Good morning, fam!
It took me right up until about now to finally recover from our guys’ trip to KC last weekend. I once again learned the hard lesson that your 30’s really are meant to remind you of your mortality. Good thing I learned this lesson just in time for…Halloween weekend!
I’ll probably be writing next week’s episode from an assisted living facility…
While I peruse the best that St. Louis has to offer, check out this week’s recs.
Strap on those Moon Shoes, get you some Count Chocula, and let’s get into it!
Here’s what I have for you this morning:
After blowing through the newest volume of Saga, I needed another graphic novel fix. I’m not sure where I stumbled across it first, but I picked up Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands and dove right in. In it, Kate Beaton (a New York Times bestselling cartoonist) shares her two-year story of working in the oil fields of Alberta (Canada) in order to pay off her student loans. I’ve dabbled in manual labor but this is a whole nother level.
Needing another lunchtime 20-minute sitcom, I finally started season two of Abbott Elementary and it’s just as funny as the first. I’m only a few episodes in, but I can already tell we’re heading towards a Jim-and-Pam-esque love story. (Finally!)
For this week’s movie night, we decided to stick with the Halloween theme and check out Werewolf by Night on Disney+. For once, I went into this Marvel “movie” with zero context (I hadn’t read any of the comics) and I was pleasantly surprise. It’s nice to see Marvel going full tilt into horror. I say movie in quotes because it was a tight 55 minutes, which was perfect considering we started late. No one even fell asleep!
After months of eager anticipation, Abby and I finally got to try out Bar Moro for our date night. It’s St. Louis’ newest Iberian/Moroccan restaurant from Ben Poremba, the culinary genius behind Elaia, Olio, Nixta, and The Benevolent King. It was so good, it’s taking up basically the rest of this week’s episode.
We kicked things off with a round of cocktails and…sea urchin caviar?!? It sounds wayyy bougier than it really is. Honestly, I would get it again in a heartbeat. The fishy kick in the mouth was the perfect way to snap us into a Spanish mindset for the rest of dinner.
Next up, we got Pan con Tomate and Jamon Iberico which they carved off the leg right in front of you. Thank god they had a sommelier (Hi, Luciano!) because I would have had zero idea where to start. He paired these starters with Pastora and Oloroso Tio Alejandro (two different sherries) which were amazing. (At least, I thought so. I have the palate of a five-year-old, so who really knows…)
For our main, we went with Arroz Negro Con Chorizo (i.e. squid ink rice and chorizo) and it was hands down my favorite part of dinner. In true Spanish style, if you get it, make sure to split it with a few friends. Luciano paired it with this grenache which also my favorite wine we had. You know it’s a top notch dining experience when it makes you forget you’re in St. Louis :)
So now that we went fancy with last night’s dinner, let’s take a sharp left turn with a deep, dark secret I’ve kept for most of my life. As a 34-year-old human, I have never tried McDonald’s hash browns…until about an hour ago. Since we were both feeling the effects from all the wine last night, Abby did the Lord’s work and brought back McDonald’s breakfast. I have to say it lived up to all the hype. They were salty, crispy, and exactly what I needed to not feel like death.
Thanks to Abby, I’ve now experienced probably the best account on TikTok. Watch every single post and tell me you don’t agree.
I may have been a little over eager and promised an internet stranger naming rights to the first born child I don’t have. If you follow his content and see what he asked, it might make a little more sense.
You made it to the end! As a bonus, I’ll leave you with this.
Cheers,
Billy