January 2014 Feast Magazine

our annual round table

debuting no. 6

reaping the benefits

INSIDER INSIGHTS

DAVID BAILEY

CULINARY TOURISM

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

2014 STL Tastemakers

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Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

JANUARY 2014

36

david bailey’s SIXTH SENSE

from the staff

|8|

from the PUBLIsher

Insight from insiders.

| 10 |

feaststL.com

What’s online this month.

| 12 |

feast faVes

Our staff and contributors share inspired ideas for tasteful living in St. Louis. coLUmNs

| 20 |

oNe oN oNe

Catching up with Chronicle Coffee owner Jason Wilson as the shop approaches its first anniversary.

| 22 |

the mIx

Hot buzz: Say hello to the cinnamon-spiked .38 Special.

| 24 |

oN the sheLf

New and notable in beer, spirits and wine.

| 26 |

mystery shoPPer

Buy it and try it: passion fruit.

| 28 |

chef’s NoteBook

Chef Cassy Vires digs into the tasting menus trend.

| 30 |

gadget a-go-go

We put five tea infusers to the test.

| 32 |

double feature

tastemakers round table 50

meNU oPtIoNs

A savory, simple-to-make vegetable soufflé brightens up chilly winter nights.

| 70 |

the Last BIte

Writer Alexandra Bates’ palate strikes it rich with The Cup’s Gold Rush cupcake.

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Of SCOTT CAREY SHOT ON LOCATION AT SUMP COffEE (P. 50) BY

Demond Meek TABLE Of CONTENTS PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Jennifer Silverberg

43

culinary tourism 4

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JANUARY 2014

Come in out of the cold 217 South Main St. O’Fallon, MO 63366 (636) 281-CAFE

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Jan 9 – Wine Tasting – Full Bodied Wines Jan 16 – Vodka Tasting Jan 18 – Comedy Club Jan 30 – Cooking with di Olivas Feb 8 – 4 Hands Beer Tasting Feb 14 – Wine Paired Dinner Feb 27 – Wine Tasting – Pinot Noirs Mar 13 – Women & Wine – Wine Tasting Mar 21 – Murder Mystery Dinner Mar 22 – Cooking Easter Brunch with Kids

Celebrate 2014 with Mexico Road Florist Karen Conant 350 Mid Rivers Mall Dr St. Peters, MO 63376 636-278-4550 www.mexicoroadflorist.com

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Inspired Food Culture

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Volume 5

| Issue 1 | January 2014

Publisher and Editor Catherine Neville Managing Editor, Print Content Liz Miller Managing Editor, Digital Content Kristin Brashares Art Director Lisa Allen

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*Refers to Our Price Hold Policy*

Vice President of Advertising Donna Bischoff Copy Editors/Proofreaders Alexandra Bates, Shannon Cothran, Christine Wilmes Contributing Writers Alexandra Bates, Pat Eby, Chad Michael George, Kyle Harsha Jennifer Johnson, Valeria Turturro Klamm, Lucy Schwetye Matt Seiter, Michael Sweeney, Cassy Vires, Shannon Weber Contributing Photographers Jonathan Gayman, Demond Meek Jennifer Silverberg, Steve Truesdell

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Mon 10-8 • Tue-Thur 11-7 • Fri 10-8 • Sat 10-6 • Sun 12-6 6

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Contributing Videographers:

Kurt Ehlmann, James Jackson, John Jacobsen Chris Roider, Charles Thomas

Contact Us Feast Media, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., 4th Floor St. Louis, MO 63101 feastSTL.com Advertising Inquiries Kelly Klein, 314.340.8562 kklein@stltoday.com Comments publisher@feastSTL.com

Distribution To distribute Feast Magazine at your place of business, please contact Jeff Moore at jmoore@stldist.com.

Feast Magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Submissions will not be returned.

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All rights reserved.

Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents, without the prior written permission of the publisher, is strictly prohibited.

Produced by the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, LLC

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PubLiShER’S LETTER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Demond Meek

Look for this icon. It tells you which articles are part of Feast TV! Watch Feast TV on the

Watch the upcoming January episode on the Nine Network (Channel 9) at 2pm on Sat., Jan. 4, and 1pm on Mon., Jan. 6. Feast TV will also air on the nineCREATE channel periodically throughout the month.

FEAST EVENTS Schnucks Cooks Root Vegetable Soufflé Wed., Jan. 15, 6pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School; $40, schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

Join Cat in the kitchen and make a meal based around the winter root vegetable soufflé on p. 32.

St. Louis Food & Wine Experience Jan. 24 to 26; The Chase Park Plaza; Pricing varies, repstl.org/foodandwine

Hundreds of premier wines, notable exhibitors and culinary demonstrations from acclaimed local and national chefs make for a not-to-be-missed, weekend-long epicurean adventure to benefit The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

Maplewood Sweet Tooth Tour Sat., Feb. 1, noon to 5pm; $15, cityofmaplewood.com/sweet-tooth

Warm your tummy and enliven your taste buds at the first annual Maplewood Sweet Tooth Tour. Maplewood’s fine food purveyors will offer goodies galore as you stroll from shop to shop.

Coeur de Paris Photo Exhibit Fri., Feb. 7, 5:30 to 7:30pm; Vin de Set; $20, vindeset.com

Meet notable French photographer Bernard Puissesseau and view photos from his latest exhibition. His prints and posters will be available for purchase. Hors d’oeuvres and Champagne are included in the ticket price and a cash bar will be available.

Dessert First Thu., Feb. 27, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis; $150, girlscoutsem.org

What happens when you put seven of St. Louis’

most successful culinary entrepreneurs around a table, feed them a multi-course dinner prepared by Josh Galliano – one of our area’s best chefs – and prod them with leading questions? You get great insight into what it means to be an owner/operator in the incredibly competitive and very volatile food industry. Turn to p. 50 for our annual Tastemakers round-table discussion and listen in as I talk with Nick Luedde, Scott Carey, Adam Tilford, TJ Vytlacil, Kevin Lemp, Justin Leszcz and Kevin Nashan about the ups and the downs of launching and running a culinary business in St. Louis.

Rounding out this, our issue dedicated to the business of being in the restaurant business, is Alexandra Bates’ Culinary Tourism feature, in which she explores how three local communities are fostering growth of their neighborhood restaurants (p. 43), and Liz Miller’s feature story, David Bailey’s Sixth Sense (p. 36). Last month, David opened Small Batch in Midtown, the sixth concept he’s launched since opening Baileys’ Chocolate Bar in 2004. It’s fair to say that David is a prolific restaurateur and Liz gets to the heart of his success in her insightful profile.

Benefitting Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, chefs take the famous Girl Scout Cookies and transform them into tempting desserts.

Guests and a panel of celebrity judges vote for their favorite and enjoy a formal dinner during which awards are bestowed on the Judge’s Choice and the People’s Choice.

A Taste of Fiction Fri., March 7, 6:30 to 8:30pm; Pricing varies; Central Library

A Taste of Fiction is a one-of-a-kind culinary event that engages the finest pastry chefs in the region to interpret literary works in pastry. Proceeds will benefit culinary programming and the culinary collection of the St. Louis Public Library.

Feast in Napa July 13 to 17; 832.381.2270, amelia.boren@ascentperformancegroup.com

As a person who loves to dig into the how and the why of restaurant industry success, this issue is invariably one of my favorites each year. As we enter into 2014, let’s toast to the continued growth and vitality of our culinary scene. It makes St. Louis a delicious and exciting place to live.

Until next time,

or casey.lazar@ascentperformancegroup.com

Join publisher Cat Neville for a luxurious four-night excursion to gorgeous Napa, Calif. The incomparable Solage Calistoga – whose spa was voted No. 1 spa in the Americas and No. 10 in the world – will serve as home base for our group as we tour and taste our way through Napa’s best wineries.

FEEDbACk?

catherine@feastSTL.com

Catherine Neville

8

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JANUARY 2014

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OnLInE COnTEnT

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Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

The Feed

Dine Out

Dine In

Drink

Feast Events

Multimedia

The Magazine

Promotions

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: Love the ramekins that Feast TV producer

Cat Neville uses in this month’s winter root vegetable soufflé cooking demo? Thanks to Chef’s Shoppe, we’ve got a set to give away! Details at feastSTL.com/promotions.

12:00 / 28:29

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MuLTIMEDIA

FEAST TV: Meet the chefs and entrepreneurs who are shaping the St. Louis food scene.

We take you insideThe Libertine, Sump Coffee, Small Batch (pictured) and the Tilford Restaurant Group’s Mexican eateries.

SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get our exclusive coverage of the hottest new spots to grab a bite in St. Louis, announcements on must-attend events and more in our weekly enewsletter!

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hungry FOR MORE? PHOTOGRAPHy By Jonathan gayman

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DInEOut

INTERVIEW EXTRAS: In this month’s One On One (p. 20), we chat with Chronicle Coffee’s Jason Wilson about how his business is helping to turn around a North St. Louis community. Read more from our Q&A at feastSTL.com.

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JANUARY 2014

Share pics. @feastmag on Instagram

Fun Food, Happy People, Great Drinks!

FEAST FAVE • Pork Porterhouse. Rensing’s Porterhouse pork chop, cheddar jalapeno bread pudding, green beans, sunny side up egg

Mon-Fri 11:00-close, Sat 10:00-close Offering Saturday brunch First Come - First Serve (No reservations) Open Mon - Fri starting at 11 am and Sat starting at 10 am

106 N. Main St. • Edwardsville • 618.307.4830

Celebrating 10 Years of Sweet Memories Sarah’s is a locally owned business offering Custom Cakes, Cupcakes, Petit Fours, Desserts, Wedding Cakes and Seasonal delights to the greater St. Louis area.

Monday & Tuesday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Saturday 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

10 Clarkson Wilson Centre • Chesterfield • 636.728.1140 • sarahscakeshopstl.com Inspired Food Culture

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FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dininG

9568 Manchester Road, Rock Hill 314.942.6555, katiespizzaandpasta.com

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JANUARY 2014

PHOTOGRAPHy by

The secret to that slight char on the edges of Katie’s chewy, yeasty pizza crust? Fire. Wood fire, to be exact. On a bitterly cold winter day, diners can bask in the oven’s glow as handmade pizzas are quickly cooked to order. Look for creative toppings like fennel sausage and caramelized leeks; black Mission figs and roasted butternut squash with pancetta; speck, soppressata, coppa and fresh chile pepper; or roasted chicken with garlic, kale, Gorgonzola cheese and balsamic vinegar. Handmade pasta in all shapes and sizes is also on order at Katie’s.

Our favorites are the spicy, earthy squid ink tagliatelle with mussels, clams, prawns and monkfish and the pappardelle with wild boar ragu that’s sprinkled with a bright, acidic gremolata.

Housemade burrata is plated with a number of accompaniments, like wood-roasted red and yellow beets or warm, fresh figs and prosciutto.

And dessert is much more than an afterthought.

Gelato in flavors like fig and cardamom?

Tiramisu? Ricotta donuts? yes, please. – C.N.

Jonathan Gayman

katie’s pizza & pasta osteria

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re drInkIng

tripel wRiTTen by Jennifer Johnson

The hearty elegance of belgian cuisine defines Tripel – it can be found in the glass, on the plate and through the restaurant’s hospitality and décor. On Tripel’s cocktail menu, you’ll find innovative drinks inspired by classics, such as Clouds over Manhattan, made with Journeyman

Hand Crafted Coffees Importing Fine Coffees from 20 Countries

white whiskey, orange bitters, blanc vermouth and Cointreau-Cognac foam. white whiskeys are usually not barrel aged and therefore are not as flavorful as aged whiskeys. in this drink, the inclusion of white whiskey yields a bright palate with plenty of rye undertones, while the delightfully heavy foam adds an unexpected textural contrast and additional golden citrus notes. Another pleasing option is the Spiced Dark & Stormy, a combination of ginger beer

• QUALITY • EXPERIENCE • SERVICE

and Gosling’s Rum infused with Chinese five-spice, lending beautifully exotic aromatics; it has a marvelously “haute” fountain drink quality that is perfectly unsweet. while the cocktail menu makes a distracting stopover, the real star at Tripel is the diverse world of belgian beer.

Generally, such beers are distinguished by ales (instead of lagers), with a focus on malts and the fruit flavors derived from yeast fermentation. Try the La Chouffe, a bright, fresh blonde ale with orange zest and honeyed undertones, contrasted by a weighted hoppiness that adds balance. The Karmeliet Tripel is a belgian characterized by brewing that has almost three

Full Service Coffeehouse & Restaurant Supplier Fourth Generation Family Owned Coffee Roasters Since 1930

times the malt of typical ale, giving it extra strength. This beer’s medium- to full-bodied density is nicely juxtaposed by opposing peach-citrus and pepper-coriander aromas. ever sipped a lambic? This belgian style is spontaneously fermented by naturally occuring yeasts and can be “funky” in taste, an attribute in moderate amounts. The Lindemans Faro, though not a fruit lambic (or fermented with added fruit), offers cherry blossom and ripe black cherry flavors to its dry, bold finish. Small pours are a handy way to experience the substantial options on tap, including sour ales, trappist ales, saisons and wheat beers. belgian beer pairs

WWW.CHAUVINCOFFEE.COM

well with the belgian-style cuisine at Tripel – think mussels, pomme frites and waffles.

314-772-0700

1801 Park Ave., Lafayette Square, 314.678.7787 tripelstl.com

a z z i P e c n e i r e p Ex Open Tuesday – Sunday

D o w n l o a d t h e P e e l M o b i l e A p p f o r E x c l u s i v e O ff e r s !

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Steve Truesdell

F re s h a n d i n v e n t i v e f a re , m a d e f ro m s c r a t c h .

Unique pizzas, sandwiches, pasta and wings.

Diverse selection of craft beers and fine wines.

921 South Arbor Vitae in the Park at Plum Creek, Edwardsville St. Louis-based wine enthusiast Jennifer Johnson is a sommelier, wine educator, journalist and hospitality and marketing consultant who loves to celebrate life, family, food and wine.

618-659-8561 | peelpizza.com

Inspired Food Culture

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FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dining

bella vino wine bar & tapas On November 29, Bella Vino Wine Bar & Tapas opened on Main Street in St. Charles, housed in one of the historic homes that line the cobblestone street. Inside, a cozy, contemporary dining room welcomes diners, while a large patio with a fire pit invites outdoor seating.

Lunch and dinner menus offer a variety of small plates, including salads like the Pig and Fig, with greens, prosciutto, pancetta, dried figs, blue cheese, pecans and apples tossed in a fig vinaigrette; hearty sandwiches and flatbreads including roasted tomato and burrata and duck prosciutto with Gorgonzola cheese, pine nuts and caramelized onions. For dinner, bella Vino serves a small selection of pastas and risottos, including gemelli with bright, crisp broccolini, roasted mushrooms and Parmesan cheese served with a fried egg on top. Custom cocktails and beer round out the drink menu, but it should be no surprise that wine is where bella Vino truly pleases, with glasses of grape hailing from Missouri to California to Chile to Friuli. – L.M.

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Jennifer Silverberg

325 S. Main St., St. Charles 636.724.3434, bellavinowinebarstl.com

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JANUARY 2014

FEAST FAVES

| Food stuFF

n O s T e Tick ! w O n e sal

sweet stirrers We’re still coming down from holiday sugar highs, but we’ve pretty much had our fill of sweets this season. Instead of snacking on leftover treats, we’re perking up cups of coffee and tea with these chocolate- and honey-flavored sweet spoons. For more tea accessories and treats, turn to p. 18, featuring a round-up of tea accessories and supplies from local shops, and check out p. 30, where we put five tea infusers to the test. – L.M.

HoNEY stICKs

Photos (Broadway cast): Joan Marcus

HoNEY sPooNs

i l l a V e i k n a r f f o The sTory s n o s a e s r U o f e h &T

CoFFEE sPooNs

| 1 | White honey spoons, $1.49/each; Teavana, multiple locations, teavana.com | 2 | Stash honey sticks, $.35/per stick; Figuero’s International Gourmet Foods, 524 S. Main St., St. Charles, 636.947.9847, figueros.com | 3 | Dilettante chocolate coffee spoons,six-pack/assorted flavors, $8.99; World Market, multiple locations, worldmarket.com PHOTOGRAPHy by Jonathan Gayman

February 19-March 2

The Fabulous Fox Theatre 314-534-1111 • www.Metrotix.com Inspired Food Culture

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15

FEAST FAVES

| Shop-o-maTi C

bottle cellars When Patrick Ahearn opened wine and specialty shop Bottle Cellars in Oakville three years ago, it was a leap of faith. The former architect – a self-described “wine geek” – was out of work and interested in bringing a wine shop to his community. In the shop’s first year, Ahearn added a selection of whiskeys, followed by a range of craft beers the next year. Today, the shop stocks around 300 varieties of wine from around the world, 50 types of craft beers and 30 whiskeys, as well as specialty food items, including products made by local businesses such as Kakao Chocolate, Baetje Farms and Salume Beddu.

Ahearn enhances the customer experience through events such as weekly wine tastings and details such as thorough tasting notes that accompany each bottle of wine in the store.

Ahearn’s tasting notes include scales ranking the dryness, spice, fruit and earth notes of each bottle; indicators for organic, sustainable or unoaked wines; as well as general descriptions and food pairing suggestions. “This is our attempt to take some of the guesswork out of buying a bottle of wine, because a lot of times it’s a mystery what’s inside,” Ahearn says.

Later this year, Ahearn plans to expand the offering at Bottle Cellars with the opening of an adjacent wine bar. He estimates that the 1,000-square-foot space will seat around 36 and will pull from the shop’s lengthy list of wines, as well as offer a limited food menu of small plates.

