Final Aches and Pains (Or Akins and Palins)

OK...sooo... this is the last time I will bloviate on the Akin thing.  I promise.  I have listened to all the talking heads on FOX, MSNBC, local Fox and CNN.  I have read the Post (St. Louis Post Dispatch), The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.  The local folks on 97.1 FOX Radio have really stayed loyal to Congressman Akin and they are to be complimented for their constancy.  I have talked to people liberal and conservative (I have friends who are both... creepy).  A few final observations:

1.  This was no liberal media "gotcha" experience.  He was interviewed on local FOX.  Jaco asked normal questions.  Jaco did not jump on it or even follow up.
2.  It is Republicans who want the guy to back out so stop talking about the Democrats and the Liberals.  They all want him.
3.  He is not ready for prime time.  He was not prepared for a question that had to come, even on FOX.
4.  America is nuanced on abortion.
5.  This man is not in the main stream of his party.
6.  The Republicans are correct, we should be talking about the economy.
7.  The Democrats are correct in pointing out that the Republicans running will put radical social conservatives in office and in control. That has to be discussed as well.

Here is what will happen.  Akin will withdraw before the real deadline.  he will be replaced at the last minute by someone who will not have to answer a lot of hard questions, will not be Todd Akin and will offer the Republicans a chance to win the Senate.  It absolutely will happen that way.  Nothing else can happen.  Also, people will look beyond abortion and start listening to Akin about repealing the 17th Amendment and allowing State legislatures to pick Senators.  They will listen to him on school lunches.  He is not electable.  He is a good man, and a true believer and he is the best example of Missouri Taliban.  He will enforce his understanding of God's will on us and do his best to put in place a conservative Christian Theocracy.

They will get rid of him but it will NOT be the Liberals making it happen.  the Liberals want this fight. I am done with this one.  End of September we have a new Republican running for Senate in Missouri.

Todd Aching

Sooooo.... the Show Me State.  We have become reliably red.  Formerly a swing state we now cannot be prouder of our conservative values and it is reflected in our politicians.  Our State House is cornered and controlled by rural conservatives who do not trust government, city people, democrats or really anything.  Public education.  Bad.  Public programs for the poor.  Bad.  Public lunch at school.  Bad.  Government programs for poor.  Bad.  Government support of farms... well, bad in theory.  There is nothing government can do to help.  Free enterprise is the answer to everything if government would just...get out of the way.

We elect people who are “right” on the issues of small government.  Right on the issues of “the Constitution”.  Right on the issues of the democrats being “wrong”.  Right about the man in the White House being “the wrong guy at the wrong time”.  By electing these people who are “right’ and who cannot even talk to people on the other side of the aisle because of their “wrongness” and cannot even here the word compromise because it it sacrifices their values we are forced to embrace and elect wholly dogmatic people who are extreme on alot of issues.  We forget that just because their “purity” allows them to see our way on key issues that these same flawed people bring their zeal to every issue, whether we agree with them on those are not, and they bring that zeal to these same issues and it leads to totally unacceptable results.

We saw that yesterday with Todd Akin.  he is a fine man.  A Christian man.  A family man.  other than being minorly corrupted by power my guess would be that his core values are admitable in almost every way.  Yet life has brought him to a place where he can believe that raped women excrete a certain chemical which prevents them from getting pregnant.  This allows his to be totally certain of his pro life in all circumstances, even in the cases of rape, because a legitimately raped woman could only become pregnant in extremely rare circumstances and if she did become pregnant, it probably was not rape anyway...right?  I understand how this happens because cognitive dissonance is not something this type of ideologue can countenance.  That there might even be a reasonable opposing view is not possible if you have the moral certainty of God in your back pocket.  That you might be wrong on what is so morally clear to you is inconcievable so you invent and/or embrace theories which justify your position rather than admit there is any possible nuance.

