Short Orders

[SIDE DISH]

For Stephan Ledbetter, Re-Voaked Sandwiches Is a Dream Come True Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Stephan Ledbetter does not hesitate when asked about the spark that ignited his passion for cooking.

“It was my great-grandma,” Ledbetter says. “I spent a lot of time with her as a young kid, and she was always cooking for us. Thanksgivings were always our favorite holidays because she’d cook for ten hours, and then when everyone was sitting down to eat, she’d be sitting off to the side cleaning the carcass to make jus, using up every part. I’d watch her, and I just fell in love with it all.”

His love of food established at an early age, Ledbetter naturally gravitated to the food business when he needed a part-time job while in school. He got hired as a dishwasher at a Country Kitchen in his rural Illinois hometown, and he was instantly drawn to the line, at first more for the mystiTue that surrounded the cooks than for the actual cooking.

“I’d watch the cooks eat their food and hand me their plates — they were living the cook’s life in our town,” Ledbetter recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh man. I need to get out from behind this dish pit and start cooking.’”

It didn’t take long for Ledbetter to get that opportunity TuicNly, he moved up to a cook’s position and worked at Country Kitchen until it closed about a year later. In need of another job, he found position with a new restaurant that was getting ready to open in his hometown, Robert Scott’s Grill & Cafe. The owner, Robert Scott Tedesco, had been the executive chef at Kemoll’s for several years and was looNing to bring that finedining touch to the town where he grew up. He hired Ledbetter as a cook, but their relationship deepened into one of mentor and mentee. It would change the course of Ledbetter’s life.

“I was only sixteen or seventeen, but he showed me how to do everything like orders and costing things out, Ledbetter explains. “We cut our own steaks and made everything in-house. He kept asking me if I wanted to do this for a living or do something else, and I kept telling him something else. But I think he knew.”

That “something else” was a degree in psychology and sociology. After graduating from high school, Ledbetter entered college to pursue those specialties while he continued to work for TedesStephan Ledbetter is chef-owner of Re-Voaked Sandwiches. | ANDY PAULISSEN

co at the restaurant. However, it wasn’t long before he saw in himself what Tedesco had seen in him all along: He was meant to be a chef. He left college and promptly enrolled in culinary school, determined to follow what he realized was his true path.

While at L’Ecole Culinaire, Ledbetter was hired on at the Scottish Arms and worked under a few different chefs, an experience he credits with expanding his cooking and kitchen management skills. He went on to help open Layla in the Grove, then worked at the Union Station Hotel, Central Table Food Hall and with the Gamlin Restaurant Group.

“I remember when I was younger, a chef told me, ‘Take some time and learn from every chef that you can,’” Ledbetter says. “That’s what I did. I learned as much as I could — everything from cooking techniTues to business sNills to planning menus. It was a great thing.” While he was working for Gamlin Restaurant Group, Ledbetter was presented with the opportunity to help open the now-shuttered Oaked in Soulard, and he eagerly accepted. He brought on his colleague from the Scottish Arms, Carl Hazel, in the role as his co-chef, and together, the two executed a menu of thoughtful cuisine driven by their commitment to bring out the best in each other. It was a wonderful run, but it was much shorter lived than anyone expected. The restaurant closed in just eight months, leaving Ledbetter both disappointed and unsure of his next step.

“When Oaked closed, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Ledbetter says. “I’m usually really picky about what I do and take a decent amount of time figuring it out. Then one morning, I was walking through the Central West End, drinking some coffee, and saw a ‘For Lease’ sign on a building. I Continued on pg 31

thought, ‘This is perfect!’”

Having worked in the Central West End on multiple occasions, Ledbetter was familiar with the neighborhood and also aware of what it was missing. He’d always thought that a well-executed sandwich shop could be a success in the bustling neighborhood around the area’s medical complex and felt that the Central West End needed more fast-casual options. Inspired by this idea and the prime location of the available space, he decided to take the leap. Ledbetter opened Re-Voaked Sandwiches (12 North Euclid Avenue, 314-349-9017) this past December and is thrilled to have finally reali]ed his dream of owning his own business. He recogni]es that the shift from fine dining to sandwiches may seem like a major one, but he doesn’t treat it that way. In fact, he believes what makes his sandwiches special is that he approaches them with the same integrity as he would an elegant plated dinner — only one that happens to be between two slices of bread.