“I love what I do,” Ahearn says. “It’s been a great experience. The community has been very welcoming to us – we have a very loyal customer base. It’s been a fun three years and it’s gone by very quickly. When we opened, I was hoping to make it this long, and now here we are.” – L.M. 6039 Telegraph Road, Oakville 314.846.5100, bottlecellars.com

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|1|

|2|

|3|

PHOTOGRAPHy By

| 1 | For the past two years, Bottle Cellars has offered a selection of whiskeys including Scotch, as well as bourbons, ryes, Irish and craft whiskeys. Ahearn hopes to soon expand his offering of small craft whiskeys. | 2 | Ahearn takes pride in offering his customers the highest quality products at reasonable price points, with most of the wines sold at Bottle Cellars priced at $25 or less. | 3 | Since adding craft beers from around the country to store shelves in October 2012, Ahearn says he’s seen his clientele diversify. His current selection includes local favorites from Perennial Artisan Ales and Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. Ahearn says he’s also bringing in beers made by gypsy brewers, or brewers who produce beers using rented equipment and facilities from established breweries.

Steve Truesdell

Three STeLLar SipS aT BoTTLe CeLLarS

Wild Tapas, Nostalgic Cocktails and a South American Twist.

Located in the grove

Valentine’s Day plans?

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS EARLY THIS YEAR.

4198 Manchester Avenue | Saint Louis, Missouri 63110 | 314.535.9700 sanctuariastl.com |

facebook.com/sanctuariastl |

@SanctuariaTapas

Inspired Food Culture

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FEAST FAVES

| whAT we ’re buying

tea time In this month’s Gadget A-Go-Go column (p. 30) we put five tea infusers to the test. All of this tea experimentation led us to explore a variety of tea brewing methods – and in the process, our collection of tea accessories and supplies grew, from Matcha tools and whisks to tea cups, teaspoons and teapots of all shapes and sizes. – L.M.

|4| |2|

|3|

|5| |1|

|9| |7| | 10 | |6|

| 11 |

|8|

| 12 | | 14 |

| 13 |

| 1 | Bird-print tea tin, $12.95; Teavana, multiple locations, teavana.com | 2 | Claire glass teapot with stainless-steel infuser, $39.95; Teavana | 3 | Sakuragawa zundo cast-iron teapot, $149.95; Teapot warmer, $21.95; Teavana | 4 | Bamboo tool kit, $14.95; Teavana | 5 | Republic of Tea glass teapot, $19.50; Figuero’s

International Gourmet Foods, 524 S. Main St., St. Charles, 636.947.9847, figueros.com

| 6 | Italian Express stainless-steel tea strainer, $6.50; Figuero’s International Gourmet Foods

| 7 | Painted Ladies Teapot stainless-steel

teapot in mojito lime, $52; The London Tea Room, 1520 Washington Ave., Downtown,

314.241.6556, thelondontearoom.com | 8 | Wave Japanese cast-iron tea cup, $12.95/each; leaf cast-iron coaster, $10.95; Dragonfly castiron tea cup, $12.99; Swirl cast-iron tea coaster, $12.95; Teavana | 9 | Elephant teaspoons/ two-piece set, $19.95; Teavana | 10 | Perfectea bamboo Matcha whisk, $12.95; Teavana | 11 |

English garden infuser mug, $5.99; World Market, multiple locations, worldmarket.com | 12 | Wooden honey dippers, $.99/each; World Market | 13 | Teapot-shaped stainless-steel tea egg with drip catcher, $3.75; The London Tea Room | 14 | L’Argent silver-plated teaspoons/ six-piece set, $15; The London Tea Room

Editor’s Note: In late January, The London Tea Room is temporarily closing and relocating from its Downtown location to 3128 Morganford Road in Tower Grove South.

Owner Jackie James estimates the new location will open in early February.

PHOTOGRAPHy By Jonathan Gayman

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$

Saturday, February 8

Saint Louis City Open Studio and Gallery

presents Wall Ball, an exciting evening of live artistry and delicious treats.

Engaging an eclectic mix of artists, collectors, and admirers, this annual event features amazing art at unreal prices through a unique silent auction.

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7-11 pm

$30 General Admission $50 VIP includes beer/wine

LUNCH COMBOS

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For more information, call

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Purchase tickets online

www.scosag.org/wallball

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314-487-2670 • 6044 Lemay Ferry Rd. • Fax: 314-487-8660 15 min. south of the Arch on I-55 • mile south of Butler Hill Inspired Food Culture

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19

one on one

JAsoN WilsoN

oWNeR, ChRoNiCle Coffee ANd NoRthWest Coffee RoAstiNg Co. WrITTeN By Valeria Turturro Klamm | PhoToGrAPhy By Jonathan Gayman

It’s hard to believe that Jason Wilson wasn’t always a coffee drinker. It was a trip to China that first showed him the power of brew. “There was a language barrier,” Wilson says. “The people I came with were the only people I could talk to, and we were standing around this coffee setup having an amazing dialogue…about policy and global economics on a whole other level. I thought, ‘We need to have this same type of platform in communities like the north side of St. Louis that are disenfranchised and lack a few basic resources.” Nearly a year after opening Chronicle Coffee in the former Blumeyer public housing complex in North Grand, Wilson recognizes the impact the shop has made on the community.

How has the shop been received?

It’s been received well. We have a very diverse group of folks coming here from different parts of St. Louis and the county; I had no idea what to expect. The folks that buy coffee love the fact that I’m in North St. Louis. I’ve also been received pretty well by the immediate community.

We’re collaborating with the Blumeyer Village Tenant Association and residents to understand the role Chronicle can play in creating a community gathering space.

We’ve added chess sets and hosted evening activities for youth. We’ve also hired young people from the neighborhood to train them in entrepreneurship and management. Any first-year challenges? Getting people to not be afraid of traveling north of Delmar, because there is still a stigma associated with the community. My challenge is trying to get folks to acclimate to the idea that two blocks north of Delmar is not as bad as some say. What has been most rewarding? That the coffee community recognizes we’re over here making great coffee. We host a movie night where we invite 30 to 40 kids from the neighborhood, buy snacks and watch movies on a projector screen. They’re just cracking jokes, laughing, eating popcorn. That’s one of the most rewarding things – that those kids enjoy some place to go on a Friday night. How do you see Chronicle growing? Next year we look forward to holding sessions on the history of coffee, brewing and roasting techniques and coffee tastings to expose people to different varieties and roasters. People are definitely beginning to embrace the idea of coming here, but we still have more work to do. At Northwest and Chronicle, Ben Poremba, a good friend of mine, is inspiring some new items for our menu. And Simone Faure [of] La Patisserie Chouquette will have items on the menu,

Chronicle Coffee 1235 Blumeyer Ave., North Grand 314.534.0524 chroniclecoffee.com

too. We’re not going to shortcut or bring inferior products into the community. We’re changing the game over here.

20

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2014

Visit feastSTL.com to read the full interview with Jason Wilson.

Friends gather and the room ďŹ lls with laughter. Nothing ďŹ ts these moments better than a bottle of Chambourcin. After all, inside each bottle is a story, written by Missouri winemakers for anyone with a little Missouri in their hearts.

Learn more about Chambourcin and other varietals at missouriwine.org.

Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2 0 1 4

21

the mix

.38 SpeciAl

STOry ANd recIpe By matt seiter pHOTOgrApHy By Jonathan Gayman

This month’s installment was conceived for – and during – the very cold month of January. Though it's not served warm, this drink has the flavors of winter spices, good feelings and jolly times – both the drink and its history. The name .38 Special dates back to just a few years ago, born on November 18, 2009. It is one of my earliest cocktail creations and one of the only ones I have extensive notes about – and a story to boot.

The drink came about through happenstance one night. A group of St. Louis city cops had reserved the bar area at Sanctuaria for a retirement party for a few of their brethren. They chose Sanctuaria because they knew the restaurant's former general manager. The highlight of the night for me was the fact that these blue-collar boys who usually drank us out of Bud Light wanted cocktails. Three of them were sitting at the bar. One, whose name I later learned was Mike, was looking at the cocktail list and commented that he’d never seen a cocktail menu like ours.

“Where are all the flavored vodkas?” he asked first. After explaining that Sanctuaria offers a different kind of cocktail experience, he was intrigued. His excitement was hard to contain. He asked me to create a drink especially for their party, keeping in mind they were cops.

I created this cocktail on the fly, served it to him and then he had all of his buddies try it. We made pitchers of this drink that night. I was so happy they liked it, I asked Mike to name it. He chose the .38 Special because, in his words, “It has a small kick to it, but can definitely cause some damage.” I don’t know a damn thing about guns, so I’m taking his word for it.

Mike, if you’re reading this, many thanks.

.38 special Serves | 1 | 1½

Homemade mixers If you browse the mixer and liqueur shelves at grocery stores or liquor stores, you’ll find various liqueurs, mixers, syrups, bitters and other mass-produced flavoring agents. Some of the best ones, though, you can prepare with extreme ease in the comfort of your home kitchen. In addition to saving money, the other benefit is knowing what ingredients are used. This recipe for cinnamon syrup is an easy introduction to making your own syrups at home and is sure to warm up a range of cocktails, from those made with rum, such as the .38 Special, to others made with gin, tequila and bourbon.

Cinnamon syrup Yield | 2½ cups |

10 large cinnamon sticks

| Preparation | Bring first five ingredients to a boil, turn to simmer.

Simmer for 30 minutes and remove from heat. Let steep for another 20

1

Tbsp dried orange peel

4

cups sugar

5

cups water

and let sit for another 10 minutes.

minutes. Add alcohol and pommeau

vanilla bean, split and seeded

Strain mixture through a sieve, then

2

oz brandy or cognac

a dampened cheesecloth. Serve in

2

oz Pommeau

cocktails, or freeze for later use.

½

Matt Seiter is a co-founder of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s St. Louis chapter, a member of the national board for the USBG’s MA program and a continuing educator for all desiring knowledge of the craft of mixology. He is a member of Drink Lab and a consultant at Sanctuaria.

22

feastsTL.com

JANUARY 2014

½ ½ ½ ½ ¼

oz Smith & Cross Navy Strength Rum oz lemon juice oz lime juice oz cinnamon syrup (recipe left) oz Marie Brizard Crème de Cacao White oz St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram club soda lime wedge, for garnish

| Preparation | combine all ingredients except club soda and lime wedge in a mixing tin. Add ice and shake for 15 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass and finish with club soda. Slightly stir to incorporate soda, add a straw and garnish with a lime wedge.

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23

on the shelf

top JANUARY pICKS

beer

WRITTEN By Michael Sweeney

Award-winning sommelier and mixologist Chad Michael George is founder of Proof Academy, which covers everything from wine and cocktail list consulting to spirits and mixology education.

heAvy riff Brewing co.’S velvet unDerBrown

tullAMore Dew Phoenix

AvAilAble At: Heavy Riff Brewing Co., 6413

Clayton Ave., Dogtown, heavyriffbrewing. com; $4.50 (16-oz draught) PAiringS: Roasted pork loin• Coffee cake By brewing unique and delicious beers, brothers Jerid and Justin Saffell are certainly setting themselves apart from the typical Irish beers popular in Dogtown. Velvet Underbrown is no exception.

While the beer pays homage to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground in name, the final product does the tribute justice. This rich, velvety brown ale offers a hint of blackstrap molasses and a smooth finish.

tAllgrASS Brewing co.’S vAnillA BeAn BuffAlo SweAt Style: Milk Stout (5.2% abv) AvAilAble At: Randall’s Wine and Spirits, multiple locations,

shoprandalls.com; $8.99 (four-pack, 16-oz cans) PAiring: Dark chocolate• Coffee cake Beer yeast is a funny creature – it typically eats sugar and turns it into carbon dioxide and alcohol. But the one sugar it can’t eat is lactose. By adding this “milk sugar” to beer, you can increase the sweetness of the beer while also adding body and richness. Tallgrass Brewing Co. ups the ante by aging its already delicious Buffalo Sweat beer with whole Ugandan vanilla beans – taking a full-bodied beer and making it absolutely decadent.

gueuzerie tilquin’S ouDe gueuze tilquin à l’Ancienne

AvAilAble At: Starrs, 1135 S. Big Bend Blvd., Richmond Heights, starrs1.com; $59.99 try it: Neat or with a few rocks

The city of Tullamore fell victim to a fiery balloon crash in 1785, during which the thatch roofs of the town caught on fire. After the town was rebuilt, the phoenix became its coat-of-arms symbol. This new offering from Tullamore Dew honors that event. Only 2,500 cases were made of this triple-distilled whiskey, which is a blend of grain, malt and pot-still whiskeys.

A portion of the blend was finished for two years in sherry casks, giving this whiskey a rich depth, with a touch of raisin and nuttiness. Overall, it is incredibly soft, even at an elevated proof of 110.

Meletti AMAro ProvenAnce: Marches, Italy (32% abv) AvAilAble At: Randall’s Wines and Spirits, multiple locations, shoprandalls.com; $15.99 try it: After dinner, neat or on the rocks

Amaro, Italian for “bitter,” is a family of Italian spirits.

The Meletti family began producing spirits in 1870, and their amaro has been part of the portfolio since the early 1900s. Many varieties can be overly bitter to the untrained palate, but Meletti is a smooth and flavorful introduction to the category – and a steal at this price. Every sip reveals new flavors, but the most dominant are cinnamon, caramel, orange, chocolate and anise. Softer floral notes of violet and saffron soften up this tasty concoction.

Italians drink this over ice with an orange wedge. I like to keep it chilled and leave out the ice.

KilchoMAn MAchir BAy Scotch whiSKy ProvenAnce: Scotland (46% abv)

AvAilAble At: The Wine & Cheese Place,

AvAilAble At: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations, wineandcheeseplace.com; $49.99 try it: Neat with a few drops of water

There are a bevy of old breweries in Europe, but just because they’re time-honored doesn’t mean they’re not hip to the rising craft beer movement.

Since 2009, Gueuzerie Tilquin hasn’t been so much a brewery as a “blendery.” A traditional gueze is created by blending a young (1-year-old) lambic with an old (2- to 3-year-old) lambic. This beer is refreshingly tart, with a slightly acidic bite that fades away and leaves you wanting more.

JANUARY 2014

ProvenAnce: Ireland (55% abv)

Style: Gueuze (6.4% abv)

multiple locations, wineandcheeseplace. com; $8.99 (375-ml bottle) PAiringS: Cranberry, Feta and walnut salad • Blue cheese

feastStl.com

WRITTEN By Chad Michael George

The creator of stlhops.com and founder of St. Louis Craft Beer Week, Michael Sweeney is also the craft beer manager at Lohr Distributing.

Style: American Brown Ale (6.5% abv)

24

spirits

Kilchoman – a small farm distillery – is the first to be built in the Islay region of Scotland in 124 years.

One still is in operation, and malting takes place in a barn. With Kilchoman, you get quality over quantity – this might be one of the finest whiskeys on the market. Bottled once a year, each batch has its own personality. The 2013 blends 3- to 5-year-old single malts aged in bourbon barrels with some finished in sherry casks. The taste is full of tropical fruit, smoke, soft vanilla and butterscotch with a smooth finish.

wine

WRITTEN BY Kyle Harsha

Kyle Harsha is a certified specialist of wine and certified sommelier with over 20 years’ experience in the food and wine industry. He drinks more wine than he probably ought to.

BenAntI etnA rosso “rovIttello” 2007 Provenance: Sicily available at: Starrs, 1135 S. Big Bend Blvd., Richmond Heights, starrs1.com; $42.99 Pairings: Grilled bison steak• Pasta with mushrooms • Seafood marinara

Recently, it seems that wines from Etna, Italy – a region near the country’s largest active volcano – have become the darlings of sommeliers and wine program managers.

This wine exhibits exactly why. It is made with 80 percent Nerello Mascalese and 20 percent Nerello Cappuccio, two grapes that produce medium-weight wines that carry a nice line of natural acidity. The smoky, mineral-based flavors provide a framework around the under-ripe cherry and raspberry flavors along with mild tannins, resulting in a very pleasant drink.

KIrAlyudvAr toKAjI FurmInt seC 2011 Provenance: Tokaji, Hungary available at: Parker’s Table, 7118 Oakland Ave., Richmond Heights, parkerstable.com; $19.99 Pairings: Hard, earthy cheeses• Arugula salad• New England-style clam chowder

Why not kick off the New Year with one of my long-time favorite wines? The property where this wine was produced was formerly used to produce the house wine for the Hapsburg family, and was purchased on a whim by a Filipinoborn businessman. Produced from Furmint – the grape that is used to make Hungary’s viscous, sweet and sometimes wildly expensive Tokaji wines – this particular example is fermented through to dryness. It has amazing minerality, acidity and herbal notes, along with just a hint of lemon peel.

PoderI deI BrICChI AstIgIAnI BArBerA suPerIore “BrICCo Preje” 2007 Provenance: Piedmont, Italy available at: 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar, 1913 Park Ave.,

Lafayette Square, 33wine.com; $35 Pairings: Venison sausage• Braised root vegetables • Steak tartare Every once in a while, a wine shows up in the market that transcends what people think of as the norm for a particular varietal. Although it is usually considered user-friendly and utilitarian, very few wine geeks ever get excited about Barbera.

This particular wine has changed that. It hails from a very modern-thinking estate near Nizza in Piedmont, Italy, and is flush with red berry and dried rose notes, along with a hint of sweet baking spices. This is a wine fit for a special occasion – well worth saving for a milestone birthday or anniversary.

Inspired Food Culture

J a n ua ry 2 0 1 4

25

mystery shopper

Meet: PAssioN fRUit

STorY AND reCIPe bY Shannon Weber PHoTogrAPHY bY Jennifer Silverberg

The holiday season has finally come to a close, and those heavy sweets have all but disappeared. It’s the beginning of the New Year, and passion fruit is a perfect way to brighten up palates during chilly midwinter.

What is it?

Passiflora edulis, or passion fruit, is the fruit of a climbing vine native to South America, which grows in various parts of the world such as Australia. It’s also found domestically in the warmer climes of California, Florida and Hawaii. The fruit can be either golden yellow or purple; the golden variety are acidic and grapefruit-sized with a thick rind, while the smaller purple fruit are sweeter and carry a more assertive flavor and aroma. In its native home, it’s almost never seen in markets; those in need of passion fruit simply forage it from the wild, grow it in their backyards or purchase it at farmers’ markets. More than a simple snack, the fruit has mild sedative properties, making it useful for lowering blood pressure and calming hyperactivity.