I admire Todd Akin and his values.  I would surmise that I hold a lot of similar values regarding life, faith, family and government but I would never kid myself that I “know” what is right for government.  I think I know what is best.  I would work for that but the idea that God was mandating my views of faith and Chrisitianity to be carried out in government seems...un Christian to me.  That type of faith leads to Taliban-like craziness and what we are seeing is that true believers, dogmatic, doctrinal people like Todd Akin lead us away from the very Constitutional values they want to espouse.  Away from a melting pot and towards a Christian theocracy based on their particular understanding of Christianity.  The Taliban is alive and well in our Country.  When we elect them pretending that they are “like us” or “share our values” while ignoring their words and their actions we move towards an intolerant, unforgiving and unintentionally, un-Christian country.

I don’t know what Todd will do tomorrow by 5:00 when he needs to make a decision to stay in the race but when you consider him, watch his whole interview.  He did not mis-speak.  he spoke from his heart and he revealed a lot and presented Missouri with a clear choice.  Sadly, I do not know whether we will remember and that we will make a right choice in November but Todd Akin is not the right choice for Senator.

Lou Fest 2012 Preque

 Ok.... So I am pretty excited about Loufest this year.  I made the original festival in 2010 and took a significant amount of local pride in the event.  Bryan Cohen, a music head had moved here and had the genius to say, “why not”.  I have been to Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza and Bonaroo and they all hve someothing to offer but why should we not have a decent summer music fest. the 2010 Line Up was pretty awesome to start with and I had a friend was was traversing off on another major divorce so it was a good bonding boys weekend.  

Here was the initial lineup with a few comments two years later.

She & Him:  Had not yet really hit and was still cute
Broken Social Scene:Just a really good band.
Built to Spill: I think I have seen them 7 times and it is always sweet because Doug Martch’s mom lives near here and he always plays his peanne to her “Twin Falls”
Jeff Tweedy: Great homecoming but even at this point there are people in the Lou who treat him like Dylan.  I love and respect the guy but I think of him like I think of Stag Beer which I also love... “Pride of Bellebille”.
The Airborne Toxic Event; Non-Event
Alejandro Escovedo: Awesome. A lot of old drunks traveled up from Austin to see him.
Fruit Bats: Most interesting new band (for me)
Lucero: Ben Nichols got sick, puked o stage, laid down, came back, sang again, canceled show.
Titus Andronicus: Over hyped
Carolina Chocolate Drops: Sweet
Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons: Do not remember
The Bottle Rockets: Kicked it off Festus Style!
Adam Reichmann: Local extremely talented never was.  Still great. Still unappreciated even in his home town.
So Many Dynamos: Skipped it.
stephaniesid: She was charming...wonder what happened to her.
Kim Massie: Skipped it
Gentleman Auction House: Great Local
Magnolia Summer: Great Local

Last year, the line up meant nothing to me so I skipped.  I assumed that the first year had not played out and they could not get the acts I wanted.  More likely they were bringing in bands that were too cool for this old man.  come si come sa.  It was a little disloyal of me not to go but... life is busy.

But when I saw this years line up, I go pretty excited.
Dinosaur Jr.
Dawes
Flaming Lips
Girl Talk
Son Volt

That is pretty strong line up and it is probably worth you checking the websight.  www.loufest.com.  

I am watching the Cardinal game and we are in the 16th against the Pirates and we just picked off a guy after getting an out at 3rd and we again have life!

When you go spend the day in the park though you go, if you love music to see the undercard and meet some new bands (for me) and here some new sounds and from what I have prelistened to:

Sleepy Kitty (local band here now from Chicago with a guitar and girl and some righteously loud music).  I have been really excited for these guys now that i have tapped them.

Blending together another 3 bands Phantogram, Someone Loves You Boris Yeltsin and The Pernikoff Brothers look to be excellent.  Between the food, the beer, the recent weather if it holds and having two days in the beautiful Forest Park, this could be an awesome event.  I am attending with my son and am considering doing the “Scooter Guy” thing http://stlouis.goscooterguy.com/ so I am kind of hoping it is “epic”.  Come on out and support the St. Louis music scene.  See your friends.  Eat some food.  Judge the event but you cannot win if you dont play.

