the
regular how jeff lehman became the patron saint of restaurants BY KELLIE HYNES | PHOTOS BY GREG RANNELLS | COMPOSITING BY PIXELOGRAPHY
J E F F L E H M A N H A S A S TA N D I N G R E S E R VAT I O N AT N I C H E E V E R Y S AT U R D AY N I G H T - A N D A N Y O T H E R NIGHT HE DESIRES . HE’S HAD DISHES NAMED IN H I S H O N O R AT G E R A R D C R A F T ’ S C E L E B R AT E D F L A G S H I P R E S TA U R A N T, A N D E V E N A N E P O N Y M O U S L EH M A N P R OJ EC T M EN U C O M P O S ED BY YO U N G C H EFS E AG ER TO P L E A S E H I M .
K
evin Nashan, chef-owner of Sidney Street Cafe and Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co., makes it his personal mission to impress Lehman’s wife, Laura, and keeps a list of her food preferences in the kitchen. Ben Poremba, chef-owner of Elaia, has Lehman taste dishes he’s still developing, just to obtain his valuable critique. Many of us feel an affinity for a particular chef or restaurant. Jeff Lehman, 54, is the patron chefs revere right back. The list of food folk Lehman calls his good friends reads like a who’s who of the St. Louis culinary scene: Nashan, Poremba,
Jeff Lehman August 2015
Craft, Steve and Jamie Komorek (Trattoria Marcella and Mia Sorella), Mike Emerson (Pappy’s Smokehouse and its family of restaurants), Matt McGuire (Niche Food Group), Jim Fiala (Acero and The Crossing) and Sam Kogos (Riverbend), to name a few. Chat with Lehman about fine dining, and he cites chefs and restaurants in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York with the mastery of names, places and statistics typically exhibited by a Cardinals fan discussing baseball. Which is why, when Craft expressed an interest in molecular gastronomy, it was Lehman who procured reservations for the two of them at famed Chicago restaurants
Moto and Alinea. When the Komorek brothers dined at revered chef Daniel Boulud’s eponymous Daniel restaurant in NYC, it was Lehman who arranged their private tour with Boulud himself.
H
ow did Lehman, who Emerson dubbed “The Patron Saint of Restaurants,” become St. Louis’ most respected restaurant regular? The first and most obvious answer is that Lehman frequents restaurants often. “Jeff loves food and eats out a lot. He’s a professional diner,” Nashan explained. Lehman can be found in
restaurants an average of four evenings per week, and he enjoys an equal or greater number of lunches out as well. While many of his meals are at finer establishments, Lehman is also a fan of tasty, uncomplicated fare like Poremba’s Old Standard Fried Chicken and burgers at O’Connell’s Pub. Whether he’s enjoying a five-course prix fixe or a slice at The Good Pie (reopening soon as Randolfi’s), Lehman makes a point to build relationships with the hosts, servers and chefs who work there. “I take a personal interest in what they’re interested in, whether it’s the restaurant business or their family. When you talk with them on a personal level, they see saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 39