WEBVTT - Most Anticipated Restaurants of 2024 0:00:02.299 --> 0:00:05.099 Hello again and welcome to Arch Eats where we take 0:00:05.110 --> 0:00:07.639 a deeper dive into the things that listeners may not 0:00:07.650 --> 0:00:10.409 know about the restaurant scene here in Saint Louis with 0:00:10.420 --> 0:00:14.069 me as always is co-host and co collaborator Cheryl Beer. 0:00:14.289 --> 0:00:17.479 This episode of Arch Eats brought to you by Saint 0:00:17.489 --> 0:00:21.599 Louis symphony orchestra. Uh In a prior episode, we elaborated 0:00:21.610 --> 0:00:24.919 on Saint Louis magazine's best new restaurants list. And today 0:00:24.930 --> 0:00:28.030 we're gonna give more details on another subject. We collaborated 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:32.040 on our most anticipated restaurant list for 24 0:00:32.269 --> 0:00:36.289 16. Must go to places that we know of so far. 0:00:36.298 --> 0:00:38.577 There's gonna be a lot more. Then we will finish 0:00:38.589 --> 0:00:41.769 as we always do with a micro rant. But first 0:00:41.778 --> 0:00:44.039 we'll begin as we always do with what I can't 0:00:44.048 --> 0:00:45.769 stop thinking about this week. 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:51.729 So the thing I can't stop thinking about this week 0:00:51.740 --> 0:00:54.459 is the thing. Actually, we can't stop thinking about. Neither 0:00:54.470 --> 0:00:57.150 one of us could get over the whole Ben Pemba 0:00:57.159 --> 0:01:01.159 announcement that he's putting not three but five restaurants in 0:01:01.169 --> 0:01:03.990 the Delmar Maker District. Cheryl. I know you and I 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.098 were just like on our heels like, you know, holy, 0:01:07.110 --> 0:01:09.470 we didn't say Molly, but we said something else when 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:10.589 he got finished with that 0:01:11.500 --> 0:01:15.599 and, uh it was just uh an unbelievable announcement and 0:01:15.610 --> 0:01:19.000 we really didn't know we didn't actually have any, you know, 0:01:19.010 --> 0:01:23.190 postgame analysis, post podcast analysis. And that's what I think 0:01:23.199 --> 0:01:25.800 we should both talk about. Now. What did you, I mean, 0:01:25.809 --> 0:01:28.119 what was your takeaway from that? I mean, I am, 0:01:28.129 --> 0:01:31.120 I'm just amazed that he is going to do that. 0:01:31.129 --> 0:01:31.559 Ben 0:01:31.839 --> 0:01:36.610 Pemba is a bold person and I think a lot 0:01:36.620 --> 0:01:40.239 of people are um raising eyebrows, 0:01:40.315 --> 0:01:43.535 you know, how is he going to pull off? You know, 0:01:43.775 --> 0:01:46.824 not only is he closing his flagships and moving them 0:01:46.834 --> 0:01:49.574 across town, but he's also opening other things in the 0:01:49.584 --> 0:01:53.974 midst of this. And I think, you know, to the naysayers, 0:01:53.985 --> 0:01:56.584 I would say, you know, people tried to bet against 0:01:56.595 --> 0:02:00.315 him in botanical heights as well and look, look what happened, 0:02:00.324 --> 0:02:03.165 look what all he achieved. So I actually am pretty 0:02:03.175 --> 0:02:06.675 bullish on Ben's moves. Um I think they're just going 0:02:06.684 --> 0:02:09.054 to be really exciting and, and great to see 0:02:09.127 --> 0:02:11.108 and he was, and he was the first to say 0:02:11.119 --> 0:02:12.907 that he said this time, I get to do it 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:14.768 the way I wanted to do it in the first place, 0:02:14.779 --> 0:02:16.358 the way it should be built and I can do 0:02:16.369 --> 0:02:18.869 it even quicker, you know, basically to come to a 0:02:18.877 --> 0:02:22.809 new neighborhood that needs this. And quite honestly, I bet 0:02:22.819 --> 0:02:26.347 he's got great rent there and uh it's just a 0:02:26.358 --> 0:02:30.407 huge opportunity for him. And, and like you said, he 0:02:30.419 --> 0:02:33.029 is a, he's a risk taker. He is a, you know, 0:02:33.038 --> 0:02:35.819 he is, he's, he