Short Orders

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SHORT ORDERS

Enjoy the holiday pop-up bars of St. Louis this season. | COURTESY THREE SIXTY

[HOLIDAY SPIRITS]

Sip Sip Hooray

Holiday pop-up bars come to St. Louis

Written by JENNA JONES

Santa Claus is comin’ to town and this year, he’s bringing holiday pop-up bars with him. Two St. Louis bars have announced themes to get you in the spirit, and the drink menus are gifts that keep giving.

There will be no reindeer pause at Three Sixty (1 South Broadway, 314-241-8439), but plenty of booze will be owing up on the rooftop. Now open, the pop-up experience transforms Three Sixty into a snow globe, overlooking Busch Stadium and providing its famous view of the Arch. Before 10 p.m., there’s no cover charge. Guests can enjoy their drinks inside or out, and if you’re trying to enjoy your spiked hot chocolate (yes, that’s an option by a fire, the patio is the perfect spot with its fire pits. Food is also available at the bar.

Three Sixty’s holiday cocktails include the previously mentioned spiked hot chocolate — aptly named Hot for Santa — which is made up of vanilla vodka, hot chocolate, peppermint and marshmallows. Depending on where you fall on Santa’s list, you can sip on the Nice Elf or Naughty Elf. The latter includes Montelobos mezcal, ginger and cranberry, the former ginger, cranberry, ginger beer and 1220 vodka. Baby It’s Cold Out-Cider is for fans of spiked cider; allspice, Buffalo Trace, sweet vermouth, ginger ale and cider are all in the drink. Shots are also available if you’re looking for them: The Son of A Nutcracker is amaretto, heavy cream, Frangelico and cinnamon, while the Down the Chimney could help you if you’re plotting to deliver presents all night with its blueberry Red Bull, lemon and blueberry Smirnoff concoction.

Beginning Thursday, December 9, the Central West End cocktail bar Lazy Tiger (210 North Euclid Avenue, 314-925-8888) has its Filthy Animal pop-up bar returning for the holiday season. Giftwrapped cups, creative cocktails and a “curated holiday hip-hop playlist” are all on the table, according to a press release, as well as Filthy Animal holiday cocktail gift boxes for your loved ones. Filthy Animal merch — cups, mugs, beanies and sweatshirts — can also be purchased.

“We started Filthy Animal as an at-home cocktail experience last year due to the pandemic, so this is our first in-person holiday pop-up, Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Lazy Tiger, says in a press release. “I’m glad that we can bring the full experience to St. Louis this year for a great cause.” The bar will donate $1 for every cocktail sold and $5 for every gift box sold to the St. Louis Family ift Drive, a nonprofit organization started by Wiggins’ mother. The organization provides gift cards, gifts and resources to families with developmentally delayed children in St. Louis.

The pop-up bar focuses on “nostalgia, fun, and holiday cheer,” according to Wiggins. He adds in the press release that he wants people “to feel and taste that childlike holiday giddiness.” Drinks include the bar’s namesake Ya Filthy Animal, crafted with mezcal, idori, grapefruit soda, fino sherry, Becherovka, lime and Tajin, as well as a hot spiked cider, eggnog and more.

Reservations for Filthy Animal can be made on Resy, while reservations for Three Sixty can be made by emailing 360rooftop@360stl.com or calling 314-241-8439. Three Sixty’s pop-up bar runs until Thursday, December 30, and Filthy Animal is open until Friday, December 31. n

[FOOD NEWS]

Pressing His Luck

Logan Ely dishes on Press, his forthcoming ‘smash pizza’ concept

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Riding high on the acclaim and popularity of his Fox Park restaurant the Lucky Accomplice (2501 South Jefferson Avenue, 314-3546100), chef Logan Ely is preparing to take on yet another project: a new restaurant just down the street called Press (2505 South Jefferson Avenue) that will be based on a type of pizza he’s not sure if anyone has ever done.

“I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: We like to have fun with food, and we like to play with our food,” Ely says. “We had this funny idea that we just acted on right away, and it seems kind of crazy. It was this idea to do this pizza calzone thing called a ‘smash pizza,’ which seemed kind of catchy. We made four of them and were like, ‘Well, let’s open a restaurant.’ It just seemed kind of catchy.” For anyone who has followed Ely’s career since he arrived back on the scene in St. Louis in 2017, the thought of him opening a pizza joint might seem quizzical. Ely’s resume includes such esteemed restaurants as the French Laundry in Napa Valley, Blue Hill in New York City and North Pond in Chicago, not to mention the fact that he has cooked everywhere from Copenhagen to Hong Kong and reintroduced himself to St. Louis diners through an elegant, avant garde tasting-menu restaurant, Shift (formerly Savage). That he is channeling such impressive experience into a pizzeria would be, on its surface, like Picasso leaving the world of fine art to paint the walls of finished basements.

Chef Logan Ely will bring ‘smash pizza’ to Fox Park in the coming months. | MABEL SUEN

However, when you dig into the idea behind Press, you quickly realize that it is no ordinary pizza dive. Like the Lucky Accomplice, where his intention to do casual fare has turned out to be one of the most thrilling restaurants in town, Ely’s take on pizza involves a complete reinvention of the genre. He and his team begin with the same dough you would use in a traditional pizza or calzone, then stretch it over the bottom portion of a cast-iron press (think wa e press without the s uares , fill it with various toppings, place more dough on top of that, then smash it between the iron’s plates. But Ely is not done there. Once the pressed and filled dough comes out of the press, he and his crew cover it in even more toppings and cut it into triangles. The result is a cheesy, gooey, filled calzonelike concoction that is guaranteed to be the city’s go-to comfort food.

