Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Among the St. Louis restaurants highlighted in the national article: indo, in Botanical Heights.
A story published yesterday by Food & Wine, titled “This Is the Next Great Food City, According to Our Readers,” no doubt generated clicks from foodies across the country. To anyone who’s kept up with the national restaurant press, the winner was no surprise, as St. Louis’ culinary star has been ascending for several decades.
Just in the past year, Forbes claimed “America’s Best New Italian Restaurant Is in St Louis,” referring to Casa don Alfonso in Clayton. The New York Times listed Little Fox among the 50 establishments on its “America’s Favorite Restaurants” list for 2021. In January, Eater published the “26 Essential St. Louis Restaurants,” an update of its original list of 20. A month later, six St. Louis chefs and one local restaurant were named semifinalists for James Beard Awards. A month ago, St. Louis’ favorite love-it-or-hate-it pizza topper—Provel cheese—received some national recognition, courtesy of Bon Appétit.
And now the readers of Food & Wine have spoken, naming St. Louis the next great food city, besting Buffalo, New York, and Auburn, Alabama.
Following the vote, the publication asked local food writer (and SLM contributor) Holly Fann why the honor was deserved. “There are cities with great food and there are great food cities. St. Louis is the latter,” she began, adding that “in recent years, the rest of the country has been recognizing St. Louis as an essential culinary destination.” Fann praised the local dining community, calling them “engaged and informed, internalizing an immutable pride, knowing just how outstanding a food city St. Louis is,” and then followed with reason after reason of why this is so.
She praised the effect that acclaimed chefs Kevin Nashan and Gerard Craft (both Best Chef Midwest winners) had on reimagining the direction of St. Louis cuisine. No longer an up and comer, 30–year-old Nick Bognar has already proven himself at Nippon Tei and even more so at indo. Next up for Bognar: the trail-blazing Sado, The Hill’s first Asian restaurant.
Louie was lauded for its general excellence and its “menu of the most superlative, stunning, and delicious preparations of modest dishes.” David Choi parlayed Seoul Taco, one of the city’s first food trucks, into nine restaurants in Missouri and Illinois and has a new concept on the way. Vicia, which took the city on a vegetable-forward pleasure cruise when it opened five years ago, garnered plaudits, as did the superlative cocktail program at Planter’s House. Platypus, a newcomer cocktail bar in The Grove, and its independent, in-house bits-and-bites restaurant, Duckbill, received a shout-out, as did several ancillary nonrestaurant concepts, The Fattened Caf, Taberu, 4PlexDining, and Place & Time.
Whetting the collective whistle, Fann eagerly anticipates the arrival of the reimagined Bar Les Freres, the return of Laotian restaurant Han Lao, a new restaurant from The Lucky Accomplice’s Logan Ely called Press, and Snō by Tony Nguyen, from an accomplished chef who’s returned home to open his inaugural restaurant.
Fann's article, which was extensive, was actually more comprehensive before editing. "There were components on how the City of St. Louis has gotten behind restaurant projects, such as the Food Hall at City Foundry," she told SLM, "sections on how the Asian restaurant community has banded together, and mentions of the international restaurants, the Bosnian restaurants... The restaurant scene is incredibly alive and vibrant here right now. We weren't always great and we didn't always deserve the attention we're getting, but we do now."
Fann’s not-so-humble brag concluded with a folksy invitation, before icing the cake: “You should come by and bring someone with you who adores world-class museums, the best baseball, and insanely good food. You will not meet a St. Louisan not eager to share what is happening in our restaurant community. We are ready to show the rest of the world that we are not followers but influential forces whose chefs and restaurants and dining community are unlike any other in the world."
