For over a decade, Laura and Ryan High have been key players in the Edwardsville restaurant scene, thanks to their popular craft brew bar, Global Brew Tap House. This April, the husband-and-wife team grew that footprint with their latest concept, Brick + Bramble (2323 Plum, Edwardsville), which Laura describes as “a casual cocktail bar with really amazing food.”
Located adjacent to Global Brew in Edwardsville, Brick + Bramble distinguishes itself with an elevated lounge experience, including creative craft cocktails and shareable plates. “We want people to come, be comfortable, have great drinks, eat great food and enjoy the people you are with,” Laura says. “That’s what we are bringing to Edwardsville.” Here’s what to know before you go.
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.
The Atmosphere
The Highs were inspired to open Brick + Bramble, because it is the sort of place they would want to frequent with their friends. “Before we go out to dinner, we like to stop and have a cocktail somewhere or maybe have an appetizer before a concert,” Laura says. “We love getting together with friends and sharing a bottle of wine or cocktails that you can’t make yourself. We also love to try all different types of food, which is where the sharable plates idea came from. The space lends itself to sitting at the bar and having a bite, a large group get-together before an event, or even just making this the main event.”
The couple has created an upscale yet comfortable, lounge-like atmosphere with a beautiful wooden bar, high- and low-top seating, and a patio with outdoor fireplaces. Edwardsville designer Heidi Janson helped execute the owners’ vision. They leaned into the restaurant’s name, a nod to the community’s history as the center of the area’s brick manufacturing, as well as its farming background. Brickwork features prominently in the space: Edwardsville masons donated some of the materials to the restaurant, and the couple worked with the the Madison County Historical Society to procure historic photographs of the community, which now hang throughout the space. A rustic chandelier, formed to evoke a brambly thorn bush, illuminates the lounge area, and leather banquettes and chairs give the space a luxe feel. That upscale vibe carries to the patio, where guests can relax in comfortable seating and bask in the glow of various fire features.
The Menu
Food and beverage director Jake Koons, an industry veteran whose resume includes Flying Saucer and 360, notes that the restaurant’s name not only nods to the area’s landscape but also speaks to the classic, gin-based cocktail. “A bramble is a classic cocktail—traditionally gin, lemon, and a blackberry purée,” Koons says. “We pumped it up a bunch, because we wanted to have a pretty outlandish-looking cocktail for our namesake.” In this spirit, the Bramble (pictured at right front) is made with Pinckney Bend hibiscus gin, blackberry puree, fresh lemon juice, and house-made champagne simple syrup. In place of a simple fruit garnish, the bar uses dehydrated crystallized rose sugar for the rim. “It’s like Nerds for adults,” Koon says with a laugh.
Koon is particularly proud of the restaurant’s riff on the Old Fashioned, named the Brick + Bramble Old Fashioned. The drink features Old Ezra Seven Year bourbon—a difficult-to-find spirit—as its base, as well as blackberry purée, a Grand Mariner float, and a smoked orange peel. Koon notes that the only reason they can offer the drink with such a rare bourbon is because of the restaurant’s longstanding history with Sazerac brands, whose portfolio includes some of the most sought-after spirits in the country.
“Almost five years ago, I implemented a cocktail menu at Global Brew that was built in kegs put on tap,” Koons explains. “Around that time, everyone was using Tito’s vodka, but I started using Wheatly, which is Buffalo Trace’s vodka, and now we are the largest Buffalo Trace account outside of Chicago. My allocation of Pappy Van Winkle last year was big enough that I could save it and transfer it over to Brick & Bramble. It allowed us to open with a bourbon list you can’t get anywhere else in the country.”
For the food menu, the Highs tapped longtime chef Shaun Molloy, who brings has 16 years of experience in Italian fine-dining restaurants. Laura describes the menu as “elevated” but with an approachable price point. Offerings include sharable items such as beef medallions (topped with portobello mushrooms and veal demi-glace), smoked duck wings (with either honey garlic sauce, sweet Thai chili sauce, or a truffle dry rub), short rib ravioli, and smoked tomatoes with burrata, as well as a variety of flatbreads, a burger (topped with prosciutto mozzarella and marinara sauce), and a world-class steak and cheese sandwich (made with tenderloin medallions, shishito peppers, smoked gouda, and whiskey-caramelized onions).
The restaurant’s signature dishes are its spreads—large grazing boards meant to feed two or four people. The Seafood Spread features seared shrimp, scallops, calamari, kielbasa, fingerling potatoes, onions, bell peppers, and a lemon butter sauce. A Charcuterie Spread pairs cured meats with a variety of cheeses and house-made crostini. And the restaurant’s showstopper, the Bramble Spread (pictured below), is a carnivore’s delight, comprised of a 16-ounce New York strip steak, a rack of lamb, a wedge salad, hasselback potatoes, Brussels sprouts, roasted garlic, chimichurri, and truffle butter.
“There really is something for everyone,” Laura says. “You can come in and have a wonderful meal at lunchtime, come in for brunch, enjoy some sharable plates with a small group, or have a couple of spreads with a large group.”
The Backstory
Laura and Ryan planned on careers in public relations and business, respectively, but they found themselves in the restaurant industry thanks to a love of baseball, travel, and beer. “We love to go to baseball stadiums around the country, and everywhere we’d travel, we’d try different beers and wonder why we couldn’t get them in our area,” Laura recalls.
That quest led them to open Global Brew Tap House in Edwardsville in 2011. It now boasts an additional corporate location in O’Fallon, Illinois (pictured at right), as well as three franchise locations in Rock Hill, Schaumburg, Illinois, and St. Charles, Illinois. The pair have built a following in the community, so when the opportunity came to take over the adjacent storefront, they figured it would be best to open a complimentary spot rather than simply expand.
“We’ve been part of the game for a long time, so when we got a chance to open another original concept, we were so excited,” Laura says. “We love and are invested in this community. Right now, we feel like we are a hidden gem, and we know we can shine even brighter.”
