A conversation with 50/Fifty Kitchen’s Bob Madden

The idea of creating a place that lets vegetarians and carnivores dine happily at the same table is unassuming but brilliant. Vegetarian Bob Madden’s modest goal was to encourage people to eat “a little less meat and a few more vegetables,” a nudge rather than a shove. It’s all happening at 50/Fifty Kitchen, a hybrid restaurant that Madden aptly opened in the same year that he turns 50.

How far back does your restaurant career in St. Louis span? When I was 15 years old, a bunch of Spiro’s employees were going off to college, and eight of us applied. [Owner] Harry Karagiannis, dressed in a three-piece suit in the middle of August, hired all of us—but the only one who showed up the next day was me. Harry called me Hollywood, since I had long hair and thought I was something spectacular.

Any memorable anecdotes? At Spiro’s, Harry would walk through the restaurant with hot garlic sizzling in a skillet, like he was on his way to cook something. People would say, “Wow, I want some of that,” but Harry had nothing in the pan. He’d take a slow lap and head back to the dish station. But it did get everybody hungry.

How long did you work there? My intention was long enough to buy a new drum set and a new car. (laughs) I met my career goals within six months but I stuck with the business. For 34 years. But like most restaurant guys, I was a gypsy…Busch’s Grove, Truffles, Turvey’s on the Green, Big Sky…

What was your favorite place? Without a doubt, it was Remy’s Kitchen & Wine Bar. Tim Mallett was one of the most brilliant restaurant people in town at that time. I remember when he took his whole chef and management team to San Francisco and Napa Valley for a few days. We ate a lot—like at 10 to 15 restaurants per day. He thought that if we all brought back one good idea that positively impacted Remy’s, the trip would be worth it. We all came back with several. That trip opened a lot of eyes.

How long did you stay at Remy’s? Had I not been offered a great opportunity with the Spiro’s folks to open TJ Samuel’s in Eureka, I might still be working for Tim and maybe would have talked him out of closing Remy’s.

You eventually ended up at Fleming’s. That was my first foray into the corporate restaurant world, which I said I’d never do. Jim Martin, Steve Blevins…really smart, really good people there. I learned more from them in a few years than in the previous 20. The current operating partner, Jamie [Windhorst], has been a huge help getting Fifty/50 off the ground. She taught me how to manage private events which is how the project started.

You also worked behind the bar. I worked any place I was asked to work. That’s how you advance quickly in the industry: tell your superiors that there’s nothing you won’t do. I started working weekends within two weeks and private event dining—where the money is really good—shortly thereafter.

Did you ever think of opening your own place? Twenty years ago, [chef] Dana Holland and I were going to open a restaurant ironically called The Fat Cat Bistro, with huge cuts of meat, a cigar bar, brandies…where Evangeline’s is now. Someone else got the spot, and it dashed my dream of opening a restaurant.

But somehow you became a vegetarian? I wasn’t feeling well, and my doctor decided to perform some tests. While waiting for the results, she wrote on a prescription pad, “I want you to eat more vegetables.” She also wanted me to watch the video Forks over Knives, which speaks to a plant-based diet. She said I’d done my fair share of bacon and beef for the last 45 years, now it’s time to give vegetables a chance. The test results didn’t matter—in 30 days, my symptoms were gone.

Sounds like an a-ha moment. After my epiphany with vegetables, I was having a blast just creating dishes at home. I didn’t realize I liked sweet potatoes until two years ago. I discovered how good chick peas were. I’d been in the restaurant business for 43 years and never realized that vegetable stock existed, just chicken and beef. Who knew? And then I would go out to eat …and find nothing on the menu. Nothing even sounded good. I ate a lot of salads. At one place, I narrowed it down to water, and that was it. That day was the turning point.

Why not just open a vegetarian restaurant? There are some very good vegetarian places in town—Seedz, Frida’s, Tree House, Gokul—but I could never get my non-vegetarian friends to go with me. They’d say, “Is this even food?”

And I bet Dana Holland, your Fat Cat partner, wasn’t interested. No, he was. After some health issues, he’s more open to eating healthier, so when I explained the half and half concept, he was in. It became a convergence of ideas. Dana tweaked my dishes and made them executable. He’s a true professional and amazingly good at what he does.

Is there a common mistake that carnivores make? Portion control, which is a mistake a lot of people make. Meat eaters can get satiated on six ounces of protein rather than 26 or 36. The European philosophy of ‘graze on small portions all day long ’makes a lot of sense. You won’t feel like you need a nap after a big meal because there are no big meals. The exact opposite of philosophy of The Fat Cat.

What’s the restaurant’s mission statement? The menu says, “Our goal is to make a plant-based diet accessible, whether we convert you to a full-on vegan or just add a few vegetables to your daily intake. It’s all about balance and eating healthy.” Our starting point was to present a menu that’s half veggie, half not.

