Riverfront Times, October 12, 2022

TABLE

CONTENTS

Crypto Mayor

instant

Publisher Chris Keating

Editor in Chief Rosalind Early

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Jessica Rogen

Editor at Large Daniel Hill

Digital Content Editor Jaime Lees

Food Editor Cheryl Baehr

Staff Writers Ryan Krull, Monica Obradovic, Benjamin Simon Theater Critic Tina Farmer

Copy Editor Evie Hemphill

Contributors

Smoky Bear. Thomas K. Chimchards, Joseph Hess, Reuben Hemmer, Andy Paulissen, Famous Mortimer, Victor Stefanescu, Mabel Suen, Graham Toker, Theo Welling

Columnists Ray Hartmann, Dan Savage Editorial Interns Kasey Noss, Sarah Lovett

ART & PRODUCTION

Art Director Evan Sult

Creative Director Haimanti Germain

Production Manager Sean Bieri Graphic Designer Aspen Smit

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING

Associate Publisher Colin Bell Account Manager Jennifer Samuel Directors of Business Development

Rachel Hoppman, Chelsea Nazaruk

MARKETING

Director of Marketing & Events Christina Kimerle Marketing Coordinator Sydney Schaefer

BUSINESS

Regional Operations Director Emily Fear

CIRCULATION

Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

EUCLID MEDIA GROUP hie ec ti e cer Andrew Zelman hie perati cers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Executive Editor Sarah Fenske

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Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977

Sam Page Is Not the Democrat You Think He Is

His record in Je City — and since — speaks volumes for making this county exec race a nonpartisan choice

BY RAY HARTMANN

In 2008, then-state Representa tive Sam Page ran unsuccess fully for the post of Missouri lieutenant governor. But the man who managed Page’s cam paign would go on to a certain measure of success as a familiar face in the St. Louis region. His name is Jeff Roorda. Perhaps you’re familiar with Roorda’s work as St. Louis’ most noxious racial agitator for white people. He’s the one who sported the “I am Darren Wilson” rubber bracelet backing the police offi cer who killed Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson. Roorda would become a lightning rod for racial division during his wretched ten ure as business manager of the St. ouis olice Officers Association.

But until this year, Roorda was a Democrat. He and Page were friends and colleagues on the same side of the aisle in the Mis souri House from 2004 to 2008. age’s campaign-finance reports list payments to Roorda for cam paign management.

Roorda won election four times as a Democrat for his state House seat representing Imperial, Mis souri. He lost it once in 2010 to Republican Paul Wieland, who de feated him again in 2014 in a state Senate race. This year, Roorda switched parties to run as a Repub lican for state Senate. He lost a pri mary race many thought he would win. Then he lost his job in the city.

Personally, I don’t think party la bels are the ones that matter with oorda. Suffice it to say, Sam age’s erstwhile campaign manager is

not likely to be teaching critical race theory anytime soon.

Suddenly, party labels are ev erything to Page and his support ers. It might be the only thing they want to discuss in his reelection campaign — such as it is — against businessman Mark Mantovani.

Mantovani did have to execute at least a nominal party switch to run against Page on the Republi can ticket for county executive. He was selected last month by Re publicans after the party’s bizarre primary choice, Katherine Pinner, stepped aside, perhaps to devote more time to hunt evil forces im planting chips in our vaccines.

Mantovani has run twice unsuc cessfully in the Democratic pri mary for county executive, losing narrowly in 2018 to then-County Executive Steve Stenger and run ning second to Page in a four-way field in . ow he’s on the e publican ticket for a job that has little to do with partisan issues (and would be nonpartisan in most other similar jurisdictions).

Mantovani’s party switch would only matter if it meant that he inex plicably transformed into a Trumploving follower of the authoritarian forces that have infested the GOP. In his past races, he seemed more like a moderate independent or Re publican than a Democrat, which was no big deal to me.

If Mantonvani starts spewing

AGA talking points, or if ric Schmitt or osh Hawley or Ann Wagner shows up to campaign for him, he’s dead to me. In fact, if Roorda shows up to campaign for him, he’s dead to me.

But if Mantovani proves to be the same guy he has been in the past — which is to say passionate only about issues of county gover nance, with little or no reference to national topics — then I don’t care if he runs as a Whig.

Especially since he’s opposing a guy who can’t even carry the Dem ocrats on his own County Council.

There are four Democrats there. Two of them, County Council Chairwoman Rita Heard Days and Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, are Black women with extraor dinary resumes and reputations for independent thought. Both qualities seem to threaten Page on some deep psychological level.

Days and Webb have sometimes formed an unlikely voting alliance with Republican Councilmen Tim

HARTMANN

Fitch and Mark Harder, usually on matters in which Page failed to show honesty or accountability in managing county government. Days and Webb have also stayed united in calling out Page for re peatedly shortchanging north county and its Black residents.

Page has maintained support from Councilwomen Kelli Dun away and Lisa Clancy, both pro gressive white women. Clancy is the sister of Page’s most recent campaign manager, albeit not Roorda this time.

Of the three Republicans on the council, only Page’s close personal friend — right-wing Councilman Ernie Trakas — votes with Page frequently. Perhaps that’s because, on Page’s watch, the county spent $60,000 to pay off a sexual harass ment claim against Trakas, the selfproclaimed taxpayer watchdog.

The Page administration thus advanced the cause of “believing the man” who insists the woman’s claims were totally invented and bogus. As one does as a emocrat

And Trakas wasn’t the only e publican official accused of ha rassment who was shielded by Page. Who could forget another of Page’s good pals from across the aisle, hantom Auditor ark Tucker, who seems to have drawn county paychecks as an auditor for nearly four years — thanks largely to Page — for doing at most six audits in three years and getting an from State Audi tor icole Galloway, who, unlike Tucker, is an actual auditor.

Tucker was the subject of mul tiple harassment allegations, including one from of a former Trakas staffer. But to borrow au ditor speak, who’s counting

Still, Page’s not-so-Democratic record on sexual harassment pales next to what he has done on race. To be clear, Page has never trafficked in the incendiary rheto ric of oorda. ot many have.

But Page or his administration is a defendant in multiple race-dis crimination lawsuits from county police officers. The most famous is from Lieutenant Colonel Troy oyle, the lack officer who was a near-consensus choice for police chief until — with Page’s direct involvement — he curiously was passed over for a white candidate, Mary Barton, who, if I may be in dulged the understatement of the year, didn’t work out so well.

Then again, almost no Black people have worked out so well at or near the top of the overwhelm ingly white Page administration.

This is presumably unrelated to Page having been Roorda’s client in 2008. It did send me on a brief on line search of “Page and Roorda” from the first decade of this century.

On June 29, 2008, the Springfield News Leader reported that Democrat Page had this shocking response to a landmark U.S. Su preme Court ruling striking down a ban on handguns in Washing ton, D.C. Except for Page, it had been hailed as a triumph for progun conservative Republicans.

“I completely support today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision up holding the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms and over turning the District of Columbia law banning ownership of hand guns,” Page said to the gasps of all Democrats within earshot.

It was so outrageous that oppo nent Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder attacked Page (who had earned an from the A as a leg islator) for “a stunning and trans parent act of hypocrisy.” Even the

A called age out for pretend ing to support it.

There was another Page “notso Democratic, not-so-great hit” that year. The Post-Dispatch on March 14, 2008, listed Page as just one of 10 Democrats to join all Republicans in support of a “hatemongering” bill to bar illegal im migrants from state colleges.

“Hate-mongering” was the phrase used by Roorda as he vot ed against the bill — with 38 other Democrats, on the opposite side of age. ow, that’s a good one.

There must be good reasons to vote for Page. Perhaps his admin istration got you or someone dear to you a county job or contract. Maybe you’re sick of seeing politi cians on the airwaves and admire that he’s a recluse when it comes to the media. Or even more novel, you think he has done a bang-up job as county executive.

But vote for Sam Page because he’s a emocrat

You must be kidding. n

Ray

The City Needs Safer Streets

e mayor wants the city to commit to spending $40M on tra c calming

Written by TISHAURA JONES

Last week, my son turned 15 just a few days after his very first high school homecoming. Now we’re having a conversation about another important mile stone: when he’ll get his driver’s permit. The biggest question on my mind is similar to other parents across St. Louis: How do I teach my teenager to drive in St. Louis?

Keeping Aden safe on the road has been on my mind since he started biking to see his friends in Clayton. The first few times he did it, I drove behind him the whole way to make sure he got there OK. It’s not just my family that feels this way; St. Louisans haven’t felt safe on our streets for years, a point tragically underscored in recent months by traffic violence on South Grand and in Kingsway West. So far this year, 11 people walking and two people biking have lost their lives to traffic vio lence, and our city feels an urgen cy to act to keep our streets safe.

The Institute of Traffic ngi neers found proven safety coun termeasures, like raised intersec tions, medians and traffic circles, reduce speed while discouraging dangerous behavior. The U.S. Department of Transportation notes measures like high-visibility crosswalks or pedestrian refuge islands reduce pedestrian crashes by up to 40 and 56 percent, respec tively. Current city efforts, like the Louisiana Calm Streets Project with curb extensions and neigh borhood traffic circles, help pro tect pedestrians while changing behavior on our roads.

Aldermen are responsible on a ward-by-ward basis for determin ing infrastructure needs and can use ward capital funds to fund

these improvements, but when people do not feel safe traveling on our roads, it’s clear the current fragmented system isn’t working. Think about Kingshighway, which runs nearly the entire length of St. Louis across 11 wards. Grand touches even more wards at 12. Piecemeal solutions to a crisis that touches our entire city sets us up to fail time and time again.

St. Louis needs a mobility and transportation master plan that takes our entire city into account to coordinate broader work while helping us access federal grants we currently cannot. While the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Depart

Washington University Professor Wins Nobel Prize

Finance professor Philip Dybvig’s research models why banks are subject to runs

Written by ROSALIND EARLY

Philip H. Dybvig, an expert in banking and finance at Washington University, won the 2022 Nobel Prize in economic sciences. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the

ment has increased traffic enforce ment especially in high-crash ar eas, we need structural change on how our city cares for our streets.

This spring, my administration carried out a community survey to gauge where residents want to see remaining American Rescue Plan funds invested. With more than 5,000 responses, St. Lou isans have made clear: They want change they can see and feel, with infrastructure and traffic calming and street improvements as ma jor priorities.

The American Rescue Plan funds remaining in the bank give us the transformational opportunity to

win on Monday.

This year’s prize went to three economists, including Dybvig. One is Ben S. Bernanke, former chair of the Federal Reserve. The other is Douglas Diamond, a professor at the University of Chicago and co-author with Dybvig of the seminal 1983 paper that led to the two winning the prestigious prize.

The paper, “Bank Runs, Deposit Insurance, and Liquidity” explained why banks are subject to runs. The paper’s Diamond-Dybvig model reshaped the study of banking, financial crises, liquidity and bank runs.

“Our model showed how to view bank runs as rational behavior,” Dybvig said in a press release from Washington University. “If you think everyone else is going to take out their money, you’re going to take out your money, and that’s rational behavior.”

According to Dybvig, the model helped

take a citywide approach by fund ing much-needed measures to re duce traffic violence. That’s why my administration will propose to the oard of Aldermen a signifi cant investment of at least $40 mil lion in ARPA funding to transform our streets in key phases while we work towards a long-term com prehensive citywide plan: building out traffic-calming improvements in high-crash, high-risk areas; funding implementation on mul tiple already-completed studies for dangerous corridors and intersec tions and adding traffic-calming measures to major streets like Jef ferson, Grand, Union, Goodfellow and Kingshighway already set for full repaving through ARPA. Fund ing from local bonds, as well as collaboration with regional and federal partners, can help these dollars go even further.

My administration has been meeting with community stake holders and aldermen to hear and incorporate their thoughts. This is an issue that unites St. Louis across zip codes and racial lines, and we are holding community meetings both north and south of Delmar to get input from our neighborhoods about what they need to feel safer on our streets.

Working together, our city can make our most significant invest ment in infrastructure and traffic safety in decades so our families — and our next generation, like my son — can feel safe no matter how they choose to get around. n

economists understand the 2008 financial crisis, which included bank runs. Dybvig became a faculty member at Washington University in 1990 after teaching at Princeton and Yale.

Bernanke also wrote an important paper on bank failures in 1983 that explained how such failures can exacerbate a financial crisis, rather than just be the result of the crisis.

The Nobel Prize in economics was first awarded in 1969, established by Sweden’s central bank. The formal name for the prize is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. In addition to the prize itself, Dybvig, Diamond and Bernanke will split a cash award of 10 million Swedish krona (around $900,000).

Dybvig seemed astonished by his win, telling the university, “I seem to be the last to know! I have so many messages on my phone.” n

White ghost bikes are grim reminders of where cyclists were injured or died. e practice started in St. Louis in 2003. Here are the bikes before they were placed out. | VIA FLICKR VELO_CITY

Car Theft a Problem for Juvenile Courts

A low rate of car-the arrests could be because many of the culprits are juveniles

Written by RYAN KRULL

Far more juveniles than adults have been nabbed for car theft in St. Louis this past summer — meaning that the majority of auto-theft-related allegations are adjudicated in a system that is much different, and much less open to the public, than the adult court system.

According to St. Louis Metropoli tan Police Sergeant Charles Wall, 39 adults were arrested in the city for crimes related to auto theft in July, August and the first three weeks of September. Over that same period, 107 juveniles were taken into cus tody for auto-theft crimes.

The low numbers of apprehen sions go a long way in explain ing why prosecutors bring so few charges for auto theft, even as the area has suffered a rash of stolen cars. Recently, RFT found only 19 instances of individuals being charged with crimes related to auto theft during July and August in the city. The numbers for St. Louis County were not much high er, with approximately 46 charges brought for auto-theft-related crimes over that same period.

Also explaining the relatively low number of prosecutions is the fact that charges against ju veniles are handled much differ ently. They’re not public, and fre quently do not result in the teens being held in custody for any lon ger than it takes to release them to their parents.

“Generally when juveniles are taken into custody the juvenile court is contacted,” Wall tells RFT. “The juvenile court advises whether the juvenile will be held

or not. If a juvenile is not held by the juvenile court then they are released to a parent or guardian.”

Amanda Sodomka, the assistant court administrator and chief ju venile officer for the nd udicial Circuit Court in St. Louis, says that the decision of whether or not to detain juveniles is made using a standard assessment. The assess ment factors in the specific allega tion but also numerous other cri teria including previous referrals to the juvenile system, if the young person has previously failed to attend a court hearing, or if they have escaped from a juvenile de tention facility in the past.

“We’re focused on rehabilita tion and the juvenile system,” Sodomka says.

Greg Smith, an attorney who represents numerous juveniles al leged to have committed crimes in the city and county, says that in his experience juveniles accused of robbery — which involves force, such as in a carjacking — are much more likely to be detained in juvenile detention.

“Those kids aren’t getting re leased to their parents,” he says.

But juveniles accused of break ing into an unoccupied car and driving off with it are a different story. Smith says they are much more likely to be released to their

parents before generally facing some form of court supervision, as well as paying restitution and having to adhere to a curfew, Smith says.

The total number of individuals — adults and juveniles — arrested and taken into custody pales in comparison to the levels of auto theft and attempted auto theft oc curring in the region in the past few months.