He admits that business ownership has been both wonderful and a huge learning experience, crediting his girlfriend Judith, best friend Joel and his family with helping him get his dream off the ground. But it’s not just the hours, business logistics and financial considerations of owning ReVoaked that have been hard. His biggest challenge has been learning how to be a front-of-house person.

“I am a back-of-house person, and this entire place is front of the house,” Ledbetter explains. “Now I have to talk to everybody. ,t was really difficult for me and it pushed me out of many different comfort ]ones. ,’m doing things I’ve never done, and I was scared, and it was hard. :hen you finally go out and do something for yourself, you reali]e how much you don’t know. It’s like a baby you have to take care of and make sure it’s everything you want it to be. But it’s been very good.”

Ledbetter recently took a break from Re-Voaked to share his thoughts on the St. Louis restaurant community, his secret candy stash and why no one’s meatloaf will ever be as good as Mom’s.

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

7his is my first time being Ȋfront of house” anywhere. It’s truly a whole new learning experience, as I was accustomed to being back of house for my whole career.

What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you?

Before I leave the house, I always eat breakfast. This includes a smoothie, coffee, eggs and vitamins.

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

Time travel. I always think about what life would be like living in different eras.

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

I love being in the Central West End. It really has a community feel, and all the businesses around here seem to truly cheer each other on and support one another.

What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see?

More ghost kitchens and pop-ups. Who is your St. Louis food crush? Savage. But whose isn’t? Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene?

Eugene Kolb. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality?

Lemon. I can be a little bitter sometimes.

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

I would be a delivery driver that made deliveries in an Astro van where the heat does not work and it has a fan plugged in as the A/C. Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant.

They are pretty much all welcome. I cook with foods I don’t personally enjoy eating, like salmon.

What is your after-work hangout? I enjoy decompressing at my house.

What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure?

When I was growing up, any money I had was spent on candy. To this day, I have a cabinet I try not to go into full of Oreos and Sour Patch Kids.

What would be your last meal on Earth?

This is a no-brainer for me: my mom’s meatloaf. It reminds me of growing up and sitting around the dinner table. I was lucky; my mom cooked dinner every night. Her meatloaf will always be my favorite. She typically served it with mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable she had. n

FOOD NEWS]

Cinder Bar to Open at the Four Seasons

Written by LIZ MILLER

James Beard Award-winning chef Gerard Craft’s restaurant inside the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis (999 North Second Street, 314-881-5800), Cinder House, has been met with much acclaim — and now he’s adding a casual dining concept on-site. Cinder Bar will open adjacent to Cinder House on Thursday, March 5, on the eighth floor of the Four Seasons, according to a recent release.

The bar and restaurant will complement the South American-inspired woodfired fare at its sister concept, which opened in August 2018, with a menu of shareable dishes developed by Craft and Cinder House chef de cuisine Josh Adams. The menu at Cinder Bar was primarily inspired by a trip Craft took to São Paulo, Brazil, last fall.

“In Brazil, these little botecos are everywhere, which is a low-key bar that serves cold beer and simple food,” Craft said in the release. “You stop by after work and e bar and restaurant will complement the South American-inspired wood-fired fare at its sister concept, Cinder House. | COURTESY SPENCER PERNIKOFF

have a beer and a few bites. I was instantly hooked. There is even a competition to see who has the best bar food in the country. I wanted to bring this experience back to Cinder Bar. I worked closely with chef Josh to enhance some of the menu items and create a more authentic experience on the Cinder Bar menu.”

Shareable plates at Cinder Bar include piri piri chicken wings with coconut dressing and a chile glaze, stuffed dates with bacon, chorizo and aji panca sauce,

empanadas made with a housemade corn dough and filled with braised pork shoulder, and pastels, a popular Brazilian street food, per the release.

For the pastels, Craft pulled from the recipe used by his Brazilian childhood nanny, Dia, who inspired the original concept for Cinder House. The empanadas are filled with Chihuahua cheese, hearts of palm, mushrooms and shallots and served with a salsa verde.

