Riverfront Times February 6, 2019

FEBRUARY 6-12, 2019 I VOLUME 43 I NUMBER 4

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THE LEDE

“ It’s cool to be part of something. I can say that my family started a business, especially because it’s not an ordinary business. It’s something that’s cool and different.”

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

Fourteen-year-old trudy Cohen, photographed with Father Marshall Cohen while Making ChoColates For their soulard shop, globe drug store, in its baseMent on February 2

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Sarah Fenske

COVER He’s back Meet our new columnist — same as the old columnist. Ray Hartmann returns to the pages of the RFT Cover photographs by

E D I T O R I A L Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writers Doyle Murphy, Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Thomas Crone, Jenn DeRose, Mike Fitzgerald, Sara Graham, MaryAnn Johanson, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Lauren Milford, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer Proofreader Evie Hemphill Editorial Interns Ryan Gines, Chelsea Neuling, Benjamin Simon, A R T Art Director Evan Sult Contributing Photographers Tim Lane, Monica Mileur, Zia Nizami, Andy Paulissen, Nick Schnelle, Mabel Suen, Micah Usher, Theo Welling, Jen West, Corey Woodruff P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Jack Beil

THEO WELLING

M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Sales Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell, Erica Kenney Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Michael Gaines, Drew Halliday, Jackie Mundy C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein Creative Director Tom Carlson www.euclidmediagroup.com

INSIDE The Lede Hartmann

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News

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Better Together must think we’re stupid

Feature

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Raising the Bar: Four veteran STL bartenders throw down on the challenge of keeping the city’s glass full

Calendar Film

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Cafe

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Short Orders

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Music & Culture

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Oscar-nominated shorts

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HARTMANN Magic Numbers How stupid does Better Together think we are?

BY RAY HARTMANN

B

oy, do we have a surprise for America.

St. Louis is about to kick some serious civic butt. We are going to blow by dozens of the nation’s cities as if they were driving a Prius at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Yes sir, we’re bouncing back from oblivion, no more murdercapital reputation, no more Ferguson image, no more stagnantMidwestern-city nonsense. Nope.

We’re on our way back to the topten cities in the U.S., with slashed

crime rates to boot, just like magic.

And how are we going to do this? Easy. We’ve doing it with new math. Funky new math, admittedly, and we will need a shotgun wedding of the city and county, with Missourians living outside those two entities holding the firearm. Also, we’ll need to do quite a bit of lying.

But the important thing is the math.

Right now, about a million people live in St. Louis County and roughly 300,000 reside in the city.

Simple arithmetic: 1 million plus 300,000 equals 1.3 million people.

In November 2020, according to a new plan rolled out over the past month by the nonprofit Better Together, Missourians statewide would vote to force their merger — likely over the locals’ screaming objections — into a new 1.3 million-inhabitant juggernaut.

The Post-Dispatch is over the moon: “St. Louis’ place among U.S. cities has slid steadily over the decades,

from fourth in population in 1910 to 62nd in 2017,” the paper reported January 6, in its Sunday lead story. “A merged city, with a combined population of 1.3 million residents, would be the 10th largest city in the country, between Dallas and San Jose, Census figures show.”

The Post’s editorial page doubled down six days later, envisioning “a more powerful city of 1.3 million residents similar in size to Dallas and San Jose.”

Now that’s what I call creativity with numbers.

To those living in the so-called real world, Dallas is masquerading as the fourth largest metro area in America, at 7.4 million people and booming, per Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) data. San Jose isn’t far behind, part of a similarly exploding dual-metro area of 6.7 million. The St. Louis metro area, at 2.8 million and stagnant, isn’t customarily viewed as “similar in size” to those two.

But in the honored tradition of “Simon Says,” that doesn’t say

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anything about “cities.” We don’t need no stinking MSA information. We’re old school. We’re talking “cities” here.

Enter the funky new math, which is actually old math, as in using the way the Census Bureau — the national scorekeeper — measured population in 1910, rather than in 2010. The creative folks at Better Together have a great gimmick: Change the lexicon to create “a powerful new city.”

Aside from the trifling detail that this approach doesn’t even rise to the level of numbing stupidity, consider how smart it is.

Who needs to worry about MSAlevel metrics when we compare apples and coconuts and make reality go bye-bye?

It’s not as if we have anything to lose: St. Louis just dropped out of the top 20 MSAs in the U.S. for the first time, passed by Baltimore, of all places. Based on current population trends, we’re pretty certain Continued on pg 8

2/28/19

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HARTMANN

Continued from pg 7

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to drop to 25th or lower in the next several years. A city-combo doesn’t add one soul to those MSA numbers.

Quick question: Do you really believe St. Louis is about to become larger than Atlanta and Miami combined? Maybe some will find perverse comfort in knowing that our mega-city of 1.3 million would dwarf lowly Atlanta (population 486,290) and Miami (population 463,347). Me? I just want some of their drugs.

Yes, using your daily newspaper’s fealty to All-American, 1910-style population measurement, the new city of St. Louis would be more populous than these cities, as well as San Francisco, Denver, Washington D.C., Boston, Detroit, Seattle and Minneapolis. All these little burgs have a surprise coming, don’t they? It’s not in the least bit real, but who cares when it sounds so good!

Laughability aside, one part of this is truly troubling: People believe it. We’re witnessing the Orwellian spectacle of elites repeating words that aren’t true often enough that they simply must be true after all.

This is un-democracy in action.

And it’s not just some soothing, hot-rock massage of the numbers.

It’s part of a pattern of Better Together treating the people of the city and county with contempt.

Obviously, the worst of it is resorting to a statewide vote when it’s so clear that St. Louis County would overwhelmingly reject the forced marriage with the city. But last week, Better Together doubled down with a series of dictates about how — assuming passage in 2020 — they’ll “transition” St. Louis to the powerful mega-city through the careful, watchful guidance of our existing politicians until 2024.

So, we’ll entrust the destruction of the status quo to those who presently preside over the status quo? As opposed, say, to some irresponsible, radical, “democratic” exercise like having the voters of the newly created mega-city simply go to the polls in 2021 and elect a new mayor and city council?

How irresponsible I am to suggest such a chaotic approach. But I must admit: Trusting the ability of St. Louis voters to govern themselves would fly in the face of the Better Together plan. After all, it’s predicated on the opposite.

Here’s where the Better Together math isn’t funky: For every person who lives in the county,

there are almost five Missourians (also known as voters) who reside in neither county nor city. Say, for sake of discussion, city voters split 50/50 on the new mega-city.

Even if county voters rejected the measure three to one, the backers of the measure probably only need about a ten percent margin among outstate voters to prevail. Yes, a 75/25 “no” vote in the county likely would be negated by just a 55/45 “yes” tally in Missourah.

Do not mistake voters outside the city and county as unaffected by any of this, or likely to defer to our wishes. The messaging to them will be clear: St. Louis is going to drag all of us down if we don’t fix it, because St. Louis is too stupid to fix itself ... in so many words and dog whistles.

Consolidation is not an evil goal.

Reasonable people will differ on much of what Better Together seeks to do. I support the notion of a more unified St. Louis; I’ve publicly advocated a city-county merger for three decades. Eliminating the city’s idiotic structure as both a city and county would certainly cut waste.

But reality still matters. So does truth. And both are presently in short supply.

Better Together continues to blast away — to an obedient mainstream media — with unsubstantiated claims about costs savings and imaginary regionalism. True, these might lack the hallucinatory extremes of the warped population math, but the central theme is pervasive: Trust us, St. Louis.

And better yet, trust Rex Sinquefield, the quasi-billionaire who has all the answers for fixing all our problems and has pledged to spend tens of millions to have his way.

How much of this is actually driven quietly by Sinquefield’s twin passions of airport privatization and eliminating earnings taxes?

We don’t get to know, for now.

Ever the master chess player, Rex is content to lurk behind the scene — cowardly — and play his wellcompensated pawns, albeit with the help of some fairy dust.

That’s a shame. There’s a real need for St. Louis to change its governance. There’s a good debate to be had here. But not as long as Better Together thinks of itself as the Ministry of Magic. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977 and this week makes his triumphant return as a columnist after a seventeen-year absence. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or follow on Twitter at @rayhartmann.

NEWS Police Push Back on Cover-Up Charges Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

O

ver the course of a week, two St. Louis cops have been charged with felonies in an off-duty bar shooting and another was killed by a fellow officer who, according to the criminal complaint, fired a single round into her chest during bizarre game of Russian roulette.

The ugly incidents have led to sniping between a police department under fire and the prosecutors pursuing cases against its officers.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner wrote a letter last week to police Chief John Hayden and Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards, chastising the police department for “obstructionist” tactics during prosecutors’ investigation into the death of Officer Katlyn Alix.

The 24-year-old was shot to death by Officer Nathaniel Hendren on January 24 while they took turns pulling the trigger on a revolver loaded with a single bullet, authorities say. Hendren and his partner, who was also at the apartment, were on duty at the time.

Gardner alleges that the police department blocked prosecutors’ efforts to get blood samples from Hendren and his partner, even though “there was probable cause at the scene that drugs or alcohol may be a contributing factor in a potential crime.”

On the same day, Gardner’s prosecutors filed charges against officers William Olsten and Joseph Schmitt in an April 2018 shooting. The two are accused of attacking a 22-year-old in the parking lot of a south-city bar where they were drinking off duty with two other cops. Olsten climbed into the back of the man’s van, and later slammed him to the

Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards defends St. Louis officers. | DOYLE MURPHY pavement, causing the man’s gun to fire and hit Olsten, prosecutors say. Schmitt then shot the man multiple times, according to the charges.

In a statement about the bar shooting, Gardner wrote that police investigated the incident and pursued charges against the 22-year-old. But prosecutors refused to file them. Instead, circuit attorney’s investigators conducted their own probe, which led to assault charges against the officers.

At a news conference last Tuesday, Edwards defended the department. He denied police have done anything to interfere with the investigations.

“To suggest any officer is engaged in any obstruction of justice is ludicrous,” he told reporters.

Processing the crime scene at Hendren’s apartment is the responsibility of police, not prosecutors, he said. And he insisted they had cooperated as much as possible with prosecutors.

Susan Ryan, spokeswoman for the circuit attorney, says that while it’s true processing the scene is done by police, it’s common for prosecutors to ask for specific evidence to be collected.

Gardner sent two investigators and a prosecutor to Hendren’s apartment, which is in the Carondelet neighborhood. She says when they pushed for a blood draw and got a search warrant, police commanders acted like they would help, but later told them

Officer Hendren claimed he shot Officer Alix during a game of “Russian roulette.” | VIA SLMPD only that a “sample” had been taken. Pushed to explain, police told the circuit attorney’s investigators a breathalyzer and urine tests were done under the cover of Garrity protections, a process that could potentially shield the results from prosecutors by protecting the officers’ rights against incriminating themselves. There was apparently no blood test.

“Taking these tests under the cover of Garrity appears as an obstructionist tact to prevent us from understanding the state of the officers during the commission of this alleged crime,” Gardner wrote in her letter to police brass. “We have the expectation that those test results will be turned over to our office immediately as part of the ongoing inves-

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tigation.”

Edwards promised reporters the test results would be made public as the court case against Hendren continues, but when asked how that might happen given the Garrity protections, he offered no specifics.

“I just think that you will get it,” he said. “I absolutely think you will get it. I want you to have it.”

An attorney for Hendren, Talmage Newton IV, insists allegations about drugs are “categorically false” and says Gardner’s attempts to get the tests would violate his client’s constitutional rights. Her letter shows she ignored the work of “seasoned professionals on the scene, who are experienced and entrusted with investigations, when she filed these uninformed and unsustainable charges,” Newton writes in a news release.

But even while Edwards pushes back on Gardner’s criticism of the investigation, police have not challenged the charges.

As for the charges in the Bomber O’Brien’s shooting, Edwards said police thought it was important to investigate the shooting. The department had the Force Investigation Unit — the unit that handles police-involved shootings — look into it. They then turned over the results to prosecutors.

Ryan says that’s true, but that police never asked for charges against the officers involved. And the case the police gave them — seeking charges against the 22-year-old shot by one officer — was short on evidence.

“We began our own parallel investigation when police brought the original charges over and we believed there was insufficient evidence,” Ryan said in an email.

That investigation led to the charges that were filed against Olsten and Schmitt. Headlines in the two cases follow revelations from a couple weeks ago that an undercover officer told Internal Affairs investigators that uniformed officers beat him “like Rodney King” in 2017 during police protests.

Four officers have been indicted on federal charges in that case.

Edwards says the cluster of cases, spanning years of activity, wrongly portrays a problem department.

“The vast majority of the officers, they do it right,” he said.

“And they do a decent job.” n

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For Airbnb Regs, Devil Is in the Details Written by

BENJAMIN SIMON

F

ifty-four days ago, four members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen introduced a bill designed to crack down on sites like Airbnb within city limits — banning residents from using such services to rent out their homes for more than 120 days per year, adding a yearly inspection fee and even barring “business entities” from acting as hosts.

Since then, residents have argued about the proposal in the letters-to-the-editor section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and debated the details on NextDoor. Many weren’t pleased.

But Alderwoman Heather Navarro says she and her co-sponsors are now making major changes to the proposal — including, she says, eliminating the 120-day restriction.

They also plan to do away with the portion that bars businesses from acting as Airbnb hosts.

