St. Louis food and fun shine on the Drew Barrymore Show

NEW YORK, NY — The Drew Barrymore Show invited StudioSTL host Chelsea Haynes on to show them the best St. Louis has to offer during their “Wish You Were Here” segment. They are spotlighting amazing cities across the United States.

The St. Louis Arch

Chelsea started by telling Drew Mathews about the Gateway Arch. At 630 feet tall it is the tallest monument in the US and the tallest arch in the world.

“It is so cool, it’s actually beautiful. Fun fact, the arch’s two legs are actually built separately. By the time they completed the arch, if they were off by just one 64th of an inch, the two legs would not have been able to join together at the top,” stated Haynes. “The coolest thing about the Arch is that no one died during the construction. It is truly a work of art.”

The Doobie Brothers are coming to St. Louis and we’ve got tickets!

Forest Park

Next, Haynes introduced the celebrity hosts to Forest Park. It is bigger than Central Park in New York City and attracts 13 million visitors annually.

“It is the home of the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, the boathouse, and the Muni, which is America’s largest and oldest outdoor theater. And guess what? All of these things are absolutely free,” said Haynes. “The Zoo is our jewel inside Forest Park, and it is also home to the giant world flight cage. It’s a remnant of the 1904 World’s Fair and it is filled with birds.”

This is the moment during the interview where paper birds fell from the rafters behind the hosts. They were impressed.

“Chelsea, did you plan this or were you, just winging it?” joked Mathews.

“Maybe, I had to take flight to get here, right?” quipped Haynes.

Gooey Butter Cake

Then Haynes told the audience about a classic St. Louis dessert, gooey butter cake. Drew said that this treat is among her favorites.

“Legend has it that a German baker, back in the 1930s, flip-flopped the proportions of flour and butter in a gooey butter cake. It came out a little too soft, but it’s an absolute magical accident and now it is a St. Louis tradition. You can get it literally anywhere in St. Louis, but one of my personal favorites is from a local entrepreneur named Erica Miller. She’s from the Chocolate Rooster,” said Haynes.

Miller was sitting in the audience. Drew Barrymore asked her why it is so good.

“Well, gooey butter cake. We’re basically born with it in our mouths in St. Louis; it’s everywhere you are. But thirteen years ago, somebody asked me to make it in cupcake form, which was not heard of. It took about 10 years, and I’ve stuck with it since, forming cupcake-like bites,” said Miller.

“It’s gooey and delicious and soft, but it also has a really nice sort of texture that balances the gooeyness,” said Barrymore.

“Oh, my God. Buckle up butter cake. I want some,” said Mathews.

Erica brought some butter cake cupcakes for everyone to share. The hosts raved about the taste of the desserts. The cakes are available across the US from the Chocolate Rooster. Barrymore said that she is going to be ordering a ‘ton’ of them and then handed them out to audience members.

Union Station

The former 19th-century train station has been renovated into a hub of activity. Destinations there now include the St. Louis Wheel, the St. Louis Aquarium, plus ropes courses, mirror mazes and so much more.

Then Haynes gave the audience a taste of the Grand Hall lights show. It was met with oohs and ahs.

Everyone in the audience got mini butter cakes. Drew invited Chelsea back for another appearance. What will she talk about next time? Follow Chelsea on Facebook to see what she is up to next.

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