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While the rest of us ply our trade in darkened huts, pushing our abraded noses against our respective grindstones without looking up at the passing parade, Josh Lemmon has stood up to say “No.”
I will follow my dream, said Lemmon, implicitly, when he started a food truck with a tattooing theme called Burger Ink and looped across St. Charles County, pushing his proteins. And I will follow my even nuttier dream, he is currently saying, implicitly, by opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant with a tattooing theme that will sell peppery chicken between two apple pancakes, in Wentzville.
The “Hot Chicken Pancake” (which sounds like one of the memorable treats cooked up by the gastronauts of GMC Stadium), is not the only funky item on the menu at The Tattooed Dog, a grill that Lemmon has branded an “upscale dive grub.”
His new joint (below), scheduled to open on Feb. 7, will welcome diners from Wentzville and surrounding areas into a realm that, he acknowledges, may push some local palates in new directions.
“We're looking forward to warming the people of Wentzville up to some new things,” he said. “In St. Louis City, you have more people and more foodies, and it's trendier. In the more rural areas of St. Charles County, people may not be as open to some cooking ideas, and that’s why I'm trying to take burgers and things people are used to and kick it up just a notch.”
His philosophy is simply the progressive bent of the modern cook that we restaurant hags know so well: local ingredients, forging relationships with local farmers and producers, everything possible made in-house, and everything as fresh as possible.
Highlights from The Tattooed Dog's menu maiden menu include:
-Apps like soft pretzels with Guinness beer cheese and a “pork verde bowl” featuring pork chili verde, refried beans, jalapenos, cheddar, and “twisted sour cream” (sour cream with garlic, spices and lemon juice)
-Soups like a garlic/jalapeno vichyssoise
-Salads including one with baby arugula, seasonal fruits, warm fried goat cheese, and blueberry-citrus vinaigrette
-Massive mounds of “Loaded Fries” in combos like “Chimichanga Fries,” which are fries topped with roasted chicken, pico de gallo, refried beans, Monterey Jack cheese sauce, and more of that twisted sour cream
-All nine burgers from the Burger Ink truck menu, including the Dubliner (Guinness-braised onions, white American cheese, roasted-garlic aioli, spring greens, and a certified Angus burger on a pretzel bun); the Maui (grilled pineapple, white American cheese, teriyaki wasabi glaze, roasted-garlic aioli, spring greens, and a certified Angus burger on a pretzel bun); and the “Perzola,” a wild creation with butter- poached pears, white American cheese, Gorgonzola crème, spring greens, and a certified Angus burger on a pretzel bun
-Sandwiches featuring the “hot chicken pancake,” which is chicken marinated in pepper sauce, fried, then slathered in the same pepper sauce, topped with white American cheese, and served between two apple pancakes! Also look for an herb-crusted roast-pork sandwich starring Berkshire pork loin, house-made bacon, baby arugula, and cilantro aioli on sourdough; an “Adult grilled cheese” with roasted apples, smoked mozzarella, and extra-sharp cheddar on sourdough; and a house-cured pastrami.
-Desserts include a “blueberry roll-up” made with blueberries, house-made granola, and cream cheese frosting wrapped in a tortilla, deep-fried, and topped with vanilla ice cream, and a version of Bananas Foster made with bourbon.
The restaurant's interior features a 30-foot chalkboard (above) with descriptions of each dish written in colorful fonts by an artist.
The tattoo theme that obsesses Lemmon (right) is understandable as soon as you meet him – he's an illustrated man. “I have probably more than 100 tattoos,” he boasted, “and I started getting them before every other chef had to have them, too.”
Come spring, said Lemmon, The Tattooed Dog will introduce a tapas menu for dinner. “I think customers are more apt to try something for five to ten dollars as opposed to having them try a $20 plate of something they’ve never had before,” he said.
Will the Wentzvillians cotton to vichyssoise and a burger topped with poached pears and Gorgonzola? And will St. Louis denizens make the 40-minute trek west to try the Dog's food?
“My wife and I love to drive to St. Louis to go to places like Niche,” said Lemmon, “so I hope we can get some people to come in the other direction, too.”
The Tattooed Dog
Open on or about Feb. 7
403 Luetkenhaus Blvd.
Wentzville
No listed phone yet
Hours: Tue-Thu, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., closed Sun-Mon
