Standards

Great Expectations

Sado named one of the most anticipated restaurants in the U.S.

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

The St. Louis dining community has been buzzing about the forthcoming Sado ever since the Bognar family announced their plans to open the restaurant last fall. Now, it appears the rest of the country is eagerly awaiting the opening of the world-class sushi restaurant as well.

In its roundup of the 14 Most Anticipated Restaurants in America published on January 3, Bloomberg named Sado as one of the top places to look forward to in 2023. The forthcoming restaurant, which will soon open in the former Giovanni’s on the Hill, shares the honor with some of the biggest names in American dining, such as the soon-to-open Miami outpost of acclaimed New York brasserie Pastis, and New York City’s Moono, which comes from the group behind Atomix, which is ranked as one of the 50 top restaurants in the world.

“It’s pretty exciting to be on a list with so many badass people,” says Nick Bognar, chef and co-owner of Sado, Indo and Nippon Tei. “Sometimes, I have imposter syndrome, but then I remind myself of how hard our whole team works. We have so many awesome, talented people working for us that I feel like we are capable of so much more. I’m looking forward to enabling those people and being the chef again at a new spot.”

As Bognar explains, Sado feels like a full-circle realization for his parents, Ann and Mike, who opened their west county Japanese restaurant Nippon Tei 21 years ago. Through their hard work and dedication, they built the spot into one of the city’s most beloved restaurants and sparked in their son an interest in the culinary field that would set him on course to become an acclaimed chef and restaurateur in his own right. It set him up to go on to other restaurants around the country, where he honed his skills before coming back to Nippon Tei in 2017.

Working alongside his parents, Bognar took Nippon Tei in a new direction, turning the restaurant into a top-notch sushi restaurant while executing on old favorites. He parlayed this success into Indo, the Botanical Heights hot spot he opened in 2019 that has earned him national acclaim.

Sado represents the next evolution in Bognar and his family’s restaurant story. When it opens, Nippon Tei will shutter — a change that is both exciting and emotional for the family.

“My mom and dad got started with Nippon Tei 21 years ago,” Bognar says. “The were both food and beverage professionals before that, so this is a huge culmination of the mountain of work they have done. I’m stoked to see my parents have an actual tangible building where everything we do to make it awesome is ours. It’s so great to see my mom and dad have an obvious next step.”

Though Sado will incorporate several elements of Nippon Tei, Bognar is excited to build the restaurant from the ground up. He describes the restaurant, first and foremost, as a sushi bar that will have a core menu but will also feature a rotating selection of fish and other offerings. He is also excited to feature a robust Wagyu beef menu, and he is eager to play around with different techniques, such as dry aging his fish.

Though Bognar describes Sado as a fine dining restaurant, he wants to dispel the perception that it will be a stuffy, special occasion place. He notes that the interior will consist of a cocktail bar and lounge in addition to the dining room where tables will be reserved for walk-ins.

“People are getting this feeling that we are this serious restaurant, but I have to play around a little,” Bognar says. “I don’t want it to feel stuffy. You can come in and know why you are here and everything is done extremely well; we take the food and presentation seriously, but I want to bring that feeling of just having fun and give people surprises when things hit the table. The food won’t be ‘suit and tie and everything is so perfect.’ We will still show extreme respect to the ingredients, but we want to color outside the lines a little bit.”

Bognar is equally excited about the Sado space itself. Because his family owns the building, they have been able to fully renovate it to their exact specifications and taste, resulting in what he describes as a stunning restaurant with an aesthetic that matches the level of the food it will be serving. He is also looking forward to the restaurant’s outdoor space, which will consist of a private sushi pavilion, and he is equally thrilled to begin doing his omakase chef tasting dinners as soon as the restaurant gets its feet underneath it.

“We are going to do what we do really well, and people are going to love it,” Bognar promises. “The sky is the limit.” n

Nick Bognar and family will open Sado in the coming months. | SPENCER PERNIKOFF

CHERYL BAEHR’S DUMPLING PICKS

As the lights of the holiday season go dark, and the cold air seeps into our bones, there’s nothing better than a steaming hot dumpling to battle the winter blues. These soulful, savory wonders offer the most delicious kind of respite. Here’s where we’re enjoying them.

Soup Dumplings STL The soup dumplings at Soup Dumplings STL are a feat of engineering; the wonton wrapper is so delicate you wonder how it holds such steaming hot jus and fillings, yet it somehow does until strategically pierced with a chopstick, revealing mouthwatering savory nectar and meat. The pork and crab version is transcendent.

Sides of Seoul This casual Korean spot offers an embarrassment of Korean snack riches, but the mandoo is a can’tmiss offering. Filled with ground pork and lightly fried, these stuffed wonders soothe the soul.

Lona’s Lil Eats Before she was a James Beard-awardnominated chef with a popular fastcasual storefront, Lona Luo made a name for herself selling dumplings at the Soulard Farmers Market. One taste of her handiwork, and you understand why they propelled her to greatness. Peppery beef and smoked mushrooms provide a delectable filling, and the accompanying chile-sesame vinaigrette is positively addictive.

Tiger Soup Dumplings Operated by the family behind Soup Dumplings STL, Fenton’s Tiger Soup Dumplings takes its sister spot’s signature dish as a jumping-off point, offering different ingredients and the ability to have your dumplings pan fried in addition to just steamed.

Corner 17 The delicate silken wrappers that make up Corner 17’s handmade wontons are stunning. When filled with succulent pork, and soaked up with hauntingly delicious sesame chili sauce, they become otherworldly. n

Not So Sustainable

Cherokee’s Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop closes abruptly, former sta criticize owner

Written by MONICA OBRADOVIC

Abeloved bakery on Cherokee Street has closed retail operations and let go of most of its staff.

