Salvatore Cafazza, Kelsay Pallarito, Melanie and John Knicely, at Indo
There were things I didn’t love when I left St. Louis 13 years ago to move to Seattle, but the food wasn’t one of them. Even before national publications were singing the praises of our James Beard Awards honorees, I knew that St. Louis had something special to offer. Despite moving to a food city like Seattle, little compared to the erstwhile Zoe’s Pan Asian Café, Atlas, and Niche.
Now that I’m back, I’m pleased to find my favorite dishes still remain on the menus at Saigon Café and Katie’s Pizza & Pasta—fried calamari with lemon-mint sauce (Muc Chien) and stuffed squash blossoms, respectively—but I’ve been too busy making up for lost time to get sentimental. I’ve got pizza margheritas to compare—something abundant and beloved in Seattle. So far, Noto and Casa Don Alfonso are head to head, with Katie’s and Edera next in line, but I’ve still got Melo’s, Pastaria, Pizzeria da Gloria, Louie, and O+O Pizza to try.
I’ll probably be doing some pizza tailgates with my friend Michelle Li, whom I met while doing PR in Seattle. Michelle was an anchor for KING, which shares the same parent company (TEGNA) as KSDK, where she now works as an anchor and reporter.
After losing her childcare, and then her mom passing away unexpectedly last November, she says she was in a wave of grief, which prompted she and her husband to come home. “He grew up in St. Louis, and I grew up near Kansas City,” Li says, “and we met in Springfield while both working at the NBC affiliate. St. Louis was the easiest choice—we had help from family in St. Louis, and I could be at my dad's house in a few hours. It made the best sense, and I'm really grateful to be here.”
Her first day of work at KSDK was April 5, the day I moved back to town. I turned on the news to see her, and was shocked. “I can’t believe you’re here, too!” I emailed.
“Guess who else is here?” she asked during our reunion lunch at Cyrano’s. “John Knicely from KIRO-TV!”
Knicely did a segment on the Seattle nonprofit that I worked for and was always so receptive to any story ideas I threw his way, and it was fun to learn we both had a St. Louis connection. He was an anchor/reporter in St. Louis from 2009-2012 at KMOV when he was offered a job in Seattle as morning news anchor for KIRO-TV. He and his wife returned to St. Louis last August (with their son) for his wife's new opportunity with Boeing. “Given we have family here, it was a great fit for us to move back as I build my new business, Vita Lux Agency,” he says.
Li found out that Amy Guo and her husband, Daniel Jensen, who run Sando Shack food truck and Hello Poke at City Foundry, were also Seattle transplants.
Guo, who grew up in Chesterfield, lived in Chicago and Seattle for nearly a decade before returning to her home state last July to create some buzz in the food scene.
And though I loved leading the marketing team for a national nonprofit while being in spitting distance of the Puget Sound and more mountains than you could shake a stick at, it felt time to return to my roots and rediscover the city that was my home for 30 years. Plus, St. Louis is a pretty great city to start a business in, which is what I’m doing now with my own PR and content marketing business. The community support here is, and always has been, beautiful.
When you live in a place a long time, you will probably miss it when you leave, and though I can’t grab a boat and come back in 30 minutes with a bucket of fresh Dungeness crab—hands down my favorite perk of living in the PNW—there are so many things to find in St. Louis that can’t be found in Seattle (Ted Drewes’ Fox Treat, Lombardo’s t-ravs and people who don’t think it’s weird to say hi when you pass them on the street, to name a few).
So far, no one has fessed up to finding better coffee here than in Seattle, and Knicely pleads the fifth when asked for his thoughts on St. Louis-style pizza, but everyone agrees that there’s a lot to love when it comes to St. Louis’ food scene.
The St. Louis Coffee (and Beer) Scene
Guo says she and Jensen are huge coffee lovers, and like Fiddlehead Fern Café and Coffeestamp, and Li enjoys Sump, Kaldi’s, and Deer Creek. Knicely, however, says he’s new to drinking coffee (which no one says out loud in coffee-dominant Seattle), and I can relate as an under-the-radar tea drinker. But he says he does like Teleo Coffee in Kirkwood and Upshot in Cottleville. “I'll throw a curve ball, and talk about the craft beer scene,” he adds. “I've really enjoyed checking out some of the great local breweries here like 4 Hands, Rockwell, and 2nd Shift Brewing.”
