Andrew Mark Veety

The Nexus of St. Louis, Politics and Beer

KWMU/St. Louis on the Air recently hosted an hour long discussion on the debate surrounding Belgium Brewing Powerhouse InBev’s offer of $65.00 per share to buyout Anheuser-Busch (AB). The discussion included commentary from Bill Finnie, Adjunct Professor, Washington University School of Business, Senator Kit Bond (R - MO) and Congressman Russ Carnahan (D - MO).

Yes, the entire hour includes what is probably an appropriate level of American protectionism surrounding the King of Beers. However, it also covers the important role that AB plays in St. Louis and what side effects might stem from ownership by a foreign company.

Common consensus is that the AB board will reject the first InBev offer, along with developing whatever poison pills it can to protect itself and push for a higher bid. However it appears that AB is fairly defenseless from a takeover for two reasons:

Low family ownership of the common stock. As an example, Warren Buffet owns more of AB than the Busch Family. Also, there is a segment of the family who have little to do with the day to the day running of the company and support the buyout. Warren continues to sit on the sidelines but I would expect that he can not maintain a neutral position for long.

Poor stock performance over the last 5 years (13% return before dividends vs. 41% for the S&P Index - pre buyout announcement). The majority of AB’s shareholders are mutual funds, whose investments have lagged the market for some time. It would seem reasonable that should this deal not go through, we could see its share price fall back to the pre-announcement levels. This may be unacceptable to long term shareholders.

Beyond the risks to AB and St. Louis, there is also risk to InBev, who must finance the purchase of AB to the tune of 40 Billion Dollars. Yes, the Euro is strong right now, but that is still an impressive amount of debt to assume for the brewer. American backlash against Belgium ownership may also be an issue, cutting into future cash flows should beer drinkers in the US boycott AB/InBev products post deal. Would they move to Miller products? Probably not as SABMiller is a South African company. How about Coors? Again, maybe not after their merger with Canada’s Molson. If anything, it may be an oportunity for US craft brewers, especially if states lift barrel production levels from current rates to meet increased demand for American product.

Moving InBev from Belgium to St. Louis and keeping the AB name may help this situation, but it remains to be seen if this option will be explored.

More to come.

Anheuser-Busch in the News:

• Brewer Bids $46 Billion for Anheuser-Busch
• Anheuser-Busch - King of Missouri Donors
• Grupo Modelo CEO Resigns from Anheuser-Busch Board
• Busch Family Members Divided in Response to InBev Takeover Bid
• Don’t Knock InBev, Invite it to St. Louis
• Unreal Helps Schlafly save AB

Authors note: I currently hold Anheuser-Busch shares

Chicago 2008

My wife and I recently visited Chicago for our 1st anniversary and to tour the Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry.  From an environmental perspective, I’m sure the greenest thing to do would have been to stay home and read about the Smart House online. However, we wanted a chance to see the technology and materials up close so we decided that we would try to travel in the most environmentally friendly way we could - the train.

For the round trip of 602 miles, how did the train stack up against taking a plane or our car:

Airline = .458 Tons or 916 LBS of CO2
Automobile (Avg 25mpg) = .234 Tons or 468 LBS of CO2
Train = .12 Tons or 240 LBS of CO2

Via calculator at Native Energy.

Given that we are Americans and are creatures of speed and convenience, we would have loved to take the hour long flight between St. Louis and Chicago. Taking our car would have been quicker as well given the track work that delayed us on both legs of our trip. However, we saved hundreds of dollars by not flying, as well as avoiding the hassles and delays that come with trips to the airport. With gas and parking in downtown Chicago for the long weekend it’s realistic that we would have spent around $200 for transportation. Instead on the train we traveled business class to Chicago and home in a private sleeper room with a meal for the same $200. We also had time to talk and relax, watch a movie, read several magazines and enjoy the rolling Illinois countryside.

Chicago is a great city and my list of places to see and more importantly eat at was as long as our weekend was short. We walked where we could and utilized the train system to cover our adventures from Lincoln Square to Hyde Park. Highlights included the Smart House, an architectural river tour, an outstanding meal and bottle of 1999 Marques de Riscal Baron de Chirel Reserva at Café Iberico, and the morning coffee at the W Chicago City Center. A major disappointment was our brunch at Kitsch’n which can be summed up as pretty food that tastes pretty bad and the W Chicago City Center in general. Missed and saved for another day were Superdawg Drive-in, The Frontera Grill, Lou Malnati's Pizzeria and Gene & Georgetti.

