Jilly's reopens for lunch and brunch with chef Brian Hale at the helm

The café’s interior is also receiving a dramatic makeover.

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Brian Hale, one of St. Louis’ longtime and renowned chefs, is back in the spotlight. Hale is spearheading the new lunch and brunch program at Jilly’s Cupcakes & Cafe (8509 Delmar at I-170) in University City.

In 2007, owner Jill Segal founded Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Café and put chef Dana Holland in charge of the lunch and brunch program (to much success). In 2014, after an appearance (and victory) on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, it was pastry chef Casey Shiller who created a line of house-made ice creams with cupcake add-ins, and was instrumental in opening Jilly’s Ice Cream Bar, located just steps away.

Last June, Segal consolidated the multi-faceted operation and closed the ice cream store, incorporating the products into the existing cupcake space.

After the ice cream store closed, Jillys' ice cream business tripled, says manager Robert Neporadny. “Even though the ice cream store was right around the corner," he says, "we had trouble getting our devoted cupcake customers in there for whatever reason. It was ‘out of sight, out of mind' I guess.”

Segal also closed the café around the same time, though she says it was "a bad business decision based on bad information." By hiring the versatile Hale, she hopes to rekindle Jilly's once-successful lunch and brunch business. "Pair Brian's food with Jilly's reputation for food, and you've got a winning combination," Segal says.

For those unfamiliar with the infectious Hale, he was the first executive chef at Monarch in Maplewood and one of the best chef/salesman ever. When he described an item, you bought it, and he delivered, literally and figuratively.

“I was a high-profile chef, a corporate chef [at The Chase Park Plaza]. I got some accolades," he says. "I was on MTV, did a movie, opened my own place [Jax Café],” he says, "but eventually my priorities changed.”

After closing three-year-old Jax Café in 2016, Hale became a freelance chef-for-hire, working most recently as a personal chef. He was in “operational semi-retirement mode,” he says, when Segal persuaded him to reinvigorate the café component at Jilly’s. What’s important to him now is spending time with his kids and grandkids, which made the Jilly’s lunch-only gig especially appealing.

That said, Hale also plans to reestablish the café’s Thursday Night Supper Club, a once-a-month themed dinner in which the chef is free to explore and create. “One night a month is perfect, and I plan to shine on that night,” he says.

Hale insists on doing things the right way (by which he means scratch-cooking) and not cutting corners. “I give a damn more than anyone else around," he says. "That's one thing you can count on from me. I definitely fit in with the other talented chefs that came before me here,” referring to Holland, Shiller, and Eddie Neill (of Malmaison, TP Neill's, Cafe Provencal, The Dubliner).

Hale has put together a lunch and brunch menu using what he calls a “no BS, no shortcuts" approach. Salads include the basics (with protein add-ins) and the unexpected, such as the Bourbon BBQ Chicken and the Louie-esque Jumbo Lump Crab with 1000 Island Dressing and fried leeks (pictured above) for $14.

Flip over the menu to reveal 10 sandwiches, from the legendary Jilly’s brisket to Hale’s favorite, a brisket burger patty melt (pictured above). The chef also recommends the Quesadilla Florentine (with roasted chicken and bacon) and the Salmon BLT (with cream cheese and chevre). Soups range from Hale’s brisket chili to a soup “of the moment” and the chef’s take on Famous Barr’s French Onion soup.

The Sunday Brunch (“basic brunch items done better”) features a few crossover items but also such signatures as G’s Breakfast Sandwich (the most popular offering at Jax Café, named after co-owner Gina Seltzer), which includes a fried egg, cheddar, bacon, avocado, red onion, plus cumin and cayenne mayo on marbled rye toast and Loaded Latkas, “the Jewish version of chili cheese fries,” as emphatic of a recommendation as you'll ever get from Hale.

The café’s interior is being remodeled and nearing completion, according to Segal’s sister, Debra, who handles box lunches, private parties, and corporate sales.

"Too many polka dots and pastels," Segal says of the previous design. "We've been upgrading—and continue to upgrade—the cupcake offerings. It was time to upgrade the interior...and add a little glitter glamor."

The 45-seat main room was repainted “Burgundy burgundy,” she says, and new black, white, and shiny silver tabletops should arrive soon. The 50-seat event/overflow space is receiving the most attention, including shiny chandeliers, glitter effects, and a Dorothy Gale–themed bathroom including a girl’s bike with a basket.

“What can I say?,” Debra says. “My sister is a 'bling chick' who also loves the Wizard of Oz.”

Jilly's cupcake menu and flavor profiles have evolved over the years, Segal notes. "We started with an 8-ounce gourmet size, which is a single serving for me but too much for others," she quips. So a standard size was added, then minis (and mini six-packs, "because everybody likes a choice"), and now stuffed minis, which have become a runaway hit. "A three-biter with an inside treat?" she asks. "How on earth can you beat that?"

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