A Taste of Seattle
Where can you go to get your Seattle food fix in St. Louis? Though I’m on a city-wide margherita pizza scavenger hunt, I wasn’t surprised to learn that one of the things that Guo misses the most is fresh sushi. “We also miss the authentic Asian dishes back in Seattle,” she says. “We love going to Sushi Ai or Sen Thai to get our sushi and Asian food fix.”
“It's hard to beat sushi in Seattle,” Knicely admits, “but my wife and I had a great sushi experience recently at Indo.”
Keeping with the seafood theme, Li says, “it's really hard to beat straight-up Seattle seafood because it is so fresh,” and loved going crabbing and salmon fishing. She goes to Whole Foods to get her Dungeness crab, and also goes to Bob’s Seafood for a fresh seafood fix.
And for a dairy twist, Li says Whole Foods is the only place where she can find Seattle-based Ellenos yogurt, which is a true Seattle addiction—there’s even a gelato-esque yogurt shop at Pike Place Market where you go to get scoops of yogurt.
“I go to Kimchi Guys when I'm missing Korean Fried Chicken,” Li adds. “There’s so much good Korean Fried Chicken in Seattle. I miss that.”
St. Louis Gems
When I asked what has surprised our Seattle crew about the food scene in St. Louis, Li was quick to share that “everyone knows St. Louis has a great Italian food scene, but there is a legit Asian food scene here, too—from Vietnamese to Korean to fusion. Every AAPI person I meet says something like, ‘My friend visited me and was so surprised how good the ____ was.’ The misconception is that interesting or delicious Asian food can only exist on the coasts—absolutely not true. When I first moved here, one of my friends took me to Tai Ke Shabu Shabu in University City, and the experience left me determined to eat my way along Olive Boulevard.”
“The diversity in ethnic cuisine here is growing, which is great to see,” Guo adds. She says some of her favorite all-around spots since moving back include Polite Society, The Bellwether, and Little Fox.
Knicely is a fan of the Corner Pub, but is also thrilled that some of his favorites from back in the day are still here, including Vin de Set, McGurk's, and Brasserie.
I interviewed husband-and-wife team Loryn and Edo Nalic of Balkan Treat Box many years ago for a national story on St. Louis’ Bosnian food scene. I was lucky enough to get a sirnica-making tutorial from Loryn and a front-row seat to piles of lepinja being tossed into their food truck’s wood-burning oven, but my first time trying the cheese pide at the brick and mortar restaurant stopped me in my tracks. Though technically just bread with cheese on top, it plays more like a sonata, and the kajmak (homemade fresh cheese), roasted red pepper ajvar, and smattering of fresh herbs on top are the essential notes that turn it into a symphony.
Favorite Patio Spots
Don’t tell Seattle, but St. Louis has way better patio spots! Since I’m not ready to dine inside restaurants yet, I have treasured the patios at Edera, YaYas, and Vicia, and the rooftop bars at Cinder House and UPBAR have blown my mind. I can’t wait to try Moonrise and Westport Social.
Li says that dining out during a pandemic, with a toddler in tow, is tough, so when she isn’t getting takeout (which is almost always), she loves the patio at Katie’s Pizza & Pasta. Knicely likes McGurk’s and Guo loves The Bellwether and Vin De Set.
Wish List Spots
So what does the dining future hold for this rain-loving crew?
Guo says her wish list includes Blues City Deli, Olive + Oak and Louie, while Li is excited about Lona's Lil Eats, Vicia, Sidney Street Cafe, Farmhaus, Bait, Krab Kingz and Hong Kong Express which, she says, 5 On Your Side's Ahmad Hicks swears has the best St. Paul sandwich. As for me, I’m hoping the love story I started 13 years ago with Berix’s burek and tulumba will still be going strong during our next interlude, and I’m excited to try Confluence Kombucha, Afandi Sweets, Little Fox, Indo, Made. By Lia, and Nudo House.
I know that no matter what I eat, I’ll be comforted by that little voice inside that always told me St. Louis knew what it was doing with its food. When we can fish for crab in the Meramec River, I’ll have everything I need, but until then, I’ll keep my mind open and my stomach empty!
