PHOTO BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
David Laufer Pastry Chef/Baker, The Preston
He has a warm smile and firm handshake and is as humble as an hour-late prep cook. It’s impossible not to like the guy, and that’s before you realize that Laufer is the man responsible for creating a melting chocolate globe that’s become the year’s most talked-about delicacy. His less-is-more dessert menu (four items, each $9) may have put the Red Bud, Illinois, native on the map here, but he’s just as proud of The Preston’s à la carte bread service. Hotel managers joke that Laufer was hired the moment they sampled his pretzel croissant.
PHOTO BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
Mike Johnson Chef/Owner, Sugarfire Smoke House
On the surface, he’s self-deprecating, approachable, and chill. But underneath, Johnson is a competitor, which compels him to keep daily tabs on the six (and counting) locations of Sugarfire Smoke House. It has more social media followers than any restaurant in the area, largely because of Johnson’s daily lunch specials, which combine protein with pop culture (e.g., “Java the Butt,” a pulled-pork sandwich with coffee barbecue sauce served on Star Wars Day). Despite the daily frenzy, Johnson jumps off the merry-go-round every day to pick up his kids from school, only to hop back on for dinner.
PHOTO BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
Jesse Mendica: Executive Chef, Olive + Oak
When former Annie Gunn’s general manager Mark Hinkle decided to open Olive + Oak, the longtime Annie Gunn’s executive sous-chef was his first choice to run the kitchen. Mendica’s realizations of old-school standards and elevated comfort food classics are precisely what Hinkle envisioned. The unpretentious chef works 15-hour days, yet credits her team when asked about Olive + Oak’s success. Weekend tables at the restaurant are booking up weeks to months in advance.
PHOTO BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
Gail Goslee: Host, Annie Gunn’s
The staff includes many experienced pros who’ve worked there for decades. Having logged 13 years at the front desk, Goslee is a relative newbie; at age 30, she’s a junior staffer to boot—which makes being “absolutely the best at what she does,” according to manager Molly Gordon, even more remarkable. Gail remembers names and prior conversations, so any return visit to Annie Gunn’s feels like a trip home. “To her, the restaurant is a giant puzzle, and she somehow finds a way to get everybody in,” Gordon says. “Our numbers are always higher when she is working.” In the restaurant business, that’s known as job security.
PHOTO BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
Michael Burch: Server, Herbie's Vintage '72
The moment that Michael Burch walked away from our table, we had a “He’s not from around here” moment. We were both right and wrong. Burch is a native who recently returned to St. Louis from notable restaurants in New York (TAO, Esca, Del Frisco’s) and Chicago (Del Frisco’s, Fig & Olive). Smooth but not cocky, knowledgeable but not arrogant, Burch’s responses and demeanor always seem so…appropriate. So it’s no surprise that when Herbie’s moves to the Cardwell’s space in Clayton this fall, Burch (who also happens to be a Level 2 sommelier) may be part of the management team.
