March 2016 Feast Magazine by Feast Magazine

returning to their roots

prepping for the culinary olympics

chef-driven bread

HOME COOKED

GO FOR THE GOLD

KNEAD TO KNOW

Inspired Local Food Culture | Midwest

feastmagazine.com | MarCh 2015

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MARCH 2016

Inspired Local Food Culture | Midwest

MARCH 2016 FroM the staFF |8|

FEATURES | 27 |

This month, we’re sipping the stars at St. Louis’ only Champagne bar and exploring the late-night drink options at a donut shop in Kansas City. In his monthly column, The Mix, Matt Seiter shares how to make the Irish-inflected Tipperary Cocktail, and in On Trend, we share how to make and mix housemade tonics.

from the PUBLISher

The Chef Issue.

| 10 |

dIgItaL content

What’s online this month.

| 12 |

feaSt tv

A sneak peek at the new season.

| 15 |

drInk

dIne This month we visit three restaurants, including a bakery making authentic New Yorkstyle bagels in Kansas City and a hidden gem in Perryville, Missouri, with big plans and bigger burgers. In our monthly travel piece, Road Trip, writer Pete Dulin visits St. Paul, Minnesota, and shares where to dine, drink and stay this month during the city’s Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest.

| 35 |

shoP We explore two new shops this month – a longtime St. Louis chef who owns a retail space inspired by his grandfather, and a spice-focused shop in Kansas City. We also talk to woodworker David Stine about the large, monolithic tables he makes on his family farm in Dow, Illinois.

| 43 |

Cook | 44 | heaLthy aPPetIte Celebrate spring with a flexible ramen recipe using seasonal produce.

| 46 | myStery ShoPPer

It’s aLL on the LIne

St. Louis chef Ben Grupe hopes to lead Team USA to international victory in the 2016 Culinary Olympics.

Buy it and try it: sorrel leaves.

| 48 | menU oPtIonS The classic Grand Marnier soufflé with a crème anglaise topping gets spotlighted.

| 50 | Sweet IdeaS

Update super-sweet hummingbird cake with pastry chef Christy Augustin, who prefers it in cupcake form.

COVER PHOTO OF OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER (P. 71) BY jUDD DEMALINE

COVER PHOTOS OF jESSE MENDICA (P. 71) AND SUMMER WRIGHT AND MATTHEW DAUGHADAY (P. 75) BY jUDD DEMALINE COVER PHOTOS OF CHRISTIAN AND ANDREA jOSEPH (P. 65) AND jONATHAN jUSTUS (P. 72) BY LANDON VONDERSCHMIDT TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO OF REEDS AMERICAN TABLE STAFF BY jUDD DEMALINE

eat here In 2016

Meet the chefs impacting the local food scene with some of the most exciting restaurants of the year.

brIngIng It hoMe

Why two celebrated culinary couples left the coasts to join the growing and thriving culinary scenes in Kansas City and St. Louis.

breakIng Into bread

A handful of fine-dining chefs are moving out of the kitchen and into artisan bread bakeries to make old world-style loaves.

Magazine Volume 7

| Issue 3 | March 2016

Vice President of Niche Publishing, Publisher of Feast Magazine Catherine Neville, publisher@feastmagazine.com Director of Sales Angie Henshaw ahenshaw@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1298 EDITORIAL Senior Editor Liz Miller, editor@feastmagazine.com Managing Editor Nancy Stiles, nstiles@feastmagazine.com Associate Editor Bethany Christo, bchristo@feastmagazine.com Digital Editor Heather Riske, web@feastmagazine.com Kansas City Contributing Editor Jenny Vergara St. Louis Contributing Editor Mabel Suen Editorial Intern Daniel Puma Proofreader Christine Wilmes

WILSONLIGHTING.COM

Contributing Writers Christy Augustin, Ettie Berneking, Sherrie Castellano, Shannon Cothran, Gabrielle DeMichele, Pete Dulin, April Fleming, Hilary Hedges, Valeria Turturro Klamm, Brandon and Ryan Nickelson, Ann Lemons Pollack, Matt Seiter, Matt Sorrell, Shannon Weber ART Art Director Alexandrea Doyle, adoyle@feastmagazine.com Production Designer Jacklyn Meyer, jmeyer@feastmagazine.com Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Dennis Bullock, Sherrie Castellano, Judd Demaline, Jacklyn Derrick, Travis Duncan, Jonathan Gayman, William Hess, Anna Petrow, Jennifer Silverberg, Christopher Smith, Starboard & Port Creative, Mabel Suen, Peter Taylor, Landon Vonderschmidt, Cheryl Waller FEAST TV

producer: Catherine Neville production partner: Tybee Studios

Cooking Light.

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Hang a chandelier that shines as brightly as your fine cuisine. Call or visit one of the Wilson Lighting Showrooms in St. Louis or Kansas City today!

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MARCH 2016

DISTRIbUTION To distribute Feast Magazine at your place of business, please contact Jeff Moore for St. Louis, Jefferson City and Columbia at jmoore@post-dispatch.com and Jason Green for Kansas City at distribution@pds-kc.com. Feast Magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Submissions will not be returned. All contents are copyright ÂŠ 2010-2016 by Feast Magazineâ&#x201E;˘. 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.

L I G H T I N G 6

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

ContrIbutors

03.16 shannon cothran St. Louis, Writer Shannon Cothran is the former editor-in-chief of Louisiana Cookin’, a national magazine about the culinary delights of New Orleans. She has also written about food for The Boston Globe’s G Magazine and Mental Floss. Shannon has eaten her way through all major U.S. cities and many parts of Europe and has spent the past 18 months exploring all the yummy things in St. Louis. When she’s not cooking, eating or writing about food, she likes to have lip-syncing and air-guitar parties with her kids, dog and Captain America-lookalike husband.

OPERA TASTINGS The perfect introduction to opera! MARCH 31 – APRIL 4

travis duncan Jefferson City, Missouri, Photographer Travis Duncan is an award-winning American photographer based in Jefferson City, Missouri. Working in concert with magazines, designers, agencies and corporate clients, delivering the best possible image is paramount to the Travis Duncan Photography brand. He strives to deliver excellence in both the quality of his photography and the service. Travis’ work focus is geared toward unique portraiture and product photography, with an emphasis on the food and beverage, agriculture and health care markets. Whether shooting in studio or on location, he provides visual solutions that keep clients coming back for more.

FEATuRING

TICKETS ARE ONLY Ryan McAdams

laura laiben

Emcee

Kansas City, Writer Growing up in a small German community in eastern Missouri, Laura’s passion for the culinary arts began early, making pastry dough with her grandmother while sitting on her kitchen counter. She practiced law for 18 years before jumping career tracks to open The Culinary Center of Kansas City. She believes in the magic that happens around the table and providing exceptional customer experiences. Laura’s extensive teaching, team building, facilitating and special event-planning experience have been featured in local and national media. She appeared on the cover of Family Money magazine and often speaks on topics such as small-business management, social entrepreneurship and the practice of following your heart when it comes to your career. Laura is the author of The Best Recipes of The Culinary Center.

Katherine Jolly

Soprano

$20

SAVOR THE FLAVORS OF OPERA!

Join Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Feast Magazine for one of six 90-minute concert events, presented in partnership with six restaurants, chefs, and sommeliers. Discover the fun and the unexpected flavors of opera as small plates and drink tastings are paired with music from across the history of opera.

Stephanie Sanchez

MEzzo-Soprano

judd demaline St. Louis, Photographer Growing up in Smallsville, Ohio, Judd often dreamed of exploring the world beyond the cornfields. When he discovered photography, his adventure began. Through a lens, he’s found his voice. He’s that guy who takes at least two cameras wherever he goes. Judd is a commercial and editorial photographer and videographer, but he doesn’t photograph subjects – he photographs the way they make him feel. He believes it’s important to put all of himself into everything that he does, and his sense of adventure and curiosity always influence the shot. The best day of Judd’s life was a Friday morning. His fiancée, Jessa, gave birth to their daughter, Scarlett. They are his love and his light! They’ve taught him that patience, quickness and a discerning eye are necessities in both his roles as father and photographer/videographer. But above all, they’ve taught him about love, and he truly loves what he does.

Geoffrey Agpalo

Tenor

2015 Opera Tastings photos © Eric Woolsey

Made possible by

Thanks to media sponsor

Robert Mellon

bariTonE

FOR TICKETS, LOCATIONS, AND MORE

INFORMATION, VISITOPERA-STL.ORG/OPERATASTINGS

Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

publisher’s letter

chefs, it almost goes without saying, play a vital role in the culinary scene.

Watch for the new season of Feast TV to debut on local PBS stations next month. Each of the episodes revolves around a specific topic. Here, I’m in Columbia, Missouri, making a Shakespeare’s pizza with longtime manager Kurt Mirtsching.

Farmers can pluck perfect produce from the earth, cheesemakers can age ideal rounds of cheddar and ranchers can pasture-raise heritage breed cattle, but without a spark of magic in the kitchen, those individual ingredients will never reach their full, flavorful potential. In our annual chef Issue, we bring you closer to the men and women who cook, create and curate our dining experiences.

Turn to p. 62 for our roundup of the most-anticipated restaurants of 2016. concepts run the gamut from fast casual to fine dining. The one thread uniting our region’s most exciting new restaurants is our chefs’ commitment to quality and delivering a unique experience that is an extension of their passion for great food. and one chef in particular exemplifies culinary passion and the commitment it inspires: Ben Grupe is the captain of the american culinary Federation’s Team USa. Follow his travels on p. 54 and then consider making a reservation for one of his pop-up dinners to experience his refined, exacting cuisine. Passion has also guided a pair of culinary couples back home to the midwest. managing editor Nancy Stiles introduces you to the Goellners and the Gallinas on p. 77. These couples – one based in Kansas city and one in St. Louis – are gearing up for the launch of their new restaurants, and we take you behind the scenes at a recent collaborative dinner where ideas were tested and relationships formed. Last, we explore the surge of interest in artisan bread, as many chefs are trading in their skillets for bread pans. Now, it’s getting the spotlight, and digital editor heather riske finds every last crumb on p. 82.

FeAst eVeNts KC

Sat., Feb. 27 through Fri., March 4; Waldo neighborhood

This first-ever event is a weeklong celebration of one of the oldest neighborhoods in the Kansas City area. Shop, dine and patronize Waldo businesses, and enjoy 25 percent off at participating merchants. KC

the heartland table Tue., March 15, 5 to 9pm; Tom’s Town Distillery; $56; brownpapertickets.com/event/2462936

Enjoy a remarkable evening of art for food, food as art, and the finest of Kansas City’s bounty, regional beers and artisanal spirits. The Heartland Table is a showcase and sale of pots from many of the Midwest’s finest potters producing tableware. Along with cooking demonstrations featuring Cook on Clay flameware pots, guests will enjoy a tasting menu created by six Kansas City chefs, paired with artisanal spirits and locally brewed beer. stl

schnucks Cooks: Grand Marnier soufflé Wed., March 23, 6 to 9pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School; $40; schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

Join us in the kitchen and learn to make the king of classic desserts, the delicate Grand Marnier soufflé, and a rich, sweet, versatile crème anglaise sauce to accompany it. Besides dessert, you’ll complete the meal with a moist, roasted pork chop served with cornbread stuffing, green beans amandine and a bright beet salad. stl

Food Fight 2016 Wed., March 23, 7pm; The Magnolia Hotel; starting at $20; kmox.com

stl

Watch as 10 locally renowned chefs face off in a culinary competition, then sample their dishes and vote for your favorite. The winner, as chosen by the audience and a guest-judge panel, will receive a prize package, bragging rights and the title of St. Louis Food Fight Champion 2016. Plus, enjoy unpublished specials at participating restaurants throughout the month of March through the Passport Dining Program.

Opera theatre of st. louis tastings Thu., March 31 through Mon., April 4; various restaurants; $20; visitopera-stl.org/operatastings

Join us for one of six 90-minute concert events, presented in partnership with six restaurants, chefs and sommeliers. Discover the fun and the unexpected flavors of opera as small plates and drink tastings are paired with music from across the history of opera. stl

Maplewood Coffee Crawl Sat., April 2, 8am to 2pm; City of Maplewood;

chefs undoubtedly play a central role in the local food scene. as you turn the pages of this issue, you’ll see just how dedicated they are to elevating and expanding what it means to dine here in the heartland. Until next time,

Waldo Week

cityofmaplewood.com

Get ready to get caffeinated! Stroll through Historic Downtown Maplewood, meet regional coffee roasters and sample coffees from around the world with a local flavor. stl

Cat’s picks Wednesdays, 8:35am; The BIG 550 KTRS

Tune in as Feast publisher Catherine Neville chats with host McGraw Milhaven and gives her weekly picks for the best places to eat and drink in the St. Louis area.

catherine Neville publisher@feastmagazine.com

feastmagazine.com

@cat_neville

m a r c h 2016

@cat_neville

Inspired Local Food Culture

MARCH 2016

DIGITAL CONTENT

hungry for more?

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connect with us daily:

PhoTogrAPhy by MAbeL Suen

thE fEEd: StL Boundary, the new restaurant concept from the Cheshire Inn and executive chef Rex Hale, replaced The Restaurant at the Cheshire last month. The new restaurant focuses on shareable plates, including a roasted beet salad, steak frites, sea scallops and a decadent mac ‘n’ cheese.

PhoTogrAPhy by JACKLyn Meyer

fACEbook. get a sneak peek of upcoming restaurants (like Pappo’s Pizzeria & brew Co. in St. Louis) at facebook.com/feastmag.

tWIttEr. Follow @feastmag to see where we’re

dining across the region (like chef ben grupe’s Valentine’s Day pop up at the inns at St. Albans).

PhoTogrAPhy by JenniFer SiLVerberg PhoTogrAPhy CourTeSy PizzeoLi

PhoTogrAPhy by eTTie berneKing

PIntErESt. Soup’s on! Find cozy soup recipes (like this Persian pomegranate and lamb meatball soup) on our Soups board at pinterest.com/feastmag.

thE fEEd: mId-mo Springfield, Missouri, has a new speakeasy cocktail bar: The Hepburn. Located in the basement of the old Sterling Hotel, the members-only bar features a small but carefully curated drink menu. morE on thE fEEd: Keep up with what’s happening in the region’s food-and-drink scene by visiting our daily news blog, The Feed, at feastmagazine.com/the-feed. We recently chatted with restaurateur Danny Meyer about bringing Shake Shack to his hometown of St. Louis and with Tony Alvarez, whose Kansas City Tamale Co. ships handmade Mexican tamales right to your door. SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: Win a pair of tickets to Food Fight 2016 on Wed., March 23. Just head to the Promotions section at

feastmagazine.com for all the details.

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m a r c h 2016

InStAGrAm. hashtag your local food-and-drink photos with #feastgram for a chance to see them in Feast! Details on p. 90 and follow us @feastmag.

Watch our videos and Feast TV.

youtube.com/FeastMagazine

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Enjoy a fun-filled night of trivia accompanied by tasty treats prepared by area chefs and served by culinary students, along with complimentary beer and wine.

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Chris Bolyard, owner and head butcher of Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions, presents a four-course “nose-to-tail” dinner inspired by CAM’s exhibitions.

Tuesday, March 22 Tour: 6:30 pm Dinner: 7:00 pm $75; $50 for members camstl.org/feast

Benefitting Greater St. Louis Restaurant Association Education Foundation

ACF Chefs de Cuisine Association

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis 3750 Washington Blvd 314.535.4660

pleaSe contact Barb Hergenroether | Missouri Restaurant Association 1810 Craig Road, Ste. 225 | St. Louis, MO 63146 (314) 576-2777 | Fax: (314) 576-2999 BHergenroether@MoRestaurants.org

SUNDAY BRUNCH AND DINNER! Sunday Brunch & Dinner: Enjoy an amazing breakfast menu with our delicious boozy breakfast cocktails & Chef Mehmet's Whole Roasted Lamb. Lunch: Tues-Fri - Dinner: Tues-Sun - Sunday Brunch Happy Hour: Tues-Fri Available for private parties and catering. Turkish Mediterranean Cuisine. Known for our Meze (small plates), Lamb Dishes, Fresh Fish and Excellent Wine Selection.

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MARCH 2016

FEAST TV

the new season of feast tv is set to debut in april, with 13 fresh episodes airing on pbs across the region. rather than producing the show month by month, we are excited to bring viewers an entire season of weekly episodes that focus on various aspects of the culinary industry, from chocolate to coffee to artisan meat to cheese.

feast tv is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsors: Missouri Wines

WhoLe Foods Market

L’ écoLe cuLinaire

Missouri Wines supports the more than 125 wineries operating in the state and is focused on promoting the industry’s growth and vitality.

Pick up recipes and ingredients from Feast TV at Brentwood and Town and Country locations of Whole Foods Market in the St. Louis area.

In St. Louis and Kansas City, L’École Culinaire offers high-quality culinary education from basic culinary skills to careers in management.

feastmagazine.com

m a r c h 2016

the raphaeL hoteL The Raphael Hotel is Feast’s official hotel, offering luxury accommodations and dining near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.

neW seasons spa and saLon New Seasons Spa and Salon in south St. Louis County offers a full range of spa services and is the official salon of Feast TV.

g n i n n i g e B in April

WATCH FEAST ON THESE NETWORKS

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) or visit ninenet.org to watch Feast TV.

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19) or at kcpt.org.

You can watch Feast TV throughout mid-Missouri on KMOS (Channel 6) or at kmos.org.

Feast TV will air in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8) or at wsiu.org.

Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

2016 food tour season begins april 2nd Discover Great Food... One City At A Time! O P E N D A I LY 1 2 P M T O 6 P M

Ginger Gall C.E.O. Chief Eating Officer

Food Tours

314-706-9009

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Sunday, March 27, 2016 10am - 3pm $32 per person, children under 12- $12 1234 Washington Avenue

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new winter menus Saturday Brunch, Lunch & Dinner Jumbo Pan-Seared ScalloPS Served with griddled root vegetable hash & wilted greens. dressed with fresh herb pesto “The J” - nestled in the historic crossroads arts district www.TheJacobsonKc.com

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famous reuben sandwiches & Boulevard irish ale specials served all march long March Madness starts St. Patrick’s Day and we will be celebrating with Green Beer and Basketball for all. Don’t forget to check out Lucky’s St. Pat’s Coffee Shop Special of Eggs and Corned Beef Hash served until noon.

feastmagazine.com

MARCH 2016

5401 Johnson Drive, Mission, KS 66205 913-403-8571, www.luckybrewgrille.com

where weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re dining

bag new york-style bagels on p. 18 photography by christopher smith

trending now: whole Fish

on trend

Written by bethany Christo PhotograPhy by anna PetroW

Preparing whole fish, bones and all, produces juicier and more tender results than cooking just the fillet, and that makes it well worth the extra effort. kc

branzino

stl

pompano

stuffed trout

leAwood, Ks. after an order for whole-roasted

ClAYton, Mo. at I Fratellini, an intimate restaurant

roCKBridge, Mo. For more than 60 years in the

Mediterranean branzino comes in at 801 Fish in Leawood, Kansas, a 1½ pound european seabass is scored and stuffed with lemons and thyme. its skin makes direct contact with a searing-hot skillet to form a crispy crust, and from there, it’s roasted in the oven with salt and pepper before it’s whisked out of the kitchen. after pin bones, a thin strip of bones along the shoulder area, are expertly removed tableside, the branzino is served with roasted fingerling potatoes, blanched asparagus, blistered cherry tomatoes and a lemon-caper beurre blanc. Diners can have the chefs remove the larger bones in the kitchen or do the work themselves. the branzino was swimming just two days before, as is standard for nearly all seafood on 801 Fish’s menu, which just recently opened a st. Louis-area location in november.

in Clayton, Missouri, guests can expect simple, elegantly prepared italian dishes. and when diners order its whole-roasted pompano, they know they’ll have to do a bit of work, according to owner Zoë robinson. but that’s part of the fun. “it’s a great dish, and it’s consistently popular, but you have to look at what you’re doing [in order] to avoid the bones,” she says. the pompano, which is often swapped for snapper or another seasonally available fish, is panseared before being roasted in the oven to produce a flavorful, crispy skin, and topped with sweet, roasted tomatoes balanced with salty Kalamata olives, capers and olive oil. the fish is tender and wonderfully juicy as a result of preparing it with the bones. “it’s just like if you cook a pork chop with a bone in,” robinson says. “you’re going to retain a lot more juice.”

ozarks village of rockbridge, Missouri, Rockbridge Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch restaurant has served some of the freshest trout in the state in 26 different preparations, all caught from the stream on the property the day or day before it ends up on your plate. besides the popular filleted halftrout, there are also whole 2-pound bone-in options including stuffed, baked, pan-fried and salt-broiled. the server brings it to your table and debones the trout in front of you – removing the head and tail, sectioning the center, lifting off the meat pieces and pulling the main bones out. the only bones you have to remove are the pin bones. Manager alicia amyxWinrod compares it to cooking with a soup bone: “it’s fresher, it tastes better and you pull a lot more of the fish’s flavor.”

