STL Barkeep is setting up permanent occupancy at Work & Leisure (3015 Locust).
Earlier this year, Jordan Renaud took over sole ownership of the Midtown space and shifted the focus to a private event and corporate meeting venue. Creating a partnership with STL Barkeep, the St. Louis–based, cocktail-focused event company, seemed like a natural choice.
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Since launching in 2016, STL Barkeep has become known for its mixology expertise, providing its services at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, the forthcoming Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and elsewhere.
“It’s exciting to put our mark on this great location by providing staff and offering upgraded bar packages,” STL Barkeep’s Pat Gioia says of the new occupancy at Work & Leisure. “St. Louis needs a space that offers more than just catered vodka sodas and whiskey gingers.”
The new partnership with Work & Leisure also provides a home base for STL Barkeep’s Single Barrel Club. Each year, Gioia and team meet with master distillers in Kentucky several times to hand-select single barrels and bring them back for St. Louisans to enjoy. Gioia, who enjoys watching people’s expressions as they discover the treasure trove of curated whiskeys, looks forward to hosting single-barrel tastings at Work & Leisure.
This weekend, Work & Leisure and STL Barkeep are also teaming up for the Local Lands Poster Show, featuring works from local artists that celebrate Missouri’s outdoor spaces. STL Barkeep will be offering cocktails for the event using spirits from Limestone Branch Distillery, home of the national park–inspired Yellowstone Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. And this Sunday, during a VIP Limestone Branch Tasting, Limestone Branch brand ambassador and executive bourbon steward Stephan Fante will help guide attendees through a tasting of the label’s lineup, including a barrel that STL Barkeep selected.
The space at Work & Leisure will also provide Gioia and his legion of libation creators with a sort of “R&D lab,” he explains. “We’ve always been big on seasonality and fresh ingredients. Now I have a place where I can manipulate these fresh ingredients to best suit the needs of our cocktails,” he says, hinting that he’s currently working on a cucumber citrus olio syrup for this summer.
Dustin Parres is a Midwestern ambassador for Luxco, the branded spirits division of MGP. He is a St. Louis native, husband, and father.