The new spot will debut with a splash on Thursday with a special happy hour from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring live music by local artist Tonina Saputo from 6 to 7 p.m. Stop in to try cocktails from bar manager Jeffrey Ward, who has developed a drink list featuring South American-inspired tipples (including N/A cocktails). Opt for classic drinks such as a caipirinha, pisco sour, lemon batida or la branca.

“We want guests and locals to have the opportunity to have a tiered dining experience with us,” Craft says. “Grab a drink and a casual bite at the bar with friends, enjoy an intimate date night at Cinder House restaurant seated by the window with panoramic views of the city or enjoy a truly special experience at Dia’s Room with a limited ten-seat tasting menu.”

The new spot also features an updated interior, including a refreshed shelf of globally inspired cookbooks and travel books from Craft’s collection, plus photos of his recent trip to Brazil. n

Chef Tommy Andrew’s Nomad Now Open Written by LIZ MILLER

Chef Tommy Andrew has long been a talent in kitchens across St. Louis — and now he’s opened a fresh and exciting concept all his own. In late February, Andrew opened Nomad (1227 Tamm Avenue, 314-261-4902) inside Tamm Avenue Bar in Dogtown. As the Riverfront Times reported last fall, Bob Brazell, co-owner of Tamm and chef-owner of Byrd & Barrel, approached Andrew with the opportunity to open a concept inside the bar after Mac’s Local Eats exited last August. Opening a sandwich shop has been a longtime dream for $ndrew, who first met Brazell when the two worked at the late, great Monarch.

“This is what I’ve wanted to do for a long time — a sandwich shop — and I’ve been collecting eTuipment oYer the past couple of years, and it felt good to finally put that stuff to use after years of collecting dust in the garage,” Andrew says with a laugh. He has previously worked at a string of top spots around town, including 5andolfi’s, /o5usso’s Cucina and Cinder House, where he worked as senior sous chef until leaving to launch Nomad.

The opening menu at Nomad includes a meatball sub inspired by the pork and lamb meatballs Andrew developed for Randolfi’s ȃ and aptly named the 5,3 5andolfi’s ȃ with marinara sauce and provolone as well as a killer housemade pastrami sandwich on marbled rye with Swiss cheese and special sauce. Andrew is also excited to debut a curry chicken salad, a recipe he says he’s “nailed down to a T,” with a housemade curry sauce and a ȵaYor that ȊsticNs with you for several minutes; it’s very powerful and delicious.”

“The menu is nothing crazy — it’s familiar food done the right way, and I think that’s really important,” Andrew says. “I’ve been doing test e pastrami sandwich with a side of potato salad. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

“ I’ll ask them to just try it, and they’re like, ‘Oh my god; pastrami is the best thing I’ve ever had.’ It just has to be done right, and you have to put the love into it.”

runs of the food, including the pastrami sandwich, and someone will say, ‘Oh, I don’t like pastrami’ or ‘I’ve never tried pastrami,’ and I’ll ask them to just try it, and they’re like, ‘Oh my god; pastrami is the best thing I’ve ever had.’ It just has to be done right and you have to put the love into it.”

&ustomers can still e[pect to find a burger inside Tamm, although with $ndrew’s own uniTue spin. He’s making a smashed burger, yet one larger, thicker than the traditional razor-thin and frillyedged patties often associated with the style.

“People love burgers, so I have to have a good burger,” Andrew says. “I’m using grass-fed beef from Price Farms in Missouri, it’s really good stuff, and Chris Bolyard at Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions has done the beef processing for me. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, just serve a really tasty burger.”

Sandwiches are the stars at Nomad, but Andrew has developed a selection of starters and sides to round out the menu. Starters range from fried arancini and smoked wings to kimchi-fried Brussels sprouts and onion dip while sides include a house potato salad, chips, fries and a pickled beet salad.

Originally scheduled to debut last fall, Nomad’s extensive kitchen and dining room renovations pushed back the opening date — but the transformation has proved well worth the wait. What was once a small kitchen setup has been expanded and outfitted with new ȵoors, updated appliances and a more comfortable worNȵow for both the kitchen crew and guests.

