Feature

Micheal Ocello steps through an open panel in a tent recently erected in the parking lot outside one of his strip clubs in the Metro

East.

“This will be the club,” he says, arms extended from his sides as he gestures to the full sweep of the place.

It’s a rainy afternoon, two days before Country Rock Cabaret reopens for the first time since mid-March when Il

linois restaurants and bars were forced to shut down in hopes of slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

The sprawling, cowboy-themed interior — think barn wood and horseshoes fixed to walls — will have to remain closed for now, but the state’s rules allow for outside operations. So Ocello’s crew is improvising with the tent. “I feel like I’m setting up a titty bar in a mining town,” he jokes.

There will be lights hung overhead, a stage installed along one of the tent walls and tables spaced appropriately along the pavement. A booth constructed of wood and blue tarps is off to one side to accommodate private, if socially distant, dances. Capacity will be limited.

The conditions, Ocello concedes, are not optimal. But it’s the first step toward returning to business.

He is the president of Internawalked our neighborhoods more. we were sheltering in place, St. tional Entertainment Consultants, Maybe got to know people next Louis has changed in big and which operates twelve clubs door better. Existential fears of small ways outside the periphery across six states, including Counwrongly chosen careers gave way of our frazzled grocery store runs. try Rock and the neighboring Diato concrete nightmares of lost jobs A drive through Downtown mond Cabaret in Sauget as well and hours spent pacing our living West on Olive Street is a good as PT’s Centreville. All the clubs rooms with cellphones pressed example. At one time, there was have been closed throughout the spring. One by one, they’re preparing to welcome guests back. A club in Raleigh, North Carolina, opened the week before. Two in Denver were opening that day. One in Louisville, Kentucky, could open the following week.

In Sauget, Country Rock is scheduled to be the first of I(C’s Illinois clubs to reopen. During the shutdown, the management staff has tried to stay busy, making the best out of more than two months without customers by deep cleaning and making repairs to the facilities. They pulled out beer coolers and sanitized the ȵoor underneath, painted walls and rebuilt parts of the performers’ dressing rooms. Normally, the club opens at 11 a.m. and closes at about 6 a.m. the next day, leaving little time for anything beyond their standard cleaning. But this spring, all they had was time.

“It gave us some time to do things that we typically don’t have time to do,” Ocello says.

And while the clubs were being polished and renewed, he’s encouraged his employees to take on projects of personal growth as well. Shortly before they closed, he brought in an expert on meditation, impressed by the research that shows the practice helps creativity and reduces stress. “You’ve got to take time like this that isn’t exactly positive to anybody and Kimmie Haze makes the best of Country Rock Cabaret’s temporary tent setup. | THEO WELLING find ways to find those nuggets of positivity, and this is an opportunity to do that,” he says. against our ears, trying to sort out a wide parking lot east of 22nd

All across greater St. Louis, there unemployment benefits. (ven if Street where the police departhave been versions of this. COVyou were lucky (or unlucky, as the ment parked a portion of its batID-19 forced a hibernation in the case may be) enough to be considtery of armored vehicles, box metro region — and much of the ered “essential” during this long, trucks, traɚc devices and ranglobe — as the majority of us have strange season, COVID-19 has indom patrol cars. Bordering the spent long weeks at home. Life terrupted the normal patterns edge was a blond brick commerbecame a closeup as we narrowed and blocked off familiar paths. cial building where, in the not too the frame on our worlds. Nights The diner where you once sought distant past, there was a payday out on the town turned into drinks refuge over a cheeseburger delender, tattoo parlor and JR Maron the front steps. Happy hours in luxe switched to “contactless” carket, a shop where you could buy a dark bars were replaced by poorryout. The barbershop or salon tallboy and a gyro and play a game ly lit video conferences from our where you gossiped on Saturday of pool within the surprisingly excouches. Trends in dining shifted mornings went dark. The coffee pansive interior. An empty space away from hot restaurants and toshop where you lingered at the on the end of the complex was ward sourdough starters fermentcounter closed its dining room. once home to Club Blackwood, acing on our kitchen counters and Lingering in general was discourcording to a partially intact sign, dried beans slow-soaking on our aged, except in your own home. but that’s been some years. stovetops. Our cars sat quietly. There was The police moved their vehicles,

Our focus turned intensely innowhere to go. and several of the businesses ward, even as we followed the But now St. Louis is slowly startwere forced out when their landnews outside of a virus wreaking to open up again. And the senlord wouldn’t renew their leases. ing havoc on entire nations. We sation is, well, a little weird. While JR Market was the last to go, eventually moving to a new spot up the street to make way for a new MaSt. Louis has been busy while you were sheltering in place. | DOYLE MURPHY jor League Soccer stadium.

When most of St. Louis went dark, the parking lot had already been scraped away and a chainlink fence surrounded the site. But work on the stadium has never stopped. In early April, wrecking crews mashed through the walls of the old JR Market. The bucket of the excavator clawed away the bricks with enough precision that the glass front door remained solidly in place while the back of the building was busted into rubble. And then it too was cleared away.

The Pine Street ramp, which ran through the site to Interstate 64, is now gone, as are a couple of blocks of Pine Street itself. What you’ll see now beyond the chainlink fence and construction screen is a massive pit, more than 30 feet below street level, that stretches from Olive to Market Street.

The whole endeavor is neighborhood changing, the kind of thing that can make the gradual re-expansion of life beyond neighborhood walks and essential excursions disorienting after so many weeks away.

