Jun 01, 2010
By Amy De La Hunt, Jill Manoff, Kristin Stefek Brashares and Brandi Wills. Edited By Kelly Hamilton, Cristy Miller & Sheniqua Faulkner

The 2010 Hot List: Dining
200+ things we love about St. Louis

Compiling a list of the city’s top spots to eat, drink, dance, shop and play is no easy feat. And this year, we had an endless list of buzzworthy newcomers, rediscovered classics and established spots that have stepped it up a notch to choose from. Not that we’re complaining; in fact, we’ve never been more proud of our city’s restaurants, shops, clubs, gyms and cultural institutions. If we could write St. Louis a love song, it would go a little something like this.

Dining

We love St. louis because our restaurants and chefs are all about catering to the customers. Gone are the days of ordering only what’s on the menu. Today’s restaurants are all about giving the customer exactly what they want, and in many cases, what they need. Whether it’s gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian or just plain aversion, it seems no request is too far out there for our STL spots. They’re on a mission to make you feel like you’re the only one in the dining room and offer options that silence even the pickiest palates.

Best New Brunch spot for Locavores: Bixby’s This new restaurant inside the Missouri History Museum manages to preserve the past while boldly embracing the future. Sunday brunch offers a spectacular menu featuring local produce and products along with breathtaking views of the park. Forest Park, 314.361.7313.

full article

Reservations:
Open Table

Website:
www.bixbys-mohistory.com

Catersource Magazine – May/June 2010

Emphasis on Local
Simple prep, low cost—yet great flavor

The challenge was on for Butler’s Pantry Catering in St. Louis, when it was hired to do all of the corporate catering for the BMW Championship in 2008. That meant breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for about 30 different companies, plus the BMW hospitality tent, plus evening cocktail parties and receptions.

Many of the guests, from BMW North America and BMW Germany, were “very worldly people,” says Greg Ziegenfuss. “We needed to come up with a lot of different menu items for them.”

BMW had made it clear that it wanted to highlight local products as much as possible. Using prosciutto from a St. Louis company, Volpi, and locally grown peaches, Ziegenfuss’ team created a simple but delicious hors d’oeuvre. “It’s very inexpensive and obviously very easy,” he says. “So it’s all good.”

Grilled Balsamic Peaches

Yield: 50 skewers

Ingredients

5 whole, perfectly ripe, firm, medium sized fresh peaches (the trick is the peach must be
ripe to maximize its sweetness but not too ripe where it turns to mush on the grill)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
20 slices Volpi Prosciutto (Any prosciutto can be used, however we love the Volpi prosciutto—not only because it is made in St. Louis, but we feel it is as good as any prosciutto available either imported or domestic)
50 fresh basil leaves medium in size
50 bamboo, knot tied, 4-inch skewers

Method

Halve the peaches and remove the stone with a large Parisian scoop. Cut the peach halves in thirds, toss in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar allowing to macerate for 15 minutes while the char broiler pre-heats.

Meanwhile, cut the prosciutto length wise in 1/2-inch strips.

Drain the marinade from the peaches, reserving the liquid, and grill until obtaining a nice grill mark on both sides of the peach.

When cool, cut the grilled sections into 3/4-inch pieces, wrap with the prosciutto and basil leaf and then put on skewers.

Drizzle the skewered prosciutto-wrapped peaches with reserved marinade and quickly place on the grill just prior to serving.

The peaches also may be cooled at this point and served at room temperature for off-premise functions when a grill is not available or feasible.

Ladue News, May 2010

Once again Butler’s Pantry was honored on the Ladue News Platinum List.

We are pleased to have been recognized in the following Dining Scene category.

St. Louis’ Best Caterer.

“If you’re a regular at charity events or corporate parties, you’ve probably had a nibble (or two or three) of Butler’s Pantry’s signature pass-around items. From canapés and soufflés to flatbreads and open-faced burgers, the ‘just right’ bites deliver big satisfaction if our readers are to be believed. Now what we want are tips for getting the catering staff to pass our way more often!”

Runners Up:
Bistro 517
Steven Becker Fine Dining
La Chef/Catering St. Louis (tie)
Russo’s

We would like to say thank you to everyone who voted to make this happen for the second consecutive year!

