January 2012 FEAST Magazine

forget sex and the city

dive in

ancient chinese secret

1927 cosmo

the crow’s nest

forbidden rice

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

feastSTL.com | JANUARY 2012 | FREE

TASTEMAKERS: ENTREPRENEURS WHO SHAPE THE WAY YOU EAT

W�n� Exce�ence!

We’re proud to say we have more than 15 Certified Specialists of Wine (CSW) throughout Schnucks who are happy to share their expertise. The CSW certification, one of the most respected credentials in the wine industry, is a rigorous exam developed by the Society of Wine Educators.

Whether you’re looking for wine to serve or to cellar, our world-class selection rivals any specialty shop. Let our CSW experts help you find some truly wonderful wines!

S�. Louis-Are� Certified Specia�ists � W�n� Metro Missouri Brian Battocletti, CSW Culinaria 315 N. 9th St. 314 436-7694

Dave Birkenmeier, CSW Janet Nicoletti, CSW Schnucks Lindbergh 10275 Clayton Rd. 314 991-0510

Metro Illinois Dan Eckart, CSW Schnucks Edwardsville 2222 Troy Rd. 618 659-0010

Jacque Arnicar, CSW Schnucks Loughborough 1020 Loughborough 314 752-5333

Matt Maxfield, CSW Schnucks Wildwood 16580 Manchester Rd. 636 458-5544

Jolene Ahn, CSW Schnucks Granite City 3100 Madison Ave. 618 451-0517

Phyllis Breckle, CSW Schnucks Bellerive Plaza 12756 Olive Blvd.

314 434-7323

Gary Paplanus, CSW Schnucks Woods Mill 1060 Woods Mill Plaza 636 227-2278

Matt Wider, CSW Kandis Lovcik, CSW Schnucks Des Peres 12332 Manchester Rd. 314 965-3094

Bill Meyer, CSW Schnucks Richardson 3900 Vogel Rd. 636 282-3377

Tom End, CSW Schnucks Ladue 8867 Ladue Rd. 314 725-7574

Matt Wider, CSW

Janet Nicoletti, CSW

Savor Great Foo�& W�n�!

Jan. 28-29, 2012

The Chase Park Plaza Hotel Presented by

One-Day Admission Tickets On Sale at select Schnucks Courtesy Centers. For more information, visit www.repstl.org ©2011 Schnucks

ONE OF THESE MEN HAS A 93.3% COMPLETION RATE. THE OTHER IS SAM BRADFORD.

GARY C. Hits his 2-hour appointment window 93.3% of the time.

SAM BRADFORD Most completions by a rookie in NFL history.

©2011 Charter Communications.

On-time appointments: Another way we’re working to be St. Louis’s next hometown superstar.

Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

3

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jennifer Silverberg

36

influential st. louisans

Eight discuss our local culinary scene and their visions for the future.

4

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2012

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

JANUARY 2012

from the staff

| 8 |

feaststl.com

What’s online this month.

| 10 |

from the PUBLISHER

Sustaining a vibrant culinary scene.

| 12 | FEAST FAVES

Our staff and contributors share inspired ideas for tasteful living in St. Louis.

COLUMNS

| 24 |

my stuff

Chris LaRocca’s culinary concepts.

| 27 |

gadget a-go-go

We put five candy thermometers to the test.

| 28 | ON THE SHELF

New and notable in beer, spirits and wine.

| 30 |

mystery shopper

Buy it and try it: forbidden rice.

| 32 | TECH SCHOOL

Savory jams make for a spreadable surprise.

| 34 | EASY EATS

Take takeout into your own hands with this simple pot sticker recipe.

| 66 | pull up a chair

Holy Toledo!

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY of OUR TASTEMAKERS ROUNDTABLE (PG 36) BY Jennifer Silverberg

WATCH THE VIDEOS! Take a (virtual) seat at the table with our Tastemakers.

Sprinkled throughout the Tastemakers feature (p. 36), you’ll see Microsoft tags that allow you to immediately watch each video on your smartphone.

No smartphone? No problem. All our videos are available in the Watch & Listen section at feastSTL.com.

Get the free Microsoft tag app at gettag.mobi.

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

5

Magazine Volume 3

| Issue 1 | January 2012

Publisher and Editor Catherine Neville Managing Editor Brandi Wills Online Editor Kristin Brashares Art Director Lisa Triefenbach Vice President of Advertising Donna Bischoff Copy Editor Jill Pfeiffer Proofreader Andrea Mongler Videographer Hannah Radcliff Contributing Writers Erin Callier, Russ Carr, Pat Eby, Chad Michael George Jennifer Johnson, Angela Ortmann, Lucy Schnuck, Matt Seiter Michael Sweeney, Andrew Mark Veety, Cassandra Vires Contributing Photographers Jonathan Gayman, Gregg Goldman, Laura Ann Miller Jonathan Pollack, Jennifer Silverberg, Corey Woodruff

Contact Us Feast Media, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., 4th Floor St. Louis, MO 63101 feastSTL.com Advertising Inquiries Kelly Klein, 314.340.8562 kklein@stltoday.com Editorial Comments editor@feastSTL.com

Distribution To distribute Feast Magazine at your place of business, please contact Tom Livingston at tlivingston@stldist.com.

Feast Magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Submissions will not be returned.

All contents are copyright Š 2010-2012 by Feast Magazine™.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents, without the prior written permission of the publisher, is strictly prohibited.

A publication of Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, LLC A Lee Enterprises Company 6

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JANUARY 2012

177

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ONLINE CONTENT

www.feastSTL.com

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

The Feed

Online Exclusives

This Month’s Feast

Watch & Listen

Feast Events

Recipes

Recipe Database: Get easy access to our extensive collection of recipes, plus online extras.

Behind THE SCENES

Roundtable Video: Pull up a virtual seat with some of the St. Louis area’s most influential entrepreneurs in our special Tastemakers video series.

Quite The Pair: Take a break from the kitchen and indulge in STLwinegirl Angela Ortmann’s weekly food-andwine pairings, including Mad Tomato’s Steak Pizzaiola.

Photography by J. Pollack Photography

CONNECT WITH US Connect with us at facebook.com/feastSTL to stay on top of happenings at FEAST Central and connect with fellow foodies.

Scan this tag to LIKE us right now!

Photography BY LAURA ANN MILLER

ONLINE FEATURES Taco Time: Had your fill of holiday food? Columnist Andrew

Mark Veety takes your palate in a different direction with a tour of tasty styles of tacos around town (like Tortillaria’s Baja fish tacos, pictured above).

Follow us at twitter.com/feastmag for up-to-the-minute restaurant news, special deals, FEAST events and more.

Scan this tag to FOLLOW us right now!

Get the free app at gettag.mobi

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JANUARY 2012

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Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

9

FROM THE PUBLISHER

PS

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FEAST EVENTS

Food & Wine Experience Preview Tasting Thu., Jan. 12, 6 to 8pm; Home Wine Kitchen Complimentary, rsvp@stlwinegirl.com

ersonally, I watch trends, but I’m not a slave to them.

What interests me is when a trend becomes more than a passing fad. That’s when things get interesting.

That’s when entrepreneurs enter the picture.

Schnucks’ Dave Birkenmeier, CSW, and STLwinegirl Angela Ortmann join up to guide you through a preview tasting of the premier wines that will be available at this month’s Food & Wine Experience.

L’Ecole Academy Healthy Cooking Wed., Jan. 25 and Thu., Jan. 26, 6 to 9pm; L’Ecole Academy for Culinary Development

St. Louis is home to a savvy, driven group of food-industry entrepreneurs who are defining the way we eat and drink every day. Thanks to them, St. Louis has a flavor of its own – a culinary culture that is distinct – and we wanted to dig into what it is that makes them successful. Lots of people open small businesses, many without much success, but the people we chose as this year’s Tastemakers have not simply launched small companies, they’ve taken their initial business model and ushered it into a second or third phase of growth, reflecting their ability to recognize and capitalize on opportunity.

$140, lecoleacademy.com or 314.264.1999

Keep that resolution! Learn the tricks to cook healthy, delicious meals in your own kitchen.

Schnucks Cooks Cooking Class Wed., Jan. 18, 6pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School $45, schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

Get hands-on and make an Asian-inspired menu, including the pot stickers on p. 34.

Wine Tasting Thu., Jan. 19, 6 to 7pm; Eclipse Complimentary, rsvp@stlwinegirl.com

In this issue, we bring you perspectives from various aspects of the culinary world – restaurants, wine, beer, chocolate, coffee, catering, grocery and architecture.

Common themes arose throughout the roundtable discussion that is the heart of our Tastemakers issue (p. 36). The main takeaway for me, though, is that passion is what’s key to success. Passion, clear vision and drive. I’m excited to be able to bring you their voices and perspectives through our series of interviews and videos. I hope that you are as inspired by these innovators as I am.

Join columnist Angela Ortmann for a food-andwine tasting at Eclipse.

Feast Book Club Meet-Up Thu., Jan. 26, 6pm; Root RSVP to editor@feastSTL.com

Join us to discuss the inspiring and candid memoir, The Man Who Couldn’t Eat by Jon Reiner, and enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drink specials. Purchase your copy of the book in-store or online from Left Bank Books and receive 20 percent off.

10th Annual St. Louis Food & Wine Experience Sat., Jan. 28 and Sun., Jan. 29, noon to 5pm; The Chase Park Plaza Hotel repstl.org or 314.968.4925

Until next time,

Celebrate the artistry of fine food and wine at the largest international wine and food show in the Midwest.

Oceania Luxury Culinary Cruise May 6 to 17, from $3,799 per person altairtravelinc.com or 314.968.9600

Catherine Neville

Join publisher Catherine Neville on a 10-day luxury cruise from Istanbul to Venice with ports of call ranging from Ephesus to Athens.

Cat’s Picks Tune in as FEAST publisher Catherine Neville chats with host McGraw Milhaven and gives her weekly picks for the best places to eat and drink in the St. Louis area.

feedback?

catherine@feaststl.com 10

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2012

PHOTOGRAPHy by Jonathan Gayman

Wednesdays, 8:35am; The BIG 550 KTRS

™Ñ‰°Š®Œ¯ ‰‹ R‹‡Š °…°ŠR Œ°°±)

A fun and interactive way to prepare a meal.

Chef Nate's Table specializes in cooking classes, cooking demonstrations, and private dining opportunities.

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The Moscow Festival Ballet presents:

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Call 314.825.5398 to enroll.

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YOUR SOURCE FOR THE FINEST

• Maine Lobsters • Jumbo Lump Crabmeat • Dry-Packed Scallops • Jumbo Shrimp • Smoked Salmon • Wide Selection of Oysters & Fish

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The World famous

Glenn Miller Orchestra

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Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

11

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dining

follow the flock

The Crow’s Nest 314.781.0989

7336 Manchester Road, Maplewood facebook.com/crowsneststl

12

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2012

Maplewood

PHOTOGRAPHy by Corey Woodruff

The Crow’s Nest feels like a well-worn sweater – comfortable and warm. Slide into a wooden booth; order up a craft beer; and while you wait for your food, drop some quarters in one of the pinball machines to pass the time. The menu is approachable and familiar, yet it’s interesting enough to hold the attention of someone tired of rote bar-and-grill food.

Here the chicken sandwich is piled with smoked chicken breast, bacon and kale and given a good dose of lemon-brown butter aïoli. Peanut butter is added to hummus, which is honey-sweetened and seasoned with cumin, roasted garlic and cilantro. Soulsatisfying meatloaf has a cherry-green peppercorn crust and is served with bacon ketchup, herbed corn bread and fresh greens with buttermilk dressing. For dessert try the coffee-dusted beignets with colapoached cherries and hazelnut brittle.

FEAST FAVES / secret ingredient FEAST FAVES | what we’re dRinking

Spanish Garnacha written by Jennifer Johnson

Spain’s north-central and eastern regions are an ideal home to the Garnacha (Grenache) grape because of its ability to thrive in drought and heat. A renewed interest in growing Garnacha sprang from international recognition of France’s Rhone region varieties and of several “cult” Garnachas from Spain’s prestigious Priorat region. It was quickly realized that old-vine Garnacha, grown with the traditional “bush vine” method of stressing vines that are 30 years or older in hot, dry and long growing-season climates, yielded a substantially fruit-driven, concentrated and tannic version of this varietal. Pair with braised or smoked meats, spicy dishes and hearty stews.

Can Blau 2009

Montsant, Spain

This old-vine Garnacha blend hails from Montsant, a region close to the esteemed Priorat region in northeast Spain, and offers baked earth and black cherries on the nose followed by cherries magnified on the full-bodied palate with lavender, wet stone and a flash of vanilla on the finish. Pair with Asian beef short ribs, wild game chili and barbecued chicken wings.

The Wine & Cheese Place, 457 N. New Ballas Road, Creve Coeur, wineandcheeseplace.com; $11.99

Honoro Vera Garnacha 2010

Calatayud, Spain

A phenomenal value, this wine bursts with aromas of raspberries, red cherries, cinnamon and an earthy spiciness, with a pleasant minerality that counterbalances the alcohol.

Open a bottle of this straightforward, fullbodied and palate-pleasing wine with beef and mushroom crostini, paella or smoked-duck salad.

Naked Vine, 1624 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield, nakedvine.net; $9.99

A St. Louis-based wine and food enthusiast, Jennifer Johnson is a sommelier, wine educator, journalist, and hospitality and marketing consultant who loves to celebrate life, family, food and wine.

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

13

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dining

freshen up

After indulging in a monthlong holiday-season sugar-andalcohol binge, we’re seeking out lighter, healthier fare, and Green Bean delivers. This quick-service spot in the Central West End offers its menu items as salads or wraps, all tossed fresh with your choice of light, medium or heavy on the dressing, which is a nice touch. Favorites include the Goddess, with grilled chicken, watercress, croutons, avocado, chives and Green Goddess dressing, and the Pueblito, with grilled beef, spicy pineapple, fresh corn kernels, romaine lettuce, queso fresco, tortilla bits and a chile-lime dressing. Prefer to create your own? Mix and match from an array of localwhen-possible produce, meats and cheeses and house-made dressings. Still want to indulge just a tiny bit? Green Bean offers cake pops and tiny whoopie pies so you can have a twobite treat that’s enough to satisfy your craving for sweets but won’t ruin your healthful resolutions.

232 N. Euclid Ave., Central West End greenbeansalads.com

Green Bean 314.361.4444

PHOTOGRAPHy by Jonathan Gayman

Central West End

FEAST FAVES

| MEET & Greet

Estrella “Estie” Cruz-Curoe

with a citrus tang and slight sweetness. Shallots, sea salt, sugar,

our very first taste, we’ve been hooked on the complex flavors of del

spices and Schlafly wheat beer enhance the flavor of the beans.

are sold fresh in plastic containers.

14

J. Pollack Photography

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2012

written by Pat Eby

On first glance, they may look like a simple bowl of beans, but from Carmen black beans, black beans and rice, and black bean soup, which

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Owner OF del Carmen Foods

You can find del Carmen products at Connie’s Green Grocery, Ladue Market, Local Harvest Grocery, Maude’s Market and Sappington

As a stay-at-home mom, Estie Cruz-Curoe eight years ago began to

Farmers’ Market as well as the Maplewood Winter Market at

develop recipes, research beans and tackle a visual identity for del

Schlafly Bottleworks and the Tower Grove and Clayton farmers’

Carmen. “I didn’t want the beans seen as a poor man’s meal. They’re

markets in the spring and summer. Visit feastSTL.com for addresses

classy yet simple.” The taste is sophisticated too: lush and layered

and winter market dates.

delcarmenfoods.com

FEAST FAVES / secret ingredient FEAST FAVES | FOOD STUFF

Delicious Dips Dip into these seriously tasty, locally made blends, and serve them with a perfectly paired drink at your next get-together. – B.W.

PAIR WITH: South African pinotage or cÔtes du RhÔne

PAIR WITH: Santa Barbara Viognier or Missouri Traminette

PAIR WITH: Lager or pilsner beer

| 1 | Ah!Zeefa curry lentil dip, $3.99; Whole Foods Market, multiple locations, wholefoodsmarket.com | 2 | Local Harvest Café garlic white bean dip, $3.99; Local Harvest Grocery, 3108 Morgan Ford Road, Tower Grove South, localharvestgrocery.com | 3 | Charlie’s Beer Cheese, $5.49; The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations, wineandcheeseplace.com PHOTOGRAPHy by Laura Ann Miller Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

15

! % # $ " &

DELICIOUS WEEKE A R ND FO

THE CHASE PARK PLAZA HOTEL

10TH ANNUAL ST. LOUIS FOOD & WINE EXPERIENCE

PREMIER TASTING: A Cellar-Maker’s Dream

Saturday, January 28, 2012 Noon - 5:00 p.m.

