A bright-red logo now adorns the Ferguson space that previously housed Tastee Eatz. Taste (254 S. Florissant Road) is a fine dining restaurant that aims to quickly serve dishes in a modern, inviting space. (The concept is not to be confused with the former Taste by Niche in the Central West End.) The restaurant will host a grand opening July 10. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Menu
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Executive chef Jason Lamont has created a “small menu of powerful items.” Mary Had a Lot of Lamb centers on four jumbo lamb chops, served breaded and deep-fried with pickles, chipotle mustard, and white bread. Jerked Earth and Sea Rasta Pasta features “grilled ribeye and grilled shrimp with jerk alfredo sauce, bell peppers, onions, fettuccine, and love,” Lamont says.
Cow’s Got Your Tongue is a smashburger with quarter-pound patties made from a triple blend of brisket, short rib, and chuck. They come topped with sharp American cheese and a mayo aioli with confit garlic. Customers can add turkey bacon or grilled shrimp for an even more sumptuous burger. Red snapper is served as nuggets, rather than the more common whole or filet presentation. Another unique dish will be a Philly sandwich that uses ribeye and horseradish-A1 Sauce mayo.
In addition to the bountiful meat and seafood dishes, Taste will offer three vegan options, including a vegan quesadilla with jackfruit.
Starting at 9 p.m., customers can order off the nightcap menu, where Lamont offers playful takes on St. Louis classics, such as fried rice and St. Paul sandwiches. For the former, his recipe calls for bell peppers, green onions, eggs, and a choice of ribeye, shrimp, chicken, salmon, or jumbo lump crab meat poached in butter. Likewise, the St. Paul will include protein options of catfish, shrimp, chicken, ribeye steak, and jumbo lump crab—all topped with an aioli flavored redolent of gochujang spicy chili paste and sautéed garlic.
Lamont’s plans for Sunday brunch include classics such as oxtails, pot roast braised in red wine, and fried chicken dipped in honey-lemon-pepper sauce.
Among the desserts, a peach cobbler a la mode is made with house-made French vanilla ice cream and culminates with an apple-cinnamon bread pudding, built on a base of doughnuts and topped with triple sec-caramel sauce.
The beverage menu includes soft drinks and mocktails for now, while obtaining a liquor license.
The Atmosphere
Co-owner and union contractor Dean Rackley has used his construction acumen to create a modern vibe with playful touches, such as giant black-and-white photos of celebrities eating, including Rihanna, Beyonce, Cardi B, and Martin Lawrence.
Rackley drew on his experience designing and installing small restaurant and coffeehouse kitchens to put the basic back-of-house elements in place. He also constructed and stained the bar that lines the right half of the restaurant, assembled the tables and chairs, and sourced the bare-bulb light fixtures. Dinnerware is black matte china that shows well against the blonde wood of the tables.
Rackley makes use of every square foot in the carefully considered layout. He has an eye for what will make a good background for social media without resorting to big wall displays.
The Team
After the May 16 tornado, Rackley and Lamont quickly decided to partner on Taste. Rackley was already planning a restaurant concept but needed someone to head the kitchen, and Lamont had been displaced after the tornado destroyed his home base at Beyond Sweet.
Lamont got his start in the industry at age 15, making fries and shakes at Steak ‘N Shake on West Florissant. He went from there to Burger King on St. Charles Rock Road. While those kitchens weren’t set up for scratch cooking, he appreciates that they had systems in place for quickly getting food to customers.
His first job cooking on the line came at Bond’s in Chesterfield, where he filled in when a prep cook didn’t show up for work one day. “I started slicing onion rings and fries to get on the line, because that’s where the conversation was happening,” he recalls. Lamont eventually attended Le Cordon Bleu in St. Peters, where he learned the terminology for the techniques he had already incorporated into his work. “Cooking in a busy kitchen is not for the weak,” he says. “You have to be mentally sharp.”
At Taste, Lamont looks forward to establishing an environment where culinary multitaskers become known for quick, efficient execution of the menu. The two owners plan to divide and conquer, with Rackley in the front of the house and Lamont in the back. “We move quick—that’s how we both are,” Lamont says. “You don’t get speed from not doing things.”
Lamont has assembled a kitchen team going all the way back to his takeout-only eatery Love at First Bite. While the format was popular and the elevated dishes were similar to what he’ll be creating at Taste, Lamont says it will be much more gratifying to see people eating the food in-house within minutes of it being plated.
Of developing the menu, Lamont says inspiration seemed to strike most frequently during “the God hours” of 3–4 a.m., when he frequently wakes up due to sleep apnea. “I can’t get back to sleep, and food ideas rush in,” he says. “I keep them in my head—”
“Until he texts them to me,” Rackley says with a laugh.
At Beyond Sweet, over-the-top milkshakes headlined the menu for years, and Lamont became associated with the eye-catching decadent treats while adding his own savory dishes to the menu. Lamont aims for his dishes to be equally addictive at Taste.
Both Lamont and Rackley are grateful that the pieces of the Taste puzzle have fallen into place so quickly, especially on the heels of the May 16 tornado. “We make our own opportunities in this field,” Lamont says. “Now it’s up to us for where we take this.”
📍254 S. Florissant, Ferguson
📞 314-279-1034
⏰ 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. lunch, 5–9 p.m. dinner, 9 – 11 p.m. nightcap Mon and Thu–Sat; noon – 7 p.m. Sun soul food brunch.