does exciting stuff. He, he takes 0:02:35.828 --> 0:02:37.869 chances and that's what I, that's what I like about 0:02:37.945 --> 0:02:40.975 this guy. He was joking that Gerard Kraft at one time, 0:02:40.985 --> 0:02:44.163 moved a restaurant and started another at exactly the same time. 0:02:44.175 --> 0:02:48.285 Now he's doing that with basically five restaurants. So we've 0:02:48.294 --> 0:02:51.505 got to hand it to uh to Ben Pemba for 0:02:51.514 --> 0:02:55.514 doing something that really nobody else has ever done. And, and, 0:02:55.524 --> 0:02:57.645 and really, you know, there was a Cheryl you were 0:02:57.654 --> 0:02:59.883 mentioning some concerns and one of them is that there's 0:02:59.895 --> 0:03:03.303 no really infill housing in that area. There wasn't any 0:03:03.315 --> 0:03:06.684 infill housing in botanical heights either. His contention is that, 0:03:06.979 --> 0:03:09.800 you know, having a density of business in a, in 0:03:09.809 --> 0:03:14.478 an area would drive a change in population in, in building. 0:03:14.850 --> 0:03:17.929 And you know, when developers are thinking of putting places up, 0:03:17.940 --> 0:03:20.779 it's a good idea to have some great restaurants within 0:03:20.788 --> 0:03:23.470 walking distance and that's exactly what he's gonna do. So 0:03:23.559 --> 0:03:26.220 my prediction is some, you know, there's gonna be some 0:03:26.229 --> 0:03:29.029 infill housing that's gonna follow along here. You know, I 0:03:29.038 --> 0:03:32.050 don't think that strip between Union and King's Highway is 0:03:32.059 --> 0:03:34.050 even a mile long. But man, by the end of 0:03:34.059 --> 0:03:35.789 2024 he won't recognize 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:37.369 it. And I know you have people in the Skin 0:03:37.703 --> 0:03:40.643 Oliver neighborhood who are looking for a place that they 0:03:40.652 --> 0:03:43.643 can walk to, that's closer than the west end. The 0:03:43.652 --> 0:03:46.123 west end is just around the corner. I mean, what's 0:03:46.132 --> 0:03:49.652 really exciting about this too is that he's, they're all 0:03:49.662 --> 0:03:53.692 such different concepts and it's not just different in style 0:03:53.703 --> 0:03:56.503 but in form as well. You know, he has a 0:03:56.513 --> 0:04:00.522 breakfast and lunch spot. He has a bar, he has 0:04:00.636 --> 0:04:04.776 as a fine dining, you know, restaurant here. He has 0:04:04.785 --> 0:04:08.425 kind of a reinvention of Olio. So really, he's kind 0:04:08.436 --> 0:04:11.686 of giving a little bit of something to a whole 0:04:11.695 --> 0:04:15.235 lot of different kind of interests. And I think that's 0:04:15.246 --> 0:04:18.135 where um where he's going to find a success. 0:04:18.585 --> 0:04:20.686 And I think we might have talked about this before, 0:04:20.696 --> 0:04:23.496 but what his restaurants, what makes them unique is 0:04:23.940 --> 0:04:26.869 they work. They will all work in any city and 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:28.760 that's the way he designs them that you could pick 0:04:28.769 --> 0:04:30.890 up a Leo and put it anywhere in the country 0:04:30.899 --> 0:04:33.209 and it would work. You could pick up Nick to 0:04:33.220 --> 0:04:35.159 put it anywhere in the country and it would work. 0:04:35.170 --> 0:04:37.649 And that's, again, that's a testament to him. He's got 0:04:37.660 --> 0:04:41.730 incredible creativity. He's uh amazing attention to detail. I mean, 0:04:41.738 --> 0:04:44.839 he thinks this stuff through so well and uh I, 0:04:44.850 --> 0:04:47.519 I think that's something that, that, that people overlook that, 0:04:47.529 --> 0:04:51.238 that uh you know, these things can literally appear on 0:04:51.250 --> 0:04:53.670 any corner in any city and be successful. 