5900 Natural Bridge Rd. 63120
314 383 3333
www.goodygoodydiner.com
Mon-Fri 6 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-2 p.m.
Smoke free. Easy access to all.

The spirit of "Happy Days" is alive and kicking within the cheerfully bright confines of Goody Goody, a quintessential diner that purveys comfort food sans pretense. This flashback to the forties and fifties is a got-to-go destination for fans of the way we were when Bill Haley & The Comets and Chuck Berry were just starting to rock the jukebox. Actually in '55 when Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" and Chuck's "Maybelline" were hot hits, Goody Goody had already been around for 7 years, which adds up to this being their 60th anniversary. The site had been an A&W root beer stand from 1931 (they serve Mug today) and after a couple of ownership changes Herb and Viola Connelly took over what was then a drive-in diner in ‘54. The busy business was then taken over by their son Richard some 40 years ago and today he and wife, Laura are in charge of the diner dynasty, and Goody Goody is a busy as ever. They even have a host who puts your name on the table list when you come in. Businessmen, families, travelers...like Rick's in Casablanca, everybody comes to Goody Goody.

The car-hops have faded into the mists of time as have neighboring haunts such as Sam the Watermelon Man (a must stop for Bon Hope when he played our town), Amadeo Fiore's Melrose Neopolitan pizza-pie, ex- baseball player Terry Moore's bowling alley, the Thunderbird drive-in theatre, Ed's White Front Bar B Q, Hodge's Roller Rink and Katz cut-rate drug store. But the Goody Goody, in an American Graffiti tradition lives on fueled by dozens of straight forward, no frills breakfast and lunch items. You can't get couscous, sushi, Portobello mushrooms or calamari at Goody Goody, but you will find such tummy tantalizers as: "The Wilbur omelet," a 3 egg concoction filled with hash browns, green pepper, onion and tomato smothered with chili and Cheddar cheese (The chili is Edmond's); salmon croquette on a Kaiser with tartar sauce and lettuce; or a double BBQ Angus beef slaw burger. Breakfast items, which are available anytime, as is the lunch fare, includes catfish, Polish hot link and the Hobo bowl, which contains pieces of sausage scrambled into 2 eggs, tomato and onion, covered with hash browns layered with white gravy and topped with Cheddar. There's even a salmon croquette breakfast. But the Goody Goody signature dish is (don't knock it ‘til you try it), half a fried chicken with a Belgian waffle; wow, it's good! You can even add 2 eggs, with grits, rice or hash browns. This recipe was imported from Roscoe's in L.A. in 2000. For a sandwich, you might consider either: the Coney Island, Plaza Club or tuna salad or if your stomach's growling, fill it up with a Salisbury steak, homemade meatloaf or a Toastamales dinner.

If you've got visitors keeping you company treat ‘em to Goody Goody in northwest St. Louis. It's just 3 miles east of UMSL on Natural Bridge, or from I-70, take the Goodfellow exit south to Natural Bridge, then make a right and in half a block Goody Goody will appear like a ghost from the past on your left. And to prove you're in with the in-crowd you could pick up a Goody Goody Diner coffee mug or t-shirt. Check their website for diner deals.

Onesto Pizza & Trattoria
5401 Finkman Ave. St. Louis 63109
"In The Heart of SOHA"
314 802 8883
www.onestopizza.com

Imagine, if you will, that H.G. Wells' fictional fancy of time travel became a reality and you wanted to take a trip to St. Louis in 1944 to sample a thin-crust style pizza. Unfortunately, you'd be out of luck, as we had no pizza parlors or restaurant serving any type of pizza until a year later. That first place, history will show, was Amadeo Fiore's Melrose Pizza in the basement of the now being rehabbed Melrose apartment building on Sarah at W. Pine. It was last known as Rossino's.