In July and August, city police recorded 2,023 incident reports related to car theft. However, Wall says, “To be clear, this is the number of reported incidents and not necessarily the number of sto len vehicles.”

Rick Rosenfeld, a criminologist and professor emeritus at Univer sity of Missouri-St. Louis, says that for those who commit auto theft as well as other property crimes, the risk of arrest is fairly low in each instance of the crime being committed. But, Rosenfeld says, “These tend to be crimes that are committed on a repeated basis. So over time, the risk, of course, will go up.”

Of those 2,023 incidents, Walls says that 1,450 involve a Hyundai or a Kia.

Rosenfeld says that data sug gests that auto thefts are less mo tivated by a desire to joy ride than

in the past, and instances of stolen cars being sold for parts are van ishingly rare. “I’m guessing there are relatively few, if any, chop shops left in the city of St. Louis,” he says.

Instead, Rosenfeld says, stolen cars are often used in another crime, then abandoned quickly afterwards — making the thieves much harder to trace than if they’d used a car linked to them selves or a family member.

The relatively high number of juveniles stealing cars, as well as the low number of apprehen sions, is playing out at the same time as the viral Kia Boyz trend is leading to a rash of thefts of Kias and Hyundais.

St. Louis City Director of Public Safety Dan Isom said on a call with reporters in September that city police “really are trying to employ multiple strategies [to combat auto theft , the first of which is trying to place our officers in the locations where we know these crimes are occurring.”

“Of course, that becomes a little bit challenging with Hyundais and Kias,” Isom added, because those thefts are happening “all over the city.”

Isom also said that police are surveilling areas where cars are dumped after being stolen.

“Now really the best solution is to put a club on your car if you have a Hyundai or Kia,” Isom said. n

An abandoned Kia in St. Louis. | AMY SCHOENFELD

Stolen cars are often used in another crime, then abandoned quickly afterwards — making the thieves much harder to trace than if they’d used a car linked to themselves or a family member.

MISSOURILAND

Creepy Town

To celebrate spooky season, the people of Eureka create unsettling scarecrows

Words and photos by REUBEN HEMMER

If you head to Eureka, Missouri, and see a creepy person who isn’t moving out of the cor ner of your eye, try not to lose it. Because after you scream, you’ll probably find the person is a scarecrow.

Throughout the month of Oc tober, local businesses and resi dents create their own scare crows to display across 11 square miles within the city. The area is covered with surreal, terrifying and humorous scarecrows of ev ery variety. Residents and visi tors are encouraged to snap their photo with the scarecrows to win cash prizes.

Some of the figures are harm less fun. Others are truly the stuff of nightmares with misshapen papier-mâché or plastic heads. There are firefighters, storybook scenes and even a scarecrow marching band. n

The Battle of

From le : Don Johnson, Floyd Blackwell, Kevin M. O’Keefe, Jayson A. Stewart and Jermaine Matthew at the September 28 city council meeting in Cool Valley. | THEO WELLING

Cool Valley

Cool Valley sits among the dozens of towns wedged around St. Louis Lambert International Airport and the University of MissouriSt. Louis campus like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.

With only 1,127 residents, Cool Valley is one of those little burgs that’s hardly ever in the news un less something very bad happens.

But a year ago, Jayson Stewart, its charismatic young mayor, pro posed an idea that put Cool Valley on the national map, while con ferring on Stewart the unofficial title of America’s most famous small-town mayor.

Consequently, all the traits that had enabled Stewart, 32, to win the mayorship of Cool Valley in a landslide in 2020 — his youth, his brains, his business background, his confidence, and above all, his bold vision for a better future — got their national close-up, boost ing the sense that Stewart was on a trajectory toward greater things, the Missouri governor’s mansion, perhaps, or even a U.S. Senate seat.

The reason: Stewart unveiled a plan to give each of the residents of his financially struggling north St. Louis County town $1,000 worth of bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency.

As soon as Stewart announced his plan, local TV stations predict ably picked up the story. But the

real love came from the maga zines and podcasts that cover the cryptocurrency industry.

They ran with the story, breath lessly lionizing Stewart while pos ing few critical questions about who would fund this venture and how — or even if it makes sense to give away cryptocurrency to the residents of a town where nearly one in five people lives below the poverty line, according to U.S. Census figures.

Stewart, who has billed himself as an entrepreneur and environ mentalist, showered bitcoin with praise in a late September 2021 interview with Bitcoin Magazine

“Bitcoin is fundamentally American,” Stewart told the mag azine. “It is the most American thing. Our government is built on freedom and personal liberty, and rights and self-sovereignty, and all of the things that bitcoin really is. I think it’s a natural marriage that bitcoin in America will thrive.”

Cryptocurrency is a digital cur rency. Transactions in bitcoin are verified, and records are main tained by a decentralized system that uses cryptography and a led ger called a blockchain, rather than by a centralized authority.

Because cryptocurrency is so new, the market for it is highly volatile. After surging to $60,000 in October 2021, the price of a single bitcoin fell rapidly in the months since. The bitcoin price as of early

October 2022 is around $20,000.

Cryptocurrency is also contro versial in the realms of tech and finance. illionaire entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and St. Louis’ own Jack Dorsey have expressed strong beliefs that cryptocurrency is the future, and they can’t sing its praises loud enough.

But many economists are skep tical. Nobel Laureate Paul Krug man has even slammed crypto currency as useless, extravagantly wasteful of resources and little more than a Ponzi scheme.

In any event, Stewart’s moment had arrived —- or so it seemed.

In late October 2021, a group of Harvard University Law School students invited Stewart to discuss his bitcoin plan and how it relates to a universal basic income.

“Just spoke at Harvard Law!” Stewart posted on his Facebook page afterward. “Those kids are awesome.”

Flash forward nearly 12 months. The scene: the cramped conference room where the Cool Valley City Council is holding its late September meeting.

All that bright futuristic talk about bitcoin? It’s long since died down, replaced by a chorus of complaints from frustrated coun cil members and a handful of vot ers who accuse Stewart of neglect ing his mayoral duties.

Indeed, Stewart’s bitcoin idea seems about as realistic, and rel

evant, to the people in this room as plans to spend Christmas on Mars.

Complaints that Stewart missed or suddenly rescheduled mul tiple council meetings in recent months are by now old hat.

Ditto for a litany of other com plaints that have to do with the basic nuts and bolts of everyday small-town governance: showing up at City Hall for work, fixing potholes, mowing the gras on cityowned property and patching City Hall’s leaking roof.

The new wrinkle tonight is the revelation that the city received $230,000 in federal COVID-19 re lief funds — and no one seems to know what happened to the mon ey. Was it spent? If so, on what?

It is a bit of news that is espe cially rankling to city activists who have been complaining for months that the city, which only has two full-time employees, des perately needs to hire a code en forcement officer to deal with ramshackle vacant buildings and a public works director to oversee the repair of crumbling streets.

What’s more, under its agree ment with the Normandy Police Department, which covers the city, Cool Valley is several years behind in fulfilling a contractual agreement to spend $40,000 or so for a new police car.

ut the city council can’t fill these positions or buy the police

In Cool Valley, Mayor Jayson Stewart gained fame for pushing bitcoin. But council members say he’s neglected duties and can’t account

funds

By MIKE FITZGERALD

MAYOR CRYPTO

car because it isn’t receiving basic financial records regarding the amount of money in its coffers.

For concerned citizen Joan Fer guson, one of the mayor’s most persistent critics, the mystery re garding the COVID relief funds is clearly the last straw.

“If this money was given to you in 2021, where did it go?” Fergu son asked during the meeting. “Since we can’t get a budget from our board, we can ask for our state auditor to audit all the books for Cool Valley, and then maybe then we can have an accurate ac counting of our money.”

Stewart seemed unfazed.

Although he’s the skipper of the ship, Stewart responded in the breezily detached manner of a re tail clerk telling a customer about some unfathomably weird store policy over which he lacks any control whatsoever.

“So there is paperwork in the of fice,” Stewart said, looking toward City Clerk Cheryl Wallace, who had, unbeknownst to most in the room, been pulling double-duty as city treasurer.

“ e have a crazy filing system,” Stewart continued. “That paper work does exist. I’m sure it’ll take her some time to dig it up.”

Stewart blamed the confusion on problems with the previous city clerk and the several-months gap when the city lacked a clerk until Wallace came on board in February. Sometimes Wallace isn’t able to find where the previ ous city clerk placed something, Stewart said.

Ferguson, in a voice freighted with exasperation, indicated that she doesn’t buy what Stewart is trying to sell her or the council.

“How long are we going to con tinue to blame where we can’t find and don’t have on people who are past employees?” she asked.

“I’m just saying, if she can’t find it,” Stewart said, “it’s going to take a while.”

Unlike some other north St. Louis County towns riven by po litical turmoil, Cool Valley’s power structure is entirely Black. None of its political tensions stem from the disconnect between a whitesdominated city council dealing with an increasingly Black elec torate, as was the case in nearby Ferguson in 2014 during the civic unrest triggered by the police kill ing of Michael Brown.

But tensions are evident in other ways. Stewart is a good 20 years younger than anyone else

seated on Cool Valley’s council. And a powerful personal animus cackles almost like static electric ity any time he interacts with Floyd Blackwell, the current coun cil president and former mayor.

In 2020, Stewart — a political nov ice — beat Blackwell by almost 40 points in the race to replace thenincumbent Mayor Viola Murphy, who passed away in 2021.

During the September 28 meet ing, Ferguson was adamant about finding out what happened to those COVID relief funds.

“We just want to know where the money was spent because we’re not seeing it in our community,” she said. She paused, then gave the mayor a steely look. “So where did the $230,000 go?” she asked.

“I believe most of it went to the police contract,” Stewart said.

“What you say is one thing,” Ferguson said. “But we’d like to see it.”

Aspokesperson for Nicole Gal loway, the Missouri state au ditor, confirms her office is reviewing complaints to Gal loway’s whistleblower hot line regarding Cool Valley.

Jermaine Matthew, 42, a city council member and one of Stew art’s chief critics, remains hopeful that something good will come out of Galloway’s review.

But Matthew isn’t holding his breath. For the past several months, Matthew has been be hind a frustrating effort to force Stewart to return a city-owned 2004 Dodge Charger that’s sup posed to be driven strictly for of ficial business, according to city

ordinance.

THEO WELLING

Stewart, however, has been us ing the car as his personal vehicle, Matthew says. Wallace, the city clerk, has only released a few re cords pertaining to gas expenses for the car, but has refused Mat thew’s requests to see records re garding maintenance and repair costs.

During the September 28 coun cil meeting, Matthew pushed through an ordinance directing Wallace to send a letter to Nor mandy police authorizing the de partment to take back the Charger by force if necessary.

The fact that the council must take these steps doesn’t make sense to Matthew because Stewart has advertised himself as a suc cessful businessman. The mayor even bragged at the September meeting that he and his girlfriend have eaten at fancy Central West End restaurants, enjoying meals at $500 a pop.

“So why does he need that car?” Matthew asks.

For his part, the mayor refuses to answer.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he says. “I don’t like to talk about my finances, or just money.”

When the topic was brought up in past council meetings, Stewart has said he needs the car 24/7 in his capacity as the city’s chief law enforcement officer and also to support him during occasions when he feels the need “to gather inspiration,” Matthew said.

After the September 28 meet ing, Stewart pledged to make sure Wallace allows RFT to look at city financial records, but Stewart

continued to refuse to talk about his own personal finances.

“It’s not in my nature to talk about personal finances,” he wrote in a direct message on Twit ter on September 28. “No offense, it’s jut never felt polite for me to discuss. I’ve been very blessed, and I keep my expenses low so I can serve my team as mayor and continue donating my salary.”

Stewart also turned down a writer’s request for a list of sup porters to interview.

“Sorry for not getting you a list of people,” Stewart wrote in a DM late on the evening of September 28.. “It just doesnt’ feel right sell ing the privacy of people i [sic] care about in hopes of a good sto ry. I know it’s created more work for you. I just don’t want to put people I love in that situation.”

Using the Missouri Sunshine Act, the RFT requested a host of records from Cool Valley, includ ing statements from all of its bank accounts. In reply, earlier this week, Wallace released copies of bank statements from a single ac count, the city’s operating fund. She did not provide records for the account set up to track federal funds.

The U.S. Bank statement for September showed an ending bal ance of $50,296, but it does not show where the $230,000 in CO VID funds ended up or how they were spent.

The RFT also asked for all in voices submitted to the city from January 2022 and all invoices and requests for reimbursements sub mitted by Stewart. None of the in voices provided in response show expenses connected to Stewart or the city-owned vehicle he drives.

As for Matthew, he questioned why Wallace would release city bank statements in response to a newspaper request, but not to him, a city council member who has also requested the records.

Wallace declined to comment.

“I think it’s quite strange,” Mat thew says. “There’s a lot of ques tions, that’s why I wanted to take a look at them.”

All the confusion and turmoil stemming from Stewart’s tenure as mayor has put Cool Valley in a real bind, Matthew says.

“For a community this small, to be in a situation like this,” Mat thew says, “where you don’t know what direction the community is going, one way or another, is very strange.”

What further compounds the oddity of the moment for Matthew is the fact that he eagerly sup ported Stewart back in 2020 when Stewart ran for mayor.

is 2014 Dodge Charger belongs to Cool Valley, but was loaned to the mayor for business. |

“The problem in this communi ty is that for so long [voters] have been disappointed,” Matthew says. “They’ve stopped coming to the meetings because they’ve heard the same story over and over and over again.”

Stewart seemed like a fresh start, Matthew recalls.

“We thought and hoped that by him being younger and more energetic, more involved with what’s going on … that he’d have a true personal stake in what hap pens in the community,” he says. “And he could truly turn some things around.”

That’s a lot of pressure on a part-time mayor in a town with limited resources and a litany of issues. Still, Matthew is concerned Stewart doesn’t have the best in terests of the town at heart.

“He is very arrogant,” Matthew says of Stewart. “He does not care about the fact that what he is do ing to the city is hurting the city. He cares nothing about the city. It just reflects someone who has no genu ine interest in the community.”

Matthew readily acknowledg es that Stewart is highly intelli gent but says intelligence is not the issue.

“As far as I’m concerned he’s a double-talker,” he says of Stewart. “And his attitude is that he’s the smartest one in the room. Nobody else knows what they’re talking about. He does. He’s about puffing himself up. Taking credit for all kinds of things.”

City council member Don John son sees Stewart’s tenure in an en tirely different light.

“I know you’re doing a good job,” he said to Stewart at the end of the August council meeting.

“Do you honestly think I’ve been good for the city?” Stewart replied.

“Yes, I do,” Johnson said. “But we need to work more together, and we’re not.”

Stewart says he remains un moved by criticisms.

“One thing you have to under stand about me is how deeply religious I am,” he says in an in terview. “I try not to express that a lot or push that on anyone. I’m deeply, deeply religious. My reli gion is ‘Love thy neighbor.’”

At the August council meeting, Matthew joined two of the other four council members to support an ordinance to consider hiring an outside lawyer at $250 per hour to lay the groundwork for a potential vote to impeach and re move Stewart.

Matthew acknowledges the city could end up spending a lot of time, political capital and tens of thou

sands of dollars setting the stage for impeaching Stewart, only to have the whole process fall apart.

