This May, restaurateur Kevin Brennan and the Saint Louis Chess Club plan to open The Noble Crown (300 N. Euclid), a modern American bistro, in the former Culpepper’s space at the intersection of Maryland and Euclid in the Central West End. A lower-level wine bar, aptly named Underground Crown, is slated to open in late summer or early fall.
Brennan and the team are also working to launch another concept, the Marvel S. Fox (2 Maryland Plaza), directly across the intersection, in the former Coffee Cartel space. The “modern old-school sports tavern and fun house,” as Brennan describes it, is slated to open in early summer.
“This corner has been an integral part of the bar and restaurant scene for 50 years, and it’s cool to be bringing it back,” says Brennan.
Here’s what to know before you go.
The Team
An accomplished team of chefs will serve up a menu of American classics for lunch and dinner daily.
A familiar face will lead culinary operations and serve as The Noble Crown’s culture and experience director: John Perkins, whose Southern restaurant Juniper was a Central West End standby for a decade.
Chef de cuisine Matt Daughaday previously worked with Perkins at Juniper, along with stints at Reeds American Table, Gerard Craft’s Taste, and Idol Wolf.
Executive chef Adam Gnau (formerly of Acero, Bellerive Country Club, and Sasha’s on DeMun) is developing the menu for the lower-level wine bar.
Another key member of the culinary team is executive sous chef Dan LeGrand, formerly of Bon Appétit at WashU. “It’s one of the most exciting openings in the St. Louis dining scene for a while,” Brennan says.
Local creative professional Zach Gzehoviak will help plan programming, such as listening room sessions and live music.
Brennan is also forging connections through The Noble Crown’s charitable partner, The Legacy Center STL, which offers no-cost after-school programs, summer camps, and other enrichment activities in the Normandy School District. Brennan is coordinating with CEO Dr. Terry Harris to integrate students into the restaurant’s operations.
The Menu
While The Noble Crown’s name is a nod to chess, the bistro will not have an overt game theme. The emphasis will be on American food—but, as Perkins points out, “that as a culinary term is a bit ambiguous. American food, as such, is really global food that has been run through an American filter.” Each dish will be thoughtfully conceptualized and served in an elegant but still neighborhood-friendly presentation. “American food is already a fusion, and Matt will put his own spin on it,” says Perkins.
Downstairs in the Underground Crown, the initial plan is to focus on eight or 10 Italian-influenced antipasto-style dishes with a unique service concept: a central “burrata bar” where guests can choose from a selection of small plates that require minimal prep before being served.
The Brennan’s team has already experimented with a similar concept at Maryland House, where the UnReal Thursday cocktail parties feature a large spread of stationed food and dim sum-style small plates. “I’ve challenged Adam to come up with a menu that’s simple and easy to assemble but still different,” Perkins says.
The Underground Crown’s wine menu is still in development, but Brennan says that with the top-tier knowledge that each staff member brings, it will be well worth visiting, whether on a night that’s open to the general public (Wednesday through Sunday) or via exclusive access for wine club members.
The Guest Chef Dinner Series
The downstairs space will house guest chef dinners. Both Brennan and Perkins have deep experience with the format. Brennan’s has hosted about 60 chefs over the years through its This Is Not a Restaurant series, and Perkins got his start in the food industry as “The Underground Chef,” organizing highly sought-after dinner parties in venues that weren’t announced beforehand.
“The second underground dinner I ever did was at Brennan’s,” Perkins recalls. “That capacity to think outside the box was attractive to me and to Kevin.”
The new collaboration brings a rotating list of select chefs who will develop their own concepts for the meals, with the goal of telling inspirational stories from around the globe. They will work with The Noble Crown’s sommeliers and mixologists to create a complimentary beverage menu.
Brennan says the Chess Center will also be an active collaborator on the dinners, which may feature cuisine from their most high-profile visitors’ countries of origin.
The Atmosphere
The former Culpepper’s space is being dramatically reimagined after sitting empty for the past six years. To create the restaurant’s design, Brennan worked with HOK and toot toot design, which also had a hand in nearby Brennan’s (316 N. Euclid), The Maryland House, and the recently shuttered Work & Leisure.
The 55-seat main-floor dining room’s tall windows will offer a view to the streetscape while also letting passersby see inside. Additional seating will be available at the bar and outside.
The lower-level wine bar is designed to have a more international atmosphere, from the Italian-influenced food menu to the selection of beverages to the seating, with the central burrata bar surrounded by banquet seating on the room’s periphery. Bartenders will serve drinks from a bar tucked into the end of the room.
Likewise, each of the two adjacent private dining areas has a distinct character. In the smaller of the two, a six-seat chef’s counter, with its own prep kitchen and elevator access, will allow guests to sit at bar-height tables, where they can watch and interact with the chefs as they cook and plate the meals.
The second private dining room is a former boiler room with 13-foot ceilings that has been completely transformed into an inviting, intimate space, where around two dozen guests will be able to gather. (For larger groups, the three lower-level rooms can be reserved together.)
Brennan notes that the original Brennan’s was located in the same building, in what is now part of the Chess Club facility. Today, Brennan finds it fitting that some of the daydreams for the original space, such as renovating the boiler room, will finally come to fruition. “We want to lean into the difference in these cool, funky spaces,” he says.
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