It cannot last as long as this Cardinal game.  

P.S.  Cards lose in 19.  Hearbreaker.

Below:  Jay Farar and Son Volt

The Ballad of Lily, Lola and the Jack of Clubs

Sooooo... we were somewhere in the middle of southern Illinois cornfields around Staunton when the drugs began to take hold.... hold it... that is another story.  Sadly their were no drugs and even more sadly I was not with my attorney, Oscar Zeta Acosta (The Brown Buffalo) but was instead with both Lily and Lola.  Things were hazy as to why we were together screaming through back roads off of the highway in the stunted browned out corn.

I recalled that we were in a drought... the Obamadrough caused by that President.  Evidently he has appealed to his Muslim God and he is no longer going to allow it to rain on the red States in the heartland until we agree to re-elect him.  It is real wrath of God stuff and he is justifying it by saying that we cannot elect a Godless Mormon as our President but it still seems a little harsh and like bad mojo to me.  And it is hell on the corn.

We pulled out of St. Louis at 5:00 A.M.  I had to leave that early from St. Louis because the three of us were on a high speed jouny to northern Michigan.  Our attendance was expected at an event called "Arcadia Days" in Arcadia Michigan.   Many, MANY Lutheran were converging on the small town so that they could see one another, walk through art and craft booths during the day and then go to the town park in the evening where a snow fence gets strung around the small town park and they herd the Lutherans into a large pen, sometimes with a DJ playing bad music and sometime with a band that can play "Sweet Home Alabama"... all summer long.  Certainly it was going to be an epic event, perhaps world changing and we needed to get into town early to set up our base of operations and take in the "the scene" because "the scene" was going to be life changing.  All of the big Lutherans would be there.  Meyers, Schultzes, Kaltenbachs... if youhave an archaic Lutheran name your people would be represented.

Lutherans are a strange breed.  A version of bastardized Catholicism without the history or the mystery.  Just a lot of hard German Grace.  Still, Lily and Lola were looking forward to it and I am if nothing a gracious and gentle man when it comes to their needs.  We crossed the river past the Arch (still the only National memorial dedicated to the people who left) into a blinding son.  there was not question of licking up hitchhikers... to dangerous...East St. louis... bad craziness.  We had not yet started to drink but for some reason I failed to stay on Highway 70 and was ambling up highway 55 towards Chicago.  Awful place Chicago and constricted arteries.  no place for a man to drive at hi speeds in a Highlander and not do major damage to himself or others.

So I noticed around Staunton.  Very close to Benld and the Mother Jones Memorial.  I considered turning around but that seemed a poor choice so I thought I could "cut through".  That left me on unmarked dirt roads that Google Maps could not identify spinning through the fields as dirt and gravel flew up on the massive Highlander as the tires power slid around turns and Lola and Lily squealed with fear and whined as they shedded unmercifully because they of course... dogs... mutts really and if somehow I could have popped a door open and "lost" one of them I would have been none the poorer. I was trying to map it on my iPhone but more that anything else was just trying to direct the vehicle generally west... like an iceberg.  Several thousand pounds of steel careening through drought infested corn.  Southern Illinois at this point was brown and getting browner.  It was starting to resemble the South Sudan for anyone paying attention.  As the gravel flew I was looking through the dust for hoards of Lost Boys afraid at any time I might here the clattering of their dry bones off the cars not insubstantial grill.  It had to be frightening for anyone watching and the carrion were already circling over head, sensing something was amiss or perhaps if nothing else sensing some congenital mental weakness in the hapless passengers in the car...we looked like a late lunch.  What had happened to us.  I shot my handgun at the birds, scattering them and giving me time to get out.  We sped south back to highway 70 and continued towards Indy.