That’s what happened over the past 18 months in neighboring Normandy over allegations Mayor Mark Beckmann had mismanaged city funds. Normandy’s council was poised to push through a mo tion to begin the impeachment process, but in August three of Beckmann’s council foes either quit or were replaced by voters.

Still, despite the potential cost, the risks of impeaching Stewart would be worth it, according to Matthew.

“But we also have to look at the possibility of allowing a mayor who is not serving the communi ty in any capacity to continue to occupy a position of authority to continue what he’s doing, which is not moving the city forward in any direction,” Matthew says. “Ei ther way you go, you’re losing.”

When the council voted in Au gust to seek the special counsel, Stewart dismissed the idea.

“It’ll be more cost-effective to vote against me,” Stewart said, re ferring to the 2024 election. “This’ll turn into a six-figure thing.”

After the meeting, Stewart called the special counsel idea “an absolute waste of money. It shows a lack of fiscal responsibility, and in my opinion, a lack of serious ness in addressing real issues.”

Craig Smith, Cool Valley’s city attorney, cautioned city residents about the pitfalls of the impeach ment process.

“It’s very involved and very expensive,” Smith told them dur ing an informal gathering after the September 28 council meet ing. “‘It’s always cheaper to keep her.’ When you look at that, how do you justify it? Because at the end of the day who’s paying for it? That’s coming out of the city.”

To those who’ve known Stew art best and longest, the trait that stands out most is his love of dreaming big.

Evan Roberts, Stewart’s un cle, described the mayor as “an in tellectual, a free thinker and deep thinker. He analyzes everything before he does it.”

Roberts, a letter carrier, de scribes his nephew as someone who “kind of moves in silence. He doesn’t brag about what he’s go ing to do until he does it.”

Roberts has talked with Stewart about his bitcoin plan.

“I’m like, ‘I have no idea what that is,’” Roberts says.

Nonetheless, he predicts his nephew will pull it off.

“Whatever he puts his mind to, he was dedicated to doing it,” Roberts says. “He hates to fail. He kind of likes the accolades of ac complishments.”

Tim O’Hara, who has known Stewart since they were class mates at the elite John Burroughs School, in Ladue, says Stewart’s decision to run for Cool Valley mayor makes sense because, after attending the University of Miami in Florida, he wanted to “get back home. That was a big motivating factor.”

In addition, Stewart was always interested in politics because he saw it as a way “to help people, more so than being in a busi ness job or something like that,” says O’Hara, a Harvard Business School graduate who works as a supply-chain executive in Chica go. “But it was something he could really see the impact of the things he was doing.”

Although Stewart went into poli tics with his eyes open, he was still surprised to learn how politics “is definitely a contact sport,” O’Hara says. “Working with people that are actively working against you can be challenging, right? He wasn’t necessarily expecting that on a more local jurisdiction level.”

Larry Chapman, a highly suc cessful St. Louis developer, worked with Stewart to bring a climatecontrolled hydroponic garden to the largest building in Cool Valley, a nearly 300,000-square-foot struc ture called the DRS Building.

Chapman lauded Stewart for the scope of his vision and his ca pacity to think big.

“He’s young; he’s motivated,” Chapman says. “He’s committed himself to try and find a way to make big things. If you go for big things, it takes a long time.”

But an air of mystery clings to Stewart, who shares his childhood home on North Hills Lane with his longtime girlfriend, who holds the deed to it, according to St. Louis County property records.

For instance, neither Roberts nor O’Hara can say how, exactly, Stewart earns a living.

“That’s a good question,” O’Hara replies when asked what his child hood friend does for income.

Stewart’s pay as mayor is only $300 per month, a salary he says he gives back to Cool Valley coffers.

His inkedIn profile states that he ran a successful recording studio and then a St. Louis-based company called PL28, which aimed to clean plastic trash from the ocean. It remains unclear if PL28 had any employees or made any money.

In any event, Stewart dissolved PL28 in 2021, Missouri Secretary of State records show.

During a brief interview after the September 28 council meet ing, Stewart said his full-time job is working as Cool Valley’s mayor. But he refused to say how he pays for his lifestyle.

“I live like a monk,” he said, even though minutes before he boasted of paying $500 for a meal in the Central West End with his girlfriend.

How does he pay his living ex penses?

Mayor Stewart refuses to say how he pays for his lifestyle. “I live like a monk ,” he says, though minutes before he’D boasted of paying $500 for a meal in the Central West End with his girlfriend. How does he pay his living expenses? “ I don’t have very many ,” he replies.

Jayson A. Stewart is mayor of Cool Valley. | THEO WELLING

MAYOR CRYPTO

“I don’t have very many,” he re plied.

The same sense of mystery ex tends to his plans for bringing bit coin to Cool Valley.

On Twitter, however, Stewart can hardly suppress his love for bitcoin, which he describes in al most rapturous terms.

“Bitcoin inspires me to always dream bigger,” he tweeted on No vember 4, 2021.

A few days before that, he’d tweeted, “Bitcoin is absolute truth.”

And two weeks earlier, his praise was even more effusive, when he tweeted, “While medi tating this afternoon I realized: bitcoin truly can pave the way for world peace. I believe it may even be a prerequisite.”

But today Stewart refuses to dis close details of his plans for bit coin and Cool Valley.

“I promise that as soon as I can say something about that I will talk to you more,” he says.

Stewart says he’s working with a partner he met on the Clubhouse app, a social network where peo ple around the world come to gether to chat, listen and learn from each other in real-time.

Stewart refused to reveal details about the partner, other than say ing that “he’s just a wealthy busi nessman.”

If there is a bright spot for Cool Valley, it is what is called the DRS Building at 201 Evans Lane, just off Florissant Avenue.

Up until a few years ago, a contractor named DRS Land Sys tems built defense systems for U.S. Army battle tanks there. At its peak, DRS employed 700 people. Then DRS moved out of the build ing for a larger home near Lam bert Airport.

That’s when Chapman, the de veloper, entered the picture.

Chapman, the president and CEO of Seneca CRE and Chapman Ventures, bought the DRS building, ripped out its office accouterments and converted it into a nearly 300,000-square-foot warehouse.

No tenant has been found for the building. But in the meantime, Chapman has teamed up with a company called Fresh Harvest 365 to set up a hydroponic garden housed in two climate-controlled, refrigerated cargo containers lo cated in the building’s courtyard.

Crops include a variety of herbs, leafy greens and lettuce. The gar den has a two-fold aim of training local people to work in urban ag

riculture while providing healthy food to inner-city communities, according to Chapman.

Urban agriculture projects are coming to every city in America, where “a lot of the produce you get to eat is going to be grown lo cally inside buildings where it’s a truly renewable and sustainable environment and deliver much better quality food than you’ve ever had in your life in the pro cess,” Chapman says.

Fresh Harvest 365 provides leafy greens to five St. ouis-area restaurants, with plans next year to begin selling its produce to a chain of locally owned St. Louis grocery stores, Chapman says.

He credits Stewart with opening the doors to make the project hap pen.

“He was in the conversation, and working with him and the city — that allowed us to make it happen,” Chapman says.

Rumors are circulating in Cool Valley that Chapman plans to convert the DRS Building into a cannabis cultivation center — a rumor that’s picked up steam be cause of a measure to legalize rec reational cannabis that is on the statewide ballot in November.

The ballot measure has a very strong chance of passing: A recent Emerson College poll shows near ly half of Missouri voters support it, while 35 percent are opposed and 17 percent remain unsure.

Chapman says he hasn’t consid ered turning the building into a cannabis center. But if someone with a Missouri cannabis license came to him with a plan to team up, he says, “We’d be open to that kind of partnership.”

For his part, environmental ist Stewart touts the hydroponic garden as an integral part of Cool Valley’s future. The same goes for a community garden he recently started behind his house on a small hill sloping toward the DRS Building.

During the September 28 meet ing, Stewart presented about the newly launched community gar den, which he helped set up with $2,000 of his personal funds. It will grow watermelons, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. For now the garden is available only to five households.

Stewart ended his presentation by anticipating community criticism.

“You guys can hate on the things I’m working on,” he said. “I really don’t care.”

One woman in the audience asked how the hydroponic gar den benefits Cool alley residents since all the food goes to restau rants outside the city, with none going to local grocery stores.

“Going forward, they’re going to launch a subscription service,” Stewart replied. “So you will be able to pay a certain amount per month, and they will send you the freshest produce they grow.”

The woman pressed: What about the benefit for Cool alley residents?

“It’s the fact it’s available, it makes the community a fun place to be,” Stewart said. “And it gives us options for things to do.”

Jermaine Matthew, the city council member, has little pa tience for the mayor’s talk of gardens when many much more pressing problems face the city.

“The city is suffering,” he says.

“The city is literally dying. And this guy is worried about a gar den, feeding the bees and the but terflies. I don’t care about that stuff. What can we do to help our community to the point where it is thriving again?”

What is beyond debate in the city of Cool Valley is the fact that the high hopes and expectations that greeted Stewart when he took of fice more than two years ago are now in the rearview mirror, and getting smaller with each day.

Politics is all about relationships. And it is clear that Stewart’s rela tionship with the council members has long since hit the rocks.

That was more than obvious during August’s council meet ing, when Floyd Blackwell, one of Stewart’s chief council antagonists, called out to a woman attending a meeting for the first time.

“That’s the mayor,” Blackwell said sarcastically as he nodded to ward Stewart.

“Nice to meet you,” the woman said.

“He don’t show up too often,” Blackwell added.

Visibly irritated, Stewart swat ted back.

“See,” Stewart said. “That’s a weird lie to tell.”

“It’s the truth,” Blackwell said.

“Just look at the public records,” the mayor replied.

“It is what it is,” Blackwell said. “We can do what we can do.”

From across the room, another woman, a longtime city council observer, piped up.

“Business as usual, I see,” she said.

“It is what it is,” Blackwell said.

“You got to do better,” she said.

“I’m trying to do better,” Black well replied.

In opening the floor to public comments later that night, Stew art alluded to the growing list of complaints coming his way from impatient city residents.

“Then you can tell me how much you hate me,” he said, “and that I’m terrible.”

Ferguson, who said she voted for Stewart in 2020 but now sup ports the burgeoning effort to re move him from office, seemed to channel the feelings of most of the people in the room when it was her turn to speak.

“I don’t hate you, Jayson,” she said. “I’m disappointed because I voted for you, and I thought you were going to do something dif ferent.” n

Mike Fitzgerald can be reached on Twitter @MikeWearAMask.

Residents watch a presentation from Stewart about hydroponic gardening. | THEO WELLING

CALENDAR

BY RIVERFRONT TIMES STAFF

THURSDAY 10/13

Mixed-Up Lovers

A bunch of lovers are crisscrossed at the opening of A Lit tle Night Music, the musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh heeler. It is s Sweden, and redrick is married to an -yearold trophy wife who refuses to touch him. (Maybe because she is a year younger than redrick’s son, who is 19.) Meanwhile, old flames burn bright as redrick sees Desiree Armfeldt, a woman he previously had an affair with. She’s moved on and is having an affair with a different married man, a count. ill redrick find someone his own age ill the count go back to his wife It’s any one’s guess in this classic musical that gave us the cherished song “Send in the Clowns.” Catch the show at Stray og Theatre Tennessee Avenue, 314-865-1995, straydogtheatre.org) at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and p.m. Sunday through Saturday, October . Tickets are to . Go to page 41 for a review of the show.

Tale as Old as Time

In a world of screens and distrac tions, it’s important to take some time to celebrate one of humani ty’s most eternal and beloved pas times. The annual St. Louis Sto rytelling Festival will give you a way to do just that. St. ouis Coun ty Library will host the festival’s 43rd return at various locations throughout the region. Storytell ers will recount tales of adventure heartbreak and joy. The event kicks off with “The American x perience Through Storytelling” as renowned storytellers Sheila Arnold, Noa Baum and Nestor Go mez share stories at the Missouri History Museum. For the younger crowd, catch “The Three igs of iggyville,” a puppet show put on by apa and ackie right at multiple dates and locations. The storytelling festival is free and lasts until Saturday, October . Some events offer food and drink available for purchase. See a full schedule of events on the library’s website.

FRIDAY 10/14

Not So Scary

Spooky season is the most won derful time of the year. And if you want to celebrate Halloween in the traditional St. ouis way, you have to plan a trip to Boo at the Zoo. This event takes over the Saint Louis Zoo (1 Government Drive, - - for a few weeks each year and provides kiddos and their parents with all sorts of fun. Start ing at 5 p.m. and running until 8:30 p.m. each night from Friday, Octo ber , through Sunday, October , this outdoor party includes all of the great stuff that you expect from the zoo but with a Halloween twist. There are tons of outdoor decora tions, activities and more. Kids can take a photo by the giant cauldron and munch on some themed treats while their parents enjoy apple ci der floats and adult ice cream cock tails. It’s also a great time to check out the creepy crawlies at the Her petarium and Insectarium, where you’ll find the yuckiest lizards and bugs. Visit stlzoo.org/boo for more information.

SATURDAY 10/15

Avant Garde

Art opening meets record launch meets that party you can’t ever stop talking about at art Gal lery’s Punk Rock Art Show (3520 Hampton Avenue). Going up for its fourth year, the group show features live performances from punk rock acts. This year will be the first that’s also a record launch for California’s “rocka billy surfer punk band” ent uo — from gallery owners Jared and Amy innick’s label, art usic. In addition to performances from ent uo, ruiser ueen, adio uzzkills and the Centaurettes, the show will feature artwork from Maxine Thirteen, Cadence Hodes, ormir, aola Scharberg, Dill Undervvood, and others. A cash bar will be provided by 4 Hands Brewing. If that all isn’t enough, 31art Gallery has the fanciest mirror-festooned bath room this side of the Mississippi set up for selfie perfection. The free exhibition runs from 3 to 9 p.m.

Hard-Seltzer Paradise

These days, there are so many hard seltzers that it’s impossible for most bubble-water enthusi asts to even think about trying a sizable share of them. Impossible until now. St. ouisans will have the opportunity to try more than 100 hard seltzers in one sit ting during Cannonball Produc tions’ Seltzerland. Seltzerland will have offerings from a variety of brands such as Boulevard Brewing Company, ike’s Hard emonade Seltzer, izzy, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, uzz allz and, naturally, hite Claw. The event will also feature entertainment: DJs, selt zer pong, lemonade ladder golf, cornhole and an inflatable selfie thing dubbed the “bubble booth.” Attendees can purchase a timed entry for 11:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. at GCS nion allpark Grizzlie ear oulevard, Sauget, Illinois . Tickets are to , and a por tion of the proceeds will go toward orage orward, a nonprofit that supports communities in need.

31art Gallery will hold the fourth edition of the Punk Rock Art Show. | JARED MINNICK

SUNDAY 10/16

Unstoppable

Growing up as a girl, well, it can be hard. Young women around the world face unique challenges related to education equity, men tal health, literacy, bullying on and off social media, the digital divide and more. International Day of the Girl 2022 aims to ad dress and highlight those issues and more while promoting girls’ empowerment. Held on the front lawn of the Missouri History Mu seum (5700 Lindell Boulevard) in conjunction with the I efine Me Movement, this year’s event will include swag bags, lunch and more. Teen girls and their fami lies are invited to join from 10:30 a.m. to noon for a symposium and from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. for a cel ebration with food, girl-centered vendors and nonprofits, and the I efine ellness mobile. The event is free.