To complement the bill, they will also work with the city’s planning commission to vary the regulations governing the use of Airbnb based on zoning.

Navarro says the bill’s changes are less of a retreat than what she and co-sponsors Christine Ingrassia, Tom Oldenburg and Carol Howard had always anticipated.

They saw the board bill they presented as merely an attempt to open debate.

“This first piece of legislation was putting something out there and going from there,” says Navarro, whose ward includes part of the Central West End. “We knew that we were going to be making a lot of changes. So there wasn’t any surprise there.”

Navarro notes that each neighborhood in St. Louis is different and they will look into zoning rules as a way to craft regulations by zone. In a single-family neighborhood, Navarro says, “behavior must conform to what is normally in a single-family neighborhood.”

Services like Airbnb, which allow anyone with a home or apartment to set up a DIY rooming house or short-term vacation rental, have taken the area by storm in recent years. In 2018, Airbnb

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In Lafayette Square, a professionally managed Airbnb blends with its neighbors. | SARAH FENSKE hosts from Missouri earned a total of $48 million. The city of St. Louis led that charge, topping the state with more than $14 million in host income in 2018 alone.

But that has led to pushback. Unlike hotel and traditional bed-andbreakfast services, until last year, Airbnb didn’t have to pay hotel taxes in Missouri. That changed last year, when Airbnb forged agreements with both the state and the city for tax remittance.

But critics continue to carp that Airbnb has taken business away from the hotel industry and locally owned bed-and-breakfasts, which are subject to numerous additional regulations.

Some people living next door to Airbnb locations have also expressed frustration with the short-term renters that come with them. The constant stream of residents takes away from the sense of community, they say.

Navarro acknowledges this sentiment, saying, “A lot of people move into a single-family neighborhood and they invest in their neighborhood, and when houses start turning over into Airbnbs, you don’t know your neighbors.”

Security is also a concern cited by residents, she says.

One critic, Joe Hogan, who lives adjacent to an Airbnb, wrote to the Post-Dispatch that its guests have “parked on our lawn [and] they’ve had barking dogs and screaming children outside our bedroom window as early as 5 a.m. I have to pick up discarded trash and other items thrown in our yard

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and bushes. These are our neighborhoods, not hotel parking lots.

It’s ridiculous. We finally had to erect a 25-foot fence to keep some semblance of privacy, to the tune of about $2,000.”

Steph Van Schalkwyk, who lives in Lafayette Square, had the same negative feelings when one of the historic homes next door was converted to a full-time Airbnb. It wasn’t just a random person renting out an extra room — it was a business built for profit. “They started applying washer machines and dryers, and I was very apprehensive,” Van Schalkwyk says.

But Van Schalkwyk has since found that Airbnb not only has a strong online feedback program, but that the building’s owners and residents have been easy to deal with. “There’s a gardening service.

The snow is shoveled before I get to mine,” Van Schalkwyk says, adding also that if there is a complaint, the company will act quickly. On top of that, Van Schalkwyk says, the guests have been warm and cooperative.

Not all anxieties have been mitigated that easily, and now the aldermen are hoping to reach common ground between people who use the service and the neighbors who must live side by side with their guests.

“I’ve been working on this issue for over a year,” notes Alderwoman Ingrassia in an email. “National research and information I’ve collected through town halls, neighborhood meetings, and an online survey indicates most St.

Louisans want short-term rentals, but believe they should be subject to basic regulations. I’ve met with short-term rental hosts, platform representatives, residents, and key city officials.”

Count Airbnb among the stakeholders that weren’t happy with the initial proposal. In a statement, a company spokesman says, “We have learned from partnering with local governments throughout the country that short-term rental regulations work best when they’re written with an eye towards clarity and easy compliance. As currently drafted, this ordinance includes provisions that are unworkable.

As city policymakers work to improve this ordinance, we hope they will take the perspective of local hosts into account.”

That means people like Eric Christensen, who’s best known as a host of the comedy show STL Up Late, but who also moonlights as an Airbnb host. Christensen has built fond memories and a steady stream of income as an Airbnb host and hopes to continue.

Being limited to 120 days per year, he says, would absolutely be a deal killer. He also dislikes the provision that requires hosts to register with the city annually.

“I have no issues with having to register with the city and having it inspected,” he says in an email.

“Every year seems excessive.”

Christensen says he’s found that hosting through Airbnb is a lot of work, but comes with some real benefits beyond just the cash. “I also just honestly wanted to meet people traveling to the city,” he says of his decision to start hosting through the site. “You get a good idea of what is going on and you get a look at perceptions for outsiders.”

He fondly recalls hosting a man who came to St. Louis by motorcycle all the way from Canada.

Another Airbnb guest stopped through on a trip to California.

“Good hosts are changing the [St. Louis] narrative one guest at a time,” he says.

Adds Christensen, “I have had very few bad guests. But at least the few that I had were there and gone in a night. A bad tenant can be there for years.”

Both Ingrassia and Navarro say they intend to keep working on the bill now that the session has ended. Navarro says they will team up with the city’s planning commission to try to work through the desired zoning ordinances. It is all still a work in progress.

“We want to hear from people,” Navarro says. “We want to have some really good conversations.” n

Police Union Blasts Shooting Victim Written by

AWARD WINNING BRUNCH

SARAH FENSKE

T

he union representing St. Louis police officers put a 22-year-old shooting victim on blast last Thursday — posting a photo of the young man and calling him a “would-be cop killer,” “a gang banging POS” and a “thug.”

The man, who had previously been identified only as S.D., is alleged by prosecutors to be the victim in an April 2017 incident at the south-city bar Bomber O’Brien’s.

Prosecutors say that after S.D. left the bar, St. Louis police officers William Olsten and Joseph Schmitt ambushed him, with Olsten first climbing into the back of his van and then, after he fled the vehicle, slamming him down in the parking lot. When the young man’s gun went off, the second officer, Schmitt, opened fire, hitting him multiple times in the arms and legs. S.D. was reportedly left with serious injuries.

After St. Louis police investigated the incident, they recommended charges be filed against S.D. But when prosecutors in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office got the case, they ended up going in a much different direction — instead charging Schmitt and Olsten.

Olsten and Schmitt both face charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Schmitt was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon.

The police union, suffice it to say, is fighting mad.

Three days after the charges were filed, the St. Louis Police Officers Association published a post to its Facebook page, which is open to the public, naming the young man. The post also includes a photo of him posing with a gun, and then calls out both him and Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. (We’ve airbrushed out the man’s name and his face, as well as those of his companions; otherwise, it appears above as posted.)

The post reads: This is the “man” that tried to murder two of our police officers. Shot one and would have killed him and a second officer if not for the bravery and quick thinking of a very heroic rookie policeman.

Kim Gardner sees this gang-banging POS and thinks “VICTIM?” She takes his word over the word of four cops and all the other witnesses there that night and ignores the video and forensic evidence.

Cops are not safe! And as long as they’re not safe, neither are you.

If you were a cop, would you risk your life and your freedom defending someone from a thug like this knowing that Kim Gardner will charge you with murder or attempted murder. If you think cops

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

10AM – 1PM St. Louis’ police union posted this photo on Facebook, circling a shooting victim. in St. Louis are in a position to protect you, you are DEAD wrong. They are under siege by a prosecutor who is herself, accused of very serious crimes like suborning perjury and misusing campaign funds. The criminals are in charge now.

They own the streets. Who will be their next victim and who can stop them?

Right now, nobody.

The union, and its bombastic spokesman Jeff Roorda in particular, has a long history of trying to claim that its members are the innocent victims in a war on police. After Dallas police officers were gunned down in 2016, Roorda drew widespread condemnation for a Facebook post blaming the deadly incident on President Barack Obama.

That post was later deleted.

A search of court records shows that S.D. does not have a criminal record in Missouri. Prosecutor say he was legally permitted to possess a firearm.

In a statement, the Circuit Attorney’s Office said, “To protect the defendant’s rights to a fair trial, the Circuit Attorney’s Office does not comment on pending investigations. It’s reprehensible for the Police Officer’s Association try to circumvent the legal process by disparaging a crime victim on social media. The only place this matter should be litigated in is a court of law.”

Interestingly, in the photo posted by the police union, S.D. is posing with Isaiah Hammett, who rather than being a “cop killer” was in fact shot to death by St. Louis Police in June 2017.

Hammett was killed in a SWAT raid on his family’s south city home. Police claim he fired first, setting off a firefight. The acting chief at the time had suggested that Hammett saw the SWAT team coming thanks to the surveillance camera on the house.

The report generated by the police department’s own investigation of the incident, however, notes that the camera was no longer functioning at that time. n

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aising

__Bar__ t

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Four veteran St. Louis bartenders throw down on the challenge of

KEEPING THE CITY’S GLASS FULL

O

BY THOMAS CRONE

PHOTOS BY RYAN GINES

n a random weekend some years ago,

I rolled into a bar in Dupo, Illinois. It was named after the owner, who, it appeared, was the lady sitting in a little recessed nook. She was watching the local news from her chair, volume turned way up. She served me a beer, but when I tried to ask a few questions, they went nowhere.

She’d seen and done enough in that job.

It can happen to the best bartenders, whether their name is on the front door or not. The stresses can be nuts, the social tension a real thing.

I would know. I visited that little bar in Dupo as a journalist, back when I wrote a nightlife column, but four years ago, I myself became a part-time bartender. For me, a ticket off the adjunct-teaching train came through the co-purchase of the Tick Tock Tavern, which had been sitting empty for nineteen years

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in Tower Grove East. The previous owner, Charlotte, was a firecracker, running an “old-man bar” in a period when such spots dotted south St. Louis. When she was done, she was done for real, locking the front door and living upstairs for another nineteen years, bottles of Galliano and Pepe Lopez tequila opened and aging (poorly) on the backbar.

I didn’t start bartending right after my partners and I reopened the Tick Tock, but in recent years I’ve gotten into aspects of the trade. I remain a cappopper and draft-puller at heart. There is no bartender’s apron in my wardrobe, and ingredient lists above four cause my robot brain to overheat.

Even so, it remains a difficult gig. A few months back, my new doctor was manipulating my aching left knee, moving it hither and yon while looking for clues. In between awkward bursts of movement, I heard questions and answered in the negative: No, I hadn’t suffered any trauma in the knee, and nothing had knocked into it, banged off of it or otherwise made contact. The pain, I assured him, had come from a three-day stretch of bartending.

Even for those of us working on rubber mats, the hours of standing, interspersed with quick bursts of movement, can take a toll on your sticks. For some of us, it’s ankle pain, for others, the knee — and so on, with bartending aches and pains slithering north all the way up to your neck and shoulders. The older you get, the greater the chance that a body part that’s Continued on pg 14

Above, Dan Swinford leans in to catch an order at Three Monkeys; below, Cindy Capps keeps the beer flowing at Old Rock House. riverfronttimes.com

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RAISING THE BAR Continued from pg 12

agreed with you forever suddenly decides to let itself be known. For me, a bum knee was a new entry to the catalog of afflictions. It would take a very effective cortisone shot to make life immeasurably better.

But it’s not only the wear and tear on the body. Talking to a quartet of St. Louis bartenders who’ve been in the game for twenty or more years, I found myself thinking about what makes the game difficult today.

These four veterans have made everything from Brandy Alexanders to liquid marijuana, rusty nails to green-tea shots. Yet the people they’ve served have changed as much as the drinks they drink.

Back in the day, the challenge might have been getting someone to try something new. Today, it’s getting a barfly to put their phone down and talk to someone new.

They’ve been there and done that, but they haven’t given up.

They could teach that lady in Dupo a thing or two. Me as well.

murals at the Venice. For a while, she pursued art full time, but the cash money always helps and so she’s been back at the Venice off and on for twenty years. She works alongside the club’s longrunning Monday night open mic, as well as a Saturday afternoon shift that alternates live bands playing classic country in one case with reggae in the other.

“Once you meet me, you know me,” she says. “It’s not hard, though you might see me in public and I’ll be confused without context. Give me some context! ‘Is

other,” she says. “People are very into their phones, they’re very cliquey and not going to interact, which I think is a shame. It’s very closed-minded. If you sit down, shut off your phone and interact with humanity! These are people who live near where you live.

There are far less preconceived notions and biases when we get to know the real human inside. We all just want to be acknowledged.

So I say ‘hello’ to everyone and anyone leaving gets a ‘goodbye.’

I’ll even holler that over the band.

“I want them to know,” she con-

• THE ARTIST •

RED KEEL

S

O F VENICE CAFE

taffers at bars with a lot of stuff on the walls know the drill. You’re going to answer the same query a dozen times, a hundred times, a thousand times.

At O’Connell’s, the questions are going to revolve around the antiques, the images of balloons and boxers, the chandeliers. At Yaqui’s, the painting of Josephine Baker, hung next to a series of painted volleyballs, will draw inquiries. At the Tick Tock Tavern, the owls and clocks bring questions on a daily basis. At Venice Cafe, the questions are about ... everything.

It’s almost as if a cheat sheet would help.

Voila! Red Keel has answered questions about the colorful Benton Park bar more times than she can count, and now she’s now able to pull out a single sheet piece of paper, wrapped in plastic. It was written by bar manager Chad P. Taylor and owner Jeff Lockheed.

The basics of the place are all here, giving a sense of the artistic landmark’s beginnings as a coffeehouse with digressions into its name, its ownership and the artists who help make the place what it is.

