Leah Clay-Downing, Lauren Healey, Izaiah Johnson, Christina Musgrave, Stone Selsor, Iain Shaw, Michelle Volansky
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Chris Andoe, Lauren Healey, Ileana Martinez, Bill Moran, Iain Shaw
Sauce was founded by Allyson Mace in 1999.
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If grab-and-go breakfast is what you’re after, the assorted temptations offered by Gelateria Coffee Co.’s pastry cabinet are sure to have something to satisfy. However, if you have the time to indulge in a little morning escapism, order one of chefowner Andrew Fair’s breakfast egg sandwiches and grab a table on the garden patio at this Tower Grove South institution while the kitchen makes your sandwich from scratch. Pillowy, golden-brown brioche is the vessel for an elevated start to your day, with a slab of soft scrambled egg, white cheddar and spicy mayo coming together for the Classic, a sandwich whose comforting texture belies a sharp edge. We recommend adding thick-cut bacon or layers of ham for an extra twist. An alternative option features spinach cooked with the egg, Swiss cheese and salsa rossa. Available until 11 a.m. every day.
the pork belly appetizer at oak street lounge
OAK STREET LOUNGE
The utterly charming town of Cottleville has a new, even more charming spot to have dinner and drinks. Start with the pork belly appetizer, our favorite dish of the evening, made with bourbon molasses and pineapple salsa atop a savorysweet scallion pancake. The Oak Street salad is another winner with its fresh, local greens, a ranch-inspired farmhouse dressing, manchego cheese, baby tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and smoked sunflower seeds. The dry-aged short rib was an ideal entree, served alongside Vermont cheddar grits, asparagus salad, and topped with pickled red onions and a beef rib reduction. To drink, start with the margarita-inspired Pineapple Sipper, which features Una Vida blanco tequila, pineapple juice, dry curacao, agave, lime juice and Deacon scotch. Finish with a dessert cocktail like the Mangue et Mure with Plantation white rum, ginger liqueur, blackberry, mango, orgeat and cinnamon served with an aromatic smoke bubble atop the drink. After dinner, head up to the rooftop to enjoy the sunset view of the green pastures just west of Oak Street. There’s a bar on the rooftop, but it only offers beer and wine, so if cocktails are more your speed, be sure to order one in the restaurant before hopping on the elevator.
5521 Oak St., Cottleville, 636.720.1901, oakstreetinnandlounge.com
KPOT
This chain’s first St. Louis-area location combines two of our favorite things — Korean barbecue and hot pot — under one roof. At the same table, in fact: Tables are fitted out for both barbecue and hot pot service, so use the tablet provided to order whatever you’re hungry for, cook it by yourself as your platters of food arrive, then enjoy with a range of dipping sauces. And then, start all over again, because Kpot gives you an all-you-can-eat feast for one flat price. You can choose to do just hot pot, or just barbecue, but doing both only costs an additional $5. We went for the hot pot, selecting the self-explanatory Szechuan Spicy and milder Healthy Herbs broth base. For meat, the prime brisket and fattier cuts like pork belly and beef belly offered most satisfaction, and we loved the option of ordering items like gyoza and shumai to plunge into the boiling broth. However, the real beauty here is that you can have a little bit of everything: Portions are relatively small, so there is no danger of filling up on one serving of meat and a couple of vegetables here. Take your time, have fun, and work your way through as much of the menu as you can.
9140 Overland Plaza Drive, Overland, 314.733.5733, thekpot.com
clockwise, from left: the salad at oak street lounge; kpot's barbecued meats and hot pot
First Look Nexus
BY IAIN SHAW
Nexus has been a long time coming, but it’s here, it’s open and on first impressions it’s looking like a restaurant with huge potential. The restaurant is part of the JCMidtown development, which currently includes four other food and drink venues: Kain Tayo, Anita Café & Bar, Videira Wine Shop & Bar, and Blue Jay Brewing Co.