“It is a pizza?” Ely asks. “Kind of. Is it a calzone? Kind of? Is it a sandwich? Sort of, but ‘smash pizza’ just has this ring to it.”

Press will be located just to the south of the Lucky Accomplice in a small, brick storefront that Ely is currently in the process of renovating. He says that the space will not be huge, but that it will have enough room for a sit-down dining area; he is also hoping to add a substantial patio that will connect it with the Lucky Accomplice, and he is in talks with an architect to see what is possible on that front. Though he does not have a firm opening date set yet, he is targeting the end of winter or early spring.

With the addition of Press to the Lucky Accomplice’s block of Jefferson, Ely hopes it represents one additional step toward making that stretch of south St. Louis more pedestrian friendly. He notes that the city government currently has plans to slow down the vehicular tra c ow in the area to make it more of a destination entertainment and dining district — something that he is happy to do his part to facilitate.

“This is such a historic block,” Ely says. “If we can keep adding to it and make it safe and walkable, we will do what we can.” n

“It was this idea to do this pizza calzone thing called a ‘smash pizza,’ which seemed kind of catchy. We made four of them and were like, ‘Well, let’s open a restaurant.’”

Natural Beauty

Bowood by Niche brings thoughtful daytime fare to the CWE

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

When chef and restaurateur Gerard Craft was dreaming up his vision for Bowood by Niche (4605 Olive Street, 314-545-6868), he had one guiding principle: He wanted the restaurant to feel like a warm hug. Now, the brunch cafe located at Bowood Farms in the Central West End is welcoming guests with open arms after celebrating its grand opening on November 4.

Bowood by Niche replaces Bowood Farms’ longtime restaurant, Cafe Osage, in name and menu, but not in spirit. Craft and his team, led by executive chef Dakota Williams, designed Bowood by Niche to be a welcoming daytime gathering place for the neighborhood and have embraced the natural bounty of their surroundings with an approachable, farm-totable-style menu.

“Cafe Osage was such a loved breakfast spot that we felt like it would be silly of us not to reopen with that same aspect and cultivate this as the neighborhood spot we want it to be,” says Williams. “We don’t want to be pretentious, and we don’t want to scare anyone away. We want to welcome people back in this space with open arms and make people feel at home, because that is how we feel here.”

For Williams, the restaurant’s a liation with Bowood Farms in Clarksville, as well as the on-site nursery and herb garden, has been a major source of inspiration. He describes using fresh ingredients, sometimes picked just before they get on the plate, as a chef’s dream, and his dishes use as much locally sourced products as he can manage. He is also cognizant of making Bowood by Niche accessible to all dietary preferences, including vegetarians. That philosophy, married with his knack for creating comforting, nostalgic dishes, is what he believes makes Bowood such an inviting place.

Williams points to a few different dishes that evoke the spirit of the new Bowood by Niche. Baked oatmeal, one of his favorite offerings, expands on the classic dish by using farro, barley and quinoa in addition to oats. The multigrain mix is topped with a vegan granola crust, then baked in a Le Creuset and topped with jammed fruit, toasted almonds, sugar and butter.

He is also excited about the honey bun, which is a nod to the long car trips of his youth. However, unlike the gas-station versions he loved as a kid, this one is housemade with a delicate sugar glaze. His egg sandwich also draws inspiration from both the former Sardella (where he served as sous chef) and a bit of childhood nostalgia: the McGriddle from McDonald’s. His version uses a housemade English mu n, steamed egg, red-pepper jelly, hotsauce aioli, pepper-jack cheese, arugula and bacon for a more sophisticated, but no less comforting, sandwich.

Lunchtime offerings include a burger, which features dry-aged beef from BEAST Butcher & Block, topped with caramelized onion aioli, pickled shallots and Marcoot Farms Tipsy Cheddar cheese. Williams also recommends the little gem salad because it shows how even a simple dish can be extraordinary when it entails fresh ingredients like vegan avocado green goddess dressing, toasted pistachios, cured egg yolks and fresh herbs.

Williams is impressed with the restaurant’s drink offerings and has been excited about the collaboration between the bar and the kitchen. Drinks employ homemade tonics, and there are plans for the bar staff to begin making their own bitters with herbs from the restaurant’s rooftop garden. He also recommends the coffee drinks, which include a vanilla latte he insists is the best he’s ever tried — though he admits enjoying it in such a beautiful environment makes it extra special.

“I don’t know of a better place for a chef than at Bowood,” Williams says. “It’s this beautiful building, kitchen and dining room — the atmosphere and team and being surrounded by plants makes it so nice here. Sometimes I go up to the herb garden, have my coffee and decompress before the day while watching the sun rise. I think it’s the most beautiful spot in the city.” n

Bowood by Niche is now open, serving breakfast and lunch in the CWE. | PHUONG BUI

Bowood by Niche sits amongst the lush bounty of Bowood Farms. | PHUONG BUI