It's springtime, and that means area restaurants are starting to unveil their new seasonal menus. U. City fave Blueberry Hill has announced four new specialty sandwiches, a Western Wagyu Burger, and a Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake to its menu; and also has re-introduced its popular Gazpacho. Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant has debuted some new items for spring, as well. The menu now has four new small bites, including the Fritada (a fried shrimp and scallop skewer) and the Banderilla (an anchovy, artichoke and olive skewer), as well as the return of the Judias Verdes, sauteed green beans with onions and sherry.

Chill Cool Frozen Yogurt in Clayton will be celebrating its third anniversary on Friday, April 19. At 3:30 p.m. that day, Fredbird will make an appearance to hand out limited-edition Chill batting-helmet bowls with frozen yogurt purchases. The store also will present its third annual donation to Friends of Kids With Cancer during the celebration. By the way, Chill has some new spring flavors on the menu: Root Beer Float, Mango Sorbet and Pina Colada.

Bogart's Smokehouse in Soulard has garnered a spot in Zagat's 2013 America's Top Restaurants guide. Zagat's also named its top 10 STL restaurants: Acero; Anthony's; Blues City Deli; Bogart's Smokehouse; Citizen Kane's; Niche; Pappy's Smokehouse; Sidney Street Cafe; The Crossing; and Tony's.

All nonprofits planning events next year, take note: Butler's Pantry has announced it will donate $2,013 to each non-profit organization that hosts an event at its Palladium Saint Louis event space in 2013.

• Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Cafe is doing its own spin on 50 Shades of Grey . All through September, Jilly’s will be of- fering an homage to the popular book with three new flavors, dubbed 50 Shades of Delish: Pink Champagne & Strawberry, a chocolate cake with Champagne and strawberry filling; 50 Shades of Coco(a), cocoa cake filled with white chocolate-coconut rum whipped cream; and Red Room, featuring red vanilla cake and a blackberry curd filling.
• Foodies can now more easily explore the best of what St. Louis neighborhoods have to offer their palates. STL Culinary Tours is open for business and offers intimate experiences with some of the top local culinary talent. The company, which specializes in walking tours that touch on the best culinary destinations in a given neigh- borhood, is currently booking tours of Maplewood in October and November, which will feature stops at Acero, Vom Fass and Water Street. Look for future tours to fea- ture the Central West End and Webster Groves. The com- pany also will be offering various ‘culinary field trips,’ as well as excursions to area breweries and wineries. Get all of the details at stlculinarytours.com.
• Look for Mission, a new Mexican restaurant concept from the folks who brought us Milagro Modern Mexican and Tortilleria, to open up early next year in the former home of Delmar Lounge in the U. City Loop. Plans include an adjoining bodega and a carry-out window.
• Vida Mexican Kitchen Y Cantina is scheduled to open sometime in November on the north end of the St. Louis Galleria. The menu will feature a large selection of traditional, regional and contemporary Mexican-inspired foods, including scratch-made tacos, burritos and enchi- ladas. On the beverage side, look for a bevy of Margaritas and a spirits list featuring some 100 tequilas.
• Pie Oh My has opened at 2719 Sutton Blvd. in Maplewood. The pie-centric bakery features limited delivery, as well as scrump- tious homemade treats.
• Congrats to entre, the popular underground dining and catering concern, which celebrated its fourth anniver- sary earlier this month.
• Perennial, a local non-profit dedicated to “creative reuse and green living,” will be hosting its annual fundrais- er, Lost + F(o)und, on Thursday, Oct. 11, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Bridge downtown. The event will feature live music, a homemade pie bar and an assortment of local craft beers. Cost is $10, with VIP tickets going for $30. More info at perennialstl.org.

We’ve been eating our way around Maplewood as of late, and finally made our way recently to an old favorite, Acero. We’re happy to report the eatery was every bit as good as we remembered it.

• The fifth annual Top Chef: The Tour returns to St. Louis on Saturday, June 30, at Soulard Farmer’s Market. ‘Chef’testants’ Ed Lee from Top Chef season nine and Kenny Gilbert from season seven will compete in a live interactive cook-off. Three shows are scheduled at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. For more info, go to bravotv.com/thetour.