Formerly the chef at Bait (a Sauce Best New Restaurant in 2019) and Fleur de Lilies, chef-owner Ceaira “Chef Jack” Jackson first announced plans for Nexus in August 2021. Three years and a lot of construction later, the restaurant is open for dinner service serving a menu that showcases Jackson’s knack for calling on influences from a variety of American and global cuisines, weaving those
flavors into dishes that are beautifully plated.
Nexus impresses immediately with a hip, modern design that whispers “worth the wait.” The restaurant, which seats around 60 diners inside, is divided into three separate dining areas, with a few extra tables outside and additional patio space that is shared with fellow JCMidtown tenants Blue Jay Brewing Co. and Videira Wine Shop & Bar. The entrance on Locust Street takes you into a dining room that features a stylish 10seat bar, two fireplaces and walls painted in complementary tones: sage on one wall, turquoise behind the bar, and a blue ceiling. There’s a plush leather sofa, and a coffee table by the window. The middle room adds more tables for two,
while the back dining room features a hole in the wall that, from the right vantage point, frames Jackson as she works in the kitchen.
Each of the rooms has its own unique touches, but the common threads are the slim tables with good solid wood tops, elegant seats in soft brown leather, wooden floorboards, exposed brick, and — most striking of all — a series of surreal art pieces by artist Frank Moth depicting flowers sprouting from the heads and shoulders of his subjects. It’s a great setting and a place people are going to enjoy settling into.
The menu reflects the restaurant’s name and its invocation of the idea of a place where diverse culinary legacies meet.
“We’re going across the globe with the cuisine,” Jackson said. At Nexus, you’ll find a short-rib Bolognese served on top of thick pappardelle, with a dollop of mascarpone topping the dish off. That sits comfortably alongside tandoori chicken — a boneless airline chicken breast rubbed with tandoori spices — served with a roasted garlic cream sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes, charred carrots, pickled onions and pea shoots. A lobster po’boy features chunks of lobster, fried tempura-style, alongside housemade pickles and remoulade on crusty bread, while a black-eyed pea hummus with fried okra blends classic Southern ingredients into an iconic Middle Eastern dish.
The cocktail list offers five takes on classic
cocktails that address a range of preferred flavor profiles: an espresso martini, a white negroni, a paloma, a French 75 and a Boulevardier. A selection of signature cocktails is also in the works.
Nexus is open for dinner from 4 to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m., but the bar will remain open until 11 p.m. At a later date, a limited menu of small bar bites may be offered in that final hour, Jackson said. Jackson added that she has no plans for brunch service, but she may eventually look at adding a Sunday dinner service that may offer a twist on the regular dinner menu.
2704 Locust Street, St. Louis, Instagram: @nexusstl
IN THE K N OW LINEAGE
BY IAIN SHAW
On the fourth Sunday of every month, chef Tai Davis hosts the latest installment of his Lineage dinner series, which aims to explore the cuisines of the African diaspora. This month’s event is scheduled to take place at The Smith at 3408 Locust St. on Sunday, Oct. 20.
The series launched in May with a dinner at Work & Leisure, but Davis and his partner, Kellen Myers, have since taken the series monthly. Each dinner is a multi-course affair based on a theme, with entrees supplemented by an array of small plates that give guests the opportunity to sample a wide range of dishes and flavors.
Davis said each Lineage dinner invites guests to “embark on a culinary journey through the diverse flavors of the African diaspora, from soul food and Gullah cuisine to the flavors of the Caribbean and various African culinary traditions. “We take all of those influences and whatnot and elevate it,” Davis said.
One of Davis’ goals with Lineage is to dismantle misconceptions and get people thinking about what soul food is, what it is not, and what it can be. “I wanted to get away from the misconception that soul food is only fried chicken, mac and cheese and yams and stuff,” Davis said. “It encompasses a lot more than that.”
