Short Orders

21

[FIRST LOOK]

New, Old Flavors

Sureste Méxican is serving Yucatán cuisine at City Foundry

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

For several years, chef Alex Henry has been injecting the menus of the restaurants he’s worked at with tastes of his native Yucatán Peninsula. Now, he is stepping out on his own with Sureste Méxican (3730 Foundry Way), an entire restaurant dedicated to the vibrant cuisine, which opened October 20 in the Food Hall at City Foundry.

“I felt like this needed its own concept, because I’ve been doing this here and there at other restaurants,” Henry says. “I really wanted to do the food that I grew up eating, and this seemed like a good place to do it.”

As Henry explains, Sureste Méxican is informed by the recipes of his mother and grandmother, the two main culinary in uences in his life. Growing up, the two women showed him how to cook and were by his side as he explored the food stalls and markets of their hometown, Merida. When Henry grew up, he carried these experiences with him on his own professional culinary journey at such acclaimed restaurants as Vicia, Niche and Nixta, where he was honored as a “Young Gun” by the in uential food site Eater.

At each of his jobs, he took every opportunity afforded him to sprinkle in bits of Yucatán cuisine, but now Henry is eager to dedicate an entire restaurant to it. City Foundry feels like a particularly special venue to do that, because of how much it reminds him of the markets and food stalls in Merida.

At Sureste Méxican, diners can expect such traditional Yucatán dishes as chime, which consists of turkey stewed in burnt chile mole with a hardboiled egg and pork meatball and cochinita pibil, made with citrus roasted pork, macerated onions and habanero.

“I want people to learn a little bit about this region,” Henry says. “Mexico is our neighbor to the south, but we don’t get a large variety of food, and a lot of places have similar stuff. That’s not bad, but it’s good for people to know there are a lot of options.”

Dishes at Sureste Méxican come in two formats. Guests can either choose from entree portions with sides and tortillas or tacos. Henry is excited to be serving up the food himself on the line to his guests so that he can answer any questions and explain the dishes and heritage that have made him the chef he is today.

“Mexico has so many diverse cultures, languages, foods; this just happens to be the one I grew up with,” Henry says. “I think it’s something worth sharing with everyone here.”

Sureste Méxican is open on Mondays and Wednesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 11:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. n

Chef Alex Henry shares flavors from his boyhood home at his new restaurant. | CHERYL BAEHR

Sweet Idea

Andy Cohen and Clementine’s announce Peppermint Andy collaboration

Written by JAIME LEES

Clementine’s Creamery (multiple locations including 1637 South 18th Street, 314-474-5800) and favorite St. Louis son Andy Cohen have launched a new ice cream flavor, and it’s currently available at Clementine’s scoop shops.

Named Peppermint Andy, the new flavor is a swirly pink peppermint-chocolate mix, and it’s arriving just in time for the holiday Mariah Carey season. It’s made with Clementine’s dairy base, crushed King Leo Peppermint candies, dark chocolate curls and a hint of vanilla.

The new flavor is more than just a new sweet treat, though; it’s the first step in a charitable chain. Clementine’s is donating 50 percent of sales of the peppermint-chocolate flavor to DOORWAYS, a local interfaith nonprofit organization which provides housing and related supportive services to improve quality of life and health outcomes for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

For Andy Cohen’s family, this project is a continuation of a decades-long relationship with DOORWAYS. Cohen says his mom has been “heavily involved” with the organization since he came out of the closet in 1989.

“Andy Cohen has been a steadfast DOORWAYS supporter and friend for many, many years,” Opal Jones, president and CEO of DOORWAYS, says in a news release. “It’s wonderful to see Clementine’s honor him with this new ice cream! Peppermint is known as both a remedy and a delightful essence — two characteristics among Andy’s many traits. He helps improve the lives of people in need — such as our DOORWAYS clients — through his generous and kind spirit.”

“We are honored to partner with Andy and DOORWAYS on this special flavor,” Tamara Keefe, CEO of Clementine’s Creamery, says in the announcement. “What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season with a delicious new ice cream that will also benefit a most worthy organization in our community.”

Peppermint Andy is currently available in Clementine’s scoop shops and can also be ordered online. Visit clementinescreamery.com for more information. n

Andy Cohen with Peppermint Andy, a new Clementine’s Creamery flavor. | CLEMENTINE’S CREAMERY

Growth Opportunity

Plant-based pop-up Irrational Roots explores world flavors through loaded fries

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

From as early as the age of five, Josh Essman knew he wanted to be a chef. Singularly focused on following his passion for food, he has memories of putting together traditional Korean New Year’s feasts for his family as a middle schooler and executing full edged, globally inspired catering jobs when he was a teen. He was so passionate about cooking and food in general that he planned on going to college for food science and seeing where that path would lead him — until a veteran chef who was supposed to offer him words of wisdom told him to get out of Dodge. round seventeen, had a chat with someone who had been in the industry for years, ssman says e said, et the hell out while you can.’ He told me that the pay isn’t great and that there are a lot of reasons not to go into the culinary field professionally e told me that if wanted to eep it as a hobby, that was one thing, but don’t be li e him and go into it professionally was young,

