The Royale Bar and Grill, Tavern and Restaurant

A weekly gathering of minds that will involve multimedia presentations and focused discussions concerning a wide variety of topics. The aim of the group is to provide an oasis of learning and comradeship amidst the dreary plain of Monday afternoons:
Feel guilty about skipping your accounting class? Come have a martini and discuss what makes art “art.”
Unemployed and feel left out of the weekly grind? We’ll throw a manhattan on the rocks for you as you settle in to watch a documentary film.

The curriculum is eclectic, the discussions designed to be colorful, the booze cheap and effective.  Sign up here on the FB for more continuing info:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=mf&gid=300234236611

Monday February 22th: Literature: We will have a reading of “Sredni Vashtar” by Saki (a.k.a. H.H. Munro) at 2:30pm, followed by a discussion of decadence, cultural context, and the old debate between authorial intent and reader response.
(We will have copies available, but if you’d like to do some homework ahead of time, the full text can be found online here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3688/3688-h/3688-h.htm#sredni)

Monday February 29nd: Art: For our first truly multimedia discussion, Matt Grant will host a question-answer-debate that’s sure to be… colorful. The only question is, “Is it Art?” Art history and criticism all rolled into one. 1:30-4:30

Monday March 8st: Music: General Introduction to FUNK. From the way-back-yonder funk of Little Richard and James Brown, through Horny Horns to P-Funk and the Rubber Band. The Royale will be groovin to archetypes and oddities from the US and Nigeria- and this ain’t no debate. We just wanna see what moves you. 1:30-4:30

Monday March 15th: Film: At 2:00pm, we will screen “Grizzly Man” by Werner Herzog, an award-winning documentary about a man who is killed by grizzlies after living with them in the Alaska wilderness for 14 summers. This film is visually stunning, emotionally stirring, and thought-provoking, and also says a lot about film-making itself. (Possible guest speaker)

Stop down to sharpen that resume, and get advice on getting a job at the Royale Resume Clinic. We will have experts in the field, Beverly Hacker, Steve Lawler and more on hand to give personal one on one sessions on how to sharpen your resume and job hunting tips tailored to your skills.

Beverly Hacker has worked in variety of professional settings from partner in a CPA firm to owner of a business consulting firm to non-destructive testing engineer in a forensic engineering company. She is currently the co-Executive Director of KDHX Community Media and an adjunct professor in the School of Communications at Webster University. She’s reviewed hundreds of resumes and handled hiring in all of these jobs. Whether you’re looking for a job in your current profession, or looking to switch careers, she can help you tune up your resume.

Also on hand is Steve Lawler, an organizational psychologist, teacher at Washington University, a consultant, a public speaker and coordinator of BounceBack St Louis. He also specializes in elevator pitches and tips on how to find those jobs that suit you.

Please RSVP here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=349040653992&ref=mf

and give an approximate time you would like to stop in for an appointment. And all those seeking help in finding work will be eligible for a free Missouri draft beer.

Last Call: Don’t Be Left Behind on Biblical Scholarship on Revelation
Theology on Tap @ the Royale Sunday February 28th 2-3:30

666, the Beast, the Antichrist, the Rapture, the end of the world–these words pop up in movies and popular books everywhere! But are they even in the Book of Revelation? And if they are, what do they really mean? Join us for a presentation on and discussion of all of this and more over some good food and drink at the Royale. This lively session will be led by James A. Kelhoffer, Ph.D. (Univ. of Chicago), who joined the Saint Louis University’s Department of Theological Studies in 2001 and was promoted to Associate Professor of New Testament & Early Christian Literature in 2007. Most recently he spent two years as a visiting scholar of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany and a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2007-2009).

Testing the 7D in low light at The Royale from bill streeter on Vimeo.

Some of the best video ever shot inside the Royale.  Shot on the night of the SOTU 2010.

Stop down to the Royale for lunch on Tuesday to try our special 1/6th barrel fo O’Fallon Whiskey Smoked Porter, your favorite O’Fallon porter aged in Four Roses Bourbon barrels. Come in early, for supplies are extremely limited, so come down to open the place up at 11:30am with a restorative porter!

Support Haiti at the Royale on Monday, January 18th Martin Luther King Day.

Frantz Sanon, pastor at the French speaking Kingshighway Baptist Church will be at the Royale at lunchtime on Monday accepting support for his mobilization of medical supplies, blankets, clothing and other basic supplies he will be taking to his home country.

Stop in and purchase any beverage of your choice to show your support. If you kick in an extra buck (or two) on each beverage purchase, we will kick in another buck (or
two). We will be running a Haitian Happy Hour all day w/ $2.50 Missouri Drafts, and we will also offer several drinks featuring Haitian Rhum Barbancourt. So just add an extra dollar or two with each beverage purchase and The Royale will match your donation and ring the bell to mark your donation for Haiti.

http://www.fox2now.com/news/morningshow/ktvi-earthquake-local-haitian-frantz-sanon-011410,0,1234904.story

http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/01/11/daily35.html

No more school? Not heading to work?

I suggest hitting Art Hill for some sledding or just skip that and head out for a walk across Tower Grove Park while launching a few snowballs. Then stop in for a nip at the Royale on a snow day.

