vivian darkbloom

once on a trip to Italy after 3 cities and on day 9 in Rome, somehow a McD's Filet-O-Fish sounded good, and wow, they do something different there. I was sort of embarrassed but the one in Rome under the Piazza d'Espagna is a palace. at about that same point we also tried a sushi joint (good) and a Chinese place (Romanized-Chinese is just as unremarkable as Americanized-Chinese) but much later went on to a trattoria for a late dinner that was rightfully proud of their sweetbreads. another time in Paris after several days of great food decided to give a VN place a shot, and while it was lighter than bistro fare made with good technique had almost no flavor ... another night we had a small kitchen in the apartment and descended on the haricot verts a nearby Supermarche had for sale (at home, there was no mushroom sauce made with veal demi-glace and I missed you not that night). and then it was right back on that wagon. crevelles poached in butter in France? pickled pulpo loaf in Italy? various herring preps in Northern Germany? long aged salted hams in Spain? YES. but sometimes we need contrasts to make a clear comparison. gimme the highs and gimme the lows. I do give the (assumed) local fare many many chances, but after making good-faith efforts it's OK to backslide on brief occasions (and not gripe about anything except that pizza I had in Germany once and they just didn't know any better)

I sort of wander through prep and execution, so for me there's nothing like Tom Waits dubbed off a desperately scratchy LP onto digital for the iPod, all hissing pops as I take my own sweet time. "work? nah, that was leisure with music and a knife"

that wasn't quite what you were asking, but there's no need to re-invent a wheel. the issues of staffing and funding are universal.

now that IS a labor of love - much applause for all those involved with what you're describing and the tangential efforts of other groups (as that's a LOT of work). I was looking into this for a friend wanting to create a foundation for developmentally disabled young adults devoted to filling in the cracks left open by other programs as a 501 (c) (3) and there are lots of low-cost groups that will help you with that and grant-writing (although some appear to be a bit opportunistic). there was one that did all that for free and if I can find them again, I'll share it. best as I could determine, it would be easiest to create a division within an established organization that's devoted to your efforts, riding the coat-tails as it were for the umbrella tax-exemption and their existing knowledge of fund-raising and staffing issues.

Fernet-Bronco - Lulu's is pretty good (I became so spoiled by my years in SF), the sizes are a bit odd - the har gow and siu mai are sorta 'jumbo' but the flavors and textures are on the mark.

the "hot" areas, as you can probably tell, are (in no particular order) Clayton, the Delmar Loop, the CWE, South Grand, Maplewood, the edge of Tower Grove North (AKA the Grove and Botanical Heights) some parts of Benton Park and Soulard, but there are quirky places in almost every nabe. even South Hampton is sporting a few cool places. it used to be mostly a few stuffy traditional 'continental' places, a few innovative ones, a lot of middle-of-the-road, a huge number of great mom and pop places of many nationalities and just chains. now all bets are off and one can find various permutations of most of all those categories in all corners of the area, in the city or the suburbs, from Cottlesville to Collinsville and Grafton to beyond Affton. what part of the region is your family considering and what cuisine are you the most confident cooking?

if you've been reading those (esp RFT) you're getting some of the latest info, Sauce magazine and Feast (a Post subsidiary) are other sources. Ann 'Lemons' Pollack is well connected and active with her blog http://stlouiseats.typepad.com/st_louis_eats_and_drinks_/ STL is a fairly small city (or a really big town) and the personal connection can be key. as a friend who moved back after many years away remarked "after a few months ya meet enough people that nobody is more than 2 degrees of separation" so knock on doors. there is a lot of interesting stuff going on these days. I can't speak to the prevailing wage.