Ron Gordon summed up what many aspiring restaurateurs should know before entering into the business: “It’s amazing how what appeared to be a minor remodel can take so much time and so much money. I’m no stranger to this…but I’m still amazed.”
Gordon is referring to Zydeco Blues, his 100-seat Cajun and Creole-themed restaurant at 1090 Old Des Peres Road (the former Rib City) in Des Peres Square.
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After a series of construction and inspection delays, the restaurant is opening softly as we speak (November 26). It opens officially for lunch and dinner beginning on Black Friday, November 28, the official start of the holiday season, arguably the busiest five-week period on the local restaurant calendar.
Prior to Zydeco Blues, Gordon was the founder and managing partner of Wild Horse Grill, which he sold in 2005 (the restaurant closed in early September of this year). Later that year, Gordon started City Publications St. Louis, a direct mail marketing company that he sold in 2013.
Joining Gordon in his new endeavor is GM Lorre Schmidt, a former manager at Wild Horse Grill, and exec chef Wade Waller, whose credentials include stints at Cleveland-Heath, Vin de Set, and 1111 Mississippi, where he was executive chef. Assisting Waller in the kitchen is sous chef Ian Martin, who cheffed at Tripel as well as 1111.
On the menu are familiar Cajun dishes–crawfish étouffée, jambalaya, shrimp & grits–as well as some with twists, like a Cajun roasted pork loin po’ boy, one made with pretzel-crusted fried oysters, and blackened mahi-mahi fish tacos with corn-pepper relish.
Waller and Martin are proud of their crawfish potstickers, the Creole-spice braised short ribs and a Creole fisherman stew. Pay special attention to the tournedos, its medallions cut from teres major, a tender, but lesser known cut of beef better known as “petite tenderloin.”
Both lunch and dinner feature the same menu, with some half-size portions available at lunch. “While you can order a whole pecan-encrusted trout at lunchtime,” noted Waller, “the single fillet portion will have a whole lot more appeal.”
When asked about a possible signature item, Waller didn’t hesitate: “At a major food event several years ago, I served blinis filled with a bay scallop paté,” the chef said. “When people came back for seconds, we knew we were onto something. We were told it was the hit of the party.” Waller finishes the blinis with a honey-vanilla cream and a fennel-mandarin orange salad.
The wine list at Zydeco Blues is serviceable, with seven reds and an equal number of whites by the glass; the beer list is A-B heavy, plus half a dozen microbrews, as well as the obligatory Abita.
The interior is anchored by a copper top bar and a massive, circa-1880s mahogany back bar, reclaimed from the former Table/Stable restaurant on Cherokee Street.
As with many new restaurants, the interior wall finishes are a work in progress. New mirrors are being fitted into old gilded frames, a wooden mantel will shelve an assortment of tchotchkes, and a New Orleans-themed mural has been commissioned for the main wall, which will also serve as the backdrop for the bands. “The muralists are gaining inspiration as we speak,” quipped Gordon.
Popular local dance band The Rhythm Rockers gets the call on opening night; on Friday, it’ll be the House of Bishops Band, “our unofficial house band,” according to Gordon, who said that the band’s founder, Fr. Ron Clingenpeel, “is an Episcopal priest who travels from New Orleans twice a month just to play music in St. Louis…and we hit it off. I’m hoping he’ll become a familiar face around here.”
Gordon expects to book live music at least several times a week. “Some form of blues or other,” he said. “New Orleans blues, jazz, Chicago, Southern rock blues, rhythm and blues, St. Louis Blues…”
And, we can only assume…zydeco blues.
Zydeco Blues
1090 Old Des Peres
314-858-1188
Mon – Wed: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Thurs – Sat: 11 a.m. – 1 a.m.
