Red-L Pizza in Ladue closed on November 1, after almost six years in business. Taking its place in February will be another pizza-and-salad concept, Humble Pie, a new endeavor from Mark Lucas, owner of Fozzie's Sandwich Emporium.
When John Rice (of Balaban’s, Redel's, Colorado, Space) and Lee Redel (of Balaban’s, Redel’s) opened the tiny, pick-up only pizzeria in early 2010, it was St. Louis’ quirkiest (and the city of Ladue’s first) pizza joint. Orders were placed at a small window, prepared in a kitchen around the corner, and delivered to a scatter of wrought-iron tables and idling automobiles.
Red-L was kitschy and fun, with a menu headlined by two items from the legendary Redel’s, a landmark restaurant on DeBaliviere Avenue in the '80s and '90s: a chopped vegetable salad and a thin crust pizza that wasn’t topped with Provel.
Pizza toppings included nitrate-free hot dogs, marinated shrimp, roasted pine nuts, sautéed crimini mushrooms, fennel, leeks, cauliflower, zucchini, caramelized onions, fresh garlic—even kale. Our favorite was the short-lived pizza with escargots ("the ultimate slow food'," according to Rice), an absolutely delicious pie with an appeal not shared by many. (“We’d open a can [of snails] to do one pizza and not get another order until just after we'd thrown the rest of the can away,” he quipped.)
A year ago, Rice and Lucas entertained a partnership, but Rice recently reconsidered and offered to sell the business to Lucas outright. Although Red-L was profitable, Rice said, in the end his time would be better spent attending to his growing real-estate business, a sobering decision for a lifelong restaurateur.
Lucas will continue to offer several of Red-L’s more popular items (like the chopped salad), but also plans to offer several different styles of pizza, made onsite from small batch dough. (Red-L used a commercially-made, Imo’s-style shell.) A dozen Chicago-style, thin-crust specialty pizzas (read: no Provel) will be the headliners, likely served in 12-, 14-, and 18-inch sizes. New York-style slices will also be offered at lunch. Lucas plans to experiment with other pizza styles (“Sicilian for sure and maybe even Detroit-style”), depending on what sells. “One constant,” he said, “will be the organic San Marzano pizza sauce and the organic flour in the dough.” There will be plenty of room for tinkering, as Lucas is currently converting the existing order kiosk into a dough-production room.
Rounding out the menu will be a selection of appetizers, eight salads, and desserts (led by an assortment of mini hand pies)—but no sandwiches. Lucas doesn’t want to compete with Companion Café (located right next door) or his other delivery restaurants, including the two Fozzie’s Sandwich Emporiums (located in Richmond Heights and Des Peres).
“I want to be a good neighbor,” he says, “and don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, including my own.”
(H/T to @NewlywedChefs and @WhiskeyAndSoba for hoisting the red flag regarding the closing of Red-L's.)
