Katie's Pizza & Pasta Osteria now open in Town & Country

Katie Lee Collier and Ted Collier's long-awaited second restaurant is located on the northeast corner of Clayton Road and Highway 141.

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The second location of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria opens today in Town & Country—and the timing couldn’t be better.

Katie Lee Collier has virtually run the table this summer racking up chef awards: Reader’s Choice Chef of the Year from Sauce magazine, Chef of the Year from Feast , and a member of St. Louis Magazine’s A-List Dream Team. That in itself is an unprecedented feat.  

PMQ Pizza magazine hailed her marketing prowess, calling her “the queen of all pizza media in St. Louis.” And in June, she launched Vero Pizza & Pasta, a meal kit delivery company; in September, Vero goes national.

As a result, the flagship restaurant in Rock Hill couldn’t get much busier, now tallying up to 1,000 covers per day. Two-hour waits are not uncommon.

Location No. 2 has been in the planning stages for several years, says her husband, business partner and acclaimed artist Ted Collier, whose bold paintings are a key design element at the new location. The couple looked all over the metro region, hoping to duplicate their uncanny success.

One of the reasons that they decided on the former Einstein Bros. Bagels location at Clayton Road and Highway 141 was the availability of free and ample parking. “Katie’s could never have done such an insane amount of business in Rock Hill without all that nearby parking, so we wanted to make sure we were in a position to do it again,” says Drew Keller, a member of the management team who worked for Mastro’s chain of prime steaks and fresh seafood restaurants for 12 years before returning to St. Louis. “Most of the businesses around us close early, so there’s a ton of after hours and weekend parking right outside our door. That aspect alone is hard to duplicate in the city.”

The new location is 20 percent bigger than the flagship (100 seats, versus 80), but it feels even bigger. The footprint is considerably larger than the Rock Hill location, and the table spacing is more generous. Both locations have large patios, but the one in Town & Country wraps two sides of the building, so it seems smaller and more intimate.

A former drafting table sees new life as the front desk; still visible are the hundreds of pinholes from the architect’s compass. A wall separates the waiting area from the restaurant proper, effectively limiting noise and general commotion. Inside are mix-and-match tables and chairs, just like in Rock Hill, but the assortment is more focused. Two metal-edged, black-Formica topped tables (both visible above) were salvaged from the original Katie’s Pizza on Clayton Road (a restaurant that Katie co-founded with her father, Tom Lee) as was the large library table, which anchors the dining room. Tables of two (that can also accommodate two and a baby) line the perimeter of the predominantly white-walled dining room. An abundance of round tables, both inside and on the patio (pictured below) are more conducive to table interaction—a key element to Lee Collier and her management crew.

“At Katie’s, food, beverage, and interaction are all intertwined,” says general manager Devlin Ray, a Ballpark Village alum. “It’s important that the guests interact with themselves and that the servers interact with the guests. We're trying to create the same energy that we have in Rock Hill.”

To that end, servers will spearhead the daily giveaway of several Vero Pizza and Pasta boxes, which will occur at both Katie’s locations. Servers will ask guests who’s celebrating, who’s traveled the farthest, or who has a story to tell.  “Maybe a box goes to the guy who’s having bad day,” Keller says. “We want the servers to make that call.”   

In the same vein, there are no TVs on the patio and only one planned for the bar, because they can distract from and limit customer contact. There is, however, a projection screen showing old movies selected by the staff (minus the audio), same as at the flagship.

Interaction is a component of the wine program as well. “It’s important to get the service staff comfortable talking about wine, enough that they can develop their own genuine vocabulary, not just regurgitate words on a tech sheet," says sommelier and wine director Julia Greco. "Food and wine are a natural pairing, so our goal is to get servers to talk about both naturally—maybe even enough to get people out of their comfort zones.”

The wine list and pricing will be the same as at the flagship, with the addition of a few hand-sells, a Belle Glos Pinot Noir and Cakebread Chardonnay, both priced at $18 per glass. Due to a temperature-controlled wine cooler—an inexplicable rarity in even the best restaurants—they’re likely to taste as if they cost twice that price.

Ian Rockwell, a former regional director for 801 Chophouse, will float between stores. “Katie has an organic approach to management,” he says. “We go where we’re needed.”

Even the hiring philosophy is different. “Back in our corporate days, it was common for guys like Ian and I to give employees a pretest to determine knowledge and attitude—just to get to the first interview," says Keller. “Here, we have a younger group, so we simply talked to people to figure out if the passion was there. It’s not hard to teach skills; it is hard to teach people to give a damn.”

As at the Rock Hill location, natural light is abundant, which draws attention to Collier’s bold oil paintings (as well as one from Belinda Lee, Lee Collier's mother, both pictured above).

Another visual pop is provided by a brass bar top and brass shelf tubing on the back bar. What looks like a throwback to an '80s-era Houlihan’s is actually a nod to the brass-colored pasta dies (they're actually made of bronze) used for fresh pasta extrusion.

Then there's the food. It will be the same menu, the same brunch offerings, and the same prices as in Rock Hill. “The menu is seasonal, of course,” says Lee Collier, “so look for some new items in October.”

The couple plans to continue their charitable contributions—now well in excess of $100,000 at the flagship location. Every fourth Tuesday of the month is Giveback Tuesday, when 100 percent of the profits are given to a local charity. “Both stores will now donate to the same charity every month,” Lee Collier says, “except now the contribution will be doubled—at least.”

Although the crackerjack management team at Katie’s are all equals, according to Keller, his business card reads regional manager, which indicates the likelihood of expansion.

“We may do one more in St. Louis, and we’re considering Denver, San Diego, and Nashville,” he says, with a ‘stay tuned’ lilt in his voice. “And there’s always the possibility of an entirely new concept.”

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the restaurant in Town & Country is opening today.

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