Summer Fruits and Vegetable Salad, with marinated tomatoes, peaches, plums, and fresh herbs.
Excitement continues to build for the November opening of Vicia (VIH-see-uh), Michael and Tara Gallina’s much-anticipated restaurant in the Cortex Innovation Community. (The couple describes vicia (also known as "vetch") as “a leguminous cover crop planted to replenish nutrients into the soil,” which dovetails into the restaurant's “vegetable-forward” theme.)
Yesterday, the duo hosted a pop-up lunch at the still-raw space at 4260 Forest Park Avenue, across from the Cortex Commons. Project architect Sasha Malinich of S. Aleksandr Malinich Design was on hand to describe the interior finishes and Cortex president/CEO Dennis Lower discussed the focus and intent of the district.
The Gallinas explained that the half-dozen items were representative of "their idea of lunch," things that “make you feel light but really nourished, so you can go about your day,” as Michael put it—“fresh, nutritious, power food" such as "a tartine and grain bowl with fruit or a soup with a whole-grain vegetable salad."
Examples included Tomato Tartine (an open-faced French sandwich) on grilled ciabatta with marinated tomatoes, sofrito, basil threads, and onion flowers (pictured above) and a Tomato and Melon Gazpacho (pictured below), the entire spread served atop a slab of long-cut, live-edge oak.
Michael is a St. Louis native and former chef de cuisine at New York's acclaimed Blue Hill at Stone Barns, winner of the James Beard Award in 2015 for Outstanding Restaurant in the U.S. He noted that Vicia's menu will change daily or every other day, as seasonal ingredients present themselves. The restaurant aims to be “an experience on the same kind of level, with the same kind of intensity—the same goals, same vision, same food—as we offered in New York, but one that everybody can be a part of," he said. It will accommodate both diners on the go and patrons who want to experience "a surprise tasting menu that can last a couple of hours."
While the restaurant will offer table service at night, Tara emphasized that Vicia will follow a quick-service model at lunch, "so customers can be in and out in 30 minutes, which is important to the thousands of people in the Cortex area looking for a quick, nutritious lunch." One example: the Zucchini Tartine (picture below), with ricotta puree, salami picante, marinated shaved zucchini and summer squash, squash blossoms, and Parmesan.
Chilled Corn Soup (pictured at right below) was poured from a spouted silver pitcher over pickled corn, chorizo, and bread crumbs.
Lower described the Cortex community as “people who are creative, innovative, think outside the box, diverse, inclusive, revolutionary, disruptive…all the adjectives you think about when you think about innovation.” With their one-of-a-kind restaurant, the Gallinas were the perfect fit, he added. The goal is for Duncan Avenue to “become a new restaurant corridor for the St. Louis region,” Lower said, "one that will attract similar, one-of-a-kind restaurants."
Malinich discussed the restaurant interior's colorless palate—"colorless color," as he put it—reflected in the use of natural materials and bespoke furnishings "that celebrate the natural organic feel of each material. The intensity here is not about color," he said, "but rather the food experience.”
The renowned architect (who also designed Gerard Craft's original Niche and the upcoming Sardella) might be selling himself short; if his descriptions and renderings are any indication, the glass-enclosed space will be spectacular.
Along one wall is a bank of intimate tables for two that look out onto a covered outdoor dining area anchored by a wood-fired grill. The 34-seat space was designed to be a seamless extension of the interior, so it can be used even in inclement weather. Directly in front of the kitchen is a large table finished using Shou Sugi Ban, an ancient Japanese wood-charring technique, which Malinich believes will perfectly complement the wood-fired grill used in the kitchen. A small, open dining area includes four-top seating, and there's a separate bar area with a hush-hush installation on the back bar that is destined to be a conversation piece.
The Gallinas will be hosting more pop-up lunches over the next several weeks. Look for announcements via Twitter.
See also: If you would like to get a sneak peek of Vicia before it opens, you can also sign up to attend St. Louis Magazine's Food Wine Design.
