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Angus burger on a homemade bun and a cascade of fresh and pickled veggies, a recent offering from The Kart, Thursdays at Sump Coffee.
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Drum roll, please.... The Kart
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A recent KK menu at Sump Coffee.
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Cuban Sandwich with Sump Coffee crusted porchetta and KK cured ham.
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The idyllic setting of the Tower Grove Farmers' Market.
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TGFM menu from July 12 (part one).
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TGFM menu from July 12 (part two).
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The Kart's contribution to KK's TGFM menu from July 12
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On The Kart, the "A" does not stand for accoutrements, although it could.
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Homemade hot dog buns, one component of a recent Dorm Room Dinner at 33 Wine Bar.
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I first noticed Chris Meyer while she was working at Monarch (or was it O’Connell’s? or Niche maybe?). She served tables with unhurried purpose, and her demeanor was straightforward, confident yet relaxed, but simultaneously enthusiastic about the food and her customers. I then began spotting her at other local restaurants, making guest appearances serving at The Royale, then at Blood & Sand, and even at Brasserie. When we were formally introduced, I finally understood why she was popping up everywhere: she was in love with St. Louis and its food.
But this is the first summer in 20 or so years that Meyer hasn’t worked at a restaurant, as she’s much busier with another culinary escapade she whipped up three years ago with friend and former coworker, Michael Miller. Together they launched Kitchen Kulture: a venture that started out selling kitchen-themed T-shirts but soon transformed into a full-fledged prepared-food booth at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market that specializes in fermented items, smoked meats, vegetarian dishes, etc. with ingredients sourced directly from the farmers around them. They display their selection on a hand-drawn chalkboard and tactically offer samples to hungry passersby soon to become devout customers.
Sure, it’s not the typical packaged-foods menu you see around town, but don’t think they’re preparing foods that only they like or think people would like (Meyer would eat tacos every day if she could). Rather, KK’s diverse line-up is driven every week by customers at the market who tell Meyer what they’re eating at home and how the menu is closely aligned with their tastes. And this is the kind of contact Meyer craves: the personal interactions that inspire her to be a part of a larger food conversation.
This year KK has expanded, serving street food (pastrami sliders on steamed buns or vegetarian Cuban sandwiches) from The Kart at the TG Market and at Sump Coffee every Thursday.
Perennial Beer's Jonathan Moxey had this to say recently on Twitter: "@KitchenKulture is killing it, y’all. Some of the best brisket I’ve had outside Brooklyn and the Lower East Side," following with "And not just any brisket, mind you. @sumpcoffee spiced pastrami. Terrific."
And they recently cooked a Dorm Room Dinner hosted by 33 Wine Bar (and received rave reviews, I'm told). “We try to partner with people whom we complement, both in terms of business sensibility and logistics,” says Meyer. “The events often appear to be random, but there is a great deal of planning that goes into them. In order for them to be well received, the overall concept has to make sense to those attending…and not seem superimposed.”
But that, they never seem. Meyer and Miller’s attention to detail, knowledge of food, industry connections, and creativity in the kitchen all fuel the rapidly growing success of Kitchen Kulture. The next obvious step? A storefront, of course. Or so they hope…
Keep apprised of KK’s latest adventures on Facebook or their website. And check them out at LouFest in September, where they’ll be selling pork belly wraps, soba noodles with tofu, and pickled slaw with a choice of protein.
