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Katie Lee introduced her new restaurant venture in a way no other budding local restaurateur had done previously: she engaged in a Kickstarter campaign to generate some buzz about Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria…and to hopefully generate $40,000 in crowdsourced funds.
She was successful at both.
Katie and her Kickstarter caught the attention of the food scribes (including us) as well as mentions on radio (us again)—and even a two-minute story on local TV (that's Katie, below).
The spotlight continued to shine, and soon the namesake of Katie’s Pizzeria in Richmond Heights had attracted traditional investors as well. Credit her for thinking out of the pizza box, for publicly and permanently thanking each Kickstarter donor (via a tasteful plaque), and for opening up a surprisingly good restaurant...
Surprising because it’s both attractive and located in a cookie-cutter row of shops in mid-county suburbia, thereby breaking the “Oh no, it’s in a strip center!?” curse. Surprising because so much attention was placed on lighting and noise reduction, a restaurant anomaly to be sure. Surprising because the moment you cross the threshold, these things hit you all at once. Lee's pizza palace in Richmond Heights is enjoying its fifth year raves, so it's no surprise the food at KP&P is so good.
Katie Lee is the niece of Zoe Robinson--who knows a thing or two about restaurants and restaurant design (Bobo Noodle House, Bar Les Frères)--and it's evident. Whimsical paper chandeliers (including one called "spaghetti and Liberace," below right) cast a soft light.
Real candles burn everywhere: on the tables, on the multi-color, wood plank bar designed and assembled by Lee's partner, Ted Collier...even atop a very ingenious firewood-holder (below left). That seemingly out-of-place billfish? Collier likes to go deep-sea fishing.
Mismatched tables of varying designs blend seamlessly with a random selection of chairs seemingly plucked from Mom's kitchen, Dad's den, and Grandma's home in Smalltownville. Collier fashioned many of the tables himself, out of tall, antique doors (below right). It was his hand that painted some of the artwork on the walls.
At the bar, subtitled Italian movies are projected onto a large screen; above, the open ceiling has been sprayed with black acoustical material and is now a magnet for noise. It’s pleasant, it's noticeable. Katie's bar is not quiet, mind you, just quieter than most.
Flanking the bar are large vertical planters (left), future home to fresh herbs perhaps to be used on the burrata with figs and prosciutto (below left) or the Prawn & Citrus Salad (below right).
But the most subtle but impactful design element lies in the display kitchen: during the day, cold fluorescent lights illuminate harshly; at dinner, those lights are extinguished, replaced by dimmable incandescent floods. The effect is immensely calming--no doubt for the cooks as well as the guests. "That harsh light was the first thing I noticed," Lee said, "and the first thing I changed."
The menu is an extension of what Lee was able to offer at the pizzeria, the most obvious example being the addition of fresh pasta, made in house and dried just like it's done at home: on wooden racks, right on the kitchen counter. One visual stunner, a black (squid ink) tagliatelle with four other frutti di mare (below left) is further enhanced by the addition of fresh chili peppers. The other five pastas on the menu elicited a unanimous comment from our table: “I’d eat any of these.”
A selection of 13 wood-oven pizzas meander from the obvious (Cured Meats) to the esoteric (Fig & Squash, with pancetta, goat cheese, and balsamic, above right). Prices are in the mid-teens, more than reasonable for the food quality in evidence. Consequently, the fun, new restaurant in the ho-hum strip mall is off to a rollicking start, so reservations are recommended, especially during the holiday season.
Katie's Pizza & Pasta
9568 Manchester
Rock Hill
314-942-6555
katiespizzaandpasta.com
Open daily 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Two Happy Hours daily 4-6 p.m. & 9-11 p.m.
