Despite the pandemic, it’s been a busy time for restaurateur Mike Randolph, who recently helped create timely menus at two popular new restaurants: Original J’s Tex Mex BBQ near downtown Clayton and Edera Italian Eatery in the Central West End.
Randolph quietly closed the doors at Original J’s two weeks ago before softly reopening yesterday with a revamped menu developed alongside chef Andrew Enrique Cisneros, previously the chef de cuisine at Randolph’s lauded Privado, as well as such fine-dining kitchens as Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis and Elaia.
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“I think he is just as talented as any cook of his generation in St. Louis,” Randolph says. “We really tried to maintain the ethos of the restaurant but, at the same time, put the menu and price point a little more on trend and give Andrew a chance to try to extend what we’re doing.”
There’s now more focus on family-style meals, which have sold well during the pandemic. The restaurant offers Tex Mex–inspired gorditas, tortas, and other sandwiches. Regulars will also still find such classics as tacos, wings, nachos, and meat by the pound.
The new menu also features Brasas by Original J’s, a pop-up concept focused on Peruvian ember-roasted chicken developed by Cisneros, drawing from his Peruvian-American heritage. Randolph purchased a wood-fired roaster to cook the whole chickens. “We’re doing very traditional pollo a la brasa, available as a quarter, half, or whole bird,” he says. “They’re served traditionally with a dinner salad and fries, and then we make three or four sauces that will change all the time. The chicken dinners are very approachable, good family meals.”
Cisneros brines the chickens for two to three days before roasting them over embers for three hours. “He is pouring a lot of heart and soul into it,” Randolph says. “It’s remarkable how good just a simple piece of roasted chicken can be in the hands of someone like that.”
Randolph and Cisneros have also added more vegetables to the menu, including roasted Brussel sprouts, beets, and cauliflower. “We really wanted to make sure that we had something to get us into every house in the neighborhood,” Randolph says.
The revamped menu at Original J’s comes just weeks after Randolph celebrated a career milestone with the opening of Edera. Located in the former Scape American Bistro space, Edera is owned by Sam Koplar of Koplar Properties Inc., who sought to breathe new life into the beautiful space in one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods. As longtime fans of Randolph’s cooking, including at his former Italian-focused Randolfi’s, the Koplar family approached Randolph about being the consulting chef. Executive chef Erin Ortiz leads day-to-day operations and oversees the inaugural menu of pizza, fresh pastas, house-made focaccia, and more.
“We have a lot of confidence in the product that we’re putting out—pizza, pastas, salad—and now we’re figuring out next steps,” Randolph says. “To some extent, the less we try to do, the better we can do. Every day that goes by, we get just a little bit better at pizzas and pastas.”
Edera, which features a beautiful and spacious outdoor patio, has had to bring operations inside in recent days because of dropping temperatures. With this in mind, the restaurant debuted with a walk-up window where customers can easily order and grab pizzas to go. “We know our predicament is no more unique than any other restaurant in town,” Randolph says. “We’re just trying to figure out, within the bounds of our concept, how we can best serve the people of the Central West End.”
At the same time that Original J’s and Edera continue to adapt to the pandemic, Randolph encourages diners to patronize restaurants across the region. “Restaurants need help,” Randolph says. “Now more than ever, don’t take for granted that your favorite spot is going to be there the next time you want to go back to it unless you support it now.”