January 27, 2012 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.

The Starlight Ballroom

Sunday, January 29, 2012 Noon - 5:00 p.m.

ASE H C R PU TS TICKE !

TODAY

One-Day General Admission & VIP Reserve Room Ticket Options Available Khorassan & Lindell Ballrooms PRESENTED BY

16

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2012

WITH MAJOR SUPPORT BY

MEDIA SPONSOR

TO BENEFIT

l.org, t s p e r . at www Office e n i l n O ep Box 5 R e h T t a 68-492 9 ] 4 1 [3 rea or at a tions. loca s k c u n Sch

FEAST FAVES

| whAT we’re drinking

The Cosmopolitan Story and recipe by Matt Seiter

Most of us know the Cosmopolitan as the pink-hued beauty made fashionable by the Sex and the City television series. However, the drink has a past more storied and complex than the show’s four lead characters combined.

The version we know today got its start in the 1960s with Ocean Spray.

The company would print drink recipes on the sides of its bottles to promote the versatility of its juices. One such marketing campaign featured a drink called the Harpoon, a mix of vodka, cranberry juice, orange liqueur and a squeeze of lime. Sound familiar? From there, the journey of the fabled drink leads us to the fern bars of the 1970s in San Francisco. Fern bars are upscale see-and-be-seen spots where the beloved Lemon Drop martini and Cosmo are rumored to have been spawned. And finally we head to Miami’s South Beach, where bartender Cheryl Cook is said to have “created” the Cosmopolitan in the mid1980s. Absolut Citron was an unknown product at the time, and South Beach was chosen as a test market. As Cook states in a letter to cocktail writer Gary Regan: “My Southern Wine and Spirits rep brought me a new Absolut product, Absolut Citron. He said, ‘Create something Cheryl.’”

And while the modern Cosmopolitan was thus introduced to the public consciousness, we simply haven’t gone back far enough to discover the roots of this enigmatic drink.

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Laura Ann Miller

The first noted mention of a cocktail called the Cosmopolitan dates back to 1927 – on Page 82 of Barflies and Cocktails, to be exact. It includes vodka, but that’s the only thing the modern version shares with this fantastic classic. As the author states: “Casting a side glance at the mealticket, O.O. McIntyre concocts the ‘Cosmopolitan:’ 1/6 Italian vermouth, 1/6 French vermouth, 1/6 Swedish Punsch, 1/6 Scotch whisky, 1/6 Irish whiskey, 1/6 Russian vodka. And then the case containing the corpse is submitted to the League of Nations.” This sounds like a potentially horrid drink, but as we’ve learned, we don’t know as much about the Cosmo as we thought.

Subtle hints of tea from the punsch play extremely well with the smoke and barrel of the whiskies, while the vermouths round off the bite. It’s a truly well-balanced palate pleaser that, when compared with the modern favorite, is just a bit more, well, cosmopolitan.

The Cosmopolitan (1927 version)

BARTENDER KNOWLEDGE

oz ½ ½ oz ½ oz ½ oz ½ oz

½ oz

blended Scotch whisky (not single malt) Irish whiskey, preferably Redbreast or Jameson Swedish punsch vodka, preferably Ruskova or Boyd & Blair Italian vermouth, preferably Cocchi Vermouth di Torino or Dolin Rouge French vermouth, preferably Dolin Dry or Noilly Prat lemon twist

Swedish Punsch

Italian and French Vermouths

This is a cocktail ingredient that is, by chance, a cocktail in and of itself. It’s a blend of white rum, lemon juice, simple syrup, tea and Batavia Arrack. Arrack is rum made with sugarcane and fermented red rice. It’s produced in Indonesia, specifically on the island of Java. There are a few bars around the country that make it in house; however, to date, I know of only two products that are mass-marketed: Carlshamns Flaggpunsch Swedish Punsch Liqueur and Kronan Swedish Punsch. Both of these can be purchased online.

When you read older cocktail books, you see | Preparation | Combine all ingredients except lemon twist in a shaker, these two terms used extensively. “Italian add ice and shake for 15 seconds. Pour through a fine strainer into a chilled vermouth” refers to sweet vermouth, or red/ cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. rouge vermouth. French vermouth is dry vermouth. At one time, only Italy produced red Matt Seiter is a co-founder of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s St. Louis vermouth for export and only France the dry chapter, a member of the national board for the USBG’s MA program and a continuing educator for all desiring knowledge of the craft of mixology. He is a vermouth. Today vermouths, both dry member of Drink Lab and is the creator of the Sanctuaria Cocktail Club. and sweet, are produced all over the world.

The nomenclature in the recipe at right is check it out! an ode to the past as well as an excuse for Get Matt’s recipe for the modern version a spirited history lesson. – M.S.

Feast extra

of the Cosmopolitan at feastSTL.com.

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

17

FEAST FAVES

| design trends we love

HOT-WATER DISPENSERS

Convenience isn’t revolutionary, but it never ceases to capture our collective interest.

After a number of kitchen design houses exhibited hot-water dispensers at last summer’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) show, these handy fixtures have been popping up on shelves in design boutiques and home stores alike.

The singular faucet delivers near-boiling filtered water on demand, as well as instant gratification to coffee and tea drinkers. These dispensers are also great for sanitizing baby bottles and food storage containers, or simply speeding up the unsticking of baked-on food from your favorite casserole dish.

Most come as part of a line of fixtures, so you can coordinate your hot-water dispenser with the rest of your kitchen components. How convenient. – B.W.

Elio water dispenser by Dornbracht, $998; Centro Modern Furnishings, centro-inc.com

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NLIN ETS O

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ICK .org BUY T r d i G r a s a StLM ON W US T w i t t e r O L L FO o o k & g b /stlm s a Face r iG Mard @STL

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S T N E EV

Your ticket includes samples of wine from over 50 varietals of premiere vintners, beer from AB InBev, and TICKETS new this year, whiskeys from the IN ADVANCE Jack Daniels’ portfolio. Attendees also receive four food sampling tickets.

Additional food samples will be available for purchase at the event.

You must be 21 years of age or older to AT T H E attend this event.

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Watch 20 of St. Louis' premiere professional and amateur chefs compete for the title of "Best Cajun/Creole Dish," all while sampling T I C K E T S delicious Cajun and Creole specialties and IN ADVANCE an open bar featuring Southern Comfort Hurricanes, Bud Light, and soft drinks. Additional food samples will AT T H E be available for purchase at the event.

$35

S AT . F E B . 4 , N O O N - 4 P M ST. LOUIS CITY HALL

$40 DOOR

J. Pollack Photography

FEAST FAVES / secret ingredient FEAST FAVES | THE DISH

Contributor’s Pick

Andrew Mark Veety

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Woofie’s Dogs Woofie’s, a bright-yellow hot dog shack off the beaten path in Overland, has been a St. Louis landmark, institution and rite of passage for more than three decades.

Diners looking to challenge their intestinal fortitude can – and do – dig into a menu of loaded-down dogs. I tend to stick with two, The Woofie and the New York Nathan. The Woofie is steamed and topped Chicago-style – dragged through the garden – with mustard, neon relish, pickle, onion, tomato, celery salt and sport peppers, while the New York Nathan is grilled on a flat top and then dressed with brown mustard, relish and sauerkraut.

Both are tributes to their respective cities and blissfully devoid of ketchup, whose addition constitutes a crime against hot dogs in any ZIP code.

Woofie’s 314.426.6291 Overland Get more of Andrew’s dish picks in his weekly online column, Out to Lunch, every Monday at feastSTL.com.

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1919 Woodson Road, Overland

FEAST FAVES

| shop-o-matic

AUTCOhome 314.373.2000

a cook’s playground

Maryland Heights

We all envy children their mega toy stores, where they can play to

microwave off the counter by incorporating it seamlessly into the

their hearts’ content with the newest and coolest stuff. We adults

cabinetry. And Hart sees the popularity of home cooking defining

want to spend a few awestruck hours in a wonderland of our

design, with the rise in demand for two-person kitchens, which

grown-up toys as well. That’s what AUTCOhome is for.

have additional work space and appliances to accommodate cooking-centric households.

“In our showroom you can see things in action,” says Joan Hart, vice president of appliances. “You can turn dials, see how the

While the staff knows the ins and outs of the store’s appliances,

controls work, even get behind the stove and cook with our in-

chef Nate Bonner is there to talk practical application. He’s on

house chef if you want.”

hand most days for demos, cooking classes or private events or just to show off all the fun you can have with these exceptional

The store’s automated model kitchens let you test out new

appliances. If you want to lose yourself in the excitement of

technologies and trends featured on a huge selection of

building your dream kitchen, this is the place to be. – B.W.

appliances. AUTCOhome also works with builders and designers to incorporate current design ideas into your kitchen. Hart says

11610 Page Service Drive, Maryland Heights

microwave drawers are a popular design element – they keep the

autcohome.com

TO BOOST YOUR CULINARY PROWESS: |1|

|2|

| 1 | The EasyConvect feature on KitchenAid’s

and grills. AUTCOhome’s selection includes Viking, convection ovens translates conventional cooking Wolf, Dacor, Thermador and BlueStar, the latter of which comes in 190 colors. | 3 | Supersleek times and temps to convection cooking with the induction cook tops deliver heat directly to the press of a button. Plus, the digital readout on the cooking vessel placed on the cook top, eliminating oven’s display explains the process, teaching you the science behind the technology. | 2 | Professional wasted energy. And they make cooking safer by gas ranges designed for residential use allow you removing hot open surfaces and the possibility of leaving a heat source on unattended. For further to turn up the heat in the kitchen with enhanced “wow” factor, ask to see the boiling ice cube demo. burner control and built-in griddles, charbroilers

PHOTOGRAPHy by Laura Ann Miller

THREE APPLIANCES AT AUTCOhome

|3|

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

21

The Best Local Restaurants In Town Are Original.

¹^úéT%Z òW^ +^÷ò (T#!!T%# Ú% ¶#½% (^J^•úƒòT%Z QL ¼^ƒú÷ 3121 Watson Rd. St. Louis, MO 63139

314.647.6222 www.lorussos.com

– )1^&(^c U11)km ”¢c^kÍ)' ‘e1p1^¢(k ”¢+ ”¢c^kÍ)' ë¢3gk ”+cmgk ‘¢ik î+1$k3p¢^ ‘16/¢3c13 ‘+¢$c3g) ëk)(ú ^ ”¢`k+Í Ž&ii') Y¢& ”c)(+1 ^ ‘¢ik Y^k$k3 Y^k$k3 Hc))c))c//c S¢+$k)( Sk+ ck') S1(k^ Qg3¢pc1 K1ë&))1') ‘&pc3¢ Hc`k ée¢3313') H13¢+pe îß îcËË¢ ëcp¢+m1') Q(¢^c¢3 ‘¢ik ë11)(k+ épe^¢šÍ æ¢/ ë116ø”1((^kÑ1+`) ék+k3mc/c(Í S16k6¢mk Qpk ‘+k¢6 é-&¢+k ñ3k ”+kÑk+Í ^ Žc)(c^^k+Í é-ßc+k) ëk)(¢&+¢3( é&3)k( ÒÒ ”c)(+1 æek ép1((c)e –+6) æek ée¢$km Ž&p` æe+kk H13`kÍ) æ+¢((1+c¢ H¢+pk^^¢ âc3 mk ék( âc(1') écpc^c¢3 îcËËk+c¢ ^ ëc)(1+¢3(k ßc^m S1+)k U+c^^

Loyalty has never tasted so good

Y¢pe (c6k Í1& mc3k ¢( ¢3Í 1i 1&+ +k)(¢&+¢3()þ Í1& ¢pp&6&^¢(k /1c3() i1+ k¢pe m1^^¢+ Í1& )/k3mú ×Ðö /1c3() • c×ö gci( pk+(c•p¢(k i1+ &)k ¢( ¢3Í 1+cgc3¢^) +k)(¢&+¢3(ú www.saintlouisoriginals.com

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JANUARY 2012

”k 1+cgc3¢^ ¢3m b1c3 (ek é(ú K1&c) ñ+cgc3¢^) i+k-&k3( mc3k+ /+1g+¢6ú

FEAST FAVES

| what we’re buying

SCANDI STYLE

|1|

Scandinavian cooking is a hot trend in the U.S., but the Nords are also known for their excellent design aesthetics. Check out these great Nordic designs for kitchen and dining. – B.W.

|2|

|3|

|4|

|5| |6|

| 1 | Charles apron, $43; marimekko.com | 2 | Rice dk melamine turners, $20 for set of three; huset-shop.com | 3 | Siirtolapuutarha Räsymatto black and white teapot, $79, Kippis mug, $20, Hetkia Moments mug without handle, $19; Crate & Barrel, 1 The Boulevard, Richmond Heights, crateandbarrel.com | 4 | Iittala Aarne glassware, starting at $44.99; Bed Bath & Beyond, multiple locations, bedbathandbeyond.com | 5 | Edblad & Co. bottle opener, $40; huset-shop.com | 6 | Socks Rolled Down glass pitchers, $89 each; marimekko.com

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

23

MY STUFF

Chris LaRocca

Owner of C/A Restaurant Development and Management Co. written by Catherine Neville

|

shot on location at EdgeWild Restaurant & Winery

When you consider a new concept, what’s the litmus test to determine whether you should move on it or not?

Generally, I trust my first reaction, and then I push hard to go after that project. There is a core group of people that I trust and rely on to give me honest feedback. Your restaurants all launch with fully conceived, welldone collateral. Menus, websites … every piece is professionally produced.

How did you learn that this was such a necessary piece of the puzzle? Having been a part of corporate restaurant companies has taught me to understand how important all of those pieces are in the success of a concept.

We try to think at a higher level, which allows us to more thoroughly cover all the bases.

What is your favorite part of launching a new restaurant? Developing the menu. The soul of the restaurant is in the menu and its ingredients. In addition, I especially enjoy the seven to nine days of staff training leading up to the first day of opening ... a brand new staff that is fired up and ready to hit it hard. Once a place launches, how hands-on are you? I am extremely hands on, but the management team prefers to keep me away from the POS system – I generally cause more problems than solutions there. As Clint Eastwood said, “A man’s got to realize his limitations.” For me, it’s best to float from one area of the restaurant to another and comment on everything. We hire great people and let them do their jobs.

Favorite food memory? Barbecued chicken at my grandparents. My grandpa had this great brick barbecue pit in his backyard, and he would grill chicken until the skin was charred black and then slather it with sauce. Not sure how healthy it was, but man it was good!

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C/A Restaurant Development and Management Co. 314.267.1686 chris@culinarch.com Visit feastSTL.com to read the full interview with Chris LaRocca.

PHOTOGRAPHY By Gregg Goldman

You’ve almost certainly eaten in one of Chris LaRocca’s restaurants. He’s had a hand in a number of buzz-heavy spots around town: Sage, Triumph, Kota Wood Fired Grill and now EdgeWild and the upcoming Crushed Red. He’s also been a part of Crazy Fish, Chandler Hill Winery, Mile 277 Tap & Grill, Tony Roma’s, Tomatillo and Casa Gallardo. One could say that LaRocca has helped define the flavor of St. Louis, but every concept he designs is different. So what’s his role in each new venture? “Sometimes it’s a concept that I’m working on, and I’m able to find a location and partner that fit,” says LaRocca. “Sometimes it’s a building or business owner that needs a restaurant, and they seek out my services.

Other times it may be a specific location that I’ve identified and then develop a concept that fits. In the latter, it becomes an exercise of identifying a style of restaurant that will complement the neighborhood.”

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JANUARY 2012

gadget a-go-go |2|

Put to the test

|4| |3|

CANDY

THERMOMETERS written by Pat Eby

|1|

|5|

Photography by Laura Ann Miller

|1|

CDN ProAccurate Insta-Read Candy and Deep Fry Thermometer PROS

The dial-style read on this instant thermometer made finding sweet spots easy, especially since they’re marked out in red. You can recalibrate this baby. The clip accommodates the thin stainless steel stem nicely and holds to the pot. The read’s quick too, as temperatures rise. The dial situated parallel to and above the steamy stuff was a nice change from staring head-on at a boiling pot.