Did you test market your idea? As an experiment, we cooked two meals for a couple: a steak for the guy and a really cool eggplant dish for the woman. As we’d hoped, he ate half of her dish, almost ignoring his steak, and then ate her figs for dessert instead of his own carrot cake. He literally reached across the table to try something new, which is what 50/Fifty is trying to achieve.

You tried out the idea last year at the Kirkwood Farmers Market. We sampled people on posole, a Mediterranean wrap, and an eggplant sandwich, all of them served with or without meat. They were not just all over it, they were inspired. So we were inspired.

But you still didn’t have a location. Just a catering kitchen. After a building on Mardel fell through, we thought we’d just continue with box lunches, something to get us through the winter. Then on January 1, I got an email that the building a block away was available, at the corner of Mardel and Kingshighway. It had been used as a catering facility, which we were already doing, and it could easily transition into a restaurant. Boom, there it was.

What’s a typical item? We have two versions of a Reuben, pastrami or pastrami seitan, both with the traditional accoutrements; there’s a Cubano with braised pork or smoked oyster mushrooms. Paella has the most versatility: Start with a base paella and offer add-ins—that’s the item that can bring everyone to the table. The steak item will sell well; they always do. Ours is the highest grade we can buy, sliced and well seasoned, with a gorgeous sauce. The dragon noodles—cold rice noodles with vegetables in a sweet soy-and-ginger dressing—have been our biggest box lunch seller and will likely outsell everything else at both lunch and dinner.

Talk about jackfruit. It’s popular yet a mystery to many people. They are mystified and then so happy when they taste it. In its green state, it has a neutral flavor, so it’s the perfect textural vehicle. Every time we’ve used it, it sold out. We want to be as local as we can, but the nearest jackfruit comes in Florida and most of it comes from Asia. Nothing I can do about that.

Talk about cross-contamination and how you plan to avoid it. I have two cold boxes—one for meat and one for vegetables—plus dedicated cooking surfaces as well as pots, pans, tongs and so on. It’s not easy to do this, but people should know we’re putting that kind of effort behind it. The one audience we will never win over is the strict vegans. They don’t want to be anywhere near any animal products and respect that. My goal is to appease the broader audience by presenting a clean product.

And the décor? There are two rooms, separated by barn doors. Each room seats 45, and each has its own entrance, so it’s a natural for things like business or presentation lunches. We set up the stage with a complete backline PA, so musicians can just show up and play; they don’t need to lug in speakers and amps. We installed an army of 800 softwood blocks, all cut at different angles, which absorb and diffuse sound. Jackson Pianos will maintain the piano that they donated. Show posters will be autographed and put on the walls.

Sounds like music is an important part of Fifty/50. One of the early ideas, Beats and Eats—what we call ‘a food and music pairing’—will become permanent. Different musicians perform a time or two per month and we supply a themed or requested menu. There’s jazz every Thursday night and singer songwriter night on Wednesdays. You know, I’ve done food and I’ve done music, and I want both of those components to come together here. Most people bring in musicians to feed the bottom line…I’m just bringing in musicians. To me, it’s not about making a bazillion dollars. I want people to enjoy the mix we’ve created. That’s what makes it fun for me. It’s more about quality of life than anything else. And not just my life.

What do you mean? I hope to get to the point where I can pay a living wage so people are not dependent on tipping, where they can earn vacation time and benefit from insurance. If they—or their child–is sick and they’ve earned a sick day, they can take off, like a normal job. This is a normal job, it just has weird hours. We’ll work toward that. We’ll keep that on the goal line.

What else is in your trick bag? This has been done before but I like the idea of wine nights, done passport-style, one month it’s Italian wines, then French, et cetera. Your passport gets stamped every time. Obviously, that program can continue for a long time. I also want to do a doggie brunch on the patio, a ‘yappy hour’ kind of thing, with the goal being to get one featured dog adopted every month. We’re big supporters… my girlfriend and I just got rescue puppies.

What type of beverages will be offered? There’s a small selection of craft, bottled beers and a rail of local liquors, or as local as possible…since there aren’t too many Scotches made in Missouri. Wine wise, just 12 bottles, killer juice with some unfamiliar labels, all available by the glass and at minimal mark up. Bottle service soft drinks from Excel, plus local tea and coffee from Pete [Cohen] at Stringbean Coffee, where some of the profits benefit women’s charities.

What’s the service model? Fast casual at lunch, full service at dinner, but with some items prepared or finished tableside on gueridons, something I learned at Spiro’s that could never get out of my head—the kind of thing that’s missing in today’s so-called finer-dining places. Just tossing a salad tableside or hitting crispy rice with hot broth starts a conversation that you would never have had otherwise. If we can string a bunch of those moments together, I’ll be happy.

What did you have planned for your 50th? Traveling in Ireland. The idea of 50/Fifty came up instead. We’ll get there eventually.

Where do you see the concept in a decade? I hope that by then we can change the name to 70/30 or even 90/10.