Original Source: https://www.feastmagazine.com/the-feed/st_louis_news/article_e8ba4892-5c41-11e7-b76a-2ff8d60b8d98.html
Coffee & Café by day. Wine & Chocolate by night. In the middle of it all in Central West End, it’s the ultimate place for the morning laptop coffee drinkers, the extended lunch meetingers, and the after-work wine drinkers.
Handcrafted by Bissinger’s, a St. Louis based chocolate brand, debuted its new concept café nine months ago in the Central West End offering a full menu, gourmet chocolate and a 24-bottle, self-dispensing wine wall. The café serves breakfast, lunch and evening dishes featuring traditional favorites and is a destination that welcomes the wine lover, chocolate enthusiast and foodie at heart.
Local interior design firm Savvy Surrounding Style provided an aesthetic facelift to the space, which now features a casual European cafe feel combined with a lounge, complete with a wine wall. A variety of seating options – around 40 inside, with an additional 20 outside – are now available on both sides of the space including low and high tables, couches and window seats.
For breakfast, an array of quiches are available as well as pastries including muffins, croissants and bagels. Guests can also look forward to cold-brew coffee and signature lattes that tie back into Bissinger’s chocolates.
The lunchtime selection consists of salads, soup and sandwiches. Choose from highlights including French onion soup and a croque monsieur sandwich with country ham, béchamel, comté and dijon on ciabatta. In the evenings, choose from shareable plates such as housemade charcuterie and flatbreads including roast beef with Point Reyes blue cheese and red onion jam.
The dessert menu has also expanded to include items such as a bing cherry-brown butter trifle. A carryover from the previous menu is the classic cococino, made up of molten flourless chocolate cake and vanilla-bean creme anglaise.
Bissinger’s new wine preservation system from Wineemotion features three temperature-controlled cabinets divided into white, old world and new world varieties creating the wine wall. Pours are available in 2-, 4- and 6-ounce offerings. After 9 months of business, Stephen Bleisch – GM says “So far the system is going great. Our clientele has been so excited to try our wine wall and are very interested in the process and its functionality. It is a great talking piece and peaks the curiosity of our guests.”
Moreover, “The combination of wine and chocolate and chocolate and coffee is just classic and amazing,” Jovanovic says. “This kind of reconcepting was an upgrade based on a lot of feedback we were getting from our guests. It’s an opportunity and direction everyone sort of naturally saw, and we can’t wait for people to come in and try it.”
Whether you’re a St. Louis native or just a visitor, make sure you plan a visit to Bissinger’s to enjoy some great wine, chocolate and food. Also, make sure to check out www.handcraftedbybissingers.com to see what’s inside the Wineemotion wine dispensing systems.
Handcrafted by Bissinger’s is open Monday through Thursday from 7am to 11pm, Friday from 7am to 12:30am, Saturday from 8am to 12:30am and Sunday from 10am to 10pm. Lunch service begins at 11am, with shareable items available after 4pm.
Handcrafted by Bissinger's, 32 Maryland Plaza, Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.367, 7750
About Wineemotion
Wine dispensers by Wineemotion™ USA are the perfect complement to any wine-by-the-glass program. Wineemotion™ is the creation of Riccardo Gosi, the internationally renowned creator of modern day wine dispensing systems that have transformed how wine is sold and served worldwide since 2003. Our patented wine dispenser technology eliminates cross aromatic contamination, preserves wine for over 30 days and increases profit by optimizing your wine-by-the-glass program.