801 Fish, 11615 Rosewood St., Leawood, Kansas, 913.322.3474, 801fish.com/leawood

I Fratellini, 7624 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, Missouri, 314.727.7901, ifratellini.com

Rockbridge Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch, 4297 County Road 142, Rockbridge, Missouri, 417.679.3619, rockbridgemo.com

CheF’s tiP “There are methods to deboning that make it so easy; however, it’s a delicate process. If you remove the head and the tail first, and cut right through the center of the rainbow-pink stripe that runs down the side of the trout, the meat on the top of the fish will lift off, and the meat on the bottom of the fish will lift down. You’ll be able to pull the entire bone and rib cage out in one piece.” –Alicia Amyx-Winrod, manager, Rockbridge Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch

%PG

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m a r c h 2016

one on one

stl

tommy lee

owner, slide piece by tommy lee Written By Valeria turturro Klamm

ST. LOUIS. tommy lee

began serving up sliders in Downtown St. louis in his new food truck, Slide Piece by Tommy Lee, late last year, which now rolls across the city and county. a St. louis native, lee was most recently the assistant general manager at root Down, a seasonally minded restaurant in Denver, to which he attributes much of his inspiration for the truck.

photography by anna petrow

lee and his wife moved back to St. louis to be closer to family – his sister is Katie Collier of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta osteria – and because the area offers him the opportunity to be creative and get a foothold within the emerging market, he says. a food truck concept seemed perfect, with its inherent flexibility in location, customers and menu. Prior to your work in Denver, what was your culinary background? my immediate and extended family operate a few restaurants in St. louis. my aunt Zoë robinson owns i Fratellini and Bar les Freres. [When we were little] we were inside her restaurants, sneaking around in her kitchens. i’ve been in every aspect of restaurants that i could find myself working. my father opened up Katie’s Pizza Cafe on Clayton road; that was my job coming home from college most summers and where i spent a couple of years after college. From there, i traveled around quite a bit – the Czech republic, alaska, Wisconsin, Colorado – and found employment at somewhere special in all of those places. it helped me get a different perspective on a few different environments, models and how things work. What made you decide on sliders for your food truck? What attracted me so much to it was the flexibility and ability to adjust my menu to seasons, locally available products and what our customers are asking for. a slider can take any form of one’s imagination. Tell us about your menu. We have a traditional beef with Wisconsin Cheddar, lettuce and tomato, and the next level beef slider with a balsamic reduction, fontina cheese and arugula; a spicy lamb with Granny Smith apples and mint-garlic yogurt; a deep-fried smoked salmon – which surprisingly tastes a lot like bacon – in a Blt format with pesto, lettuce and cherry tomatoes and a pork-steak slider as kind of an homage to St. louis with marinated pork steak, pickled veggies, Sriracha-goat cheese spread and cilantro. and there’s a fried green tomato slider in caprese format: mozzarella, balsamic, basil, fried green tomatoes and pepperoncini. What do you think of the St. Louis food truck scene? i’ve been really impressed so far with the food truck community. everyone is really welcoming and helpful. We’ve had a few people who will actually stop their cars and say, “you know, i’ve been watching [food trucks] on the Food network, and i’ve never eaten at a food truck, and i’m here to try it.” Slide Piece by Tommy Lee, 314.517.1324, slidepiecestl.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

where we’re dining From new restaurants to renewed menus, our staff and contributors share their picks for where we’re dining this month. Kc

melo’s pizzeria ST. LOUIS. When Blues City Deli owner

Vince “Vinnie” Valenza acquired the building that houses his popular sandwich shop, he and his son Joey immediately started cooking up ideas for how to make use of the adjacent garage. Initially, that meant experimenting with bread baking, but Joey’s newfound passion led to another craft: pizza making. Named after Vinnie’s father and enthusiastic pizzaiolo, Carmelo, Melo’s Pizzeria highlights the family’s ItalianAmerican roots with Neapolitaninspired pies. The phrase “St. Louis the King” adorns the bite-sized restaurant’s larger-than-life, imported brick oven. Weighing in at 5,500 pounds, the

stl

meshuggah bagels writteN By JeNNy VergArA

| PhotogrAPhy By chriStoPher SMith

KANSAS CITY. Pete and Janna Linde have finally brought “crazy good” New

york-style bagels to Kansas city. the couple recently expanded Meshuggah Bagels, their wholesale kosher bagel company, by opening their first retail storefront on 39th Street this month. growing up in a Jewish family in the New york area, bagels were a part of Pete’s daily life until he moved to Kansas city in 1997. “i lived for years carrying [bagels] back in suitcases,” he says. “the research really began when i met Janna in 2011.” they spent years doing serious product development in their home kitchen – and gained a few extra pounds from eating test bagels – before they hit upon the perfect recipe for an authentic Jewish bagel that resembled the ones Pete remembered enjoying in New york. Meshuggah will keep its production facility in Pleasant Valley, Missouri, and bring bagels down to the new westport retail location to bake so that fresh, hot bagels will be available throughout the day. in addition to bagels, the Lindes also serve schmears of cream cheese, a lox plate and whitefish salad. coffee and juices are available, as well. hours for the retail location are 6am to 2pm daily. Meshuggah Bagels, 1208 W. 39th St., Westport, Kansas City, 816.330.6016, meshuggahbagels.com 18

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m a r c h 2016

STorY AND PhoToGrAPhY BY MABeL SueN

wood-fired centerpiece of the space bakes five kinds of housemade pizzas at nearly 1,000°F, yielding a pleasantly charred crust topped with fresh tomato sauce and bubbly cheese. A staff favorite, The Dom, is a New York-style take on Neapolitan pizza with tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, basil, extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella and Grana Padano. Best enjoyed immediately, the 12-inch pizzas come cut into four pieces ready to fold and eat, giving hungry St. Louisans yet another reason to frequent one of Benton Park’s most beloved spots. Melo’s Pizzeria, 2438 McNair Ave., Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.833.4489, melospizzeria.com

mary jane burgers & brew written by nancy StileS

| PhotograPhy by Katie FranKlin

PERRYVILLE, MO. carisa Stark’s restaurant isn’t exactly in the center of a bustling metropolis, so she has to make sure she somehow reaches customers within an 80-mile-plus radius of tiny Perryville, Missouri, south of Ste. genevieve. enticing instagram photos of Mary Jane Burgers & Brew have helped make the joint a destination restaurant in southeast Missouri; Stark opened Mary Jane in 2013 after a few months with a food truck. “it’s basically a collection of ideas from all my years of traveling,” she says of the burger-heavy menu, which also features street tacos, sandwiches and small plates. “we tried to create a burger menu that is really unique and make sure that it’s like nothing anyone has ever had in this area before.” Don’t miss Mary Jane’s biggest burger, the John boy: a double patty topped with apple-smoked bacon, pepper Jack cheese, handbreaded onion petals and housemade chipotle aïoli. the burger is named after bartender John Sadler, who will serve as head brewer along with Matt ruesler, executive chef and avid homebrewer, at the brewery Stark is opening a few doors down from Mary Jane’s, Jackson Street brew co., later this year.

Mary Jane Burgers & Brew, 102 N. Jackson St., Perryville, Missouri, 573.547.6279, maryjaneburgers.com

where we’re dining

destination: st. Paul, Minnesota

road trip

WRITTEN BY PETE DuLIN

Minnesota’s capital, St. Paul, is a thriving hotbed of dining districts, cultural attractions and craft breweries. The Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest, which will be held at the Minnesota History Center in downtown St. Paul on Sat., March 12, is yet another sign of the city’s enthusiasm for top-notch craft beer, featuring rare, vintage and specialty beers from 30 select craft breweries in Minnesota and across the U.S. For more information, visit rarebeerfest.com.

sleep

eat

local gems

This boutique hotel occupies floors 10 to 12 of the St. Paul Athletic Club, built in 1917. Guests relish the building’s architecture, two-story lobby with fireplace, complimentary access to the 68,000-square-foot fitness facility and views of the Mississippi River, just one block away. The hotel is connected to the Xcel Energy Center arena, home of the Minnesota Wild hockey team, via a climate-controlled skyway system, plus it’s conveniently located next to Central Station, Cathedral of Saint Paul and more.

Mickey’s Diner stands out before you even enter: It’s housed in an art deco-style railroad dining car you might recognize from The Mighty Ducks. Family-owned and -operated since it opened in 1939, the diner is known for concrete-thick malts, juicy burgers and breakfast staples, but the quaint, historic setting and local flair are the true stars of this eatery. Plus it’s open year-round, 24/7, and has been for nearly 80 years.

Thirty years ago, Mark Stutrud founded Summit Brewing Co. and became a leader in the region’s brewing movement. Enjoy pints and flights of beer on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in its Ratskeller beer hall and taproom. Food trucks offer local bites on location. Free 60-minute tours are available Tuesday through Saturday and include beer samples, but advance reservations are required.

340 Cedar St., Downtown, 651.280.4120, hotel340.com

PHOTO COurTeSy viSiT ST. Paul

Hotel 340

Mickey’s Diner

Summit Brewing Co.

910 Montreal Circle, West Seventh, 651.265.7800, summitbrewing.com

36 W. 7th St., Downtown, 651.769.7854, mickeysdiningcar.com

Gangster Tours at Landmark Center

Saint Dinette Old-school cooking, modern accents and regional flavors come together at Saint Dinette. Cobb salad, potato latkes, boudin and tuna casserole have a place on the menu next to grilled octopus, fried smelt and duck tartare. Located in the up-and-coming Lowertown Historic District, the restaurant is near a dozen hip eateries, bars and CHS Field, home of the minor league St. Paul Saints baseball team. The brunch and creative cocktails are also worth a trip. 261 e. Fifth St., lowertown Historic District, 651.800.1415, saintdinette.com

Ngon Vietnamese Bistro A perennial winner on local “Best of Minnesota” lists, Ngon Vietnamese Bistro has offerings including fried egg rolls, crispy rabbit dumplings and fried daikon cake with shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions and soy-ginger sauce. Pho is made from grass-fed oxtail, bones and spices, and prepared with a choice of beef, organic chicken, rib eye or seafood. Modern French and Vietnamese influences abound with bánh mì, duck cassoulet and five-spice sausage.

The Saint Paul Hotel Overlooking the Mississippi River, this historic hotel has 254 rooms, including 31 luxury suites. Expect fine service and pampering: The hotel has earned a AAA Four Diamond Award for 34 consecutive years. It’s a short hop from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, the Mall of America, the Science Museum of Minnesota, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Saint Paul RiverCentre and the Xcel Energy Center. If so inclined, indulge in the five-course, two-hour English afternoon tea service or several dine-in options.

PHOTO COurTeSy viSiT ST. Paul

Located a few miles from downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis, this bed-and-breakfast is a restored, Craftsman-style home filled with antiques, tucked in a quiet residential area with nearby bike and walking paths. The location is close to Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Como Golf Course and the eponymous lake. One room and two suites are available ($145 to $235), with breakfast served by host Carla Sherman. 1205 W. Como Blvd., Como, 651.402.7930, comolakebnb.com

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m a r c h 2016

landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth St., Downtown, 651.292.3225, landmarkcenter.org

799 university ave. W, Frogtown, 651.222.3301, ngonbistro.com

350 Market St., Downtown, 651.292.9292, saintpaulhotel.com

Como Lake Bed & Breakfast

Learn about dangerous criminals like John Dillinger and “Ma” Barker who shaped St. Paul’s history during the 1920s and ‘30s. Costumed guides share tales of their “lives as gangsters” and the era’s criminal justice system. Tour the Landmark Center, formerly the Federal Court House, where many of these gangsters were brought to justice. The tour isn’t recommended for kids under 12, and two-week advance reservations are required.

Black Sheep Pizza Instead of wood, this pizza joint was the first in Minnesota to use coal. It’s a throwback to the early New York pizzerias that used it to heat ovens, and it makes pizzas that yield an irresistible crust. Toppings range from basics and build your own to creative combinations like Persian beef, tomato, Feta and harissa. Appetizers such as eggplant dip, oven-roasted vegetables and a farmers’ market salad complement the piping-hot pizza. 512 N. robert St., Downtown, 651.227.4337, blacksheeppizza.com PHOTO COurTeSy BlaCk SHeeP Pizza

The Strip Club Meat & Fish Don’t let the name fool you. As a dinner and brunch venue, The Strip Club Meat & Fish is highly respected for its memorable food, cocktails and charming service. Fried oysters de Jonghe with tarragon aïoli, pork short ribs with spätzle, grilled barramundi, foie gras-pork belly buns, and fried Brussels sprouts with house kimchi offer a peek at the seasonal offerings. An adventurous list of craft beer, bottled soda, wine and cocktails is another convincing reason to visit. 378 Maria ave., Dayton’s Bluff, 651.793.6247, domeats.com

Cathedral of Saint Paul This civic landmark adds distinction to St. Paul’s skyline. A shining example of beauxarts architecture – inspired by churches and cathedrals in France – the cathedral is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After visiting, be sure to explore Selby Avenue for patio dining and casual American cuisine at W.A. Frost & Co., pop into Russian restaurant Moscow on the Hill or grab a pint at O’Gara’s Bar & Grill, open since 1941. 239 Selby ave., Downtown, 651.228.1766, cathedralsaintpaul.org PHOTO COurTeSy viSiT ST. Paul

one on one como

linda owen pedroley founder, culinary connection kitchen rental Written by Daniel Puma

COLUMBIA, MO. in the past few

photography by travis duncan

years, co-working spaces designed for freelancers and startup companies have been popping up more, and now commercial kitchen space rentals for artisan food producers and chefs are increasing in numbers. linda Owen Pedroley saw the void in the local market and opened Culinary Connection Kitchen Rental in Columbia, missouri, in march 2014. the shared-use, 1,000-squarefoot kitchen is open 24 hours a day by reservation and offers use of equipment, cleaning supplies, dry storage, Wi-Fi and even a laser printer, whether you’re starting a new food-driven business, doing a one-time cooking project or need to prepare a meal for a large crowd or family dinner. Why open Culinary Connection? i really enjoy cooking and thought it would be interesting to start a food business of my own. Probably the biggest obstacle people have when wanting to start a food business is the need to work out of a commercial kitchen. about three or four years ago, it just kind of popped into my head – why not open a commercial kitchen that a lot of food businesses can share? i looked into it and decided to make the leap and open one up. it took me about a year to find a space, get it cleaned up, complete some minor renovations and track down new and used equipment. Who rents the kitchen space? right now, there are about 10 businesses using my space, including Doc meyers Hot Pepper Shake, which is a fiery hot pepper spice mix, and miami bites, a local Cuban food truck. Since opening two years ago, 12 new food businesses using my facility were launched in Columbia. there were five new food trucks, five new food producers selling in the retail market, one new cooking school and one new caterer. the other eight businesses that signed up were already established and either switched to my facility or just used it for brief periods. How has it been received? Pretty positive! i had a lot of people tell me it’s a great idea and much-needed in this area. Currently, it’s the only commercial facility like it in central missouri. When i was first looking into the concept, there were maybe 100 kitchens like this across the country, and now there are more than 600. there is a public interest in locally produced food, and these commercial kitchens are filling needs so people [can] try their hands in businesses that produce it. What’s been the biggest surprise so far? i had someone needing a commercial kitchen so they could make a hand salve for poison ivy. i had a beekeeper who was interested in using the space – just a wide variety of things where i was like, “Wow, i had no idea people needed a commercial kitchen for that.” What’s next? People have asked me if i’d franchise or if i would open a second location in St. louis or Kansas City. at this point, i am not going to expand or anything; i’m just hoping to bring in more businesses. right now, a number of food trucks are closed down for the season, so i am trying to bring in more food producers and caterers who are able to use it more year-round rather than on a seasonal basis. Culinary Connection Kitchen Rental, 124 E. Nifong Blvd., Suite B, Columbia, Missouri, 573.228.2257, cckitchenrental.com

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Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

OCTOBer THrOUGH APrIL: CeLerY rOOT

IN SEASON

WrITTEn By nAnCy STILES

Celery root, also known as celeriac or celery knob, might be celery’s ugly cousin, but don’t pass it up at the supermarket. The root vegetable is creamy and delicate when puréed, making it an ideal cold-weather ingredient. stl

ravioli

ST. LOUIS. Since taking over the kitchen at Element last August,

Josh Charles has been putting his mark on the menu; one of his most popular dishes is the celery root ravioli, which he calls a play on carbonara. To make the ravioli filling, Charles cuts down the celery root, simmers it in a half-milk, half-water mixture until it’s tender. After draining off the excess liquid, he purées it with a little butter, folds in mascarpone and Parmesan cheeses and black pepper. He then stuffs from-scratch pasta with the filling and adds a simple sauce of butter, water and a touch of lemon. It’s garnished with egg yolks that are cooked until custardlike and topped with pancetta, slivered chives and Parmesan.

vegetable hash

KANSAS CITY. Michael Werner grew up eating his vegetables.

As the grandson of Slovak immigrants, the family’s Ohio farm was filled with acres of fresh vegetables, fruit trees and other produce, so it’s no surprise that celery root is a staple at Kansas City restaurant The Jacobson, where he is managing partner and oversees all things culinary. Currently, it shows up in a root vegetable hash with a scallop entrée and as a purée with fresh herbs and truffles in a rotating trio of spreads. “It’s kind of scary from the looks standpoint,” Wener laughs, “but it’s a great ingredient.” At home, he suggests a play on whipped potatoes. “I would take it, peel it, clean it, dice it, sauté it and bring a little color to it to coax out some of the residual sugars, then roasting it off and mashing it is something a little different,” he says. “Blend that with some potatoes – it will bring in a whole other flavor component with the celery root. Just experiment with it and have fun. It can’t hurt you!” The Jacobson, 2050 Central St., Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.423.2888, thejacobsonkc.com

Root Vegetable Hash “This hearty mélange of winter root vegetables roasts into a chewy hash that makes a delicious side dish as well as an addition to many recipes. Use it in stews and in salads filled with beans, grains or wilted greens or serve it as a comforting meal itself. Feel free to modify herbs and root vegetables based on what’s in season and what you prefer.” –Michael Werner

Element, 1419 Carroll St., Lafayette Square, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.241.1674, elementstl.com

CHeF’S TIP “At home, I would start off just dicing the celery root up, tossing it in a little olive oil, roasting in the oven and treating it like a potato. From there, you can start making soups, whatever you want – but I think that would be a great introduction to celery root.” –Josh Charles, executive chef, Element

ReCIPe COuRTeSy MICHAeL WeRneR, MAnAgIng PARTneR, THe JACOBSOn

Serves | 4 to 6 1 2 3 to 3½

PHOTOgRAPHy By BAMBuH/BIgSTOCK.COM

¾ ¾

soubise

CHAMPAIGN, IL. At Big Grove Tavern in Champaign, Illinois, sustainability is a priority, so

during winter, sous chef Terrah King uses celery root several ways. Right now, it appears in a soubise paired with pan-seared salmon. The celery root is peeled and diced, then steeped in water, stale bread and aromatics like peppercorn, bay leaf, thyme, onion and garlic. It’s cooked down until tender, puréed with a little salt and red wine vinegar for balance, “schmeared” on the plate and topped with salmon, lentil cakes and bacon fat escarole drizzled with pomegranate reduction. Look for a teres cut of beef with cuminroasted celery root and carrots on the menu soon, too. Big Grove Tavern, 1 E. Main St., Downtown, Champaign, Illinois, 217.239.3505, biggrovetavern.com feastmagazine.com

m a r c h 2016

Tbsp plus 2 tsp olive oil, rendered bacon fat, pancetta fat or brown butter medium onions, peeled and cut into eighths, leaving wedges intact lbs root vegetables (parsnips, carrots,celery root, parsley root or turnips in any combination) peeled, ¼-inch dice Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves Tbsp kosher salt freshly ground black pepper cups kale or loose-leaf spinach fresh goat cheese (to serve)

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 400°F. using a lightly dampened brush, brush a heavy baking sheet with 2 teaspoons oil. Lay onion wedges, cut-side down, in 1 corner of pan. Scatter root vegetables over rest of pan. using brush dipped in remaining 1 tablespoon oil, toss and brush root vegetables until completely coated, then brush tops of onions. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes, turning vegetables every 15 minutes or so with a spatula, until tender and golden. Let cool and transfer to a bowl. Fold in spinach or kale and toss until wilted. Top with fresh goat cheese and serve.

one on one

kenneth booth & dan doty co-founders, bun bros

Written By Bethany Christo

KANSAS CITY. Chef Kenneth

photography by zach bauman

Booth (pictured left) and his business partner, Dan Doty (pictured right), have some nice buns. they are white, soft, pillowyâ&#x20AC;Ś and filled with ground pork, garlic, ginger, chiles, cabbage and sweet soy gravy. Doty and Booth, who was most recently chef de cuisine and now part-time butcher at the Farmhouse, began hosting pop ups and catering events under the Bun Bros moniker serving Japanese street-style steamed buns, called nikuman, around the Kansas City area late last year. they hope to eventually open two brick-and-mortars â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one, under the same name, will serve the comfort and street-style food served in Japanese pubs and bars like steamed buns, pickled items and yakatori; and the other, Dojo Kenechi, will offer multicourse, high-end, traditional and modern Japanese cuisine in the kaiseki style of dining. For now, pop ups around town, including the next one at 2016 Main on March 14, are your chance to sample Boothâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creations and his lifelong passion for Japanese cuisine. How did Bun Bros come to be? My dad was in the Marines, and we lived in okinawa, Japan, when i was younger. i ate nikuman as a special treat. in [the U.s.] i always sought out steamed buns, but i could never find them the way i remembered. i focused on melding all the other styles of cooking i knew with my love for Japanese style and really researching, educating myself and working with my recipe. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Kenneth Booth Kenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are high quality: the buns iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d had before always had a texture problem and tasted lifeless and premade. Kenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were so soft and pillowy and consistent all the way through each bite. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Dan Doty Tell us about your buns. My dough is the traditional nikuman street-food style, but i put a spin on the fillings by adding soy gravy. i have a respect for tradition but add modern influence to improve on the drier filling found in nikuman â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this is more texturally appealing to me and american palates. i donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mince the pork too much, and combined with the gravy, you get a really sweet, salty and savory flavor. itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life-changing and harmonious. the vegan Curryman flavor has a little turmeric, sesame and curry seasoning to give the dough a bright yellow color. We get tofu made locally, and i smoke it myself, plus there are shiitake mushrooms, garlic, cabbage, chiles and ginger. i take the stems from my shiitakes to make a mushroom stock, and that becomes a soy-mushroom gravy. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;K.B. you can tell they were made by hand. i compare it to hand-cut pasta: no two strands, or in our case, buns, are alike because a real person made them. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;D.D.