‘Sweet Transvestite’

Tropical Liqueurs and Prismatic vents would like, if they may, to take you on a “strange journey” with The Rocky Horror Drag

Brunch. From 12:30 to 4 p.m., Tropical Liqueurs (4104 Man chester Avenue, 314-899-9404) will host a tribute to the 1975 cult classic film and musical. The Tropical Liqueurs & Taco Circus @ Trops brunch menu will fea ture breakfast tacos, breakfast pizza, a breakfast uesadilla and, of course, lots of tropical liqueurs. The show will begin at 1:30 p.m. Tickets cost .

Experiencing History

On July 1, 1917, one of the na tion’s deadliest race riots took place in ast St. ouis. It lasted almost a week, resulting in nearly lack people being murdered and more than 6,000 losing their homes. That was over 100 years ago, but the scars of the riot live on. This month, people can grap ple with this history through the 1917 East Saint Louis Race Riot Tour. Participants won’t just hear about the history –– they’ll expe rience it. Organized by Treasure Shields edmond and Tandra Taylor, the event involves par ticipants driving through ast St. Louis together, visiting important sites related to the riot, hearing the stories of survivors and tak ing part in a A. Tours will take

place from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to p.m. on Saturday, October , and Sunday, October , starting at the Casino ueen South ront Street . Tickets cost .

TUESDAY 10/18

Not So Private

If you liked Forgetting Sarah Mar shall, then you should definitely check out Private Lives, the Noël Coward play that strikes many of the same comedic chords. un ning through Sunday, October , at the epertory Theater dgar oad, - - , repstl. org), the show centers on charac ters Amanda and lyot, who are divorced from one another. They have each just gotten remarried and are honeymooning with their new, younger spouses at the same French beach. They bump into each other in the first act. Antics ensue ike we said, it’s more or less like the ason Segel movie, ex cept written by a British guy with two dots above the e in his name. It’s sophisticated. Go see a play. e member what it was like to not be embarrassed when your cowork ers ask you what you did last night. The show starts at 7 p.m. and is open through Sunday, October . Tickets run from to .

Foodie Fest

If you hear the word foodie and instantly think tweezer food, foam and insufferable folks talking about if their wine has good legs, ST oodies is here to change your perception. The group, which is dedicated to cel ebrating all that is glorious about eating and drinking in St. ouis, is hosting STL Foodies Night at ‘Ssippi Cherokee Street from to p.m. or , you’ll get a giant slice of Detroit-style pizza from local (and until re cently top secret icky Slices Pizza Club, two glasses of natural wine from Ssippi, dessert from Ice Cream for Bears, a Halloween movie on the patio and a special gift from ST oodies. Tickets are . or more information, visit stlfoodies314.com.

WEDNESDAY 10/19

Art in the City

very city of even a little note has something in the way of gal leries or museums that focus on visual art. But how many have a hotel/gallery mashup that ac tually slaps St. ouis and our Angad Arts Hotel Samuel Shepard rive, - - , angadartshotel.com) has to be one of the few. ou can walk into that fabulous combo at any time to check out the art, but why do so when you can get a tour with anessa udloff, arts relations manager and curator, during the Art & Emotion of Color Tour? She’ll give you an inside look at the current exhibits and the ho tel’s artistic rooms and public spaces. nd the tour on the Angad ooftop Terrace, which has one of the best views of Midtown and downtown. The current show, the 6th Biannual Exhibition, fea tures regional artists’ works displayed around the hotel’s lob by, first floor and A T ar. The tour kicks off every ednesday at a.m. and is free, but tickets are re uired via ventbrite. n

Have an event you’d like consid ered for our calendar? Email cal endar@riverfronttimes.com.

Seltzerland will o er the chance to try more than 100 alcoholic seltzers in one sitting. | MARIA YOUNG

A New World

St. Louis’ latest ramen shop Menya Rui dishes up a universe of flavor

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Menya Rui

3453 Hampton Avenue, 314-601-3524. Thurs.-Sun. 5-10 p.m. Closed Mon.-Wed.

Steven Pursley can’t help but smile when he hears people freak out about ramen eggs.

Soft-boiled with a silken exte rior and cut in half to reveal a custard-like yolk, they are what many people assume is the showstopping ingredient in a perfect bowl of ramen. Yet it’s one of the last things that Pursley concerns himself with at his six-month-old ramen shop Menya Rui. It’s not that he doesn’t like eggs — he admits they are a delicious, sexy topping. However, to overly concern him self with the final component of a multifaceted endeavor would be to defeat the whole reason why he opened enya ui in the first place.

Beginning with one of the chef’s least concerns may seem like an odd approach to writing about a restaurant. However, the key to understanding the importance of Menya Rui to the area’s — nay, region’s — food scene is acknowl edging just how much it allows diners inexperienced in the nu ances of Japanese noodles to push past their ideas about what a bowl of ramen should be and open themselves up to a world far more complex than they might have otherwise imagined. As Pursley explains, discovering the variet ies of ramen is like realizing there is more pizza out there than just New York style.

Pursley admits he was just such a ramen novice when he first con sidered opening a ramen shop many years ago. Born in Okinawa to a Japanese mother and Ameri can father, Pursley’s foundational experience with Japanese noodles centered on the island’s particular style of soba. When he was still a kid, he and his family moved

to Union, but they would make it back to Okinawa roughly once a year, where he would reconnect with the buckwheat noodles that he’d grown to love. He had ramen here and there — mostly in Tokyo when he and his family were pass ing through en route to Okinawa — but it remained a relatively mysterious dish he just caught glimpses of and never quite expe

rienced in all of its varied glory.

He’d become intrigued with ra men as he was nearing the end of his college career. A political sci ence major without a clear plan of what to do following undergrad, Pursley considered law school, even though his heart wasn’t in it. He’d been cooking for a few years but never seriously thought about kitchen work as a career path, in

CAFE

stead opting to enroll in an engi neering program at a community college in Franklin County. On day one, he looked around, realized it was not for him and decided to do something drastic: He’d move to Japan and learn all that he could about ramen with the ultimate goal of opening a noodle shop here in the States.

Menya Rui is the culmination of the three years Pursley spent in Japan, soaking in as much knowl edge about ramen, noodles and Japanese culinary culture as he could. He admits his knowledge of ramen was virtually nonexistent before moving overseas — limited to eggs, meat and toppings. But once he got into his jobs at two different ramen shops in Okina wa, and eventually at a Michelinstarred restaurant in the city of Matsuyama, he began to grasp the dish’s fundamentals: tare, stock, aromatic oils, noodles and, finally, toppings.

In 2017, Pursley returned to St. Louis where he worked in frontof-house jobs while perfecting his craft with the ingredients he could find here in town. A year later, he did his first unofficial pop-up for friends in his apartment, then

Tantanmen brothless has chili oil, sesame paste and house shoyu, with ground pork, menma, scallion and bean sprouts. | MABEL SUEN

From le : John Keisler, chef-owner Steven Pursley, Erika Pursley and Jason Karcher. | MABEL SUEN

MENYA

kept doing them until he began to catch buzz for his excellent ra men. While working in the kitch en at Indo, Pursley procured a commercial noodle maker from Japan and, with that increased ca pacity and access to Indo’s kitch en and dining room on its closed days, was able to do even more pop-ups in preparation for open ing a shop of his own.

Pursley opened Menya Rui in April of this year, a launch that generated a great deal of hype, characterized by eager guests who regularly line up before the shop opens to secure a seat. These queues have not dwindled over time, and once you taste Purs ley’s hauntingly delicious food, you understand why it’s worth the wait. ven before your first slurp of noodles, Pursley dazzles with snappy housemade cucum bers — both a razor-sharp dill and sweeter, more bread-and-butter style — that electrify the palate. It’s the perfect teaser course before the outstanding karage, or Japa nese fried chicken, appetizer. The golden skin is crisped to a flawless, crunchy texture and served with a side of luscious Kewpie mayo.

However, noodles are the main event at Menya Rui, and Pursley proves he is worthy of a champi onship title. Pork shoyo is glori ous thanks to its soy-based shoyo broth that mingles with chicken stock and rendered pork fatback to form a soulful nectar with just a whisper of sea flavor. ursley fills the bowl with the broth and hand made noodles, then tops it with a slice of succulent pork shoulder chashu and menma (fermented bamboo shoots), infusing it with

additional layers of funk and ocean flavor.

Though Pursley’s tantanmen ra men uses the same broth as the pork shoyu, the liquid magically transforms into a vastly different dish. Here, chili paste and sesa me oil conspire to form a deeply earthy warmth. Noodles, ground pork, menma, scallions and bean sprouts are all infused with this outstanding flavor.

Pursley does not rely on his oth erworldly broths to make a good bowl of noodles, though. He of fers the tantanmen — in all of its chili-sesame glory — in a broth less style as well. If you wonder

why you’re reminded of Chinese noodles when feasting on this masterpiece, it’s no coincidence. The dish’s Szechuan roots shine through brilliantly.

Menya Rui’s other brothless offering, the original aburasoba, uses a thicker noodle that is coated in a stunning scallop oil and a trace of shoyu. The depth of sea flavor and umami funk is positively stunning, and is under scored by the addition of gyofun, which is a dry fish powder that turbo-charges the beautiful ocean depth; pork chashu and scallions that have actual snap adorn this hauntingly beautiful bowl.

St. Louis is blessed with a couple of outstanding ramen shops that do a fantastic job with their partic ular niche. What Menya Rui adds to the conversation is a portal to an entirely new world of Japanese noodles — one that Pursley has done a spectacular job presenting to us from his little shop. That he can contain so much brilliance in a small storefront should be no surprise; he’s able to pack a uni verse of flavor into a bowl. n

Menya

Menya Rui adds a new perspective to the St. Louis ramen scene. | MABEL SUEN

A L P H A B R E W I N G

C O M PA N Y

4310 Fyler Ave, St. Louis

MOJO DE AJO CHICKEN TACO

Mojo de ajo chicken taco served with queso fresco, cilantro, hatch Chile avocado crème, and topped with our 18 month aged Still630 whiskey barrel aged hot sauce on a corn tortilla

A M I G O ’S CA N T I N A

120 W Jefferson, Kirkwood

BARBACOA TACOS

Two Soft flour tortilla filled with slow roasted shredded beef simmered in a rich broth of guajillo peppers & spices topped with diced white onions, green onions & cilantro

BEAST BUTCHER & BLOCK

4156 Manchester Ave, St. Louis

BRISKET TACO

Brisket taco on a toasted cotija tortilla, chimi, lime sour cream, pickled onions

B E E R SAU C E

3880 Lindbergh Blvd, Ste 300, Sunset Hills 10453 B Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur 14738 B Manchester Rd Ballwin

CREVE COEUR LOCATION: BEERSAUCE SMOKED PORK STREET TACOS

Two Pork Street Tacos with your choice of: Jalapenos, Sweet Slaw, Spicy Giardiniera, Diced Onion, White Queso (+$1)

SUNSET HILLS LOCATION: BEERSAUCE SMOKED

CHICKEN STREET TACOS

Two Chicken Street Tacos With your choice of: Jalapenos, Sweet Slaw, Spicy Giardiniera, Diced Onion, White Queso (+$1)

BALLWIN LOCATION: BEERSAUCE SMOKED

BRISKET STREET TACOS

Two Brisket Street Tacos With you choice of: Jalapenos, Sweet Slaw, Spicy Giardiniera, Diced Onion White Queso (+$1)

B O B ’S D R I V E - I N

5166 US Hwy 61-67, Imperial STREET TACO AND ELOTE

1 Smoked pulled Pork or Beef Street Style Taco with Cilantro, Onion, Cojita cheese, and Taco Sauce with a small Elote Street Corn in a cup PORK OR BEEF TACO FRIES

Bobs Fries with our special Queso topped with Smoked pulled pork or Ground Beef, Cilantro, Onion, Cojita cheese and Taco Sauce

CA N T I N A L A R E D O

7710 Forsyth Blvd, Clayton

POLLO DE CASCABEL

Spicy chicken in cascabel sauce with marinated onions, cilantro and queso fresco

TACOS DE PIBIL

Marinated pork in spicy arbol sauce with pickled onions, cilantro and queso fresco

CA R N I VO R E

5257 Shaw Ave, St. Louis

CHICKEN GYRO TACO

Greek seasoned & shredded chicken, topped with lettuce, cucumbers, feta and a zesty Tzatziki Sauce. Served in a grilled flour tortilla

CASA M AYA

2726 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood DOS TACOS CLÁSICOS

Enjoy two classic ground beef or shredded chicken tacos with lettuce, cheese, tomato and your choice of soft flour or crispy corn tortillas

C I AO C H OW

1923 Marconi, St. Louis

DOGGY TACO WAFFLE

Two mini doggy waffles topped with ground beef, lettuce, cheese and “sour cream”

*For dog consumption

D E F I A N T D O U G H

17409 Chesterfield Airport Rd, Chesterfield

WAFFLE CONE TACO Cookie dough, whipped topping and sprinkles

D I E G O’S

630 North and South Rd, St. Louis

SIGNATURE DIEGO’S CARNITAS

Achiote braised chicken with onion, cilantro and cotija on a corn tortilla. Served with a side of rice and beans

COSTRA DE FRIJOLES NEGRO

Black beans, cabbage, tomato, habanero salsa, onion and cilantro on a grilled cheese shell.

Served with a side of rice and beans.

D U K E’S I N S O U L A R D

2001 Menard St, St. Louis

GRILLED MAHI MAHI TACO

Topped with a Mexican Street Corn Slaw CHICKEN CHORIZO TACOS

E L B U R RO L O C O

313 N Euclid Ave, St. Louis

1101 Lucas Ave, St. Louis

STEAK TACO

Made with corn tortilla, onion, and cilantro served with rice and beans

E L P O T RO

6922 Manchester Ave. St. Louis

CLASSIC TEX MEX TACOS

Choose a crunchy corn hard shell or a soft flour tortilla. Choose ground beef or shredded chicken. Topped with lettuce, cheese and tomatoes. Includes 2 tacos

E L I N D I O

9865 Manchester Rd, St. Louis TACOS DE CARNITAS

Two corn tortillas stuffed with carnitas-style cooked pork tips. Topped with cilantro and onion. Served with a small side of hot sauce and a lime wedge

TACOS CAMPECHANOS

Two corn tortillas stuffed with steak and chorizo (spice, Mexican sausage), topped with cilantro and onion. Served with a small side of hot sauce and a lime wedge. *Flour tortillas available upon request

E L TA PAT I O

Hampton Ave, St. Louis

QUESABIRRIA

Three birria-style cooked beef folded into a flour tortilla with melted cheese and served with a side of consommé for dipping. Quesabirria tacos are served with cilantro, onion, and a lime wedge.

tortilla available upon request

TACOS AL PASTOR

Two tacos with marinated pork, onion, cilantro, house-made tomatillo salsa and lime. Tacos are served on corn tortillas. *Flour tortillas available upon request

H I P O I N T E D R I V E I N

McCausland Ave. St. Louis

S Kirkwood Rd. Kirkwood

Washington Ave. St. Louis

HOLD MY BIRRIA

Slow braised chuck tacos with chihuahua cheese, cilantro, diced onion with quesadilla shells and consome for dipping

served shredded and sauce and chorizo cilantro and and a request a flour with a side tacos are wedge. cilantro, Tacos are available cheese, and

H OT S H OT S B A R

A N D G R I L L

Various locations

HOTSHOTS FAMOUS TACO PLATTER

Get in the game with a platter of Hotshots famous tacos! Snag 3 hard shell tacos stuffed with beef, cheese, lettuce and taco sauce and an order of our crispy fries. Just like your late night favorites, but better!

