St. Louis Restaurant Review-Top of the Riverfront

We decided to celebrate our first anniversary by going to the Millenium Hotel and eating at The Top of the Riverfront. If you haven't heard of this restaurant it is located on the top floor of the Millenium, 28 stories above the ground. It is one of the most unique restaurants in St. Louis as it is the only one that rotates which gives the patrons a 360 degree view of downtown St. Louis, the Arch, the Mississippi River and Busch Stadium.

I called about a week ahead of our anniversary date and made the reservation (men are not required to wear a jacket and tie) When we stepped out of the elevator we were a little surprised to see a couple of guests in jeans and sweatshirts; however, once we stepped farther into the restaurant we were met by a courteous hostess who took our name and reservation time. She pointed us in the direction of the waiting area and while waiting we were entertained by the piano player.

To actually get to your table you have to step onto a rotating floor. The view is absolutely amazing and the fact that there are only two rows of tables on this rotating floor allows for every seat in the restaurant to have a perfect vantage point. When we were seated at our table we were directly over Busch Stadium. We could see all of the downtown area and it was very mesmerizing. I will caution you that it does take a few minutes to get adjusted to the fact that you are moving. I sat in the seat closest to the window and when I looked down I could see the stationary floor of the hotel and the track of restaurant floor, which was moving, and it did make me a little queasy so I just tried to avoid looking down for the rest of the dinner.

We were greeted by our server and decided upon a bottle of wine (we chose an Australian shiraz priced at $30). I ordered the filet with the peppercorn sauce while Scott had the filet with the gorgonzola butter sauce. The dish came with a green bean and carrot medley and a cheesy potato side dish, which reminded me of scalloped potatoes (the filet was priced at $32 including both sides). I ordered the ceasar salad which came with an Australian imported white anchovy and Scott ordered the white bean chili (both the salad and chili were priced at $7). However, when our food came out the waitress actually brought out two salads instead of Scott's chili. Instead of sending it back, he told her that he would go ahead and try the ceasar salad. Since he typically doesn't like anchovy-based ceasar dressings, he was not impressed with this course. Without us asking, our waitress did take the salad off of our bill since this was not what he had originally ordered.

The filets were both tender but both were slightly over-cooked. We each ordered them medium and they were closer to medium-well.

For dessert, we ordered a peanut butter cup pie. It tasted very much like a Reese's peanut butter cup but it was extremely rich (the dessert was priced at $7)

My overall impression of this restaurant is that you definitely pay for the view. While we did enjoy the taste and tenderness of the filets and side dishes, I would not say that they made a lasting impression on us. The service was adequate but at times we felt as if our waitress was too busy to give us adequate attention. While we were not surprised by the total of our bill (especially since we had the bottle of win), we both felt that the price did not reflect the quality of food but that the view made up for this deficiency.

I would definitely go back to Top of the Riverfront for a special occasion. However, there are so many other restaurants in St. Louis to try that I would not put this back on my re-visit list anytime soon. Out of 5 stars, I would give Top of the Riverfront 3 3/4 stars.

Pumpkin Patch '07

We went to the Pumpkin Patch today at Daniel's Greenhouse in St. Peters. It is really neat because they have tons of stuff for kids. They have a castle maze made out of hay, pony rides, a tractor pull, huge tire swings, slides, face painting and tons of pumpkins. It was Gracie's first time to the pumpkin patch so I made sure to take pictures. Kanin loved it. Sue met us there with Jacob, too. Of course the babies didn't really do anything but Kanin was running around like crazy. We got some pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns but Kanin doesn't really understand what that means. I think he will think it is cool, though, once we put candles down in them.

Halloween out at Trueman's Place

We went out last night for Halloween. Scott dj's down at Trueman's Place and it is usually a lot of fun. We didn't have it last year because their building was damaged during a storm but they are back up and running this year. I had a good time but not as much fun as in the past. There were quite a few people there that were dressed up. I dressed up just as a Goth kind of girl with a black wig and Scott wore scrubs--kind of a cop out as he wears them everyday for work. He can't really get dressed up, though, because it gets in the way and bothers him while he is dj'ing.

Why have a blog?

Scott doesn't really understand why I want to have a blog. I'm not really sure that I undersand it, either. I have had journals/diaries for as long as I can remember but then once I had Kanin I didn't really keep up with the journal. I used to write down thoughts, ideas, poems, inspirational sayings, etc. It was always an outlet for me, a way to get thoughts out. I guess there is something mysterious about thinking that others are reading your thoughts, but I really hope that I don't start editing myself. I would really like for this to be a place where I can truly express my thoughts. More later . . .

Potty Training

Why oh why can't my son get the potty down. We have tried everything---taking away toys as a "punishment', buying toys as a "reward", star chart, ignoring the behavior, praising behavior, etc., etc. I think the day that Kanin poops in the potty will probably be one of the happiest days ever. Scott and I will probaby both start crying.

Shopping for Halloween Costumes

I decided that I wanted to get Gracie a Halloween costume. I know that she has no idea what Halloween is but I figured she would look so cute in a costume. Of course, I had to wait until after the morning feeding to leave . It took 45 minutes to get myself dressed, Kanin dressed, and finally to get Gracie dressed. So, I go to walk outside and it was raining. Having already spent 1 hour of my 3 hour free time (before her next feeding), I decided to go anyway.

We got to Wal-Mart and naturally Kanin didn't want to ride in a regular cart, he wanted the one where there is an actual seat. (These are kind of like the car carts at the grocery store). So, here I am pushing this huge cart up and down the aisles. Kanin is jumping out every 10 seconds to show me something so I spent most of the time wrangling him back in. We finally get to the Halloween aisle and Kanin tells me he doesn't want to be a Ninja Turtle "anymo" and now he wants to be some Star Wars guy. (We've already had the Ninja Turtle costume for a month). I deal with him and finally start to look at the infant costumes. They have 0-3, 12-18, and 2T+ nothing at all in 3-6 or 6-9 months. So my whole trip was for nothing. Oh well, just another day in mi vida loca.

Life With Two Children

Well, Scott and I welcomed GracieAnn Elaine into our lives on July 1, 2007. She is the sweetest thing ever. I always wanted a little girl and it has been amazing ever since Gracie arrived.

I will say, though, that I never realized how much work it would be by adding a second child. I don't remember being this tired when it was just Kanin. I also don't remember being this stressed out. It seems that I am pulled in twenty different directions and that I really have no time for myself. Some days it ends up where Kanin is crying, Gracie is crying and I just sit down and cry, too.