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Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

Regional RestauRant guide As proud supporters of Feast Magazine, we encourage you to visit any of these fine establishments. From fine dining to fast casual to local wineries, there are an array of experiences to choose from, so support and eat local! 4 Hands Brewing Co. 1220 S. Eighth St. St. Louis, MO 314.436.1559 4handsbrewery.com

400 Olive

400 Olive St. St. Louis, MO 314.436.0002 400olive.com

Hendricks BBQ

Pappy’s Smokehouse

Chaz on the Plaza at the Raphael Hotel

Hops House

Prasino

Citizen Kane’s Steak House

Journey

Sanctuaria

Cleveland-Heath

Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria

Seoul Taco

3400 Fosterburg Road Alton, IL 618.462.4620 castellis255.com

325 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 816.802.2152 raphaelkc.com

99 Hops House

777 Casino Center Drive Maryland Heights, MO 314.770.8100 hollywoodcasinostlouis.com

Anna’s Oven

1809 W. 39th St. Kansas City, MO 816.753.6661 annasoven.com

133 W. Clinton Place Kirkwood, MO 314.965.9005 citizenkanes.com

106 N. Main St. Edwardsville, IL 618.307.4830 clevelandheath.com

1200 S. Main St. St. Charles, MO 636.724.8600 hendricksbbq.com

1 Piasa St. Alton, IL 800.721.4263 argosyalton.com

1 Piasa St. Alton, IL 618.474.7647 argosyalton.com

9568 Manchester Road Rock Hill, MO 314.942.6555 katiespizzaandpasta.com

3106 Olive St. St. Louis, MO 314.535.4340 pappyssmokehouse.com

1520 S. Fifth St. St. Charles, MO 636.277.0202 prasinostcharles.com

4198 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.535.9700 sanctuariastl.com

6665 Delmar Blvd. | St. Louis, MO 1020 E. Broadway | Columbia, MO 314.863.1148 | 573.441.8226 seoultaco.com

Aya Sofia

Corner Restaurant

King & I

Shrine Restaurant

Bella Vino Wine Bar & Tapas

Diablito’s

Klondike Café at Montelle Vineyard

Stone Hill Winery Vintage Restaurant

Bissell Mansion Restaurant & Dinner Theatre

Final Cut Steakhouse

Lucas Park Grille

Summit Grill & Bar

Boundary

Fratelli’s Ristorante

Lucky Brewgrille

The Jacobson

Café Eau at Chase Park Plaza

Gallagher’s Restaurant

Mai Lee

Trattoria Giuseppe

Café Ventana

Genghis Khan

Olympia Kebob House and Taverna

Truffles and Butchery

6671 Chippewa St. St. Louis, MO 314.645.9919 ayasofiacuisine.com

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

4426 Randall Place St. Louis, MO 314.533.9830 bissellmansiontheatre.com

7036 Clayton Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.932.7818 boundary-stl.com

212 Kingshighway Blvd. St. Louis, MO 314.454.9000 chaseparkplaza.com/dining

3919 W. Pine Blvd. St. Louis, MO 314.531.7500 cafeventana.com

Castelli’s Restaurant at 255

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MARCH 2016

4059 Broadway Kansas City, MO 816.931.4401 thecornerkc.com

3761 Laclede Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.644.4430 diablitoscantina.com

777 Casino Center Drive Maryland Heights, MO 314.770.8100 hollywoodcasinostlouis.com

2061 Zumbehl Road St. Charles, MO 636.949.9005 fratellisristorante.com

114 W. Mill St. Waterloo, IL 618.939.9933 gallagherswaterloo.com

3906 Bell St. Kansas City, MO 816.753.3600 gkbbq.com

3157 S. Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 314.771.1777 kingandistl.com

201 Montelle Dr. at MO Hwy 94 Augusta, MO 636.228.4464 montelle.com

1234 Washington Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.7770 lucasparkgrille.com

5401 Johnson Drive Mission, KS 913.403.8571 luckybrewgrille.com

8396 Musick Memorial Dr. Brentwood, MO 314.645.2835 maileestl.com

1543 McCausland Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.781.1299 olympiakebobandtaverna.com

442 S. Demazenod Drive Belleville, IL 618.394.6237 snows.org

1110 Stone Hill Highway Hermann, MO 573.486.2221 stonehillwinery.com

4835 NE Lakewood Way Lees Summit, MO 816.795.7677 summitgrillandbar.com

2050 Central St. Kansas City, MO 816.423.2888 thejacobsonkc.com

5442 Old State Route 21 Imperial, MO 636.942.2405 trattoria-giuseppe.com

9202 Clayton Road St. Louis, MO 314.567.9100 todayattruffles.com

the new season is coming in april

The new season of Feast TV is set to debut in April, with 13 fresh episodes airing on PBS across the region. Rather than producing the show month by month, we are excited to bring viewers an entire season of weekly episodes that focus on various aspects of the culinary industry, from chocolate to coffee to artisan meat to cheese. Host Cat Neville and crew have spent the past three months gathering stories of the Midwest’s best food and drink professionals, so watch your local PBS station for listings and turn to feastmagazine.com for episodes online.

feast tv is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsors: Missouri Wines

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the raphaeL hoteL The Raphael Hotel is Feast’s official hotel, offering luxury accommodations and dining near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.

neW seasons spa & saLon New Seasons Spa & Salon in south St. Louis County offers a full range of spa services and is the official salon of Feast TV.

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one on one

drink up kansas city history on p. 29 PHOTOGRAPHy by zAcH bAumAn

trending now: housemade tonic

on trend

Written by Ann Lemons PoLLAck PhotogrAPhy by cheryL WALLer

The iconic gin and tonic was originally crafted to ward off malaria in colonial India around the turn of the century. English soldiers in the East India Co.’s private army used a daily dose of quinine, tonic’s main ingredient, to prevent and treat the ailment. Luckily (for us), quinine is bitter, and resourceful Brits mixed the tonic with gin to make it easier to stomach. Today, drinkers are accustomed to virtually flavorless versions on grocery store shelves, but increasingly, tonics are individually crafted by creative bartenders, artisanal producers, distilleries and even at home.

rosy

new haVen, mo. Pinckney Bend Distillery made a name for itself with its

hand-crafted American gin, introduced in 2003. its classic tonic syrup was created specifically to complement that gin. the distillery’s tonic has a distinctive rosy hue thanks to the infusion of rose petals and dried hibiscus flowers. it’s complex, with citrus notes and a balance of tartness, bitterness and just a little sweetness to pull things together. Diluted with club soda, it’s intriguing enough to sip on its own even before the addition of gin. it’s versatile for other tall drinks or could provide the unifying note in a festive punch. Pick it up at the new haven, missouri, tasting room, as well as retail outlets throughout missouri and Fairview heights, illinois. Pinckney Bend Distillery, 1101 Miller St., New Haven, Missouri, 573.237.5559, pinckneybend.com

charred grapefruit

Kansas citY. Season + Square’s bittermilk no. 5 charred grapefruit tonic syrup sold out this past holiday season, and with good reason (though it’s now back in stock). searing the grapefruit rind adds some caramel notes, but there’s also lemon, lime and just a touch of sea salt from south carolina-based bulls bay saltworks. the salt seems to nudge the caramel forward in the mouth. overall, despite the grapefruit and quinine, the syrup leans more tart than bitter. switch out the traditional lime garnish with orange in a standard gin and tonic; season + square owner Andrea morrow Joseph suggests making her favorite application: vodka on ice, topped with the charred grapefruit tonic, lime soda water and a lime wheel for garnish.

Season + Square, 6205 Oak St., Brookside, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.326.3148, seasonandsquare.com

stl

hibiscus

st. louis. it’s no surprise that The Gin Room’s natasha bahrami is a

tonic aficionado. she infuses her own, a half-dozen of which are available at the st. Louis bar at any given time. some are seasonal, but a few favorites remain year-round, like the hibiscus tonic, with an undernote of lemongrass. it’s tropical without being sweet, and bahrami, of course, has suggestions about the best gin with which to pair it – she has about 100 on offer. “i love people who come in and say they don’t like gin or they don’t like gin and tonic,” she says. “‘Just try this one, without gin,’ i’ll tell them. they taste it, and then i’ll offer a little bit with gin. they always end up saying, ‘i guess i do like gin and tonic!’” bahrami, also known as the gin girl, occasionally teaches tonic workshops – the next one is sat., April 9 – so you can come up with your own twist at home. The Gin Room at Cafe Natasha’s, 3200 S. Grand Blvd., South Grand, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.771.3411, natashasginroom.com

Hibiscus tonic Water ReCiPe COuRTeSy NaTaSHa BaHRaMi, OwNeR, THe GiN ROOM

Yields | About 1 ½ gallons | 8 1 to 2 ½ 4

cups cold water Tbsp powdered cinchona bark cup dried hibiscus flowers handful sliced lemongrass dried allspice berries pinch sea salt, to taste

| Preparation | in a large pot,

bring cold water to a boil. add all other ingredients and bring liquid back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool completely. using a very fine strainer or one lined with cheesecloth, drain liquid; remove all bark powder. Refrigerate tonic and use within 1 or 2 weeks.

one on one

robert vossmeyer

distiller, tom’s town distilling co. Written by Pete Dulin

KANSAS CITY. in Downtown

photography by zach bauman

Kansas City, Tom’s Town Distilling Co. evokes the hard-swinging days of jazz and booze during the city’s Prohibition era through art deco décor, including the building’s original tin ceiling, an intimate lounge and marble tables flanked by luxe leather chairs. On the main level, behind the bar and tasting room, distiller robert Vossmeyer produces Pendergast’s royal Gold bourbon, Mcelroy’s Corruption Gin and eli’s StrongArm Vodka, all named after colorful characters from the era. How did you develop McElroy’s Corruption Gin? i got the idea to create a botanical library while working with Clay Smith of Corsair Artisan distillery. i sourced more than 70 different botanicals and spices and distilled them individually so that i could have a true expression of each individual ingredient. Many will have a different flavor profile depending on how they are distilled, either by maceration or a vapor chamber. i wanted to push boundaries and craft a gin in the new Western style, where juniper shares the spotlight with other complementary components: citrus notes from lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf, warm spice notes from allspice and clove, and a floral sweetness from orris root and angelica. the individual distillates allowed me to experiment with whatever pairing i could think of. We achieved a dynamic, well-balanced gin that allows for the recognition of individual botanicals as the gin unfolds from start to finish. Tell us about your hybrid distillation system. the science of distillation has come a long way since the early days of alembic pot stills. Our still array includes three purposebuilt columns. to create vodka in the u.S., you need a still that is capable of rectifying alcohol to 190 proof or more. Our still includes a vodka column that can do that with more than 16 plates. each plate repeats the process of a single distillation that leaves us with a super clean spirit. it also has a four-plate whiskey column that leaves more of the congeners and other flavor compounds in the spirit. lastly, we have a gin basket, similar to a sieve tray, for vapor distillation of botanicals in our gin. How does the cask-finished release of Pendergast’s Royal Gold Bourbon differ from the existing bottles? For the second cask-finished whiskey in the series, i hand-selected 14-year-old port barrels that were emptied the day before. these were filled with a 4½-year-old bourbon. they are sitting in our barrel room, soaking in the flavor from the port cask until the flavor is well integrated and the bourbon is ready for bottling sometime this spring. For our inaugural batch that we released when we opened in January, sourced from a private broker’s collection, we went all out. i found a handful of casks of 10-year-old bourbon of exceptional quality. After tasting it, we decided that this was one whiskey that simply shouldn’t be messed with and released it as is. Your bourbon is a “curated series” – what does that mean? royal Gold is a line of whiskeys that will rotate regularly. i seek out unique, high-quality whiskeys that we can put our fingerprint on. each release will be a different expression of grain, style, wood, maturation or any combination i feel will positively affect the final product. the whiskey industry has remained fairly traditional in its approach to making whiskey. Just as we have seen craft food culture expand over the last several decades, i think the microdistilling industry is well suited to push the boundaries of what traditional spirits can be. Tom’s Town Distilling Co., 1701 Main St., Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.541.2400, toms-town.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

where we’re drinking Check out what we’re sipping at bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries and coffee shops. stl

curtain call lounge STORY AnD PHOTOGRAPHY BY MABeL Suen

ST. LOUIS. Legend has it that

when sparkling-wine pioneer Dom Perignon first discovered Champagne, he said, “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” The quote headlines the drink menu of the recently opened Curtain Call Lounge, which bubbles with a posh personality all its own. Inside the Fabulous Fox Theatre’s new lavish hideaway, visitors can sip away at stellar cocktails that sparkle in more ways than one. The Royal Fox, for instance, features a blend of vodka, lemon, peach Schnapps and sparkling wine topped with edible gold luster that gradually dissolves into galaxylike streaks. It’s one of more than a dozen specialty cocktail options

alongside 25 or so Champagnes and sparkling wines available by the glass. Such luxurious libations befit the extravagant environs. The room features modern nods to the Fox’s Byzantine themes. Golden palms and draperies accentuate design elements like Moroccan-style archways, art nouveau posters, red velvet curtains and a built-in stage for occasional live jazz and cabaret. At the curved, black granite bar, coolers come stocked with wine and craft beer on tap to coincide with with a menu of shareable snacks – in all, a selection that merits a round of applause. Curtain Call Lounge, 521 N. Grand Blvd., Midtown, St. Louis, Missouri, 314.657.2275, fabulousfox.com

doughnut lounge KANSAS CITY. Thanks in part to a successful

Kickstarter campaign, Jake Randall has had people waiting in line morning, noon and night since he opened Doughnut Lounge in Kansas City’s Westport neighborhood this December. You can expect to find classics like glazed or double-chocolate alongside signatures such as a sheep’s milk cheese-filled Bismarck donut with a basil-root beer glaze. As creative as the 30

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m a r c h 2016

WRITTen BY JennY VeRGARA

donuts are, however, Randall’s first passion has always been coffee. Doughnut Lounge rotates beans from Kansas City roasters like Post Coffee Co., as well as national roasters Randall seeks out. Lawrence, Kansas-based Alchemy Coffee & Bake House’s nitro cold brew and orange hop or vanilla draft brew are served on tap, too. The bar menu is serious and sophisticated thanks to consultation from Julep Cocktail

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHeR SMITH

Club’s Dominic Petrucci. Signature cocktails include the warm, boozy Against Method; its roots are in a Martinez, but it’s served hot and made with orange bitters, Maraschino liqueur, sweet vermouth and Old Tom Gin. The Slow Jamz drinks like an elevated espresso Martini: A fresh shot of Michigan-based Madcap Coffee Co. espresso, vodka and milk simple syrup combine for a light, creamy drink to

pair with any donut. Stop by as early as 6:30am for coffee and a donut any day but Wednesday, or drop in for a nightcap before it closes at 1am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, or between 4 and 6pm for happy hour on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Doughnut Lounge, 4117 Pennsylvania Ave., Westport, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.659.3688, doughnutlounge.com

one on one

matthew schweizer brewmaster and operating partner, hopskeller brewing co. Written by Daniel Puma

WATERLOO, IL. matthew

photography by dennis bullock

Schweizer, brewmaster and operating partner behind Hopskeller Brewing Co., has a clear and distinct vision for his upcoming Waterloo, illinois, brewery. With the city of Waterloo behind him, he aims to not only produce delicious beer but also open a central place for the community to gather, foster good times and become “Waterloo’s brewery.” the former history teacher and St. louis native currently brings his brews to festivals in the area and hopes to have the brewery open within the next few months. When the brewery’s tasting room and full bar opens in its 160-year-old building, it will also feature illinoismade wine, spirits and sodas, and eventually, food. How did you get into brewing? i studied abroad in england my junior year of college in 2006, and i was in my raspberry vodka and dessert wine phase – i really had never had much beer. i started drinking beer for the first time when i was there. i came back, and there wasn’t nearly the choice that there is [now], especially when it came to finding english beers. i was working as a plumber for my summer job, and my foreman was a homebrewer. He really got me interested in the idea that you can make a beer taste like whatever you want. you can basically do anything with homebrewing, but it turns out it’s a lot harder than it sounds. it’s a little tricky. Why open a brewery? What 20-something doesn’t want a brewery or a bar? When i envisioned [Hopskeller], it was a lot smaller than it’s turning out to be. i would have never imagined in my wildest dreams that so many people in Waterloo would want to be behind this. the high school i taught at annually hosts the taste of the region. two years ago, some of the administration asked if i wanted to show some homebrews for fun. at the end of that night, i went through about 20 gallons of beer. i wasn’t the only one who noticed that this had gone really fast. the mayor of Waterloo, along with some of the people in the economic development offices in City Hall, came to me at the end of the night, telling me they’ve been dying to get a brewery in Waterloo. the city has been very good thinking about what kind of businesses they want downtown and encouraging those businesses. How did you settle on the name Hopskeller? the building is due south of the courthouse in Waterloo. traditionally, the bar in the town hall or courthouse in Germany is a Ratskeller. i liked that concept but didn’t want to use it for a couple of reasons. it refers to something very specific, and given that i do a lot of english ales and northwestern american ales, the idea of naming your bar something German is kind of jarring. ultimately, we put together Hopskeller. What beers will you offer? Our standards will be a blonde ale, which is probably more like an english summer ale; a northern english brown ale; an american amber; and an american iPa, with two rotating seasonals, one of which will be a raspberry ale. Once we have a grasp on what people in that area like, we’ll add beers from there. Hopskeller Brewing Co., 116 E. Third St., Waterloo, Illinois, 314.458.4713, hopskellerbrewing.com

Over the course of 2016, we will be traveling around the world, visiting farms, selecting top lots, and learning more from our producer partners. By strengthening our relationships with our producers and communities, we can ensure the quality of your coffee for years to come.

EL SALVADOR january MYANMAR february HONDURAS march BRAZIL july COLOMBIA august HAWAII september ETHIOPIA november RWANDA november

FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY: @KALDIS_COFFEE #FOLLOWTHEGOAT Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

the mix

Tipperary CoCkTail this month, guinness stout, irish whiskey, parades and parties signal annual St. patrick’s day celebrations across the country. instead of green beer, try the tipperary cocktail. it’s not so much of irish origin as it is a cocktail employing the finest spirit the emerald isle has to offer, irish whiskey, and one of only a handful of classic cocktails to do so. the tipperary cocktail first appeared in print in 1916’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Since its publication, the recipe has been cited in a few other classic pre-World War ii cocktail books. the name of the drink has also been applied to a few cocktails that do not contain a morsel of irish origin, despite tipperary being a town and county in ireland. We’ll stick with the oldest and most relevant of tipperary cocktails.

Story and recipeS by Matt Seiter photography by Jonathan gayMan

there are two recipes mentioned here: the original, and a version adapted to better suit the modern palate. the original is sweet – very sweet. Unfortunately, the whiskey gets drowned out by the powerful flavors of the chartreuse. the vermouth-chartreuse combination is also on the viscous side, making the drink a bit thick. it’s not maple-syrup thick, but it’s fairly heavy on the palate with a lingering medicinal flavor. it’s not bad, but it’s not great, either. the updated recipe is very similar to a Manhattan. it allows the whiskey to shine through, supported by the herbal components of chartreuse and vermouth. the bitters help calm any overly sweet notes, and the final drink is not as weighty on the tongue as the original.

Matt Seiter is co-founder of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s St. Louis chapter, a member of the national board for the USBG’s MA program, author of the dive bar of cocktail bars, bartender at BC’s Kitchen and a bar and restaurant consultant.

Tipperary Cocktail (modern) Simply double the recipe to fit an 8-ounce flask to take with you to a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Serves | 1 |

2 ½ ½ 2

oz Redbreast 12-year Irish whiskey oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino oz Green Chartreuse dashes orange bitters ice lemon twist (for garnish)

| Preparation | combine first 4 ingredients in a mixing glass. add ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. garnish with lemon twist. Serve.

Tipperary Cocktail (1916 version) Recipe from recipes for Mixed drinks (1916) by Hugo Ensslin Serves | 1 |

1 1 1

oz Irish whiskey oz Italian vermouth oz Green Chartreuse ice

| Preparation | combine first 3 ingredients in a cocktail shaker. add ice, shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Serve.

on the shelf : march picks

WINE

Davenport orcharDS & winery’S 2013 pinot griS written by Hilary HeDgeS

Stl

josh jones

founder, silo coffee + goods WritteN By DaNieL Puma

provenance: eudora, Kansas pairings: Salmon • Shellfish • Fresh vegetables

Davenport Orchards & Winery in eudora, Kansas, was the first licensed winery in Douglas County. it uses 99 percent estate-grown grapes in its wine, including five Vitis vinifera varieties, which are rare in this part of the country. Davenport winery’s dry, light-bodied Pinot gris has aromas of vanilla and honey with delicate floral notes. it has a refreshing, balanced acidity level that delivers a slight amount of tartness on the front of the palate. Flavors of green apple hit in the middle and crisp citrus notes linger on the finish. Davenport Orchards & Winery, 785.542.2278, davenportwinery.com Hilary Hedges is a former newsie whose passion for wine led her out of the newsroom and into the cellar. She is currently the director of sales and marketing and assistant winemaker at Amigoni Urban Winery in Kansas City’s West Bottoms.

BEER

one on one

new hollanD Brewing co.’S Dragon’S Milk written by branDon niCKelSon

style: barrel-aged imperial Stout (11% abV) pairings: Heavy chocolate desserts

Dragon’s Milk, a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, is one of the only spirit barrel-aged beers available all year long. New Holland Brewing Co. blends both two-month and six-month barrel-aged beers to capture a consistent and delicious flavor. this monster comes in at 11 percent abV and is absolutely a warmer for the cold weather we’re enduring this month. New Holland Brewing Co., 616.355.6422, newhollandbrew.com Brothers Brandon and Ryan Nickelson are available to help with beer picks and pairing recommendations at their store, Craft Beer Cellar, the only all-craft beer shop in the St. Louis area. Craft Beer Cellar is located at 8113 Maryland Ave. in Clayton, Missouri. To learn more, call 314.222.2444 or visit craftbeercellar.com/clayton.

SPIRIT

Still 630’S Big Jake BreakfaSt Brew written by Matt Sorrell

provenance: St. louis (40.5% abV) try it: in a classic old Fashioned – whiskey, sugar, bitters, citrus

peel – then topped with a ½ ounce of heavy cream or half-and-half. Makes a fine brunch tipple or after-dinner drink.

StilL630 Distillery, 314.513.2275, still630.com When he’s not writing, Matt Sorrell can be found slinging drinks at Planter’s House in St. Louis’ Lafayette Square or bartending at events around town with his wife, Beth, for their company, Cocktails Are Go.

hard-pressed to find a more passionate group than the one behind Silo Coffee + Goods – passion for St. Louis, the community and delicious coffee. Josh Jones, the bearded and tattooed South City Gathering Pastor at august Gate Church in St. Louis, launched Silo Coffee along with his wife, Kim, and friends anthony and rachael Burchett. anthony serves at august Gate Church, and rachael is the founder of Solea Water, which fights for access to clean water in Latin american communities. With plans to open its coffee cart inside techartista Coworking Center within the next couple of months, Jones shares the vision behind Silo – it’s more than just coffee. in the meantime, you can purchase Silo’s whole or ground beans on its website. What is the mission of Silo Coffee + Goods? it starts with the name. there’s a story in the Bible about how Joseph, who gets sold into slavery, goes to egypt and then, by God’s moving, becomes Pharaoh’s right-hand man. Pharaoh has a dream about fat and skinny cows and all this kind of stuff – what it meant is there was going to be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine – so Joseph devised this plan to stockpile crops. ever since i was a little kid, i remember this story. i know it’s completely ludicrous, but i imagined silos in ancient egypt. i could just picture Joseph standing in front of these silos and bringing in grain. So the thought popped into me, this idea of gathering good things: people, products and causes. it’s gathering those things so we can promote good. right now, the main way we’re doing that with Silo Coffee is 10 percent of our profits go to Solea Water, which is our first and primary partner. How did Silo get started? i knew Solea was about to lose the funding [rachael] raised to cover her salary. Solea is a 100-percent model – 100 percent of what gets donated to Solea goes to clean-water projects, so she has to raise outside money to pay for her to be able to do her work. racheal was working out of techartista, and they’ve got a partnership with Blueprint Coffee. Blueprint set techartista up with drip coffee, so [the founders of techartista] said [we should] meet mike [marquard] from Blueprint. Now Blueprint has come in and said, “We love what you guys are doing; let us help you.” So they roast our coffee, and they trained us on all of our equipment and are helping us outfit our cart. What products will you offer on the cart? We want to offer a very simple specialty coffee menu. We’re going to be doing pour-overs – we will be experimenting, too, but the Kalita Wave is the manual pour-over method we’ll be using. We enjoy the ease and the even way it extracts. We will offer lattes, cappuccinos and cortados, and we’re working on developing some of our own housemade simple syrups. When it gets warmer, we’ll do some iced options. Blueprint is kind of our blueprint for a lot of this. How do you see the rest of 2016 going? One big thing is connecting more Solea projects with our coffee. We really want to source coffee beans from the Central american areas where Solea is doing clean-water projects. We’re taking this first quarter of 2016 to scout out spots for a brick-and-mortar store. additionally, this year we would like to get moving with the goods side of things, partnering with people here in St. Louis and coming together to sell their goods. Silo Coffee + Goods, inside TechArtista Coworking Center, 4818 Washington Blvd., Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri, silogoods.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

m a r c h 2016

PHotograPHy by JonatHan gayMan

this big, bold, flavored whiskey is based on StilL 630’s big Jake white Dog whiskey, an unaged white rye whiskey. the spirit is infused with a toddy made of Colombia’s Monserrate mountain coffee beans, which lend a green, fruity note to the mix. the beans are aged for a bit in a used Still 630 rally Point rye whiskey barrel for some added oomph, then roasted by local favorite Kaldi’s Coffee roasting Co. the resulting coffee concentrate nicely marries big Jake’s spicy, malty flavor profile. Unlike a coffee liqueur, this spirit is dry as a bone and thus eminently mixable.

