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St. Louis’ Dining Scene in the Spotlight
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Last week, on the heels of two articles in two days (in BBC.com and EATER) boasting about St. Louis’ ever-impressive dining scene comes a third missive (“America’s Next Great Restaurants Are in the Suburbs. But Can They Thrive There?”), published Wednesday in The New York Times. The article begins with a photo of ceviche from Jalea, sibling owners Andrew and Mimi Cisneros’ inaugural restaurant in St. Charles, “one of several ambitious restaurants to arrive in the suburbs recently,” the article noted. It also cast Noto, the impressive Neapolitan pizzeria/Italian restaurant in the nearby suburb of St. Peters, in the same glowing light, as well as Webster Groves’ Balkan Treat Box, which garnered a mention in both the BBC and Eater articles.
INSIDER TIP
St. Louis Kolache Expands Again
The launch of St. Louis Kolache is one of our favorite success restaurant stories of the past decade. In 2015, St. Louisans Russ Clark and Bart Mantia were tiring of the demands and hours of the pizza business. Looking to make a change, they noticed that the kolache—a Central European stuffed pastry with sweet dough—was virtually unknown in the St. Louis area, so the duo rolled out the metro’s first independent kolache bakery. There are now five area locations, with the sixth set to open in Sunset Hills this April. They also franchised the concept, calling it American Kolache outside of St. Louis. Former New York Giants player Chad Slade is set to open a franchise location in Birmingham, Alabama, this spring and has an option to open more. Clark also reports that there are potential franchisees in Michigan, Palm Beach, and Tampa.
MICRORANT
Poorly Placed Tables
In this column, we tend to opine on the subtleties and foibles of the dining industry, including design flaws, such as poor music choice, improper lighting, and scattershot layout. For example, just about every restaurant has a poorly placed table or two, usually situated near the kitchen door, the restroom, or a loud service station. We’re amazed that more restaurant architects don’t design around such everyday headaches by adding a half wall here or a noise-shielding high-backed booth there. Even a cheap, tri-fold screen can be gussied up to serve as an attention-diverter.
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