Someone else had to point out to me that Red Fox Baking and Catering has an awfully St. Louis name, as in the great comedic actor Redd Foxx.
“I hadn’t even thought of that,” I said stupidly.
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I was too busy gawking at the food-porn photos at the bakery’s Facebook page.
The same gobsmacked looks and occasional drooling that plagued me may be observed on the part of shoppers strolling about the farmers’ markets where Red Fox sets up a table.
Rosemary applesauce turnovers, caramel apple galettes (below left), pecan cinnamon rolls, mini apple-walnut tea cakes clotted with chopped nuts (below right), and croissants brushed with egg and baked to a golden-brown jostle for space in the case.
A brioche morning bun with pancetta, shallots, apple, cheddar, and herbs competes for attention with a ricotta tart made with carrots, house-made ricotta, lemon zest and thyme (both below).
Chewy salted chocolate rye cookies (below) take the tongue on a rewarding journey through salt, then rye, then a big chocolate finish. Buckwheat shortbread cookies have a muted sweetness; they cry out to be complemented by tea with cream.
Since we last checked in with Red Fox founders and partners Chris Scheets, Jake Marks and Jenny Wilson a little more than a year ago, not only has their selection of pastries blossomed, but they’ve relocated, and begun offering bread baked in a massive wood-fired brick oven they built on their back patio (Marks, Wilson, and oven are at right). Their repeated flights across the Arctic tundra of the St. Louis winter that just blessedly ended (we think) to their outdoor oven have yielded breads in varieties like country loaf, ciabatta, sourdough baguette, brioche, and a pumpernickel made with Civil Life Porter.
A Danish rye called rugbrǿt is made with buttermilk and beer, and studded with a dense, hearty mix of sesame, flax and sunflower seeds. A mini gruyere loaf, munched into, rewards the diner with boulders of chunky cheese. (The breads are made with organic flour sourced from Kansas’ Heartland Mill and Richard Knapp’s Creekside Mill near Columbia, Mo., along with farm eggs and other ingredients.) The trio is currently enjoying this mild spring; when St. Louis heats up like an oven, as it soon will, these bakery kids will have to run through the oven to get to the oven.
But when they march in the other direction, they’ll be walking into Grove East Provisions, a new sort of corner bodega envisioned by owner Barry Kinder. Grove East will share a roof, a connecting door, and a business arrangement with Red Fox. The shop will sell Red Fox baked goods, along with “fruits, vegetables, a small selection of meats, rice, beans, olive oils and more,” said Kinder. “Things that the home cook can use to put together a quick dinner.”
“It will be a neighborhood corner shop that’s not all about cigarettes, the lottery, and junk food,” he said with devastating accuracy. “It’s really old-school American. Mom-and-pop shops used to have all of that.” (Red Fox’s country bread, rugbrǿt, and ciabatta pictured below)
Grove East Provisions will perform several other roles, he added. It will be a sandwich shop offering a small menu with items like a meatloaf sandwich, a club sandwich, a grilled cheese, soups, and salads. Diners may eat at a few tables in the space. He has secured a liquor license, and plans to serve craft beers in what will be “not a bar, but a nice neighborhood gathering place,” he said. “We can have an afternoon happy hour, maybe.”
In a development that will surely make a locavore’s heart sing, Kinder plans to sell produce from the newish urban farm located directly across the street. Brick City Farm will also furnish produce that will guide Kinder’s choice of seasonal ingredients for his menu, he said.
Grove East Provisions is projected to open in two weeks, he said.
In the meantime, Red Fox junkies can do more than haunt area farmers’ markets (those would be Maplewood, Tower Grove and Midtown) to get their fix. Those who email [email protected] can get on an e-mail list to receive weekly listings of what’s baking; they can then arrange to purchase baked goods and pick them up between 5 and 8 p.m. Wednesday evenings at the Arsenal Street commissary.
You can also find Red Fox items for sale at Local Harvest, and incorporated into the menus at the Civil Life Brewing Co. kitchen, the Mud House, and Elaia.
Red Fox Bakery and Catering 3101 Arsenal 314-229-4327 redfoxbaking.com Grove East Provisions 3101 Arsenal groveeastprovisions.com (web site forthcoming) Scheduled to be open by May 15 Brick City Farm 3000 Minnesota brickcityfarm.com