ST. LOUIS. you will be

Try our new line of Margaritas! MANGO | HIBISCUS | STRAWBERRY | POMEGRANATE Come in and try King & I’s new desserts featuring our very own signature Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee. Jitter-Mud Thai Iced Coffee, Vanilla Ice cream, Coffee Crystals and Chocolate Thai-Scream Thai Iced Tea, Vanilla Ice cream and Chocolate sauce $3 Appetizers Until 6 pm.

3155 South Grand • St. Louis • 314.771.1777 • kingandistl.com

And Away You Go Interactive Comedy Murder Mystery

Come see the HONEYMOONERS as you’ve never seen them before, Norton, Alice and Trixie are supporting Ralph for his bid to become the Grand Poo Pah of his Racoon Lodge. The competition gets tough when Chester Field, Dorian Buffett, Bill Crates and Donald Crump are all possible Poo Pah’s, too. Someone has the inside track to becoming the Grand Poo Pah, until he is found MURDERED! Help Ralph and Norton track down the killer while you enjoy a 4-course meal to DIE for! Who knows? The killer might even be YOU! Call for reservations today at 314-533-9830 Bring this ad in for $10 off per person Valid through March 2016 Not valid for groups

4426 Randall Place • St. Louis • 314.533.9830 • bissellmansion.com The Muse Chair. Starting at

The Oslo Sectional. Available in over $ 500 fabrics. Starting at

925

come visit the neu kid on the block Dau Neu has changed locations. The Dau Neu brand is now represented at the original Dau Furniture store at 15424 Manchester

The Next Generation of Style™

Road in Ellisville, Missouri. What hasn’t changed is our dedication to bringing you the freshest selection of contemporary home furnishings inspired by the latest design trends. As always, Dau Neu designers are here to help you pull together the perfect room. Visit us today and see what’s Neu!

DauNeu at DauFurniture 15424 Manchester Rd, Ellisville

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MARCH 2016

636 394 3005 dauneu.com

shop here

spice up your pantry on p. 40 PhotograPhy by christoPher smith

shop here

stl

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j. devoti grocery st. Louis. Over 100 years ago, Five Bistro chef-owner

Anthony Devoti’s great-grandfather operated a wholesale grocery in St. Louis. Devoti recently stumbled across a circa-1930 photo of his grandfather, Bart, leaning against the grocery’s truck, emblazoned with the company name: J. Devoti Grocery. Long known for his focus on growing and serving his own produce at Five Bistro, it was natural for Devoti to begin selling items from his garden as well as artisan food-and-drink products. He opened a small retail space in the front room of the bistro, named for the old Devoti family business. The room is filled with shelves and tables of freshly baked breads (think brioche, focaccia and sourdough wheat baguettes), housemade preserves and pickles,

WrITTen By BeTHAny CHrISTO pHOTOGrApHy By CHeryL WALLer

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house-baked treats (cookies, macarons and more), as well as local coffee, truffle sea salt, olive oils, seasonings, sauces, natural cleaning products and, of course, produce from the garden. There’s also a selection of small-production wines and local beers. “It’s completely a boutique shop,” Devoti says. “There was no need to reinvent the wheel and compete against what already exists. We’re a dinner-service place, and this is an outlet for really awesome produce and products from others, as well as what we grow in our garden and make in the kitchen.” J. Devoti Grocery is open Tuesday through Friday during dinner service, as well as during lunch on Saturday, where the chef’s famous burger is a must-try. J. Devoti Grocery, 5100 Daggett ave., the Hill, St. louis, missouri, 314.773.5553, fivebistro.com/shop_2.php

Three musT-buys aT j. devoTi grocery | 1 | Pickles, jams and preserves are

| 2 | “Those flew out around the holidays,”

| 3 | “We do brioche, focaccia, French boule

big sellers, available year round in seasonal flavors such as green-tomato or green-bean pickles and blackberry, strawberry or peach jam.

says Devoti of the cutting boards his father, Joe, makes and sells at J. Devoti, which are available in various sizes and types of wood. Joe is a woodworker who also made the tables, counter and wine storage in the shop, as well as all the dining tables at the bistro.

and a naturally leavened sourdough wheat baguette, as well as olive bread, occasionally,” says Devoti on the housemade breads for sale. “It’s the same brioche on the popular Saturday burger and the baguettes that are served tableside.”

artisan product

rawxies

written by Daniel Puma

Kansas citY. a cross between a nutritional bar and delectable pHOTOGrApHy COurTeSy rAWxIeS

dessert, Rawxies are delicious snacks ideal for curbing hunger. the he treats are oat-based to keep you full and use mostly raw ingredients. with ith no artificial sweeteners, coconut palm sugar keeps it sweet while maintaining a low glycemic index. the he bars are vegan, gluten-free and soy-free; with flavors including chocolate brownie, lemon-poppy seed and mint-chocolate chip, it’s easy to find one you’ll love, at stores across missouri issouri or onine.

feastmagazine.com

Rawxies, 816.231.0486, rawxies.com

m a r c h 2016

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get this gadget

norpro porcelain butter keeper PhotoGraPhy courtesy norPro

GadGet selection by laura laiben, “the Main dish,” the culinary center of Kansas city, Kcculinary.coM written by nancy stiles

it may seem unnatural to store your butter outside of the refrigerator, but that’s the way our grandmothers did it, for good reason. this porcelain butter keeper from norpro can hold an entire stick of butter and keep it fresh, sans refrigeration, for up to 30 days. Just add a little water to seal out the air and keep the butter spreadable. For more information visit norpro.com.

325 S Main St, Saint CharleS, MO 63301 www.bellavinOwinebarStl.COM (636) 724-3434

get this gadget

Experience the best of Kansas City

rsvp international grillin’ goggles technically, these goggles are meant for grilling, but they have an even more common use: chopping onions. Keep your eyes dry when dealing with this oft-used ingredient with rsVP international’s Grillin’ Goggles. they’ve got antifog lenses, a foam seal and even come in a fun hot pink color. For more information or to purchase the goggles, visit rsvp-intl.com.

PhotoGraPhy courtesy rsVP intl

GadGet selection by laura laiben, “the Main dish,” the culinary center of Kansas city, Kcculinary.coM written by nancy stiles

Travel+Leisure 500 World’s Best Hotels KC Visitors’ Choice Award, Best Hotel TripExperts Best of Kansas City, Restaurant

Historic Hotels of America

325 Ward Parkway I Country Club Plaza I 816.756.3800

raphaelkc.com

Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

culinary library

The Chili Cookbook Written by nancy stiles

chili is one of those dishes whose secret recipes cooks fervently guard – no two bowls are alike. James beard award-winning author robb Walsh explores classic tex-Mex, spicy Middle eastern, vegetarian, white chicken and lots more in The Chili Cookbook. there are a whopping 60 recipes to choose from, including regional favorites like the st. louis slinger, Detroit chili dogs and chicago chili mac. robb delves into every aspect of the dish, from degrees of chile hotness to storage of leftovers and historical tidbits like the ancient aztec “chile tax.” Whether you’re determined to win this year’s chili cook-off or just want a killer late- winter dish, The Chili Cookbook is a must-read. by robb Walsh tenspeedpress.com

one on one

david stine owner, david stine woodworking

Written by bethany Christo

DOW, IL. off 1,000 acres of land in southwestern

illinois, an hour north of Downtown st. Louis, David stine operates a small, two-man shop where his specialty monolithic, single-slab dining room tables, coffee tables and beds, as well as desks, benches and headboards are crafted for David Stine Woodworking. he caters to both residential and commercial clients, the latter including niche, Planter’s house, Whitebox eatery and the recently opened Porano Pasta in the st. Louis area and many high-end clients on the coasts. ninety percent of the wood comes from stine’s 500 forested acres of Midwestern hardwoods – cherry, walnut, oak, white pine, sycamore and 50 other species – all harvested, logged and milled by stine himself, the same way four generations did before him.

died – i’m not out there cutting down the best stuff. i was taught to use what you need and leave the rest for the next guy. that way, it will always be possible to make a living off the land. it’s not a hobby for me. it’s a way of life. Tell us about your most recent St. Louis project with Porano Pasta. [Chef-owner] Gerard [Craft] and i speak the same language – he understands that i have to make a living with this, as well, but we’re both trying to achieve a common goal. We both want our clients’ experience to [be to] leave happy. Gerard and his team picked all the slabs out for niche. [at Porano], we worked together to come up with pieces that could be easily reproduced at other locations across the country. i used Midwest mixed oak for two- and four-top random-width tables with a straight edge, as well as the 15-footlong but really narrow (30-inch) ordering table and a single-slab, 14-foot-by-36-inch-wide community table. the cool thing is that they’re sequential slabs – the ordering table is no. 3 from a log, and the community table is no. 4, so they have a really similar shape and color. David Stine Woodworking, by appointment, Dow, Illinois, 618.946.1413, stinewoodworking.com

“The besT Thing abouT living and working in The MidwesT is ThaT you have soMe of The besT raw MaTerials in The world righT here.” 38

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PhotograPhy courtesy DaviD stine WooDWorking

How did your business begin? i’d always worked with my hands growing up on a dairy farm in illinois and logging our land’s timber. i worked in high school and college as a diesel mechanic foreman. When i got to Washington, D.C, for law school, i got myself a small set of tools and found a small work space. i started making humidors for people in 1995 and

taking other wood work until moving back to the farm and the forest in 2002 with my family. Why do you like creating pieces in large, monolithic style? i’m a big guy, and i always like working big. i respond strongly to the boards coming right off the log without having to do a single thing to it. the best thing about living and working in the Midwest is that you have some of the best raw materials in the world right here: When you drag it out of the woods, it’s almost done – the grain, the knots, the scars, the character. the differences are what make it interesting. How are your pieces unique? i’ve never sold a piece of furniture to anyone. People fall in love with it, and then they buy it. i can’t talk you into this stuff – you either respond to it or you don’t. We pick the slab of lumber together; we talk about shapes, sizes, colors, bases, finishes, everything. i’ve seen the same style of table look fantastic in a Greek revival dining room with padded chairs and also in a super-modern, sleek, stainless steel and glass and in a super-modern apartment in soho. Tell us about the forest. i probably have 10,000 slabs of lumber, dry and ready to go, sitting here in my shop, and and i probably have five options for what you’re looking for. i take whatever falls, whatever

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Inspired Local Food Culture

MARCH 2016

savory spice shop

shop here

Written by Jenny Vergara

kansas city. Savory Spice Shop, a Denver-based chain started by Mike and Janet Johnston in 2004, specializes in selling high-quality, freshly ground spices and seasonings. the first Kansas City location opened in the former James Hallmark Shop in brookside last year, offering everything from allspice to zaatar. you’ll find both everyday pantry staples as well as more exotic and hard-to-find seasonings.

to help kick-start your knowledge of spices, Savory Spice Shop suggests picking up one of its popular hand-crafted spice and herb blends that are made in small batches weekly and shipped from Denver to each store. rolling out in the next couple months, the brookside store will offer custom blends made right in the shop.

each Savory Spice Shop has its own go-to spice expert; here, it’s Kansas City-native rebecca tombaugh. be sure to ask about the recipe for her hot mango-chile sugar cookies, plus tips on how long you should keep spices on the shelf and the best way to store them to ensure freshness. Savory Spice Shop, 6245 Brookside Blvd., Brookside, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.656.5520, savoryspiceshop.com

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seedgeeks written By Daniel PuMa

BrentWood, Mo. SeedGeeks offers a plethora of heirloom, untreated and open-pollinated seeds, including allsweet watermelon, yellow Sweet Spanish onion, Dill Bouquet and wild sunflower. whether you want to plant vegetables, herbs or flowers, SeedGeeks provides non-GMO seeds ideal for any urban agrarian in the St. louis area. Be sure to try its handcrafted lip balms, soaps and beeswax candles, too.

SeedGeeks, 8816 Manchester Road #114, Brentwood, Missouri, 314.720.1820, seedgeeks.com PHoto CourteSy SeeDgeeKS

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m a r c h 2016

PHotograPHy by CHriStoPHer SMitH

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MARCH 2016

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healthy appetite

get the best of broth worlds on p. 44 photography by sherrie Castellano

healthy appetite

SprinG Green ramen with Garlic-GinGer Broth I hesitate to even call this ramen, as I have little-to-no experience learning how to cook a traditional recipe. But because ramen comes in all shapes and sizes, this veggie-filled, hyper-umami, garlic-ginger broth will surely satisfy skeptics, no matter what you call it. Ramen exists in a wide variety of styles and is broadly categorized by its two main ingredients: noodles and broth. The noodles, both straight and curly versions, are traditionally made from hard wheat flour, salt, water and kansui – an alkaline mixture that’s prevalent in Asian countries but harder to source in the U.S. – though plenty of ramen varieties today include nontraditional options like vermicelli (rice) and soba (buckwheat) noodles. Ramen broth is generally divided into four categories: shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso (fermented soybean paste) and tonkotsu (pork) – though the first three are

seasonings to flavor the soup while the last is a broth base. Ramen can be classified by heaviness, as well – from kotteri (rich) to assari (light). However, the new and inventive creations found on menus in noodle shops right now can make these distinctions a little less defined. Although not traditional in any sense, I suppose this spring green ramen recipe would fall under the shio category, on the assari side. What I like best about this recipe is its flexibility and ease. The pungent aromatics need only about 10 minutes to simmer into a full-bodied broth. After the broth is made, you can switch out the veggies for whatever you have on hand, depending on preference or the season. To celebrate the warmer weather on its way, I have chosen a few vegetables that are typically plentiful during springtime.

Sherrie Castellano is a certified health coach, food writer and photographer based in St. Louis. She writes and photographs the seasonally inspired vegetarian and gluten-free food blog, With Food + Love. Sherrie’s work has been featured on the pages of Driftless Magazine, Vegetarian Times, Food52 and Urban Outfitters, among others. You can find her hanging with her aviation enthusiast husband sipping Earl Grey tea, green juice, and/or bourbon.

SToRy, RecIpe AnD pHoTogRApHy By SHeRRIe cASTeLLAno

Spring Green Ramen with Garlic-Ginger Broth Serves | 4 to 6 | 3 6 2 4 4 1 ½ 4 ½ 1 2 3 3 1

tbsp olive or sesame oil cloves garlic, minced tbsp grated fresh ginger cups vegetable broth cups water tsp sea salt, plus more to taste tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste oz rice noodles cup peas cup diced asparagus cups baby spinach tbsp chopped scallions soft-boiled eggs, halved raw watermelon radish, julienned sprouts (for garnish)

| Preparation | In a large skillet over low heat, heat oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring continuously, 1 minute. Increase heat to medium and add broth, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add noodles and simmer for 5 minutes. Add peas and asparagus and cook until noodles are tender, 2 minutes. Turn heat off and stir in spinach and scallions. Ladle ramen into bowls and top each with half an egg, watermelon radish and sprouts as desired. Serve.

I WIsh I KneW...

creative easter brunch ideas

Written by Daniel Puma

The hearTland Table an evening of epicurian delight March 15 : 5p to 9p | Tom's Town distillery 1701 Main street, kc | 816-541-2400

deviled eggs. Break the rut of the

same old mustardy deviled eggs. Look at the dish as a blank canvas and use cultural cuisines from across the U.S. as inspiration for the hard-boiled delectables. Add a barbecue spice rub and chopped bacon for a smoky surprise or mix in avocado and top with pico de gallo for south-of-the-border flair.

lamb. The sky’s the limit when deciding how to flavor your lamb, whether it’s a rack or a leg. Use basil pesto as a crust to bring herbaceous aromas with a nutty bite from pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese, or try a glaze of fig jam and sprinkling of crushed Marcona almonds to bring a salty, sweet pairing. The key to your showpiece being delicious is proper temperature control: Use a digital probe thermometer to ensure the lamb is not overcooked or underdone.

whipped sweet potatoes. A much healthier take on classic mashed or whipped

potatoes, sweet potatoes are simple to prepare and pack a flavorful punch. While boiling the sweet potatoes, steep onions and garlic in milk until very tender. After straining the potatoes, whip the milk, onions and garlic using an electric hand mixer, then season with salt and pepper to taste for a savory rendition. Whip in a little bit of bourbon if you’re looking for an extra kick.

glazed carrots. Escape to the tropics this Easter by bringing island flavors to your glazed carrots. Add citrusy brightness with a punch of key lime juice, honey and cilantro. If you are looking for a little sweet heat instead, spice them up with Jamaican jerk seasoning rather than cilantro. ham. Nothing pairs with pork quite like Dr. Pepper. Not too sweet and with a rich depth of

flavor, baste your ham with this scholarly soda for a sweet unique glaze. Add chopped fresh cherries to the basting liquid and reduce for a deliciously sweet and porcine-enriched sauce to top the ham at the table.

mimosa. This sparkling wine and orange juice libation has been a brunch mainstay for

years. Switch it up easily with by swapping for pineapple or grapefruit juice. Frozen berries make the perfect ice cube alternate for those who drink on the slow side. Make sure to keep some sparkling apple juice on hand so the underage members of your family can join in.

carrot cake. Although it’s tough

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to improve the classic carrot cake’s flavor, elevating the presentation is an easy enhancement. Serve an unfrosted slice of warm carrot cake with a large spoonful of cream cheese ice cream. Sweet, spicy, warm, cold and creamy, this is the perfect spectrum of textures, temperatures and tastes to finish off your Easter brunch.

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Inspired Local Food Culture

MARCH 2016

mystery shopper

Sorrel leaveS turn over a new leaf this spring with a seasonal favorite: sorrel leaves. What Is It?

sorrel is a perennial garden herb, easily identified by its large, spear-shaped leaves, which sprout up in small bunches, and by the vibrant burgundy flowers adorning it during summer months. on first glance, sorrel might look like spinach or basil, but this little leaf packs a seriously sour punch – lemony, intense and anything but boring. buy it now: although the leaves are available nearly year-round, they’re at their best during the spring and early summer before the sweltering heat sets in.

story and recipe by shannon Weber photography by jennifer silverberg

What Do I Do WIth It?

as it turns out, you can do quite a bit with this pucker-inducing herb, raw or cooked. you might have even had it before: it’s often featured alongside spinach in spanakopita, a savory greek pastry. russians make a green version of classic borscht with it, and europeans know it best as the featured ingredient in a sweet-and-sour green condiment used with meats. blend it into soups and stews, fill tarts and savory pies, or add a burst of flavor to mild vegetables like potatoes. in its raw form, sorrel is a delight, too – add to salads or spin into a bright, springy pesto or sauce to use on eggs, meat and fish.

Shannon Weber is the creator, author and photographer behind the award-winning blog aperiodictableblog.com, and her work has appeared on websites such as bon appétit, serious eats and america’s test Kitchen. She is a self-taught baker and cook who believes the words “I can’t” should never apply to food preparation and that curiosity can lead to wonderful things, in both the kitchen and in life.

Sorrel and Spring Vegetable Wheat Berry Salad This salad has it all: the crunch of spring vegetables and the satisfying chew of wheat berries, brought together with bursts of tangy lemon. To transform it from a side into more of a main dish, simply toss 4 to 5 ounces of arugula in a little of the vinaigrette until the leaves are slicked, divide onto plates and top with the wheat berry salad. Serves | 4 | Vinaigrette

¼ cup olive oil 2 Tbsp Champagne vinegar juice of 2 lemons ¼ tsp chile flakes sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Sorrel and Spring Vegetable Wheat berry Salad

1½ cups cooked and cooled wheat berries 8 oz asparagus, trimmed and shaved with a vegetable peeler 1 cup sweet peas ¾ oz sorrel leaves, roughly chopped 1 small bunch red radishes, sliced into thin rings 2 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley 2 scallions, trimmed and sliced into thin rings

| Preparation – Vinaigrette | in a small bowl, whisk olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and chile flakes until combined. season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to refrigerator to chill.

| Preparation – Sorrel and Spring Vegetable Wheat Berry Salad | in a large bowl, combine wheat berries and half of vinaigrette; stir to incorporate. cover and place in refrigerator for 1 hour. remove wheat berry blend from refrigerator and toss together with remaining ingredients until evenly distributed. add more vinaigrette as needed, toss to coat and season to taste with salt and pepper. divide onto plates and serve immediately.

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MARCH 2016

menu options

’ Grand Marnier Souffle

Classic, sophisticated and oft-overlooked, a Grand Marnier soufflé is an elegant and delicious end to any meal. Although not a new dish by any stretch of the imagination, this recipe does address the do’s and don’ts of the sometimes-daunting experience of making a soufflé. Soufflés wait for no one – it’s helpful to have all ingredients

measured out and in order before starting to ensure your success. Most importantly, be certain not to open the oven door while baking and have plates ready to rest the ramekins on so that they can be served immediately. Rich, custardlike crème anglaise makes the perfect accompaniment for this soufflé; visit feastmagazine.com to find our recipe.

chef’s tips ADD AS DIRECTED. Adding cream of tartar helps to stabilize

egg whites, and adding sugar partway through the beating process helps ensure the whites rise evenly. once egg whites are whipped, use them immediately.

FOILED AGAIN. be sure all equipment is clean and oil-free when beating egg whites. Wiping the bowl, whisk, beater and spatula with a clean paper towel and white vinegar is a good trick for getting rid of any oil residue.

the menu • Beet Salad • Roasted Pork Chop with Cornbread Stuffing • Green Beans Amandine • Grand Marnier Soufflé • Crème Anglaise

LEARN MORE. learn to make the delicate Grand Marnier soufflé and a rich, sweet, versatile crème anglaise to accompany it. besides dessert, you’ll complete the meal with a juicy, roasted pork chop served with cornbread stuffing, green beans amandine and a bright beet salad.

get hands-on: Join Feast Magazine and schnucks Cooks Cooking school on Wed., March 23, at 6pm at the des Peres, Missouri, location, 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 or call 314.909.1704.

