Riverfront Times, December 30, 2020 by Riverfront Times

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DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

To New Beginnings

e’ve waited all year for this — the end of this garbage year. Rather than revisit every painful, frustrating lowlight, we created this issue, The Hope Issue, and aimed it at 2021. The new year is going to start out rough. We’re not walking away from a bomb blast like 2020 without lasting damage. But this year offers promise, and a swath of St. Louisans have their wish lists ready. If you’re not quite past the past twelve months yet, we understand. Cheryl Baehr surveys the highs and lows of the restaurant and bar scene. We’ve also got a double dose of Ray Hartmann, who revives his annual news quiz and hands out his first-ever Kroenke award. See you back here in 2021. — Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Interim Managing Editor Daniel Hill Staff Writer Danny Wicentowski Contributors Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Theo Welling, Ymani Wince Columnist Ray Hartmann Interns Steven Duong, Riley Mack, Matt Woods A R T

& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Editorial Layout Haimanti Germain, Evan Sult Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Chuck Healy, Jackie Mundy Digital Sales Manager Chad Beck Director of Public Relations Brittany Forrest

COVER The Hope Issue

C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

21 hopes for 2021 Cover design by

EVAN SULT & PAIGE BRUBECK

E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein www.euclidmediagroup.com N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (MO add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (MO add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group | Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103 www.riverfronttimes.com General information: 314-754-5966

INSIDE Hartmann News Feature Short Orders Savage Love 4

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DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

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Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977

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Riverfront Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1.00 plus postage, payable in advance at the Riverfront Times office. Riverfront Times may be distributed only by Riverfront Times authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Riverfront Times, take more than one copy of each Riverfront Times weekly issue. The entire contents of Riverfront Times are copyright 2020 by Riverfront Times, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission of the Publisher, Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Please call the Riverfront Times office for back-issue information, 314-754-5966.

HARTMANN Michael Neidorff Snags the Kroenke Centene’s CEO follows the playbook in trashing St. Louis for corporate gain BY RAY HARTMANN

nvelope, please. It’s a great honor to present Centene CEO Michael Neidor with the first ever tan Kroenke Civic Achievement Award for his contributions to the de ise o the t. ouis region. Neidorff spent much of this

wonderful year of 2020 trashing t. ouis on the national business stage. First there was his announcement in July that Centene would be building a new $1 billion headquarters complex in Charlotte, North Carolina. His message to anyone who would listen e re sic and tired o t. ouis cri e proble and we re not going to take it anymore. (And, by the way, that $460 million in corporate welfare bribes in North Carolina had nothing to do with the decision to move to paradise.) Bookending that speciousness in December, Neidorff doubled down by announcing his company’s intentions to weasel out of its 2016 co it ent to build a third o ce tower in Clayton. Why welch on the deal now? You guessed it: that intolerable crime problem that presumably must make it too dangerous to venture out into Clayton. (And, by the way, the changing economic realities brought on by the pandemic had nothing to do

with the company’s decision to dishonor commitments made four years ago in the city of Clayton.) Neidorff earned his Kroenke. For whatever reason, he decided he needed a fig lea or corporate decisions that hold unpleasant ra ifications or the region. ut rather than man up and admit he was thinking of his company’s bottom line — this is capitalism, after all — Neidorff just crushed t. ouis econo ic develop ent efforts by distorting an already unfair national image problem. t. ouis has plenty o woes. o ing to grips with the city’s tragic homicide crisis ought to be its top priority. But the region as a whole has nothing more than an average crime rate compared to others, including that mecca of Charlotte. uburbs li e entene s ho e o Clayton are about as safe as it gets. adly though it atters what a fellow like Neidorff says out loud on the national business stage. He has built a great career, and when he does something like publicly

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attac t. ouis his peers can t help but take notice. If Neidorff whines about cri e in t. ouis why would they need to ask follow-up questions about the safety of his corporate fortress? eidor has a fine legacy in the t. ouis region. e built entene from scratch into an amazing juggernaut involved in managing health care or roughly one in fi teen Americans to the tune of more than $100 billion in revenues. Not incidentally, Neidorff has been one of the most philanthropic members of the community, giving time and vast amounts of money to a wide range of great causes. But that presents an uneasy civic question: Do a company’s contributions to support a community grant it a permanent license to damage that community? Neidorff is stress testing that question. This man’s chutzpah and hypocrisy are boundless. He has repeatedly used his political clout to obtain unneeded corporate tax

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HARTMANN

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welfare on the backs of schoolchildren and taxpayers, only to turn around — with no apparent selfawareness — and bemoan the sad state of public education and government services as they hurt his company’s ability to attract talent to St. Louis. Centene is entitled to make its corporate decisions out of self-interest. But the company is not entitled to its own set of facts twisting the context of those decisions. s a national giant with fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders the world over, it’s common sense that Centene would diversify its corporate facilities to the likes of Sacramento, where it has a West Coast headquarters, and Charlotte. Moves like that help it attract a broader talent and increase national visibility, as well as allow it to drink from the public trough through shameless corporate welfare (a.k.a. “incentives”). Neidorff needn’t apologize for not adding 6,000 new jobs to the 5,000 it already has here. That’s just sound business practice. But to pretend that all this was motivated by concerns over crime is pathetic. It was bad enough that St. Louis had to endure this churlishness last summer when Neidorff had the unmitigated gall to pretend that the decision to move to Charlotte was anything more noble than a sound business decision. Folks here could have also done without hearing about what a paradise Charlotte offered when in fact it held the most relevant title: “highest bidder.” Neidorff had the audacity at the time to ignore that background as he pompously issued his “wakeup call” to the same business community in which he presumably had been a leader. It was really nauseating. In that vein, Centene’s decision to renege upon its 2016 commitment to build a third tower in Clayton — with the help of the obligatory and unneeded corporate welfare — is just that: a decision to renege on a commitment. Nothing fancy to see here: The world’s changed. The third tower was to be anchored by a hotel and feature a large auditoriu retail shops and lots o o ce space. Does that sound like such a great idea today? One can hardly blame Centene for not having foreseen the COVID-19 pandemic in this context. It most certainly changed the math with regard to developments of this nature, pretty much in every re-

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DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

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When the man who built the largest privately owned company in St. Louis tells the nation’s business community that his hometown sucks, the nation’s business community listens. spect with regard to this particular project. But saying “never mind” is quite different than inventing some preposterous rationalization for bailing from a prior commitment. How about a little honesty rather than trashing St. Louis — again — with a bunch of nonsense? Let’s not forget that 2016 wasn’t ancient history. It was post-Ferguson as Neidorff well knows, having stepped up so admirably to support that community in the wake of the tragic events there. St. Louis’ crime problems were no different in 2016 than they are now. The only things that have really changed, apparently, are Centene’s corporate needs and whatever personal relationships on the part of Neidorff and his associates that the unwashed masses are not entitled to know about. But what everyone should know is this: When the man who built the largest privately owned company in St. Louis tells the nation’s business community that his hometown sucks, the nation’s business community listens. Like it or not, that will likely be the gift that keeps on giving to St. Louis’ competition in the never-ending battles for economic growth and development. In that context, at least, the actions of Michael Neidorff in 2020 may cause far more lasting damage to St. Louis’ economy than losing its pro football team ever did. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhar tmann1952@gmail.com or catch him on Donnybrook at 7 p.m. on Thursdays on the Nine Network and St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

NEWS Unmasked ‘A-hole’ Councilman Banned From Best Buy

Walking While Black on Campus Written by

DOYLE MURHPY

Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

hesterfield city council an was booted ro a est uy or re using to wear a as and acting in the words o a store anager li e a total a hole. ouncil an o e a pi a epublican and outspo en oppo nent o t. ouis as andates was with his a ily on ove ber at the hesterfield location o the big bo electronics store when sta as ed hi to leave and called the cops. hesterfield police o cer s body ca video ro the call pic s up as e a pi and his son wal ro the store s entrance. he ootage shows that the coun cil an has a as he s ust not wearing it. ow you doing he says stroll ing orward to introduce hi sel . e e tends his right hand but the o cer who d ust pulled on his own as doesn t accept the bare aced council an s pro ered handsha e. e re leaving e a pi says. ne o the o cers as s i he s causing a disturbance and he says he isn t. he police tell hi to stic around while they get his in or ation and tal to est uy sta . don t now why we have to get called out here when you re a city council an an o cer says. his is ridiculous. t s not clear i the o cer eans it s ridiculous that a council an won t ollow the rules or i it s not so ething police should have to handle. ew wee s a ter the in cident hesterfield announced its police would not en orce t. ouis ounty s as andates or other virus slowing protocols.

