19 minute read
Short Orders
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SHORT ORDERS
[FOOD NEWS]
Dough Dash
Katie’s Pizza is again shipping nationwide this holiday season
Written by MONICA OBRADOVIC
Last winter, short sta ng at FedEx and a nasty omicron surge put a stop to atie s i a asta steria s online ordering platform, which allowed patrons to ship the St. ouis-based eatery s popular fro en pi as and pastas to any destination throughout the .S.
But this year, fans of the brand s signature pies are in luc atie s online ordering is bac for the holidays. rom now until anuary, customers can ship items on atie s fro en menu throughout the .S. Customers get a free fro en pi a or restaurant gift card with every order as a than -you for stic ing by the brand after last year s hiccup and for their continued support of the burgeoning fro en-pi a line.
The resolution to last year s shipping woes is the latest sign that atie s is poised to become a national fro en-pi a brand, a ma or development for a pro ect that started out as a pandemicrelated necessity but has become something much more for owners atie ee Collier and Ted Collier.
In 0 0, the couple and business duo behind the popular modern Italian restaurants Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria (two locations including 9568 Manchester Road, Rock Hill; 314-942-6555) turned to fro en pi a to eep their business afloat as C I - wrea ed havoc on restaurants. Their gambit wor ed. nline orders for fro en pi as piled in to a point where the company could hardly eep up. The success fueled atie s through the worst of the pandemic and introduced the beloved local chain s fare to a broader national audience, including grocery stores around the country.
Competition in the fro en-pi a world is steep. ee Collier says, “It s a very tough business,” but she and her team did not want to sacrifice uality for e ciency. very item on the fro en menu is made from the same recipes and by the chefs who staff the restaurants. i as are crafted the same way they would be in the bric and-mortar restaurants
“It ta es a lot of wor , and it ta es a lot of craftsmanship,” ee Collier says in an interview. “We re committed to not overstreamlining to the point that it s all machine.” very pi a is hand-stretched and wood-fired in an 00-degree oven with issouri white oa . reshly milled durum and semolina flour ma e up the dough. Specialty Italian meats, fresh cheese and local organic produce adorn the pies. enu options also include pasta ba es, sauces and fresh pasta by the pound. The dishes taste ust as good microwaved or ba ed at home, ee Collier asserts. atie s fro en pi as have reached customers far and wide in the past two years. In addition to local shelves at ierbergs in issouri and Illinois, the Colliers have attracted nationwide chains including Whole oods and resh ar et, an ast Coast chain of grocery stores with over 0 locations.
But after online ordering for individual customers ended last winter, customers moaned, ee Collier says. “ ventually we ust got so many people saying, I don t live here, but I really want your pi as and you re not in my grocery store yet, ” she says. “So we decided the perfect time to bring it bac would be the holidays.”
The ascent of atie s i a asta steria was a long one. ee Collier dropped out of high school at and learned the restaurant business by wor ing in them. She and her father opened atie s i a Cafe in Clayton in 00 when she was ust . ee Collier battled a years-long struggle with addiction, however, and eventually lost her share in the business.
The cafe closed in 0 , but along with her husband Ted Collier, ee Collier has opened two locations of atie s i a asta steria — with a third one on the way. The largest location of atie s i a asta steria will open in the heart of Ballpar illage ne t year.
The addition of a fro en product line has been an une pected e tension of atie s success — one that s become far bigger than a pandemic uic -fi .
“When we started this, the goal was ust to eep everybody wor ing and eep getting our product out to people during C I ,” ee Collier says. “We were able to save everybody s ob and come out with this great product, and it was a success. We uic ly reali ed that the reach with fro en is much greater than anything a restaurant could ever do. I thin the s y is always the limit.” n
You can now have Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria’s frozen pizzas shipped nationwide. | MABEL SUEN
“ It takes a lot of work, and it takes a lot of craftsmanship.
[FOOD NEWS]
A New Era
Vito Racanelli shares his “out of the box” plans for a reimagined Tempus
Written by CHERYL BAEHR
When ito and Amy Racanelli signed on to be the creative forces behind the newly imagined Tempus — an opportunity that followed the departure of the restaurant s acclaimed chef and creative force Ben rupe — they new they had only one option to thin completely out of the bo .
