By Sarah Truckey
Photograph by Katherine Bish
As someone who has never worked in the food industry, Joy Grdnic’s approach to opening The Fountain is a bit different from, say, oh, I don’t know, everyone else’s. Located on Locust in Midtown, it’s an ice cream parlor, but not really. A coffee shop, but with a soda fountain. A lunch spot, but with a select choice of booze. Grdnic, 49, began sculpting her business without any drawings, blueprints or preexisting plans—just her imagination and a little inspiration from a Rolling Stones concert poster, the film The Aviator, the Empire State Building, Art Deco and St. Louis’ own Blueberry Hill (she even planned to open the same day of the year that BH opened 35 years ago—September 8). If only every entrepreneur were as audacious as this one …
Why do you want to open The Fountain? Number one: I wanted a place for the people. Number two: It was the right thing to do with the building, the neighborhood, the historic integrity of the street. I want it to be like a 1930s ice cream parlor where everyone—businesspeople, romantic dates—would meet. And I thought there are too many upscale restaurants. I’m so sick of hearing the word “upscale.” This is elegant, but it’s unpretentious. My goal here isn’t to gouge everybody and to make as much money as I can—it’s just to provide something that I don’t think is being provided enough.
So this is more of a … “service.” [Laughs] Yes, this is service! This is my contribution!
You did some “research” for your venture by working for free in several restaurants. What was your most memorable experience? There were a couple of things that stood out: One at The Royale, when I just walked into the kitchen and the cook goes, “You can’t come in here, you have to knock!” And he was serious! And I’d never encountered an attitude, like “the chef’s attitude,” so I went back out and I knocked and went in. And then I thought, “Hey, what’s this?”
What makes you think you can pull it off? I don’t think I can. I don’t have any idea what is going to happen. On one hand, I see the place, like, it could be totally mobbed, or we could be standing here and the tumbleweed can be going by in the street.
And the type of cuisine you have planned? We ladies would like to just have ice cream for dinner, but we’re going to have to have real food, unfortunately. We’re going to have delicious, homemade healthy soups and salads and sandwiches so you can save your calories for the chocolate and ice cream. Polish dill pickle soup and hot tea served from a 4-foot spout are also on the menu. We’ll also have the Smallest Hot Fudge Sundae.
Whoa. What’s that? It’s not new—the Pump Room did it in Chicago. Ed Debevic’s also has it. The idea is that you don’t have to eat a whole sundae. Think of it as not the size for a Barbie doll, but more for a Cabbage Patch Kid.
Describe your place in five words. Sophisticated Crown Candy with alcohol!
