It will take 30 to 50 minutes or more, stirring occasionally as needed.
4. As the onions cook, they will release water, but if you notice them sticking to the pan, add small amounts of water to prevent burning and release any flavourful pieces that develop on the bottom of the pan.
5. You want the onions to reach a deep brown — almost the “colour of bourbon.” At that point they are fully caramelised.
6. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the cooking onions, stirring it in completely to evenly distribute the flour. You don’t want lumps in the flour before you add the stock.
7. Pour 2 cups of stock over the onions, whisking as you go. Add the remaining 4 cups of stock in 2 cups at a time, whisking still to make sure no lumps are forming that need to be stirred down.
8. Bring the soup to a simmer and allow it to cook for 30 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, then stir in the sherry vinegar and ground pepper.
9. Turn the broiler on to medium high.
10. Portion the hot soup into 6 oven-proof bowls. Arrange 2 pieces of toasted bread on the surface. Top each bowl with ½ cup of grated cheese, taking care to cover the bread.
11. Place under the broiler to melt the cheese. Keep a good eye on this as it only takes a few minutes, 2 to 4 minutes depending on the broiler.
12. Garnish each bowl with chopped chives.