CONS

Out of the box, ProAccurate measured boiling water at 225ºF. Recalibration instructions, available only on the website, provided an easy fix. Info on the packaging would have been nice. Ditto for how to use the sheath as a handle.

During testing, the clip lost a bit of grip. $11.95; Kitchen Conservatory, 8021 Clayton Road, Clayton, kitchenconservatory.com

|2|

|3|

Cooper Deep-Fry Confectionary Thermometer PROS

This professional cook’s tool is accurate to within 2 degrees in boiling water and has a bright blue, easy-to-read fluid rise.

The black plastic handle with ridges grips great and remains cool to the touch. The clip glides easily yet holds firm to the side of the pan. A metal stop below the glass tip prevents the thermometer glass from resting on the bottom of the pan.

CONS

This ruler-style thermometer needs 2½ inches of gooey, hot candy or boiling oil in the bottom of a pot to register properly. Hand-wash only for cleanup.

The manufacturer recommends fine steel wool to remove stubborn grease, which sounds wearisome. $12.48; Session Fixture Co., 6044 Lemay Ferry Road, Mehlville, sessionfixtures.com

Taylor 519 Connoisseur Digital Candy/ Deep Fry Thermometer PROS

Taylor hit the trifecta with this thermometer. Accurate, speedy and the easiest model for seeing the numbers.

The head swivels too. Most fun feature: Eleven preprogrammed temperature settings take the guesswork out of recipes. Click on hard ball stage; when the boiling liquid reaches 320ºF, the thermometer beeps. Caramel, 248ºF. Yum. Beep.

CONS

Like many beautiful and sleek things, this thermometer is high-maintenance.

The head won’t tolerate sun or heat and absolutely not water. Changing the lithium battery involves a tiny screwdriver – think eyeglass screws – and deft manipulation of delicate components.

|4|

|5|

Taylor Classic Candy-Deep Fry Thermometer

Taylor Pro Kitchen CandyJelly-Deep Fry Thermometer

PROS

Right on temperature from the get-go.

Pretty impressive. The stainless steel housing on this scale makes it heavier than other ruler types. The solidity works. Clamped to the side of a pan, it’s steady. The cool-grip handle hefts nicely. Dishwasher-safe too.

CONS

For accurate measurement, this thermometer needs to rest in 2½ inches of oil, jams, candies and syrups.

Because ruler thermometers are so big, storage in small kitchens needs thinking through. Hanging might work best. $9.99; Bed Bath & Beyond, multiple locations, bedbathandbeyond.com

PROS

On-the-money reading in the boilingwater test. On budget with its tiny price.

It’s supersized – nearly 9 inches long – and heavy too, with a thick glass wall. A jaunty yellow ball makes a good grabber to position the clip. This baby can hang from a hole in the cap, so it doesn’t require drawer storage. A plastic sheath clips on for extra protection when the thermometer is not in use.

CONS

It’s glass. It can break. Condensation builds up on the outside as syrups bubble, which makes the bright blue line harder to see. $3.99; Hobby Lobby, multiple locations, hobbylobby.com

$25; Sur La Table, Plaza Frontenac, Frontenac, surlatable.com

C h ec

k pa g o u t e

27!

W h at to l oo k for : Type: Choices range from simple, inexpensive glass bulb thermometers to digital models with bells, beeps and whoops – and quite often a high price. Sturdy ruler styles and instant-read temperature-gaugers fill in the middle with good features and reasonable price points. If you rarely make candy and seldom deepfry, choose bulb, ruler or instant-read styles. Distracted cooks, everyday candy makers and the toy-obsessed: Go digital.

Readability: Look for numbers big enough to read easily. For ruler and bulb thermometers, the contrast of the fluid line against the background is important. Select a face size on the dial of the

instant-reads to fit your peepers. When hot oil bubbles or vapors from superhot sugar syrup cloud the display, readability matters.

Accuracy: Thermometers must be tested before use to determine accuracy. Choose a thermometer that’s precise to within 1 or 2 degrees, or look for a model that can be recalibrated.

Clip: Rock-steady. Clipped tight. Nonslip. That’s what you want. A good clip holds the thermometer at the same level throughout and doesn’t allow the tip to touch the bottom of the pot. None of the clips scratched pots during testing, but to be safe, choose smooth.

These thermometers are great for making sweet jams, but did you know jams can be savory too?

Check out Tech School to learn more.

Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

27

ON the shelf

BEER written by Michael Sweeney

The creator of STLHops.com and founder of St. Louis Craft Beer Week, Michael Sweeney is also the craft beer manager at Lohr Distributing.

4 Hands Brewing Co.’s Bona Fide Imperial Espresso Stout STYLE: Imperial Stout (9% abv) AVAILABLE AT: 4 Hands Brewing Co., 1220 S. Eighth St., LaSalle Park, 4handsbrewery. com; $5 (10-oz draught) Pairing: Chocolate cake

The new year gives us reason to recall how fortunate we’ve been this past year. We had five new breweries open in St. Louis in 2011, and the newest of those, 4 Hands, brings us a truly excellent beer. Brewed with vanilla and espresso from local roaster Goshen Coffee, this beer is a great way to celebrate 2012.

Brouwerij St. Bernard’s St. Bernardus Abt 12 STYLE: Quadrupel (10.5% abv) AVAILABLE AT: Randall’s, multiple locations, shoprandalls.com; $11.99 (750-ml bottle) Pairings: Burnt-ends sandwich • Smoked Gouda

People search far and wide for Westvleteren 12, considered by some to be the best beer in the world. I’ll let you in on a little secret though: St. Bernardus Abt 12 is just as good as the Westie 12 (if not better), and you don’t have to pay a fortune or have it shipped in from Belgium. It’s available in our own backyard.

Firestone Walker Brewing Co.’s Union Jack STYLE: American IPA (7.5% abv) AVAILABLE AT: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations, wineandcheeseplace.com; $9.99 (6-pack, 12-oz bottles) Pairings: Taleggio • Shrimp gumbo

It’s very difficult to win a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival. With more than 100 competitors each year, it’s especially difficult to win the American IPA category. But it’s easy to see why Union Jack won the gold two years in a row. It may be the finest IPA being made in America, and I’m glad it’s finally available in St. Louis.

SPIRITS written by Chad Michael George

Award-winning sommelier and mixologist Chad Michael George is founder of Proof Academy, which covers everything from wine and cocktail list consulting to spirits and mixology education.

Angostura 5-year Rum Provenance: Trinidad and Tobago (40% abv) Available at: Randall’s, multiple locations, shoprandalls.com; $21.99 Try it: With a few rocks or in a traditional daiquiri (no blender, please)

Angostura has been well-known since the late 19th century for its aromatic bitters. In the 1940s the company started producing rum as well, and it’s now available locally. The five-year rum is blended and aged five to eight years in used American-oak bourbon barrels. Vanilla, caramel, maple and brown sugar dominate the taste. It’s slightly sweeter than other rums of a similar age, which makes it great for sipping.

Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin Provenance: Holland (47.6% abv) Available at: The Wine & Cheese Place, select locations, wineandcheeseplace.com; $39.99 Try it: In an extra-dry martini

The family behind Ketel One vodka is now bottling a delicious gin with the same wheat used to distill its vodka. With dominant floral notes, this gin is smooth, aromatic and well-balanced. Turkish rose, white peach and raspberry are used in production, and these botanicals are very unusual in gin. There are hints of the requisite juniper, but the Turkish rose and white peach flavors make this gin shine.

Fifty Pounds Gin Provenance: London (43.5% abv) Available at: Lukas Liquor Superstore, 15921 Manchester Road, Ellisville, lukasliquorstl.com; $32.99 Try it: With your favorite tonic water

This new entry into the market is a true London dry gin, meaning juniper is the dominant botanical. And its name – taken from the Gin Act of 1736, which required anyone manufacturing and selling gin to pay a 50-pound tax – is a fitting flashback to the classic London dry styles. Fifty Pounds has a light and somewhat oily texture on the tongue with prevailing flavors of citrus, juniper and coriander. This is a great substitute for the classic gins on your shelf.

OUR TOP PICKS FOR JANUARY Pouring wine photography by ©iStockphoto.com/Lauri Patterson

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WINE written by Angela Ortmann

STLwinegirl Angela Ortmann shares her passion for all things epicurean through her event and consultation business, which is dedicated to enhancing your food and wine experience.

2008 Merum Garnacha Provenance: Spain Available at: West End Wines, 4906 Laclede Ave., Central West End, westendwines.com; $12.99 Pairings: Olive tapenade • Chili • Baked pastas

Chilly nights often call for something a bit dark and spicy. Produced predominantly from the Grenache grape with a small addition of Syrah, this red blend unleashes juicy black cherry interlaced with subtle pepper. One of Spain’s youngest winemakers is responsible for this sleek, modern wine from the Old World that benefits from little to no fining and filtration and limited time in oak.

2008 Sierra Madre Pinot Noir Provenance: Santa Maria Valley, Calif.

Available at: Robust Wine Bar, 227 W. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, robustwinebar.com; $28 Pairings: Camembert • Dijon salmon • Roasted pork

The cool coastal climate of Santa Barbara County creates polished yet complex California Pinot Noirs. Finessed notes of sweet wild berries are the focus in this vivid, vivacious wine with undertones of earth. Beautifully balanced because of its lush mouthfeel and bright acidity, this wine is ideal for both quaffing and food pairing.

2009 Skyleaf Riesling Provenance: New Zealand Available at: Bottle Cellars, 6039 Telegraph Road, Oakville, bottlecellars.com; $9.99 Pairings: Washed rind cheeses • Dim sum • Steamed clams

Break the winter routine with this light and fruity Riesling from the unexpected region of New Zealand. This crisp, uncomplicated white is concentrated with peach, green apple and tropical melon. Honeyed notes of sweetness, delicate layers of floral tones and minerality unfold in this versatile, affordable and easy drinker.

Join Angela Ortmann and FEAST publisher Catherine Neville for a happy hour wine tasting at Eclipse on Thu., Jan. 19, at 6pm.

RSVP to rsvp@stlwinegirl.com.

JOIN US! Inspired Food Culture

JANUARY 2012

29

mystery shopper

Arroz Caldo (Chicken and Rice Porridge)

By Brian Hardesty, Guerrilla Street Food

Serves | 6 | 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp

1 2 Tbsp

6 5 cups

1

7 cups

minced ginger minced garlic yellow onion, diced sesame oil finger peppers (or preferred chile) forbidden rice whole chicken (deboned and cut into chunks) salt and pepper chicken stock fish sauce to taste

and onions in the sesame oil until the garlic turns golden-brown. Add peppers and rice. Toast the rice for a couple of minutes and remove from heat. In a separate skillet, brown the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Deglaze with a bit of chicken stock.

Add the chicken to the pot of rice. Add all of the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook the rice until it begins to slightly break down and the chicken is tender (you may need to add more stock or water to get the rice to a risotto-like consistency). Season with fish sauce and serve in a bowl. If desired, garnish with fried garlic and scallions.

MEET: Forbidden Rice Are you feeling a little rusty? (Rarely a day goes by when I don’t.) The oxidation process – getting oxygen into the blood – produces free radicals, the equivalent of rust, in the body. That’s why foods that are high in antioxidants – dark-skinned berries, chocolate, red wine – are so important for our diet. But now an ancient Chinese secret – once reserved for the emperor, according to legend – may offer the greatest source of antioxidants ever.

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written by Russ Carr

What is it?

How do I use it?

Forbidden rice is short-grained and nonglutinous rice that looks black when raw. It cooks to a deep indigo because of a high level of anthocyanins, antioxidants being studied for their potentially substantial health benefits. It got its name in China, where – legend has it – centuries ago only the emperor and those he granted permission were allowed to eat the grain. (Among those fortunate friends with benefits: the emperor’s concubines, as this dark grain was thought to be a potent aphrodisiac.) While there is no definitive proof on forbidden rice’s … potency … it’s decidedly higher in fiber and some minerals than even brown rice. It does come saddled with many more carbs though.

Forbidden rice can be used in place of any other rice but works particularly well in salads or desserts. Its distinctively nutty flavor fares best with brighter pairings – try it cold, tossed with mango and a light vinaigrette, rather than as a side with pork chops and gravy. Don’t be surprised if it’s a little chewy after cooking; it’s naturally chewier than regular white or brown rice.

If you really want to crank up your antioxidant levels, whip up a blueberry-studded rice pudding using forbidden rice. Then top it with a scattering of chopped walnuts, and serve it with a glass of red wine. Those rust-bearing free radicals will never know what hit ’em.

PHOTOGRAPHy by Jennifer Silverberg

| Preparation | In a stockpot, fry ginger, garlic

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tECH SCHOOL

Savory Jam STORY AND RECIPE BY Cassandra Vires

The combination of sweet and savory has long been an obsession of mine, so I was excited to see the emerging trend of savory jams.

A jam, by definition, is a condiment created by combining the natural pectin in fruit with sugar and acid to create a thick spread. Pectin will gel only when combined with the proper ratios of sugar and acid, so it’s important not to tamper with those ratios. Fruits have natural pectin, but some, like apples and citrus, have more than others. These fruits make ideal jams since you don’t have to add powdered pectin.

While savory jams don’t call for pectin, the combination of sugar and acid with proteins from ingredients like onion, bacon and tomato creates a consistency similar to that of sweet jam.

Achieving the correct set in a savory jam requires, as with sweet jams, achieving the right sugar-to-acid ratio.

It’s fun to experiment with the ratios to find the consistency you prefer. You can also experiment with different acids and sugars. Typically vinegars are best in savory jams, but apple cider vinegar will yield a very different flavor than Champagne vinegar or red wine vinegar. Also, granulated white sugar will do the trick, but brown sugar, raw sugar, honey and even maple syrup can achieve outstanding results.

Although canning will preserve jams, simply storing them in an airtight jar will keep most fresh for up to one month. This is a great way to extend some of that late fall produce into the winter months, and I always make a huge batch of tomato jam once I know the tomato season is coming to a close.

That way I can enjoy tomatoes’ bright flavor all winter long.

Now that we’re deep into winter, I make bacon jam, which is a personal favorite. The smoky, sweet, salty and sticky flavors meld together to create something that can be described only as bacony goodness. While the popularity of bacon may be a passing trend, bacon jam should always have a place at the table.

Cassandra Vires is the owner and chef of Home Wine Kitchen.

She received her culinary training in Houston and has a knack for reimagining classic dishes.

COOKING VIDEO!

Watch chef Cassy make this savory bacon jam step by step.

Scan the Microsoft Tag from your smart phone (get the free app at gettag.mobi), or watch the video in the Watch & Listen section at

feastSTL.com.

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Bacon Jam This savory jam can be used at breakfast, lunch or dinner as a great accompaniment to eggs, toast, burgers and grilled meats. Try adding chile powder if you prefer a little heat.

Yield | 3 cups |

2 lbs

2 1 head 1½ cups 1 cup ½ cup ½ cup ½ cup 1 Tbsp

hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch cubes large onions, minced garlic, minced brewed coffee water apple cider vinegar maple syrup light brown sugar honey

| Preparation | Heat a large pot over medium heat. | 1 | Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pot.

| 2 | Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add bacon, coffee,

water, vinegar, syrup, sugar and honey. | 3 | Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat for 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy.

Remove from heat and transfer to a food processor. Purée until finely chopped. Place in an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator for up to one month.

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PHOTOGRAPHY by Jennifer Silverberg

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EASY EATS

A Homemade Takeout Treat STORY and Recipe by Lucy Schnuck

|1|

Pot stickers are a takeout favorite for most of us, but it’s fun and easy to make them in your own kitchen. Asian dumplings are versatile and can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including meat, grains, vegetables and even sweet fillings. This quick recipe uses traditional Asian flavors, but experiment with some of your favorite ingredients and come up with your own signature combination. And remember: Pot stickers don’t have to look pretty on your first try – and you get to eat the mistakes!

