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SHORT ORDERS
[FIRST LOOK]
Time Table Acclaimed chef Ben Grupe’s restaurant, Tempus, opens for dine-in service in the Grove Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
I
n 2018, chef Ben Grupe took his first steps down a long-dreamedof path toward opening his own restaurant. e left his gig as e ecutive chef at laia, turned his attention away from the prestigious culinary competition world and got to work doing a series of pop-up events, all with an eye to his highly anticipated debut restaurant, Tempus (4730 Manchester Road, 314-349-2878). empus should have welcomed its first guests in arch . owever, the pandemic forced rupe and his team to put the restaurant on hold, then eventually transition to a takeout-only model a yearlong, -degree change from the hospitality and e perience-focused vision of what rupe wanted empus to be. ow, having welcomed guests into dining room for the first time on ovember , rupe is e cited to finally show the t. Louis dining scene what the restaurant is truly capable of being. e’ve waited so long for this and just had to rip the Band-Aid off, says rupe. utting food in a to-go bag and handing it out of a window is a lot different than having a dining room open. escribed by rupe as a chefdriven American restaurant with guest-centric, thoughtful hospitality, empus features a menu of uality, inventive food and cocktails that draw upon rupe’s and his team’s vast culinary and beverage e perience. till, he emphasi es that the empus e perience is meant to be familiar, approachable and comforting with classic avors and recogni able dishes presented in a uni ue way. ogether with his sous chef, ustin Bell, rupe has created a menu of dishes ranging from sea trout with sauerkraut, turnip and but-
24
RIVERFRONT TIMES
The dining room at Tempus is open, giving guests a long-awaited taste of what the restaurant was meant to be. | GREG RANNELS
“We’ve waited so long for this and just had to rip the Band-aid off. Putting food in a to-go bag and handing it out of a window is a lot different than having a dining room open.” termilk vin blanc to beef rib with au gratin potatoes, pot roast carrots and cippolini onions. tarters include cro uettes with country ham, olives and sherry vinaigrette and beets with uark, vadouvan granola and salted strawberries, while desserts evoke such comfort food classics as s’mores with gianduja, burnt marshmallow and spruce, as well as apples with
NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021
riverfronttimes.com
whipped cream, brown-butter cake and hyssop. eteran bartender rew Lucido leads the beverage team, and he, too, is eager to move from the togo model to the more personal style of service that he is used to providing for his guests. esigned to seamlessly connect with the food, his drink menu consists of cocktails that might be familiar in concept but different in form, such as a cocktail made with oliveoil-washed vodka with dry vermouth, fino sherry, orange bitters and white verjus that is supposed to evoke a dirty martini a drink that he notes pairs awlessly with the sea trout. Lucido is also e cited to offer a different take on a wine list, with no regular by-the-glass selections. As he e plains, glass pours will be available, but they will change depending on what he and his team feel like opening and what pairs particularly well with the food on any given day. Above all, he’s just happy to be able to take care of guests the way that he wants to. hrough all of this, we haven’t changed our core values of what we want the restaurant to be, Lucido says. e are focused on hospitality for our guests and our staff,
and that has never changed. hat’s one of the things that has helped pull us through all of this, that we had a united vision between myself, chef and others of what we wanted this to be. hat has allowed us to create what we created. hough rupe and his team hope to eventually open empus for a la carte service, the restaurant is currently offering a three-course dinner that must be reserved in advance. he e perience is per person, plus ta and gratuity for an additional , guests may add on a wine or cocktail pairing a nonalcoholic pairing is available for . rinks will also be available a la carte. verything about empus is designed to bring a sense of what is familiar, crave-able and comforting, said rupe in a statement announcing the opening. igh- uality, inventive food and cocktails, coupled with our commitment to genuine hospitality, thoughtful service, and giving back to the community, is what makes empus uni ue. e want locals to become regulars and special occasion diners to feel right at home, and we are thrilled to finally open our doors and join the growing community of diverse hospitality establishments in t. Louis. n