0:04:54.010 --> 0:04:56.209 Yeah, they can appear in any corner in any city. 0:04:56.220 --> 0:04:58.390 They can appear on any corner in the same city. 0:04:58.399 --> 0:05:00.010 So I'm, I'm looking forward 0:05:00.019 --> 0:05:02.549 to it. Boy, me too. Anyway, we'll see, you know, 0:05:02.559 --> 0:05:05.540 in about nine months we're gonna, we're gonna be hanging 0:05:05.549 --> 0:05:07.179 out in a different part of town, which I think 0:05:07.190 --> 0:05:09.549 is very, very exciting. Absolutely. 0:05:10.238 --> 0:05:13.250 We'll be right back, become a young friend of the 0:05:13.260 --> 0:05:16.410 Saint Louis symphony orchestra and join a community of fellow 0:05:16.420 --> 0:05:19.488 Saint Louis arts lovers, young friends nights. Are your chance 0:05:19.500 --> 0:05:22.359 to experience the thrill of live music, meet new friends 0:05:22.369 --> 0:05:25.410 and mingle with SL Ss O musicians after the concert. 0:05:25.570 --> 0:05:28.659 Join us for our next young friends Night music fables 0:05:28.670 --> 0:05:29.579 featuring the Timeless 0:05:29.774 --> 0:05:32.725 classic Peter and the Wolf, accompanied by the Academy Award 0:05:32.744 --> 0:05:37.084 winning short film and Francis Poulenc's colorful Les, an animal 0:05:37.113 --> 0:05:40.234 model narrated by Broadway star and Saint Louis Native Ken 0:05:40.244 --> 0:05:43.904 page on January 27th at Steel Theater. Get your tickets 0:05:43.915 --> 0:05:47.553 today at slso.org/young Friends 0:05:48.309 --> 0:05:49.880 and now back to the show. 0:05:51.140 --> 0:05:54.940 So our plan today with our most anticipated restaurants episode 0:05:54.950 --> 0:05:57.868 is to provide some more detail beyond the written article 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.760 that we put out a few weeks ago. And uh 0:06:00.769 --> 0:06:06.230 we did 1618, 20 quite a few. And I, I'm 0:06:06.238 --> 0:06:09.880 gonna start uh with Osteria for which 0:06:10.589 --> 0:06:13.399 again it's open now. But when we wrote that article, 0:06:13.410 --> 0:06:15.579 it had, it had yet to open, right? Remember I 0:06:15.589 --> 0:06:17.839 said we're going to talk more about this place and, 0:06:17.850 --> 0:06:21.410 and here we go. So it's open out in o'fallon, Missouri. 0:06:21.519 --> 0:06:25.118 Uh It's uh extended members of the Pio Toso family. 0:06:25.488 --> 0:06:29.558 And uh the it's interesting. The, the, the big seller 0:06:29.570 --> 0:06:34.140 is the a 14 inch bone in pork rib chop, 0:06:34.149 --> 0:06:37.279 done salt and boca style with prosciutto and a white 0:06:37.290 --> 0:06:38.320 wine sage sauce 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.760 and uh Fontanella cheese. That sounds fantastic. I said, why? 0:06:42.769 --> 0:06:46.880 Fontanella and not Fontina? Well, it's creamier. It's smoother and 0:06:46.890 --> 0:06:50.099 it's a little sharper which I didn't know. So that's 0:06:50.109 --> 0:06:53.859 one of the secrets to this beautiful dish that everybody's 0:06:53.869 --> 0:06:57.609 going crazy about out there. There's a dessert. This is 0:06:57.619 --> 0:06:58.969 pretty funny. Uh The, 0:06:59.065 --> 0:07:01.954 the one of the owners is, is the pastry chef 0:07:01.964 --> 0:07:04.795 and she makes the Tre Aichi cake, Tre Aichi three 0:07:04.803 --> 0:07:09.113 friends cake. It's a chocolate cake with three friends. Peanut butter, 0:07:09.125 --> 0:07:13.005 butter cream, chocolate ganache and salted caramel sauce. Wow. These 0:07:13.015 --> 0:07:14.095 seem like friends. I want to hang 0:07:14.234 --> 0:07:17.524 and I mean, it's, it's so inc and it's, it's 0:07:17.535 --> 0:07:19.204 outselling everything else. 0:07:19.660 --> 0:07:22.200 And the other owner said, you know, you know, we 0:07:22.209 --> 0:07:25.450 make tiramisu homemade here too and normally that just flies 0:07:25.459 --> 0:07:28.679 off the shelves. He goes, don't forget about the tiramisu guys. 0:07:28.690 --> 0:07:30.630 He's telling the servers, you know, don't forget to push 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:34.209 the tiramisu because everybody's ordering this tray, Amici cake, you 0:07:34.220 --> 0:07:34.730 say peanut 0:07:34.739 --> 0:07:37.329 butter butter cream and I don't think you can convince 0:07:37.339 --> 0:07:38.410 me of anything else. It, 0:07:38.420 --> 0:07:41.890 it's, it's, it's a really cool place. It's out in o'fallon. 