Now as you go back to the future and "Let your fingers do the walking" in the current St. Louis Yellow Pages you'll find some 312 listings for pizza places. This list does not include at least that many more restaurants offering pizza on their menu. So, the question is: Do we need another pizzeria? As a pizza-pie lover, my honest answer is YES! Yes, that is, if the pizza is authentico and hand-made with quality dough and toppings. Onesto, which is far more than just a purveyor of pizza, is a welcome addition to our legion of local pizza-makers. Onesto, which means honest in Italian, serves pies of the highest order, hand-tossed as you watch and crafted from 100% organic flour, 100% whole milk mozzarella, Italian olive oil and fresh-roasted tomato sauce. You're in a Provel-free zone at Onesto. Their artisan pizzas, which are closer to St. Louis style-thin crust pizza than to the chewier deep dish Chicago version, are baked to crispy perfection in a brick oven, nicknamed Johnny "The Man in Black" Cash, due to the oven's front being black. Onesto does one thicker Sicilian style pizza named The Godfather. You'll need to be patient as it takes more oven time. Prices range from $12.95 for a small 14" cheese to $26.95 for the Large 18"Gut Buster. The large pepperoni pizza we had on our most recent trip ran $17.95 and there was enough left over that it was our dinner the next night.

Chef Vito Racanelli, Jr., who hails from the Bronx, makes all Onesto's sauces and dressings from scratch using local fresh ingredients in an effort to offer the taste and aroma of a rustico style of home cooking. They list 32 pie toppings and 10 "specialty" pizzas. Onesto's dining room seats just 55 but they also offer take-out and delivery and a front patio for al fresco dining. On our three Onesto outings the smallish and high-decibel dining room remained filled, but since we were pre-warned by previous Onesto customers, we got there around 6 on each visit and were ushered right in. For the geographically challenged, locating Onesto might be a bit tricky, but worth it. It's in an area dubbed by local businesses as SOHA - SouthHampton. The restaurant faces Finkman Ave., named for yesteryear landowner Louis Finkman, and it's at the NW corner of Macklind Ave. just 2 blocks west of Hampton Ave. and three blocks north of Loughborough Ave. Coming from the west on I-44 take the Jamieson Ave. exit south to left on Loughborough, that's 27 blocks, or from I-55 go west on Loughborough to right on Macklind which is a block west of Gravois Rd.

For an appetizer I'd suggest Arancini, a rice based breaded and fried "ball" of Italian white rice, Parmesan cheese and parsley, crammed with tomato sauce, ground beef and peas and accompanied by Bolognese sauce. Order early as on our last trip they ran out of the item. The house salad has a very pleasant slightly sweet roasted garlic and basil dressing. On one visit I had a creamy pureed mushroom soup that had a unique earthy flavor and even though it was just 7 o'clock they had already sold all of the other zuppa of the day. 5 pasta dishes include lasagna with homemade pasta as well as fettucine ala Alfedo with homemade noodles. The fettucine is prepared el dente and served in a very rich and creamy Parmesan cheese sauce with a touch of nutmeg. It's similar to that which is served at Kemoll's. One lucky person at our table had The Eppi Roll and loved it. It's described as the Bronx version of Philadelphia's Stromboli with refreshingly sweet Italian sausage melded with green peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese tucked into braided pizza dough. It's a real buy at $5.95. Plus you'll find Stromboli and Calzone on the menu. And since Onesto is a family oriented restaurant they've created "Family style" salad and pasta dishes that serve four. These items include an exceptional Caesar salad and spaghetti with huge homemade meatballs in a savory marinara sauce. They could be a just bit more generous with the spaghetti and the pasta in general.

There are several sandwiches available, but not a meatball sandwich, which is something I hope they'll add. 3 Parmigiana dishes, eggplant, meatball and chicken, are served as either a sandwich or plate. And we strongly suggest the made-on-the-premises Tiramisu of which you get enough for 2 to share. Onesto has a real neighborhood feel to it, as if it had been there for years, while in reality they've been operating for only weeks. Since the 1920s the Onesto building, actually two store-fronts, housed places as varied as a Kroger store, Edward Clarke's Radio Repair shop, Berton Maurer dry-cleaners and Rudy Schulze photography. Onesto is a family restaurant and that translates to kids, and due to the lack of sound deadening materials it's a hard place to carry on a quiet conversation. If you're in a big rush; they're still working on some service issues. The positives of Onesto are plentiful and far overshadow any minor perceived negatives. And if there's ever a St. Louis pizza-off contest Onesto just might take the Blue Ribbon.

