It’s that time of year again. The holidays are over. The pretty lights and festive decorations are stored away for another year, and the season of parties conclude. It tends to be a depressing time, but brunch with the Dining Divas helps relieve the winter blues. When asked, “How did you find this restaurant?” I was clueless. Between the busyness of the holiday season and my travels out of town, I really couldn’t remember how I came across Mama 2’s Biscuits, our restaurant choice for brunch. But it didn’t matter because it was a great choice! Mama 2’s Biscuits is in the old location of Three Monkeys on Morganford near Tower Grove Park.
For those Divas who’d been to Three Monkeys, it looked the same. It’s attached to Black Sheep, which is a whiskey and wine bar, but Mama 2’s focuses on biscuits and brunch, a winning combination, on Saturdays and Sundays My displacement of the apostrophe “s” in the restaurant name really makes a difference. I thought the name was mama’s two biscuits. I thought “mama” must have two different biscuit recipes. But I had the apostrophe “s” in the wrong place. It’s Mama apostrophe “s” 2 biscuits or Mama 2’s Biscuits.
As I typed this, I continue to do it wrong. So the restaurant name is about Mama 2, the owner’s babysitter growing up, who he endearingly referred to as his second mother, or Mama 2. Her homemade biscuits topped with bacon fat are the inspiration for the biscuits served at the restaurant as were the meals of his southern upbringing. Before we enjoyed the biscuits, so many Divas commented how good the coffee was. And our waiter Scott kept the refills coming. He was amazing. He was a pro at describing the different menu items and giving us his educated opinion on every meal we asked about. He was so very attentive. There’s even a sandwich on the menu named after him, No Rush Scottie. Not because he’s slow but because of his own sandwich request to the kitchen where he’d put “no rush” on it. The Adventurous Diva tried it and was thrilled with her choice. The Wise Divas said no thank you to the Gravy Train sandwich on the menu. “Reminds me of dog food.” Made with fried chicken, cheddar, bacon, and gravy, and served on a biscuit, all four-legged family members would be spoiled if they got to enjoy this kind “dog food”. It was delicious. The Quiet Diva tried the Orchard Piggy, a homemade sausage patty, fried egg, cheddar, and apple butter all served on a biscuit. She basically deconstructed the sandwich and should have ordered some of the items on the side because she ultimately ended up with a sausage biscuit, but she thought it was excellent. Bacon fat is a main ingredient on many of the dishes. At first, the Mr. Timothy sandwich with country ham, bacon, greens, and pimento cheese tasted really good, but after several bites, the bacon fat became too much for one Diva. Everyone else ordered the Chicken Pot Pie, the most popular item on the menu. At the recommendation of Scott, the group took half home as the pot pie is even better the second day. Most loved it (“it was divine!”) and have since found the recipe in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and plan to try it out at home. A few complained that it was too salty and lacked much chicken. The comfort food of Mama 2’s Biscuits was appropriate for the mood. The conversations centered on so much sadness. More chemo treatments. A diagnosis of cancer. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Some good ole’ fashioned, grandma-inspired comfort food sure helped, but not as much as the good news shared by the Traveling Diva. She and her husband enjoyed an amazing trip to Tahiti, and although we all wanted to hear about how much fun the adventure was, we were more excited to hear her good news. She’s now the Pregnant Diva! We’re so excited for her. Another Diva baby. Two years in a row. That’s giving us something to be happy about and hopeful for in the next year. So if the winter blues make you feel blah, and you just want to lay on the couch all day watching reruns or Netflix, grab some Mama 2’s Biscuits first. It’s comforting!
