STLife

H O W I N N O VAT I O N , I M A G I N AT I O N , A N D M O M E N T U M ARE FUELING A REGIONAL RENAISSANCE

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Vibrant neighborhoods. A revitalized urban core.

Industries of higher learning and scientific discovery. Scores of new cultural and entertainment attractions. St. Louis is looking good.

Take pride in it, and help spread the spirit.

Learn more at explorestlouis.com

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Supporting Nature is a Beautiful T hing Find out how at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield, and Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit.

Your visit helps us support plant research and conservation—that helps make a better world for us all. Come be our guest, enjoy your stay, and know that you are making a difference. mobot.org | butterflyhouse.org | shawnature.org 00_FOB.indd 1

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St. Louis has been home to Enterprise since the beginning.

And the city has only gotten better. The culture, accessibility and spirit of our town make it a great place to operate our business, and one of the best places to live, play, succeed and raise a family.

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STLife

Contents

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY IS CONSISTENTLY NAMED A “GREAT PLACE TO WORK”

BY THE LIKES OF FORTUNE. UNION STATION’S FIRE AND WATER SHOW IS JUST ONE OF THE SITE’S ATTRACTIONS. LOUIE IS SO DELICIOUS, HIP-HOP STAR DRAKE VISITED THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW.

PG. 11

PG. 48

A Regional Renaissance

They’re Made in St. Louis

St. Louis is seeing a resurgence.

The region is an ideal place to start up, stand out, and stay.

PG. 94

PG. 70

From grade school to grad school, educators are innovating.

PG. 14

Reasons to Cheer 10 major projects that are changing the face of the city.

On the Menu

Meet some of the chefs who are reshaping the culinary landscape.

PG. 98

PG. 82

There’s a reason that St. Louis is so often called “family-friendly.”

PG. 22

Talk of the Town What’s new and on the horizon in neighborhoods across the region.

PG. 40

Taking Care of Business From geospatial to ag-tech, St. Louis’ business scene is booming.

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Lesson Plans

Culture Club

Whether it’s music, paintings, comics, or performing arts, our arts scene is truly world-class.

Bring the Kids PG. 112

Making a Splash

PG. 86

The recently renovated Gateway Mall is more vibrant than ever.

Get Outside

ON THE COVER

Green space abounds in and around the metro area.

Photography courtesy of Gateway Arch Park Foundation

Photography by Matt Marcinkowski, Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of Union Station

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STLife

P R E S E N T E D BY

AllianceSTL Explore St. Louis STLMade St. Louis Economic Development Partnership

SLM | Media Group E D I TO R- I N - C H I E F

Jarrett Medlin D E S I G N D I R E CTO R

Tom White A RT D I R E CTO R

Emily Cramsey DESIGNER

Aubrey Dosmann SA L E S & M A R K E T I N G D E S I G N E R

Monica Lazalier STA F F P H OTO G R A P H E R

Kevin A. Roberts P R O D U CT I O N C O O R D I N ATO R

Kylie Green SA L E S D I R E CTO R

Kim Moore D I R E CTO R O F D I G I TA L SA L E S

Chad Beck AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E S

Jill Gubin, Brian Haupt, Carrie Mayer, Liz Schaefer, Susan Tormala

Contributors E D I TO R S & W R I T E R S

Allison Babka, Amy Burger, Jeannette Cooperman, Amanda E. Doyle, Daniel Durchholz, Jacqui Germain, Deborah Johnson, George Mahe, Jarrett Medlin, Jen Roberts, Stefene Russell, Samantha Stevenson, Amanda Woytus P H OTO G R A P H E R S & I L LU ST R ATO R S

Whitney Curtis, James Ewing, John Fedele, Brenden Finnerty, Ashley Fleming, R.J. Hartbeck, Wesley Law, Steve Jett, Matt Marcinkowski, Jerry Naunheim Jr., Jessica Page, Gordon Redford, Courtney Sames, Jennifer Silverberg, Bailey Shelton, Michael Thomas, Carmen Troesser, Dru Wallace

While every effort has been made to ensure that advertisements and articles appear correctly, we cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the contents of this publication. All material is intended for informational purposes only. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of its publisher, editor, or the joint partners.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part prohibited.

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THIS IS THE

STLMADE MOVEMENT

It’s the celebration of a region that brings people and ideas together in bold ways to make this a place where you can start something, get the support to stand out, and make St. Louis yours (whether you were born here or moved here).

Nowhere does the spirit of being STLMade shine brighter than in the stories of the people who live here.

Join us and follow the stories that make us, us at theSTL.com.

#STLMade

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STLife

A Regional Renaissance St. Louis is experiencing a dramatic resurgence.

The city is seeing significant investment, with approximately $9.5 billion in recently completed, current, or planned developments. Near Busch Stadium and the renovated Arch grounds, luxury high rises reach the sky, and historic buildings welcome guests at new boutique hotels. The St. Louis Wheel’s neon brightens the night sky, and the region’s first aquarium of its kind is making waves at its base, inside historic Union Station. Nearby, Major League Soccer will soon expand to St. Louis, with a state-of-the-art stadium surrounded by restaurants and retail.

Just a few blocks west, in Midtown, visionary developers are transforming forgotten buildings into forward-looking workspaces and entertainment destinations, including City Foundry and the Armory District. Cortex also continues to expand in the Central West End, fostering innovation and helping fuel what’s been hailed as the nation’s fastest-growing startup scene. At the same time that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is building its $1.7 billion Next NGA West campus in near North St. Louis—the largest federal investment project in the city’s history— other incubators and universities are strengthening the region’s position as a leader in geospatial technology. And connecting it all: the proposed Chouteau Greenway (getting a new name in 2020 through community input), which will wind through the heart of the region, connecting our neighborhoods and regional assets.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

We’re also home to nine Fortune 500 companies, the champion St. Louis Blues and Cardinals, affo dable homes, world-class cultural institutions, outstanding schools, abundant green space, and award-winning restaurants. Visionary artists, entrepreneurs, and chefs are breaking new ground. Newcomers are quickly discovering all the region has to offe —at a fraction of the price of larger metropolitan cities. Even national outlets are taking notice, with a New York Times headline proclaiming “St. Louis Is as Welcoming as It Is Budget-Friendly.”

Whether you’re a lifelong St. Louisan or a transplant, the stories inside highlight many of the exciting aspects of living in St. Louis now. Created by SLM Media Group, publishers of St. Louis Magazine, this publication is a compendium of popular past content and fresh stories, some of which are told by voices of the STLMade movement. It showcases what’s new and on the horizon in our region’s neighborhoods, cultural attractions, parks, schools, restaurants, and more.

It’s our hope that this publication encourages you to embrace all of the elements that make St. Louis a great place to start up, stand out, and stay.

s ut,

he

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STLife

The Welcome Committee ALLIANCESTL

The St. Louis Regional Economic Development Alliance (AllianceSTL) is a business-led economic development organization that recruits new businesses to our 15-county, bi-state St. Louis region. AllianceSTL operates in conjunction with a CEO-led board of directors, which includes leadership from top St. Louis corporations and key private sector organizations including Civic Progress, the Regional Business Council, and the St. Louis Regional Chamber. The Alliance works to create compelling, customized business solutions that get prospective businesses excited and inspired

by St. Louis’ competitive economic advantages and quality of life, so they can confident y make the decision to choose St. Louis. The organization also connects decision makers who are considering St. Louis to the state, regional, and local economic development partners, governments, and business networks that can help them maximize the success of their business. Find out more at alliancestl.com.

EXPLORE ST. LOUIS

Explore St. Louis is the driving force behind St. Louis’ $5.8 billion convention and tourism industry, the officia destination marketing organization of St. Louis City and County, and operator of the America’s Center Convention Complex. On an annual basis, St. Louis welcomes more than 26 million visitors for leisure, conventions, meetings, and business travel. The region’s tourism industry provides jobs for 88,000 area residents and generates more than $1 billion in local, state, and federal taxes each year. For more information, visit explorestlouis.com.

STLMADE

STLMade is a movement within the St. Louis area that shines a light on the stories of our innovative, tenacious, big-hearted people. It represents the voices of our residents, leaders, institutions, businesses, and nonprofits committed to creating opportunities for all. Collectively, it’s a celebration of a region that insists on moving forward by bringing people and ideas together in bold ways, making this a place where you can start something, get the support to stand out, and stay here to do it all. Meet the STLMade people who make the region stronger at theSTL.com, and follow #STLMade on social.

ST. LOUIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership is a comprehensive economic development organization for St. Louis City and County, which attracts, retains, and facilitates growth of businesses and works collaboratively with public and private sector regional partners. The organization provides economic development opportunities including site selection, financial incentives, lending programs, opportunity zones, entrepreneurial services, and targeted initiatives. These include 39 North, an ag-tech innovation district; the St. Louis Mosaic Project, making our region more welcoming to foreign-born; the St. Louis Promise Zone, facilitating comprehensive economic development in targeted communities; and the St. Louis World Trade Center, which facilitates exporting and foreign direct investment in the St. Louis region.

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Great things are happening in our community.

It’s time to be proud of it, and show everyone what we’re made of. That’s the spirit of St. Louis, and it’s in us all. Pass it along.

Learn more at explorestlouis.com

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STLife

A FORTHCOMING MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER TEAM IS GIVING ST. LOUIS SOCCER FANS REASON TO CHEER.

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Photography courtesy of HOK

Reasons to Cheer 10 MAJOR P R O J E C T S TH AT ARE CHANGING THE FACE OF ST. LO U I S

By Jen Roberts and SLM Staff

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S T L i f e // Reasons to Cheer

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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER STADIUM

St. Louis is preparing to write a new chapter in its storied soccer history.

Last August, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber announced that the league would expand to St. Louis, following a concerted effort by ownership group MLS4TheLou. Several months later, the league’s firs majority female-owned team revealed plans for the club’s future home that spans roughly 31 acres downtown, stretching across both sides of Market Street. Beyond the modern 22,500-seat stadium—designed by HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects, with entrances on all four sides and an angular canopy— plans call for restaurants, retail, and more nearby. “Our vision is to create a district around our proposed MLS stadium that will get people excited to visit Downtown West, not only before and after games, but on non-game

days as well,” MLS4TheLou member Carolyn Kindle Betz said. “We believe this district will not only be the heart of St. Louis soccer, but a special piece of downtown that will fuel the renaissance currently underway.”

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NATURE PLAYSCAPE

Near the Hampton Avenue entrance to Forest Park, just east of the Saint Louis Zoo, children will soon have a natural space to play. There won’t be plastic swings or slides. Instead, the 17-acre play area—the first of its kind in the region—will comprise all-natural materials and span a range of activity areas, inspired by a spring, a wetland, a meadow, and more, connected by paths and boardwalks. Located between the World’s Fair Pavilion and the Jewel Box, the area is intended to encourage kids to embrace the outdoors while restoring the park’s natural habitat.

Th e S o c c e r P itc h Looking to catch a soccer game before MLS arrives here? Experience the energy and camaraderie by visiting World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton or Lou Fusz Athletic Soccer Complex in Maryland Heights. (And while you’re at the latter, check out the new Centene Community Ice Center, where the Blues practice.)

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39 NORTH

Spanning more than 600 acres in Creve Coeur, the ag-tech district encompasses the Bio Research & Development Growth Park at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the Helix Center Biotech Incubator. But that’s just the start: The innovation district aims to help cement St. Louis’ position as a global leader in plant and life sciences by creating a defin d district to help attract talent and spur additional collaboration and connections, creating sustainable spaces where colleagues and coworkers can get out of the labs and mingle over soccer, coff e, or cocktails. The district is just one part of a broader ag-tech corridor that extends to such leading institutions as the Missouri Botanical Garden and Washington University, corporate leaders like Bayer and Bunge, and other innovation centers, such as Cortex and T-REX.

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Image courtesy of Forest Park Forever, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership

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S T L i f e // Reasons to Cheer

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BALLPARK VILLAGE PHASE 2

Near Busch Stadium, Ballpark Village continues to expand. Last fall, the PwC Pennant Building opened, housing the namesake firm and FOX Sports Midwest. Beyond the Class A office building, the $260 million second phase spans the Live! by Loews hotel, the 29-story One Cardinal Way luxury residential tower, and additional restaurant, retail, and entertainment options.

Image courtesy of Ballpark Village

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S T L i f e // Reasons to Cheer

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CHOUTEAU GREENWAY

Great Rivers Greenway’s ambitious public-private project, getting a new name in 2020 through community input, aims to connect some of the city’s beloved destinations, from Forest Park to Gateway Arch National Park and from Fairground Park to Tower Grove Park. Along the way, this hiking, biking, and walking trail will weave past some of the region’s new hubs—Cortex, the Armory District, City Foundry—as well as green spaces and neighborhoods. Led by a diverse team of artists and designers, the project aims to transcend trails, highlighting the region’s ecology, transforming unused urban space into a public resource, and building equity and economic growth.

SQUARE

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The mobile payment processing company, founded by St. Louis natives Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, will relocate its St. Louis offices from Cortex to the 235,000-squarefoot St. Louis Post-Dispatch building downtown. The move will allow the tech company to expand its local workforce from approximately 500 to as many as 1,400. St. Louis-based firm CannonDesign will remodel the space as “a cuttingedge workplace equipped to help the company expand its local workforce,

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recruit and retain top local talent, and fuel growth strategies.” And the company’s founders are making their mark elsewhere in St. Louis. In July, Dorsey returned to his hometown with businessman Bill Pulte to announce the St. Louis Blight Authority, an initiative to address vacant buildings in the city. And McKelvey, who also co-founded Third Degree Glass Factory and MADE Makerspace, co-founded venture capital fir Cultivation Capital and LaunchCode, which has helped train and place more than 1,500 skilled tech workers.

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CITY FOUNDRY

After visiting Krog Street Market in Atlanta, the Lawrence Group’s Steve Smith returned to St. Louis and envisioned the perfect place for a similar concept: the former Century Electric site in Midtown. The $220 million project will span more than a dozen food stalls, as well as Fassler Hall, Punch Bowl Social, a multi-functional event space from Butler’s Pantry, and nearby office space. Fresh Thyme grocery also plans to open a location on site, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will serve up food and films—a sure draw for families, young professionals, and students at nearby Saint Louis University.

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NEXT NGA WEST

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ST. LOUIS AQUARIUM

For decades, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency fl w relatively under the radar, situated in an industrial section of Soulard on the banks of the Mississippi. Then, in 2016, NGA director Robert Cardillo announced the agency had chosen North St. Louis as the site for its new western headquarters, a $1.7 billion project that marks the largest federal investment project in St. Louis history. Slated to open in 2025, the 97-acre campus in the St. Louis Place neighborhood will be managed by the NGA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Air Force. It’s being hailed as a potential game-changer for both the city and the geospatial technology community at large.

Lodging Hospitality Management has a knack for breathing new life into iconic St. Louis spots. First, they did it with Three Sixty at Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, boasting one of the best views in town. Then they did it at The Cheshire, renovating the historic hotel with some of the region’s hottest eateries, and later Westport Plaza, where Westport Social draws workers from World Wide Technology’s nearby headquarters. But their latest

Image courtesy of Great Rivers Greenway

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achievement might be their masterpiece.

With help from St. Louis-based design firm PGAV, LHM recently transformed part of historic Union Station into the St. Louis Aquarium, home to more than 13,000 aquatic animals, including 60 sharks and rays. The aquatic life’s just part of the $187 million project, though.

Last fall, the 200-foot St. Louis Wheel began turning—and added a colorful addition to the city skyline. At its base, families also fl ck to a carousel, 18-hole mini-golf course, a mirror maze, and ropes course. And, as you’d expect from LHM, Union Station now offers a menu of new dining options, including the nostalgic Soda Fountain, with its over-the-top Freak Shakes; The Train Shed, serving contemporary American cuisine; and the fast-casual 1894 Café, named for the year that Union Station opened.

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AC NEXT GEN PROJECT

Thanks to the $175 million AC Next Gen Project, America’s Center is set to undergo a dramatic transformation, including 92,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 65,000-square-foot ballroom and meeting area, new loading docks, an outdoor pavilion, and a refurbished entrance on Washington Avenue. The enhancements are estimated to drive nearly 36 percent growth to a facility that already hosts 100 events per year and that generates an estimated $265 million for the community.

Images courtesy of the St. Louis Aquarium, Explore St. Louis, City Foundry

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Talk of the Town W H AT ’ S N E W AND ON THE HORIZON IN NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE REGION.

By SLM Staff

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Illustration by Jan Kallwejt

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

Downtown CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: THE RECENTLY RENOVATED ENTERPRISE CENTER, HOME OF THE CHAMPION ST. LOUIS BLUES AND HOST OF THE 2020 NHL ALL-STAR GAME. HISTORIC UNION STATION. THE NATIONAL BLUES MUSEUM.

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WHAT’S NEW

ON THE HORIZON

The skyline is changing dramatically near the riverfront, where high rises are sprouting up around Ballpark Village and the neon St. Louis Wheel now spins next to Union Station. The historic train station itself is taking on a new life, with a state-of-the-art aquarium and new dining options. Plans call for the muchanticipated MLS stadium and surrounding retail nearby. Elsewhere along the Gateway Mall, Citygarden and Kiener Plaza have brought new energy to the heart of the city. Our city’s most iconic landmark, the Gateway Arch, recently saw a five-year, $380 million renovation, complete with a modern museum, a nearby amphitheater, and the Park Over the Highway tying downtown to its most famous attraction. And along Washington Avenue, the National Blues Museum has received universal acclaim.

At the same time that downtown is seeing remarkable momentum, the Design Downtown STL initiative is seeking input about next steps for the neighborhood.

The community is sharing thoughtful insights on such topics as housing, streets, and programming, as well as how to better connect the area’s assets, reimagine underused spaces, and make downtown even more vibrant.

HANGOUTS

Three Sixty at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark offers stunning views of Busch Stadium and the Arch. Beside the recently updated Enterprise Center, the elegant Stifel Theatre plays host to world-class acts. And new hotels in historic rehabbed spaces, including Hotel Saint Louis and The Last Hotel, offer rooftop drinks and dining for visitors and locals alike.

Photography by Bailey Shelton, courtesy of Union Station, The National Blues Museum

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South Side CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: THE GROVE HAS SEEN A SURGE OF INVESTMENT RECENTLY. SSM HEALTH SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IS SLATED TO OPEN LATER THIS YEAR. TURKISH-STYLE FATTOUSH AT SULTĀN MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT IN THE GROVE.

WHAT’S NEW

In The Grove, new developments are popping up alongside popular bars and breweries. At the east end, CHROMA, a four-story apartment complex with street-level retail, opened near the new Rockwell Beer Co., made from shipping containers and housing restaurateur Gerard Craft’s Brasswell. And to the west, across from Urban Chestnut Brewing, there’s the 55-unit Gateway Lofts.

