A conversation with the co-owners of Madrina in Webster Groves

NEARLY THREE DECADES AGO, a 16-year-old Frank Romano was a server assistant at Kemoll’s in downtown St. Louis, where he dropped off a couple of wine glasses for his manager to taste prospective glass pours with the wine sales representative, Stanley Browne. What followed from that fateful meeting is a now nearly 30-year-long mentorship, partnership, and friendship between Browne and Romano. It has led to the hotly anticipated Madrina (101 W. Lockwood), slated to open this month in Old Webster. The longtime friends and their wives, Arlene Browne and Laura Burns, envision Madrina as the embodiment of upscale-yet-comfortable Italian dining, the sort of place where you can go for an anniversary celebration or grab a seat at the bar and order a beer and a bowl of pasta on a Tuesday evening. Most importantly, they want customers to feel valued—for them, that’s at the heart of what they’ve always done. “We want people to feel welcome, that the restaurant feels like a warm embrace,” says Romano. “Hugs are free.” 

How did you meet? 

FR: The origin story is that a long time ago, I worked at Kemoll’s downtown, when it was on the first floor of the Metropolitan Square building. It was my first restaurant job; I was a student at De Smet and worked every shift I could. Stanley was a budding wine salesman, and Doug Cusumano was the wine buyer for both Kemoll’s and its sister restaurant, Piccolo’s. One afternoon, Stanley showed up. I was polishing wine glasses for them, like I always did when wine reps showed up. I put down two glasses, and Stanley said, “Where is yours?” That started my wine journey. I wasn’t even of legal age—I was 16, so all I could do was smell and swirl and look at it. My friendship with Stanley started soon after that.

SB: Frank was just really curious and thirsty for knowledge, so it was easy to feed him. 

So, Frank caught the restaurant bug at Kemoll’s. Stanley, how did you get into the business? 

SB: I grew up in Ireland, where my family had a small hotel. I started working there at 16 and then went to college for hotel and restaurant management, a four-year program where I went through culinary school and everything there. After that, I ran a pub and restaurant in Galway called McSwiggan’s for 18 months, then came to the United States, where I worked for Marriott hotels for a year, then a few other places, like the Cheshire Inn and Seven Gables Inn in Clayton, for seven years. After that, I worked for Bommarito Wines for 10 years and then decided to open a wine bar [Robust] to combine my restaurant and hotel background.

Frank, you have a lot of experience in the St. Louis restaurant scene as well.

FR: When I turned 21, I started at Truffles. That was 2000, and every wine person in town was hanging out there because we were building out the best list in town. I assisted on the wine program, so Stanley and I became closer friends then. After Truffles, I opened Jazz at the Bistro and became a partner there, then went on to An American Place and became general manager while taking on a silent partner role at Jazz at the Bistro. Then, I left An American Place to open ARAKA next to The Ritz with Brad Beracha. 

And then you and Stanley finally started working together at Robust. What was that like?

FR: There’s a chemistry, like when you are good friends with somebody. You have a conversation, and then you call them back a couple of days later and pick up right where you left off. We don’t end each other’s sentences, per se, but we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and play pretty well together.

SB: We just really know each other’s skill sets. He goes in one direction, I go in the other, and we meet in the middle. We don’t have to tell each other what we’re going to do because we just know.

Stanley, you’ve been running Robust since 2007, and, Frank, you’ve been busy with the Parkmoor Drive-In for the past couple of years. How did you decide to take on a new project together? 

SB: C.J. Mugg’s was sold in January of this year, but the guy who bought it wasn’t really a restaurant guy. After four months, the real estate broker put it on the market again and came to us. I looked at it, and it looked good, so Frank and I got to talking about what we could do with the space. 

FR: At first, I wondered if we should move Parkmoor or Robust, but that didn’t make sense. After we both met separately with the broker, we got together and said, “What about an Italian restaurant?” Around that time, my wife sent me a picture of the Kemoll’s sign when it was on North Grand. On one side it said, “Italian Food,” and on the other side it said, “Charbroiled Steaks.” I looked at Stanley and asked, “What do you think?”

SB: The beauty is that Robust and Parkmoor are right across the street from one another, and Madrina is just down the street, so it’s manageable. 

“the godfather has gotten enough press. it’s time for the godmother.”

You talk about Madrina as being an Italian restaurant that throws back to the Italian restaurants of St. Louis’ past. What does that look like?

FR: We have years combined in the restaurant business, so we have seen trends and phases and different things come and go, but looking at food history, Italian-American cuisine from the mid-century was probably the best ever. At one point, though, there was a break in it, when foodservice companies started making things easier for restaurants—canned tomato sauces, boneless and skinless chicken breasts—but we want to roll back the clock. When you get a chicken marsala at Madrina, it will be a half chicken done marsala-style, not a boneless, skinless breast.

SB: We don’t want this to be just pizzas and pastas; we want it to be true Italian with steaks and seafood. We think that’s been missing in Webster Groves and the surrounding area. A lot of the food will be classic Italian, but we will also have a big bar area where we want people to come in once a week and be regulars. You won’t have to do steaks and lobsters; it’s not just a celebration restaurant for anniversaries. We want to be all things: You come in and spend a little to grab a quick pasta and a couple of beers or a glass of wine, or you can do the whole thing with steaks. 

How did you come up with the name “Madrina”?

FR: My restaurant journey began because my godmother and legal guardian, Sister Helen Negri, took me to Kemoll’s to meet with Mark Cusumano. She knew a lot of people and helped me get that job.

SB: He had the restaurant bug ever since then, and we were searching for names—we probably went through 100 of them.

FR: My wife, Laura, saw the list and saw “madrina.” She said, “Godmother. That’s it.” We told Stanley and Arlene, and it was perfect.

SB: The godfather has gotten enough press. It’s time for the godmother.

Your wives are also significantly involved in Madrina, right?

FR: My wife, Laura, has a design background, including graphic design. So, in addition to her other companies, her main job here is the design and branding. She has a keen eye for design, so she’s doing the color selection and figuring out how everything will play well together. Signage is also her thing. 

SB: And Arlene handles all of our marketing and public relations. She’s also the one who’s really good at honing the concept.

FR: Arlene enforces that family feeling, and when we are putting together our management team, she’s working with them and helping us all develop our voice. She’s teaching everyone how to walk before we go on stage.

SB: This feels like we are all reuniting. We all knew we would do something together again. This feels like we are reassembling The A-Team.