St. Louis lost one of its most dynamic creative voices late last week. Tyler “Tai” Davis passed away on January 9. He was 41 years old.
Davis defied easy definition, moving fluidly among roles as a chef, painter, photographer, cellist, fashion designer, consultant, teacher, mentor, and devoted dog dad. Rather than compartmentalize those talents, Davis wove them together, creating immersive, multisensory culinary experiences—work he was actively developing at Línea–The Atelier, and Lineage–The Restaurant of Heritage. The former celebrated its soft opening on January 5 and was widely considered to be one of the most anticipated dining experiences set to open this year.
Davis has been making his mark on the St. Louis dining, arts, and culture scenes for more than a decade. The first place that the SLM dining team remembers encountering Davis was at the Tavern of Fine Arts, a former wine bar and café north of Forest Park, where he turned out ambitious dishes using only a convection oven, hot plate, and microwave. He also worked in the kitchens of Ernesto’s, Niche, The Libertine, and Demun Oyster Bar. The experiences sparked a passion that led him to Element in Lafayette Square, where he took up the art of pastry. There, executive chef Brian Hardesty led a cadre of qualified chefs who collaborated on every menu item, and he recalls being immediately impressed by Davis’ undeniable talent and boundless creativity.
“Tai and I have been friends for about 13 years, working here and there but also spending time eating, laughing, and taking time to enjoy each other’s company,” Hardesty says. “Our group of friends regularly got together for dim sum and called the group ‘the dumpling gang.’ Tai was always there if he wasn’t occupied by another one of his many endeavors. Always smiling. Always supporting. And always welcoming others with his presence. I will miss him dearly.”
Davis’ pastry career took off when he was tapped to lead the dessert program at The Chocolate Pig, which boasted a Willy Wonka-like pastry station with overhead pipes, tubes, and industrial tanks of liquid nitrogen, designed and built just for him. His signature dessert, a peanut butter bomb that melted away under a stream of hot caramel sauce, was the star in many dessert videos.
Vice-president of marketing Amanda Bradham-Little says, “If you were to represent Tai as an outline, his core would be creativity. The form it took never seemed to matter much to him, only that it was released. More often than not, it emerged culinarily, musically, or through visual art, but at his core, Tai was bursting with fearless creativity. His genius didn’t stop there. He was never afraid to leap, to try something unexpected, or to borrow an idea and make it soar. From my interactions with him, the greatest lesson Tai offered was this: Create without apology. Trust your instincts. Let your ideas breathe, evolve, and take up space. He lived as proof that creativity should not be contained, only shared.”
Following The Chocolate Pig, Davis went out on his own, launching a three-tier business in 2019 that combined his many interests: Alchemy Bakery, which specialized in artisan cakes, macarons, pastries, and chocolates; Sacred Geometry, where Davis created food photography and art that led to a coffee table book; and Æther, a consulting business that offered menu development, kitchen efficiency, pop-up and private dinners, and classes.
Davis was also a natural on television, dazzling judges and audiences as he competed on three Food Network competition shows: Halloween Baking Championship, Thanksgiving Pie Fight, and a 2024 episode of Chopped, which he won.
Most recently, Davis’ work has centered on his desire to open Lineage, a restaurant several years in the making that, in his words, would show diners a modern and elevated approach to soul food. “No one is doing high-end soul food, and that’s where my heart is,” Davis told SLM in an article announcing Lineage in May 2024. “It’s a purposeful mission: I want to open people’s eyes to it and have them see the possibilities of what it can be.”
Davis spent 2024 and 2025 developing Lineage through a series of successful pop-up dinners. Late last year, he announced that he was taking additional steps toward finally establishing Lineage as a brick-and-mortar concept, which was slated to open in 2026. At the time of that announcement, he also revealed that he was opening an events space, supper club, and multi-use venue called Línea: The Atelier, which held a soft opening January 5. Both concepts were among the most anticipated restaurants of 2026.
An informal initial memorial service was held for Davis on January 11, where his business partner, Kellen Myers, noted that his artwork will be put up for sale soon and vowed that “Linea and Lineage will endure…somehow. We owe that to Tai.”
Since news of his passing came to light on Friday, the St. Louis restaurant and arts community have been paying tribute on social media to the brilliant Renaissance man, who called himself “The Black Willy Wonka.” Nearly every single post has contained a personal anecdote of how Davis touched their lives through his friendship, support, love, light, and infectious joy. Among the comments:
“I’ve never known anyone in my whole life more deserving of the term Renaissance Man. I’ve never known anyone, anyone, as continually impressive on every level. It was the easiest thing in the world to cheer Tai on because Tai was always doing something that was so worthy of cheering.” —Angel Kircher
“There isn’t a space in the creative world where he doesn’t have command. If you have an idea, Tai has a plan. If you want to execute something, Tai is the person you call. —Kelle Sutton
“You didn’t just create art. You were art.” —Jay Nicole
“Tai made every room better just by stepping into it. One day, he hosted a gathering at his loft for our book club. Tai had over 100 plants in his loft plus 2 geckos, a few tarantulas, and a big fuzzy mop of a dog; appropriately, the book we were discussing was Mozart in the Jungle. He cooked and served us at a gorgeous table with flowers. In a side discussion about skin care (Tai had gorgeous skin!), he gifted me one of his favorite products. As the general discussion shifted to skin care, he gifted everyone skin care products, and when we left, he insisted on giving all of us a plant to take home and love. He was such a giver. Showing love to others with small gestures was just an everyday thing for him.” — Beth Sorrell
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