Indulge in the city’s cuisines
Growing up, I was the quintessential picky eater. I wasn’t as bad as a younger cousin who only ate chicken nuggets and needed her food shredded until she was well into kindergarten, but I was certainly fussy about what went on my plate.
Fortunately, my palate grew with me, and I’m now able to enjoy a wider range of food than my 7-year-old self. I’m still working on learning to like a few things (shout-out to seafood), but in my food journey I’ve found the best way to discover what you like and what you don’t is through travel.
When you’re on a cross-country road trip, in a foreign country or simply in a new city, the quest for new foods is an exciting one. Though we might be tempted to fall back on tried-and-true picks, the real fun comes when we allow ourselves to experiment and try city specialties. Eating in itself is fun, but letting the city take the wheel and show your appetite a good time is the way to go.
I did exactly this in my recent trip to St. Louis, Missouri, last week for Sigma Tau Delta’s International Conference. When I heard St. Louis ranks as the no. 2 food city in the country, trailing behind San Francisco, my stomach did the happy dance. I already knew we were in the prime spot for good BBQ, but I found out just how well St. Louis treats foodies.
To backtrack a bit, we split the 16-hour drive to Cardinals country into two days, staying in Lincoln the first night. We chose AmuManu Ramen Bar as our first pick. I had never been to a ramen-specific restaurant, so I was glad we picked a place that I hadn’t visited. I ordered the garlic shoyu, a bowl with chicken, mushroom, egg, cabbage, ginger, chicken soy broth and, of course, ramen. The garlic came in the form of mayu, a black garlic oil a hint of sesame.
The combination was heavenly. The garlic oil gave it the zing I was looking for, especially paired with ginger, but the chicken and mushroom made it a dish that I could eat day after day. It’s worth mentioning that the bowl is also enormous, meaning that after an hours’ worth of work I still didn’t make a dent.
In St. Louis, the trend continued. During the two-hour lunch break between panels, we ventured into City Garden Sculpture Park to visit the food trucks lining the blocks. The choices were plentiful and ranged from Italian trucks offering chicken parmigiana sandwiches (which I got on our third day) to poke bowls, but I was particularly impressed with a pair of BBQ pork tacos I ordered. Paired with a lime-cilantro corn salad, it was a meal I won’t soon forget.
I couldn’t forgo a sit-down BBQ meal while I was in St. Louis, so I was excited when our group chose The Midwesterner as our dinner pick. I indulged in a brisket sandwich paired with homemade mac and cheese, but my favorite was the house-made BBQ sauces. While a white sauce was unexpectedly tangy, the next was a conventional smoky vinegar-based sauce. The varieties meshed well with the tender brisket, and I left a very satisfied customer.
A St. Louis staple, which is even believed to have been created there, is toasted ravioli. This ravioli is breaded and deep-fried to give the pasta a deep golden-brown color with a crunch. I knew I wouldn’t forgive myself if I left without trying a signature St. Louis food. I got the dish at the Hilton’s Market Bistro Bar and Grill, and once again, I wasn’t disappointed. Toasted ravioli, topped with a balsamic vinegar sauce, ringed a salad topped with mozzarella flakes that rested on a bed of garlic marinara sauce. It was true Italian soul-food.
This is only a snapshot of the meals I ate during my trip, but it captures my point. Don’t be afraid to try new foods, especially if you’re in a new place with new cuisines. Some foods might not be exclusive to wherever you are, but their take on them might be. Once you take the leap, there’s no going back.