A West County institution will soon be saying its final goodbyes. Veritas Gateway to Food and Wine, the Ellisville restaurant and wine shop, plans to close at the end of the year. Stephanie Stitt, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, David, and her son and the restaurant’s chef, Mathis, announced the news in an email and press release, noting that “Veritas (in its current iteration) will close at the end of 2025,” and that she and David “plan to retire from full-time restaurant work.”
The Stitts plan on celebrating with the restaurant’s guests during the next three months and have many special events planned leading up to the goodbye. The last day of service will be New Year’s Eve and include two dinner service seatings and a sendoff party.
“It has been the privilege of our lives to share our table with so many of you,” the Stitts said in the press release. “We hope our friends and guests will join us many times in the coming months as we celebrate everything Veritas has meant to us all.”
In an interview with St. Louis Magazine, Stephanie Stitt emphasizes that this is less of a full closure and more of a transition.
“This is just one more transition in the life of Veritas,” says Stitt. “ We are incredibly lucky that everyone who knows and cares about us knows we started as a wine store, then became a restaurant but not-quite, then moved here and were a full-scale restaurant, all the while focusing on our community. Nothing has really happened since then except for us increasing our quality and standards and always focusing on community. I hope something will happen that will allow that to continue.”
The Backstory
The Stitts founded Veritas in 2004 as a wine and gourmet kitchen wares shop where wine tastings, cooking classes, and events helped create a community of culinary enthusiasts. Their son, Mathis, helped establish Veritas’ food offerings, which sparked in him a passion for cooking that led him to the New England Culinary Institute. After cooking in Boston and Aspen, he returned home and to Veritas, where he helped turn the spot from a gourmet shop with food into a full-fledged, critically acclaimed restaurant.
The Long Goodbye
In the spirit of other St. Louis institutions that have given their guests time to say their goodbyes (Cardwell’s at the Plaza, Cafe Natasha’s), Veritas will spend the next three months celebrating its success and toasting to future possibilities. (The Stitts tease that Veritas will close “in its current iteration,” though they do not say explicitly say it’s the end.)
They are billing the time leading up to the closure as Veritas’ “final season” and plan on marking the milestone with many events. These include a pig roast on October 5, wine dinners on October 14 and 30 and December 21, as well as happy hour wine tastings and wine and liquor sales to be announced over the next three months. The goal, the Stitts say, is for guests to have “a last chance to savor what has made Veritas a beloved part of St. Louis’ dining culture.”
The Future
Although David and Stephanie are clear about their departure from Veritas, they are less so about Mathis’ plans and what that means for the restaurant’s future.
“Mathis will decide what ‘26 and beyond holds after ‘25 has passed,” the Stitts said in an email. “He will now concentrate on planning and executing three months of ‘End of Veritas’ menus and events designed to make our last months as delicious as the preceding years.”
Mathis tells St. Louis Magazine that he is preoccupied with the restaurant’s final months in its current form, but he is thinking through what his next steps might be.
“I don’t have a really clear view of what I want to do but am excited to move on to whatever is next,” says Mathis. “I want to find something that can utilize the research Veritas has been doing with our unique approach to dining and make something sustainable, both financially, creatively and in a lifestyle way. I don’t have one vision; I’m in the thousand idea mode right now.”
Mathis is not sure if his next move will be owning a restaurant of his own or working for someone else. He’s open to both arrangements.
“I’m not set on whether I want to start something myself or whether I want to work for someone; I am open to both those things,” says Mathis. “I don’t have one fixed idea, but I have a lot of excitement about moving forward and doing something new. I think Veritas has been around so long and has fallen into certain patterns of how we do things; even though we are very flexible, there is still an overall pattern. It will be interesting to tear that down and take a fresh view at whatever comes next.”
While Mathis is not sure what his next steps will be, he has some ideas that he is currently working out. He says he loves both find-dining and casual, and he’s particularly excited about concepts that combine the two, like a dive bar that has a formal chef’s table in the back.
As for location, Mathis says that he is considering all options. “I’m open to staying in the area, and I am open to venturing off,” says Mathis.
Reflecting on the restaurant’s legacy, the Stitts emphasize that they feel privileged to have been a part of St. Louis’ dining fabric. But, even more so, they feel honored to have been a part of so many people’s lives during their two decades in business.
“September 23 happens to be exactly 21 years (to the day) that we first opened Veritas’ doors,” Stephanie said in an email. “It is impossible to believe. It’s been a good run.”
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