The dogs were getting a little antsy by the time we hit Indy on our way to Carmel to go to Shapiros Deli. There is one downtown that is a classic but they moved to the burbs and that is right at the beginning of Highway 31 which would then take us ALL THE WAY NORTH!  Shapiros is a classic. Huge portions and great corned beef.  I left the girls in the car and went in for a corned beef sandwich some chips and tea.  EXCELLENT.  There was enough to fill me up and give some treats for good behavior to the beasts and settle them down a little.  Sometimes you have to offer up something to the Gods.  Then we closed our eyes and pointed the Highlander north and prayed that nothing got in our way. We immediately were halted by the stoplights of Kokomo which were keeping us from getting up any kind of speed but as soon as we got through the town we could see the drought had hit here as well.

The drought had of course been caused by barrack, Hussein Obama, likely with the help of his thug, friend Rahm Emmanuel.  Neither of them had a heart, much less a soul.  Obama had prayed to his Muslim God and now the red states were literally awash in dust and dead corn and soy beans.  In St. Louis it had been over 100 for so many days that they had stopped counting the dead and instead were stacking them like cordwood up and down Manchester Road as fireman wrenched open dry hydrants. There was speculation that Obama would not lift the drought until Ohio officially handed it's electoral votes to him.  It could be a long fall as Romney with his plural wives seemed powerless to stop the drought and save his people.  We would for a long tim remember Obamadrought 2012.

The trip was made more ominous by the caterwauling of John Darnielle and his band "The Mountain Goats".  He had recently released a troubling new single "Cry For Judas" which was maddening with it's sadness.
"Long black night
Morning frost.
I'm still here
but all is lost"
Good shit.  It caused me to load up on the Goats as a continuous soundtrack ignoring Sirius Radio and even NPR so as to immerse myself in the Goats.  Darnielle has a troubled, questioning relationship with God that makes him fascinating, stimulating and totally fucked up.

We get out of Kokomo and spin north on 31 until I hit South Bend.  Whenever I go by South Bend, I must make a pilgrimage to the campus to see the ungodly image of "Touchdown Jesus".  Who, as a Christian thinks it is a good idea to mock Christ in this way?  Who claims his image for college football?  Anyway... I always go.  It reminds me of everything that gets twisted about religion and God.  The dogs do not like it either.  If I had time I would let them out for the privilege of peeing within sight of it.  But the north was calling again...relentlessly yanking us north.

We hit Michigan in a cold rain and hit the interstate at Niles.  Stopping only for gas and peanut butter cheese crackers our pace had moved to a feverish one.  The next stop up 31 was Holland Michigan, home of my son's, fiance's family.  it was tempting to stop because they always are hospitable but I had to make Arcadia by nightfal for the onslaught of Arcadia Daze.  There was only time for one more stop and the girls and I needed food.  When the beasts are not placated with food they shiver and shed huge rugs of hair.  As it swirls around the car I was collecting a sickening pelt of dog hair and I knew they needed food quickly or it ould be too late and they would appear to be large Mexican hairless mutants and I would no longer be able to breathe.

Grabbing my handy iPhone I looked up best tacos in Holland, followed by best tacos in Grand Haven. There I discovered Arturos and with a quick call I was able to order three tacos to be picked up.  Speeding north and making a harrowing high speed Michigan u-turn I was in front of Arturos and after a brief negotiation with the clerk left quickly with the tacos as well as their red and green sauce and went accross the draw bridge with Muskoegon,  Luddington, Manistee and finally Arcadia in my grasp.  the tacos were devestatingly good although i am always confused when confronted with quality street tacos without the offer of carnitas or any other quality pork.  Still, these were deliscous and tossing scraps to the beasts seemed to slow their distress.

