Springfield, Missouri

[Jaymes]

So it looks like I'm probably going to be moving there, at least temporarily.

From visits, it appears to me to be a culinary wasteland. In fact, I haven't even been able to find Muir Glenn tomatoes in the grocery stores.

Does anyone know - is there hope???

[Elissa]

oh. my. god.

i went there once dear Jaymes, dear Jaymes

HOWEVER: the beer is cheap

Olive's is as exotic as it gets, and as close to anything fresh as you'll find for miles. Wait it's not called Olives. What is it? The one place in town with a salad. It's that huge chain. I remember because I visited with a beau (met his bible-thumping parents) and by day three was dying for a salad and there we went.

On the other hand, the Ozarks are gorgeous

and you're close to Branson, home of the Oakridge Boys, for one. Not to mention Rodeo 2000, a HUGE disco with indoor Rodeos. No shit.

Edited June 24, 2003 by lissome (log)

[Craig Camp]

Sounds like a great opportunity to work on your cooking skills and save money by dining in. There should be a lot of nice farm stands in the summer. You are not that far from KC and St. Louis. I've also heard there are good wine shops in Columbia and isn't Brown Derby in Springfield?

[Craig Camp]

Yes Brown Derby is in Springfield. You can find it HERE

Check in with them - the wine folks will know where to eat and shop. It also should be a good place to link up with other foodies as they have a lot of tasting events.

[Jaymes]

Yes Brown Derby is in Springfield. You can find it HERE

Wow. So at least I'll be drinking good. Maybe I'll get me a job there.

And Olives? Olive Garden, maybe? Wonder what it could be if not that.

I understand it is the home of the "famous Springfield-style Cashew Chicken."

Got a feeling I'll be tearing up the highways between Springfield and KC.

[helenas]

Jaymes,

with all these wonderful food mail order companies i woudn't worry too much. I'm preparing you a list of my favorites.

[jhlurie]

Okay... this handy-dandy distance calculator clocks Springfield to Kansas City at 150 miles. Springfield to St. Louis is 194 miles. Both as the crow flies, which means they are underestimated.

Sadly, that's probably only weekend driving distance. Too bad. You wouldn't starve in either town, especially KC.

So... eeeeek.

Lebanon, Missouri is only 47 miles. Any food there?

[Varmint]

Here's a list of restaurants from the Springfield CVB. http://www.springfieldmo.org/dining/dining.asp I recall Fat Guy wrote about Lambert's "throwed rolls" during his first cross country trek. Maybe he can dig that out.

[Rail Paul]

One of my favorite cookbooks is Dairy Hollow House: Soup & Bread Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon.

That inn, nestled in the Ozarks about 90 miles from Springfield, relies on an extensive network of local suppliers for everything from cured hams to jams to vegetables. It's a good view of coming to terms with your life and having a fine time doing it. She and her husband built most of the place themselves, or with barter from neighbors who became friends and suppliers.

Ms Dragonwagon's Eureka Springs evocation of a network of cooperating suppliers is probably true of your Springfield as well.

Hopefully things will work out well for you there, Jaymes.

[Elissa]

this big cat Refuge has amazing animals and a new BnB

[sparrowgrass]

Jaymes, welcome to Missouri!!

We will have to meet halfway sometime. (Someplace around Mountain View or Eminence--beautiful country, but we may have to pack a lunch.)

[Jaymes]

...but we may have to pack a lunch.

Oh dear - so it IS as bad as I've feared.

And, Lissome, thanks for the Big Cat info. That place looks very interesting indeed. I am hoping to make it down to Eureka Springs, so that would be a really fun place to spend the night.

And RP - I'm going to search out that book. It IS beginning to look as though I might have more options than it appeared at first (cursory) glance.

Thanks again all of you!

Want to add - RailPaul, I'm now totally psyched about the Dairy Hollow thing. Did a little googling, and it turns out that it's a writers' colony, complete with lodging, seminars, classes, conferences, etc.

This is going from terrible to not so terrible to pretty good to great.

I am beginning to suspect that perhaps "someone" is working "in mysterious ways."

Edited June 30, 2003 by Jaymes (log)

[foodie52]

And remember: a special order from Central Market is only an email away!!!!

[Jaymes]

And remember: a special order from Central Market is only an email away!!!!

Yeah.

But I'm not sure I can afford to have you shipped in...

[razer]

I lived in Springburg from 1983 until 1990 and the food was mostly bleak.

McSalty's Pizza with whole wheat crusts was a good meal.