ON THE HORIZON

After opening CHROMA, developer Green Street is planning another $80 million in residential projects throughout The Grove. This fall, the $550 million SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital is slated to open at the corner of Grand and Chouteau. A bit farther south, the HOK-designed Grand Flats offers upscale apartments near Tower Grove Park. On The Hill, Sansone Group

and Draper & Kramer are planning an 11-acre development—with apartments, condos, townhouses, and single-family homes—on the site where American Stove Co. once operated.

HANGOUTS

The Grove has a whole menu of new offerings, including barbecue from BEAST Butcher & Block, late-night comfort food from Grace Chicken + Fish, and Middle Eastern cuisine from Sultān Mediterranean Restaurant. Gathering spots abound throughout Soulard (Broadway Oyster Bar, John D. McGurk’s), The Hill (Milo’s Bocce Garden, the new Piazza Imo), Lafayette Square (Polite Society, POP), and along Cherokee Street (Fortune Teller Bar, Bluewood Brewing).

That’s just the beginning, though—part of the fun is exploring the South Side’s distinct neighborhoods, each with their own gathering places.

Photography by Gordon Radford, courtesy St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

Midtown & Grand Center

WHAT’S NEW

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has taken the longtime Grand Center arts district to new heights—literally—adding spaces and support for artists. Some of the city’s most respected dance and theater groups now perform at The Grandel, The Kranzberg, and The Marcelle.

At .ZACK, fresh options abound at Turn, Sophie’s Artist Lounge, and Sally’s Rooftop Garden. Circus Flora has found a permanent home at The Big Top. And the High Low is a new literary nexus, providing space for literary organizations and writers.

ON THE HORIZON

The Lawrence Group has reimagined the former Century Electric site as a new destination: City Foundry. The 15-acre site will soon house a food hall, entertainment, retail, and offices. Nearby, the Armory District is slated to offer office space, dining, and more—all connected by the forthcoming Chouteau Greenway (to be renamed in 2020 through community input). And on the arts scene, Saint Louis Music Week and Music at the Intersection will host a slate of musicians in September.

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HANGOUTS

Want to grab a drink before a show at the Fox, The Sheldon, or Powell Hall?

The new Angad Arts Hotel boasts one of the best new rooftop bars in town, and The Dark Room hosts live music seven days a week, as well as photography exhibits. A block west, along Washington Boulevard, peruse modern art at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: THE ROOFTOP BAR AT THE ANGAD ARTS HOTEL IN GRAND CENTER. CIRCUS FLORA, WHICH RECENTLY FOUND A PERMANENT HOME IN THE BIG TOP. THE GALLERY AT THE HIGH LOW.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, Whitney Curtis, courtesy of Grand Center Arts District

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Central West End

WHAT’S NEW

Luxury-living options have opened across the CWE in recent years, sharing addresses with some of the region’s best restaurants— including 4101 Laclede (where you can find Juniper), Citizen Park (home to Yellowbelly), and The Euclid (boasting the city’s first Shake Shack). The Cortex Innovation Community, near Washington University’s medical campus, is home to one of the nation’s fastest-growing startup scenes and restaurant Vicia, whose chef and co-owner, Michael Gallina, was recently nominated for a James Beard Award.

ON THE HORIZON

Just south of the legendary Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta St. Louis, the modern One Hundred building is taking shape.

Designed by acclaimed architect Jeanne Gang, the tiered shape serves a purpose, with terraces stretching out for a quarter of the 300-plus apartments, which overlook Forest Park and the rest of the city.

At the same time, the Cortex Innovation Community continues to grow. The former Crescent Parts and Equipment Co. building has been redeveloped to house BioGenerator Labs and later-stage startups, and a $115 million development is in the works at 4210 Duncan.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of Studio Gang, Shake Shack

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HANGOUTS

When he was looking for a neighborhood to open his first Shake Shack outpost here, St. Louis native Danny Meyer landed on the CWE. “When I left St. Louis and would return, the Central West End made me feel the most New York-y,” he told SLM in 2016. “It still has an urbane feel, and there’s tremendous density because of the hospital programs, the huge number of people who live there, and two universities nearby.” Across the street, 1764 Public House (named for the year St. Louis was founded) offers a taste of the Gateway City and New Orleans.

Farther north, the new Up-Down arcade bar offers games, 60 beers on draft, and pizza by the slice.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: THE FORTHCOMING ONE HUNDRED BUILDING. UPDOWN ARCADE BAR IS A NEW ENTERTAINMENT OPTION IN THE CWE. ST. LOUIS NATIVE DANNY MEYER’S SHAKE SHACK SERVES UP ITS FAMOUS SHACKBURGER IN THE CWE. YELLOWBELLY IS KNOWN FOR ITS CREATIVE COCKTAILS.

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

North City & County CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A GREENHOUSE DOUBLES AS A YOGA STUDIO AT EARTHDANCE FARMS IN FERGUSON. LONGTIME FAVORITE CROWN CANDY KITCHEN IN OLD NORTH. BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER ST. LOUIS RECENTLY OPENED THE TEEN CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN FERGUSON.

WHAT’S NEW

ON THE HORIZON

Last fall, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis opened a $12.4 million center in Ferguson. The teen-focused facility includes a theater, drama room, music studio, nutrition education center, garden, as well as programming on everything from test prep to internships, STEAM education to civic engagement. “I hope the teens find it as a place of refuge,” Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis president Flint Fowler told SLM when it opened in October, “that they feel safe here. That they know there are people throughout the region who are dedicated to their well-being, who are investing in not only them having good teen years but laying the foundation for a promising future.”

In 2016, the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency announced that it would build its $1.75 billion Next NGA West campus on a 99-acre site in the St. Louis Place neighborhood, just north of downtown St. Louis. Having broke ground in late November, the new facility is poised to help put St. Louis at the forefront of geospatial technology, along with a number of community partners, including Saint Louis University and T-REX. Farther west, Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark and Clayco’s CRG Real Estate Services plan to transform the former St. Luke’s Hospital in the West End neighborhood into the Delmar DivINe, providing a hub for nonprofit and community organizations, as well as housing and retail. And in Florissant, Siteman Cancer Center recently opened a $26.3 million facility at Christian Hospital’s Northwest HealthCare campus, with a healing garden and paintings by local artists.

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HANGOUTS

After enjoying an old-fashioned shake and BLT at Crown Candy Kitchen in Old North, stroll through the historic 14th Street pedestrian mall, revived as Crown Square, where letterpress nonprofit Central Print has a studio. In Ferguson, you can grab a bite at Cathy’s Kitchen, enjoy a cigar at Montrey’s, or sip a glass of wine at Cork Wine Bar. Then there’s the popular Ferguson Farmers’ Market and EarthDance Farms, which hosts yoga in a former greenhouse—a picturesque setting to unwind and relax.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, Michael Thomas; courtesy of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

Inner-Ring Suburbs CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: THE BAR AT THE BENEVOLENT KING IN MAPLEWOOD SERVES UP CLASSIC AND CREATIVE COCKTAILS. LONGTIME FAMILY FAVORITE FITZ’S OPENED A SECOND LOCATION IN SOUTH COUNTY IN 2019.

WHAT’S NEW

Webster Groves has recently seen a number of acclaimed restaurants open along Lockwood Avenue, including Balkan Treat Box, The Frisco Barroom, Half & Half, Olive + Oak, and The Clover and The Bee. And more is in store, with plans for a new brewery inside the former Auto Beauty Specialists space. And The Crossings at Richmond Heights provides new fastcasual options: Blaze Pizza, Red Robin, Firehouse Subs, and Vitality Bowls.

ON THE HORIZON

On the former site of Shriners Hospital, Frontenac Commons will offer dining, a gym, and office space. Slated to open later this year, Kirkwood’s Perform-

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ing Arts Center will host local theater groups. In Fenton, US Capital Development has reimagined the 295-acre former Chrysler plant site as Fenton Logistics Park. And Mercy Hospital South’s $54 million David M. Sindelar Cancer Center will soon offer advanced treatments and a new breast care center.

HANGOUTS

From breweries (Schlafly Bottleworks, Side Project) to buzzy restaurants (Elmwood, Benevolent King), downtown Maplewood is a dining destination. Creve Coeur’s also seen a surge of restaurants, including Nudo House and Cobalt Smoke & Sea. And in South County, family favorite Fitz’s recently expanded with a second location near Grant’s Farm.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

Clayton, U. City & the Loop CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S DANFORTH CAMPUS. THE ROAST CHICKEN AT LOUIE IN DEMUN. THE ROOFTOP TERRACE BAR AT THE MOONRISE HOTEL, LOCATED ALONG THE DELMAR LOOP.

WHAT’S NEW

Downtown Clayton’s seen a rise in luxury living options, including The Barton, Two Twelve Clayton, and Ceylon. And Centene continues to grow, with a $770 million campus expansion, including a 27-story office building, as well as plans for a civic center, residential, and more.

Along the Delmar Loop, there are new living options at The Lofts of Washington University (where United Provisions is on the ground fl or) and Everly on the Loop, with Delmar Hall next door.

ON THE HORIZON

Washington University’s renovated Danforth Campus offers the recently reopened Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. New developments also continue to evolve nearby. Just east of Ceylon in Clayton, developer HBE Corporation is planning a $270 million mixed-use project, including luxury condos and a hotel.

Along the Delmar Loop, Pace Properties is adding The Link in the Loop, a mixeduse development at the northwest corner of Skinker and Delmar. And developer Joe Edwards plans to open Magic Mini Golf in a former church building nearby.

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HANGOUTS

On charming Wydown Boulevard in Clayton, chef Bernie Lee recently opened Akar, a cozy 12-seat restaurant that serves “simply the foods I like to eat,” as Lee puts it. Nearby, restaurateur Zoë Robinson offer sleek, sophisticated dining options at Bar Les Freres, I Fratellini, and Billie-Jean. In DeMun, Louie offers an inviting atmosphere and modern American cuisine. (Hip-hop star Drake was such a fan, he dined there three consecutive nights while in town.)

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, James Ewing

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

Outer-Ring Suburbs

WHAT’S NEW

Last September, the Blues’ new practice facility, Centene Community Ice Center, opened in Maryland Heights. Situated near a sprawling youth soccer destination, the 277,000-square-foot center also hosts athletes of all skill levels and includes a covered outdoor rink for the public. In Chesterfield, shoppers have no shortage of options at St. Louis Premium Outlets, where they can fin such stores as Coach, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th, Vera Bradley, and more.

ON THE HORIZON

Beside the bustling Topgolf in Chesterfield, The Staenberg Group has big plans for the Taubman Outlet Mall site.

Plans call for a sprawling entertainment, food, and live music destination called The District. Residential options are

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also expanding in Chesterfield, with the forthcoming 223-acre Fienup Farms planned community.

HANGOUTS

Annie Gunn’s and Paul Manno’s are essential Chesterfield gathering spots. In Maryland Heights, Westport Plaza offers plenty of dining and entertainment options, including the popular Westport Social. Looking to burn off those calories? Green space stretches to the west, with an abundance of trails and parks near Wildwood and Ballwin.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A SCENIC OUTLOOK AT CASTLEWOOD STATE PARK. TOPGOLF IN CHESTERFIELD IS A FAVORITE FOR GOLF FANS OF ALL AGES. A DISH FROM LONGTIME CHESTERFIELD FAVORITE ANNIE GUNN’S. THE NEW CENTENE COMMUNITY ICE CENTER IN MARYLAND HEIGHTS.

Photography by Dru Wallace, Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of Topgolf, Centene Community Ice Center

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Metro East CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: THE LOADING DOCK IN GRAFTON. ART ON THE SQUARE IN BELLEVILLE IS RANKED AMONG THE NATION’S TOP ART FAIRS. WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY AT GATEWAY.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of Art on the Square

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WHAT’S NEW

ON THE HORIZON

Former racecar driver/developer Curtis Francois has dramatically revived the recently renamed World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, with IndyCar and NASCAR returning to the track. And even larger plans are in store, including STEAM, technology, and diversity initiatives. World Wide’s also expanded its footprint in Edwardsville with a $115 million project spanning 2 million square feet of industrial space at Gateway Commerce Center. The intersection of I-64 and Greenmount Road has seen a flur y of activity in recent years, including the improved O’Fallon Family Sports Park (boasting soccer fields, baseball fields, a splash pad, and more), The Blade office tower (housing 1818 Chophouse), and HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, which recently opened a physical therapy center just 10 minutes east, adjacent to the McKendree Metro Rec Plex.

O’Fallon and Shiloh continue to evolve near Scott Air Force Base. A $38 million Siteman Cancer Center location will open at Memorial Hospital East later this year. And in Edwardsville, near Southern Illinois University, the $50 million Trace on the Parkway mixed-use development is slated to include luxury apartments, restaurants, and retail.

HANGOUTS

On weekends, drive the scenic River Road to Grafton, near the confluen e of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, where you can go hiking at nearby Pere Marquette State Park and then relax on the deck and watch the boats go by at The Loading Dock. In Belleville, Art on the Square, May 15–17, has been hailed as the No. 1 art fair in the nation by Art Fair Source Book.

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S T L i f e // Talk of the Town

St. Charles County CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CLIMB SO ILL PLANS TO OPEN A NEW LOCATION IN ST. CHARLES’ STEEL SHOP. CHANDLER HILL VINEYARDS NEAR DEFIANCE. NARWHAL’S CRAFTED IS AMONG THE NEW OFFERINGS AT THE STREETS OF ST. CHARLES.

WHAT’S NEW

Just south of I-70, Streets of St. Charles continues to roll out new options after recently adding a 60,000-square-foot, three-story mixed-use building. Among the latest additions: YogaSix and Narwhal’s Crafted, which add to the mix of retail (Leopard Boutique, Cherry Blow Dry Bar, MOD on Trend), restaurants (Prasino, Dewey’s, Mission Taco Joint), and entertainment (Play Street Museum, AMC Theatres).

ON THE HORIZON

Shortly after the River City Rascals announced they’d be hanging up their cleats for the last time in 2019, the Prospect League announced the Hannibal

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Hoots would be relocating to CarShield Stadium in O’Fallon, Missouri. While the team’s new name was yet to be determined, the franchise promises to continue offering affo dable, family-friendly entertainment. And near the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Climb So iLL rock-climbing gym plans to open a new location in the Steel Shop.

HANGOUTS

Situated on a quaint plot of land near Cottleville, Stone Soup Cottage is among the most sought-after restaurant reservations in town. Augusta and Defian e also offer respite, with picturesque wineries and a scenic stretch of the Katy Trail near the Missouri River.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of Climb So iLL, Chandler Hill Vineyards

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S T L i f e || Talk of the Town

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© 2020 St. Louis Children’s Hospital. All rights reserved. © 2019 NHL. All rights reserved.

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STLife

Taking Care of Business F R O M G E O S PAT I A L TO AG -TE C H , S T. LO U I S ’ BUSINESS SCENE IS BOOMING.

By Jen Roberts

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Photography by Matt Marcinkowski

WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY’S STATE-OF-THE-ART HEADQUARTERS IN MARYLAND HEIGHTS

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S T L i f e // Taking Care of Business

AT THE DONALD DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER, RESEARCHER MALIA GEHAN AND HER TEAM STUDY HOW PLANTS CAN BE MORE RESILIENT.

B

usiness is booming in St. Louis.

Even national publications are taking notice. Seek Business Capital recently ranked St. Louis as a top city for women entrepreneurs. Business Insider credits the startup scene as one of the fastest-growing in the country.

The Penny Hoarder and Redfin named St. Louis as the top city for millennials and the most affo dable, and the Council for Community and Economic Research credits St. Louis as having one of the lowest costs of living among the nation’s 20 largest metro areas.

Today, St. Louis is home to nine Fortune 500 companies. Last year, Edward Jones, Enterprise Holdings, and Emerson—all of which give back to the community, like so many other St. Louis companies—landed on Forbes’ list of Best Employers for Women. And Bunge and Bayer are expanding their footprints here.

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The city also has been long recognized as a leader in plant sciences, with more than 1,000 plant science Ph.D.s, the largest concentration in the world. And with construction underway on the 97-acre Next NGA West campus in North St. Louis, the city is expected to become a leader in geospatial technology.

At the same time, the Cortex Innovation District, T-REX, and 39 North are creating programs and initiatives to fuel technology and innovation.

But all of this growth didn’t happen overnight.

START ME UP

In the early 2000s, the 200 acres where the Cortex Innovation District is now located, between Washington University’s medical campus and Saint Louis University was largely desolate. “It was a tired, industrial area with vacant lots,” says Cortex president and CEO Dennis

Lower. “It was really the hole in a donut of fairly decent infrastructure.”

So a group of civic leaders gathered to create a road map. Their goal: to develop an innovation district that would bring high-paying tech jobs to the city, generate new tax revenue, and become the most inclusive innovation district in the country. “This has been a very intentional effort,” Lower says. “We have been growing this now for almost two decades, and now we are getting to the place where we are getting traction.”

By 2018, a study showed that Cortex companies and employees generated a direct impact of $1 billion. When looking at the indirect impact, that number jumped to more than $2 billion. Today, there are approximately 6,000 employees in the district, and that number’s expected to more than double next year.

At inception, there were 2 million square feet of office space; in 2020, 1.2 million

Photography courtesy of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

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square feet will be added. The new construction will provide a hotel, a 244-unit residential building, and three parking garages. The goal is to move to a 24/7 environment. “We want people to come early and stay late,” says Lower.

A research building in conjunction with Washington University School of Medicine will provide a designated location for neuroscience labs. “Neuroscience research is one of the strongest departments in the School of Medicine,” explains Lower, “and we’re looking to leverage that with commercial tenants who want to be close to that research.”

FORGING PARTNERSHIPS

Washington University Chancellor Andrew D. Martin moved away from St. Louis fi e years ago. When he returned, in 2018, he noticed a palpable change.

“The energy around entrepreneurship, innovation, and the tech community changed remarkably,” he says.

It’s this energy that’s fueling growth across the region.

Perhaps it’s St. Louis’ manageable size or neighborly demeanor, but one reason the business community is thriving is because the institutions are invested in each other. There’s a shared understanding that businesses are stronger if they work together.

“One of our unique strengths are the partnerships between our public and private institutions,” says Martin. “The business community, the higher-ed community, and other leading nonprofits and government all work together to focus on growth in the region.”

These partnerships can be found all across town.