0:07:41.899 --> 0:07:42.480 Uh 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.230 If, if, if you can get there in time I 0:07:45.239 --> 0:07:47.100 don't know if they can keep making this, but they're 0:07:47.109 --> 0:07:51.500 making a homemade barrel aged orang cello out of uh 0:07:51.510 --> 0:07:54.700 you know, ma macerated orange peels and, and, and sugar 0:07:54.709 --> 0:07:57.690 and they ferment all that for three months in toasted 0:07:57.700 --> 0:08:00.609 oak barrels. And the owner said I love this stuff 0:08:00.619 --> 0:08:02.359 and everybody's loving it, but I don't know that I 0:08:02.369 --> 0:08:05.459 can continue to make it because it's so labor intensive. 0:08:05.470 --> 0:08:10.109 So get out there and have some Orano with your tray. 0:08:10.420 --> 0:08:11.029 Aichi cake. 0:08:11.859 --> 0:08:16.140 So that's Osteria Foro. Now open in o'fallon. You've got 0:08:16.149 --> 0:08:19.720 a place down in uh it's called Manalo that I 0:08:19.730 --> 0:08:22.019 don't know that much about. I know it's getting ready 0:08:22.029 --> 0:08:22.559 to open. 0:08:22.700 --> 0:08:26.440 Yes. So that's one of the places I'm particularly excited about. 0:08:26.450 --> 0:08:28.440 I think, you know, over the past few years we've 0:08:28.450 --> 0:08:32.270 seen some really great Filipino restaurants open here in town. 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.070 You know, I think of uh fatten calf, I think 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:38.210 of can and Te'o Exactly. That's a wonderful one too 0:08:38.219 --> 0:08:39.039 over there in mid 0:08:39.130 --> 0:08:41.869 out and we're going to add this to the list. 0:08:41.919 --> 0:08:44.650 Um They're going to open in Tower Grove South, I 0:08:44.659 --> 0:08:50.030 believe they originally said end of 2023 but looks like 0:08:50.039 --> 0:08:52.819 it might get pushed as, as most things do into 0:08:52.830 --> 0:08:57.280 the next month. So hopefully sometime in January they are 0:08:57.289 --> 0:09:01.599 taking over, um, the very short lived restaurant space. Um, 0:09:01.609 --> 0:09:05.650 that was at one time snow. And um they're looking 0:09:05.659 --> 0:09:06.250 to do 0:09:06.820 --> 0:09:10.479 a very traditional Filipino restaurant what the family has said 0:09:10.719 --> 0:09:12.989 is that this is going to be the sort of 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:18.119 place where think home cooking, think stews and, you know, 0:09:18.130 --> 0:09:22.630 Slow Breed Oxtail that have been simmering for hours, maybe 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:24.880 even cooking for like days. 0:09:25.270 --> 0:09:27.869 You know, in, in someone's home kitchen, they want this 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:33.829 really traditional soulful, satisfying, slow cooked kind of feel to 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.929 their place there. Um, some of the dishes, like I said, 0:09:36.940 --> 0:09:40.099 Oxtail soup is going to be there. Um, you know, 0:09:40.109 --> 0:09:42.650 they'll have pence it, of course, Adobo. 0:09:43.039 --> 0:09:46.159 Um, they also said they're going to do some sweets 0:09:46.169 --> 0:09:49.489 and some imported coffee from the Philippines. So I'm really 0:09:49.500 --> 0:09:49.940 excited 0:09:49.950 --> 0:09:52.419 about that and it's a restaurant that's on two floors. 0:09:52.429 --> 0:09:54.939 Always interested to see what happens on the second floor 0:09:54.950 --> 0:09:57.250 of a restaurant. If it's as appealing as the first floor, 0:09:57.580 --> 0:10:00.218 snow was that way snow was pretty cool upstairs. 