Summer 2008 Chicago Trip: A Photo Essay

Inspired by tales of many friends who have traveled around Europe by train, Sara and I packed a light picnic of grapes, crackers and cheese and wine for our trip to Chicago.

Sara and I at the Navy Pier celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary. Interestingly enough, our wedding was recently included in the Missouri/Kansas print edition of The Knot Wedding Magazine.

A thunderstorm rolls across Illinois farmland.

Our return trip included accommodations in a sleeper room as the train was on its way to LA. As part of our ticket, we were invited to a meal in the dining car, which was a pleasant surprise. Sara and I each had a Flat Iron Steak and enjoyed our meal with a nice German man by way of Toronto who travels the rails around the world as a way to enjoy his retirement.

Things Discovered and More Information:

• Birds of Paradise, Price’s Chicken Coop, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Robbs Run House
• NatureMill Automatic Indoor Composter
• Michelle Kaufmann
• Smart Home Exhibit Resource Guide
• Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Formula One Racing World

The Blackthorn Pub

I'm not sure the Blackthorn Pub in the Tower Grove neighborhood of South St. Louis is a place where you should bring your mother for a meal, but over the years I've ended up there with not only my mom but pretty much every out of town guest that visits my fair city. For the locals it's a convenient hangout and meeting place, for the softball teams patrolling the fields at nearby Tower Grove Park it's a place to down a few beers before venturing off to the local eateries that sponsor your team, and for everyone it is a total dive in the truest sense of the word.

What brings people in is the pizza.  They make pan and deep-dish Chicago style pies which stand out amongst the thin crusted, Provel topped "pizzas" that are commonplace in St. Louis. For folks who have never visited St. Louis, to describe the local pizza style is to imagine a matzo covered with processed cheese product. As a product Provel is both disturbing and perplexing and it goes without saying that I continue to not be a fan.

As a transplant from New York, I'm sure embracing and attitude of "if you can't beat them, join them" might open up my options for a meal, but I really don't see the point. St. Louis style pizza is not very good.  Given that fact, the Blackthorn is on my shortlist of pizza joints in town where I can get a pie that at least in spirit (used very loosely) resembles the pizzas that I grew up with and on a regular basis make in my own home.

With that in mind, I visited The Blackthorn twice recently. On my first visit I ordered a deep-dish pie with pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms and green peppers. I arrived at 5pm and ordered my pie with an expected wait of "45 minutes to an hour". I've ordered this pie before, and I know that even at 5 there is a back order of pies that have been phoned in. 45 minutes is more like the estimated time your pie will go in the oven, and for a pie like this, you have to expect at least an hour cooking time. Four beers and a River Front Times later I was on my way home with a pizza that not only feels like a half dozen paperweights in a box, but in your stomach as well.

The deep-dish is thick, standing well over an inch and a half high, with layers of cheese (Provel-free), a spicy sauce that The Blackthorn shares with its sister pizzeria Lemmon's and your choice of toppings.  Paying homage to the city of Chicago, this is a knife and fork meal and at times it seems to have more relation to lasagna than pizza. I'm kidding, but in all reality this is not "fold it over and bite pizza", it's more of a direct challenge to your cardiologist.

On my second trip my wife and I ate at the bar, sharing a pan pizza with onions, mushrooms, green peppers, garlic and pepperoni. The pan pizza is a deep-dish in its own right, standing at least an inch tall. The same cheese and sauce covers this pie, just in lesser amounts. If anything, the pan pizza at The Blackthorn reminds me of what a Pizza Hut pizza looked like growing up, before it became a cog in the wheels of Yum! Brands and bundled with a Taco Bell to save construction costs. In fact, I’m privy to the fact that they use salvaged Pizza Hut deep dish pans to make their pies in. Recycling and reverence, in pizza form.

With both pies, the diner feels empowered to load up the toppings, mostly because the crust is up to the job of carrying the extra weight. Case in point, while I was waiting for the first pie, a couple came in and ordered a pan pizza with "all the meats", which turned out to be a pie with about 5 different meats on it.  If not for the tomato sauce, not a vegetable would be found near that pie. A tip of the hat to the culinary adventurous.

