51黑料

Here is a sampling of the recommendations I鈥檝e offered in recent weeks. If you want to read these items as soon as I send them every Thursday morning, visit stltoday.com/newsletters and subscribe to the First Course.

(The price and availability of each dish is subject to change.)

Hot Chicken Curry Pizza at Masala Pizza STL

The boom of compelling new Indian restaurants in recent years includes a subcategory of spots featuring fusion dishes: Indian nachos and pasta, curry wraps and naan tacos.聽惭补蝉补濒补听笔颈锄锄补听厂罢尝聽makes its approach clear in its name, though the restaurant itself is not so obvious. It operates inside Spice Market, an Indian grocery store in Chesterfield. (Its storefront is in the same shopping plaza as another Indian fusion joint, Tikka Tangy.)

The grocery store includes a few tables where you can eat, though carryout聽pizza聽seems to be the focus. I ordered my聽pizza聽online then decided to eat at one of those tables after I arrived to pick it up.

I went with the Hot Chicken Curry聽Pizza, which promised chicken, a 鈥渇iery鈥� curry sauce and mozzarella cheese. The standard crust is soft and relatively thin 鈥� or, since you can also choose a 鈥渢hin crust,鈥� let鈥檚 say the standard crust is not especially puffy. (A gluten-free cauliflower crust is also available.) The curry sauce is indeed feisty, and I added chopped green chiles for extra punch, but a generous blanket of stretchy mozzarella cheese helped tamp down the heat.

The Hot Chicken Curry is one of six 鈥渟ignature鈥� chicken pies, which by itself is reason enough to return to聽惭补蝉补濒补听笔颈锄锄补听厂罢尝. As is customary at most Indian restaurants, traditional or fusion, there are also multiple vegetable options, including several聽pizzas with both paneer cheese and mozzarella.

WHERE:聽Spice Market, 13431 Olive Boulevard, Chesterfield聽MORE INFO:听314-392-9794;听尘补蝉补濒补辫颈锄锄补蝉迟濒.蝉辩耻补谤别.蝉颈迟别听HOURS:聽Lunch and dinner daily

HOW MUCH:聽The Hot Chicken Curry聽Pizza聽is $20.99.

Sandwiches at Truck Norris Twisted Eats

Chuck Norris memes were already circulating widely when food trucks boomed across 51黑料 at the beginning of last decade, so it鈥檚 surprising no one claimed the name Truck Norris until 2017. Then again, if anyone was fated to take that name, it was Truck Norris owner Todd Norris.

Unsurprisingly, Norris has retained the truck theme for his brick-and-mortar restaurant,聽Truck Norris Twisted Eats, which opened in February at Clayton and Clarkson roads in Ellisville. The menu will also be familiar to fans of Norris鈥� truck, with his signature egg rolls and tater tots-as-nachos Totchos.

I enjoyed those crisp tots drizzled with buffalo sauce as a side for my Chicken McFly sandwich. This isn鈥檛 so much 鈥渢wisted鈥� as smartly assembled: blackened grilled chicken with bacon, pepper jack cheese and housemade blackened ranch dressing. This last component sharpens the chicken鈥檚 own blackening seasoning with ranch鈥檚 distinctive tang.

A subtle sweetness defines the Tipsy Pig sandwich, a BLT with both bourbon-peach candied bacon and bourbon-peach mayonnaise. This is a fine BLT for early spring. I hope I can try it again in a few months with peak-summer tomatoes.

WHERE: 15856 Clayton Road, Ellisville MORE INFO: 314-988-2111;  HOURS: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday)

HOW MUCH:聽The Chicken McFly sandwich cost me $15.45, which included a side of tots. The Tipsy Pig cost $14.42 plus a $2.06 surcharge for adding a side of queso to the tots.

Lunch specials at Tatva Cafe, Thau Mukda

This is my favorite time of year as a restaurant critic 鈥� and not only because the farmers markets are opening and spring produce is arriving. My STL 100 is finished, freeing me to drive around the metro area, catching up on new restaurants.

While 鈥渄eals鈥� aren鈥檛 the driving force behind these weekly recommendations, my recent exploring in west 51黑料 County has found lunch specials at two restaurants worth your attention.