That group includes Keel, who worked on many of the mosaic tile

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Venice Cafe is so overstuffed with curiosities the staff keeps a laminated FAQ sheet behind the bar.

it from mosaics, the bar business?

How do I know you? I’m Red.’ That’s all I’ve got.”

In her colorful blazers, her curly hair pulled back in a trademark style, Keel says, “It’s about being large and being on stage. You’re bigger than life. You can’t really do that in most areas of your life.

It’s fun to come in, get that energy out of yourself, make good friends and get a family going here.”

She figures that about 15 to 20 percent of the Saturday happyhour crowd are regulars, a number that rises to a 40 percent rate on Mondays. She knows their quirks and habits and conversational go-tos. The new folks, well, she’ll prompt them for the same.

That portion of the job has changed immensely since she began her work at Patrick’s Westport Grill in the 1980s.

“One of the biggest differences is the cellphone, and that means people aren’t here to meet each

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tinues, “that I appreciate you for giving me money and hanging out here. You’ll get a smile and sometimes that can make a night; that I acknowledge you and you acknowledge me. It makes you feel special.”

So, go ahead, ask her a question, any question. She’s Red. She won’t mind.

• THE MERCENARY FOR H I R E • DAN SWINFORD O F THREE MONKEYS A N D TAHA’A TWISTED TIKI

D

an Swinford hurts.

Thanks to the hours spent in the job, he says his hips ache all the time. They have suffered the most from his time on the mats, “along with my wrists, knees and decorum.”

Ask him what folks might not realize about the bartending trade,

and he speaks of just that. “The physicality of it, I think,” he says.

“They don’t see you in the bar after shift, lugging six cases of beer up a flight of stairs, or lugging up ice or whatever it might be.”

But that answer still runs a close second to something else: “The BS that you sometimes have to put up with.”

He explains, “Not matchmaking, per se, but peacemaking. Some people, you don’t want to sit together. You toss that coaster down quickly, because you know two people are going to clash. It’s the politics of it. You know someone’s a Trump supporter. And someone else you know is a flaming liberal.

As a rule you don’t want to bring them together. You have to be aware of the clientele.”

Swinford, 51, has worked outside the industry and inside of it as a manager, but he currently bills himself as a bartending “mercenary for hire.” He’s settled of late into a few regular shifts at Taha’a Twisted Tiki in the Grove and Three Monkeys in Tower Grove South; he also kept recent hours at the West End Grill & Pub until that spot’s closure. Prior to that he’d held a position at Onesto, preceded by his lengthiest stint, which was at Sandrina’s. He’s worked on both sides of the river and gigged during every part of the day in a host of environments. He’s seen a little bit of everything.

The years have taught him a lot. For example, he says he has no problem cutting people off. He feels the same about asking someone to leave, and won’t hesitate to quash a toxic conversation that has the potential to spread bad vibes throughout the bar.

Controlling the feel of the room, he says, is the key in many respects. Of the perfect night, he says, “This is purely my side, but it’s when you have the right mix of regulars and some new people.

Music is important and so is keeping a certain mood. ... Everything comes out of the kitchen right.

And whoever you’re working with, you’re jiving to, you’re doing the dance.”

Dancing out the front door with some money helps, too.

“Let’s not bullshit ourselves,” he jokes. “At the end of the night, it could have been one of those glorious, magical ones. But if you’ve counted out and made twelve bucks an hour ... then it wasn’t one.”

For now, the lifestyle still works for Swinford.

“This was accidental,” he says of his career. “I honestly hadn’t bartended in twentysomething years before I went back at Sandrina’s. I did it as a stopgap while

I looked for something else in management. But I got used to not answering the phones a thousand times, or fixing problems right then and there.”

He speaks of the joys of not sitting in a cube. And of the anti-joys of “a bone spur and hips that are shot.” The tradeoffs of the trade.

• THE FIXTURE •

CINDY CAPPS

C

O F OLD ROCK HOUSE

indy Capps is among the primary staffers at the Old Rock House, and it’s her whom you’ll often meet and greet as you order a drink at the primary ground-floor bar. Her history as a bartender follows a classic arc in that she’s had time off over the years, taking the time away to pursue other goals.

Her first gig in the industry, she recalls, came “when I was 20 or 21, a little itty-bitty place in Lemay across from the Bean House called Mickey’s. It was owned by this old man whose son Mickey took it over. It was Lemay, so you couldn’t be cliquey. Everyone knew everyone who came in.

Very working class down there. It even had brain sandwiches.”

Capps’ next step took her to the golden years of Laclede’s Landing, working at Lucius Boomers and Timber’s, “where I got a job as a server and then learned how to tend bar,” she recalls. “I’ve been doing it on and off ever since. I took time off for a baby who is 22 now. I worked at a new-age bookstore. But I always went back to bartending. It’s something I really enjoy.”

For a good long while now, Capp, 53, has called the Old Rock House her bartending home. As a music venue, it’s subject to the seasons, and the current one means a little less action, as bands aren’t touring as aggressively in the winter as in other times of the year.

While the Rock House books a variety of bands, a strong subcurrent of jam bands, bluegrass and its variants attract a steady group of music fans that she may know by face, by name or by drink.

“It’s unique,” she acknowledges.

“It’s not like you can just walk in here any time and have a beer.

There are a lot of funk shows, jam bands. Which is awesome. Those are super-nice, happy crowds.

Mellow, chill people.”

The pace, Capps says, can come in waves. “If it’s a bigger show, and we’re sometimes sold out, I’m five people deep immediately and people want their stuff. They wan-

na get down front, get back their spot and dance. I’m fast, but I’m not magical. I can’t crack out your five different shots and a margarita and an old fashioned in 30 seconds, I’m sorry. It’s a different mindset. People at another kind of bar tend to linger, instead of everything being a mini-emergency.

“I was working an Aaron Kamm show at our upstairs bar, which is really little,” Capps recalls. “I was surrounded, it was so busy, and I was mercilessly getting oldfashioned orders. I was busy and stressed, but so many people were kind: ‘We’re rooting for you, no worries, take your time.’ It was really a nice sense of them just trying to help me get by. Those encouraging words are always cool.”

As a venue bartender, she knows that some customers have driven five hours to see the band.

“They’re usually super-happy to be there,” she says. “So unlike a restaurant or corner bar, if you’re out of a particular beer, it’s not a big deal. They’re already here and are going to have a good time.

“And,” after all, Capps adds, “I’m in the business of making people happy.”

•THE INVENTOR •

DOUG MORGAN

A

O F N U M E R O U S S P O TS

dozen young people walk into the Tick Tock at the tail end of a snowstorm, looking for a specific NFL game (we don’t play the league) and twelve Vegas Bombs (we typically don’t make them, but can).

I pull up an app, find a common recipe and locate a key Schnapps under the bar. It’s not pretty.

At this, the busiest moment of the evening, a dozen young people drink shots that don’t include vodka, but they assume does, saddening every human being involved in the encounter. As they attempt to call up the Cowboys game onto a blank TV screen via their own apps, they comment that the drinks taste a “bit like vanilla.” Sigh.

There’s no lack of information about what’s available to consumers, what the trends are, what you can ask for at a bar. But all rules go out the window when people travel in packs, get set on an idea or have to have what they need or want, no matter the environment.

Doug Morgan, 50, has known a lot of variations on this story. Currently, he’s a fill-in bartender at this place and that, but he’s logged years behind the bar at some

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RAISING THE BAR Continued from pg 15

key spots in St. Louis drinking lore: the Hi-Pointe, Riddle’s Penultimate, Boogaloo, the Upstairs Lounge and, notably, the Delmar Lounge, where he held an ownership stake.

There, he saw a wave of cocktail culture hit the edge of the U. City Loop. His staff was instructed to make whatever was ordered, even in that wild time between 1:30 and 3 a.m., when the crowd was surging.

“When we started going out,” says Morgan, “the choices were shorter and they were the exact same everywhere. Some nicer beers and different cocktails; you might have a nice wine list. It’s a ‘careful what you ask for’ scenario. When I came up in bartending,

cocktails and then walk into Joe’s Corner Pub, you’re not going to get what you want, just like you don’t ask for tenderloin at McDonald’s.

Or cheese fries at Ruth’s Chris, even if they can do it.”

He continues. “This happened recently: Somebody asked me the choices of ice cubes. ‘I’m sorry, excuse me?’ I mean, I get around, and I have yet to go to the place that offers you different ice-cube options.”

Morgan has a particular notch on his belt, one that travels with him. It’s “the Sandinista,” a shot that he and CBGB linchpin Matt Wagner co-created in an early iteration of the Upstairs Lounge.

The drink was a variant on Blueberry Hill’s spicy version of the Prairie Fire. Morgan and Wagner came upon this recipe: Cuervo, Worcestershire sauce, Rose’s lime juice, black pepper and sriracha.

Bartender-for-hire Doug Morgan invented a shot that’s downed around the world. it was with the birth of the martini thing. We did it at the Delmar, and the Famous Bar did it right behind us. I like making a nice cocktail for someone, maybe something nice to accompany your meal.

Now if it’s two in the morning and the crowd’s five deep and the bartender’s really frowning about making fancy martinis ... well, I was adamant about it. No matter what time it was, you serve it. We got over that hump.”

The environment today, he says, has become quite a bit more difficult.

“I want you to enjoy your drink, I’ll do my best,” he says. “But there’s almost this culture of stumping the bartender. It comes off as, ‘Ooh, ah, do you have this?’ I want you to get what you want, you should be able to get what you want. But there’s a bit of knowing where you’re at. If you’re out specifically for specialty

The drink caught on around the south side and migrated to different bars, with and without Morgan making them.

In time, it would be seen at bars in New York, and a friend eventually took Morgan to Minneapolis for a round at Grumpy’s, a legendary bar that just recently closed to make way for an eight-story apartment tower.

As Morgan recalls it, the arrival of the creator of the Sandinista created a stir at Grumpy’s, where the drink was the shot special for metal night. Morgan ended up creating 65 of them on the spot. Got a standing ovation for the trouble.

We don’t all get these moments, no matter our age as a bartender. But there’s always the next shift, which will differ from the one before it and one after. The thrill is elusive, but it’s always out there. n

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

THURSDAY 02/07 The Fires of Hell All of Salem is whispering about what happened in the forest last night. There are rumors that Rev. Parris’ daughter Betty was caught dancing naked in the woods with several other girls — which can only mean witchcraft. Now renowned witchcraft expert Rev. John Hale is on his way to town to get to the bottom of matters.

It’s a long way to the bottom, and before Hale and Parris can find it, dozens of villagers will be accused of witchcraft by the young women and hanged for their crimes. How can Salem, perched on the raw edge of the new world, survive the loss of so many people? Arthur Miller’s searing drama The Crucible was inspired by the insanity and paranoia of McCarthy-era America and depicts a society devouring itself in pursuit of an invisible enemy. Stray Dog Theatre presents The Crucible at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday (February 7 to 23) at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; www.straydogtheatre.org).

Tickets are $25 to $30.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear is about women getting mad and getting even. | JOHN LAMB

FRIDAY 02/08 The Only Way Isn’t Up Stephen is an up-and-coming press secretary for a surprising presidential candidate. Or maybe that’s just Stephen’s spin in action. He’s constantly spinning something, whether in a “candid” interview with a New York Times reporter or while regaling a backroom audience with stunning tales of his political acumen. He’s young and handsome, and with his candidate’s impending move to the Oval Office, there’s no height he can’t metaphorically scale. Of course the higher you rise, the harder the fall. House of Cards creator Beau Willimon wrote his politics ‘n’ power drama Farragut North after years of working on other people’s campaigns, most notably Howard Dean’s failed presidential run in 2004. St. Louis Actors Studio presents Farragut North at 8

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p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (February 8 to 24) at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue; www.stlas. org). Tickets are $30 to $35.

Mid-Morning Night Music Stéphane Denève, the St. Louis Symphony’s music director designate, is in town to bring a little passion and beauty to Powell Hall in the run-up to Valentine’s Day. This weekend is Stéphane’s Serenade, a program that features Mozart’s beloved Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Brahms’ striking Symphony No. 2 and a double bill of Vaughan Williams’ gorgeous works for violin in The Lark Ascending and Serenade to Music. Mozart’s piece is often used as musical shorthand in films for a rich person’s party, but only when you hear the entire composition can you truly appreciate the beauty of it. Wil-

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liams’ The Lark Ascending is less used in popular culture simply because it’s impossible to excerpt its ethereal melody; it’s all or nothing with this pastoral gem. Performances are at 10:30 a.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (February 8 to 10) at Powell Hall (718 North Grand Boulevard; www.slso). Tickets are $25 to $88.

Stéphane Denève leads the symphony this week. | COURTESY OF ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY

SATURDAY 02/09 Bear Necessity Nan’s life in the woods of North George isn’t easy. Dominated and abused by her husband Kyle, she’s eager to break free from him and live her own life. Now she has a plan to do just that, but first she wants to extract some justice from the lout. Once she has Kyle securely duct-taped to his recliner, she enlists her gay friend Simon to be her emotional cheerleader and Sweetheart, a local stripper who wants to break into acting, to recreate some of the worst moments of her marriage. And after Nan has shown Kyle the error of his ways, she doesn’t plan to leave anything behind. With some luck and enough raw meat as bait, the local bear population should take care of any loose ends, like her husband. Lauren Gunderson’s Exit, Pursued by a Bear is a dark comedy about a woman empowering herself by

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 7-13 any means necessary. The West End Players Guild performs the show at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday (February 8 to 17) at the Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Union Boulevard; www.westendplayer.org). Tickets are $20 to $25.