0:10:00.500 --> 0:10:03.309 Um Now a place that we went to again, it, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.559 it kind of sneaked open all of a sudden I 0:10:05.570 --> 0:10:07.479 thought it was gonna open toward the end of the month, 0:10:07.489 --> 0:10:09.909 but it's uh it will be open by the time 0:10:09.919 --> 0:10:13.599 listeners hear this. It's called None of the Above. And 0:10:13.609 --> 0:10:18.039 it is the new speakeasy esque bar. I guess if 0:10:18.049 --> 0:10:20.840 you want to call it that it's City Foundry, you know, it's, it's, 0:10:20.849 --> 0:10:24.739 it's in literally in a tunnel underneath City Foundry. It's 0:10:24.750 --> 0:10:27.210 uh from Gerard Kraft's Niche food group. 0:10:27.539 --> 0:10:29.640 You know, it was underground. We didn't, we couldn't like 0:10:29.650 --> 0:10:31.679 peek through the window to see what was going on 0:10:31.979 --> 0:10:36.960 and you enter via a very nondescript man door out 0:10:36.969 --> 0:10:39.599 on Foundry Way that has a single red light above it. 0:10:39.609 --> 0:10:42.750 No signage. And, uh, I, I don't wanna, 0:10:43.369 --> 0:10:47.530 you know, uh, spoil too much of the, of the surprise, 0:10:47.539 --> 0:10:52.849 but there's, there's some passageways and there's some secret doors and, uh, 0:10:52.859 --> 0:10:56.150 you were there, what was your impression of the place? 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.589 I mean, you walk in and I was there in 0:10:59.599 --> 0:11:02.549 the middle of the day and I might as well 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.809 have been there. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. You 0:11:04.820 --> 0:11:08.150 walk in, you go through these tunnels, you just descend 0:11:08.159 --> 0:11:11.549 into the subterranean world that, you know, used to be 0:11:11.650 --> 0:11:12.049 and there's all 0:11:12.145 --> 0:11:14.265 a lot of hallways. It's, it's a, it's not a 0:11:14.275 --> 0:11:16.765 long hike, but you definitely feel like you've earned it 0:11:16.804 --> 0:11:18.114 when you get there. And what I 0:11:18.125 --> 0:11:21.364 think is interesting is you're gradually going down these ramps 0:11:21.375 --> 0:11:23.364 like it's not this, you know, you climb down a 0:11:23.375 --> 0:11:26.895 massive stairwell, like everything's just very gradual as if it's 0:11:26.905 --> 0:11:30.414 kind of setting this tone to get to this space 0:11:30.424 --> 0:11:33.114 and then you walk in the store and 0:11:33.419 --> 0:11:36.689 it is just absolutely stunning. I mean, the way I 0:11:36.700 --> 0:11:40.210 described it is it kind of as if art deco 0:11:40.219 --> 0:11:43.599 and mid century modern like had a baby together, you know, 0:11:43.609 --> 0:11:49.039 just think like these lux velvet banquettes, this gorgeous kind of, um, 0:11:49.250 --> 0:11:54.960 you know, amber cognac kind of colored wooden bar, downcast 0:11:54.969 --> 0:11:59.299 lights like brass fixtures on each table individually. It's 0:11:59.309 --> 0:12:01.520 stunning. It's sexy. It's romantic. 0:12:02.059 --> 0:12:06.440 The cocktails are great. Uh It's interesting, the food component, 0:12:06.450 --> 0:12:09.309 there's no kitchen there. So at the present time, the 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.830 food is some uh some cold items, but they're all 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:14.039 really good and they're not 0:12:14.049 --> 0:12:16.359 going to do a, you know, a full blown food 0:12:16.369 --> 0:12:20.159 program there because, you know, they're right underneath city foundries. 0:12:20.169 --> 0:12:22.239 So they figure this is going to be just a 0:12:22.250 --> 0:12:26.320 special place where people will go for really elegant cocktails. 0:12:26.330 --> 0:12:27.640 They emphasize the, 0:12:27.734 --> 0:12:30.635 they see this as a sophisticated place. They don't have 0:12:30.645 --> 0:12:32.844 a dress code per se. You'll feel 0:12:32.854 --> 0:12:35.914 like you should dress a little bit to go to this. It's, 0:12:35.924 --> 0:12:39.585 it's that cool. It's that sophisticated and it's gonna be 0:12:39.594 --> 0:12:41.784 that popular. It's gonna be one of those places you 0:12:41.794 --> 0:12:45.554 brag about to your friends, family, people from out of town. And, 0:12:45.565 --> 0:12:48.934 you know, with that in mind it's no reservations, admittance 0:12:48.945 --> 0:12:50.715 is by walk in only 0:12:51.179 --> 0:12:53.840 and you just have to remember that. But once the 0:12:53.849 --> 0:12:56.569 place fills up, you go on to Rezz and go 0:12:56.580 --> 0:13:00.330 on to that Rezz waitlist, which is a really convenient thing. 