Crispy potatoes serve as the base for culinary exploration. | COURTESY IRRATIONAL ROOTS

so what did do at that age listened to the adult ow, five years later, ssman is ready to let go of that negative feedbac and dive into the culinary field with his new pop up, rrational oots uilt around the idea of crispy fried potatoes as an approachable vehicle for culinary e ploration, rrational oots is an upscale take on loaded fries with internationally inspired toppings. ince ’m still getting my feet wet, wanted to start out with something more casual but that still captures my passion for world cuisine and the science of food, ssman says he idea of potatoes was a 2 a.m. realization thing; the logic is that they go with everything and everyone loves crispy potatoes wanted to use something that was really approachable as a vehicle to ma e things [that are] more unfamiliar with people more approachable or the past few years, ssman has been engaged in professional endeavors as far from the culinary world as one can imagine. A graduate of the issouri niversity of cience and echnology with a degree in computer science, he spends his days working for a national laboratory in the fields of supercomputing and physics simulation hough he finds the wor intellectually fulfilling, he couldn’t help but realize early on that working at a desk all day was not his cup of tea fter having what he describes as a quarterlife crisis, ssman decided to see if he wanted to explore food as more than a hobby and staged at restaurants in both Chicago and an rancisco here, he learned a great deal about the industry, which reignited his desire to pursue cooking as a profession. or now, he is pursuing that goal one step at a time, launching rrational oots as a pop up concept while he continues at his day job. ast month, he hosted his second pop up event at ile arden, where he featured two different plant based offerings he first, a erman style dish inspired by ctoberfest, featured winter s uash and ohlrabi sauer raut served over crispy potatoes his other dish, inspired by the avors of the ucat n, paired roasted poblanos with habanero-citrus hot sauce and achiote. hough he does not yet have a truck or brick-and-mortar space in the wor s, ssman dreams of one day having a space of his own, where he can fully explore the possibilities of plant-based cooking as a more formal style of dining. For now, though, he sees rrational oots as a way to wor out his ideas and gauge interest in the style of eating that has been his passion for as long as he can remember. his is a great opportunity to e periment, because each pop up is going to be a different type of world cuisine, ssman says ’m in the early stages, but am split between this one-step-at-a-time approach and doing what really see myself doing n general, ’m a big fan of going with the ow and seeing where life ta es me, so we will see how things turn out n

Take It Outside

Rockwell Beer Garden is now open in Francis Park

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Beer lovers — and really anyone who enjoys imbibing and snacking outdoors — have reason to celebrate, courtesy of one of the city’s most popular craft breweries. Rockwell Beer Company’s Francis Park beer garden is now open, featuring pizzas, snacks, beverages and, most importantly, a lovely spot for enjoying one of the city’s most beloved outdoor venues.

First announced this past May, the Rockwell Beer Garden occupies the 1929-era comfort center located near the park’s tennis and pickleball courts. The renovated building will serve as the hub of Rockwell’s operations in the park, with a food counter featuring familyfriendly dishes, adult beverages and nonalcoholic drinks, as well as an outdoor gathering space complete with tables, fire pits and pickleball rental equipment. The beer garden will be open, weather permitting, through mid-December, with hours announced via the brand’s social media platforms.

“As a city resident who lives in the neighborhood, I made certain that creating a safe and welcoming environment was our top priority,” says Rockwell Beer Company co-founder Heather Sanders, in a statement announcing the opening. “Before we swung a hammer, we asked for input from residents and park users to make sure we were adding useful amenities to one of the city’s best parks. From new lighting and extensive facility upgrades to improved restrooms and an expanded patio with spacious seating and native plantings, this new interpretation of the comfortcenter space respects the neighborhood’s history while enhancing visitors’ experience in the park. This project embraces David R. Francis’ original desire that the park bearing his name be used and maintained for recreational uses and purposes.”

Rockwell Beer Garden’s food offerings come from the talented hands of chef Michael Petres, who has worked at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St. Louis, Araka, Balaban’s, Terrine and Niche Food Group, where he spent ten years with the company in various roles, including corporate executive chef. At the restaurant group’s former concept, Porano, Petres was instrumental in developing a muchheralded pizza recipe. He draws on that background for the beer garden’s several pizza offerings, including the Rockwell Margherita, the Pepperoni Plus and the Broccwell, which features charred broccoli, onions and sweet peppers.

In addition to pizza, the beer garden will offer other dishes, such as chickpea dip, spinach and artichoke dip, and a chopped salad. Beer from Rockwell Beer Company will be available, together with wine, cocktails and grab-and-go items.

“Our goal for this project is to recapture the sense of community and pride that has been a major component of this city’s history,” Rockwell Beer co-founder Chris Huls says in the statement. “St. Louis was once filled with beer gardens. Our hope is that this will be a catalyst for other public-private ventures throughout the city. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built, and I can’t wait to welcome guests.” n