Cutline goes here followed by Art Credit, in All Caps. | ART CREDIT t any rate the o cer writes down e a pi s ocial ecurity nu ber and address and heads inside where he eets with a peeved store anager. Mr. ooth out there ... abso lutely defiant. usto ers upset out there. i and his son stroll ing around re using to ac nowl edge anyone the anager tells the o cer. otal a hole. he anager says in the video that e a pi was wal ing up to custo ers without his as on despite being told he was re uired to cover his ace in the store. e gardless o what personally be lieve we ve got to ollow these rules and he new. he o cer then tells the anager that they re going to let e a pi leave. e s one o our city council en the o cer says adding that they now how to identi y hi . h so he did this on purpose the anager replies be ore as ing o why would a council an do that he o cer doesn t have an an swer or hi but he pro ises to tell the e a pis they re not al lowed in the store any ore. he anager adds that the ban will e tend to all t. ouis est uy locations. can t believe that s a council an. ut e a pi is in act a hes

terfield council an sworn in bac in to represent the suburb s th ard. ccording to his bio on the city s website he s also the Midwest ey account anager or el er cientific a co pany that anu actures edical grade re rigerators or storing substances such as blood sa ples and vac cines. nce outside the store the o ficer tells e a pi he s not being charged but he is banned ro t. ouis locations o est uy. hat s fine e a pi responds. hey re never going to get our business again. e a pi didn t respond to a re uest or co ent but hester field Mayor ob ation posted a letter o apology on the city web site. e didn t na e e a pi in the letter but he says that the in cident a es the city loo bad. believe that elected o cials should set the very best e a ple or our e ployees and citi ens and sincerely apologi e on be hal o the ity or the anner in which this individual oun cil e ber s behavior reflects on the ity ation s letter says adding that he un ortunately doesn t have the authority to ta e action against e a pi. e alone ust answer the calls or his resignation. n

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white night watchman at Concordia Seminary has been placed on administrative leave after he was recorded confronting and interrogating Black children as they walked across the seminary’s Clayton campus. On the evening of December 21, the boys were on their way to meet up with family friends to watch the solstice-night alignment of planets when the watchman approached, fathers of three of the boys tell the Riverfront Times. He accused the kids of being “suspicious” and up to “no good,” even though he’d seen them do nothing more than walk. One of the boys, age thirteen, began filming the encounter on an iPhone. “Here’s the problem,” the masked watchman says. “It’s after dark, and we get a lot of people coming up here to do no good.” There were four boys in the group — a ten-year-old, two thirteen-year-olds and an eighteen-year-old. The youngest three are Black, and the oldest is white. Jeffrey McCune Jr., an associate professor at Washington University and the father of one of the thirteenyear-olds, says the eighteen-year-old looks no older than the other boys. “What you know is that they’re all children,” McCune says. But that’s not the way the watchman treated them. In the video, the man runs through a familiar set of demands, insinuations and accusations that have become hallmarks of videos of white people confronting people of color for doing mundane things. Concordia has long made its campus open to the public to walk and enjoy. The boys tried to explain that they were just cutting through to meet people and to see the planets. “You’re here walking around — I bet,” the watchman says sarcastically in the video. The boys kept walking away, but the man followed. “Excuse me,” he says at one point. “Stop filming and start answering some questions for me.” One boy replies, “We don’t have to. Continued on pg 8

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CAMPUS HARASSMENT Continued from pg 7

We’re going to walk and not talk.” The man says, “Yes, you do, because if you don’t, I’m going to assume you’re here for no good.” Two of Jason Wilson’s boys were in the group. They are ten and thirteen, and the family lives about a block away from the Clayton campus. Wilson, the owner of Northwest Coffee Roasting Company and a member the Clayton school board, says he and his wife, Washington University Associate Professor Shanti Parikh, speak to their children on a near-daily basis about the way they’ll be perceived by some people once they walk out the family’s door. The watchman’s actions were frustratingly familiar. “The things he was saying were so classic,” Wilson says. “That’s what made it so unbelievable.” For several minutes, 3:08 of which are in a video that Wilson posted on Facebook, the man followed the boys as they walked through campus. The boys spoke politely as they tried to separate themselves, which makes Wilson proud of them if no less infuriated with the watchman. In the video, one of the boys lets the man know what he’s doing is wrong. “Is it because we’re Black?” the boy asks. “Is it because we’re Black, sir?” The man replies, “Of course it’s not because you’re Black. Dear God. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” “That’s not ridiculous, man,” one of

the kids says. “At any rate,” the watchman says, “you have a white friend here, too, so clearly this has nothing to do with race.” But McCune says the man’s actions are clear, and they fall into an old pattern of assuming the worst of Black people. “I hate to be academic about it, but it’s emotional and academic in the sense that it’s all connected,” he says. “The idea of ‘up to no good’ has been a historical way of discussing Black people as criminals, and children. Children playing — ‘up to no good.’ Children walking through a seminary of all places — ‘up to no good.’” The interrogation of the boys only ended when the woman whom the children were walking to meet doubled back to check on them. She is white, and Wilson and McCune say she told the watchman to stop harassing the kids. The man didn’t apologize despite the evidence the boys were telling the truth, Wilson says, but he did finally walk away. That evening, the kids returned home and told their parents what happened. Wilson and McCune say their sons appear to be doing OK, but they know from experience that the encounter will leave a psychological mark. Wilson, who was stopped twice by police while campaigning for school board in Clayton neighborhoods, says he remembers every such encounter from his life. He knows the boys will, too. “There’s a way in which you talk to Black kids, ‘You look suspicious. If you don’t tell me what you’re doing I’m going to assume the worst of you,’” he says, adding that it can be worse than a

Cutline goes here followed by Art Credit, in All Caps. | ART CREDIT physical injury. “Psychological trauma is way more damaging, long lasting.” McCune says he woke up furious the morning after. The kids in the group grew up playing on college campuses, and Concordia’s grounds had felt like just another part of the neighborhood. But he sees a viral racism and a vigilante mentality burrowing into the country. The watchman looked at his son and his son’s young friends and saw criminals, he says. It’s especially stunning that it happened on the campus of a Christian institution, he says. “There was no grace of Christ,” McCune says. “He began with the assumption that our children were up to no good — not that they were good, but that they were up to no good. His assumption was

Jail Lawsuit Describes Toothpaste-and-Toilet Paper Sandwiches Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

n the St. Francois County Jail, hunger was everywhere. Portions were small, or inedible or covered in mold. Detainee Robert Hopple watched as his cellmate squeezed toothpaste onto a square of toilet paper and swallowed it. “He said, ‘Here, try this, it helps with the hunger,’” Hopple would later recall to attorneys. “That’s what we did in between meals. We’d do that for weeks.” Hopple’s account of starvation is among a trove of allegations leveled in a new federal lawsuit against the jail and St. Francois County Sheriff Dan Bullock. Hopple, along with two other former jail residents, is being represented by St. Louis civil rights firm ArchCity Defenders in the suit filed last week. Overall, the suit accuses the jail of failing to provide basic needs for the roughly 200 inmates crowded into a facility that

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Cutline goes here followed by Art Credit, in All Caps. | ART CREDIT had once been an operational dairy farm. Along with lack of ventilation and access to medical supplies — including hygiene products like tampons and pads — the lawsuit also accuses guards of pitting detainees in violent contests called “Friday Night Fights.” From the lawsuit: “Under the Friday Night Fights scheme, during evening and weekend shifts deputies would select two detainees to fight each other for the entertainment of the deputies. The detainees would be forced to fight each other while the deputies watched from another room via television monitor.”

DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

These fights were also described in a July 2020 Riverfront Times cover story published in partnership with The Marshall Project. The story, which was based on interviews with 50 former detainees and four former employees, reported on allegations of the jail’s widespread neglect, extreme heat and cold, and the Friday ritual that involved guards arranging “two-man duels, often to prepare men for state prison.” Like Hopple, other former detainees reported losing significant weight due to the quantity and quality of the institution’s food. But Hopple’s journey to the jail had been tangled in the deeper criminal justice abuses in St. Francois County:

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not that they were good children, like A and B students, children who like to play and have fun, who were headed to winter solstice. It’s alarming.” Asked about the incident, Concordia released the following statement: “The Seminary’s senior leadership team has become aware of an interaction between a member of the Seminary’s campus safety team and three youths who were on campus on the evening of Dec. 21, 2020. Since establishing its campus in Clayton nearly a century ago, Concordia Seminary has always tried to be a good neighbor to those who live in the surrounding community and we continue to welcome all those who visit campus to enjoy our parklike grounds, to walk our paths and to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. The safety of everyone who lives and/or works on campus as well as that of those who visit our campus is among our highest priorities. We do not condone the conduct of the campus safety watchman and he has been placed on administrative leave. We are actively looking into the incident and are committed to taking whatever additional appropriate actions are necessary.” Video of the watchman confronting the children spread quickly, followed by messages of support for the boys and their families. Wilson says he is reinforcing the message to his sons that they did the right thing and handled themselves well. “At the end of the day,” he says, “I still have to worry about these little dudes walking through the neighborhood being terrorized.” n

In 2015, he’d been arrested on suspicion of child sexual misconduct, and although the state Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board ruled that the allegations were “unsubstantiated,” St. Francois Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin took the case to a grand jury, which returned an indictment. What happened to Hopple next became the subject of a 2018 report by St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger, whose investigation that year into Missouri’s de facto system of debtors prisons would earn him a Pulitzer Prize. As Messenger reported, Hopple lost his job and, as a result of Mahurin’s many court delays, was forced to pay for an ankle monitor for months on end. In 2018, when Hopple no longer had the means to pay, he was thrown in jail for violating the terms of his probation. The charge of child sexual misconduct was later dropped. (Also in 2018, Mahurin himself was accused of sexual harassment by multiple employees. He lost his reelection bid later that year.) Along with ArchCity Defenders, the lawsuit is being brought by Farmington lawyer Vonne Karraker, who has spent years criticizing the conditions at the jail. She’d also represented the family of Bill Ames, who died in jail in 2019 after being strapped into a restraint chair and left for hours. n

ere you paying attention this year? Test your 2020 knowledge with Riverfront Times columnist Ray Hartmann’s annual news quiz. Quiz Scoring System: 10 correct out of 10: You spend too much time reading the RFT 8-9 correct: You did better on this quiz than picking election winners 6-7 correct: Just like in school 0-5 correct: What are you doing here? You need to be stopping the steal 1. A collar with 10-karat yellow gold and blue sapphires was given by a) Eric Greitens to his new girlfriend after he got divorced by wife Sheena b) Brett Hull and Bob Plager to Eric Greitens’ new girlfriend

c) Brett Hull and Bob Plager to Barclay the Dog d) Eric Greitens to Barclay the Dog

c) Baked in $75 million d) Forgot what it did with the money

2. Who said “there’s more n-----s that hate the white community than crackers and honkeys who hate the Black community”? a) Rapper Bobby Ro b) Bob Romanik c) Jeff Roorda d) Mark McCloskey

6. Former St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin defended himself against a sex discrimination suit by saying of his accuser a) She wore a sweater that “had carrots where her breasts would be” b) She wore a sweater that “had brussels sprouts where her breasts would be” c) She wore a sweater that “had my hands where her breasts would be” d) “She should have just let me take off her sweater. This is St. Francois County”

3. When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, who did Donald Trump congratulate by tweet? a) The great city of St. Louis b) The great state of Missouri c) The great state of Kansas d) The great state of Canton 4. A Best Buy manager booted hesterfield ity ouncil an o DeCampi from his store for refusing to wear a mask and acting like a) “A total a-hole” b) “A partial a-hole” c) “A moron politician” d) Multiple-choice option a, but should have been a and c 5. The RFT reported that in the first two onths o recreational cannabis sales, the state of Illinois a) Sold out of nachos b) Raked in $75 million

7. At the outset of the pandemic, St. Louis Circuit Court Presiding Judge Rex Burlison announced a halt to a) Walk-in weddings b) Drive-by weddings c) Walk-out divorces d) Run-out weddings 8. Which of the following was not an RFT headline in 2020? a) “Parson Pauses From Swooning Over Trump to Attend Mask-less Party”

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b) “Parson Says Masking Is Not Government’s Responsibility, Rejects Doctors’ Pleas” c) “Teachers Might Die Because Governor Mike Parson Is a Wimp” d) “Parson Tells Missouri That Smart COVID Policy Is More Important Than His Election” 9. When Mark McCloskey yelled “get the hell out of my neighborhood!” he was a) Reading mail addressed to him from his neighbors b) Channeling thoughts directed to him by most people in St. Louis c) Noticing that peaceful protesters were Walking While Black near his home d) All of the above 10. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt used the full power o his o ce to hu ble a) The People’s Republic of China b) St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner c) American democracy d) None of the above, but not for lack of trying Correct answers: 1d; 2b; 3c; 4d; 5b; 6a; 7a; 8d; 9d; 10d

Take Ray Hartmann’s 2020 News Quiz

DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

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e decided to look forward. This is not an exercise in fantastical thinking. We are not pretending the pandemic isn’t still happening or that this hasn’t been a depressing, enraging and exhausting year. Honestly, it will take a while to process 2020, and we don’t have the appetite for it right now. So, forward. We asked 21 people in the St. Louis metro to tell us what they hope 2021 will bring. There are teachers here as well as activists, restaurant owners and political leaders. High school students who have spent their senior years navigating a frustratingly uncertain landscape told us what they are looking for in the new year. We asked immigrants and people who can trace their St. Louis roots back generations to look out toward the same, unknowable horizon and conjure best-case scenarios. Ever play that game where you imagine what you would buy if you won the lottery? It feels easy and silly, full of ridiculous cars, island dreams and mansions. But we discovered that if you ask someone right now about their hope for the near future it tends toward the most basic of desires — justice, a hug from a relative, people over politics, a planet that will survive us, to eat a sandwich together, to eat ice cream without worry. Try it. Look into the future and ask yourself what you want to see. Here’s hoping it comes true. — Doyle Murphy

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U.S. Representative-elect Cor Bush. | COURTESY CORI BUSH

Cori Bush

U.S Representative-elect Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m hopeful that in 2021, our comunity will begin to find stability. a hope ul that our neighbors will receive the resources they need to be able to not worry about whether they can eep the lights on or i they can a ord to see a doctor or i they can eep ood on the table because their congresswo an is fighting to address the structural barriers that eep so any o us ro having a decent li e. More than anything a hope ul that the people o the district will now what it eels li e to have a congresswo an that loves the that cares deeply that they have what they need to live a decent li e that will do anything and everything she can do to bring about the change t. ouis so desperately needs.