0:13:00.340 --> 0:13:02.219 It's that, you know, hey, we've got four people. They 0:13:02.229 --> 0:13:04.840 said very well, you know, your table should be ready 0:13:04.849 --> 0:13:07.539 in 20 minutes, 25 minutes, whatever it is. So at 0:13:07.549 --> 0:13:09.719 least you won't be, be hanging there. 0:13:10.030 --> 0:13:12.750 Uh, I understand again. This place is gonna be so 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.489 popular that there will be some sort of time limit 0:13:15.500 --> 0:13:18.169 on the table, sir. Uh I was told that it 0:13:18.179 --> 0:13:20.419 and it's gonna be generous, but it won't be a 0:13:20.429 --> 0:13:22.640 place where you can just, you wanna hang out there 0:13:22.650 --> 0:13:23.409 all night, but 0:13:23.710 --> 0:13:25.900 you won't be allowed to because I'm telling you, it's 0:13:25.909 --> 0:13:27.858 just going to be that popular that, that so many 0:13:27.869 --> 0:13:29.689 people are gonna want to get in there and that's 0:13:29.700 --> 0:13:32.489 kind of, uh that's kind of a thing that's happening, 0:13:32.690 --> 0:13:35.080 I think across the country and especially in Europe, these 0:13:35.090 --> 0:13:37.309 time limits on tables, these guys have to make their 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.409 money when, when the people are out there. So, so that, that's, 0:13:40.419 --> 0:13:43.640 that's how that happens. But none of the above open 0:13:43.650 --> 0:13:45.729 at City Foundry STL 0:13:46.039 --> 0:13:48.988 You heard it here, it is outstanding. 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:53.150 Must visit. Absolutely an essential food and beverage destination of 0:13:53.159 --> 0:13:54.108 Saint Louis. 0:13:54.119 --> 0:13:57.968 Um out at Westport, I was excited to see all 0:13:57.979 --> 0:14:00.359 the goings on out there. They tore a bunch of 0:14:00.369 --> 0:14:03.539 buildings down. There's this huge uh uh green space that's 0:14:03.549 --> 0:14:07.309 being constructed for concerts and parties and, you know, parties 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.880 at the plaza and they've, they've recreated 0:14:10.179 --> 0:14:13.770 uh the, the soda fountain uh restaurant. They uh kind 0:14:13.780 --> 0:14:16.510 of a mini me version of the soda fountain down 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.320 at Union Station and they didn't spare any expense. It's 0:14:19.330 --> 0:14:21.799 exactly the same and they spent a fortune on this place. 0:14:21.809 --> 0:14:26.369 It is really cool looking burgers, freak shakes, fast casual stuff. 0:14:26.380 --> 0:14:28.630 It's not table service like it is uh at Union 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:32.119 Station so that it should be opened by year's end. 0:14:32.130 --> 0:14:33.359 I'm told. And then 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.330 you've got on the 12th floor of the Gold Tower, the, 0:14:37.359 --> 0:14:41.700 you know, the new 360 which is, again, we love 0:14:41.710 --> 0:14:45.280 360 downtown. It's on the rooftop here. It's not, I 0:14:45.289 --> 0:14:48.330 think it's a couple floors down but there's operable windows 0:14:48.340 --> 0:14:50.169 that open up. So it kind of feels you've got, 0:14:50.179 --> 0:14:51.770 you've got the open air feel there. 