With an eye on the bigger picture, Davis said he and Myers are using the Lineage series as proof-of-concept for a future brick-and-mortar restaurant. “We’re eventually going to be a restaurant,” Davis said. “This is our opportunity to really market ourselves and showcase what Lineage can do before we open up our restaurant.” Davis said his vision isn’t so much for a full-service restaurant, but rather a space that can be partly a restaurant and partly an outlet for community-focused projects. “Maybe have a daytime cooking school for inner-city schoolkids, maybe we partner with an urban farm,” he said.
Follow Davis on Instagram (@iofthetyler) to keep up with the latest announcements on upcoming dinners.
tai-davis.com/lineage
DRINK THIS
When fall hits, we reach for pumpkin ales, and the strong, spice-soaked ale brewed by Schlafly Beer has long been exemplary in the field. This year, Schlafly is getting even more from the pumpkin patch with its new Vanilla Pumpkin Ale, which is available on draft at Schlafly’s brewpubs and also for sale in six-packs. If you read “vanilla” as code for “sickly sweet,” worry not: The notes of vanilla we taste here are closer to the aroma you might get from an oak-aged bourbon rather than a sugary, creamy dessert. The vanilla also adds a certain smoothness that complements those pumpkin pie baking spices like cinnamon, clove and nutmeg carried over from Schlafly’s original pumpkin ale. Sipping this, it’s impossible not to be excited about the season ahead of us. Or maybe that’s the beer’s 8% ABV talking.
Multiple locations, schlafly.com
stuff to do OCTOBER
BY LAUREN HEALEY
Sauce Food Truck Friday
Oct. 4 – 3 to 7 p.m., Tower Grove Park, 4501 Southwest Drive, St. Louis, saucefoodtruckfriday.com
Like tough choices? Hit up our final Food Truck Friday in Tower Grove Park for the year. More than 20 of our favorite trucks will be there and, luckily, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Free admission.
Best of Missouri Market
Oct. 4 – 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Oct. 5 & 6 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, missouribotanicalgarden.org
This massive street fair features more than 120 regional vendors selling everything from arts and crafts to locally produced food, beer, wine, spirits and more. Plus, you get a chance to explore the gorgeous Missouri Botanical
Garden right as fall foliage is making its appearance. Tickets available online and at the gate.
Romanian Festival
Oct. 5 – 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. & Oct. 6 – noon to 6 p.m., St. Thomas the Apostle Orthodox Church, 6501 Nottingham Ave, St. Louis, stthomasstl.org Immerse yourself in the rich culture and cuisine of Romania at this family-friendly event. Romanian fare such as sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls), mici (grilled sausages), plus chicken and rice and more will be available for purchase. There will also be live music and tours of the church. Free admission.
Fountain Plaza Drive, Chesterfield, 636.227.6800, veritasgateway.com
Veritas is celebrating its 20th anniversary at this year’s pig roast. In addition to pork aplenty, there will also be appetizers, salads and sides, plus drinks and dessert. Tickets available by phone or email to veritasgateway@ gmail.com.
Pumpkins & Potions
Oct. 6 – 11 a.m. & Oct. 20 – 3 p.m., Solarium at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis, 100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton, ritzcarlton.com/stlouis
The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis is turning its Afternoon Tea service into a spooky, Halloween-themed meal on two dates in October. Menu items include cranberry-curry chicken salad on sourdough bread, egg salad “finger”
sandwiches, along with egg, pumpkin and goat cheese tarts, plus a variety of festive desserts. Reservations available online.
Harvest Festival by Sauce Magazine
Oct. 13 – 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tower Grove Park, 4501 Southwest Drive, St. Louis, harvestfeststl.com
Celebrate the bounty of the season with us at Tower Grove Park. This event is like Sauce Food Truck Friday, but much bigger and better as we have about 20 food trucks, in addition to over 50 artisan vendors and farmers. Live music for the day includes Brother Soultones, The Blue Sparks and Alligator Wine, St. Louis’ best Grateful Dead cover band. Free admission.