L A T E JA N A

3149 N Lindbergh Blvd, St Ann

POLLO CHORI TACO

Best of both tortillas! 2 Grilled chicken with Chorizo served on a corn tortilla and flour tortilla

M AYO K E TC H U P

2001 Park Avenue, St. Louis

TROPICAL PORK

Citrus and garlic marinated pork, mango habenero sauce, guava barbecue sauce, pineapple salsa, crispy tortilla strips and cilantro on choice of white corn or flour tortilla

M E Z CA L E R I A L AS C H U PACA B R AS

25 The Blvd St. Louis, Richmond Heights BIRRIA TACO

1 taco of birria cook with cheese Cilantro and onions served with rice accompanied with Birria broth

M I S S I O N TAC O J O I N T

6235 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis

908 Lafayette Ave, St. Louis

105 E Jefferson Ave, Kirkwood

1650 Beale St. Unit #130, St Charles NACHO TACO

Carne molida (ground beef), queso con cervesa, pico de gallo, cilantro crema, pickled jalapeno, all on a MTJ hard shell

N AV I N’S B B Q

3559 Arsenal St, St. Louis

THE PIT BOSS TACO

Chopped smoke brisket, cheese sauce, house bbq sauce, lettuce, and tomato

P I T S T O

2130 Macklind Ave, St. Louis

THE SKINNY TACO

Vegan chorizo, avocado salsa pico SMOKED CHICKEN

Roasted corn relish, roasted red pepper crema

PORK BELLY TACO

Crispy pork belly bacon jalapeno jam

THE FUSION TACO

Apple pie, cinnamon cream cheese sauce house caramel drizzle

S H A R P S H O O T E R’S

P I T & G R I L L

8135 Gravois Rd, St. Louis

STREET TACO

One street taco with pork, brisket or turkey and one 6 oz side

S U N N Y’S CA N T I N A

6655 Manchester Ave, St. Louis CHICKEN TACO

Sautéed onions and peppers, lettuce, queso Fresca, siracha creme and avocado verde sauce served with rice or beans CARNITAS

Spicy avocado verde sauce, queso Fresca cheese and fresh cilantro served with rice or beans

TAC O B U D D H A

7405 Pershing Ave, University City

THE CHIHUAHUA

Carne Deshebrada: Northern Mexican shredded beef, cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado, cotija, cilantro, corn tortillas

TAC O D R I P S T L

5252 Kensington Ave, St. Louis

3000 S Jefferson, St. Louis

DOS AMIGOS

Two Birra tacos of Your choice, Steak, chicken, or Ground beef & jackfruit too! Each for 2.50 each! (A three taco limit per person at promotional price)

T H E B L U E D U C K

2661 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood

TACO: 1987

Two seasoned ground beef tacos on corn tortillas with lettuce, onion, tomato, yellow cheddar and special sauce

T E R RO R TAC O S

3191 S Grand Blvd, St. Louis

NIGHTMARE ON COCONUT JERK STREET

A grilled corn tortilla filled with spicy Jamaican jerk chorizo seitan and garnished with pickled onions, crispy jalapeños, coconut cream sauce, fresh cilantro, and arbol chili flakes. This taco comes “terrorized” with an additional exterior grilled flour tortilla layer and house-made terror sauce. Served with a side of pineapple-mango salsa.

S U R E S T E M E X I CA N

3730 Foundry Way, St. Louis

COCHINITA PIBIL

Traditional Yucatec Mayan slow-roasted pork tacos

T H E WO O D S H AC K

1862 S 10th St, St. Louis

BEEF BIRRIA

Rich and flavorful this beef birria is a perfect taco topped with onion, cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice

T I N RO O F

1000 Clark Ave, St. Louis

TIN ROOF 2 FOR $5

STREET CORN TACO

pulled chicken, jack cheese, charred corn, cotija, spicy mayo, rib rub, cilantro, lime

PULLED PORK TACO

Pulled pork, carolina BBQ, peach pico, cilantro AVOCADO TACO

Beer-battered avocado, spicy mayo, lettuce, pickled red onion, cilantro

UNION 30 AT HOTEL ST. LOUIS

705 Olive St, St. Louis

UNION 30 STREET TACO

2 Street Tacos with your choice of chicken or beef. topped with tomato, onion, cheese, and shredded lettuce. Your choice of Corn or Flour Tortillas

FOR MORE DETAILS ON EACH OF THE SPECIALS, GO TO STLTACOWEEK.COM OR DOWNLOAD THE ST. LOUIS TACO WEEK APP!

TACO WEEK APP DOWNLOAD. EAT. WIN.

SHORT ORDERS

Second

Helping

Guerrilla Street Food will open with new owners, location this fall

Written by BENJAMIN SIMON

Five months after closing, Gue rilla Street Food will open again later this fall — this time with new owners.

Joel Crespo and Brian Hardesty, who owned the busi ness for 11 years and oversaw its journey from one of the city’s most beloved food trucks to a St. Louis staple for Filipino food, an nounced on September 30 that they have sold the Guerilla Street Food brand.

Their business will belong to new owners Rachel and Arnold Alcantara. The couple plans to open the restaurant in a new lo cation, with an official announce ment coming after they finalize lease negotiations.

The couple will take over the business as they settle down in St. Louis after their move from Ha waii. Arnold, who was born and raised in Hawaii, has worked in the restaurant business for over a decade with experience as a chef. The couple plans to continue Guerilla Street Food classics like the Flying Pig and Chicken Adobo while adding their own touch.

“They seemed like a really good fit to continue on Guerilla Street Food,” Hardesty says, “to contin ue doing Filipino American food

Dine for Your Rights

PROMO’s Brunch of Champions raises funds for LGBTQ+ rights

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Robert Fischer, director of communications for the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit PROMO, sees the organization’s upcoming Brunch of Champions as a fun way to celebrate the region’s queer community and its allies. But more importantly, he emphasizes just how vital this annual fundraiser is to the fight for equality in Missouri.

“The profits from ticket sales and sponsorships go directly toward funding urgent legislative efforts in Missouri,” Fischer explains. “For instance, in 2022,

the Missouri legislature introduced a lot of bills attacking LGBTQ+ Missourians, especially transgender children. Together with our allies, we were able to defeat those attacks this year and in 2020 and 2021. This event is really pivotal for us to be able to continue the work and advocate for equality.”

PROMO’s annual Brunch of Champi ons, which happens this Sunday, October 16, at 4 Hands Brewery from 9:30 a.m. until noon, is a major fundraising source for the organization, which was founded in 1986 (originally called PREP) in response to a Missouri Supreme Court decision supporting Missouri’s Sexual Misconduct Law. Since then, the nonprofit has been a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ Missourians as it carries out its mission “to confront systemic inequities to liberate the full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination and oppression.”

However, as much as Brunch of Champions provides vital funding that allows PROMO to continue its work, this Sunday’s festivities are also a way to take

but also add a little bit of Hawai ian flair to things as well, which I think is extremely exciting. I think both cuisines are very much un derrepresented in St. Louis.”

Hardesty says the couple’s “ea gerness” stood out to him — re minding the Guerilla Street Food owners of themselves, back in 2011.

“When we created Guerilla Street Food, we were just two friends who wanted to make food that we cared about and we felt could really service the area,”

Hardesty says. “At the time, there was no Filipino food being sold. We were very excited when we got started. … That’s the vibe I get from Rachel and Arnold. They are putting everything out there to make their dream come true.”

Crespo and Hardesty opened the business over a decade ago as a food truck. One of the first in the area, it became popular in St. Louis. The business expanded throughout the region, with its first brick-and-mortar building opening in Tower Grove in 2015. Over the years, they expanded to five restaurants before scaling back to one location in Webster Groves by 2022.

In April, Crespo and Hardesty announced that they would shut down the restaurant and food truck with the hopes of finding a new buyer.

Despite selling the business, Crespo and Hardesty don’t plan to walk away just yet. They will con tinue to serve as advisers to the Alcantaras during this new chap ter of Guerilla Street Food.

“I don’t think it’s bittersweet at all,” Hardesty says. “It’s nothing but sweet. It’s pretty awesome to see this happening and to see it continue and to see these people that we trust to carry it on [with] their excitement. I just feel noth ing but positivity.” n

Arnold Alcantara, Rachel Alcantara, Joel Crespo and Briand Hardesty. | COURTESY BRIAN HARDESTY

Enjoy food from Honey Bee’s Biscuits + Good Eats in support of PROMO. | MABEL SUEN

Quite the Teas

Boba B!tch brings mobile boba tea and sass to St. Louis

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

For a decade, Jefferson County native Franklin Killian lived in Los Angeles, where he wrote film scripts, acted in televi sion shows and gave very lit tle thought to boba tea other than wondering why kids seemed to be lining up around the block to get a taste of the tapioca-laden Tai wanese beverage. However, as he watched it turn from niche drink to bona fide trend, he got curious, then hooked and started to seek it out both around A and any time he’d come back to the St. ouis area to visit family.

hen illian moved back to St. Louis in 2020, he was struck by how few boba shops there were and couldn’t help but feel he was meant to do something about it. What that looked like, he wasn’t quite sure, so he told his wife he was going to marinate on his ideas for a year, then take some steps if he was still enthusiastic about it.

Now, nearly two years later, illian is bopping around town in his mobile boba tea trailer, oba tch. Though he admits the

BRUNCH OF CHAMPIONS

time out to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its allies with good food, drink and merriment. To that end, guests will be treated to a mimosa toast upon arrival and will then continue to the main events space where they will enjoy food from Honey Bee’s Biscuits + Good Eats, beer from 4 Hands Brewing and cocktails from 1220 Spirits. Fischer notes that, although the event has been more of a black-tie affair in year’s past, this Sunday’s Brunch of Champions is a lessformal, community-focused event.

“We won’t have the typical assigned tables you’d see at a fundraiser,” Fischer says. “There is more community seating so you can sit with those you know, but we also encourage people to sit with those they didn’t come with to gain con-

name is intentionally cheeky and designed to grab attention, at its heart, the brand is about pure, high- uality recipes he hopes peo ple will come back for time and again.

“I’m approaching this the way I do when writing scripts Instead of having 100 drinks or chas ing trends, I’m going to work my ass off on different recipes,”

illian says. “I’m going to give it to someone, and they aren’t going to want to customize it they’re going to come back for that staple drink. Of course, I want it to look sexy,

nection and learn from other people’s lived experiences.”

In addition to food and drinks, attendees will be treated to an address by PROMO’s executive director, Katy Erker-Lynch, and have a front-row seat as the organization honors Gary Mudd of Doorways, State Representatives Ashley Bland-Manlove and Rasheen Aldridge and two medical professionals, all of whom have dedicated themselves to championing equality in Missouri.

“Brunch of Champions is a way for us to uplift the incredible work that individuals and organizations do on a daily basis, because there are so many wonderful organizations that fight for equality,” Fischer says. “Sometimes, we all feel like we are alone, but really, there are so many fighting for equality.”

Tickets to Brunch of Champions are $100 and can be purchased at promoonline.org. n

but it has to be delicious more than anything.”

As passionate as illian is about making oba tch a vibrant, rec ognizable brand, he is even more committed to serving high- uality boba tea. He makes all of his syr ups from scratch and uses fresh, organic fruits, organic whole milk, organic brown sugar syrup and caramel, and homemade cream cheese salted caramel mousse for the drinks.

“It doesn’t taste like a damn cereal box,” illian says with a laugh.

As serious as he is about the rec ipes, illian is e ually dedicated to making sure his guests have a good time. rawing upon his ex perience in the entertainment in dustry, illian brings a showman ship to oba tch, shaking his drinks in front of guests and en gaging with his customers to cre ate an energy around the brand. So far, it’s worked. illian sold out at several festivals around town this summer, though he prefers the small-scale interaction to the crowds at larger events.

“If I can engage and chat with people and find out what is going on in their lives, that’s so much better than just a factory-style line where I am trying to cut down the line uickly, “ illian says. “That may be more money, but the en gagement just isn’t there.”

Though he has a few successful outings under his belt, he is not

yet ready to take things to a differ ent level. He’s been approached about opening a brick-and-mor tar location, but for now, that’s not part of his plan, as he does not want to move things too uickly. He’s just focused on getting peo ple obsessed with his boba tea and building buzz that, for him, is worth much more than anything a storefront could offer.

“ hat everyone wants is hype, and that’s something you can’t buy,” illian says. “If you don’t have that, you don’t have any thing, no matter how much mon ey you have. That’s something I learned in A.”

Franklin Killian is excited to bring a fun and delicious boba tea experience to St. Louis. | COURTESY BOBA B!TCH

“I’m approaching this the way I do when writing scripts: Instead of having 100 drinks or chasing trends, I’m going to work my ass off on 10 different recipes.”

ST. LOUIS STANDARDS

The Perfect Slice

Love of pie has kept La Pizza strong since 2003

Written by CHERYL BAEHR La Pizza

After spending his childhood in ew ork City, then uerto ico, aul ishop found him self in Oklahoma City deal ing with a very difficult situ ation There was no good pizza to speak of. It was something he’d taken for granted living in ew ork, a place synonymous with slices, and even in uerto ico, where he and his family would rotate their meals between out standing Caribbean cuisine and the excellent pizza offerings they found all around the island. He’d been spoiled by these experiences and would settle for no less than the real deal, so when he showed up in s-era Oklahoma where there was nothing but izza Hut and ominos, he became so crest fallen that he decided he was done eating pizza altogether.

Then, he heard some Italians were opening a place at the local mall.

“There was nothing in Oklaho ma City it was very isolated. ut finally, they built a mall, and in side, these Italians were building a pizzeria,” Bishop says. “My broth er told me they didn’t even speak nglish, but I’d tasted so many bad pizzas that I’d given up. But then they opened, and I went in to check it out their pizza looked just like what was in ew ork and they were selling it by the slice, too. I got a slice of cheese pizza, a soda and I loved it so much I was working there the next day.”

ishop may not have realized it at the time, but his decision to go to work for that humble mall pizze ria would set in motion a decadeslong journey that has culminated in one of St. ouis’ most beloved pizzerias La Pizza (8137 Delmar

Boulevard, University City; 314725-1230). Since opening in , the tiny shop, located on the west ern side of niversity City near the intersection of elmar ou levard and Old onhomme oad, has developed a cult “if you know, you know” following among area pizza lovers, especially those who crave a truly authentic ew orkstyle pie.

In retrospect, ishop can’t help but feel his entire life was pointing him in the direction of a izza. or as long as he can remember, pizza was more than just some thing to eat it was a passion that he carried with him no matter where he lived or what job he had. Oftentimes, his work life matched up with his love for pizza, first at the Oklahoma City mall pizzeria and next, at a similar setup in Tex as. etween the two places, ishop learned the fundamentals of fresh, properly made pizza, taking in their recipes and advice on dough, sauce and ingredient prep. ishop soaked in all of this knowledge with the goal of hav ing his own pizzeria, but he took a detour in his early 20s when he began working for a major food service corporation. The job took him around the country, where he

would do everything from man aging vending machines for large companies to troubleshooting is sues at different food service out lets. In 1989, he landed in St. Lou is, working in culinary operations at a downtown post office, but he kept his eyes on the area’s helpwanted ads to see if there was something else out there. One day, a particular ad caught his eye A restaurant in Overland was look

ing for a pizza guy, and he was in trigued enough to check it out.