Hours
M-W-Th 11-10
F-Sa 11-10:30
Su 12n-9:30
Closed Tu - Accessible to all

The Fountain on Locust
3037 Locust St. - 314 535-7800
www.fountainonlocust.com

Your tour to the past is available Tue-Wed 11-5:30,
Fri & Sat 11 - Midnight

Just when you think you've seen it all, an unusual place like The Fountain pops up. Well it didn't really pop-up; it was a work in progress for over two years as it was being lovingly created from scratch by owner Joy Grdnic Christensen.

The Fountain on Locust, tucked away at 3037 Locust St., is far more than just a soda fountain...though the recreation of a true operating soda fountain is the star attraction, after Joy, of "The Fountain." The interior is in pure Art Deco style with hand painted walls and ceilings in vivid colors and geometric designs (all painted by Joy) that offer the illusion that The Fountain must have been there since the Roaring Twenties. It has not. But, the building has been there since 1916 and the days when this section of Locust from 18th St. to Theresa Ave. was St. Louis' renowned "Automobile Row."

This resurrected architectural gem was designed by noted early 20th century St. Louis architect Preston J. Bradshaw, who gave us, among other lasting locations, the Chase Hotel, the Forest Park Hotel (now apartments) and The Coronado Hotel (now apartments) as well as several other Automobile Row structures. The Fountain was first home of the Supreme Motor Car Co., an agency of the Stutz Automobile Company. Stutz is best recalled today as the maker of Stutz Bearcat and Stutz Blackhawk cars. The autos are gone, except when car collectors such as the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri, hold antique car shows on Locust, and then a Stutz will be parked in front of its old home.

The Fountain's kitchen and carefully hand-crafted food is under the direction of Chef Natalia Penchaszadeh and offers a good variety of unusual recipes that are good and good for you. At lunch, my opinion is to opt for the Pick Two. That's a half salad or soup with a half sandwich and matchstick potato chips for $6.99. You have a choice of a half dozen salads, one of which is the Famous Birdseed Salad that consists of Romaine lettuce, sunflower, sesame and millet seeds, mixed nuts, pepitas, Fuji apples and creamy citrus vinaigrette. There'll be a soup of the day, such as red onion or lentil. But I'd suggest you try either the regular (which are far from regular) Peanut Soup or Polish Dill Pickle Soup. The creamy peanut is from a Williamsburg recipe and the pickle, is potato based. I know they sound eccentric...but they're both quite tasty. As a hot sandwich you might consider the Prosperity Pannini with hummus, ripe tomato, red onion confit with grilled eggplant and zucchini. If you select a cold sandwich I'd suggest the Blackhawk. This is roast beef on Cuban bread, served with roasted red pepper and a
blend of goat cheese, olive oil, garlic and fresh basil. We'll delve into the dinner menu on a
future date.

Visiting The Fountain is like taking a trip to the Roaring Twenties when America was on a roll and we were reaching to the sky with buildings like the Continental Life Insurance Company just a short drive west of The Fountain at 3615 Olive St.. You can marvel at the Continental from The Fountain's front door. Had The Fountain been around in the dry days of the ‘20s the hooch might have supplied by bootleggers, but today The Fountain offers a good selection of legit drinks such as O'Fallon India Pale Ale along with Retro Cocktails like the noted: Gin Ricky, Sloe Gin Fizz and Side Car. Plus they proffer ice-cream drinks including: Brandy Alexander, Grasshopper and Dreamsicle Martini. Oh, while you're there, even if you don't have to go, make a point to examine The Fountain's restrooms. They're as snazzy as those in the heyday of The Admiral when that vessel cruised the Mighty Mississippi or of the Fabulous Fox theatre. And be sure to bring change for the parking meters that were recently (and unfortunately) installed all along Locust.