Sabrina Carpenter Martini Party
Oct. 10 – 7 to 11 p.m., Art Bar, Angad Arts Hotel, 3550 Samuel Shepard, St. Louis, angadartshotel.com
Pop star Sabrina Carpenter is all the rage lately, and the Art Bar atop the Angad Arts Hotel is hosting a martini party a week before her performance in St. Louis on Oct. 17. This dance party features vendors, DJs and an espresso martini as your welcome cocktail. Tickets available online.
Golden Gems Block Party
Oct. 12 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Golden Gems, 3108 Locust St., St. Louis, shopgoldengems.com
Disco dive bar Hidden Gem took Midtown by storm when it opened earlier this year, and now it will be a key part of sister concept Golden Gems’ third annual street festival. The vendor market will feature lots of quirky artisan goods,
and the drinks will be flowing at Hidden Gem, just two doors down from Golden Gems. Free admission.
Delish on Delmar
Oct. 18 – 5 to 10 p.m., Delmar Maker District, St. Louis, delishondelmar.com
This block party, makers’ market and food festival takes place in the burgeoning Delmar Maker District. Food vendors in attendance include Steve’s Hot Dogs, Beyond Sweet Kitchen + Bar, Scoops of Joy, Crooked Boot and many more. There will also be live music on a stage on Delmar Boulevard, which will be closed from Lake to Academy avenues. Free admission.
denotes a sauce-sponsored event
REASONS WE LOVE
CHILISPOT
We can argue about which of China’s regional cuisines is the greatest, but there’s no doubt that the spicy but deeply nuanced food of Southwest China’s Sichuan province demands a prominent place in that conversation. When we want good Sichuan cuisine — and Chinese homestyle classics too — in St. Louis, we head for ChiliSpot. Here’s why.
BY IAIN SHAW // PHOTOS BY MABEL SUEN
1.
The atmosphere here is sociable and approachable: It’s neither hushed and restrained nor overwhelmingly noisy, and the crowd includes everyone from college students to families with grandparents and grandchildren in tow. Whether you’re dining in a larger, more rambunctious group or dining alone and people-watching, you’ll feel right at home.
2.
The portions are large, so it pays to bring friends. And of course, the larger your group, the more you can order. Gather around one of ChiliSpot’s round tables, load up the lazy susan and spin it to grab more of the dishes you love before they’re all gone.
3.
The enormous menu not only guarantees there’s always something new to try, ChiliSpot also makes ordering easier by providing photos of many of the dishes: If it looks good to you, get it.
4.
The “dry pot” section of the menu shows off a Sichuanese approach to cooking that’s similar to hot pot, just – as the name suggests – minus the broth. We return regularly to the cauliflower dry pot, which is spicy and rich, infused with aromatics and red and green chiles. You can also take this a step further and go for the build-your-own dry pot option.
5.
Fish stews and soups served in huge portions as a centerpiece for the table are something China takes very seriously, and these dishes are a recurring theme at ChiliSpot. You need to try each of these once to sample their diverse flavor profiles, so plan visits around the spicy grilled fish (kaoyu), a whole fish served in a shallow, spicy broth and topped with a mound of chile peppers, peanuts, cilantro and scallions; the boiled sliced fish in hot sauce (shuizhu yu), which features fish in a sharp, spicy and oily broth; and the fish fillet with pickled soup (suancai yu), a fish broth that shows off Sichuanese cuisine’s ability to blend sour and savory notes effortlessly while still retaining that signature kick of spice.
6.
The boiled fish with Chinese green pepper is distinguished by its use of green huajiao (“flower pepper”). These peppercorns impart herbal, floral notes alongside the tingle of numbing spice that diners familiar with this pepper’s red counterpart will recognize. The smooth, flaky texture of the fish is a perfect foil for the silky broth, which also includes green peppercorn oil.
The “deep-fried mini buns” listed on the “Chinese dessert” section of the menu are near-ubiquitous on restaurant menus in China, and you’ll soon learn why. The Chinese name translates as “silver and gold steamed buns.” The “silver” refers to plain steamed buns, or mantou, the “gold” to their deep-fried siblings. Grab a bun and plunge it into the dish of condensed milk supplied.