Soheil Mansouri

Visiting assistant professor Webster University . hope y a ily and can eet our parents again in ran and have the over here in the . . a ter ten years! . hope hu ans care or each other ore and ore!

Sarah Kendzior

Political commentator, podcast host, columnist and author t s hard to tal about things in ter s o hope. t s not a ra ewor usually use. loo at things ore in ter s o perseverance and resilience because we ve

Inez Bordeaux. | DOYLE MURPHY

been in very tough ti es or a very long ti e. ut don t thin we ve ever seen anything li e we did in when people are ust trying to survive. e ve lost so any people and we haven t really grieved. ne thing do hope to see in is so e ac nowledge ent o that a lowering o the flag having so e ind o e orial those are all nor al healthy things a country would do i citi ens died. hope that there s so ething li e that and now it sounds orbid and aybe weird but thin that it s a sign o e pathy returning as a nation to grieve together for the people that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lost. thin that would be really healthy it would bring us bac to reality and let us process our e otions a bit. ecause reality is blea . ean constant ear and panic and having to suppress your natural reaction to that to push it all down so that you can get through. t s noral to eel trau ati ed. e ve been in reactive ode or so long reacting to the pande ic reacting to resident onald Trump, that I think people havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t thought as uch about li e what do they want deally what ind o society do they want hat ind o li e do they want ecause they re trying so hard to ust hold on to what we have. ith the vaccines and with normality returning, I hope we can thin in a ore idealistic way that s less about tradeo s that s not us settling or the guy who told us to drin bleach or accepting ass death. t s not ust because o

the pande ic. t s because o our an ade response to it. e have really low standards here. t s been a disaster o a year. nd we clearly need to ai higher.

Inez Bordeaux

Organizer with the Close the Workhouse campaign My hope or is that we have learned the lessons that has taught us. e ve always nown that there were these huge ine uities in and around the t. ouis area huge gaps wealth disparities racial ine uities and issues with environ ental racis . put a big glaring floodlight on these issues. hat also eans closing the or house. he t. ouis oard o lder en passed a bill in uly that would close the or house and send illions o dollars to the areas where people need it ost. ven i it s not happening this year it is absolutely going to happen. or the people o this city who have been protesting and co enting and calling and trying to hold our elected o ficials accountable nothing we want to do can co e to ruition until that living, breathing monuent to white supre acy and racis is closed down. e can t be a city that says that lac ives Matter with that acility being open. ve spent ti e in the or house. have had loved ones and a ily e bers spend ti e in there as well as people that ve gotten to now over the last three to our years whose a ilies have

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Jeff Landow. | COURTESY JEFF LANDOW

been torn apart due to a lac o resources and neglect. ve gotten to now the a ilies o ouis ayton and hristopher rown who both died in the or house within the last two years. or e when the actual building is closed down when they put the chains on those doors when they turn o all the lights now going to cry. t will be a sense o relie or e and thousands o people in the area. t s going to be power ul.

Mohammed Mupenda News correspondent, freelance reporter and interpreter for French and East African languages

has caused chaos and is e pected to be ic ed away as the vaccination gets underway and li e will return to nor alcy. a very opti istic that this pande ic will go down and we find our ti e to sociali e as we used to beore it bro e into our country. e have learned li e changes hence we need to always get prepared by building a health care syste that is i peccable and ready to deal with any uture si ilarities. e have witnessed overwhel ing nu bers o patients in the hospitals which caused so e patients to opt or other options such as ho e care. ur governent should ta e note and ove orward on building hospitals and in rastructure and e uipping the health care syste to avoid any side e ect or uture insurgencies. t should also encourage students

DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

Continued on pg 12

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Jonathan Denen. | COURTESY JEFF LANDOW

21 HOPES

Carmen Stone

Continued from pg 11

Server at Sunny’s Cantina

to take on medical courses to encounter the challenges we may face, as the researchers and scientists ove to find out what could be done in case a similarly deadly pandemic surfaces in the future. I will be thankful to President Joe Biden’s administration once he moves forward to solve the health-care system that has seemed to be the most expensive and challenging in our nation for the past decades. An expensive health-care system poses threats to our people and you find that there is no better life without universal health care. Ordinary citizens need to be catered to and treated once there is a need. The coming year is going to be the most challenging for us. Because we will deal with recovery of our economy, the vaccines may also come with economic conditions that will not be affordable to every ordinary person. President Biden should work to end the immigration ban that has put lives of immigrants at stake while they contribute to our country’s economy. During the Trump administration, families have lived in dilemma, with no hope to reunite anytime soon. They now hope those policies will end under Biden’s administration. Most of immigration policy changes are likely to bring joy to immigrants who had lost hope during the Trump administration. I also look forward to seeing Biden’s plan for scrapping student loans take effect in 2021 as we get government grants in huge numbers.

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Shelby Darnell. | COURTESY JEFF LANDOW

hope to see society find hu anity in the calamity. There is so much loss and suffering, so there is also a lot of healing and rebuilding. I’m not solely counting on science and leadership to fi it we all have to work together to facilitate change and adaptation ... so we can save our restaurants, music venues and grandparents — safely. In 2021, hoping we ll find each other.

Mohammed Qadadeh Owner of American Falafel

What we have been through over the past year is giving me thought for so much that we should be thankful and hopeful for as we go into the next year. . a hope ul that we can finally say goodbye to the virus that has inflicted so uch da age on all of us — hopefully for good, but I’m sure this is a gradual process. 2. I am hopeful that I can take a vacation with my kids. 3. I am hopeful we can go back to normal life and be able enjoy simple everyday freedoms. 4. I am hopeful businesses will come back and our economy will be stronger and better, and people will go back to their jobs. 5. I am hopeful our kids will enjoy their friends and sports more than ever. 6. I am so encouraged by what I saw in 2020 from the people of St. Louis — compassion, thoughtfulness, generosity and helping each other. 7. I am encouraged when I see neighborhoods banding together

DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

to get through di cult ti es. 8. I am so hopeful for a better uture or everyone it s there or all of us to make the most of it. 9. I am so looking forward to throwing my mask in the air (maybe do other things to it) like I’m graduating high school or college when this is all said and over with. 10. I am hopeful that everyone can have a falafel sandwich at American Falafel.

Jeff Landow

Social studies and English teacher at Lafayette High School Cynthia Ozick, American author, writes, “When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that deserve our gratitude.” I quite like this quote. In fact, I would like to offer up one such example of how 2020 grabbed our country by the collar and reminded us, rather dramatically, of something we have too long taken for granted: the humble public school education. I teach English to tenth and twelfth graders, which — let me tell you — is quite a challenge during a national pandemic. There weren’t enough internet hotspots to go around in March and April, so some students simply didn’t have access to their online instruction for several weeks. Even when students could access classes over Zoom, it was hard for them to focus, to build and maintain relationships with teachers and friends, and to keep their different classes’ assignments and due dates

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Mohammed Qadadeh. | ANDY PAULISSEN organized. Students complained of eyestrain and headaches from staring at a computer screen all day. Some students beca e depressed so e simply stopped logging in. The first day we returned to school or in-person instruction, I saw students so overcome with relief they were near tears. Public education in America isn’t perfect — Lord knows I have my list of critiques and criticisms — but I hope that in 2021, we as a nation look back and reflect on what happened when something so easily taken for granted was so suddenly taken away from us. I hope we remember that public schools and public education deserve our gratitude.