What do i do With it?

Passion fruit has a tart flavor and powerful floral aroma, which is ideal for blending with other fruits in smoothies and juices. It gives a tropical lift to standard cheesecake or cake frosting, and works wonderfully when swirled in yogurt, perched atop ice cream or nestled in meringues. Don’t worry about straining the seeds: Completely edible and high in fiber, they add a speckled beauty to desserts. Color, texture and weight are important when selecting ripe passion fruit: Look for wrinkled, dark purple orbs that are slightly heavy for their size.

Curd is a great way to maximize your passion fruit. The raspberries in this recipe balance out the floral component and add a vibrant magenta color to the finished product. Use this curd any way you choose: It’s particularly lovely when paired with egg-white-based desserts such as angel food cake or Pavlova.

Passion Fruit-Raspberry Curd

Do not confuse constant stirring with brisk stirring here; relax your hand and keep a controlled, even pace during preparation. As with any curd, you want to let it happen, not force it along.

Yield | 3/4 cup |

| Preparation | Slice fruit in half and scrape

4 to 5 1 4 ½ 2

insides into a medium bowl with a spoon. Position a fine mesh sieve over another bowl and press raspberries through it with the back of a large spoon, occasionally scraping the underside of the sieve. You'll need 1/3 cup of raspberry purée.

26

passion fruits (to yield 1/3 cup) cup frozen raspberries, thawed large egg yolks cup granulated sugar tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2014

In a large heat-proof bowl, combine passion fruit, 1/3 cup raspberry purée, egg yolks, sugar and butter. Whisk until combined. Set over simmering water to create a double boiler, making sure water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.

Heat until mixture reaches 170˚F and has

thickened, stirring constantly, 12 to 15 minutes.

Finished curd should coat the back of a spoon. remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

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27

chef’s notebook

a Case FOr tasting menus

There has been a lot of talk recently about tasting menus – some positive, but much of it negative. The most notable bit was Vanity Fair’s “Tyranny – It’s What’s For Dinner” article from February 2012 written by Corby Kummer, which featured a cartoon of renowned chefs Thomas Keller, Ferran Adrià and the late, great Charlie Trotter donning the garb of historical dictators. In the article, Kummer takes down tasting menus, arguing they serve the chef’s interests much more than the diner’s: “A diner’s pleasure is secondary; subjugation to the will of the creative genius comes first, followed, eventually, by stultified stupefaction.”

I make it my business to pay attention to what people are saying about restaurants, and this op-ed piece by Kummer led others to weigh in on the matter, many of whom considered tasting menus to be the death of modern cuisine. I can’t think of many food trends that I would ever make such a statement about. Trends come and go, and

WrITTEN bY Cassy Vires

tasting menus are simply that: a trend. As a chef who offers tasting menus on a weekly basis, I had to take a hard look at why some were so fed up with this style of dining, and I have to say, I saw their point. The author bore an intense animosity toward tasting menus, and if one person feels that strongly, odds are many more feel the same way.

flavors and textures that will lead diners down the path I’ve set out for them. Everything should come together in a delicate symphony of flavors, textures, ingredients and techniques. Even after considering all of those aspects of the meal, chefs have to be able to edit themselves and realize that often, less is more.

Tasting menus are nothing new. The French have their multi-course dégustation menus, and the Japanese have their own version, omakase, meaning “I’ll leave it to you.” The issue Kummer took with tasting menus was broad, but where the author really got it right was in questioning the idea of 20-course, five-hour marathons that include three desserts and constant interruptions between each of the 20 bites. Menus like this are overwhelming and often come off as a series of dishes that are in competition with each other to be remembered after the diner waddles away from the table.

As I sat down to work on the New Year’s Eve tasting menu for Home Wine Kitchen, I reminded myself that there is always something to be learned from criticism, and Kummer criticized tasting menus as a whole, not just the lengthy ones I already avoid.

The key to a successful tasting menu is balance, and that takes a ton of planning. When I present a tasting menu, there has to be a clear point of view so that diners will know and understand where I’m coming from, and why I want them to try these dishes. From there, I decide on a progression of

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New Year’s Eve is one of those days on which chefs have to step up their game, so this past December I wanted to build a menu that was pure decadence without overindulgence. I wanted to serve foods that you would want to pair with Champagne. I also limited myself to no more than 10 courses, but once I edited my work, I ended up with only six courses, realizing the other four were superfluous. Once I reached the final six courses, each course could stand on its own, but also flowed seamlessly into the next few bites.

I like to start a meal off with a bang, so I led with

a black truffle gougère. This is a flavor-packed bite, but not so much that it overshadows the next dish. It also pairs perfectly with Champagne – and starting the night with bubbles is always a good idea. Next up was a hamachi crudo, a bright, tart dish that cleanses the palate of the black truffle so diners can enjoy the following courses. The high oil content of seared black bass with trumpet mushrooms followed the crudo perfectly, and was a nice stepping stone to get diners ready for a fatty and unctuous pork belly with chestnut risotto. Then came a bold dish to clear the senses – coffeerubbed venison with smoked onion caramel. The sweetness of the caramel was the ideal segue into dessert, a frozen hot-chocolate mousse.

While I do agree that tasting menus can sometimes be daunting, stuffy and quite expensive, when done correctly, they can also be a wonderful experience for diners looking for a special meal. Offering tasting menus is my chance to show off a bit and prepare some really great dishes that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to share on a traditional menu. It is thrilling to be part of a culinary culture where diners come to restaurants and willingly put their meal into the chef’s capable hands and say, “omakase.”

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29

gadget a-go-go

TeA INfUseRs

Teavana perfeCT paper Tea fiLTerS PROS

The simple, elegant design of this paper infuser scores high on so many levels.

The tea-holding pouch expands to accommodate tea. The size works with dainty eight-ounce teacups and with mugs, including tall latte and oversized mugs. The design allows a saucer to sit atop the mug as the tea brews. The paper, made from abaca pulp, brews easily, holds unwanted sediment at bay and even allows you to squeeze out the last bit of tea without breaking. These are oxygen-bleached and compostable, too.

CONS

No cons, but beware of user error. On our first pour, tea leaves floated into the cup. The open side of this simple pouch must be placed against the side of the mug, and the pour should be slow at first, in the center of the mug, to allow the paper to absorb the water slowly and let it settle.

finuM Brewing BaSkeT perManenT fiLTer PROS

This basket infuser with a fine stainless-steel mesh brews a nice cup or a big mug of tea with little fuss. The cover on this no-nonsense infuser doubles as a holder post-brew.

The basket delivered a fully brewed, flavorful tea with almost no sediment in the cup. It’s dishwasher safe – top rack only – for easy cleanup.

CONS

Short on style, but no complaints on performance with this modestly priced, practical infuser. $10; Traveling Tea, 2707 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, 314.647.8832, travelingtea.com

$4.99; Teavana, multiple locations, teavana.com

wRITTEN By pat eby PHOTOGRAPHy By Jonathan gayman

MOnkey Tea infuSer PROS

Every morning should start with a whimsical monkey sitting in a tea mug.

Even adults need toys. Stainless steel and dishwasher safe, this simian strainer comes with its own drip tray. Although there are cons to the design, the tea party possibilities for this monkey trump the difficulties with use. He has a companion, too – the same company that makes the monkey infuser also makes a fanciful frog infuser. Get both.

CONS

Plan to monkey around with this infuser to get it positioned correctly and efficiently inside your mug or cup.

He likes bigger mugs or teacups with a diameter of three-inches or larger. The piece wobbles open lengthwise on a single small hinge, which makes the fill and the cleanup a bit challenging. His head never hits the water, so fill just the tummy with tea. $9.99; World Market, multiple locations, worldmarket.com

HearT-SHaped STainLeSS-STeeL MeSH infuSer PROS

PROS

A cute heart shape nicely executed in stainless-steel mesh, this infuser opens with a wing-away latch at the bottom. Easy to fill and simple to use, this heart on a chain allows plenty of flow-through space for hot water in a finer mesh. It hooks over the edge of cups or mugs for easy removal.

This good-looking Zen-like infuser delivers a good cup of tea in style. The paper filter opens into a generous triangle in the mug to hold a good amount of loose tea. A dark brown pin slides through two small holes at the top to hold the filter onto the mug.

The paper’s biodegradable and made from pulp bleached without chlorine.

Portable and compact, these filters would travel well or live easily in an office drawer.

CONS

The stainless-steel hook needed a short session with needle-nose pliers to open it wide enough to fit over the edge of a dainty teacup, later widened to fit a mug. Not a deal breaker for a classic yet quizzical infuser. $5; ReTrailer, 206.384.7354, theretrailer.com

supersized. Measure depth and diameter before buying infusers.

make sense, but disposable filters make brewing and cleanup easy.

MatERialS. Choose from stainless steel, ceramic, glass or nylon mesh

for reusable infusers. Modern baskets, strainers and cones outperform old-fashioned screw-top acorn infusers and perforated metal spoons made of silver or tin, brewing a better cup of tea with less mess. Look for biodegradable, compostable paper infusers, unbleached or bleached with oxygen.

SizE uP. There’s an infuser for teapots, cups and mugs, standard to

30

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JANUARY 2014

CONS

Mastering the pour without knocking the pin or the filter off-kilter took a few turns, though this is an insignificant grouse for a good product. $4/pack of 40; Traveling Tea

Editor’s Note: In mid-January, ReTrailer owner Lisa Govro plans to open her new shop, Smalls Tea & Coffee, at 2619½ Cherokee St., in the Cherokee Business District.

wHaT TO LOOk fOr : REuSE vS. REfuSE. There’s a place for both. At home, reusable infusers

MiniMiniT One Cup fiLTerS wiTH HOLder

tEa CaPaCity. The smaller mesh-basket infusers and novelty infusers hold just enough loose tea for one weak cup. If you like stronger tea, look for a basket or paper filter with the capacity to hold more loose tea. Tea leaves swell, so filling infusers about half full is just about right.

ClEaNuP. Nothing’s simpler than tossing a disposable filter on the compost pile, tea and all. Baskets, mesh and perforated metal reusable infusers require work to dislodge tea gunk, dispose of it and carefully clean the basket.

Che

Ck o pag ut e

18!

Check out this month’s What We’re Buying for a collection of other tea tools and supplies.

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warm your tummy and enliven your taste buds at the first annual Maplewood Sweet Tooth Tour. Maplewood’s fine food purveyors offer you goodies galore as you stroll from shop to shop. Sample chocolates, pies, donuts, teas, cakes, coffees, breads and specialty drinks made especially for you by our artisan food purveyors.

HE CURE FOR THE WINTER BLUES:

Kakao Chocolate, Foundation Grounds, Vom Fass, Great Harvest Bakery, La Cosecha Coffee Roasters, Traveling Tea, Strange Donuts, Pie Oh My and Encore Baking Co. PARTICIPANTS:

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Chicken Dinner Sundays Buy one chicken dinner Get one chicken dinner FREE Expires January 31, 2014. Dine-in only. Limit one coupon per table.

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Simply the best Steaks and Seafood Kreis’ serves the finest USDA Prime Mid Western Corn-fed Beef,aged four to six weeks in house. We offer an extensive choice of the classic Steak Cuts and Seafood including our famous Prime Rib. Simply the best available-Top 2%.

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Discount up to $30 or 20% Off your bill. Discount up to $20 Not valid on Saturdays. *Valid only with purchases of two dinner entrees. Dine-in only. Not valid on holidays, restaurant special events or with any other discount. See web site for exclusions. Tax and tip not included. Offer valid only when clipped from Feast Magazine. Expires 1/31/2014.

535 S. Lindbergh • St. Louis • 314.993.0735 • kreisrestaurant.com Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2 0 1 4

31

menu options

WiNteR Root VegetAble SoUfflé

When someone says the word soufflé, your first thought is probably of dessert or chocolate.

While sweet soufflés make elegant finishes to any meal, savory soufflés get lost in the shuffle and are a cinch to prepare. Your second thought is probably that soufflés are difficult to make.

SToRY AnD RecIpe bY Lucy Schwetye phoTogRAphY bY Jennifer Silverberg

With this recipe, we put a spin on what are commonly served sweet with a robust soufflé made with hearty winter root vegetables. Roasting these vegetables and adding a bit of béchamel, eggs and gruyère makes for a warming savory dish ideal for serving on a cold winter night.

Winter root Vegetable Soufflé Serves | 8 | roasted Vegetables

2 1 1 2 5 1½ ½ ¼ ¼

parsnips, peeled, ¾-inch diced celery root, peeled, ¾-inch diced (about ½ lb) medium fennel bulb, ¾-inch diced, fronds reserved large shallots, peeled and quartered large cloves garlic, peeled tsp grapeseed oil tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste cup vegetable stock

souFFlé base

8

ramekins unsalted butter, plus 4 tbsp breadcrumbs

½ 1 5 7 1

cup all-purpose flour cup milk egg yolks egg whites cup Gruyère, shredded

thick). Add vegetable stock and purée again.

The mixture will not be completely smooth, but coarse. Transfer to a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

oven to 400ºF.

| Preparation – Soufflé Base | prepare eight 8-oz ramekins by greasing with butter, then coat each with breadcrumbs and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss root vegetables in grapeseed oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a sheet pan or baking pan and roast uncovered for 20 minutes, then cover and roast another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

In a small pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. once melted, stir in flour and continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes. pour in the milk and continue stirring until a thick creamy béchamel sauce forms. Lightly season and set aside.

When vegetables have cooled enough to touch, place them in a food processor. process vegetables, scraping down sides of food processor occasionally (the mixture will be very

Separate egg yolks from whites. Set aside 5 yolks and whip 7 egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside. Add the egg yolks to the vegetable purée and mix well. Add béchamel

| Preparation – Roasted Vegetables | preheat

chef’S TipS : Fold Fix. Folding whipped egg whites into a thick batter can be slightly tricky. You need to be sure you fold and don’t mix, as mixing will break down air bubbles, which will affect how your soufflé rises. When you add the whipped egg whites to the mixture, cut down through the center of the two mixtures and bring the heavy mixture back up to the top, turning the bowl as you are doing this, to ensure that the folding is evenly distributed. Do not

stir. Repeat the motion until all of the egg whites have been folded in.

Quick crumbs. If you do not have prepared breadcrumbs, you can make them at home. Add quartered cubes of fresh bread to a food processor and process until they reach breadcrumb consistency. Then, toast your homemade breadcrumbs in the oven until dry and crisp.

to the vegetables and then add gruyère. Take 1/3 of whipped egg whites and fold them into the vegetable mixture. Fold in the next 1/3 of egg whites and then finally fold in the final 1/3. Divide mixture among prepared ramekins. bake for 25 minutes. Top with reserved fennel fronds and serve immediately.

JOIN US! RSVP:

schnuckscooks.com 314.909.1704

m a k e Th e m ea

L: Sunchoke and carro t Soup ○ Saut éed Spinach Vegetabl e gratin ○ Wint er Root Vegetable So ufflé ○ Tarte Tatin ○

Le a r n m Or e:

In this month’s class

to cook sunchokes,

, you’ll learn how

also known as Jerusalem artichoke s. We’ll explore how easy it is to cook a flavorful, hearty vegetarian m enu with fresh, seasonal ingredient s during the winter months. Fina lly, we’ll learn tips and tricks for m aking the perfect tarte Tatin.

get hands-on: Join Feast and schnucks Cooks Cooking school on Wed., Jan. 15, at 6pm to make the dishes in this month’s menu. tickets are just $40 for a night of cooking, dining and wine.

RsVP at schnuckscooks.com.

32

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JANUARY 2014

With steak this good. who needs a clever headline?

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Enjoy unlimited drinks at five bars including swim-up. The quality of the cuisine is exceptional thanks to Riu’s world-class chefs. Dinner choices include the grand buffet or à la carte dining at the Mexican, Asian, Italian and Grill/Steak House.

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J A N UA RY 2 0 1 4

35

david bailey’s SIXTH SENSE WRITTEN By Liz Miller

|

PHOTOGRAPHy By Jennifer Silverberg

tucked away somewhere – presumably under lock and key – david bailey has a list of restaurant concepts he hopes to one day open. He hedges when asked about numbers or specifics, only prepared to share that it’s constantly growing. So far he’s crossed six ideas off the list, opening a new restaurant in St. Louis almost every two years since 2004.

“It lets me play with different concepts, different ideas and offer different styles of restaurants – different types of food and drink – to the same core audience,” Bailey says. “The list is not by any means complete. Every once and awhile you add something to it. It’s not excessive, I should say.”

Maybe it’s not excessive, but that it exists at all says a lot about Bailey’s ambition. When he opened dessert and martini bar Baileys’ Chocolate Bar in Lafayette Square almost a decade ago, he was a 26-year-old chef with a few years of kitchen experience and a vision for the long game. The idea of building a large restaurant group might have been the plan, but it’s also a common one among chefs – one that often never materializes. That Bailey has been able to leverage the success of one restaurant into six distinct, successful concepts in just under a decade is extraordinary.

Aside from Chocolate Bar, Bailey owns three restaurants in Downtown St. Louis: Rooster, a crêpe and brunch spot; Bridge, a tap house and wine bar; and Baileys’ Range, a burger and shake restaurant and soda shop. In addition to his Downtown spots, Bailey operates The Fifth Wheel, a catering company that also manages food service for 4 Hands Brewing Co.’s tasting room in LaSalle Park, and Small Batch, a vegetarian restaurant and whiskey bar that opened in Midtown in December. This summer, Bailey plans to open his seventh eatery, a second, much larger location of Rooster in Tower Grove, the neighborhood where he and his family have lived for more than eight years.

If the scale of Bailey’s operation is notable, the methodology behind how his restaurants were executed – both conceptually, and in the pacing of how each was opened – is sort of brilliant. None of Bailey’s restaurants compete with one another in menu or model, yet each feels connected to the next in style and standards. The way he paced the opening of each restaurant was largely practical, but also speaks to inherently smart business sense. When he decided to follow up Chocolate Bar with a second restaurant, he landed on the brunch concept for Rooster primarily because the two restaurants could keep separate hours – even if Bailey closed Chocolate Bar at 2am, he could still be at Rooster a few hours later for morning prep.