Kaylen Wissinger says she’s made the difficult decision to “reorient” Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop (2201 Cherokee Street, 314-932-5166) after months of hardship. The shop’s storefront has closed for retail sales as Wissinger transitions the business to focus solely on wholesale and its ice-pop brand, Poptimism.

“I’ve been holding on as long as I could,” Wissinger tells the RFT. Over the past six months, Wissinger says Whisk had been putting out a lot of products and “did not properly adjust prices as I needed to.” Between wholesale accounts, special orders and retail operations, “the numbers just weren’t adding up.”

“I realized that and thought we could hang on a little longer, but then we couldn’t,” Wissinger adds. “I went to run payroll and was like, ‘I don’t have the money.’ It’s pretty shitty and as simple as that.”

Wissinger announced the bakeshop’s transition on social media last Thursday. In the post, Wissinger wrote of Whisk’s “scaling back” after “weathering the storm of the last three years.”

To past employees, the announcement left out one crucial message — that they had been abruptly let go on December 29 with little to no notice that Whisk was truly in trouble. Past employees took to social media to comment on the closure announcement and criticize Wissinger for not warning them that the business was in trouble.

“We cared about Whisk, and we wanted it to be successful so we could continue working there,” said a former general manager, who spoke to the RFT on condition of anonymity. She says other past employees along with herself offered extra help multiple times to help keep Whisk afloat. “It’s very disappointing to think of how much I put into this business only to be fired with no notice.”

According to former employees, Whisk’s reorientation followed months of suspected trouble. Yet, when staff raised questions of Whisk’s stability they say Wissinger always assured them things were fine. They were told their jobs were not at risk.

Around July, multiple Whisk employees heard Wissinger tell a Poptimism employee that Whisk was “hemorrhaging money.” Poptimism, a line of popsicles owned by Wissinger, is a popular food truck and was one of the first vendors to set up shop in City Foundry STL’s food hall in 2021.

At a managers’ meeting in August, according to the general manager, Wissinger was asked what the managers could do to help Whisk make more money. They also asked about two employees who they allege were not given raises promised months earlier (one of these employees said they received about $1,000 in back pay within 10 days of raising the issue to Wissinger).

Business continued as usual in the following months — until December, when the employees were abruptly let go.

Wissinger called each employee individually to explain Whisk’s shutdown. She understands their frustrations, she says: “I thought a lot about what I could’ve done differently, but I can’t go back in time and fix it.”

“I need to figure out if this even makes sense to do anymore,” Wissinger adds. “And it sucks. We just really grew really fast after opening the Foundry location, and I’m burnt out … I only got into this because I like to bake. I’m not a business person, per se. I’ve made a million mistakes, and they’ve kind of just all caught up to me.”

On Friday afternoon, Wissinger was working alone at the bakeshop in south city. She says she plans to continue operations by herself in Whisk’s current space.

At this point, she hopes to eventually open the front of the shop for walk-up sales again. “I’m certainly planning on reopening,” she says. “I’m just not really sure when or in what capacity.”

Whisk had just passed its 10-year anniversary in November, a milestone reached in spite of the hardest years of the pandemic. Yet the past three years ultimately proved to be too much, Wissinger wrote in her social media announcement last week. Costs had skyrocketed, and employees were working “twice as hard to just keep our heads above water.”

Employees say they generally enjoyed working at Whisk. They just wished they could have had more time to prepare for the end of their employment.

“There were a lot of perks for working there. [Wissinger] is a good person, and I looked up to her,” says one employee who worked at Whisk for nearly two years. “But I don’t know if I would want to work there again.” n

Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop has indefinitely closed its walk-in sales. | MONICA OBRADOVIC

[FOOD NEWS]

Cold Comfort

Eckert’s launches Cozy Cider Cabin pop-up to warm up your winter

Written by DANIEL HILL

The weather outside may again be frightful, but a new pop-up bar from Eckert’s Farm aims to bring some delight to the east side of the river this winter.

The Belleville, Illinois, farm announced Wednesday afternoon that it will be hosting a “Cozy Cider Cabin” pop-up each Thursday through Sunday beginning on January 12. The special event will see Eckert’s Cider Shed, which opened over the summer, transported to the mountains for an immersive experience meant to evoke cabin living.

According to a press release, the Cider Shed will be decked out in rustic decor for the pop-up, and a special menu will include such tasty treats as butter boards, charcuterie and bison burgers. Naturally, cider will be on hand as well, perfect for cozying up to the fire with friends.

Best of all, proceeds from the pop-up will go toward the energy bills of our lowincome neighbors through a partnership with Heat Up St. Louis. Reservations are $5 apiece to book, with all of that money being donated to the local charitable organization.

According to Eckert’s President Chris Eckert, expanding use of the Cider Shed through special events and pop-ups is a “top priority” for the farm.

“We see the Cider Shed as an investment to the future — offering both family-friendly activities and new events for adults, like themed pop-up bars,” Eckert said in a statement. “To transform the space into a cozy and fun atmosphere during our dreary winter months is a win for everyone, and most importantly it helps a very important cause through our partnership with Heat Up St. Louis.”

Eckert’s Cozy Cider Cabin will be open from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday to Sunday through February 19. Guests can make reservations on the farm’s website. Walk-ins are also welcome and will be admitted for just $5. n

Eckert’s will have all sorts of delicious treats on hand. JOY MICHELLE PHOTOGRAPHY