James Beard Foundation

Is Tonight the Night for Gerard Craft at the James Beard Awards?

This evening the James Beard Foundation will announce the winners of its annual Restaurant and Chef Awards at a gala event in New York City. For the fourth time in the past five years, Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755), et al., is one of five finalists in the "Bes ... More >>

Fellow Missouri Chef Colby Garrelts Takes the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef: Midwest" Award over Gerard Craft of Niche

Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City won the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef: Midwest" award for 2013 at a gala ceremony in New York City this evening. Garrelts edged out Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755) and three other chefs: Justin Aprahamian of Sanfor ... More >>

Tidbits: Craft and Nashan Cooking in NYC, Central Table Food Hall Sets Opening Date, Balaban's Adds Brunch

- Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755) will find out in a little over a week whether he is the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef: Midwest" for 2013. Ahead of the gala awards ceremony in New York City on Monday, May 6, Craft and Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Café ( ... More >>

Maplewood: An Updated Guide to Restaurants on Manchester, from Big Bend to the City Limits

St. Louis' neighborhoods are gems in their own right: full of history, great people and, as far as Gut Check is concerned, fantastic food. Each week we'll take you into a specific neighborhood and point you in the direction of the best places to grab some bites. Maplewood crams a lot of life into a ... More >>

One of St. Louis' most talented chefs works in the Cheshire's basement. Time to let Basso's big dog bark.

Slideshow: Inside Basso at the Cheshire Inn

Niche Makes Opinionated About Dining's List of 100 Best Restaurants in America

Steve Plotnicki and Opinionated About Dining (OAD) have announced the Top 100 Restaurants in America for 2013, and a St. Louis favorite has made the list. Gerard Craft's Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755) came in at number 71 (down from 66 in 2012). The list is determined by read ... More >>

Gerard Craft of Niche a James Beard Foundation Award Finalist for "Best Chef: Midwest"

The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for its annual Restaurant and Chef Awards this morning, and for the fourth time in the past five years, Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755) is one of the five finalists in the "Best Chef: Midwest" category. See Als ... More >>

Sidney Street Café's Grilled Octopus Appetizer: What to Eat This Weekend and Where to Eat It

Gut Check tells you what's new and tasty at our favorite restaurants. Yesterday Sidney Street Café (2000 Sidney Street; 314-771-5777) owner and chef Kevin Nashan tweeted a a striking photo of a whole octopus on one of his restaurant's prep tables. A little later he tweeted an even more striking p ... More >>

Benton Park: An Updated Guide to Restaurants in the Benton Park Neighborhood of St. Louis

St. Louis' neighborhoods are gems in their own right: full of history, great people and, as far as Gut Check is concerned, fantastic food. Each week we'll take you into a specific neighborhood and point you in the direction of the best places to grab some bites. This week we wander the old-school ... More >>

James Beard Foundation Announces Award Semifinalists: Gerard Craft, Kevin Nashan in Running for "Best Chef: Midwest" [Updated]

The James Beard Foundation this morning announced the semifinalists for its annual Restaurant and Chef Awards (link PDF). This year, two St. Louis chefs made the cut of twenty in the "Best Chef: Midwest" category: Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755) and Kevin Nashan ... More >>

Tidbits: Basso, It's a Better Burger, Espinos

- Basso (7036 Clayton Avenue; 314-932-7818) which opened last month at the Cheshire, is now open for lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. You can view the lunch menu on Basso's website. (Other restaurants: Please note how clean and readable Basso's non-PDF menu is!) Basso is the second new restaurant to ... More >>

James Beard Foundation Opens 2013 Awards Nominations

The James Beard Foundation has opened the nominations for its 2013 awards. Through December 31, anyone -- me, you, even your dog (if he has his own email address) -- can nominate up to two candidates in each category. The main category for which St. Louis restaurants are eligible is "Best Chef: Mid ... More >>

Salt Spilled? Restaurant Landlord Alleges Unpaid Rent, Sues for Eviction [Updated 2x]

Salt (4356 Lindell Boulevard, 314-932-5787), Riverfront Times' "Best New Restaurant" in 2011 and a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's "Best New Restaurant" award for 2012, is embroiled in a legal battle with its landlord, according to court documents. Updated with comment from Salt after ... More >>

Salt Restaurant Slapped With Federal Tax Lien

Restaurants often appear in the "Leads" section of the St. Louis Business Journal, which lists recent federal and state tax liens, lawsuits and the like, but the high profile and high dollar amount of the federal tax lien listed in the paper's June 15 issue grabbed Gut Check's attention. The federal ... More >>

Wes Johnson Leaves Salt [Update]

