WE’RE NEIL + WHITNEY

HI THERE! NICE TO MEET YOU!

We are Neil and Whitney Ostercamp, The Newlywed Chefs, and we're keeping a fresh outlook on life, love, and food. Love food? Love St. Louis? You're in the right place, my friend! Check out our latest posts below or browse our St. Louis Guides (coming soon!) and find your new favorite restaurant in St. Louis!

Fried Fish with Peas and Shallots

Ahh, March in St. Louis. The Cardinals are back on KMOX. Dogtown is preparing for St. Patty’s celebrations. And yes, it’s fish fry season. There are an uncanny amount of restaurants serving fish specials this season, not to mention the traditional Lenten fish fry at your neighborhood parish.

We made a map this year highlighting the locations of both the restaurant and church fish so you can find fish dishes close to your house or explore new ones in a different part of down. BUT, you can’t always eat out. You just can’t.

Idol Wolf & 21c Museum Hotel

Disclosure: We received a complimentary stay at 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis and dinner at Idol Wolf in exchange for social media promotion.

St. Louis has so many unique, wonderful places and it’s fun to be a tourist in your own town sometimes. Our weekend away was unforgettable.

Sunday Best

John Perkins’ Juniper held a special place in our hearts. After moving back to St. Louis, the small location on Boyle was our favorite place in town. There was something done a little differently with the food, the hospitality, the service. We even completed our first interview for this blog there. After moving into the new space, we continued to love everything John did there. It remained a special part of our family and an important element in the St. Louis restaurant scene. We celebrated new jobs, met friends there for double dates, even brought our sweet first baby there for her first brunch out on the town. When the pandemic hit and they shifted to a curbside service, we were happy to promote their family meal takeaway options. Although our town said goodbye to Juniper, we eagerly awaited the reopening of the space as John’s new concept, Sunday Best. 

Salted Caramel Apple Tart

It’s peak apple season here in Missouri and we had the joy of going to Eckert’s Farm in Belleville, IL a couple weekends ago to pick apples as a family. We love Eckert’s. This is not a sponsored blog post, but they did invite us out for social media coverage. Eckert’s is a 45 min drive from where we live in St. Louis, but it is always a fun time. There is much more than just apples and pumpkins to pick this time of year. They have fall festivals, carnival rides, live music, a cider shed, and a country store where you can bring home their exquisite pies. We picked several apples that lasted us a while, but we knew we wanted to make some sort of pie or tart with some of them.

Cinder House at Four Seasons St. Louis

This post is sponsored by Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, however, as always, all opinions are our own.

Cinder House, located on the 8th floor of Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, is a magical place for a date night! The Four Seasons is dressed in its holiday best, with festive lights and decorations around every corner. They have a pop-up holiday shop with local gifts that is open Saturday and Sunday (Yes! Even on Christmas Day!) from 9:30am-7:00pm. 

Chocolate Dipped Pecan Crescent Cookies

You might call these Italian Wedding Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, or Russian Tea Cakes, but no matter the name, they are a beautiful addition to any holiday cookie plate. Unless your name is Neil, and you’re the other half of the Newlywed Chefs. Neil isn’t a fan of shortbread-like cookies, so he just doesn’t like these. I (Whitney) think they’re great. Buttery, nutty, and although they’re messy to eat, they’re just pretty. The recipe is super easy and to make them eeeeven better, dunk ’em in chocolate! Our toddler loved helping roll out the crescents.