There was a Korean place on the east side of the square that wasn't bad.

I will never eat cashew chicken again as long as I live.

The best dining we had was when a bunch of us would go down to Kimberling City - there was a woman there named Rab Crissell (sp?) who cooked in her house. You had to know somebody who knew somebody to get in. She would only cook on weekends, and only when she felt like it. From a tiny kitchen (think your grandma's house) she fed a party of 10 - 12 on her back porch and a party of 9 - 10 in her living/dining room. The food was heavenly. God only knows if she's still around, but if she is, go there!

[Jaymes]

The best dining we had was when a bunch of us would go down to Kimberling City - there was a woman there named Rab Crissell (sp?) who cooked in her house.

Great tip. I shall set about finding her at once. Maybe she could use a new best friend.

Thanks!!

[mudbug]

Jaymes,

You may be surprised if you give it a chance. There are excellent Thai, Japanese, Chinese (Springfield is the originating home of Cashew Chicken, the Bam Boo Inn was the first to ever start selling it and it is still in the same location, has been for 30 years), Italian, Greek, and more restarurants.

The Brown Derby International Wine Center is ranked as one of the top 10 best Wine Centers in the entire country and they carry a wide selection of gourmet food and ingredients including gourmet cheeses, gourmet meats, fresh vanilla beans, fois gois, truffles (canned or jarred but better than none), currants, cloudberries, fleur de sel, Dean & Deluca spices, cookware, etc.

There are at least four Asian Groceries which carry fresh produce including fresh taro root, crosnes, fresh lotus root, water spinach, live blue crab, and more. And a Latino store which covers just about everything the Asian ones don't have.

There are more excellent restaurants in the outlying cities of Springfield. It'll just take time to find your favorites. Don't assume that people don't have taste in the area. There are plenty of people with plenty of money to spend on good eats.

[TJHarris]

Don't give up hope! I lived in Springfield for several years and survived. First off, don't be looking for anything close to The French Laundry. What you will find is a pretty dedicated group of culinarians that work hard at their craft. You need to search out the diamonds in the rough. There was a place on the north side of Springfield called Bijan. They had very good quality and were a bit more cutting edge at the time than you would expect in the area. Also Mikayla's at Millwood Golf Club in Ozark has the freshest fish and some of the best steaks in town. Leans a little towards the Florida style of cooking. Woodfired oven and grill.

Good luck!

[Jaymes]

Thanks, all. I've been searching with baited breath and hopeful eyes. I haven't tried Bijan, but have seen their commercials on TV, so they're still a going concern.

I have popped into the Brown Derby and it is truly awesome in so far as wine goes. But their selection of cheeses, etc., is very basic. No fresh feta, for example. In fact, no feta from Greece at all. No imported tuna, which I cannot find anywhere else in town, either. Tomorrow will be an olive oil foray. Went to three grocery stores today in search of some, but their choices were so limited that I couldn't find anything at all worth buying. They didn't even have Colavita.

Things could be worse, I certainly darn well know. I did find a good Thai restaurant; but, upon asking her why she didn't serve several of my favorite preparations the owner told me that frankly, the diners here are not that sophisicated and it's just not worth it for her to make anything other than the very standard, middle-of-the-road fare. She moved here from Boston, where she also owned and operated a Thai restaurant. She said that when she first opened here, she had the exact same menu that she had been serving in Boston, but has since discontinued at least half of the dishes. And there are many "Mexican" restaurants, some of which even have fairly tasty food, but thus far not a single bowl of beans to be had. Just refried. Have asked the Mexicans that work in these places why that is. "Everyone here just likes refried," is the answer.

The barbecue beef is really bad. They take the cooked brisket and cut off all of the fat and black crust, including most of the smoke ring (assuming it ever had one). Then, while cold, they put it into a machine and slice it wafer thin. That's right -- a machine. They heat it back up and drench it in this BBQ sauce that's so sweet it tastes more like syrup. When I first went in to this place that had been highly recommended, I ordered a pound of brisket "wet." "Huh?" "Moist? Is that what you call it here?" "What do you mean?" "I mean from the fatty end." "I've never heard anyone say that. We trim all the fat off of it." "Oh. Uh. Well. Okay, I'll just take a pound of whatever you have however you have it."

There are bright spots, though, to be sure. A great Vietnamese spot. Wonderful bakery. Like I said, it could be worse. Much worse.

But it could be a whole hell of a lot better, too.

Although as anyone that's ever seen me can attest, being away from good food for a few months, or years, or decades, couldn't hoit.