Ann Marr, vice president of global human resources at World Wide Technology, says the company looks much diffe ent from when she first started. Twentytwo years ago, she recalls, the company had about 130 employees and $120 million in revenue. It’s since grown to more than 6,000 employees spread across 11 global locations. Marr credits this growth to the constant evolution of technology and innovation, as well as the thriving tech community here. “We have branded ourselves the Silicon Valley in St. Louis,” she says. “A lot of startups started here: [the founders of] Square and Twitter.”

Growth requires more than space. It requires programming and an environment where people feel supported. So Cortex opened Venture Café in 2014 as a way to connect innovators. Downtown, T-REX provides a technology incubator

TH E R E ’ S A S H A R E D U N D E R S TA N D I N G TH AT B U S I N E S S E S A R E S TR O N G E R IF THEY WORK TOGETHER.

TOP: CORTEX IS CENTRALLY LOCATED, WITH ACCESS TO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. LEFT: THE 600ACRE 39 NORTH DISTRICT WILL BE GEARED TOWARD SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS’ LIFESTYLES, WITH RETAIL, RESIDENTIAL, AND OFFICE SPACE, CONNECTED BY TRAILS AND GREEN SPACE.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of St. Louis Economic Development Partnership

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and an entrepreneur resource center, as well as a co-working space. And 39 North is bringing together ag-tech researchers and innovators across the region.

But all of this work doesn’t happen in a bubble. Executives at World Wide have led sessions to help newly established startups. The company also offer a STEM Student Forum for area high school students, with the winning project receiving a grant. “It’s so much fun just to see the creative ideas and the passion for technology,” says Marr.

There are many instances in which genome technology and information technology work together.

“We are not just one technology sector,” says Lower. “We believe that innovation happens a lot of time where the tech sectors overlap.”

These partnerships extend to universities. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, for instance, works with Washington University, SLU, and the University of Missouri.

“When you look at the quality of the universities in the region, it’s a vitally important resource,” says Sam Fiorello, chief operating officer at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and president of the center’s affilia d Bio Research & Development Growth Park (BRDG Park).

“We have to continue working with these partners to figu e out ways to help leverage them even more.”

MAPPING GROWTH

In 2016, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced it would build its new western headquarters in North St. Louis. “The NGA project is more than a new federal facility,” said Mayor Lyda

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S T L i f e // Taking Care of Business

A S T U DY S H OW E D TH AT C O R TE X C O M PA N I E S A N D E M P LOY E E S G E N E R ATE D A D I R E C T IMPACT OF $1 BILLION . WHEN LOOKING AT TH E I N D I R E C T I M PAC T, TH AT N U M B E R JUMPED TO MORE THAN $2 BILLION.

THE CORTEX INNOVATION COMMUNITY IN THE CENTRAL WEST END IS ONE REASON THAT NATIONAL OUTLETS HAVE RECOGNIZED ST. LOUIS AS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING STARTUP SCENES IN THE NATION.

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Krewson. “It is the opportunity to transform the neighborhoods around the site with businesses, housing development, and opportunities for residents.”

The $1.75 billion headquarters is projected to employ 3,100 employees and help position St. Louis area as a global geospatial leader. Organizations are currently looking for ways to leverage that investment. Taking a collaborative approach similar to Cortex, a new initiative called GeoFutures aims to create a framework in which to drive investment in location intelligence technology. The advisory committee, composed of nearly 30 businesses and academic leaders, meets monthly.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

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It’s “an opportunity that our area is leveraging for inclusive economic development that will be sustainable over the long run,” says T-REX president and executive director Patricia Hagen.

The downtown tech incubator’s entire fourth fl or is being redesigned as Geosaurus, a resource for encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the geospatial sector.

“We are focusing on geospatial, because we have a lot of great partners in the field and we believe St. Louis can really stand out as a leader in geospatial expertise and innovation,” says Hagen, “so much so that we want to be the international hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in the geospatial world.”

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S T L i f e // Taking Care of Business

LEFT: LIKE MANY OF HIS COLLEAGUES, EDWARD JONES GENERAL COUNSEL CHRISTOPHER LEWIS GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, SERVING AS THE BOARD CHAIR OF BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF EASTERN MISSOURI, AS WELL AS ON THE BOARDS OF THE ST. LOUIS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION AND MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. ABOVE: IN COLLABORATION WITH RESEARCHERS IN UGANDA AND KENYA, SCIENTIST NIGEL TAYLOR AND HIS COLLEAGUES AT THE DONALD DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER ARE WORKING TO DEVELOP VIRUS-RESISTANT CASSAVA.

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Photography by Wesley Law

12/18/19 10:00 AM

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

At the same time, the St. Louis metro area continues to grow as a global agtech leader. At the heart of the ag and food innovation ecosystem is the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the largest independent plant science research institution in the world, with state-ofthe-art specialized facilities, including research-grade greenhouses and wet lab space. The center’s reputation attracts researchers from around the globe—currently, there are 320 full-time employees from 24 countries.

“Talent is the real currency,” says Fiorello. “It’s relatively easy to get capital and access to great science, but you have to find and recruit the talent and then get folks to stay here.”

Every year, the Danforth Plant Science Center hosts an investor conference that brings together businesses, venture capitalists, and other funders. For many of the companies in the nearby Helix Center, this conference was their first time in St. Louis.

But that’s just the beginning. Leaders at the Danforth Plant Science Center, Helix Center, BRDG Park, Bayer, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, and more are partnering on a 600-acre space called 39 North. The district will be geared toward science professionals’ lifestyles, with mixed retail, residential, and office space connected by trails and green space.

“Having 39 North and what Cortex is doing with the live-work-play is critical,” says Fiorello.

Photography courtesy of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

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St. Louis affords a number of advantages over Silicon Valley and New York. “Not all great technology happens on the East and West Coast,” says Marr. “You can access things easily, and the cost of living is better.”

Hagen concurs. “It’s becoming more and more expensive to be an entrepreneur and an innovator on the West and East Coasts, so the cost diffe ential here is significant You can get office space downtown for around $18 per square foot.

There is no way you could replicate that on the East or West Coast.”

Then there’s the variety in highquality housing stock. “You can live in an urban neighborhood or on a farm and still work in the city,” says Martin. “That diversity is something that the places we compete against don’t offe .”

St. Louis is also a comfortable place to live, work, and raise a family. One feature has to do with its size. “We’re not too big or too small,” says Martin. The metro region’s large enough to make a significant impact but small enough that companies can benefit from partnerships and relationships with other institutions.

There’s also something to be said for Midwestern friendliness. “It’s the people,” says Hagen. “It’s just wonderful to have a community of support here.”

“At the end of the day, it all comes down to people,” Martin agrees. “People are going to do their very best work in places which are livable.”

Newly revitalized neighborhoods are also attracting more professionals to the city. “Talent doesn’t want to come and live in the middle of nowhere,” says Jason Archer, vice president of business development and workforce innovation at the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. “They want restaurants.

They want vibrancy. They want energy.”

St. Louis has long been known for its family-friendly draws, including affo dable cultural attractions; the recently renovated Arch and Kiener Plaza, as well as the St. Louis Aquarium, are adding to those options. The restaurant scene’s also evolved, with such nationally recognized restaurants as Vicia, Balkan Treat

Box, and Cinder House. Such neighborhoods as the Central West End, Midtown, Tower Grove, Shaw, and Botanical Heights are some of the “hottest real estate markets in the entire region,” says Lower.

As Marr observes, the city is “trying to constantly reinvent itself to make sure it can attract and retain talent but also provide these things for people who already live here.”

BUILDING COMMUNITY

There is a true sense of community in St. Louis, and with that, a commitment to making sure everyone in the community has access to opportunities. “If we don’t have inclusion, then I think we’ve failed,” says Fiorello. “It’s on us to continue to look for ways to increase our partnerships.”

For example, the Danforth Center partners with St. Louis Community College to offer a technician training program. “It’s turned out to be one of the great amenities that we offer to recruit and build companies,” says Fiorello.

World Wide Technology also has several initiatives to ensure that the company has a diverse talent pool.

A new online resource, STL.works, connects skilled job seekers with quality jobs. Spearheaded by the Regional Business Council and St. Louis Civic Pride Foundation, the initiative focuses on health care, manufacturing, tech, and the trades.

The St. Louis Mosaic Project, a regional initiative through the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and World Trade Center, works to support regional prosperity through immigration and innovation. “We want to become the most welcoming community for foreign-born residents who want to come here and grow,” says Archer. “We have to try to give everyone an opportunity to advance and be part of the fabric of our community.”

“It’s an exciting time for economic development in the St. Louis region,” says St. Louis Economic Development Partnership CEO Rodney Crim. “We are proud to work together with our economic development partners, each playing a key role on the team, to facilitate business growth in our region.

Working together, we are seeing some big wins.”

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STLife

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They’re Made in St. Louis AS THESE STORIES SHOW, OUR REGION IS A G R E AT P L AC E TO S TA R T U P, S TA N D O U T, A N D S TAY.

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck, Michael Thomas

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Game On W I T H D OZ E N S O F S T U D I O S , C O U R S E S , A N D E V E N T S , S T. LO U I S I S B E C O M I N G T H E N AT I O N ’ S N E X T V I D E O G A M E D E V E L O P M E N T H O T S P O T.

By Daniel Durchholz

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M

att Raithel was a gamer, right from the jump. “When I was 6, Nintendo was this on-fi e, crazy toy of the year. When I got it—and this was the 1980s—you didn’t just plug it in. You had to practically take apart your television set,” he recalls. “Once it final y got connected and I flipped the thing on, it was like…intoxication. I played for maybe six hours that day.

“I remember telling my friends when they came over that this is what I was going to do when I grew up.”

Unlike so many other children’s early career fantasies, Raithel’s dream actually came true. Today, he’s the owner and studio director of Maryland Heights-based Graphite Lab, which creates in-house and branded games (including Transformers, My Little Pony, and Ben 10) for all platforms.

Its original flagship game Hive Jump, a retro-inspired game with Metroid fl vor, recently became available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. Graphite Lab joins peer companies Pixel Press, Volcano Bean, Terrifying Jellyfish, and other creators in turning St. Louis into a burgeoning hub of game development and innovation.

The region’s video game revolution has been a long time coming, with many St. Louis development shops emerging from forays in programming, art, or

other industries. Some developers have spent the past decade or more pursuing gaming ideas as side projects or hobbies, while others set out immediately to engineer the games they’d always wanted.

No matter how they got their start, the dozens of local game startups and community contributors today are positioning St. Louis as one of the country’s new centers for the industry.

It’s something that still takes people by surprise.

“When you’re talking about startups, it’s common that everyone defaults to California,” says Robin Rath, CEO and co-founder of Pixel Press, which is housed downtown. “It’s funny when we hear kids say, ‘Hey, do you live in San Francisco?’ and I say, ‘No, I’m in St. Louis, 10 miles from your school.’”

A RESOURCEFUL COMMUNITY

In the past, St. Louis might have seemed like an odd choice for game development; many tech companies had been concentrated on the coasts because the proximity to talent, high-dollar funding, and big brands was imperative. But now, thanks to the internet and social media, developers can collaborate with each other and communicate with their customers from right here in the Midwest, giving indie game makers a rich opportunity to build a fan base over time. Moreover, St.

THE REGION’S VIDEO GAME REVOLUTION HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING.

OPPOSITE PAGE: TJ HUGHES, FOUNDER OF TERRIFYING JELLYFISH. LEFT: ROBIN RATH, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF PIXEL PRESS.

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck

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Louis’ comparatively low cost of living, growing number of investors, and innovation communities make it easier to put more capital and energy into development rather than into location.

“From a startup perspective, whether it be access to capital, mentorship, legal [support]—all those things are here,” Rath says.

In St. Louis, that access isn’t limited solely to established companies. The local game development community is a sprawling ecosystem that welcomes creators of all levels through meetups, hackathons, showcases, game dev camps, and more.

“I think St Louis is a really special place for making games because it’s such a diverse crowd of people making them. There’s everything from hobbyists to larger scale companies, but they’re all making something different and they all do it in a diffe ent way,” says Mary McKenzie, managing partner of the Metro East studio Volcano Bean, which produces mobile games Where’s My Goblin?, Sleepy Kraken, and BattleCakes.

McKenzie also is a co-organizer of PixelPop Festival, an annual independent game conference and expo that is, as McKenzie puts it, “an event that could show off the amazing things that are being made in St. Louis.” With dozens of game creators and industry experts on hand, PixelPop has become an event that provides indie developers with both a professional network and a support system.

“Most of the big game events are happening on the coasts but there is a lack of that in the Midwest, so people don’t often realize that there’s a path for them here because it’s not nearly as visible,” McKenzie says. “That’s what we’re trying to do, is create more visibility and let people know that this stuff is he e.”

Some of the games exhibited at PixelPop may get their start during the St. Louis Global Game Jam, an event in which gamers and prospective developers gather in person and online to design and build a game within 48 hours. The event, held annually at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, typically ranks among the top three largest in the nation and top 10 largest in the world.

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GAMING IS CONSIDERED A H I G H - G R OW T H I N D U S T RY, A N D LOCAL EXPERTS ARE EQUIPPING STUDENTS AND ENTHUSIASTS OF A LL AG E S FO R TH AT F U T U R E .

The Game Jam is championed by the St. Louis Game Developer Co-Op, an essential resource for deepening industry knowledge and expanding professional networks. With meetups, workshops, and affinity groups, the Co-Op gives St. Louis developers plenty of opportunities to interact.

“They’re just super-great for findin people,” says TJ Hughes, an independent, self-taught game developer and 3-D artist who creates games as Terrifying Jellyfish. “No matter what you need—music, programming, someone who makes really weird, specific art— [the Co-Op] is probably the place where you can find that ” Hughes cites familiar hotspots of creativity like the Cortex Innovation

Community and its Venture Café as local places buzzing with new ideas and innovation, but he also says he finds inspiration in the city’s underground art scene, especially in the Cherokee Street area.

That influen e can be seen in the Terryifying Jellyfish game Nour, in which users play with food in unconventional ways.

Pancakes, sprinkles, boba balls, and sushi rain from the sky and bounce around in a 3-D environment, serving up the opportunity to toy with texture and composition.

In this game, there’s no end goal or boss level—it’s just fun for fun’s sake.

“It’s not about having an objective; it’s not about doing something right or highstakes things,” Hughes insists. “It’s more about relaxing and really taking in the stimulus just at base level.”

Other St. Louis video games get physical in real life. Bloxels, from Rath’s Pixel Press, uses a board with plastic pegs to map out game levels and characters before animating them through a mobile app. Players then can continue to customize their games and share them with others.

Thanks to a partnership with Mattel, Pixel Press has bolstered the manufacturing and distribution of Bloxels in the retail world, while a partnership with Disney recently led to the creation of a Star Wars version of the product.

“I was definite y a Star Wars kid,” Rath says. “There’s something about the lore and the storytelling—just everything about it was something that was part of our childhood and what our company is.”

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

Enticing the next generation of local developers and gamers is something that many St. Louis studios are working on. Gaming is considered a high-growth industry, and local experts are equipping students and enthusiasts of all ages for that future.

As a game development professor at Maryville University, Raithel is seeing enthusiasm for the industry mount.

“Even with a young program, I’ve seen students really leapfrog into some really incredible success. Usually that’s because of their own motivation and excitement to try something new,” he says. “A year ago, I asked them to pursue an interest in VR (virtual reality)—just threw that out there to see how they’d tackle it.

What they came back with was

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: VOLCANO BEAN’S MARY MCKENZIE, GRAPHITE LAB’S MATT RAITHEL, TERRIFYING JELLYFISH’S TJ HUGHES, AND PIXEL PRESS’ ROBIN RATH. PIXEL PRESS BLOXELS USE A BOARD WITH PLASTIC PEGS TO MAP OUT GAME LEVELS AND CHARACTERS BEFORE ANIMATING THEM THROUGH A MOBILE APP. A GAME DEVELOPER TAKES AN IDEA FROM CONCEPT TO SKETCH TO SCREEN.

not just a working VR program but six working VR games that were strung together. That was a pretty mindblowing moment for me.”

Pixel Press is looking to hook even younger gamers. Early on, the company discovered that Bloxels was being used in elementary- and middle-school classrooms to help students with skills like critical thinking and storytelling, which led Rath’s team to develop lesson plans and activities for students. The company then introduced a new classroomspecific ersion called Bloxels EDU. “It really focuses on ways for teachers to not only use this in the classroom, but also allow students to work together collaboratively, to develop contacts through this interactive story-

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck

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telling platform that manifests itself as video games,” Rath says.

Something these and other game developers have learned—and are advocating—is that there’s no single way to break into the industry.

Volcano Bean’s games employ brandnew characters and whimsical art, leaning heavily into the diverse strengths of its development team. McKenzie was a costume designer and an illustrator before she and her husband, Gene Kelly, leapt into game development.

“Coming from a theater background, I love crafting experiences,” she says.

“Creating games is a way to craft someone’s entertainment.”

“I was just playing around, not even trying to do something profession-

ally. I was trying to have fun and stumbled upon something that actually ended up being a really valuable skill,” Hughes adds.

Raithel thinks back to why he developed a formal game design curriculum for Maryville University in the first place.

“It really is to help answer a question that my 6-year-old self had when I got my first Nintendo, which was, ‘How do I make games when I grow up?’

“There’s really no greater thrill than seeing somebody play something that you’ve created,” Raithel says. “Especially if they tend to like it.”

Learn more about people who are moving the St. Louis region forward at theSTL.com.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Planting Seeds A N G I TAY L O R F O U N D M E A N I N G F U L W O R K I N S T. L O U I S ’ G R O W I N G A G R I C U LT U R E I N D U S T R Y.

By Allison Babka

RIGHT: ANGI TAYLOR AND JONATHAN SPRINKLE EXAMINE PLANTS IN A GREENHOUSE AT THE DONALD DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER IN THE 39 NORTH INNOVATION DISTRICT. OPPOSITE PAGE: TAYLOR WORKS IN THE NEWLEAF SYMBIOTICS LAB.

I

never thought I would love it so much.”

People often equate the search for the perfect job with a quest for the Holy Grail—something that’s elusive or mythical. But not Angi Taylor. Her role as a lab clerk at NewLeaf Symbiotics has unleashed ideas and skills within her that had gone unappreciated in previous positions.

So for her, the job search is over.

“It’s always a challenge. I’m always learning something new,” Taylor says. “I didn’t realize that I could maintain a robot. I didn’t realize that I was able to mix up some ingredients that could be used to feed an organism that’s then going to feed the world. I’m out of my comfort zone, but I like it.”

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Thousands of St. Louis residents are finding similar satisfaction as they take positions within the region’s growing agricultural sciences sector. As a region full of major industry players, startups of every type, higher-education programming, innovation incubators, research labs, and thousands of farms, St. Louis has gained a reputation as one of the leading agriculture, plant science, and bioscience centers in the nation and— increasingly—the world. A recent case study from Brookings Institution highlights the area’s commitment to further developing the industry and what it will mean for the local economy.

THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORK IN TH E VAR IOUS S P E C I A LT I E S W I T H I N T H E A G R I C U LT U R E INDUSTRY ARE ENDLESS HERE I N ST. LO U I S .

“The region’s leaders have continued to make the case for considerable investments in the cluster with a variety of other arguments,” the report notes, “namely, it is a key source of innovation, offers highly paid jobs, is globally competitive, is distinct as an economic development focus, and promises to be a future growth opportunity due to global population growth.”

But for the industry to continue to grow, St. Louis must develop talent at every level—something St. Louis Community College is doing in an innovative way. The college’s Center for Plant and Life Sciences moved to the Bio Research & Development Growth Park (BRDG Park) on the campus of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in 2008 to collaborate with the industry’s emerging ecosystem of scientists and startups and to train students in lab and equipment skills. Since then, students

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck

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with STLCC’s life science lab assistant or biotechnology certificates have been able to land high-paying jobs with local companies almost immediately after completing coursework.

That’s the route that Taylor took, though she made a few stops first. With a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and a master’s degree in communications/ speech, Taylor was an administrative assistant in the Center for Plant and Life Sciences with a plan to eventually move into nonprofit administration. But after seeing students train in the sciences and land gainful, interesting jobs at BRDG Park, she decided to take classes herself.

“Growing up in inner-city St. Louis in the Walnut Park area, I was always led to believe that someone like me was not a scientist,” Taylor says. “I was fascinated.

I would go into the lab and think, ‘Oh, wow, this is amazing, but I can’t do this.’

“But the lab manager invited me to come in, put on a lab coat, and help her work with something,” Taylor continues.

“As a result of that exposure, I later took classes in life sciences at St. Louis Community College.”

Along the way, Taylor became an outreach specialist for the Center for Plant and Life Sciences and interned with NewLeaf Symbiotics before taking a permanent position as a lab clerk. NewLeaf, a rapidly growing startup at BRDG Park in the 39 North innovation district, uses naturally occurring organisms called M-trophs to strengthen plants, increase their nutritional uptake, and become stronger, ultimately producing more yield in a sustainable way. The company is working with M-trophs to boost soybeans, corn, peanuts, tomatoes, lentils, and more.

As a lab clerk, Taylor prepares media for the scientists who are working with M-trophs and ensures that the research lab equipment is disinfected and ready for use. She’s excited about what NewLeaf ’s research could mean for society.

“They are using biotechnology to increase our food supply in a natural way,” Taylor says.

“We have 8 billion people on the planet, but we don’t have additional farmable land, so we have

to do more with the limited amount of land that we have.”

Taylor says that with collaborative ecosystems and training programs such as the ones that St. Louis Community College offers, the opportunities for work in the various specialties within the agriculture industry are endless here in St. Louis—especially for those who are looking for a career switch or who had not previously considered entering the sciences.

“I was seeing students graduate with a two-year certificate and gain employment that had great benefits—jo s that you could be proud of. And these were people from various backgrounds,” Taylor says. “I was not a traditional student. At that time, I was in my mid-40s and taking classes all over again. But it wasn’t as impossible as I thought.”

As the industry continues to grow in St. Louis, even more trained specialists at all levels will be needed to staff both startups and established companies.

It’s a challenge, but it’s one that Taylor thinks the region is ready for.

“St. Louis, right now, is in a prime position for the new middle class. There are so many opportunities available but not enough students right now to fill those needs that these companies have,” Taylor says. “We need to do what it takes. Learn something diffe ent. Yes, it takes effo t, but this is where the future is going. This amazing science is happening right here.”

Learn more about Taylor and others moving St. Louis forward at theSTL.com.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

The Business of Basketball K H A L I A C O L L I E R H A S T R A N S F O R M E D T H E S T. LO U I S S U R G E I N T O BOTH A COMPETITIVE TEAM AND AN ECONOMIC DRIVER.

By Allison Babka

RIGHT: “WE'VE BUILT A PROFESSIONAL TEAM AND MARKET THAT THE CITY CAN BE PROUD OF,” SAYS KHALIA COLLIER, OWNER AND GENERAL MANAGER OF THE ST. LOUIS SURGE. OPPOSITE PAGE: HEAD COACH DUEZ HENDERSON VISITS WITH PLAYERS.

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A

s the owner and general manager of the St. Louis Surge, Khalia Collier has watched her basketball team find its footing in a city that tends to focus on baseball and hockey.

When she took over the Surge in 2011 — becoming one of the youngest owners in the country at age 23—many people insisted that she wouldn’t be able to entice St. Louisans to support basketball, let alone watch women play it.

But the Surge frequently draws thousands to the Washington University Field House and has plenty of undefeated regular seasons. With two national championships and multiple regional titles, the team celebrated its

100th game during the home opener of the 2019 season—quite a milestone in St. Louis, a city that hadn’t seen professional basketball in years.

Coming out on top after being underestimated means everything to Collier and these athletes.

“Everyone anticipated that we would fold. But we’ve set a foundation, and now it’s time to keep building. I knew that instead of everyone always focusing on bleeding red or blue, we could create another color in the mix. Now Surge fans bleed green,” Collier says.

“We’ve built a professional team and market that the city can be proud of, that our community can get behind, and that creates opportunities for the women who are part of our program and for the next generation that wants to see how sports is built from a diffe ent perspective.”

For 2019, the Surge entered a new league—the Global Women’s Basketball Association, a competitive league that aims to develop and propel postcollegiate and post-amateur athletes towards careers in the WNBA. Collier says that this level of paid professionals had been lacking in women’s bas-

ketball, with talented players often heading overseas for opportunities or wrapping up their careers too soon. But the GWBA, which began in 2016, offer new challenges to the overabundance of talent, enticing athletes to stay in the United States and build supportive networks as the league grows in strategic markets.

A Surge player’s talent is important, Collier says, but so is what they do off the court. To boost an athlete’s postcareer options and to strengthen the St. Louis community, Collier requires athletes to have a bachelor’s degree, and many players end up pursuing master’s degrees during and after their time on the team. Collier, a St. Louis native, also helps players connect with local corporations and resources that offe additional career choices as well as meaningful volunteer opportunities.

“You have to be a part of the community. You have to like kids. You have to want to volunteer,” Collier insists. “And that is the determining factor of getting them to move here. When you have a good network, you have resources and you have people who have your best interests at heart, you fall in love with the city.”

W E ’ V E S E T A FO U N DATI O N , A N D NOW IT’S TIME TO KEEP BUILDING.

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Selling St. Louis is important to Collier’s recruitment process. Collier find plenty of basketball talent throughout the region, but she also recruits many athletes from around the country to play and live in the Gateway City. Many of those women choose to stay in St. Louis after their playing days are over instead of returning to their home states, remaining here to buy homes, find jobs and support community initiatives.

“That’s what makes people stay—providing opportunities and an environment that fosters their success,” Collier says. “They’re already talented at the game of basketball. Instead of waiting until one stops before the other, here’s your career path at the same time.

“It’s refreshing to be so intentional about uplifting other women and to provide that kind of network and support. It’s a win-win,” she continues. “The more successful they are, the more successful we are. You realize that the pie just gets bigger and you can give out as

much as you want; the more you give out, the more rewarding it’s going to be for me in the long run and the more success stories that they have. They become their own alumni network.”

Basketball is in Collier’s blood, having grown up playing the sport with her family before taking things to the college level. After studying communications and political science at Columbia College and later at Missouri Baptist University, Collier jumped straight into the corporate world. But basketball was never far from her mind, and she soon became the Surge’s team manager. Discovering a new desire to foster a team of her own, Collier purchased the Surge in 2011, kicking off a new era for championship women’s basketball in St. Louis.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I just knew that I would give it everything that I had and I could do it better than before and insert my own ideas and creativity,” Collier says.

“I started researching every team that came through the St. Louis market that had been successful or that folded. I wanted to know everything, not just about the game of basketball, but the business of sports in general. I felt like I was built for this.”

As she considers the future for the Surge and the GWBA, Collier can see the payoff from her strategy and hard work. She also notices other visionaries making their mark in St. Louis and providing opportunities that weren’t there before.

“I’m seeing a lot of amazing things, but they’re in pockets, and that’s what has to change,” Collier says. “But now all these diffe ent entrepreneurs are coming in, and it becomes more reflective

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WITH TWO N ATI O N A L CHAMPIONSHIPS A N D M U LT I P L E REGIONAL TITLES, THE TEAM C E LE B R ATE D ITS 100TH GAME DURING THE HOME OPENER OF THE 2019 SEASON— QUITE A MILESTONE IN ST. LO U I S , A C IT Y TH AT HADN’T SEEN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN YEARS.

of what the rest of our country looks like, to include more people of color, to include more opportunities for entrepreneurs of all walks of life who want the same opportunity.

“That’s where I am incredibly optimistic for St. Louis, what keeps me here and what keeps me doing the work that we do—because I genuinely feel every day like we’re changing not only St. Louis, but we’re changing the world.

We’re creating transformative change, and it’s refl ctive of our fan base. We show what community looks like, and that’s what I feel, myself.”

Learn more about Collier, the St. Louis Surge, and others moving St. Louis forward at theSTL.com.

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: UNDER COLLIER’S WATCH, THE ST. LOUIS SURGE HAS WON TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AND MULTIPLE REGIONAL TITLES. COLLIER IS ADAMANT ABOUT SUPPORTING WOMEN WITH MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITIES. “YOU REALIZE THAT THE PIE JUST GETS BIGGER AND YOU CAN GIVE OUT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT,” SHE SAYS.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Masters of Light J U S T A S T H E I R G R E AT- G R E AT G R A N D FAT H E R D I D , A A R O N F R E I A N D H I S S I B L I N G S A R E C O L O R I N G S T. L O U I S W I T H H A N D - C R A F T E D S TA I N E D G L A S S .

By Amy Burger

RIGHT: AS PRESIDENT OF EMIL FREI & ASSOCIATES STAINED GLASS STUDIO, AARON FREI WALKS IN HIS CREATIVE ANCESTORS’ FOOTSTEPS EVERY DAY. OPPOSITE PAGE: “BEAUTY SHOULD REACH EVERYONE. IT CAN REACH ACROSS SPACE, TIME, AND CULTURE,” AARON FREI SAYS.

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FO R F I V E G E N E R ATI O N S , TH E F R E I FA M I LY H A S C R E AT E D C O L O R F U L , LI G HT- HAR N E SS I N G MASTE R PI EC E S FOR SOME OF THE MOST ICONIC C H U RC H E S I N ST. LO U I S AN D AROUND THE WORLD.

S

ometimes art transcends beauty to achieve something more spiritual and everlasting.

Such is the case in the work of stained glass artisans Emil Frei & Associates.

For fi e generations, the Frei family has created colorful, light-harnessing masterpieces for some of the most iconic churches in St. Louis and around the world, carefully marrying art with architecture to become part of the history of the city and its built environment.

Aaron Frei, the great-great grandson of founder Emil Frei Sr. and the studio’s current president, works alongside three of his siblings and his father, Stephen Frei; his grandfather Robert Frei worked until his final days in 2016. Emil Frei Sr. had founded the studio in South St. Louis about 120 years ago, after moving to the United States from Germany, and Robert relocated the operation in the mid1960s to its current home on a wooded, 10-acre lot in Kirkwood’s scenic Sugar Creek Valley.

Aaron Frei began working in the studio at age 10, sweeping fl ors and waterproofing windows, eventually embracing the family business as his destiny.

“My earliest memory was coming out here searching for turtles in the creek, and as a byproduct, I was introduced to the work itself,” he says. “I would go to church dedications with my dad when I was 5 or 6. Any time a new church was formally dedicated, they would have a big ceremony and invite my father as a speaker. At that point, I recognized, ‘Hey, this is something special.’”

As he immersed himself in the work,

Photography by R.J. Hartbeck

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he slowly realized that his father was grooming him to take over the business. Today, he couldn’t be happier that things have come full-circle.

“I live on the property in the house that my great-grandfather built, the first house built on this lot,” Frei says.

“So not only do I have a touchstone with the work that he does, I literally sleep in the same room that he used to sleep in and relax on the same patio where he used to relax.”

Emil Frei & Associates has crafted stained-glass windows for secular buildings such as the Sheldon Concert Hall, St. Louis County Library’s Lewis & Clark Branch, and Gravois Bank, but the studio’s primary focus continues to be theological spaces. A standout local example is St. Francis Xavier College Church near Saint Louis University, featuring windows designed by Emil Frei Jr. and inspired by Chartres Cathedral in France.

Though it’s been more than 120 years since Emil Frei Sr. founded the studio, the process remains mostly the same today.

“My father likes to say that we are a 15th-century trade, and that is largely true. Very little in our craft has actually changed over the last 200 years,” says Aaron Frei. “The handiwork, the craftsmanship—you can’t do that by machine.

When we design, we don’t design on a computer; everything is hand-drawn. If you remove the hand from that process, you’re, in a sense, removing the soul from that process.”

Since Emil Frei & Associates is one of only a small handful of firms across the country specifical y dedicated to church windows, they often must inform clients and the architects themselves about the unique needs of stained glass in a building.

“Stained glass has always been a handmaiden of architecture. As the architecture has developed, the stained glass has too,” Frei explains. “What we do is control and manipulate and play with light.

And that light and its impact on the interior of a space has great metaphorical meaning, especially in the sacred arts and sacred architecture.”

It can take years to complete a project, but once finish d, the impact is timeless and immeasurable. Frei says he enjoys creating something that will continue to surprise and inspire people for decades.

“Beauty itself is a language, and a lot of times, it’s just the hue of a stainedglass window, the light that it casts on a space—sometimes that’s all you need,” he says.

While the bulk of the studio’s work is created for churches, Frei notes that his team receives feedback from many people who don’t necessarily attend services, but rather those who live in the neighborhood or simply appreciate art and architecture.

“I think it speaks to the value of what we do,” he says. “Beauty should reach everyone. It’s in that sense transcendental. It can reach across space, time, and culture.”

The family continues to be inspired by the local landscape. “St. Louis offer something that very few other cities do.

There’s a history here. Not only do we have old buildings, they’re beautiful old buildings,” says Frei. “Our family’s here. We are proud St. Louisans. It’s just a great place to live.”

Learn more about Aaron Frei, Emil Frei & Associates, and others moving St. Louis forward at theSTL.com.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Keys to the Community K AY I A B A K E R A N D P I A N O S F O R P E O P L E A R E C H A N G I N G L I V E S O N E N O T E AT A T I M E .

By Deborah Johnson

RIGHT: “IT’S A NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY. WE TOUCH SO MANY LIVES. IT’S A WORK OF MISSION, BUT IT’S ALSO A WORK OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY AND I LIKE THAT,” KAYIA BAKER SAYS. OPPOSITE PAGE: AS THE PIANO SCHOOL DIRECTOR AT PIANOS FOR PEOPLE, BAKER HAS HELPED HER MUSIC STUDENTS SEIZE NEW OPPORTUNITIES.

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IT’S A WORK OF MISSION, BUT IT’S ALSO A WORK OF SERVING T H E C O M M U N I T Y.

W

hen you walk into the main classroom at Pianos for People, you’re greeted by a quote from the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “Music is the universal language of mankind.”

It’s a thought that suits the mission of Pianos for People, an organization that provides free pianos and music lessons to families with limited resources.

It also fits Kayia Baker, who, as the organization’s piano school director, wants to change lives and build community connections through music.

Pianos for People was founded in 2012, opened a no-cost piano school on Cherokee Street in 2014, and launched a satellite studio in Ferguson in 2016. More than 200 students are served between the two locations.

“It’s a labor of love,” says Baker, who joined the organization in 2014. “It’s a work of mission, but it’s also a work of serving the community, and I like that.”

Photography by Michael Thomas

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Baker and her team of nine teachers relish the opportunity to help many St. Louis-area children imagine and change their futures. The organization isn’t just about teaching children how to play music, Baker says, but also showing what is possible through discipline and hard work.

“Some kids are going to come here and they’re going to pursue music and they’re going to be really good at it,” she adds. “Other kids are going to come here for the experience, but it’s still helping to shape and mold their lives and who they are, exposing them to opportunities and possibilities they may not have seen for themselves otherwise.

“It’s about honoring and caring for people,” she says. “Ultimately, it’s about love, not just music.”

Learn more about Baker and others moving St. Louis forward at theSTL.com.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

All That Jazz L AU R E N PAR KS AN D JAS GARY PE AR S O N HAVE TU R N E D TH E C H I LD H O O D H O M E O F M U S I C L E G E N D M I L E S D AV I S I N T O A C O M M U N I T Y C ATA LY S T.

By Daniel Durchholz

RIGHT: THE FORMER HOME OF JAZZ LEGEND MILES DAVIS “JUST NEEDED A BIG OLD HUG AND SOME TLC” FROM LAUREN PARKS AND JAS GARY PEARSON TO BECOME A NEW MUSEUM AND COMMUNITY CENTER IN EAST ST. LOUIS. OPPOSITE PAGE: THE HOME USES DAVIS’ CAREER TO INSPIRE STUDENTS IN THEIR OWN ARTISTIC PURSUITS. IN ADDITION TO BEING A MUSEUM FOR MANY OF DAVIS' POSSESSIONS, THE HOME OFFERS EVENTS, MUSIC, ARTS, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH PROGRAMMING.

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J

azz music plays softly inside a small house at North 17th Street and Kansas Avenue in East St. Louis. The tune— rich, intimate, and led by the sound of a muted trumpet—fl ats throughout the rooms, infusing the house with the instantly identifiable work of legendary musician Miles Davis. This is where Davis spent much of his childhood and learned to play the trumpet, after all. Before Davis moved to New York City and became a jazz giant, his talent and temperament were shaped and nurtured right here in East St. Louis.

Now the house is the locus of a new mission—one that helps memorialize Davis’ beginnings while jumpstarting dreams for a new generation. It’s the jazz master’s childhood home, but it is also HOME, which stands for House of Miles East St. Louis and serves as both a

THE GOAL IS TO BE A C ATA LY S T F O R A NEIGHBORHOOD RENAISSANCE AND COMMUNITY PRIDE.

Photography by Michael Thomas

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museum to Davis and a community center with multidimensional education programs for children.

“What helped to make Miles, Miles?

This little town, East St. Louis, and his family,” says Lauren A. Parks, HOME’s president and co-founder. “We like to share that with our students. It’s very empowering for them when they hear the stories.”

