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ST. LOUIS STANDARDS
[ S T. L O U I S S TA N D A R D S ]
Dream Team Clayton mainstay the Crossing owes its success to its staff’s attention to every detail Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
J
im Fiala doesn’t think that the food is what makes a restaurant special. It’s not the beverage selection, the setting or even the hospitality, but some un uantifiable thing that happens when you put everything together in harmony. “I am truly convinced that what makes a restaurant a spectacular restaurant is the experience,” Fiala says. “It’s not the food, not the service, not the atmosphere, not the wine list — it’s all of those things together, and then it’s the X factor. It’s having the front of house and back of house know that they have each other’s backs no matter what so they can do what they do. And putting all these little things together: That’s where everything pops. When you can give an experience like that, it’s magical.” For 24 years, Fiala has been orchestrating those magical experiences at the Crossing, his Clayton mainstay that is beloved by diners for its stunning marriage of Italian and French cuisines. Built on a foundation that spans his tenure at esteemed restaurants in San Francisco, Chicago’s famed Spiaggia, and Daniel, the hallowed New York institution, the Crossing has established itself as one of St. Louis’ top restaurants and remains as relevant two and a half decades in as it was when iala first opened its doors. However, Fiala traces the Crossing’s roots much further back than his cooking career. A St. Louis native, Fiala recalls how much dining out was a special part of his childhood and the way those experiences shaped his passion for hospitality. Growing up in the 1970s — a time when it was unheard of to take children to upscale restaurants — Fiala accom-
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RIVERFRONT TIMES
For 24 years, the Crossing has blended all the right elements for an experience that continues to impress. | ANDY PAULISSEN panied his parents to some of the city’s best dining establishments, including the iconic Tony’s, which was a rite of passage for him and his siblings when each turned thirteen. From the food to the way the maitre d’ walked backward up the staircase so as to not turn his back to the guests, the experience was utterly mesmerizing, and quickly seared into Fiala’s mind. Despite his love of restaurants, Fiala instead went to college in Dallas for finance, but found himself floundering He new that a corporate job was the logical step after graduation, but he simply could not see himself in that world. “Every time I would interview at a bank, I would say to myself, ‘This isn’t me,’” Fiala says. “I just didn’t get it. I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to think about every day, and I’d walk into these interviews with this briefcase and think, ‘What am I even keeping in this briefcase? I’m such a loser.’ I had a couple of business cards and a pen and a pad of paper, and I just felt like such a goof.” Unsure of what he wanted to do, Fiala decided to take the year off to work as a deckhand with Clip-
JANUARY 26-FEBRUARY 1, 2022
The restaurant in Clayton has never lost its place in the local restaurant scene. | ANDY PAULISSEN per Cruise Line and eventually talked his managers into letting him wor in the itchen His first day on the line he knew he was in love with cooking, and when he finished his time with the ship, he came back to St. Louis determined to pursue a culinary career. He started out with Mark Erker of Catering St. Louis, then decided to leave town for San Francisco to learn at some of the top res-
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taurants in the country. From there, he went to Spiaggia in Chicago and Daniel in New York City, where he met his dear friend, chef Cary McDowell. The two bonded over their passion for food and hospitality, and when Fiala left to take a job cooking at a hotel in Puerto Rico, McDowell soon followed. There, they further developed their professional relationship, creating menus, working out