Jonathan Denen

Senior at Lafayette High School 2020 has made hope a ubiquitous word. Hope got us through the pandemic. Sometimes hope is all we have. In 2021, I hope that restaurants will be open full time, so I can enjoy a meal with my partner. I hope that I will no longer have to don a mask every time I walk into school or work. I hope that when I go off to college, all classes will be in person, and I can attend parties, and football games, and study sessions with friends, and walk through the hallways with the people closest to me, free of strict rules that restrict the acceptable vicinity of people in public spaces. I hope. I hope. I hope. Right now, we’re all six feet apart. I have six hopes for 2020, and each hope is one step closer to those we love. One footstep at a time back to normalcy:

Sheri Beezley. | COURTESY SHERI BEEZLEY

Mayor Lyda Krewson. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

“2021 is offering us a chance to be intentional about building the kind of world we want to live in — a smoldering, blistered hellscape or a verdant, equitable, resilient global community.” — JENN DEROSE

I hope that people are kinder to each other. We’ve never needed it more than in 2020. I hope that people will open up talks about mental health, because even those with the greatest mental fortitude have been affected in some way by the events of the past year. I hope that people will take the vaccine. Only then will we return to normal. I hope that we have learned about the responsibility needed to handle epidemics. When everybody does their part, the transmission rate stays low. I hope that those who are oppressed will continue to use their voice. I hope that 2021 will be everything that 2020 was not. 2020 made me question my goals and who I am. 2021 is hope. Hope guides us towards the future. Towards our dreams and goals. Towards normalcy.

My best option during 2020 is to eat ice cream in my car, which, yes, I have done before, and, no, it does not go well. Alternatively, I could try to get the ice cream home before it melts; however, my neighborhood goes for miles because we’re talking about Missouri here. My poor waffle cone dissolves by the time I get home, and all I’m left with is a spoonful of disappointment, which is pretty much a metaphor for all of 2020. So, in the name of all that is holy, whoever has control over 2021: Please let me eat ice cream like a normal person again.

Shelby Darnell

Sheri Beezley

Severely, and unequivocally, I want to eat ice cream in peace again. Allow me to explain: Ice cream is a peaceful dessert, a cold treat on a warm day. However, now that indoor dining is closed, I’m sitting outside eating ice cream in the December cold. You may say: Shelby, why don’t you just not eat ice cream when it’s cold? To that, I say that only cowards discontinue their ice cream consumption in the name of temperature regulation. (Frankly, I think I’m lactose intolerant, but that hasn’t stopped me either.)

For 2020, I got to be a nurse in a pandemic — woohoo! It has sucked. It still sucks. The most difficult part has been witnessing the blatant disregard of facts, science and evidence by our countrymen. The opportunity that God gave us in 2020 to use intellect, mutual concern and kindness to squash a science-based issue was thrown away by so many. My hope for 2021 is that the United States will focus on education. It is obvious to most healthcare workers that some basic STEM classes for our population may have helped us attack this

Senior at Lafayette High School

Nurse

virus before it even got to our shores. We saw it coming, literally, from miles away. I received my bachelor of science in nursing when I turned 40 years old; it has changed my perspective on so much. I hope and pray that higher education will be a priority and more accessible to all in 2021 so everyone has the opportunity for new points of view. For myself, I hope 2021 gives some chance for rest, a vacation and freedom from the desire to slap so many people upside their heads — don’t worry, I’m not getting close enough to actually do that. I also hope in the beginning of 2021 we will all wear masks, protect each other, wash our freakin’ hands, be nice to each other, get a vaccine, order stuff from our local businesses and tip like our money is on fire!

Lyda Krewson Mayor of St. Louis

Prior to COVID-19, the city of St. Louis was enjoying one of its strongest years on record with $10 billion of new development recently completed or under construction. That includes transformative projects like the new MLS stadium, the NGA West headquarters and many other important investments that are creating good-paying jobs and

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Bret Narayan. | COURTESY BRET NARAYAN opportunities for our people. Eventually, we will get through these dark days of the pandemic. That’s why I remain incredibly optimistic and excited about the future of St. Louis. 2021 stands to be a year of hope, of listening to one another and of new beginnings. We’ll have a new president with an administration that more strongly reflects our values and believes in science. More Americans and St. Louisans will be getting vaccinated against COVID-19. And I think you will continue to see more examples of extraordinary momentum that’s already helping to propel St. Louis into the future and the national spotlight as a leading startup hub for entrepreneurs in the Midwest, for example. But no doubt the past year has been extremely challenging for all of us in many different ways. As a community, we’ve confronted multiple interconnected crises all at once, including the pandemic, social unrest, a nationwide reckoning on race, and far too many lives have been taken from us by gun violence. In a new year, it’s going to take folks from all walks of life, all neighborhoods and every background to commit to building consensus, working together and focusing on what unites us — instead of what divides us — to tackle these issues, help us recover and to heal. No place is more resilient or prepared to meet this challenge than the city of St. Louis. I’m looking forward to what comes next and, personally, to have a little more time for long walks.

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Jenn DeRose. | ANDY PAULISSEN

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Bret Narayan 24th Ward Alderman

It’s safe to say that 2020 sucked. However, similar to the story of the kid digging through the pile looking for the pony, there was a strange positive aspect to it: It sucked for everyone. As a result of just how preposterously bad 2020 was, it brought forward an unexpected emotion out of virtually everyone I know: gratitude. You never really know what you have until it’s gone. I’ll never look at popping into the neighborhood bar and having a beer with a few friends and catching the local scuttlebutt the same. I’ll never see being in the presence of family members and sharing a meal the same again. I’ll never see holding a new member of the family the same. I’ll never look at stopping by a friend’s birthday party the same — or comforting a friend at a funeral. I’ll never feel exactly the same way when the guitar solo rips at a live show or when the final curtain drops at a play. definitely won t loo at our fearless health-care workers, grocery store workers and others who toiled through this mess to ensure society continued to function the same way again. My hope for 2021, as we settle back into a sense of normalcy, is for us to remember that we have far more in common than we have differences. I hope we keep up with our newfound hobbies. I hope we continue to look out for one another. I hope we continue

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Deanna Brown. | DOYLE MURPHY

“I hope we stick together, as friends and strangers, while we continue to work through these difficult times.” — N A T E B U R R E L L to donate to food banks, plant community gardens and check on our neighbors. I hope we see 2020 for what it was: an unexpected chance at a new outlook on all the little things in life. Really, what I’m saying is, I hope you all have the best 2021. After 2020, you deserve it!

Jenn DeRose

Director of sustainable business practices at Blackrock Consulting, Known & Grown STL manager 2020 showed us that structural change is possible, and can happen with shocking speed. This is contrary to my (frankly misanthropic) worldview, and means that there is hope that we can, as a society, take the meaningful action that is absolutely necessary to prevent the most disastrous impacts of climate change and eliminate the racial and economic disparities that plague our planet. I have new hope that we are capable of holding the powerful accountable for their share of emissions, worker exploitation and wanton habitat destruction. We are capable of making personal decisions that put less strain on the planet, that don’t support slave labor, that lift up marginalized voices and that create strong communities. We are capable of changing the racist systems and

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wealth inequalities that have become so unavoidably, painfully clear during this pandemic. We are capable of creating a more resilient region by supporting one another not ust financially buying food from local growers, wares from local makers and donating to mutual-aid networks, but by providing our talents, skills and e otional support to benefit the greater good. We are capable of tearing down the systems that have oppressed us and destroyed our planet, and we are capable of creating something new. 2021 is offering us a chance to be intentional about building the kind of world we want to live in — a smoldering, blistered hellscape or a verdant, equitable, resilient global community. I am hopeful that we won’t miss our chance.