36

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JANUARY 2014

“That seemed rational at the time, until it was a reality,” Bailey says. “There was a lot of sheer exhaustion. It worked and it paid off. I was able to get Rooster to a point where I brought in people to take care of the kitchen and I had people I could count on running the front of the house at Chocolate Bar. I started to develop the ability to not be present in the restaurant all the time – and that was a huge learning curve for me.”

As Chocolate Bar and Rooster began to grow – in Rooster’s first year it saw so much success that Bailey added weekend hours – plans began to fall into place for his next venture, Bridge.

“I liked being Downtown with Rooster and the space that Bridge is in [opened up],” Bailey says.

“It seemed like a good spot and a good fit. Plus, being able to physically be [nearby Rooster and Bridge] made a lot of sense. We started the planning process and went from there.”

A natural businessman, Bailey also has a knack for staying ahead of food trends, with sharp instincts about what concepts will gain traction with diners. For a lesser restaurateur this could result in fly-by-night success, but Bailey isn’t interested in capitalizing on gimmicks.

Instead, he aims to build lasting restaurants that apply fresh perspectives to classic concepts – dessert, breakfast, burgers, booze and vegetarian food are hardly passing trends – inevitably creating a timeless feel. Bailey credits this gift less as industry savvy (though it certainly plays a part) and more to a willingness to listen to customer demand.

“It’s been commented about me that I hit trends right when they’re about to peak,” Bailey says. “On the one hand, that’s great. On the other, well, I’ve been planning that restaurant for three years. I’m not trying to say I’m way ahead of the curve or anything, but I feel like if you look around and you really listen to people, they’re going to tell you what their interests are and you’re going to be able to see kind of how things are changing already.”

In November 2006, when Bailey opened Rooster, he tapped into a national interest in elevated breakfast and brunch foods. When Bridge opened in February 2010, it was one of the first spots in St. Louis to focus not only on wine, but also an enormous selection of craft beer, with more than 30 brews on tap and hundreds by the bottle.

Almost four years later, craft beer has become big business in St. Louis – one that Bailey has grown with through his restaurants and his collaboration with 4 Hands Brewing Co.

ABOVE: David Bailey at the bar at Small Batch. DISHES (left to right and top to bottom): Wings with peach habanero sauce and housemade ranch at The Fifth Wheel; “NHO,” vegan pho made with wild mushroom dumplings at Small Batch; The Rooster Slinger with andouille sausage and house-butchered pork loin at Rooster; cheese and charcuterie board with Mobay, Gorgonzola and Jasper Hill Cheddar cheeses with grass-fed smoked strip steak, smoked duck breast, tomato jam, hot mustard, black pepper flatbread and nuts at Bridge; PB&J burger with Missouri Range bison, arugula pesto, goat cheese and tomato jam at Baileys’ Range; dark chocolate-raspberry cheesecake with black walnut crust at Baileys’ Chocolate Bar.

“When we opened Bridge I knew beer was upand-coming at the time, because when I opened Chocolate Bar we had a very extensive beer list with craft beers,” Bailey says. “That wasn’t huge back then, but it was a big part of my interest and my life and I wanted to help bring that to St. Louis. It didn’t really take off until we got to Bridge, but I knew that spark was there and that people were ready; they wanted it.”

With the opening of Small Batch last month, Bailey offers his take on vegetarian cuisine and American whiskey and rye. When he first announced plans to build and open Small Batch, he described the restaurant as the fulfillment of a decades-old dream to own a vegetarian restaurant that plates hearty, vibrant and playful dishes for diners of all walks of life.

Menu items at Small Batch extract inspiration from all across the globe, including Vietnamese, Japanese and Italian influences. The restaurant also marks Bailey’s first foray into housemade pastas, which comprise a portion of the menu.

“The goal is for it to go unnoticed that meat is not there,” Bailey says. “I want each restaurant to have an identity. I like to think about the restaurants sort of like people, because ultimately that’s what the restaurants are for.

You want to have things from different ends of the spectrum and tie them together. Having those counterpoints completes the picture of the restaurant. That makes things interesting, balanced, approachable and exciting. To me, you can pair food with whiskey just like you can pair food with wine or beer. ” Though the restaurant just opened last month, the central mission of Small Batch – its approach to vegetarian food and its consciousness about where food comes from – is one that’s been central to Bailey’s work from the very beginning. Since opening Chocolate Bar, all of his restaurants have used locally raised, grass-fed and antibiotic- and hormone-free meat and have offered vegetarian dishes. Bailey says he was raised eating organic, grass-fed meat, but didn’t fully develop an appreciation for it until after college.

“Once I started to work in the industry I became really interested in it,” Bailey says. “I was homeschooled. I’m used to the process of getting interested in something, immersing myself in that and figuring it out from all angles, trying to understand it completely. That led me to read a lot about the impact food has on the world as a whole. There was a brief moment where I thought I should be a vegetarian, but I realized if you’re going to work within the system there are more positive things you can do [than to] simply shut meat out entirely. That’s great for some people, but it’s not a reality for the majority of people. Part of that narrative was that meat doesn’t have to be a part of every single meal. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the focus of the plate.”

Over the years, Bailey’s restaurants have expanded to offer vegan and gluten-free menu items, as well as hormone- and antibiotic-free milk and eggs. And across the board, Bailey focuses his menus around dishes made with high-quality ingredients served at reasonable price points, something he takes great pride in.

“That’s been a part of what I was hoping to do even before I owned any restaurants,” Bailey says. “My thinking and philosophy that I’ve kind of stuck to is that really good ingredients and really high-quality food should not be reserved only for people who can afford it – for only an elite group of people to have those experiences.

It should be more democratic than that.”

Bailey applies this same level of thought and intention to the full dining experience at his restaurants, an approach that combines great food and friendly service in familiar, comfortable environments. Nothing is overlooked, from the interior décor to the menu design, right down to the types of plates, utensils and napkins on tables. This is where Bailey believes the magic lies – in details diners might not even recognize.

“One of my former bosses taught me a really simple concept: 95 percent of our job is making sure everything we do goes unnoticed,” Bailey says. “What he was speaking to is how you set the plate, how you set up the room, how everything down to the experience, door-todoor, for the customer…they should leave feeling great about what happened, and they might have an idea of one or two things that they really liked, but it’s that entire thing, that whole package – most of which will be noticed subconsciously – that really makes a good experience, rather than a bad one. If you forget all of that, if you forget the complete narrative for the customer, a lot of times it’s a mediocre experience. That concept has always stuck with me: That we have to offer a really positive experience from the second you walk in until the moment you leave.”

Bailey’s approach to creating an elevated customer experience is common sense, but it’s in how he achieves it – the minutia that’s so easy to miss – that makes his restaurants succeed.

He works closely with wife Kara Bailey and sister-in-law Brynne Rinderknecht (an interior designer based in New York and Chicago) to craft the look and feel of his restaurants, a collaboration that evolves over the course of the development process.

“Half the fun is putting the whole thing together,” Bailey says. “I start with a general idea – it can be as basic as vegetarian food and whiskey – and then I just start to spin off of that…what do we really want to offer? What’s the full narrative of what we’re trying to provide? Many times, coming at it from different angles is the best way to find solutions. None of the restaurants look exactly like I thought they would when I first pictured

Dishes from Top To boTTom: Winter rolls stuffed with savory mushroom filling and blue cheese with a red wine and fig sauce at Small Batch; half Amish chicken with wild rice, kale and pan sauce at Bridge; Sirloin #4, house-smoked grass-fed sirloin crêpe with goat cheese, arugula and tomato jam at Rooster.

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39

them in my mind, but they all look exactly how I want them to when they’re done.”

Atmosphere and excellent service play integral roles in any restaurant’s success, but to Bailey, they are just as crucial as well-crafted food and drink menus. At Bailey’s restaurants, this translates into approachable and recognizable menu items, as well as dishes designed to push customers outside of their comfort zones. In some cases, this even translates to dishes that push Bailey outside of his own comfort zone.

“That’s always something we do when building a menu, drink menu or even the environment,” Bailey says. “You want to have enough familiarity to it, but also easy avenues to branch out a little bit. Then a little bit more the next time you come back, and then a little bit more, and all of a sudden you’re eating this dark brown cheese that tastes like peanut butter instead of Cheddar, or whatever it is that pushes the envelope for you. There’s no reason to ever take your own set of favorites or your own set of tastes as the only thing you offer to people. That can’t be the only thing you offer, because then, what are you offering them, really? You have to bridge that gap between what it is that you want and what it is they want, and hope it evolves over time.”

To guarantee that his restaurants use the highestquality ingredients, Bailey operates a central kitchen and bakery that butchers and smokes meat, bakes fresh bread and pastries, prepares sauces and dressings and, with the opening of Small Batch, prepares fresh pastas. His central bakery is currently located next door to Rooster, but as the family of restaurants grows, more space will be required for production.

When the second location of Rooster opens in Tower Grove, it will be located inside the 50-yearold former Hamiltonian Bank and Trust building at 3150 South Grand Boulevard, which Bailey is rehabilitating with local architecture company SPACE. The building will also house Bailey’s new central bakery. According to Bailey, the building is the first glass-box financial institution to be restored in St. Louis.

The planned footprint allots the building’s entire 3,000-square-foot first floor for the dining room and bar as well as a 2,400-square-foot patio that Bailey is building for outdoor seating. Other new construction on the first floor includes an additional 3,000-square-foot dining room and an L-shaped kitchen added onto the back of the building. The new bakery will be located in the building’s lower level, just below the restaurant.

With a larger central bakery, Bailey says he will be transitioning to using all organic flours, crossing off another long-term goal on his list.

Expanding to South Grand is also a progression in Bailey’s continuing investment in the City of St. Louis. He hesitates to claim a role in the city’s

revitalization, but the impact Bailey’s restaurants have had as amenities in their respective neighborhoods is undeniable. Seven years ago, when he opened Rooster on Locust Street, the majority of restaurants opening in Downtown St. Louis were concentrated on Washington Avenue, with far fewer entrepreneurs investing in spaces on quieter blocks like Locust. Today, Bailey’s three wildly popular Downtown restaurants have added immeasurable value to the community for residents, workers and tourists.

“We’ve got people who are committed to the city, either Downtown specifically or the city as a region, and there’s more of an understanding of the value we already have here,” Bailey says.

“We have such opportunity here for growth. I’m thankful for all of those people who are working toward that. I guess my role is to provide a really good service for all of those people – the residents, the people who work Downtown and work in Tower Grove – those people are committing themselves to those parts of the city and I feel like I owe them something back via the service we provide. We want good restaurants; we want to be an integral part of the neighborhood and of that stabilization and growth for as long as we can be.”

As for the natural progression of Bailey’s group of restaurants, he isn’t sure – or maybe isn’t ready to divulge – what comes next, though he’s made public his purchase of another plot of land in Tower Grove, this one on the corner of Grand Boulevard and Juniata Street, where he plans to eventually build another venture. This brings us back to Bailey’s restaurant bucket list, which apparently forecasts at least 10 years out.

“Having the property [on Juniata] as a whole and having the ability to put other properties on it is something we were really interested in,” Bailey says. “But it’s part of a 10-year sort of outlook. And that’s kind of where I like to be all the time, sort of looking out that far rather than just looking out one year or even two. I generally already know what we’re doing two years from now. The 10 year is what we’d like to do.”

Whatever secrets the list holds, St. Louis can be sure it will bring great things to the local dining scene. After all, just look at what Bailey’s ambitions have contributed to the city thus far.

“When I opened Chocolate Bar, my focus was on Chocolate Bar. I was going to do this as long as it took to get it right…and I was not going to let it fall apart,” Bailey says. “That’s where my head was at for sure. But as we’ve added more and grown, it makes me more excited about growing – not at an excessive pace, just enough, slow and steady, and always staying relevant to the city.

I want to be in a good spot for my staff and my family; that’s the bottom line.”

TOP: Bailey’s wife Kara (pictured) works with her husband and her sister – interior designer Brynne Rinderknecht – to design Bailey’s restaurants. CENTER: Mushroom bourguignon with housemade pappardelle pasta at Small Batch. BOTTOM: Old family photos of the couple’s families hang in the Small Batch dining room, while orb-shaped light fixtures mirror the original flooring and connect the upstairs to the first level.

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feastSTL.com

J a n ua ry 2 0 1 4

culinary tourism: FEASTon on this!

What makes a city a food destination?

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Written by Alexandra Bates

Traveling Jane changed her portrait and uploaded new photos. “heading to St. Louis tomorrow to visit three of my favorite areas. i predict fantastic food and far too much shopping in my very near future!” – Somewhere, USA time stamped: right now

Five Stars: 32 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

photography by Lisa Allen

Many elements must coalesce to make a city or neighborhood a culinary destination. to create a heavily trafficked neighborhood with a thriving food community requires not only a diverse mix of restaurants and an inviting atmosphere, but investment and support in city planning, community development, tourism and marketing.

photo of St. LoUiS arCh by ©iStoCKphoto.CoM/KUbraK78

Like other areas, St. Louis relies on individual neighborhoods to foster and support small businesses and entrepreneurs, creating environments where success is more likely. While great chefs, high-quality food and excellent service play pivotal roles in the success of individual restaurants, safe, clean, vibrant and diverse neighborhoods offer a place for them to foster and grow – a place for restaurateurs to focus on doing what they do best.

Kathleen “Kitty” ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC), an organization that utilizes hotel tax dollars to market the St. Louis region as a tourism destination, believes that the creation of symbiotic relationships between restaurants and neighborhoods begins with small businesses supporting each other and their neighbors, leading to the eventual growth of their neighborhood as a whole.

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time: 8:33 am today

Susan Thomas “have fun sis! bring me back a treat from Kakao Chocolate in Maplewood pretty please! Check out these beer chocolates! (hint, hint):" kakaochocolate.com Kakao collaborates with local craft breweries to create sweet treats, including chocolates made with Six row brewing Co.'s russian imperial stout and Urban Chestnut brewing Co.'s winged nut beer. continued tags: sixrowbrewco.com; urbanchestnut.com; 4handsbrewery. com; perennialbeer.com; schlafly.com

“Communities that are engaged in making [their neighborhoods] the destination – versus the restaurant the destination – are going to be more successful,” ratcliffe says. “the old adage about putting a gas station on the corner where there are other gas stations, making everyone more successful in selling gas, is also true of restaurants. …if they’re not isolated, if they’re part of a bigger place – a destination – they’ve got more opportunities for success.”

St. Louis boasts a long list of lively food-focused neighborhoods, but certain places are finding

time: 9:46 am today

time: 12:14 pm today

Lynn O’Brien “oh, so jealous! eat at pho grand on South grand for me.

Man, i miss that place! haven’t been since you and i went down to StL for Maggie and tim’s wedding. remember that?”

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Jackson Nickels “Well, hey, if you’re taking orders, i’ll take some no-sugaradded preserves and a jar of gluten-free robust ribeye marinade from Main Street Marketplace in St. Charles!"

to make a city a place that draws culinary

are succeeding, providing models for other local communities.

tourists, “...you have to have a unique representation of food and beverage, something that is different than what [a visitor] can get in their own hometown, and a reputation, overall, for great food,” ratcliffe says. “and St. Louis has that.”

JANUARY 2014

43

FEASTon this!

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Traveling Jane uploaded new photos. “Arrived in St. Louis last night. Looking forward

to biting into some Strange Donuts this morning, then shopping in Maplewood until it’s time to eat again!” – in Maplewood time stamped: right now Five Stars: 30 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

Between Mayberry and Metropolis is Maplewood Maplewood, a community known for its walkability, specialty shops and, of course, Schlafly Bottleworks, hasn’t always been the businessfriendly hub it is today. After seeing many of its small businesses struggle to survive after the economic downturn in 2007, the Maplewood Small Business District (SBD) decided more needed to be done. At the center of much of this change is Rachelle L’Ecuyer, director of community development for the City of Maplewood.

“We started looking at what types of businesses are contributing to the community, what types of businesses are growing, what we can do to help them and what we can do to encourage them to come to Maplewood. So, we developed some programs to recruit them,” L’Ecuyer says.

Traveling Jane “Just bought my first souvenirs at Vom Fass! Whiskey and a wine key… guess what I’m doing tonight!” – in Maplewood time stamped: 11:08 am

Five Stars: 26 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

With capital improvements including sidewalks, lighting and landscaping already completed, the seven-member SBD, managed by L’Ecuyer, instituted a forgivable loan grant to attract new retail businesses and restaurants to the community. The grant covers a business’ first few months of rent – up to $4,250 – and states that if a business stays in Maplewood for at least five years, the loan will be forgiven.

“It helps them stabilize, so they can take the money that they would be paying in rent and put it into marketing or something else,” L’Ecuyer says. “We thought, in the first few months – those are just so key. Once they get their heels dug in, then they can kind of establish themselves. But just getting them up and running, we saw, was a really big issue.”

Traveling Jane “Having lunch at Foundation Grounds Coffee House & Cafe. This tasty pear sandwich made with organic spinach and apple butter topped with melted Brie was a must-try. Mmm! ” – in Maplewood time stamped: 1:28 pm today Five Stars: 28 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

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time: 1:36 pm today

time: 2:54 pm today

Patrick Smith “I’m addicted to Foundation Grounds' mocha latte. This Sunday I browsed the selection at the new The Book House – Independent Book Sellers then got a drink at FoGro. Great way to spend a morning!”

Amy Franklin “Oh yeah, that place is awesome! If you’re still out there for dinner you should try Maya Cafe on Sutton Blvd. Here’s the link:” mayacafestl.com Maya Cafe’s unique menu is packed with many south-of-the-border classics. Its pan-Latin cuisine is made to order to your taste.

The grant has served the community well, attracting businesses such as Kakao Chocolate, Pie Oh My!, Strange Donuts, Traveling Tea and Great Harvest Bread Co. But the SBD didn’t stop there, instituting both a sign grant and a storefront renovation grant to offer added aesthetic appeal for restaurants and shops, many of which have taken advantage of these incentives. “I really think it’s made a big difference in the way downtown [Maplewood] looks,” says L’Ecuyer. “You know, hanging out your shingle – it’s a very important thing.”