Diners now enter Nomad through the front door of the former 0ac’s /ocal %uys and Tueue up in that space to help reduce crowding in the bar area.

“There are now basically two kitchens,” Andrew says. “The kitchen where the orders [previously] came in is pretty much the same; I replaced some stuff like the dish machine, sink. The biggest changes came in with where Mac’s [Local Buys] was; we basically gutted it and built an order counter where you order your food, and then behind that is a little prep kitchen. It was very important that we had a separate space to prep.” Eventually Andrew hopes to add a selection of grab-and-go eats at Nomad, but for now, he says he’s Must thrilled to finally to able to share the concept with diners. He says the restaurant was named after his career journey so far, one he describes as nomadic, but now he’s found a spot where he can be settled.

“I came up with the name Nomad because I’m kind of coming in here solo, doing my own thing,” Andrew says, “and as I thought about it, I’d been working over here for a couple years, then working over there and wandering for two to three years at good jobs, so it’s kind of an o[ymoron ȃ a nomad has finally found his home.” n

Wednesday March 4 9PM Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Bob Dylan

Thursday March 5 9PM Progressive Bluegrass Supergroup Tuttle, Pool and Greul

Friday March 6 10PM Big Mike and the Blue City Allstars Going Away Party

Saturday March 7 10PM Cas Haley with Special Guest Spillie Nelson

Monday March 9 9pM The Longest Running Blues Jam in America hosted by Soulard Blues Band

Wednesday March 11 9PM Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Steve Ewing of Steve’s Hot Dogs, which has reopened in Tower Grove East. | SARA BANNOURA

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[FOOD NEWS]

Steve’s Hot Dogs Has Reopened

Written by JENNA JONES

After less than a month, our favorite top dog is back in action.

News broke on February 21 that Steve’s Hot Dogs & Burgers (3457 Magnolia Avenue) would reopen its Tower Grove East location less than 30 days since closing up shop, as first reported by Sauce magazine. “It was really hard to close in the first place, so getting it back open feels great,” owner Steve Ewing says. “We’re excited to reinvigorate the business and get it back out to people.”

In late January, Ewing announced plans to close after business on February 1. In the announcement, he said that he and his team “tried to stay nimble by offering delivery and implementing a number of creative promotions, but in the end, we couldn’t find a way to make the business sustainable.”

During the six days between his announcement and the closure, Ewing saw lines snaking out of the shop’s door daily. During its final service, Ewing and his staff had to take a break between lunch and dinner shifts to grill up additional hot dogs to accommodate the large crowds. “When we said, ‘We’re closing, come on in and help us out,’ the support was something else,” Ewing says. “It was something I’d never seen before.” With the help of longtime customer and angel investor Danni Eickenhorst, Ewing reopened Steve’s on February 26 for dinner service. When Ewing got that fateful call from Eickenhorst, he says he could only think of one word: “wow.”

“They recognized it was a good business and it was good for our community,” Ewing says. “They saw the impact on the community. The last days we closed were insane. After we went out with a bang, they felt like we needed to come back.”

Ewing hopes to keep the momentum from the last few days going through the reopening. At his first brick-andmortar store in 2011, he remembers the idea of opening with a lot of noise. He’s carrying that idea with him into his new beginning.

“Hopefully, now, there will be more people who know about us,” Ewing says. “I’m hoping we get a similar response and get to come in with a bang. We want to bring that energy back.”

At the revived location, Ewing plans to focus on engaging with his customers. One way he wants to do just that is through the beloved create-a-hot-dog contest. If it’s good, it stays on the menu. Speaking of the menu, all of the original favorites will remain. Ewing also notes that catering options at Steve’s will expand to include a nacho bar.

Moving forward, Ewing believes the biggest obstacles are behind the restaurant, and he’s excited for this next chapter.

“We have a fresh start,” Ewing says. “The main hurdles are over. Now, we’re just honing in on being the best hot-dog shop in St. Louis.”

Steve’s is open Monday through Friday for dinner service and Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner. n

HAPPY HOUR