On Monday, it was reported (by SLM dining editor George Mahe, among others) that the annual Taste of St. Louis is moving from downtown to Chesterfield. Everyone immediately freaked out.
The news set off a cacophony of ugly regional biases, stoking the always-simmering city-versus-county flames. Suburbanites celebrated—now they can attend without the horrible inconvenience of parking downtown. City folks tweeted their plans to get even. Metro East residents were especially peeved by the news, complaining about the long drive necessary to get from, say, Edwardsville, Ill., to Chesterfield. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s story on the subject topped 400 comments.
This exchange of one-liners was somewhat representative:
City booster: “Taste of White Flight.”
County booster No. 1: “Better known as self preservation. Enjoy the Chesterfield venue and your possessions will still be in your car when you return.”
County booster No. 2: “Correction—your car will still be there when you return.”
City booster: “When it was downtown, I didn’t have to bring my car… People without access to cars were able to attend through its proximity to the MetroLink.”
To be sure, the urban-dwelling suburb-haters were out in force. Many said they would simply no longer attend. Several suggested that the city sue to prevent its name from being used for a festival outside its boundaries. In addition to the wisecrack above, city residents provided plenty of helpful suggestions for alternative names, starting with the obvious “Taste of Chesterfield” and proceeding to such zingers as “Tasteless of Chesterfield” and “Taste of Gumbo Flats.”
Then again, Chesterfield is in St. Louis County, so it should have some rights to the name. As one commenter put it, “Let’s just hope the St Louis Art Fair isn’t moved to Clayton.”
Some people took the news a little too hard. “I live in the city but was born and raised in Chesterfield. Taste cannot be allowed to get away with this,” wrote one commenter. “I would strongly urge all the great, independent restaurants in the city boycott this move.”
“Maybe they can make the event like one big drive through called Taste of Chester Louis,” one amateur comedian proposed. “Sit in the SUV, pull up to the booth of your choice, and taste away. Sure beats wearing yourself out walking a few blocks past those pesky city dwellers to find your car.”
Several people took shots at Chesterfield’s perceived lack of cultural and culinary diversity. One Twitter user joked, “@TasteSTL is proud to announce its ‘Tour of Italy’ section featuring authentic STL County Italian classics like Fazoli’s and CiCi’s Pizza.”
Tim Eby, director and general manager of St. Louis Public Radio, followed suit: “The Taste of Chesterfield ... Showcasing Applebee’s, TGIFs, Longhorn Steakhouse... etc. etc.”
Eventually, there was a backlash against the backlash, with county residents sticking up for themselves. The word hipster was used as a pejorative. Crime statistics were mentioned. One commenter said, “I would also remind you all that this ‘screw you guys in the County!’ thinking is what got you city dwellers in the fix you’re in...137 years ago this month.”
A few people tried to make peace. “I agree with the city supporters,” one commenter wrote. “However, there is no need to trash Chesterfield. Just don’t support this festival. Check out things in the city like Festival of Nations (amazing food!) or Japanese Festival. Let your money do the talking.”
City leaders chimed in, spewing the expected all’s-well platitudes. “Good luck to Taste of St. Louis. Happy to share the fun,” Mayor Francis Slay tweeted, before adding, “As the city and county move toward reunification, our old fears make less sense.” Yes, the Better Together group has gained a bit of momentum, but does anyone really think the city and county are on the verge of reunification? Keep dreaming, Francis.
Jeff Rainford, Slay’s chief of staff, added, “The City hosted 60 significant events four years ago, and 230 last year. The problem isn't losing events. It’s juggling all the dates.” On some level, that might be true. But a majority of those 230 events were smaller than Taste of St. Louis.
“I'm giving up @tastestl for Lent and permanently thereafter,” Brian from the Downtown St. Louis Business blog tweeted. His fellow Web scribe, Alex Ihnen of nextSTL, agreed: “Friends Don’t Let Friends Taste Chesterfield.”
Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on the attention, St. Louis Mardi Gras tweeted, “The ‘Fields of Chester’ are great and we love the people there, but our events will be staying put in the City of St. Louis, FYI.”
Several online sleuths and prognosticators spun theories as to why the event’s organizers made the decision. Some pointed to a bill before the city’s Board of Alderman that would rent out the Gateway Mall to an out-of-town event company every Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend for the next 20 years. Perhaps Taste felt threatened by the new competition.
Others focused on the fact that some portions of the event will no longer be free, with tickets sold for cooking demonstrations and other programming in the Chesterfield Amphitheater. In that case, maybe it was just a money grab.
Still others pointed fingers at Mike Kociela of Entertainment Saint Louis. His company owns the Taste, as well as the Bluesweek Festival, which he’s also moving to Chesterfield. Those actions seemed to be in conflict with some of his previous city-boosting comments.
Kociela has been oddly quiet this week, but in a previous interview, he'd said, “The city of St. Louis is what makes this a great event. We’ve had amazing cooperation… Our city reflects a wide range of unique individuals and businesses that wish to showcase their contributions to our community.”
Since everyone else is sharing their opinion, I might as well give mine. It seems to me that city loyalists are hypocritical on this point. They bash West County residents for refusing to come downtown for events, but when the shoe is on the other foot, they aren’t willing to drive to the suburbs to promote regional harmony. So yeah, that’s an unreasonable world view. I also live in the city. And I will no longer be attending Taste of St. Louis.