In operation for 25 years, the SBD is funded by small businesses and building owners, who contribute a percentage of their business license fee and a percentage of their real estate tax, respectively. In doing so, the SBD creates a mutually beneficial partnership between Maplewood and its businesses, without additional taxes for residents.

This means the restaurant industry supports the city twofold, not only through attracting visitors who spend money in Maplewood, but also through funding capital improvements via business license fees, making the community more inviting for visitors. And different organizations in Maplewood plan food-themed events such as the Taste of Maplewood and Maplewood Coffee Crawl, doing their part to market and advertise small businesses. This,

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FEASTon this!

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Traveling Jane uploaded new photos. “Exploring historic Main Street in St. Charles this afternoon. Perfect weather!” – in St. Charles time stamped: right now Five Stars: 35 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

along with the forgivable loan and sign grant, creates added incentive for small businesses to choose to put down roots in Maplewood.

“I would say, what we’re doing, is making sure the environment’s safe, stable and welcoming, and then the rest is [up to] them,” L’Ecuyer says.

“Restaurateurs are natural marketing people. I mean, they have to be. And they’re very in touch with their clients, and I think that makes a huge difference for us. And then, because they’re bringing people for themselves, those people then see other things that are going on in the community and then they come back. It helps build a positive opinion of Maplewood.”

But the revitalization of Maplewood wasn’t good fortune. It’s the direct result of strategic planning and recruiting of specific types of businesses.

“If you take a close look at them, they’re all owner-operated. They are, what I think you could say are, artisan business owners,” L’Ecuyer says.

“They have a craft. They’re actually there in the business making the product that you’re buying.

And we find that those businesses have stronger connections to the community.

“I always say, ‘Somewhere between Mayberry and Metropolis is Maplewood,’ because we have all the big city offerings,” L’Ecuyer says.

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time: 10:37 am today

Ken Sawyer “The chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles from Grandma’s Cookies are great. Are you eating lunch at Magpie’s Restaurant Restaurant?

Barb and I love grabbing lunch there. Have fun! ”

Traveling Jane “Taking a shopping break for a late afternoon lunch at Little Hills Winery & Restaurant. The Jack Daniels honey-glazed pork belly appetizer with a glass (or two) of Little Hills Chardonel has hit the spot." – in St. Charles time stamped: 3:18 pm today Five Stars: 23 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

And it’s easy to see L’Ecuyer’s point when strolling down Manchester Avenue in the heart of downtown Maplewood. Because of the success of small businesses such as Strange Donuts and Home Wine Kitchen, Maplewood now has a prominent place on St. Louis’ culinary map. ________________________________________________________________________________________

Beyond the Cobblestones of St. Charles St. Charles is more than its historic Main Street.

However, its specialty shops – and holiday cheer – make the cobblestone street hard to forget.

Though once more of an exclusively familyfriendly dining scene, St. Charles now offers a well-rounded culinary experience, boasting a mix of independently owned restaurants – American and ethnic, savory and sweet.

“It’s interesting, because it has changed dramatically over the past year,” says David Leezer, director of economic development and tourism for the City of St. Charles. “I think now we have a much better mix…we have some restaurants specifically unique to St. Charles that are very well recognized.”

Traveling Jane “Favorite buys of the day... camo corn from Kernel Dave’s Gourmet Popcorn, white truffle oil from Di Olivas and a cutting board from Poppy’s Amish Cupboard. Finishing up the day with a craft beer at Trailhead Brewing Co.” – in St. Charles time stamped: 6:52 pm Five Stars: 21 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

This recent influx of restaurants, combined with the list of long-established ones, has added to the St. Charles experience, showing non-residents that the city has more to offer than its historic charm. A study conducted by Leezer’s department revealed that the average party of three that visits the city spends about $350 per visit (nearly $130 per person). And it’s not all going to retail.

“The No. 1 thing [visitors] do when they come to St. Charles is shopping, especially on historic Main Street. The second thing they come to St. Charles for is dining,” says Leezer.

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FEASTon this!

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Traveling Jane uploaded new photos. “Last day in STL and I'm spending it on South Grand in Tower Grove. Any suggestions?” – in Tower Grove time stamped: right now

Five Stars: 30 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

As head of the Economic Development and Tourism departments, Leezer is responsible for attracting investors, both large (new businesses) and small (tourists), to the city to invest money in very different ways. A 1-percent tourism tax, paid by patrons of hotels and restaurants, goes toward promoting visitor spending and “destination marketing” for the city. And, according to Leezer, it’s paying off.

“Basically, what we have seen is, according to the study last year…for every $1 that we spend on marketing St. Charles, we get $21 in return,” he says.

With a growing culinary scene, leveraging the city’s positives is easy. For Leezer, this means using it in sales pitches to businesses considering a move to St. Charles – making sure to point out all the benefits of life in the community.

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time: 9:44 am today

time: 10:12 am today

Doug Stone “We had our Thanksgiving dinner at City Diner – I love that Marilyn Monroe painting! I also really enjoy the food at this Ethiopian spot:” meskeremstl.com Located on South Grand, Meskerem is known for its excellent and authentic traditional Ethiopian eats.

Ginger LeBlanc “Hey, isn't The Vine – Mediterranean Café and Market on South Grand? Their restaurant, bakery and market specialize in Lebanese cuisine – and they also have a hookah lounge! Definitely worth checking out.”

Traveling Jane “Always thrilled to find new shops specializing in mid-century modern design like Rocket Century on South Grand. Dig these far out vintage highball glasses I just scored! Can't wait to add them to my home bar.” – in Tower Grove time stamped: 11:52 am

Five Stars: 28 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

“Quality of life encompasses education, housing and, also, it encompasses food and entertainment – because if a company moves here, and you move a senior executive here to work here, [they] also have to move their spouse and their children here,” Leezer says. “And so, it has to be more than just a job; it has to be: Are the schools good? Do they have parks? And, do they have places they want to go out to eat?”

While St. Charles' historic center might have a lot happening in the food scene, a $90-million investment on the edge of town helps spread the culinary focus.

Streets of St. Charles, located just south of I-70 in downtown St. Charles, is a 1-millionsquare-foot development featuring shops, entertainment, office space, apartments and, most importantly, restaurants, that is currently under construction and almost halfway near completion. New tenants such as Prasino, a restaurant serving American food with a focus on sustainability, and Tucanos Brazilian Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse, are examples of strong new businesses in the community.

“Everything [Prasino does] is very environmentally conscious,” Leezer says. “Some of [the food] is gluten-free, some of it is vegetarian and some of it is vegan. It offers a wide variety and it’s a very high-end restaurant.”

The latest addition to the St. Charles dining scene is Bella Vino Wine Bar & Tapas, which opened on Main Street in late November. New businesses such as these diversify the neighborhood’s offering and provide a fuller experience to residents, workers and visitors.

Traveling Jane “My STL trip went out with a bang: Grabbed a pomegranate martini and

cabbage rolls for dinner at Cafe Natasha,then almond ice cream at Tower Grove Creamery. The TGC owners couldn't be sweeter people.” – in Tower Grove time stamped: 8:22 pm Five Stars: 26 friends gave this post a five-star rating! click here to dish on this post

“That full experience – the brick and the cobblestone streets of St. Charles, the riverfront, the historic nature with Lewis and Clark, the wine country in Southern St. Charles County, and also, the food experience – helps bring [visitors] back,” Leezer says. ________________________________________________________________________________________

South Grand: Like the Cover of a Book As the dividing line between Tower Grove South and Tower Grove East, South Grand not only connects the two neighborhoods, but also brings

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together a variety of cultures and ethnicities to form one truly special food scene.

On the short stretch of South Grand between Arsenal and Utah Place, 10 countries converge, including Morocco, Japan, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Italy and Ethiopia, with American and Middle Eastern influences also cropping up. This includes everything from savory bites – pasta, curry, sushi and diner food – to sweet treats – ice cream, pastries and gelato – to cocktails. South Grand represents a mix of businesses both longstanding and new, with institutions such as King & I, in business for 30 years, and City Diner, which just celebrated its 21st anniversary, alongside newer eateries such as Baida and Tree House Vegetarian Restaurant.

“People feed off what they see. It’s all about location when you’re opening a business – and what you’re around. And this just organically became this on its own, this international corridor,” says Rachel Witt, executive director of the South Grand Community Improvement District. However, having the International Institute down the street has its perks. “[The International Institute helps business owners] with getting on their feet, finding work, and a lot of them decide they want to open a restaurant, so a lot of them open close to the International Institute.”

But, much of the neighborhood’s success as a culinary destination has to do with the creation of its South Grand Community Improvement District (CID), established in 2001. As its only member – backed by a board of property and business owners – Witt is responsible for overseeing any and every community improvement project that happens within its boundaries.

“The way I always like to describe what I do, I feel my job is like the cover of a book,” Witt says.

“I need to make that book as pretty as possible for someone to open those pages – and the businesses are the pages. South Grand is a very inviting area for people to explore; visitors to the area are amazed with the improvements and quality of businesses.”

Attracting visitors involves everything from maintaining streets and sidewalks, landscaping and waste management to lighting, safety and even planning community events. All these things and more are funded by property taxes that are paid by building owners – similar to the setup in Maplewood. However, unlike Maplewood, South Grand’s improvements are also funded directly by visitors to the area via an additional state sales tax, reported by business owners to the State of Missouri.

“So a half a cent of every dollar spent on Grand, stays on Grand,” Witt says. “The more money we make, the more we can give back into the district.”

With money coming in and much completed in the way of capital improvements, it’s no wonder South Grand was selected as one of four winners of the Great Streets Initiative in 2009, a project funded by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.

Of the four streets chosen that year, South Grand was the only one to receive construction dollars from the council for the initiative, which

focuses on the improvement and development of city streetscapes via workshops and forums, as well as grants. “We applied for the project in 2009, got awarded the project, and construction started in 2011 and is still going on,” says Witt.

The funds have gone toward completely redeveloping South Grand to make it more pedestrian-friendly. Two lanes of traffic became one, leading to wider sidewalks and the addition of bike lanes. New streets were put in. Dead trees were replaced. Pervious concrete was poured to help with storm water drainage issues. Landscaping was redone. Bike racks and benches were installed. A rain garden is being completed.

The improvements, Witt believes, have helped attract more businesses to the community in recent years, along with the district’s convenient locale.

“Quite a few new businesses, I feel, have moved in here because of the streetscape project.

And I think people, when they look to open a business, they look at the demographics of the neighborhood, and seeing that there’s walkability for people to come here – and seeing that this is a major thoroughfare, the No. 1 bus route in the city; more people ride the 70 than anywhere else. People see that as an easy place to live, work and play,” Witt says.

In addition to all that the Great Streets Initiative has done for South Grand, Witt promotes the restaurant district via events, such as the Dine Around and Creepy Crawl, through brochures and by word of mouth.

And she’s working on developing a building façade grant program, much like Maplewood’s, to help businesses and building owners fund storefront renovations. The hope is that this program will give an extra boost to local businesses already taking advantage of the building façade program in place through the city of St. Louis.

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“Being part of the community improvement district is a win-win for the businesses,” Witt says. “Knowing that you’re in a community that’s attractive helps get more people in their [restaurants’ and shops’] door than in an area that’s struggling or that doesn’t have the dollars to assist with capital improvements, maintenance, security and marketing.” ______________________________________________________________________________ With a flood of top-quality restaurants, these growing neighborhoods serve as examples for the whole of St. Louis. They represent a proactive approach to community building that brings the greatest value to a neighborhood – one that focuses on the value that culinary businesses bring to our region’s streetscapes.

“I think it’s important for people to recognize the contributions that small businesses make to a community, because, on the revenue side, it may not seem as great as a Wal-Mart or something, but what they do for the community, how they give back to the community and how they become part of the community are really important,” says L’Ecuyer. “It makes it a better place for people to live, visit and do business.”

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tastemakers round table edited By Liz Miller and Catherine Neville | pHotoGrapHy By Demond Meek

Business owners across the St. Louis culinary spectrum gather to discuss the scene and where it’s going.

• Scott carey, Sump coffee • Nick Luedde, the Libertine • keviN Lemp, 4 Hands Brewing co.

• JuStiN LeSzcz, yellowtree Farm • tJ vytLaciL, Blood & Sand • keviN NaSHaN, Sidney Street cafe • adam tiLFord, tilford restaurant Group Editor’s NotE: in the interest of preserving the

authenticity and candor of the tastemakers conversation, this story contains strong and potentially offensive language.

event date: monday, november 4, 2013

place: the libertine

time: 3pm

i learned how to balance the passion i have for the industry with owning a business. running a restaurant and running a business are really two different things, and it’s a fine line. -adam tilford

CaTheriNe NeViLLe: What is it that draws you to this industry, and keeps you in it? adam TiLford: I was in the industry all through high school, college. Working a ton of hours, not making much money, and the burn out, I guess, kind of took over the passion a little bit. So I got into real estate. I was selling residential real estate and my brother, who was a chef, said, “Hey, you want to open this little taco [place] in the [Central] West End?” I was like, “Yeah, I’m doing alright in real estate. This is really exciting; I’m bored.” Opened that up and just lost everything, absolutely everything. All of my investments.

I was selling real estate to pay the bills at the restaurant because I was pretty much an absentee owner at the time. It took about two years before I switched gears, got rid of my real estate license and got into Tortillaria full time.

I learned how to balance the passion I have for the industry with owning a business. Running a restaurant and running a business are really two different things, and it’s a fine line.

CN: TJ and Kevin, you guys both run the business and you’re the creative spirit of the business. How do you balance that?

KeViN NaShaN: If you didn’t love it, you’re not going to do it. For the most part, it’s just this passion for wanting to make people happy, because we all try to do that on a daily basis. I love [the] quote: “No money, no love, no passion, no nothing.” At the end of the day, you’ve got to bring it to reality and make food that’s going to pay the bills, but also serves as a creative outlet for you, and hopefully you’re not cutting any corners in the process, and you’re staying true to what you believe in and you’re evolving. That’s most important – you put yourself on a pair of tracks and you keep going forward.

up, and you will lose sleep at night. I enjoy having somewhat of an ADD personality, shifting gears all day long – from dealing with grumpy customers to fixing something in the bathroom to figuring out plumbing on a Sunday. I really love that, because I’m never bored. That being said, 90 percent of the time it can be mentally exhausting, but that 10 percent is what I live for. When you’ve built something with your own hands and you have a chef that’s putting food out that you know he built with his own hands, and everything comes together and that [customer] is happy, they have no idea of everything that went into that process, including maintaining the property…It’s really, really satisfying.

CN: That’s like the sweet spot?

TV: It’s so good. It really is.

KN: It’s so scary. This gentleman right here [Scott Carey] probably had one of the scariest situations this year, and people have no clue. It’s amazing.

TV: Describe what you did. I’m still impressed.

JL: He dug through shit.

SC: You’re possessed. It’s like being demonically possessed. That’s what I’m saying. It’s not passion.

TV: You have passion through that possession, though.

SC: No. It’s like, do I have a choice in like, my hair line? That’s how I feel about it. I don’t really have a choice now in what I’m doing.

TV: That’s an interesting insight into an entrepreneur’s brain. There is no other option, other than having your own thing. It just doesn’t exist. It’s hard for me to even fathom not doing everything it takes. When a homeless guy took my valet box and pretended to be a valet guy, and I’m drinking a vintage Bordeaux and I hear about it from a client, I’m running outside, vest and tie, and I’m chasing this guy down the street and he’s got a pair of keys…I’m thinking, what did I sign up for? This was like six months after we opened, and I thought I wanted to teach people about wine and have fun with cocktails and food, and then you realize that you don’t have one without the other.

it took me three restaurants to figure out how important location was. -adam tilford

TJ VyTLaCiL: To the opposite side of that, the reason I love this business is that minutia that [Kevin’s] talking about. I don’t just have passion for cocktails. I have passion for putting a nail in the wall and hanging something. I do all of the maintenance at Blood & Sand, and when something is broken, I love to fix it.

JuSTiN LeSzCz: He really does. The other day, I drove by the alley [where Blood & Sand is located] and he was painting the black railings.

TV: I had to teach myself, three years ago, how to use these grinders when I had to sand all this rust down or the door was going to rust through, and that was going to be $15,000. Then you equate that to how much you have to do in sales to make that

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CN: Justin, you’re a grower, you produce vegetables. When you’re choosing what to grow, do you consider the customer first?

JL: I think, in the end, it’s changing the layman’s mind. That’s what we’re all dealing with – the layman – and trying to figure out how to make the most money out of it, as bad as that sounds.

CN: But an educated customer is the best kind of customer, right?

JL: That’s the key. They’re interested. You take the pretense out and educate.

NL: I think for us, in the restaurant…it’s easier. We have a salesperson who is dealing directly with the consumer, and a lot of that is education. A lot of that responsibility lies on us. How do we make these sort of seemingly esoteric – to the layman – things not intimidating to somebody who has no idea what escabeche is?

KN: That’s the hard thing. How does Scott show what roasting coffee is?

CN: What do you say to young chefs who have talent and want to open their own place, but don’t necessarily understand what they’re diving into?

KN: At what point are you ready for it? At what point are you ready to do something bigger in life? I think that setting them up and saying, ‘Hey, listen, it isn’t always about cooking. It’s about knowing your food costs, your labor costs, knowing that all the money has to be spent on the restaurant, continuous upkeep: The awning – if there’s a tear in it, you have to fix it; if a light’s out you have to fix it – all those little expenses. Every one thinks it’s this passion, fun, that kind of thing, but there are so many details. You can come in, cook and do your thing, but it’s sweating all those details and knowing that people might not show up that day, your deliveries may not come – if they come, they may be shitty – then you have to deal with a grouchy customer at 5:30. Sometimes you just want to hide in a corner, but if you’re excited about it and you love it, it keeps you all pumped up to do it again the next day.

new environment, then you order what’s familiar; you order what you know, because no one likes to feel uncomfortable. But we don’t have a sign board; we don’t have anything. We have one menu that sits on the counter, and that’s intentional. It allows me to control the dialogue and hopefully control the direction. I also know that everything we make isn’t going to be what people want. We make a very specific style of coffee: it’s light roasted, it’s brighter…it’s like, if you only like red wine and I only serve you white, you’re not going to like your experience. But I think trying to change the dynamic of what it means to dine, of what it means to spend money as a customer – so you start to eliminate reflective behaviors, so they can see something beyond what they come into that space expecting – I feel like that’s the way to do it.