There is free street parking on Cardinal Ave. which is the cross street just west of the Fountain. In case you don't have a GPS, The Fountain is 3 blocks east of Grand Boulevard, and Locust is a block north of Olive St.. Access to The Fountain is easy for all. And save room for dessert, especially an ice-cream concoction. You'll find egg cream, phosphate, banana split, Coconut Almond Joy or the World's Smallest Hot Fudge sundae, and a bunch more on the menu. Hand-packed ice cream is sold by the pint or quart and they even make their own chocolate candy. Listen to the past when you're there as the background music is primarily from the ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. And if you get a booth on the west side of the dining room you can listen to original old-time radio style soap-opera comedy serials titled "Soap Hospital" Everything old is new again at the Fountain.

This Saturday and Sunday, May 17 & 18
Tour times: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For info call 314 367 2220

Tickets $18 in advance, if purchased before Friday, or $20 at either of 5 locations on the days of the tour.

1. Registration tent at the Union Blvd. entrance to Kingsbury Place.

2. The UPS Store at 4579 Laclede Ave.

3. Coffee Cartel at Euclid Ave. and Maryland Plaza.

4. Left Bank Books at Euclid Ave. and McPherson Ave.

5. Bowood Farms at 4605 Olive St..

The entrance to Kingsbury Place is on Union Blvd. between Washington Terrace and Waterman Blvd.. If you’re without a map, Kingsbury is 2 blocks south of Delmar Blvd. and three blocks north of Lindell Blvd.. There’ll be shuttle-bus service operating from the CWE business district.

Our town has a good number of truly fine house tours, but, trust me, the CWE tour, celebrating its 30th year, is always right at the top of the list, and this year you’ll get to roam through many of the manses of classic Kingsbury Place. The eclectic and always trendy CWE is a sublime springtime setting for a tour as it places you in the heart of so many chic and “in” places to grab a quick bite, a sumptuous supper or an uplifting libation. Plus there are dozens of shops offering contemporary arts, gifts, antiques, home furnishings, flowers and plants, fashions, books and jewelry. And for those taken by the outgoing lifestyle of this vibrant, thriving neighborhood and community, you’ll find a number of apartments, condos and homes on the market.

The venue is the CWE with the houses and gardens appearing as the stars of the show. The ornate circa 1902 gates are topped by a bronze sculpture of a nude young woman, officially named “Awakening Spring.” and nicknamed “Carrie Kingsbury.” These portals to the past are decorated with pillars, towers, griffins, three fountains, Corinthian columns, lions, dolphins and stone globes, designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Barnett, Haynes and Barnett. After you enter, you’ll be surrounded by a landscape of trees and flowers welcoming you to visit seven stately edifices on the tour, all of which were built between 1904 and 1925. The architectural styles of these restored residences include Georgian Revival, Elizabethan Revival, French Beaux Arts, Mediterranean Revival, and Colonial Revival. The stories these houses relate are those of the wealthy and privileged of St. Louis in the first 30 years of the 20th century. These legendary domiciles are also testament to the losses of wealth during the great Depression and the flight to the suburbs during the post-WWII era. These great homes have survived hard times and the ravages of time as shining examples of the finest of 20th century architecture. They well may have survived due to their location in the CWE or maybe the CWE has survived due in part to these magnificent homes.

For more information, visit CWE.com

When the creative characters at the helm of ToastedRav.com queried me as to my interest in creating critiques regarding dining in our town, I signed on post-haste, as I've been doing my homework on this subject longer than most restaurants have been around. My earliest jottings on eateries appeared in the '80s in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and I've been talking about restaurants on radio and TV for decades. The notes I'll present will be based on my dining experiences, along with a chronicle of historical tidbits. These critiques will be based on the current offerings of carefully selected restaurants.

Where to begin is a challenge as we have such an abundance of deserving dining places. So, I made a list of where we dined during the month of April and selected our first location from these at random. By the way, the list contained 33 locations, so, we're no slouches when it comes to going out to eat. We'll review locally owned and operated restaurants and will make every effort to provide you with a guide to good food, good service and good value. Unlike some "reviews" these reports will be commercial free, as the place being critiqued is not paying to be in the RR (Rabbitt Report). If you have suggestions as to restaurants you'd like us to report on, or if you have comments, submit them below! Enough palaver. Let's eat!

