Part of our job at SLM is keeping track of restaurant comings and goings. Last week, we wrote about some changes in Clayton. This week, we discovered a few more, as well as investigated some long-time vacancies. Here’s this week’s tally:
A new restaurant named Wicked Greenz is moving into the former Bocci Wine Bar (16 N. Central), as the signage in the nanawall-style doors (above) confirms. The novel concept combines chef-driven, health-conscious, food and lightning-fast service and delivery, which comes as no surprise, considering the partners.
Justin Haifley (formerly of The Tavern and Cucina Pazzo) is the partner responsible for the unusual menu, a mix of soups, salads, and “grips” (hand-held salads). The operational partners are Chris Sedlak and Matt Ratz, both who boast extensive restaurant resumes (Ratz is a former area manager for Jimmy John’s).
Haifley explains that the concept was designed to make healthy-eating easier — and faster— for people on the go, boasting that his goal is "to make salads great again.”
Customers order from TV-based menu boards, the items (all served cold except for soup) are prepared fresh and super-fast, and are ready by the time payment is made.
Sedlak said that customers should be “in and out in 5 minutes, which is a game-changer for people on a tight schedule." Or they can grab-and-go from prepared items in a display case and maybe be out quicker than that. Or dine in at one of 60-seats.
A Clayton attorney (who could take a three-hour lunch if she wanted) once commented that for her, “speed is the main concern at lunch. If the food is good, so much the better.”
With Haifley’s culinary reputation plus the application of a fast-as-hell philosophy, she can have both. For those reasons, Wicked Greenz is a concept to watch.
Haifley has spent the last year creating and refining the menu, a mix of a dozen or so “Chef Crafted Salads,” the same number of “Steam Kettle Soups and Chowders,” half a dozen side dishes, plus teas and pure cane sugar soft drinks from Excel. No alcohol will be served.
Salad are served in two sizes with a recommended dressing and protein but can be customized with 15 other salad dressings and/or a handful of land and sea proteins (like blackened shrimp and citrus grilled salmon, or herbed rotisserie chicken and “grilled backyard steak”).
Haifley's favorite item is the Mexicali, with Calypso black beans, avocado, red onion, fire-grilled sweet corn, cilantro, pico de gallo, pepperjack cheese, crispy tortilla strips, avocado lime crema, and charred tomato vinaigrette, with recommended proteins of either adobo grilled chicken or blackened shrimp).
Although hesitant to crystal ball an opening date, the partners are aiming for mid-July. Tentative hours for the flagship store will be roughly 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Haifley tells SLM that in addition to multiple Wicked Greenz stores, there are other concepts in the works, including “a different style of Mexican restaurant.”
Keep an eye out for the JH Rooster logo (Haifley’s initials and Sedlak’s high school nickname). If this thing could crow, it would. There’s definitely some swagger going on here.
Stay abreast of Wicked Greenz' progress via their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Meanwhile...
Sources tell SLM that the Jimmy’s Café on the Park space (706 DeMun, above) is still available and despite some paint and driveway sealer, the former Layton’s (7950 Clayton, below) is as well.
Regarding another long-standing vacancy—the former Schnucks at Clayton and Hanley Roads—Randy Lipton of The Lipton Group says that GBT Realty of Brentwood, Tenn has submitted plans for a mixed-use development (see rendering below) for the site--including a grocery store, some retail, apartments, and condos--and that if approvals and permits are forthcoming, construction can begin this year.
Red Brick, leasing agent for the former Tribeca BBQ (16 N. Meramec, above), tells SLM that the upstairs is being converted into a Planet Sub, but the 3800 square foot basement space "is very much available, perfect for an incredible speakeasy or romantic concept."
Meanwhile, on the al fresco circuit, the patio at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse (1 N. Brentwood, above) is testament to what a little soft seating and few hundred dollars worth of spring greenery can accomplish.
The interior space at Peno (7600 Wydown, above) is tiny, which makes Pepe Kehm's newly-opened boîte a perfect candidate for outdoor dining.
Patios at both 801 Fish (172 Carondelet Plaza) and 801 Chophouse (137 Carondelet Plaza, above) are officially open, serving both their regular menu and a Happy Hour menu from 4 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mon. - Fri. (And kudos to both for offering the entire wine by the glass menu for half-price during HH.)
Just outside of Clayton, after a series of routine delays, owner/chef Steve Cupp is planning to open Perjax Americana Kitchen (7401 Pershing, above) later this month.
Follow George on Twitter @stlmag_dining or send him an email at gmahe@stlmag.com. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