Deanna Brown

Owner of Diffendoofer Daycare I hope that 2021 will be the year we start to genuinely respect children. We give a lot of lip service to protecting childhood, but the reality is that children are the most marginalized group of people. Children are regularly denied basic human rights. When children are also marginalized because of things like skin color, nation of origin, sexuality, gender, physical, cognitive and emotional disabili-

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Joel Crespo. | MONICA MILEUR

ties, our lack of respect for children is impossible to deny. I hope 2021 will be the end of separating children from their parents at the border. I hope 2021 will be the end of children in cages. I hope 2021 will be the end of children in isolation rooms. I hope 2021 will be the year no children are killed by the police, their parents or their caregivers. I hope 2021 is the year everyone agrees that hitting children is wrong. I hope 2021 will be the year we parents and caregivers choose connection over punishment to help our children learn and grow. I hope 2021 is the year children are able to exercise rights over their food, clothing choices, friendships and hairstyles. I hope 2021 is the year families and schools get the resources they need to thrive. I hope 2021 is the year the world recognizes the importance of saving the planet so today’s children have a future. I’m also hoping for a couple of good snow days.

Joel Crespo

Co-owner of Guerrilla Street Food We’re trying to remain hopeful obviously — and not trying to make any drastic changes — that we very quickly get another round of some version of help, whether that’s PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] or stimulus checks, because people’s goodwill is only going to get us so far. We’re also hoping that these vaccines work out, and people take them when they become available. All we can Continued on pg 17

AWARD-WINNING FLAVOR

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DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

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DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

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Mawda Altayan. | COURTESY WELCOME NEIGHBOR STL

21 HOPES

Continued from pg 15

do is take it one day at a time, look at the thing that is right in front of us and keep pushing forward. It’s hard, because everyone is struggling — all businesses are struggling, and everyone is hurting. This year try to make a conscious effort to support local as much as possible; you can’t eat at every single place you want to, but another thing people can do to help is engage with them on social media. I share posts and do my part, because it’s always a frustrating thing running a small business, wondering if anyone is listening to me and looking at pictures or if I’m yelling into the void. The more engagement, the better, and I personally try to support the little places, like the little Chinese or Mexican places that don’t get written about as much but are doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. I think about the people who don’t get talked about as much. I know it’s cliché, but the only way we will get through this is together, and I’m trying to figure out ways to do that even i doesn’t seem like a big deal. I’m just trying to focus on the positive of people who are willing to support a restaurant they love. I don’t think that on January a switch will be flipped the virus doesn’t understand time — but it feels like the fresh start that everyone is craving, and if that is hope to get you through to the next day then so be it. You do everything in your power to spread it however you can, and hopefully it will be contagious.

Patrick Siler. | COURTESY PATRICK SILER

Mawda Altayan

Owner of Damascus Food Honestly, I have many wishes. The most important ones for me are: 1) I hope the coming year will be a good and healthy year for me, my family and for all people. 2) I hope the epidemic ends and everyone returns to their lives. 3) I hope to move to a better home. 4) I hope more people will get to know my catering food company Damascus Food LLC. 5) I hope to have the chance to open my own small restaurant for Syrian food and dessert.

Patrick Siler

St. Louis theater director and stage manager for Upstream Theater I hope for live communal experiences. For me that means live theater. Live theater was one of the first activities and industries to shut down because of the pandemic and will be one of the last to start back up. As one whose life has always in one way or another been steeped in theater, I really miss working with people in a live setting. I miss the fellowship and love of the very special artists, technicians and audiences of the St. Louis theater community. I miss collaborating with designers and technicians. I miss the smell of drying paint on scenery, helping to lug costumes, witnessing epiphanies in rehearsal, struggling with dramatic text, working to build a light and sound cue, hugging people, hearing audience laughter, being moved to tears and sensing, knowing that there

are those around me feeling the same thing, even if I’ve never met these people prior. I hope that 2021 provides the opportunity for these things, the experiences that are shared and felt viscerally and can only be done with others.

Steven Fitzpatrick Smith Owner of the Royale

In 2020, it became even more apparent that our surreal world is on fire and we haven t been able to connect with each other in a consistently healthy fashion. My hope for 2021 is that we don’t get back to “normal,” but instead embrace li e even ore fir ly. e can create a more mindful and honest world for ourselves and those around us. 2021 will probably be the sweetest time ever to get a drink with your neighbors.

Nate Burrell Photographer

ith li e as we all have nown it becoming drastically different as of March 2020, backed by a fallout that will be ongoing for quite some time, a lot of hope hangs in the balance. Some folks’ dreams were put on hold, while others were lost altogether. It’s been a tragedy slowly unfolding, both globally and locally. Of course, like most folks, I hope for the big broad things to get better: human peace, equality, compassion, economies to open back up, independent businesses to thrive, people being able to operate as safely as possible in our world. e all want a better uture. And I hope we see new ways

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Melanie Meyer. | ANDY PAULISSEN of being become more readily encouraged and accepted. hen thin locally to the neighborhoods and residents of our city, one thing I really hope for is that the St. Louis community continues to maintain our spirit and deter ination. e are a resilient bunch, here in this brick city, with more pride and community support than we like to give ourselves credit for. Our underdog mentality is a blessing and a curse, but that same bluecollar willingness to take one on the chin and then stand up and keep pushing ahead might just be our best tool as a community going forward. I hope we stick together, as friends and strangers, while we continue to work through these di cult ti es.

Melanie Meyer Owner of Tiny Chef

definitely want to eep growing Tiny Chef as much as I can, but my hope is to go back to Korea. That’s my biggest dream right now — to go back to Korea to visit the orphanage I came from, eat all the food, stage at a place, see how they cook at the markets. I haven’t been back since I was born, and now that world is everything to me. I hope to go visit my hometown and immerse myself in that world. It almost makes me homesick; even though I don’t have any memory, a part of me is missing. As for here, my hope is for everyone to stay safe and healthy. I want things to go back to normal so badly. Everything is awkward right now, but at least people are treating people w more empathy than normal. I hope that continues. n

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SHORT ORDERS rant harlie itto s owntown with stories ro his long career in the business. ro his stool at the corner o the bar ust to the side o the restaurant s ront doors he d entertain a steady strea o guests with tales o celebrities sports fig ures and politicians who he d got ten to now over the years. hat entertain ent value is why he got into the business and in addition to his restaurant s classic talian ood is what ade harlie itto s so special. hen we said goodbye to hi this uly we said goodbye to ore than ust the Mayor o i th treet we bid arewell to a leg end o t. ouis dining whose bar stool no one will ever be able to fill.

[YEAR END REVIEW]

The Best and Worst of St. Louis’ Dining Scene in 2020 Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

n a year defined by upheaval it s i possible to understate the earth shattering chaos and uncertainty rained down on the hospitality world than s to . s any server che bartender prep coo valet restaurateur or anyone else in the business where they were that ate ul second wee end in March and the an swers are li ely to sound li e those given by witnesses to the ennedy assassination or . here was a sense that the world as they new it as all o us who dine out new it was about to change aybe orever but at least or the long ter indefinite uture. hey were scared. hey didn t now how they would pay their bills. hey weren t sure that the careers they d dedi cated their lives to would be there on the other side and in turn it ade any in the business ues tion who they were without the obs that had co e to define so uch o their lives. nd no one was co ing to help the . ure there were the loans and e panded une ploy ent benefits all wrapped up in cu berso e red tape but or the ost part the industry new it was on its own. n the ab ect is ery o this year one o the bright est spots has been the way that the hospitality industry has e panded its notion o service to include one another as well as the co u nity at large pulling together to see how they could help in a way that only those who dedicate their lives to service can. his end o year recounting a

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Charlie Gitto, who died on July 4, made an indelible mark on the St. Louis restaurant scene. | JEN WEST est and orst o t. ouis ining in tries to capture that blend o despair and opti is through so e o the year s ost defining ood o ents. his list is not e haustive there were too any individual o ents o sadness to ever ully now ust as there were s all acts o indness per or ed when no one was loo ing.

re uiring about nine onths o reconstruction to repair the da age. ope ully we ll be cel ebrating the end o the scourge when its doors reopen the ne t ti e.