It is the type of change that makes you realize how much time has passed — and how much is different.

On May 1, less than three weeks before the City of St. Louis would begin easing the restrictions of its stay-at-home order, Mayor Lyda Krewson announced a sizable repaving project. It started at the edge of the stadium site, but will eventually cover 30 separate sections of roads in the downtown area.

“One benefit to more people staying home these days is that there are fewer people on the roads,” Krewson said at the time in a news release. “So, we’re able to take advantage of that and the warmer weather to get started on this much-needed work.”

“Fewer people on the roads” is an accurate way to describe the situation for much of St. Louis’ stay-at-home order. It’s been all but forgotten in the cyclone churn of news cycles, but conspiracy theorists made headlines as recently as April, warning of the surreptitious creep of authoritarianism across the land as a sure preparation of full-on martial law. Just the sound of “shelter in place” or the gentler “stay at home” edicts in early March raised fears of being locked down in our homes, subject to arrest by roving police if we were caught on the streets without proof of an essential mission.

In reality, it has never been a full shutdown. There were enough carve-outs in the orders to allow just about anything a person was

Continued on pg 10 Continued on pg 14

Jason Spencer’s new wraparound mural at the Gramophone is ready for our return from the COVID-19 lockdown. | JASON SPENCER

WHILE WE SHELTERED Continued from pg 9 Continued from pg 13

willing to risk. That was particularly true in outstate Missouri, where Gov. Mike Parson’s order was more of a suggestion. But even under stricter rules imposed by St. Louis and St. Louis County, the private citizen has been able to buy cocktails to go, shop for groceries, spend long afternoons in parks that have never been busier.

So there is still some traɚc. But it has been quieter. Those of us fortunate enough to still have jobs are more likely to be working from home. We’re not commuting like we did — if we’re doing it at all. Government buildings have been largely closed. As a result, downtown has felt eerily empty. So much so that St. Louis police say they’ve had problems with street racers taking advantage of unobstructed roadways. The department has made a point of publicizing a crackdown, repeatedly tweeting pictures of their seized vehicles and ATVs secured on the beds of tow trucks. During the days, the city and Ameren have teamed up on the repaving project, dedicating about $2 million in labor and resources to repairing the battered roads.

In recent years, utility work has chopped up the surface all through these areas.

“The streets were pretty beat up in the interim,” says Scott Ogilvie, a transportation policy planner for the city.

As people start moving around downtown again, the repaving project isn’t going to be “night and day” noticeable, he adds. But it’s a significant amount of clean, black asphalt, mostly centered on a rectangular grid, bordered on the west by Tucker Boulevard and on the east by North Fourth Street, sandwiched between Washington Avenue and Market Street. It’s about five weeks worth of work,

ere is now a huge pit in place of Pine Street and an I-64 onramp at the MLS site. | DOYLE MURPHY

the city estimates.

On a recent weekday afternoon, north-south streets edging Citygarden look pristine. Bright white paint makes crosswalks pop. Normally, all the parking would be gone, and the shirt-and-tie crowd from the nearby oɚce buildings and courthouses would be lined up at food trucks. But the only people are families wandering through the park and the occasional security guard still on the job.

People seem to have found a rhythm to all this. The chaotic early days have been replaced by, yes, a baseline level of stress that was higher than before, but you also see people finding escape valves in front-porch musicians, first-time garden proMects and long, leisurely walks.

St. Louis artist Jason Spencer saw a lot of his commercial work dry up in the first weeks of the pandemic.

“I think everyone was so unsure of what the lockdown meant, and I do a lot of work for musicians and restaurants and bars and alcohol companies,” he says. “So a lot of people who had work didn’t have work anymore, so they didn’t have money to spend on art.”

Over the past decade, Spencer has become an in-demand choice for murals and album artwork. The clients for his outlandish creations range from local businesses such as Pizza Head to national acts, including Panic! At the Disco.

Suddenly idled with a disaster swirling, Spencer found it diɚcult to think about creating anything new. But after a few weeks, he began to push himself forward.

“I personally tried to make more lifestyle changes where I would get my physical body off the chair every now and then, and that will make me mentally ready to make cool stuff again.”

Jobs began to pick up a little. Cooped-up bands were making music they wanted to release and needed album artwork. And a long-running project to create a wraparound mural on the back patio of The Gramophone was rebooted. He spent a couple weeks on that one, creating an outerspace world of rocketing City Wide beer cans and extraterrestrial sandwiches.

“I was real happy with that,” he says. “It’s cool to see wraparound murals. I just don’t get the opportunity a lot of times. It’s cool to walk into and feel like you’re in a different place.” n

FEATURED DINING

6 RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT...

THREE MONKEYS 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.

BLK MKT EATS BLKMKTEATS.COM

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

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. The Swedish Fish layers Scandinavian cured salmon, yuzu dill slaw, NOT YOUR AVERAGE SUSHI SPOT Persian cucumbers and avocado for a fresh flavor explosion. Another favorite, the OG Fire, features your choice of spicy tuna or salmon alongside tempura crunch, masago, shallots, jalapeño and piquant namesake sauce; 9 SOUTH VANDEVENTER DINE-IN, TAKEOUT OR DELIVERY MON-SAT 11AM-9PM 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.

CRAWLING CRAB

314.328.3421 6730 PAGE AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63138

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.

CRISPY EDGE CRISPYEDGE.COM

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

314.499.7488 4916 SHAW AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63110 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.

THE KICKIN’ CRAB THEKICKINCRAB.COM

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.