8.
ChiliSpot supplements its more unique offerings with best-in-class versions of classic staples. The kung pao chicken is a case in point: boneless chunks of chicken, peanuts, scallions, scorched dried chile peppers, garlic, ginger and more, all doused in a sweet, tangy and slightly spicy sauce.
9.
Liangcai, or cold dishes, are an essential part of any meal in China, and ChiliSpot has a number of excellent examples. Don’t miss the chewy texture of the wood ear mushroom salad, the handmade green bean jelly in chile sauce (mung bean shaped into strips of jelly-like noodles topped with a deep-red chile oil), or the Sichuan cold noodles, which are spicy, sweet and –thanks to a little Chinese black vinegar – a little sour.
7930 Olive Blvd., University City, 314.925.8711, chilispotusa.com
HIGH
Honeybee Edibles launches new blue raspberry gumdrops TIME
There’s no such thing as a blue raspberry,
yet the flavor has been pervasive for decades in everything from candy to slushies and probably a lot in between.
St. Louis-based Honeybee Edibles has really upped the ante for the ever-popular flavor combination with its new pâte de fruit gumdrops made with the puree of blueberries and raspberries, which debuted in Missouri dispensaries in midSeptember. The inclusion of real fruit gives the edibles a deep purple hue, rather than the artificial, electric-blue color we’re used to seeing in many blue raspberry products. Honeybee now offers a dozen different flavors of gumdrops, along with nine flavors of high-quality chocolate bars (the peanut butter and jelly is our new favorite infused chocolate).
Acclaimed chef Dave Owens, current
Honeybee Edibles director of culinary and former head chocolatier for Bissinger’s, has put his skills to work for yet another delectable flavor of Honeybee Edibles, and we’re here to tell you they’re not only delicious with plenty of fruity sweetness and just a hint of tang, but the buzz they impart from high-quality distillate is top-notch. And while many edibles leave a lingering distillate or solvent taste in your mouth, these taste like candy that’s not even infused thanks to expert craftsmanship from Owens. The gummies also have a new hexagonal shape, rather than the rounded gummies we’ve tried from Honeybee in the past; they’re giving honeycomb vibes, which is really more fitting for a brand called Honeybee.
You can find the new blue raspberry gumdrops at many dispensaries across the state — including Proper Cannabis, where Honeybee Edibles is the house brand — available in 100- and 300-milligram bags.
by Lauren Healey
HAUN TE D
SOULARD
A
look at the historic neighborhood’s six most haunted bars and restaurants
by Chris Andoe
// Photos by Braden McMakin
N o. 6
The Hi Hat
In 2023, when Patrick Webster bought and moved into the building where Soulard Mardi Gras began, he was often alone, but didn’t feel alone. “I kept thinking I heard someone breaking in, but nobody was there.” Cameras have picked up a shadowy figure, and the spirits reportedly turn on the lights and air conditioning after the bar closes. “I monitor the AC closely and never forget to turn it off, because my bill can be $4,000 a month,” Webster said. “But many times everything is on in the morning.”
Webster allowed the Maven to descend into the basement, where she felt a different kind of energy. “This was a place for sneaking away for trysts,” she said. “This was a place for hijinx.”
Some of the spiritual energy, according to the Maven, predates the building. “We’re adjacent to the site of a Civil War encampment, which included a hospital,” she said.
1017 Russell Blvd., St. Louis, 314.802.7517, thehihatstl.com
N o. 5
Stews Food & Liquor
“This is a small but powerful place,” the Maven began. “There’s only one bathroom, and it’s inhabited by a spirit that doesn’t like men. It has been reported over and over that patrons visiting that facility have felt a woman’s presence and have been scratched and had their leg hair pulled.” There have also been frequent accounts of hearing the sounds of hooves running down the adjacent alley. “Legend has it that a trader was robbed of his horses and goods in that alley. The panicked horses ran and their hooves echo still.”
