Andrew Cisneros, best known for his acclaimed restaurant Jalea in St. Charles, is spending weekends in the kitchen at The Tavern Kitchen & Bar in Valley Park.
Last week, the up-and-coming chef became the new chef partner at The Tavern, the finer-dining restaurant owned by OG Hospitality Group, the locally owned company that also owns The Corner Pub & Grill and Shack, with 13 restaurant locations in all.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
According to co-owner Brant Baldanza, “excitement” doesn’t begin to capture his enthusiasm. “We are jacked!” he says.
Cisneros first walked into The Tavern as a consultant on the spring menu. Although Baldanza may have wondered at first how his established staff would receive a 30-year-old chef in white Birkenstocks, wonder never evolved into concern; Cisneros won them over in a matter of days. As Baldanza, a seasoned poker player, says, “There are some hands that just land in your lap.”
When Cisneros started consulting, Baldanza told him that he would take whatever time he had to offer. Judging by his past and ongoing projects, it wouldn’t seem like an executive chef role could be in the cards. He and his sister still own Jalea, one of St. Charles’ most sought-after reservations. Cisneros (along with fellow culinary star Marcos Godines) helped open Casa de Tres Reyes in Des Peres. He also owns a business inside Perennial Artisan Ales in South City called Sanguchitos by Brasas, featuring Peruvian-inspired sliders, among them a riff on pollo a la brasas (Peruvian marinated roasted chicken), arguably the item that put Cisneros on the local culinary map, after first training under the likes of Ben Poremba, Gerard Craft, and Mike Randolph. But with those ventures well-established and operated by either family or trusted staffers, Cisneros was able to step into a permanent role at The Tavern.
Both Cisneros and Baldanza look at this position as an evolution. The Tavern, which was founded in 2010 and named SLM’s “Restaurant of the Year” in 2011, focuses on seasonal cuisines from near and far, which lends itself to Cisneros’ training and talent. “Tavern is not handcuffed to any one region,” Baldanza points out. “Whatever Andrew might add won’t come as a surprise to our clientele.”
Cisneros’ new menu will hit tables April 17. Expect to see nods to the traditional French and Italian dishes that he was trained in, along with the Peruvian dishes that he was raised on. And if Baldanza’s vote counts, you’ll see some of that brasas chicken. “I could bathe in that stuff!” he gushes.
For Cisneros’ part, he looks forward to not only evolving the menu but also the experience. The restaurant, whose interior was refreshed last year, features an eight-seat chef’s counter, where Cisneros hopes to introduce a little culinary magic. The exact concept is still in the works, but he hints that “it will give me and our chef team the opportunity to prepare dedicated tasting menus for those guests, something Tavern has never really done before.”