StoRy And ReCipe by GAbRielle deMiChele photoGRAphy by JennifeR SilveRbeRG

Grand marnier soufflé Serves | 8 | 6 Tbsp softened unsalted butter, plus more for buttering ramekins 1 cup sugar, divided, plus more 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour 1 cup whole milk 7 egg yolks ¼ tsp vanilla 1⁄8 tsp orange oil 2 tsp orange zest pinch sea salt 2 Tbsp Grand marnier 8 large egg whites 1⁄8 tsp cream of tartar boiling water crème anglaise (to serve)

| preparation | preheat oven to 400°f. Generously coat 8 1-cup ramekins with softened butter, then coat with sugar. Knock out excess sugar and set aside. in a heavy, 1½-quart saucepan on medium-low heat, melt butter and whisk in flour. Cook, whisking continuously, 3 minutes. Add milk and increase heat to medium, whisking, until very thick and pulls away from sides. transfer to a bowl and cool. in a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, vanilla, oil, zest and salt. Whisk in milk mixture and Grand Marnier until smooth. Set aside. in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-low speed, beat whites, cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon sugar for 10 seconds until combined. increase to medium-high and whip until frothy and no longer translucent, 2 minutes. With mixer running, sprinkle in half of remaining sugar; continue whipping until whites form soft peaks, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in remaining sugar with mixer still running and whip until just combined, about 10 seconds. Whites should form soft peaks when beater is lifted but shouldn’t be dry or resemble Styrofoam. Whisk about ¼ of the meringue into yolk mixture to lighten. fold in remaining meringue gently. fill ramekins with batter just to rims. Without touching ramekin, run tip of a paring knife through batter about ½-inch from ramekin’s edge. Arrange at least 1½ inches apart in a large baking pan with sides. place in middle rack of oven. immediately add enough boiling water to pan to reach halfway up sides of ramekins. bake 20 minutes or until puffed. Remove when center jiggles slightly and tops are golden. transfer ramekins to dessert plates. With 2 forks, pull open center of each soufflé and pour crème anglaise into opening. Serve immediately.

Beginning in April

WATCH IT ON THESE NETWORKS

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) or visit ninenet.org to watch Feast TV.

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19) or at kcpt.org.

You can watch Feast TV throughout mid-Missouri on KMOS (Channel 6) or at kmos.org.

Feast TV will air in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8) or at wsiu.org.

When you want to delight, trust Schnucks Florist & Gifts! Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find fresh bouquets, arrangements, corsages, balloons and gifts for all your spring celebrations. Or, have one of our professional designers, many of whom are FTDÂŽ certified, create an extra special design! Visit your Schnucks Florist Shop or shop our entire collection at schnucksfloral.com

Feast TV is presented by Missouri Wines with additional support from Whole Foods Market.

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Inspired Local Food Culture

march 2016

sweet ideas

hummingbird CupCakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

STOry And rEcIpE By chrISTy AuguSTIn phOTOgrAphy By chEryl WAllEr

Either way, the cake has become entrenched in Southern baking tradition, especially when iced with cream cheese buttercream. The ripe bananas, crushed pineapple, coconut and toasted nuts combine to create a flavor that’s part carrot cake, part banana bread – and pure delight. Although the original recipe can resemble poundcake in texture, I But the main reason to make this treat is because of how moist and delicious hummingbird cake can be. Originally from lighten it here by reducing the oil, adding more leavener and Jamaica, where it’s known as doctor bird cake – another name changing the method a bit. I’ve included my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe, as well; I find that just the right for one of Jamaica’s national symbols, the hummingbird – a “dose” of this nectar-sweet cake is actually in cupcake form. 1978 Southern Living recipe holds claim as the first printed It also makes a wonderful layer cake or even Bundt cake – it’s recipe using its current moniker. Through a little digging, easy to see why many a Southern baker calls this the “cake though, a recipe published in 1972 by a small newspaper in that won’t last.” Mexico, Missouri, might test this widely held belief. One of the many reasons to reach for this sophisticated tropical recipe is to get yourself through spring’s lion-tolamb passage. The fruity flavor, with a just a touch of spice, will hint the return of warm weather.

Christy Augustin has had a lifelong love affair with all things sweet. After working as a pastry chef in New Orleans and St. Louis, she opened Pint Size Bakery & Coffee in St. Louis’ Lindenwood Park in 2012. She calls herself the baker of all things good and evil. Learn more at pintsizebakery.com.

Hummingbird Cupcakes Yields | 24 to 28 cupcakes | Hummingbird cupcakes

1 1 1 1 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 1⁄8 1⁄8 2 1 ½ ¾

cup granulated sugar cup tightly packed brown sugar tsp kosher salt cup canola oil zest of 1 orange large eggs tsp vanilla extract or dark rum Tbsp honey cups unbleached all-purpose flour tsp baking powder tsp baking soda tsp ground cinnamon tsp ground nutmeg tsp ground cardamom cups mashed ripe bananas 8-oz can crushed pineapple, undrained cup sweetened, flaked coconut cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans toasted coconut, candied nuts or edible flowers (for garnish)

cream cHeese Frosting

2 8-oz packages cream cheese 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy pinch kosher salt ¼ tsp vanilla extract

| Preparation – Hummingbird Cupcakes | preheat oven to 350ºF. line cupcake tins with paper liners. using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high, whip sugars, salt, oil, zest, eggs, vanilla and honey until fluffy, 4 minutes. Meanwhile, sift flour, leaveners and spices and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine bananas and pineapple with its juice. Add half of fruit mixture to sugar mixture, then mix in half of flour mixture, and repeat. Mix just until combined. Finish by stirring in coconut and nuts. Spoon into cupcake liners, about two-thirds full, and bake, 25 to 30 minutes. Finished products should be a dark, golden brown and spring back to the touch. let cool completely before icing.

| Preparation – Cream Cheese Frosting | using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium, beat cream cheese to soften and remove lumps. remove from bowl and set aside. combine remaining ingredients and cream on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese back and beat on medium-high until wellcombined and super fluffy.

| Assembly | Ice cupcakes with the back of a large soup spoon, placing big dollops of frosting on top and swirling around. garnish with toasted coconut, candied nuts or edible flowers. refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.

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MARCH 2016

| 54 |

itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all on the line

| 62 |

eat here in 2016

St. Louis chef Ben Grupe hopes to lead Team USA to international victory in the 2016 Culinary Olympics. Meet the chefs impacting the local food scene with some of the most exciting restaurants of the year.

| 77 |

bringing it home

| 82 |

breaking into bread

Why two celebrated culinary couples left the coasts to join the growing and thriving culinary scenes in Kansas City and St. Louis.

A handful of fine-dining chefs are moving out of the kitchen and into artisan bread bakeries to pursue old world-style loaves. phOTOGrAphy OfTrUffLe-STUffed ChiCKen GALAnTine frOM hArveST (p. 69) By STArBOArd & pOrT CreATive

It’s all On the lIne Day One It’s 6am in Frankfurt, Germany, and Alexandra Grupe’s suitcase is leaking blood onto the floor of Frankfurt International Airport as she rolls it past customs agents. She’s silently begging them not to look her way and keep drinking coffee instead. Her heart pounds in her chest, and she glances at her family and friends, who are also dragging leaky luggage. Everyone looks scared; they have to make it through customs without getting caught. The culinary team can’t win without the sirloins they are trying to smuggle into the country. Thankfully, the agents wave everyone through without a glance at the suitcases or at the faint trail of blood they leave behind. On the other side of the gate, Alexandra passes the illicit, meat-filled suitcase off to chef Tim Prefontaine and breathes a sigh of relief. Most ordinary spouses probably never have to smuggle meat into foreign countries, but her husband, Ben Grupe, isn’t ordinary – he’s a St. Louis-based chef and member of Team USA. She climbs into a sedan with the supporting members of the team to begin the two-and-a-halfhour drive to Erfurt, Germany, where her husband and the others are preparing to compete in the 2012 Culinary Olympics.

Almost four years later, Grupe and his American Culinary Federation (ACF) Culinary Team USA teammates are now busy preparing for the next Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) International Culinary Exhibition, usually referred to as the Culinary Olympics. Around 1,500 chefs from more than 50 countries will compete for the gold in both hot- and cold-food categories. The competition is in Erfurt on Oct. 22 to 25 this year. The Culinary Olympics began in 1896 – the U.S. has been competing since 1956 – and in many countries, it’s hugely popular. It’s held in the Messe Erfurt, the second-largest convention site in Germany, which often hosts concerts and musicals. During the Culinary Olympics, it’s packed with fans from around the world. “Team Norway travels with probably 500 spectators,” Grupe says. ”The Baltic countries have lots of fans who are like football fans with horns, and they are yelling and screaming while wearing team T-shirts.” Many countries’ governments sponsor their teams, but the American team is sponsored by the ACF. During the 2012 Olympics, all the Team USA teams – national, regional, 54

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st. lOuIs chef Ben Grupe hOpes tO leaD team usa tO InternatIOnal vIctOry In thIs year’s culInary OlympIcs. WRITTEn by Shannon CoThRan

PhoTogRaPhy by PETER TayloR

military and youth – finished in the top 10, earning two gold and five silver medals. Team USA will arrive at a community college in Erfurt a few days before the first event, the hot-food competition called the Restaurant of Nations, so named because diners enjoying the teams’ creations eat the best of each cuisine from dozens of different countries. Chefs from each country have six hours to prepare for a two-and-a-half-hour a la carte service, during which they serve 110 diners who have prepurchased tickets. While they cook and serve three courses – a seafood appetizer, a meat entrée and a dessert – they are judged by a set of jury members who walk through their kitchens and scrutinize every counter, container, apron and movement, as well as a jury devoted to flavor and taste. Along with the Restaurant of Nations’ prepared food, the teams also compete in a cold-food category. “The cold-food program is food presented at the highest level for [display] purposes,” Grupe says. “The food is preserved with aspic, which is gelatin, for presentation. Classically [the cold program] was used as serving garde manger [cold] pâtés, terrines, things of that nature.” To win a medal in either competition, chefs have to maintain perfection, not just achieve it. Every team enters with 100 points, and judges deduct points if and when anything is less than gold-medal standard. There are two sets of juries for the hot program: a tasting panel, which sees nothing of the kitchen or the chefs and constitutes 40 percent of the total points, and a kitchen jury. The latter judges the team on sanitation, teamwork, mise en place (having everything in its place before cooking, including measured ingredients), knife skills and communication. During the 2012 Culinary Olympics, Team USA captain Joseph Leonardi was filleting black cod for the seafood appetizer. “If it hadn’t have been properly stored when we were bringing it in, we would’ve been docked points,” Grupe says. “If he took too much flesh off with his knife, they would take points away for being wasteful. We had a very high kitchen score.” Kitchen jury members take samples of everything to ensure the ingredients are fresh and top-quality. “They also taste every single piece of our mise en place before we start cooking,” Grupe says. “They make sure you’re not bringing in finished, premade sauces or meats.”

PICTURED: Ben Grupe and Team USA at the Electrolux North American headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a practice session focused on cold food display tables and preparing items for the Restaurant of Nations.

Day Two anD Three His alarm trills at 5am, and Grupe can’t afford to hit the snooze button. While on his way out the hotel’s door, he is stopped by his team manager, Steve Jilleba, who insists he sit down to have family breakfast. Because the six chefs on the national team run on little sleep for five straight days of competition, there are supporting members of the team who make sure the chefs take time to eat a healthy meal together three times a day so they can stay at the top of their game. After breakfast, Grupe goes to the college to start setting up the kitchen just like the one they use in the U.S., mirroring each piece of equipment as much as possible so the German space looks like home. The ACF keeps a storage facility at the school with Vitamixes, European sheet pans and other gear competitors need; the rest was unloaded late yesterday when the team arrived from the airport or purchased at markets this morning.

The members unpack food from shipments and local markets and get to work. Today, they’re making beef and chicken stocks and fish fumet. They’re also peeling carrots, onions, garlic and shallots; picking through thyme, rosemary and parsley; and sizing broccoli stems in uniform cuts for the entrée. “This is when we start production on our cold-display table and mise en place for our hot kitchen,” Grupe says. “We make sure everything is at its optimal, top quality [when] making stocks, butchering and sourcing products.” When the basics for the next day’s competition have been prepared, they are carefully sealed and labeled in containers before being loaded into vans. The team will be rolling out before sunrise the next morning, bound for the competition grounds.

Grupe has been a member of Team USA since 2010. After a lengthy application process, he was invited to a tryout and won the highest score on cold food of any applicant that year. He was only 27 years old. He grew up eating elaborate holiday meals at his great-aunt’s house and started experimenting with cooking in high school. It wasn’t until his first job as a dishwasher at the now-closed B. Tomas in Clayton, Missouri, that he realized he wanted to be a chef. “Getting skillets thrown at me, getting yelled at every day – that’s where it clicked,” Grupe says. “I was really attracted to the environment and the camaraderie in the kitchen, and then having a sense of accomplishment.” Line cooks at B. Tomas saw potential in the young Grupe and encouraged him to go to culinary school. “I enrolled in St. Louis Community College-Forest Park and worked with Chris Desens at the Racquet Club Ladue – that’s my boy,” he says of Desens, who is now the program director at the Culinary Institute of St. Louis at Hickey College. “He pushed me. That’s when I got involved with the ACF and competing and got into the Greenbrier. I had a spark, and Desens turned me into this crazy freak show of a competition monster.” The Greenbrier refers to The Greenbrier Culinary Apprenticeship Program in West Virginia. The program has trained some of the world’s top chefs and culinary leaders, including Michael Voltaggio, the winner of the sixth season of Top Chef. It is not a culinary school, but rather an intense, hands-on training program. During his apprenticeship, Grupe was mentored by chef Peter Timmins, an ACF Certified Master Chef – the organization’s highest honor – who won many gold medals at the Culinary Olympics. There is no other chef Grupe admires more. At the Greenbrier, Grupe sharpened his mise en place and knife skills, which are central to any cooking competition. “On the international competition stage, if you don’t have those basic fundamentals, you’re setting yourself up for failure,” he says. “It’s imperative that you can handle a knife. It affects how visually appealing the food is, and you’re going to get points deducted if you’re not properly filleting a fish.” The ACF states that candidates for Team USA are evaluated not only on their cooking skills but also on their “personality, attitude and the ability to excel and work cohesively in a team.” Because of his skill set and calm leadership abilities, Grupe was chosen by team coaches and advisors to serve as captain for the 2016 Team USA, and the significance of this title isn’t lost on him. “The pedigree of chefs who have been bestowed that honor before – it’s pretty impressive,” he says. “It was a huge, huge honor, but with that also comes a lot of responsibilities.” 56

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Grupe will be tasked with accounting for every minute of preparation and serving time, color-coding recipes and labeling products, helping the whole team work together as one and keeping every aspect of the menu going as planned. Chef Corey Siegel, another member of Team USA and fellow Greenbrier graduate, believes Grupe makes an excellent captain. “Ben is continuously striving to take the team to the next level, just as chef Timmins did with Ben,” Siegel says. “He always likes to take any negative challenge and create a positive outlook on it. When Ben is in the kitchen, it is always go time, [but] he likes to watch others having fun cooking beside him and loves to crack a joke or two every now and then.”

day four It’s 5:30pm the day of the Restaurant of Nations, and none of the chefs are talking to one another; they’re intensely focused. The air is thick with the scent of spices, sauces and other food smells – fare from Singapore, Sweden, Spain – but the American chefs barely notice. Grupe is at the stove working on the seafood appetizer, sautéed black cod with chive butter sauce, and he glances up for a moment. Spectators are pressed up against the kitchen booth’s glass partitions, watching his every move. “I think I understand how gorillas in zoos feel,” he mutters. Behind him, diners wait to be served at the sold-out tables, and servers move confidently among the rows, speaking French, German and languages he doesn’t recognize. Judges enter the booth, and his eyes move back to the cod in front of him. “It’s not just spectators watching you; it’s a panel of chefs on the jury watching you the whole time,” Grupe says, “taking their pencils and moving your stuff around and looking under it.” In a few minutes, Grupe will be on the stove helping with the entrée, a roasted strip loin – the ones that had to be smuggled through the airport, in fact – with a red wine sauce, truffle potato and celery root with braised oxtail, sautéed mushrooms and other ingredients molded into a mat made with agar agar, sautéed root vegetables, broccoli

PICTURED ABOVE: At the practice session the team creates a mock up of their cold program and hot-food menu and then spend hours critiquing their own work.

“It’s havIng confIdence In yourself to know

three ways, fried béarnaise and pickled grape tomato. His pastry teammates are busy plating the dessert, a chocolate Bavarian bar with almond cake and vanilla custard with a pineapple donut; strawberry, mango and pineapple sorbets; and mango and berry sauces. The tickets are coming in fast and in the wrong order: Grupe expected to serve appetizers first, then entrées, then desserts, but some guests have decided to start with dessert, and it’s thrown the team off. He thrives on the intensity, and the team is amped up despite the surprise, ready to grab the gold. Team USA is a well-oiled machine during every competition. Instead of nine separate entities, they must work together flawlessly. The 2016 Olympic team includes George Castaneda, Certified Executive Chef (CEC); Joseph Albertelli; Corey Siegel, CEC; Ben Grupe; Jason Hall, Certified Master Chef; Matthew Seasock, CEC; and the pastry team of Susan Notter, Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC); Andy Chlebana, CEPC; and Allison Murphy, CEPC. Each chef is assigned specific tasks during competitions

and attends monthly practice sessions (usually held in Chicago), where they complete a mock Olympics, doing the preparation and service the same way they will during the real competition. After they create the cold program and hot-food menu, they then spend hours dissecting them, critiquing their own work. The competing chefs are not paid for their time with Team USA. Grupe makes the sacrifices necessary to be involved because of the education it affords him. “You really hone your techniques, craftsmanship and time management, which is a very important part of it,” he says. “And the connections and resources through the team, the coaching staff and the pedigree of chefs prior – many are Certified Master Chefs – we’re all like sponges absorbing them.”

thIs Is what the end result Is goIng to be and thIs Is what we need to do to get there.”

-Ben Grupe

Day Five The Restaurant of Nations is behind them, but Grupe and team have spent the whole day preparing their coldfood display. This is where Grupe really shines. In the past, Grupe has seen competitors display dishes that look like they should be in a modern art museum, but he feels this puts focus on the props instead of the food. His own cold program is displayed on Villeroy & Boch’s Modern Grace fine bone china, a white pattern that is somehow angular and curved at the same time. He also contracted an American silversmith to make trays that perfectly fit into the white platters for a subtle, refined contrast. Grupe has prepared a halibut and king crab terrine with fine herbs and squid ink. The king crab is sheathed in a black-and-white-striped wrap made from lemon and squid ink mousselines hardened on Silpats. Each terrine looks like a piece of glass made by a master craftsman, but it is real food coated in aspic and will spoil in a few days. “Since the existence of the Culinary Olympics, [the cold program] has been a way to showcase a country’s food in a preserved way,” Grupe says. “You’re showcasing hot food presented cold. You have to fashion the food and make it [appear] hot.” Some of the items are meant to be served cold, as well, like the king crab terrine.

to his tutelage under Timmins. “A portion of my apprenticeship was doing this,” he says. “As students, we were held to the same international competition level. I just adopted that level, and it became all I knew.” While training for the 2014 Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup, there were two other chefs on Team USA who had worked for Timmins, and the three were crushed to learn their mentor died, just a month before the competition. They decided they needed his guidance during the competition and hung his picture in their booth so Timmins could watch over them. “We felt the best way to honor him was to put him in the kitchen with us so he was with us in spirit,” Grupe says. “When Singapore was cooking in that kitchen two days later, I was hanging back to answer questions while people were cleaning up. I was reflecting on the past couple days and noticed Singapore hadn’t taken down the photo. He was still there…” Grupe stops to quietly compose himself before continuing. “It was a very emotional, exciting point. He meant a lot to a lot of people. It was a surreal moment.”

When he begins planning, Grupe “starts with the menu composition” – ironic, given the cold program’s food is used solely for visual appeal. Some chefs take a shortcut with inedible foodstuffs, but not Grupe. He knows that without starting with cohesive flavors and balance, the skills he’ll gain from creating a cold program won’t cross over into his day-to-day work as a chef making visually appealing food for diners to actually enjoy eating. “Doing this work builds a strong foundation and gives you a skill set on presentations and the process of writing a menu,” he says. “That’s the purpose – you get the skills of charcuterie, sauce-making and butchery.” As a chef, sustainable ingredients are always on Grupe’s mind, and the wastefulness of the traditional cold program isn’t lost on him; it uses food that is looked at and then thrown away. “It has been discussed in the competition community that it’s a dying art and not very cost-effective,” he admits. “They’re looking into different ways to engage in the cold-food category. At the end of the day, it’s about being responsible, and it’s a shame not to use the food that’s produced.” As his tryout score indicated, Grupe’s cold-program skills are some of the best in the nation, and he attributes this 58

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Day Six

Grupe is sitting in a car headed back to the airport in Frankfurt. Alexandra and his family and friends left the day before. He feels like a deflated balloon – the competition high is gone, yet he can’t help a small smile. He and his teammates banded together despite the stress and gave their all. “It’s having confidence in yourself to know this is what the end result is going to be and this is what we need to do to get there,” he says. The team ranked sixth out of 35, earning a silver in both the hot and cold programs. When he lands in St. Louis, Grupe will get back to his everyday life with his wife and their two young sons, Thomas and Bennett.

Grupe has had a few successful turns at bringing his food to St. Louisians through pop ups around the city. “I think any chef’s ultimate goal is to have a place of [his or her] own – an extension of [his or her] personality where you can have people come and enjoy your food,” he says. “I wanted to challenge myself with the creativity of food, and pop ups are very exciting. They let me introduce myself to the public.” The next Ben Grupe Dinner Series will be on Mon., March 14, at Old Barns Inn at The Inns at St. Albans in St. Albans, Missouri. He creates the dinners “in collaboration with local artisans, chefs and farmers,” and the menus typically consist of five courses featuring regionally sourced proteins and seasonal hyperlocal produce, sourced from urban farms and from four of his own plots. For the next eight months, while balancing his family life and dinner series, Grupe will be doing research and development for the competition menus and monthly practice for the October 2016 Culinary Olympics. Alexandra, who is a chef at the Racquet Club Ladue, is ready to provide all the support her husband needs, even if it means smuggling more meat into Germany. “We’ve been together for 11 years, and at the beginning, this was a goal of his,” she says. “To see him accomplish this goal is an amazing thing. Few people understand what an amazing thing this is – as a [fellow] chef, I have a decent understanding of how hard it is.” Someday, Grupe plans on taking his sons to see the Olympics as a spectator instead of a competitor. He’s looking forward to enjoying the food as a diner and seeing the changes in cooking and the Olympic program.

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It’s January 2016, and Grupe is sitting at Rise Coffee House in The Grove neighborhood in St. Louis. He’s leaving for Florida tomorrow morning for a meeting about the upcoming Culinary Olympics, and he’s got a busy day ahead of him packing, tying up loose ends and spending a few moments with his family. “If it weren’t for Alex, I wouldn’t be where I am right now; that’s for sure,” he says. “She’s sacrificed so much. I’ve been competing with the team for going on seven years. It’s been a long ride.”