“When I got in here, it was ama ing,” ito Racanelli says. “But I got to tal ing and reali ed that I don t thin I d want to open a restaurant because there s too much pressure. Ben rupe is an artist, and to follow that up is one hard act to follow. It s li e being a comedian after ave Chappelle who wants to follow that ”
The Racanellis appear up to the challenge. This wee , Tempus announced that the husband-andwife team of chefs were tapped by owner eter Bric ler to help him guide the space in a new direction. Their appointment gives a bit of clarity to the future of the restaurant, which was shadowed in uncertainty after rupe, its star chef and visionary, departed in late August. At that time, Bric ler promised to “restructure and refresh” the restaurant following a brief hiatus. ow, three months later, he and the Racanellis are ready to show the St. ouis dining community what that means.
Their plans represent a dramatic departure from the upscale dining that defined the restaurant during rupe s tenure. As ito Racanelli e plains, Tempus will cease to be a sit-down restaurant with daily service, but will instead be converted into a bouti ue events and pop-up space, ta eout window and dinner-series venue intentionally designed to be everchanging.
“ very time you get into the restaurant business, you thin of a concept and then find yourself in the walls of that concept, and you are stuc there,” Racanelli says. “With this idea, we can tear down the walls we are not stuc with anything, and we can try all sorts of things.”
Though they are eager to showcase a variety of voices at the newly imagined Tempus, the Racanellis will lead the first series of pop-ups in order to feel out the space. Their inaugural event is a tic eted spaghetti dinner that will be held on Wednesday, ovember 3, the evening before Than sgiving, and Racanelli is eager to lead.
“We ust want to loosen up and eep it simple,” Racanelli says. ollowing the spaghetti-dinner launch event, the Racanellis will turn their attention to a pop-up series called R TS A Culinary ourney. It s an idea that Racanelli has wanted to pursue for some time, as he sees it as an opportunity for chefs to share their stories and showcase their uni ue ourneys.
“It s a way for people to really loo at the mind of a chef — what were the triggers that motivated that person to want to get into this cra y career,” Racanelli says. “There are a million different things, and I want to give chefs li e me the opportunity and set a stage for them to e plain that and to see the chef as a person, as well as the trials and tribulations they went through and how personal this is to them.”
Racanelli will ic off the R TS series on Wednesday, ovember 30, by sharing with diners the Italian upbringing that served as the spar for his own culinary ourney. Though he does not have a date listed for subse uent R TS pop-ups, he teases that the legendary im iala of The Crossing and Acero is on dec for a dinner that he describes as being “li e a T Tal , but for food.”
In addition to the pop-ups and special events, the Racanellis will be operating a ridays-only ta eout concept, The Window, which will consist of a wal -up window on the ewstead Avenue side of the building where guests can order meals to go, including the Racanellis Big s Craft BB , which had previously been operating out of allon s now-shuttered issouri Beer Company. The Window, which debuted ovember , will be open from a.m. until food is sold out.
“It s a bit unorthodo what we are doing, but I thin it fits the space,” Racanelli says. “There s always going to be a new chapter to it it s going to be a lot of fun.” n
Amy and Vito Racanelli have big plans for Tempus. | KELLE SUTTON
Salty cashew blondies are one of the recipes featured in Claire Sa tz’s new cookbook What’s for Dessert. | COURTESY OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
[BOOK NEWS]
Sweet Tooth
Celebrity chef and St. Louis native Claire Sa tz asks, “What’s for dessert?”
Written by MONICA OBRADOVIC
My fandom of Claire Saffitz began much like everyone else’s.
It was early 2020, right before everything went downhill. My biggest concerns at the time were finishing my last semester of college and getting to Webster University’s library cafe before someone swiped the last banana-nut muffin.
Then disaster hit. The harshest days of the pandemic put an end to most inperson activities, and my communications were mostly reduced to texts and vacant small talk with professors over Zoom. But I, along with millions of others, found comfort in YouTube videos — specifically a series created by Bon Appétit magazine called Gourmet Makes where, in video after video, pastry chef and St. Louis native Claire Saffitz attempted to recreate cheap candies and desserts, such as Twinkies, into gourmet creations.
In her latest cookbook, What’s for Dessert, Saffitz builds upon what she began in the Gourmet Makes series, offering her trademark encouraging advice throughout this collection of 100 recipes designed for aspiring pastry chefs of all skill levels. The cookbook, released November 8 by Penguin Random House, follows her debut book, October 2020’s Dessert Person, which turned Saffitz into a bona fide pastry phenomenon.
