Courtesy of Blake Askew
Mainlander, an American supper club, will debut in the Central West End this spring in the former Poke Doke space at 8 S. Euclid, with a soft opening slated for late March.
Accomplished chef-owner Blake Askew, who worked for Wolfgang Puck Dining Group on the East Coast and more recently as sous chef at Dominque Crenn’s three-Michelin-starred Petite Crenn in San Fransisco, moved to St. Louis with partner Gordon Chen, co-owner and maître d’, to open the restaurant.
Mainlander grew out of the popular pop-up dinners of the same name held at Bulrush, where Askew worked as sous chef, and is inspired by mid-century American classics with a new twist based on modern cooking techniques and local ingredients.
Another twist: Tipping won’t be allowed.
Here's what to know before you go.
THE CONCEPT
“American food means a lot of different things to different people,” Askew says, adding that he hopes to “contribute to the conversation about what American food is now” at Mainlander. The pop-up dinners helped him determine what dining patrons want. “People are hungry for nostalgia,” he says. “Designing a restaurant menu is almost like reading into people’s brains and spinning that into existence.”
Courtesy of Blake Askew
Cocktails at a prior Mainlander event
Askew and Chen also draw inspiration from the tiki bar culture that was all the rage mid-century, naming their restaurant in homage of the former Mainlander Restaurant in Clayton, which was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Askew emphasizes the importance of escape and fun in the dining experience.
“There’s some show business involved,” Askew says of designing the concept and menu.
Will there be grass skirts and coconut shell bras? No. Instead, diners can expect local rums paired with pawpaws, a fruit native to North America, “set on fire,” Askew teases.
Courtesy of Blake Askew
Salami Musabi & Caprese Musabi and Cave-Aged Cheddar Scallion Pancakes, two dishes from prior Mainlander events
Popular reimagined classics from the pop-up dinners that could make another appearance on Mainlander’s menu include Rumaki, Lobster Thermidor, and Baked Alaska. The Rumaki was updated with celery root in place of water chestnut, as well as pancetta from an eco-farm in northern Missouri in place of the bacon. The classic dish’s chicken liver was sourced from Buttonwood Farm in California, Missouri. Local sourcing based on the seasons, with responsibly raised meats and seafood from inland waterways, is the goal for the restaurant. The lobster in the Lobster Thermidor, for example, served at the pop-up dinners was replaced with crawfish from a local delta.
Askew also shares that Taiwanese dishes—particularly Taiwanese street food—will make their way to the menu, thanks to Maggie Chen, Gordon’s mother, who lives in L.A. but regularly visits St. Louis and has taught Askew some of her favorite dishes. Since Askew began his career with the Wolfgang Puck Dining Group, learning to cook with heat on a wok, it only makes sense, he says, to incorporate Southeast Asian dishes into the menu.
THE SERVICE
Both Petite Crenn and Bulrush follow a “service included” customer payment model, which means there is no tipping. Askew passionately believes in this model, so much so, he says he would “sooner close a place down than go back to the tipping model.” Askew asserts that tipping should be phased out in this country because it’s an “antiquated system built on old ideas.” He believes dining out should be a pleasant experience that doesn’t end with trying to determine how much money a person should make that day.
Askew has done his research and knows how some restaurants have eliminated tipping, only to add it back in on the bill with a “mandatory gratuity,” “city mandate charge,” or even a “staff healthcare fee.” Instead of using these kinds of charges at The Mainlander, Askew plans to build the cost into the price of goods. At Petite Crenn and Bulrush, he also observed that removing tipping “promoted team work and eliminated the guessing work” of how much income an employee would earn week to week.
Mainlander will open with a small crew of employees—about five or six people, he estimates. Askew already knows that they will begin a shift with a round-table discussion in which the work is divvied up.
Askew is taking nothing for granted, least of which St. Louis, his now-adopted home, which he loves even more after seeing it through Chen's vantage point. The seed has been planted for what he quips will be a “pop-and-pop” establishment that looks to the future through nostalgia for the past.
THE BACKGROUND
Although Askew isn’t from St. Louis, he does have family ties to the area. One set of grandparents lived in St. Louis, while the other resided in Southern Illinois. His great-grandfather ran a bar and tobacco store in South City, and his great-great-grandfather served cocktails at the 1904 World’s Fair.
“St. Louis has been a home base for me,” Askew says.
Courtesy of Blake Askew
Blake Askew
Askew and Chen were living in San Francisco when the pandemic hit. Like many other people, they began to take stock of where they were and where they were headed. Askew remembers having a conversation with Maroud Lahlou, acclaimed chef-owner of Mourad in San Francisco, in which Lahlou asked whether he wanted to continue to work for other people or work for himself. Askew knew that it was time to begin working for himself. But in a city like San Fransisco, that would have meant building a portfolio of investors, amassing a great deal of debt, and hustling among a dense, competitive market governed by state licensing laws that are more restrictive than those beyond California.
So began a search for another city in which Askew could realize his goal of working for himself in a more affordable manner, which also allowed him to have a life. The couple visited Charleston and Chicago, but they kept coming back to the idea of St. Louis. They moved here in March 2021. Askew worked as sous chef at Bulrush, where he made invaluable relationships with vendors, he says, and learned how to cook according to Midwest seasons.
Askew is often met with disbelief that he left San Fransico for St. Louis, but he couldn’t be happier. “I believe I can start something small and grow it from a seed,” he says, imagining that Mainlander will continue to grow and evolve over the years.
The small storefront space in the Central West End, which formerly housed PokeDoke, has exactly the kind of street presence that “says something to people,” he says. He’s excited to be part of the neighborhood's dining community, noting that the restaurant shares a back alley with Brasserie by Niche. “We’re in great company,” Askew says.