Norway But Forward Back in the days before Twitter, diplomacy was a face-to-face business. Representatives from two nations or groups would meet together to discuss the issue at hand like adults and try to come to some sort of agreeable compromise.

In the early 1990s, these quaint methods enabled leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israeli government to meet, however reluctantly. Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul and her husband Terje Rød-Larsen used backchannel relationships to very quietly establish connections with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzahk Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser

Arafat, and encouraged them to sit down and talk about building a road to peace. In a room supplied with food and drink, the leaders of two warring parties engaged with one another as people and found the spark of a human connection. J.T. Rogers’ Tony Awardwinning play Oslo dramatizes those meetings and that fleeting moment when two enemies shook hands and agreed to make peace.

The Repertory Theatre St. Louis presents Oslo Tuesday through Sunday (February 8 to March 3) at the Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road; www.repstl.org). Tickets are $19 to $92.

En Fuego!

Fire can be a force for destruction or creation, depending on how it’s used. At Laumeier Sculpture Park’s Fire and Light, fire is absolutely a creative force. The park will be open from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, February 9, for an evening of artist demonstrations heavy on the hot stuff. Blacksmith Andrew Andrasko will

Dirty Dancing brings back romance. | COURTESY OF FATHOM EVENTS show how fire transforms iron into art, and Six Mile Sculpture Works will light up the night by pouring 2,000 pounds of molten iron into custom scratch-block molds made during Laumeier workshops. There will be fire pits, and Seoul Taco, Sia’s Italian Ice and the StLouisanaQ food trucks will be open for business.

Laumeier is located at 12580 Rott Road in Sunset Hills (www.laumeiersculpturepark.org), and admission to Fire and Light is free.

Bring a flashlight for easy walking. If you don’t have one they’ll be sold in the gallery gift shop.

SUNDAY 02/10 Old-Fashioned Romance

Everyone is under suspicion in The Crucible. | JUSTIN BEEN

Before Titanic ushered the young women of the late 1990s into the world of romantic love, Dirty Dancing served that same role for an earlier generation. The 1987 film stars Jennifer Grey as Frances “Baby” Houseman, a seventeen-year-old spending summer in the Catskills in 1963.

Music and culture are changing, but for the sheltered Baby, everything at Kellerman’s summer resort is new. Most new and startling of all is the world she discovers after hours, when the resort staff socialize (and more) at their secret “dirty dancing” parties. Handsome dance instructor

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Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) catches Baby’s eye, and they begin a dance partnership that becomes much more than that. The classic movie is back on big screens for an extremely limited run. Romantics young and not so young can see it locally at 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday (February 10 and 13) at the Marcus Wehrenberg Ronnies 20 Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; www.fathomevents.com). Tickets are $12.50.

TUESDAY 02/12 New Look Blues?

The NHL’s trade-deadline day is February 25, which means the St. Louis Blues could look different by next week, or even by the time you read this. Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko and Patrick Maroon are all rumored to be on the trade block, depending on which NHL talking head you believe. Can a couple of trades shake the Blues out of this up-and-down (and down some more) season? It’s worked before, but never so effectively that the team has romped into the Stanley Cup finals. The team that faces the New Jersey Devils for the Tuesday, February 12, game at Enterprise Center (1401 Clark Avenue; www.stlblues.com) could look very different, or mostly the same. Really, the only thing that needs to change is the Blues’ winloss rate, and everything will work out fine. The puck drops at 7 p.m.,

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FILM

23

[REVIEW]

Not Too Small to See This year’s Oscar-nominated shorts are an enjoyable cinematic sampler Written by

ROBERT HUNT Oscar Nominated Short Films Opens Friday, February 8, at the Landmark Tivoli Theatre.

F

or many years, the Academy Awards’ short subject category was one of the most difficult sections of your Oscar pool, because the films themselves (aside from the near-annual Pixar offering) were almost impossible to find. But the nominated short films have been rescued in recent years from the wasteland of obscurity by Shorts.TV, which provides theatrical screenings of all the nominees. As in previous years, these are pleasantly inconsistent programs, with moments of genuine artistry sharing space with mere novelty.

The animated shorts are strong on sentimentality and uplift, displayed in a variety of visual styles from state-of-the-art CGI to scratchy hand-drawing. The exception is the Canadian short “Animal Behavior,” which aspires to the kind of observational humor that one might expect from a second-rate New Yorker cartoon — animals in group therapy! — but more often uses bits of psychobabble to score all-too-obvious comic points: Dogs sniff each other! Cats cough up hairballs!

Of the rest, the Pixar offering “Bao,” directed by Domee Shi (the first woman to direct a Pixar project), is probably the most widely seen of the nominees, having been shown theatrically with The Incredibles 2. It’s the kind of thoughtful, creative and slightly sentimental story we’ve come to expect from Pixar. Feeling the absence of her adult children, a middle-aged woman prepares a batch of dumplings, one of which comes to life

A still from Louise Bagnall’s “Late Afternoon.” | 2019 SHORTSTV and becomes a kind of Pillsbury Doughboy surrogate child. It’s a sweet and simple metaphor for parenting, with clever designs and the usual Pixar production quality.

“One Small Step” is an effective motivational message — girls can grow up to be astronauts — with a strong sense of character and a wonderful picture-book quality, while the Irish film “Late Afternoon” is a more freestyle but emotionally convincing portrait of an aging woman recalling fragments of her childhood.

The strongest film in the bunch is “Weekends,” an inventive and delightfully strange look at a young boy’s efforts to navigate the different worlds of his divorced parents. The mother lives in a rural fixer-up while studying accounting and, in her off-moments, timidly plunking out Satie melodies on a piano, while Dad reigns over a Seattle bachelor pad filled with video games and samurai swords. Conflict arrives when both parents find new partners (Mom’s new boyfriend is represented by a frightening humanoid shape with a burning candle growing from the top of his head).

Director Trevor Jimenez’s visual style sometimes recalls the shapeshifting animation of Bill Plympton, but with a rich sense of detail and a gift for casual gags that is entirely his own.

If the panel behind the animated shorts mostly opted for affection and sentiment, the judges for the

live-action narratives were clearly not feeling the warmth. The five nominated films in this category are largely grim, from provocatively upsetting to casually nihilistic, with even the brightest of the batch dealing with themes of frustration and disappointment.

While technically accomplished, the weakest two raise strong emotional stakes but fail to resolve them. The first, “Skin,” a tale of a young boy raised by gun-toting, tattooed, racist parents, creates a thick, uncomfortable air of violence but reduces it to a revenge fantasy that relies heavily on an O. Henry-style twist. The second, the Spanish production “Madre,” is a uniquely contemporary drama told almost entirely in a single shot as a woman holds a panicky phone conversation with her small son, lost and threatened on a beach. Marta Nieto gives a powerful performance as the mother, but director Rodrigo Sorogoyen pushes his simple concept too far, reducing the premise to a contrived shock effect.

“Marguerite” and “Fauve,” the two most skillfully crafted films in the program, offer understated dramas that make the most of the brief format. (Coincidentally, both are Canadian.)

The first, about an elderly woman receiving a Proustian jolt of recollection when she learns that her caregiver is gay, is brief but emotionally rich, guided by the simple frankness of Béatrice

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Picard in the title role. “Fauve” is more complicated and subtly mysterious. Two young boys explore a landscape of abandoned trains and buildings, too wrapped up in their adolescent games and taunts to notice the strangeness of the landscape until it’s too late. Director Jeremy Comte makes the most of his found environment with low-budget ingenuity and, more importantly, leaves the film’s mysteries challengingly unexplained.

And then there’s the Irish film “Detainment,” already the most controversial of this year’s nominees. It’s based on the 1993 murder of James Bulger, a two-yearold child in Merseyside, England, who was lured away from a shopping mall and stoned to death by two ten-year-old boys. The film has been denounced by Bulger’s mother, who has called for its boycott.

Taken entirely from the testimony of the two killers as they were interrogated by police, the film is disturbing and unsettling, even though the violence is kept off screen. By concentrating solely of the claims of innocence from the two boys, one panicky and distraught, the other cocky and callous, the film never quite asks you to view them sympathetically, but it could be argued that it humanizes them in a way that could seem almost indifferent to their crime.

It’s a powerful film, but also one that might be too ambiguous for its own good. n

FEBRUARY 6 - 12, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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FEATURED DINING

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Bobby’s Place is named after Bobby Plager, a former St. Louis Blues defenseman and cultural icon of the 70’s. Bobby’s Place is located in Valley Park and on Hampton Ave., and both locations offer their respective neighborhoods are a place where our patrons can feel at home. Bobby’s Place is known for their wide variety of flavors of Chicken Wings, their fresh meat Hamburgers and Chicken Sandwiches, and their not too thin Pizzas that come out on a rectangular metal tray. A wide assortment of freshly made appetizers, sandwiches, salads and pastas can be enjoyed while watching any of your favorite sports on the many flat screen TVs throughout the Bar & Grill. Beer you say? Well we have 16 local and regional tap handles of your favorites and countless bottles and cans to wet your whistle. Bobby’s Place is known for a $6.99 daily lunch special and a wide variety of drink specials. There is always something going on at Bobby’s Place, whether that something is Trivia Night, Beer Pong, DJ Music, or live bands. A full bar with signature drinks and shots will compliment a good night out with friends at Bobby’s Place.

As one of the premier vegetarian restaurants in the St. Louis area, Frida’s has earned accolades for serving hearty meals that are as tasty as they are nourishing. Owners Natasha Kwan-Roloff (also the executive chef) and Rick Roloff elevate vegetarian cuisine by marrying high-quality, local ingredients with innovative flavors. All items are made from scratch, have no butter or sugar and use little to no oil – but with the flavors and creativity at Frida’s, you won’t miss anything. The University City restaurant’s newest hit is the Impossible Burger – a massive plant-based patty that has the texture and juiciness of meat and often fools carnivores. Frida’s award-winning signature namesake burger is no slouch, either, with its tahini-chipotle slaw topping and local bun. The menu also boasts decadent favorites like tacos, wraps, pizzas and desserts, and a new Sunday brunch that just launched in April. Beer and wine are available, and many of Frida’s menu items can be modified for vegan or gluten-free diners.

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The fast-fresh, made-to-order concept has been applied to everything from pizza to pasta in St. Louis, but the sushi burrito surprisingly had no Gateway City home until BLK MKT Eats opened near Saint Louis University last fall. It was worth the wait, though, because BLK MKT Eats combines bold flavors and convenience into a perfectly wrapped package that’s ideal for those in a rush. Cousins and co-owners Kati Fahrney and Ron Turigliatto offer a casual menu full of high-quality, all-natural ingredients that fit NOT right YOUR AVERAGE SUSHI SPOT everything you love about sushi and burritos in your hand.

The Swedish Fish layers Scandinavian 9 SOUTH VANDEVENTER DINE-IN, OR DELIVERY MON-SAT 11AM-9PM cured salmon, yuzu dill slaw, Persian cucumbers and avocado for aTAKEOUT fresh flavor explosion.

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Housed in a retro service station, J. Smugs GastroPit serves up barbecue that can fuel anyone’s fire.

Married teams of Joe and Kerri Smugala and John and Linda Smugala have brought charred goodness to the Hill neighborhood, nestled among the traditional Italian restaurants, sandwich shops and bakeries. Part of St. Louis’ ongoing barbecue boom, the J. Smugs’ pit menu is compact but done right. Ribs are the main attraction, made with a spicy dry rub and smoked to perfection. Pulled pork, brisket, turkey and chicken are also in the pit holding up well on their own, but squeeze bottles of six tasty sauces of varying style are nearby for extra punch. Delicious standard sides and salads are available, but plan on ordering an appetizer or two J. Smugs gives this course a twist with street corn and pulled-pork poutine.

Several desserts are available, including cannoli – a tasty nod to the neighborhood. Happy hour from 4 to 7pm on weekdays showcases half-dollar BBQ tastes, discount drinks, and $6 craft beer flights to soothe any beer aficionado.

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Carnivore fills a nearly 4,000-square-foot space on The Hill with a dining area, bar lounge, and adjoining outdoor patio gracefully guarded by a bronze steer at the main entrance. Always embracing change, Joe and Kerri Smugala, with business partners Chef Mike and Casie Lutker, launched Carnivore STL this summer. As the Hill’s only steakhouse, Carnivore offers a homestyle menu at budget-friendly prices appealing to the neighborhood’s many families. Steak, of course, takes center stage with juicy filet mignon, top sirloin, strip steak and ribeye leading the menu. Customize any of the succulent meats with sautéed mushrooms, grilled shrimp, or melted housemade butters, such as garlic-and-herb and red wine reduction, on top of the flame-seared steak. Other main dishes include a thick-cut pork steak (smoked at J. Smugs) and the grilled chicken with capers and a white wine-lemon-butter sauce. St. Louis Italian traditions get their due in the Baked Ravioli, smothered in provel cheese and house ragu, and in the Arancini, risotto balls stuffed with provel and swimming in a pool of meat sauce. With an exciting new brunch menu debuting for Saturday and Sunday, Carnivore should be everyone’s new taste of the Hill.