As I closed in on the town and went down into Arcadia Valley I could not contemplate a night, drinking with drunken, unemployed locals out cans.  Drinking in the small city park.  Surrounded by a temporary snow fence.  Plastic bracelet indicating I am of age. Until oblivion.  555 miles from the Arch to the Valley.  A long day, a good day.
Some things you do just to see how bad they'll make you feel
Sometimes you try to free 'til the slots are a blur of spinning
Wheels 
But I am just a broken machine 
And I do things that I don't really mean 

Long black night 
Morning frost 
I'm still here 
But all is lost 

Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes 
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes 
We are the ones who don't slow down at all 
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall 

Long black night 
Morning frost 
I'm still here 
But all is lost 

Feel the storm every night 
Hope it passes by 
Hallucinate a shady grove where Judas went to die 
Unfurl the black velvet altar cloth 
Draw a white chalk battlement 
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get 
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave 
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave 

Long black night 
Morning frost 
I'm still here 
But all is lost

Diner Review: Southwest Diner

 Sooooo... As i have have often stated I have a relentless, voracious appetite to bring new and exciting culinary delights to my several loyal readers.   No one is historically more impressed with my dedication than...well...me.  No one that is other than my loyal mates in the FFL (Fantasy Football League).  The league is made of ner do well plaintiff lawyers, a investment guy, a guy who does unspeakable things at a Catholic boys school and a deeply mentally and spiritually impaired private investigator.  It is a good group.  But they are not really people.  Certainly not people with "regular jobs" so the discussion of lunch, breakfast, dinner, drinks and food tend to take up a great deal of time on the email thread.  Recently the PI guy told me about this place and I was intrigued.  It was formerly a small, dark bar in  a "neighborhood" that nothing to offer but the 7-11 on the corner of Southwest and Mc Causland.

I have been there three times now.  Once for breakfast and twice for lunch.  The verdict is still out on it as  breakfast spot but for lunch it was... unstoppable.  They have a limited menu that is a southwest themed menu but they have all the standards of eggs, sausage, biscuits and what looked like some awesome pancakes which i will need to try on my next trip based on their look on the next table.
The lunch has been a killer.  The first time I got a green chili cheeseburger with onion rings, iced tea and a chocolate malt. My companions got an enchilada and some thing with beans and chicken and everyone was very pleased with their food.  The second time I changed it up by getting a green chili cheeseburger, fries and a tea.  My guests got that but one of them ordered a burrito which he said was awesome.  It looked "toasted a little brown on the top and was slightly bigger than a babies head.  All of the food was fresh and hot.  The service was more than adequate and the third time in one of the waiters recognized me and remembered me for breakfast.  The green chili has a great flavor and is not too hot.  With the cheddar it is outstanding and the burger itself is really fresh and juicy and the next time I go back.... I will get it again.  I first had one of these out in Sante Fe at a place called "Bob Cat Bites" that Road Food and Diners, Drive Ins and Dives had reviewed and spoke glowingly of.  It was good.  But not this good. The onion rings were way above average and the fires fresh, hot and crisp.  they like their malts, milk shakes and pies for desert but I will try those another time


I have only been once for breakfast.  I got the biscuits and gravy with chorizo pictured below.  The biscuits seemed really excellent but the gravy tasted more like chile to me and I thought it would make a great slinger for the slinger lovers among us (you know who you are).  I will report more on breakfast another time but I want to tell you there will be another time.  Go there.  it is off the beaten path.  It is unreviewed to the best of my knowledge in the RFT or Post Dispatch.  They serve all menu items all the time but are only open for breakfast and lunch.  Go there now.  Eat there now.Order that green chili cheeseburger, NOW!

Paterno State

Soooo.... The Freeh report.  Penn State.  Joe Paterno.  Sandusky.  This is truly a heinous tragedy. It is shocking. Upsetting and cuts to core byut what does it cut to the core of?  Somehow we are missing that altogether. Stupidly one of the things that cannot leave my mind is a beautiful Uncle Tupelo instrumental called "Sandusky" which they recorded back in 1992 when Joe Pa only had a 9-5 record and lost the Blockbuster Bowl to Stanford. Anyway, listen to the song on YouTube while you read this...make it a multi-media experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_wBf5zkxB8

Is this the fault of:
Penn State’s Board?
Sandusky himself?
The grad assistant who didn’t go to the cops?
The NCAA collegiate athloetic system?
The Sainted Jo Pa himself?

