Station House – St. Petersburg, FL

Since we moved into the house & got married, we really haven’t been eating out as often as before.  We love our new kitchen so we actually end up cooking in more frequently, and we’re trying to be better about saving money. 

But last night we decided to celebrate our first 2 weeks of marriage with a date night out in St. Pete.  We had a CL Deal to Station House that was about to expire so we decided to go there.  I had gone there a few months back during my bachelorette party.  I think it was actually better this time around since most of the food is small plates and meant for sharing, which is easier to do for a date night with 2 instead of 15 people. 

Parking is sometimes difficult on the weekends in St. Pete unless you want to pay at a garage, but we found a spot near the Dali museum and took a walk since it was so nice out last night.  Station House’s location is great – right in the heart of downtown.  

It’s interesting because it’s actually a multi-purpose building.  The restaurant is in the basement but it is much more than just that.  The 2^nd level is a social club and used for events.  TeBella and Kahwa have their own mini coffee and tea shops set up in the building.  And their “Mind Body Station” hosts yoga classes on the 2^nd floor as well as in their rooftop garden.  It also incorporates a coworking space where creative professionals can set up shop and work rather than bringing their laptop to Starbucks (they can even rent a desk, office suite, or meeting room). 

The restaurant has a speakeasy vibe – we enjoyed live jazz music with our craft cocktails and small plates of food.  Our waitress, Sarah, was super friendly and recommended all the best things on the menu.  She said she’d only been working there a week but you would have never known she was so new.  She said we were her favorite people she served that night.   

I had the Russian Punch which was a tart fruity cocktail with berries & champagne.  Lance’s Suffering Bastard drink was good for him but definitely too strong for me – it was blend of gin and whiskey, luckily over a lot of crushed ice. 

We started with the Cedar Key Clam Dip which is served with their homemade potato chips.  While they weren’t Datz chips, they were pretty tasty and went well with the dish.  Then we had the Cauliflower Taboule which was fresh and felt very healthy. 

The Radicchio Salad was interesting because the bacon lardons were the same texture and color as the radicchio leaves – it was a crunchy mix with pecorino romano cheese, garlic croutons and topped with a soft poached egg that oozed over the whole salad as the dressing. 

My favorite part of the meal was the Dark Lacquered Pork Cap, which we were told is cooked all day in its own fat, so it was super tender.  It was served over a mirliton slaw with roasted peanuts and the meat had a caramelized glaze topped with scallions.  I wish we each had our own plate of it instead of sharing it – I love any dish that is Asian-inspired. 

We finished with one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time.  It was a Dark & Stormy Budino – which is a sweet Italian pudding.  It had layers of thick custard with flavors of rum, butterscotch, and key lime.  We literally licked the little mason jar it was served in clean.     

They didn’t really know what to do with our CL Deal but eventually figured it out – we didn’t mind hanging around awhile though since the atmosphere is so nice.  The price is definitely more than we’d spend on a normal dinner out, but our coupon made it a lot more reasonable. I love that nothing we ordered was a dish I would have made for dinner at home.  All the food was original and creative.   Sure we’ll be back again!  

Station House is located at 260 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.  They are open Monday – Thursday 7am – 1am and Friday – Sunday 7am – 3am.  

Overnight Chia Pudding

 

I’ve been trying to switch up my breakfast routine instead of just having cereal every morning.  To make it super convenient, I’ve been trying different overnight oatmeal and pudding recipes so I wake up and my food is all prepared for me! 

Chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times their weight in liquid, so if you put them in milk overnight, it turns into a thicker pudding that is really energizing and fills you up for hours.  (You can read this post for more health benefits of chia).  

It only took a few minutes to prepare the night before.  It’s a mix of a bunch of recipes I found online.  You can feel free to adapt the pudding with whatever mix-ins you like best! 

Overnight Chia Pudding (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 6 T chia seeds
• 2 cups almond milk (I used regular milk, but I think the almond would give it more flavor)
• ½ t vanilla
• ½ cup mixed berries
• 2 T pomegranates
• 2 T coconut, toasted
• 2 T raw pistachios, chopped
• ½ t cinnamon
• ¼ t cardamom
• ¼ t ground ginger
• Dash of salt

Directions:

1.  Toast your coconut ahead of time (careful to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn)

 

2. The night before, prepare the pudding.  Blend the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger & salt in a blender on the lowest speed. 

 

3.  Slowly pour in your chia seeds and blend for 2-3 minutes.  Add ¼ cup of the berries to blend them into the mixture (I saved the rest to top the pudding in the morning).   

4. Pour into mason jars or any covered container and refrigerate at least 6 hours. 

5.  In the morning, stir your mixture and top with the remaining berries, pomegranates, pistachios, and coconut (I forgot my coconut unfortunately!)

 

I did a similar breakfast with overnight oatmeal as well.  It’s the same concept, but you just refrigerate ¼ cup uncooked oats, 1/3 cup milk, ¼ cup Greek yogurt, 1½ T chia seeds, ¼ t vanilla, and fruit in a jar overnight and enjoy the next day!   

 

 

I think it would actually taste best to combine the two recipes and add a bit of oatmeal to the chia pudding overnight.  The pudding was pretty liquidy, so if you like a thicker breakfast, reduce the milk quantity or add a bit of oatmeal to the jar.