KeViN Lemp: Or it gets them to ask the question and then they become educated. Then they’re more excited about the experience.

NL: Which is huge.

KL: I think that’s what I love about what I do.

adam tilford and kevin lemp

SCoTT Carey: The lateral [line at Sump] collapsed. We started digging out the basement to move it, and the slab was the only thing holding up the foundation. Once you broke the cement slab, the foundation fell. Basically, a septic field had sort of created itself on the corner of the building, and so there was no structure. We had to dig out the shit – and it was terrible – and then put it back together. It was pretty intense.

That’s what you have to do. And what I would say about passion…for me, it’s not really about passion, because I think all marriages start with passion, and a lot of marriages fail. Passion isn’t enough. For me, it’s possession. It is something that I cannot not do. It is like a big art project.

It is this sort of metaphysical wrestling match that is ever persistent. And it’s this idea of trying to force my will on a world that doesn’t want to behave, customers that don’t want to receive what I’m making, mechanicals that fail, a 200-year-old city, whatever that may be. It’s that possession; it’s not passion, because passion fades. It’s exhausting…what TJ and Kevin said, it’s physically exhausting.

NiCK Luedde: But if passion fades, how are you going to keep going?

NL: I’m probably the newest guy of this bunch in terms of ownership, but I’ve spent so much time over the past decade running other people’s businesses, and it’s a totally different perspective. You start seeing the bills and the numbers and you become overwhelmed by it to some degree. On the other end, there is literally no way I could ever go back. This is perfection for me. And the stress, I embrace it. All of that.

There’s a different attitude that it requires.

CN: How do you balance what you want to create with what your customer is excited to purchase?

SC: I think fine dining, anything that somebody has committed their life to, should be more confrontational. What I want to do is deliver an experience that people don’t even know they want yet. Part of that is a fight. I’ll tell you a little bit about how we do it at [Sump], and being sort of behind God’s back, if you will, in terms of our location. We try to create an experience that’s not super traditional. There’s not a big menu board.

I feel like if you know what coffee is – that’s all I do, so I feel really lazy compared to all you guys who spin many plates – but if you know what coffee is and you go into a new coffee place, a

NL: St. Louis is a lot more aggressive than you’ll see in Chicago. Chicago has this sort of underlying elitism that is present. It’s presupposed that they already have this information, when the reality is they don’t anymore than anyone else does.

St. Louisans ask a lot more questions, and they seem, at least in a microcosm, a lot more willing to embrace a lot of what this is. I dig that a lot.

TV: You guys are missing the word that connects what you’re all saying…it’s through trust and your exceptionalism that people ask those questions and feel good. When I go into Sump, I know I’m going to enjoy my experience; I just don’t know what that’s going to be. But through trust, I’m up for it. [Justin] brings in God-knows-what and we put all of it on the plate.

JL: It’s the same kind of thing. You don’t know what I’m bringing tomorrow.

TV: And it doesn’t matter, because I trust you and it’s a lot of fun. I take the customer and I say, “Hey this is what we’re doing.” And they might say, “I just want a vodka tonic and your sliders,” but the guy next to him is ordering something crazy and going nuts on cocktails. Through time, trust and treating them like they’re not a layman, they then ask questions and they are just engulfed. It takes time. You have somebody who’s been around for 10 years crushing it at a very high level [Kevin

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nick luedde shot on location at The Libertine

Josh galliano, executive chef at The Libertine, prepares the Tastemakers menu

Nashan]. That was what I got when I was 19 years old going to [Kevin’s] restaurant – [Kevin] built trust in [his] clientele.

Cn: That’s actually the next question I had, and it’s perfect for you, Kevin [Nashan]. Everybody says the St. Louis dining scene has changed so much in the past 10 years. In the 10 years you’ve owned Sidney Street, how have you seen diners change?

Kn: Well, it’s all changed. Look at all these options and choices. But within all these options and choices, the individuals who run these places know exactly what they’re doing. Ten years ago you could argue that St. Louis wasn’t even ready.

People can disagree with me, but my buddy Gerard [Craft] is really the one who busted through the seams. He helped me evolve at a much quicker pace than I would have. I was really, really nervous.

I took over a restaurant that was an institution and I didn’t want to screw it up. It taught me patience.

It taught me that I don’t need to piss on all the walls to show people that I can cook food and what my food was…It’s all about making people happy. But when you grab their hand and you take them for that ride, it really brings people to that trust. And you should challenge them. I think now you see so many challenges on so many menus, and it’s not just because it’s crazy and wild. It tastes great. It gives the customer a different direction for their palate.

Cn: But 10 years ago, I don’t know if the diner was as sophisticated as the diner is today.

Kn: That’s the point…there weren’t these amounts of choices 10 years ago. It wasn’t even close. There were a lot of great restaurants but they were doing the same thing that they’d been doing, except for Bill Cardwell, Steve Gontram, Jim Fiala. Now there are like 25 restaurants that are absolutely crushing it and doing really good stuff. I love all

of these concepts opening up and it’s fun for the consumers. A line out the door at a donut shop…

[Strange Donuts in Maplewood] I mean, come on.

I’ve lived in so many different cities and that’s what you experience. Honestly, when I had my boys with me, I was like, “This is one of the coolest things. St. Louis is coming.” It’s so cool. In our neighborhood [Benton Park], my buddy Scott [Carey]…whenever people are in town, that’s one of the big points I brag about, and they’re floored. I love this town; everyone knows this, but those are the things that, 10 years ago, we didn’t have.

Cn: How do you create that openness in the customer?

Kn: Everyone says kids hate Brussels sprouts, but that’s BS, man. If you can make it in a fun, tasty way, they will like it, just like your customers. You know, Scott, putting his menu there, he’s in control. He’s saying, “Hey, listen,

trust me, go on this full adventure. I’m going to teach you something, and you know what, at the end of it, we may butt heads – which I probably want – but you are going to like this.” And that’s the other thing, there’s a difference between throwing something in somebody’s face and saying, “I made this. You’re going to like it. Period.”

It’s not that at all. It’s saying, “I care so much about what I’m doing here and I want to share it with you, but you’ve got to trust me and let me bring you on the ride.” aT: But I think, to go back to your question, how do they know: Once you get them in the door, it’s different. That’s your job, to teach them what you want them to learn. That is important. We teach our servers; they take menu tests. They need to know our menus back and forth, and what are the ingredients, when people ask questions: Why are we different, what are we doing differently, how are our homemade tortillas different from what Inspired Food Culture

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other people are doing. But I think getting them in the door – I want to say that a lot of that has to do with the amazing St. Louis media scene that we have. And even the national media as well – Food Network, these things are teaching the public to expect more than the Ponderosa buffet. There’s just a lot more out there to try, and be open to. I really think the media does a lot with educating people, and helps us to do our jobs better.

KL: Well, and you know, 10 years ago, that’s kind of the benchmark for the date when everybody says that everything started to change a little bit. When you really kind of look at it, does that have anything to do with the explosion of the Internet within the past 10 years? You look at trends, it always started at the coasts and eventually it would find its way here. Well, now we don’t have to wait five, six, seven, eight, 10 years to get there. You go online and you can see what is interesting and creative and pushing boundaries and limits, and you kind of adapt that into all of our worlds. I think that’s a better customer. An educated customer who’s now interested in trying everything new, from someone trusted.

AT: When I’m at Kevin [Nashan’s] restaurant, I’m not on my cellphone tweeting or taking pictures, I’m looking up ingredients, because I don’t know them all. But I think 10 years ago, people would see something on a menu and feel intimidated by that, so they might not order a certain thing, whereas me, I’m going to check that out.

CN: Kevin Lemp, why did you choose LaSalle Park, of all places, for 4 Hands?

KL: Our thing was, whether we’re going to be the smallest brewery in the country or something other, we wanted to be some pillar of the rebuilding of St. Louis city. Then for us there was a list of criteria that we needed. We needed tall ceilings, thick floors, we needed a dock door, we needed a certain amount of space, and we found that in LaSalle Park. Being a brewery, I think it’s OK to really be that destination spot. We’ve created a pretty neat atmosphere where the customer feels a part of the project by looking through the window into the brewery, seeing us working and packaging. LaSalle Park offered us a really affordable opportunity to have a really big space. We couldn’t find that in Brentwood or Kirkwood or anywhere else.

CN: Adam, when you decided to put Mission Taco in The Loop, didn’t you choose that location because you knew what was going to be happening in the neighborhood with Washington University’s new student housing across the street?

how should you allow your ideas to evolve?

TV: We haven’t shifted at all. You balance between what you strive to do with your concept and how far you’re willing to pull that angle away just to make money. We definitely had some freak-outs when we first opened…the Cardinals were in the World Series, and when the Cardinals are in the playoffs, we might as well drink wine, the four of us, with the lights off. I remember not sleeping for two weeks, thinking, for seven years I’ve been trying to do a private club, and I’m nuts. It’s the first time I felt that I was actually crazy. Our first Yelp reviews were: “Step over a couple homeless people and you’ll maybe find the door.” We didn’t want that. That wasn’t my goal. It turns out that the location has become an asset, but is that because we stuck to our original plan? We did. We stuck to it. And I think you have to.

AT: I totally agree with you. I think you have the perfect concept for your location – because your location is tough.

TV: I had planned to open on Eighth Street.

i’m a good example of being possessed by something and being kind of artful about it, but i’m not a very good business owner. -scott carey

CN: People are now excited by the unknown, as opposed to being intimidated by it. People want to jump in, because there’s trust that’s been built.

NL: Yeah, I mean I left here 15 years ago. I grew up in Kirkwood…I don’t think that I could have done this [The Libertine] 15 years ago. Josh [Galliano] and I were having drinks, talking about the menu and all those sorts of things…We ate at your [Kevin Nashan’s] restaurant, honestly, I came into your [Scott Carey’s] spot, I saw Gerard [Craft] and I saw what was being executed and it’s shocking.

I’m like, “These guys are killing it. This is fantastic.”

The service, everything else, down to the smallest minutia, was all taken care of. And it really inspired us. I turned to my wife and said, “Yeah, we can come up here. We can do this.” There’s no other reason why we’d be here.

CN: How did each of you choose the neighborhoods you’re in? Scott, you said you’re location is “behind God’s back.” Why did you choose to be located way off the beaten path?

SC: I don’t know that I chose it. I tell people I’m not a very good example of running a business.

KN: Yeah you are.

SC: St. Louis Business Journal interviewed me and I just said I’m a bad model. I don’t have a [profit and loss statement], a business model.

Honestly, how I decided what I did was very emotional and very personal. It had elements of family – why I came back to St. Louis – it had elements of dissatisfaction with what I was doing, realizing the brevity of life, and, the Internet, honestly. I found that location using Zillow, and I wanted a place where I could live and have commercial space on the bottom. So simply that, and asking a few people about Cherokee Street and the neighborhood, and living in Williamsburg right when it was uptrending. I tell people a good example of smart business sense of opening a coffee shop is Blueprint. I’m a bad example. I’m a good example of being possessed by something and being kind of artful about it, but I’m not a very good business owner.

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a completely different space. It’s like, “Oh, I get exactly what you’re doing.” That change is wonderful. You’re coming in and it’s, “Wow, this is one of the coolest spots in town.”

TV: I didn’t know that I’d learn how to do copper piping on YouTube because the guy gave me a $17,000 quote. Yeah, I was sweating. And when you have to go three floors down to turn the water back on and you come back up and see everything that you just did is leaking…you don’t have a choice. We had a budget, and the plumber came back and was like, “Yeah, this is what I’m going to do it for,” and I was like, “See you later.

YouTube, let’s see how to get this going.”

CN: Where do you see those opportunities to truly fail in the industry?

KN: They’re everywhere. And you talk about location…I disagree with a lot of people. There are so many examples out there. Le Francais back in the ‘70s, ‘80s in Wheeling, Ill., El Bulli …if you build it, they will come. Sump. Come on. Talk about the worst location…but honestly, if you build it, they will come.

AT: I disagree. Those are destination locations.

KN: But you can make it a destination location.

That’s what I’m saying. El Bulli wasn’t even on your radar. La Francais wasn’t on your radar. There are so many examples of places that struggle for five or six years and then they turn it into something special. I think if you’re going to open up just a bar and you’re going to sling Budweiser and that kind of stuff, you’re probably not going to open up in some crazy location. To that question of location – in terms of failure – there are so many failures period. I don’t care if you’ve been in it for one year, five years, 10 years.

TV: But you can make it exponentially harder on yourself by not taking those things [into consideration]. If you’re not somebody who wants to be the next El Bulli – you know, we’re talking about one of the best chefs in the world – if you’re someone who just enjoys this industry but maybe you don’t have a specific passion, you will trip up at every corner if you don’t look at…

KN: You shouldn’t be doing it then.

TV: Well, that’s not necessarily true. There are things I super enjoy…I go to Qdoba, I like Qdoba.

CN: That’s going to be in print now.

scott carey and nick luedde

AT: It took me three restaurants to figure out how important location was. The first one, [Tortillaria] we’re on South Euclid in the West End, which I call the bastard stepchild of the Central West End – you know, you’re not in the main hub.

Granted, this was nine years ago when we opened Tortillaria; there wasn’t really much in that area, and now you’ve got Brasserie, Taste, Central Table…it’s a completely different ball game. It’s way different from when we first opened, when we first struggled. Jason [Tilford] and I wanted to do something in Webster Groves. We still had almost zero money, and we got a sweet deal from the landlord who was going to give us a loan to build out this place, and so that’s kind of how we happened into [Milagro’s] spot. Then it was finally Mission, and it was like, you know what, we need to be somewhere where there are people walking around and hanging out. And man I’ll tell you what, Mission was tailored to The Loop. It’s amazing how much location and just visibility help.

CN: Once you launch your business, how tightly should you hold onto your original concept? And

TV: That’s OK. OK, well Chipotle then, because they’re much more sustainable.

There’s a bank right there by The Old Post Office that’s been empty for 17 years. I lived above it; I put all of my energy into that. I would sleep in that space on an air mattress to pull my energy in, because I had $100,000 in student loan debt, no investors and a business plan that I had written on some crappy software, and I was like, “I’ve got to do something.” And I’d sleep in that space because it was right below me. And when that didn’t work out, when the guy was like, you’re just too big of a risk for me, after so many years of thinking I was going into that place, I was devastated. Then this space opened up, and I thought, “Wow, that’s a really rough location. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” When somebody pulls up in a $200,000 Maserati, do they really want to park outside of Blood & Sand? No, they don’t, but they do anyway because they’re less excited about their car and more excited about going to Blood & Sand, and that’s pretty cool. I surrounded myself with the most creative people possible and just said, “Dig your feet in. Let’s do this. It’s not going to be easy.”

NL: Once you walk into [Blood & Sand], it’s

NL: But you’re not going to franchise out a Chipotle.

TV: No, but if somebody does because they love the food service industry, but maybe they don’t enjoy what we enjoy…

SC: But that’s an engineered solution.

TV: We’re talking about the entrepreneur not failing, is what I’m saying. It doesn’t matter what level they’re on. They just need to take into account everything, including location and including unforeseen bills. I gave an entrepreneur talk at Lindenwood [University], and my biggest thing – no matter if they wanted to open a Chipotle or a Sump Coffee – was, “Really dig down. Do you want to get punched in the face every day of your life?”

Because it doesn’t matter if it’s a restaurant, or anything you do – if you show up and you learn and you grow from that, that’s the restaurant industry.

KL: That’s a really valid point, because I think a lot

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Justin Leszcz owner of YellowTree Farm

of the conversation has been, “Are you ready to do it?” If you’ve been in the industry for one year or 45 years. It’s like, are you built for it?

Kn: Thick skinned.

on the consumer, and when you’re trying to do something challenging, it becomes really difficult.

especially. I’m newlywed with a year-and-a-half [old child]. It’s tough. I want to see my kid.

cn: How important is it to have a team you can work with and respect, and how do you make sure those people can help execute your vision?

nL: You [Adam Tilford] and I talked a lot about that. From my perspective, Libertine wouldn’t be anything without Josh Galliano. The reality is, we have one of the best chefs in the Midwest I would argue, maybe even in the country, working in the kitchen. I think he’s a genius. But he and I both have kids. Our management team is insane; I’ve known these people for a long time. But this restaurant would not function the way that it does without this group of people. I think the fingerprint of this business is actually the family that we’ve developed; the team that we put together, with Nate [Weber] and Tory [Victoria Mitchell], even our bartenders…

KL: Can you manage people?

JL: Are you a hustler? That’s it: Are you a hustler? sc: If you create something and then turn it out – that’s a question of, “Is the market there? Does it exist?” It’s not just food, but creative endeavor.

At: I think Kevin [Nashan] and I are very similar in that we work with siblings. We’re opposites – Kevin is the chef and his brother runs the front of the house – and [Kevin], I’m assuming you don’t have to think a ton about the front of the house?

Kn: No.

At: It’s not just location, it’s size. What number of seats are you going to have? How much staff do you have to have? nL: You can take this tangent location and do something gorgeous, and people will come. On the other hand, you’re talking about fiscals: How many seats? What are my price points on drinks?

Why are they that way? What are my purchasing orders? How am I organizing my [profit and loss statement]? Being underfinanced can tank the project. This system is so different from a standardized business in terms of pieces, until you start seeing those pieces move. It’s reliant

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At: I do the front of the house. I never have to think about the kitchen. It is 50 percent of the business. That is his [Jason Tilford’s] passion; it’s what he wants to do. Owning several restaurants now, it’s weird how much I was in the day-to-day operations of the first restaurant and the second as far as working the floor, but now I’ve got GMs [general managers] who kind of take care of those things, and it’s been amazing not just for the restaurant and having it run successfully on a day-to-day basis, but also to have a personal life. You have to have that. It’s really a fine balance, in this industry

it. We understood, and so it moved forward.