Rest in Peace, Robert Uyemura

harlie itto en oyed the show o the restaurant business obert ye ura bas ed in being behind the scenes. hough the che and owner o ocal he itchen ade an undeniable i pact on the t. ouis ar to table ove ent well be ore it was a catchphrase he was an under the radar ind

THE WORST OF ST. LOUIS DINING IN 2020 asy answer . he es sence o all that was bad about t. ouis ood in can be su ed up in a single na e. s calendars turned to March and the yearly hope that the dar days o winter were drawing to an end started to spring the virus that see ed li e it could aybe possibly be a proble reared its ugly head turning the entire world upside down. o uch pain in the indus try flowed ro this but in a year o crap sandwiches it wasn t the only bad news.

Brennan’s Fire

hen rennan s closed in the entral est nd to a e way or the ever e panding t. ouis hess lub it see ed li e the world was ending. han ully it was only te porary as the bar relocated ust down the road and was poised to reclai its place as a beloved neighborhood watering hole. hen this ove ber not even a onth a ter it reopened its doors a fire da aged the spot

DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

Brennan’s reopened in November, only to catch fire soon after. | INSTAGRAM

Civil Life’s Stolen Giraffe

iled to the hy are people dic s file so e idiots with a bo truc thought it would be unny to idnap eaches the iconic gira e that graces the lot ad acent to ivil i e brewery. hough it was re turned a wee later the incident is a re inder that there are so e people willing to steal our oy in the year we really needed it.

Rest in Peace, Charlie Gitto

harlie itto loved to regale his riends a. .a. anyone who d ever dined at his iconic talian restau

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o guy whose talent indness and passion or bringing good whole so e ood to people defined his career. osing hi to cancer this ebruary elt li e losing a piece o the industry s spirit. t was a dev astating blow in a bad year.

Sexual Assault in the Grove

his su er a spate o se ual assault allegations against pro i nent e bers o the rove area s ood and beverage scene roc ed the industry setting o a rec on ing that beca e the t. ouis area s Me oo o ent. hat so any

wo en e perienced this trau a over a decade at the hands o the scene s boys club culture places this on the orst side o the col u n even i the survivors brav ery puts the at the top o the est.

in turn would provide eals to area edical pro essionals. t was a li eline to restaurant wor ers and a delicious beacon o light or rontline wor ers in an otherwise dar year.

So Many Restaurant Closures

National Accolades for Area Restaurants

Mangia. at ite. a sage. ousin ugo s ar rill. easting o . Missouri ar rill. ueblo uevo. e lost so any good ones this year due to and this doesn t count the te porary closures or ones whose ates re ain up in the air that it s di ficult to wrap one s head around what the dining landscape will loo li e on the other side o this ess. s those that re ain strug gle to survive the ones who did not serve as a star re inder to the dining public with the eans to do so ust how i portant it is to support those places you want to see stic around.

Taqueria Durango Fire

n March a two alar fire bla ed through a ueria uran go burning the beloved verland restaurant to the ground. un by the ope a ily or eleven years the restaurant s ate re ains un certain. he ad acent grocery store they ve operated or over two decades is all that s le t unless you include the a ily s fighting spirit and the love ro the co unity shown to the throughout their ordeal.

THE BEST OF ST. LOUIS DINING IN 2020 this year taught us one thing it s that the t. ouis dining scene s resilience is its ost stri ing attri bute. n a year o worsts the outbrea brought out the best in those who have dedicated their lives to serving others.

Adopt a Server

ocal nurse heri ee ley could not sit bac and watch her riends in the industry su er the loss o their livelihoods due to the pan de ic so she ca e up with a plan to help. er initiative dopt a server connected those who had the eans to help with industry ol s in need o daily living sup plies thin everything ro sha poo and groceries to cat ood and hygiene products . he progra was so success ul it not only helped

Bakers for Black Lives represents a collective action of several prominent members of the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pastry community to show support for the civil rights movement. | COURTESY HANNAH KERNE those in the t. ouis industry but also pro pted other li e inded people around the country to start their own chapters.

Bakers for Black Lives

n the wa e o the racial ustice rec oning that swept the country ollowing the urder o eorge loyd pastry che s haron arter and annah erne had an idea to use their talents to help support the ove ent. heir event a ers or lac ives raised thou sands o dollars or racial ustice organi ations around town and showed that there are any ways to lend your voice.

Cocktails To-Go

hen the Missouri ivision o l cohol and obacco ontrol shut down struggling t. ouis restau rants to go coc tail service da and ason il ord and other area restaurateurs sprang into action. ter lobbying state o cials these tenacious restaurateurs were able to e ect the change we all needed this year easier access to boo e.

Ghost Kitchens

he pande ic ay have de stroyed business but one thing it hasn t ta en away ro the res taurant industry is its ingenuity. ospitality pro essionals have had to be even ore creative than usual in figuring out how to generate revenue and any have turned to ghost itchens as a way to do ust that. ro olite ociety s ub ivision sandwich delivery service to utch er loc s wing spot ing un ner restaurants have created

these sister restaurants within a restaurant finding a way to re tain sta e ercise creativity and stay afloat while adding to the delicious ood already on o er in town. t s a rare win in a year without any o the .

Hospitality Professionals Offer Help

ven as deci ated their own livelihoods any hospitality industry pro essionals re used to deny their call to service and in stead stepped in to help the ost vulnerable in t. ouis. astry che ai avis devoted hi sel to putting together and deliver ing bo ed eals to area ids who ound the selves ood insecure a ter losing school lunches. e rard ra t partnered up his iche ood roup tea with the orth arah ood ub as a way to eep his sta wor ing while provid ing eals or those in need and too any restaurants to ention ade nown their intention to eed those who needed to eat or ree no uestions as ed. his year showed us that their co it ent to hospitality went ar beyond the our walls o a restaurant.

Meals for Meds

ot long a ter the pande ic shut tered area restaurants this spring uniper s ohn er ins had an idea hy not figure out a way to eep his sta e ployed through coo ing or rontline wor ers ogeth er with irsten rown o nead a ehouse er ins launched Meals or Meds an initiative that allows the public to donate oney to eed rontline wor ers directly to their avorite restaurants who

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espite the induced up heaval that roc ed the hospital ity industry across the globe the national press still ade a point to highlight the culinary bright spots across the country and ore than a ew happened to be in t. ouis. Esquire na ed al an reat o and ndo as two o its est ew estaurants in er ica. he accolades ept co ing or ndo whose che and owner ic ognar was selected as one o Food & Wine s est ew he s or . Food & Wine also ept the love co ing to t. ouis when it put utcher loc ol yard s Meat rovisions and en ric s Meats atering as three o the est utcher hops in the ountry. n a year o low points these accolades re inded us why ood culture is worth fighting or.

Outstanding New Restaurants

his wasn t e actly the best year to open a restaurant but any orged ahead ta ing the long view in the belie that better days are co ing. he uc y cco plice hiang Mai o ad dera and e pus added even ore won der ul ood to our city s culinary landscape and gave us reason to hope that the other side o this ess will be even ore delicious than be ore.