Wake up?  This is not about sports.  The damage that Sandusky did to all of these children and their families is so grotesque, so wrong and so villanous that it only has to do with one thing which is sin and brokenness.  This was a totally broken and fucked up man and he was able to do tremendouse, dramatic harm but all this is about is sin and brokenness.  Since we have now sent the bad guy to jail (which is hardly enough but all we can do) now we are in a hurry to find other people to blame.  Paterno did the lynch mob the disservice of dying (likely of shame more than anything else) and now we can site the University Board.

WTF?  What is all this about.  I keepo hearing these annoying, sanctimonious sports talk idiots talk about tearing down the paterno statue and shutting down the whole Penn State program.  Shiut, why not close the college?  Inseed why not close ALL NCAA affiliated colleges?  Why do we have this dramatic (overly dramatic) and self righteous response from all the talking heads?  That is a more interesting question.

I would put it out there that this brings up so much bile for several reasons:
1. The awfulness of the crime which is a 10.
2. The idiotic pedestal we place sports in our country which is only an embarrassment about once a month and each time we act dumbfounded that this could happen in athletics.
3. The sick fear that if we had been close to the situation we might not have done the obvious and only right thing which was to scream loudly that there was something wrong in Happy Valley.
4. Failure to have a Christian understanding and personal sense that Sandusky is just another broken person, in a broken world that needs God’s Grace.

I don’t even need to speak about number one above.  911 bombings... Jeffry Dahmer... this ranks as one of the most disgusting, saddening incidents in our country.  I am NOT overstating it.  The second point above is the galling one.  Why do we need to place these people on pedestals and revel in others vicories as our own with sporting teams?  Are our lives so meaningless?  Is it really any different than the Roman Coliseums?  I doubt it.  It is not just America either, it is worldwide.  Mankind likes the spectacle of others competing and makes literal gods out of the participants.  It is shameful.  There really is nothing glorious aboyut a 19 year old, 6’9” kid with a sweet jump shot and awesome work ethic.  If there is it certainly pales when compared to the gloriousness of a 57 year old mother of four who has been a school teacher for 35 years while raising a family and staying married.  On the other hand she is not going to be able to sell you a lot of beers but seriously, we gotta look at the place we put sports in our society and we need to examine the sports industrial complex and how it fits into our value system as a Christian nation.  There was only one race the Bible ever talks about winning.

The next thing is all these poeple making their living off of vilifying the people around him who did not do the right thing.  I absolutely agree that if they broke laws in their failure to report , they need to be prosecuted but I don’ know the laws there and I certainly do not know the circumstances of their “knowledge”.  But every talking head and idiot on the radio knows all about it and these people all need to be killed, fired, shamed, stoned and villified but I would like to see any of these sanctimnious pricks stand in their shoes.  Lets say you are the head of the Penn State athletic program and you get wind that Sandusky has a problem.  You don’t have first hand knowledge.  The police are not doing anything.  Paterno is not taking any action.  The guy is key to the program and is an absolute LION in the community doing all kinds of good things with his charity.  Are YOU going to be the guy who makes the phone call about an allegation?  We all like to think we would be but if you know people at all, if you have ANY self knowledge... at least admit that you are going to pause before very likely:
1. Damaging what has become a sacred institution (sadly)
2. Damaging your career and likely harming your own family because now you are tainted.
3. Impugning grotesquely the character of a local hero.
4. By doing so taking on god (Joe paterno) and the entire University.
5. Putting your own children in a poosition to be villified and beaten up and abused because of your actions doing the right thing.
The list goes on and on.  Sure, I like to think if I saw a man sodomizing a child in the shower, I would go straight to the police.  But if someone told me THEY had seen it, or had been told by someone who said they saw it?  Then I pause.  Then perhaps I do not do the right thing or do not do it right away.