George Mahe of St. Louis Magazine breaks what is, without a doubt, the biggest restaurant story of the year so far: Chef and co-owner Wes Johnson has departed Salt (4356 Lindell Boulevard; 314-932-5787), the restaurant that he opened in early 2011 to acclaim both local (Riverfront Times' "Best New R ... More >>

James Beard Foundation Awards 2012: Tonight's the Night

At a black-tie gala in New York City this evening, the James Beard Foundation will announce the winners of its annual awards for restaurants and chefs. You can watch the ceremony on the James Beard Foundation's website or track each announced winner via Twitter. For the third time in the past four ... More >>

Gerard Craft Doesn't Win James Beard Foundation "Best Chef: Midwest" Award 2012

For the third time in the past four years, Gerard Craft of Niche (1831 Sidney Street; 314-773-7755) was a finalist for the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef: Midwest" award. For the third time, Craft didn't win. Supporters of Missouri chefs hoping to take solace in a win by Colby Garrelts of Blue ... More >>

Eat Me in St. Louis: Ten Splurge Restaurants for March Madness Visitors

Hello, fans of North Carolina, North Carolina State, Kansas and Ohio, and welcome to St. Louis for the -- deep breath -- 2012 NCAA Division One Men's Basketball Championship Midwest Regionals! You've come all the way to St. Louis to watch your beloved team fight for a berth in the Final Four. Why n ... More >>

Gerard Craft Nominated for James Beard Foundation "Best Chef: Midwest" Award [Updated]

Gerard Craft of Niche (1831 Sidney Street; 314-773-7755) is one of five finalists for the 2012 James Beard Foundation Awards in the category "Best Chef: Midwest." This is the third time that Craft has been a finalist for the award, following nominations in 2009 and 2010. Craft was in a meeting when ... More >>

Tidbits from Sidney Street Café, Food Trucks

- Gut Check told you last week about the Celebrity Chef Tour dinner at Sidney Street Café (2000 Sidney Street; 314-771-5777) on April 19, featuring dishes from eleven acclaimed chefs (including all four James Beard Foundation "Best Chef: Midwest" semifinalists from St. Louis). If you wanted to go, ... More >>

Celebrity Chef Tour at Sidney Street Café on April 16

​Kevin Nashan is excited. OK, so, this probably won't surprise anyone who knows the owner and chef of Sidney Street Café (2000 Sidney Street; 314-771-5777). Better to say Kevin Nashan is really excited. Better yet to let him say it. "I'm really excited about everything that's going on" in t ... More >>

Monarch to Close March 11

​Monarch (7401 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-644-3995) announced today that it will close on Sunday, March 11, ending a nearly ten-year run that featured much acclaim, including executive chef Josh Galliano being named only two days ago a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's 2012 "B ... More >>

Salt, Four St. Louis Chefs Among James Beard Semifinalists

The James Beard Foundation today announced the semifinalists for its annual awards honoring restaurants and chefs (link PDF). St. Louis scored four chefs in the category "Best Chef: Midwest" and -- a first, to the best of my knowledge -- a restaurant in the "Best New Restaurant" category, which incl ... More >>

Salt's Wes Johnson Celebrates, Preps for NBC's Today

Chef Wes Johnson of Salt (4356 Lindell Boulevard; 314-932-5787) learned that his restaurant is among the semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation's "Best New Restaurant" only when our friends at Sauce called him this morning for comment. "I didn't know what was happening," he says. "We are caug ... More >>

Nominations Open for 2012 James Beard Foundation Awards

​There's no denying that the James Beard Foundation's annual awards ceremony is a swank, 1 percent shindig. What does one measly ticket to the event cost? Suffice to say, you could have scored a World Series ticket on StubHub for roughly the same price -- maybe a standing-room-only World Series ti ... More >>

A First Look at Kelly English Steakhouse

Evan C. Jones​Armed with a rich culinary pedigree and an armful of accolades including a James Beard Award nomination, Memphis-based chef Kelly English's newest venture, Kelly English Steakhouse (777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights; 314-770-8100), anchors the main entrance to Harrah's Ca ... More >>

Has "Ruth Bourdain" Been Unmasked?