At: For me, it’s taken time. You start to meet people and learn. You go through a GM or two, and you find someone who shares your passion and sees what you’re doing – and is not just there for a job, but wants to learn because maybe they want to open up their own space. You find someone that’s getting into the business and they’re excited and pumped, and they want to learn it.

And they want to learn from you. nL: We’re training operators, man. That’s the whole thing.

KL: I think it’s the biggest compliment, though, if somebody underneath your wing goes off and starts something completely successful.

cn: How do you find those people? nL: That’s awesome. nL: I’m lucky.

Kn: Absolutely. cn: Is it instinctive when you meet somebody?

KL: That’s a huge pat on your back. nL: I do a flash and I know. I think I’m lucky.

I’ve always been kind of good at that. But the reality is, I’ve known Nate and Tory for a long time. Josh and I got along immediately. We got

Kn: Absolutely. That’s the goal. I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for my staff.

Yeah, it’s me leading and pushing the charge and

adam tilford shot on location at Mission Taco Joint

doing that, but honestly, it’s about everybody helping. It takes a village to make St. Louis better; it takes a village to make my restaurant better.

And you can’t do it all by yourself. It’s impossible.

And if you try to do it all by yourself, you’re going to fail, especially in the restaurant business.

Nl: And you’re limiting yourself. Think about all of these great minds and these people who work so hard. There’s always some little spark, there’s always some little twinge. You see Josh [Galliano] back there working with Josh Poletti, Luke, any of these guys, and they come up with an idea and Josh will say it’s a good idea, let’s do that. That’s the only way any of this gets executed. tV: It’s communication and listening. Jayne [Pellegrino at Blood & Sand] challenges me – sometimes to the point where I want to push my head through a brick wall. She demands the best out of me or she wouldn’t be there.

CN: I think people who are the best in their professions – especially in a creative profession – are the ones who take inspiration from people and aren’t necessarily intimidated by that.

Kl: It’s a balancing act.

tV: When you put really great people around, when you give them that autonomy, they go off and do things, stress is relieved and I can go do plumbing and not worry about it, right? And that’s a big deal, because if that bar was built around my mixology skills, it would be failing right now, because I can’t dedicate all of my time to it. You have to trust people and you have to let them take something and do something really great with it.

CN: But would you say that managing people is one of the hardest parts? tV: Communication is the hardest part. I always tell my employees, please talk to me. I will fire you if you don’t. That’s kind of the deal. If you don’t communicate with me, you don’t have a place in this organization. And my staff really communicates, and when that breaks down, the whole system breaks down. When they don’t talk, when they’re freaking out, when they’re mad at you or anything, it’s just like a relationship. It’s no different than a marriage, with a lot more financial pressure. You have to have people talking to you. at: Everything falls on you and it’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to know what you excel at and focus on

those things. And the things that you’re not good at, hire people to do them. The best hire I made was my bookkeeper. Oh my god, unbelievable. I absolutely hate QuickBooks and accounting and dealing with bills, and it has freed up so much of my time for things I have passion about; the things that I want to do, because those things would cripple me, man.

Nl: I can’t not watch my dollars and cents. I want to know what I have – what’s going out, when and where. All of the systems have to be there, but I want to know exactly what I paid, when I paid it, how I paid it, when it’s due, all of that sort of thing.

It also frees up money. We can set budgets, and the way we set up our systems, I can go, “OK, Josh, go crazy this week,” or whatever it is.

Kl: For us, it’s very much our people. The people at the brewery run the brewery, make the brewery what it is. We have one business but really we have three businesses. We have our restaurant/ bar, we have our brewery and then we have 350 customers that we need to make sure are super happy with our product every single day in St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, Philadelphia and the City of Chicago. That’s a lot of people, that’s a lot of markets, there’s some breadth there. So yeah,

we have to make sure that our tasting room is being run by someone super competent. We have really highly trained people in the brew house, people with some good history making sure our accounts are happy. And then it’s communication.

Every single Monday we have a team meeting, and then that gets kind of broken down from there.

The brewery has their team meeting, sales has our team meeting and front of house has their team meeting. It’s making sure our organization is on one page, so the customer comes into the tasting room, and that person in the tasting room can tell them what’s happening behind that wall, what beer is about to be released and what beer dinner we’re going to have in Philadelphia or in St. Louis. It’s completing that circle to make sure everybody is knowledgeable, informed, passionate and we’re all speaking the same language.

SC: I think being an entrepreneur, you find yourself alone a lot of the time and you’re listening to your own voice. You can love what you do, but at some point you’re going to plateau and you have to figure out what’s next. It’s very lonely listening to yourself talk about this vision you’ve given yourself. It’s great if you have people you can hire who inspire you and have that same passion, that can continue your dream and that aren’t just showing up to Inspired Food Culture

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earn the wage you’re paying them. But I think what’s great about St. Louis– for me, it’s going to places like [Kevin Nashan’s] and just having him cook something. And I swear to God, I’m kind of going to cry a little, but I leave [Sidney Street Cafe] sometimes and I think I’m not doing enough for my own business. I think having this community, having this connectedness, what you guys [Feast] are doing and Kevin – I feel like he should be mayor with all the people he’s mentioned so far in this discussion – I find very helpful. Because otherwise, it’s a very lonely existence, it’s very trying, it’s very plagued with doubt, as TJ said. You can doubt everything you do because you’re doing it. You’re like, is this a misstep? Is this wrong, should we do something else? And to have people that you see, and you’re like, “Well I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to do more than I’m doing.” And to the people around this table, I’m very thankful for that.

CN: What role do you think a thriving culinary scene plays in the overall health of the region?

KN: It is a major component. I think it really is a part of the heart of the city. Once you get people’s loyalty…this town is really loyal and this town is really excited. If you work really hard, they work really hard, and they will get around you when bad things happen.

NL: I think it’s huge. Socially, I mean, that’s what people do, right? Even all of us here, we’ve all met each other at one point or another. It’s so tight knit, and then you have the media engine that’s promoting it completely, that the city responds to. This becomes their social outlet.

about us,” I think we would really thrive.

KN: We’ve got to take care of all our farmers and make sure that people like Greenwood Farms – they closed shop – that it never happens again.

That should never happen. You have a great product, and in order to make a great product, it costs money. I’m not going to haggle with someone who comes in my door and tells me, “This is $4 a pound,” while the other guys are charging me $2.50. I know their practices and it puts a smile on my face. And you know what? I’m going to charge my customer more. That’s how it works.

It’s one thing to toot your horn and say we have all of these farms, but if you don’t preserve that and know that that’s the whole reason we’re doing so well in the first place…you don’t have a food community if that goes away. Guys like Justin. I called him this morning and said, “I need some crab apples.” That’s the stuff that makes me excited.

Because New York doesn’t have it, they have to buy stuff far away. It’s real. It’s in our backyard.

And that’s what makes St. Louis really unique.

going, “Oh, wow. This is happening here, too.

Maybe better.” That to me…I freak out over how great that is, and I love it.

CN: So what I hear you saying is that the industry needs to support itself from within. What do you guys think about special business districts?

AT: When I moved to Maplewood 14 years ago, the main strip was the beeper store, like 27 pawn shops, and it’s just amazing now. Maplewood is awesome. And I own a business in Webster and I feel like Webster is not doing the same things to support their businesses and restaurants. It’s just this really kind of sterile association that just doesn’t do much. They’re not progressive.

Maplewood is awesome. I would open a restaurant in Maplewood in a second. They’ve just done so many great things. They support their businesses – they do all sorts of functions.

KL: So as a consumer, though, you like those functions. It brings you in, right?

you have to trust people and you have to let them take something and do something really great with it. -tj vytlacil

JL: When you think about it, life is about food and drink, really.

NL: And people. Who you’re sitting with.

JL: And your company, right? That’s it.

SC: I think it creates connectedness to place. It makes St. Louis. I think the thing that people are realizing now, the drive for people to do something craft or artisanal, is this sort of dissatisfaction with this big-box, homogenous experience. And the more regional you can create the experience, that regionalism makes people reluctant to leave and drives people to a place. I think that creates retention in the city, and that creates, possibly, a renaissance, that creates momentum, that creates the commercial health. Just like Arch Grants or whoever, when they want to build a biotech sector – you can build a biotech sector, but if nobody can hang out or go and enjoy something that’s special, there’s no reason to stay [in St. Louis]. You know?

You’ll come for a job but you’ll leave for the next opportunity.

CN: I agree. What do you think we should be doing to help promote the culinary scene to tourists?

TV: I don’t think the city can do any more, as far as community, to push the culinary scene. I think it’s moving at such a rapid pace that it’s kind of nauseating. But the city as an entity can do more to organize themselves so that retail is better – so that businesses like AT&T don’t move to Texas, because that is the fuel for what we do. In general, they really need to get everything else together. The street grids, the parking…they don’t communicate with each other at all. On a Friday night my street would be closed off to my restaurant for a 15-person street party, because nobody talks to anybody. And that destroys Downtown business – not just restaurants, everything – and that can’t happen anymore. If St. Louis would wake up and say, “Wow, we have got amazing talent. How do we keep it?” Talk to us, we’ll say, “This is how you keep it: Just think

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tj vytlacil

JL: We also have passionate people like [Kevin]. All of you guys are thinking about something different, everybody at this table; that’s what it’s about in the end. Adam was talking to me about growing some crazy corn, [Kevin Nashan is] always wanting something crazy. That’s what it’s about. It’s passion that keeps the city driving, that keeps people going.

KN: It’s not about going outside and telling people how good we are. Who cares about that? It’s about doing what we do and making it better so that when people come here, they have like 30 choices and are like, “I could spend three or four days in St. Louis, verses one day,” flyover [state], that kind of thing. There’s just a ton of really great things going on in St. Louis, but we have to support how it came about, and that’s taking care of all of us, and making sure that it will be known.

NL: I think I’m more prideful being here now, coming back. When I’ve got the Chicago guys coming in and you have that sort of elitist Chicago…literally, everybody is like, “Oh we’re Chicago, we’re the best food city.” I love when I get to bring them down here; they come down and eat Josh’s [Galliano] food or they eat at [Sidney Street] or [Blood & Sand], and they’re all looking around,

AT: Yes. I just wish it was more of a whole. I think everyone agrees that the segregation of St. Louis – which is, I believe, very much unlike many other cities – proper is very small, and then you have all of the other municipalities, which all kind of do their own thing…if something would come together to promote all of it, to do what Maplewood has done on a microcosm and really just open it up and get an organization with all of these restaurants, I think that would be fantastic.

NL: Clayton has been great. But also, I know everybody. I know Jim [Fiala], I know Gerard [Craft]. All of us communicate and talk, so that’s pretty easy. Clayton was really open.

CN: What positive or negative role can a city – the municipality that you happen to be in – play?

KN: I think incentives are really, really important.

Look at the city…a lot of businesses moved out, majorly, a lot of the TIF [tax increment financing] funding only goes to the big boys. They have community improvement districts and they also have transportation improvement districts, but that’s sometimes few and far between.

CN: Is there anything in Benton Park?

KN: There isn’t, but…the alderman, Ken Ortmann, he does a great job and I thank him a lot. There’s façade money and that kind of stuff, but you really have to go look for it. And that’s the problem, that’s another thing. You talk about some incentives, and when [entrepreneurs] are ready… they don’t know all of these things. There’s no place to go where people actually tell you that.

AT: That’s the issue.

KN: That’s the education part. At the restaurant, those are the things I’m preaching. Chris Bolyard, he was one of my boys, he’s been [at Sidney Street] for like nine years, and he’s going to go and venture off. It’s not about cooking, it hasn’t been for the last two years; it’s about like, “Hey, this is what you’re going to have to do in order to make it happen. And this is how you’re going to use your money to make it happen. And when tax season comes, this is how I want you to break it up.” And those are the things I want to teach. I don’t want to necessarily teach cooking. I want to teach how to stay open.

AT: But you brought up a great point. Those incentives may be out there, but it’s like they’re hiding under leaves. People should be promoting those incentives to bring businesses, to say, Benton Park: “Hey, this is what we have available, come on in.” Those things aren’t easily accessible.

Just try opening a business in St. Louis City. It is unbelievable going down to city hall. Just to renew a liquor license, I have to go to four different offices, every single year. That’s an entire day of my time. I’m trying to run a business here. Why hasn’t this been made easier?

SC: Most of the time, early on, I thought St. Louis didn’t really want me here. I fought a two-front war: We bought the building so we had to get occupancy, and then we had to get licensing.

But it’s very tribal; it’s very warlord-like, with aldermen. It feels like it’s cut up, it’s not fair, it’s not very welcoming, it’s not easy. I was on a panel for this Let’s Talk St. Louis thing and the mayor [Francis Slay] was there. A woman in the audience came up and said she has a business in Seattle and a business in St. Louis. Do you know the number of times she had to go to city hall to get her license in Seattle? None. None! In St. Louis, it’s not one office, it’s several offices. All of us who want to be entrepreneurial, whether it be farmers or restaurateurs or whatever, should be thinking about and being about executing that business.

But the fatiguing part happens before you open the doors. Not only is it fatiguing or annoying because it takes a day of your time, it’s expensive and it’s laden with surprises about expenditures and things that you need to do.

AT: The worst part about it is, at the end of the day, when you finally jump through all their damn hoops, it’s like, now I’m making tax dollars for you.

Why are you making this so difficult?

SC: The thing is, if you’re Wal-Mart, if you’re opening a big-box store, they’ll build you an off-ramp. They’ll build you sewer lines. And then they’ll defer your taxes and be like, “We want you in our town and because we want you so much, you don’t have to pay taxes for eight years.” But for me, it’s different. It’s crippling. It’s like, well you’ve got to gold-plate your building first, open your doors and then you pay.

CN: Small businesses are the heart and soul of what makes St. Louis unique. This is what makes it worth living here day to day.

SC: Right. If everything is Wal-Mart and Sam’s and Applebee’s, no offense, or Starbucks, whatever it

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Inspired Food Culture

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may be, why do I want to live in St. Louis? Because the next town over has the same shit. cN: And no personality.

Nl: Audra [Luedde] and I did not start in Clayton.

We looked in the city. We came from Chicago thinking, “Let’s go in,” and literally, as soon as I saw exactly what [Scott is] talking about, as soon as I saw, potentially, even what this is…

Sc: Print that! Print that quote. That drove [The Libertine] out of St. Louis.

Nl: We were like, this is really intimidating. And I didn’t get embraced. But when we came to Clayton… cN: So how were you embraced by Clayton?

Nl: As soon as I came to Clayton, before we even opened the doors, the mayor of Clayton is in print

TJ VyTlacil shot on location at Blood & Sand

talking about how happy they are to have us here.

We went through very little difficulty. If I would have done the same thing in St. Louis city, like [TJ] had to deal with, and all this sort of thing…this is difficult, this is hard.

TV: It was hard. I love the passion that Scott’s bringing to the table now.

KN: Love it.

Sc: The representation of the people per ward… we are overrepresented in St. Louis, but nothing happens.

Nl: And whose interests do they have in mind? I mean, all of us, we have our sort of fingerprint of who we’re trying to appeal to and why. The reality is, if you’re just trying to do something great that you’re passionate about, is that alderman really worried about the constituents? Is that really

what the issue is? I question that.

Kl: Our first phone call was to Phyllis [Young, our alderwoman]. aT: The City of St. Louis needs to get behind the small entrepreneur, whether it’s restaurants or whatever, and make it easier. Because the things that we do – the cool things, the fun things, the things that people write about and talk about and are passionate about – that’s what brings in big business. Big business isn’t coming in for Applebee’s and Houlihan’s. They’re not. They’re coming in for Sidney Street, Sump, Pappy’s. That’s what people get excited about.

When you look at a random YouTube video, “Hey, check out this guy’s face on this roller coaster in California,” and the guys wearing a Pappy’s shirt – that’s cool. Everyone here is like, “Hey, that guy’s wearing a Pappy’s shirt! That’s awesome!

Woo-hoo, St. Louis!” That’s what people get

excited about. As humble as [Scott is], I can’t imagine how many shirts I’ve seen of your damn beard. I see those shirts everywhere. How many cars do I see with a Blues City Deli bumper sticker? That’s awesome, man. cN: Kevin [Lemp], you said your first call was to Phyllis, your alderperson. What did you say?

Kl: You have to kind of just lay out what your plan is, what you’re looking to do and how you’re trying to be a part of the community. Phyllis is great. She is super pro LaSalle Park. I feel very lucky because of that. Scott might have had a completely different situation. Or if you go down to Cherokee Street, it’s a much different situation there. So that’s why it’s example to example, and I think Cherokee Street is the perfect example.

You’ve got two aldermen.

Nl: There are two aldermen on Cherokee?

Kevin nashan shot on location at Sidney Street Cafe

KL: One is super pro and the other is not.

AT: I didn’t bring up aldermen when I talked about the CWE. On the North Side, that’s Lyda Krewson; she’s an amazing alderwoman. And on the other side, we have a different alderperson, and it just doesn’t seem as active.

CN: If you are trying to open a business, which, in theory, is going to benefit the city, whichever municipality you’re a part of, whether it’s the City of St. Louis or not…

everything.” They literally made us put metal on the inside of the bar rail. Yeah, we’re the one bar that needs metal there. You know, like, it got ridiculous, but on the other hand, we were really prepped for it. The community as a whole really kind of embraced us. I don’t know. I just think it’s difficult to open a business in any city.

CN: What do you think the skepticism is on the political side of things? Is it just that they’re looking for a little bit more money?

NL: I just don’t think they understand.

KN: It’s tax dollars, first and foremost.

CN: But how is that possible?

CN: Right. So opening up a business is going to feed the tax dollar base of the city.

SC: Sometimes, though, the fear is that a business will open – especially a bar or an establishment that serves liquor – and will create a problem.

