Though I'm posting this two days into December, we did manage to hit our final restaurant of the year for 2012: Eat and Repeat challenge while it was still November. On Friday night, the last day of the month, we finally found time to try PW Pizza. We showed up at prime dinnertime--around 7 pm--but were seated at a table before we even had a chance to order drinks at the bar.

The space feels kind of like a warehouse, with a lot of exposed brick and large windows. The space was fairly dark and busy so I stuck to my iPhone for photos. We were seated near the open kitchen but it didn't feel particularly distracting. They had a handful of wines by the glass as well as a pretty huge beer selection. I had a glass of red while Ryan opted for a beer (Lefthand Sawtooth Ale, as he insisted I share). Although there were a number of roasted oven sandwiches on the menu, we were there for the pizza.
We started with a salad, which took a surprisingly long time to emerge from the kitchen, but was thankfully worth the wait. The fall salad (large) was more than enough for the two of us and included roasted butternut squash, spiced pecans, and pears atop greens and tossed in a cider vinaigrette. Even if this isn't my official "repeat" portion of the challenge, I will definitely recreate some variation of this!
I loved PW Pizza's willingness to split pizzas in half. We weren't hungry enough for two whole pizzas, but their mix and match option meant we could try two. After narrowing it down to a handful, we settled on Vegged Out and The Blues. Vegged Out was a pretty standard veggie pizza--roasted eggplant, red pepper, artichoke hearts, caramelized onions, black olives, mozzarella, and feta. What set it apart was the chimichurri sauce, a green olive-oil based sauce featuring fresh herbs and garlic. I'd heard of chimichurri sauce but had never tried it on a pizza. The other half of our pizza also included the chimichurri sauce, but was topped with prime rib, bacon, red onion, and blue cheese. Both were fantastic. We loved how heavy they went on the toppings, especially since the honey wheat crust was fairly light.

In the past we've been loyal to Dewey's and Pi Pizzeria when it came to pizza in St. Louis (neither of which is 'St. Louis-style pizza'), but we will absolutely be returning to PW when the craving strikes!

One Year Ago: Light Wheat Rolls
Two Years Ago: Pumpkin Biscotti with Cranberries and Pecans
Three Years Ago: Chicken Gyros

1. I absolutely loved this post by Allison Vesterfelt, one of the blogs I regularly read. It resonated with me because my family is so not normal and that's exactly what I love about us. We are fiercely different and yet our bond is too tight for words. We fight and we tease but we encourage and laugh. The loyalty in our family runs deep and, much like Allison described, we've become better as our unit of six became eight with the addition of my husband and brother-in-law. 


2. That photo above? My new tree skirt, courtesy of my mom. She hoarded all of the creative talents in the family for herself (and my sister), but at least I still benefit, albeit indirectly! That monogrammed burlap tree skirt was inspired by (what else?) Pinterest and she surprised me with it while in town last weekend. I don't even want to put presents under the tree, lest I cover it up!

3. Don't forget to print off your coupon for $1 off an Alexia sweet potato product. The link is exclusive for Tastemakers and their followers (i.e. you guys!), available through the end of December. I recommend using it to pick up some spicy sweet potato fries or the lemon parmesan waffle fries!


4. Have you started your holiday baking yet? I'll have some recipes for you in the coming weeks but also want to point out some of my favorites that I make every year without fail: chocolate mint puddles, s'mores bark, and candy cane sugar cookies. What's your standby Christmas cookie?

One Year Ago: Sea Salted Caramel Filled Cookies
Two Years Ago: Sour Cream Cranberry Bars
Three Years Ago: Pear and Brie Quesadillas