​(Warning: This post contains spoilers. Food-media inside baseball, too. You've been warned.)For more than a year now, the parody Twitter account of Ruth Bourdain has delighted -- and grossed out -- the food world with his/her mash-up of the haiku-like tweets of former New York Times restaurant cr ... More >>

Home Wine Kitchen, Cassy Vires' new Maplewood restaurant, isn't afraid to shake things up

Memphis Chef Kelly English Follows the Fleurs-de-Lis to St. Louis

Courtesy: Harrah's CasinoKelly English, owner of Restaurant Iris in Memphis, will open a steakhouse at Harrah's Casino.​Harrah's Casino (777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights; 314-770-8100) announced last month that it will open Kelly English Steakhouse this fall in the location now occupied b ... More >>

17th Street Bar and Grill Gets Double Recognition

Image via​Pit master extraordinaire Mike Mills of 17th Street Bar & Grill (1711 West Highway 50, O'Fallon; 618-622-1717 or www.17thstreetbarbecue.com) will be cooking at the famed James Beard House in New York City on July 15. The dinners at the Beard House are hosted monthly by the James Be ... More >>

C Notes: Ian completes the journey through his 100 Favorite St. Louis Dishes

Nosh in Maplewood Closed, New Restaurant Opening

Jennifer SilverbergThe Nosh space in Maplewood, soon to become Home Wine Kitchen​The Maplewood restaurant Nosh has closed after less than a year in business. Its storefront at 7322 Manchester Road is mostly cleared out, and the phone number has been disconnected. I reviewed Nosh just six months ag ... More >>

St. Louis Chefs Shut Out of James Beard Award Finalists, Feast Magazine Nominated

​The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for its 2011 awards this afternoon. St. Louis boasted three semifinalists in the category of "Best Chef: Midwest" -- Gerard Craft of Niche, Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Café and Kevin Willmann of Farmhaus -- but none of the three were named fin ... More >>

St. Louis Chefs Fall Short in Food & Wine Vote

Screenshot: www.foodandwine.com​As seemed likely since early last week, all three St. Louis chefs competing to be named the "People's Best New Chef" by Food & Wine magazine fell short of being named a finalist for the Midwest region when voting closed yesterday.Lee Richardson of Ashley's at th ... More >>

This Week in Gut Check, Regurgitated

Jennifer Silverberg The cooked mana-ish at Central Café and Bakery ​This week was full of food-news -- from hoodlums smuggling marijuana amongst a tomato shipment to management changes at a favorite local eatery to good 'ol restaurant and dish reviews -- Gut Check's been busy. What else ... More >>

Three St. Louis Chefs and a Sommelier Are James Beard Award Semifinalists [Updated]

​The James Beard Foundation this morning announced the semifinalists for its annual awards (link PDF). Gerard Craft of Niche, Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Café and Kevin Willmann of Farmhaus are among the semifinalists in the category "Best Chef: Midwest."In addition, Glenn Bardgett, the wi ... More >>

Kansas City, Here We Come

​Drink of the Week just returned from our first-ever trip to Kansas City, where we admired the Christmas lights in Country Club Plaza, did a little shopping and ate and ate and ate. For two days, from Dean & DeLuca to Arthur Bryant's and Oklahoma Joe's to the three places we're about to mentio ... More >>

Beard Founation Reorganizes Food Writing Award Categories

Food bloggers, rejoice! The New York Times reports that the James Beard Awards will no longer give separate awards for online and print food writing, meaning pieces published online will be eligible for the Beard Foundation's biggest writing awards - the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award and ... More >>

The Morning Brew: 6.2

Arizona's loose gun laws let restaurant owners decide they'll allow guns - registered and legal, of course - in their establishments. The Arizona Daily Star reports on the growing divide between gun advocates and those who'd rather not dine with a posse in the same dining room. What happens to an ... More >>

Monarch Closed for Renovations

Robin WheelerJosh Galliano, executive chef at Monarch​Saturday, May 30, was the final service for several weeks at Monarch (7401 Manchester Road; 314-644-3995). The restaurant is now closed for renovations. Unlike many restaurants that close "for renovations" but are never heard from again, Monarc ... More >>

This Week in Gut Check, Regurgitated

​This week, James Beard Foundation Awards were doled out, with St. Louis' own Gerard Craft of Niche up for Best Midwest Chef. The honor went elsewhere, but kudos to Craft for being a two-time finalist. For other local restaurant news, see the Restaurant Roll Call for ... More >>

All for Aughts: Let's count down the best local restaurant openings of the decade!

Around the Horn: Ian covers all the bases to find you the best All-Star Game chow

Summertime St. Louis: Food Drive. Our restaurant critic's advice on where to go for some great out-of-town chow.

Gut Check: Winners and bloggers

Lists Naughty, Lists Nice

Ian can recommend James Beard nominees Annie Gunn's, Atlas and Niche. But Missouri caviar? Not so much.

Will Ian flip for the Original Pancake House?

'Cue Ball

Ian goes east — and discovers great barbecue.

Side Dish

In most cases, barbecues and beards don't mix, but here's an exception

Side Dish

How much service is too much service?