1862 S. 10th St., St. Louis, stewsstl.com
N o. 4
Hammerstone’s
“Those working here report tapping, knocking and thudding noises,” the Maven said. “There are cold spots, and bells that ring themselves. The stairway in the front emits its own dark history, known to be the scene of murder, tragedy and abuse. Bodies thudding down the treads. The kitchen is particularly active, full of orbs, objects moving on their own…”
A district famed for
its
corner taverns,
Soulard is rumored to have countless ghosts, so we consulted with Soulard socialite, psychic medium and “Maven of Mardi Gras” Luann Denten to rank the neighborhood’s most haunted establishments. We met at the corner of Ninth Street and Allen Avenue on a breezy September evening as colored lights shone through weathered old shutters, reminding me of New Orleans. I couldn’t have asked for a better guide. “The Maven,” as many call Denten, seems to know everyone in the neighborhood — living and dead.
2028 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314.773.5565, hammerstones.net
N o. 3 Tucker’s Place
“This is an establishment with a dark past, from the saddest of accidents to the violence of murder,” the Maven said. “Tucker’s Place remains haunted by a young girl who fell to her death from an upstairs window. This place was also the headquarters of a mobster and where he was murdered in his office. And if you look up to the right of the front door, you may see a little elderly woman who died there, in her favorite daily lunch spot.”
2117 S. 12th St., St. Louis, 314.772.5977, tuckersplace.com
N o. 2
9th Street Deli at Howard’s
Born on Ninth Street, the 9th Street Deli moved to 13th Street to occupy the space that for many years was the gritty Hi-Way Bar. “The Hi-Way Bar was also part restaurant, apartments, music venue
and flop house,” the Maven said. “When the developer renovated the old bar to become 9th Street Deli’s predecessor, Howard’s, the spirits of the longtime owners presented themselves to me.”
Howard’s had yet to open when the Maven was visiting with the owner there late one night. She saw a woman at the other end of the bar, as clear as a living person. “She appeared in full form, with dyed red hair and a cigarette flopping out of her lipsticked mouth, and stared right back at me and said, ‘What the fuck are you looking at?’ She’s an aggressive spirit still protecting her place. Frozen in time.”
2732 S. 13th St., St. Louis, 314.664.3354, ninthstreetdeli.net
N o. 1
Big Daddy’s
“The last vestige of the Green Tree Brewery, this building pulses with psychic energy,” the Maven began. “Active presences occupy every level of this busy gathering place, from the little girl in the nightgown looking for her family, to the bearded laborer lurking in the hallway, to the security footage of flying orbs and chairs tumbling over.”
maven luann denten
According to the Maven, the factors contributing to the haunting run as deep as the Sidney Street Cave beneath the structure, where she said indigenous people took refuge, as did gangs of homeless boys during the Great Depression. “As one of the owners was helping his young daughter, he heard his other daughter conversing with someone. ‘Who are you talking to,’ he asked. ‘The little girl in the nightgown,’ she answered. As the hair on the back of his neck hackled, he asked, ‘What did she say?’ His daughter eerily replied, ‘She said it’s time for you to go now.’”
1000 Sidney St., St. Louis, 314.858.8321, bigdaddyssoulardbar.com
A Spirited Debate
Of course, hauntings aren’t easy to rank, especially in a neighborhood as old and storied as Soulard. One active site didn’t make the cut because it’s currently vacant: 1031 Lynch St., formerly occupied by Boo Coo, Sage, Lynch Street Tavern and Mama Gustos 314, is said to be filled with ghosts, most who had lived in the four homes combined to create the space.
“This site is full of assertive, testy entities,” the Maven said. “When a previous bar owner scoffed at the idea of ghosts, he was told he better stop mocking the idea or he would be hit upside the head. The following day, he was struck by a falling roof tile.” She said ghosts include a workman known as Kenny, who died due to an industrial accident, but doesn’t fully realize he’s dead, and continues to work.
