1 of 2
2 of 2
This past July, my wife, Tamara, flew to Brighton, England, to present a paper at an art-history conference. There were about 20 attendees from all over the world—Italy, Germany, Canada, the U.S.—and a statistically remarkable three were St. Louisans. One of these, a Washington University graduate student, was telling my wife about her arrival in St. Louis a few years back. They’d never met, but the woman’s statement sounded familiar: It took a while, frankly, to warm up to St. Louis. As many of us acknowledge, to a newcomer, St. Louis can carry an odd sort of nostalgia–as–present tense—as if certain conversations, even the groups having them, were predetermined several decades earlier. A friend of mine who came to St. Louis for law school fled as soon as he graduated, asking me on the way out of town, “Why does everyone talk about things that already happened?” (I decided it best, at that point, not to bring up the World’s Fair.)
But back to this St. Louisan in England. As she explained to my wife, without knowing her husband worked for this magazine, she’d turned a corner as a resident here after taking a page from an East Coast friend’s book: Pick up the city magazine, look for what restaurants it’s recommending, and go. The new St. Louisan bought last October’s St. Louis Magazine, featuring “The 35 Best Restaurants in St. Louis,” and for the last year she’s been trying one spot, then another, then another, marking them off meal by meal. And it’s helped; she says she feels more engaged with the city, more aware of its offerings. It’s true, of course, that to be impressed by a city, it helps to know—and experience—what’s impressive within it.
It’s hard to ask for a more satisfying reader response than that. And I felt it appropriate to retell here, just as you’re about to dig into this year’s October food special. The issue’s two main courses: “The Best New Restaurants 2009” (p. 70) and the magazine’s second annual crowning of “Restaurant of the Year” (p. 94). There are several nonculinary pieces that merit call-outs as well, among them Frank Kovarik’s reflections on our city-county divide (p. 62) and photographer Michael Eastman’s beautiful portfolio of the Kiel Opera House (p. 106). Yes, those last two are practically running on nostalgia, but, well, when in Rome… And besides: For those newcomers picking up this issue to guide them in the present, it won’t hurt to learn a little about our past.
Stephen Schenkenberg