Butler’s Pantry Received Two Awards from International Special Events Society. Our innovative and creative catering, was honored at the 2010 Louie Awards Gala Friday, March 5th at the Palladium Saint Louis. Presented by the St. Louis Chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES), the 11th Annual Louie Award Gala Celebrates the best events of 2009. Butler’s Pantry and Palladium Saint Louis were recognized with awards in the following categories:

Best Food Presentation for a Private Bithday Party Celebration

Best On-Premise Catered Event (Budget Under $200 Per Guest) for the Landmark’s Association 5oth Anniversary Gala

The Annual Louie Awards recognize the artistry of creating amazing events of magnitude, prestige and inspiration. To enter, event specialists complete a rigorous award entry submission process. Entries are sent out of state to another ISES Chapter to be judged on an unbiased, anonymous basis. The mission of ISES is to educate, advance and promote the special events industry.

We are so honored to be included on the February Best In Business List for Best Customer Service in St. Louis!

Each month, Small Business Monthly polls their readers and asks them to help identify the best in the area in a particular industry. As the February issue of the publication will focus on the Best Customer Service in St. Louis, Small Business Monthly asked readers to nominate companies with outstanding customer service. More than 200 nominations were received.

Watch for this issue to hit the streets on February 1st.

BP’s own Cafe Madeleine is up for the Metromix STL Best Brunch of 2009. Please VOTE now!

Butler’s Pantry has been selected by the Office of Mayor Francis G. Slay to receive one of the 2009 BUSINESSES OF THE YEAR awards in recognition of its significant contribution in furthering economic development in the City of St. Louis.

Mayor Slay will present the awards at the 2009 City of St. Louis Business Celebration Luncheon on Friday, October 9, at America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza, America’s Ballroom. The celebration begins with a reception at 11:30 a.m., followed by the luncheon and award presentations from noon until 1:30 p.m.

For more information about the SLDC and the luncheon on October 9th, please visit sldc.com.

St. Louis Business Journal
July 10, 2009

My friends and coworkers might say that I multi-task, however I say that I multi-operate. It’s not that I do a million things at once; it’s that I do a million different things at once. I have built my success on trying almost anything that is asked of me, and with a little determination, effectively completing the job.  Menu development, photography, marketing, computer programming and website development are just a few of the varied challenges I have taken on at Butler’s Pantry. In addition to all of these endeavors, I am responsible for more than 30% of our $5 million in annual catering sales and managing our 7 member sales team.  A self proclaimed obsessive compulsive, I live to organize things.  My career at Butler’s Pantry helps me realize this need on a daily basis.

Birthday: November 28, 1979

High school: Shenendehowa, 1997 (Clifton Park, NY)

College: Cornell University, ‘01

Degree: Bachelor’s in hospitality management

First job: A baker at the French Confection Bakery in Latham, NY

Favorite career achievement: Planning, and successfully executing, the 2008 BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club. This was the largest single undertaking of my career, as well as Butler’s Pantry as a whole. (We had more than $2 million in sales over the seven-day event.)

Favorite thing about your job: Never doing the same thing twice.

Favorite volunteer activity: Supporting our troops; at home & abroad.

Favorite hobby: Hobbies, who has time for hobbies – my hobby is eating!

Most embarrassing work moment: I don’t know where to start – various wardrobe malfunctions, thinking my client’s husband was the gardener or proposing a dessert selection of a fresh berry pavlova with sauce béarnaise. Or having a client ask me if I was old enough to have graduated from college.

The St. Louis Business Journal has selected its list of this year’s 30 under 30 honorees, and a member of our team is among them!  Cassie Burd, our Vice President of Sales & Catering, joins 29 other St. Louis business leaders for this prestigious award.

The winners will be featured in the July 10 special section of the Business Journal.

To see the complete list of honorees click here.

Once again Butler’s Pantry was honored on the Ladue News Platinum List.  We are pleased to have been recognized in two separate categories.

First and foremost, as St. Louis’ Best Caterer.

“The sign of good catering? If when the party is over, all anyone can talk about is the food!  That must be the case with Butler’s Pantry, since our readers gave the delicious and efficient caterer two thumbs up.  Whether they’re pulling out the stops for a 500-guest fund-raiser or a family party of 10, each job gets the same attention to detail & deliciousness!”
Runners Up:
2.  LaChef Catering
3.  Bryan Young Catering Plus
4.  Russo’s Gourmet Catering
5.  Catering St. Louis

Our team was also acknowledged for having great service.  We came in 4th place in the category of Friendliest Waitstaff.

1.  Cheeburger Cheeburger
2.  Araka
3.  Robust
4.  Butler’s Pantry
5.  Cielo