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aT The culInary InsTITuTe of sT. louIs aT hIcKey college on march 12 and 13. The compeTITIon Is free and open To The publIc. VIewers can waTch IndIVIdual compeTITors go Toe-To-Toe To wIn The TITle of regIonal chef of The year, pasTry chef of The year and sTudenT chef of The year on march 12. The pasTry compeTITIon Is from 6 To 9am; The sTudenT compeTITIon from 9:15am To 12pm; and The regIonal chef compeTITIon from 12:30 To 3:15pm. sTudenT Teams wIll compeTe on march 13 from 6am To 3pm. For more inFormation, visit acFcheFsdecuisinestlouis.org.

“I think it will be very relieving, in a certain aspect,” Grupe says. “I would have the utmost respect for the individuals on the other side. Hell yeah, that’d be awesome. [By then] they’ll be like… cooking on the moon.”

For more on the Ben grupe dinner series, visit Bengrupe.com.

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Diversions Dinner series

the first dinner was hosted at randolfi’s on Sept. 28 and focused on “being whimsical and playing with people’s preconceptions of food” including 18 one- or two-bite courses, through dishes such as duck with a “fall forest” of blackberry purée, hazelnut dirt, ash-roasted apples, fall spices, duck breast and burnt leaves. the second dinner, hosted on Jan. 25, was a celebration of winter in St. louis. Harkening back to his work at little Country Gentleman, randolph highlighted seasonal meat and produce, including a dish made with broccoli stems and beef fat. His third in the series, on Feb. 15, emphasized the flavors of Southeast Asia, and another in march will focus on Peruvian fare.

written by liz miller

St. Louis chef and restaurateur Mike randolph will be the first person to tell you he gets restless in the kitchen. “the worst thing that can happen to a good restaurant is becoming complacent,” he says. “Cooks are so into becoming comfortable. they want to know their mise en place, and that’s great, and i want that from all of my cooks… but at the same time, when you work with me, there’s always going to be a sense of, ‘by the way, throw out half of your mise en place; we’re running something different tonight.’” if there’s a thread that’s carried randolph through his career, it’s that he’s never been afraid to throw out a menu, a pop up dinner series or even an entire restaurant concept and run with something different – something better. this approach snagged him his first two James beard nominations this year for best Chef: midwest and best new restaurant for his Central- and South American-inspired gastropub, Público. in early 2015, randolph was running three successful restaurants in the St. louis area – Público in the Delmar loop; the Good Pie, a neapolitan pizzeria located next door; and Half & Half, a breakfast and brunch spot in Clayton, missouri. by late spring, he announced plans to close the Good Pie and reopen a new concept in the same space: randolfi’s italian Kitchen, inspired by the food and drink of southern italy. in August, randolfi’s opened for business, and within a month, randolph was already announcing his next project: the aptly named Diversions Dinner Series, which debuted in late September and will run through 2016. Pop ups aren’t anything new for randolph; in some ways, they’ve guided him toward his current concepts. in 2012, he hosted two acclaimed pop ups inside Half & Half during its evening off-hours: medianoche, focused on modern mexican fare (which would eventually help inspire Público), followed eight months later by little Country Gentleman, serving mostly Southern-influenced food. with Diversions, randolph wants to carve out another creative outlet for himself and for the chefs de cuisine at his restaurants.

pictured: Broccoli stem with beef sauce

from Mike Randolph’s Diversions Dinner Series. photography by Judd demaline

“i wouldn’t say i’m a cook who’s defined by one specific genre of food,” he says. “the Diversions series really gives me a chance to do things that wouldn’t necessarily have a spot on the menu at the restaurants. i think Diversions is a really important thing for me and my chefs to stay sharp, to be able to focus, to step outside our comfort zones and to do something really special.”

randolph admits that if he has a comfort zone, it’s in the creative freedom of pop ups. And with Diversions, he sees an opportunity to grow and refine his creativity in the kitchen even more richly than he has in the past. “i think i’m much more mature as a chef at this point,” he says. “in the past, i thought, ‘well, if you can give them 10 courses, it doesn’t much matter what those 10 course are as long as they’re good.’ but in reality, and certainly in retrospect for me, it’s like, ‘what the hell was i doing?’ A thai-influenced curry might be great, but it doesn’t go next to a butter-poached lobster. now i see a tasting menu as a challenge to guide diners through – courses one, seven and 10 need to have a similar focus. And now i think it’s much more challenging and more gratifying to maintain that focus.” these days, when randolph talks about his self-described restlessness, it too takes a more focused shape, one that’s likely familiar to many chefs and artists: an insatiable and inexhaustible drive to create and push and improve his work. “i really think there are few things more gratifying than a really good service, when you have a chance over the course of two or three or four hours to really make a connection with the diner, and then at the end of that meal, for them to hopefully walk away understanding why you served it,” randolph says. “So if i can’t have a 10-seat restaurant to cook whatever i want for people, then once a month i’ll do Diversions, cook on a whim, find a new focus and hopefully give somebody a really transcendent meal.” randolfi’s italian Kitchen, 6665 delmar blvd., delmar loop, university city, missouri, 314.899.9221, randolfis.com público, 6679 delmar blvd., delmar loop, university city, missouri, 314.833.5780, publicostl.com half & half, 8135 maryland ave., clayton, missouri, 314.725.0719, halfandhalfstl.com

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HILTON IS ABOUT CHARACTER. COINCIDENTALLY, SO IS WINE. Escape to downtown and experience the first days of spring this March. Come and experience our newly updated 400 Olive Restaurant and 400 Olive Bar. Taste our extensive wine list and our new menu offerings. You will find there is something to please every palate. For reservations, please call 314-554-7098 or visit stlouisdowntown.hilton.com

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plate written by Pete Dulin

Christian and Andrea Joseph truly have a full plate. they opened their stylish and sophisticated restaurant, Plate, to showcase their interests, which include cooking, interior design and art. Debuting last December in the brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, the modern-italian restaurant and bar also represents the realization of a dream for its owners. in the late ‘90s, Christian spent five years working as a manager with chef and restaurateur Valter nassi at the now-closed Salt lake City restaurant il Sansovino, known for its classic italian cuisine. Christian studied all roles at the eatery to gain an understanding of how the kitchen worked. He also learned about how to develop wine programs, manage accounting and “every step needed to be successful in business.” “[nassi]’s a trusted friend and has run many successful restaurants,” Christian says. “Having him as a mentor is a blessing.” executive chef brian Mehl, formerly of the Classic Cup, worked closely with Christian to execute the vision for the menu at Plate by adding local influences to traditional italian techniques. the Josephs strive to source locally as much as they can, including produce from Stony Crest urban Farm, cheese from Green Dirt Farm, coffee from broadway roasting Co., chicken from Campo lindo Farms and Paradise locker Meats’ “amazing soppressata.” true to its modern-italian mission, heavy pasta dishes with rich sauces and cheese aren’t part of Plate’s repertoire. “the menu speaks italian with antipasti, ravioli and pasta, but it’s well-balanced with seasonal dishes and specials,” Christian says. “we serve braised pork shoulder with italian pappardelle and Asiago cheese, and corvina sea bass. it’s fresh and simple.” Current dishes include ravioli with pulled chicken, apple agrodolce butter and broth; a starter of yellowtail crudo with giardiniera and preserved lemon; and an entrée of fettuccine, pomodoro, Parmesan and meatballs. the menu will change a few times a year. “the specials move well – corvina and swordfish are several best-selling specials; people really crave great fish in Kansas City,” Christian says, adding that they’ve been pleased with the overall response from diners. “the concept caught on far better than we expected. People are excited.” Christian composed the wine list, which includes a wide selection of italian vintages. “we were price-conscious,” he

says. “we want people to drink wine but not be intimidated.” Plate’s cocktail menu features italian drinks such as the Aristocrat, a version of a negroni; the remedy, a negroni Sbagliato or “mistaken negroni,” where prosecco is substituted for gin; and other cocktails made with with prosecco, amaro digestifs and italian liqueurs. two years ago, the couple opened Season + Square, a boutique next door to Plate specializing in home goods, cocktail accoutrements and locally produced food products. Although wellversed in the workings of a restaurant, Christian’s culinary career took a detour after earning his medical degree. He worked in the medical-equipment field in training and sales and currently works full-time for Cerner. Andrea’s family owns and operates torreon Mexican restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas, and she’s worked for Pb&J restaurants, which operates yaya’s euro bistro, newport Grill, burnt end bbQ and Paradise Diner in Kansas City, followed by stretches at various restaurants in Kansas City and Scottsdale, Arizona. “i left the restaurant industry 12 years ago,” says Andrea, who oversees operations at Season + Square with manager Miriam McKinney. “now i’m back.” Combined, the couple’s experience led to the opportunity to open Plate to suit their tastes and standards, from cuisine to interior design. “Plate gives me an opportunity to do something i’m very passionate about – providing my guests an excellent experience,” Christian says. “Plate was conceived and designed by me. that gave me the freedom to make changes if needed.” the Josephs fashioned a look and feel to match the contemporary fare, with traditional touches. An art decoera mirrored chandelier hangs above the dining room; bold paintings by staff sommelier Morgan waite add rectangular bursts of color to the metallic gray, cool white and wood tones in the space; and a slatted wood ceiling delineates the casual bar area from the sleek dining room. Huge plate-glass windows let in natural light by day and showcase curious passersby at night. “i like quality and good design; we wanted to do something different,” says Christian of the décor. Andrea adds: “we created a casual, hip atmosphere where you can feel relaxed. you feel comfortable. we catered to the neighborhood to have a restaurant that was highly relevant to the neighbors. we want them to come in and say ‘hi.’” Plate, 6201 Oak St., Brookside, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.492.5551, platekc.com

PiCtured: Grilled salmon, winter squash purée, caponata and

pistachio from Christian and Andrea Joseph’s Plate. PhOtOgraPhy By landOn vOnderSChMidt Inspired Local Food Culture

M a r c h 2016

PiCtuRed: The Grand Seafood Plateau, available

in single, double or triple tiers, developed by Brasserie executive chef Tony Hudson. PhotogRaPhy By tRaviS dunCan

Brasserie written by bethany Christo

one of Brasserie’s most popular dishes also best embodies its mission. the Coq au Cidre – chicken with cider – is brasserie executive chef and culinary director tony hudson’s take on the classically French coq au vin, or chicken simmered in red wine with braised onions, mushrooms and lardons. hudson’s version combines flavors of the Midwest, befitting its Columbia, Missouri, location. he house-cures a ham in honey and lavender before roasting and topping it with a pan sauce of local cider and chicken drippings and serves the ham with forest-foraged mushrooms over a mash of Granny smith apples and potatoes. brasserie, which opened last month, serves traditionally French items that are elegant but also comforting and accessible. “the thing about the Columbia palate is that the economy is strong here, and most residents are well-traveled,” hudson says. if they’ve ever been to France, then, they will immediately recognize its influence in many aspects of brasserie. the bright red façade with tall, latticed windows is illuminated with romantic street lamps, and the interior mimics an alfresco dining experience complete with trees and painted depictions

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of a Parisian courtyard. brasserie is owned by adam Guy, who also owns the adjoining new opulent event space, the Champagne ballroom, as well as Umbria rustic italian and the Upper Crust, a French retail and wholesale bakery that got a new kitchen and stone deck oven when it moved into its new digs next door to brasserie. after two successful decades of business at the Upper Crust, which serves quick-service lunch including housemade pastries, breads and desserts, Guy and hudson believed a similar approach would work in a full-service, brasserie-style environment. the result is brasserie, which serves inventive hors d’oeuvres, fresh seafood and hearty entrées. “i didn’t see a reason to be specific to a French region on the menu,” says hudson, who spent a year under the tutelage of a French-German chef specializing in cuisine on both sides of the rhine, now a specialty of his own. “i’m going down to the riviera with bouillabaisse, then i’ve got another entrée with roasted pork, red cabbage, housemade spätzle, mushroom and chive crème fraîche, which is very alsatian. i knew a French bakery would take off, and for dinner, i just needed to find things that the consumer

would recognize and respond to within the larger French cuisine.” hudson says challenges included not only destigmatizing the pretention of French fare in the college town, but also combining his business experience with his culinary vision and background to create seamless transitions between the breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert menus to make the restaurant more financially viable. Perhaps one of the menu items that best illustrates hudson overcoming both hurdles is the country pâté, made of black truffle, duck liver and pork liver, wrapped with Parisian ham and garnished with cornichon relish, stilton blue cheese and fig-orange marmalade. served as a hors d’oeuvre on the lunch and dinner menus, it also appears in a napoleon sandwich and in a terrine made with the pâté, house-cured bacon, Parisian ham, lettuce, tomato and tarragon mayo on housemade brioche. For dinner, the pâté finds yet another application in the heartier tournedos entrée, where it’s served with filet mignonettes, haricots verts, forest mushrooms and béarnaise and bordelaise sauces. other menu standouts include locally sourced duck cassoulet, five steak frites options and the bar à la Mer, which offers daily rotating options: crevettes, lobster,

house-cured salmon, crab, cold-water oysters and mussels, available individually or in three tier options. Desserts are one of the restaurant’s specialties and can be purchased a la carte at the Upper Crust’s retail counter in addition to plated versions at brasserie. Favorites include a flourless chocolate torte, delicate soufflés and croquembouche – puff pastries filled with crème anglaise, stacked into a tower and topped with spun sugar, powdered sugar and cocoa. hudson, who earned his sommelier certification in 1990, developed brasserie’s drink menu. there are six local beers on tap, along with French and belgian brews. the 30-plus wine list is geospecific to French, austrian and German wine regions, and sparkling wines are a particular area of focus. hudson created six or so sparkling cocktails, as well. “twenty-five years ago when i was making my own ketchup, no one wanted it,” hudson says. “it was a matter of being a better culinarian, front to back, and i’ve never wavered on my stance that everything can be made in house. now, here, the timing is right.” Brasserie, 3919 S. Providence Road, Columbia, Missouri, 573.874.3033, brasserieuc.com

Porano Pasta written by Valeria turturro Klamm

In mid-January, chef and restaurateur Gerard Craft had a nontraditional task on his to-do list: use the ride-sharing platform uber to deliver fresh pasta to hungry customers across the city. an innovative restaurant concept deserves special promotional buildup, after all – although Craft’s restaurants hardly suffer from a lack of popularity. long admired by critics and the restaurant community for his niche Food Group establishments – niche, taste, brasserie and Pastaria – Craft won national recognition from the James beard Foundation in 2015 when he was named best Chef: midwest. with his fast-casual concept, Porano Pasta, Craft has landed Downtown for the first time, serving customizable pasta made quickly and made well. “the biggest challenge with opening Porano was that we’re entering entirely new territory,” Craft says. “we’re learning every day. you start with a menu, and then you start doing it and fine-tuning it. like any establishment, it’s something in motion.” Craft says he’s been attracted to the fast-casual model for several years, as it has the potential to not only offer affordable food fast, but also an experience that can still connect with diners. He cites popular fast-casual chains throughout the country as inspiration, including national brands like Shake Shack and Cava Grill, and Pizzeria locale in Colorado and Kansas City, which is owned by Chipotle. “Cooks always have this weird position of being not-rich people who cook in the most expensive restaurants in the country,” Craft says. “it never fits us as cooks. it’s what we do; it’s our job, but i wanted to open a place where the food is not expensive but still flavorful and delicious.” working alongside Porano executive chef michael Petres, Craft has developed a lineup where the most expensive ingredient combination clocks in at around $9.

Porano’s menu is divided into bases, sauces, proteins and toppings. Steamed arborio rice, organic farro, house-extruded pasta (including a gluten-free variety) or salad greens can be topped with dry-rubbed and slow-roasted pork shoulder, beef meatballs, local mofu spicy tofu roasted with garlic and chiles, marinated grilled chicken or seasonal roasted vegetables. Sauces include a classic pomodoro; smoky Sunday sugo, slowly simmered with smoked pork; red-pepper sauce made with roasted sweet peppers, tomatoes, sherry vinegar and harissa chile paste; and a twist on Pastaria favorite cacio e pepe: alfredo e pepe. top it all off with fresh herbs, spicy honey, Grana Padano, pecorino cheese or crispy garlic. Craft is especially excited to be offering St. louisans southern italian panzerotti, which resemble small fried calzones filled with mozzarella, meatballs and more. to drink, fun takes on an italian granita include a negroni and a nonalcoholic strawberry-lime slushie. Porano features two exclusive house wines by Scarpetta on tap – rosso and bianco – as well as a Porano-exclusive beer from St. louis-based the Civil life brewing Co. For dessert, Craft debated how to make the process quicker than the gelato bar at Pastaria. the answer? a freezer full of gelato pops from Pastaria executive pastry chef anne Croy, in flavors including salted caramel, vanilla, mango and chocolate sourced from askinosie Chocolate in Springfield, missouri.

To learn about Craft’s next venture, a location of Pastaria in Nashville, Tennessee, headed up by executive chef Josh Poletti, visit feastmagazine.com.

Just as the food is made with care, no detail was spared in the restaurant’s interior, accented with work from local artist Sasha aleksandr malinich. “we wanted something sophisticated and personal,” Craft says. Communal and smaller wood-tables designed by David Stine woodworking, a white marble counter, antique and new lighting fixtures blended together plus bright graphic accents by St. louis creative agency atomicdust all create an eclectic combination of new- and old-world aesthetics. upstairs, tVs and a foosball table invite customers to kick back and enjoy the restaurant’s casual and welcoming experience. “i think in the past, people have thought of fast casual as a lunch-type thing, but we’re trying to deliver more of a dining experience between hospitality, design and the level of the food,” Craft says. ““we want to change the perception of what dining has to be – we’re all looking for good options, good food and good experiences.” porano pasta, p 634 Washington ave., downtown, St. louis, d missouri,314.833.6414, poranopasta.com

pictured: Greens, farro, Italian vinaigrette, spicy tofu, crispy

garlic, peppadew, Grana Padano and fresh herbs from Gerard Craft’s Porano Pasta. photography by jacklyn meyer

Golden ox written by April Fleming

Almost immediately after the announcement that the classic west bottoms steakhouse, golden Ox, was being resurrected, the pair behind the plan, wes gartner and Jill myers, set off a stampede of excitement. the Ox closed in 2014 after 65 years in business; the restaurant hadn’t changed in years, but remained a nostalgic favorite for many. the calls and emails came both from the public, eager to see the iconic steakhouse return, and also from the local cattle industry. gartner laughs and explains how quickly it all unfolded. “the day that the announcement went out about the Ox, i had three different ranchers stop me outside and say, ‘i heard you’re reopening the Ox; i have some cattle you need to try,’” says gartner, who is also owner and partner of moxie oxie Catering and neighboring Voltaire restaurant with myers. gartner was surrounded by great family cooks as a child – especially his mother and grandmother, who were both caterers – and honed his cooking skills in lawrence, Kansas, working under chefs John beasley at now-shuttered tellers, Ken baker at now-closed pachamamas and chef-restaurateur robert Krause, all of whom he credits as inspiring his creativity and passion for cooking. After a stint as the drummer in the band Doris Henson and time in the kitchen at recordbar, gartner joined myers about 10 years ago at moxie Catering. when the old r bar closed, they seized the opportunity and opened Voltaire, a eclectic small-plates restaurant across the street from the golden Ox. late last year, the chance presented itself for them to carry forward the Ox’s tradition as Kansas City’s oldest steakhouse. “it was always in the back of my head that i’d love to be able to take this over at some point and maximize its potential by offering top-notch steakhouse fare,” gartner says. He and myers would often visit the Ox after long days of catering for moxie; his fondest and earliest restaurant memories are visiting steakhouses in topeka, Kansas, with family. “people really love [golden Ox], the memory of it and the memories they’ve shared with family and friends,” gartner says. “there’s a nostalgia factor… it holds a pretty special place in my past, as well. everyone seems to have a story, which is really cool.” gartner and myers plan to reopen the restaurant in September and are currently in the construction phase for its interior. Although they are incorporating

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more natural lighting by opening up the kitchen to the dining room and removing the long-boarded-up kitchen windows overlooking genessee enessee Street, the aim is to maintain the classic steakhouse appearance. tufted-leather ufted-leather booths, an abundance of dark wood and wood paneling were all restored from the original restaurant. the classic black-and-yellow “golden olden Ox” sign, once hung by the parking lot, has moved to a new position of pride above the restaurant’s door. gartner artner and myers yers are also planning to build a 12- to 15-seat bar prominently centered in the restaurant, and the kitchen will feature a wood-fired open grill and bakery, as well as a raw bar. golden Ox will also share an entrance with the upcoming Stockyards brewing rewing Co. Although still early in the planning phase, gartner and myers yers see the food as remaining faithful to the former restaurant’s classic menu items, including a fried chicken dish, with chicken from buttonwood Farm in California, missouri, and steaks made with premium, all-natural, hormone- and antibioticfree, humanely raised beef, as well as an in-house beef-aging program and “boutique” beef varieties. gartner plans to include seafood on the menu, as well, plus a variety of classic and modern sauces to accompany the entrées such as béarnaise, bordelaise, chimichurri, brandied green peppercorn and a housemade and bottled steak sauce. gartner says he cannot emphasize his focus on using quality ingredients enough. However, he also wants to respect and reflect the Ox’s existing customer base and enjoys receiving letters from decades-long visitors of the restaurant. He assures them that foil-wrapped baked potatoes with all the trimmings will remain on the menu. “we also don’t want it to be price-exclusionary,” says gartner, explaining his hope that people won’t confuse the new incarnation of the Ox with that of a pricey steakhouse. “we want to make it really approachable. At Voltaire we focus more on world-fusion cuisine, slightly experimental, while at the Ox, we will be serving traditional steakhouse fare that has its roots in midcentury French and italian cooking.” golden ox, 1600 genessee st., West bottoms, Kansas city, missouri

pictured: Co-owner Wes Gartner invokes the

Golden Ox’s history with steak and a

foil-wrapped baked potato. photography by landon vonderschmidt

Harvest written by ettie berneking

Surrounded by twisted apple trees and thorny blackberry bushes, Craig Von Foerster looks right at home, even if it took him more than three years to get here. gone are the stunning oceanside vistas he enjoyed for nearly two decades as the executive chef at the acclaimed Sierra Mar in big Sur, California. in their place, towering trees, a 95-acre apple orchard and a blackberry patch make up the view at Von Foerster’s new restaurant, Harvest. tucked away in Sunshine Valley Farm’s orchard outside rogersville, Missouri, Harvest is easy to miss, but for the dedicated diners who have been following Von Foerster’s cooking since he moved to the Ozarks in 2012, it has become a sought-after destination. Part of the draw is the artfully crafted menu, which changes every weekend, but another reason for the regularly sold-out crowds is the recent change in venue. After three years of hosting elaborate farm-to-

table dinners in the middle of fields around the area, Von Foerster is finally in a brickand-mortar location of his own. to many, Von Foerster’s decision to move from coastal California to southwest Missouri was a mystery, but for him, the relocation offered a chance to do something new. “i looked at my gaps in knowledge and decided to make bread,” he says. each day, Von Foerster would wake up, help his wife, tamara, care for the family cattle farm that also brought them back to rogersville and fill his afternoons making sourdough bread and working on creating new menu ideas for what would become Harvest, using products sourced within the region. while searching for the perfect location for Harvest, the couple decided to host dinners at area farms, creating beautiful dishes made with ingredients sourced directly from local farmers and producers. tamara grows and manages the gardens on their family farm, Farm road 168, and harvests and pickles food that then ends up on Von Foerster’s menu. At the farm dinners, his breathtaking dishes wowed diners, and he quickly built

up a following. People drove from as far as St. Louis, kansas City, Joplin, Missouri, and even across the Arkansas border for each five-course meal. Dinner started with a farm tour and a big unveiling of the night’s menu as guests uncorked bottles of wine. “the farm dinners gave people a chance to get to know the farmers they were buying from and get to see where they worked,” Von Foerster says. “we haven’t walked away from this concept just because we’re no longer in a field – though we’re also going to hold more dinners in the orchard in 2016.” Since opening Harvest over Halloween weekend in 2015, the Von Foersters have continued their farm-to-table style that drew consistent crowds last summer. Open for reservations only, thursday through Saturday, the rest of the week is spent preparing the stocks, condiments and loaves of bread Von Foerster plans to use, but menus often change from day to day, and Von Foerster doesn’t shy away from highly experimental dishes. After all, his loyal diners are eager to enjoy more than the usual steak and potatoes.