With backgrounds in education, Parks and Jas Gary Pearson, HOME’s cofounder and its vice president of urban planning, are using Davis’ reputation as an inventive renaissance man to encourage students to tap into their own talents through music and the arts.

None of this would be possible without Parks and Pearson saving the home from neglect. In 2010, Parks—whose family has deep ties with Davis’—had heard that the property was available. Vernon Davis was the last family member to live there, and over the years the house became shuttered, had suffe ed a fi e, and ended up in considerable disrepair.

With no one left to care for the property, the remaining Davis family had hoped to donate it to a nonprofit orga-

nization. Parks and Pearson, who had been friends for decades, formed one and took possession in 2011. The duo began fundraising and organizing volunteers to renovate the house, with support coming from both the community and local businesses.

But this is just phase one for the Davis home and for the community, Parks and Pearson say. They plan to add a deck and performance space outside and develop a multipurpose community building on their additional property across the street. Parks, who lives nearby, says the goal is to be a catalyst for a neighborhood renaissance and community pride.

She cites Davis, Olympian Jackie JoynerKersee, and renowned dancer Katherine Dunham as examples of the talented people who have lived in East St. Louis, and she wants those legends to inspire students today.

“Don’t let people put you in a box.

Don’t let people define you,” Parks says.

“Miles was the epitome of that.”

Learn more about people who are moving the St. Louis region forward at theSTL.com.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Innovation Destination O P O S TA R T U P S F O U N D E R R A N DY S C H I L L I N G B O O S T S M A I N S T R E E T S T. C H A R L E S B Y C O N N E C T I N G L O C A L T E C H , R E TA I L , A N D S E R V I C E C O M M U N I T I E S .

By Allison Babka

RIGHT: RANDY SCHILLING (RIGHT) REGULARLY VISITS FRANKIE TOCCO'S PIZZERIA OWNER LEONARD TOCCO FOR LUNCH AND IDEAS. OPPOSITE PAGE: WITH A 100-YEAR-OLD FORMER POST OFFICE SERVING AS ITS CENTRAL BUILDING, OPO STARTUPS FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE REST OF HISTORIC MAIN STREET.

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18th-century buildings on Main Street and in other areas of St. Charles since at least the 1990s, when several software and IT companies made the city their home.

Schilling was among them, with his multi-million-dollar IT consulting fir Quilogy employing hundreds of workers for two decades. After he sold the company, he founded BoardPaq, which provides a robust paperless portal for leadership teams, boards, and committees. Like other Midwestern founders, Schilling has had the opportunity to move his businesses to other cities but chooses to remain in St. Charles because the upsides are immeasurable.

“It’s all about doing the technology in your hometown. A lot of the work, we would sell it on the coasts, but we do the

SCHILLING HAS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE HIS BUSINESSES TO OTHER CITIES BUT CHOOSES TO REMAIN IN ST. C HAR LE S B ECAU S E TH E U PS I D E S ARE IMMEASURABLE.

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he mix of businesses, artists, and services in St. Charles fosters both innovation and community, insists Randy Schilling, founder of OPO Startups. Known for years as the city’s historic district, today’s Main Street also boasts entrepreneurs who specialize in technology, digital marketing, education, broadcasting, and more. The blend keeps the city humming while contributing to the forward-thinking allure of the greater St. Louis region.

“It’s really about how we move the region forward and have these innovation spaces that are so critical to attracting and retaining talent,” Schilling says.

“The startups provide so much energy for the region.”

Photography by Michael Thomas

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The collision of history, tech, and community happens daily now, thanks in no small part to Schilling, who in 2015 converted a 100-year-old post office into OPO Startups, an innovation space for entrepreneurs and creatives.

Now with seven nearby OPO buildings that house both startup founders and shops of every type, Schilling is building an environment that invites smart talent, encourages collaboration, and keeps the local economy strong. Those mom-and-pop shops along Main Street are a big part of that, Schilling says, along with the larger corporations in the area and about 50 tech-related startups that call the OPO buildings home.

Folks outside the St. Louis region might be surprised to hear that dozens of startups are spread throughout this historic town along the Missouri River.

But the tech revolution has been happening behind the doors of the restored

work here because of the cost of living,” Schilling says. “And not only that, but also a sense of family. My wife and I both grew up here.”

With the variety of economic development, innovation, and talent training happening throughout the entire St. Louis region, Schilling is confident that all communities will rise.

“I think St. Louis is really getting a great reputation for our entrepreneurship and innovation because we are taking a more regional approach to it,” Schilling says. “The whole region has startup fever and this thirst for innovation, and I think that people thrive on that. Ultimately, if you’re trying to attract and retain the best talent, having these innovation centers just pumps such positive energy into the region.”

Learn more about people who are moving the St. Louis region forward at theSTL.com.

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S T L i f e // Made in St. Louis

Art in Motion T H R O U G H T H E J U S T I C E F L E E T, A M B E R J O H N S O N E M P O W E R S P E O P L E T O H E A L .

By Jacqui Germain

RIGHT: STUDENTS ENCOURAGED AMBER JOHNSON TO FIND A WAY TO TAKE THE FORGIVENESS QUILT AND OTHER ART EXPERIENCES ON THE ROAD. OPPOSITE PAGE: COLOR PLAYS A BIG ROLE IN JOHNSON’S WORK.

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he sunlight that streams into Dr. Amber Johnson’s office at Saint Louis University shines on a large inflatable pool fill d with hollow plastic balls of every color.

“Anything that is looked at as fun makes difficult conversations easier,” Johnson insists. “Like, if you get into that ball pit, you can say things that you might not be willing to say outside of the ball pit. It’s just something about playing that makes people feel comfortable.”

THE ART OF PLAY

Playfulness and a sense of safety are fundamental to Johnson’s work teaching intercultural communication and critical culture studies courses at SLU. For more than a decade, Johnson, who uses they/them pronouns, has worked with students in the classroom to explore and unpack identity, privilege, and bias.

To help students process what can be emotional sessions, Johnson developed the Forgiveness Quilt, a

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collaborative arts activism project that invites participants to paint their bias, ask for forgiveness, and create positive affirmation about healing and letting go. The project resonated with students, who insisted that Johnson find a way to bring the project to more people in St. Louis and beyond.

Thus, the Justice Fleet was born. After speaking with colleagues about how to take empowering art activities on the road, Johnson secured an old delivery

VULNERABILITY P L AYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN T R A N S FO R M AT I O N .

truck through SLU and began transforming it into a carrier for healing.

“They [SLU] have been incredibly supportive. This is the only institution that’s supported me to this level. When I originally went to them and said, ‘I want to take my classroom activities mobile,’ they gave me the truck,” Johnson says.

A collection of mobile workshops and exhibitions designed to transform and empower communities through arts activism, the Justice Fleet typically comes complete with paint, toys, Legos, and, of course, a ball pit. The fl et travels throughout St. Louis and even to other areas of the country, serving as a resource both in neighborhoods that often are overlooked and museums where privileged curators are interested in making art more universally accessible. Johnson also frequently ends up in educational spaces and nonprofits, presenting Justice Fleet activities to people across a variety of ages, races and backgrounds.

Unpacking the weight that comes with exploring identity and trauma can be more difficul for adults than it is for children, Johnson finds. But eventually, there’s a breakthrough.

“We basically create an experience that allows adults to learn how to play again and imagine. We have these social injustice scenarios, like gender issues, racism, economic justice, food justice,

Photography by Jennifer Silverberg

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environmentalism, education,” Johnson explains. “Essentially, we ask people to build the community that they would want to live in, that tackles these issues that are in this scenario.”

The Justice Fleet’s active exhibitions include Radical Forgiveness and Radical Imagination, with another two exhibitions in development. The popular Radical Imagination uses lighthearted laughter and a sense of play to encourage vulnerability and creativity, helping participants open themselves up to imagining a more equitable and just future.

“A group of six people might huddle around a box of toys, and what we’ve seen is that community members, if given the space, know what’s wrong, know how to fix it, and know how to assess it,” says Johnson. “It’s just a matter of giving them the space to do it.”

“If you ask an activist or someone who is an educator, in terms of systemic oppression or social justice, ‘What world do you want to live in?’ usually there’s no answer. But if you ask them to explain all the things that’s wrong with the world, we could talk for years,” Johnson explains.

“We’ve spent a lot of time deconstructing systems of power, but this is about what we want to build in its wake. Once we get rid of these systemic issues, what do we want to experience? What do we want life to feel like, to be like and sound like?”

USING VULNERABILITY TO MOVE TOWARD HEALING

In the last year alone, Johnson’s work with The Justice Fleet has yielded a number of noteworthy ethnographic insights around intercultural communication and identity negotiation. For such heavy, unquestionably complicated topics, creating a playful atmosphere might seem counterintuitive. But, Johnson says, playfulness, laughter, and creativity make room for vulnerability, and vulnerability plays a critical role in transformation.

“Getting people to understand that creating opportunities for others to seek and thrive in their own powers does not take away from your own power is the hardest lesson to teach people,” Johnson says.

In many ways, the protests in Ferguson

and throughout St. Louis in recent years were the epicenter of what has since become a national conversation around racism, justice, and systemic inequity.

But across the country, the questions, challenges, reactions, lessons, and art that Johnson has witnessed with The Justice Fleet share similarities that they find es ecially striking.

“Everywhere I go, it’s the same paintings, the same topics,” Johnson says.

“There’s a massive universal struggle for marginalized folks, and it might transpire differently but it has the same roots. Rural communities, big cities, suburbs, same stuff. It’s rooted in your big -isms—gender, sexism, racism, economic injustice.”

It would be shortsighted to assume that racism and the other “big -isms,” as Johnson says, are at all unique to St. Louis. But by that same logic, perhaps possible solutions could become just as widespread.

Projects like the Justice Fleet attempt to build emotionally thoughtful, innovative pathways through vulnerability, learning, and forgiveness, ultimately moving participants closer to their own healing.

And to Johnson, the reality and necessity of healing is the biggest takeaway from the Justice Fleet’s work.

“Healing from trauma associated with oppression is just as important as crafting policies that combat oppression,” Johnson says. “We talk about equity all the time, but we don’t talk about healing enough. And those things have to happen at the same time.”

Learn more about Amber Johnson, the Justice Fleet, and others moving St. Louis forward at theSTL.com.

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12/18/19 10:12 AM

STLife

THE POPULAR PIDE AT BALKAN TREAT BOX, RECENTLY NAMED BY BON APPÉTIT AS ONE OF THE BEST NEW RESTAURANTS IN THE U.S.

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

On the Menu MEET SOME OF THE CHEFS WHO ARE RESHAPING THE CULINARY LANDSCAPE.

By SLM Staff

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t. Louis is experiencing a restaurant golden age of sorts, and even the coasts are taking notice. Food & Wine proclaimed St. Louis among the top “32 Places To Go (And Eat) in 2019,” extolling praises on Vicia, Savage, and Cinder House. Our city’s chefs are also consistently nominated for James Beard Awards.

At the same time, chefs are rolling out creative cuisine after getting their start with food trucks and pop-ups. Entrepreneurs are taking real risks, experimenting with concepts that are entirely new to St. Louis: a cat café, a coff e-meets-fl wer shop, a potsticker-themed restaurant, a burger joint made of shipping containers…

St. Louis cuisine is on-trend too. The tide’s come in with a wave of new poke shops. And while long known for our beer— USA Today recently ranked us “Best Beer City”—our drink menu is still expanding, with craft breweries opening at a rapid rate and microdistilleries gathering steam as well.

Shortly before opening the acclaimed Billie-Jean, a sophisticated space with black walls, ebony paneling, and eye-catching modern art, restaurateur Zoë Robinson hinted that it will have “that Studio 54 feel, sexy and intriguing.”

At one time, East Coast critics might have described the new restaurant as a “New York–style space.” Now, they might call it what it is: a St. Louis–style space.

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S T L i f e // On the Menu

Every great chef has a story to tell.

RIGHT: QUI TRAN OF NUDO HOUSE AND MAI LEE. OPPOSITE PAGE: LORYN AND EDO NALIC SERVE GUESTS AT BALKAN TREAT BOX IN WEBSTER GROVES.

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

12/18/19 10:02 AM

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ui Tran left Vietnam as a baby, survived polio, and started working in his mother’s restaurant at age 8.

“We went where the U.S. government sent us and ended up in St. Louis,” he says. “We had no idea where we were going—they could have sent us to Iowa.

We were just trying to get away, from death. I was 3 when we got here.”

In the mid-’80s, his family opened Mai Lee, the metro area’s first Vietnamese restaurant, on a whim (“mainly because there wasn’t one,” shrugs Tran). “It was pretty quiet for us until [the late St. Louis Post-Dispatch dining critic] Joe Pollack—who’d never had the cuisine before—talked us up in a review in the late ’80s. After that review, a line went out the door, and it’s been busy ever since.” Even today, his mother continues to work at the restaurant. “She won’t leave the place,” Tran quips. “We’re both there six days a week.”

Both Tran and his mother understand that the restaurant owner can be a driving force. “The owner creates the soul of a restaurant, what distinguishes the independents from the chain places,” he says. “A good owner brings a uniqueness, a warmth… The staff picks up and emulates the hospitality vibe, which is what turns an everyday restaurant into a great restaurant.”

The same could be said of Tran’s own

Photography by John Fedele

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ONCE A CITY GETS ON THE BOARD, MORE PEOPLE S TA R T TO N OTI C E . TH AT ’ S W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G .

venture. In 2017, three decades after his mother opened her restaurant, he decided to branch out with his own concept, Nudo House. He spent three years researching and refinin , even seeking guidance from ramen master Shigetoshi “Jack” Nakamura. “Noodle-making is an art,” Tran explains, “and ramen noodles are more involved than spaghetti or lo mein.” He and chef Marie-Anne Velasco expanded the menu to include Mai Lee faves and St. Louis-based specials, including the 3-1-Pho, named for St. Louis’ area code. (“We’re all from St. Louis,” Tran quips. “It was catchy—why not?”) The interior includes a social media wall, murals of traditional Japanese artwork by local tattoo artist Brad Fink, and a lantern with the word “ramen” written in Japanese at the counter.

“That’s what I hope it says anyway,” Tran jokes. “For all I know, it says ‘sushi.’

Or some swear word.”

Turns out Tran knew what he was doing.

From opening day, lines stretched out the door. Nudo House’s pho eventually ended up on the cover of Food & Wine magazine.

Tran recently opened a second location on the burgeoning east side of the Delmar Loop.

Tran sees St. Louis’ dining scene continuing to grow, especially as the startup scene expands. “Eighty-fi e percent of our restaurant clientele lives here, which limits what we can and should do,” he said in 2017. “As we grow as a city, as the techies move here, that will change.”

Already, it’s happening, with more progressive concepts in the works. City Foundry is slated to open in 2020 with a food hall similar to those in Atlanta, New York, and beyond. At the same time, food trucks continue to provide a springboard for some of the city’s most popular concepts: Guerrilla Street Food, Seoul Taco, Balkan Treat Box…In fact, Bon Appétit recently nominated Balkan Treat Box, alongside Savage, as one of America’s best new restaurants.

“I never in a million years thought we’d receive this [level of recognition],” Balkan Treat Box co-owner Loyrn Nalic told SLM in September.

“I’m not a classically trained chef.

To go from being a single mom to marrying a great man and opening a restaurant that shines a light on his [culinary heritage] in this great city…it’s been incredible to see it embraced. People like it, and they’re coming back. Our city is so supportive of the restaurant scene, and we’re so grateful for it.”

Tran echoes the sentiment: “St. Louis had been building culinary momentum for the past several decades. Once a city gets on the board, more people start to notice.

That’s what’s happening.”

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S T L i f e || On the Menu

Refining the Craft LEFT TO RIGHT: RESTAURATEUR GERARD CRAFT IN HIS KITCHEN AT HOME. PAN-ROASTED CHICKEN BRINED IN MOROCCAN SPICES AT SARDELLA. CINDER HOUSE AT THE FOUR SEASONS.

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Photography by Carmen Troesser

12/18/19 10:03 AM

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ome would say it was Gerard Craft who helped St. Louis firs get on the board, drawing national attention.

Just five years ago, Craft became the first St. Louis chef to take home the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest.

His original restaurant, Niche, opened in a humble Benton Park storefront in 2005 and quickly become the most buzzed-about place in town, serving creative dishes once considered novelty and elevating expectations. Craft and his staff—who’d go on to themselves transform the dining scene, opening such hot spots as Planter’s House and Elmwood—would explain the culinary magic to guests. But Niche was just the firs

step. Brasserie, perfectly embodying the everyday French fare and atmosphere of its namesake, followed in the Central West End. Then, next door, Taste, with candlelit tables, creative cocktails, and a speakeasy-style vibe. Next, Pastaria marked a departure, with a soaring ceiling and a more easy-going atmosphere that welcomed all ages.

As SLM dining critic Dave Lowry noted, “For St. Louisans, Pastaria is among those restaurants that defin our region and something of our personality: unpretentious and celebrated.

It’s a place where families and couples convene comfortably, one where we can complain about the waits—and simultaneously adore them.”

Craft would eventually go on to open

Sardella, serving brunch and dinner next door to Pastaria, and Cinder House, the Four Seasons restaurant with dishes inspired by the Brazilian nanny who kickstarted the chef ’s love of food.

So when he was asked, in May 2015, whether winning such a prestigious culinary honor would ratchet up the pressure for Niche Food Group, he replied, “Not really. The award is validation for what we’ve done—but we’ve always had big plans. We’re always pushing, regardless. I definite y would like to see more Beard awards in St. Louis.”

It didn’t take long. After being a finalist twice before, Craft’s friend Kevin Nashan, the owner of Sidney Street Café and Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co., took home the honor. Accepting his award at a black-tie gala in Chicago, the ever-humble chef said he “wanted to thank St. Louis.”

In fact, he already had. On the heels of Craft taking home the award, Nashan had organized a get-together at Peacemaker with some of the city’s top chefs and scribes. There was a lot of handshaking, hugging, and pats on the back.

There were memorable stories and jokes. There was no tweeting, Instagramming, or social-media distractions from a gathering of folks who live and breathe social media. It was a proud moment, with many of the people responsible for elevating the local dining scene—from Pappy’s to Farmhaus, Cleveland-Heath to Annie Gunn’s—assembled to commemorate the chef whose award provided arguably its biggest boost of all.

And St. Louis was just getting started.

JUST FIVE YEARS AGO, CRAFT B ECAM E TH E F I RST ST. LO U I S C H E F TO TA K E H O M E TH E JAMES BEARD AWARD FOR B E ST C H E F: M I DWE ST.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

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S T L i f e || On the Menu

Natural Growth LEFT TO RIGHT: AT VICIA, CHEF AND CO-OWNER MICHAEL GALLINA SPECIALIZES IN VEGETABLEFORWARD DISHES. FROM ITS MODERN EXTERIOR TO ITS SLEEK INTERIOR, VICIA IS A NATURAL FIT IN THE CORTEX INNOVATION COMMUNITY. THE RESTAURANT PUTS AN EMPHASIS ON FRESH, SEASONAL INGREDIENTS.