Serves | 6 to 8 | 2 cups

3 Tbsp 1 tsp ½ lb 1 tsp ½ tsp 1 tsp ½ tsp

1 pkg 2 Tbsp

|2|

napa cabbage, finely shredded, plus leaves for lining chives, chopped kosher salt ground pork fresh ginger, grated freshly ground black pepper soy sauce Mongolian Fire Oil or chile oil cornstarch for dusting won ton wrappers grapeseed oil

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 200ºF. Toss cabbage, chives and salt in a bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the cabbage to wilt. Once cabbage is wilted, squeeze all moisture from it

with your hands or a potato ricer.

Place cabbage mixture in a large bowl and add pork, grated ginger, black pepper, soy sauce and chile oil. Mix well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust it with cornstarch. Have a small bowl of water at hand. Place 1 tsp of the filling on the center of a wrapper. Dip your finger in the water and moisten the edge of the wrapper. | 1 | Bring a corner of the won ton up over the filling to meet the opposite corner and press the edges of the dough firmly together. Fold the edges in and press together, forming a tiny

envelope. Repeat these steps with the remaining filling and wrappers. Keep won tons spaced apart; if they touch, they could stick together.

Heat grapeseed oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. | 2 | Quickly but carefully place the pot stickers in the skillet and brown them on both sides. | 3 | Place 1 cup water in a deep skillet over high heat and set a cabbage-lined bamboo steamer in the water. When the water boils, steam the pot stickers in batches, about 5 minutes per batch.

Transfer pot stickers to a baking sheet with a rack and hold in the oven till ready to serve.

|3|

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CHEF’S

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Don’t skimp on the fat. Be sure to use fattier ground pork, such as meat from the pork shoulder, which will help keep the cooked filling moist and tender.

Do a taste test. Because the cabbage is

salted in the first step of this recipe, it will affect the seasoning of your finished filling. Before preparing the won tons, test the flavor of the filling by cooking 1 tsp of the mixture in a small skillet over medium heat until it is cooked through. Taste, and adjust seasoning if needed.

check it out!

PHOTOGRAPHY by Jennifer Silverberg

Feast extra

Check out feastSTL.com for a step-by-step slide show on making this month’s dish.

Love recipes? www.feastSTL.com

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JOIN US! rsvp: schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

Join FEAST and Schnucks Cooking School on Wed., Jan. 18 at 6pm to make the tasty dishes in the menu above. Tickets are just $45 for a night of cooking, dining and wine. RSVP at schnuckscooks.com.

Check out our extensive database!

Get access to every recipe published in FEAST – plus hundreds from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Let’s Eat section. Our easy-to-use database lets you search by ingredients, course, cuisine and more.

Just click the Recipes link at feastSTL.com!

PHOTOGRAPHY by Jennifer Silverberg

Inspired Food Culture

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FEAST invited some of the region’s most innovative entrepreneurs to discuss the current state of the culinary industry and its future. For the full conversation, head to feastSTL.com.

Part 1: Dinner at Blood & Sand EDITED by Catherine Neville and Brandi Wills Photography by Jennifer Silverberg

Seated at the table were: ○ Stanley Browne, owner of Robust Wine Bar and certified sommelier ○ Maddie Earnest, co-owner of Local Harvest Grocery, Café and Catering ○ Gerard Craft, owner of Craft Restaurants Ltd. ○ Tom Niemeier, owner of SPACE Architecture + Design ○ David Wolfe, co-founder of Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. ○ Josh Ferguson, co-owner of Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co. ○ Brian Pelletier, owner and chief chocolatier of Kakao Chocolate ○ John Perkins, chef and owner of entre FEAST: All of you have years of experience under your belts.

What’s your one piece of advice for people who want to follow in your footsteps?

BROWNE: From my perspective, you’ve got to make sure that what you’re doing stays on the right track. It’s always going to need adjustments. But you’ve got to be committed to what the dream was, the visualization, because people always try to change things. You’ve got to listen to your gut. Trust your instincts and what you know and believe in.

EARNEST: The time you spend away from food, doing spreadsheets, things on the business side I didn’t anticipate so much. Find that balance that still keeps your focus on what you want to do, on what’s important to you. Make sure to make time for that so you stay invested.

CRAFT: I would say, too, to realize that there’s no such thing as an overnight success. Even if you are successful doing another project, it takes a lot of time for each identity to really come into its own. … Every time I open a restaurant, I think things will be easier and easier. But it’s a whole new restaurant, you know.

It’s like if you have another kid, you think it’s going to be easier.

But it’s not; it’s the same thing. … You have to be patient and, again, work extremely hard. Keep attacking the problems and be relentless because it takes that for each single thing that you do.

FEAST: How do you stay true to your vision?

GC: Well, Niche, for a year and a half there, with the recession, we didn’t know what to do. And we blurred that vision a lot … and it really, really hurt us. I’m glad to say that we’re back on [track] and [moving] beyond our initial vision. … Failing is not an option. You have to strive for [success] and keep pursuing it.

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FEAST: How can effective marketing or great design help you compete in a tight economy?

NIEMEIER: It’s important that the design is right. That the design coexists with the concept of the food. That’s one of the most important things we try to do: align with the vision of the chef. I’ve always said that I think a restaurant that puts out really good food can survive and be successful without, maybe, a great environment. But it certainly can’t exist the other way [around].

SB: I opened [in] September 2007, right before the recession. And I knew that a recession was coming, though not quite the extent. But I kind of played into it with our

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concept, which is to experiment with food – small plates, small portions, wine flights. So [customers] could come in and spend $20 or $200.

WOLFE: We’re finding that [beer drinkers are] willing to spend more for premium beers. Dollar-wise, you find that craft beer, in particular, is a category of growth.

SB: It’s an affordable luxury. … Beer is now going through a similar kind of thing that wine went through.

FERGUSON: I think coffee’s behind wine and beer. Coffee is one of the most complex beverages that exists. Just like there are different varieties of grapes that produce different wines, there are varieties of coffee plants as well. The problem is we can source the best coffee

in the world and do our best to roast it and bring out those amazing natural flavors. But if you buy and brew it incorrectly, it’s going to taste like junk. … But the specialty side of our industry is years behind the wine industry in the amount of effort going into educating people.

FEAST: People are much more knowledgeable about food, so their expectation level is higher. And once those expectations of quality are raised, it’s hard to go back.

In the past 10 to 15 years, we’ve seen such an increase in expectation of quality overall.

GC: There’s also a value factor. So it may not have to do with the cost of the item. … But whether they’re at Niche or whether they’re at Brasserie, people want to feel like the experience was worth the price. So whatever you’re

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doing, whether it’s beer, whether it’s coffee … you really have to execute it, to make sure that there’s value in what you charge.

PELLETIER: When people come [into] our shop, they want to know how we make [chocolate], what’s in it. They like to hear it’s made with lavender from a farm in Eureka or with honey from the farmers’ market. They love hearing those stories.

FEAST: And do they like it when you throw them a curve ball, with the Japanese flavors or other savory flavors?

BP: We have people who come in seeking that out. We have other people who are scared of it. But after they try it, they say, “Wow, this is amazing.”

FEAST: John, you create dinners where people don’t have any idea what they’ll be eating. How do you approach that?

PERKINS: People are very driven by stories. So if you can connect your product to some kind of experience, you can provide [customers] something that is more than a single item on a plate. … People are willing to part with their money because of the trust relationship.

FEAST: Because when you market yourself, you’re really marketing your creative vision. And it’s constantly changing. How do you train your staff to make sure that they’re representing you well?

ME: I think that’s one of the challenges for a small business. … And it is a challenge to keep everyone apprised of every new item that comes in. And yes, we’re a specialty foods store. But we still want to be an accessible place for everyone in the neighborhood. So we try to find a way to meet both those needs and educate people. … The milk you’re buying doesn’t have hormones in it, but it’s also a comparable price to what you’re going to get in a large chain store. So that’s the economy part: trying to match the prices and still keep our specialty, higher-end things like Baetje [Farms] cheese and pasteurized eggs.

FEAST: How did you decide it was time to move the store to a larger location, and how did you manage that move?

ME: We’re still managing it. The small store was a great

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learning environment for us. … And we decided we could grow. [The new location] has been well-received, and it has been a much easier space for everyone – from our purveyors [to] our customers [to] ourselves.

FEAST: Gerard, how do you decide to expand?

GC: I don’t know how many people understand fine dining. But just because [the food] costs a lot more doesn’t mean you make a lot more. So right off the bat, we knew we wanted something a little more casual, especially heading into a recession. … We wanted some place everybody could relate to. And Brasserie, for me, is the kind of place I can relate to. I will say that I think my first expansion was probably the most depressing time, as [customers] shifted from Niche over to Brasserie. [Brasserie] was more affordable in the middle of recession. I don’t think I knew how to deal with that because Niche is so personal to me. And since then, it’s drifted back. [If] people want a nicer, more fine dining experience, they come to Niche. [If] they want a slightly more casual experience, they go to Brasserie. But it’s interesting because a lot of things I was not prepared for. [But] now I’ve learned how to deal with [them].

FEAST: What are some things that stand in the way of growth and expansion?

GC: You can’t do it all yourself. So you better have really, really strong people backing you up.

JF: I can tell you as far as Kaldi’s goes, if it weren’t for our team, we wouldn’t have seen the growth we have over the years. … We all have strengths; we all have weaknesses. Finding strong people who help support us in our weaknesses is key.

listen in CLEAN FOOD

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SB: The world is constantly evolving. So as business owners, you have to evolve as well. You’ve got to give your customers what they’re looking for but still stay true to what you’re about.

FEAST: How do you see things evolving in the industry as a whole?

JF: Our consumers are more sophisticated. They’re looking for unique stuff. They’re looking for things that serve a purpose, something that has value. So we have to build our businesses around that.

FEAST: We’ve gone from relying on large stores to seeking a more personal connection with local food and local food producers.

JF: It has come full circle back to what it was many years ago. Everything on the table is more like it was when our parents were growing up.

FEAST: Why do you think that is?

GC: Awareness. We’re aware that things are beyond messed up. … I think consumers are just now seeing that. … These are huge stains that are making people realize they need to be careful about what they eat and know where it comes from. I would love for people to be eating less protein. And I think that gets misconstrued. I don’t want everyone to become necessarily vegetarians.

But, at the end of the day, there is a balance. The need for the 3-pound steak is ridiculous.

The issue that’s causing all of this is that our ecosystems are going flat right now. I grew up in upstate New York, and we used to fish all the time.

And now all the water has tested positive for E. coli. It’s all because of large-scale farming. That’s a sad statement. It’s because everyone has to eat X amount of meat that we’re ruining our waters. … I think Niche’s huge push right now is going to be on Missouri waterways and all of the fish that used to be in there and all of the animals that used to be associated with that. That’s the trend right now: hyperlocalism. But I think most people don’t understand that we can’t be hyperlocal at the moment because not enough people are doing anything about what’s around us. So instead of being hyperlocal, we need to attack the problem, to better the problem.

P S JOIN US!

Don’t miss your chance to interact directly with these professionals and mingle with your fellow food lovers.

Food & Wine Experience Preview Tasting Thu., Jan. 12, 6 to 8pm; Home Wine Kitchen Complimentary, rsvp@stlwinegirl.com Schnucks’ Dave Birkenmeier, CSW, and STLwinegirl Angela Ortmann join up to guide you through a preview tasting of the premier wines that will be available at this month’s Food & Wine Experience.

L’Ecole Academy Healthy Cooking Wed., Jan. 25 and Thu., Jan. 26, 6 to 9pm; L’Ecole Academy for Culinary Development $140, lecoleacademy.com or 314.264.1999 Keep that resolution! Learn the tricks to cook healthy, delicious meals in your own kitchen.

10th Annual St. Louis Food & Wine Experience Sat., Jan. 28 and Sun., Jan. 29, noon to 5pm; The Chase Park Plaza Hotel repstl.org or 314.968.4925 Celebrate the artistry of fine food and wine at the largest international wine and food show in the Midwest.

Schnucks Cooks Cooking Class Wed., Jan. 18, 6pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School $45, schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704 Get hands-on and make an Asian-inspired menu, including the pot stickers on p. 34.

FEAST: It shows how little we understand our food. Right now we’re seeing all this food television, and a lot of people are consuming it, but they still don’t know how to cook. They become passive consumers of food without understanding the decisions that they’re making.

BP: I think that’s part of our role. They’re watching all this food TV … but don’t know how to experience [food]. They come to our establishment, and we can make that connection for them. We do tasting parties. We put out samples on the counter.

When people come in, we have traditional things that they’re used to, but we also have something like hot pepper or salt in the chocolate. Few people Inspired Food Culture

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will just buy those. But once they try them, they say, “Oh, that’s good.”

JF: People get coffee every day, but most people have no idea where coffee comes from. It’s a tough situation. … We’re so passionate about coffee that we can come off pretentious. I want people to drink better coffee. Where people buy that coffee, I really, honestly don’t care. I just want them to understand what good coffee is. … But it’s a delicate situation because I can’t tell people they’re buying bad coffee or not brewing it right. … So how can we interest them to want to learn more about what good coffee is and how to brew it correctly?... People who are new to drinking coffee probably put tons of cream and sugar in it or drink flavored coffee. …

That’s frowned upon, for sure, in the coffee industry, but many of the people now who are into the more exclusive stuff we brew used to do that. So there’s a stage where our palates develop and grow, and it’s about how to follow consumers through that process.

SB: You can’t take people from a Riesling and throw them into something that’s 180 degrees [different].

You’ve got to take those small steps, and before long they’ll be to a place where their palate develops.

DW: The level of sophistication is growing, but there’s still a consumer out there who’s scared to order some unique beer. That’s at the heart of what we do, currently. Look at our flagship beers, particularly Zwickel, which is an unfiltered lager.

Someone who may have been drinking lagers his whole life, now he tastes this and says, “Wow, there’s a little more [complexity] to it.” But it’s not so far out there that it will scare him away. And, Josh, that interest that you’re talking about has to be learned through experience. It’s an experiential thing for them [customers]. The education factor is key.

SB: If you’re trying to educate, you’ve gotta have

patience. And it’s frustrating sometimes because some people just don’t quite get it, or they don’t want to get it.

GC: It’s so hard to get your staff to not be pretentious.

A lot of employees will see your enthusiasm, and they take that the wrong way. You’ll get an employee who feels very, very confident. … And they stick their nose up at somebody who likes something different. And I’m like, that’s the opposite. They’re going the wrong direction.

You’ve gotta work with them. Whatever you like, it’s fine.

You’ve gotta teach them that that’s OK, and this is OK too.

Why don’t you give this a try, and let’s open your mind.

JP: I think we need to see ourselves, to some degree, as educators in our fields. We’re teaching people. It seems to me something that’s incumbent upon us to take seriously is there needs to be more of a [conversation] about why we do what we do. I feel like I hear the, “Well, it’s local.” “OK, well, why is that?” “Well, because it’s local.” Like people should get that. Well, not really. … We need to understand it. And get it. And be able to tell that story better. And connect with people. And we’ll build longevity in the kind of businesses we’re trying to develop. Because otherwise, if it’s not really rooted in the thing, we’re just waiting for five years for the next thing to come along. And I’m not building a business so I can disappear in five years ... [or] completely reinvent in five years. I’m trying to tell this story that’s real. So the degree to which we understand it is really important. But it seems there’s something missing in the way we think about it and talk about it.

JF: I think that happens with a lot of stuff when it becomes a trend. People hop on board and some people are good for it and some people have a negative impact.

GC: That’s why [it’s important to address] the issues.

There wasn’t everything we wanted six years ago, so we were talking to different farmers and saying: “I like these vegetables, and I like them grown this way. And I don’t like fertilizer. And I like organic. And I like heritage breeds. And I do not like animals that have been confined.” And now, more and more, I see chefs who care. And that is now standard.

So what you’re talking about, “just because it’s local doesn’t mean it’s good,” is absolutely true. We’re right now working with somebody to raise all our beef because I haven’t found good beef in St. Louis. And I’m not going to sit here and argue why, but I haven’t found it yet. … and that’s creating a backbone. We build up all the artisans who are beer makers or chocolate makers or cattle farmers or pig farmers, and that’s where we create a lasting localism, which I think is really important if we want to eat here in Missouri.

Look at fast food around the country right now. Look at Chipotle. I don’t know the internals of their organization, but they’ve been preaching using sustainable pork and nonhormone pork. And you’re seeing all these artisan hamburger joints open. And they’re thriving. But it’s a trickle-down effect. And it is happening, but it takes all of us starting this, maybe in the fine dining world or the grocery world. And then it spreads out. We talk about it as a trend, but it’s not a trend. It’s a way of life.