“I thought to myself, That sounds interesting,’ but I didn’t know if I was ready to leave a -year ca reer to go on an adventure,” Bish op says. “ ut I figured, hat the heck ’ I went there, applied, and they hired me that same day.”

That restaurant, Tino’s, was an eye-opening experience for ishop, whose food work had been limited until that point to low-key pizze rias and corporate food service. At Tino’s, he learned about more up scale dining and cooking, thanks to the restaurant’s chefs and staff members, a few of whom had worked at the legendary St. ouis restaurant Al aker’s. One of those fellow employees, Tony ivituso, became a trusted friend and con fidant to ishop, and that relation ship remained after Tino’s closed about a year later. nemployed and unsure of their next steps, ishop got part-time jobs at ob’s Seafood and acanelli’s, while ivi tuso devoted himself exclusively to ob’s, where he worked his way up to running the place. The two would regularly talk about opening a pizzeria together, and eventually, things started happening that made those dreams a reality.

All of La Pizza’s pies are made from freshly hand-tossed dough. | ANDY PAULISSEN

Paul Bishop is the chef-owner of La Pizza. | ANDY PAULISSEN

“All these things just started happening,” Bishop says. “Deliv ering for Bob’s Seafood, we would find all this stuff that kitchens would throw away, like meat slic ers that were gummed up and needed to be fixed. e had our basements full of all these little odds and ends, and then our big break came when a country club sold us the two pizza ovens we use today for $250. Getting those ovens for that price made us feel

like we were getting a little help from above.”

Bishop and Rivituso would get additional help from ob’s Seafood founder ob epham. At a joint dinner party they hosted, the two prepared an elaborate spread of pizzas, including a stuffed seafood pizza that blew epham’s mind.

After everyone ate, epham was so impressed that he approached the two friends and asked what they needed to open a restaurant.

“ e told him money and he looked at us and said, Start look ing. I’ve got you,’” Bishop says.

In 2003, Bishop and Rivituso opened La Pizza, serving their first pie, a smoked-salmon ver sion not on the menu, to an older rench woman who assumed it was a rench restaurant because of its name. ishop admits it was slow-going at first they did no ad vertising and relied exclusively on word-of-mouth to spread the news

that they were open and ready for business. Over time, and with the help of some favorable write-ups in local publications, business picked up and has never stopped — Bishop notes that it has gotten to the point where the restaurant is so busy, customers sometimes have to call in and pre-order a pizza by a.m. in hopes they can secure one for that evening’s dinner. Sometimes, they are already sold out.

ishop credits the restaurant’s success to its focus on the funda mentals. He and his son aul r., who now works alongside him, get to the restaurant at and a.m., respectively, to begin the day’s prep work. They make everything from scratch daily, which ishop believes results in a pizza that is easier to digest than most. He even laughs that he’s had customers come in following open-heart sur gery for a taste of a izza. They just go light on the cheese.

ut the real secret to a izza’s staying power is the passion that Bishop, his son and Rivituso put into the restaurant every single day. Their customers taste this and are always telling the three how much they love their pies. It’s what keeps them going after all these years.

“Honestly, I had to wait a long time for my dreams to come true, but I was in no hurry be cause things just kept popping up to keep me busy,” ishop says. “Maybe it’s good to wait and be patient because you can learn a lot by watching people. ut really, the secret is I love making pizza.

hen you love doing what you are doing, it’s hard to beat.” n

La Pizza has developed a cult of “if you know, you know” admirers. | ANDY PAULISSEN

Over the years, La Pizza has developed a legion of fans. | ANDY PAULISSEN

e Roberto has pepperoni, hamburger, bacon, ham, capicola, sausage, garlic, mushrooms, black olives, green peppers and onions. | ANDY PAULISSEN

Wake and Bake

Missouri’s Own Edibles’ marijuanainfused co ee pods produce a convenient, low-key high

Written by SMOKY BEAR

For as long as I’ve been drink ing the stuff, I’ve enjoyed coffee with my weed. On its surface, it’s a quizzical prefer ence; why add an upper into the mix when the entire point of smoking weed is to send oneself into a calm, relaxed state? Coffee, when consumed in too high a dos age, can be anxiety-inducing, pro ducing a jittery feeling that seems poised to produce the sort of paranoid high you get when you smoke too much and end up hang ing onto the side of your friend’s kitchen table in a panic because you can feel the earth moving through the solar system.

But combining these two loves — what I’ve long referred to as my Jamaican Red Bull and vodka — does not produce such effects, at least in my experience. For some reason, a steaming cup of coffee after a fat joint has always felt so comforting. The warmth from a mug held against the chest while curled up on the couch is less about catching a caffeine buzz than the joy that comes from tak ing the time to savor a cup. We don’t often get the chance to do this, as our culture sets us up to consume the beverage on the go as a pick-me-up. Taking the time to do so is a rare treat.

For these reasons, I was curious when presented with Missouri’s Own Edibles’ new marijuanainfused coffee, a product that ba sically takes the two best things in the world and marries them in a K-Cup-style pod. Using fair trade, ethically sourced beans from a Brazilian co-op roasted by Springfield-based roaster the Coffee Ethic, Missouri’s Own adds nano-emulsified sativa extract to

create a product that, according to the packaging, lends itself to a “uniquely attentive high.”

The cannabis-infused pods are as easy to use as any regular K-Cup and come in a package of four. Af ter popping one in and hitting the brew button, I was immediately treated to the soothing aroma of fresh coffee. I did not expect the infusion to change the smell, but I was curious about the taste, as suming it would change the flavor. This wasn’t the case. Instead, this presents as a solid cup of joe with nutty undertones characteristic of its Brazilian origin. The mediumroast coffee is smooth, though as the cup cools, you start to get a little front-of-the-palate pepper, presum ably from the weed. I’m a creamand-sugar coffee drinker (yes, I’m a trash person whose preferences denigrate the hard work of farmers, roasters and baristas); with those components added to the cup, the already subtle undertones from the weed dissipated, revealing a rich, almost almondy taste.

Missouri’s Own Edibles instructs those using its marijuana-infused coffee to “start low and go slow.” This translates to a quarter-to-

REEFERFRONT TIMES

half-cup dosage, which is difficult for this hardcore coffee drinker. I split the difference and ended up with about a one-third-cup serving

and began feeling the effects after about or so minutes. At first, they produced a pleasant front-ofhead tingle that made me think I was in for a significant buzz. How ever, they wore off pretty quickly — within about 25 minutes — so I refilled the remaining two-thirds from the thermal container I’d been keeping it in to prolong and intensify the effects.

The low-key nature of the high, even at a full cup, was surpris ing, considering the combination of caffeine and sativa; never was there a moment when I felt that I would be incapable of going about my daily activities. Interestingly, the cannabis-infused coffee also did not induce any strong urge to consume Dean’s French Onion Dip and an entire bag of u es. In fact, I felt no munchie-like effects, though on a Sunday morning, en joying a cup with some fresh-fromthe-oven cinnamon rolls sounds like the closest thing to heaven. For that level of effect, though, go with a full cup right out of the gate. Or, just smoke a few bowls, brew a pot of regular coffee and save Mis souri’s Own’s pods for filling your Yeti on workdays. n

Missouri’s Own Edibles’ new marijuana-infused co ee takes two great things and marries them in a K-Cup-style pod. | SMOKY BEAR

The low-key nature of the high was surprising, considering the combination of caffeine and sativa; never was there a moment when I felt that I would be incapable of going about my daily activities.

CULTURE

A New Precedent

Granite City tattoo artist wins suit over work for WWE superstar Randy Orton

Written by RYAN KRULL

Late last month, a Granite City tattoo artist who inked professional wrestler Randy Orton won her yearslong lawsuit against a video game company over its use of her creative work in three video games.

On September 30, a jury in federal court in southern Illinois awarded artist Catherine Alexander $3,750 after ruling in her favor in her lawsuit against TakeTwo Interactive Software, 2K Games and World Wrestling Entertainment. The sum may seem small, but according to numerous art industry publications, the case sets a “fascinating precedent.”

According to her suit, Alexander created an “upper back tribal tattoo” on Orton in 2003 and, in 2008, inked a sleeve of “a Bible verse design, a dove, a rose, and

[ADULTING]

Coloring Karens

Really Big Coloring Books’ new storefront brings divisive o erings — and more — to a retail space

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

Asometimes divisive coloring-book operation has opened a retail storefront in St. Louis.

Last month, Really Big Coloring Books (9261 Dielman Industrial Drive, coloringbook.com) opened an approximately 2,000-square-foot retail space within its warehouse. Within the new storefront, the St. Louis-based company sells about 200 titles, primarily children’s coloring books, as well as coloring utensils, notebooks and sketchpads.

Some of its coloring books are ones you just won’t find anywhere else. The compa ny has made its name publishing almost any coloring book you could dream up.

skulls” on the professional wrestler. Orton, 42, got his start in professional wrestling in the St. Louis area in 2000 and eventually went on to become one

“We’re very inclusive, which means we’ll publish a book for anyone,” says Wayne Bell, publisher, founder and CEO of Really Big Coloring Books. “With the exception of narrow-minded hate groups.”

If that seems like an odd disclaimer for a coloring-book company, once you get eyeballs on its catalog, it makes a little more sense. Among its more, um, surpris ing offerings are Woke, President Obama, We Shall Never Forget 9/11, The Tea Par ty Coloring and Activity Book for Kids and Ted Cruz to the Future - Saves America.

Some of the more wild books are commissions, with individuals or com panies paying Really Big Coloring Books to make them. Bell says he always asks if the resulting product can also be pur chased by the public. Some say no, but most say yes.

Though Really Big Coloring Books has drawn some attention — including previous articles from the RFT — for its merch, Bell says it’s all part of a company ethos that focuses on diversity in content and in staffing, pointing to a Spanish-language division and the 23 languages in which the company publishes.

“A lot of people, they like to throw darts, if you know what I mean,” he says. “But one of the things that makes us suc-

of the most popular individuals affiliated with the billion-dollar World Wrestling Entertainment media company.

One of the sport’s most popular fig-

ures, his likeness — including his tattoos — appeared in numerous video games, such as WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18.

Alexander says in her lawsuit that the WWE offered her $450 for her to allow the tattoos to be used in the video games, but she declined.

She filed her lawsuit in 2018, and for years it meandered its way through the courts, its progress slowed in part by the pandemic.

The defendants in the case argued that the digital replication of Alexander’s work fell under fair use, an aspect of copy right law that allows for the unauthorized use of otherwise protected intellectual property under specific circumstances.

But ultimately the jury disagreed.

Many in the tattoo industry were watching the case with interest because the jury’s ruling would set a precedent one way or another. A ruling against Alexander could make it harder for artists who felt their work had been wrongfully recreated in video games to sue for compensation. A ruling for Catherine would have the opposite effect.

According to Video Games Chronicle, “Although the final amount may be con sidered relatively small, it does set a po tential precedent for other tattoo artists to make similar claims if their designs are replicated on athletes in video games.” n

to adult coloring books featuring mandalas, Ronnie Milsap, John Denver’s estate and even a Karen-themed coloring book with Karens calling 911, a Godzilla-like Karen shooting a laser out of her mouth and another one crouching, as if poised to ask for a manager.

“That’s a really funny book,” he says, breaking into chuckles. “That’s what we call an adult coloring book, and the staff had a great time making that one.”

Bell, who hails from the area close to New Madrid, Missouri, comes from a family in the printing business. He began producing coloring books in the early 1980s out of waste paper and realized it was a good business.

e retail store will also carry some unique o erings. | REALLY BIG COLORING BOOKS

cessful is the very accepting attitude that we’ve had throughout the history of this company.”

Recently, the company published a book of banned books and music.

“We do not accept censorship or banning of books,” Bell told Newswires

Not all of the company’s off-the-beaten-path offerings are political. Bell points

Things really got cracking with the birth of the internet as Bell registered multiple domain names — he says the company now owns 1,600 in countries around the world. He also claims to sell “millions and millions” of books yearly.

“That’s a real clean-cut nutshell how I got started making coloring books,” he says. “They kind of found me, if you will.” n

Really Big Coloring Books’ retail space is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with intermittent hours on Saturdays.

WWE superstar Randy Orton’s tattoos were at the heart of the suit. | VIA SANDWICH/FLICKR

History Afoot

Joseph DeGregorio takes you on a self-guided tour of St. Louis’ Italian neighborhood in e Hill: A Walk rough History

Written by KASEY NOSS

Want to get to know the Hill better but don’t feel like taking a guided tour?

Look no further than The Hill: A Walk Through History, a self-guided walking tour of St. Louis’ Italian neighbor hood by Hill resident and veteran tour guide Joseph DeGregorio. The book, which celebrated its official launch last week at Oliva on The Hill (4915 Daggett Ave nue, 314-899-6271), takes readers on a five-part tour of the historic neighborhood. Each stop is ac companied by a photograph and brief history told from DeGrego rio’s unique perspective as both neighborhood historian and life long resident. Fun facts, maps and additional photographs are inter spersed throughout the book.

ach of the book’s five tours is around 1 1/2 miles long. They in clude the Inner Loop, Outer Loop, Foodie Phase One, Foodie Phase Two and Personalities. Each sec tion covers a different aspect of one of St. Louis’ most visited neigh borhoods, from historic locales like St. Ambrose Catholic Church and the Italia-America Bocce Club to popular eateries such as Favazza’s on the Hill and Marconi Bakery.

“The concept is to provide the reader with a self-guided walking tour of the neighborhood,” DeGre gorio says. “I’m speaking out as myself in the book, not just writ ing rote, historical facts, and so I do have some unique things in there.”

Among those unique things are local anecdotes about baseball legend and Hill native Yogi Berra and asides featuring DeGregorio’s own family history on the Hill. For example, his aunt, Jo Signorino, was the first baby to be baptized at St. Ambrose after its comple tion in 1926.

Though The Hill: A Walk Through History is DeGregorio’s first solo venture he has been featured in many other histories of the neighborhood, including

the coffee table book The Hill: St. Louis’s Italian American Neigh borhood and the award-winning documentary America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill

His father, Roland DeGregorio, was a mailman, first-generation Italian American and active mem ber of the Hill community. He was also, as a friend of his put it, “the town gossip columnist” — he had developed the illegal habit of reading residents’ mail. Upon re tiring, Roland became the neigh borhood’s de facto tour guide, fielding impromptu uestions from passersby. Soon after, he be

gan leading official tours, which he continued to do for 25 years before his son took over.

“It’s been 17 years now, and I’ve been loving it ever since,” Joseph DeGregorio says. “I branched out from my father — I do culinary tours now, sports-only tours, spe cialty tours, Prohibition-era tours. He told me the stories, and I’ve picked up a lot of stories from oth er people I’ve interviewed over the years, and I went through some archives that we have as well. I just kept building and building it and just loving it.”