The Chase Park Plaza has announced KYLE LIPETZKY as its new executive chef. He’ll oversee all of the hotel’s restaurants (Eau Bistro and Café Eau), the catering division and outlets. Lipetzky previously held leadership positions at The Phoenician and Camelback Inn, a JW Marriott Resort and Spa, both in Scottsdale, Ariz. 

• Chef JIM FIALA recently got back from an excursion through Italy, and he’s announced that in the near future, there will be special menus available at his restaurants Acero and The Crossing that will reflect some of his favorite finds from his trip. We’ll keep you appraised of the final menus when they’re announced.
• Root in Richmond Heights has closed. The rustic American eatery was shuttered last week, after being open for only three weeks. Ownership cited financial reasons for the closure.
• Small Plates, a new culinary events and networking group, will be holding its first event, EMPANADAS! EMPANADAS!, on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 6:30 pm at Urban Eats Cafe, 3301 Meramec St., with WIL PELLY of Diablitos as the first guest chef. Pelly will be doing a cooking demo covering Latin American food. For tickets, visit smallplates314.com. Small Plates donates 10 percent of all proceeds to a different local charity each month.
• Congrats to DORA BACHESTA, the winner of this year’s annual Pasta Bowl at LoRusso’s Cucina. This was the 15th year for the event, and instead of the usual open competition, three previous Pasta Bowl Winners came back to compete in a sort of grand championship round. Bachesta won with her Fettuccine & Polo Asiago, which took the top prize in 2005. The dish will be on the LoRusso’s menu for the next year, and every time it’s ordered, $2 goes to Operation Food Search.
• 4 Hands Brewing Company will host The Lupulin Carnival, its first beer festival, on Saturday, March 3, from 2 to 6 p.m. There will be eats, courtesy of area food trucks, beer from various local craft breweries, live art and music. The folks at 4 Hands also will be using the event to launch their latest brew, War Hammer Imperial IPA. Tickets can be purchased at the brewery, 1220 S. Eighth St.
• It’s been announced that staff and students at L’Ecole Culinaire will soon be rolling out their own food truck, which we understand will focus on venues in the county. Not a lot of details yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
• It’s also been reported around town and even nationally that Pujols 5 Westport Grill has been renamed St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame Bar and Grill. Guess it had to happen.

◆Mosaic Market Bistro in Clayton is now Coastal Bistro & Bar. The revamped restaurant is still owned by the Schmitz family but now features a raw bar with oysters, crab legs, seafood towers and shrimp cocktails, among other items. The eatery also offers some local country menu items and has both large- and small-plate options. Co-owner FRANK SCHMITZ tells us the changes were made to differentiate the restaurant from the other Mosaics, including the upcoming Des Peres location.

CITY COFFEEHOUSE & CRÉPERIE

St. Louis may not be considered a food mecca, but its culinary recognition is moving beyond just toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake. We asked local foodies for their dining tips, and the variety of answers showcases all that St. Louis has to offer.

>  Mark your calendars, because the second annual Clayton Restaurant Week is coming up fast. From Monday, Jan. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 30, 19 of Clayton’s finest restaurants are offering a special three-course dinner for a fixed price of $25 per person. Diners also have the option of adding ‘extra credit’ donations to their bills to support KidSmart, which provides area students in need with school supplies. More info at claytonrestaurantweek.net.

>  Local independent restaurateurs JEFF ORBIN and AARON TEITELBAUM have introduced a creative way to counter the proliferation of ‘discount dining deals’ everyone seems to be offering of late, and drum up business during a slow period. On Monday and Tuesday nights during January, diners at their Monarch Restaurant in Maplewood can pay whatever they think their meal is worth. Guests will get two checks: one for beverages and one for food. The beverage bill needs to be paid in full, but the food check is open to interpretation. Orbin says the dining discount deals to be had out there dilute a restaurant’s business by loading the dining room with one-time diners, and diminish its brand. He hopes the initiative encourages customers to check out Monarch and decide for themselves what the experience was worth. There’s a possibility the program may continue on after January, and even be offered at the duo’s other restaurant, Herbie’s Vintage 72 in the CWE. Food for thought indeed.