JP: I think we don’t give the St. Louis public enough credit. It seems to me that there’s actually a growing

listen in MISSOURI WINE and expanding community that supports us. … There’s a growing desire for a lot of this stuff. And it’s slow, maybe not as quick as we want things to happen. But my fear about how we approach the public is, in not giving them enough credit, we actually don’t get our point across.

DW: It’s pretty basic. Right now there are two different pools of resources, and if the city and county could put it all together, there’s a lot they could achieve. From a tax base standpoint, but also, right now there are two different worlds that are trying to exist together.

FEAST: It’s really the small businesses with a true vision that end up creating new markets and creating desire in the consumer, and then the large companies end up adopting it because they realize there’s a market for it. So the place of the small, local culinary business is setting the stage. So what would you guys like to see happening in St. Louis? What would remove impediments?

TN: And it’s a huge difference what the city wants and what the county wants.

SB: I never realized how much a license was, and, obviously, there’s all this paperwork. Everyone’s got a hand out for a piece of your business. The public doesn’t realize the bureaucracy.

ME: There are a lot of things you don’t know are expenses.

It’s just shocking, all the fees for every kind of license.

JF: We see it all the time … people [who want to start a business] just don’t understand what they’re biting off.

It goes from “I’m an amazing cook” and “I have a passion for wine or beer or chocolate” to, all of a sudden, [having] all these other expenses that are growing. But [they’ve] already spent their money. They have to keep the doors open, and, at that point, they’ve already drained resources they probably shouldn’t have.

TN: That’s something we see, too, where somebody comes to us and wants to open a restaurant. They’ll have a budget, and it’s all for kitchen equipment. You really need to do your homework as far as that goes. … Furniture, kitchen equipment, design.

JF: And training. The first six months, there’s no way to control your controllables, like your food costs and such.

You’re still getting a grasp on it, and your people aren’t at the level they should be in the kitchen. … There’s some time that has to happen before you get to the point where you’re able to crunch numbers and start making money, which is tough to do in a restaurant.

DW: It goes back to your first question about advice. It’s great to have a vision and a passion about what you want to do. But you [also] need a business plan. There’s still the unexpected. It’s going to happen, and that’s just the reality.

But if you can take out as many unexpecteds as possible, it’s going to help you realize the vision. Otherwise, you’re going to struggle all the way.

FEAST: Back to what you guys want to see in the industry.

DW: Two things in St. Louis. I want to see the county and the city come together, and then I want to see St. Louis have an identity on a national level.

FEAST: Why do you want to see the city and the county come together?

listen in CITY/COUNTY MERGER

GC: I might get killed for saying this, but let’s put money maybe not into another stadium but into the airport. Let’s give them some relief so they can actually have flights come out of there. Do you want to know why our tourism and convention business is low? Why would they have a convention – where people have to come from all over the country or the world – why would they have that convention here when some people have to take three or four planes just to get here? I mean, it’s just getting worse and worse. We want these people to be able to traffic through here easily, and they really can’t. It’s a huge impediment for us on a larger level.

SB: I would like to see St. Louis create itself more, have an identity.

There has been a push toward Missouri wine country as well. And yes, I want to build up Missouri wine country because I want to see it preserved. But I want to see Missouri wines taken seriously and the Missouri winemakers taken seriously. And there are a few that are starting to step up. … I’m not going to bring people here for my restaurant, except maybe a handful. But wine country – why not? Why wouldn’t you take a vacation from Chicago to [Missouri] wine country? It’s gorgeous.

SB: I just think the potential for Missouri wine and tourism is huge. … It could be one of our biggest tourist attractions. But what I also see is a lack of transportation to get around St. Louis as a tourist. The jewels of St. Louis are all spread out.

JF: I think that’s an issue with St. Louis trying to revitalize itself. There are so many pockets that there’s not a central core, an area to be really focused on. All these different cool areas have potential, but whether or not they’ll ever reach their potential is yet to be seen.

SB: Well, all the European cities have sight-seeing bus tours and things like that. We’ve got to create destinations and tourist spots around St. Louis and the county.

TN: St. Louis City is probably not promoting [things in] the county. It goes back to that county line.

JF: And the county doesn’t want public transportation coming out. It’s been voted down. … I like the wine thing.

It’s interesting. I talked to somebody that has a winery in Missouri, and they went on and on for 30 minutes about how there’s all these restaurants promoting local Missouri stuff, but then you look at their wine list and no Missouri wines. … Why don’t these local [restaurants] embrace it so that we could produce better wines?

SB: There’s a stigma around Missouri wines, which I think is a bad rap. As a restaurateur, I see people coming in, and they Inspired Food Culture

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just poo-pah Missouri wines because they think they’re all sweet. Then I educate them. I pour a Chardonnel in their glass, which is just kick-ass, and I open people’s minds.

GC: So again, it’s the backbone.

Where are all the young wine makers, like the young chefs?

All it takes is one or two to tip the scale.

FEAST: How do you get past that kind of emotional, intellectual barrier some people have and open their minds?

GC: Well, first it takes somebody out of town – and that’s sad to say. But it’s the same with the food world. It really took someone else saying great things about St. Louis food for people to, all of a sudden, realize, well, yeah, we do have a lot of great chefs here. We do have a lot of good food and good resources. The tipping point really is just someone else saying it’s cool. … It’s the same thing with wine. If there’s great wine out there that’s been introduced in a Chicago market or something like that, it only takes one, two people to really tip that scale. The right people.

JP: I agree, but I think if we’re going to fix it, we can’t keep waiting for outside approval. As educators, in our restaurants, we have to be promoting these products and doing it from within.

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Denver or Portland or Austin even. St. Louis has so much beer history; it’s unbelievable.

JF: When I’ve been traveling, people always associate beer with St. Louis. And you look at the mountain range, basically from Denver north, and there are so many breweries that are nationally known. You can see how they’re working together and helping each other. And I think it’s so important for beer, for wine, for restaurants to be cooperative.

Everyone helping each other out. It’s about team and community and the success of all of our businesses.

FEAST: How do you create a closer-knit community?

GC: I just did an event for Missouri wine, and [I learned that] none of those winemakers had met each other. It blew me away. … I mean, these are big people with big, big bank in regards to taking us somewhere.

DW: It’s the exact opposite with craft beer on the local level. Schlafly, for example, when we opened up, was like, “If there’s a cup of sugar you need, we’ll help you out.”

FEAST: How does that happen? When you get down to brass tacks, you’re competing.

listen in INDUSTRY COLLABORATION GC: That’s what’s going to spark those guys outside. If there’s this energy, if there’s a buzz, there are going to be people who notice something. Whether it was your place or my place, that outside press came from local buzz. And the outside media, the New York media and the California media, they’re dying for something outside California and New York. They’re dying for the Midwest, and they’re dying for small businesses. They’re dying for people who are struggling and passionate about what they’re doing.

ME: Here’s what I feel like about St. Louis: I can do anything here. Why not? Because so many things have not happened, have not been done. And there’s things that have not happened on either coast. And I’m just like, make something up and do it.

FEAST: St. Louis is a market that is open and receptive to so many things.

FPO

GC: Our river and the areas around it – it’s gorgeous here. … If people took a little bit more care of it – and actually, there are people working on this – but people would come here and go back on the river, right? Why not? If you talk about the Missouri River, we touch so many people. The Missouri River is in Montana. This affects so many people across the country, and all we need to do is spark some interest here, which will spark some interest there, which will create something huge. If we can preserve that, I say why not. Why wouldn’t people come down here from Chicago or up here from the South to come and visit? Why isn’t the tourism board asking this?

FEAST: How can organizations that already exist support the local food industry more or better?

TN: They could really find out what’s new and what’s growing in St. Louis so that we can get rid of this reputation that we’re dying slowly as a city.

GC: I was talking to my staff about Missouri waterways and about what we could do to get involved with fish and seafood and our ecosystem and how we can bring them back into our world. The first thing people said was, “Wow, that’s a really big project.” Who cares? So is running a restaurant. … It takes time. It takes a lot of people, but it takes somebody to say, “Well, I don’t care if it’s a big project; let’s take a first step.”

JF: If you look at what are considered the really progressive cities right now – Portland, Boston, Denver – I look at our city and see more potential in St. Louis, actually. I mean, there’s just so much history here. And the culture here could be so amazing. It’s the people at this table, and many other people as well, who are spearheading and taking responsibility for making that happen.

FEAST: What do you think we would see from someone taking on that type of project?

DW: From a selfish standpoint, I want our city to be recognized as a great pride-in-beer community, like

DW: Well, there are interesting dynamics in our industry. …

On a brewer level … well, you are brewers, you’re brewing beer, you’re both doing the same thing and you both enjoy it, but you’re not physically selling it, so you’re not experiencing that sales and marketing competition. It’s natural to talk about the communal, collegial feeling of craft beer. It’s better for all of us in the end because, if we’re collectively less than 5 percent of the market in St. Louis, it’s a whole lot of opportunity out there for all of us together.

JF: The more the merrier. I mean, I think we have pretty good coffee, but – and I’m being honest here – if I go to a potential new customer and they ask me why [we’re] different, I would tell them. But I would be happy to tell them five other roasters that I would also recommend.

Ultimately, if they don’t go with us, then I at least want them to drink good coffee. I just want people to understand what good coffee is, what good beer is or good food. Make your own decision, but understand what it is.

GC: Well, why do you think there’s such a rise in the food world right now? It’s all because of word of mouth. And my best friend in this entire city is Kevin Nashan from Sidney Street Café, probably my biggest competitor. He’s a block away from my restaurant. But collectively, whether it’s Kevin Willmann [owner of Farmhaus] or Josh Galliano [executive chef at Monarch], we all support each other.

And we’re all throwing each other’s names into the hat, and we’re all using our individual press to bring rise to St. Louis and to bring up other chefs.

JF: And it creates loyalty [to the area].

GC: And then hopefully they bring it somewhere else. We have staff at The French Laundry. I hope he takes some of that Missouri attitude, that Missouri hospitality with him. He talks about restaurants in Missouri all the time to people in The French Laundry, in Napa Valley, in San Francisco. We hope [that if people leave us] they’re [going] somewhere better.

ME: Wait, there’s somewhere better?

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Part 2: The Interviews interviews by Catherine Neville

|

Photography by Jonathan Gayman

After the roundtable wrapped, we sat down individually with each Tastemaker to dive into how they approach building and broadening their businesses and find out what advice they have for others entering the food-business fray.

David Wolfe

co-founder of Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.

“Competition is healthy. It pushes you. It challenges you. You don’t get complacent .”

You and Florian Kuplent, cofounder and brewmaster, worked together previously? We worked together in a group [at Anheuser-Busch] that was very collaborative. We called it New Product and Innovations, and that’s when Florian and I first met and first started working together. What was really neat about it, from a marketing perspective, [was we could] look out there and see the demand that exists in the world of beer, and we had carte blanche in the sense that we could operate within liquor, we could operate within beer, we could do something with wine if we wanted to. We were doing waters, all kinds of things. We worked together, Florian on the brewing side and I on the marketing side, and we would sit down and talk about where this demand existed or demand might be. We talked about what type of beers or what type of products might work out there.

A lot of craft breweries have been opening in the St. Louis area. What made you think you could make a go of starting your own? The category of craft [beer] continues to grow despite the fact it’s at the top echelon of pricing.

But the category still is experiencing double-digit dollar growth. We looked at St. Louis compared to other markets in the country, and … the craft beer share in St. Louis is still less than 4 percent, where the overall general market in the United States is 5-plus [percent] and getting closer to 6 percent. How did you decide to go out on your own?

Florian and I had had some conversations before that InBev acquisition occurred. It 48

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was very casual. Our families, our wives had become friends. We have children the same ages, that sort of thing. … But once the buyout happened, we said: “Hey, you know what? Why just let it be conjecture? Let’s really take a look at it.” You have the Revolution Series and the Reverence Series. The latter draws on Florian’s German roots, and the former is a more modern interpretation. How did all the pieces come together to create a niche for your brewery in the marketplace? [Market differentiation is] the first thing … if you’re going to build a brand. If you’re going to try to carve out a niche, you have to stay true to that. It’s not as though others aren’t doing what we’re doing per se. I mean, there are other brewers around that are brewing traditionally European beers, and they’re brewing craft beers. They just haven’t specifically said that that’s what they’re doing. Urban Chestnut’s brand introduction was well-conceived and well-thought-out. It was very authentic because when you look at Florian’s what I call a pedigree … he has the German expertise, the European background. But then what did he do when he worked at Anheuser-Busch?

Well, he also worked on the innovation side of things. He worked in that craft beer arena. It was perfect for us to say, “All right, this is where we want to go from a brand standpoint.” It was really taking a brand model and building around that.

And, ultimately, that’s where we came up with the idea of the beer [divergence].

You’ve got the “reverence” and the “revolution.” We wanted to have it be packaged together. Where did your company name come from? It flowed out of the idea of beer [divergence].

But it’s two-part in [the] sense that the Urban side of it is the New World, the craft beer culture. It’s a little bit of a nod

to the locale we’re in too. The Chestnut side is specific to Florian’s homeland in Bavaria. You’ve got the biergartens that are over there. They weren’t originally biergartens. They were originally chestnut trees that were planted above beer cellars to keep the underground cool in the summertime. … Florian gets geeky about it, but, ultimately, what happened was there were local laws that changed and allowed people to commune in those areas, bring food and be able to buy beer from the brewery. It just happened to become a hangout for people, and so that is where the biergartens come from.

Where do you see this going? What is your vision? I like to think short term, medium term, long term. I look at [Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.] as definitely being a regional player. We would like to have a national presence, but I think we may go about a national presence differently than most do. The brewing industry is a very capital- intensive industry. Growth costs money, as far as brewing capacity [is concerned]. Do you think there’s room for more craft breweries in St. Louis? The industry of craft beer in itself is collegial. There’s a lot of camaraderie; it’s fun. There’s a sense within the industry of let’s lock arms because we do realize that we’re so small, and there’s a big opportunity here. It’s interesting to hear the bigger players talking … [about] the possibility for craft beer [market share]. Is it 10 percent? Is it 20 percent? Can it be bigger than that? Historically speaking, in … areas where craft beer has obviously overindexed as far as its percentage of the [beer] category, you see multiple local players. It becomes an industry. … Competition is healthy. It pushes you. It challenges you.

You don’t get complacent. It

is a community, and [marketing through] social media is so powerful because beer’s a social beverage. What are your words of wisdom for people who would like to start a similar venture? There’s comfort in knowing the fact that we had a plan. That we did our homework on the plan. That we launched with a plan and that we stuck to the plan and that we developed around a business plan and a marketing plan as well. It’s nice to know that we have a foundation of what we’re doing and we didn’t just start off by saying, “OK, let’s just brew some beer and see what happens because craft beer’s exciting.”

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John Perkins

chef and owner of entre

“There’s really something to be said about having a particular vision and owning it … and you’re not crazy for pursuing it. ” The way entre evolved is interesting.

You went in one specific direction in your life, and then said, “I’m going to listen to my gut, and I’m going to do something else.” For as long as I can remember, I had enjoyed cooking. But the idea of cooking for a living was not something that circulated in my head as a viable option for a career, at least for me.

My dad was as pastor. The expectation was that I would follow in his footsteps.

You launched entre in August 2008, when underground dinners were avant-garde. Where did you get the inspiration for it? I had gone up to Seattle to interview for a church job, and while I was up there, one of my old roommates, who was a pastor, told me that there was a couple in his church that did underground restaurants out of their house. When he was my roommate, we had parties probably every two weeks, and the whole point of the party was for me to cook. … My wife and I had been married for four years, and we would have dinner parties for friends. But we didn’t have much in the way of income. So when he told me about the underground thing, I was like, well, that’s how I can make this happen. I’ll just have people donate money, and they’ll cover the cost of the stuff I want to make.

And then I can learn at my own pace. I had worked the previous summer for about four weeks at Acero. Tell us about that.

I had been working at Starbucks. I was in the management program … and I hated it. I mean it was absolutely soul sucking.

So I managed to leave there, and I went and got a corporate job. And I was fired six weeks into that corporate job. It was like, I don’t really work well having a boss. Then I decided to go back to school. But in the intermediate period after I was fired, I had a mutual friend who knew Jimmy [Fiala].

