Tyler Small Photography
St. Louis has long had an inordinate preoccupation with food and drink. Through sheer audacity and Midwestern grit, the STL culinary community has kept pace with Goliath competitors through some especially strong openings in recent years. The city has never doubted it could, should, and would rival powerhouses like LA, Portland, and Chicago.
In a restaurant scene that’s not only impressive but expansive, diners spread the love, never reserving enthusiasm exclusively for James Beard winners and Michelin stars. A combination Yucatán restaurant and mill earns the same fervor for its heritage corn tortillas as the baby back pork ribs tended by a beloved local pitmaster. A window selling Korean snow crabs smothered in gochujang butter from the back of a pinball bar draws a long line, as does a West African food truck dishing out fufu and oxtail in rich palm nut sauce. If something delicious exists anywhere in the 314, St. Louisans with voracious appetites will find it.
Most recently, the whole gamut of the city’s restaurants, from the most decorated fine dining to the buzziest pop-up, have coalesced around a simple, historic tenet of hospitality: Give the people what they want. A lot of residents want simple food showing off both skillful preparation and sincere heart, like the perfect Caesar salads, fat shrimp cocktails, glorious pommes Dauphinoise, and head-turning sundae at Wright’s Tavern. They also want St. Louis establishments to proudly rep STL, so they’ve been flocking to once again taste the work of Matt Daughaday, a familiar face who took over as executive chef of Spanish stunner Idol Wolf in the 21C Hotel.
St. Louis isn’t a flyover city. It’s a get-on-a-plane-and-fly-there-right-now city. Just look for the beautiful, midcentury monument by Eero Saarinen and you’ll know you’re in the right place. You can’t miss it.
After almost two decades as a chef and chef educator, Holly Fann hung up her apron to write full-time about food and dining.
With more than a decade as a restaurateur, and now managing communications at a nonprofit, Joel Crespo combines his skills to write about the ever-evolving food scene in his hometown of St. Louis.
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