There aren’t many businesses named after Adam Sandler movies, but at the Blue Duck, the food is as whimsical as its “Billy Madison” reference. Originally founded in Washington, Mo., owners Chris and Karmen Rayburn opened the Blue Duck’s Maplewood outpost in 2017, bringing with them a seasonal menu full of American comfort-food dishes that are elevated with a dash of panache. Start the meal with the savory fried pork belly, which is rubbed with coffee and served with a sweet bbq sauce and root vegetable slaw. For the main event, the Duck’s signature DLT sandwich substitutes succulent smoked duck breast instead of the traditional bacon, adding fried egg and honey chipotle mayo along with lettuce and tomato on toasted sourdough. Save room for dessert; the Blue Duck’s St. Louberry pie – strawberries and blueberries topped with a gooey buttercake-like surface – is a worthy tribute to the Gateway City.

26

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FEBRUARY 6 - 12, 2019

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CAFE

27

[REVIEW]

Yes, Chef At Savage, Logan Ely pushes our culinary boundaries — and takes us to thrilling new places Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Savage Restaurant 2655 Ann Avenue, 314-354-8488. Thurs.Sun. Noon-6 p.m. (bar snacks) and 5:30-9:30 p.m. (dinner service). Closed Mon.-Wed.

L

ogan Ely is the chef who served bull penis. And ants. If you dine at Savage, the chances that the little black insects will make an appearance in one of your dishes are pretty high.

The chances that you’ll be asked about these more “sensational” ingredients when you say you’ve been to Savage, however, are even higher. Since returning to town a little over a year ago after working all over the world, Ely has garnered a reputation for seemingly esoteric and boundary-pushing dishes, first through his underground dinner series Square1 and now as the chef at his five-month-old Fox Park restaurant. Dick, bugs, fermented yeast — he’s the guy.

But while those headline grabbers get the attention, they are only part of the story of Logan Ely and Savage — a small part, in fact, and one that risks obscuring the way this chef is pushing St. Louis diners to rethink food.

Less “The Guy Who Serves Crazy Stuff” than an environmentally conscious cook who understands that our food system is changing, Ely is intensely thoughtful in his approach to food, with an ethos steeped in a desire to elevate simple, often discarded items to a place of prominence. In his quest, he’s brought to life a restaurant that is both warmly familiar and thrillingly different — a place like nothing St. Louis has seen.

Though everything Ely does in the kitchen is filled with intention, his path to cooking was anything but. After graduating high school with neither the grades nor the money for college, Ely was at a loss for what to do with his life. He

At Savage, tasting-menu courses include (clockwise from top left) beet chicharron, sunchoke, toasted yeast mousse and celery root. | MABEL SUEN had always enjoyed cooking with his family, so when someone suggested he attend culinary school at St. Louis Community College–Forest Park, he figured, “Why not?”

Once there, Ely was immediately taken with kitchen culture, throwing himself into his first restaurant job at the Cardinals Club inside the old Busch Stadium. There, he worked for an oldschool chef who competed in the food world’s premier events such as the International Exhibition of Culinary Art (known as the “culinary Olympics”), an experience that would expose him to classical techniques and the world of fine dining. Working at the revered An American Place, he discovered his passion for less manipulated, ingredient-focused cooking, then set out on a quest to learn as much as he could at such esteemed restaurants as North Pond in Chicago, Blue Hill in New York and the French Laundry in Napa Valley.

Ely’s out-of-the-classroom education also took him overseas, where he worked and staged everywhere from Hong Kong to Copenhagen. The Danish capital’s food scene put gas on a flame

that had been flickering since An American Place, persuading Ely that he needed to open his own restaurant. He chose to return to St. Louis to put together everything he had learned in the city where his journey started.

Ely was not only broke when he moved back to town, but in massive debt. He also needed a way to introduce himself to the city’s restaurant community. In 2017, he began his dinner series, Square1, to gauge interest in his concept.

To his surprise, he found a community not only receptive but enthusiastic. Bolstered by the reception, he secured a storefront in Fox Park that used to hold a liquor store and got to work building out the space that would house his debut effort.

Walking into Savage, you immediately recognize that you are in a dining room different than any other in St. Louis — because it’s not a dining room at all. The restaurant is almost entirely one big chef’s table; guests sit at grey upholstered stools surrounding a black-topped, three-sided bar. It’s as if Ely, who is the restaurant’s sole cook, is on stage, his painstak-

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ing preparations a sort of dinner theater. But the chef is no showoff. Bent over an induction burner, Ely appears utterly focused and unaware that he is the center of attention, pausing periodically to hand his creations to the two servers who assist him in getting the food to the guests.

The stark black walls, exposed brick and industrial accents give the room a serious, almost cool motif, a feeling that dissipates the moment you are seated and offered a drink by your server. Savage has only a small wine and beer list, but what it lacks in breadth it makes up for in thoughtful selections designed to pair with the food’s intense flavors. Like the food that follows, the more unusual varietals will push you outside of your pinot grigio comfort zone, a process guided by a warm and engaging server who knows just the right questions to ask and, more importantly, how to not make you feel like an idiot as you feel your way toward something new.

You can order a few à la carte bar snacks if you get to dinner

FEBRUARY 6 - 12, 2019

Continued on pg 29

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Authentic MexicAn Food, Beer, And MArgAritAs!

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2817 cherokee st. st. Louis, Mo 63118 314.762.0691 onco.coM r B L e iA r e u q A .t w w w

SAVAGE

Continued from pg 27

early. But other than that, Savage offers just one set menu; guests choose either a five-course small bites package, or a six- or twelvecourse tasting menu. If twelve courses sound intimidating, it should be noted that Savage is not the sort of Midwestern tastingmenu parade of heaviness that leaves you crying uncle four dishes in. Both the vegetable-forward menu and the two-to-three bite portions make it quite comfortable — even if your meat-and-potatoes date might wonder where his hunk of filet is.

Once you’ve decided what route to take and make your server aware of any allergies or aversions, you surrender to the experience. There’s a dreamlike feel evident from the very first course, a beet chicharron that looks like some sort of vibrant red sea plant rippling in the water, frozen in time. Fermented potato puree, spiked with Roquefort penicillium (the mold strain used to make blue cheese), accompanies the beet chip, offering a creamy funk that appears complex even while it provides the comfort of chips

and dip.

The beet chicharron is the opening line of an epic poem that enraptures you long after you leave the restaurant.

Marble-sized spheres of kohlrabi, so cool and crisp they seem semi-frozen, rest atop a small pool of pureed oysters. The brine and verdant vegetable flavors wrap the palate in refreshment. A glorious spot prawn, lightly grilled and slicked with a sauce of its own roe, is the pure distillation of shrimp flavor, underscored and with an exclamation point.

And the delights keep coming, in a succession with just the right tempo. Made-to-order cheese is a luxurious delicacy that falls somewhere between a ripe triple cream and burrata. If the delicate cow’smilk sweetness of the cheese taps you on the shoulder, another dish, toasted yeast mousse, wallops you on the back. Both are luxurious, creamy concoctions, but the custard-like yeast, adorned with petal-shaped slivers of turnips, is a bracingly sharp punch of umami that makes you salivate, akin to the experience of eating a pungent blue cheese.

A simple fillet of pollack, poached in fish stock and served with Swiss chard, is so silken it’s

like eating butter. It was also the only piece of meat served throughout our twelve-course dinner.

And I wanted for nothing. A disc of shockingly meaty grilled celery root gives the same satisfaction you get from eating steak, a pleasure intensified by the creamy mussel stock the vegetable soaks up like a sponge.

The evening’s standout, however, was a single sunchoke, roasted in chicken fat and topped with chicken skin. Ely pairs the vegetable with a barbecue sauce made from salsify that he cooked continuously for three months. If I’d been blindfolded and asked to guess what I was eating, I would have insisted it was a fatty end of pork rib that had been cooked to the point of sliding off the bone.

That Ely was able to coax such an effect from a simple root vegetable is nothing short of masterful.

The slow-cooking is the key to Ely’s most luxurious dessert: a simple apple, cut in half and roasted for three weeks so that its flesh becomes the texture of jam.

The apple is topped with a nutty streusel that acts like a pie crust, adding texture to the otherwise spreadable dessert, then pairs it with a small glass of apple cider that shoots through the sugary

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decadence with a jolt of acidity.

When Ely tries to put into words what caught him about cooking, he mentions the culinary world as being raw and gritty while having a certain elegance and finesse. If you were to distill Savage into a few words, those would capture its identity.

Ely would probably disagree with this assessment, insisting that at its core Savage is a restaurant focused on simple food made as delicious as possible and, most importantly, devoid of ego. On the surface, you might not see this, mistaking Savage nudging us out of our comfort zones as just another esoteric tasting-menu spot meant to shock but not to nourish.

But as you settle into your seat and revel in a masterpiece of a dinner, you’ll quickly understand that, while your head may be spinning to wrap your thoughts around what’s going on, your palate is basking in the comfort of flavors so pure it’s as if you are eating them for the first time — an experience much more sensational than eating ants.

Savage Five-course snacks .................................. $25 Six-course menu ...................................... $55 Twelve-course menu ................................ $75

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SATURDAY MARCH 10 FULL BREAKFAST BUFFET | WE OPEN AT 8AM 1ST BUS LEAVES AT 8:45

$10 PER PERSON - BUS & BREAKFAST 4944 CHRISTY BLVD. ST. LOUIS, MO 63116 (314) 351-6000 KEETONSDOUBLEPLAY.COM 30

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 6 - 12, 2019

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SHORT ORDERS

31

[SIDE DISH]

He’s Found His Magic in BBQ Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

A

s a kid, Eric Pierre spent much of his time running around his parents’ interior decorating store in Wentzville’s historic downtown.

When he got older, he joked that he would someday turn it into a restaurant. Eventually, his dad took him up on the offer.

“My parents decided to retire and asked me if I wanted to do something with the building,” Pierre explains. “I had been looking to open a place with my business partner Peter [Venezia], and my dad said, ‘Why not here?’ Now, he’s my landlord.”

Pierre can’t help but laugh at how much has changed, and not just for the building that he and Venezia have converted into the popular Duke’s BBQ Shack (100 Ash Street, Wentzville; 636-8569227). Though hunting and cooking had been a part of his upbringing, his mom and dad were not exactly thrilled with his decision to attend culinary school. Pierre had planned on becoming an auto mechanic following high school and found a good job working at a repair shop. It didn’t take long to realize that the field wasn’t for him.

“I told my parents that the auto shop was not what I wanted to do — that I wanted to go to culinary school,” Pierre recalls. “My dad said, ‘If you do that, you are moving out.’”

Undeterred, Pierre enrolled in culinary school at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park, landing a job after graduation at Balaban’s in the Central West End. He moved on after about a year, working in various restaurants around town and then in hotels before taking a job as the chef for the Magic House.

Pierre worked at the Kirkwood children’s museum for ten years,

Eric Pierre, right, opened Duke’s BBQ Shack with business partner Peter Venezia. | CANDICE COLEMAN a gig he describes as a dream job because of both his love for the organization and the great hours. At the Magic House, Pierre ran all of the culinary operations, did catering and even founded and managed the rooftop garden.

“It was like paradise. I was working daytime hours so I could be with my three kids,” Pierre says. “I always said that for me to quit, it had to be something I really wanted to do.”

Pierre would find that next step by chance, when a friend asked him to cater his wedding at Peter Venezia’s lounge and events space, Thaxton Speakeasy. Venezia was so impressed with Pierre’s cooking that he approached him about doing more parties at the space. Their working relationship developed into a shared vision to open a restaurant, and they decided to focus on barbecue. Pierre figured it would be simple.

He quickly realized he was dead wrong.

“I thought it would be easy. That was a hard lesson to learn,” Pierre says. “Barbecue is a challenge.

There is a big difference between cooking one piece of meat and cooking 400 pounds and keeping it

consistent. It took a lot of practice.”

That practice has paid off, as Duke’s has quickly become a mainstay of the Wentzville community. Pierre has to smile when he thinks about carrying on his parents’ legacy and putting down roots in his hometown.

“People from my high school are now running businesses all around here, and I’m hiring my friends’ kids to work in the restaurant,” Pierre says. “It’s like a small town.

I told Peter that I only wanted to do this if it we didn’t have to force things, and it’s not like that at all.

Everything has fallen into place.”

Pierre took a break from the smoker to share his thoughts on the St. Louis food-and-beverage scene, his green thumb and his love of anything sweet — unless it’s the high-fructose stuff.

What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did?

I have a green thumb and consider myself an expert at gardening.

What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you?

Caffeine.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

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To be able to function with no sleep.

What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year?

I don’t know, because I have been working 80-plus hours a week.

Who is your St. Louis food crush?

The Crossing and Jimmy Fiala.

Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene?

Thu Rein Oo of the Crossing.

Which ingredient is most representative of your personality?

Pecan wood.

If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing?

A mechanic.

Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant.

High-fructose corn syrup.

What is your after-work hangout?

At home in my La-Z-Boy. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure?

Anything sweet.

What would be your last meal on earth?