Tatva Cafe聽is a small new vegetarian Indian restaurant on Manchester Road in Ellisville. Tatva鈥檚 lunch combo gets you any two curries from the cafeteria-style buffet with rice, two pieces of paratha and pappadam for $7.77. The set-up might remind you of the nearby Curry Club in Chesterfield, though the portions here aren鈥檛 as generous.

For my lunch, I picked a vegetarian take on a classic tikka masala sauce and a rustic chickpea dish. Both curries delivered pungent, though not overwhelming, heat. The duo made for a complete meal, thanks to the rice, flatbread and pappadam, but if you want a more filling lunch, Tatva Cafe offers a thali lunch with five curries for $11.77.

WHERE 15801 Manchester Road, Ellisville MORE INFO 636-220-2138;  HOURS: Lunch and dinner daily

Thai Mukda聽opened in February on Clarkson Road in Chesterfield, two doors down from the original location of Black Salt and one shopping plaza over from the aforementioned Curry Club. Like Tatva Cafe, this is a small storefront, though it features a full menu and table service.

For lunch, Thai Mukda offers an array of its curries, stir-fries, fried rice and noodle dishes for $10.99, with your choice of chicken, pork, tofu or vegetables as the main ingredient. (Beef or shrimp are both available for a $2 surcharge.)

My red curry with chicken delivered tender meat and crisp vegetables in a sauce that led with creamy sweetness and finished with cutting spice. Medium on the restaurant鈥檚 heat scale (mild, medium, hot, very hot and 鈥渘ative Thai hot鈥�) is noticeable, but not sweat-inducing. I will definitely scale up to hot on my next visit.

Your lunch special begins with a trio of appetizers: a small cup of citrusy tom yum soup, a crisp vegetable roll and a flattened, especially crisp version of crab Rangoon.

WHERE: 1713 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield MORE INFO: 636-530-1089;  HOURS: Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday (closed Saturday)

Sandwiches and samosas at Brew Bites

Brew Bites, which opened last summer on the west end of the Delmar Loop, risks confusion. The brew in its name isn鈥檛 beer, which the restaurant doesn鈥檛 sell. You can order coffee and a few iced espresso drinks here, but these pale as an attraction compared to the bites.

Move past the name 鈥� which is inarguably catchy 鈥� and you find a counter-service sandwich spot open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (The breakfast fare, including bagel and biscuit sandwiches, is available all day.)

The Italian Supreme sandwich is a typical offering, a layered trio of salami, pepperoni and capicola. Most of the numerous options for customization are included in the price. Mine were straightforward: provolone, lettuce, tomato, vinegar and oil on toasted white sub bread. The sandwich delivered what I wanted, sharp with its cured meats and vinegar, properly dressed but not dripping oil, the toasted bread crunchy but not palate-shredding.

Study Brew Bites鈥� menu closely, and you鈥檒l notice a couple of distinctive touches from owner Neha Barot. Among the many condiment options for your sandwich is tikka masala sauce. The selection of side dishes features cookies and muffins 鈥� and two plump, crisp samosas with bright green and tart red dipping sauces.

I鈥檓 not saying Samosas & Sammies would be a better name than Brew Bites, but that is the duo I鈥檓 suggesting here.

WHERE:聽6662 Delmar Blvd., University City聽MORE INFO:聽314-499-7000; brewbites.food聽HOURS:聽Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily

HOW MUCH:聽A regular-sized Italian Supreme sandwich is $8.99. An order of two samosas is $5.99.

The Cherokee Cheesesteak at Good Strangers

Does Cherokee Street need more tacos? The answer is yes, of course. There are never enough tacos.聽骋辞辞诲听厂迟谤补苍驳别谤蝉聽stamps an exclamation point at the end of that 鈥測es,鈥� though. Its compact menu features breakfast tacos, including the irresistibly named Cherokee Cheesesteak.

骋辞辞诲听厂迟谤补苍驳别谤蝉, which opened in February on the Gravois Park side of Cherokee west of South Jefferson Avenue, is a cafe, not a Mexican restaurant. The storefront is sprawling, by cafe standards, though the color scheme 鈥� dominated by a dusky orangish red on one side, a bluish green on the other 鈥� gives the space a warm, inviting feel.

