Chef Orlando McKinney Jr. can’t help but laugh when he recalls his initial feelings toward cooking.
“I hated it,” McKinney recalls. “My dad had a catering business, so as early as 9 I was with him cutting carrots and onions and being his prep man. I didn’t like it at all, but he told me to do it for the money. And I did that in my first few jobs, but that changed when I got to a restaurant called Mosaic. The creativity, the fast pace, the atmosphere—I just fell in love with it.”
Now, it’s McKinney’s love for cooking that animates 8020 Restaurant (313 N. 11th), the restaurant that he and his business partner, Melissa Taylor, opened July 24 in the former Rated Test Kitchen space. Together, the pair have created an elegant space that embodies their commitment to excellence in hospitality and cuisine, which they have been pursuing through their business, Grandmaster’s Catering, for two-plus years. Their new restaurant builds upon McKinney’s lengthy tenure at some of the top kitchens in St. Louis, as well as Taylor’s passion for service, which she has been honing for years at restaurants around town.
8020 Restaurant is currently open Wednesday through Saturday for lunch only, though it’s also slated to open for dinner on those same days once its liquor license comes through. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Space
Prior to starting Grandmaster’s Catering, McKinney and Taylor worked together at Commerce Bank’s private dining room where they met. As chef and server, respectively, the two spent their days catering to high-profile clients in a fine-dining setting. They parlayed that upscale ethos into Grandmaster’s Catering and found great success. They had always dreamed of owning a restaurant, though, and got to know Rated Test Kitchen’s former owner, Juwan Rice. So when he told them of his plans to shutter the spot to pursue opportunities out of town, they jumped at the chance to take over the space.
Although the bones of the former restaurant are still there, McKinney and Taylor put a lot of effort into making the space their own. They cut off about two-thirds of the large bar that dominated the room and removed a secondary bar to create an intimate dining room with about 10 tables. Cloaked in white tablecloths and adorned with poppy-red roses, the table settings create an elegant atmosphere, which is carried through to the rest of the design. A gorgeous, muted teal floor has an almost water-like pattern, and dark blue accents alongside white walls create a beautiful canvas for gold figurines, shelving, and artwork.
The centerpiece of the space is a large black and white mural, created by local artist Marquis Terrell Jackson, of the four chefs who have most inspired and informed McKinney’s career: his father, Orlando McKinney Sr.; his chef de partie at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, Gerald Sombright; his executive chef at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, Fabrizio Scnenardi; and the revered chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park who McKinney counts as his biggest culinary influence.
The Menu
McKinney is not married to a particular culinary style or heritage, but instead draws upon different techniques and ingredients to create a menu of internationally inflected seasonal American cuisine. Starters include a luxurious brown butter and bourbon butternut squash soup, accented with fresh cream and candied pumpkin seeds. “It’s like a warm hug,” Taylor says.
Those pumpkin seeds make an appearance on one of McKinney’s most creative offerings: a thrilling take on fried rice. Instead of rice, the chef uses pepitas as the base, adds mushrooms, ginger, and edamame, and then gilds them in a slightly sweet and sticky soy sauce. An over-easy egg crowns the Asian-inspired concoction; without it, the dish is vegan, but it’s such a satisfying umami bomb that it appeals to even the most committed meat eaters.
Other specialties include Caribbean fried chicken, consisting of two boneless, golden-fried chicken breasts that have been brined in warm spices before being coated in a delicate seasoned breading. The juicy chicken is served over coconut risotto with a pickled pineapple herb salad. McKinney’s seafood ravioli, stuffed with shrimp and scallops and served in a lobster cream sauce, is a lunchtime entrée inspired by his time working with executive chef Fabrizio Schenardi at the Four Seasons, where he perfected the art of pasta—including one unique technique.
“He would always sing while he made the pasta,” McKinney recalls with a laugh. “So, I have to sing when I make it. If something is off in a particular batch, it’s because I wasn’t singing.”
McKinney’s open-face smoked salmon is cured in house with beets and other spices, giving it a warmly spiced flavor and stunning ruby color. The fish, which has a pleasantly meatier texture than most smoked salmon, is then served atop house-made focaccia and accented with creme fraiche, crispy shallots, and an apple compote.
While McKinney and Taylor are proud of their current offerings, they can’t wait to begin offering dinner service, which they hope will happen in late September or early October. “It’s going to be on a whole different level,” Taylor promises.
The Backstory
For McKinney, the culinary field felt both inevitable and a means to an end when he started in the industry. His father was a longtime chef and caterer who taught his son the fundamentals of the business, which the younger McKinney took with him while beginning his career at The Pasta House. From there, he landed in the banquet kitchen of The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. Although he learned a lot there, it wasn’t until his time at Mosaic that he really began to develop a passion for cooking. By the time he landed at the Four Seasons, he was eager to learn all that he could. In Schenardi and chef de partie Gerald Sombright, he found willing teachers who empowered him to perfect his technique and develop his own culinary style. (McKinney also counts revered chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park in NYC as one of his biggest culinary influences.) At the Four Seasons, McKinney was in charge of the hotel’s private chef’s table, where he could let his creativity shine.
McKinney worked his way up to chef de partie at the Four Seasons and eventually moved on to become executive chef of Commerce Bank’s private dining room, a job that his dad had held for many years before passing the torch to his son. There, McKinney met Taylor and found in her a committed hospitality pro and the perfect person to partner with once they were both ready to step out on their own.
“It’s been all gas and no breaks,” Taylor says. “But we thrive in the weeds. We get excited for each and every client. Every guest matters and gets 100 percent.”
8020 Restaurant
📍313 N. 11th, Downtown
📞314-964-6892
⏰Inaugural hours: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Wed-Sat. Dinner service to follow.
Get a fresh take on the day’s top news
Subscribe to the St. Louis Daily newsletter for a smart, succinct guide to local news from award-winning journalists Sarah Fenske and Ryan Krull.
