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For me, it was one of the more interesting "restaurant" stories of the year.
In an interesting Q&A (if I do say so myself) in June's SLM, I discussed the St. Louis Cellars Food & Wine venture with Executive Chef Greg Maggi (he has since moved on) and was intrigued to learn that it was part cafe/part gourmet-to-go/part box lunches/part private party venue and part corporate catering with some cooking classes, wine dinners and gift baskets thrown in for good measure. It was an undertaking (admittedly) with no determined focus, yet with partners radical enough to take it for a spin and see which of those facets would catch fire (which flies smack in the face of the Restaurant 101 mantra that says "Do what you do and don't waver. You can't be all things to all people."
Ah, but fear not, the other partners in the venture were two of the sharper business people around: Matt Williams (who founded TKO DJs 25 years ago) and his wife, Jennifer Williams (founder of the St. Louis Closet Co., and the 2 year old adjoining wine business, St. Louis Cellars). They realized--and expected-- their customers would dictate the direction of the business.
And the customers have spoken.
Due to a significant increase in St. Louis Cellars' wine sales and in on-premise event business (the latter marketed only buy word of mouth), the decision was made to expand the scope at SLC as well as focus more on private events, but discontinue both lunch service and the gourmet food case offerings at SLCF&W.
While St Louis Cellars had zeroed in on bottles priced $20 and under, an experiment with wines in the $20-45+ range has proven surprisingly successful, so look for more real estate devoted to wines in that price range as well as more retail merchandise--both edible and inedible--to accompany them.
So if you've nothing to toast with tonight, I know a place with some "sparks" on hand, from Viudas right on up to Veuve Clicquot.
Cheers! And a Happy New Year from Feast. -- George Mahe