骋辞辞诲听厂迟谤补苍驳别谤蝉鈥� menu warns you that the breakfast tacos are available 鈥溾�檛il we sell out.鈥� Each premade taco is wrapped in foil and kept hot to order.

The Cherokee Cheesesteak taco would be appealing even by a less catchy name. The meat is smoky, tender beef brisket from Fourth City Barbecue, which was based out of the nearby Fortune Teller Bar until that establishment closed at the end of last year.

Provel gilds this brisket and a garnish of nopales. However you feel about Provel, this taco is another argument that pizza topping isn鈥檛 the best use of the divisive cheese.

WHERE: 2614 Cherokee Street MORE INFO:  HOURS: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily

HOW MUCH:聽The Cherokee Cheesesteak taco is $5.

Spaghetti limone at Napoli Kirkwood

The Pietoso family won鈥檛 stop. While I was showering聽聽on their 2024 debut聽Napoli聽Bros. Pizza and Pasta, the owners of Cafe聽Napoli聽and its various satellites and spinoffs were opening yet another location,聽狈补辫辞濒颈听碍颈谤办飞辞辞诲.

As the name suggests, the new restaurant brings the model of the Clayton original,聽Napoli聽II in Town and Country and聽Napoli聽III in St. Charles to聽Kirkwood, where it occupies a sleekly elegant ground-floor space in the James development north of downtown.

Lunch at聽狈补辫辞濒颈听碍颈谤办飞辞辞诲聽is a welcome reprieve from contemporary dining鈥檚 slimmed down, convenience-first聽aesthetic. The restaurant isn鈥檛 fussy, but essentially the full menu is available, and you wouldn鈥檛 feel out of place visiting for a business meeting, a casual date or, in my case, a solo meal at the bar.

The lunch portion of聽狈补辫辞濒颈听碍颈谤办飞辞辞诲鈥檚 spaghetti limone isn鈥檛 as grand as the dinner version 鈥� the latter includes king crab as well as shrimp 鈥� but it makes for a light, yet satisfying meal, especially when paired with a salad or another聽first聽course.

Four plump, delicately cooked shrimp and a garnish of seasoned breadcrumbs top the spaghetti, but you will want to twirl each bite from the bottom of the dish up to maximize the bright, buttery sauce. Be sure to save some of the complimentary house bread for the sauce that remains when the noodles and shrimp are gone.

WHERE: 436 North Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood MORE INFO: 314-926-1411;  HOURS: Lunch and dinner daily

HOW MUCH:聽The lunch portion of spaghetti limone is $19.

Mochi doughnuts at Mochiatsu

础迟听Mochiatsu, the doughnuts bounce. In your mouth, I mean. Don鈥檛, like, throw them against the wall. You鈥檒l be too busy eating them, besides.

Mochiatsu, which opened in August on Manchester Road at Highway 141 in Manchester is part of a small national chain. I don鈥檛 typically visit chains for this newsletter, and 51黑料 certainly boasts a wealth of locally owned doughnut shops, but聽Mochiatsu聽is worth an exception.

Here the specialty is mochi doughnuts, which are made with rice flour. The texture isn鈥檛 chewy, but it is noticeably more elastic than a yeasted doughnut. Bouncy was the first word that came to my mind.

Before you notice the mochi doughnuts鈥� texture, you will notice their shape: a ring of small spheres. You might also notice the range of flavors on display. The fruit options alone range from blueberry and strawberry shortcake to yuzu. The most distinctive in its color, with a gentle sweetness, is ube, or purple yam.

I especially dug the richer flavors: coffee (complete with a little cookie as garnish) and the brown sugar milk tea.聽Mochiatsu聽also features a full menu of actual milk teas, iced teas and other drinks. And if the mochi doughnuts aren鈥檛 bouncy enough for you, you can add a range of popping boba and jellies to your drink.

WHERE: 14248 Manchester Road, Suite A, Manchester MORE INFO: 636-220-2834;  HOURS: 7:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday

HOW MUCH:聽An order of three mochi doughnuts is $7.99.