Clementine’s opens fourth location today in Lake St. Louis

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Photo by Madison Lammert

Clementine's storefront

The ice creamery's fourth, and largest, location debuts today at noon.

Everything about Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery screams bold, from its signature boozed-infused ice cream to its mixing of chic, French bistro-esque decor with skulls and crossbones. Today, owner Tamara Keefe will once again dare to be different: She’s opening her largest shop, complete with many new elements, in the midst of a pandemic. 

What drove Keefe to make the move? The same reason the company ships its ice cream to doorsteps nationwide: everybody deserves a sweet treat as often as they please. 

“I really believed that the world would open up, I believe in Clementine’s, and St. Charles County needs a great ice cream shop. There’s not a great microcreamery out here in St. Charles County,” Keefe says. “There’s a lot of amazing people out here in Lake St. Louis and the surrounding community that deserve to have Clementine’s. It shouldn’t be just for city folk.” 

Nestled between Victoria’s Secret and Claire’s, long-standing Clementine’s fans will notice the new shop is not within the brand’s typical landscape. Clementine’s has long made neighborhoods, such as Lafayette Square, its home. However, Keefe says the mall gives off more of a small community feel than one might expect, as it houses many small businesses, hosts Saturday farmer’s markets, and showcases live music.

“I think [Clementine’s] about an experience and not just a transaction, and I think The Meadows offers lots of experiences,” Keefe says. “They have a lot of local shops, so it’s not a lot of the big box stores or big box restaurants. In fact, most of the shops in this mall are independent, and we really love that and we really believe in that.” 

In addition to branching out of the brand’s typical area, the Lake St. Louis location offers expansive outdoor and indoor seating and two point-of-sale stations, allowing those who want to enjoy their ice cream on the go the ability to quickly checkout without having to wait in the long lines associated with dine-in.

“With every new shop that we open we learn something new, and it feels like with every new shop, it gets better and better,” Keefe says. 

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Courtesy Clementine's

New flavor releases for summer include Bee The Change, with cactus granulated honey and bits of honeycomb cookie. Proceeds from pint sales go to Tribe All Good (TAG),  a non-profit mission designed to build healthier, inclusive communities. Other flavor releases include timely red, white, and blue offerings: Strawberry Pavlova, a rum-laced Piña Colada with coconut (and it's vegan), and Concord Grape.

Clementine’s is also adding Kaleidoscope Craft Brew Coffee to its long list of partnerships with female owned or co-owned businesses, which includes Rudy’s Flower Truck and Big Heart Tea. The Meadows location will be the only one to serve the special nitrogenated cold brew and milk and sugar draft lattes. For Keefe, it’s especially important to support new companies like the Belleville-based Kaleidoscope. 

“We love to collaborate and partner with upcoming local St. Louis brands, and people collaborated with us when we were coming out and coming up, so it’s about paying it forward,” she says. 

Photo by Madison Lammert

Uilbe

Uilbe prepares for the Lake St. Louis location's opening.

Female empowerment is brought into the essence of Clementine’s decor as well. While the brand’s name was inspired by a real-life friend of Keefe’s grandmother, Keefe and Frank Uible, who doubles as Keefe’s “partner in life and in love,”crafted a fictitious character to aid in the process of designing the interior of all four locations. This fictional heroine grew up in the South at the turn of the 20th century, and, not wanting to get married and stay in her childhood home forever, traveled to Paris to pursue her passion for cooking. Eventually when her father died, Clementine returned to the states with new recipes in tow and opened an ice cream shop. 

Photo by Madison Lammert

"Southern Belle"

After many years, the Clementine's couple found the face to their fictional inspiration in Erich Correns's painting "Southern Belle." Tamara Keefe proudly poses with a print of the famous painting.

Uible says the story’s influence seeps into the Lake St. Louis shop through subtle allusions to French bistro and cosmopolitan style. The walls are lined with handmade art and vintage prints. Elements of other Clementine’s locations are easily recognizable as well: a large chalkboard menu is visible from the doorway, and, of course, black and white striped awnings greet guests as they enter the store. 

“She was almost like, raised as a Southern belle, and then was super motivated to be more than what was expected of women then,” Keefe explains.

When asked if she has achieved becoming her own personal Clementine, Keefe provided a thoughtful response. 

“I don’t think you ever reach anything, you just work hard everyday, but [like Clementine] I’m not afraid to be bold and I’m not afraid to, clearly, open an ice cream shop during a pandemic,” Keefe says, chuckling. “I’m not afraid to take risks. I have to do what I love to do and I think the world needs Clementine’s, like people need to have good, amazing ice cream.”