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

12/18/19 10:04 AM

WE WANT TO OFFER A N E LE VATE D D I N ING EXPERIENCE TH AT CA N B E ENJOYED BY GUESTS IN A NEW WAY E AC H T I M E TH EY VI S IT.

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efore moving here, in 2015, native St. Louisan Michael Gallina and his wife, Tara, worked at upstate New York’s acclaimed Blue Hill at Stone Barns, which presents proteins and vegetables in new ways. Michael also did a stint at the similarly forage-focused Fäviken in Sweden.

Michael recalled his time in Sweden, harvesting vegetables for that night’s service. “That’s where I got my first sense of the concept of ‘vegetableforward,’ where I learned it was possible to celebrate vegetables in ways I’d never thought of before,” he said. “Because the winter was long and rough, we learned the value of preserving vegetables, pickling them, aging them in beef fat, curing and aging meats.”

Stone Barns also off red memorable lessons. “We worked one day per week on a farm and the other four in the restaurant,” Tara recalled. “Visit a deer farm and watch how the family uses the animal, right down to making jewelry with the antlers, and it opens your eyes. We had research assignments; we learned all about sustainability. That apprenticeship

was the most transformative moment of my life. It was utopian there. It felt like graduate school much more than a job.”

The Gallinas brought what they’d learned to St. Louis. They believed locals were ready to embrace the concept—though it still needed refinin . So they spent almost a year doing pop-up dining events. “We were impressed with how open-minded people were,” Tara recalled. “We never published a single menu ahead of time. People were excited about the surprise element.”

Eventually, after growing anticipation, they announced plans for their restaurant, Vicia, in the Cortex Innovation Community. Designed by Sasha Malinich (who also designed several of Craft’s and Nashan’s restaurants), the Nordic-influen ed atmosphere is composed of a glass-enclosed kitchen, a stone bar, bleached-oak tables, and ebonizedblack ash chairs. As with Blue Hill, the staff engages with customers and with the ingredients, from farm to plate, and the menu changes sometimes daily. Ingredients are prepared and presented in unexpected ways, with a wood fi e being the secret behind many of the dishes.

And the reception? Bon Appétit, USA Today, and Esquire named Vicia one of the nation’s best new restaurants in 2017. The following year, Food & Wine declared Michael one of the country’s best

new chefs. In 2019, he was named a James Beard Award finalist. “I’m proud of our team at Vicia and humbled by how supportive the city, and especially our guests, have been since we opened,” he said.

Then, last November, the Gallinas embarked on a new adventure: Winslow’s Table. Situated inside a former neighborhood market in University City that for years housed the beloved Winslow’s Home, the restaurant is predicated on feedback from customers of its predecessor while instilling the DNA of Vicia.

“There’s an identity with our brand in terms of quality of produce and attention to detail, the hospitality being a big part of that,” Tara told SLM in November.

“This was an opportunity that we felt was once-in-a-lifetime… If we were going to do one more thing, this made sense.”

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S T L i f e // On the Menu

Taking Center Stage TOP: ACCLAIMED CHEF ROB CONNOLEY ENTERTAINS GUESTS AT BULRUSH. BELOW: PANNA COTTA AT SAVAGE.

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t the same time that the Gallinas were introducing St. Louis to Vicia’s progressive menu, another Blue Hill alum was pushing the envelope.

Logan Ely hosted a year-long, cuttingedge pop-up series (think such ingredients as ants), Square1 Project, before moving forward with a brick-and-mortar of his own inside a former grocery store in Fox Park. He created a restaurant with an 18-seat communal table and the kitchen in front, eff ctively putting the chef front and center.

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“Like Square1, Savage is an opportunity for me to learn and grow,” he said shortly before opening Savage in 2018. “From the layout to the menu, it represents my best answers to all of the issues and obstacles of doing a nightly tasting menu.”

Guests choose from several set menus: a larger menu of 12 to 15 courses and at least two smaller menus of fi e to seven courses. As SLM dining critic Dave Lowry put it, “Ely fli ts with your palate. This is less a meal than a series of sensations. Flavors and textures ricochet and bounce.”

Likewise, just a few miles away, chef Rob Connoley puts on his own culinary show of sorts at Bulrush. Like Ely and the Gallinas, there’s again an emphasis on fresh, foraged ingredients. In fact, Connoley wrote the book on it, literally: Acorns & Cattails: A Modern Foraging Cookbook of Forest, Farm & Field.

Another book on display in the dining room, a faded copy of The Shepherd

of the Hills, hints at the restaurant’s theme of elevated Ozark-inspired fare, a unique concept in St. Louis. (Like the aforementioned chefs, the James Beard-nominated chef also first hosted a series of pop-up dinners, including a 30-minute speed-dining experience and another featuring only blackcolored foods.)

Beyond a more casual bar area, an open kitchen surrounded by 24 seats hides behind wood slats meant to evoke the Ozark hills. It’s there that Connoley creates such minor masterpieces as a simple-but-elegant Gulf Coast oyster with a briny “potlikker” foam, paw paw caviar, and an oyster leaf garnish.

There’s often a story behind the dishes. “Our menu is taken from the period in the Ozarks between 1820 and 1870,” Connoley announces before the seven-course tasting.

The humble chef might not admit it, but the story of how Connoley—and other adventurous chefs like him— reached such a point is equally inspiring.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

12/18/19 10:06 AM

A Family Affair LEFT TO RIGHT: A WOOD-FIRED PIE FROM KATIE’S PIZZA & PASTA OSTERIA. A LINE OFTEN WINDS OUT THE DOOR AT PAPPY’S SMOKEHOUSE IN MIDTOWN.

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t one time, dining out with the family meant animatronic mice and stuffed-crust pizza. In recent years, however, local restaurateurs have brought a certain sophistication to the kidfriendly establishment.

Pastaria was the first place in town to generate an extra table turn. Beginning at 5 p.m., the restaurant is often full of young families with kids. At Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria, there’s modern art on the walls, upbeat music on the speakers, and Cool Hand Luke on the big screen, yet the kids are right at home, with butter noodles so good, Mom and Dad will want to share. Pi Pizzeria is the same, with a hip atmosphere and craft beers—but a laidback vibe and slices of apple “pi” for dessert.

Beyond pizza joints are other lively spots where parents and kids can unwind. The patio at Billy G’s is a perfect example. Parents will appreciate the alfresco bar and sprawling cabanas; tykes will embrace the kids’ menu and coloring sheets. Three Kings Public House, too, offers an extensive beer menu and quality food—and the entrées on the kids’ menu come with a cookie.

Then there’s breakfast. Few places are more family-friendly than Rooster

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

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where black-and-white roosters drawn by youngsters hang on the walls, and The Shack, where the barnwood walls are covered in colorful scribbles. Webster’s The Clover and The Bee (from the owners of the acclaimed and perpetually packed Olive + Oak next door), with its whimsical floral mural, specializes in “food that is fresh, casual, and simple yet sophisticated.” It’s a philosophy that Russell’s on Macklind echoes with its freshly baked sweets and sandwiches.

At Half & Half, chef and co-owner Mike Randolph regularly offers seasonal specials to accompany the popular blueberry pancakes and acclaimed coff e program. Randolph also recently opened

a new casual-dining concept: Original J’s, serving Tex-Mex and barbecue near downtown Clayton.

Finally, there are the crowd favorites.

Pappy’s Smokehouse is a perpetual crowd-pleaser. The Boathouse in Forest Park, where kids obsessively watch the ducks and dogs, has benefited from a recent makeover. In Kirkwood, Mission Taco Joint is planning its seventh and largest location, including a retrostyle arcade. And the colorful Fountain on Locust continues to serve up both ice cream martinis and the $1 World’s Smallest Ice Cream Cone.

Yes, nowadays, parents and kids can have their dessert and eat it, too.

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S T L i f e // On the Menu

Beyond the Dish T H E S E C H E F S A N D R E S TA U R AT E U R S A R E E L E VAT I N G T H E D I N I N G S C E N E .

DAVID KIRKLAND

MIKE JOHNSON

Having built a following at Café Osage, the former DJ opened a catering company and music-inspired restaurant, Turn, inside .ZACK in Midtown. There, he turns out breakfast and lunch options (labeled Side A and Side B, respectively, on the menu), as well as reasonably priced dinners, in a space with a record-lined wall.

Johnson’s lively, family-friendly restaurants are among St. Louis’ most popular. Sugarfi e Smoke House has rapidly expanded in recent years, with locations across the metro region. Lines often form for burgers and shakes at Hi-Pointe Drive-In. And at The Boathouse in Forest Park, Johnson’s rolled out new dishes and events.

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: DAVID KIRKLAND. BEN POREMBA. ZOË ROBINSON. DAVE AND KARA BAILEY. NATASHA BAHRAMI.

wood, Poremba serves Moroccan fare and craft cocktails at The Benevolent King.

I Fratellini, and Billie-Jean. Having found a way to stay at the forefront of St. Louis’ dining scene for years, the savvy restaurateur appeared in Vogue in 2018.

NATASHA BAHRAMI

CEAIRA JACKSON

If you’re searching for seafood in St. Louis, consider a visit to Bait, located in a historic building just off the beaten path in the CWE, where Jackson serves fresh dishes.

BEN POREMBA

The stylish restaurateur has helped transform Botanical Heights, with the acclaimed Elaia (in a rehabbed brick home) and Olio (in a former gas station).

Nearby, Nixta serves elevated Mexican cuisine and has garnered acclaim from the likes of Bon Appétit. And in Maple-

After immigrating here from Iran, Bahrami’s parents introduced Persian cuisine to St. Louis by opening Café Natasha’s in 1983.

Over the years, Bahrami has watched the international dining options expand along South Grand and added The Gin Room, replete with a new patio bar. Bahrami, also known as The Gin Girl, is also an ambassador for the spirit, speaking at seminars across the U.S. CARYN DUGAN

Also known as STLVegGirl, the vegan enthusiast recently opened The Center for Plant-based Living in Kirkwood, hosting cooking classes, educational programming, meal-prep classes, and team-building.

ZOË ROBINSON

Along charming Wydown Boulevard, Robinson has created a triple threat of alluring restaurants, with Bar Les Freres,

Photography by Carmen Troesser, Kevin A. Roberts, Matt Marcinkowski, Courtney Sames

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DAVE AND KARA BAILEY

The prolific restaurateurs have opened a string of creative concepts—Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar, Rooster’s two locations, Small Batch, Baileys’ Range, and POP—with their latest being a barbecue concept, Knockout BBQ, at Rooster on South Grand.

RICK LEWIS

After making his mark at Quincy Street Bistro and Southern, the affable chef opened Grace Meat + Three in the former Sweetie Pie’s space in The Grove.

This fall, he added a late-night, Southern-inspired street food concept in the adjacent space, Grace Chicken + Fish.

NICK BOGNAR

At indo, Bognar focuses on Southeast Asian cuisine and expands the popular omakase dinners that brought him local acclaim (and a spot on the James Beard semifinalist list for Rising Star Chef of the Year) at Nippon Tei in Ballwin.

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STLife

Culture Club WHETHER IT’S MUSIC, PAINTINGS, OR PERFORMANCES, S T. LO U I S ’ A R T S S C E N E I S T R U LY WORLD-CLASS.

By SLM Staff

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Photography courtsey of The Dark Room at The Grandel

THE DARK ROOM AT THE GRANDEL HOSTS LIVE MUSIC EVERY NIGHT.

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S T L i f e // Culture Club

t. Louis’ arts scene offers something for everyone.

Consider the music offerings, reminiscent of a jukebox, with one catchy song often leading to another. President Barack Obama named folk singer Tonina Saputo’s song “Historia De un Amor” among his favorites of 2018.

Indie musicians Beth Bombara and Sleepy Kitty have also earned loyal followings. Then there’s the more avantgarde, including collective HEARding Cats and experimental group New Music Circle. You can even find household names, such as St. Louis native and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who still frequents his hometown.

And at the National Blues Museum— hailed as a travel-worthy destination

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by The New York Times, the Smithsonian, and CNN—you can see interactive exhibits and then stick around to hear the real deal from the likes of Jeremiah Johnson, Skeet Rodgers, Kim Massie, and Marquise Knox, who also often perform at the storied Broadway Oyster Bar and BB’s Jazz, Blues, and Soups.

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN

Even St. Louis’ most time-honored arts institutions are experiencing a stream of new faces and ideas.

At just over a century old, The Muny’s never looked better. Against all odds (marauding raccoons, rapidfire rehearsals, and 1,000 moving parts), we’ve managed to keep one of the world’s largest open-air musical

theaters vibrant for a solid century. Broadway stars come here and sing themselves hoarse because our audiences give the energy right back. The Muny’s cooler by the minute—literally, thanks to the giant fans, but also because of the new high-tech backdrops and top-flight talent At Powell Hall, French conductor Stéphane Denève recently took the baton, bringing a new perspective. St. Louis Symphony Orchestra president MarieHélène Bernard describes Denève as “someone who brings a lot of joy to the stage. He makes you forget how challenging life is and connect to what matters… What he wants is for you to love the music. He wants to remove the barriers that people so often self-impose.”

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis executive producer Tom Ridgely is also working to remove such barriers, whether through the organization’s schools, streets, or park programs. And the recently launched In the Works festival is adding new productions beyond the

Photography by Jessica Page, courtesy of Lion Forge, the National Blues Museum

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Bard—a timely idea that Shakespeare would have likely embraced.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ new general director, Andrew Jorgensen, also believes in “constantly exploring and redefining…to keep the art form fresh.” He’s doing just that with the help of such talented additions as Damon Bristo, OTSL’s director of artistic administration, and Patricia Racette, artistic director of young artist programs.

And at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, new artistic director Hana Sharif is moving the acclaimed theater into a new era. She launched the inaugural season with Tony Kushner’s Tony-winning Angels in America and recently directed Christopher Baker’s adaptation of the classic Pride and Prejudice. As she said when she first stepped into the role, “I hope that together we’ll be able to craft stories and bring forward voices that really refl ct the evolution of our society and our city.”

ART AS A BRIDGE

In 2018, Luminary co-founder James McAnally wrote an article for VICE titled “A Radical Black Arts Renaissance Is Reshaping a Fractured St. Louis,” highlighting the profound work of Damon Davis and Katherine Simóne Reynolds.

That same year, the Saint Louis Art Museum showcased the work of Kehinde Wiley, the renowned artist who painted Obama’s portrait for the Smithsonian National Gallery. For the SLAM exhibit, Wiley visited St. Louis and invited people he met in north St. Louis neighborhoods and Ferguson to pose for him. The show was such a success, the museum later purchased one of the portrait artist’s large-scale works from the exhibit, Charles I, based not on the 1633 portrait of the English monarch but inspired by St. Louis resident Ashley Cooper.

Saint Louis Art Museum director Brent Benjamin noted that the exhibit was “tied closely to our collection and to our city, and it encouraged each of us to examine artistic traditions, current events, and the power of art to unite our community.”

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, Matt Marcinkowski

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: TONINA SAPUTO. THE NATIONAL BLUES MUSEUM. STÉPHANE DENÈVE CONDUCTS THE ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. THE REP’S NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HANA SHARIF. LION FORGE’S ACCELL.

With Lion Forge, David Steward II is also reshaping art, exploding stereotypes, and reinventing the superhero. The St. Louis– based comics company is more progressive than the big guys; Lion Forge finds ways to smash stereotypes, involve a diverse mix of creators, and challenge assumptions. This revolution’s fun, too, with artful graphic novels, edgy comics for grown-ups, and whimsical comics that open up whole worlds for little kids.

Best of all, the superheroes are flawed and real—which makes their triumphs even cooler.

SUPPORTING THE ARTS

St. Louis is looking out for local artists in other ways as well.

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation recently announced its second class of music artists–in–residence, providing support and space for Midwestern musicians.

Similarly, Craft Alliance offers an artists-in-residence program. Not only does it provide emerging and mid-career visual artists with space and support, but it also encourages the artists to teach classes, host programming, and connect with the community.

And the Kranzberg Arts Foundation recently opened The High Low, a literary nexus in Midtown. “St. Louis has a strong literary arts tradition,” said Chris Hansen, executive director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. “The High Low seeks to uplift and nurture that strong tradition, ensuring that there is always a space, time, and place where the literary arts can start and graduate.”

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STLife

AT AROUND 1,300 ACRES, FOREST PARK IS LARGER THAN NEW YORK’S CENTRAL PARK.

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Photography by Steve Jett

Get Outside GREEN SPACE ABOUNDS IN AND AROUND THE METRO AREA.

By SLM Staff

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ere in St. Louis, we’re fortunate to have all the conveniences of a major metro area and no shortage of picturesque retreats in our big backyard. In the city alone, there are dozens of parks, large and small, with Forest Park and Tower Grove Park rivaling the nation’s best. Just beyond the city lim-

its, you can quickly access rolling hills and rugged terrain, with some stretches reminiscent of the Smoky Mountains. We hope this story will serve as an initial jumping-off point, encouraging you to get out and see the many other scenic spots that are just waiting to be explored.

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S T L i f e // Get Outside

City Gems

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Photography by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: VISITORS CAN RENT PADDLE BOATS AT THE BOATHOUSE AT FOREST PARK. THE NEW LOVE VS. MONEY SCULPTURE ATOP KALDI’S IN CITYGARDEN. THE UNZIP THE EARTH SCULPTURE AT CITYGARDEN. YOGA IN TOWER GROVE PARK.

CARONDELET PARK

At 180 acres, St. Louis’ third-largest park boasts a picturesque boathouse, historic Lyle House, and a popular summer concert series at the city’s southern edge.

CITYGARDEN

World-class sculpture abounds: Igor Mitoraj’s Eros Bendato (that wonderful giant head), Keith Haring’s Untitled (Ringed Figure), Erwin Wurm’s playful Big Suit… Fountains, flora, and a 14-foot video wall add even more life to this downtown oasis.

COMPTON HILL RESERVOIR PARK

Built in 1898, the water tower is one of a handful left standing in the U.S. (Three are in St. Louis.) On the night of the full moon, climb the 170-foot tower, and see 360 degrees of the city from South Grand.

FOREST PARK

LAFAYETTE PARK

At around 1,300 acres, the gem of the city is larger than New York’s Central Park.

