The Clover and The Bee opens in Webster Groves

Name: The Clover and The Bee opens in Webster Groves
Item: The Clover and the Bee
Author: George Mahe

Olive + Oak’s sister restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner soon

by George Mahe

December 4, 2017

8:00 AM

1 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Egg Cup - with potato-parsnip puree, greens, buttered sourdough toast

2 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Pastries are currently sourced from all over: bialys from Brooklyn, breads from Union Loafers, and cakes from Sugaree

3 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Roasted Asparagus - with almond pesto, romesco sauce, poached egg

4 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Chubby chocolate chip cookies, made in house

5 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Granola - with yogurt, maple, spiced pumpkin seed, pickled red pear

6 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Baked Eggs - with spiced tomato sauce, herbs, crusty sourdough

7 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Lox Tartare - slow cooked egg and egg yolk, chive, red onion, caper, everything crackers

8 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Apple Clafoutis - with five spice whipped cream

9 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Rice Pudding Brulee - with stone fruit compote

10 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Burrata - lunch sandwich with lemon, pine nuts, charred broccoli pesto, on ciabatta

11 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Roast Pork - another lunch offering with herbed rice pilaf, Marcona almonds, arugula, orange-honey vinaigrette

12 of 15

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

The greeter: a flaming orange, top of the line "Strada" model La Marzocco espresso machine

13 of 15

Coffee guru/beverage manager Ian Holiday sources coffees from around the country (like award winning, Minneapolis-based Spyhouse) as well as teas from Firepot and Big Heart.

14 of 15

"Drink here or take home" beverages include canned and bottled sodas, beers, and wines; premade bottled cocktails; plus beer, wine, and cold brew on tap.

15 of 15

Bottled cocktail program, mid-taste

Three weeks ago, SLM got a sneak peek at The Clover and the Bee. (Click here for that story.) This week, the sister restaurant to Olive + Oak opens for breakfast and lunch in the former Webster Groves Bookshop space, at 100 W. Lockwood.

More details have emerged, as they tend to do in the final stages of madcap restaurant construction, the most dramatic of which is the artistry on the two main walls, conceived and painted by Marissa Todd, an art student at Webster University and hostess at Olive + Oak. When Hinkle told SLM that the design would be “a dramatic statement,” even he wasn’t sure of the result. “We gave some direction and I had an idea,” he says of the prairie of gilded clover and bee-attracting flowers, “but it turned out more beautiful and powerful than I thought.”

Above and below: what a difference a few days can make

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Gold wire chairs (far more comfortable than they look) match the soft light fixtures with articulating arms that swing out over solid walnut tables.

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

"The interior pivots off the emerald green banquettes,” Hinkle says of the counter-face glazed tile that was originally slated for the bathrooms.

Bee books and cookbooks line one wall, an homage to Webster Groves Bookshop, the longtime tenant.

“If Olive + Oak is the brother, think of Clover as his feminine sister,” co-owner Becky Ortyl said. And with that, we yield to SLM staff photographer Kevin A. Roberts’ images in the gallery above and let his captioned food photos tell the rest of the story. "There's nothing on there that's one of us," executive chef Jesse Mendica says of the menu, nodding to her chef Mike Risk. "Everything's been a collaboration."