Mike Randolph

Niche Knowing You: What local restaurant would Ian Froeb choose for his last meal?

Slideshow: Inside Niche in Clayton

Being Happy While You Cook and Learning to Love Bourbon: A Q&A with Joseph Hemp V of Robust

This is part two. of Gut Check's Chef's Choice profile of Joseph Hemp V of Robust. Read part one, a profile of Hemp, here. Part three, a recipe from Hemp, will be available Monday. As a kid, Joseph Hemp V would stand on a step stool next to the stove to help make Sunday breakfast, his family's brea ... More >>

8 Great St. Louis Brunch Spots For Mother's Day This Weekend

Of all the greeting-card company holidays manufactured over the years, Mother's Day remains one we're perennially endeared toward...cause let's face it, moms deserves their own holiday. Make Mom's day with a meal at any of these eight St. Louis restaurants, which offer outstanding brunch selections ... More >>

St. Louis Chef to Dana Loesch Fans: "Use Your Easily Purchased Firearm on Yourself"

File under: "If you can't stand the heat." Last night St. Louis' vociferous conservative talker/tweeter Dana Loesch called out the chef de cuisine of Clayton's Little Country Gentleman after he took to Twitter to take a shot at fans of her radio show. Won't be eating at @lcgentleman since it seems ... More >>

Answers to the Riverfront Times 2012 News Quiz

In January Riverfront Times published its annual "News Challenge" -- 78 multiple-choice questions testing how well readers paid attention to current events over the past twelve months. Within a week, more than 100 of you submitted your answers to us. A few weeks later a dozen readers e-mailed a simi ... More >>

Mike Marquard Discusses Blueprint Coffee, Opening This Summer in the Delmar Loop

Three weeks ago Gut Check learned that Blueprint Coffee is planning to open at 6225 Delmar Boulevard, along the same block of the Delmar Loop where two other restaurants have already opened this year: Mission Taco Joint (6235 Delmar Boulevard; 314-932-5430) and Chubbies (6227 Delmar Boulevard; 314-7 ... More >>

Tasting Menus in St. Louis Might Stretch Your Budget, But They Won't Beach a Whale

Our friends at Eater are celebrating "Whale Week," a tribute to high-spending diners -- or whales, as they're known in industry-speak. As part of the festivities, Eater ranked the fourteen most expensive tasting menus in America. The cheapest ("cheapest") tasting menu on the list is at Daniel in New ... More >>

Esprit de Course: Little Country Gentleman's grand tasting menu lays down the gauntlet

Slideshow: Photos from Little Country Gentleman

The Ten Best New Restaurants in St. Louis 2012

Selecting the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2012 was no picnic. Choosing the winner meant several worthy candidates would go unmentioned -- until now. In this Gut Check series, we're chewing our way through notable runners up in a number of categories. To see hundreds more winners and finalists ... More >>

September 2012 Openings & Closings

September was an exceptionally busy month for restaurant openings. Notable debuts included the lastest venture from Gerard Craft, the new tasting-menu concept from Mike Randolph, a new barbecue spot from prolific restaurateur Mike Johnson, a new barbecue spot from the prolific team of Dr. Gurpreet P ... More >>

Little Country Gentleman Opens September 18

Little Country Gentleman (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-0719), the new Midwestern tasting-menu concept from Mike Randolph, will open on Tuesday, September 18, according to the restaurant's Twitter feed.

First Look: Sneak Peek of Little Country Gentleman

Ingredients like xantham gum and citric acid might sound scary when they pertain to the palate, but rest assured that at Little Country Gentleman (8135 Maryland Avenue; 314-725-0719), restaurateur and chef Mike Randolph's new concept set to replace Medianoche's progressive Mexican dinner spot, they' ... More >>

Tidbits: National Lasagna Day, Courtesy Diner, Little Country Gentleman

- Today might be National Lasagna Day. Then again, National Lasagna Day might have been Sunday, July 29. Really, lasagna is so great, why not celebrate it two days in close succession? At any rate, today sister restaurants Bravo! Cucina Italiana (15 West County Center Drive, Des Peres; 314-821-2562) ... More >>

Gut Check's Five Most Anticipated Restaurants of 2012, Revisited

At the end of last year, I listed five restaurants due to open in the coming months that I dubbed the "Most Anticipated Restaurants" of 2012. Now that we've entered the second half of the year, I thought revisiting this list would be appropriate -- if only to highlight how unpredictable the restaura ... More >>

Medianoche Closing August 18 for New Midwestern Concept [Updated]

Updated with comments from Mike Randolph after the jump. For the first live broadcast of their podcast, our friends at Stewed STL had Mike Randolph, owner of The Good Pie (3137 Olive Street; 314-289-9391) and the two-in-one restaurants Half & Half and MEDIAnoche (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314- ... More >>

Mexican Metamorphosis: If you thought Half & Half's name refers to breakfast and lunch, you don't know the half of it

Review Slideshow: MEDIAnoche

I'm back from a week out of town with a visit to MEDIAnoche (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-0719), the progressive Mexican restaurant that takes over Half & Half after lunch service. I mention my vacation because it meant that I submitted my review earlier than I usually would, and in the ... More >>

First Look: MEDIAnoche

MEDIAnoche (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-0719), a new evening hot spot from Mike Randolph of the Good Pie and Half & Half, made Gut Check's list of the five most anticipated new St. Louis restaurants of 2012. We stopped by recently to meet with Randolph and general manager Mike Marquard an ... More >>

The Five Most Anticipated New St. Louis Restaurants of 2012

​To be frank: This was an odd list to compile. If 2012 continues the trend begun in 2011, St. Louis will welcome many new restaurants over the next twelve months, so singling out only five of them as the "most anticipated" seems silly. What's more, many of the restaurants that will open in the new ... More >>

Sunny-Side Uprising: Half & Half gives breakfast the bistro treatment

Review Preview: Half & Half

Robin UtzSteak and eggs, with onions, at Half & Half​This week I visit Half & Half (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-973-0446), the new breakfast-centric restaurant from Mike Randolph of The Good Pie.The most surprising fact about Half & Half is that nothing like it already existed w ... More >>

Half & Half Brings Another Brunch and Lunch Option to Clayton

Robin UtzHalf & Half's Clara Cakes​We were pretty excited when we heard that The Good Pie's (3137 Olive Street; 314-289-9391) Mike Randolph was opening up a brunch and lunch spot named Half & Half (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton) this spring. It recently opened in the space last occupied by Man ... More >>

Half & Half Opens for Breakfast and Lunch in Clayton

​Half & Half, a new breakfast and lunch spot from The Good Pie owner Mike Randolph, opened this morning at 8135 Maryland Avenue in Clayton. The restaurant held a friends-and-family soft opening this weekend, and a Gut Check operative passed along a copy of the menu.The menu is difficult to enc ... More >>

The Good Pie Announces New Breakfast-Lunch Spot in Clayton

Image via​Midtown Neapolitan pizza restaurant The Good Pie announced via Twitter on Friday that it will open a new breakfast-lunch spot called Half & Half in Clayton. Good Pie owner Mike Randolph tells Evan Benn of the Post-Dispatch that the restaurant will seat approximately 70 and open in ab ... More >>