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Jack Mac’s first challenge at Joe Buck’s Downtown: deal with the “Big Freese” ice-cream dessert (below). The massive, 10-pound concentration of vanilla and chocolate ice cream and Oreo crumbles sandwiched between two 14” (gulp) chocolate-chip cookies and topped with chocolate and caramel sauces, whipped cream and a cherry is “almost 10 inches tall,” said MacMurray. “It’s as big as three bricks and it serves eight to 10 people. It’s badass. It sells incredibly well, too.”
The rub is, of course, that Freese has just joined fellow ex-Cardinal Albert Pujols on the roster of the L.A. Angels.
“We’re gonna have to come up with a new name,” said MacMurray (left).
Jack MacMurray III, better known as affable chef-about-town Jack Mac, has been hired as the new Executive Chef at Joe Buck’s Downtown.
In addition to renaming desserts, said MacMurray, he’ll have to embrace the challenge of running a bustling sports-centric eatery “a block from Busch and a block from Savvis,” he said. “The concerts, hockey games and baseball games drive a lot of traffic. Then there’s catering onsite and off-site, event spaces (right) on four floors, a beautiful deck that rivals Vin de Set’s and seats about 120… This is a huge operation. I wanted it. I wanted the stability of this job, and the challenge of this job.”
The current Joe Buck’s menu features familiar American comfort foods: nachos piled with pulled pork, fried pickles, burgers, a fried-oyster po’ boy, ribs, etc. MacMurray’s career has taken him down many and varied avenues, including high-end cooking competitions and stints as chef at Wild Horse Grill, St. Peters’ Old Hickory Golf Club, Annie Gunn’s & the Smokehouse Market, the late Crazy Fish, and the late Sage Urban American Grill, where he was also part-owner.
The charismatic cook teaches 50 to 60 classes annually at Dierbergs and the Kitchen Conservatory, and sells his grilling rubs at jackmacs.net. One might wonder how Jack Mac’s honed, cosmopolitan skills will mesh with Joe Buck’s feed-the-masses approach.
“I’m gonna bring Jack Mac flavors and cuisine Downtown and blend them with the J.Buck’s restaurants’ traditions,” he averred.
“Yesterday we served Colorado red chili and we went through six gallons,” he continued. “I love American food – traditional, eclectic, all of it. Coming from New Jersey and all their Jewish and Italian delis, I love a great lunch restaurant, too. If you have a great lunch, you’ll come back for dinner.”
“We change the menu once a month so there’ll be five to six new items each month, which is cool,” he added. “I really want to bring Joe Buck’s to the forefront of the local conversation about fresh, great food.”
Joe Buck’s is already on the short list of places where local athletes like to carbo-load. Is it a greater challenge to serve famous faces?
“Naw,” said the chef, “they’re like family. The celebrities and athletes are really genuine, down-to-earth guys, and you take care of them like family. They’re not high-maintenance.”
Editor's Note: J. Buck's, the similarly-named restaurant in Clayton, has different owners and a different chef, but a similar (yet different) menu. Yes, yes, it's very confusing to us as well.
