A new pop-up dinner series is coming to St. Louis in January from industry veteran and chef Blake Askew.
The Mainlander Supper Club will open January 8 at Bulrush (3307 Washington) with a menu inspired by Midcentury concepts of destination dining. Askew, who's worked at Bulrush as sous chef since early this summer, will lead the supper club.
1960s Mainlander menu image courtesy of Lost Tables
The club gets its name from the former Mainlander Restaurant in Clayton. Owned by a St. Louisan who formerly lived in Tahiti, the restaurant in the 1960s and '70s was a mainstay for those looking to travel without leaving St. Louis. Its interiors, exotic cocktails, and food evoked far-away tropical locales.
Askew plans to draw inspiration from this era in dining and his former experiences in the kitchen for the pop-up dinners.
“The supper club is a culmination of my experiences as a chef, and it's a homage to an old type of restaurant that rarely exists anymore," he says, "one that aims to transport its guests throughout unexpected and often new flavor combinations."
Askew, who has several immediate family members from St. Louis, started his career at various Wolfgang Puck restaurants before helping world-renowned chef Dominique Crenn open Petit Crenn in San Francisco. Askew worked as chef de cuisine at Maybeck’s in San Francisco before moving to St. Louis during the pandemic.
Although The Mainlander will be separate from Bulrush, the two are “undeniably intertwined in a number of ways,” Askew says. Over the past several months, Askew has worked alongside Bulrush chef-owner Rob Connoley to learn more about cooking locally and through the seasons. Askew plans to apply some of this knowledge to create items for the supper club.
“It's been amazing having someone of his caliber, with experiences under some of the top chefs in the world, supporting me in my vision for Ozark food," Connoley says of Askew. "He always sees a bigger vision for a dish and has the chops to pull it off."
Askew recently workshopped a paw paw Painkiller using paw paw that he foraged in Missouri forests and preserved in rum. The cocktail will be paired with an assortment of small bites including milk bread buns stuffed with egg salad, Missouri caviar, and crawdaddy hand pies. A brined, dry-aged duck stuffed with remnants of rum infusions will be a centerpiece. It will be smoked in mesquite and crisped over flames before serving and accompanied by scallion pancakes, apple butter, and caramelized Vidalia onion.
Askew appreciates the knowledge and experience that he’s gained at Bulrush and other establishments and feels ready to take the next step toward opening his own restaurant. “I've been fortunate to work for so many wonderful restaurant owners over the years as a chef, and it has gotten me to where I am now," he says. "This pop-up dinner club is simply me feeling like I am ready to step out on my own."
Dinner and drinks for the first pop-up dinner are $88 per person, including tax and service. Reservations can be made via email at themainlander@themainlanderstl.com. Interested patrons can also sign up on The Mainlander Supper Club’s website to get alerts about future dinners.