An issue I had with both pies is the pepperoni appeared barely cooked, while the other toppings looked like they had spent a half hour to and hour in an oven. I would think an hour at pizza cooking temps would leave the edges of the pepperoni crisp and brown, not looking like they just were pulled from the bag they came in. Beyond that, these pies stand head and shoulders over delivery and local St. Louis style standbys.

All in all, The Blackthorn is a local institution and deserves our respect. Are there better pies out there? Sure, but The Blackthorn is not trying to be something its is not. So what is it? A total dive filled with friends, punk rock girls, an awesome music collection, beer by the pitcher and pizza's that go along with it all famously.

Opinion: Recommended with reservations

The Blackthorn Pub
3735 Wyoming Street
St. Louis, MO 63116

On the web

• Sauce Magazine

Honda FCX Clarity

As part of my research into a new hybrid vehicle to replace my 1997 Mazda Miata M-Edition, I've followed with great interest the development of the Honda FCX, also known as the Clarity. Honda hopes to make the Clarity the worlds first production hydrogen fuel cell powered automobile. With a projected roll-out of 200 cars over the next few years, its clear that one of the major obstacles in the way of moving off a petrochemical based infrastructure is not the ability to produce the vehicle, but the development of a way to distribute hydrogen to a broad market.

The wait continues.

Current Researching

• Toyota Camry Hybrid
• Honda Civic Hybrid

Additional reading:

• Latest Honda Runs on Hydrogen, Not Petroleum (New York Times)
• 2009 Honda FCX Clarity (Businessweek)

Timothy John Russert, Jr.

Timothy John Russert, Jr. (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American journalist who hosted NBC's Meet the Press. He was NBC News' Washington Bureau Chief and hosted a weekly interview program on MSNBC. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball. He co-hosted the network's presidential Election Night coverage and presented the polling results of the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News. Russert, a diabetic, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack at his office in Washington on June 13, 2008.

I've been a habitual watcher of Meet the Press for as long as I can remember. Over the past year or so, I even got my wife to patter out of bed on Sunday mornings to see what real news, real questions and real reporting looked and sounded like. Our Sunday mornings mean a lot to me, and I'm not sure they will be the same.

I've been known to send emails to Mr. Russert after a particularly good show, smattering my letters with references to Buffalo in the attempt to get a response. I guess this is my last one.

I am very sad this afternoon. NBC has a very large and important seat to fill.

• New York Times Politics Blog - Tim Russert

Eovaldi’s Meatball Sandwich

I was recently enjoying one of my favorite lunchtime activities, wandering around The Hill, an Italian neighborhood in St. Louis, looking for a sandwich. Venturing off my normal path, I came across Eovaldi’s, a small, unassuming deli known for salsiccia, a fresh pork Italian sausage favored by the locals. Across The Hill, salsiccia is piled high on crusty breads and served with roast beef, meatballs, onions, mushrooms and Provel, a cheese loved mostly by folks who were born here and loathed by visitors and transplants alike.

On the wall behind the meat counter hangs a picture of the owner’s family and Mario Batali, grinning and attempting to hold a sandwich long enough to spill over the sides of its picture frame. The deli is a bare space with a few coolers for drinks, a rack of Old Vienna potato chips, the aforementioned meat case and several tables of quiet men in business suits working away at their lunchtime meals.

In my experience, all are good omens.

Like most deli’s on The Hill, the menu is stocked with old standbys named after their primary ingredient, a city (New York / Chicago / St. Louis being the favorites), a person, and then a smaller list of specialty sandwiches. All the choices looked good, but for first visit to any deli, my go to/baseline sandwich is meatballs with no cheese.

In quick order I was on my way home with a foil wrapped meatball sandwich. My first impression was the small amount of red sauce, or “the gravy” as I affectionately call it. The meatballs themselves were irregular (they are made in-house) and appeared to be baked, not fried (a preference, the meatball has more to do with a meatloaf than a French fry). The sandwich looked really good, however the lack of red sauce hung over my lunch like a cloud.

For a second I thought about defrosting some sauce I had in the freezer before digging in, but only for a second. This truly is a meatball sandwich, with the sauce and bread playing a quiet second and third to the spicy and flavorful meat. Now I understand why Batali was grinning in that picture, the folks at Eovaldi’s know the key to a sandwich is to balance all its parts.

Sometimes just enough is better than to much, it’s a shame so many fail to understand that. I will return for the salsiccia sooner rather than later.