King crab legs. n

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31

[FIRST LOOK]

Union 30 Offers Dining at Hotel St. Louis Written by

TOM HELLAUER

F

ollowing a $68 million renovation, the former Union Trust building designed by famous architect Louis Sullivan has a new inhabitant — Hotel St. Louis. Constructed between 1890 to 1892, the space now features a restaurant, Union 30 (705 Olive Street, 314-241-4300), adjacent to the luxury hotel’s palatial lobby.

Diners walk under an expansive stained-glass skylight, passing ornate golden elevators that are original to the building, in order to enter the restaurant.

Massive chandeliers and nearly floor-to-ceiling windows help illuminate the eatery, which is open from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. to hotel guests, passersby and the otherwise curious.

The fare takes its inspiration from comfort food, but aims to add a touch of elegance in both presentation and preparation.

“Picture, if you will, your grandmother going to culinary school.

What would she make?” Executive Chef Matt Birkenmeier says.

Despite the all-around extravagance of both food and surroundings, there are signs to remind patrons of home.

Napkins and flatware may be among them: They were all found at different second-hand stores. “I can’t wait for someone to tell me [the flatware] is their grandma’s, you know? I spent the last year and a half combing every resale shop,” says Amy Gill. Gill and her husband, Amrit, are prolific urban developers under the name Restoration St. Louis; they also now own Hotel St. Louis. “I wanted to remind people of their homes, things that bring them to St. Louis.”

Of the staff, she adds, “I wanted to put everybody’s high schools on their name tags, but they wouldn’t let me do it.”

The food also pays homage to St. Louis. Throughout the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, local purveyors are highlighted. Union

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At Union 30, duck and waffles is just one of many gluten-free dishes for those with allergies or diets. | TOM HELLAUER 30 takes its moniker not only from the old Union Trust occupants but also the metaphorical union between St. Louis businesses and the restaurant. More than 128 local vendors, from farmers to chocolatiers, sell their items to the restaurant and hotel.

For lunch, for example, the eleven “sammiches” and burgers all rely on products from local farmers. The gluten-free chicken burger alone features a chicken patty from Buttonwood Farms, tomatoes from Tony’s Family Farms and a bun from New Day Gluten Free.

On draft is a 4 Hands pilsner made especially for (and called) the Union 30. (It’s similar to City Wide, according to Birkenmeier.) Twenty local craft beers are paired with the breakfast menu, a carryover from Birkenmeier’s days hosting “Kegs N Eggs” at Quincy Street Bistro.

But despite the craft-beer emphasis, “you can still find a Corona laying around or have a Busch on tap,” Birkenmeier says. “This is St. Louis, after all.” Wine and a slew of craft cocktails are also available.

Birkenmeier, who has cooked in town and abroad, was previously familiar with sourcing locally but says it was never quite on this scale. “I did a lot of farm-to-table

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at Quincy, but with the [hotel’s buying power], I get a little more flexibility to do some of that extra stuff,” he says. “That really just kind of blossomed my creative thoughts.”

Birkenmeier worked with Hotel St. Louis Executive Chef Bernard Pilon to design the menus for Union 30. Of the chef, Birkenmeier says, “He loves my barbecue and incorporating that into lighter fares when we can.”

The combination of Birkenmeier’s training in burgers and comfort food with Pilon’s background in French cuisine is evident in dishes such as the duck and waffles. A playful take on chicken and waffles, the dish features Muscovy duck breast seared in cast iron and served over a gluten-free waffle.

It’s rare for two established chefs to coexist so constructively together, but their dynamic has been nothing but, Birkenmeier says. “I have great strengths and he has great strengths,” he says. “Together we’ve formed a great collaboration, and I think it really lends to what we’re wanting here.”

Pilon will largely work at Form, a sky bar on the roof of Hotel St. Louis, set to open in late February or early March. Named after architect Louis Sullivan’s famous

quotation that “form follows function,” the rooftop watering hole will feature a view of nearby Busch Stadium and other skyline landmarks.

Union 30 and Form are opening in the heart of downtown at a time when other restaurants (Porano Pasta, Copia) have pulled out to much hand-wringing. But while others may have concerns about investing in the heart of the city, the Gills do not share them.

“It’s our home. This is where my kids are growing up. You want your kids to be proud of you and the things you do,” Amy Gill says.

“Two of my kids work here.”

If not for the Gills’ ties to St. Louis, they probably would never have won the bid for Union Trust in the first place. In fact, their offer was well short of others, but the former owners prioritized local connections over maximizing profits. “They actually went without a bunch of money in order to make sure that it stayed in a local family,” Amy Gill says.

“Hopefully we stir more development downtown. Maybe the building next door gets done,” she adds. “I’m really hopeful for the old Famous-Barr building. I think that’s when we get the ultimate win situation, making it so downtown is thriving.” n

The fast-casual eatery is in the former home of Drunken Fish. | CHELSEA NEULING

[FIRST LOOK]

Kimchi Guys Opens in the Landing Written by

CHELSEA NEULING

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unsok So, best known locally as the owner of Drunken Fish, opened his newest restaurant, Kimchi Guys (612 North Second Street, 314-766-4456), on Friday, February 1. The fast-casual Korean eatery is located in Laclede’s Landing on the first floor of the historic Cutlery Building, which So has owned since 2006.

This is the first Korean friedchicken restaurant in St. Louis, but the concept is hardly new. In Korea, So says, there is one on every corner. “You can compare it to a Starbucks in Seattle,” he says.

The chicken is double-fried so it’s extra crispy; diners can choose from sauces that include Korean Buffalo and Honey Butter. Kimchi Guys’ large menu also features items including Korean barbecue, barbecue bowls, dumplings and sandwiches. Vegan dishes made with plant-based chicken are also on offer.

So is excited to open for business and ready to see how it helps bring back Laclede’s Landing.

Once a popular party destination,

the historic neighborhood has struggled in recent years to bring in locals.

So is familiar with the scene: He previously operated a Drunken Fish on site. But after the partial collapse of the building’s south wall three years ago, he had to close the sushi restaurant.

“Reopening Drunken Fish would have been the easiest thing to do,” says So. “But there is a new concept trending in St. Louis, the Korean culinary scene. It is fun and exciting. We hope to make St. Louis proud.”

And the first floor restaurant is no longer the only destination in the Cutlery building, which has six stories. So has also opened two event spaces on site, with a third available for bookings some time this year.

So also plans to open a second restaurant, a cafe called Miss Java on the first floor. It will feature specialty coffees and liege waffles.

The new businesses hope to capitalize on the renovations of the grounds of the Gateway Arch, which opened last year and finally connect the national park site to the rest of downtown — and Laclede’s Landing. But CityArchRiver renovation is not the only thing that has local business owners hopeful. For the first time, there are multi-family residential lofts on Laclede’s Landing.

The Pepper Lofts are now leasing in the former Metro Transit Headquarters, only blocks away from Kimchi Guys.

You can order Kimchi Guys online for pick-up or delivery. The restaurant will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. n

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MUSIC & CULTURE

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[HOMESPUN]

The Ties That Bind Stephanie Stewart took inspiration from those closest to her for Family Tree EP Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

S

tephanie Stewart grew up with music all around her; it’s coded into her DNA and into the story of her family. Her father and mother met when he played guitar and she worked as the flambe girl at the old Louis XIV in Webster Groves. The Stewart house was often filled with the AM Gold hits of the ’70s — Fleetwood Mac, Carole King, James Taylor — either on the hi-fi or from her dad’s guitar.

And while Stewart grew up singing, she came to the guitar later in life, picking it up in earnest about six years ago. It wasn’t from her father’s lack of trying, though.

“He tried to put the guitar in my hands growing up,” Stewart recalls. “It didn’t stick; I don’t know why. I always had someone else to play for me.”

Now, as she embarks on a solo career, with a just-released EP and a full-length to come later in 2019, Stewart uses her acoustic guitar to support her gentle, often autobiographical folk songs. That family influence is a dominant presence in both the music and lyrics of her EP Family Tree. Each song was inspired by a member of her family, and her father, Don, accompanies Stewart on guitar (alongside local legend Gary Hunt, a longtime neighbor of the Stewarts, on mandolin).

From the title on through the songs themselves, Stewart’s Family Tree doesn’t hide its source material. You’ll learn more than a few things about those in her line — her role as a mother, the lessons she learned from her grandmother, a few stray memories from childhood. For Stewart, who is just settling into her identity as a

“That’s my heart,” Stephanie Stewart says of her familial subject matter. “It’s the most important thing to me.” | VIA THE ARTIST songwriter, the choice to begin her career with a sort of musical photo album came from listening to her muse.

“Those songs are more personal to me,” she says. “I’ve been writing music for about six years, seriously, trying to figure out what I want to play. The songs that came the most naturally and quickly were about family — my kids, my sisters, my parents, my grandmother.

“That’s my heart; it’s the most important thing to me ... family and feeling connected,” she continues. “It was a scary place to start for sure, because I do feel really raw and exposed sharing those songs. But that feels good, putting myself out there in a really transparent way.”

The EP, which is a digital-only release, serves as an aperitif to her still-in-development debut album and was not always intended for a wider audience. Stewart worried that the songs may be too specific to appeal to anyone outside of her circle.

“I kept coming back to these six songs, wanting documentation of those songs but not sure if anyone would care about them but

me,” Stewart recalls. “I wanted to invoke those feelings for anyone listening to think about their own grandmother or their own teenager growing up too fast. It’s like storytelling — a good book makes you think about your own life.”

While this set of songs fits in a well-defined theme, Stewart says that she did not set out to write a collection of family-specific songs.

Rather, these compositions date from her earliest forays into songwriting all the way through last year.

“The easiest song to write was ‘Warrior’; that song is about my sister Emily giving birth to her daughter,” she says. “I had never witnessed someone laboring and giving birth. I literally left the hospital with a melody in my head and I went home and wrote the song.” Upon getting home, Stewart and her other sister recorded the tune as a voice memo and sent it to Emily, an immediate gift for both mother and child.

“It was just something that kind of came through me,” Stewart explains. “It just kinda happened.”

Stewart struggled to compose the song that became “Young One.”

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As a mother of two boys, she felt compelled to have both of her kids be represented on Family Tree.

“I had written ‘Little Man’ for my son who was seventeen. It was personal and very obviously about him and his story,” she says.

“I had a lot of guilt because I wanted to write another song about my other child, but it wasn’t coming.

I had something different to say about him. I had to be patient.”

And though teenage boys are not always receptive to things like maternal affection and the public airing of emotion, Stewart’s sons have taken to their mother’s songs.

“They dig it. I’ve been really lucky with my boys in that way,” she says.

“Wolfie is my oldest; he gets emotional when he hears ‘Little Man.’ It makes him tear up a bit. “ Her younger son, Hamilton, is a musician too, and as her father did with her, Stewart uses music as a bridge between generations.

“I think he really appreciates that song that was written about him,” she says. “It’s a gift to be able to play music with my fourteenyear-old who sometimes won’t talk to me but will sit down and play with me.” n

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[PREVIEW]

Huht Comes Into Its Own With New EP Release Written by

THOMAS CRONE

A

year ago, Huht was so new to the St. Louis scene that it had only played a handful of gigs and its members weren’t even sure that their songs were, well, songs. At the time, they called them “song starters,” as the group was still in the phase of basic coalescence. Were they going to bring lyrics to some of these instrumentals? Were they going to aim for more of a jam direction, or would these “song starters” be set at a specific length? And would a sound as unique as theirs be able to find an audience?

Over the past twelve months they’ve found answers to most of those questions. The songs are now songs, outright, and are set in duration. They’ve added some lyrics, though the trio is still primarily an instrumental affair. The audience has come, via a wide range of independently oriented venues in town, with a growing fanbase along the way. And, as of this week, the band will finally have some music to share in the form of a five-song, self-titled digital EP. One thing that hasn’t changed in the least, though, is the way the band’s fans tend to hear different things in its music.

“To me, what’s interesting about this music is that people will come up to me after we play and say, ‘It kinda reminded me of…’ And they always say a different band, something completely different from the last,” explains the group’s drummer, who goes simply by Q. “And I don’t even know a lot of the bands that they’re referencing.”

The group’s instrumentation gives a strong indication of its unique approach. Q may not be an octopus, but you’d swear a couple of additional hands must be at work to create all the rhythms he’s generating on his vintage Rogers kit. Facing one another are Todd Dillon on a Nord Electro II keyboard and Ian Quattrochi, who plays a Roland JD-Xi keyboard

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Huht’s release party will go down at the “time warp” that is Tim’s Chrome Bar. | VIA THE BAND while adding some percussion on a tongue or split drum and handling the group’s minimal vocals. Both of the latter have been picking up the bass on occasion as well of late.

“We’re getting away from our classic two-synthesizers-anddrums feel,” adds Quattrochi.

“We’ll come up with a different triangle of sound.”

The group’s EP will still feature that “classic” approach. And though the band is comfortable jamming with a host of talented friends, the recording does not incorporate any additional musicians.

“At our studio setup, where I live, we invite other musicians to come play with us,” Quattrochi says. “But nothing extra was used for this

particular project.”

Instead, the band rolled into Native Sound Recording and wound up using a single, ten-hour session to knock out its five cuts. And a good chunk of that time was spent setting up drums and getting cables and cords into place. The release is not a fully live album, but one as close as possible to that, with the band’s five songs fit and in fighting form, none longer than five minutes.

“The way in which we make songs, the way we improvise, makes us think that we shouldn’t press a bunch of records,” Quattrochi says. “Then, three months later you have a whole new set of songs and think, ‘We could’ve

[ E N T E R TA I N M E N T ]

The Selfie Room Coming Soon to Wash Ave

A

new interactive “museum” on Washington Avenue aims to let visitors make art, not just look at it — with twelve interactive exhibits designed specifically to facilitate the perfect selfie.

The Selfie Room (1424 Washington Avenue, theselfieroom.com) will open its doors to the public on Friday, February 8.

For $30 each, patrons can play around in 3,300 square feet of space designed for taking whimsical photos — and stay as long as they like, capturing themselves and their friends under its professional lighting. And unlike many similar concepts nationwide, including the Museum of Ice Cream and the Selfie Museum, the

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Erika Klotz, left, and Christa Klotz. | COURTESY OF ERIKA KLOTZ Selfie Room won’t be a pop-up. Says coowner Erika Klotz, “We are going to be a permanent location, and we hope to become a staple in downtown St. Louis.”

A Saint Louis University graduate, Klotz says she and her sister-in-law, Christa Klotz, dreamed up the idea last

waited.’ I think that’s where we’re at right now.”

The band’s release show will be at Tim’s Chrome Bar in the Bevo neighborhood. One gets the sense that the band was, in some respects, looking for the right reason to throw a show at this particular venue. For those unfamiliar, Tim’s features one of the longest bars in the city, behind which sit dozens of spirits that you won’t see anywhere else. The small stage juts from a wall near the front of the building, leading into a dance floor that can accommodate revelers. The decor’s been intact for years, and with the club’s naturally dark lighting, the scene tends to take on a movie-like vibe.

For years, Tim’s played host to small ensembles, three- and fourpiece bands that cranked out the hits of yesteryear. Of late, a oneman band named Tommy Flynn has been holding down a regular weekend gig, with some karaoke tossed in. Hours have shrunk to just Friday and Saturday nights.

It’s safe to say that a band like Huht hasn’t gigged there in a bit.

Maybe ever.

On the night the deal was sealed, “they were watching professional wrestling in 1980s from the Tokyo Dome inside there, talking about the old days of the bar,” Dillon says. “We knew we had to do a show there. I’ve wanted to play there for a quite a while. This is the perfect excuse for us to make it something special.

“It’s such a classic St. Louis bar, one of my favorites in St. Louis,” he adds. “It’s like a time warp.”

Huht EP Release w/ Lord Soul 9 p.m. Friday, February 8. Tim’s Chrome Bar, 4736 Gravois Avenue. $5. 314-353-8138.

November, huddled in the kitchen while other family members were watching a football game. “We made a whole business plan within the matter of a football game,” Erika says.

It helps that both already own businesses in Kansas City (Erika a tech startup, Christa a paint-and-sip studio). They knew about other selfie museums and thought the time was right to bring one to St. Louis. Having an uncle active in St. Louis’ commercial real estate scene helped them get a fast jump.

“It’s like a land-grab situation with this market,” Erika Klotz says. “It was going to happen with someone in St. Louis, and we wanted to be the ones to come in and launch it.”

Judging by the reaction the Klotzes are getting, they feel confident they’re on to something. Says Erika, “We already have people following us on Instagram, and we haven’t even launched yet!”

—Sarah Fenske

ENJOYED EVERYPL ACE. MADE IN ONE. L I V E F R E E L Y. D R I N K R E S P O N S I B L Y.

J A CK D A NIE L’ S A ND OL D NO. 7 A R E R E GIS T E R E D T R A DE M A R K S. ©2 015 J A CK D A NIE L’ S T E NNE S S E E W HIS K E Y 4 0 % A L C OHOL B Y V OL UME (80 P R OOF ). DIS T IL L E D A ND B O T T L E D B Y J A CK D A NIE L DIS T IL L E R Y, LY NCHBUR G, T E NNE S S E E. J A CK D A NIE L S.C OM

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OUT EVERY NIGHT [CRITIC’S PICK]

Bas. | VIA DREAMVILLE

Bas 8 p.m. Thursday, February 7. Fubar, 3108 Locust Street. $13 to $15. 314-289-9050.

Bas might not be a name you know, but you assuredly are familiar with his cohorts — especially a certain platinum-selling rapper by the name of J. Cole. As Cole’s star was rising, resulting in his Dreamville imprint signing a distribution deal with Interscope in 2014, Bas was the very first artist he signed to the label. That led to the release of Bas’ debut LP, Last Winter.

Since that time the Paris-born, NYC-raised rapper has put out two more LPs, 2016’s Too High to Riot and 2018’s Milky Way.

THURSDAY 7

BAS: 8 p.m., $13-$15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

BIB: w/ Q, Headbutt 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

BILLY BARNETT BAND: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

THE CLINIC: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

EXCISION: w/ Squnto, Sullivan King, He$h 8 p.m., $45-$47.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

JASPER STRING QUARTET: 7:30 p.m., $5-$20. The 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., University City, 314-421-3600.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON ACOUSTIC DUO: 4 p.m., free.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

LEAH OSBORNE: 6 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

STEADY FLOW: w/ Guerrilla Theory 8 p.m., $10$13. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

TONINA: 7 p.m., $15. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis.

The buzz among critics and fans has been steady, but has yet to reach the fever pitch enjoyed by his fellow Dreamville artists J.I.D. or Earthgang. That’s certainly not for lack of talent; his current 43-city tour may help to change the paradigm.

Dream Big: Bas is one of approximately a million artists (OK, only in excess of 100, but still) tapped for Dreamville’s Revenge of the Dreamers 3 compilation, for which recording sessions were held in Atlanta through the first weeks of January. No release date has yet been announced, but expectations for that one are sky-high.

—Daniel Hill

FRIDAY 8

ASIAN DOLL: 8 p.m., $20-$35. Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd, North St. Louis County, 314-869-9090.

BLUE WATER HIGHWAY: 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

CHAOS REBORN: w/ The Centaurettes, The Open Books , Shots Fired , My Remedy, Current Year 7 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

DENNY: w/ NEX, Sammy, Hurtboy, Fraedo, Hotel Moscow 7 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

FROST MONEY: 8 p.m., $10-$15. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

GOALTENDER: w/ Eat Sleep Catapult 7 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

HUHT EP RELEASE PARTY: w/ Lord Soul 9 p.m., $5. Tim’s Chrome Bar, 4736 Gravois, St. Louis, 314-353-8138.

THE JEREMIAH JOHNSON BAND: 9 p.m., $10.

Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867.

Continued on pg 42

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OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 39

KINDRED: 7:30 p.m., $5-$15. Parker’s Table at Oakland & Yale, 7118 Oakland Ave., St. Louis, 314-645-2050.

LINDSAY BEAVER BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

LITTLE RACHEL & THE ROCKIN’ FOOLS: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

LUCKY OLD SONS: 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

THE MELVIN TURNAGE BAND: 7 p.m., $10. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

MISSOURI BREAKS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

MOZES AND THE FIRSTBORN: w/ The Parrots 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

NEW MISSOURI FOX HUNTERS: 8 p.m., $12-$15.

The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778.

ONE WAY TRAFFIC: 10 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

SEE THROUGH DRESSES: w/ Lightrider, Young Animals 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

STINKBOMB: w/ Bad Investments, Fight Back Mountain 8 p.m., $5. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

TESLA: 8 p.m., $74.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS: w/ Jim and Sam 8 p.m., $20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

SATURDAY 9

ALL ROOSTERED UP: 10 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

CHARLOTTE STREET: 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867.

DESIRE LINES: w/ Nalani Proctor, Andrés Gazca 8 p.m., $5-$10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

DEVOTCHKA: 9 p.m., TBA. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

DIANNE REEVES: 8 p.m., $30-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

THE DUST COVERS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

ELLEN HILTON COOK: w/ Bauer Smith, Wheeler Jazz Trio 11 p.m., free. Mangia Italiano, 3145 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-664-8585.

EUGENE & COMPANY: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

FIREBIRD 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY: w/ Boomtown United, Motherfather, Kilverez, Seashine, Voidgazer 8 p.m., $10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

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

HUSH LITE: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

INTERPOL: 8 p.m., $30-$40. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

KAPOW!: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300.

KIM MASSIE: 7:30 p.m., $10. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

MARQUISE KNOX BLUES BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

RHETT MILLER: 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

SATSANG: 9 p.m., $15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

SCUZZ: w/ Long Live the Goat, Oxbraker, Old Hand 8 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

SUPER DIAMOND: THE NEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE: 8 p.m., $35. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777.

TWIDDLE: 8 p.m., $18-$20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

USUAL SUSPECTS: 4 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues &

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Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

WATERMELON SLIM: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

SUNDAY 10

BUTCH MOORE: 2 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

CANDLEBOX: 8 p.m., $27.50-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

GENESIS JAZZ PROJECT: 5 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

NIKOLAI LUGANSKY: 7 p.m., $15-$40. The 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., University City, 314-421-3600.

PIERCE CRASK: 6 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THE RUEN BROTHERS: 8 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

THE RUM DRUM RAMBLERS: w/ Todd Albright 4 p.m., $10. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

SILENCE THE WITNESS: w/ Wrecklamation, the Nokturnal, Cycle Of Ruin, Toddler Fight Club 7 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

VAMACHARA: w/ SeeYouSpaceCowboy 7 p.m., $7.

Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

MONDAY 11

BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG: 6 p.m., free. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

MUSIC UNLIMITED BAND: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

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

TUESDAY 12

THE KNOCKS: 8 p.m., $20. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

SHARON BEAR & DOUG FOEHNER: 10 p.m., $5.

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

WALTER GREINER & PAUL NEIHAUS: 7 p.m., $5.

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

WEDNESDAY 13

THE BAND CAMINO: w/ Hardcastle 8 p.m., $15.

Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

CHROME SPARKS: 8 p.m., $18. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

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

JASON GARMS: 5:30 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

LS XPRSS: w/ The Trouble Is, RANDi 9 p.m., $5.

Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG: 8 p.m., $18-$20.

Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

TORREY CASEY & THE SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

VOODOO PLAYERS: TRIBUTE TO ABBEY ROAD: 9:30 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THIS JUST IN

A MR. HUNCHO & SEXXY RED: Thu., Feb. 14, 7 p.m., $20-$28. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

BAGHEERA: W/ Motorjaxon, Sat., Feb. 23, 9 p.m., $5. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: Wed., Feb. 13, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

BOOMTOWN UNITED: W/ Deals Gone Slack, Brick City, Thu., March 14, 7:30 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

Continued on pg 42

ST. LOUIS’

[CRITIC’S PICK]

BEST SPORTS BAR

Rhett Miller. | VIA RED 11 MUSIC

Rhett Miller 8 p.m. Saturday, February 9. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $25. 314-773-3363.

If Rhett Miller weren’t so beautiful he’d make a convincing everyman singer-songwriter. His hair, the glossy mop of a brunette Adonis, is his curse; his relentless sentimentality just might be his redemption. On last year’s largely overlooked The Messenger, Miller continues his streaky, non-Old 97s exploration of moody, dreamy twang-pop, like Chris Isaak with less sadism and more masochism, like a messenger of paradoxically hopeless

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 41 BOXCAR: W/ AntiKlownz, Fri., Feb. 15, 9 p.m., $5. CBGB, 3163 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis.

CHAOS REBORN: W/ The Centaurettes, The Open Books , Shots Fired , My Remedy, Current Year, Fri., Feb. 8, 7 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

THE CURTIS J SOCIAL: W/ Mt Thelonious, LS XPRSS, Sun., Feb. 17, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

DENNY: W/ NEX, Sammy, Hurtboy, Fraedo, Hotel Moscow, Fri., Feb. 8, 7 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

DMX: Tue., April 30, 8 p.m., $30. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

FOAMFEST: W/ Drew Gowran, Sunset Over Houma, Jesus Christ Supercar, Morning Mtn., Dendrons, Fluorescent, Unmanned Ship, Teacup Dragun, Frankie Valet, Sigmund Frauds, Yuppy, Ronnie Rogers, Golden Curls, Kaleb Kirby, Sun., Feb. 17, 1 p.m., $10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

GRANDDAD: W/ Termination Dust, Young Animals, Slow Boys, Tue., March 19, 8:30 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

I YA TOYAH: Sat., Feb. 16, 9 p.m., $10. The Crack Fox, 1114 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-621-6900.

IRONSTEF FEST: W/ Grace Basement, Thu., March 7, 8 p.m., $8-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

J.D. PARRAN: Sat., Feb. 16, 8 p.m., $10. Saint Louis University-Xavier Hall, 3733 W. Pine Mall, St. Louis, 314-977-3327.

hopefulness. “There’s no heaven, just a big blue sky,” he sings on “The Human Condition,” an absurdly catchy celebration of the joys of shared misery. How can Miller take his utter unseriousness so seriously? Because he can write a hell of a rock song and sing it with that irresistibly ingenuous quaver and rasp.

Yeah, He’s Got a Podcast: With some three decades on the road, Miller has connections, and he proves an affable and smart host (of guests including Rosanne Cash and Fred Armisen) on his newly launched podcast Wheels Off.

BEST BAR FOOD

—Roy Kasten KACEY MUSGRAVES: Thu., Sept. 5, 8 p.m., $32$62. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

LALA LALA: W/ The Funs, Bugg, Pineapple RnR, Sun., March 17, 8 p.m., $10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

THE LONESOME HEROES: Sat., Feb. 16, 9 p.m., free. Schlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337.