“we had a special not long ago that used fresh sardines,” Von Foerster says. the sardines were grilled and served alongside roasted Farm road 168 heirloom tomato tarte tatin, cured olives and a garden herb salad. “we sold out the first night, restocked and sold out again the second night.” with a certified sommelier curating the restaurant’s wine list and tamara applying her artistic touch to the elegant yet pared-down décor, Harvest has become the new home for Von Foerster’s sought-after cuisine. Here, diners won’t find oversized plates where a single appetizer could satiate even the hungriest patron. instead, small but stunningly beautiful bites are delivered and meant to be shared, sampled and enjoyed thanks to layers of flavor and texture applied to each dish. As for his menu, “it’s just paper with words,” he says. there is no overriding theme aside from freshness and high quality. Harvest, 8011 E. State Highway AD, Rogersville, Missouri, 417.830.3656, fromtabletofarm.com

pictuRED lEft: Peace Valley trufflestuffed chicken galantine with Millsap Farm celery root “risotto,” pan roasted Brussels sprouts and black truffle jus at Craig Von Foerster’s Harvest. pictuRED bottoM: House-cured salmon,

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Olive + Oak written by bethany Christo

For Jesse Mendica, it all started with a bumper sticker. the bumper sticker simply read, “Do something that scares you every day.” as executive sous chef at annie Gunn’s in Chesterfield, Missouri, for more than a decade, plus another six years spent cooking in its kitchen, the notoriously picky eater was deep into her “year of yes.” During that 12 months, she was slowly accepting that foods like mayonnaise, tartare and oysters weren’t going to kill her.

pictured center: Stuffed longneck clams with Salume

Beddu lardo and oysters Rockefeller roasted with

“i’m a fantastic sous chef,” Mendica says. “i was happy. i wasn’t looking for a job. i could have stayed at annie’s until i died. i had toyed around with the idea of joining reeds american table – i had actually signed on with them when this opportunity came up. it’s gotta be the right reason to leave a perfect situation like that. but i was absolutely terrified.”

Parmesan and Calabrian chile at Olive + Oak. pictured bOttOM: Hama Hama oyster on the

half-shell with pink peppercorn mignonette and cocktail sauce at Olive + Oak. phOtOGrAphy by judd deMALine

the opportunity was olive + oak, and that uncertainty was shared by its proprietor, Mark hinkle, who, along with Greg ortyl and their wives, opened the webster Groves, Missouri, spot in January. hinkle and ortyl were initially introduced through tragedy: hinkle’s young son, oliver, and ortyl’s young son, oakes, both passed away due to congenital heart defects. the men first met through the Children’s heart Foundation and each eventually founded their own organizations to fund research for the birth defect, the ollie hinkle heart Foundation and the Mighty oakes heart Foundation. the restaurant’s name serves as an enduring tribute to their children. hinkle is a first-time restaurant owner; he was general manager of annie Gunn’s for five years, which is where he met Mendica. he dreamed of opening his own restaurant for years, and the pieces finally started coming together; he found the charming 2,500-square-foot-space and began growing closer with ortyl as a business partner and friend. From the beginning, hinkle knew Mendica was a crucial piece to his stepping away from annie Gunn’s. “i said many times i wasn’t going to leave unless i opened my own place, and i told Jesse i didn’t want to do this with someone else,” hinkle says. hinkle says that Mendica is a “damn good executive chef,” even though she says she was scared to admit it, even to herself. with a self-described classic style of cooking, she made a name for herself as a team leader and as annie Gunn’s “fish girl,” in addition to churning out consistent-quality steaks and rustic, hearty plates under the restaurant’s venerable executive chef Lou rook iii. Drawing from her experience, the menu at olive + oak represents seafood well,

including standout oysters prepared in the half-shell, baked, rockefeller and more, and whole fish cooked in a salt crust. olive + oak serves steaks, of course, but sous chef Kevin Pellegrino, also an alum of annie Gunn’s and most recently Five bistro, makes a mean lamb ragout and lamb gnocchi, with meat sourced from Jenna Pohl of Midwest Lamb and todd Gesiert Farms. Mendica is excited to explore lighter fare and vegan dishes at olive + oak, as well. “all the food is recognizable, but we’ll take this fanatically obsessive approach to getting the product to be perfect when it goes out,” hinkle says. the team tested a dozen different french fry recipes, undertook a meticulous research process for the egg yolk that tops the tartare and scientifically approached searing its burger to keep the juices in. “Mark calls it scientific,” Mendica laughs, “but i just call it cooking.” in addition to his scientific-meetsclassic approach to food, hinkle’s time spent working the floor at annie Gunn’s made him into a bit of a oenophile – he’s offering nearly 200 wines at olive + oak, ranging from affordable, fun options to “big, bad California reds,” all housed in the restaurant’s custom-built, see-through wine storage rack near its open kitchen. wines are supplemented by the outstanding housemade cocktails developed by Chelsea Little, previously a bartender at the Libertine, and eight beer taps (almost all of them local) flow from behind the ornate copper-front, white quartz-topped bar. “you should feel comfortable, and that’s what we’re going for at olive + oak,” hinkle says. “it’s not holding your ankles above my head and shaking you for every penny you’re worth; it’s a warm welcome, whether you’re spending $10 or $80, whether it’s your first time in or your hundredth, whether you’re ordering the safest thing on the menu or the most adventurous.” to be sure, the opening of olive + oak was an adventure, as chronicled in the wall of photos in the back of the space depicting historic webster Groves, the staff and their families and friends who helped the restaurant come to be – but hopefully there are still many frames to be filled. “we’re trying to build the community, build regulars, from anywhere, who feel loyalty to olive + oak,” Mendica says. “it’s not always geographic – it’s the community of people who call it their own. team and family are the two strongest words that describe what olive + oak is about.” Olive + Oak, 102 W. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, Missouri, 314.736.1370, oliveandoakstl.com

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M a r c h 2016

Black Dirt written by April Fleming

Although Jonathan Justus’ new restaurant is one of the most anticipated openings in Kansas City this year, the road to black Dirt has not been easy. late in 2015, Justus and his wife and business partner, Camille eklof, had the rug pulled out from under them with the sudden departure of their investor. At first, things seemed bleak, but Justus and property developers Vantrust real estate are still both committed to the project and are currently in the midst of negotiating with banks to develop a financing strategy to move forward, as well as nailing down a location. His 2016 James beard nomination for best Chef: midwest might help. “there is just a lot of risk,” Justus says. “but i love black Dirt, and it will happen, eventually, no matter what.” the restaurant, still slated for a late 2016 or early 2017 opening, might be missing a few crucial elements, but the menu is all but finalized and has been a passion project for Justus, who owns the celebrated Justus Drugstore in Smithville, missouri, with eklof. Since July 2014, Justus and eklof have been planning black Dirt while still running Justus Drugstore. He gets visibly excited discussing it. the concept is to make elegant dishes with just a few elements, as opposed to the highly complex dishes served at Justus

Drugstore, with lower price points and shorter dining times. (At Justus Drugstore, dining time is generally two to three hours and can run around $75 per person.) the philosophy at Justus Drugstore is hyperlocal – no seafood – but Justus won’t be quite as strict at black Dirt. He’s had the name in his head for a long time, a reference to rich midwest soil. On the menu, Justus plans to offer a miso flash-cured hybrid bass over ginger-balsamic greens and sunchokes, and terrine-inspired meatloaf made with high-quality steak instead of ground beef that’s then seared, sliced and served deconstructed with housemade steak sauce. Small plates include a smoked trout with microgreens and shallot vinaigrette and pickled local pullet eggs – eggs from young chickens – with cucumber and avocado. you can sense Justus’ purpose and vision for rooting black Dirt in a tangible sense of place and time in one of the restaurant’s salads, which features fried chicken gizzards. “the idea [for the gizzard dish] came from a French salad called salade de gésiers de canard, which is made with duck gizzards,” Justus says. “it’s usually served with slices of hard-boiled egg, tomato wedges and a mustard vinaigrette. i thought, ‘How can i make that a missouri salad?’ i got the idea of a fried chicken-tenderloin salad with shaved radish and buttermilk dressing. the ‘chicken tenderloins’ are a confit of chicken gizzards, which are fried and very tender.”

Justus and eklof have had heavy hands in designing the restaurant’s interior, just as they did for Justus Drugstore, including plans for a large bar in the center inspired by the gorgeous U-shaped ticketing counter once in the center of Kansas City’s Union Station (now Harvey’s at Union Station restaurant). For Justus, the bar isn’t an afterthought – he wants it to be the kind you’d find in classic, old-fashioned, grandiose restaurants like the redwood room in San Francisco. those at the bar will enjoy their own separate menu of bar snacks – as well as free reign of the full menu – including a fried smelt with potato dipping sauce or Asian-citrus glazed duck wings with a soy dipping sauce. Justus and eklof are committed to their vision, and maintaining that missouri spirit they first tapped into at the Drugstore. Although the road has been winding and sometimes unpaved, Justus is confident in the black dirt under his feet that built a foundation for the restaurant concept he’s determined to bring to Kansas City. justus drugstore, 106 W. main st., smithville, missouri, 816.532.2300, justusdrugstorerestaurant.com

pictured left: Asian citrus-glazed duck wings

with soy dipping sauce from Black Dirt. photography by landon vonderschmidt pictured right: Citrus-cured salmon with orange, lemon, fennel

and dill at Ben Poremba’s new restaurant, Parigi. portrait and dish photography by judd demaline interior photography by sarah conard

Parigi written by Valeria turturro Klamm

Ben Poremba is no stranger to launching new and wildly diverse restaurant concepts. From picking a location to hiring staff and executing his vision for the food, drink and ambiance, Poremba has established a solid lineup of restaurants in his bengelina Hospitality Group. elaia and olio, his dual mediterranean restaurants; la Patisserie Chouquette, a French-meets-new orleans bakeshop co-owned with pastry chef Simone Faure; and old Standard Fried Chicken, focused on whiskey and Southern fare, are located just steps from one another in St. louis’ botanical Heights neighborhood. now, for what he describes as the natural next step in a “grand dream,” Poremba opened Parigi in downtown Clayton, missouri, late last month on the heels of his third James beard nomination. “Parigi is what we imagine an italian restaurant in the heart of Paris would be,” he says. “that’s the imagination behind it. the interior’s grand feel and sleek design, the ultramodern selection of finishes, the wine cellar – it fits the location. it would be hard to pull off the concept in any other neighborhood.” Parigi, which is the italian word for Paris, symbolizes more to Poremba than just a new concept in a new part of town. located on the first floor of Clayton on the Park, a long- and short-term high-rise luxury apartment building, Parigi is the biggest project he has ever undertaken. the restaurant seats close to 100, including a private dining room, and the building’s rooftop is also available for special events. Perhaps the most unique aspect of running the establishment is Clayton on the Park’s 200-plus residential units, allowing residents to order room service from Parigi. “this is more like planning the food and beverage department of a boutique hotel,” Poremba says. “it’s one thing to serve tables; it’s a different thing to take food upstairs to diners and residents or a rooftop event. there are a lot of different elements to this.” the dinner menu is divided into three sections: antipasti, primi and main courses. antipasti include “familiar things that are timeless,” like warm foie gras with caponata or lobster-leek salad. Primi features a daily risotto and four pasta dishes made with house-extruded pastas such as ragout bolognese. For the main courses, proteins – lamb, pork, steak, rotating market fish, chicken and more – are served only with a housemade sauce, and family-style a la carte contorni (sides) can be ordered to share. Poremba says there is an especially strong focus on beef, reflected in dishes such as a 32-ounce bistecca alla fiorentina and

steak svizzera, an italian take on a classic hamburger. the restaurant’s bar menu offers small plates, crudi (bite-sized tartare, oysters, crudité) and fried finger foods such as arancini and fried frog legs, all in the style of italian street food. For dessert, diners can peruse the restaurant’s display case: a plate of Chouquette’s French macarons and italian cookies; Clementine’s naughty and nice Creamery’s lemon gelato and pistachio, rosewater or nutella ice creams; or bostok, “the French version of French toast,” a thick slab of brioche toast topped with rich almond paste and salted, toasted almonds. breakfast, Sunday brunch and lunch are coming soon, and will include a coffee bar featuring St. louisbased blueprint Coffee and a selection of la Patisserie Chouquette pastries. lunch will serve a smaller version of the dinner staples with pastas and sandwiches, not meant to compete with fast-casual options in the area, but instead offer a nicer casual option for the midday business crowd. Poremba describes Parigi’s food as “the rustic and satisfying nature of italian cuisine with the precision of a French restaurant, without the froufrou or fussiness. the whole notion of the restaurant is to bring classic, traditional and iconic food to Clayton.” Poremba admits the hardest part of any new endeavor is gathering a trusted and talented staff to bring a vision to life. lucky for Poremba, one of his culinary mentors is at the helm of Parigi’s kitchen. executive chef ramon Cuffie, who spent some time as chef de cuisine in a small restaurant in avignon, France, was renowned in St. louis during the 1990s and early 2000s for his work at bar italia and la Dolce Via. Poremba praises Cuffie’s work and what he’s already brought to the table at Parigi, including the restaurant’s risotto, fried frog legs and vitello tonnato (veal with tuna sauce). Parigi’s head bartender Drew lucido, formerly a bartender at olio, serves cocktails inspired by the culture of Paris and italy from the 1920s to the 1950s. Complementing those iconic drinks is a selection of French, italian and american wines curated by bengelina Hospitality Group director of operations and wine director, aaron Sherman. andrea leavitt, whose previous work included a stint at Park Hyatt Chicago, rounds out the Parigi team as general manager. “Parigi is a dream restaurant for me,” Poremba says. “i’m a very detail-oriented kind of guy, and the amount of details i was able to put in even [just] the look of it – the finishing, furniture selection and the architecture – it was pretty exciting.” Parigi, first floor of Clayton on the Park (off South Brentwood Boulevard), 8025 Bonhomme Ave., Clayton, Missouri, 314.899.9767, parigistl.com

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M a r c h 2016

Komatsu Ramen written by Pete Dulin

Il Lazzarone pizzeria chef-owner Erik Borger announced in fall 2015 that he would open Komatsu ramen, a large-scale ramen restaurant. the announcement further confirmed that ramen would be a prominent fixture this year in Kansas City’s culinary repertoire, joining the ranks of Columbus Park ramen Shop and the upcoming Shio noodle. borger enlisted chef Joe west, formerly of bluestem and currently of the Asian-influenced pop-up, Kusshi, to help bring Komatsu ramen to life in mid-2016. borger opened il lazzarone’s first location in St. Joseph, Missouri, in May 2014, which quickly drew a devout following for its authentic neapolitan pizza. less than a year later, Kansas City-area diners could grab their favorite pizza an hour closer to home after a second location opened in river Market. “After il lazzarone-river Market was established and ran smoothly enough for me to work fewer than 100 hours per week, i began to plan my dreams of ramen,” borger says. His exploration began with research. “i am inspired by culture and history,” borger says. “Many ramen chefs have their own style and influence. My influence in cuisine is typically to preserve and represent a historical dish or food item that has been overmanipulated or lost throughout history.”

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Komatsu’s dining room will be three times larger than the size of il lazzarone in river Market. Depending on the occupancy permit, the westport restaurant could potentially reach more than 400 guests at a time within its 8,000 square feet. borger remains undaunted by the ambitious size and seating capacity. ramen shops tend to be compact in cities such as tokyo, where space is at a premium and competition is abundant. Kansas City’s first ramen restaurant, Columbus Park ramen Shop, takes up just 350 square feet. “i have a tendency to try and outdo myself,” borger says. “i have a feeling it will be the largest ramen shop in the world, as far as i know. the kitchen [alone] is almost as big as our St. Joseph restaurant.” in pursuit of authenticity, Komatsu will use custom noodles sourced from Sun noodle brand made with hard wheat flour – similar to the flour used by ramen noodle-makers in Japan – sourced from mills around the world, rather than softer American wheat flour. the ash quantity, pH level and other factors produce a superior noodle, according to borger. Sun executives flew to Kansas City to meet with him to gather his input on noodle type, density, chew factor and desired elasticity to fine-tune the noodle that Komatsu will serve. “For instance, Sun’s Hakata noodle is a bit smaller than i would like,” borger says. “i would also prefer it a bit firmer. Sun will design that to my specifications. Some of their other options are a little too egg-y for me, as well, so we are working on that. when we open, we will have a 100-percent unique noodle recipe, guaranteeing us the freshest, most authentic noodle we can provide.”

Komatsu will serve ramen with chicken, pork and vegetable broth with various moto dare, the sauce that creates the broth’s flavor base, including finished bowls of light and savory shoyu ramen with pork belly. “expect small, shareable appetizers that will be outstanding on their own but won’t steal the show from the ramen,” says west. “[borger] has a list of menu items that he has envisioned. My job is to figure out how to execute these dishes at a high level of quality and efficiency. i’ll figure out how we can make the best chawanmushi – a savory egg custard – raw yellowfin tuna crudo, pork buns and an oyster trio that fit in our price range, along with providing amazing ingredients and high-quality execution in a fast manner.” For the drink menu, borger is importing a long list of sakes and specialty beverages, like puffed rice, buckwheat and bottled teas, Japanese soft drinks and spirits. He’s in no hurry to open, though. “it has to be done right and challenge people’s perspectives on design as well as taste,” he says. “when designing this restaurant and the menu, i sought to create a sensory experience. From ultramodern Japanese architecture to precisely plated uni and caviar, Komatsu is sure to bring the utmost comfort and culinary pleasures to the ‘everyman’ with its affordable price point and unpretentious dining service.” Komatsu Ramen, 3951 Broadway Road, Westport, Kansas City, Missouri, 308.340.2710, facebook.com/ komatsuramen piCtuRed left: Erik Borger. piCtuRed Right: Miso tonkotsu ramen.

photogRaphy By landon vondeRsChMidt

Reeds AmeRicAn TAble written by Liz MiLLer

When news first broke in December 2014 that Matthew Daughaday was leaving his

PiCtureD: Andrey Ivanov, Nicki Ball,

executive chef post at taste, James beard Award winner Gerard Craft’s lauded St. Louis cocktail bar, to open his own restaurant, heads turned.

