Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
During a time when hard liquor is selling like it’s the eve of Prohibition, it’s a wonder why St. Louis has only a handful of premium cocktail bars. Enter Ted Kilgore, the mastermind mixologist who set the bar at Taste and Niche. He and business partner Ted Charak recently opened Planter’s House, named after the famed 19th-century downtown hotel. Soaring brick archways, massive half-round windows, and brass chandeliers from a former police precinct greet patrons downstairs. Four steps above, there’s a different vibe. The 25-seat, fuzzy-wallpapered Bullock Room—named for legendary bartender and cocktail-book author Tom Bullock—is home to even geekier cocktails, made with sculpture-grade ice, seasonal flavored vodkas, and a “bathtub gin” infused with dried mulberries, all designed to pair with revitalized bar-food classics like chicken wings (hay-roasted, then fried) and booze-cured pickles. If it’s true that the original Planter’s House was “a symbol of the new St. Louis,” then it’s possible that this iteration could become a symbol of the new St. Louis cocktail bar.
1000 Mississippi
Lafayette Square
314-696-2603
Dinner Tue through Sun
Editor's Note: This article has been updated from an earlier version to reflect that Charak is co-owner of Planter's House.