So he got me a job at Acero, and I just sort of watched how they did things. … And then the following summer, after my trip to Seattle, I went and asked Gerard [Craft] if I could get a job. … I said: “Look, I don’t have any experience. But I’m really interested in food, and [Niche] is the best restaurant in town.” What did he say? Well, they hired me, and they had just opened Veruca [Bakehouse and Café]. I was the lunch 50

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guy. I made all the sandwiches. And then I would sometimes stick around for evening service, and [I] struck up a friendship with [chef] Marc Baltes, who was awesome and answered all my questions in complete sentences. … You know, kitchen things, you answer a question with a grunt, basically.

It was during that summer that … I ended up buying all my food for the very first underground through Niche. I was just like, I’ve never had a sense of satisfaction in anything I’ve ever done like I have with this.

It satisfied the artistic impulse in me to be able to see people enjoy themselves, and the kind of community that was developing was mentally satisfying, even when we didn’t live up to expectations and didn’t succeed. It was still just great. I thought, I’m just going to keep doing this. You’ve built a visually sophisticated brand.

Why is that important? We’d had these [wooden cutting boards] since really early on, and I realized this board has got to be the thing that is the central motif that defines our business visually. We are not a restaurant that’s known for a dish. I was really just bound and determined to make sure that when somebody saw the website that they could tell within a second, “This is the kind of operation that I’m going to deal with.” I never thought about fonts the way I thought about them [when the website was being designed]. It almost made me think I should just quit doing food, and I should get into doing this because it’s so much fun. It really was. Don’t quit doing food. Everybody loves it! What are the stumbling blocks people run into when they’re launching a new culinary business? I think things [like websites] can’t be overlooked. And I think sometimes there’s an idea in our town [that] you can just kind of do whatever you want to do, and it’s OK because we’re not New York. And so you don’t have to put out that kind of image or whatever. I think that’s bullshit, and I think it does matter.

You’re telling a story. You’re putting forth a product. You’re projecting an image, now even more than ever. In every moment that you’re putting something out there, whether it’s Twitter or it’s your Facebook page or it’s your website or it’s the menus that people get when they show up to your

place, it’s like all these things tell a story about who you are. … I would encourage anybody who is trying to build a business to think really carefully about the face that they’re putting out there. What does it look like? What does it say? What is the icon that’s going to be your thing? What does that indicate? Do you see opening a restaurant as a natural evolution of the entre concept? No way. Because [the] cost is greater. [The] profit margin’s smaller. [The] level of failure is greater. I want to build up the catering business to X size and basically cap it. Then, once that happens, I want to go in this other area.

Part of it is wanting to kind of create more of the culture in this town and add things I think it’s missing. That may sound really arrogant or narcissistic. You see a hole in the St. Louis restaurant scene that you think should be filled. I’ve [spent] some time in Seattle since my original trip up there, and I just love that city. And one thing that’s true up there that’s not true here is [that] places are genuinely comfortable to be in. [People] don’t really put on airs. … What I sort of feel at times here … is that … it’s important that you know that you’re at a good restaurant.

Do you think that’s because of the type of diner that’s in St. Louis? I think that’s part of it. But I also think because there’s such a scarcity of really high-end restaurants [in St. Louis] that the ones that are [high end] know they are. That just ends up permeating the atmosphere a little bit. I’m sort of an intuitive person, and I kind of pick up on that. And that makes me feel uncomfortable because I often don’t feel like I fit in that kind of environment. I just want to go to a place where I can be myself and I can feel at home and I can actually have really good food at the same time. … It’s like you have a dive bar here, or you’ve got some really posh, very stylish place. There’s nothing that says we kind of get what it means to be stylish and hip and cool, and also be comfortable and casual.

That doesn’t seem to be the case with you or with the

other business owners who have participated in this roundtable. I think it goes back to the very first question that you asked the night we sat around the table. … There’s really something to be said about having a particular vision and owning it … and you’re not crazy for pursuing it. There’s sort of a confluence of things that have to happen in order for somebody to be successful. Frankly, the jury is still out on whether or not we’re going to be successful in the long run. I think we are because a lot of these factors are merging together in a way that points toward success. … Not everybody has good ideas. … Not everybody has the ability to follow through with the central vision and maintain that thing or communicate it clearly – whether it’s verbally, visually or on the plate.

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Brian Pelletier

Owner and Chief Chocolatier of Kakao Chocolate

“You have to live it. We’re not just selling a product. We’re not just making people happy with the product. It’s creating an experience.”

How did you get into the chocolate business? I was in business marketing.

I had been doing that for 20 years, and I realized that I wanted to switch careers.

I knew that I wanted to create something with my hands, but I didn’t know what. And so I just opened myself up to the universe.

A friend of mine told me that she had some chocolate equipment, and I bought that from her. She taught me what she knew. I just immersed myself in the whole thing and found something that was a perfect fit for me. Was it an instinctive decision? As soon as she said “chocolate equipment,” that was all I needed to know.

Acting instinctively is difficult for a lot of people. How did you do it? You have to put some parameters around it. … If you make it really, really wide, then you’ll go after everything.

You’ll chase stuff, and you’ll never really be happy because there’s this and there’s this and there’s that. If you make it too narrow, you’ll never find it. You’ll never find that perfect fit. What was the learning process like for you? It was a lot of fun. I mean, it’s chocolate.

A lot of what happens with chocolate happens in a molecular level. And I have just enough science background that that makes sense to me. A lot of it was experimentation. A lot of it was just reading about it and figuring out what would work. A lot of it was inspiration from different ingredients, finding something like Lapsang Souchong tea and saying, “Oh, that would be just amazing chocolate.” How did your marketing background help you lay the base for your company? I’ve always known … that it’s not just about what you say; it’s [about] what you do. You have to live it. We’re not just selling a product. We’re not just making people happy with the product. It’s creating an experience.

You started out selling at farmers’ markets. How did you decide on your first location (on Jefferson Avenue),

and what has that decision meant for your business? We had some space in a commercial kitchen. We were doing farmers’ markets and a little bit of wholesale. … As we were approaching the end of that lease, I knew that the next stage was to have our own [space] … We knew that the next thing we needed to do is open up a retail store so that we could create that experience. The store that we opened on Jefferson really spoke to me when I first saw it because it was painted our colors. Before we even looked at it, they had painted it with our colors. It’s an old, old grocery store from the turn of the century that had been completely redone. We wanted a big, open space [so] that people could see all the way to the back. We wanted the tall ceilings. … We’re totally a destination. It was brilliant to have that openness. The fact that when you walk in you see the entire operation. We wanted people to be able to see that we do it all by hand, that we don’t have Lucille Ball machines in there. … It’s very funny that people will call, not having been here, [and] they say, “Do you give tours of your factory?” Yes, we do. Come in anytime that you want and watch us make chocolate. What made you decide it was the right time to open a second location? And how did you choose Maplewood? We chose Maplewood because we already had the experience of the farmers’ market right around the corner. We knew we had a customer base in the neighborhood.

The other things that had to do with [our choosing] Maplewood were how easy the city was to work with [and] how much they [city officials] went out of their way to invite us here and to make sure that it was an easy process. How did you build your team? Well, the simple answer is that we hire for attitude and train for skill.

We can teach people how to do stuff, but you’ve gotta have somebody that has the right attitude. … It’s more than just loving

chocolate. It’s more than just loving Kakao. … You really have to have a passion for it. So the teams that I have in both shops are passionate about what we’re doing.

They understand the experience. They understand the flavor. They understand the creativity. That’s incredibly important.

How do you brainstorm innovative ways to get customers to re-engage with the product and have a reason to come back? I ask [my chocolatiers] regularly: “What’s your next thing? What’s the thing that you’re going to make that we’ve never made before?” I’ve done that enough that they’re all always thinking about it. And sometimes they don’t even need me to ask them. It’s part of getting the right people. How did you secure relationships with retailers like Straub’s and Whole Foods Market?

The process with Whole Foods was really, really educational for me. They really helped me a lot. One of their buyers was a customer [of Kakao], and she loved our product. She had been talking to me for a long time: “I’d love to get you in the store.”

And I said: “I’m not ready yet. I’m not there. We don’t have the production capacity to do that.” When I finally said, “OK, I’m ready to talk to you,” … they said: “OK, the packaging that you have is not going to work at all. It’s too easy for customers to mess around with.” … We finally arrived at something that was going to work, and then we said, “OK, we’re ready to go now.” … But for Whole Foods that meant … “it’s going to take a couple months for us to get ready.” … And so, during one of the busiest times of the year we said, “All right, let’s make it happen.” What lessons have you learned? I’ve talked to people that have

“I ask [my chocolatiers] regularly: ‘What’s your next thing? What’s the thing that you’re going to make that we’ve never made before?’ ” 52

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said, “I’m working full time over here, but I want to start this other thing.” And I tell them the Chinese proverb is if you chase two rabbits, you won’t catch either of them. It’s true. You have to commit. If you’re doing something else, whatever that is, it’s going to take away from the energy that you need. You can’t just go at anything halfheartedly … you have to entirely commit and you have to put your heart and your soul into it. I don’t recall who said it, but if you really love what you do, you’re not really working. If you really love what you do, you’re working all the time. But that’s OK. I love what I do. I have the best job in the world. I get to work with great people. I get to make people happy.

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J A N UA RY 2012

53

Maddie Earnest

co-owner of Local Harvest Grocery, Café and Catering

“When people come into this store, they find a warm environment, and that’s going to make them want to come back.”

How did you get started? I read this article in The New York Times about a store in Oregon called New Seasons [that] does about 20 percent of [its] inventory from local farmers and food producers.

I had done a tiny bit of help with Patrick Horine starting the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market. And so I shot him this article, and I was like: “We should do something like this in St. Louis. But we could do better than 20 percent.” And he wrote back immediately, and he was like, “Yes, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.” Did you have any experience? No, but … Pat’s dad has a number of grocery stores in Missouri. … His dad really helped us a lot when we put together our business plan.

Do you have a difficult time keeping local products in stock? The goal is to have 50 percent of your inventory be local . Our inventory does fluctuate a lot. So our customers can’t necessarily come in and say, “Oh, I can have apples year round that are local.” But they can come in and say, “[You] have apples part of the year that are local, [and] the rest of the time [they’re] organic.” We can’t do everything. That’s why we shoot for the 50 percent. There’s plenty to go around.

The farmers are just waiting for markets.

Many people say there’s not enough to go around. We have farmers call us, and we can’t buy everything that they have. … Even at our café, we don’t have a problem with sourcing. While I said there was an abundance, what is tricky is some of the quality we got [this year] was not what we were used to getting from our farmers. It was hard to have to refuse some things. With the drought, you know, it was just such a hard year for farmers.

But your customers expect a certain quality level. If you sell customers something that’s not up to your standards, you undermine your relationship with them. That’s why I’m thankful we have a café because if [a food product] doesn’t look pretty enough to sell, it’s still good [enough] to eat a lot of times. For instance, a tomato that has a bruise on it is easily used to make a sauce.

Is that why you started the café?

Partly it was. … It’s really hard for our staff to throw anything out. And I tell you 54

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what, we throw very little out. So that was part of the impetus. But you’d never been in the restaurant business.

No, and thank God for [chef] Clara Moore.

How do you hire the right people?

We hire a lot of customers at the grocery store. … We really want people who are committed to local products but who know about food. I want people to be able to talk about [products] and how to use them. It’s hard sometimes, but you want employees who will also challenge you to be better. I think Pat would say this too, that it is pretty collaborative with our staff, and they really participate in decision making and shaping the businesses. Why is it important for consumers to have direct access to local producers? It’s tricky to explain this to people in dollars and cents. I mean, essentially you’re asking people to change their eating habits. … It’s [also about] not paying for a subsidized product. What we strive for and, hopefully, we’re going to do again this year, is try to keep 80 cents of every dollar in our region. And that really means keeping our region stronger, which I hope makes sense to people. The family farm is important because without it, we lose control of our food system. If you come to our store, I can tell you, if it’s a local product, exactly who grew it. And that farmer can tell you exactly which cow it was and what lot number. So what do you think needs to happen to keep positive movement in the food industry? The thing that’s hard for me about the local food movement and even our store is I know that it’s not accessible to everyone. I’ve talked to some farmers about what we can do to bring prices down. How would you improve the St. Louis region? Some of the things we talked about, like at the farmers’ market meetings, is to find ways to bring [fresh local food] into communities – a mobile farmers’ market, essentially. The other thing is exposing kids to farming so they know what’s happening. Maybe this is just me. But when I go visit a farm, I come back, and I’m just so excited. … I always come back in a good mood. It’s the same way when a farmer comes into the store and I talk to him about whatever the harvest

is or what he’s working on or his plans for expansion. What has changed since you and Patrick first got started?

I think that farmers are getting smarter about recognizing what their niche is in cities. I think farmers have had to become more [like] businesspeople. … So that’s certainly something I’ve heard, and a lot of that is from this book I’m working on.

I’ve probably talked to … over 150 farmers across our state. [I’ve had] pretty lengthy conversations with some of them. How do farmers determine their niche?

They’re having more conversations with chefs. They’re having more conversations with stores like ours. They’re hearing from customers at farmers’ markets. The savvy ones are seeing what everyone else is growing and trying to grow something different. So do you see yourself as a conduit? Definitely. I mean, our mission is to build a local food community, and that happens in a lot of different ways.

But as I’m talking to farmers, I can’t stop myself from helping them figure out how they are going to distribute their product. It may not be to us, but they’re having distribution issues. They have to figure out too, how do I get this product to the customer, and you know a lot of those customers are in cities. In Kansas City and Columbia, a lot of their big supermarkets are doing local buying, and that’s exciting to see because the more that’s available, it’s just better for everyone. What has made you successful? I really feel like a big part of it is … our employees and their passion. …

When people come into this store, they find a warm environment, and that’s going to make them want to come back.

And it’s a great, fantastic bonus that we’re offering a really good product [and good service]. What brings people back to the idea of the small neighborhood retailer? There are small stores like ours popping up all over the country. I think it’s connecting with people.

I think it’s knowing your neighborhood.

I think it’s feeling a part of something.

I’m excited if the

person behind the counter recognizes me and says, “How’re you doing, Maddie?”

I mean, that feels good. Tell us about your book. So the book is called Missouri Harvest. It will be out in March or April of 2012. [I’m] still working on it, much to Reedy Press’ dismay. It’s a guidebook to small farms across the state of Missouri. … There will also be a guide in the back of the book … if you want to support restaurants or stores that are selling local products. Why are you writing it? I was really wanting to know more [about what] was happening in the state in terms of agriculture and, specifically, the kind of farms that we buy from. … I’m not saying I have answers to food distribution for millions of people. I don’t. But I do feel like it’s a step in the right direction. You ask the question, “Is there enough out there?”

There is. … Bring the customers, and we’ll find the farmers.

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Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

55

Josh Ferguson

co-owner of Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co.

“Coffee, as we knew it 50 years ago, is not what coffee is today. ... This industry has drastically changed.”

What drives you guys to perform at the level you do? What do you get from your efforts? We feel that who we are and what we hope to represent is a part of that specialty segment of our industry. The gap is going to continue to grow between commodity, lowergrade coffee companies and those who are really involved in the specialty side of our industry. And that whole term “specialty” isn’t always understood. It’s a pretty loosely thrown around word.