All I am saying is that we are askibng the wrong questions.  Thje questions should not be “who is to blame?”  The question should be why we as a country make these broken, sad people we call human beings into gods in the first place?  When you make people gods they can do nothing but dissappoint.  Sandusky’s actions were unforgivable by anyone but God.  he will die in jail.  The rest of the people associated with that school will have to live the consequences (perhaps criminal and certainly reputational) but they, along with us should all have stains on our conscience regarding a society that allows monsters to go unreported so that our sports heros can continue to walk as gods and allow us to cheer for “OUR” team.

This a portrait of all of us and we should all feel shame at what happened to these children.  I know I do.

P.S. I wrote this over the weekend and in the interim Mr Gay at the Wall Street Journal Said it much better in the July 16th Journal but I cannot find a good link.

P.S.S. Buzz Bissinger might have had right in May. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/friday-night-lights-ban-college-football_n_1502787.html

Diner Review: The Egg & I

Soooo.... I get giddy like a little school girl when a new breakfast place opens in my general area.  This was the case on Sunday when dining at Annie Gunns I ran into a good friend who told me that I should try “Th Egg & I” (like The King and I but with eggs).  He knows my proclivities in dining at such paces and my enjoyment of same.  The place is in one of the new strip malls jammed into the Des Peres/Kirkwood portion of Manchester which in a few years will be, “the new Crestwood”.  The new monster upscale Dierbergs and the establish monster upscale Schnucks should make Manchester road an avoidable nightmare for everything but residents of the year.  Alas...goodbye Chic Fil Et!
But I digress.  The place opens at 6 which appears to be a good start.  I pulled into the empty lot on a Monday to find a waitress unlocking their out door furniture (slightly disquieting thinking of patio furniture thieves in Des Peres and went in to see that I was the only one there.  The place itself is fairyl large but unfortunately is also pretty non descript.  My first impression was that of a more family friendly “First Watch”.... don’t get me started again on First Watch.  The friendly waitress who had been liberating the patio furniture seated me at a nice window seat and I ordered a tea and reviewed the menu.  As one might expect from the name it is an eggcentric menu:
http://www.theeggandirestaurants.com/egg_menu.html

Not being an egg person I am always annoyed by menus that offer 50 different ways to serve eggs.  I think if I ate eggs I would prefer them scrambled or if feeling fussy...over easy.  Still I was able to order biscuits and gravy with some sausage and ranch style potatoes.  I asked after the existence of hash browns and was sadly told no but was assured that the ranch style potatos were “fantrastic”.  To their additional credit they brew their own iced tea and brought me a glass and a carafe allowing me to refill at my liesure.  An excellent start..  The place was clean and well lit having only opened on July 2nd but once again the lack of patrons was a little disquieting and evidently there had been another patron there because when he checked out he had to wait for the manager/owner to come out of the back where he was doing paperwork and I was quiet enough that I could hear any other conversation in the place.

The food came and it was very nicely presented with the biscuits and gravy in their own boat and the ptoatos on one side and the sausage on the other.  The presentation was the best part.  The suasage was unremarkable and passable.  The biscuits were actually the leaden biscuits that I prefer and we moist and very filling.  The gravy was a little sweet rather than savory but was also passable.  The ranch potatos were of course the hated “breakfast potatos” but they were very well prepared and although cubed, rather than shreaded were crisp and satisfying.  The waitress was very attentive (but what else did she have to do) and was earnestly refilling my tea carafe as I finished the meal.  In the end it was unfortunately unremarkable.  It is another unmemorable place to go break your fast in the morning and from my research of the website I can see that it too is a national chain although there are only two open in the area.  My guess is that unless they can find some way to differentiate themselves from First Watch that they will not be long for the area.  Enjoy your eggs while you can.