Photo by Spencer Pernikoff
Taste, the acclaimed speakeasy-style cocktail bar/restaurant in the CWE, one of six local restaurants operated by the Niche Food Group, has a new face behind the bar.
Meredith Barry is taking the reins at Taste (4584 Laclede), after working as the inaugural beverage director at Grand Tavern by David Burke (now Grand Tavern) at the Angad Arts Hotel. Beginning this week, Barry will be offering cocktail specials to introduce guests to her unique style and skills.
Barry, a SLM A-List Dream Team member for 2019, will honor the legacy started by Ted Kilgore, Taste’s founding bar manager. (Cocktail aficionados will remember the orignial, teeny tiny Taste by Niche from its Sidney Street location, adjacent to the original Niche restaurant.) Kilgore is now co-owner of the cocktail bar/restaurant Planter’s House in Lafayette Square, as well as Small Change in Benton Park.
"Taste was one of the first bars I went to when I visited St. Louis," she tells SLM. "It has history. It really started the cocktail revolution here in St. Louis.
Courtesy Marcus Stabenow of Visitor Assembly
"Ted Kilgore is a legend," she continues. "When they called me and asked me to be a part of it, it was a pretty easy decision. Sitting down with Gerard and the team and seeing how they felt about hospitality was very meaningful. It’s a significant part of what we all do.
"My dream is to create this little storybook of what Taste means to the people that work there, the people who used to work there, and regulars. I want to make a story out of these cocktails on the menu to paint a picture of how Taste is rooted in community. Gerard, and the people who created that space, continue to build community."
Barry brings an extensive career in mixology to the table. In 2019, she was lured away from the celebrated Chicago gastrolounge Sable Kitchen & Bar to join the new Angad Arts Hotel in St. Louis. Barry’s background in acting often comes through in her mixology experiments... shaking her creation, tasting, stepping back to evaluate, then perhaps adding a pinch of this or a tincture of that. She discusses with patrons the genesis of a cocktail including why certain ingredients make sense and add to its balance.
One of Barry’s more over-the-top collaborations with Grand Tavern was “The Bigger The Tin The Better,” a 46-ounce whimsical take on a traditional Bloody Mary based on art by Andy Warhol.
“We use Campbell’s tomato puree in our Bloody Marys because it’s good stuff,” Barry said at the time. “I was looking at these cans we’re throwing away every day—I’m crazy and want to save everything—and I think, ‘We’re in an art hotel. Andy Warhol saw art in a Campbell’s can. Why can’t we?’”
Niche Food Group chef and owner Gerard Craft is looking forward to Barry’s creations. Barry’s “attention to detail and her respect for classic cocktails and classic technique” set the stage for innovative creations.
Barry plans to pare down the classics and turn out a more curated menu. "Taste favorites are going to come back," she says. "Then, it will be the bar team and me putting together cocktails inspired by our mutual vision of hospitality. It’s looking at the past with a critical eye but also paying homage to it to grow in the future."
This article has been updated with comments from Meredith Barry.