0:14:52.635 --> 0:14:54.895 Plaza is, it's all of a sudden, it's like it's 0:14:54.905 --> 0:14:56.885 happening there again. And I'm just glad to see that 0:14:56.895 --> 0:15:00.155 you've got a place um in Webster Groves that we 0:15:00.164 --> 0:15:01.465 both love. This 0:15:01.474 --> 0:15:05.275 is Tel the at the Ridge. Um I said, Lauren Nick, 0:15:05.375 --> 0:15:09.505 she and her husband Eddo are the owners of Balkan 0:15:09.515 --> 0:15:10.864 Treat Box, which I think 0:15:11.190 --> 0:15:14.500 if you're listening to this podcast, you are very well 0:15:14.510 --> 0:15:18.570 versed with Balkan Treat Box. It is a vital part 0:15:18.580 --> 0:15:21.260 of the Saint Louis restaurant scene and this is a 0:15:21.270 --> 0:15:25.140 fun little. Um I guess she, she calls it a 0:15:25.150 --> 0:15:29.369 coffee shop. She calls it a cafe that has their 0:15:29.380 --> 0:15:33.890 flavor profile, which is, you know, Balkan cuisine, um very 0:15:33.900 --> 0:15:37.130 focused on kind of the Balkan um 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.369 in particular Bosnian coffee 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.150 drink, the Balkan coffee experience, which is done in, I 0:15:43.159 --> 0:15:45.700 haven't experienced this yet. It's in a little copper pot 0:15:45.710 --> 0:15:48.479 and I don't even dare try to pronounce it. There's two, 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.070 there's two Z's and a V in the name. It's, 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.940 it's impossible to pronounce, but they brew to order this coffee. 0:15:55.299 --> 0:15:58.729 And I guess the name t the, the name comes 0:15:58.739 --> 0:16:02.250 from the grounds found at the bottom of this coffee. 0:16:02.270 --> 0:16:06.250 And apparently fortune tellers use that to tell the drinkers 0:16:06.260 --> 0:16:08.770 fortune. Yes. Instead of like reading the tea leaves, you 0:16:08.780 --> 0:16:09.349 read the coffee. 0:16:09.489 --> 0:16:12.549 I don't know if that's gonna happen there, but it should. Exactly. 0:16:12.710 --> 0:16:15.049 Well, and that's a, that's a really fun place and 0:16:15.059 --> 0:16:17.849 she's going to have kind of daytime fair there. You know, 0:16:17.940 --> 0:16:21.409 she's not spilling the beans too much on what her 0:16:21.419 --> 0:16:24.630 things are. But think of things like, you know, toasts 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:28.299 and pastries, a lot of different coffee drinks. It's going 0:16:28.309 --> 0:16:30.109 to be just a really fun spot. 0:16:30.119 --> 0:16:33.280 There's a bread pudding that's got, it looks like about 0:16:33.289 --> 0:16:36.119 three tablespoons of cinnamon in it. Have you seen that 0:16:36.690 --> 0:16:39.000 with that made with the so moon bread that is 0:16:39.340 --> 0:16:41.679 just outstanding. Nexus. 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.070 Nexus has been a long time coming. It is 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.119 and I am so excited about Nexus. Um I don't 0:16:48.130 --> 0:16:50.789 know if, well, I'm sure you, do you remember the 0:16:50.799 --> 0:16:54.059 restaurant bait in the central west end? That really just 0:16:54.070 --> 0:16:59.280 sophisticated seafood cocktail lounge. Their chef, at least their opening 0:16:59.289 --> 0:17:03.450 chef Sarah Jackson is just this, in my mind. She's 0:17:03.460 --> 0:17:08.010 just this culinary powerhouse. She has this knack for flavor that, um, 0:17:08.020 --> 0:17:09.810 that I feel like she's just one of the most 0:17:10.156 --> 0:17:13.455 chefs that we've seen recently in ST Louis. Um, she's 0:17:13.465 --> 0:17:15.546 been on the scene for a while, but I started 0:17:15.556 --> 0:17:20.446 knowing about her at a place in SARD that's since closed, 0:17:20.455 --> 0:17:24.196 called Fleur De Lily's. That was wonderful. Um, and then 0:17:24.205 --> 0:17:27.305 at Bait, I was really a big fan of her food. Now, 0:17:27.316 --> 0:17:29.546 she's getting to step out on her own. She's going 0:17:29.556 --> 0:17:32.696 to be chef and owner of this restaurant and it'll 0:17:32.705 --> 0:17:35.955 be located in midtown. It's part of that, um, you know, 0:17:35.965 --> 0:17:37.744 development there that houses a lot of 0:17:37.852 --> 0:17:38.592 really great 0:17:38.602 --> 0:17:42.062 restaurant. I call it the 