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Dining Divas Worship Their Food at Sanctuaria

By Lisa Kampeter

   Thanksgiving Day may be the official day of gratitude, but the first Thursday of the month proved to be just as powerful for the Dining Divas.  We were extremely thankful for the fabulous meal, but the lessons and blessings we shared together made us even more grateful.

   Lesson #1 – Don’t assume St. Louisans know how to drive in the rain.  It wouldn’t have mattered if the restaurant we chose this month would have been in Illinois, West County, or downtown, it still would have taken most of the Divas about an hour to get there.  Traffic didn’t cooperate this dreary, rainy night as we all met up at Sanctuaria in the Grove Neighborhood on Manchester.

Sanctuaria was the perfect location for our November dining experience.   When I heard of Sanctuaria, I thought that it would be a sanctuary of some sort.  Well, it is a place of worship, and the Day of the Dead is the focus.  A gothic-themed atmosphere with eerie masks and skeletons may not sound like it would lead to a pleasant experience, but it definitely did.

Our streak continued with another charming waiter this month.  He recommended the Frita Sliders, pork and chorizo with cheese and fried potatoes.  He’d already had us at “hello”, but his recommendation won our hearts.  We had to order more sliders as the entire table loved them.  We loved him for it.

The Italian Diva rarely passes up eggplant, and she’s glad she didn’t pass up the Stuffed Eggplant.  The Sassy Diva ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes with crabmeat and was finally silenced.  We didn’t hear her complain anymore.

   Lesson #2 – Tapas does not mean you’ll go hungry.  One of the first comments the Sassy Diva made to the Garbage Disposal Diva was “where are we going after this to eat?”  They both acknowledged that the idea of a “small” plate was never a good idea.  Thankfully, these two didn’t have to make a stop at Taco Bell on their way home.

The Picky Diva shocked the others again as she continued her two month streak of ordering outside of her safety zone.   Everyone warned her that she would dislike the Tostones (also know as plantain chips).  Tostones sound much more appetizing than “dried banana chips”, but she surprised everyone as she enjoyed the chips dipped into either the black bean or the tangy garlic dip.

Appropriately titled, the Piquillo Poppers with Diablo Verde turned up the heat.  They were red peppers filled with a goat cheese blend and served with spicy green devil sauce.  And the Wicked Good Shrimp served with a spicy sauce and bread for dipping was wicked good and spicy hot.  The Picky Diva turned devilish red.  It’s appropriate at Sanctuaria that everything we had we practically worshiped.

With the Coordinator Diva under the weather and the Talkative Diva worn out, we’d almost decided to cancel the night.  We were so glad we didn’t.  We had a surprise visit by a Diva regular from years passed.  She hadn’t been able to join us much in the last year, and we were so grateful to see her again.

Lesson #3 – Sometimes the best therapy is in a restaurant surrounded by girlfriends.  There wasn’t room for small talk this night.  We had greater issues and concerns to discuss.  Medical treatments.  Bills.  Loss.  It may have not been a night to “get away from it all”, but as the Colorful Diva said, “There is nothing better than good friends to sit around and enjoy each other.”  We may have arrived angry at the world for our ridiculous commute, but we left being grateful for the many blessings we have and the friends we have to share them with.

And for that, we are thankful.

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