But it actually has a meaning, and we’re very involved with [the] Specialty Coffee Association of America. Coffee, not to get too much into the science, but it really, ultimately starts with the coffees that we source and their score. Coffees must have [a] certain score or higher in order for us to even consider buying them. The raw beans? The raw beans, correct. We can buy the best coffee in the world, but if we aren’t able to help people brew it correctly and serve it correctly, then the consumers aren’t going to understand the quality side of it. And, really, quality is our number-one priority. Coffee often is an afterthought in restaurants, but that’s starting to change. How do you explain the benefits of highquality coffee to restaurant owners, and how do you help these owners train their staff? Restaurants will try to do espresso, which is actually a very, very difficult beverage for coffee shops to do. Not only do you have to buy good coffee, but you have to train servers and bartenders to prepare it correctly or none of this matters. I come from a restaurant background. So I’ve been quite astonished that people put so much energy and effort into the foods they source and [the] quality of everything they do in a restaurant, and then they buy inexpensive coffee. This is the last thing customers will experience when they’re in the restaurants. … The customer experience needs to remain at that high-quality level through the entire time that they’re in the restaurant. How do you uphold a high standard of social responsibility when sourcing? We have fair-trade coffees that are certified by Transfair USA [now Fair Trade USA] … [and] we 56

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started something called Relationship Coffees a few years back that is a more transparent way of us communicating to consumers exactly where their money is going. And, through this Relationship Coffees program, we are working directly with farmers. … In general, those farmers are receiving 15- to 20-plus percent more for their coffee than they would through fair trade [which sets a minimum market price for coffee]. And it’s a much more quality-driven [model], which to us is a more long-term, sustainable model than saying everyone is going to be [paid the same amount]. Whenever one farmer works really hard and produces a great crop, we want to reward him for his hard work and hard effort. Tell us your plans for growing Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co. We look at ourselves as a regional coffee company. We see ourselves helping others support and improve their coffee programs. Continuing to grow as a coffee resource in St. Louis, that’s really what we want to do. We are, and have been looking for, a new roasting facility for the last few months, and that’s something that we hope to identify, I would say, in the next year. But a part of our new roasting facility is really developing a coffee educational center, so that it’s a resource for our own cafés, for our own employees but also for others in the community. Why is education part of your mission, and how will you establish the center? Coffee, as we knew it 50 years ago, is not what coffee is today. Tricia and Tyler [Zimmer] and myself – since we’ve been involved in the industry and with Kaldi’s in the last seven years, this industry has drastically changed. And, just when I thought I was learning a little bit about coffee, the next thing I know the industry’s evolving so quickly, from farming to roasting to brewing and … all the steps that go in between. Things are continuing to improve, and so we’re just trying to help keep the consumer informed with where we’re going as an industry. In the last 20 years, the wine industry and people’s knowledge of wine has drastically improved. And it’s drastically improved because people have been committed to teaching others about

wines – varietals, processing and all that kind of stuff. And it’s kind of the same thing with coffee. And so we have to help educate. Restaurants are a direct contact for us with consumers. And so when people go in, and they experience Kaldi’s at a restaurant in St. Louis, we want it to be a good experience. And sometimes it’s out of our control, which is a scary thing when we’re selling an unfinished product to a restaurant. … [The restaurant staff] might possibly not do well; and then a consumer has a bad experience and says, “Oh, that Kaldi’s coffee isn’t very good.”

But it really wasn’t the coffee itself, it was how it was prepared. So, once again, if we don’t help support, train and invest a lot of time and energy into making sure our coffee is being brewed correctly, then we’re never going to ultimately achieve our goal of education and helping people understand what good coffee is. What do you think could stand in the way of the growth of your company? Coffee prices. That and the economy. Coffee, I think, is looked at as an affordable luxury. … So coffee has made it through, and we really haven’t seen a dip in sales.

Actually, [it’s] quite the opposite of that. We’ve seen an increase in sales.

But with coffee prices being double what they were three or four years ago, we felt the effects of the amount of money we have to utilize as a resource for other stuff we’re doing. And you’ve created strategic partnerships with companies like Schnucks. Well, you know, the cafés with Schnucks … it’s a relationship where we’ve made an investment. They made an investment. It gets us more exposure to consumers, and it has allowed us the opportunity to touch people that we probably never would have. Some people are [too] intimidated to come into a coffee shop and go through kind of the coffee lingo and look up at menu boards and read words that they don’t understand. Whereas, I think inside of a grocery store, it’s much less intimidating, and so we’re able to reach a whole new segment of

people. From an outside perspective, it seems there’s no real limit for you guys as far as where you can take the business. There are so many different things that we’re trying to do to improve quality, once again, across the board. We’re in several businesses … from our service department to our roasting crew to allied product that we sell to our retail stores to bakery goods. And I think all of them have a potential to grow. As we try to grow as a company, our focus [is] on [the] … quality of [our] services, quality of [our] coffee, quality of [the] food in our cafés. That’s really our goal … and [it] will [continue to] be our goal. And we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, people will understand and respect that and, hopefully, it’s something that consumers will understand and buy our products.

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Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

57

Stanley Browne

owner of Robust Wine Bar and certified sommelier

“Me, personally, I never worry about competition. … If you’re always looking over your shoulder, you’re not looking the right way.”

In a down economy, some people say there are too many bars and restaurants and too much competition. What’s your response?

I’m passionate for the business and [for] living and eating it and breathing it, drinking it. … Yeah, it’s more challenging, and you’ve gotta be more creative. You’ve got to adjust to what’s going on out there. What people want. How do you do that? I kind of saw the recession coming. … I didn’t realize it was going to be this bad, but it kind of played into my concept. … I wanted to make [Robust] more casual, more approachable. Have price points both for food and for wine that started low and then kind of got all the way up the scale a little bit. Secondly, I wanted people to experiment with food and wine. I wanted to do a bunch of small plates, where they can get several things … and get several different glasses of wine. We do the half-glasses.

We do the flights, so they can see what works well with each food dish. … I pick up people that would normally go drop $120 a person and are maybe, you know, downscaling. Your staff members seem to be really knowledgeable and approachable. I wanted to have good service but make it friendly enough.

Wine’s intimidating, which is why I set up the wine list the way I did, with the Robust factors and the staff wearing the … different Robust-factor T-shirts. So I think just the way I set up the concept helps customers feel a little bit more at ease when they’re ordering wine. We have 45 wines by the glass, which includes all the wine flights that are available by the glass. So yeah, every single staff member has to have tasted each one of those in order to describe them. … And then we have five sommeliers on staff, including myself. A lot of servers don’t seem to have that experience. You have to have your servers know how the food tastes, know how the beverages taste, wine, whatever it may be. Otherwise [the server’s recommendation] comes across [as] insincere. Your kitchen is a constrained space, with only induction burners. How has that worked out? I actually traveled around 58

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the country [and] looked at different operations. And there’s an operation that was working with similar kind of equipment [and a] similar kind of concept. … The advantage in the way I designed it is [that] the ticket times are so much quicker because of the induction burner, the TurboChef kind of thing. It’s five times as quick as traditional cooking. You balance the menu, so you can utilize that type of cooking to the best advantage.

Where do you see growth sectors in the St. Louis market? You know, this business always evolves. And it’s a matter of people who keep up and choose to evolve with it and with changing times and [with] what people are demanding, especially beers, cocktails, you know, more casual, better price points. … You have to be on top of it. How do you stay on top of it? Do you read Twitter posts all day long? Well, for me, it’s part of my background, having sold wine to restaurants, wine stores, all that for 10 years. … I worked 18 years in hotels and restaurants in four countries before that.

That’s the reason I chose wine bars. One: my background, obviously. But two: Wine is not going away. How do you see wine growing from here? I see all the time [customers] just want to learn more. They want to experiment more. They don’t want to learn a lot; they just want to learn a little bit so they’re comfortable with what they’re drinking. I mean, everyone’s at a different level. Some people obviously want to learn more, but the basic drinker, they just want to understand what they’re drinking, what it’s about. It’s one of the reasons I opened Robust; people are thirsty for knowledge. Where do you stand on the city/county debate?

Well, I never agree with the city and county being separate because how is St. Louis going to grow as a whole if it’s not unified to attract tourism, attract all the industry that it needs to attract? … We have the same problem here in Webster [Groves]. We have Old Orchard, and we have Old Webster. And it’s like, why not just be known as Webster Groves? You … attract more people from outside if you’re more unified. It’s the same with St. Louis. It’s not all about the people in St.

Louis; it’s about attracting other people for industry, tourism and the whole nine yards. How do we create that unity?

What’s the intellectual leap that people need to make? The benefits and the advantages to coming together need to be spelled out. It seems like some political gesturing gets done and then just falls flat. So it’s going to take a huge political drive. … [Some] municipalities don’t want to give up anything or give up any tax dollars. So they’re going to fight tooth and nail to keep it that way, especially in this economy. What do you think about the Missouri wine industry? What role do you think it can play in elevating the region?

Well, I think it can play a fairly big role.

It’s showing consumers that Missouri isn’t all sweet wine, that [Missouri wine producers] make different styles of wine to accommodate everyone’s different palates, which I think [has been] done pretty successfully over the last 10, 15 years. You know, we are hindered by our climate here. It gets too hot. It gets too cold. They can only do so much, but I think it’s overcoming that stigma about Missouri wines. … I mean, my dad lives in England, and he reads articles all the time about the Norton grape … and Missouri wines. … It’s like he knows sometimes more about stuff going on than I do. How do you accomplish the growth that you envision?

You know, it’s just a matter of making sure your operation runs well [and] giving customers what you think they need and are looking for. … You have to be in touch and know what’s going on.

So there’s still opportunity in this economy? We’re humans. We have to eat. We have to drink. Whether that’s at home. Whether that’s going out. Whether it’s for a special occasion. … Whether it’s a bad economy or a good economy. How do you reconcile the fear of losing your client base with your desire to expand the wine industry? Here’s the deal: The consumer has gotten more educated about products – food, beer, wine, cocktails. So the better you educate people, the more [educated] you are yourself.

What is the benefit of sharing your knowledge and expertise with your competition? I’ve already done that in the industry to a certain extent, and I just felt that it helps raise wine awareness in general. Me, personally, I never worry about competition. … If you’re always looking over your shoulder, you’re not looking the right way. Why is marketing important? Well, the problem is for most restaurateurs, you know, you’ve got a hundred things going on all the time. Marketing … it’s at the back burner.

Consumers … want to know an identity. … To have a successful restaurant, it takes more than just great cooking, unfortunately. It’s a complete package.

Yeah, it’s all about the experience. We are the experience economy.

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Inspired Food Culture

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59

Gerard Craft

Owner of Craft Restaurants Ltd.

“If you’re not doing anything to make change in the food world as a progressive restaurant, you’re not progressing. ” How do you decide on the right direction for Niche – which, as you say, is your baby? I ask a lot of people.

I’m constantly talking to my team and constantly talking to everybody involved, whether it’s my wife, my family or Chris Breeze [director of operations at Craft Restaurants Ltd.]. I think everybody’s always happier here when we’re questioning it a little bit and when we’re moving forward. Every now and then, we push a little too hard, and we tone it down a little bit. But that’s kind of part of the learning experience and part of the evolution and part of the fun of what we do here. Talk about your decision making as far as the growth of the company is concerned. How do the other concepts – Brasserie by Niche, Taste by Niche and the upcoming Pastaria by Niche – fit? I feel like it started with Brasserie. We don’t appeal to as many people at Niche as we do, say, at Brasserie. That’s just because, No. 1, price and No. 2, sometimes people aren’t into going out to dinner to be entertained, and I get that ‘cause I’m that way a lot.

Taste, which kind of came at the same time, was developed because I’m kind of a homebody. I get freaked out when I go to the bars. It’s too crowded, and everybody’s bumping into you. I really like some of the cocktail bars in New York, where you have a seat and you can have a drink, a really good drink. It was civilized, and I like being able to relax that way. We’ve learned that if you want to grow, you have to grow.

You can’t really grow only a little bit, and that’s a hard thing to do well because of the massive overhead. We want to run this as a company, and I think a lot of times with independent restaurants, you know, it’s really hard to give people opportunities and to give people benefits.

All of our servers have access to health benefits here. Why is that important to you? At the end of the day, obviously, it’s your staff that does everything. So you have to take care of your employees, and you want it to be a great place to work. That’s tough in a small-restaurant setting. Hopefully, eventually, we can get to a place where chefs can have semi-sane lives. It might be a pipe dream, but that’s 60

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definitely what we’re shooting for with the expansion. How does Pastaria fit into that? It has a lower price point and will be even more casual than Brasserie, right? I really wanted a place that you can go, feel really casual, maybe bring your kids but still get very interesting and good food. And I don’t think that necessarily exists … at the moment. We want to attract more people, and we want to take what we do into more of a mainstream market. And the name Pastaria was developed as a way to say, “Look: pasta.” So you bring customers in with that, and then show them that pasta can also be a great noodle. It can have a great sauce. What do you see as the biggest impediment to the growth of the local restaurant industry?

Losing residents, I think, is the biggest thing we have to fear. You know, [St. Louis is] not attracting as much new business as we used to. … Brasserie is definitely more of a local restaurant, whereas Niche, look at the reservations and a huge chunk are from out of town. For instance, losing Anheuser-Busch to InBev. You can say that [the company] is still there, but it’s not. Tons of people from AB moved to other states to try and get new work; that’s population loss. A.G. Edwards.

Any of these huge businesses which used to bring in tons of revenue, they’re disappearing. … That’s a huge, huge, huge problem I can’t even begin to dive into. …

How do you create new business? How do you create more jobs in the town? How do you get people to move here? Even the guys like Monsanto, they’ve sold off a huge chunk of their business. So their business has shrunk here. We have Boeing, Centene, and, again, another big reason for us talking with those guys is that … it’s really important to have these guys here.

As much as people want to look at a lot of these [big businesses] like devils, they bring a lot of jobs to our area. What role do you see the restaurant industry playing in the health of the region or as a bellwether of the health of the region? It’s kind of one question we always ask ourselves around here: What are we doing? What are we doing to change things? And on a broader scale

than just your menu because if you’re not doing anything to make change in the food world as a progressive restaurant, you’re not progressing. Our big focus is going to be on the land around us and really trying to make big pushes to clean things up and create awareness about where we live and utilize where we live a lot more. So … back to the question, how does it affect our local economy? Just caring about where we are helps other people to care about where we are and to get excited [about St. Louis]. I hear so many people say: “We’re not Chicago. We’re not New York.” Yeah, we’re not. We’re St. Louis. You know, there are people in all those cities saying the same crap. Until somebody else says [St. Louis is] cool, it’s not really that cool. The more people that we have that care about where we are, that are trying to make a difference, people will eventually notice that. And it will make it cool. You know what I mean?

Brian Lipa was talking – he works at The French Laundry – and he was reading the Food & Wine that Kevin [Willmann of Farmhaus] was in, and there were three St. Louis things, I believe, within that one issue. And he’s like: “Wow! What’s going on in St. Louis? That’s crazy!”

It’s happening … but I think people get lost in what a long process it is. It’s not overnight. If there’s a missing piece of the puzzle in St. Louis food, what would it be? Restaurants out in the country, on an actual farm and about the whole process. You know, I think that’s something that could be really interesting … if somebody could actually afford to do that and to do it the right way and be out there and make it a destination for people to travel to. It’s not going to be somebody who says, “I want to make money off this place …” ‘cause it probably won’t.

You give over a huge chunk of your life and a lot of your emotional energy to

your work. Given your tremendous drive, where do you envision yourself when you’re 50 or 60? I honestly have no clue. That’s a scary thought, and I think about it a lot. I mean, that is the question for a chef: How do you develop a life for yourself, you know, beyond a certain time? That’s kind of the tough thing about what we do. It’s really challenging. It’s really hard, and it’s really stressful for my family quite often. But, at the same time, I don’t know that I would ever not want to do it. And I like running a business, and I like the challenge of it. And sometimes the pressure and everything is more than I would ever like to handle. You do anyway. Yeah, part of me likes it.

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Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

61

Tom Niemeier

Owner of SPACE Architecture + Design

“[I’m big on] trying to get people to patronize the locally owned restaurants. That is what’s keeping our city special and unique and makes it so people want to come back.”

How do you create a certain vibe for the restaurants you design?

We try to customize it to the chef’s personality, what the menu is. It doesn’t have to be a superslick design. It really doesn’t. Like Atomic Cowboy – I love to just go in there and hang out. You can just tell that the atmosphere has been put together by the ownership group, and it’s a little quirky. … You know that it’s unique. That’s what I like. When did you open your own architectural firm? That was in 2005 … after about 20 years of working at various architecture firms. … And so, when I opened up my own place, I just, I tried to take the good [things] that I learned and eliminate the bad [things]. How do you build a successful architectural firm?

Many architecture firms have a very set structure, where they have designers.

They have production people, architects, and then they have interior designers.

And they’re all separate from one another, in different departments. And there are titles and hierarchy and all of that. We just got rid of all of that at SPACE. … We hire people who can do design and production.

They’ll take the project all the way through. We just think you get a betterquality product that way. … We try to keep [the organizational structure] really flat, kind of team-oriented. The biggest evolution that we took was in 2008. We decided to get into construction … for a couple reasons. We had some frustration in that what was being constructed wasn’t the design intent. Or there were things that were missed or things that were built differently than what we wanted.