2700 Locust development. I don't 0:17:42.071 --> 0:17:44.232 think it has an official name, but there's five restaurants 0:17:44.241 --> 0:17:49.131 under one roof. I think it started with um Quinte 0:17:49.561 --> 0:17:53.942 Filipino Place. Uh Anita Cafe is there. But Dra Wine 0:17:53.952 --> 0:17:57.602 Bar and now Nexus and there's, there's a brewery coming in, 0:17:57.911 --> 0:18:01.161 coming in. So anyway, 2700 Locust is gonna be a 0:18:01.171 --> 0:18:03.871 happening little corner and, and it really is, it's, it's 0:18:03.881 --> 0:18:05.592 kind of reached critical mass. So, 0:18:05.949 --> 0:18:07.910 so Nexus one's that supposed to open. So 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.938 that is, that's another one of those where I think 0:18:10.949 --> 0:18:14.790 the goal was sometime in December of 2023 but it 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.459 looks like it'll get pushed into January, possibly even February 0:18:18.750 --> 0:18:21.989 and what diners can expect at that place. She really, 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.099 you know, she's true to the name. She sees the 0:18:24.109 --> 0:18:26.448 place as kind of this culinary crossroads. 0:18:27.224 --> 0:18:29.704 She doesn't want to use the word fusion, but she's 0:18:29.714 --> 0:18:34.025 really drawing on global flavors. She's taking inspiration from a 0:18:34.035 --> 0:18:37.214 lot of different culinary traditions and she's really trying to 0:18:37.224 --> 0:18:40.734 create this gathering place where you can experience small plates 0:18:40.744 --> 0:18:41.814 from around the world 0:18:41.824 --> 0:18:44.135 and I peeked in the windows there. It's really charming. 0:18:44.145 --> 0:18:46.534 It looks kind of like a, like a parlor in 0:18:46.545 --> 0:18:47.694 the central west end. 0:18:48.030 --> 0:18:51.160 You know, the, the old fireplaces and, and, and, you know, 0:18:51.170 --> 0:18:54.380 cushy chairs and it looks very, very, uh cozy and 0:18:54.390 --> 0:18:58.839 charming and appealing. That's Nexus. We go out to Chesterfield 0:18:58.849 --> 0:19:02.109 to Napoli Brothers and this is gonna open, I think 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.530 in about April and this is the, the restaurant from 0:19:05.540 --> 0:19:07.430 uh the Napoli Brothers being Ken 0:19:07.689 --> 0:19:11.310 and Andy Pio Toso, the sons of uh uh Tony 0:19:11.319 --> 0:19:15.349 Pio Toso of Cafe Napoli fame. Anyway, their thing there, 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.739 Napoli Brothers pizza and pasta is these coal fired pizzas 0:19:19.750 --> 0:19:22.319 and it'll be the only place in town that has 0:19:22.329 --> 0:19:24.400 a coal fired the Black Blisters, 0:19:24.500 --> 0:19:29.560 New Haven style um pie that's cooked in 1000 degree oven. 0:19:29.569 --> 0:19:32.150 It's hotter than any other pizza oven in town. And 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:36.410 so you get this incredible uh crispness and, and blistering 0:19:36.420 --> 0:19:39.160 and charred flavor like you would from a charcoal like 0:19:39.170 --> 0:19:41.198 like you're cooking it on, on a charcoal grill. 0:19:41.459 --> 0:19:44.510 So, so that's gonna be their claim to fame. But 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.719 I also understood that they're gonna do some pastas there, 0:19:47.729 --> 0:19:49.958 some fresh and dried pastas like they do at some 0:19:49.969 --> 0:19:53.560 of their other stores. So, but the, the signature item 0:19:53.569 --> 0:19:56.229 out at Napoli Brothers is gonna be the same thing 0:19:56.239 --> 0:19:58.670 that they have out at Napoli C it's a pasta 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:03.839 that's finished in a hollowed out half wheel of Italian Parmesan. 0:20:03.849 --> 0:20:04.880 This giant 0:20:05.380 --> 0:20:10.000 £45 wheel that they cart out to your table. Throw 0:20:10.010 --> 0:20:13.239 some grain alcohol in there. Light it lighted a fire, 0:20:13.369 --> 0:20:15.400