The book comes at a time of sig nificant demographic change for the Hill. The neighborhood has attracted many young families due to its charm and safety. As the older population dies out, an increasingly greater proportion of Hill residents are non-Italian, pos ing what some view as a threat to the heart of the neighborhood. DeGregorio has a different view.

“What we have today [on the Hill] is a lot of reconstruction going on, a lot of new homes you would see in wealthy suburbs popping up, a lot of remodeling,” he says.

“We are [less] homogenized, and it will continue to work that way, but we still have and will continue to have the Italian culture,” De Gregorio says. “We are in a renais sance here in this neighborhood, and it’s getting better and better

and better. It’s the beginning of a new chapter for the Hill.”

The book is dedicated to De Gregorio’s 10-year-old grandson, Henry, who he says is his inspi ration to continue his tours and other Hill-related projects. DeGre gorio, who was diagnosed with a rare, stage 4 intestinal cancer a little over six years ago, views this book as his legacy — not just to his only grandchild, but to his beloved community.

“I’ll be around for a few more years,” he says, “but I tell people without hesitation: It’s my legacy.” n

Joseph DeGregorio has been leading tours on the Hill for 17 years | KASEY NOSS

e book of walking tours launched last week. | COURTESY PHOTO

“ We are in a renaissance here in this neighborhood, and it’s getting better and better and better. It’s the beginning of a new chapter for the Hill.”

10 Years

Strong

Trauma Harness celebrates a decade together with two albums

Written By DELIA RAINEY

To know the scrappy spirit of the St. Louis DIY scene is to know Trauma Harness. For the past 11 years, the band has pum meled low-ceiling basements and divey bars on either side of the Mississippi River with its passionate explosion of sound. Hammering together a Frankenstein of its favorite genres – rock, pop, electronic and punk – Trauma Harness’s music feels in-your-face but sustains sincerity.

Trauma Harness is three friends: Josh Jenkins on vo cals, guitar and synth; Andy Peterson on bass; and Johnny Birkner on drums. The trio came together in 2011 after their previous bands broke up.

“I feel like [Trauma Harness] was an opportunity to just be our selves,” Peterson says about start ing the band.

The trio began to play and re cord together at Illegal Tone Re cordings, a now-shuttered DIY space in downtown Belleville, Illinois. The bandmates have switched between living in St. Louis and on the Illinois-side over the years. St. Louis is their base, while Belleville is their roots.

Of their collaborative and any thing-goes songwriting process, the pandemic forced band members to record online. Jenkins, Peterson and Birkner each added pieces to the recordings like a puzzle, editing and reworking the songs while iso lated from each other in lockdown. The outcome is their newest album, Swimming in Plastic, released at the end of July 2022.

The last time Trauma Harness put out a full-length album was in 2020: Invitation of the Death Cult, a 30-song narrative record about a death cult in southern Illinois.

Sticking with the concept-album form, Trauma Harness’ self-re leased Swimming in Plastic is set in Carrion Parks, a “place for all mal content” the liner notes say. The al bum invites us to enter the theme park through 18 tracks, a wild ride of doomy, goofy sonic creations.

“The theme park as a concept almost doubles like a refuge of es capism,” Jenkins explains. Swim-

Trauma Harness’s unmissable live aura: poppy upbeat rock with thrashing dark tones. It doesn’t take long to pick up on Swimming in Plastic’s central themes of cos mic terror, American greed and the police state all acting as pol lutants to our lives.

Against this despair, Trauma Harness won’t let go of fun-loving songwriting. Each track intro

MUSIC

Ten Years of Trauma is the last re lease of Lumpy Records, a local DIY label that ran for more than a decade. Run by Martin Myer of Lumpy & the Dumpers, Lumpy ecords showcased lo-fi punk and post-punk out of St. Louis and beyond, including four Trauma Harness tapes, two LPs, and two 45s. It only made sense to Myer to conclude the Lumpy legacy with Trauma Harness, a band that is symbolic of Myer’s own be ginnings in the Belleville punk scene in 2007. (Myers has be gun a new record label, Rot ten Apple, which will focus on multi-genre releases.)

ming in Plastic fuses the swirling thoughts of the early COVID peri od. “There’s some attitude of exist ing and finding comfort in an evil world,” Jenkins adds.

The physical Swimming in Plas tic CD comes with a Carrion Parks Map and lyric sheet in brochure form, designed by Jenkins. The dark blue “oil ocean” universe introduces different attractions, styled almost like levels in a 1990s video game. Each full song on the album correlates with a different neon yet ominous park location on the map key, such as a baseball diamond for “Batter Up!” a water slide for “Tidal Wave,” and a burn ing colorful playspace for “Hell fire,” all surrounded by flashes of skulls and radioactive green.

Looking at the park map, Peter son notes: “It kind of depicts this completely hellish world, where people are still having fun, you know? Like they have no choice, really.”

Each song is introduced by a robo amusement park inter com narrator, and each captures

duces a toy box of sound distin guishing the different “rides” of the park. Cartoony synths punc tuate “Through the Walls,” which critiques a country where people beg for medical care. Jenkins of ten ends the songs of Swimming in Plastic with a lyric of profound uncertainty, a rarity of confession alism for punk music: “As you fall asleep / you dream of something better / dream of a better place / dream of a better life.”

Trauma Harness released an other significant album in uly around the same time as Swimming in Plastic. Ten Years of Trau ma is a celebratory compilation of Trauma Harness’s past decade as a band. Curated and put out by Lumpy Records, the 15 pop songs span 10 years of limited online one-offs and songs from small cassette runs, coming together on vinyl for the first time.

The LP, with a standout tomatored cover of abstract dots and spot lights by artist Eric Mayer, honors the noteworthy continuity of the band, and celebrates an ending.

Ten Years of Trauma begins with “Eternal Return Com pany” which includes Trauma Harness’s signature sampling of radio-crunched audio: “try looking ahead,” a voice advises us, demanding the future as we enter the album’s time travel. The song slams straight into the band’s electro pop punk recipe of sludgy vocals; hard-hitting booming drums; fragments of doom bass; and then back into zany fun guitar. The album switches from sci-fi post-punk (“Scrap Brain Zone”), to spooky yet funny synth songs (“Echolo cation”), and some bubbly doowop twee (“Cathy Don’t Go”, “Snowman”).

The three-piece went on a short Midwest tour in June with fellow St. Louis synth-punk band The Mall. They also added another lo cal musician to their dynamic, Austin Zink, to sometimes play the synth parts on their electronicbased songs. They’ve been playing as a four-piece at venues like CBGB and The Sinkhole throughout the late summer and early fall. The bandmates hint that more collabo rations and spooky music could be coming in the near future.

Perhaps Trauma Harness’s lon gevity attests to its ability to morph and adapt. For a DIY band, espe cially in St. Louis, staying together for over a decade feels rare.

“I feel like our friendship kind of keeps the band alive,” Jenkins says.

And the group doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

“We always made the joke that we can see ourselves being a band when we are like 70 years old or something, who knows,” says Birkner. “Time is strange.” n

Trauma Harness has an unmissable live aura. | MABEL SUEN

Love and Its Vagaries

Stray Dog eatre’s A Little Night Music is a charming, romantic delight

Written by TINA FARMER

A Little Night Music Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler. Directed by Justin Been. Presented by Stray Dog Theatre through Saturday, October 22. Showtimes vary. Tickets $10 to $30.

Love and all its vagaries find a musical home in A Little Night Music at Stray Dog Theatre (2348 Tennessee Avenue, 314865-1995, straydogtheatre. org). Stephen Sondheim’s melodi ous and humorous look at finding and rediscovering love gets a light and buoyant interpretation in the company’s charming production. Smart casting and well-focused di rection ensure the tale of roman tic mischief and comeuppance is delightfully bawdy on its way to a happy ending for all.

Fredrick and Anne Egerman have been wed 11 months and still haven’t consummated the mar riage. His son has returned from seminary, complicating matters, particularly as Anne teases and flirts with the young man. Then again, so does Petra the maid. Per

haps a trip to the theater will put Anne in a more receptive mood?

erhaps. Things do get a bit more complicated when leading lady Desiree Armfeldt happens to be redrick’s former flame. Then there’s Desiree’s over-the-top jeal ous and callously privileged par amour Count Carl-Magnus Mal colm and his wife, the neglected and clever Charlotte. An adven turous grandmother and 14-yearold daughter named Fredrika round out the players at the center of this frivolous yet telling romp.

Jon Hey, as Fredrick, is the per fect complement to both Eileen Engel’s bright soprano as Anne and Paula Stoff Dean’s silkysmooth alto as Desiree. Many of the songs reference Sondheim’s recognizable upbeat lilt, particu larly the ensemble numbers. Hey, Engel and Bryce A. Miller, as son Henrik, expertly layer “Now,” “Later” and “Soon,” starting the show with texture and wit. Sarah Gene Dowling gives Petra great sass as she belts out “The iller’s Son.” Then there’s ean’s sublime “Send in the Clowns,” a near-per fect take on the singularly atypical Sondheim piece. Madeline Black, Scott Degitz-Fries, Liz Mischel and Adeline Perry, as the wise-beyondher-years Fredrika, capably com plete the principals. The ensemble features the talented Cory Antho ny, Shannon Lampkin Campbell, Jess McCawley, Kevin O’Brien and Dawn Schmid.

The company emphasizes acting and storytelling in the musical ver sion, so the lyrics are crisper, the notes less rounded and extended than the opera score — and the ap proach works spectacularly well.

Director Justin Been, music direc

tor Leah Schultz and choreogra pher Michael Hodges guide the cast with a light, frothy touch that enhances the dialogue, tone and swing of the engaging show.

The stage design is more sug gested than built, with set pieces placed or removed by the en semble as needed for each scene. Tyler uenow’s lighting design, bouncing off the panels hung behind the orchestra, sets the mood of each scene, effectively saturating the space with colors that complement the emotional through line and ngel’s flattering

STAGE

costumes. Smart use of color and texture by Engel creates addition al visual connection between the characters.

While enjoyable, it is equally im portant to acknowledge that, how ever memorable, Sondheim’s mu sic and lyrics and Hugh Wheeler’s book are somewhat dated if not entirely cringe-worthy. Addition ally, the subject matter and sexu al situations are not for younger audiences. Despite those caveats, A Little Night Music is a captivat ing and clever choice for light entertainment. n

More Reviews Coming

Tina Farmer is now the Riverfront Times theater critic

Written by SARAH FENSKE

This week, Riverfront Times has added a new person to its masthead: theater critic Tina Farmer. You can read her first review right here on this page.

Even beyond Farmer’s take on Stray Dog Theatre’s version of A Little Night Music, this addition is an exciting thing.

This spring, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch announced it would no longer publish theater reviews, a decision that drew complaints from readers and theater companies. By bringing Farmer on board, the Riverfront Times hopes to significantly increase the number of reviews it publish es both in print and online, redoubling its

efforts to serve the local arts community.

And we couldn’t be more excited about who will be doing it. Farmer is a longtime critic known for her dedication to the St. Louis theater scene and incisive writing. She has spent the last decade reviewing productions for KDHX and is also very in volved with the St. Louis Theater Circle, which supports the theater community by organizing annual awards that honor the best local productions.

“I’m so excited to bring my passion for theater and the talented artists in St. Louis to the Riverfront Times,” Farmer says. “Through my reviews and articles, I hope to spark interest in St. Louis culture, which is vibrant, varied and always interesting. We might not always see eye to eye on a show, and that’s OK. Talking about art and seeing different perspectives is at least half the fun of my job.”

Since resuming theater reviews in early spring, RFT has published reviews of shows at Stray Dog Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Muny, Union Avenue Opera, the New Jewish Theatre, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and more.

To make sure your show is on our list, please email Managing Editor Jessica Ro gen at jrogen@euclidmediagroup.com. n

e company of A Little Night Music performs at Stray Dog eatre. | JOHN LAMB

OUT EVERY NIGHT 42

314-436-2231.

E

ach week, we bring you our picks for the best concerts of the next seven days! To submit your show for con sideration, visit https://bit.ly/3bgnwXZ. All events are subject to change, espe cially in the age of COVID-19, so do check with the venue for the most up-to-date information before you head out for the night. And, of course, be sure that you are aware of the venues’ COVID-safety requirements, as those vary from place to place, and you don’t want to get stuck outside because you forgot your mask or proof of vaccination. Happy showgoing!

THURSDAY 13

BIFF KNARLY AND THE REPTILIANS: w/ Lightweight, Amy Elizabeth Quinn 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

THE BROKEN HIPSTERS: 7 p.m., free. Das Bevo Bier garten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

CARSON MANN AND CREE RIDER: 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: 8 p.m., $49.50-$69.50. The actory, Outer d, Chesterfield, 314-423-8500.

KARAOKE: w/ Shaggy Sounds 5 p.m.; Oct. 20, 5 p.m.; Oct. 27, 5 p.m.; Nov. 3, 5 p.m.; Nov. 10, 5 p.m.; Dec. 1, 5 p.m.; Dec. 15, 5 p.m.; Dec. 29, 5 p.m., free. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 S. Kingshighway, nd floor, St. ouis.

KENDALL STREET COMPANY: w/ Tenth Mountain Division 7 p.m., $20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

MAC SABBATH: w/ Speedealer, Lung 8 p.m., $20. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

MATT “RATTLESNAKE” LESCH BAND: 7 p.m., $15-$120. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

MICHAEL AMOROSO: 7:30-11:59 p.m., $12, 314256-1745. Blue Strawberry STL, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis.

MJ LENDERMAN: w/ Spencer Radcliffe 8 p.m., $12$15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

NAKED ROCK FIGHT: 8 p.m., $15-$20. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis.

NORCOS Y HORCHATA: w/ The Kuhlies, The Haddonfields p.m., . The Sinkhole, South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

TITUS ANDRONICUS: 8 p.m., $20-$25. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

FRIDAY 14

ANAT COHEN: 8 p.m., $31-$41. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

BEN DIESEL: w/ The Cult Sounds, Reaver, The Stars Go Out 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

BOB VOODOO FESTIVAL W/ VOODOO METERS: 10 p.m., $12. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

CHAMPAGNE DRIP: w/ Ace Aura 9 p.m., $15-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

CHEER-ACCIDENT: w/ Season to Risk 8 p.m., $16. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

CHILDREN OF THE RAT TEMPLE: w/ The Rose Court, Subtropolis 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

DR. ZHIVEGAS: 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, S. ingshighway, nd floor, St. ouis, 314-376-5313.

HOWARD STREET: 7 p.m., $20. National Blues

New Music Circle Presents Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio

Friday, October 14. 8 p.m. $10-$20. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Avenue.

From his groundbreaking work as an arts and events designer in the Wash ington, D.C., music scene to his eightyear tenure as a weekly host on “jazz and justice” radio station WPFW, Luke Stewart has championed the non-hierar chical nature of improvised music — and that only accounts for the prolific bass ist’s work behind the scenes. Whether Stewart is performing solo, as heard on the 2018 album Works for Upright Bass and Amplifier, or playing in one of many projects including “liberation-oriented free-jazz collective” Irreversible Entan glements, his acrobatic fingers etch au ral contortions on the fretboard. While much of the music industry was put on ice in the early days of the pandemic, Stewart put out a staggering 10 albums in a single year, including both studio sessions and vibrant recordings of live concerts. He kicked off a busy 2022

Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

JAKE OWEN: w/ Travis Denning 7 p.m., $45-$85. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St Charles, 636-896-4200.