Cunetto's House of Pasta
5453 Magnolia Ave. at Sublette Ave. On The Hill
314 781 3500
www.cunetto.com

We were there when they opened in September, 1974 and since that time Cunetto's has been the restaurant we've visited more than any other. Consistency, quality and quantity are bylaws at Cunetto's and the menu has varied little over the years. You get a wide variety of freshly prepared food, both at lunch and dinner, and the original chef, Charlie "Flipper" San Filippo, remains king of the kitchen. Charlie came to The Hill and Cunetto's at the behest of Joe and Vince Cunetto who were departing from owning the family pharmacy, a half block from where Cunetto's is located. Joe and Vince were fulfilling a dream of having a first-class Italian restaurant and they selected a building that years before had been the successful home of Biggie & Charlie's Brass Key, but when Biggie left to start a new business with Stan "The Man" the location fell on hard times, as several restaurants, such as Rigoletto's, fizzled. Some said the building was jinxed. Joe, Vince and Charlie proved that theory wrong. Today, Vince's son Frank Cunetto carries on the family tradition, and he's there day in and day out to insure that everything's done the way it's always been done. Joe and Vince would be proud. His carefully selected staff of servers, kitchen crew, hosts, bartenders and bus people all strive to make your Cunetto experience one you'll want to repeat.

Cunetto's is big and busy, and often, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings, you might have to wait for a table, but it's worth it. Reservations are taken for lunch, which is served from 11 to 2 Monday through Friday, but not in the evening. When Cunetto's opens for dinner at 5 there's always a line of people waiting to get in. If you arrive when the two dining rooms are filled, put your name on the list and enjoy a professionally mixed cocktail in the bar area, or on a nice evening, wait outside or take a short walk on The Hill. The staff does everything they can, without rushing diners, to get you seated as soon as possible. If you've got a big appetite, Cunetto's is the place for you. You won't go away hungry, but you likely will go away with a "doggie bag" with something for lunch or dinner the next day. Your bus person will take care of packaging your food. The ambience at Cunetto's is relaxed and friendly in a subtle classical decor. The noise level can get pretty high as many come there to celebrate events, but this adds to the charm of Cunetto's as being a fun place with really good eats.

You won't find a better spot than Cunetto's for lunch. There are 45 items on the menu and the pasta dishes are available in either a lunch or full size. If you're going home or have a place to keep your leftovers, get a full order for just $1.25 more than the lunch portion though that's big as well. You can't top the Fettucine alla Cunetto, it's in the Alfredo style with Parmesan cheese, cream and butter sauce. It's also available with Verde fettucine. Other pasta favorites include Linguini Tutto Mare in a seafood sauce with clam, crab, shrimp and mushrooms and Cavatelli Pomodoro with fresh tomato, mushrooms and butter sauce. There are 19 other pasta dishes at lunch. I'd also suggest a small crisp and refreshing Insalata Cunetto. The soups such as the rich and hearty Minestrone di Verdura are home-made, as is everything at Cunetto's. And on Thursday they serve a thick, palate pleasing lentil soup that's a must. Toasted Rav is excellent with a thick meat sauce and another antipasto of note is Melanzane (eggplant) Parmigiano. You probably don't think of Cunetto's as a place for a hamburger, but you should. It's one of the best burgers anywhere and a great buy (with Provel cheese) for $6.35. The meatball sandwich with zesty meat sauce on an Italian roll is great, and you'll love the roast beef with gravy, like Grandma used to make. All sandwiches, of which there are 11, come with a side dish of pasta. In the next few days, we'll do a Rabbitt Report on dinner at Cunetto's, which is served from 5 to 10 Monday through Thursday and 5 to 11 on Friday and Saturday. Right now, I'm headed there for lunch. I'm serious.

Cunetto's earns The Rabbitt Report's top honor of 5 Ravs for lunch.