The city of St Louis was a pleasant surprise for our entertainment editor, Alicia Adejobi (Picture: Getty Images) If you’ve seen the first Sex and the City film, your main and probably only reference point for St Louis will be Carrie Bradshaw’s new assistant proudly introducing herself as ‘Louise from St Louis.’ But this summer, British Airways is launching a new direct route from Heathrow Airport, making the Midwestern city easier to explore than ever before. Come on board the inaugural flight with Metro and find out if this little-visited Missouri destination is worth your attention. The middle child Fresh off the eight-hour flight, we arrive at St. Louis Lambert International Airport to a welcome party of locals waving American flags. BA’s new route is clearly a big deal. If New York is the brash older brother, St Louis is America’s unassuming middle child. Its Gateway Arch is the tallest man-made monument in the country, and the tallest arch in the world. It towers at 192 metres, some 100 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty. The Big Apple should put that in its pipe and smoke it. I braced myself to stand on the top of the iconic Gateway Arch (Picture: Alicia Adejobi) I am impressed and nauseated because as soon as we arrive, the guide announces that we’re going to the top in a five-seater lift. Ascending the steel structure which glints in the sun beside the Mississippi River, we are treated to a spectacular vista of verdant landscape and vibrant city streets. The height makes my head spin but is enjoyable, nonetheless. Eatin’ and drinkin’ Back on terra firma, our driver announces with impeccable timing that ‘St Louisans love to drink’. My vertigo is settled by a visit to the Anheuser-Busch brewery, the oldest in the city and home to a local hero. I have sipped many a Budweiser without realising it was born in St Louis. At the entrance, we are greeted by the smell of warm hops and the sound of neighing horses. I look to my right and see a pair of Clydesdales swishing their luxuriant tails in the afternoon sun. Budweiser has used these majestic stallions to promote their beer for decades, and I have the pleasure of meeting one. Rock On starred in the beverage’s Super Bowl advert this year. Starstruck. To say I was starstruck meeting Budweiser’s Super Bowl horse Rock On is an understatement (Picture: Alicia Adejobi) But now I’m hungry, so it’s a good thing that St Louis knows how to keep people fed. At the popular Blues City Deli in Benton Park, the line is out the door and around the corner. Having heard that they serve the most filling Po Boys in town, I am determined to wait. I am not disappointed by the size or taste of the Spicy Italian sub.  Around the city, you’ll find toasted ravioli on the menu almost everywhere. Toasted ravioli, or T-ravs as it’s locally known, was created by St Louisans ‘by accident’. A ‘happy accident’ they call it after a chef in the 1940s mistakenly dropped a batch of ravioli into a fryer of hot oil instead of boiling water. It is delicious and decadent wherever you get it. But Salt + Smoke on the Delmar Loop makes their burnt ends to perfection. Toasted ravioli, or T-ravs, is breaded deep-fried ravioli born in St Louis (Picture: Alicia Adejobi) Elsewhere, Scout’s and their New American take on Mediterranean grub make me feel like I’m eating in my own home. And for something sweet, don’t skip the concretes (frozen custard) at Ted Drewes on Route 66, and ice cream at Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery. Hall of fame Horses and fried pasta have a special place in St Louis lore. But they’re not the only icons that locals hold dear. Blues, hip hop and rock n’ roll are the beating heart of this Midwestern city.  Nelly, the rapper who famously declared that it’s ‘hot in herre’, hails from St Louis, and it’s known for birthing and raising greats such as Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Josephine Baker and even Tina Turner, who lived here for a time in her teens. This history is honoured in the Walls Off Washington, a collection of murals across dozens of buildings which pay tribute to the remarkable Black talent that has either emerged from the city or been shaped by it. The Walls Off Washington offers a fascinating journey through 50 years of hip hop (Picture: Alicia Adejobi) The street art is bringing investment to the area and pouring love into buildings no longer in use. I’m told that Jay-Z’s cousin is opening a new bar in the heart of it. Holding on to history St Louis is committed to local businesses and protecting the integrity of the city’s original architecture. Shaw’s coffee shop has some of the same finishes from when it was a bank, and customers can sit and sip inside the old safe vault which is still lined with deposit boxes. An unusual perch for a cappuccino (Picture: Alicia Adejobi) The 21C Museum Hotel has held onto the Olympic-size swimming pool it had during its previous life as a YCMA. And trendy speakeasy, None of the Above, is accessed through tunnels and an electric panel door that was saved from the old building after it was ruined by floods. London links St Louis may be big on preserving the past, but it’s also concerned with the future. The Missouri Botanical Garden is evidence of that, with its work in conserving 80 acres of land that are home to a growing number of rare plants. It shares its history with London’s Kew Gardens thanks to Henry Shaw, who founded the Missouri Botanical Garden in the 1800s after seeing the beauty of Kew. I save the best until last and for my final stop, I swing by Forest Park, which is, again, significantly larger than Central Park in NYC (500 acres bigger to be exact). Pretty city (Picture: Alicia Adejobi) There is much to explore, from the rolling hills and golf resorts to the St Louis Art Museum, an impressive collection that charts 5,000 years of culture.  I leave St Louis with my horizons broadened, my palate satisfied and a life lesson: the quiet places are often the best. British Airways flies from London Heathrow to St. Louis from £645 including taxes and carrier fees.