Izaiah Johnson
Chef Jodie Ferguson of Clara B’s Kitchen Table
THE RESTAURATEUR
When chef Jodie Ferguson moved to St. Louis in 2010, she recalls that the menu of restaurant options was a bit more limited—mainly Irish, Italian, and barbecue.
“But the St. Louis food community is growing in diversity and welcoming new ideas,” she says.
Consider Ferguson’s own business, Clara B’s Kitchen Table. Prior to the pandemic, the Texas native was the executive sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton, but then she took the plunge and rolled out her own food truck in the fall of 2020. Her dining concept, which takes inspiration from the food of many cultures, quickly expanded, and a brick-and-mortar location recently opened in Belleville. The restaurant features scratch-cooked breakfast, brunch, and lunch inspired by Ferguson’s Texas roots and her grandmother Clara’s Cajun cooking.
Ferguson credits her upbringing in Lockhart, Texas, not just for the comfort-food flavors she serves but also for inspiring the way she experiments with blending cultures through her cuisine. She says one of the great things about Texas is that it’s not just “cowboys and Tex-Mex”—it’s also numerous immigrant groups, including Middle Easterners, Asians, and Europeans. “Many restaurants there take their own cultural dishes and techniques and apply them to the local ingredients of Texas,” says Ferguson.
She also enjoys trying out new flavors for the St. Louis community. While Ferguson calls on her own roots and culinary nostalgia, she also tries to be accommodating of local palates. For example, a recent brunch special—the Lockhart Benedict—featured such ingredients as jalapeño cornbread, brisket, avocado, and chorizo hollandaise.
Ferguson is grateful for the pioneers in the St. Louis food scene who’ve laid the groundwork for those interested in innovation. “I think there have been chefs who have led the way in expanding what St. Louis is capable of, as far as a culinary town or city,” she says. “And because of that, others have felt comfortable to step up and make something great.”
Izaiah Johnson
andrew jorgensen, general director of the opera theatre of st. louis
THE ARTIST
When Andrew Jorgensen landed his “dream job” as general director of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2018, he wasn’t sure what to expect from his new city. He and his husband, Mark, didn’t know much about St. Louis, apart from the little they’d heard in the national press.
“Every single thing about moving here has wildly exceeded our expectations,” Jorgensen says. “St. Louis turns out to be a spectacular place to live. And I’m not sure St. Louisans always realize it.”
Jorgensen was born in New Jersey and throughout his career made his home in hot spots along the East Coast, including Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a student at Harvard University; New York City, while on the staff of The Metropolitan Opera; and Washington, D.C., while working at Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. Despite living in such storied places, he’s found he loves the quality of life that St. Louis offers.
Given his role at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, it’s natural that Jorgensen values the local arts scene, which he calls “wonderfully rich and dense per capita.” Beyond the arts, he also appreciates the city’s world-class healthcare facilities, nonprofits, restaurants, and parks.
Most of all, Jorgensen prizes many aspects of everyday life in St. Louis, such as his historic 1886 home in Lafayette Square. He and his husband walk their dog around the neighborhood, where they also tend a plot in the community garden and a giant concrete planter at the edge of Lafayette Park.
Jorgensen and his husband have a new baby boy, who joined their family in July 2022. “I can’t really think of a more powerful way of saying that we are happy here than that we’ve added to our family,” he says. “Our son will be a St. Louisan.”
Izaiah Johnson
Pravina Pindoria and Amit Kothari of Tallyfy
THE STARTUP
When Pravina Pindoria’s husband, Amit Kothari, told her about the Arch Grants funding competition, she thought he said it was in St. Lucia, not St. Louis. At the time, the couple was living in London and looking for funding sources for their startup, Tallyfy, which makes business-to-business software that automates important tasks among people. After being awarded a $50,000 grant, however, the couple moved to the metro area.
The entrepreneurs say St. Louis is the perfect place to build a global brand. Right away, they found a community of friends, mentors, customers, and investors. “Here, people are altruistic,” she says. “They have more time to stop and share their attention and give advice, even when there is nothing in it for them.”
Pindoria remembers the frigid first week they moved here, in January 2015. As Londoners, they weren’t prepared for the weather; they walked in freezing temperatures from an Airbnb in the Central West End to the nearest grocery store. Fortunately, a kind security guard offered them a ride back with their bags. “Things like that happened to us on a weekly basis our first couple of years here,” Pindoria says. “It was magic.”
Pindoria has lived all over the world and compares St. Louis to Adelaide, Australia, where she spent two years. Both are midsize cities that “live in the shadows” of other larger cities, she says. But she thinks the mix of amenities, along with a lower level of stress while accessing the needs of everyday life, makes the smaller metropolitan areas shine.
After building a company, a home, and starting a family here, Pindoria now refers to St. Louis as home. She recently joined the board of the Saint Louis Zoo and serves as a mentor to new immigrants through the St. Louis Mosaic Project. “After seven years, it’s time for me to give back,” she says. “Sometimes, outsiders can better champion a place.”
