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The somewhat humble exterior belies several impressive design elements. See next photo.
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The new floor made from a variety of hardwoods.
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Todd Brutcher and his famous sangria
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To call Todd Brutcher the “Sangria King of St. Louis” calls to mind a certain Abe Froman, the “Sausage King of Chicago,” except that Brutcher is food-industry royalty in the real world.
For five years he developed sangria after sangria, serving them up in a rainbow of flavors and colors behind the bar at Onesto.
“We did watermelon jalapeno; roasted bell pepper juice and orange; butternut squash with white wine, bourbon, and cinnamon; blueberry-raspberry; and blackberry-pineapple,” he recalled. “Peach with ‘bastard peppers’ [different varieties of peppers from the same plant] went over well.”
Brutcher made sangria in five-gallon batches, aging them for four days.
“If it tasted good when I made it, it tasted amazing four days later,” he said.
Sometimes a batch would last as much as three days, but if the stars aligned, it might disappear in an afternoon.
“The record for speed was cherry-pineapple sangria,” he said. “We sold a five-gallon batch in 40 minutes.”
“I owe it to Onesto,” he added, graciously. “They let me play around behind the bar. Some places are more interested in hiring girls with great cleavage as bartenders than people who care about the craft.”
After five years and too many batches of sangria to count, Brutcher will be moving on to a new venture, tending bar at the soon-to-be-open 612 Kitchen and Cocktails in Kirkwood.
The cocktails half of the establishment will feature hand-crafted drinks like the one Brutcher shared at a recent pre-opening tasting.
“I made something like a Cosmo, with vodka and pomegranate juice, but with zested lemons that had steeped in olive oil for three weeks,” he said. “By adding just a few drops of lemon oil into the drink, it looked like a lava lamp.”
Other drinks will include Bloody Marys made fresh from a “secret recipe,” and cocktails inspired by 1920's themes. Brutcher is eager to create infusions and display them behind the bar, he said, so he can get patrons excited about trying them when they’re ready.
His famous pitchers of sangria in many hues and flavors will be offered, he said, as soon as he gets his legs at the new spot.
The big toque at 612 will be worn by Brian Gabelsberger, who was the executive chef at the same address when it was called Graham’s Grill. Indeed, Gabelsberger, Brutcher, and owner Devin Graham are reuniting for this venture.
But where Graham’s Grill (shuttered in 2013 after 17 years in business) had a Cajun and seafood theme, 612 will have more of a lounge feel, said Brutcher.
Gabelsberger said his menu will focus on fresh ingredients and offer “sharables” like sliders, tacos, pulled-pork nachos, pretzel bites, hand-breaded toasted ravioli, and roasted red-pepper hummus. Dinner choices will include burgers, a lettuce wrap, a veggie burger, and pulled-pork and pulled-chicken plates.
Foodies will get a kick out of the tomato-bacon jam on his beef slider, the mustard-mango sauce on the pulled-pork slider, and the veggie taco, made with sautéed squash, zucchini, and tomatoes, and topped with lettuce, cheese, and house-made avocado-ranch dressing.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, Brutcher will have to live up to his reputation for sangria wizardry, as well as for an infamous challenge he hosted at Onesto. “Stump the Bartender,” inspired by Iron Chef, encouraged Onesto customers to bring in three ingredients, whereupon Brutcher would combine them in a (reasonably) drinkable cocktail.
Brutcher recalled the night that would qualify as either the nadir or the apogee of the promotion:
“One time a couple brought in aloe vera, which I did not know was edible until that day. They brought durian fruit, which smells like what I assume a severed human food would smell like. And they brought Vegemite. I used a teaspoon of Vegemite, all the aloe vera, and all the Durian fruit, blended and mixed with my Bloody Mary mix. It wound up tasting pretty good…”
612 Kitchen & Cocktails
Scheduled to open Wed., July 9
Editor's Note: The opening date has been changed to July 16.
612 Woodbine
Kirkwood
Wed - Fri: 4 p.m. - 1:30 a.m
Sat: 11 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.
Sun: 11 a.m. to midnight
Closed Mon - Tues.
314-965-2003