Like thousands of wannabe bakers, I found comfort in Saffitz’s Gourmet Makes videos, taking it all in as she dedicated herself to an often arduous trial-and-error process. I’m an admitted novice in the kitchen — most of my dinners consist of Pasta Roni garnished with little more than bargain parmesan cheese. But Saffitz had me baking garlic and rosemary focaccia, salted halvah blondies and kouign-amann, a delectable French pastry that took a seven-hour commitment of love to make.
Even after Saffitz left the Bon Appétit staff following the uproar surrounding several of the magazine’s employees of color saying they were treated differently than their white counterparts, I continued to follow her work and gleefully scooped up a copy of Dessert Person when it hit shelves that first pandemic October.
Several more did the same. Dessert Person quickly became a New York Times bestseller and Saffitz’s personal YouTube channel, where she started to demonstrate recipes in the book, now has over 1 million subscribers. I could not help but beam with civic pride when she included a recipe for a hometown staple, gooey butter cake, which, no offense to your mom, beats any home recipe using yellow cake mix as a base.
Saffitz tells the RFT that in What’s for Dessert she was inspired to go in a different direction.
“My first book was all about baking, so I didn’t get to explore so many other realms of desserts that I enjoy eating but was less familiar with making, like frozen and child desserts and stovetop desserts,” Saffitz says.
While Dessert Person provided her a route to expand her own horizons as a dessert person and provide more variety for home bakers, Saffitz notes that What’s for Dessert features more simple recipes than her cookbook debut. While developing her recipes for her latest effort, Saffitz focused on streamlining various techniques and processes to minimize steps, dishes and equipment wherever possible.
“As a recipe developer, I definitely place more of an emphasis on creating simpler recipes now than I have in the past,” Saffitz says. “I still enjoy a baking project, but I know that a recipe does not have to be complicated to be delicious, so I try my best to provide low-lift recipes that make a big impact.”
Like in her debut cookbook, Saffitz included several family recipes in What’s for Dessert. Food was always a topic of conversation in her family and a locus for enjoyment and sociability, she says. Both of her parents are good cooks — her mom, in particular, is an experienced baker.
That childhood, as well as her St. Louis upbringing, influenced her work. A graduate of Clayton High School, Saffitz has many fond memories of family outings to Ted Drewes in the summertime. Pumpkin muffies from the early days of St. Louis Bread Company and gooey butter cake from Lake Forest Bakery also created taste memories that almost certainly influenced her palate today, she says.
Now a New Yorker, Saffitz says she fields questions about St. Louis-style pizza, “which, in New York, is difficult to defend but I try my best.”
Though readers of What’s for Dessert will not see a recipe for Provel-covered cracker crust, Saffitz says she did take inspiration from classic American midcentury desserts, many of which have a “pretty Midwest feel,” even if none speak directly to her St. Louis roots.
“I turned to community cookbooks from all over the country, which are so fun and interesting to read and give such a specific look into the local cuisines of a particular place and design,” she adds.
When asked why she feels such a strong sense of duty to help people around their amateur pastry kitchens, Saffitz says she tries to channel her earliest experiences as a baker and the anxiety she felt when trying a new recipe.
Throughout her career, Saffitz has often suggested that baking gets a bad rap; that it’s difficult, frigid and leaves little room for expression. To her, though, dessert is just as important as the main course. Every evening after dinner, she turns to her husband, chef Harris MayerSelinger, and asks “What’s for dessert?” She poses it as a question, but there’s no question mark at the end of her newest cookbook.
Dessert, for Saffitz, is more of an expectation.
“[It’s] part of my routine, and posing the question/statement is a way that I make time to treat myself on a daily basis,” Saffitz says.
And thank God she does, because she’s taught me, and so many others, to do the same. n
St. Louis native Claire Sa tz prepares some sweet treats. | COURTESY OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
What’s for Dessert is available wherever you buy your books, including local sellers such as Left Bank Books in the Central West End.
Food Goals
Dewey’s, Crown Candy and more join St. Louis CITY SC vendor list
Written by BENJAMIN SIMON
When CITYPARK hosted its first professional soccer game ovember , it had an array of local food for fans to en oy.
And that s maybe an understatement. CITY AR is not ust offering some aldi s Coffee here and some Steve s ot ogs there. The entire stadium is full — 00 percent full — of food and beverage vendors from across the St. ouis area.
In ctober, the team first previewed its CITY lavor program with four initial partners Bal an Treat Bo , B AST Craft BB Co., Steve s ot ogs and iche ood roup. n the onday morning before its sold-out first match between CITY SC and Bayer 0 ever usen, the team shared a list of 0 additional area food and beverage vendors that are represented in the brand-new owntown West S stadium.
