March 14th aka Pi Day is a well celebrated day in Saint Louis, especially the food world. I have always participated in the celebrations by indulging in my favorite pizza and sharing my recommendations with all of you. However, this year was a little more special, I was invited by Paige Hulsey, a news Anchor for KMOV News Channel 4, to come on live television to celebrate the day with them and their viewers! Paige and KMOV just started a new live segment for the evening news at 4 PM and I was lucky enough to be their second guest ever. With this being a new segment, they allowed me to come up with ideas on how to properly celebrate our favorite Saint Louis pies on this year’s Pi Day. The first thought I had was how the hell am I going to pick just a few of my favorite pies and do all need to be traditional pies? I decided to spread the foodie love to as many different types of pies and Saint Louis restaurants as I could squeeze into my three-minute segment. I reached out to some of my favorite Saint Louis restaurants and asked them if they would like to participate, and lucky for me they were! The traditional pies that I brought on air were from Mannino’s Market in Cottleville and Made by Lia in Old Town Florissant. Mannino’s baked apple, blueberry and Caramel Apple Nut pies for the segment. The Mannino family has been baking and perfecting their pies since the late 1920’s and originally opened their business in Ferguson. These pies are so good that I ate half of the black berry pie that I brought to bring to my family Christmas before I ever made it to my parents’ house. Made by Lia came through with her famous (my personal favorite) gooey butter cake pie slices, key lime and lemon meringue pies. Lia, the owner of Made by Lia is the winner of TLC’s Next Great Baker and has been perfecting her desserts since she was little girl. Lia has one of the best stories in Saint Louis and I can’t wait to tell you more about it on my next Vlog, stay tuned ☺ The pizza pies I brought in were from Louie and Failoni’s. If you follow Stl Foodies Instagram you know that these are two of my definite favorites and often frequented restaurants. Matt and his team at Louie on Demun have truly perfected making simple yet complex food, and that does not exclude their pizzas. I brought both the Pomodoro and Broccolini neopliatin wood fire pizzas from Louie. Both pies are beautiful and every bite is bursting with flavors. For Saint Louis style pizza I brought in the Chicken Delight, Deluxe and Meat Lovers from Failonis in Dogtown. Failonis is woodfired pizza on traditional Saint Louis style thin crust with popular provel cheese. I decided to switch things up and not just highlight Saint Louis’ traditional pies, so I also brought in pot pies from The Piccadilly at Manhattan. Their pot pies are classic American dishes that warm me to the core on chilly Saint Louis nights. They feature classic chicken, short rib and seasonally fish pot pies with creamy filling and flaky crust. I had so much fun highlighting all of these restaurants their delicious pies. This was my first time on live TV and I was so grateful that my friend Jena, who is a reporter for KMOV was there to help me prep and that everyone in the studio was nice. Paige guided me through the segment seamlessly and I enjoyed every second of it. I cannot wait to get back in the studio with her and talk more about our great foodie world in Saint Louis!
If you did not get the chance to check it out yet, the link to the segment is below!