Over at Bastille, the lively gay bar at Russell Boulevard and Menard Street, bartender Mark Rumback said that when keno numbers appear that were known to be played by deceased patrons or employees, he’ll make an announcement about the deceased being in the house.
Soulardians are deeply connected to their neighborhood haunts, so much so that it seems many have lingered well past their own last call.
big daddy’s “pulses with psychic energy,” says denton
THE
THE PASSPORT
The owners of mobile cocktail bar Pour Decisions now have a brick-and-mortar in Downtown West
STORY
AND
PHOTOS
Pour Decisions STL launched in 2020 as a mobile bar company offering expertly crafted cocktails at events around town.
Co-owners Javia Gilliam-Sanford and Kaje Sanford experienced so much success with the operation that they decided to make it even more official with a brick-and-mortar location called The Passport in Downtown West St. Louis in the former Whisky on Washington space.
BY
LAUREN HEALEY
Inspired by the owners’ travels around the world, The Passport offers an array of interesting and unique cocktails.
“Traveling is our love language, so this bar is our homage to that part of our story,” Javia explained.
Some of the featured cocktails include the From Mykonos, With Love, which features Mastiha, a sweet and rich Greek liquor, mint, lime juice, simple syrup
and club soda; Earl’s Fever Dream, a riff on an espresso martini with Earl Grey vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, simple syrup and lavender cold foam; the Golden Martini with gin, dry vermouth, bitters and three caviar-stuffed Sicilian olives; and the I Said What I Said, a play on a Last Word cocktail, with gin, maraschino liqueur, creme de violette, lemon juice and egg white. Kaje is the mixology specialist of the two, although
they both had a heavy hand in creation of the menu items.
Javia is a certified sommelier and she’s putting her expertise to good use, so guests can expect a robust wine list and many great bottles available for purchase in the bottle shop. There’s also a great selection of whiskeys, classic cocktails, including a short list of gin and tonic variations.
On the food side, you’ll find just a few snacks: truffle popcorn, gummy bears, and savory trail mix with jerk plantains, dehydrated olives and five types of nuts. No outside food is allowed, as the owners envision their bar as a place where people will stop in for a few drinks before or after dinner.
The 1,200-square-foot space feels roomier than its size suggests, with a huge streetfacing window letting in plenty of natural light until the sun sets. There’s an elevated stage area up front, so the owners are looking to add live music soon. “It would be small – we don’t want the music to overpower the space,” Javia said.
Nods to the couple’s many travels are evident throughout the bar, with photos from around the world adorning the walls, along with thrifted midcentury modern furniture such as lotus flower lamps from the ’70s, French bistro tables, and banquettes made out of refurbished church pews. As a fun tidbit, international postcards are included with all guest checks. “It’s a cozy, chill vibe,” Javia said. “We’ve got a lot of modern disco and R&B playing, and we want people to be able to come in and relax.”
There’s also a membership program offering perks like discounts on room rentals, exclusive happy hours and tasting events. The Pour Decisions mobile bar will still continue operating but on a much more limited basis as the owners get things rolling at the new brick-and-mortar. In the near future, you’ll be able to find the mobile bar at Frizz Fest at Tower Grove Park on Sept. 21, as well as at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Best of Missouri Market the first weekend in October.
The Passport is open from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, 6 to midnight Friday, 4 p.m. to midnight Saturday and 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday.
1321 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314.594.7564, bio.site/thepassport
kaje sanford stirs the from mykonos, with love cocktail
ST. LOUIS CLUB
BY IAIN SHAW
In the mid-1960s, downtown Clayton was already on a path to establishing itself as a business hub, but it was still a city in transition. “There wasn’t a whole lot out here at the time,” said Mike Brady, the current manager of the St. Louis Club. When a group of local businessmen founded the St. Louis Club in 1964, they set up shop in one of the first high-rise constructions in Clayton. It had only been seven years since the city government had abolished a regulation placing a height limit on newly constructed buildings.
