Photograph by Katherine Bish
David Miller entered the restaurant business like many of us have (unintentionally and coincidentally), vaulting from college graduation immediately into the biggest restaurant renovation in local history: his grandfather Lester’s $12 million renovation of Busch’s Grove, the restaurant that had everything except customers. The Millers then boarded the reality train and launched Lester’s, a brilliant concept that, if anything, has too many. (Is that parking lot ever not full?) One might think the story would end with Miller petit-fils cookie-cutting the concept and living large in Lester’s shadow. No, he has his own grand ideas. Sound familiar?
So how did you break into the business? After graduating from Northwestern, I began working for my grandfather, Lester. There is no one more interesting than Lester Miller.
And he was involved in a pretty big project at the time. I helped oversee the reconstruction at Busch’s Grove. I didn’t know then I would become involved in every other detail of running it once it opened. I had never worked a day in a restaurant…and had no real desire to do so.
It’s incredible how it sucks you in. There’s a challenge and an excitement and a reward that I just don’t see in other businesses. Busch’s was a crash course in restaurants and on a very grand scale.
But ultimately, it missed the mark. In retrospect, it was a restaurant built for New York or Chicago—and it was in St. Louis.
And habits are changing. It’s true. No reflection on Busch’s, but that style of dining is starting to disappear. More and more people are just as happy spending half the money in a more casual setting. Fairly fine dining is now being done casually and reasonably.
You think that was the main problem at Busch’s? Lester has been successful all his life and done more than we’ll ever dream of. He wanted to build something great for St. Louis. With all the millions that went into it, though, it was never thought of as what I’ll call a serious business venture. But even then, we all thought—Lester included—that there would be more regular weeknight customers.
Let’s talk about Lester’s. Did anyone predict it would be the proverbial 500-foot home run? You just never know. It caught fire immediately and hasn’t let up. The GM [Pedro Beltranena] and both initial chefs are still there, and their second location appears healthy.
Then why split off? Lester is 77. I’m 27. He’s achieved a lot. I have not. We just had different visions of the future. Our relationship is great, but my situation is different. Lester is in it for fun, and I can’t afford to be.
OK, on to the new venture. Sum it up. Quick-serve, high-quality, reasonably priced, made-from-scratch, casual food, with craveability—a key word we use internally—and located in a high-traffic area. We’re also after the guy with 30 to 40 minutes for lunch. It requires more staff, but we think it’s worth it.
So soups, salads, burgers…that kind of thing? No burgers and no fried items.
Why not? One, we felt the burger market is too crowded, and two, we found that the better soups, salads, and sandwiches in town were never under one roof… Something was always lacking in quality. All the proteins will be roasted in-house, bread will be baked in-house, all sides made in-house.
Any big names involved this time around? This time, no. It’s myself and three other partners: Don Tamillo, who came from Brio and was GM at both Busch’s and Lester’s; Tony Dahl, who was an executive chef for J.Buck’s and Finale; and T.J. Laughlin, another manager from Lester’s.
Are any of the recipes yours? I am not a cook. It’s funny, if you look in my refrigerator, you will see…nothing. I eat out every day. There are so many French fries and chicken tenders out there that we just felt it was time for a change.
Talk to me about soups. Take Lester’s chicken-noodle soup…we spent a lot of time developing and refining it. That soup has craveability. Roasting your own proteins helps soup-making tremendously, impacting both quality and cost.
Why not just repeat what you know works? Size, expense…and respect. Lester’s was Lester’s. Out of courtesy, I won’t step on his toes. We’re not using their recipes or secrets. But it will be a sandwich place, so we’ll have things like coleslaw. Just not his coleslaw.
Did you borrow any ideas from anyone else? There’s a legendary place in L.A. called Philippe’s that claims to have invented the French dip sandwich. They now have a turkey dip, pork dips, lamb dip, with a different au jus for each. We like that idea.
Your thoughts on bread? However fresh the delivery from the bakery is, it sat—and will sit—in plastic for awhile. And it’s expensive. If you’re going to spend that kind of money, you may as well do it yourself. So our customer will see people taking bread out of the oven, carving meat, things like that.
OK, enough suspense. What are you calling it? Sammy Scott’s. Scott is a family name, and Sammy is a play on sandwiches. Plus, we can use it nationally without infringement.
What would you do if you weren’t in this business? I’m a professionally trained opera singer. The restaurant business is an artistic endeavor as well. No matter how many times a chef makes a dish, there’s interpretation, there’s no perfection. Singing, cooking…the result is never exactly the same.
Will the design be traditional or edgy? You can’t afford to spend millions of dollars on a restaurant anymore. However much I’d like to have a hanging rock sculpture [like at Busch’s], it doesn’t make any sense. We’re definitely after a hipper, younger feel. For instance, we’re using a lot of bright-blue countertop. We’re using a lot of bright colors. I’m a big fan of primary colors.
Traditional menu boards or video menu boards? Flat-screen, electronic menu boards, like Café Ventana. We’re looking at multiple screens and to make it more of a display, a focal point. And to be able to change a price or instantly 86 an item is very efficient. The paper menu may be disappearing.
Do you have a mantra or philosophy? I was taught you can never stay the same—you either get better or worse—so set a high bar and keep sneaking it up.
At press time, Sammy Scott’s was scheduled to open at 12766 Olive (at Mason Road) in late October.