We are open for the snow day tomorrow starting at 11:30am. We will have our full menu, $2.50 Missouri drafts, hot drinks including the Aztec Coffee, Hot Toddy and the Scotch Toddy or we still have some brandy eggnog to soothe your soul on this snow day.

Your bartender, mixologist and server tomorrow is John Fausz. He has written a poem in honor of this day.

Snow Day by John Fausz

There is a strange, delectable paradox to a good Snow Day. You’ve got
the silly poetic intangibles, sure: the stillness, the crunching
footsteps on the sidewalk, and the ever-present shining white that
makes the sky look bluer.
But it’s cold out.
And snow is wet.
Which is why the best part about Snow Days is forgetting that it’s
winter at all.
You slide in off the street with cold, burning cheeks
hanging that heavy coat
that itchy scarf,
and those wet gloves to roast above a chugging radiator.
Then you sit way down to treat yourself to a God-given day of vacation.
Snow days are when whiskey tastes the warmest, a bowl of hot soup can
fill you to the brim, and the only things better to watch than a good
movie are the suckers on their way to work or school, passing by the
front window.

$2.50 Missouri drafts all day til 6 M-F. We’re open Tonight, closed 24th and back open at 8pm on the 25th Xmas night w/ DJ Akita

It is December 1931 and Hoovervilles have popped up all over Saint Louis, and the citizens have extra motivation to toast the New Year’s with a stiff bracer despite the puritanical government laws forbidding our birthright drink.

The Royale will be closed due to the prohibition, so instead join us at the most exclusive Jimmy on South Kingshighway for a special evening of the prohibited liquid that we all do love dearly.

Ties for the gents and cocktail dresses for the ladies-
or any style of period 1931 attire is encouraged from flapper to newsy, gangster, telegram deliveryman, bootlegger, brewer, suicidal beer tycoon or cigarette girl.

Stop in properly dressed for free priority entrance.

Robert Griffin presents

Cocktail Museum Sundays
Exhibit #13 – 12/6, 9pm – WORLD AT WAR

The upcoming Pearl Harbor anniversary has us in the mood to taste some
drinks that have their roots in or are associated with wartime.
Spirits and battle have a long history… it didn’t get the nickname
‘liquid courage’ for nothing!

Victory Cocktail $5
During the two major wars of the 20th century, most distilleries were
converted to industrial use. There weren’t a lot of spirits available
and sacrifice was the word of the day, hence this liquor-free, but
elegant cocktail (note this still has alcohol in it, just no liquors).
Equal parts dry and sweet vermouths, with a bit of lemon juice, orange
juice and grenadine, up.

General Order #1 $5
This is a variation by Dale DeGroff on an old drink, General
Harrison’s Eggnog, and was created to honor soldiers returning from
the Middle East. Bulleit bourbon, apple cider, a whole egg and a
little sugar, up. Nutritious and very smooth! We’ll serve the original
(no bourbon, but hard cider) in February for Presidents’ Day.

69th Regiment Punch $6.50
This hot toddy has been associated with this unit since the civil war.
Drawing from NYC’s east side, the 69th was composed of working class,
Irish-Catholic recruits, and its punch is an accordingly spartan
affair. Equal parts Scotch and Irish whisk(e)ys (Springbank 10 &
Jameson 12), a piece of lemon, some demerara sugar and hot water. “A
capital punch for a cold night” – Jerry Thomas, 1862.

French 75 $7
During WWI soldiers in France and Belgium did not lack for gin, but
had nothing with which to mix it. There was plenty of champagne
around, however, so… problem solved! The name is a tribute to the
smooth-firing but wallop-packing 75mm artillery gun used so
extensively in that conflict. Like the gun, the drink fires smoothly
but packs a wallop. Champagne, Plymouth gin, with a touch of lemon
juice and sugar, cherry and lemon twist, up.

Churchill Martini $6
The old bugger infamously stated that it was enough to “glance at the
bottle of vermouth from across the room,” or to raise it in the
direction of France, then get on with the bloody gin. But the secret
to Churchill’s drink is that he preferred Plymouth gin – this one is a
hard go with a more traditional London dry, but more drinkable with
the softer Plymouth style. 2 ounces of chilled Plymouth gin and an
olive, up. By contrast, FDR preferred a very wet Martini, with the
gin/vermouth ratio at 2:1… they could not have been more different.

* * * * *
Plus a few drinks we served last Sunday night, but too often forgot to
put out menus for:

Floridita $7
Havana’s Bar La Florida’s Prohibition-era signature cocktail:
Matusalem Cuban-style rum, lime juice, sweet vermouth, creme de cacao,
grenadine, lime twist, up.

Jungle Bird $6
A lesser-known but mightily delicious tiki drink: pineapple juice,
Gosling’s Black Seal rum, Campari, lime juice, sugar, on the rocks.

Singapore Sling $8
Gin can be exotic, too! As created at the dawn of the 20th century by
Ngiam Tong Boon at Singapore’s Raffles Hotel: pineapple juice,
Beefeater gin, Cherry Heering liqueur, lemon juice, grenadine,
Cointreau, Benedictine, Angostura bitters, on the rocks. In your drink
calculations, this one counts as two.

next week: More Hot Drinks!
Apple Toddy (assuming it doesn’t rain), Irish Whiskey Skin, and Hot Milk Punch