Yesterday, St. Louis–based journalist and SLM contributor Stefanie Ellis filed an article on BBC.com about the growth of the Bosnian community in St. Louis. The longform piece, titled “St Louis: The US city transformed by heartbreak,” shares how Bosnian refugees began settling here in the early 1990s, after fleeing the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War. Fast-forward to today, when “St. Louis boasts the U.S.’ largest Bosnian population, making up an estimated 50,000–70,000 of the city’s 2.8 million metropolitan population,” Ellis writes.
The Grbic family (owners of Grbic restaurant and Lemmons by Grbic) was instrumental in the relocation process and development of Little Bosnia, in the Bevo Mill neighborhood. Ellis mentions Zlatne Kapi bakery and café and Iriskic Brothers butcher shop next door, as well as nearby Europa Market, but due diligence is paid to matriarch Ermina Grbic (simply known as “Mama”), who ran Grbic’s kitchen for nearly two decades, “handing out hugs and cookies, making everyone feel like guests in her home,” Ellis writes. “Her walnut biscuits, which she still makes every weekend, are delicate and tender, perfumed by spices so familiar they curl like a smile around your tongue. Each bite melts as quickly as powdered snow but leaves behind a feeling of profound comfort, which is the exact effect Mama has on everyone she meets.”
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The story of the meteoric rise of Balkan Treat Box and its founders, Loryn and Edo Nalic, has been documented before but likely finds a new audience at BBC.com.
In the article, Ben Moore, professor emeritus and senior researcher at the Center for Bosnian Studies at Fontbonne University, says “To understand the influence is like peeling an onion. The things Bosnians have brought us are very beautiful, like burek and the Sebilj, but beneath all that is tragedy. Therefore, the influence of Bosnians is complicated and takes a while to understand. We haven’t experienced what they’ve experienced, but they’ve changed us, and it has been infused into this city.”
This morning, the main story on EATER was “Where to Eat in 2022,” a list of a dozen destinations across the globe known for vibrant food scenes. In the U.S., St. Louis was mentioned (along with Clarkston, Georgia; Orange County, California; and the Berkshires in Massachusetts), an eye-opener for many readers, to be sure.
EATER staffer and SLM contributor Holly Fann recalls a discussion that she had with renowned restaurateur (and former St. Louisan) Danny Meyer. “St. Louis has snuck its way into the top 15 restaurant destinations in America. The reason is that the chef and restaurateur community is so tight and aligned on making their city shine,” she quotes Meyer as saying.
The article links to Fann’s list of “26 Essential St. Louis Restaurants,” which originally published in EATER in June 2021. The original list of 20 has since been updated and now includes Bowood by Niche, Juniper, Louie, as well as Izumi, a mini food truck, and Switchgrass Spirits, which “almost exclusively” uses local ingredients and Missouri white oak for its aging barrels.
Full disclosure: Both Ellis and Fann are current contributors to St. Louis Magazine.
