“We’ve had plenty of time to think about it,” Corey Smale says of his newest endeavor, Good Fortune. “Two years and then some.”
Following past fizzled announcements and unrealized venues, Smale created a lot of social media buzz (including a masterful photo scavenger hunt about the location), and a lot was created for him (SLM’s list of the “10 most anticipated restaurants in St. Louis for 2018” and Departures magazine’s “18 for 2018”).
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Now, with the good-natured restaurant ironically set to open this Friday, April 13 (no coincidence), it appears to have been worth the wait—and the hype.
Concept & Design
St. Louis has come to expect the unexpected from Smale, whose first undertaking, Strange Donuts, is known for its offbeat product mix and masterful marketing. Still, Good Fortune “is not what anyone is expecting, even from Corey,” says Ryan McDonald, Smale’s partner and executive chef.
The façade’s transformation—from brick infill to somewhat off-putting mural to the full-windowed look of a modern take-out joint—illustrates the playful tone of Good Fortune. (“It was the most generic name I could think of for the coolest place I could think of,” Smale says.)
The first thing to know about Fortune, as the partners call it, is that they envisioned two businesses in one—a take-out joint and a dine-in restaurant—with two different identities. Architect Gabe McKee of V Three Studios (which helped design Sugarfire Smoke House’s downtown location and the National Blues Museum) designed the shotgun space in a most unusual way.
Oxford pennants, hats, stickers, and long-sleeve shirts are all part of “release one,” according to Smale, who hopes to “do four releases of merch per year.” Of special interest are limited-release, usable art chopsticks, made from Missouri walnut by Dineen Creative Works‘ Kyle Dineen (McDonald’s uncle).
Partially obscured on a high shelf are several vintage Chinese checkers games, including San Loo, a local tie from former local games manufacturer Northwestern Products. An art piece by Dineen (pictured below) hanging on one wall draws attention to a hallway that appears to lead to the restrooms but in fact opens up to a 28-seat dining room.
An original 1960 poster with the message “Hong Kong, Fly TWA”—a paean to the days when St. Louis was an international hub for the storied airline—hangs in the dining room and provides the only other local tie. “It was hard to find any kind of connection between Asia and St. Louis,” Smale says.
At first glance, the ceiling appears to be the product of a second guess: a metal grid for a drop ceiling but no snug-fit panels. In their place are sporadic sheets of pickled wood, part design feature, part sound attenuator that’s effective on both fronts.
The intent, to create two segregated areas, works splendidly. Diners are not bothered by the commotion of the take-out component. They experience a cool vibe, not vociferation.
The Team
McDonald runs the back of the house, and Luke Cockson (formerly of An American Place, Monarch, Randolfi’s, and Privado) is the director of service.
Asked about his responsibilities beyond marketing, Smale thought for a moment, smiled, and nodded. “Hospitality.” (Chef Bob Brazell, a connector and early consultant, is no longer involved with the project. “He’s got a lot going on with Byrd & Barrel,” Smale says, “but Bob is the guy who brought Ryan and I together and is very much a part of the concept.”)
In the past, Smale concedes, he missed the mark, effectively hurling strikes but not scoring runs. Joining forces with McDonald, he knew Fortune could produce a product as good as the hype. In the early running (a series of tastings, pop-ups, and test dinners), the response has been “better than positive.”
Using another sports analogy, Smale says he “passed the kitchen baton to someone I know is faster” and eventually offered McDonald 50 percent of the business. “When Ryan talks, I listen,” Smale says.
Food & Beverages
The oversized kitchen, a buffer between the two areas, was designed with pick-up (and eventually delivery) in mind. The phone number—314-RAN-GOON (726-4666)—is an easy mnemonic.
McDonald echoes his partner’s description of “two separate businesses,” calling it “a full-service dining room with both elevated, “retooled Chinese” cuisine and carryout with more familiar things—like dumplings, fried rice, and ‘goons—to take home.