Opinion: Recommended

Eovaldi’s On the Hill
2201 Edwards Street
St. Louis, MO 63110

On the web:

• Sauce Magazine
• KMOV Sauce on the Street Video

Habanero and Strawberry Bison Filet Mignon

Ingredients List: Grass Fed Free Range Bison Filets (Bowood Farms, Clarksville, MO), (Marinade) Organic Habanero Chili, Organic Strawberry Jam, Organic Shallot, Organic Cranberry Juice, White Vinegar, Organic Canola Oil, Kosher Salt, Pepper (Salad) Organic Yellow Brandywine Tomato, Organic Cucumber, Organic Bi-Color Corn, Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Kosher Salt, Pepper (Topping) Organic Purple Beauty Bell Pepper, Organic White Onion

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Here in Missouri, we are lucky to have access to grass fed bison at our local grocery and farmers markets. While using bison as a replacement for beef is becoming a bit more common, I still relish plating up thick cuts like New York Strip and Filet Mignon for friends and watching them enjoy this healthy and low fat dish for the first time.

Cooking bison is not as easy or forgiving as beef, and the home cook should plan ahead to ensure success. The biggest issue is bison’s low fat content. Unlike feed lot raised beef and its superior fat marbling, bison is quite lean and prone to drying out if over cooked.

For my habanero and strawberry filet mignon recipe I begin about 8 hours before starting my grill with a marinade of habanero chili, strawberry jam, shallot, white vinegar, canola oil, kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and cranberry juice. The goal is to infuse a balance of the scorching habanero with the natural sugary sweetness of strawberries and cranberry while adding a bit of moisture to the meat before cooking.

Grilling and heat management play a big part in how your bison will finish. Personally, I prefer my steaks rare to medium rare, so how you approach your bison steaks is of the utmost importance. I use a two zone cooking method, leaving one side of my grill rocket hot to sear each steak, then move to a second zone of very gentle heat to finish the cooking. For bison I’m not looking for the great diamond pattern that I would get on a beef steak, instead, I want to get the best sear I can the first time around then get it off the flame.

I have read that some cooks will leave a bison steak slightly frozen in the center before grilling. While I am sure this will buy you some extra insurance against overcooking your steak, I have not attempted this cooking method. For me, a little planning is all the insurance I feel I need to turn out a perfectly grilled steak.

Total cooking time should be about half to two-thirds that of a beef steak of equal size. On my grill, that’s about a sear on each side for a minute, then about 6 to 7 minutes on indirect heat. You’ll have to give it a try with your equipment as not two flames cook quite the same.

Pre-work:

Before getting to the marinade, a word of caution on the use of habanero, one of the hottest chili peppers available to the home chef. At 200,000 to 300,000 Scoville units, this is a food that should be handled with extreme care and respect. A run in with a jalapeno that I grew several years ago and my contact lenses has made me a firm believer in the use of latex gloves when handling most members of the Capsicum genus. Save for the stem, the entire chili is edible, but the real heat lives in the seeds and rib walls inside the fruit and I usually trim and discard these parts before use - especially if I intend to serve habanero to guests. 

The habanero in this marinade is used to impart heat, but it is nicely complemented by the use of strawberry and cranberry to create a spicy, sweet liquid for the filets to sit in. You can also substitute fruits like peaches or nectarine if they are local and in season. The goal is balance and your options are many.

1. I begin by placing one seeded and de-ribbed habanero, two shallots and three tablespoons of strawberry jam in a food processor or blender. 

2. Add two or three tablespoons of white vinegar, one fourth cup of cranberry juice and two to three tablespoons of canola oil.

3. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Blend for ten seconds, then check to make ensure all the ingredients have been incorporated into a viscous liquid. Makes enough marinade for two filets.

5. Place filets into a plastic bag, cover with marinade and seal. To ensure the best liquid to meat contact possible, try to remove as much air from the bag before closing. Place the bag in a plastic or glass container and place in your refrigerator. I recommend eight hours, but an overnight rest would be totally acceptable.

Bringing It All Together:

1. Preheat two zone grill as written above.

2. Oil down grill grate to prevent sticking, grill filets to rare/medium rare, per your grilling equipment

3. Remove from heat and rest under tented foil for several minutes before serving.

After Thoughts:

I like to caramelize some onion and bell pepper as a side to complement this steak, perhaps mixed with some roasted habanero for the culinary adventurous. Serve with a side of heirloom tomato and cucumber salad, dressed simply with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy.