Riverfront Times, February 18, 2020 by Riverfront Times

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FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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THE LEDE

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“I think if more people came and did this for their women, then there’d be a lot more happier people in the world, instead of a lot of fuckin’ hatred.” DANNY STEVENSON, PHOTOGRAPHED AT PURE PLEASURE ADULT MEGACENTER ON NORTH BROADWAY ON FEBRUARY 13

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

COVER

Lost and Foundry As excitement for City Foundry STL grows, its “heart and soul”, the food hall, tries to find its rhythm Cover photo by

TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

The Lede Hartmann

News Feature Calendar

Welcome back, Eric Greitens, you creep

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Film

Stage

Cafe

Short Orders

Music + Culture

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

Joyful House

A R T Art Director Evan Sult Contributing Photographers Virginia Harold, Monica Mileur, Zia Nizami, Andy Paulissen, Nick Schnelle, Mabel Suen, Theo Welling, Jen West P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Haimanti Germain

INSIDE

The Mystery of Irma Vep

E D I T O R I A L Managing Editor Liz Miller Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writer Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Columnist Ray Hartmann Contributing Writers Jeanette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Joseph Hess, Robert Hunt, MaryAnn Johanson, Roy Kasten, KE Luther, Bob McMahon, Christian Schaeffer, Ymani Wince Proofreader Evie Hemphill Editorial Interns Trenton Almgren-Davis, Kristen Farrah, Hanna Holthaus, Jenna Jones, Monica Obradovic

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 N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (Missouri residents add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (Missouri residents add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103 www.riverfronttimes.com General information: 314-754-5966 Fax administrative: 314-754-5955 Fax editorial: 314-754-6416 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977

Shimon Otsuka of Nathaniel Reid Bakery The Fattened Caf | Noto Pizza | Brennan’s Funky Butt Brass Band | Shana B | Takashima Records

Out Every Night Savage Love

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Tim Warfield’s Organ Band | Release the Hounds II | John Calvin Abney

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HARTMANN Welcome Back, Eric Greitens, You Creep The ex-governor is out of the basement, claiming “total exoneration”

e’s back. He’s back. Eric Greitens is back! This is the journalistic equivalent of winning the lottery. Greitens ascending from his basement was as deliciously perverse as President Trump descending that famous escalator. Last week, the most consequential debate in the General Assembly involved an obscure thing

called the “statute of repose.” Now, with any luck, we’ll once again be talking mistresses in repose. Gov. Mike Parson is must-notsee T . With his first celebratory email, Greitens reminded us that state government could be fun again. Greitens fearlessly re-mounted his bicycle of bile so effortlessly you’d never have known it was the same vehicle that his fellow Republicans ran into a ditch two years ago with their Ford F-150. Let us not forget: Greitens was pressured from office not by the liberal media, not by the Democrats, not by Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, but by his own political party, whose members mostly despised him. Greitens resigned May 29, 2018 — little more than a year into his term — under a breathtaking panorama of dark clouds including, but not limited to, Olympian hypocrisy in an extramarital affair, unprecedented corruption of political dark money, obvious

abuse of his own charity’s resources, campaign finance abuses, inaccessibility, lying, bullying and sanctimony. Aside from that, he was just another mediocre Missouri governor. It was the resolution of one of the least-compelling dark clouds — ethics violations — that occasioned Greitens’ triumphant return to the public stage last week. The state ethics commission had acted upon a complaint filed in July 2018 by one of Greitens’ Republican colleagues. It was a split decision. Greitens was found to have committed “no evidence of any wrongdoing.” This prompted our boy to blare out the now-customary Trumpspeak cry of “total exoneration!” which, if you’re old enough to remember last week’s column, translates to “you didn’t catch me.” Yes, Greitens was every bit as “exonerated” as Sen. Josh Hawley was in last week’s episode after a blistering state audit found he misused political operatives to

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turn his attorney general’s office into a campaign headquarters but hadn’t committed a crime. As in Hawley’s case, one needn’t read the fine print to understand the conduct at hand was morally repulsive even if was not criminal. The state ethics commission found Greitens’ campaign guilty of two violations substantial enough to levy an uncommonly large $178,000 in fines on Greitens. (If he forks over cash in the next 45 days, Greitens only has to pay $38,000, owing to politicians’ bipartisan agreement that punishment for their misdeeds should be deeply discounted. The next time you get a speeding ticket for $100, ask the judge if he or she would give you the “politician’s punishment” and settle for a twenty on the spot.) Greitens’ campaign finance violations were a tiny tip of a gigantic iceberg of misconduct. They were akin to charging someone with

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receiving stolen property after they broke into and burglarized a house with a gun, sodomized victims and then burned the place down on the way out. That’s not quite how Greitens saw it in the victory message to his supporters. He borrowed his tone and language from one of Vlad Putin’s Kids: “This news makes clear what many of you knew all along: in 2018 our justice system was abused. Lies were told and bribes were paid in a criminal effort to overturn the 2016 election. And now, the truth is beginning to come out. “Of course, this wasn’t really about me. It was an attack designed for one purpose: to overturn your votes, because we were fighting for you. The constant harassment and vitriol, the lies — repeated and magnified, over and over again — the vicious attack on family and personal finances, affected far more than me and my family. It ripped apart a lot of lives, and put an end to a lot of the good that our team was doing.” Greitens was in part referencing the controversy and pending perjury charges over Gardner’s handling of eventually dropped criminal charges. Those had related to the nature of the “family man’s” extramarital conduct. Greitens omitted the detail that state legislators of both parties found credible the allegations of mistress “KS,” who told them she was tied up in his basement, photographed semi-nude without her consent and threatened with retribution by him if she told anyone. Many lawmakers had even larger concerns about political misuse of funds from The Mission Continues, his charity. Whether any of that conduct would have been impeachable might be debatable, but this much isn’t: Unless one considers opening one’s home to one’s mistress a noble act of hospitality, it would appear that the “vicious attack on [Greitens’] family” and “the ripping apart of lives” was the handiwork of the unrepentant Greitens alone. Also notable was the brief reference to putting “an end to a lot of the good that our team was doing.” That might get the attention of the team doing things for Parson. Much more consequentially, the real horserace here is between corruption and hypocrisy. Greit-

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ens’ abuse of nationally sourced dark money in dramatically unprecedented numbers overshadowed his playtime activities. And the world-class hypocrisy wasn’t limited to sex: Greitens’ self-pity about having been “hurt” by all the meanness and “evil” was almost unbearable. This is the same tough-guy Navy seal who prided himself as the baddest bully in town. He threatened disloyal Republicans in meetings, published one’s cell number, taunted them as weak and routinely challenged the character (and sometimes manhood) of anyone in government, politics or media who dared affront him. Now he’s the poor victim. One item jumped out in the boring ethics commission report. It recounts advertising run by Greitens’ campaign against rivals Catherine Hanaway and John Brunner. Especially noteworthy were attacks on Hanaway, a prominent St. Louis attorney and Republican Party leader who served as state House speaker and U.S. attorney, among other posts. Greitens’ ads vilified Hanaway (and Brunner) as “politicians and insiders ... who have been in Missouri politics for decades, running for one office after another, ripping off taxpayers, doing sweetheart deals for themselves.” Now that sounds like politics as usual, but here’s something a bit out of the ordinary: Hanaway’s name also appears at the bottom of the ethics report. It turns out she represented Greitens in the ethics case as his lawyer. That’s not a reflection on Hanaway ethically: Lawyers take on slime-ball clients all the time. It does, however, seem curious politically that an establishment Republican leader would want to be seen within a country mile of Greitens, especially if there were Bibles in the room. From the other side, it really says all you need to know about the self-righteous Greitens that he’s proud to be represented by a dreaded mainstream Republican (and erstwhile villain) who — in his words — ripped off taxpayers and did sweetheart deals for herself. Seems like Greitens is still the same creep. But it’s sure great to have him back. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

NEWS Tenants Fend for Themselves After Landlord Disappears Written by

RYAN KRULL

ylvia Benford lived in the Blue Fountain Apartments in north city’s Baden neighborhood for ten years, the first nine of which she says were pretty good. But about a year ago, conditions took a turn for the worse. Maintenance requests got no response. She saw empty units burglarized and thieves strip them of appliances and copper wire. Then, in January, the empty apartment across the hall from hers was broken into and she heard its contents being pilfered. Sylvia, 65, called the police. Officers chased off whoever had broken in, but about a half hour later, the intruders were back and now Benford feared retribution from whomever she’d just called the cops on. She left in short order. “I just threw all my stuff in a bag and put all my furniture in storage,” she said. “I didn’t have another apartment or any anywhere to go, but I was afraid they were going to break my windows out in my apartment.” The 103-unit Blue Fountain complex is owned by TEH Reality, the embattled landlord that has drawn heavy criticism during the past year from lawmakers, media and tenants’ rights organizers for their mismanagement of lowincome housing in the greater St. Louis region and throughout the Midwest. In the past three months, TEH has lost custody of the Southwest Crossings Apartments in Carondelet and the Springwood complex in Bel-Ridge when courts ordered those properties go into receiverships.

Overflowing dumpsters are just one of the problems at Blue Fountain Apartments. | RYAN KRULL More recently, the company has been under increasing fire from lawmakers and the press about Bridgeport Crossing in Bridgeton, where last week residents were served eviction notices and sued for back rent despite living in units with no heat. At its peak, TEH owned about a dozen complexes in the metro area. Amid all the turmoil, conditions at other TEH properties like Blue Fountain have largely remained off the public’s radar. With a completely absent landlord and no one to even pay rent to, many residents still living at Blue Fountain feel themselves in an uncomfortable gray zone between being tenants and squatters. A recent visit to Blue Fountain found trash overflowing from the property’s three dumpsters. Several units’ doors sat wide open, revealing apartments with sinks lying broken on floors and stretches of wall missing plaster. Along one side of the complex, at least a half-dozen air conditioning units appeared to have been stolen, with only the metal bases bolted to the cement left behind. Neighbors Bruce Long and James (who didn’t want to give his last name) stood outside their units bemoaning the disarray and deterioration around them. “Nobody knows who owns this place,” James, 70, said. “Nobody’s here.” James has lived at Blue Fountain for almost a decade. Long arrived here a little more than a year ago, which was about when

Many residents still living at Blue Fountain feel themselves in an uncomfortable gray zone between being tenants and squatters. conditions started going downhill. They agreed that theft from the empty units is rampant. James hasn’t bothered requesting service for a broken garbage disposal and cracks in his wall. Neither has Long for a non-functioning buzzer. The super quit long ago. James deposited a check in the leasing office lock box for January’s rent, but he isn’t sure anyone ever came to get it. He doesn’t plan to pay for February and hopes to be living elsewhere by March. There are still signs posted around the property — dated November 22, 2019 — saying that a new company was coming in to manage Blue Fountain and a meeting would be held to address residents’ concerns. “They said at the meeting that they were the new people and that they were going to change things,” James told me. “But they never did.”

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He hasn’t seen any sort of property manager since. According to public property records, TEH still owns Blue Fountain, and according the city’s assessor’s website, they haven’t paid property on it in the past three years. An email to TEH associate Michael Fein was not returned. The Blue Fountain complex straddles Gustav Avenue off of Broadway, and the units on the south side of the street are in marginally better shape than those on the side where James and Lee live. Still, a cursory look in the buildings south of Gustav shows serious problems, including standing water and a laundry room filled with washers and dryers ripped from the walls. A St. Louis-based attorney who both works with landlords in receivership cases and defends tenants from unlawful evictions said this about TEH: “It should not confuse you what is happening. TEH’s investment in St. Louis’ low-income housing went south. They paid too much for the properties initially; they pulled all the cash out as they were managing and did not reinvest any; and they were poorly managed, to the extent they really managed at all other than collecting rents.” The attorney didn’t want his name published as it’s a small community of people who work in this area of law in St. Louis and speaking out against a real estate company, even one with as bad a reputation as TEH, can lead to blowback. TEH properties have been consistently under fire on the other side of Missouri as well. Earlier this week, the ABC-affiliate in ansas City ran a piece about the deteriorating conditions on the Nob Hill apartment complex there. For former TEH tenants like Benford, leaving a crumbling complex like Blue Fountain can present a new set of problems. When I spoke to her she was at her granddaughter’s house and was headed to stay the night with a cousin. “I really don’t have anywhere to stay,” she said. “I’m living on a wing and a prayer.” Ryan Krull is a freelance journalist and assistant teaching professor in the department of communication and media at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

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BY LIZ MILLER

riving on Highway 40 last month, St. Louis commuters watched as new signage was installed outside of City Foundry STL. The sleek, modern black-and-white sign cuts a memorable figure atop the broad, butterfly-style industrial roof that is rusted and tagged with fading graffiti. It signaled that the sweeping, shiny new development is inching toward opening, ushering in the next chapter for the 91-year-old brick building. For more than 40 years, metal was melted down and cast into shapes for motors and generators under that roof. Originally built by Century Electric Foundry in 1929, the business changed hands over the years, until 2007, when the last motor cooled. The once-bustling industrial space sat vacant for eight years, acting as a refuge for the homeless and recreation for urban explorers and graffiti artists. In 2015, it was purchased by an investment group led by Steve Smith, the owner and developer of the Foundry and CEO of The Lawrence Group, a St. Louis-based design, architecture, construction and development firm. A year later, Smith and his ownership group, FoPa Partners LLC, succeeded in having the property added to the National Register of Historic Places. The property is now being redeveloped as City Foundry STL, a mixed-use retail complex, by FoPa and The Lawrence Group, which is providing design and development services. The Foundry is slated to open in phases beginning this summer and has generated quite a bit of buzz since it was first announced in 2016. In five or more years, when the final phases are complete, the Foundry is expected to encompass 237,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainContinued on pg 12

Newly painted yellow steel beams will soon frame each City Foundry STL food-hall stall. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS riverfronttimes.com

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ment space and more than 107,000 square feet of office space. (Great Rivers Greenway, Orion Genomics, Gateway Blend, Bullhorn and iSee Innovation have already signed on as office tenants.) The project plans to add multifamily residential units (apartments and/or condos), although initial plans for that stalled in 2017. (Originally, the Foundry was supposed to feature a 24-story apartment building, but the ownership group was unable to finance it in its first phase of construction due to historic tax credits the project received for redeveloping existing buildings on-site.) The first stage is set to open in waves throughout 2020 and promises exciting new dining and retail attractions. The developers hope to open with a splash and then sustain that momentum by continuing to debut concepts until the full range of offerings is open. The current roster includes Fassler Hall out of Oklahoma, which will bring a three-story beer hall serving a wide selection of brews (including plenty of local options; the chain doesn’t brew its own beer), and Austin, Texasbased Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which will feature ten screens and a different kind of moviegoing experience. Denver-based Punch Bowl Social, meanwhile, will offer “an adult playground” serving up food, drinks and games such as bowling and giant Jenga. In addition to these large anchor businesses, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market out of Downers Grove, Illinois, has signed on, adding a grocery store to the mix, as has local catering company Butler’s Pantry, which is set to open an event space, 18 Rails, on-site. Additional restaurants and shops are expected to eventually join these concepts along the main drag, dubbed Foundry Way. Sandwiched between the office tenants and dining and entertainment spots will be the City Foundry food hall, the “heart and soul” of the project, according to Smith. Smith says the food hall was inspired by similar developments in other cities in the U.S. — in particular, he names mixed-use spaces such as Chelsea Market in New York and public markets such as Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. “I’ve been fortunate enough to travel and see a lot of interesting things across the country — and frankly around the world — and

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as a St. Louisan, it was like, ‘How can we do something cool like this in St. Louis?’” Smith says. He makes for a convincing and passionate pitchman for the project. He doesn’t shy away from making the kinds of shrewd observations you’d expect from a developer — a major greenway, which will run through the Foundry, is good for the environment but also for the development’s free parking — and he doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges the project has faced so far.

public and potential tenants for more than 100,000 square feet of office space. Early press releases trumpeted local chefs set to debut exclusive new concepts at the food hall, and follow-ups boasted first of 50 percent occupancy and then 80 percent. The chefs may not have been expected to be the Foundry’s economic engine, but they were going to make it local and specific to St. Louis — and cool. “The food hall is the heart and soul of the Foundry, but finan-

the food hall — Lost & Found: A Burger and Pizza Joint and Juice Box Central — says he entered the project with excitement and exited when the requirements to participate abruptly changed. “My original lease with them was definitely a very good agreement for all parties included, but then as time went on and on, they kept changing the rules without any notice,” Friedman says. “And then they wanted me to sign a new one, and I had to back away. It was a bad deal. I wish I didn’t waste my time.”

Steve Smith, owner and developer of City Foundry. | COURTESY THE LAWRENCE GROUP

The 63-year-old speaks with an enviable amount of energy about how much the Foundry stands to benefit St. Louis. While you’d hardly expect him to say the opposite, you also sense a perfectionist’s sincere desire to get all of this just right. On weekends, when construction comes to a halt, Smith says he wanders the property to reinspect the spaces and take notes about how to improve or modify things. By the time all phases of the Foundry are complete, it will have consumed ten years or more of his life, and he’s determined to make it a success. In terms of revenue, the food hall is not where Smith expects the Foundry to make its money. He estimates it will account for only 5 percent of the development’s total revenue. However, it’s been key in marketing the project to the

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cially it’s a very small piece of it,” Smith says. “We want our [food hall] partners to be really, really successful, because that will make the overall Foundry have a better brand and overall success.” As the opening of the food hall nears, though, a group of local chefs and restaurant owners have exited over what they say were surprise costs and unfulfilled promises. As of press time, six vendors confirmed they have dropped out of the project, including CropCircle, Mokyu Mokyu, Ukraft, Sumax, Lost & Found: A Burger and Pizza Joint, and Juice Box Central. At least five other previously confirmed vendors have exited in the past two years; phone calls and messages to those owners were not returned. Like many of the former tenants, chef Michael Friedman, who planned to open two concepts at

lans for the Foundry started in May 2015, so by the time phase one opens later this year, it will be the culmination of five years of work. “In many regards it’s fast for a project of this size and this complexity, but it’s also five years — it’s a big part of your life,” Smith says. “And then we’ve got future phases for the next five years. City Foundry the broader development is going to have things happening for some time now.” Smith and The Lawrence Group have overseen a variety of marquee projects throughout the city, including the Angad Arts Hotel, the Park Pacific Building and Hotel Ignacio. But the Foundry may turn out to be one of its biggest undertakings yet. The redevelopment bridges the Grove, Grand Center and the Central West End, and plans for a walking and biking trail run right through it, connecting it to the Arch grounds on one side and Forest Park on the other. Although the project will have ample free parking (both surface and garage), visitors can use the dedicated ride-sharing drop or either of the two nearby MetroLink stations. Smith estimates that the entire Foundry project will cost between $500 and $600 million when all is said and done; phase one is estimated to cost more than $220 million and is projected to bring some 1,500 jobs to St. Louis. Phase one was approved for $19.4 million in tax increment financing, or TIF, according to reporting by the St. Louis PostDispatch. (TIF allows projects like the Foundry to use increased tax revenue to help finance redevelopment costs, infrastructure and similar community-improvement projects.) A portion of those costs will be covered by two special on-site taxing districts. For the Foundry’s second stage of development, which is estimated to cost around $97 million, the project was awarded about $17 mil-

lion in TIF subsidies. Initial lists of Foundry food-hall vendors began emerging as early as January 2018. A year later, the Foundry generated another round of fanfare when it released an updated roster. “What we want to do is create a single location where we can celebrate and put on display St. Louis’ culinary talent,” Smith says. “The people that we’ve signed up and others that we’re looking to sign up are a cross-section of that culinary talent. You come to City Foundry and you can have a cross-section of food types — tacos, pizza, baked goods, drinks and others that we’re working on right now.” The list of restaurants initially recruited for the food hall reflected a range of concepts and operators, from food-truck owners seeking their first brick-andmortar spaces to established restaurateurs wanting to break into fast-casual dining. Samantha Mitchell (who, in addition to running her food truck Farmtruk, operates a Farmtruk stall at Enterprise Center) was eager to debut a new brand, CropCircle, at the Foundry. Serving what Mitchell has described as “hyper-local country fair food” or “Midwest soul food,” CropCircle would give her the opportunity to experiment with more of a true brick-and-mortar concept. “I was really excited about the new project,” Mitchell says. “The selling point from them was that it’s something that’s affordable for a small business, that there’s a lot less risk than opening your own brick-and-mortar, there’s less cost associated and we’re a team.” Cracks slowly started to emerge in the relationship between foodhall vendors and the Foundry, former vendors say, including troubling employee turnover. “Everything was really great — I’d done some events for them and kind of used my platform to help get the word out a little bit, and I was more than willing to do that; we were all in repping the brand,” Mitchell says. “By the end of summer, I started not getting communication back from them. We constantly felt like we didn’t know what the next step was, so that started to be a little weird. “Then my main points of contact started to not answer their email or phones. Every person I had been in contact with, every person I had a meeting with, was completely unavailable, didn’t work there anymore, and no one was returning my emails or calls.” Smith says that two of the three key Foundry food-hall employees

who were points of contact for vendors stepped away from the project for personal reasons. “We had to adapt,” Smith says. “We did have a change of personnel, which I know had to be frustrating for the people we were interfacing with, because all of the sudden it was a whole new group of people. That’s part of the evolution of a project that goes on for so doggone long, when it’s a big project like this, and it’s unfortunate not having the continuity — I feel

any money down initially. As the food hall’s landlord, the Foundry planned to retain 10 percent of each concept’s sales. Before signing on, vendors were quoted upfront costs for their stalls, with additional costs varying depending on buildout specifications and equipment needs — one chef was quoted $30,000 for their stall buildout while one another was quoted at $50,000, and so on. Multiple vendors say that these costs were not specifically out-

A look at the property before the redevelopment. | COURTESY CITY FOUNDRY STL

badly about that.” At first, vendors mostly chalked these issues up to growing pains for a project of the Foundry’s size. Many had also already invested a year or more in the project and were reluctant to make waves. That started to change last October, when according to multiple former vendors, Foundry employees outlined increased costs amounting to almost four times those originally proposed for their stalls. According to multiple vendors, monthly rent at the food hall was initially determined by the square footage of each stall. Most of the vendors interviewed for this story said that security deposits were required for their stalls; one vendor says they did not have to put

lined in their leases but were agreed upon verbally and in good faith with the Foundry. Vendors expected that the base of their stalls — including the walls, plumbing and ductwork — would be paid for by the Foundry. Once the Foundry completed construction on these bases, or “white boxes,” for the stalls, vendors would then design their spaces and purchase wall finishes, countertops, lighting, signage and equipment with the $30,000 or $50,000 as estimated for their buildout. More than a year after entering into these handshake agreements and signing leases, vendors say they met with Foundry staff to discuss the design of their stalls — by then, those initial buildout numbers had increased almost

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four-fold. Mitchell recalls being excited ahead of the design meeting, as it felt as though work on CropCircle could finally begin to move forward. “They did this huge presentation about my options for design, and at the very end of this hourlong meeting, they pushed a piece of paper over to me that had the estimated cost,” Mitchell says. “And this doesn’t have any of the design changes we’ve just discussed, obviously, and it’s more than $200,000 for my ‘white box,’ which they were supposed to provide for me at no cost. I felt very uncomfortable with the situation. That’s not what I was sold.” Multiple vendors say the Foundry was now asking vendors to cover costs for their white boxes, including footing the bill for walls, plumbing, electrical and ductwork. Vendors say the news was even harder to swallow as it was delivered by new Foundry representatives who weren’t involved in initial agreements. After the meeting, Mitchell ran the revised numbers. To make a profit, she says she would need to net close to $1 million annually at the food hall, an increase of more than 40 percent from her initial projections of $700,000. Mitchell emailed Foundry employees to share her concerns and discuss next steps. She requested to exit her lease due to the cost increase but privately worried that it would result in a legal battle with the Foundry, as there wasn’t an easy exit outlined in her lease. A Foundry representative responded to Mitchell that same evening, she says, acknowledging her concerns and asking her to give their team some time to address them. About two weeks later, Mitchell says, she received a new offer. The revised deal would lower her buildout costs but raise her rent by several hundred dollars a month and commit a larger percentage of her overall sales to the Foundry. “They basically restructured the same thing, saying that I wouldn’t pay for it up front, but I’d pay it on the backend, is the way I felt like it was,” Mitchell says. “In my mind, that isn’t the Foundry paying for construction, that’s [them] spreading out the construction costs in a different way.” Mitchell and other vendors also worried about shouldering the financial responsibility for building out base stalls that they didn’t really own. Any money they spent on electrical, plumbing, duct-

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deals are structured and costs are distributed today. “I think not having been involved in food-hall construction before, none of us had a good sense of what it was going to cost to build these food stalls,” Smith says. “We thought when we started this two years ago that we as the landlord were providing adequate funds for our food partners to make it easy to do it, and then as we started getting some of the early pricing, it was like, ‘Oops, maybe not.’ And that created on our side and on partners’ side a lot of soul searching of, ‘What does this mean ’ I can totally understand where that was an unsettling time.”

W One of the three floors where Fassler Hall will serve craft beer and brewpub eats. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

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Continued from pg 13

work, etc., would be lost if they later moved out. In the end, Mitchell declined the revised offer. She was able to get out of her lease with the Foundry without issue, she says, and her security deposit was returned. “They were very nice to me the whole time,” Mitchell says. “We sent in paperwork and it was pretty much done. I’m not mad, I’m just bummed — we wanted to do this so badly.” Several former food-hall vendors described similar experiences. Like Mitchell, brothers Matt and Mike Ratz were excited to expand their food truck, Ukraft, into a brick-and-mortar format at the Foundry. “For a good year and a half, we had every intention to do a spot in the Foundry,” Matt says. In Ukraft’s design meeting with the Foundry, Matt says he was also presented with numbers almost four times those originally quoted to him. Unable to make the new figures work for their business, the brothers requested Ukraft be released from its lease. Matt says the Foundry complied and refunded his security deposit, “which I was very appreciative of,” he adds. Since agreeing to open a stall at the food hall, Ukraft has debuted a cafe and catering spot in Clayton and recently announced it

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“They basically restructured the same thing, saying that I wouldn’t pay for it up front, but I’d pay it on the backend, is the way I felt like it was,” Mitchell says. will participate in 9 Mile Garden, a massive food-truck park opening in Affton this spring. (Mitchell is also participating in 9 Mile with Farmtruk.) In the interim, though, Matt says that he made a lot of business decisions, including hiring staff, based on plans with the Foundry, but his biggest regret is that it didn’t pan out. “I was just disappointed,” Matt says. Chef Michael Friedman of Lost & Found: A Burger and Pizza Joint and Juice Box Central related a similar experience working with the Foundry on his stalls. Another concept, Mokyu Mokyu, was to be opened by Laura Leister, James Lettau and Ameet Raw-

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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al, owners of Pieces Board Game Bar & Cafe and Protagonist Cafe. In a phone call, Leister confirmed that she and her partners voluntarily pulled out of the project. The partners offer employees at their two brick-and-mortar concepts health benefits and 401 plans, something they also intended to do at Mokyu Mokyu. After reviewing revised costs to open a stall at the Foundry, however, the partners realized those employee benefits would be prohibitively expensive for Mokyu Mokyu. All the former vendors reached for this story said that they hope the Foundry succeeds and that they wish events had transpired differently. Just as most of the vendors interviewed by the RFT echoed similar experiences, both good and bad, working with the Foundry, they also variously shared how much investment and progress the project stands to bring to St. Louis. Smith says that when it became apparent that the stalls would cost more than projected, the Foundry “explored” revising the structure of the food-stall agreements. These shifts were due to not having an industry standard or model for cost structures for the food hall, Smith says. For his part, Smith understands why former vendors feel the way they do about their experiences and describes the issues as lessons for the Foundry team — ones that have changed how vendor

hen the RFT contacted Smith for this story, he extended an invitation to tour the project. Late on a recent weekday afternoon, we took him up on his offer. It’s 4 p.m. on a Friday, and rushhour traffic has already started to pile up on the stretch of andeventer Avenue across from I EA. From behind the wheel, idling behind cars at a red light just a few car-lengths away from the Foundry entrance, there is a clear view of the edge of the property and the owners’ trailer that serves as the headquarters for the project’s field office. Although we usually still have a couple more hours of daylight this time of year, it’s cloudy and overcast. The area surrounding the trailer is still very much a construction site; nearby, the uneven, rocky surface dips low enough to have formed massive puddles of rainwater reflecting the unfinished Foundry buildings just beyond the trailer. Smith is waiting near the trailer’s front door when we arrive. He is a warm and gracious host and certainly no stranger to site tours, something he notes with enthusiasm. The tour begins inside the trailer with a scale model of how the finished Foundry will look when all phases of construction are complete. Although it’s a spiel he must be constantly unspooling, Smith does so with a palpable passion. Exiting the trailer and walking through the expansive campus alongside Smith, it’s easy to understand his excitement and vision for the Foundry. It stands to bring significant commerce and revenue to a previously blighted stretch of Midtown that is fast becoming a new shopping, entertainment and business district, including plans for a new Major League Soccer stadium to the east.

long live print

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FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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As we walk, signs of the building’s former chapters are still visible throughout the property and will be preserved in the finished space, Smith says. Inside the ground-floor level of what will be Fassler Hall, guests will be able to sit beneath large vaults with suspended tanks that hang almost like space-age chandeliers. From the brewpub’s large rooftop patio, the views stretch clear across the metro area. Touring the property recalls visits to the City Museum — there’s something to marvel at in every direction and corner. Smith says that other pieces of equipment were removed and put in storage; eventually, the Foundry might feature them in an exhibit on-site. “With the Foundry building itself, what we decided to do is almost what I call archeological — we just left it,” Smith says. “The old peeling paint, the graffiti — we just left it. We’re not going to make it antiseptic. This building has been here almost 100 years, so we’ve tuck-pointed it and restored it, but we didn’t want to make it suburban. That’s part of the history of the building. A lot of the tagging is quite artistic, I think.” Stepping into the 30,000-squarefoot food hall, you’ll spot other vestiges and old foundry equipment, all of it staying in place. In the entryway, large industrial heaters formerly used by Century Electric hang overhead while disintegrating paint and graffiti

act as reminders of how long the building sat vacant. Even as the history of the space surrounds you, a shock of shiny bright yellow cuts through the food hall — newly painted steel beams that will soon frame each food stall. Renderings of the final food hall are displayed amid the construction. The space can fit as many as twenty stalls, and Smith hopes to debut with twelve to fourteen vendors. Standing inside the unfinished food hall, it’s easy to imagine vendors collaborating and coalescing as hungry patrons hop from one stall to the next. You can picture droves of people lining up for a drink at the bar before snagging seats in the spacious open room. During the day, office workers will surely grab lunch from the food hall, creating a captive audience for vendors; late at night, revelers and students from nearby Saint Louis University can fuel up in the space, which can seat up to 500, before seeing a movie at Alamo Drafthouse. It’s the same picture that attracted former food-hall vendors to the project — and the reason that their exits are so bittersweet. Smith is candid about the challenges these vendors experienced. He reiterates that the Foundry has changed its agreements as a result and that vendors are no longer responsible for any of the buildout costs. Every tenant is now receiving the same deal, he adds.

“We have changed and evolved our whole program here over the two years we’ve been marketing the food hall,” Smith says. “We’re learning too, quite frankly, and so, for instance, now we’re effectively building out the space for our tenants. They bring their equipment and they can decorate the way they want, but we’re putting in the hood, the hood system, the plumbing, the electrical — because we know, especially the younger people, their financial resources are limited. And really what we want from our food-hall partners are their talent, their passion and their creativity.” Plans were also abandoned to offset those costs by increasing stall rents and the percentage of annual profits retained by the Foundry, Smith says. “We talked that through with a couple of our partners and at the end we decided not to do that,” Smith says. “We had a 10 percent revenue deal at the beginning, and it’s still a 10 percent revenue deal. We kicked around the idea of having an additional amount after you hit a certain point, because we’re putting in a lot more money, but at the end of the day, it’s a relatively small part of the overall] project, so we found a way to get that done.” Despite past struggles to make the numbers work for some small business owners, Smith says the food hall will still feature a crosssection of the culinary talent in

Graffiti and peeling paint will be preserved in many of the finished concepts at the Foundry. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

St. Louis, including chefs of all experience levels and financial abilities. On February 7, the day of our tour with Smith, the Foundry issued a press release announcing a new lineup of food-hall vendors. The revised roster features impressive and established names sure to draw crowds — yet doesn’t currently reflect as many replacements for the smaller brands and start-ups that have dropped out. New recruits include Mike Johnson of Sugarfire Smoke House, the St. Louis-based barbecue chain, and Hi-Pointe Drive-In, as well as Paul and Wendy Hamilton, owners of Hamilton Hospitality, which operates in de Set, PW Pizza, Eleven Eleven Mississippi and other concepts. Smith says Johnson will open a burger stall while the Hamiltons will debut Pig Iron Pizza in addition to running a bar for the food hall. “Paul Hamilton and Mike Johnson are not doing the exact same thing they’re doing somewhere else — this is the only place where you’ll get that twist of what they’re doing,” Smith says. “[Most] of our chefs have other locations right now. We have talked to some partners] where it would be a true startup, which we’re interested in — we do want to help young, aspiring talented chefs get a chance to have their own place as well as having the really experienced, successful people.” By integrating these seasoned, big-name operators into the food hall, Smith hopes to create collaboration and mentorship with younger chefs and newer brands. “We think of this whole space as co-working for chefs, where you have people who have been doing it for 20 or 30 years successfully, and then you have someone who perhaps is very young and they can learn from one another,” Smith says. The food hall currently has seven vendors with eight concepts total (including two run by the Hamiltons). Smith hopes to have another four or six vendors committed by the end of February. He says concepts focused on Italian fare, fried chicken and a deli or sandwich shop would be welcome additions to the current lineup. Jonathan Schoen and Brian Schmitz of Polite Society and the Bellwether, who have been planning to open their concept, Good Day, for more than a year, remain on board. So do Oscar and Ainara Farina of Los Gauchos Parrilla Argentina in O’Fallon, Illinois, who will open Buenos Aires Caf at the Foundry. Sue Wong-Shackelford Continued on pg 17

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The first phase of the Foundry will see the redevelopment of five original buildings on-site. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

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Continued from pg 16

and Mark Shackelford, owners of albi Taco Shack, meanwhile, will debut City Taco Shack. “We have been looking for a location in Midtown for a long time

because many of our customers come from Saint Louis University and [the] Central West End,” Wong-Shackelford said in the release. “We wanted to be convenient for them, and with City Foundry being built in an old industrial building and bringing it back to life along with their vision

of food, drink and entertainment all under one roof, this was a perfect fit for us.” Two vendors don’t currently operate brick-and-mortars in town: pastry chef Tyler “Tai” Davis, who will bring a dessert and baked goods stall to the Foundry, and Amy Guo and Daniel Jensen, who

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will open Hello Poke. “We wanted to be a part of the City Foundry project because of the creativity and potential that we saw in it,” Guo said in the release. “We haven’t seen anything like this project yet in St. Louis, in particular, the establishment of a food hall. We love the concept of food halls and believe that St. Louis is ready for its first one.” Back in the field-office trailer, talking through the events of the past year, Smith acknowledges the frustrations and financial concerns of former food-hall vendors, and his comments sound genuine. Still, at the end of the day, he is a developer and a businessman — he acknowledges the past, mistakes and all, while remaining firmly focused on the future. “We think we’re creating something really special,” Smith says. “We think it has the opportunity to be another feather in St. Louis’ cap of doing creative, interesting, unique things. We’re not a dowdy old manufacturing city anymore — we have an enormously creative food scene here and a wonderful innovation community, and people are taking notice. Hopefully that gets momentum to change the narrative of what an exciting community we’re building on here.” n

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD and the esteemed Valerie Jaudon. 20/20 opens with a free public reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, February 21, at the Philip Slein Gallery (4735 McPherson Avenue; www.philipsleingallery.com). The gallery’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

James McAvoy plays a handsome Cyrano. | COURTESY OF FATHOM EVENT

THURSDAY 02/20 By a Nose Edmond Rostand’s swashbuckling play Cyrano De Bergerac is woefully underproduced, primarily because it’s difficult to find actors who can effectively wield swords and Rostand’s tripping verse. Martin Crimp’s adaptation of the play modernizes the setting and does away with Cyrano’s famous schnoz, but does feature James McAvoy as the tormented poet. This Cyrano wears contemporary outfits but still loathes his own appearance, and woos the lovely Roxanne for his tongue-tied friend. Fathom Events presents a live simulcast of the National Theatre’s production of the play at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 20, at the Marcus Ronnies Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; www.fathomevents.com). Tickets are $19.39.

FRIDAY 02/21 The Contemporary For its first exhibition of the new year, Philip Slein Gallery doubles down on its commitment to contemporary painting. 20/20 features work by 20 artists who have shown work at the gallery previously. Participants range from local painters (Jamie Adams and Arthur Osver) to the Brooklyn-based Keltie Ferris, Connecticut’s Jackie Saccoccio

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Keltie Ferris, Sphinx’s Acre, 2016. | COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Black Magic Poet/playwright Ntozake Shange came to St. Louis in the 1950s as a young girl and experienced firsthand segregation and racism in a white school. The alienation she felt stayed with her through college, at which point she began to write her “choreopoems,” which incorporated non-standard English as a conscious attempt to create a separate vocabulary that better represented the black experience. Spell #7 uses this new vernacular to tell the story of a group of black artists who frequent the same St. Louis bar. One night the magician Lou uses his magic to help them all see their blackness — which they feel has caused them difficulties — as a source of strength that they should embrace. The Black Rep presents Spell #7 as part of its 43rd season, with St. Louis rapper and activist Tef Poe playing a major role in the production. Performances of Spell #7 take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (February 21 to March 8) at Washington University’s A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre (6445 Forsyth Avenue; www.theblackrep.org). Tickets are $20 to $50.

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The Black Rep presents Ntozake Shange’s Spell #7. | COURTESY OF THE BLACK REP

SATURDAY 02/22 The Soulard Classic It’s been a while since everybody gathered in Soulard to celebrate the onset of the season of self-denial and contemplation, but St. Louis never forgets the big day: Saturday, February 22, is here, and so is the Bud Light Grand Parade. At 11 a.m. at Busch Stadium (601 Clark Avenue; www.stlmardigras.org), the parade starts its march toward Soulard and the Anheuser-Busch brewery. The theme is “the Blues,” which is intentionally a little vague. Do you dream of clear blue skies, tropical sea sides, gutbucket music or a second Stanley Cup? It’s up to each krewe to decide exactly how to interpret “the Blues.” As always, watching the parade is free, and you just might catch something

while you’re there: More than 10 million strands of beads will be flung from floats along the parade route. The party in Soulard will have already started by the time the parade steps off — it’s gonna get crowded and loud before it’s all over. Will it be as cold as February normally is? If you’re worried, you have options. The Bud Light Party Tent, which is in fact two climate-controlled tents, will have a lunch buffet, open bar and an appearance by Chingy from 9 a.m to 6 p.m., and tickets are $125. If your ideal Mardi Gras includes hanging out with some of the most famous and personable St. Louis Blues players in team history, you want to buy tickets for The Blues Alumni Party Tent. It also sports an open bar and lunch buffet, but adds a bubble-hockey tournament and hobnobbing with some local hockey legends. The Blues Alumni Party Tent is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is $125.

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 20-26

Take a Chance Sharon’s an empty-nester whose home is even emptier since her husband abandoned her. Looking to reinvigorate her social life, she decides that a roommate may be just the thing to shake up her life — but how much shaking can she stand? Her new roommate, Robyn, enjoys drugs and free love — and is a vegan, all of which is foreign to the middle-aged, Midwestern lifestyle Sharon grew up with. Sure, it’s a lot of adjustments to make to one’s life, but isn’t that what Sharon wants? Jen Silverman’s comedy The Roommate follows two very different women as they discover how to live their best lives. West End Players Guild presents The Roommate at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (February 21 to March 1) at the Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Union Boulevard; www.westendplayers.org). Tickets are $20 to $25.

SUNDAY 02/23 Ka-Kaw Is Law Aggrieved St. Louis Rams fans and the curious and hardcore XFL fans alike shall converge upon the Dome at America’s Center (701

In The Band’s Visit, music provides a bridge across cultures. | PHOTO BY EVAN ZIMMERMAN, MURPHYMADE Convention Plaza Street; www. xfl.com/teams/st-louis) for the St. Louis BattleHawks inaugural home opener Sunday, February 23. The team will take on the New York Guardians, whose logo appears to be some sort of cat (when has a cat ever guarded anything?). While the BattleHawks’ online fan base is vocal and borderline deranged with passion, this will be the first opportunity BattleHawks fans have to back their mighty birds on their home turf and establish a team culture. Tickets for the historic game are $24 to $108.

New York Story Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent changed how people approached the form when it swept onto Broadway in 1996. Larson crafted a story about real people rather than creating a spectacle, using his characters — a group of twenty-something artists trying to make it without selling out — to connect with audiences in a way that descending helicopters and plummeting chandeliers could not. Two decades later, the show still resonates with audienc-

The BatlleHawks open their inaugural season on Sunday. | COURTESY OF ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS

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es, so Rent is back on the road. The twentieth anniversary tour (plus a couple years) of Rent comes to the Fox Theatre (527 North Grand Boulevard; www.fabulousfox.com) for five shows this weekend. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday (February 21 to 23). Tickets are $29 to $105.

TUESDAY 02/25 The Food of Love An Egyptian police band is scheduled to perform in an Arabic enclave in Israel, but ends up instead in a small town in the Israeli desert. Their arrival provides some much-needed excitement for the residents and offers the musicians a chance to meet some regular Israelis in a casual environment. What both sides discover is that loneliness and the need to be loved are all part of the universal human condition and that a little music makes every situation better. David Yazbeck and Itamar Moses’ Tony Award-winning musical The Band’s Visit finally arrives at the Fox Theatre (527 North Grand Boulevard; www.fabulousfox.com) for a lengthy run. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday (February 25 to March 8). There’s an additional 6:30 p.m. show on Sunday, March 1. Tickets are $29 to $99. n

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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FILM

[REVIEW]

The Benefits of Kael What She Said conveys film critic Pauline Kael’s passion for her subject Written by

ROBERT HUNT What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael Written and directed by Rob Garver. With Alec Baldwin, John Boorman and Francis Ford Coppola. Shown at 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday (February 21 to 23) at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium.

here is a relatively modern adage of uncertain origin intended to deflate the pretensions of music criticism: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Imagine, then, the even more inflated effort at stake writing a review of a film about someone who wrote film reviews. I was in college when I read Deeper into Movies, Pauline Kael’s third collection of film reviews, and I unhesitatingly fell under her spell. Here was a writer who devoted thousands of words to a movie, expounding in paragraph after paragraph on what she loved about it but also giving just as much time to its flaws and mistakes. Inspired by her example, I hammered out my first film review and slipped it into the office of the university paper. I continued to read Kael, but by the end of the ’70s, I found myself more inclined to disagree with her odd prejudices. ael was riding high on her own power. She wasn’t engaging in a conversation with her favorite filmmakers anymore; she was nagging them. When she needed to boost a reputation or, more frequently, destroy one, she engaged a network of acolytes and mentees, the “Paulettes,” to spread her decrees. She would tell interviewers that she agonized over every line, that her reviews were torn from her very soul, but when caught in

Pauline Kael was the film critic’s film critic. | COURTESY 29 PRODUCTIONS an inconsistency, she’d shrug off complaints with, “It’s only a movie.” Even her famous barbs were more show than substance, and not even an original show. Compare ael’s review of the 1978 film Same Time Next Year, “If someone you make the mistake of caring about insists on your going to this movie, take a small flashlight and a book,” with Dorothy Parker’s more succinct line 60 years earlier about the musical Girl O’ Mine: “If you don’t knit, bring a book.” Rob Garver’s What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is a breezy flight through ael’s life and work, using television footage and talking-head interviews (filmmaker Paul Schrader and critic Michael Sragow discussing their service as Paulettes, cultural critic Camille Paglia holding forth on nothing in particular) and a lavish allotment of film clips to illustrate the movies she championed and the controversies she provoked. It’s as contentious and provocative as ael herself, witty and abrasive, outspoken and not afraid to cross the lines of politeness to make a point. Despite the limitations of space and time (and media), Garver captures much of the spirit that made readers love ael’s work — and often made them want to throw The New Yorker across the room. Garver makes a persuasive case that ael was the den mother of the New Hollywood, the renaissance in American filmmaking

that began around 1967 and ended in the mid-’70s with the rise of the wide-release blockbuster and the Lucas/Spielberg nexus of juvenilia. ael had been reviewing films since the 1950s and even created a bit of stir when she was fired from the magazine McCall’s for being insufficiently reverential to the behemoth known as The Sound of Music. It was her praise for Bonnie and Clyde which made her name, and her positive review forced Bosley Crowther of The New York Times to revise his negative review — and landed ael a position at The New Yorker. At her peak, ael’s critical voice was a combination of snobbery, combativeness and low-brow slumming. Garver lets the enthusiasms and polemics spin by at a tornado’s pace until they become a blur — Scorsesenashvilledepalmalasttango — and plays on the mild double entendres of her book titles to recreate Kael’s embrace of the sensuality of the cinematic experience, even when it means invoking films that she is unlikely to have seen (Russ Meyer’s Vixen, Plan Nine from Outer Space, Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS), let alone admired. It’s hard to get much substance from the whirlwind, but Garver conveys a fair sense of the heady times and ael’s passion. The film may overpraise its subject at times (I can accept that ael was an avid reader, but the film likens it to Woodward and Ber-

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nstein’s research in All the President’s Men), but it also acknowledges a few of her lapses. Her 1971 essay “Raising ane,” which argued against Citizen Kane being a work solely sprung from the genius of Orson Welles, now seems like contrariness for its own sake; the description of a confrontational luncheon with David Lean makes her sound like a petulant adolescent showing off at the grown-ups’ table. These, too, are part of ael’s character and perhaps even of her appeal. What She Said is a brisk exercise in film history, but the dominant figure, justly, is ael herself. The excerpts from her reviews, read by Sarah Jessica Parker, rest heavily on one-liners and wise-cracks, sometimes threatening to reduce ael to the equivalent of a contemporary YouTube commentator, prouder of her own voice than of the films she discusses. Her admirers were prone to say things like “Reading her is better than going to the movies” without fear that she would contradict them. Even her most generous reviews are substantially about herself, her personal reactions and her unique point of view, separate from those of any other member of the audience or — more importantly — of the critical establishment. As Paul Schrader, a Paulette whose own films were often the subject of her scathing reviews, explains “What ael promoted wasn’t film; it was her.” n

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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STAGE

[REVIEW]

Specter Spectacle The Mystery of Irma Vep is campy fun when the spirit moves it Written by

PAUL FRISWOLD The Mystery of Irma Vep Written by Charles Ludlam. Directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III. Presented by the Repertory Theatre St. Louis at the Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road; www.repstl.org). Tickets are $20 to $94.50.

ord Edgar, the diminutive but mighty nobleman and recreational Egyptologist has recently remarried, three years after the death of his beloved wife and son. The new bride is the handsome Lady Enid, an actor of no small renown who’s finding life at the country estate Mandercrest to be a little lonely. The stately pile that is her new home is haunted by a wolf in the night, whose howling drowns out the wind from the moors, and that distasteful Nicodemus the swineherd creeps around the house trying get a good look at her. It doesn’t help Lady Enid’s state of mind that the only other woman present is the maid, Jane, who is openly hostile to Enid from behind her mustache. Yeah, about that mustache. Lord Edgar and Jane are both played by Esteban Andres Cruz, while Lady Enid and Nicodemus are played by Tommy Everett Russell. Every character in the play is performed by these two men, who change outfits and demeanors quicker than you would think possible. Both men are also pretty handy with a costumed dummy and a hasty exit. The Mystery of Irma Vep, currently being produced by the Repertory Theatre St. Louis, is a mostly successful campy comedy that’s at its best when Cruz and Russell are both on stage indulging in gleefully ridiculous antics. It loses its momentum when the actor onstage has to carry the load while the other is racing

Lord Edgar and Lady Enid (Esteban Andres Cruz and Tommy Everett Russell) do get in some awkward situations while combining to perform every role in The Mystery of Irma Vep. | JON GITCHOFF

Charles Ludlam’s script pays homage to Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Victorian melodramas and the horror films of Hammer Studios. around behind the scenes to get in position for the next entrance, a hindrance no doubt exacerbated by the size of the Loretto-Hilton Center’s Mainstage Theatre. With a running time of two hours, the comedy occasionally sags rather than sings. Still, when they’re on, Cruz and Russell are on. Charles Ludlam’s script pays homage to Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Victorian melodramas and the horror films of Hammer Studios. Indeed, scenic designer Michael Locher has created an imposing manse with a steep staircase, a parlour with a fireplace and several exits. Above it all looms a portrait of Irma (unfortunately visible only from one side of the theater) surrounded by red roses and surmounted by a massive, grinning skull. Lighting designer Marie Yokoyama douses it all in eerie green and menacing

red lights, and her stylized lightning bolts are impeccable. Cruz’s Lord Edgar is a man of action who stalks the moors in search of that damned wolf and is fond of a dramatic pose and a wide stance but still releases a coquettish squeal when Lady Enid hoists him up in the air and spins. Russell’s Enid has the charming wiles of a girl-detective, who subtly grills Jane for information about Edgar’s first wife (Irma) and son. According to Jane, Edgar believes the wolf killed his small family, hence the hunting. Jane implies that she believes it may not be so clean-cut a mystery, which spurs on Enid’s investigation. Before the play ends we’ll all go to Egypt, revive a longdead mummy and witness one character transform body part by body part into a werewolf right before our eyes. (Russell performs this metamorphosis with guile, panache and a magician’s sense of misdirection. It’s one of the best moments in the play.) Despite the antics happening onstage, the play ends on a serious, albeit hopeful note. Charles Ludlum wrote The Mystery of Irma Vep during the 1980s AIDS crisis, and he himself succumbed to the disease. In the play’s final moments, Lord Edgar and Lady Enid ascend the staircase to their bedroom, discussing the ancient Egyptians’ bid for immortality. All the while, they slowly draw closer to that leering skull atop the set. Make fun while you can, for we all take that walk some day. n

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THIS WEEK THE GROVE SELECTED HAPPENINGS

Day or night, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always something going on in The Grove: live bands, great food, beer tastings, shopping events, and so much more. Visit thegrovestl.com for a whole lot more of what makes this neighborhood great.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20

THE IMPROV SHOP - STL PRODUCERS WORKSHOP 6:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

TAURUS RILEY 8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

RELEASE THE HOUNDS 2 : A BENEFIT FOR STRAY RESCUE OF ST. LOUIS $10, 7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

THE YOUNG AND THE RECKLESS $5, 7 PM AT ATTITUDES

PLAYERS LEAGUE

ONE FOUR FIVES: AN IMPROVISED MUSICAL

$6, 8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

$10, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21

DJ MAHF PRESENTS

FRI FEB 21

6th Annual DRE DAY

DJ Mahf & VThom (The Method)

SAT FEB 22 Post Parade Party w/ Funky Butt Brass Band

fri FEB 28 western states

sat FEB 29 julian davis & the situation

w/ chain station & barbaro

fri mar 6 mom’s kitchen sat mar 7 caroline kole

tue mar 10 vintage pistol w/dr. slappenstein

6TH ANNUAL DRE DAY

$12, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

$5, 7 AM AT THE MONOCLE

40 OZ TO FREEDOM

$7, 9 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

SH*TSHOW

OPEN MIC NIGHT

$10, 7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22

$10, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

8 PM AT HANDLEBAR

MARDI GRAS PARTY AND SHUTTLE TO SOULARD

EMO NITE LA PRESENTS

DO YOU LOVE US? YES OR NO?!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

8:30 PM AT HANDLEBAR

EMO NITE

CHAOTIC RESEMBLANCE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

JOE MANDE

$5, 9 AM AT JUST JOHN

ATTITUDES MARDI PARTY! $5, 7 PM AT ATTITUDES NIGHT CLUB

POST PARADE PARTY W/ FUNKY BUTT BRASS BAND

9 PM AT THE READY ROOM

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23

SELEKTA PRESENTS REDEYES

IMPROV SHOP OPEN MICROPHONE

8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

OH NO! THEY’RE GONE!

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26

10:30 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

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6 RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT...

CRAWLING CRAB

THREE MONKEYS

314.328.3421 6730 PAGE AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63138

THREEMONKEYSRESTAURANT.COM INFO@THREEMONKEYSRESTAURANT.COM

314.772.980 3153 MORGANFORD RD. ST LOUIS, MO 63116 Under new ownership, Three Monkeys has transformed into one of the best neighborhood restaurants & whiskey pubs in the area. With an ever-growing list of over 60 whiskeys, 16 craft beers on draft, specialty cocktail & an exciting new menu of gastro pub favorites - they have something for everyone. The menu is ample with offerings, including some of St. Louis’s best hand-tossed pizza, great shareable appetizers, burgers, vegetarian options, pasta, steaks & more. Embracing the price point of other south city pubs, Three Monkeys offers a great happy hour! Come enjoy $6 select appetizers, including the best fried Brussels sprouts in town, $5 Manhattans, Sazeracs & Old Fashions, as well as discounts on wine & craft beer. Sunday features one of the most extensive brunch buffets in the city, loaded with your favorite breakfast items, an omelet & pasta station, plus seafood, appetizers, desserts, & many other goodies. Located in Tower Grove South, it’s the perfect place to have dinner, share a pizza with family, or just belly up to the bar with your favorite drink.

Looking for the best seafood in St. Louis or the Midwest—don’t fret, Crawling Crab is now open! Here, we drizzle everything in garlic butter and then sprinkle on our magic dust! In a fun and casual atmosphere, you’ll enjoy fresh, hand-cleaned seafood ranging from lobster, shrimp, and of course crab legs. All platters come with corn sausage potatoes and Cajun boiled eggs and shrimp that won’t disappoint. For those pasta and veggie lovers out there, there is a spot for you here too! Enjoy our double dipped garlic butter rolls along side with your meal. And if you are still not stuffed, we have homemade dessert on the menu too! Have a big family coming in or an event coming up? Enjoy our family meal options and our beautiful seafood tables. As we continue to grow, we are excited to add new items to the menu, get creative with new recipes, and give back within the community. Join us on the first Tuesday of the month for $20 platter specials, and $5 appetizers on every Wild Wednesday! Open Tuesday thru Saturday 4pm-10pm, currently located in the 24:1 Coffee House Cafe.

BLK MKT EATS BLKMKTEATS.COM

CRISPY EDGE

314.391.5100 9 S. VANDEVENTER AVE. ST. LOUIS, MO 63108

CRISPYEDGE.COM

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 everything you love about sushi and burritos right in your hand. TheNOT SwedishYOUR Fish layers Scandinavian cured salmon, yuzu dillSPOT slaw, AVERAGE SUSHI Persian cucumbers and avocado for a fresh flavor explosion. Another favorite, the OG Fire, features your choice 9 SOUTH VANDEVENTER DINE-IN, TAKEOUT OR DELIVERY MON-SAT 11AM-9PM of spicy tuna or salmon alongside tempura crunch, masago, shallots, jalapeño and piquant namesake sauce; Persian cucumbers and avocado soothe your tongue from the sauce’s kick. All burrito rolls come with sticky rice wrapped in nori or can be made into poké bowls, and all items can be modified for vegetarians.

314.310.3343 4168 JUNIATA STREET ST. LOUIS, MO 63116 What began in 2013 as a passion project in the founder’s kitchen has now grown into a retail and wholesale potsticker manufacturing facility located right in the heart of Tower Grove South. Crispy Edge believes that potstickers are the perfect vehicle to explore authentic global flavors from breakfast to dessert: handheld, wrapped in dough, and CRISPY! The restaurant features indoor and dog-friendly outdoor seating, private dining room, and a café lounge. The full bar and hot beverage program highlight local specialty coffee, cocktails, and beers. All products are made in-house and sourced from the finest ingredients. From Ordinary to Extraordinary - Crispy Edge is a global community for those who want something fun, tasty, social and exciting to eat.

J. SMUGS GASTROPIT JSMUGSGASTROPIT.COM

THE KICKIN’ CRAB

314.499.7488 4916 SHAW AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

THEKICKINCRAB.COM

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 halfdollar BBQ tastes, discount drinks, and $6 craft beer flights to soothe any beer aficionado.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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314.888.8688 9616 OLIVE BLVD OLIVETTE, MO 63132 The Kickin’ Crab has joined the Crustacean Nation and is here to satisfy your taste sensation. The Kickin’ Crab is a fun-filled Cajun seafood destination where patrons come and escape into flavor paradise. Offering a distinct ambiance to enjoy the finest and freshest Cajun seafood around! Kickin’ Crab is a great place to hang out with friends, family, or both! No plates... no utensils! Just your hands, a bib, and our unique and absolutely irresistible KC sauces - a combination of spicy, sweet and tangy flavors - over freshly prepared seafood that will give your taste buds satisfaction unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted. Join us and partake in the festivities and quality of seafood that The Kickin’ Crab has to offer.

CAFE

[REVIEW]

Jump for Joy Viet-Cajun arrives in St. Louis at the outstanding Joyful House Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Joyful House 3900 South Grand Boulevard, 314-6968255. Mon., Tues.,Thurs. 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (Closed Wednesdays.)

he ph t i b vi n at Joyful House is a revelation in how powerful a simple broth can be. Clean and bright but still intensely flavorful, this glorious nectar tastes as if the very essence of beef has been distilled into a delicate liquid. More straightforward — and decidedly less sweet — than other versions of the classic ietnamese soup, the only flavor that punctuates the meaty broth is the subtle licorice perfume of anise. Thin slices of rare beef and herb-flecked meatballs bob in the glorious liquid along with silken noodles and, if you choose to add them, fresh herbs and bean sprouts. Everything about this magical soup points to the fact that Joyful House is an outstanding ietnamese restaurant. And that’s correct — but it’s only part of the picture of what makes this four-monthold eatery such a delight. Flip past the first three pages of pho, b nh m and vermicelli bowls, and you come to a section of the menu advertising crawfish, shrimp and crab boils that seem more appropriately placed at one of the numerous seafood-boil restaurants that have opened across town in the past year. For a newcomer to this particular style of cuisine, iet-Cajun, it might seem like an odd combination. However, to anyone following culinary trends, it’s an indicator that Joyful House has quietly brought to town one of the hottest styles of cooking in the country. Unless you’ve watched chef David Chang’s Netflix show Ugly Delicious or follow national food publications, the term iet-Cajun

A selection of dishes at Joyful House, including the spicy seafood boil (pictured top right) and a bánh mì sandwich (pictured bottom left). | MABEL SUEN is likely a new one. The cooking style, however, is not and traces its roots back several decades to Houston and the ietnamese refugees that put down roots there following the ietnam War. As the story goes, members of this community were quickly enamored with the open-air crawfish boils they’d encounter in Houston, and they eventually began to put their own spin on the genre, incorporating Southeast Asian flavors with traditional Cajun ones. The genre soon became intensely popular in Houston and eventually Los Angeles. It wasn’t until Houston chef Trong Nguyen of Crawfish & Noodles received a James Beard semifinalist nod for Best Chef: Southwest in 2018, though, that the style became white hot. It has since spread to other cities across the country, and now, St. Louisans can try it here, too. Linh Ly (the face of Joyful House) and her family discovered iet-Cajun food throughout their travels and fell in love with the flavors. When the time came for them to move their international grocery store across the street from its original address on South Grand, they saw it as an opportu-

nity to bring this style of cooking to St. Louis. Although their original store was adequately sized for a grocery store, the new digs were not only significantly larger — they also came with a full-size commercial kitchen and dining room. Family members got to work concocting recipes both from memory and in accordance with their own flavor preferences and opened their doors in late September 2019 to share their creations with the rest of the city. Joyful House’s large dining room is a blank canvas for enjoying this colorful cuisine — literally. The restaurant is glaringly bright, outfitted in pale, icy gray-blue paint and a white wall of carved tiles. There have been a few attempts to bring character to the space — a cool, sea-themed mural of a fish, crab and bowl of noodles at the front door as well as red garland heart wall-hangings hung every few feet on the sparse walls, likely a nod to the then-upcoming alentine’s Day holiday. It’s a bit sterile, but it’s much nicer than what you’d expect from a restaurant inside of a grocery store. Joyful House more than makes up for such bare-bones decor with

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its colorful food. Like the pho, the ietnamese side of the menu shows the Ly family’s prowess in the cuisine of their homeland. The b nh m c bi t, for instance, is perfection of the form, beginning with the shockingly fresh ietnamese baguette that is as crisp and flaky as a croissant on the outside and pillow-soft inside. The bread serves as a base for layers of thinly sliced pork, p t , pickled vegetables and herbs, and a garlic mayo infuses every bite with pungent creaminess. If Joyful House’s pho is a soothing bowl of comfort to the palate, the b n b hu soup is an energizing jolt of electricity. The noodle soup is heartier in texture than the pho, its broth scented with lemongrass and ginger. However, the real treat is the layer of fiery chile oil that slicks the top of the bowl. The spice is a striking contrast to the fatty pork patty, pork feet and beef shank contents of the soup. The layers of texture and flavors are magical. The Shaking Beef, or bo luc lac, is another excellent dish. Cubes of tender steak are soaked in a soy-forward marinade, coated in black pepper, then seared with

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Shrimp stir fried in ginger and scallion sauce. | MABEL SUEN

JOYFUL HOUSE Continued from pg 27

white onions and bell peppers. The marinade mingles with the beef’s juices, forming a glaze that soaks into the accompanying rice — a simple dish, but a dazzling one nonetheless. Even a dish as straightforward as the ietnamese-style chicken wings is revelatory; juicy meat is coated in light yet crisp breading that is minimally seasoned to allow the dark meat’s flavor to shine through. However, the restaurant’s must-have poultry dish is the quail, which is flawlessly grilled so that the outer skin develops a pleasantly bitter char that complements the meat’s subtly sweet marinade. The quail, alone, is enough to make Joyful House a standout, but the iet-Cajun side of the menu seals the deal. Boils include any combination of shrimp, crawfish, lobster, crab, mussels and clams and are served with corn, sausage and potatoes. The components are very similar to a Louisiana-style boil, but the key difference is the sauce and spices that give the seafood its unique flavor. This, in addition to the fact that the sauce is tossed with the seafood after it’s cooked, makes for a more intense and thicker layer of sauce that can be soaked up by all of the components. Joyful House offers straightforward garlic butter or lemon-pepper sauces. However, the standout is its Joyful Sauce, a unique blend that pairs chile heat and garlic with a ginger perfume. You can get any of the sauces to your desired, four-point spice level (Joyful Sauce is at a minimum of a level two); the level three, or me-

HAPPY HOUR

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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dium-spiced, was enough to tingle the lips and tongue without causing forehead sweat. The seafood boils are likely why you come to Joyful House, but they should not overshadow other dishes on the iet-Cajun menu, including the shrimp stir-fry, or t m x o h nh g ng. Massive, prawnsized shrimp are lightly dusted in flour, then saut ed with ginger and scallions; the flour forms a silken coating for the plump, snappy shellfish. Accented with sliced white onions and sprigs of green onions, this is the bestexecuted shrimp dish I’ve had in recent memory. Joyful House is not all about spice, but you can go that route — and if you do, the restaurant offers several fruit smoothies to cool the heat of a level-four seafood boil. If you haven’t experienced a ietnamese-style avocado smoothie, this is a perfect opportunity to enjoy the creamy, subtly sweet treat. For the more adventurous, the restaurant also offers a durian smoothie, which is perhaps a good training-wheels-style introduction to the controversial fruit. Blended with cream, ice and a touch of sugar, the durian is more like a really funky vanillamango-flavored custard with a distinct onion flavor. The durian is a memorable experience, but one that, if you put aside your preconceived notions of the fruit, is wholly enjoyable. It’s exactly like Joyful House in general — if you keep an open mind about what ietnamese food can be, you’re in for a treat.

Joyful House Bánh mì .................................................. $4.99 Shrimp stir-fry .......................................... $17 Combo No. 2 seafood boil ....................... $22

SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

How Pastry Chef Shimon Otsuka Learned to Love Sweets Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

himon Otsuka has loved to cook ever since he was a little kid growing up in Japan. In fact, he admits that he was so singularly focused on food that he knew he wanted to be a chef by the age of seven. He’d eat and cook anything, but there was one type of food he wholeheartedly disliked — sweets. “I have these pictures of me as a kid cutting vegetables and making stir-frys wearing an apron and a hat,” Otsuka says. “But I was never big on eating sweets. Actually, I didn’t like them to the point that I would stay away from them as much as possible.” As the kitchen manager at Nathaniel Reid Bakery (11243 Manchester Road, Kirkwood; 314-8581019), one of the top pastry shops in town if not the country, there is no way Otsuka can stay away from sweets. Day in and day out, he is chef-owner Nathaniel Reid’s right-hand man, producing pastries that receive national acclaim and set the standard for what’s possible in the dessert world. Thankfully for Otsuka — and those who enjoy his handiwork — his thoughts on sweets began to change after receiving a birthday present from his parents when he was in third grade. The gift was a cake-baking cookbook, and Otsuka found himself instantly intrigued by the science behind the processes described in it. He devoured its contents and made every single recipe in the book, fascinated by how little tweaks in temperature, time and ingredients could produce vastly differ-

Shimon Otsuka is the kitchen manager at Nathaniel Reid Bakery in Kirkwood. | ANDY PAULISSEN ent outcomes. Otsuka also realized that the artistic side of pastry appealed to him. As a kid, he always gravitated toward art, especially sculpture, and found himself constantly seeking inspiration from cakes he saw in display windows. He often scoured the city for the best fruits and other ingredients to make his creations more impressive. As passionate as he was about cakes, Otsuka was equally interested in baking bread. Every day after school, he’d come home and start the bread-making process, let the dough proof overnight and then get up early in the morning so that his family had fresh-baked bread to start the day. Eventually, he expanded his repertoire to include bagels and got so good at making them that he started his own small bagel business. “At first, I was giving them away to neighbors and friends, but then they told me I should sell them,” Otsuka recalls. “I’d use the money I made to buy more ingredients and

“I was never big on eating sweets. Actually, I didn’t like them to the point that I would stay away from them as much as possible.” cookbooks so I could keep teaching myself. I was a weird kid.” Otsuka was priming himself for a career in the pastry world, and he got his big break in that field when he was just seventeen. A family friend knew of a pastry chef who was opening his own bakeshop and encouraged Otsuka to reach out and see if he could

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help. Little did Otsuka know the chef was a renowned confectioner and pastry professional who would give Otsuka his first real foray into the industry. Otsuka’s time with the bakery was short-lived, however, because his father’s career moved the family to Boston. Otsuka did not let that dampen his dreams, however. After graduating from high school, Otsuka immediately set out to find a job in a high-end pastry shop. When he could not find the right fit, he decided to move back to Japan and work under his former chef. He honed his craft there, dreaming that one day he would open his own pastry shop in the U.S. Otsuka worked in Japan for five years before accepting that if he wanted to pursue his dream, he would have to take the leap and move back to America. He landed in North Carolina but was searching the entire country for

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SHIMON OTSUKA Continued from pg 29

a bakeshop that matched his vision for what he wanted to do. His research centered around places like New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, but he couldn’t find what he was looking for. Eventually, he came across one of chef Reid’s cakes and was blown away. “I saw his cake and thought, ‘Wow, this doesn’t look like what you normally see in the United States,’” Otsuka says. “I didn’t know what kind of place it was — it didn’t look like a shop. But it looked so nice I decided to reach out, tell him who I was and what I wanted to do and see if he was hiring.” Reid wasn’t hiring at the time, but Otsuka didn’t let that deter him. Instead, he packed up his belongings and drove across the country to stage at the bakery, confident that it was the perfect fit for him. His leap of faith paid off; after seeing what a great fit he was for the bakery, Reid decided to hire him. Otsuka’s experiences working at Nathaniel Reid Bakery have reshaped his vision for what he wants to do in the pastry world.

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At first, he thought he would specialize in cakes, but the more he works with laminated pastries, sandwiches, quiche and bread, the more he realizes that he no longer wants to limit himself to one genre. Instead he wants to fuse everything he has learned over his ten years in the business with his own point of view. “I’d love to do a mix of everything I’ve learned — modern French and Japanese cakes, candies, jams, chocolates, a whole range,” Otsuka says. “I want to take the things that I like and put them together to formulate my own unique style. I believe people are more adventurous now and are more open to trying new things.” Otsuka recently took a break from the bakery to share his thoughts on the St. Louis food and drink community, the one thing you’ll never see at his workstation and how, even when he’s off the clock, you’ll still find him in the kitchen. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? I like cooking more than baking. I enjoy cooking things that I love

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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to eat, especially things that take time to make. Sous vide is one of my favorite methods to use at home. Putting time and care into what I make is how I get the most satisfaction. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? My non-negotiable daily ritual is cold brew — I drink cold brew year-round. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? If I could have a superpower, it would teleportation. I could go anywhere I want and be back to work on time. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? All the new chefs bringing new cuisines to the area; you can get almost any kind of food you want. What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see? I think there are more of these now, but coming from Japan, I would like to see more authentic Asian restaurants. Who is your St. Louis food crush? Hands down Balkan Treat Box. Not only is the food outstanding, but Loryn and Edo [Nalic] are great people. I would say I go

there every chance I get. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? Chef Chris Krzysik at Takashima Records, the Japanese whiskey bar in the Grove. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? That’s a good question. I would have to pick the Japanese citrus yuzu. It’s got a bright, distinct flavor and is growing in popularity in the states. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? I’ve always had a fascination with art. It’s something that I’ve been drawn to, so I would probably be an architect or some other kind of artist. Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant. Margarine. What is your after-work hangout? You will see me cooking in the kitchen or working out in the gym. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? Believe it or not, Doritos and Nutter Butter. What would be your last meal on Earth? Lobster and scallops, two of my favorite foods. n

[FIRST LOOK]

The Fattened Caf Pops Up at Earthbound Beer Written by

ELLEN PRINZI

ith the recent debut of the Fattened Caf, St. Louisans now have a new local destination for flavorful and authentic Filipino fare. The pop-up restaurant operates once a month inside Earthbound Beer (2724 Cherokee Street, 314-769-9676). The very limited engagement means planning ahead is imperative to get your hands on the concept’s riffs on Filipino street food. The Fattened Caf’s residency at Earthbound kicked off late last year and you can catch it on the last Friday of every month for the rest of 2020. What started as a hobby for Los Angeles transplants Darren Young and Charlene Lopez-Young has now blossomed into a delicious side hustle. Lopez-Young, who was born in L.A., moved to the Philippines when she was just two years old and spent most of her childhood there. “Living there formed a lot of my childhood, and we still visit every couple years,” Lopez-Young says.

Darren Young serves a customer from behind the counter. | COURTESY DARREN YOUNG AND CHARLENE LOPEZ-YOUNG Her heritage and family recipes inspired the idea for the Fattened Caf, but it’s Young’s love of cooking and experimenting that has made the business an overnight sensation. The husbandand-wife team say that relocating to St. Louis was something of a food culture shock — but one they’ve successfully navigated. “Coming from L.A., we didn’t know what real Southern barbecue was, or St. Louis-style ribs; my knowledge started and ended at Chili’s baby-back ribs,” Young says with a grin. Today, Young says he has mastered grilling techniques, smoking meat and perfecting his craft. “I got really into bar-

becue,” he says, adding that he slowly improved at making Filipino-style ’cue under the watchful eye of his wife. His cooking became so popular among their friends that people would buy meat and ask Young to prepare it for parties and events. “Our friends would always tell us we needed to sell our food, and before we knew it, our business was born,” Lopez-Young recalls. The Fattened Caf first came on the St. Louis food scene at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market and through various pop-ups in south city. The couple have always been enthusiastic about pop-ups and hope to continue doing them in addition to their residency at Earthbound.

At Earthbound, the Fattened Caf usually serves between 200 and 250 plates, and the word is getting out — at the January event, the couple sold out in less than two hours. “We saw Filipinos come from all over St. Louis,” Lopez-Young says. The menu changes monthly, but the one constant is the barbecued pork on a stick and sides made using recipes from Lopez-Young’s grandmother. These dishes range from pickled papaya and pickled cucumbers to steamed rice with garlic chips, pancit, eggplant salad and salted duck eggs. In January, the pop-up served chargrilled pork belly marinated in locally made Filipino-style vinegar and vegan eggplant adobo. The menu is both adventurous and familiar, but the couple plan to push the envelope. “St. Louis is full of adventurous eaters — pig ears and chicken feet don’t scare them. With that openness, we plan to bring more authentic dishes as time goes on,” Lopez-Young says. The couple are very passionate about south city and Cherokee Street, and if the long lines for their pop-ups are any indication, the feeling is mutual. Besides, as Lopez-Young adds, the setting at Earthbound means that “there’s really great beer to enjoy while they wait.” “We enjoy the space and the community so much; it makes people feel like they are all in it together,” Lopez-Young says. n

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[FIRST LOOK]

Noto Pizza Serves Wood-Fired Neapolitan Pies in St. Peters Written by

KRISTEN FARRAH

Noto co-owner Kendele Noto Sieve recommends the Margherita pie to customers new to Neapolitan-style pizza. | KRISTEN FARRAH

ast year, my entire family grieved the closing of J. Noto Bakery in St. Peters. Located just down the road from my parents’ house, the bakery was one of our favorites spots, and a slight panic set in as we wondered where we would now find flavorful sandwiches or cinnamon rolls the size of my face. When Kendele Noto Sieve’s dad, Jasper Noto, announced his retirement in 2019, she and her husband, Wayne, were left to decide between running the bakery themselves or creating a home for their pizza trailer. Months later, the bakery closed and reopened as Noto Pizza (5105 Westwood Drive, St. Peters; 636-317-1143), an Italian restaurant dedicated to serving authentic Neapolitan-style pizza and handmade pasta. Of course, my family was eager to try it out. To our pleasant surprise, my parents had to book our reservation days in advance, as Noto was booked every other night. As a longtime customer of J. Noto, I have to admit that I felt so proud. I loved the original concept and now everyone else in the St. Louis area is loving its new chapter as a swanky slice of Italy. Long before reopening the spot as a pizzeria, Kendele and Wayne spent several vacations touring Italy and the Amalfi Coast, where Neapolitan pizza reigns over all other styles. “We [took a vacation] about six, seven years ago and kind of fell in love with it,” Kendele says. “We were like, ‘We have to recreate this somehow.’ And that’s when we just started at home.” The couple began their woodfired pizza experiments with a

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table-top oven at home. Eventually, Kendele says, Wayne’s passion for creating Neapolitan pizza evolved from a hobby into a business. “I love to eat it, but my husband loves to make it,” Kendele says. After watching online videos, reading Italian cookbooks and lots of trial and error, Wayne opened the Noto pizza trailer in 2017. Kendele helped out when she could, and they both continued to work their full-time jobs as their side business gained momentum. After hearing my parents rave about how it tasted “just like our pizza in Italy!” I planned a date with my best friend, bought a new dress and made sure to call in my reservation in advance. I luckily found a parking spot among a sea of cars and rushed in just in time for our 6:45 p.m. reservation. I was taken aback at how the space has been completely renovated and reorganized. Instead of the small coffeehouse with a cottage feel, we stepped inside a sleek atmosphere with rustic accents. At the heart of the restaurant sits the wood-burning oven with “NOTO” spelled out in blue tile. The oven burns as hot as 1,000 degrees, ensuring whichever one of the sixteen pizzas you order is cooked in 90 seconds flat. “We have some traditional, basic styles that you would see at every pizza restaurant in Italy,” Kendele says. “And then we have some other unique, non-traditional toppings.” The ’nduja pizza combines the spreadable pork salume with onion jam and fresh mozzarella. Kendele likes how the imported ’nduja adds spice and heat to the pizza. For cus-

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Noto creates each pizza out of its airy open kitchen. Each pie emerges from the oven with a paperthin center crust surrounded by a billowing ring of outer crust. tomers who are new to Neapolitan pizza, Kendele recommends trying Noto’s house Margherita pizza. Pizzas are made in Noto’s airy open kitchen, with each emerging from the oven with a paperthin center crust surrounded by a billowing ring of outer crust. That crust is light and airy and convinced me I could eat the entire personal pizza and still order dessert. While I only ate half of the pizza, saving the leftovers for lunch the next day was worth being able to eat cannolis the same night. (I did have a 30-minute ride back to my apartment, though, and I can’t say I didn’t sneak a slice as I sped home.) No longer confined to their pizza trailer, Kendele and Wayne have expanded Noto’s menu into the realm of pasta. They make all their pasta from scratch and love

to experiment with new flavor and noodle combinations. Highlights from the pasta menu include the prosciutto cotto ravioli, one of Noto’s most popular pastas, and the pappardelle with braised beef, tomato ragu and pecorinoromano cheese. Kendele and Wayne took their most recent trip to Italy in August to do more research for their menu. Many of Noto’s dishes are taken straight from their personal experiences tasting through Italy. “We go to these restaurants or bars and we taste something and we’re just like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve got to bring that back here,’” Kendele says. In order to keep the authenticity of Italy alive at Noto, Kendele and Wayne import all of their olive oil, cheese and pork products. Even the flour for their pizza dough is imported from Italy. Kendele estimates that they import more than 60 percent of Noto’s ingredients. “It’s kind of out of respect for Italy and showing that we’re using their products and trying to replicate what they do over there to be as authentic as we possibly can,” Kendele says. What they can’t import, they source locally: All of the mushrooms used at Noto are from a farm in O’Fallon, Missouri. Summertime will bring local heirloom tomatoes and herbs for their salads and pasta dishes. In late February, Noto will be adding weekend brunch service. For now, the pizzeria is open Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. Kendele says Noto has been pretty packed since its grand opening in January, so reservations are recommended. n

[FOOD NEWS]

Brennan’s to Relocate 45 Steps Away in the CWE Written by

LIZ MILLER

rennan’s has a new home in the Central West End — and fans of the longtime neighborhood bar will be happy to learn that it’s only 45 steps away from the original. We here at the Riverfront Times only recently recovered from learning two months ago that Brennan’s would soon relocate from its home of seventeen years. Now comes news that, though not on the same street as the original at 4659 Maryland Avenue, the new spot will be just around the corner at 314-316 North Euclid Avenue. “I just did the walk. It’s literally 45 steps and 28 seconds from the old location,” Kevin Brennan said in a recent release. “I was walking cautiously, too, due to the slippery conditions from the snow, so imagine if you run!” Located in the same building as the original, the new location will allow Brennan’s to double the square footage of its ground floor, according to the release, and give Brennan the chance to update the bar’s interior. The release also details plans for a new basement hi-fi bar and lounge and a “refreshed” secondfloor private cigar club. In its new home, Brennan’s plans to offer a new food and bar program as well. “Though the original Brennan’s space has treated us well over these last seventeen years, the current layout limits our abilities as a bar and restaurant,” Brennan said. “We love the Central West End and wanted to stay in the same building.

Brennan’s has found a new home in the Central West End. | GOOGLE MAPS The new Brennan’s space will increase square footage in areas that are important to the customer experience and allow us to improve food and drink service.” Brennan’s first announced plans to relocate from its home of almost seventeen years in a Facebook post published in early December. At the time, Brennan said that the move was due to the expansion of the Saint Louis Chess Club and that he didn’t have a new building identified yet. “To put it simply, word got around about this big change sooner than we’d hoped,” Brennan’s shared in the Facebook post. “We can’t tell you too much about our plans for the future at this time, but we’re getting ahead of the rumors to let you know the situation.” Billionaire Rex Sinquefield is the founder, president and chairman of the board for the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, which first opened in the Central West End in 2008 at 4657 Maryland Avenue, just next door to Brennan’s. Since opening

eleven years ago, the Saint Louis Chess Club has already expanded once, relocating the World Chess Hall of Fame from Florida to 4652 Maryland Avenue in 2011. A partner business, Kingside Diner, which is chess-themed, opened next to the Saint Louis Chess Club in 2015. (The diner operates a second location in Clayton.) With Kingside, the grouping of businesses has been dubbed the “Chess Campus,” and now, Brennan’s former home has been added to the board. The original location will remain open until “at least April 15,” per the release, and the new bar is slated to open in late spring, with the cigar club following soon after. “We’ll miss the original spot, but we’re excited to show people a new and improved space,” Brennan said. “You have to keep things interesting.” To learn more about what the new Brennan’s has in store for customers, here are descriptions of the four spaces as detailed in the release:

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Brennan’s Ground Floor: “Dimly lit and well-appointed, there’s always a good conversation at the new and improved Brennan’s bar, with more comfortable seating and a solid ash wood bar top by Goebel & Co. Furniture. Brennan’s ever-changing, snarky, sometimes irreverent billboard behind the bar will live on.” The Ground Floor Expansion: “Find your favorite spot to retreat in the new adjacent space. An inviting, comfortable library room designed for cocktails, small plates and more conversation.” The Cigar Club: “We have redesigned our second-floor private cigar club to offer more open space, better amenities and an extensive list of spirits and cigars. We’ll be spinning the best of jazz, blues and bossa nova on vinyl as we’ve done the last nine years.” The Sneaker Room: “Hidden below and outta sight, your new late-night haunt is here. This hi-fi bar and lounge will offer an eclectic mix of music and cocktails.” n

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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MUSIC + CULTURE

[HOMESPUN]

Can’t Fake the Funk The Funky Butt Brass Band delivers twelve tracks of horn-driven party music with Onward Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

hen the Funky Butt Brass Band, St. Louis’ longrunning New Orleans-inspired combo, celebrated the release of its latest album in late January, the mood at Off Broadway was effervescent; FBBB is a party band, after all. But you could be forgiven for thinking the show was a little subdued, at least by the band’s standards. Coming right between two major holiday bookends — the band’s weekend-long Christmas shows at Delmar Hall and the upcoming Mardi Gras season — the release show for Onward didn’t have the pomp or production value of those high-profile gigs. But instead of playing its iterations of yuletide classics or second-line stompers, the band dug into its own compositions and a handful of reworked pop and rock cover songs. “I’ll tell you a little secret,” trombonist Aaron Chandler says. “All the years we’ve done the Christmas shows, our first show back in regular rotation is usually pretty rough. By then it’s been a month since we’ve played together in a room; we’re usually about Christmas-ed out after those shows.” Given that FBBB could keep busy with its high-profile holiday shows, corporate gigs and regular stops at the Broadway Oyster Bar, it’s a fair question to ask why the band wants to write and record its own material. As the group has settled into its second decade, Chandler sees these compositions and arrangements as integral to keeping the band active and interested. “I think we’d be so stagnant that we would die off,” Chandler says. “When we get together to write songs, it helps us grow as individ-

A bona fide St. Louis institution, the Funky Butt Brass Band isn’t content to rest on its laurels. | ERIC NEMENS uals and a band.” “Aaron came up with the title,” guitarist and singer Tim Halpin notes of Onward. “It reflects that sentiment of not resting on your laurels and not going through the motions. It also reflects the changes that have happened in the band.” Saxophonist Austin Cebulski recently left town for Colorado, so Bryan Fitz has sidled into his role; both horn players are on the recording, with Fitz adding baritone sax to Cebulski’s tenor leads. “He’s been a great fit; he slid into that chair without speed bumps at all,” Halpin says of Fitz. He says that the band has been lucky in finding new collaborators as the original line-up has shifted. “You find somebody and they bring a whole different perspective to what you’re doing. It’s all part of that musical growth and moving onward.” Given that Funky Butt is a wellloved institution at this point, it is easy to forget that before its inception, St. Louis didn’t have a true New Orleans-style brass band. Halpin and drummer Ron Sikes used its experience in the more zydeco-flavored Gumbohead to spearhead the horn-heavy group. “When we started, New Orleans’ brass band music was our touchstone — our setlists leaned in that area,” Halpin says. “As we got to know one another and we brought our musical experience to the band, you’re doing P-Funk

and James Brown and Prince. We just weren’t thinking that way at the beginning — it’s taken us to some pretty interesting places.” Some of the cover songs on Onward show both sides of that divide. Prince’s “Cream” gets reworked here, and Chandler notes that this arrangement recalls NOLA legend Professor Longhair. “It’s a little swampier. It’s a little more organic, more rootsy,” Chandler says. The set-closing cover of Dr. John’s “Such a Night” is a more overt tribute to the band’s roots. “It really came out of Dr John’s passing,” Halpin says. “We really wanted to do it in tribute.” Given the predominance of horns in Funky Butt — along with Chandler and Fitz, trumpeter Adam Hucke and sousaphonist Cody Henry round out the core sextet — Onward appropriately kicks off with a few brass-driven songs. Many were written by Henry and built up by the group. “Cody is the unsung hero of this record,” Halpin says of Henry, who joined FBBB a few years back. “He brought a bunch of songs in from the get-go; he wasn’t pushy about it, but we had some ideas to flesh it out.” And while most of the horn players contribute vocals, Halpin is the group’s de facto lead singer, if only by virtue of not having a mouthpiece to contend with. He notes that he was in “a little bit of a fallow period as a songwriter,” but his con-

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tribution “Elizabeth” is both a loving tribute to his wife and a more purely pop composition from a band with a jazz and soul pedigree. “I am fortunate enough to be married to a wonderful woman,” Halpin says of the song’s inspiration. “I wanted to try to put it down in a way that was sappy but not overly saccharine. It took a while to figure it out from the band perspective. I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t sound like a Funky Butt song.” Chandler pipes in to note that the song’s atypical nature was what made it so appealing to the rest of the band. “It was an opportunity to grow and do something completely different,” the trombonist says. Given that Mardi Gras celebrations take place this coming week, the Funky Butt Brass Band will be busy again. Its highest-profile gig is the Mayor’s Ball, but the rest of us plebeians can get down with the band at the Bootleg on Saturday night and at the Broadway Oyster Bar on Fat Tuesday. One place you won’t find them is in Soulard amid the revelers on parade day. A few years’ worth of freezing temperatures, PortaPotty mishaps and traffic gridlocks have cured FBBB of that desire. “There was a time when it was fun to get up at 7 a.m. and be stuck there,” Halpin says, “but there’s a time where that ceases to be enjoyable.” n

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

[PROFILE]

The Lou Queen Rapper Shana B returns to the spotlight after an accident broke her neck in six places Written by

YMANI WINCE

t’s a special skill to put on false eyelashes. It’s even more amazing if you can put on falsies with a full set of long acrylic nails. But Shana B has that covered. Today, the St. Louis rapper is wearing lashes that can only be described as plush and dreamlike; she’s got a big personality with even bigger blinks to match. Shana’s eclectic sense of style is part Barbie doll, part Harley Quinn. It’s a fusion of pretty pinks, dainty fabrics and cutesy handbags that crosses into loud hair colors, punk platform shoes and Hot Topic’s best. And Shana wears it well. It’s a reflection of how she enjoys the uniqueness of fashion, while staying ahead of trends and constantly reinventing herself. It’s a mentality that has not only shaped her fashion influences, but her ethic as a musician and businesswoman. “Over the years, my image has grown to be more wise, mature and professional,” she says. “I feel like I’ve influenced a lot of people here; every time I change, I make sure it’s something that only I’m doing. When it’s redone, you know where it came from.” While Shana B is just 21, she’s been on the local rap scene for some time. Dating back to her teen years, Shana snuck into places like Cicero’s in the Delmar Loop, eager for a chance to perform in rap cyphers. She remembers being the only girl in a room filled with guys, but holding her spot better than most of them. It’s indicative of where rap is today. Shana is not a female rapper; she is a rapper. “The image that’s been pushed in recent years has been a sexualraunchy type of look for hip-hop, and it hasn’t given rappers the chance to broaden the different genres of music,” she says. “It only opened the door for women promoting sexuality, versus women having lyrics or expressing pain and love.”

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Shana B was left in a coma for two weeks after getting into a car accident while leaving a nightclub with her friends. | VIA THE ARTIST Pain is where Shana’s music took root in her early days. She experienced the loss of many friends due to violence, and her music was influenced by that pain. Shana admits her music is street. It’s not filled with overly sexual euphemisms about tricking men out of their money for Chanel boots, or letting the other girls know that Shana could have your man if she wants him. It’s unlike music coming from other women that have emerged in the mainstream, artists like the City Girls, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. Shana B is self-aggrandizing, letting her listeners know she’s not the one to sell herself out to succeed. She’s got the kind of self-awareness and assuredness that’s surprising for someone her age. “I’ve failed so many times with business, to the point where I had no choice but to succeed,” Shana says. “I’ve wasted so much money doing stuff I had no business doing, paying people I had no business paying, so I had to learn from mistakes.” Shana’s pain has taken a more physical form as well. Looking at the 21-year-old, it’s not apparent that she’s experienced health trauma of the dramatic kind. But last fall, Shana was seriously injured in a car accident while leaving a nightclub with her friends. She says she woke up in a hospital bed to the news she’d broken her neck in six places. She’d also been in a coma for almost two weeks. Miraculously, Shana was not paralyzed but wore a neck brace for several months and had to undergo major surgery. The doctor visits will continue frequently for

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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“Now, I don’t even chase money or riches. I just want to reach people and show them it’s OK to be an outcast. I want longevity.” a number of years, but it’s nothing short of a medical miracle that the rapper recovered from her injuries so quickly. “I feel good,” Shana says. “I have aches and pains here and there, but nothing worse than when you lay on your side too long.” With intensity, Shana’s fans are waiting to see what’s coming next. She’s reluctant to call her next music move a comeback since her accident, but it’s inevitably going to be seen as one. She may release more freestyles over popular instrumentals, but it’s unclear what the plan is just yet. “My goals are still the same,” she says. “Now, I don’t even chase money or riches. I just want to reach people and show them it’s OK to be an outcast. I want longevity, and my goals have only broadened. Things started seeming less important and more mediocre after I went through this. It made me start taking better care of myself and loving myself.”

Earlier this month, Shana was nominated for a SlumFest award for best female hip-hop artist. The title went to KVtheWriter, but Shana was in attendance at the ceremony and was brought on stage, where she was met with a sea of applause and admiration from attendees. With a reputation in the city as “Lou Queen,” Shana didn’t need the award to know she is loved and respected. Taking the mic, she talked about how blessed and grateful she was to be alive, and all she’d accomplished to that point. Some of those accomplishments include releasing music, being nominated and working with Netflix and Cardi B. Yeah. About that: In November, RFT reported that local artist Nikee Turbo was a contestant on Netflix’s first season of rap competition Rhythm and Flow. According to Shana, both she and Nikee made it through the Chicago round of auditions. On television, it appears that Nikee was the lone St. Louis contestant. “So let me explain. This is how TV works,” Shana says, scooting her seat closer. Her recollection of the Netflix experience mirrors that of Nikee Turbo. She was contacted by a talent scout, flew to Chicago and auditioned. In Chicago, Shana was told by the judges that she made it. Then a producer from the show came into the room where contestants were waiting and essentially let everyone know that too many people had been chosen to move on. Shana was cut. Nikee Turbo moved on. She was told she’d be on the second season. “They’ll probably hit me up for season two, but I’m gonna be bigger than that by then,” she says with a smile. “I’ve had my share, and that was God trying to tell me, ‘You don’t need this show, girl.’ God has other plans for me to be successful than being on a rap show.” It’s clear Shana B is on a path to reaching the success and longevity she longs for. In 2019, she released her debut project, aptly named Barley Quinn, that follows a history of mixtapes and performances. She continues to remain conscious of what her fans want, while being hypervigilant in what she wants from herself. Her experience last fall didn’t change who Shana is to the core: a selfaware, humble and hardworking woman. That, and a young woman who wants to make music and look good doing it. “Can you take my picture?” she asks, handing over her iPhone. “Tell me where I should stand. How’s this look?” n

[BARS]

On the Record Takashima Records, a vinyl listening room and bar, opens this week Written by

LIZ MILLER

ans of craft cocktails and vinyl have a new destination that combines both interests under one very stylish roof. On Thursday, vinyl listening room and lounge Takashima Records (4095 Chouteau Avenue) will debut in the Grove. Located inside the Chroma building at the intersection of Chouteau Avenue and South Sarah Street, Takashima Records is the brainchild of owner Sean Baltzell and the ownership team at Parlor (4170 Manchester Avenue, 314-833-4999). (Baltzell also owns Tower Classic Tattoos in the neighborhood.) Baltzell, who was first inspired to open Takashima Records after an extended trip to Japan during which he visited listening bars, says vinyl records and appreciating music is at the heart of the concept. “What we found when we were in Tokyo were these places where within moments a record would be argued about — who is the artist, is it sampled — and that was really cool,” Baltzell says. “But until it’s put in front of you in this way, you just hear background music at a place. We’ll have bios printed out every night [at Takashima] of the person spinning inside the menu; we want that to be a conversation piece as much as the cocktails or the vibe or the ambiance of the space.” Takashima’s bar program will be led by Tai Nalewajkó, who has worked as bar manager at the Blue Ocean in University City for the past two years. Nalewajkó is one of 100 certified sh ch advisers in the U.S. through the Sake School of America and is also certified with the Sake Services Institute International. Nalewajkó says customers can expect a large sake menu, a rotating cocktail list featuring ten to twelve drinks, beer, wine and a few N/A cocktails as well. “I have some [cocktails] with tequila; I have a few with whiskey,” Nalewajkó says. “It’s a very American, modern cocktail menu, but I’m bringing in ingredients that people don’t necessarily know about and introducing them in a way that they’d know.” He adds, “Drinking is a huge part of Asian culture, especially in Japan. A lot of the food is familiar, but bringing those flavors [in drinks] and that tradition over here is foreign to [Americans]. Everything I’ve been doing over the past couple of years has pushed me this way, so us link-

Takashima music director Paul Fullerton takes the bar’s DJ booth for a spin. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS ing up and doing this together is kind of serendipity.” Takashima will serve food, too, but the menu has changed since plans were first announced. The business partners are now collaborating with chef Chris Krzysik of Indo (and formerly Louie, Central Table Food Hall and Blood & Sand), as well as consulting chef Steven Pursley of Ramen x Rui. Krzysik lived in Japan briefly in his youth, and the flavors he experienced there never left him. He recalls paging through Japanese cookbooks in high school, experimenting with making miso soup at home and dreaming of bringing Japanese pubstyle fare to St. Louis in recent years. “People are coming to [Takashima] to hear the rare grooves that we’re spinning, to get the feel of the high-fidelity speakers, the beautiful ambiance and the cocktails,” Krzysik says. “So to me, the food is just that cherry on top; it keeps you around for the next record. It’s shareable plates with a very casual vibe.” Krzysik says he wants to serve approachable and simple Japanese bar eats that pack a lot of flavor. “The focus of the food is simple and elegant everyday Japanese food,” he says. “There’s definitely been leaps and bounds in recent years with Japanese food — people realize that it isn’t always expensive and it’s not just sushi and ramen.” Manager and owner Matt Leach echoes Krzysik in that Takashima is equally a bar and vinyl listening room. For Leach, who has worked at Parlor for several years and previously DJed around town, Takashima combines his passions for hospitality and music. “Music is my language; I just really connect with it,” Leach says. “I think

what we’ll be focusing on is trying to provide a level of service that is not really seen in this neighborhood yet, per se. Attention to detail and educating people about everything in the space, whether it’s the records, wine, cocktails, beer — anything and everything.” Vinyl is currently displayed on high shelves above the bar while a DJ booth connects the bar and seating along one wall. Paul Fullerton will be heading up the vinyl selection at Takashima; as music director and owner, Fullerton says that his goal is to showcase amazing local and national DJ talent while giving people the chance to share records that they love. “We have an extensive vinyl library that’s all cataloged by artist, label, album, year and the country it’s from,” Fullerton says. “We’ve been having a lot of fun cataloging that data so we can have a searchable database for DJs who are coming in and they can pull stuff ahead of time. We really want to be a place that the vinyl community can come and all enjoy stuff together.” Baltzell says that he and the Takashima crew have cultivated relationships with record-store owners around town and that they hope to partner with them on events throughout the year, including hosting quarterly vinyl pop-up markets outside the bar. “We want to build a platform for that community as well as for people who just want to come in, have a drink and listen to good music,” Baltzell says. “I think the tangible aspect of having a record and being able to learn about it and it being a physical thing as opposed to MP3s, I think we’re really trying to share that with all of our guests,” Fullerton adds. “We want to welcome people

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in, show them what’s playing, show them the liner notes — we all really love records and I think our role is really getting the customer to feel that.” To complement the bar and listening room, Baltzell has also launched Takashima Records as a label. Headed up by Fullerton and Dan Hayden, record label CEO, the label plans to repress classic St. Louis R&B, soul, jazz and more. Walking into the space, guests are first greeted at the hostess stand in a separate dining space. Baltzell says that these few tables will act as spillover seating for Takashima. “Captivating those people up front is really important for us,” Baltzell says. “We want this to be almost like a micro-bar, so while you’re waiting for a seat on a Friday night you can get a cocktail or two moving before you go back.” As you move through the bar, you’ll see steps separating two stories: The groundfloor dining room and bar area and the second-story lounge and private event space. The DJ booth bridges the groundfloor seating area and bar, with six booths forged around shipping containers flanking the dining side and the large bar and vinyl shelves opposite them. As the Takashima team gears up for its official debut this week, Baltzell says he’s excited to open the doors and offer a different kind of concept in the Grove. Ten years after opening Tower Classic Tattoos, he’s thrilled to see how the neighborhood has evolved — including this next chapter with Takashima. “It’s wild,” Baltzell says. “It’s that gut feeling we had when we started Tower [Classic]; [the space] was all boarded up, but we knew this neighborhood had something to it.” n

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

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OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Tim Warfield’s Organ Band. | VIA TICKETFLY

Tim Warfield’s Organ Band Various times. Wednesday, February 19, through Sunday, February 23. The Harold and Dorothy Steward Center For Jazz, 3536 Washington Avenue. $10 to $41. 314-571-6000. Tenor saxophonist Tim Warfield’s comprehension of post-bop traditions and trends in jazz is both utterly masterful and more than a little mysterious. The York, Pennsylvania, native has a killer resume (he’s worked with Shirley Scott, Nicholas Payton, Stefon Harris and, significantly, Christian McBride for five years), but he commands such a para-

THURSDAY 20

BRUXISM #43: 9 p.m., free. Schlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. FALLING FENCES: 8 p.m., $15. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 ingsbury Ave, St. Louis. FRONT COUNTRY: w/ One Way Traffic 8 p.m., $10$12. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. GRACE POTTER: 8 p.m., $33.50-$53.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE HADDONFIELDS: w/ oice of Addiction, NoPoint 9 p.m., $8. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. LITTLE BIG TOWN: w/ Caitlyn Smith 8 p.m., $29$99. The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-534-1111. LOOPRAT: 7:30 p.m., $5. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-932-7003. THE MATCHING SHOE: 8:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. TAURUS RILEY: 9 p.m., $28. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS: 8 p.m., $16-$18. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. WILLIAM CLARK GREEN: w/ Flatland Cavalry 8 p.m., $18-$30. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

FRIDAY 21

ANNIE & THE FUR TRAPPERS: 9:30 p.m., free. The

doxical lightness of touch and intensity of tone, a way with phrasing that seems instantly familiar (Rollins and Coltrane will always come to mind) even if one has never heard “Ode to Billie Joe,” “Wade in the Water” or “’Round Midnight” quite the way Warfield conceives them. He’s an essential voice in contemporary jazz and an always exhilarating performer. The Band Plays On: Warfield’s five-day St. Louis engagement features his organ band, likely with the veteran Pat Bianchi on keys, and special guest (and longtime St. Louis favorite) Terell Stafford on trumpet. The group is an ideal way to savor Warfield’s supple and cool vision. —Roy Kasten

Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. BITTER PILL: 7 p.m., $5. Ameristar CasinoBottleneck Blues Bar, 1 Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, 636-940-4966. CODY CANADA & THE DEPARTED: 8 p.m., $16. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. DAT NEW SHIT: 9 p.m., free. Legacy Books and Cafe, 5249 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-361-2182. DJ MAHF PRESENTS: DRE DAY: 8 p.m., $7-$10. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. AN EVENING WITH KATHY MATTEA: 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. HOLLYN: 7:30 p.m., $20. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. JIM GAFFIGAN: 7 p.m., $46.75-$56.75. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. KOE WETZEEL: 8 p.m., $20. Ballpark illage, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481. LARRY GREENE: w/ Ricky Royal, Libbie Higgins, Charlie Winfrey, Nick Nichols 8 p.m., $25-$30. Sun Theatre, 3625 Grandel Square, St. Louis. MARK CHESNUTT & JOE DIFFIE: 8 p.m., $19.50. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777. RELEASE THE HOUNDS 2 : A BENEFIT FOR THE STRAY RESCUE OF ST. LOUIS: w/ the Fuck Off and Dies as Me First and the Gimme Gimmes,

Continued on pg 42

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FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Wednesday Feb. 19 9PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Jimmy Buffett

Thursday Feb 20 9PM

Get your Mardi Gras on with Bonerama from NOLA

Friday Feb. 21 10PM

ZooFunkYou

Funk/ Rock from Chicago

Saturday Feb 22

Kegs and Eggs with

The Scandaleros 8AM Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Mardi Gras 3PM

The Aquaducks

Horn Driven Funk from Nashville 8PM

Sunday Feb. 23 8PM

Blues, Soul and Pop Diva Kim Massie Fat Tuesday Feb. 25 8PM

Funky Butt Brass Band

with Special Guests The Meters Tribute

Wednesday Feb. 26 9pM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Johnny Cash’s Birthday

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 19-25, 2020

riverfronttimes.com

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Voidgazer. | VIA THE BAND DayBringer as Pink Floyd, oidgazer as High on Fire, My Boy Ox as Minor Threat, Excites as

Webster Groves, 314-968-0061. PLATINUM ROCK LEGENDS: 7 p.m., $7. Ameristar

Release the Hounds 2

First and the Gimme Gimmes; DayBringer will perform as Pink Floyd; Voidgazer will tackle the oeuvre of High on Fire; My Boy Ox will cover Minor Threat; and members of Alan Smithee and Yowie will team up to play the music of Boredoms under the name Excites. The whole affair is sponsored by 4 Hands Brewing Co., and a massive raffle will make sure you leave with both a song in your heart and some newly won shit in your hands. Do it for the dogs! Hat on a Hat: To quote the event description on the event’s Facebook page, yes, the Fuck Off and Dies are covering a cover band, “because of course they are.” Of course indeed. —Daniel Hill

8 p.m. Friday, February 21. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $10. 314-833-3929. Lion’s Daughter frontman Rick Giordano seems to be making a yearly tradition of tapping local metal and punk acts to perform at a show whose proceeds benefit Stray Rescue St. Louis. Bands that perform at Release the Hounds typically select a popular musical group of often similar style to cover, spend months learning their songs and then trot them out one time only, all for our four-legged furry friends. This year’s lineup will see the Fuck Off and Dies play the songs of Me

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 41

Boredoms 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. SPACE JESUS: w/ Tsuruda, Tiedye y, Onhell 7 p.m., $5. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. THE HOT CLUB OF ST. LOUIS: 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778.

SATURDAY 22

ALEXANDRA SINCLAIR & THE MISSISSIPPI BRASS BOYS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. BAD OMENS: w/ Oh Sleeper, Betraying The Martyrs 6:30 p.m., TBA. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. BREWTOPIA MARDI GRAS PARTY: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. EMO NITE: 10 p.m., $15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. FUNKY BUTT BRASS BAND: 7 p.m., $12-$15. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. JOHN CALVIN ABNEY: 8 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. NIGHTCHASER MARDI GRAS AFTER BOOGIE: 8 p.m.. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. NIKKI GLASER: 7 p.m., $35. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. PARDI GRAS AT HWY 61: 11 a.m., free. Hwy 61 Roadhouse and itchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave,

Casino-Bottleneck Blues Bar, 1 Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, 636-940-4966. PORTRAIT: THE MUSIC OF KANSAS: 8 p.m., $20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. RYAN MARQUEZ AND THE PEOPLE’S KEY: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. THE TROPHY MULES: w/ Tulip Rebellion, Sean Conway 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. WAYNE HANCOCK: 8 p.m., $14. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. YO GOTTI: w/ Lil Baby, Boosie Badazz, Lil Durk 7 p.m., $59-$175. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000.

SUNDAY 23

ANOTHER LOST YEAR: w/ Cold ingdom, Arise in Chaos, Inner Outlines, Shallowstate 5:30 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. FALLING IN REVERSE: w/ Escape The Fate, The Word Alive 7 p.m., $27.75-$30.25. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. RIVER CITY OPRY: 1 p.m., $5. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. TWIDDLE: 8 p.m., $22-$24.50. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

MONDAY 24

CHAOTIC RESEMBLANCE: w/ irtual Reality, Riot Anthem, Jesus is ing 7 p.m., $8. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. SAINT MOTEL: 8 p.m., $25-$28. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. SAMOHT LIVE FEATURING ROLYNNE & TERRY ROGERS:

Continued on pg 43

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

John Calvin Abney. | RAMBO

John Calvin Abney 8 p.m. Saturday, February 22. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Boulevard. $15 to $20. 314-560-2778. Eagle-eyed fans of local music may have noticed that Beth Bombara often has a special guest augmenting her three-man backing band. John Calvin Abney sits in on keyboard when he can, and he contributed to Bombara’s 2019 Evergreen LP; that role of valued sideman was honed during Abney’s time accompanying celebrated singer-songwriter John

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 42

8 p.m., $30. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

TUESDAY 25

FAT TUESDAY BLUE DREAM BASH: w/ Ellen Hilton Cook, The Dammit Janets, Brother Francis & the Soultones 8 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. LUND: w/ Guccihighwaters 7:30 p.m., $18. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE MATCHING SHOE: 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. NGHTMRE: w/ Crankdat, Wavedash, Black A.M. 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

WEDNESDAY 26

40 OZ TO FREEDOM: 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. LUNASA: 7:30 p.m., $30-$35. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. SAM BUSH: w/ Drew Emmitt & ince Herman 8 p.m., $32.50-$35. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

UPCOMING

25 YEARS OF ALIEN LANES: W/ the Cyanides, Trauma Harness, the Astounds, Other Town Syndrome, Subtropolis, Matt F Basler, Sisser, Breakmouth Annie, 120 Minutes, Matt Harnish, Sat., April 11, 8 p.m., $8. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. ANDREW & THE DOLLS ALBUM RELEASE PARTY: W/ Boxcar, Sat., March 7, 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. ARCHERS OF LOAF: Thu., April 30, 8 p.m., $25$28. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. BAND SCRAMBLE 2020: Sat., Feb. 29, 7 p.m.,

Moreland. But Abney’s own work is beginning to take its share of the spotlight as well, and last year’s Safe Passage puts Abney’s sweet, slightly strained voice against acoustic guitar, piano and a little vibraphone to fill out his heartfelt and keenly observant folk songs. Get to the Point: The Focal Point, long considered the area’s most intimate listening room, continues a strong streak of booking up-close performances for rising songwriters alongside more traditional forms of folk music. —Christian Schaeffer

$10. South Broadway Athletic Club, 2301 S. Seventh St., St. Louis, 314-776-4833. BIG THIEF: Sat., July 18, 8 p.m., $29.50-$32.50. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. BLACK PUMAS: Fri., March 27, 9 p.m., $25$27.50. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. DAMO SUZUKI’S NETWORK: Sun., March 22, 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. JACK GRELLE ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: Fri., March 20, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. JEREMIAH JOHNSON CD RELEASE PARTY: Sat., March 7, 8 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. LES GRUFF AND THE BILLY GOAT RECORD RELEASE SHOW: W/ Rovie Raccoon, Fri., March 6, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. THE MANESS BROTHERS ALBUM RELEASE: Fri., May 1, 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. MOLLY SIMMS ALBUM RELEASE PARTY: Fri., April 10, 8 p.m., $7-$10. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. NEKO CASE: Fri., June 26, 8 p.m., $32-$55. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. PEARL JAM: Sat., April 4, 7 p.m., $106. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888. THE QUEERS: W/ Handguns, Thu., March 19, 6:30 p.m., $15-$17. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: W/ Run the Jewels, Sat., May 16, 6 p.m., $122. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888. SHEER MAG: W/ Young Guv, Wed., May 6, 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. SUBHUMANS: W/ All Torn Up, Thu., April 9, 8 p.m., $15-$20. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. n

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SAVAGE LOVE THROWN BONES BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m 20, straight, male, fit, and active. I masturbated prone — flat on my stomach — for years. I’ve now changed to a more traditional position (on my back or sitting upright), and I’m using my hand rather than grinding against a mattress. I can easily orgasm when I masturbate. I’ve had sex four times in my life, and I’m worried because I wasn’t able to orgasm by someone else’s hand, through oral or during penetration. I felt more sensation with oral or by hand than I did during intercourse, but I wasn’t able to get off. This is extremely worrying, and I am increasingly depressed. Am I broken? Is my sex life ruined? Boy Reeling Over Kaput Equipment You’re not broken, BROKE, and your partnered sex life, which has barely begun, isn’t ruined. Even if you’re never able to come by someone else’s hand, mouth, twat or ass — and that’s the worst-case scenario here — you can still have a rewarding and pleasurable sex life. In the short run, BROKE, you need to be honest with your sex partners about the way your cock currently works. Let them know you’re going to be mixing some manual self-stimulation in with the vaginal/oral/anal penetration. In other words, at some point you’re going to pull out of whatever you’re in, you’re going to jerk it until you reach the point of “orgasmic inevitability” (OI), aka that split second between the start of orgasmic contractions and the good stuff spurting out, and then you’re going to put it back in. Since most women need to mix direct clitoral stimulation with penetration (or in place of it) in order to get off — before, during, after or instead of intercourse — your honesty about what you actually need to get off will signal to your female partners that they can be honest with you about what they actually need to get off. Backing way the hell up: The way you used to masturbate — prone — is likely the reason you’re having difficulty climaxing now. But lots

of men who masturbated in more “traditional positions” — e.g., on their backs, sitting up, standing up, etc. — have trouble transitioning to partnered sex from solo sex. The inside of a mouth, vagina or butt doesn’t feel like your own hand (or a long-suffering mattress, in your case), and even someone else’s hand doesn’t feel the same as your own. While the excitement of partnered sex helps most guys get over the hump — for many men, it takes time and a little experimentation for their cocks to adapt. But men who engaged in “atypical masturbatory behaviors” as boys — and prone masturbation/humping a mattress counts — frequently have a harder transition to partnered sex. There’s a name for what you’re experiencing: delayed ejaculation. And while delayed ejaculation can be frustrating, the opposite problem — premature ejaculation — is more frustrating and harder to work around. (I get a lot more letters from guys in despair because they come too quickly and too easily than I do from guys like you, BROKE, who take too long.) And, really, when you look at it from a different angle, your problem — being able to last forever — is really kind of a superpower. Because let’s say you fuck some lucky woman for ages, and she gets off again and again because someone — you, her, a third — is stimulating her clit at the same time. Once she’s satisfied (or shortly before she’s satisfied), BRO E, you can pull out, jack yourself to OI, then put your cock back inside her and blow that load or take the condom off and blow your load — with her consent, of course — all over her ass or tits or stomach or Toyota Corolla or whatever. But for your partner to feel like this is your superpower and she totally lucked out when she met you, BROKE, you can’t leave her in the dark about the way your dick works. If you don’t let your partner know you need to stroke yourself a little right before you come, she’s likely to interpret your staying power (your superpower) as a sign you aren’t attracted to her. Now here’s how you might be able to fix this in the long run, BROKE: When you’re masturbating, you should ... well, you should do what you’re doing. Masturbate while sitting up or lying on your

Really, when you look at it from a different angle, your problem — being able to last forever — is really kind of a superpower. back, use your hand and a little lube, but do it with a much lighter touch/grip and maybe invest in a quality (read: silicone) masturbation sleeve. Don’t use the death grip — don’t squeeze the life out of your dick — as that will make things worse. And while cutting back on porn and using your imagination instead is fine, the real goal is to retrain your cock to respond to subtler sensations. Which brings us to the hardest part: If you can’t come after masturbating for 10, 20, or 30 minutes — using that light touch/grip, a little lube, and maybe that sleeve — you don’t get to come. No flipping over and humping the mattress after half an hour, and no using a firmer grip. You put your dick away and go to bed or work or school. Because this is about focusing on pleasurable sensations, not blowing your load, and you want to let the pressure build in your balls between sessions. Stick to these rules when you’re on your own for at least six months. If your dick is able to adapt, it will, and then you can take your more sensitive dick into partnered sex with more confidence. But if after six months you’re still not able to come using a lighter touch or a masturbation sleeve, you may have to accept that this — your need to get yourself to the point of OI during partnered sex — is the way your dick works. Just as some women need to use a vibrator in order to come, and that doesn’t mean they’re broken, some men — after giving and receiving a lot of pleasurable fucking — need to pull out, jack to the point of OI, and then plunge back in for the last few victory pumps. It doesn’t mean they’re broken, it

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doesn’t mean their dicks are broken, and it certainly doesn’t mean their sex lives are over. As sexual superpowers go, BROKE, it’s a pretty decent one to have. Finally: I just reread a paper on traumatic masturbatory syndrome (TMS) that was published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy back in 1998 — which I think was before you were born (math is hard) — and it identified prone masturbation as the primary cause of delayed ejaculation. To prevent TMS, delayed ejaculation and other forms of erectile dysfunction that prone masturbation can lead to, the authors recommended “masturbatory instruction in the home, classroom, or pediatric clinical setting.” If their advice had been taken — if boys were advised, as one aspect of a comprehensive sex-education program, to avoid humping mattresses or placing their penises between mattresses and box springs — far fewer young men would have the problem you’re having now. Hey, Dan: I’ve been seeing a guy for two years. It was a FWB situation from the start, because he already had a girlfriend. I adore him, we quickly broke the rules (L-word spoken on both sides), but the B part has dwindled to nothing. We haven’t had PIV sex since September, and he just added a second FWB to the mix. He swears he’s attracted to me and says we aren’t having sex — with the exception of me blowing him from time to time — because he’s older. But I know for a fact the other two women are getting some. He says he’s attracted to me — so why doesn’t he want sex? How do I make him see how much I need him without issuing ultimatums? Scared But Horny Your FWB might come through with a little PIV if you issued that ultimatum, SBH, but it sure doesn’t sound like he’s going to fuck you short of one. You might be able to get this guy to quite literally throw you a bone, but I think your time would be better spent finding a new FWB. Check out Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter

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