>  Central Cafe & Bakery opened quietly last month at 331 N. Euclid in the CWE. Specializing in food with a Lebanese focus, the menu includes Middle Eastern delights like shawarma beef and chicken, along with appetizers, salads, sandwiches and fresh-baked breads. We’ve been told there will be some new menu items soon, as well as some other attractions, like live music and an outdoor fire pit. The new eatery seats about 40.

> The Patio Cafe opened Oct. 18 at 7711 Bonhomme Ave. in Clayton, on the first floor of The Equity building. Co-owner BILLY CORRINGTON says the restaurant is open for lunch and breakfast Monday through Friday with a menu that includes some unique signature salads and a banh mi ga, a Vietnamese chicken sandwich. This isn’t Corrington’s first Clayton venture; he and partner MOLLY O’CONNOR also have Sweet Peas in The Sevens Building.

> Look for Colleen’s Cookies to take over the space at 7337 Forsyth in University City, once home to Casa Dilla. Owner COLLEEN THOMPSON says she’s moving from Chesterfield to open a retail front to complement her special order business. And there will be more than cookies afoot. “I have a whole lot of things dancing around in my head about what we want to do,” Colleen says. Look for an early June opening.

> Soul food fans will have a new place to frequent this fall. ROBBIE MONTGOMERY, of Sweetie Pie’s fame, will be opening another eatery, Sweetie Pie’s Upper Crust, “sometime in September or October” at 3643 Delmar. Right now the building is being cleaned up and prepped for construction. In addition to current Sweetie Pie’s favorites, the Upper Crust menu will also offer salads, steaks and sandwiches. Robbie says the new place will feature a banquet room, bakery facility, bar and  separate carry-out line. Look for culinary classes to be held there as well.

Here’s a ‘tweet’ for fans of TWITTER, the social networking and micro-blogging phenomenon: Twitter creator/chairman/co-founder JACK DORSEY is returning to his native St. Louis to speak at Webster University next Friday, Sept. 18. He’s being honored as the university’s ‘Success to Significance 2009 Person of the Year.’ The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required at webster.edu/jackatwebster. Business Week recently named Dorsey, a ‘95 grad of Bishop DuBourg HS, as one of technology’s ‘best and brightest.’

Terrace View restaurant at 8th and Chestnut streets lives up to its setting, and that’s a tall order. The glass-walled structure overlooks Citygarden, an innovative urban oasis of climbable sculptures, fountains and native Missouri plantings.

> Oceano Bistro in Clayton is presenting a guest chef series benefiting various local charities. Each month, the visiting maestro will present a four or five course tasting menu, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the chef’s choice of charity, great idea!

•  St. Louis foodies got early holiday presents last week when three restaurants and one food mecca made their debuts.

One of the most popular spots in the Central West End, Liluma, is marking its fifth anniversary. With a large, beautiful patio smack on the corner of Maryland and Euclid avenues, this has been the perfect spot for leisurely people-watching since it opened. Inside, the first room, with great frontage onto this bustling scene, has only about a half-dozen tables. Then a narrow walkthrough and a back room offer about a dozen more.

• These are busy times for Monarch Restaurant’s Aaron Teitelbaum. On the heels of BRIAN HALE’s departure to become executive chef for the Chase, Teitelbaum and partner JEFF ORBIN are trying to bring back Balaban’s (under a new name). The good news is that MATT McGUIRE, formerly of King Louie’s, has signed on to the management team at Monarch, their flagship contemporary American restaurant. Teitelbaum is keeping the name of his new Monarch executive chef to himself, at least for now, while he dons chef’s whites to head the kitchen himself.

• Wow! A five-day-long grand opening party! That is how Cinco de Mayo was celebrated at Beso Mexican Grill and Cantina. Owner RICK ONSTOTT chose Mexican food for his first restaurant simply because it’s his favorite. The classic cantina lunch and dinner menu of enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, etc. also has some upscale items. How do shrimp Tijuana and Puerco Veracruz sound?. Beso’s Tequila Bar and $3 margaritas will be a welcome addition to the downtown dining scene, and city dwellers are going to love the carryout (1130 Washington Ave.) and delivery options. Suburbanites will love the valet parking!