CN: But you are serving coffee.

SC: But I have a beard! I look like this! I swear to God. You just ask around.

TV: Los Angeles is doing something really great, where they have a committee that’s paid for by tax dollars that flies around the country, finds really cool restaurants and bars and coffee shops, and says, “I’ll entice you to come to Los Angeles.” Los Angeles’ downtown is exploding.

New York is moving there in droves. We got offered that same deal: They wanted us to come, tax abatement for X, Y, Z; they’ll find you a great landlord that fits your criteria, because they have those connections, liquor license, whatever. But what does a liquor license cost in Los Angeles?

One-hundred thousand dollars. [In St. Louis] I paid $3,255 for mine. I pay $12 a square foot, and now I own my building because I bought it in foreclosure. Are there benefits to St. Louis? Yes. Do you have to be active in the political scene as a restaurateur in St. Louis? Without question. And that’s the biggest difference. I pay lower prices, but I’ve got to get out there and I’ve got to say, “This is unacceptable.”

SC: The people who come out here that inspect these places, they’re not elected. They’ll live on, whether Slay is the mayor or Lewis Reed is the mayor, or somebody else, and they’re out in the field and they have a boss. So how do you

TV: You’re talking about some deep-seeded issues.

KL: If we knew the answer to that, we’d be running for office.

SC: Like Kevin [Lemp] said, he talked to his alderperson before he moved in. The thing that is most upsetting in business is surprise. So the more transparency and the more efficiency you can get with it, the easier it is. If I were to open a business, at least, if I’m dreaming about it, I want to be able to find a resource that says this is what I need to do. I went to city hall, to the [St. Louis Building Division]. It’s a big room with desks all around, and you stand in the middle of the room. And the next person calls you over and I say, “I’m thinking about buying a property in South City, sir. What should I do?” And the guy looked at me. And I was like, “Do you have any papers you can give me? Do you have anything you can give me so I can think about this?” They

it’s one thing to toot your horn and say we have all of these farms, but if you don’t preserve that and know that that’s the whole reason why we’re doing so well in the first place... you don’t have a food community if that goes away. -kevin nashan

TV: I agree and I disagree.

NL: About the market, sure. But in the other market, for me to get a liquor license in Chicago, the very first thing that alderman asks me – and he looks at it and he looks at his paper – and he says, “I see you haven’t donated to my campaign.”

And suddenly there’s a check written.

SC: Well you know what? I wish in St. Louis it were that easy. I really do.

NL: Yeah. That’s valid. It might be a little different to me because I’m used to Chicago and I’ve only opened businesses in Chicago, [so when opening The Libertine] I really had my back hairs up. I was really worried about what was coming, so we took every single step, we overkilled it. I almost think we did too much. They were literally looking around for things. The health department was looking around like, “OK, they’ve already done

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NL: Yes. AT: Once they fail you, they will send you a letter in the mail saying that they failed you for your occupancy permit. You can take that letter back into city hall and try to get on the docket for the conditional use hearing. Then you go through a hearing. For the hearing, they obviously want to make sure that the neighborhood is OK with what you’re doing, so they put up signs around the light posts saying that we’re going to have a hearing for a conditional use permit for this place and that has to stay up there for like a few weeks…

NL: I hired an attorney to get our conditional use permit. He went to the City of Clayton, he said please sign this, they signed it and he came back.

AT: To Clayton. That’s the difference. That’s what we’re talking about. That’s the difference between all of the smaller municipalities and the City of St. Louis. In the City of St. Louis, you have to apply, fail…all the inspectors walk in and they’re pissed. They were like, “What am I doing here?” I’m like, “I don’t know, I’ve got to get a conditional use hearing, and you have to come through and fail me.”

SC: It’s the cost of resources and time.

KN: Right, for everybody. It’s wasting money.

CN: But we have no money in this city, and to be wasting it…

NL: To not bring in more revenue and something that’s marketable, that’s smart and creative and really beautiful. That’s a travesty. That’s a shame.

SC: Creative people who want to take risks, creative people who want to revitalize an area, an alley, whatever, who want to stick with something – that’s what makes a city. That’s what makes a city worth living in.

CN: I don’t know if that’s entirely true.

JL: You’ve got people buying $4 cups of coffee.

CN: What?

KN: That’s the most asinine, backwards way of doing it.

SC: There’s an opportunity to throw a rock and see the ripples in the pond, whereas in New York or LA, you’re throwing it in the ocean and that rock disappears. But, there’s not a market to consume it here.

NL: I disagree. I believe there is.

then all of the inspectors are going to come out.”

I said, “Wait, we’re not ready for them to inspect yet. We’re not done with the build out. We’re remodeling.” “It doesn’t matter. They all have to come out – all five of them– and fail you.”

TV: I don’t have the fight with St. Louis that [Scott] does because I just went about it in a very different way, and I got really lucky.

justin leszcz and kevin nashan

show that you’re working and you’re not messing around? By finding infractions. For us to get our occupancy permit: five inspectors plus the health department. Six people.

NL: But that’s their job.

SC: I’m saying, from an economic perspective, incentives. If you work in an office – so you work, you guys [at Feast] write articles, you can do a head count. You can say, “Well, Liz was here today.

She was here from 9 to 5. I don’t know what she did, but she was here.” But if you’re in the field, how do you show that you’re doing something?

CN: I can’t imagine this would be news to people in city hall, that people in the restaurant industry find this process difficult to go through. And sometimes people like Nick will just choose not to be in the city.

Then the city loses out on that influx of energy and tax base and whatever else. So what’s the solution?

SC: Transparency and efficiency.

have nothing. They didn’t even shove a pamphlet stapled together at me and send me on my way.

I think that is a problem.

SC: [TJ’s] members work in city hall. He admits it!

AT: My favorite example is the conditional use in the city of St. Louis.

TV: They weren’t my members when I opened, but they are now. I have a direct line, which I didn’t have before.

[Everyone laughs]

CN: The occupancy permit?

AT: Not the occupancy permit, the conditional use permit. So, Mission [Taco Joint] is a great example. The use of that building prior to us taking it over was a restaurant and bar. Well, we wanted to add a takeout window. We wanted a place were people could simply walk up, buy food from a window and take it to go. It was not a drive-thru. We wanted to go through the proper channels. Well, [the city] says we’re changing the use of this building [and that we need] to have a conditional use hearing. I say, “OK, well what do I need to do for that?” They say, “Well, first you have to apply for your occupancy permit.”

I said, “That’s easy enough.” “You pay your fee,

SC: Mayor Slay doesn’t drink coffee. He drinks decaf!

TV: Mayor Slay’s son drinks cocktails and it still doesn’t make a difference to whether or not I would open up another restaurant in St. Louis.

Here’s the thing with St. Louis: You buck, and they will cut your head off. End of story. And that’s frustrating to people like us because we don’t enjoy that. And Adam [Frager], thank God for my business partner, he doesn’t buck. He’s very diplomatic. And the city enjoys having that stroke. They enjoy that process, for whatever reason, for all of its faults. We would not be in business today if it weren’t for my business

TV 12:00 / 28:29

CC

Our JANUARY EPISODE introduces you to some of the St. Louis area’s most successful culinary entrepreneurs. We take you inside The Libertine, Sump Coffee, Small Batch and the Tilford Restaurant Group’s Mexican eateries.

Watch Feast TV on the Watch the upcoming January episode on the Nine Network (Channel 9) at 2pm on Sat., Jan. 4, and 1pm on Mon., Jan. 6. Feast TV will also air on the nineCREATE channel periodically throughout the month.

Feast TV is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsors.

MISSOURI WINES

January is Norton month, and in celebration, we’re pairing the dish that Feast TV producer Cat Neville demos – a winter root vegetable soufflé – with Nortons from Les Bourgeois and Adam Puchta wineries.

12:00 / 28:29

CC

WhOLE FOODS MARkET

Want to make the soufflé at home? Grab the ingredients and recipe at both St. Louis-area locations of Whole Foods Market (Brentwood and Town & Country).

ChEF’S ShOPPE

Love the ramekins that Cat uses for the soufflés? Thanks to Chef’s Shoppe, we’ve got a set to give away! Details at feastSTL.com/promotions.

12:00 / 28:29

CC

Hungry for more? feastSTL.com Inspired Food Culture

J a n ua ry 2 0 1 4

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Kevin Lemp shot on location at 4 Hands Brewing Co.

partner dealing with the City of St. Louis, because I was just really frustrated like [Scott].

Dave Bailey is a prime example. You want to know somebody who can play the City of St. Louis like a fiddle? That boy gets anything he wants, whenever he wants, and he does it in a very brilliant way. And thank God, because he’s putting great establishments Downtown and it’s paving the way.

KL: He’s bringing people who want to live in the city, also. You live in the city, now you’ve got four restaurants you can walk to that weren’t there before.

TJ: Exactly. You walk past Baileys’ Range on a Tuesday at 4pm…there are 100 people inside.

blocks away; my son goes to school catty-corner to where everything [Ben Poremba’s] doing. That’s amazing. That’s reinvesting in your community from the top level down. That’s important.

Cn: You need to be able to open your businesses, to be able to see your vision come to fruition and to be able to do the work that you love. And the city needs you guys to be in there, feeding the economy and feeding the city’s creative energy.

Tv: The frustration lies in that we all understand that what we are doing is the lifeblood of the city, and the city is so far from seeing that.

Cn: It goes back to the idea of these businesses being amenities to St. Louis. Clayton wants you here because residents want places they can walk to and enjoy amazing food.

KL: Yeah. And what [TJ] said earlier in this conversation is really so important. And it’s super top level, and we could never get to the bottom of it today, but it’s reinvesting in the City of St. Louis, from a business standpoint, so we have more people wanting to live in the city, to spend money at all of our places. If we could keep those people here, those businesses here, and have them thrive, that creates the city.

KL: Look what’s going on at Tower Grove and McCree right now. It is unbelievable. I live 10

Tv: I can tell you that the city is making those strides, whether it’s in the next five years or not.

nL: If you’re going to buy a condo and there’s a wine bar just below you…that’s huge.

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They have a community of young people that work directly in the mayor’s office. What I try to take away from this experience is: I am literally in the bowels of something that is trying to break out and be rebuilt.

AT: [TJ, you’re] getting ready to possibly open up another place in the City of St. Louis. I, as well, am looking to open [a second Mission Taco Joint in Soulard], I do believe in the city.

Tv: That’s the thing you’ve got to hold onto. I hated it the first 10 times I went down to city hall, and then I asked a lady her name, because they all want to feel important. She told me her name. Next time I go in, I address her by name, and you know what? Now I have one less floor I have to go to. That’s so nuts. And the more of us that do that, the less floors there are going to be. The city can be so daunting. I’ve been down there 11 years, and when I was down there, The Old Post Office hadn’t been redone; Schnucks was not even thinking about going in; I could play roller hockey on the streets from Eighth to Ninth [streets] at 7 o’clock on a Friday night and never see another person. So in 10 years, has it come a long way? Unbelievable. Is there still work, are there more [passionate people] that

need to join the administration? Absolutely.

I want to stick with it. I want to create more associations. I want to get politically motivated.

I want to get at it. And that is a whole other side. It’s kind of unique that we got into this conversation, because it has nothing to do with being a restaurateur, but everything to do with being a restaurateur in St. Louis.

Kn: Absolutely. But I will say, the next business I open is going to be in St. Louis [City], period.

Tv: Same with me.

Tv: Can I ask you guys [Scott, Kevin Nashan and Nick] a question? From someone who has worked in other cities, is there a community like this… nL: Nah. Tv: I love going into Civil Life [Brewing Co.], and being like, “Jake [Hafner], you changed my life.” Jake’s the reason I got into this full-time, without question. Ted [Kilgore] turned me into the stratosphere, but when I studied in college, to get a $24 bottle of Riesling freaked me out, and that [Jake Hafner] cared about me as a person at that age was something special. And when I can go into

SCoTT CAREY (and Buddy) shot on location at Sump Coffee

Civil Life and watch him build what he’s building… he’s family. That’s why I don’t want to leave.

worked, you were going to come down and open something cool. So I had no problem.

NL: In Chicago there are smaller circles, where like seven, eight of us are all friends, everybody knows each other. But this [coming to St. Louis] was unreal. A lot of it was because I’m opening a business with Josh [Galliano], so all these guys already know him so they’re embracing us…

NL: And it was great. And I couldn’t have opened this spot comfortably without Adam chiming in.

AT: [Nick], can we tell our fun story?

JL: Because we’re building a community. Because we’ve realized that you have to.

NL: Yeah. Before I was opening, I was coming down [to St. Louis] and I applied at his restaurant.

AT: Yeah, you were moving down and I was going to interview you to be GM at Milagro and you canceled the day before…You were like, “Yeah, you know, we changed our minds. We’re going to come down and open our own restaurant.” I was like, “Cool. No worries. Thanks for telling me before we met.” But then I became pretty much your sounding board.

NL: I was like, “That one guy that was going to interview me, he’s opened some cool spots. I’m going to email him frequently.”

AT: And I knew that based on where you

CN: So what is the difference between the past, when restaurants only saw each other as competition and where we are now?

KN: You need everybody. It’s the craziest thing.

You can’t even really explain it. It happens so naturally.

JL: Really quick, before [Kevin Nashan] talks. Like three years ago, I was in [Kevin’s] kitchen selling him something, and he called a chef I’ve never even heard of to welcome him to St. Louis. That’s it. He does that for everyone.

KL: That’s Kevin [Nashan], though. At that level, that’s special.

KN: There are a lot of [chefs] who do that. It [used to be] cutthroat in St. Louis.

TV: It still can be.

KN: I mean, granted, Josh Galliano and I definitely butt heads and he talks shit on me all the time [laughs]. But at the end of the day, we all have each other’s backs. That’s the difference.

TV: Well, it’s like being brothers and sisters. You hate them until somebody else comes in and says [something] and you’re like…

NL: Yeah, “Shut up!”

SC: Somebody told me – maybe it was Adam [Altnether] at Taste – that when they opened, people didn’t get it. There were several people deep trying to order drinks and saying, “Hey, it’s a bar, right?” And they’re like, “No, no. You’ve got to take a number. You’ve got to sit down.” But it was like Blood & Sand and Sanctuaria and [now] Planter’s [House]…and all of those places that opened up that created this broader market.

And it created an understanding and it created demand. And I think that’s what you have to do. You can’t fight for the same 500 people, otherwise you will fight and you will be enemies, but if you grow the market, if you turn that 500 into 3,000 into 5,000, then everybody eats.

TV: On the same note, though, the same 500 people, if you refer them, they’re not going to eat at your restaurant every night of the week.

But if you refer them to great people, you look amazing. There’s Cielo, there’s Niche, there’s Sidney Street, there’s Sump…everybody who comes to visit us, we send down to Sump and say, “You have to make it there.”

NL: We talk about that all the time. They’re like, “We’re down here, we’re on a cocktail tour.” Have you been to Blood & Sand, have you been to Taste, have you been to Sanctuaria? That’s a pretty spread out group.

CN: I think Scott makes a very good point, that the audience for the work you guys are doing has grown to the point that you’re not threatened. You don’t feel like you’re directly competing.

NL: I believe what [Kevin Nashan] exposes them to on Saturday night is going to be something different from what Josh [Galliano] is going to do, or if they have a cocktail with TJ, they’re going to have a different one with us. And that, that, propagates growth. That’s where the beauty lies.

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2014

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2013 Top Dealership for Outstanding Customer Experiences

by WomenCertified® The Voice of the Female Consumer The Women© s Choice award tells ourr customers that we are a dealership off integrity and equality. Buying a car is a major purchase and every consumer wants too feel confident that they have received the bestt possible deal. Providing top notch customerr service is one way we go above and beyond to create lifetime customers who are more than happy to recommend us to friends and family. The award is really a badge of honor that helps convey our values before the customer reaches our door. said Liz Kelly, e-Commerce Director for Suntrup Kia.

9 out of 10 female customers highly recommend Suntrup Kia, to others. This dealership demonstrates great service and a sincere commitment to meeting the needs and preferences of their female customer. Suntrup Kia is proud to announce we have been named a Women Certified Dealer for the second consecutive year. Suntrup Kia is one of two Kia dealers in the United States to have earned this prestigious award.

Automotive Group

suntrupkia.com Inspired Food Culture

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the last bite

Gold Rush Cupcake

Contributor: Alexandra Bates, Writer I am a dessert lover. But I don’t go in for just any dessert and not just for the sake of eating dessert – it has to be worthy. So, when I get the craving for something sweet, I head to The Cup in the Central West End for its Gold Rush cupcake – named for the gold that was mined during the 1849 period of the same name, but much more valuable.

With its creamy chocolate-buttercream icing and soft golden yellow cake, the Gold Rush offers the perfect cake-to-icing ratio – something rarely achieved in most cupcakes. The Gold Rush, though, is larger than most and doesn’t try to impress and attract with too much icing, overthe-top-decorations or other frills, save for one chocolate disc on top, enticing me to eat it. And while restrained on the surface, there is beauty in its simplicity. The Gold Rush also happens to be one of The Cup’s classic cupcakes, meaning I can have my cake and eat it, too, six days a week.

The Cup multiple locations cravethecup.com Check out more of Alexandra’s work on p. 43, where she investigates culinary tourism in St. Louis.

Photography by

Jonathan Gayman

Wine Excellence!

Certified Specialists of Wine

We have more Certified Specialists of Wine (CSW) than any other retailer. They’ll be happy to help you find some truly wonderful wines!

For our list of CSW’s and locations, look inside Feast magazine or visit schnucks.com

Great Wines at Great Savings!

Whether you’re looking for a wine to serve or to cellar, our world-class selection rivals any specialty shop. Shop our fabulous wines and save when you buy six 750 ml bottles. We also offer special wine pricing every Wednesday, or as we like to call it Winesday. Mix and match, it’s up to you!

Jan. 25-26, 2014

The Chase Park Plaza Hotel PRESENTED BY

One-Day Admission Tickets on sale at select Schnucks Courtesy Centers. For more information, visit repstl.org 72

©2013 Schnucks

feastSTL.com

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