The Grand Basin at the foot of Art Hill looks like something you’d see in Paris, and The Boathouse feels like summer in Maine. Breezes ruffl tall native grasses around Pagoda Island. Some of the city’s most beloved attractions—the Saint Louis Zoo, the Missouri History Museum, the Saint Louis Art Museum, The Muny, the Saint Louis Science Center, Steinberg Skating Rink, the Jewel Box—complement the surrounding landscape, much of which has been returned to its natural habitat.

On the near south side, in Lafayette Square, the city’s oldest park is surrounded by Victorian architecture and has a lake at its heart where Victorians at one time paddled in swan boats.

GATEWAY ARCH NATIONAL PARK FAIRGROUND PARK

At one time, the site was home to the nation’s largest amphitheater, the city’s first zoo, a racetrack, and the Agriculture and Mechanical Fair, which drew crowds from around the globe. Today, the facade of the zoo’s bear pit still stands in North St. Louis.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, @salveoyoga

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There are so many ways to celebrate the overhauled Arch grounds: explore the new museum, catch a concert at the amphitheater, play at nearby Kiener Plaza, gaze up at the Old Courthouse’s rotunda, eat at the Arch Café, and (of course) ride to the top of Eero Saarinen’s masterpiece, ideally at sunset.

PENROSE PARK

Near Kingshighway in North St. Louis, Penrose Park boasts one of approximately 25 velodromes in the nation, where cyclists can race around a mini NASCAR-like track.

TOWER GROVE PARK

Henry Shaw developed the South City park to give St. Louis “a grand pleasure ground,” with wide lanes for horsedrawn carriages, gates guarded by zinc griffins and exotic pavilions and gazebos. Every few feet, there’s something to see: lions copied from the tomb of Pope Clement XIII, the ancient ruins of the Lindell Hotel—and one of the best farmers’ markets around.

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S T L i f e // Get Outside

Farther Afield

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Photography by Ashley Fleming

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: A BOY BALANCES ON A LOG AT ROCKWOODS RESERVATION. CREVE COEUR LAKE.

BABLER MEMORIAL STATE PARK

Located near Wildwood, Babler’s 2.2mile Dogwood Trail spans about 300 feet with its ups and downs. Start at the shelter on Guy Park Drive, and cross Equestrian Trail before reaching the Dogwood loop. (You’d best bring a map.) Heading north, begin your first ascent. Toward the end of the loop, watch for a path to Babler Spring, tucked beneath a 20-foot outcropping. Along the way, you’ll see, of course, dogwoods—the whole park glows with them in spring.

BEE TREE COUNTY PARK

At this South County park, start civilized, at the Tudor mansion. Out back, take the stone stairs down to a grotto and follow the path to the Mississippi Trail, which leads to the Chubb Shelter Overlook. Walk along the bluff on the Mississippi Trail, then take the Crow’s Roost Trail through a confetti of dogwood and redbud blossoms to the lake.

Circle the water on Fisherman’s Trail, listening to the frogs’ spring chorus, and cross the footbridge. Stop to take in the scenery; there’s a good chance you’ll spot a great blue heron. At the lake’s north end, branch off to enjoy more wildfl wers, then come back to the lake and walk east to Paw Paw Trail, which leads back to Chubb Pavilion.

CASTLEWOOD STATE PARK

Of all the great trails at Castlewood, near Ballwin, the 3.25-mile River Scene Trail has the most spectacular views of the Meramec River Valley. Poets say the park’s “castles” are the bluffs themselves, crenellated by wind and rain.

Photography by Brenden Finnerty

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Climb up to those bluffs for a panoramic view, and hike for about a mile, your breath caught by one scenic overlook after another. Then descend wooden stairs and hike past the ruins of Castlewood’s years as a glamorous Art Deco resort. Pass through the railroad tunnel, then turn toward the river and follow Kiefer Creek Road back to the trailhead.

CENTRAL PARK

In Chesterfield, J. Seward Johnson’s enormous sculpture The Awakening, a bearded giant struggling to free himself from the earth, attracts kids (who love to climb on its enormous hands and knees) and newlyweds alike. Chesterfiel Amphitheater often stages popular concerts, films, and festi als.

CLIFF CAVE PARK

It’s said that this South County park was a riverside tavern, then a hideout for horse thieves, then a meeting place for Confederate sympathizers… Now it’s a gated enclave for the Indiana bats of Cliff Cave Park, so give them their privacy and head up a gently sloped path and across a trestle bridge to the stunning new river outlook on the bluffs. Then walk back down to the lower overlook and pick up the Mississippi River Trail, which loops through the fl odplain bottoms. Later, try the shorter River Bluff and Spring Valley trails, which climb and twist. Cliff Cave Park has a bit of everything: woodlands, rocky hillsides, flat grassland, and a pond whose frogs sound like an orchestra tuning up. Afterward, picnic at the Riverside Shelter, which has a great view of tugboats and barges.

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S T L i f e // Get Outside

JEFFERSON BARRACKS

OLIN NATURE PRESERVE

Missouri opened a new military barracks in 1926, six days after President Thomas Jeffer on died.

Naturally, it was named in his honor. Today, the South County park is still steeped in history, with museums devoted to the telephone, Powder Magazine, and the state’s role in the Civil War.

Situated above the limestone bluffs hugging the Great River Road between Alton and Grafton, Illinois, the 294-acre preserve is a pristine retreat with 300-plus native plant species and more than 150 birds, including migratory bald eagles.

KLONDIKE PARK CREVE COEUR PARK

Visitors without boats can get out on the park’s popular 320-acre lake by visiting Creve Coeur Lake Rentals. And while there’s no shortage of sporting options— kayaking, disc golf, trails, archery, tennis courts—the Go Ape Treetop Adventure Course is located in the upper park area.

In the mood for a scenic hike? Follow the 3.8-mile Lakeview Loop, which runs past a spillway, wildlife (herons, egrets, ducks, wild turkeys), flora and fauna (oak and hickory trees, persimmon, sassafras, black cherry, and spicebush), and the Dripping Springs waterfall.

The name Klondike conjures gold-hungry forty-niners panning amid snow-capped mountains. In truth, the community’s miners once harvested silica sand from the bluffs near the Missouri River. Today, the white cliffs near Quarry Lake, in the heart of the St. Charles County park, are the most telling evidence of the site’s former life.

The paved 3.02-mile Lewis & Clark Trail (wrapping around the lake and running from a boat ramp at the park’s eastern edge to the Katy Trail at its southwest side). Even better, rent a bike at Katy Bike Rental in Defian e, pedal to the wineries in Augusta, and camp at Klondike.

EDWARD “TED” AND PAT JONES– CONFLUENCE POINT STATE PARK

LAUMEIER SCULPTURE PARK

Just across the river from Alton, follow an interpretive trail through the fl odplain to the shore of the confluence, and witness the rivers’ raw power, as the current effortlessly sweeps entire trees downstream. On your way home, pass through the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary and stop at the Audubon Center at Riverlands.

Internationally revered for its worldclass collection—with pieces from such artists as Niki de Saint Phalle, Ernest Trova, and Beverly Pepper—Laumeier is still as pioneering as it was when the park in Sunset Hills was incorporated in 1977. Don’t miss the new Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center and the Kranzberg Education Laboratory.

FAUST PARK

LONE ELK PARK

This Chesterfield park can keep a brood amused for hours, boasting the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, the St. Louis Carousel, a historic village, and an alwayspopular playground.

Over the past half century, the wildlife at this former military ammo depot in West County has gradually grown from the park’s namesake sole bull elk to herds of elk, bison, and whitetail deer.

The looping 4-mile White Bison Trail is a great path for spotting elk as well as deer, hawks, wild turkeys, herons, ducks, geese, and—from a comfortable distance—bison. Leave Fido at home for this one, and keep a respectful distance from the elk, lest they gore you. On the way out, stop at the World Bird Sanctuary, and pay homage to another iconic North American animal, the bald eagle.

FORT BELLE FONTAINE

In North County, history abounds at the stone steps near the Missouri River’s edge. Fort Belle Fontaine’s the site where Zebulon Pike set out to explore the great Southwest, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set up camp, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt heard a concert on the Grand Staircase.

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PERE MARQUETTE STATE PARK

Start at the historic lodge, where you can pick up a trail map. Then set out along the 1.5–mile Goat Cliff Trail, the park’s oldest path, which passes ancient rock formations and boasts three scenic overlooks, including McAdams Peak—the park’s most breathtaking spot—as its grand final . Take the Ridge and Dogwood trails back to the lodge, where you can relax with a drink at the on-site winery or by the grand fi eplace.

POWDER VALLEY CONSERVATION NATURE CENTER

This 112-acre gem is conveniently located near Interstates 44 and 270 in Kirkwood. The park’s three paved trails are easy to navigate (ideal for families with little ones, though note that pets are prohibited), and the onsite learning center is one of the area’s best, complete with wildlife exhibits and programming.

QUEENY PARK

We owe thanks for this sprawling park in Ballwin to Edgar Monsanto Queeny, who was a horseman and naturalist as well as CEO of a chemical company. On the east side of Queeny, look for the county’s firs dog park, near the former Museum of the Dog. The Greensfelder Recreation Complex plays host to carefree ice-skaters and hard-hitting roller derby players alike. The 4.4-mile Hawk Ridge Trail crosses creeks and winds past fl wers, lakes, and wildlife.

ROCKWOODS RESERVATION

Erected more than 150 years ago, the Lime Kiln Loop Trail’s 40-foot-tall namesake towers above the trailhead at Rockwoods, near Wildwood, where you can learn about its past life as a mining community and the land’s dramatic restoration. This 3.2-mile trail is (fitting y) the rockiest of the park’s six options. For a considerably longer hike, consider taking the 10-mile Green Rock Trail.

Photography courtesy of St. Louis County Parks

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: THE HISTORIC STAIRCASE AT FORT BELLE FONTAINE PARK. LAUMEIER SCULPTURE PARK IS FULL OF EYECATCHING ART, INCLUDING THE ICONIC EYE. NEAR GRAFTON, ILLINOIS, PERE MARQUETTE STATE PARK OFFERS SCENIC VIEWS AT THE NEXUS OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND ILLINOIS RIVERS.

SHAW NATURE RESERVE

TILLES PARK

Missouri is a big state with a startling variety of terrain and plant life. At this 2,400-acre reserve near Gray Summit, you can trek through prairieland, wetland, and woodland to get a sense of the state’s diverse topography. The short Prairie Trail aff rds views of 70-plus types of wildfl wers.

Sure, the holiday light display is a draw to this park in Ladue, but it’s the playground—designed for children of all abilities—that attracts families year-round.

SHAW PARK

Clayton’s oldest and largest park is home to some carefully chosen public art, including James Surls’ Molecular Bloom with Single Flower, Carol Fleming’s ancient-looking Egg (in the Sensory Garden), and Ernest Trova’s Geometric Abstract No. 2 (in the Moneta Garden).

Photography courtesy of the Illinois Office of Tourism, @eakdesign

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SUSON PARK

If your child yearns for the country, head to this 98-acre park in South County, where there’s a working animal farm, three stocked fishing ponds, and a full schedule of activities. (Visit stlouisco. com/parks for dates.)

WELDON SPRING CONSERVATION AREA

Near Weldon Spring, you’ll find the trailhead for the Lewis and Clark trails, which wind through the tree-lined hills to the limestone bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. The Lewis Trail is an 8.3-mile loop, or you can take the Clark Trail cutoff for a shorter jaunt of 5.3 miles. The most scenic stretch is along the trails’ southernmost reaches, where several spurs offer stunning river views.

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Lesson Plans FROM GRADE SCHOOL TO GRAD SCHOOL, LOCAL E D U CATO R S A R E TA K I N G I N N OVAT I V E APPROACHES.

By SLM Staff

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Photography by PeopleImages / Getty Images Plus / via Getty Images

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S T L i f e // Lesson Plans

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t. Louis is a prime place to launch a career after graduation. But don’t take our word for it—just consult the experts.

Last year, Forbes.com ranked the metro region No. 1 in the nation among the “Happiest Cities for Job-Seeking College Grads,” citing an average cost-ofliving adjusted salary of $50,900. Similar sites, such as Zip Recruiter and Smart Asset, also put the Gateway City high on their lists, touting the affo dable cost of living, low unemployment rate, and buzzing arts and sports scenes.

What those lists don’t mention: all the ways that the region’s educational institutions are driving opportunity for all ages through key partnerships, ambitious initiatives, and innovative lesson plans.

REAL-WORLD SKILLS

With St. Louis being a global leader in biotech, it may come as no surprise that the region’s schools offer no shortage of engaging programs from an early age that revolve around science, technology, engineering, and math.

Between Ferguson and Florissant, a 97-acre island of unspoiled forest known as Little Creek Nature Area is where children in the Ferguson-Florissant School District have come for nearly 50 years to learn fundamental lessons about science and history. They spend their days exploring this living laboratory: studying wildlife, testing the pond’s water quality, tending a vegetable garden. “There’s really nothing like this in Missouri that’s tied so tightly to a school district,” Eric Hadley, the district’s science coordi-

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nator, told SLM in 2018. “There are a lot of schools with greenspace or who work closely with the Missouri Botanical Garden, but they don’t have a dedicated space like this.”

The Reggio Emilia-inspired Raintree School also instills the power of nature from an early age. Nestled in 11 wooded acres in Town & Country, the state’s only Forest School emphasizes the outdoors, with youngsters playing on logs and boulders, rather than slides and monkey bars. They help grow their own food onsite and prepare it in a teaching kitchen led by a chef.

Elsewhere, students learn about STEM in other interactive ways. Seventh and eighth graders at Chesterfield Montessori School visit the 7-acre “Land Lab” near Dr. Edmund A. Babler State Park to learn about habitat enhancement and the environment. Seventh-graders at Saint Louis Priory School travel to August A. Busch Memorial Conservation

Area, where they take soil, water, and invertebrate samples to learn about science. Middle-schoolers at Maplewood– Richmond Heights learn about physics while rope-climbing on a giant oak tree named Oscar. At St. Louis University High School, environmental STEM class students develop and launch a weather balloon to detect weather patterns across changes in amplitude.

Tech plays an equally important role in interactive learning. At New City School, tykes learn about 3-D printing, coding, and robotics. To demonstrate energy conservation, eighth-graders at John Burroughs School design Rube Goldberg machines and analyze them on video.

Middle-schoolers at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School use computer coding to create digital sprites. And MICDS recently launched an underwater robotics program, with students testing their robots in the pool to learn about buoyancy and teamwork.

Photography by Katleho Seisa, E+ / via Getty Images

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MANY OF THE AREA’S MORE THAN TWO DOZEN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES HAVE FO RG E D SIGNIFICANT R E L AT I O N S H I P S BOTH HERE AND ABROAD.

Partnerships also play a key role in learning. Students from across the region visit BizTown, a Junior Achievement of Great St. Louis program. In a pint-size city, they can learn about a wide range of occupations and the innerworkings of a community. They might pretend to take out a loan to start a business, sell cookies at a restaurant, or conduct a TV interview with a highpowered CEO. Students also receive feedback from real-life organizations. Middle-schoolers at The Principia learn about animal adaptations by using technology to build zoo enclosures and then presenting the results to a Saint Louis Zoo expert. And at Pattonville High School, students learning about cybersecurity compete in the Air Force–sponsored CyberPatriot national cybersecurity competition, acting as IT pros at a small company. (Pattonville’s team was ranked in the top 5 percent nationwide last year.)

medical campus, two 12-story towers have significant y expanded care for infants, women, and cancer patients.

And medical researchers are working closely with innovators in the nearby Cortex district.

The university’s Danforth campus recently underwent a $360 million construction project—the most expensive in its history—with an emphasis on sustainability. The project spans two new academic buildings, the renovated Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and the expanded Central Green.

New chancellor Andrew D. Martin also recently pledged to provide free education to incoming undergrads from Missouri and southern Illinois whose families earn $75,000 or less per year or who are Pell Grant-eligible.

At Saint Louis University, ranked

by Princeton Review as No. 2 in the nation for community service, medical researchers are leading the way in developing a universal flu vaccine and a holistic approach to trauma care. And the $550 million SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital is slated to open near Tower Grove Park later this year.

SLU is also collaborating with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on research, training, and innovation.

Following the announcement of a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement last year, SLU president Fred Pestello noted, “Because of SLU’s diverse geospatial research and training portfolio, we are well positioned to support the NGA’s work.”

Webster University also has a global reach, with campuses in Greece, Thailand, France, China, Ghana, and beyond.

It boasts a world-class chess program, led by Susan Polgar, who was recently inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

Maryville University also has game. Its esports team recently took second in the League of Legends International College Cup, after being the only U.S. team to qualify. That’s not its only tech-related claim to fame, though. An Apple Distinguished School, the university provides incoming full-time undergrads with an iPad and educational apps as part of its Digital World program.

Harris-Stowe State University works with the Verizon Innovative Learning program to provide students at underresourced schools with cutting-edge technology—virtual reality, coding, robotics—and exposure to STEM-related careers. The university is also building a new student union and residence hall, as well as renovating its library.

At its Forest Park campus, St. Louis Community College recently opened a four-story $39 million health sciences building, where nearly 450 nursing students are enrolled.

And Ranken Technical College recently opened the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center, a manufacturing incubator and training facility where students can get first-hand experience.

“For more than 100 years, Ranken has been a catalyst for St. Louis,” Mayor Lyda Krewson said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, “and will continue to be.”

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S DANFORTH CAMPUS RECENTLY UNDERWENT A $360 MILLION RENOVATION.

THE NEXT LEVEL

St. Louis is home to more than two dozen colleges and universities.

Ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 10 medical schools for research in the nation, Washington University is pioneering insights into genomics, Alzheimer’s, and more. It also continues to expand its footprint in the Central West End. On the Washington University

Photography by James Ewing

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URBAN FORT PLAY CAFÉ OFFERS RESPITE FOR PARENTS AND TYKES ALIKE IN SOUTH CITY.

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

Bring the Kids THERE’S A REASON T H AT S T. LO U I S I S SO OFTEN CALLED FA M I LY- F R I E N D LY.

By Amanda E. Doyle

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S T L i f e // Bring the Kids

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t’s a given: If you have young children or are considering it, you’ll be told, “St. Louis is such a great place to raise a family!” Natives often boomerang back when babies start arriving, and transplants get the full-court press about attractions, quality of life, and affordability. The region offers attractive elements that many families seek, from fun places to go to an array of school choices. At the same time, some organizations are working hard to address gaps in health care and opportunities for families of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Whether you’re already here or considering the leap, here are a handful of reasons that St. Louis is so often called a family-friendly town.

