West End Grill & Pub welcomes a new face to its kitchen.
The Central West End restaurant (354 N. Boyle) announced today that Josh Roland has joined its ranks as executive chef. Roland, a St. Louis native, has been active in the industry for 20 years. He got his start at age 15 at Brandt's Café and the original Balaban's in the Central West End.
More recently, Roland has worked at such local kitchens as the now-shuttered Salt, Wild Flower Restaurant, Mike Shannon's Grill, and LaChance Vineyards. He's also cooked beyond borders. He spent time in London, where he worked at Gordon Ramsay's Claridge's. He's also served as sous chef at Jean-Georges and at Daniel in New York.
WEGAP has seen a handful of chef changes in recent years. Carl Hazel (previously of Eleven Eleven Mississippi and The Scottish Arms) took over last summer and unveiled a new menu earlier this year. WEGAP owner Neill Costello says since the restaurant lost executive chef Pablo Stubits a while back, they've "tried a couple things since then without as much success as [they'd] hoped."
But Costello has known Roland and his family for years. He says Roland fits well with WEGAP's goal of becoming an elevated neighborhood hangout.
"The Central West End is pretty upscale as it is, but we want to be a place people feel comfortable coming in 2–3 times a week," Costello says. "But we don't want to be regular. We want to be exceptional."
Roland began his new position about two weeks ago, and Costello says after getting acclimated, he'll roll out a new menu in the coming weeks.
"I've known this guy a long time," Costello says. "I've wanted to hire him forever, but the timing was never right—until now."