MATHIAS & THE PIRATES: Thu., Feb. 28, 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

MATT F BASLER: W/ Sisser, Le’Ponds, Fri., Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

MAZE FEATURING FRANKIE BEVERLY: W/ Kem, Sat., July 13, 7:30 p.m., $57-$128. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000.

MISS JUBILEE: Fri., March 22, 8 p.m., $5. Sat., May 25, 7:30 p.m., $5. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

MOTHER STUTTER: W/ Bounce House, Thu., Feb. 14, 9 p.m., $5. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-935-7003.

NOVENA: W/ PeaceLords, Mon., Feb. 18, 9:30 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

OLIVER LAKE: Fri., March 22, 8 p.m., $10. Saint Louis University-Xavier Hall, 3733 W. Pine Mall, St. Louis, 314-977-3327.

ONLYSOUND CD RELEASE PARTY: Fri., Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $7-$10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

PETTY CASH JUNCTION: Sat., March 23, 8 p.m., $20-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

PLAGUE VENDOR: Fri., March 29, 7 p.m., $15.

BEST HAPPY HOUR

duke’s in the heart of soulard

2001 Menard (Corner of Menard & Allen)

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

wednesday february 6 9:45 pm Urban Chestnut Presents

the voodoo players tribute to bob marley

thursday february 7 9 pm

jd hughes & the fuze friday february 8 10 pm

one way traffic with special guests brother francis & the soul tones Chrome Sparks. | VIA PARADIGM AGENCY

saturday february 9 10 pm

surco

with special guests

Chrome Sparks

vintage pistol twiddle after party

7 p.m. Wednesday, February 13. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $18.

314-833-3929.

wednesday february 13 9:45 pm Urban Chestnut Presents

the voodoo players

5th anniversary show tribute to

jimmy buffett

The

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LUNCH & DINNER • OPEN WEEKDAYS AT 3PM • WEEKENDS AT NOON 8080 OLIVE BLVD. • 314-801-8698 • NOW SERVING BEER & WINE 42

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 6 - 12, 2019

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The vibes of retro-futurism and stark minimalism are apparent from the very cover of Chrome Sparks’ self-titled debut full-length. Mastermind Jeremy Malvin sits with his back to us, his stark white clothing lost among a blank background; only two 1970s-era synthesizers pop out against the void. That palette is a good representation of the alternatingly

Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

POP ROCK! COMEDY FUN FEST: Fri., March 22, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

Q STREET: W/ TBD, LTH, Fri., March 1, 8 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

R I L E Y: Sun., Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m., $12-$15. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

RIVERCITY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL: W/ Trampled

By Turtles, Railroad Earth, Infamous Stringdusters, Steep Canyon Rangers, Jeff Austin Band, Lindsay Lou, and Pert Near Sandstone, Fri., May 17, 5:30 p.m.; Sat., May 18, 5:30 p.m., $72-$127. Chesterfield Amphitheater, 631 Veterans Place Drive, Chesterfield.

ROBERT CRAY: Wed., May 1, 8 p.m., $25. Wed., May 1, 8 p.m., $25-$55. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777.

ROBERT EARL KEEN: Sun., April 7, 8 p.m., $30$45. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

ROCKNR LANTERN FEST: W/ St.Villagers, Tok, John Hawkwood’s Blackfoot, Daytime Television, Sat., Feb. 23, 8 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

ROY BLAIR’S CAT HEAVEN USA TOUR: Sat., April 20, 8 p.m., $15-$18. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE: Sat., May 18, 7 p.m., TBA. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944.

SCUZZ: W/ Long Live the Goat, Oxbraker, Old Hand, Sat., Feb. 9, 8 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

SLUSHII: Sun., May 19, 8 p.m., $25-$28. Delmar

sterile and lush sounds on the record, a mix of buzzy, warbly instrumentals and some pitched-down, syrupy R&B thanks to guest vocalist Angelica Bess. An assist from celebrated Australian duo Kllo helps the album’s centerpiece “I Just Wanna” pop and percolate amidst a pool of woozy, resonant keys and beats.

Read My Lips: Lip Talk, the project of Sarah K. Penidotti (Secret Machines, Okkervil River) and Kalbells, featuring Kalmia Traver of Rubblebucket, open the show.

—Christian Schaeffer

Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SNAIL MAIL: W/ Stella Donnelly, Thu., July 18, 8 p.m., $16-$18. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

SOMEBODY TO LOVE: W/ Saints in the City, Sat., March 23, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

ST. LOUIS SOUND PROJECT: AMERICANA: W/ BAJA, Fine to Drive, Colonel Ford, Sat., March 30, 8 p.m., $10-$13. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

STREET LOUIS GALLERY: Sat., Feb. 16, 9 p.m., free.

Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

SUNSET OVER HOUMA: W/ John Hawkwood’s Blackfoot Sun, ISH, Sat., Feb. 23, 11 p.m., free.

Mangia Italiano, 3145 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-664-8585.

SYLAR: W/ Varials, GroundCulture, Tue., May 7, 7 p.m., $16. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

TANK AND THE BANGAS: W/ Maggie Koerner, DJ RQ Away, Wed., April 17, 8 p.m., $20-$25.

Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

TETRARCH: Fri., Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $14. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

TWEET: Fri., April 26, 8 p.m., $35-$65. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND: Wed., June 12, 8 p.m., $35$85. The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-534-1111.

VAN BUREN: W/ Kilverez, Killing Fever, Overnighter, Fri., March 15, 8 p.m., $7-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

YOUNG NUDY: Sat., March 30, 8 p.m., $22-$35. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. n

MARDI GRAS • SAT MAR 2

MICHAEL LYNNE BAND SPECIAL GUEST

ERIC BRITTINGHAM From CINDERELLA & The Bret Michaels Band

DJ DAN-C DJ FRIZZY

MARDI GRAS’ BEST PARTY IS AT DUKE’S DJ DANCE PARTY UNDER DUKE’S BALCONY & LIVE MUSIC PARTY TENT NON-STOP MUSIC • NON-STOP PARTY FREE ADMISSION STREET PARTY & TENT CORNER OF MENARD & ALLEN IN THE HEART r i v e r f r o n t t OF i m e s . cTHE om F ESOULARD B R U A R Y 6 - 1 2 , 2 0 MARDI 19 R I V E R F R GRAS ONT TIMES

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SAVAGE LOVE QUICKIES

BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: Can I still be considered sex-positive if I personally do not have sex? I’ve never had sex or masturbated — all my life, any type of sexual stimulation has been very painful and I’ve been unable to experience orgasm. I simply get a migraine and feel mildly nauseated instead. I am not looking for a possible solution, as I long ago accepted my fate and consequently avoid sex, such as by maintaining only sexless relationships. My question is simply whether I can still be considered sex-positive if I do not enjoy or engage in sexual activity?

Personally Loathes Unpleasant Sex I consider myself cunnilingus-positive, PLUS, despite the fact that I could not personally enjoy (and therefore have never engaged in) that particular sexual activity.

While I don’t think it would cause me physical pain, I would not be able to experience orgasm myself (through simultaneous self-stimulation) while performing cunnilingus, and my cunnilingus partner would be highly unlikely to experience orgasm, either (due to my ineptness). If I can nevertheless consider myself cunnilinguspositive under the circumstances — if I can consider myself a cunnilingus advocate — you can consider yourself sex-positive.

Hey, Dan: About twice a week, my wife gets up from the dinner table to have a shit. She won’t make the smallest effort to adjust the timing so we can finish our dinner conversation. She can’t even wait for a natural break in the conversation. She will stand up and leave the room when I am making a point. Am I rightfully upset or do I just have to get over it? When I say something, she tells me it’s unavoidable.

Decidedly Upset Man Petitions Savage “Let her have her poop,” said Zach Noe Towers, a comedian in Los Angeles who just walked into the cafe where I was writing this

week’s column. “His Miss Pooper isn’t going to change her ways.” I would only add this: Absent some other evidence — aural or olfactory — you can’t know for sure that your wife actually left the room to take a shit. She could be in the bathroom scrolling through Twitter or checking her Instagram DMs. In other words: taking a break from your shit, DUMPS, not shitting herself.

Hey, Dan: My boyfriend goes to pieces whenever I am the least bit critical. I’m not a scold, and small things don’t bother me. But when he does something thoughtless and I bring it to his attention, he starts beating up on himself and insists that I hate him and I’m going to leave him. He makes a scene that’s out of proportion to the topic at hand, and I wind up having to comfort and reassure him. I’m not sure how to handle this.

Boyfriend Always Wailing Loudly Someone who leaps to YOU HATE ME! YOU HATE ME! when their partner wants to constructively process the tiniest conflict is being a manipulative shit, BAWL. Your boyfriend goes right to the selflacerating (and fake) meltdown so that you’ll hesitate to initiate a discussion about a conflict or — god forbid — really confront him about some selfish, shitty or inconsiderate thing he’s done. He’s having a tantrum, BAWL, because he doesn’t want to be held accountable for his actions. And as the parent of any toddler can tell you, tantrums continue so long as tantrums work.

Hey, Dan: I’m a well-adjusted gay man in my early 40s, but I’ve never found a way to openly enjoy my fetish. I love white socks and sneakers. The most erotic thing I’ve ever seen is a cute guy at a party asking if he could take his high-tops off to relax in his socks. I’ve been in a couple of long-term relationships, but I’ve never been honest about this fetish with anyone. I’ve thought a lot about why stocking feet turn me on so much, and I think it must have something to do with the fact that if you are close to someone and they want to spend time with you, they are more likely to take their shoes off to relax around you. I’m not sure what to do.

Loves Socks And Sneaks

A harnie owns just one piece of fetish gear — his harness, often in a neon color, never to be worn during sex — and pairs his harness with booty shorts and sneakers.

I have to assume you’re out of the closet — you can’t be a “well-adjusted gay man” and a closet case — which means at some point in your life, LSAS, you sat your mom down and told her you put dicks in your mouth. Telling your next boyfriend you have a thing for socks and sneakers can’t be anywhere near as scary, can it?

(There are tons of kinky guys all over Twitter and Instagram who are very open about their fetishes, LSAS. Create an anonymous, kinkspecific account for yourself and follow a bunch of kinksters. You need some role/sole models!)

Hey, Dan: Santorum, DTMFA, pegging, GGG, the Campsite Rule, monogamish — you’ve coined a lot of interesting and useful terms over the years, Dan, but it’s been a while since you rolled out a new one. You can consider this a challenge.

Neo-Neologisms, Please!

I’ve got two for you, NNP. Harnies (pronounced like “carnies”): Vanilla guys who attend big gay leather/rubber/fetish events like International Mr. Leather or Folsom Street Fair in harnesses. A harnie owns just one piece of fetish gear — his harness, usually purchased on the day of the event, often in a neon color, never to be worn during sex — and pairs his harness with booty shorts and sneakers.

Kinky guys old enough to remember when vanilla guys wouldn’t be caught dead at fetish events

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prefer having harnies around to the kink-shaming that used to be rampant even in the gay community. And most kinky guys are too polite to tell harnies that harnesses aren’t merely decorative. Someone should be able to hold on to your harness while they’re fucking you or add ropes if they want to tie you down. So if your harness is made out of stretchy fabric—like lime-green Lycra—then it’s not a harness, it’s a sports bra. Kinky guys are also too polite to tell harnies when they’re wearing their harnesses upside down or backward.

With Extra Lobster: There are food carts in Iceland that sell delicious lobster stew, lobster rolls and lobster sandwiches. The menu at the cart my husband and I kept returning to when we visited Reykjavík included this item: “With Extra Lobster.” You could order your lobster with extra lobster! Lobster is a luxurious and decadent treat, and getting extra lobster with your lobster kicks the luxury and decadence up a big notch. “With extra lobster” struck me as the perfect dirty euphemism for something. It could be something very specific — say, someone sticks their tongue out and licks your balls while they’re deep-throating your cock. We could describe that as a blowjob with extra lobster. Or it could be a general expression meaning more of whatever hot thing gets you off. I’m open to your suggested definitions of “with extra lobster.” Send them to mail@savagelove.net!

Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter ITMFA.org Want to reach someone at the RFT? If you’re looking to provide info about an event, please contact calendar@ riverfronttimes.com. If you’re passing on a news tip or information relating to food, please email sarah.fenske@riverfronttimes.com. If you’ve got the scoop on nightlife, comedy or music, please email daniel.hill@riverfronttimes.com.

Love us? Hate us? You can email sarah. fenske@riverfronttimes.com about that too. Due to the volume of email we receive, we may not respond -- but rest assured we are reading every one.

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HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS SPONSORED CONTENT

LUMBERJACK SALOON HITS THE BULLSEYE

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Axepert’s, as coined by owner Aaron Cockrell, are professional axe throwers who coach you during the 1.5 hour session of axe-llent fun.

Axe throwing isn’t the only cuttingedge spin that the Lumberjack Saloon is serving up at it’s happy hour. You can

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And because nothing goes better together than axe throwing and alcohol, for a limited time you can enjoy a free axe throwing session with a food and beverage purchase! Mix it up, and stop by the Lumberjack Saloon’s weekday happy hour from 3pm-7pm at 720 North 1st Street.

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*Craft CoCktails * H a p p y H o u r 7pm – 9 pm * o p e n t u e s – f r i a t 4pm

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