The list of offerings includes a number of St. ouis staples, such as ewey s i a, the Bloc , ayo etchup, au, ie uy, adrinos e ican Restaurant, udo ouse, Anthonino s Taverna, Wally s, alinche, armtru , Ices lain ancy, the attened Caf, Bold Spoon Creamery, Che Ali, aldi s Coffee, Crown Candy itchen, W Sausage and eats, and the . .A.T. Brand.
“We want a ma ority of this to be smaller operators, whereas you usually see the reverse in these ma or stadiums,” chef erard Craft tells RFT. “You see a lot of Chic -fil-A and apa ohn s.”
Craft — a ames Beard award winner serving as St. ouis CITY SC s chief flavor o cer — says they tried to capture the variety of cuisines available across the St. ouis area, from Bosnian to ietnamese to Senagalese food partners.
“St. ouis is made up of so many different cultures, and we really wanted to show that,” Craft says. “We love toasted ravioli and everything li e that, but we now that St. ouis is more than ust that. ... We really wanted to have as much representation as we could.”
The food was available in locations across the stadium when CITY AR held its first professional game last Wednesday. After flooding and electrical issues delayed the stadium opening over a month, CITY SC too the pitch against erman team Bayer 0 ever usen in a friendly match. Though the home team was shut out 0-3, hungry fans could find comfort in the delicious food filling the stadium.
When the S team arrives in 0 3, it will be the first to have a stadium with 00 percent local offerings. The stadium will also offer advanced technology for food orders, including digital menu boards, wal -out mar ets and mobile wallet-pay technologies.
Since the St. ouis S team was announced in 0 , the team received more than 0,000 suggestions from community members, ultimately whittling the list down to selections. The team says it will continue to e pand its offerings by the time the S team starts play in 0 3.
“There wasn t really a roadmap for this, because everybody was li e, on t do that. That s not gonna be the most profitable option, ” Craft says. “But, than fully, our ownership group was so supportive of saying, We want this to be something special and something different. et s loo at the profit after. et s ust try to ma e this something that is going to really represent St. ouis. ” n
DD Mau’s delectable Vietnamese cuisine is one of the many newly announced dining options at CITYPARK. | MABEL SUEN
[FOOD NEWS]
Into the Woods
Botanica has closed in Wildwood
Written by CHERYL BAEHR
Aonce promising light in Wildwood’s dining scene has gone dark. Botanica (2490 Taylor Road, Wildwood; 636-821-1233), the stylish restaurant and bar from the team behind Six Mile Bridge Beer, has closed. The restaurant served its last guests November 13.
The restaurant announced the news on its social media accounts early last week, citing two main reasons for its closure.
“Unfortunately, economic headwinds combined with chronic staffing shortages prevented us from achieving the goals we had dreamed of and ultimately forced our hand to close the business,” a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page read.
Ryan and Lindsay Sherring opened Botanica last October in the former Wildwood location of Llywellyn’s Pub in the hopes of becoming a neighborhood gathering place that could appeal to those looking for a romantic date night, as well as to families wanting a comeas-you-are spot for weeknight pizza, and everyone in between. They started out with great promise, converting the formerly dark pub into a sleek, light-filled dining room and assembling a dream bar team anchored by the well-regarded former Salt + Smoke beverage director Chris Figeroa.
However, the Sherrings signaled they meant business by bringing on Ben Welch as Botanica’s executive chef. Welch, who made his name at his now-shuttered Maryland Heights Smokehouse Big Baby Q and later as executive chef at the Midwestern, saw Botanica as his chance to finally tease out his ideas for a more Southern-inflected upscale dining concept. This, combined with the Sherrings’ desire to offer creative pizzas and an Italian-inflected menu, resulted in unique fusion fare such as a sweet-potato pizza with speck, gorgonzola and candied pecans, as well as fried catfish with eggplant parmesan and spicy tartar sauce.
Their daring culinary style paid off, resulting in a James Beard Foundation Award nomination for Best Chef: Midwest for Welch this past spring. However, not long after the nod, the St. Louis PostDispatch reported that Welch had quietly departed Botanica at the beginning of the year, before the nomination came out.
Reached for comment, Ryan Sherring summed up the situation in a simple sentence.
“It was a tough decision, but we couldn’t keep it open any longer.” n
Botanica has served its last guests. | PHUONG BUI