J.D. HUGHES: 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 19, 4:30 p.m., free.

Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

LUMET: 8 p.m., $12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

MISS JUBILEE: 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

NICK GUSMAN AND THE COYOTES: 7 p.m., free.

Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave.,

with the release of the Bottom, the de but full-length album from Silt Trio, a new project with Chicago-based drummer Chad Taylor and D.C.-area saxophonist Brian Settles that alternates between flexible compositions and thematic im provisations. In recent months, Stewart has brought what he calls “explorations in sonic oneness” to festivals in Austria, Germany and Canada, to name a few, not to mention ensemble performances in venues throughout the United States.

On this night, the Silt Trio will bring its collective sixth sense for space, tension and release to St. Louis for an intimate night of experimental jazz at the enig matic Joe’s Cafe.

ULTIMATE SADE TRIBUTE: 7 p.m., $30. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

SATURDAY 15

ADAM NUSSBAUM: 8-10:30 p.m., $20. Joe’s Cafe Gallery, 6010 Kingsbury Ave., St. Louis, 314-862-2541.

ALL ROOSTERED UP: noon; Oct. 22, noon; Oct. 29, noon, free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

AWOLNATION: w adflower, The ysterines p.m., $35-$45. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

BAD SUNS: w/ Last Dinosaurs, Quarters of Change 7 p.m., $25-$75. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

BOB VOODOO FESTIVAL W/ VOODOO FORREST GUMP: 10 p.m., $12. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

DIESEL ISLAND: 7 p.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

FALL MUSIC FESTIVAL: 1 p.m., $10. The Attic usic ar, S. ingshighway, nd floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

THE HOLY HAND GRENADES: w/ Be Good Elliot 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

HOT KOOLAID: 6-9 p.m., free. Sky Music Lounge, 930 Kehrs Mill Road, Ballwin.

JASON COOPER AND THE COOP DEVILLES: 7 p.m., $15-$120. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

THE LION’S DAUGHTER AND STORMRULER

DOUBLE RELEASE SHOW: w/ Fister, the Gorge 8 p.m., $10. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

MS. HY-C AND HER FRESH START BAND: 7 p.m., $20. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

PUNK ROCK ART SHOW AND RECORD RELEASE

PARTY: w/ the Bent Duo, Bruiser Queen, Darling Skye, the Centaurettes 3 p.m., free. 31art gallery, 3520 Hampton Avenue, Saint Louis, N/A.

QUIN MCINTOSH: 7:30 p.m., $20. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

RYAN CHENEY: 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

SAIL ON: 7 p.m., $32-$82. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St Charles, 636-896-4200.

TALKIN TRASH WITH BOBBY STEVENS: 6 p.m., free. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

TOM HALL: 3 p.m., $15-$120. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS: 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

WOLF EYES: w/ Brain Transplant, Worm Hands, Janet Xmas 8 p.m., $12/$15. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

SUNDAY 16

—Joseph Hess

Tis the Season: After two years of virtual events, this Friday’s concert marks the New Music Circle’s return to live shows and the first of its 64th season, which includes the Steve Swell Quartet in November and Matchess / Dail Chambers in December along with a stunning lineup of world-class musicians through April 2023. Visit newmusiccircle.org for the full schedule.

St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

THE SAMPLES: 8 p.m., $30. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

STEVE AOKI: 10 p.m., $35-$900. RYSE Nightclub, One Ameristar Blvd, St. Charles.

THE WHO: w/ Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs 7:30 p.m., $38-$299. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

THIRD SIGHT BAND: 11 p.m., $15-$120. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

TORONZO CANNON: 9 p.m., $10-$15. The Shamrock Pub, 1131 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

ACE HOOD: 8 p.m., $25-$30. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

THE B3 BLOWOUT: 3 p.m., $15. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

HEMLOCK: w/ Subversion, Drop the Blade, Indecorous, Daisy Chain 7 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

KEVIN BUCKLEY AND FRIENDS: 11 a.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

MATT MAESON: 8 p.m., $23-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

MUSTARD SERVICE: w/ Late Night Drive Home 8 p.m., $15-$18. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

NON EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY: w/ Native Lyving, Nowake, Chainlink 8 p.m., $12. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio. | COURTESY THE ARTIST

[CRITIC’S

PICK]

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: 7 p.m., SOLD OUT. The Pag eant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

MONDAY 17

POPE: w/ Dubb Nubb, Thomas Dollbaum, Nicole 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

RYAN ADAMS: 8 p.m., $49.50-$89.50. The actory, Outer d, Chesterfield, 314-423-8500.

SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m.; Oct. 24, 9 p.m.; Oct. 31, 9 p.m., $5. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

TUESDAY 18

THE CALLING: 8 p.m., $25-$30. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

ILLUMINATI HOTTIES: w/ Enumclaw, Olivia Barton 8 p.m., $20/$25. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

MISS JUBILEE & THE YAS YAS BOYS: 10 a.m., $20$23. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

RÜFÜS DU SOL: 7 p.m., TBA. St. Louis Music Park, 750 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-451-2244.

ZOMBI: 8 p.m., $13. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

WEDNESDAY 19

THE BUMPIN’ UGLIES: w/ Kyle Smith 8 p.m., $17$20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

J.D. HUGHES: Oct. 14, 4:30 p.m.; 4:30 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

MISS JUBILEE & THE YAS YAS BOYS: 10 a.m., $20$23. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

SORRY ERIC: w/ 3 of 5, Mold Gold 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

STEFON HARRIS & BLACKOUT: -23, 7:30-8:40 p.m., $37. The Harold & Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz, 3536 Washington Ave, St Louis, 314-571-6000.

TURNSTILE: w/ Snail Mail, JPEGMAFIA 7 p.m., $35. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

VOODOO BLUES BROTHERS: 9 p.m., $12. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THIS JUST IN

BILLY THE KID: Fri., Dec. 2, 7 p.m., $7. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St Charles, 636-896-4200.

BLIND MAN’S BLUFF: Sat., Dec. 10, 5 p.m.-1:30 a.m., $10, 3143765313, info@theatticmusicbar. com. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 S. Kingshighway, nd floor, St. ouis, - - .

BRETT ELDREDGE: Sat., Dec. 3, 8 p.m., $26.75$96.75. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

THE BURNEY SISTERS: W/ Natalie Huggins, Fri., Nov. 4, 8 p.m., $12-$45. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

CHAMPIONSHIP CIRCLE PRESENTS DELIVERANCE:

W/ Retro Champ, the Greater Good, Sat., Nov. 19, 8 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

DAN KELLEY CHRISTMAS SHOW BENEFITTING

READY READERS: W/ Ben Diesel, the Stars Go Out, River Miles, Holy Hand Grenades, Sat., Dec. 10, 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

EMO HALLOWEEN: W/ Finding Emo, Fri., Oct. 28, 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

FORGOTTEN SPACE: Fri., Nov. 11, 8 p.m., $25$28. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis,

Wolf Eyes w/ Brain Transplant, Worm Hands, Janet Xmas

Saturday, October 15. 8 p.m. $12/$15. e Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway. With albums as transient as a jam session at your cousin’s friend’s house on a stormy Saturday afternoon to an audience of six cats — two of them sleeping on a living room table covered in audio cables and a broken mixer — Wolf Eyes rarely forgets to hit that big, red record button when it matters. That’s not to say the Detroit, Michigan-based noise group values quantity over quality, but Wolf Eyes rose to prominence not with mar-

314-588-0505.

HALLOWEEN DANCE PARTY: Sat., Oct. 29, 8 p.m., free. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

HILLARY FITZ: Thu., Oct. 20, 8-10:30 p.m., $15/$20. Joe’s Cafe Gallery, 6010 Kingsbury Ave., St. Louis, 314-862-2541.

HOUNDS: Wed., Nov. 23, 8 p.m., $15/$20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-5880505.

JAHMAL NICHOLS’ BLACK FREQUENCIES: $17, - , boxoffice jazzstl.org. The Har old & Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz, 3536

keting savvy or an appeal to mainstream audiences but rather by serving an impassioned and dedicated fanbase with a constant stream of CD-Rs, cassette tapes and lathe records. When sound artist Nate Young started Wolf Eyes in 1996, noise music was still a set up for art school jokes, and while that much hasn’t changed for many, his efforts helped inspire a then-disparate community of prospective artists — including those who weren’t even sure they would be considered musicians — to record, tour and connect a web of artistry that now exists as a social sonic tapestry that stretches from coast to coast. Together with noted internet meme lord John Ol-

Washington Ave, St Louis, 314-571-6000.

KASIMU-TET: Thu., Oct. 27, 8-10:30 p.m., $15/$20. Joe’s Cafe Gallery, 6010 Kingsbury Ave., St. Louis, 314-862-2541.

THE LATE GREATS: W/ Bobby Stevens, Sat., Oct. 29, 7:30-11:59 p.m., $15, 314-256-1745, bluestrawberrystl@gmail.com. Blue Strawberry STL, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

SALTY GINGER & THE SURFERS: Fri., Dec. 23, 5 p.m.-1:30 a.m., $10, 3143765313, info@ theatticmusicbar.com.

The Attic Music Bar, S. ingshighway, nd floor, St. ouis,

son (@inzane_johnny on Instagram), Young will morph the Sinkhole on South Broadway into a cacophonous cocoon of “trip metal” on Saturday night.

History Lesson: So where to start with a band whose body of work spans more than 300 recordings? Sure, there are past collaborations with Sonic Youth, Merzbow and John Wiese to track down, but Wolf Eyes’ steady release schedule means that the latest album is always around the corner. Their newest record (at the time of this writing) Dumpsters & Attitude feels lush and distinctive, and will likely stand out even as it becomes a distant memory behind several more new releases.

314-376-5313.

—Joseph Hess

SCHOOL OF ROCK BALLWIN: Sun., Nov. 6, 5 p.m., $15. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

STUCK: W/ Shady Bug, Yuppy, Blessed, Fri., Dec. 9, 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

TALKIN TRASH WITH BOBBY STEVENS: Sat., Oct. 15, 6 p.m., free. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

ULTIMATE SADE TRIBUTE: Fri., Oct. 14, 7 p.m., $30. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. n

Wolf Eyes. | COURTESY THE ARTIST

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Knots Landing

BY DAN SAVAGE

There is more to this week’s Savage Love. To read the entire column, go to savage.love.

Hey Dan: I’m a 31-year-old cis man married to a 33-year-old nonbinary partner, and our relation ship has always been very vanilla. Over the past few years, I’ve dis covered that I’m a kinky person, with a particular interest in both domination and submission. It took me a long time to summon the courage to bring this up with my spouse, as they have a cocktail of factors that could complicate play around power dynamics. This includes a history of trauma and sexual abuse, anxiety, body image and self-esteem issues, and residu al religious guilt. In the past, even discussing sex and sexuality in the abstract has been fraught. But our first co ersatio we t s rpris ingly well. My spouse is cautiously open to exploring submission, and they want to continue the conver sation. I have real optimism that centering consent, boundaries and communication in D/s play might actually make sex feel safer for them. And I hope that isn’t just dickful thinking.

So now I’m the dog that caught the car a d terrified o ess ing this up. What advice would you give to gently ease into D/s play from a vanilla relationship? Can you recommend any books or pod casts that approach this kink at a fir l le el a d ce ter sa et and consent?My spouse is a reader and an academic at heart, and that might be a way to explore the idea from within their comfort zone.

Don’t Overwhelm My Spouse

“Let me address the elephant in the room right away,” said Rena Martine. “Why on earth would a survivor of sexual trauma actu ally want to engage in D/s sex?”

Martine is a sexual intimacy coach who has helped couples explore BDSM and other forms of erotic power exchange. She’s also a former sex crimes prosecutor, which makes her particularly sen sitive to issues faced by survivors of sexual assault and abuse.

“When it comes to trauma, there’s a concept known as ‘re staging,’” Martine says, “which means the trauma survivor takes a situation where they felt pow erless and ‘restages’ it, so they’re actually in the director’s chair and choosing to give up some of that control.”

While BDSM isn’t therapy, some people who have submissive de sires and traumatic sexual his tories find giving up control to a trusted partner empowering and low-key therapeutic. Instead of control being something an un trustworthy abuser took from them, control becomes a precious thing they loaned to someone they could trust. And when they hand ed it over, they knew it would be returned, either at a set time or immediately if the sub used their safe word.

“Research by Dr. Justin Lehmiller tells us that victims of sex crimes are actually more likely than nonvictims to fantasize about almost all aspects of BDSM,” adds Martine. “Anyone who’s cu rious about the science of sexual fantasies should read his book, Tell Me What You Want. And Holly Richmond’s Reclaiming Pleasure is a great starting point for any sexu

SAVAGE LOVE

As for getting started, Martine had a really good suggestion.

“My favorite newbie recom mendation for easing into D/s play is using a sleep mask,” said Martine. “It’s innocuous, easy to remove and gives each player a chance to practice surrendering control by giving up one of their five senses.”

Taking a baby step like that — playing with a simple blindfold and nothing else — is a great way to test the waters while you keep talking about other “junior varsi ty” kinks you and your spouse feel safe exploring together.

“And for general D/s tips,” Mar tine says, “check out Lina Dune’s Ask A Sub podcast.”

Follow Rena Martine on Insta gram @_rena.martine_.

JOE NEWTON

al assault survivor.”

Before you attempt to engage in D/s play or even begin to discuss your fantasies in detail, Martine recommends thinking about the emotional needs that shape these fantasies.

“What is it about domination and submission that appeals to each of them?” Martine says. “What aspects of D/s play are they excited about? Having a conver sation about the ‘why’ will ensure they can each approach this new dynamic from a place of compas sion and safety.”

Now, if you give thought to the “why,” DOMS, and your honest answer is, “Because it turns me on,” that’s good enough. And if your spouse’s honest answer is, “Because my partner is interested in this, and I’m interested in ex ploring it,” that’s good enough. While some people into BDSM can point to one specific experience or something that shaped them more broadly (like a religious upbring ing), you don’t need to justify your interest in D/s or BDSM by making a list of traumatic experiences. If this kind of play — this kind of theater for two — turns you both on, that’s a perfectly valid reason to explore D/s play.

Hey Dan: I’m a hetero 40-yearold woman married to a guy who is very skilled and generous in bed. I’m also someone who abso lutely needs to be in control of my body. I’ve never done drugs and only once got so drunk I didn’t re member every detail of the night. I hated that feeling. I think this need for control is why I don’t like hav ing orgasms. I enjoy the feeling that comes immediately before an orgasm but then my body seems to suppress that last bit. Because I don’t enjoy the feeling of actual or as s this is fi e with e the very rare occasions that I’ve had an orgasm, I feel gross after. But I could happily screw all night with no orgasm! I’ve discussed this with my husband, and he said that as long as I was having my best experience, he was not upset that I wasn’t having orgasms.But a friend — a friend I don’t have sex with — is convinced my aversion is a symptom of some sort of emo tional scar. I did have some nega tive sexual experiences in the past, but I dealt with them and moved on. Should I explore this aversion even though the only person con cerned is someone I don’t have sex with? Or can I be an emotionally whole person who just prefers the pre-gasm to orgasm?

Personally Prefer Pre-gasms

savage.love

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