Yet even the ‘goons are different. “There’s no crab in them at all,” McDonald says. “We use salt cod, which provides the same texture and seafood taste but is clearly different. Plus, two of our staffers—including Corey—are allergic to crab, which reminded us of all the shellfish allergies out there, so we came up with an unusual interpretation.” Salt cod is also half the price of crabmeat.
The shape is different as well—rolled up, instead of the traditional pinched crown—a decision driven by both form and function. “Eating traditional ‘goons is an uneven experience,” says McDonald. “Too much filling in one bite, too much shell in the next. If it’s rolled, you get the uniform tastes and textures in every bite.”
An early favorite is the $10 mushroom dish that McDonald describes as “hen of the woods, broken into smaller pieces and made into a conserva,” which concentrates the flavor. (Chefs say conserva is to mushrooms what jam is to fresh berries.) The mushrooms are confited in beef marrow stock before being “shocked” with vinegar, soy, and fish sauce, which preserves them. Served with a Szechuan pepper-fermented mushroom purée, wild ginger gel, and fried stinging nettles (an invasive native species now popular with local foragers), it’s one of the best new dishes of the year. Most impressive is that the preparation cleverly utilizes the stemmy portion of the fungi, creating another texture—amazingly tender and steak-like—from a part that’s often discarded.
McDonald—whose culinary past veered toward “Italian, French, and cooking with fats and oils”—relies more on “ferments and spices” at Fortune. That way, customers “feel good, not stuffed.”
In that vein, Fortune offers more-than-ample 7-ounce protein portions priced in the teens, a sweet spot that experts contend will keep a restaurant’s seats full. “The average entrée price is $18,” says McDonald, adding that he wants the restaurant to “be accessible but not lose my ass.
“Part of the Fortune concept was to create a place where people can afford to come casually but still experience high-end food and service,” he adds. “A lot of my favorite restaurants around the country hit those same marks.”
Expect the 12 to 14 dishes to contain one each of the basic proteins (beef, chicken, pork, fish, tofu) and to change every few weeks. Since the initial kitchen is prep-heavy, ticket times are expected to be fast.
Other favorites include Fortune Fried Rice, with such optional proteins as Edwards Virginia country ham (pictured above); Chicken and Radish, an interactive dish with brined leg, thigh, and breast meat, broth-poached radishes, and a chicken broth pour; and Mapo Doufu, a playful take on the Szechuan staple with fermented bean sauce, chilis, mustard greens, rice, and tofu from local supplier MOFU (both pictured below).
Side dishes include a fermented vegetable, similar to bok choy, with gochuchang and Korean chili flake and a $6 preserved lemon rice with powdered nori (both pictured below), which McDonald contends is “like a sushi roll on a plate.”
The beverage program includes bio-dynamic wines, local draft and canned beers, and a curated list of classic and tiki cocktails.
Smale credits Cockson with the mixed drinks. “It’s not a direct Chinese connection,” he says, opining that Americans discovered Polynesian and Hawaiian food around the same time as Chinese fare. “The drinks seem of the time.” Their fun themes is apropos to the restaurant’s playful nature.
Hours & Parking
At first, Fortune will open only for dinner six nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday, from 4:30 p.m. until the last seating at 9:30 p.m. (a “more logical way of saying 4:30 to 10:30,” says McDonald). Initially, seating will be on a walk-in basis and then transition to Nowait.
Lunch will follow, then late-night hours and possibly delivery, which the partners concede is important, but has become expensive and often problematic due to the onset of third-party services.
Parking—on the street, side lot, and rear lot—is plentiful. Good Fortune might be the only restaurant in St. Louis with more adjacent parking spaces than seats.
Asked if Fortune was a prototype or a one-off, Smale says it’s taken a long time to get it to this point and, for the first time in his career, “I’m going to slow down and appreciate the present…for at least one or two days.”
