Jilly’s Cupcake Bar in St. Louis was packed on Sunday morning. They serve a full brunch buffet with a menu that appealed to me. I decided to go the moment I saw the words “Bananas Foster Baked French Toast” on their website. The staff said I should have made reservations. In reality, the wait was much shorter than at any Knoxville restaurant on a Friday night.
During the wait, I had just enough time to share a Space Monkey cupcake with my son and to chat with the cashier. She offered us some banana cupcake biscotti, which were shaped like doughnut holes. While we sampled it, she told us about the time she saw Howard Stern nearby. I assume he was at the Indian restaurant next-door. She gave him a cupcake.
After brunch, I had my picture made with Casey Shiller. I rooted for him on “Cupcake Wars” because of his enthusiasm for the space program. He told me that he was inspired by the space capsule he saw at the St. Louis Science Center on field trips as a kid and that he recently visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in D.C. His excitement hasn’t waned.