Brady said the club started out primarily as a business networking group. “They
were looking for a place where they could go, have privacy and conduct business,” he said. The conversations and connections the club has fostered have typically been facilitated over food and drink. That singular focus is a contrast with the region’s country clubs, and it’s a point of pride for Brady. “We don’t have golf, we don’t have tennis, we don’t have swimming pools – we really are just straight-up food and beverage,” he said.
When the club began planning for a move away from its longtime home at the Pierre Laclede Center to a state-of-theart, more than 40,000 square-foot space at the nearby Centene Plaza C, it made
sense to put food and drink at the heart of the new facility. With the help of New York City-based architecture firm Bentel & Bentel, that’s very literally what they did, placing the enormous, 8,000-squarefoot kitchen at the center of the club.
“The whole thing is like a racetrack that runs around the kitchen,” Brady said.
Run by executive chef Mathieu Lefebvre, the “Lamborghini of kitchens” (as Brady calls it) serves not only the club’s casual dining room and its fine dining restaurant, with convenient access points for each, but also provides catering services for the club’s private meeting rooms. As well as the main cooking lines – one for casual
dining, one for fine dining – the kitchen includes a pastry station, a butchery, and a chef’s table-style dining room with large windows offering diners a panoramic view of the kitchen at work.
Although access to the club is membership-based, the broader St. Louis community has also enjoyed the work of many chefs who have passed through the St. Louis Club’s kitchens at some point in their careers. Some notable recent examples include Andrew Cisneros, chefowner of Jalea and Brasas (and a Sauce Ones to Watch honoree in 2021) and Christopher Delgado, owner of The Wood Shack before its closure in Soulard earlier
this year. Brady said the club’s J-1 visa program also helps to bring talented young chefs to St. Louis, many of whom come with experience in Michelin-star restaurants in Europe.
The club’s new location was intentionally designed to smooth out the logistics of catering multiple events in tandem with regular dinner service. Whereas the new club is entirely located on a single floor, the old club’s multi-floor layout meant event management required the precision of an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist, with servers shuttling back-and-forth in elevators and managers coordinating by walkie-talkie. “It was all over the place,” Brady said. Now, the club’s private rooms can simultaneously host several events ranging from small meetings of less than ten people to weddings for as many as 260.
While the club’s management and staff welcomed the streamlined logistics and infrastructural upgrades afforded by the move to the new digs, they also had to get the aesthetic right. In this regard, Brady said they had to balance a fresh, modern feel with what he called a “tip of the hat” to the club’s history. “We brought certain pieces and elements with us from across the street,” he said, pointing out furniture, sculptures, vases and other decorative pieces that were on display at the club’s original location. St. Louis-born Carol Bentel, one of the partners at Bentel & Bentel, played a leading role in shaping the look and feel of the new space, consciously incorporating art by local artists like Bryan Haynes into the interior design, with many works
depicting locations around St. Louis.
Other “artifacts” that were uncovered during the move were surplus to requirements. “We were getting into spaces we hadn’t been in a long time, and we were finding probably original beer cans from the construction crews that were from the 1960s – probably collector’s items,” Brady said. “They were just sitting there pristine behind the wall in the substructure.”
The sommeliers at the St. Louis Club like to stash bottles of wine away for the future, though that’s part of the club’s expansive wine program. Brady said the club’s wine offerings, including a wine list as thick as an old-school phone book, as well as access to hard-to-find wines and rare allocated wines, are a big selling point for some members. The club invests early in wines that can be aged in-house, then broken out years later and sold to members at competitive prices. “What’s cool is people will come in from different parts of the country and they’ll look at the wine list and be like, ‘Do you really have this? Do you know that you’re not charging enough for that?’” he said. “It’s all relative.”
As the club approaches its 60th anniversary celebrations toward the end of this year, Brady is happy to take a moment to reflect on the past – but he also has his sights set firmly on the future. “We designed knowing that this was going to be home for the next 60 years,” he said.