Welcome Neighbor Drive-Thru Supper Clubs

essica ueler and her elco e eighbor cohorts were not going to let the pande ic halt the o entu they d created or their upper lub progra . nstead she and the organi ation continued their ission to provide ean ing ul inco e to re ugee wo en by transitioning the traditionally in person dinners to drive thru events. he response has been nothing short o spectacular as ueler e plains the new or at is reaching even ore people than be ore and eeping the inco e and sense o purpose flowing to this group o inspiring wo en and their a ilies. n

DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

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SAVAGE LOVE LESBIAN DRAMA BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: One of my very close friends, a lesbian, has been married for a couple of years now. It’s been nothing but drama since the day they met. My friend had a terrible home life growing up and doesn’t understand stability. She also has zero self-confidence. My friend and her wife are constantly calling the cops on each other, getting restraining orders, and then breaking them and getting back together. I told her that if she likes this drama, that’s one thing. It’s another if my friend got dragged into it and doesn’t want to live this way! But she cannot seem to quit their relationship. My friend tells me, “Lesbian relationships are drama,” and says I don’t get it because I’m “so damn straight.” Two questions: Are all lesbian relationships drama? And can you explain the whole “price of admission” thing again? It might help to open my friend’s eyes to how unacceptable this shit is. She says she wants out but she also wants to be loved and doesn’t think it would be any better with someone else. Don’t Really Accept Melodramatic Actions If that lesbian friend of yours isn’t willing to listen to you because you’re straight, DRAMA, she’s not going to listen to my gay ass. So I shared your email with three lesbian friends of mine — think of them as a three-member circuit court of lesbian appeals — in the hopes that your lesbian would listen to their asses.“Are lesbian relationships drama?” asked Tracey “Peaches” Cataldo, the executive director of the HUMP! Film Festival. “No. Maybe lesbian relationships are high intensity. The shared experience of being gay, being women, communicating too much about everything — I mean, the U-Haul jokes resonate for a reason. However, big feelings and big commitments don’t mean big drama. In my own experience, lesbian drama involves disagreeing about how many coats of paint are needed on a bathroom wall, or one person wanting to fuck when the other wants to watch The Crown. It’s not normal for lesbian

relationship ‘drama’ to require 911 calls and it s definitely not or said drama to look like a cycle of violence or result in trauma. Don’t confuse drama for passion.” “I’m not sure lesbian relationships are any more drama than any other relationships,” said atie er og reelance dog ball journalist (really) and cohost of the Blocked and Reported podcast, “but considering the surprisingly high rates of intimate partner violence in lesbian relationships, they might actually be. Still, just because some lesbian relationships are drama doesn’t mean that all lesbian relationships are drama. Personally, I was involved in my fair share of soap operas as a young dyke, including once dating a woman who said she was possessed by a demon. (She was: The demon was coke.) But as an adult, the biggest drama in my relationship is The Undoing on Sunday nights on . ither way DRAMA’s friend’s relationship sounds unhealthy, and that’s not a lesbian thing.” “Drama is saying your ex looked cute the last time you saw them on your current’s birthday,” said Cameron sposito co edian and host of the podcast Queery. “Lesbian drama is saying that while watching The L Word: Generation Q. Seems more like DRAMA’s pal may be in a cycle of abuse — using the clues of police, restraining orders and a feeling that one cannot do better. From my own experience, abuse isn’t something a friend can stop, and DRAMA’s best option here may be to suggest a support group — perhaps offer to attend with her — and then lovingly detach ro fi ing this. ot because DRAMA doesn’t care but because we cannot control the lives of the ones we love.” Thank you for your service, lesbians, I’ll take it from here. M ll e plain the “price of admission” concept: You see, there are always gonna be things about someone that get on your nerves and/or certain needs a romantic partner cannot meet — sexual or emotional — but if they’re worth it, if that person has other qualities or strengths that compensate for their inability to, say fill the dishwasher correctly or their disinterest in butt stuff, then clearing up after dinner or going without anal is the price of admis-

sion you have to pay to be with that person. And those are reasonable prices to pay. But putting up with abuse — physical and/or emotional — isn’t a price that anyone should pay to be in a relationship. And the price of admission doesn’t just apply to romantic relationships, DRAMA. So if putting up with this drama isn’t a price you’re willing to pay to be friends with this woman, you can refuse to pay it — meaning, you have every right to end this friendship if drama is all you’re getting out of it. nding the riendship ight actually help your lesbian friend. People who confuse drama for passion often get off on having an audience, DRAMA, and always being available for a friend like that — always making yourself available for their drama — can have the opposite of its intended effect. Dropping everything and rushing to your friend’s side every time the shit hits the fan could be creating a perverse incentive for your friend to stay in this shitty relationship. In cases like this, DRAMA, detaching — like Cameron suggested — isn’t just the right thing to do for yourself but the right thing to do for your friend as well. Because once she sees there’s no audience, she might decide to end the show. ollow atie er og on witter itty urr og and read her dog-ball journalism at www. moosenuggets.substack.com. Follow a eron sposito on witter a eron sposito. ou can t ollow Tracey “Peaches” Cataldo on Twitter — because she isn’t on Twitter — but you can make and sub it a fil or M ! Hey, Dan: I’m a 35-year-old gay cis woman in New Jersey. I’ve been in a wonderful relationship with an amazing woman since April. In typical lesbian fashion, she moved in over the summer and we’ve been inseparable ever since. My problem is that my sister and her nine-yearold son have been living in my home for the last four years. She has a ton of drama with her ex — her son’s father — and just this past week my girlfriend had her first interaction with the Department of Children and Family Services because of their drama. I’m used to it at this point but it freaked my girlfriend out. When I purchased my home, I invited my sister to move in to help her get on her feet. It also meant I could

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try for a closer relationship to my nephew. She was going to finish her nursing degree so she could support herself and her son. Four years later, she’s still an LPN and still living in my home with her bad attitude and so much drama. Last night, she had a huge argument with my girlfriend while I was at work — I’m an ICU nurse and I work overnight — and she told my GF that I don’t spend enough time with her or her son since we started dating and she’s sad because she has no help, no friends, no blah blah blah. I need to cut the cord! I want a family and kids of my own and I’m planning to propose in the next few months. I love my sister, I do, and for years I’ve been there to help pick up the pieces from her shitty choices, but now is my time to prioritize myself and my happiness. How do I make her see that without making her feel like I’m abandoning her and her son? Worried And Perplexed ven i there was so e way to ask your sister to move out that didn’t make her feel like you were abandoning her and her son, WAP, she would still do everything in her power to make you feel like you were abandoning them. She knows that if she can make you feel bad enough, and if she can sow enough discord between you and your girlfriend, she won’t have to get her own place or stand on her own two feet. So brace yourself for a lot of drama, WAP, and be unambiguous and fir et a reasonable date or her to find her own place o er whatever financial help you reasonably can, and make sure your nephew has your number. It sounds like he’s going to need someplace safe to run away to in a year or two — or in a month or two — and here’s hoping your girlfriend has it in her heart to be there for him the way you have. a eron sposito is hosting an online party on December 31 at 6 p.m. (PST) — Cameron Esposito’s New Year’s Steve — with special sets, guests and an early ball drop! It’s free, but donations are welcome. For more info and tickets to Cameron’s show, head over to www.dynastytypewriter.com. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage on Twitter www.savagelovecast.com

DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 30, 2020-JANUARY 5, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

DECEMBER 30, 2020- JANUARY 5, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

SWADE

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Riverfront Times, December 30, 2020

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