With Union 30, chef Matt Birkenmeier brings local comfort food to a historic downtown building

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

Built in 1892 and designed by Louis Sullivan, the U-shaped Union Trust Building is listed as City Landmark No. 30, hence the name of flagship restaurant Union 30, which opens December 20 on the ground floor of the new Hotel Saint Louis. Executive chef Matt Birkenmeier (aka Birk and Biggs), formerly of Quincy Street Bistro, has added a local culinary spin to a theme of union.

Did you ever consider another anything other than cooking? I had a great face for radio, I started out as a radio broadcaster, but my passion was cooking and it was Tommy Bahn at Cousin Hugo’s who took me under his wing. He came from a fine dining background and became my mentor, schooling me in the hospitality part of the business, none of which I knew. He taught me to be me, to just do what I do. I stayed with him for 10 years, from 1996 to 2006.

What caused you to leave after all that time? One night, after going from zero to ballistic in a flash, one of the guests, who happened to be the chef of the Millennium Hotel downtown, pulled me aside. He told me he’d never seen anything like he’d just seen, bought me a Budweiser and a shot of Grand Marnier, and not long after offered me a job, nearly doubling my hourly wage. I had to go for it …no matter how much I loved Tommy Bahn.

One of your gigs was cooking on the high seas. I started on a riverboat, even though I didn’t care for water, but I could see both banks, and I’m a good swimmer, so I thought, how bad could it be? I had pretty much gotten over my fear when I got a job on Liberty of the Seas. The first night on board, showing on the crew channel were Towering Inferno, Poseidon Adventure, AND Titanic. Seriously?

Let’s do a one-sentence take-away on some of your past jobs…

Millennium Hotel – The revolving restaurant was THE best place in town to be on the Fourth of July, and I cooked for two presidents there, Bush and Bush.    

Wolfgang Puck’s at the St. Louis Art Museum – Beautiful place to have a wedding reception and we did a ton of them, one for 500 people in the middle of July. That was crazy.

Royal Caribbean – I worked five months on, one month off, for over three years, traveling mainly the Caribbean, earning several culinary degrees through the ACF [American Culinary Federation] while on board the ship. And they paid for it, so everybody benefited.

Disney Cruise Lines – They were just launching the Disney Dream, a massive ship with 6000 passengers. Nobody knows hands-on service and customer relations better than Disney. On every voyage there was a Make-A-Wish kid, for example, who we all became acquainted with—even the cartoon characters—before we ever met. The kids all loved talking with Crush, the surfer dude turtle from [Finding] Nemo.

Ritz at Montego Bay – At that time I had offers from a place in Denali National Park in Alaska and the Ritz in Jamaica. (laughs) Well, the Ritz—and their corporate philosophy—were amazing. That’s where I got my nickname, Biggs. In Jamaica, nicknames are given out as a sign of respect and I got mine after only two days. After a few years, a Ritz regular and I started Biggs BBQ.

Biggs BBQ – I brought St. Louis barbecue, including jerked pork steaks, to Jamaica. We catered to the cruise ships of which I was already familiar, so it worked out great. At Union 30, you’ll see some of that Jamaican influence will creep in.

Quincy Street Bistro – [Owners] Mike and Sue Enright are amazing people. Rick [Lewis] had already left to start Southern, so my goal as chef and GM was to recreate the experience and the comfort food that put Quincy on the map, including Kegs & Eggs, a breakfast and local beers event that we put a spin on at Union 30. When I was considering a move, the Enrights were done as well. Quincy Street closed and I was offered the exec job at Union 30.

How does the Union 30 name dovetail with the culinary theme? To us, the facility is a union in all senses of the word, a place where people unite and share a union of St. Louis-themed comfort food made with local ingredients, all done with a chef Birk twist, of course. Inside the lobby, I hope to add some dare-to-be-different items, like carved prosciutto, maybe some made-to-order pasta, raclette…

So sum up the theme. I call it ‘Midwest Southern comfort food with a twist of barbecue…and funk.’

That’s a long tagline. ‘Dare to be different’ needs to be in there, too.

What local items are on the main menu? A take on Famous Barr’s French onion soup, of course, and twists on the chopped salad from Al Baker’s, the classic Hill salad, cottage fries similar to those at Busch’s Grove, Mayfair dressing…

Any signature dishes? Popular at lunch is Quincy Street’s famous burger that we renamed the Hotel St. Louis Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger, a 60/40 blend of house smoked bacon and ground beef, stuffed with ghost pepper cheese, wrapped in six pieces of bacon, topped with caramelized onions and bacon jam. It weighs in at about 12 ounces and is served with house made fries (laughs) and a side of Lipitor.

At dinner, it’s a mix of lighter dishes like cast iron pan-seared turbot with signatures like a dry-rubbed, no sauce required, 20-ounce pork steak that’s smoked at 180 degrees for seven hours. Occasionally, you might see an American wagyu steak to splurge on.

Breakfast is plated service—not buffet—which opens the door to basics plus dare-to-be-different items like Breakfast Jenga, which is fried potato and Spam planks with poached eggs inside, topped with hollandaise.

So no tweezer food… No. Simple, pronounceable foods presented attractively is all that most people are looking for these days. Not dumbed down, just done better.

Talk about the local sources angle. Again, that’s where the union part comes in, us uniting with as many local purveyors as we can. Volpi, Salume Beddu, Fox River Dairy, Marcoot Creamery, Companion, Buttonwood Farms, Wenneman’s, Mr. & Mrs. B’s Salsa… I’d love to have a Union 30 shelf at Culinaria with all that local stuff on it.

What’s on the beverage carte? Twenty different local craft beers on tap plus some different ones at the SkyBar. Hopefully some signature beers with one that’s NA. There will also be a robust barrel-aged cocktail program—with signatures like negronis and sazeracs—plus great mocktails, which is also becoming a trend.

Take a snapshot of the space. Seating for 100, plus 20 at the bar.  Rich colors—gold, blue, black, beige—and locals represented on the walls, from Louis Sullivan to Vincent Price. Local artists, like Ted Collier, are featured as well. To me, it’s a classic, period look, with marble tabletops, vintage linens, and mismatched antique silverware. I’ll be in the dining room, too, working the pass and serving meals. It’s part of who I am, part of my success. Parking’s not an issue, as it can be downtown. There’s a valet and also a large, self-parking lot that’s within 25 feet of the back door.

Is Union 30 a leisurely or fast-paced restaurant? Both. We’re geared to do a 30-minute lunch, or a leisurely dining experience. There’s a quick $19.99 special at night for those in a hurry or heading to Busch [Stadium] which is right up the street. You can see into it from the glass-walled rooftop SkyBar that’s open on the stadium side.

Talk about SkyBar and the other venues at the hotel. The full name is Form SkyBar, after Louis Sullivan’s famous axiom, “form follows function.”  Bernard Pilon, the exec chef for the property, will focus on SkyBar and catered events. The hotel has five private rooms, a club lounge, and a ballroom room that seats 300 with its own kitchen.

So were you exposed to good food at a young age? When I was young, we’d go to my grandparent’s house, where the garage door was always open and the barbecue pit was always fired up. As an homage to my grandfather, Pop Hartrich, we started The Annual Hartrich Family Garage Door Open Barbecue Competition, complete with a traveling trophy. If I ever do something on my own, it’ll probably be a barbecue joint. Maybe call it Pop’s, after my grandfather. Or The Garage Door.