You wanted to have more control over those factors. You really kind of deepen the relationship with clients because instead of, like, doing the design then handing them the roll of drawings and saying, you know: “Good luck finding a contractor. Hope it all goes well.” Now we can take clients all the way through. And, of course, we have a fabrication studio that enables us to do some of our custom work, like the Franco ceilings, the Monarch butterflies, things that the typical contractor is going to be really confused [by] and scared to try. Because it’s art as 62

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well as construction. To me, blending art and architecture together is what makes the spaces special and what makes them different. What percentage of your business is restaurant design?

Right now it’s probably 20 percent. Is it unusual for an architecture firm to specialize in an industry? Most people think [restaurant design is] all we do. But we have a really diversified project group. You can’t survive on restaurant work alone. … You design, design, design, and then you’re done in six weeks. And it’s over. Describe your design process.

If they [clients] haven’t picked a location, we’d love to help select it because it’s just such a big determining factor. … How much money are they going to spend? Is it fine dining? Is it casual? That’s all going to start to paint a picture of the experience. … Once we get done with that, the way we like to work is we’ll start to lay out how the restaurant would function. But really quickly, we’ll go beyond the space plan, and we get the three-dimension pack, where we use a 3-D modeling program. It helps the client visualize ceiling heights, soffits, seating arrangements. We have a big flatscreen TV. We can bring up the 3-D model, and we can manipulate and change it right there. How has architectural design changed in the past five years? The whole green aspect – environmentally friendly, sensitive design – people want to project that they thought about that.

[Trends are also moving] toward more casual, less shiny finishes and … more organic, distressed [materials]. … Gerard Craft is a perfect example. Where he’s going is a slick, contemporary facility. But what he wants is something dark that kind of looks like it has been there for a while. And that’s a challenge. We’ll be able to do it, but, I mean, it’s important that you have those conversations.

What are some of the roadblocks that you’ve run into typically? [St. Louis County Department of Health]. The single biggest problem that we face is with the health inspection because they will not come out, and you can’t talk to them. They won’t look at a preliminary drawing. They have to have the full, final inspection documents before they’ll look

at it [the drawing]. I know I harped on this a little bit at the roundtable that we had.

They [health department officials] make it difficult to design a really finely detailed space because of what they require. …

In the county, the things that jump up the costs are the plumbing requirements; the county requires an employee bathroom.

We have people come to us, and they say, “I want to open a restaurant.” And we say, “What’s your budget?” … and they say, “Well, I’ve got $120,000.” We’re like, “It’s not going to happen unless you find a space that was an existing restaurant.”

What’s the typical price point for an average restaurant design? Let’s say it’s a from-scratch restaurant, where you don’t have the advantage of an existing kitchen. That type of thing, it’s probably in the neighborhood of $350,000 to half a million dollars for a restaurant that’s 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. You bring a lot of knowledge and experience to the table. I think we could design a good rocket ship if we had all the right programming information. … We know how to assemble that information and how to form it into something that looks good, functions well. And that’s really what we did with [owner] Tom Schmidt at Franco. … He had this beautiful [timbered] ceiling. But he [also] had all this white PVC pipe coming down from the lofts above. … We just came up with a different way to treat it, and I think that’s what our strength is … . What kind of designs would you like to see here in St. Louis? I personally would like to get more crazy. I would really like to do a space that’s very conceptdriven, very theme-oriented and very artsy. Now, this isn’t for everyone, and I would never force it on anyone. But I would really like to do a space where people walk in and they’re just like, “I’ve never been in a space like this.” It

takes the right client to be willing to take a risk on it. What role does design play in the success of the city and the region? I’m a big proponent of the locally owned restaurant scene. … People aren’t going to come here if all we have are Chili’s and Red Robin and those kinds of restaurants. So that’s why I’m kind of big on Twitter, on trying to get people to patronize the locally owned restaurants.

That is what’s keeping our city special and unique and makes it so people want to come back. What is the key to launching a great independent restaurant? A strong concept because once you have that, an overall concept, it helps drive decisions all along the way.

And it keeps you on the right path.

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Inspired Food Culture

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63

Consumers generally don’t think about government when they dine at their favorite restaurant, but from permitting to infrastructure improvements, politics play a huge role in the health and stability of St. Louis’ culinary scene. To cap our Tastemakers issue, FEAST sat down with Mayor Francis Slay to discuss the role local government can – and should – play in the industry.

Francis G. Slay

Mayor of St. Louis

“We help with making sure there’s [a] good environment to do business [in], that we are facilitators. We’ve got to make it as easy as possible to do business in the city of St. Louis.”

Your family has a rich history in the St. Louis food world. My grandfather was in the restaurant business, started early in the first part of the 20th century.

He and my father and my two uncles, Mike and Anthony, had several restaurants in St. Louis. So I grew up in the restaurant business. I worked in the restaurant business in various capacities for a period of probably at least 10 years myself. How did that experience inform your career? Did your interaction and collaboration with people affect your decision to get into politics?

It did. The fact that my grandfather and my father were in public service, that had a huge influence. But [so did] working in the restaurant; having the personal contact with people; dealing with issues, complaints; serving the public; learning manners; learning respect for people; [and] learning how to talk to people in a very comfortable way. That was a very good training ground for being in public service.

What role do you see the restaurant industry playing in the vitality of the St. Louis region? When you sit in a restaurant and you enjoy your meal, it helps you enjoy your stay in the city much more. People remember that. If you have a bad meal someplace, it puts a bad taste in your mouth – no pun intended – of your experience in the city. So having these quality restaurants that not only put out a good product but also great service, it really does form a perception about the city that can be very, very helpful in our situation. The city of St. Louis really does enjoy, I think, a very good reputation for its restaurants. When people come and bring a convention … that’s one of the things that does attract people. “Where can we go to eat? What kind of restaurants do you have, and what are they in terms of the close proximity to where we’re going to be?” We’ve got wonderful restaurants all over the city of St. Louis. How do you 64

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see City Hall being able to support the industry? What role do you see the city playing? We help in all kinds of ways. We help with making sure there’s [a] good environment to do business [in], that we are facilitators. We’ve got to make it as easy as possible to do business in the city of St. Louis. So if somebody has permit issues or [if] they have timing issues, we need to make sure we work with these restaurant owners so that they can have a good experience with the city. We also can help with streetscape improvements in various ways. There are some areas, like in Downtown, for example, where there’s a CID, Community Improvement District, which we helped bring together. We support things in neighborhoods that are going to help – whether it’s development or infrastructure – make a neighborhood more attractive for businesses and restaurants and for people to come and visit. Food fuels business. Meetings happen over lunch. People get together after work over drinks.

Restaurants and bars are key to our vital urban core. You said it better than I did. We have a variety of options for people, so it doesn’t get boring. And the food trucks. They’re something that really adds to the urban experience. There are about 11 permanent food trucks. I think that’s great. I don’t think they’re just here for the short term. It does add another component and more character, I think, particularly to Downtown. What are your thoughts on a city and county merger? Having the city join the county as another municipality, I think, is an important step in building a stronger region. Because when the city and the county are working together [rather] than competing with each other, you can bring your resources together.

You can bring your planning together. You can help attract businesses together. …

A business that’s in the city and moves

to the county, the city’s a loser and the county’s a winner. We lose that tax base. They win, and the same goes for businesses in the county who move to the city. And there’s a lot more of that going on now. … The other thing is regulations. … You might have a business in the city and a business in the county, and you’ve got different requirements here and different permit requirements over there.

We really need to have more consistency, more efficiency. … When you’ve got all these different levels of government, it is more expensive. St. Louis County has 90-something municipalities, and many of them have their own council, their own mayors, their own police department.

There are a lot of different organizations out there using tax dollars, and there’s a lot of government that is costing money. I think we need to compete better nationally and internationally. We will do that if we’re working together. Other cities have done it: Indianapolis, Louisville.

Denver’s got a city and [a] county.

They work together. … We’re working toward a merger of our [city and county] economic development departments because we really ought to be working on economic development together.

Our health departments have had some discussion.

Public health is something that’s regional. Disease doesn’t stop at the city/county border. We are working together there. There are ways we can probably save money and be more effective and efficient and serve the general public more cost-effectively. What do you think about all the new breweries that are opening? They seem like

such an homage to the heritage of our city. It adds to the character [of the St. Louis area], and it adds to the mix of things that are available to people who live here and people who visit here. …I think that’s good for the consumers, and I think it’s good for the city. I have to ask: Do you make dinner reservations under a fake name, or do you say Mayor Slay? I usually let people know I’m coming. If I had a restaurant and if the mayor was coming to my restaurant, I would like to know beforehand.

CLASSIFIEDS

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

ACCOUNTING/TAXES

HEALTHCARE SERVICES

CPA FIRM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES Affordable Accounting, Tax, Payroll & Guidance Solutions.

Call Tom at 314-448-4264 or Email: tomdunncpa.com Home Helpers is your #1 source with affordable, dependable care for all ages by compassionate caregivers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

THANK YOU!!

For your continued support in me and Ladue News for your classified advertising needs.

May your homes be filled with happiness, your hearts with love, your days with joy during this holiday season.

•

RN Supervised

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Meal Preparation

PRECISION REMODELING Since 1990 - Interior & Exterior We Are Here For All Your Home Improvement Needs & Repairs.

Free Estimates! Fully Insured.

Call Bob (314) 799-4633 or Jim (314) 799-4630

LAWN & GARDEN

www.homehelpersstl.com

Outdoors Solutions

Landscape Design & Installation, Retaining Walls, Paver Patios.

Drainage & Pruning

636-296-5050 Free Estimate

PAINTING COLLEGE DEGREED CAREGIVERS provide care and companionship.

Why accept less? A competitively priced option. Care manager/clinical staff available. AAA screened/bonded.

Preferred choice since 1987.

StaffLink/Gretchen 314-477-3434

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PAINTER/PROFESSIONAL 26 Years of Experience.

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Deck, Dry Wall Repair, Wallpaper Removal. Free Estimates & Insured.

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by Carey Johnson, Certified in Faux Finishing Techniques

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Insured.

Call John for a free estimate 314-703-2794

CLEANING SERVICES TWO LADIES & A BUCKET Two Are Better Than One! Deep & Thorough Cleaning Service Please Contact Susie Duncan at: 314-229-1736 www.twoandabucket.com

PET SERVICES THE WELL BEHAVED PET....

For all your home training needs.

New Puppy, Puppy Mill Rescue Dogs or Behavioral Problems.

Call me, I can help.

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FLOORING/TILE

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ALLEN'S HAULING SERVICE 15, 20 and 30 Yard Trash Containers.

Hauling Service.

No Job Too Big Or Small.

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TREES TREES TRIMMED & REMOVED TREE SERVICE

On Call 24/7 Insured/Bonded and Carefully Screened

314.961.1002 636.391.0000

SERVICES

GILLS

Housekeeping Errands • Recuperative Care •

• Bathing/Personal Care •

~ANDREA JONES

AUTOMOTIVE

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Prompt Free Estimates. Insured.

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Highly Recommended.

Call 314-569-2009

WANTED

WANTED

CHINESE ANTIQUES -I AM BUYING -JADE - IVORY STATUES SNUFF BOTTLES & WHOLE COLLECTIONS 314-503-4847 COLLECTOR WISHES TO PURCHASE Gun Collections â Old and New Antiques of Any Type Fishing Tackle Call Steve Lapin 314-571-9427 GUNS WANTED Licensed Federal Firearms Dealer Top Price Paid ï Any Condition YOU COME TO US OR WE'LL COME TO YOU 636-233-4544 Ask For MARK I BUY POSTCARDS! Stereoviews, Old Photographs, Documents, Letterheads, Movie Photos, Advertising, World's Fair, Railroad, Military, Political, Nautical & More.

Mike 314-524-9400

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Written Guarantee No Job Too Small Credit Cards Accepted Insured

RUGS FRENCHTOWN RUG CLEANING ORIENTAL/AREA RUGS FREE PICK UP & DELIVERY (636) 949-0753 www.frenchtownrugcleaning.com

Place Your Ad

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314-772-0190 314-771-7622 FAX

laduenews.com

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Serving St. Louis for over 40 years Mortar Color Matching Brick Cleaning Bricklaying Stone Work Power Washing Caulking Waterproofing & Sealing

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KEN'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Carpentry, Electrical, Plumbing, Painting, Gutter Cleaning and Hauling. Over 25 Yrs. Exp. Ref's. Insured.

Call Ken 314-567-6900

ALL TYPES TUCKPOINTING

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HANDYMAN SERVICES

WOOD FLOOR REFINISHING 25-yr. Old Fully Insured Company.

Sanding, Refinishing, Repairs, New Installation. Free Estimates.

PROFESSIONAL FLOORS OF ST. LOUIS 314-843-4348 www.profloorstl.com

LAKE MICHIGAN Waterfront Homes for Sale Go To www.Andreacrossman.com or Call 616-355-6387 Andrea Crossman

GULF COAST HOUSE OR CONDO Carillon Beach, FL, Destin Area 3BR, 3BA, Beach House or Condo.

Carillon has 3 pools, tennis courts and so much more! Avail. thru 2011.

Call Dave at 314-922-8344 Great Rates.

For Pictures Please Visit www.vrbo.com/148365 or /127089

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HOME IMPROVEMENT

All Tuck Pointing Basement Work Chimney Repair Painting Carpentry Repair Caulking Step Repair Foundation Roofing New/Repair Waterproofing All Work Guaranteed DON 314-865-0558 A+ Rating with B.B.B. Happy New Year to All!

CONSTRUCTION INC.

Inspired Food Culture

J A N UA RY 2012

65

pull up a chair

Vintage Toledo Chair

Three designers select complementary tables to showcase the antiqued charm of the Toledo chair:

written by Erin Callier

Restoration Hardware’s vintage-inspired reproduction of a classic draftsman’s chair is pure industrial warmth. No, that’s not an oxymoron – the distressed materials and curvy lines of this adjustable, artisan-crafted chair just make us melt. $375; Restoration Hardware, Saint Louis Galleria, Richmond Heights, restorationhardware.com

Stern Counter Table

“This is the perfect pairing for the distressed Toledo chair. The clean lines of the table complement the small curve of the vintage-style chair. The wood on the chair melds well with the gray tones and textures of the metal on the table.”

Mim Phillips, Mim Phillips Interiors $499; CB2, cb2.com

Winemaker’s Tasting Table

“I love this table when married to the Toledo chair. The concave shape of the base provides a nice tension for the legs of the chair. The feet are finished in metal, and the rivet rows on the base add a note of industrial craftsmanship. It’s a great mix of contemporary and traditional.”

Gigi Lombrano, Frank Patton Interiors $1,189; Frank Patton Interiors, 13133 Manchester Road, Town & Country, www.frankpattoninteriors.com

Wang Table

“Perfect in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, behind a sofa or anywhere a compact perch is necessary, the Wang table brings strong, clean lines to a variety of interiors, from ultramodern to farmhouse chic. The Toledo chair’s adjustable height lets you pair it with a counter- or bar-height Wang table, whichever is best for your space.”

Todd Lannom, Centro Modern Furnishings $4,115 in oak or $4,760 in walnut; Centro Modern Furnishings, 4727 McPherson Ave., Central West End, centro-inc.com

66

feastSTL.com

JANUARY 2012

Missouri's #1 Automotive Group There Can Only Be One #1 Source, bureau of Missouri Automotive registration 2010.

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G25 SEDAN, G37 SEDAN, G37 COUPE, G37 CONVERTIBLE, EX35, FX35, FX50, M37, M56, QX56

ALL WHEEL DRIVE

1.9

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APR AVAILABLE FOR

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2011 INFINITI G37 SEDAN "WHERE PRICE SELLS CARS"

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SALES - SERVICE - PARTS - COLLISION REPAIR

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*Based On 2010 Sales Summary Infiniti Motor Division, Nissan North America. 1.9% apr for 60 mos. = $17.85 per $1,000 financed.

Meat Packages

Meats

Call One Day in Advance to Place Order

314-631-2440 •We AcceptMissouri EBT•

Old Fashioned Butcher Service

Spend $200 or more and get 10 lbs. of Chicken Cut up for FREE Only 2 Substitutiions Per Package

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4324 Weber Road St. Louis, MO 63123

314-631-2440

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