Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
St. Louis native Christine (Chris) Meyer and her business partner, Mike Miller, started Kitchen Kulture, a catering business and stand at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market in 2010, eventually gaining a cult following for their incredible breakfast sandwiches. Four years ago, they transitioned to a brick-and-mortar Asian-fusion takeout restaurant that they dubbed Kounter Kulture. When the world took a dramatic shift in March 2020, the pair was forced to adapt to life during a pandemic. “I think anybody, no matter what business you’re in, you’re going to have to reinvent what you’re doing,” says Meyer. For Kounter Kulture, that meant connecting farmer/vendors directly with customers and closing the circle on the food supply chain.
Where did your love of food begin? I grew up in the ’60s, and people didn’t eat out as much as they do now, so we always cooked meals. It was important to my family, cooking together and eating together. We always had a huge garden. I grew up caring for plants and having a focus on what was on the table seasonally, so that carried over into young adulthood. I wanted to learn about farming, so I worked for three years on a farm in Bourbon, and I’ve worked in restaurants since I was 15. So that was the path I was on.
How did you decide to change direction after coronavirus hit? It happened organically. We started making preparations for ourselves as a small business the first week of March, so we had a two-week head start. By the time the shutdown happened for the city, we were at least stable internally, so that gave us the ability to look outside of ourselves. Our farmers, for whom the majority of their deliveries to St. Louis were wholesale, within a week their business was gone, and they were just spinning. Meanwhile, our customers were calling and saying things like, “I went to the grocery store, and there’s no meat.” I could see there were two sets of people and I could put them together.
Why was helping the farmers and, in turn, the customers, important to you? With the farmers’ market postponed, that’s a huge piece of the economic puzzle for small businesses and farmers. [At press time, many area farmers’ markets have reopened with safety guidelines and limited capacities.] We thought we could keep buying from them for the food we make but also buy the extra and sell it. I know that the folks at Fresh Pasture [Farms, in Millstadt] have gathered the eggs themselves that morning. I know the precautions they’re taking, so I also know the folks who are matching our concern for safety. I feel like, now more than ever, that is so important. It’s also about the quality. Whereas people might have been eating at home 40 percent of the time, now it’s like 90 percent of the time, so they’re cooking more and taking more pride in what they’re preparing.
How does the process work? We already had set deliveries with different farms on different days, so throughout the week we’re replenishing supplies, from flowers to lettuce to ground beef. By Thursday or Friday, we’re completely loaded.
In what ways will Kounter Kulture continue to adapt in this new normal? We’re taking this to the next level with preordered pickups in our parking lot [distributed directly by local farmers]. We started with Newman Farm—they’re a well-respected pork farm in southern Missouri, and they sell to the top restaurants around the country. The consumer can now get a higher quality pork than they’ve ever been able to.