Zach Althaus, Summer Wright and

Daughaday earned much acclaim during his three years running the kitchen at taste, and his then-unnamed restaurant, reeds American table, quickly became one of the most hotly anticipated openings of 2015. A few weeks later, when he followed up with news that sommelier Andrey ivanov, then the general manager and wine director for James beard-nominated chef ben Poremba’s acclaimed elaia and Olio restaurants, would be joining him as reeds’ beverage director, jaws dropped. At the time, ivanov told Feast he believed Daughaday to be “the most gifted chef in St. Louis who doesn’t have his own restaurant yet.” Daughaday and ivanov’s partnership laid the foundation for the culinary dream team now responsible for the food, drink and service at reeds, which opened in Maplewood, Missouri, in September. Summer wright, who previously worked with chef Anthony Devoti and Gerard Craft in St. Louis, as well as with chef Daniel boulud in new york City, joined Daughaday in the kitchen as reeds’ executive pastry chef. Local coffee expert zach Althaus, who was working at Sump Coffee in St. Louis, was brought on board to spearhead an innovative coffee program. nicki ball, who worked in the bay Area at Don Pisto’s restaurant Group and at Omni Chicago Hotel as assistant food and beverage manager, leads the front of the house as general manager. “we all have very distinct personalities and varying opinions on every subject,” ball says. “there were many good debates on food, service, staffing, etc. everyone has a style, which i believe we were able to incorporate into the restaurant. the amount of knowledge and experience in this group of people, as well as our staff, is truly humbling the way everyone works together.” Having five industry rising stars come together to collaborate under one roof is rare, but the collection of talent at reeds is no accident – it’s the result of the city’s thriving and evolving culinary scene and serves as an example for what’s possible when successful chefs and entrepreneurs mentor and invest in talented, passionate people. “to us, it’s continuing what we’ve been trained to do on some level,” Daughaday says. “i think it’s the natural growth of our scene and represents how St. Louis is growing, the fact that we could assemble a team like this. to me, and i think everybody on the team, we feel responsibility for how much we learned and how much we want to grow from being at the places that we were – to not just continue in a stagnant form, but to push expectations and go about it with a vision.” instead of clashing egos, each team member’s experience and knowledge plays off of and complements the others’. they agree that they push one another to take dishes, menus and the dining experience to the next level. reeds places a big emphasis on its coffee program, and so when wright decided to add an affogato to the dessert menu, she consulted with Althaus about how to make the very best shot of espresso; the result was creamy housemade vanilla bean ice cream and cookies paired with rich, buttery espresso. More recently, wright and Althaus have worked together to develop reeds’ upcoming morning and café service menu, which consists of lighter fare, pastries and a curated selection of coffee drinks. As beverage director, ivanov works closely with Althaus to offer a cohesive and thoughtful drink menu. “being a good beverage director sometimes means knowing when to step back and realize that others can do a better job at what they are most passionate about,” ivanov says. “i don’t have anywhere near the depth of knowledge that zach has about coffee – he is, after all, at the top of his field. ” And like Daughaday and the rest of the team at reeds, ivanov says that empowering the staff, from bartenders and sommeliers to line cooks and servers, is central to the restaurant’s mission. when Daughaday reflects on what the team at reeds has built in the past six months and all they have planned for 2016, he’s proud of the work they’ve done and the impact the restaurant has had on the community so far – and all of the new talent it’s poised to contribute to the city’s culinary scene in the years to come. “before we even opened, we were thinking about how we get people to do something beyond us, how to inspire employees to grow and branch out and try to continue that same philosophy,” Daughaday says. “the growth of our industry is very much in our minds, beyond even just our own restaurant.” Reeds American Table, 7322 Manchester Road, Maplewood, Missouri, 314.899.9821, reedsamericantable.com

Matthew Daughaday. PHOtOGrAPHy by JuDD DeMALine

ALL MONTH LONG 76

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Why tWo celebrated culinary couples left the coasts to join the groWing and thriving culinary scenes in st. louis and Kansas city WRITTeN By NANCy STILeS

PHoToGRAPHy By WILLIAM HeSS

hen chef Nick Goellner is cooking, his bottom lip protrudes. It’s the only indication of his quiet, contained intensity during dinner service, which culminates, for him at least, in carving eight Aylesbury ducks in less than five minutes. He has to make it pretty, too: After he’s done, chef Michael Gallina carefully arranges each duck’s meat and skin back around its bones. Their wives, Leslie Goellner and Tara Gallina, wait patiently at the open-kitchen window at Blvd Tavern in Kansas City to whisk the platters of meticulously plated duck surrounded by just-foraged pine branches to 40 guests. It’s the third course in a pop-up collaboration between the Goellners’ The Antler Room, coming soon to Kansas City, and the Gallinas’ St. Louis-based Rooster and the Hen, and things have been going remarkably smoothly considering the chefs have only been cooking together for less than a day. After all the ducks have “walked,” as Nick puts it, Michael takes over Blvd’s small kitchen for the fourth course. Nick and two borrowed Kansas City-area chefs, Tom Pulliam and Andrew Heimburger, listen closely as Michael explains how his “big, meaty beet” should be plated. The purple vegetables have been aging in beef fat for four days, so there’s little prep work left. The four chefs quickly work out a plating assembly line: Pulliam starts by spooning a dab of potato-yeast purée on the beige plates, Heimburger adds a spot of tender shredded beef cheeks, Nick carefully adds a juicy beet and Michael tops each ensemble with his homemade celery leaf salt. Tara, Leslie and Blvd co-owner Meghan Nacey swiftly grab the plates from the window as more empty ones are set on the line, until all 40 are gone. The next and final course is dessert, provided by Nick’s sister, Natasha Goellner – known to friends and family as Tasha – of Natasha’s Mulberry & Mott bakeshop in Kansas City. She’s been preparing artful plates of poppy seed cake topped with fennel panna cotta, grapefruit-olive oil ice cream and rose petal meringue in Blvd’s back room, so after a few minutes of cleanup, the chefs can relax. “Michael’s two courses were extremely well-organized,” Nick says. “It went well.” “But that duck – that duck was phenomenal,” Michael counters. “It went smoothly. This kitchen is a lot bigger than the one we did the first [Rooster and the Hen pop-up dinner] in, and it’s nice to have really good hands to do it.” Michael jokingly tries to woo Pulliam and Heimburger into helping at his next pop up in St. Louis. Sally Kim, beverage director at Delfina Restaurant Group in San Francisco, who collaborated with Leslie and Tara on the evening’s drink pairings, pops her head in. “Do you guys want some wine?”

St. Louis chefs, critics and diners were abuzz last fall when the Gallinas announced they’d be leaving the critically acclaimed Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York, where Michael served as chef de cuisine under James Beard Award-winner Dan Barber and Tara held several frontof-house positions including captain. The restaurant was named 2015’s Outstanding Restaurant in the Country in the James Beard Awards – why would a chef return to his Midwestern hometown now? “I feel like one, it was the support system of my family being here, and two, just coming back and every time seeing something new, evolving, changing; new restaurants; the beer scene; charcuterie; all these sustainable farms,” Michael says, “everything that I wasn’t exposed to growing up here. We were working in New York and San Francisco for a number of years and learned an incredible amount. To be able to bring that back to where you started means a lot to us.” Barber opened Blue Hill at Stone Barns, an offshoot of his Manhattan restaurant, Blue Hill, in Pocantico Hills, New York, in 2004 on an 80-acre farm that supplies much of the restaurant’s ingredients – it is real farm-to-table dining. Barber stands with Ferran Adrià of elBulli, René Redzepi of Noma and Thomas Keller of The French Laundry as chefs who have changed the way we eat. The menu, instead of dishes, lists ingredients that are available that season, and a waiter inquires about allergies, dislikes and, as one critic put it, “your mood and daring.” The kitchen then serves a custom meal of 20 to 40 courses based on your answers. Barber is not just known for this hyperseasonal approach; he also uses ingredients that many chefs would consider waste. For one dish, imperfect tomatoes were puréed, strained and whipped to create a sweet tomato water. He even did a two-week pop up in March 2015 at Blue Hill Manhattan called wastED, which literally used food scraps destined for the trash heap, like cured cuts of waste-fed pig with “reject carrot mustard, off-grade sweet potatoes and Melba toast from yesterday’s oatmeal.” The project was praised for getting diners to actually think about their food and ingredients, and this influence has already shown up in the Gallinas’ post-Blue Hill work. Nick and Leslie first met through Tasha and worked together at The Rieger before moving to San Francisco in 2013. Leslie served as general manager at Locanda; Nick cooked his way to sous chef at the Michelin-starred Boulevard. They had already decided to return to Kansas City when, by chance, they caught the Copenhagen episode of Parts Unknown, where host Anthony Bourdain visits Redzepi at Noma, widely considered the best restaurant in the world. It came up that Noma accepts stages a few times a year for an intense, four-month culinary internship. Nick just threw it out there: 78

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“What if I applied for that?” Leslie replied, “Do it, and I’m coming!” After several rounds of applications, they finally got an answer. Leslie was in Kansas City for game two of the World Series in 2014 when Nick, back in San Francisco, called her at 6am – he got it. They arrived in Copenhagen on April 13. That summer was probably the hardest Nick’s ever worked in his life, spent preparing Noma’s New Nordic cuisine. Redzepi and Claus Meyer opened the restaurant in 2003, in a place that is not exactly known for its bounty, yet the food is inextricably linked with Copenhagen’s land and culture – regional cuisine not unlike Barber’s in philosophy if not in execution. Redzepi is inspired by traditional Scandinavian food, which is often smoked, cured and pickled, but he uses it as a jumping-off point to showcase modern cooking techniques and overlooked local ingredients; 90 percent of everything served comes from within 60 miles of Noma. Dishes have included musk ox with puréed apples and raw golden nettles, king crab rolled in burnt hay and deep-fried reindeer moss. Those sorts of dishes won’t inform the eventual menu at The Antler Room, the Goellners’ upcoming Kansas City restaurant, which just signed a lease in Longfellow – Nick says they’re not looking to serve food that “shocks people” – but his time at Noma definitely lit a fire under him. “They do a very specific thing, and they do it better than anyone in the world – it’s not really something that can be replicated,” Nick says. “Everyone [at Noma] works literally 16 hour days, every day. All they do is work, and it’s not drudgery for them. It’s easy to get into a rut at restaurants, and that doesn’t happen there. It showed [us] what you get when you work as hard as you can and you never stop pushing.” The Goellners returned to the Midwest in August and began hosting pop ups and private dinners under The Antler Room name. Soon the Gallinas made their own announcement; Nick’s mother saw the news in Feast and sent it to Leslie. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I need to contact them,’ because that was one of my favorite restaurants in New York,” she says. “I emailed [Tara] thinking there’s no way she would respond to me. But she did and was like, ‘Yes, totally, let’s do this.’”

New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have long been beacons of innovation in fine dining; many a chef dreamed of being a big-city success story like Tom Colicchio or Rick Bayless. But in the past decade, chefs have been returning to – or never leaving – Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Birmingham, Kansas City and St. Louis to join growing local food movements. Ryan Brazeal, who

PICTURED CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Tasha Goellner preparing her poppy seed cake; beef fataged beets with beef cheek and yeast; Aylesbury duck with foraged greens; Michael Gallina describes a course to dinner guests; spent hen and horseradish broth with winter vegetables and egg; rabbit agnolotti with clamshell mushrooms, hazelnuts and chile oil.

cooked at Má Pêche and Nobu Fifty Seven in New York, made waves a few years ago when he left the East Coast to open Novel in Kansas City. “If I dropped the restaurant in New York, it would have been a dime a dozen,” he told The New York Times at the time. Instead, Brazeal opened a restaurant that operates within a tightknit community of diners, chefs, farmers and producers, using his skills to grow the burgeoning food scene and, in turn, the city. When the James Beard Awards were first presented in 1991, the cities recognized were all of the usual suspects: New York; L.A.; Seattle; Chicago. But in recent years, Kansas City found recognition with wins for Colby Garrelts of Bluestem; Celina Tio, then of The American; and Michael Smith and Debbie Gold, also then at The American. St. Louis snagged its first wins in the ‘90s for Tim Brennan of Cravings, and last year for Gerard Craft of Niche. Dozens of Missouri, Illinois and Kansas chefs have garnered nominations – and not just in regional categories. Tara and Michael didn’t come back to St. Louis to change the food scene; instead, they recognized that there is something special going on in the heartland and they wanted to be a part of it. “When you see all these great producers [in Missouri], you go, OK – there must be a demand [from diners],” Tara says. “There must be people who really care about what we’re putting into their bodies. For us, that’s really important, and there’s already an energy of people here who are really into that.” They also stress that part of the reason they’re not rushing into a brick-andmortar version of Rooster and the Hen is because they want to take their time researching and learning the scene and putting in their due diligence. “We don’t want it to be like, here are two people from New York who want to build a restaurant; who cares about anything else?” Michael says. “We want to be a part of St. Louis and do things the right way – build relationships and friendships.” Part of doing that is collaborating with some of the best culinary talent in town, like chef John Perkins at Juniper, and Gerard Craft and Nate Hereford at Niche, for pop ups, and meeting all the local movers and shakers they can at places like Union Loafers, Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions, Salume Beddu, Mai Lee, Sidney Street Cafe and Pappy’s Smokehouse. For both couples, sourcing and building relationships with producers is a foundation of planning their respective restaurants. “Like Linda Hezel from Prairie Birthday Farm [near Kansas City] – she’s so excited and really wants to do different things,” Leslie says. “There are a couple people we’re definitely really excited to have these conversations with, and I know that’s something Tara and Michael did from the get-go. Now that we’re getting closer to opening, we’re trying to create all those connections.”

The pop-up dinners are a way to forge connections with farmers and other producers, build and get to know their clientele, figure out food costs and more. The Antler Room has put on one-of-a-kind dinners at Julep Cocktail Club, Room 39, The Test Kitchen and Natasha’s Mulberry & Mott in Kansas City, and Rooster and the Hen has collaborated with Bowood Farms, Juniper and Schlafly Bottleworks in the St. Louis area so far, but we probably won’t see any brick-and-mortar locations until fall. The pop ups in both cities have consistently sold out; the Gallinas have been staggering ticket releases so that Rooster and the Hen pop ups aren’t all sold out months ahead of time. Leslie says she was surprised that she hasn’t had to do any sort of marketing, even on social media. She simply sends out an email to people who have either attended a previous dinner or signed up online, and the tickets are swooped up in a matter of days. Rooster and the Hen will be vegetable-forward but not vegetarian; the beef fat-braised beets from the Blvd dinner are a prime example. The couple credits their time at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, which was literally on a farm, for a lot of that influence. “We were so lucky to be learning about the food systems, sustainability and what needs to happen to move the food system in a different direction so we can keep living off the land,” Tara explains. “There are a lot of things that go into that. We love to work with whole animals and not waste anything, so what do you do with all those other parts? There are only so many pork chops.” Michael says the same goes for vegetables. “Yes, it’s great when tomatoes are in season, but what else do farmers need to sell?” he says. “What do they have too much of? If farmers are growing organically, they don’t use pesticides, so it’s easy to get totally wiped out by something like beetles. “At farmers’ markets, farmers are hesitant to bring bruised vegetables. If bok choy gets attacked by flea beetles and has little holes in them, they’re still delicious. They’re beautiful in their own way. The thing with food is, we need to be a little bit more accepting of making these other ingredients prized.” The Antler Room’s research and development phase has been less about vegetables but similarly focused on building relationships. Leslie says that above all, they want the restaurant to be a place where people are comfortable. “I really, really am obsessed with knowing people are getting what they want, but doing it in a way that maybe introduces them to something slightly different,” she says. “I don’t want to put a Chardonnay on the menu just because everyone here drinks it. I want to be able to talk to someone and say, ‘Hey, if you love Chardonnay, this is really great, and you’ll love this, too.’ People get really stagnant in what they’re doing,

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BISTRO & MUSIC HOUSE SIGNATURE STYLE ‘NEW’ NEW ORLEANS CUISINE

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SAVOR THE BEST ALL IN ONE NIGHT Spend an evening sampling some of the best St. Louis restaurants named to the 2016 Ian Froeb’s Top 100 best restaurant list. FEATURING

★ PAPPY’S SMOKEHOUSE

★ SOUTHERN

★ GUERRILLA STREET FOOD

★ BOGART’S

★ THREE FLAGS TAVERN

★ RETREAT GASTROPUB

★ FIVE BISTRO

AND MANY MORE!

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016 6:00 - 10:00 PM NEO ON LOCUST 2801 Locust Street

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A portion of the proceeds will support the St. Louis Public Library.

and I don’t want us to do that. This is our livelihood – we can’t settle.” At their collaboration dinner in Kansas City, Nick developed the second and third courses while Michael spearheaded the first and fourth. They did some back and forth over the phone for an hour or so at a time, as did Tara and Leslie, making sure their ideas weren’t totally at odds, but weren’t actually in the kitchen together until the day before the dinner. “It was pretty easy talking through our ideas,” Michael says, “and everything seemed to fit together really well.” Michael started off the evening with a spent hen and horseradish broth: The kitchen crew arranged colorful winter vegetables (radishes, turnips, carrots, watermelon radishes, rutabaga, bok choy) and frozen eggs in bowls, and the piping hot broth was poured over the arrangement tableside. The eggs are frozen – uncooked – and then thawed, causing the yolk to firm up and maintain its round shape, but gives it a puttylike texture. Exactly one week earlier, at the Bowood Farms dinner, the spent hen broth was an amuse-bouche, and the frozen egg instead added texture to a dish of broccoli and Missouri wheat berry risotto. “The egg was definitely the one shared the most on social media,” Michael says. “It’s different than what most people are used to. I think they liked it.” The beet dish first appeared at Bowood, too, and Michael intentionally chose to end the meal without a meaty protein to define the message they’re putting out with Rooster and the Hen: that diners can be satisfied without it. He tweaked it a bit at Blvd Tavern, adding two more days of aging time – “they’re a little funkier” – and upped the yeast for more of a “Midwest-Missouri, meat-andpotatoes” feel. “One of the reasons we’re not posting any menus [ahead of time] is because we want to leave it to the last second; we have no idea if something’s going to change,” Michael says, pointing out that radishes had to be 86ed from the Bowood Farms pop up because there weren’t any at the farmers’ market. “When it came to the thought process behind my two dishes, I really just thought about what I could get that is really good right now,” Nick says. “I thought, what could I find right now that I haven’t used before? That’s the cool thing about these pop ups – I can try new things. The food that I’m serving now isn’t necessarily going to be on the menu [at The Antler Room], but the spirit is still there.” Friends hooked him up with a farmer in Baldwin City, Kansas, for the Aylesbury ducks, which aren’t usually raised in the U.S. He feels like it’s important to patronize people who are doing something different, or else they’ll stop doing it. The duck dish garnered such positive feedback at pop ups that the Goellners decided to add a twoperson version to The Antler’s opening menu, however. After Michael’s broth came Nick’s rabbit agnolotti. He used cocoa powder to make the pasta a rich brown color, stuffed with local

rabbit meat (including kidneys and hearts), sherry, onions, mushroom powder and ricotta, and tossed with cultured butter, hazelnuts, clamshell mushrooms, mushroom-milk foam, thyme and smoked chile oil. Nick considered using sunchokes, but many of the evening’s guests had already been to The Antler Room dinners, and he had done a sunchoke pasta previously. The pasta shape was new, but the cocoa dough and rabbit came from the menu for a small dinner party that worked so well he decided to workshop it some more. “I didn’t really sit down and think about a theme,” Nick says. “What makes sense to serve when it’s so cold outside and we’re in the Midwest?” Despite the physical distance, the chefs presented a cohesive menu that they both see as representative of a certain time and place – the winter of 2016 in the Midwest. It was only the second pop-up dinner for Michael and Tara and just a week after their debut at Bowood Farms. “I slept a lot more for this one,” Michael says before service. “Nick and Leslie are both super talented, so it was easier in that it was a team effort. What I wanted to do and what he wanted to do all seemed to work together, and we have similar philosophies and ideas of having courses that are playful and fun.” Around 11:30pm, the kitchen has cooled down, and Michael covers up his St. Louis Cardinals T-shirt with a dark gray hoodie; he’s no longer sweating despite his calm demeanor during service. The crew is at last finished packing up all the plates, returning wine glasses to racks hanging above Blvd’s hammered bar and rearranging the dining room, all to a soundtrack of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson crooning “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Finally, Tasha, diminutive under her heavy winter coat and scarf, high-fives Nick goodbye and heads out. He, Leslie, Tara, Michael, Pulliam, Heimburger and Blvd owners, Derek and Meghan Nacey, bundle up and walk a few blocks to Up-Down to finish the night with Mario Kart, pizza and local brews. It’s time to let off some steam, but the wheels are already in motion for the next dinners: The Gallinas worked on a pilot beer with Dan Kopman and Stephen Hale of St. Louis’ Schlafly Beer for a dinner at the Bottleworks in late February – the spent grain was used in bread for that evening’s meal – and the Goellners collaborated with Tasha again for a Valentine’s Day feast. “The restaurant I worked at in San Francisco always talked about ‘craveability,’” Leslie says. “It sounds cheesy, but ultimately if you have something you’re thinking about when you leave, and the next morning you wake up like, ‘Wow, I really want that dish again,’ or ‘Man, that wine that I had was so incredible,’ – those people are gonna talk about you. And that’s the best thing ever.” Rooster and the Hen, roosterandthehenfood.com The Antler Room, antlerroomkc.com

Experience the Gallinas’ and Goellners’ food firsthand at one of their upcoming pop ups.

Rooster and the Hen dinner series at Bhive at Brennan’s in St. Louis: March 18, 19 and 20 The Antler Room pop up at Chez Elle Creperie and Coffeehouse in Kansas City: mid-March Rooster and the Hen collaboration with Niche in Clayton, Missouri: April 7 (location TBD) Rooster and the Hen collaboration with The Antler Room in St. Louis: April 18 (location TBD)

PHOTO By JennIFeR SILveRBeRG

WRITTen By HeATHeR RISke

rian Lagerstrom is a restless person. So, naturally, when he moved from a demanding dinner service sauté station at Sepia, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, to its lighter lunch service, he started searching for ways to fill his newfound free time. He found small ways to improve the restaurant’s lunch menu, starting with housemade burger buns. That led to rye bread, which led to sourdough rolls for the pot roast sandwich – soon, Lagerstrom was making three to four different breads a day. He began baking at home and reading bread cookbooks by renowned bakers like Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery. Baking nearly every day at home, Lagerstrom tried to emulate the San Francisco bakery’s “artful bread” – dark, expertly baked wild-yeast bread that’s somehow refined and rustic at the same time.

“I thought it was so rad that wild yeast could make something so delicious,” he says. “Having baked real sourdough bread at home and seeing how much better that was, I was like, ‘If I want to have this, I have to bake it.’ Once you have been exposed to the real thing, you can’t ever go back.” In the past few years, a handful of fine-dining chefs like Lagerstrom have moved out of the kitchen and into bakeries of their own, or taken a more chef-driven approach to their in-house bread programs. As the local food movement evolves, chefs are investing in making as 82

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much as they can in house – and many are turning their focus to artisan bread. After experimenting with burger buns in Chicago, Lagerstrom carried his interest in fermentation south to Gerard Craft’s niche in Clayton, Missouri, where, as executive sous chef, he was limited to using ingredients sourced within 300 miles of the restaurant. He developed house bread and cheese programs and put a creative spin on other common fermented foods – soy sauce and miso made with koji (itself made with Missouri rice), and fish sauce using Missouri trout. Last summer, on the heels of Craft’s James Beard Award win, Lagerstrom made a major career switch: He joined the team at Union Loafers, a small café and bakery focusing on hearth-baked breads. The Botanical Heights storefront hadn’t even opened its doors yet, but people were already talking – the bakery was a years-in-themaking project from two alums of St. Louis restaurateur Mike Randolph’s neapolitan pizzeria, The Good Pie. Ted Wilson, the former pizzaiolo, had developed the neapolitan pizza place’s signature blistered, chewy crust, and Sean netzer curated the restaurant’s bar program. It was Randolph, in fact, who initially introduced Wilson and Lagerstrom, knowing each had a deep appreciation for bread baking and a fascination with fermentation.

The two instantly clicked. Wilson had returned to his hometown after working at new york’s Sullivan Street Bakery under the venerable Jim Lahey, known for pioneering the “no-knead” movement. Inspired by the traditional ways of baking bread, the minimalist baking technique was said to revolutionize the bread industry – and after all, innovations in a 6,000-year-old process are pretty rare. Before leaving new york, Wilson dreamed of opening a neapolitan pizzeria in St. Louis, but after seeing that Randolph was clearly creating an authentic interpretation with The Good Pie, his plans changed. While working at the pizzeria, though, Wilson began to miss baking bread. He left the restaurant in 2012 and, while working at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., spent the next three years developing what would become Union Loafers – a small artisan bread shop focused on old world-style, naturally leavened loaves. As the bakery got closer to its grand opening, Lagerstrom also saw his opportunity to return to that world. “I had been wanting to make this transition for a while, but there really wasn’t anywhere in town doing this,” Lagerstrom says. “We’re sort of in the middle of this wave of people getting back into the real version of food. Bread is tough because people view it as such a utility, but that’s starting to change – they see the quality right away.”

“bread is tough because people view it as such a utility, but that’s starting to change - they see the quality right away.” -brian lagerstrom Photos of brian lagerstrom and union loafers by jennifer silverberg

ln y t r Pa

St. Louis© most affluent audience of tastemakers and trendsetters have chosen the area© s top business to make the annual Ladue News Platinum List and now it© s time to celebrate them at our first ever Platinum List event. Be among the first to find out who the winners are before the special Platinum List edition hits the streets. Enjoy live music, savory bites and tasty treats, an open bar, product samples and demonstrations.

Thursday, March 24, 2016 6-9pm | Palladium Saint Louis Tickets $40 | $45 at door To purchase tickets, go to

www.laduenews.com and click on the link.