QUALITY FUN TIME

St. Louis has long been known for its abundance of free or affo dable cultural and entertainment amenities. Beyond the popular animal-centric attractions (the Saint Louis Zoo, Grant’s Farm, Purina Farms), there are countless outdoor concert series (Whitaker Urban Evenings in St. Louis Place, the Compton Heights Concert Band in Tower Grove Park), parades (Labor Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Annie Malone Day, Cinco de Mayo), speakers and musical performances, such as the literacy/health storytimes at the Public Media Commons.

It’s more than even the super family from The Incredibles could accomplish.

Neighborhoods, too, offer a great prism for enjoying the area. Park the car in Maplewood, and shop fair trade goods at Zee Bee Market before enjoying lunch at Schlafly Bottleworks. Or hit up La Mancha Coff ehouse in Old North for food, Crown Candy Kitchen for a malt, Central Print to eyeball vintage letterpress machinery and printed products, and mosey down 14th Street to enjoy visual and performing arts on a First Friday Art Walk.

If you enjoy sports, there are major and minor league teams. Or get moving at Upper Limits Indoor Rock Climbing Gym, on a bike on Grant’s Trail, or at the vast natural playscape in Forest Park that’s scheduled to debut later this year. Engage in our city’s history in ways that can make tangible connections with kids through exhibits at the Missouri His-

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tory Museum, the Lewis & Clark Boathouse, and the Griot Museum of Black History. Exercise the gray matter, too, by checking out the Saint Louis Science Center or getting into a game of chess at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Or put head and hands together at Myseum or The Magic House, which recently opened a new location at M.A.D.E. makerspace in University City.

Brand new to the scene, Centene Community Ice Center near Hollywood Casino boasts more than 250,000 square feet of icy fun, from community skating to serious training facilities for figu e skating and hockey. Near Lafayette Square, Urban Fort Play Café thrilled families across the city when it opened in 2018. After already offering a parentfriendly café and kid-welcoming indoor

playscape, the restaurant recently added hands-on science and sensory play classes and themed story times.

In fact, several much-loved spots provide plenty of return fun. Case in point: the always-evolving City Museum gave in to clamoring families by creating a season pass for the first time in its history.

(It also recently added an 11,000-squarefoot “artquarium,” complete with a sculpture of a seven-legged octopus.)

Photography courtesy of the Saint Louis Zoo, The Magic House

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: POLAR BEAR PLUNGE AT THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO, CITY MUSEUM’S WINDING STAIRCASE. THE FERRIS WHEEL AT THE TOP OF CITY MUSEUM. THE COLORFUL INTERIOR OF THE MAGIC HOUSE IN KIRKWOOD.

And libraries across the region are stretching to meet the needs of modern families with author visits; summer camps; performance opportunities; and classes in manga, podcasting, and even circus arts.

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

While St. Louis offers no shortage of traditional education options, some organizations are working to ensure quality education is accessible for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic background. SkipNV, for example, is striving to bring parents, teachers, and youth together to “understand how the system works,” explains executive director Saras Chung. The organization

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts, courtesy of The Magic House

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pairs “their truth with rigorous research, data, and computational simulation to help identify strategies for change in partnership with local school districts and educational advocates.”

Other groups take a slightly diffe ent approach, beyond the classroom. Family reading program WeStories is designed to help families talk about race and justice. Welcome Neighbor STL creates a support network for immigrant and refugee families.

New nonprofit LitShop pairs the building trades and literacy in meaningful ways for middle-school girls, frequently in disadvantaged city neighborhoods.

Activities that are both educational and entertaining abound across the region. At Craft Alliance, kids and families can try metalsmithing, clay work, and other artistic mediums. The Novel Neighbor in Webster Groves offers art classes for budding artists, who can learn to draw characters from Teen Titans Go!, Dogman, Minecraft, and their own creations. And Play Street Museum in St. Charles caters to the preschool set, with a small-format, interactive setting where kiddos can use their imaginations.

Want to embrace the great outdoors?

Beyond the usual suspects (The Butterfly House, Shaw Nature Reserve, Forest Park, Lone Elk Park), Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center offers kid-

friendly trails and ongoing classes like “Turtles for Tots” and “Tree-riffic! And families can get their hands dirty while harvesting crops—that just happen to be growing on the roof of a downtown building, in the case of Food Roof Farm.

MAKING IT ALL WORK

Here’s the kicker: St. Louis’ relatively inexpensive living costs, with rents/ mortgages being a good chunk below the national averages.

“St. Louis consistently ranks in top 10 and even top 5 housing affo dability lists,” according to Stephanie Hug Morgan, a realtor with Coldwell Banker Gundaker. “The vast majority of residents can affo d to buy a home here, usually around 75 to 80 percent, compared to the Bay area or New York City, where less than 10 percent of the population can affo d the housing available. Sometimes, newcomers arrive with the intent to rent and quickly realize you can buy a home for less than rent—and it will likely be a nicer property!”

Then there’s the overall ease of daily tasks. Parking is pretty easy and pretty cheap. We have the second-fastest work commute of 20 major metro areas, as of last year. And even when you’re ready to get out of town, our central location makes travel elsewhere feasible, too. The region also boasts a robust menu of highquality health care providers and dozens of low-key places to unwind—with or without the little ones.

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Difference Makers C O M PA N I E S , O R GA N I Z AT I O N S , A N D I N S T I T U T I O N S T H AT M A K E S T. LO U I S A G R E AT P L AC E TO L I V E A N D W O R K .

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Photography (above) courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Purina Your Pet, Our Passion P U R I N A .C O M

advocacy for domestic abuse victims with pets through the Purple Leash Project, which funds pet-friendly renovations at domestic abuse shelters across the country.

The lack of services and resources for domestic violence survivors with pets leads many victims—nearly half—to stay in abusive situations for fear of their pet being injured or killed should they leave. Currently only 10 percent of domestic abuse shelters in the United States allow pets.

To ensure pet-friendly services are available to survivors with pets in St. Louis, Purina has worked with Lydia’s House, which provides transitional housing to survivors, to convert four of its apartments into pet-friendly spaces, with plans for more transformations in 2020.

Purina also has worked with St. Louis Children’s Hospital to build the first-ever Purina Family Pet Center, enabling patients to reconnect with their beloved pets during extended hospital stays. The facility brings together familycentered care with the healing power of pets to promote patient wellness. Since completing the project, Purina has partnered with others, such as Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, to bring therapy dogs into hospitals.

Founded in St. Louis 125 years ago, Purina is an international leader in pet care and a household name in pet food, treats, and litter, with brands like Dog Chow, Friskies, Pro Plan, Purina ONE, Beggin’ Strips, Beyond, and Tidy Cats. With deep roots in the city, Purina’s petfriendly U.S. headquarters attracts top talent, employing more than 2,000 people in St. Louis, many of whom bring their dogs (and cats) to work with them every day. The company has more than 500 pet nutritionists, behaviorists, immunologists, and veterinarians on staff globally who work tirelessly to make breakthrough discoveries and groundbreaking products that help pets live longer, healthier lives.

Science-based nutrition for pets is at the heart of what Purina does, but it isn’t all the company is known for. Guided by the belief that pets make life richer, and driven by its passion, Purina is on a mission to bring and keep pets and people together, starting in its own backyard.

PROMOTING PET ADOPTION Each year, Purina supports pet shelters, rescues, and other nonprofits throughout the greater St. Louis area by providing funding, pet food, cat litter, and volunteer support that helps bring pets and people together. For more than 12 years, Purina has led the St. Louis Petlover Coalition, made up of more than 50 area nonprofits, with a mission to improve the lives and increase adoption of dogs and cats in our community.

From supporting St. Louis’ biggest ‘Slumber Pawty’ at 16 area shelters, raising awareness and funds for homeless dogs and cats, to encouraging St. Louisans to ‘Raise a Pint for Pets’ with local brewer Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, Purina is always seeking ways to support shelter pets and the people who care for them.

KEEPING PETS AND PEOPLE TOGETHER IN DIFFICULT TIMES As an organization built on the belief that people and pets are better together, Purina has turned its commitment to pet welfare into

ENGAGING PET LOVERS Purina Farms is the place where pet lovers of all ages go to play, learn, and compete. This family-friendly attraction located on more than 300 acres just outside of St. Louis in Gray Summit, Missouri, offers an opportunity to get up close and personal with a variety of farm animals as well as dogs and cats. The Visitor Center, open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, boasts a variety of fun activities, including hayloft play areas, interactive, educational exhibits, tractor-drawn wagon rides, adoptable animals, and exciting canine performances of flying disc, agility, and diving dogs.

The Purina Event Center at Purina Farms, a state-of-theart 84,000-square-foot indoor facility, is open year-round to host some of the most prestigious dog and cat shows in the country, as well as special pet-friendly events open to the general public.

THROWING THE NATION’S BIGGEST PARTY FOR PETS For more than 20 years, Purina has sponsored the Purina Pet Parade, a Guinness World Record–holding event, in the Soulard neighborhood. Held annually on the Sunday before Mardi Gras, it’s a showplace for pet pride, attracting tens of thousands of people and their pets to the party.

The Purina Pet Parade is one of many pet-friendly events the company supports in St. Louis, including Purina Pooches in the Ballpark at Busch Stadium and the Great Forest Park Balloon Race.

Whether you’re in St. Louis to live, work, or play, rest assured that there are plenty of ways to include your four-legged friends in your experience, thanks to a little help from the pet lovers at Purina.

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HOK HOK believes design has the ability to improve people’s lives where they work, play, heal, learn, and dwell.

H O K .C O M / S T LO U I S

With offices around the globe, HOK designs buildings and spaces that respond to the needs of people and the environment. HOK designers are rooted in technical excellence, driven by imagination, and focused on a solitary goal: to deliver solutions that inspire clients and communities. The firm was founded in 1955 in St. Louis and has since grown into a network of 24 offices and more than 1,800 people across the globe. Today, HOK consistently ranks as the city’s largest architecture and interior design firm.

HOK has shaped the fabric of St. Louis through the design of iconic commercial, civic, and cultural landmarks, including Busch Stadium, the Science Center Planetarium, the Priory Chapel, and St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Current projects in the metropolitan area include St. Louis’ new Major League Soccer stadium, Boeing NeXt offices, 7th Street Streetscape, South Grand Flats, and multiple projects at the Cortex Innovation Community, including the 4340 Duncan, Cambridge Innovation Center, and with Wexford Science + Technology: @4240 Duncan, 4220 Duncan, and the soon-to-come 4210 Duncan Building.

In addition, HOK’s people are active in the community, helping others understand the power of design. They teach at local universities, mentor young people, and are involved in nonprofits across the region. The firm has partnerships with St. Louis charitable organizations including the United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Pedal the Cause, Arts and Education Council, and St. Louis Children’s Hospital KIDstruction Week.

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St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Blues C A R D I N A L S .C O M / S T LO U I S B LU E S .C O M

For over half-a-century, Blues hockey has dug its roots deep

For more than a century, Cardinals baseball has been a source of excitement and civic pride. With 11 World Series Championships, 19 National League Pennants, and a rich history of winning baseball by the storied franchise, St. Louisans bleed Cardinal Red. Since the ownership group led by Bill DeWitt Jr. purchased the Cardinals from Anheuser-Busch in 1996, the Cardinals have posted the fourth-best record in the majors and advanced to the postseason 14 times, including two World Series championships and four National League pennants.

In 2019, the NL Central division champion Cardinals drew more than 3.4 million fans to Busch Stadium (second-most in MLB) and ranked No. 1 in local TV ratings. The team’s home market fan base spans a 10-state region, drawing a large number of visitors to St. Louis annually, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy and helping local businesses.

The upcoming season will see the completion of the Cardinals’ and The Cordish Companies’ $260 million second phase of Ballpark Village—a full build-out of Clark Street that includes a 29-story luxury residential tower (One Cardinal Way) and a Live! By Loews luxury hotel, in addition to the recently opened PwC Pennant Class-A office tower.

Whether for the day, the weekend, or the full season, the team looks forward to welcoming every fan to the ballpark in 2020.

into the fabric of the St. Louis community, cultivating one of the most passionate and loyal fan bases in all of professional sports. In 2019, the relationship between the Blues and their beloved city and fans came to a thrilling crescendo, as the team brought home the first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. The unprecedented title run, from worst to first in the NHL, further solidified the Blues as one of the most storied organizations in the NHL. With a championship, nine division titles, a Presidents’ Trophy, and more than 20 alumni enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Blues have carved out a unique stake in hockey lore.

Led by a local ownership group, the organization has worked tirelessly to grow its footprint by engaging the St. Louis community and its fans everywhere and providing a first-class experience across all its platforms.

In the summer of 2019, Enterprise Center completed a three-phase renovation project, revitalizing the building and elevating it to an elite level shared by the greatest venues around the country. From the unparalleled action of a Blues home game to a collegiate rivalry game to world-renowned musical acts, Enterprise Center has established itself as the cultural epicenter of the city of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Blues look forward to welcoming you downtown soon.

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The Regional Business Council Advancing the St. Louis Region is Our Business S T L R B C .O R G

RBC outcomes are felt throughout the St. Louis region. Whether it’s growing and retaining top talent through the 4,200-strong Young Professionals Network, investing more than $1 million in the It’s Our Region Fund to help 160 nonprofits and community organizations better serve their populations, shrinking the skills gap through STL. works, restoring historic neighborhoods through Operation Clean Sweep, raising more than $165 million for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, or addressing public safety through strategic partnerships, the organization is committed to putting their talent and resources behind high-impact business, civic, and philanthropic initiatives for the betterment of the St. Louis region. When committed business leaders work together for the greater good and future generations, the results can be remarkable. That’s what drives the Regional Business Council, a consortium of CEOs representing 100 of the

region’s largest and most influential employers. These companies have a tremendous impact on the economic health of the St. Louis region, employing more than 120,000 of its residents and generating more than $65 billion in revenue. With its business, civic, and philanthropic mission, RBC members work together to influence progrowth and pro-business public policy, develop diverse professional talent, advance school reform to educate all youth, fill skills gaps in our workforce, consult with key leaders on issues around crime and safety, and give back to the region through community engagement and investment. They’re pooling their energy, enthusiasm, and skills to help change the face of the region. It’s an exciting challenge, and that’s their business.

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Chef Vince Bommarito, Jr., Chief Culinary Offi er at Butler’s Pantry

Butler’s Pantry New Venue, Same Promise of Quality.

Meet 18Rails | The Venue @ City Foundry STL, Built by Butler’s Pantry.

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Rooted in tradition but known for innovative catering and event design, Butler’s Pantry is who St. Louis has counted on for premier catering and event solutions since the company’s inception in 1966.

Through elaborate private dinners for few to festivals for thousands, Butler’s Pantry’s vibrant and diverse team of event professionals are masters of their craft and the creators of memorable celebrations.

Butler’s Pantry’s deep commitment to St. Louis is defined by the more than 40 preferred venues in their portfolio and six brands within the family. As a company, they have always been invested in the future of St. Louis; that is why next year, second-generation owner of Butler’s Pantry, Richard Nix Jr., will open the doors to the region’s most exciting new event space: 18Rails | The Venue @ City Foundry STL. 18Rails | The Venue @ City Foundry STL will explore event experiences like never before with unrivaled innovation—transforming a former electric company into a chic-industrial space. Ideal for any size gathering, guests will enjoy the multi-functional space, located directly off of the highly anticipated Food Hall.

The culinary experience will feature five-star innovative menus from chef Vince Bommarito, Jr., chief culinary officer at Butler’s Pantry. Previously the executive chef at a James Beard Award finalist restaurant, chef Vince will combine his experience, expertise, and passion for creating seemingly impossible culinary offerings at 18Rails with never-before-seen food stations and a la carte offerings.

The space is completely versatile with a captivating entry, statement vestibule providing extra convenience, and an ‘Instagram-able’ backdrop for share-worthy moments.

The expansive venue accommodates up to 700 guests, cocktail-style (with optional pre-function division). It features an entire wall of windows, original I-beams, plenty of character, and the most innovative audio visual effects.

18Rails, conveniently located in the heart of the City Foundry development in Midtown, was once the center of industrial activity, sitting near a hub where 18 rail lines connected St. Louis to the rest of the country. The branding for 18Rails pays homage to the area where City Foundry is located. The number 18 references the year that Saint Louis University was founded in 1818, and the convergence of the rail lines signifies that St. Louis is the “Gateway to the West.” Although inspired by the past, 18Rails | The Venue will offer ample free parking, state-of-the-art technology, and many modern conveniences.

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Saint Louis Science Center Connect with Curiosity S L S C .O R G

With the mission “to ignite and sustain lifelong science and technology learning,” the Saint Louis Science Center strives to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, explorers, and problem solvers.

One of only a few free nonprofit science museums in the country, the Science Center serves more than one million people each year, making it one of the largest science centers in the U.S. and abroad. The museum features more than 700 interactive experiences in 10 galleries, as well as GROW, an indoor-outdoor agricultural science exhibit; the iconic James S. McDonnell Planetarium; Boeing Hall; and the five-story OMNIMAX® Theater, which features science-related documentaries, as well as periodic feature-length IMAX films.

The Science Center regularly partners with national organizations, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Smithsonian Institution. In 2016, the Science Center was named a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate, the first organization to receive the designation in the St. Louis area. The organization is a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) and has a long history of holding leadership roles within ASTC. It is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and of the 1,070 museums currently accredited by AAM, it is one of only 31 science museums nationwide to hold that distinction.

The Science Center is open to all, inviting curious minds from all backgrounds to explore, create, and share new ideas through informal and interactive experiences. The organization helps people discover the genius in themselves and others with award-winning educational programs, exhibits, and attractions designed to challenge and connect people—from students and scientists to children and adults.

In addition to the informal education activities that take place at the Science Center campus, the organization provides hands-on opportunities in the community in a number of ways, including the Youth Exploring Science (YES) program. Using an informal learning environment and project-based education in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM), each year the YES program helps approximately 200 teenagers grow professionally and academically, preparing them for college and successful careers.

By creating a place and programs where everyone can discover together, the Saint Louis Science Center is forging the future of the region. It’s putting St. Louis at the center of science and science at the center of a more connected world.

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S T L i f e // Making a Splash

Making a Splash

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f you’re looking for an example of St. Louis’ vibrancy, look no further than the shadow of the Arch, where the Gateway Mall has seen a dramatic makeover in recent years. Just beyond the renovated grounds of Gateway Arch National Park, Kiener Plaza has been transformed into a 1.9acre green space and gathering place, replete with fl wering trees, shaded footpaths, café-style seating, a bike parking

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grove, a playground, a woodland garden, and interactive water features. Two blocks west, Citygarden (pictured) is an urban oasis, where kids splash amid sculptures and parents find scenic respite. On any given day, you’ll see St. Louisans and visitors of all stripes—families, sports fans, foodies, newlyweds—gathered at the heart of the city to unwind, refl ct, and celebrate.

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

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