Vicki Lin says that her husband, Brian Hsia, has been dreaming of opening his own restaurant since 1995, a quest that has finally been realized with their aptly named Overland eatery, Kitchen 95 (2336 Woodson Road, Overland; 314-801-8895).
Upon first bite of his steamed wontons, I, too, experienced a dream realized — a fantasy world filled with silken wonton wrappers wrapped around a melange of tender pork and snappy shrimp placed atop a pool of spicy chili oil laden with so much fresh-shaved garlic, I could still taste it a full day later. Thanks to the luscious sesame oil, the sauce clung to every bite, slicking the wontons with its sweet-soy, garlic heat. I didn't know it before devouring these bite-sized nuggets, but this is a flavor I'd been searching for my entire adult life.
Though the humble digs — a former Taco Bell in Overland — might suggest otherwise, it comes as no surprise that Kitchen 95 delivers such culinary greatness. For more than three decades, Hsia has been perfecting his craft, a path that began when he wandered into his first kitchen job as a teenager in Taiwan. Lin lovingly describes her husband as a terrible student who was known less for listening to his teachers than he was for falling asleep in class. However, cooking instantly clicked for him, and he threw himself into learning everything he could about the industry, working his way up from washing dishes and doing basic prep work to cooking on lines at restaurants around Taiwan, always dreaming about having a place of his own.
After moving to Philadelphia from Taiwan in the early aughts, Hsia continued his culinary career in restaurants around town and eventually met Lin, who was a front-of-house coworker. The pair began talking about settling down and starting a family, but decided to move from fast-paced and expensive Philadelphia to somewhere more low-key. Though they knew no one in St. Louis, something about the city seemed right when they began to research places to live, so they packed their bags and headed west in 2005.
Hsia continued to work in restaurants in the St. Louis area, something Lin describes as increasingly stressful; this stress finally boiled over at the end of 2020. He took a break from working, wondering if the time was right to finally go out on his own, while Lin supported the family as a cook in the Parkway School District. Finally, after about a year and a half of soul-searching, Hsia decided it was time. He'd heard of a perfect-sounding available space; the original location of Chef Ma's Chinese Gourmet was for lease, and the building was exactly what he'd been looking for. Lin could see that this was her husband's chance to take the leap, so she quit her job, and the two of them joined forces to create Kitchen 95, opening the restaurant in October of 2021.
Both Hsia and Lin hail from Taiwan, so it was important to them that their heritage shine through Kitchen 95's menu. However, they were less committed to adhering to any culinary canon and more interested in putting their own spin on Taiwanese favorites in addition to serving more American-style Chinese dishes. Lin emphasizes that they have chosen this path as a way to offer a comprehensive dining experience that can appeal to a variety of preferences.
No matter which direction you go, Kitchen 95 is sheer joy. A visit for nothing more than those pork and shrimp dumplings would be enough of a treat, but it would mean missing out on other delights, such as the crispy tofu with Taiwanese kimchi. Here, the tofu has a thick, crispy fried exterior that yields to a custard-like interior. It is paired with pleasantly pungent Taiwanese fermented cabbage that replaces the Korean version's chili heat with subtle sweetness. Another first course, wonderfully snappy Taiwanaese sausages, matches the popular street snack's garlic-laden pork flavor with a delicate sweet glaze that pairs beautifully with a can of apple soda imported from Hsia and Lin's homeland.
A steaming hot bowl of sesame oil chicken soup is revelatory, hitting that "simmering on grandma's stove" classic found in just about every culinary tradition with a sesame and ginger inflection unique to the Taiwanese version. Instead of pre-pulled hunks of meat, Hsia's dish contains whole drumsticks for diners to enjoy; the tender meat falls off the bone with little coaxing.
Lin is especially proud of Kitchen 95's chili popcorn shrimp, a riff on a traditional Taiwanese specialty that she concocted. The shellfish is coated in a light, yet almost cornmeal-textured breading and is tossed in a spicy mayo reminiscent of a fiery remoulade. A boneless pork chop is equally fantastic, dusted in a coating crispier than its delicate texture suggests. Also unexpected is the sweet pop of cinnamon and earthy black pepper that dusts the chop and gives it a complex warmth.
Kitchen 95's three cups chicken is a wonderful rendition of the classic Taiwanese dish. Unlike the more traditional bone-in version, Lin serves hers boneless, the hunks of dark meat glistening with the slightly pungent and deeply savory soy-rice wine, sesame glaze.
Another quintessential Taiwanese dish, the Hakka stir fry — a mix of bean curd strips, ground pork and dried squid — is so fiery that you wonder if it might combust at the table. It's a sneaky spice, though, creeping up on the mid palate about two seconds after the first bite, coating the tongue and throat in blazing chili heat that's mildly offset by Chinese celery. It's the kind of spice that builds with every bite — at times teetering on the line of searing hot, though it's so flavorful you can't stop.
As impressive as Kitchen 95's food is, what borders on shocking is that it comes from the hands of Hsia and Lin alone. The two are the sole employees at the restaurant, and they prep everything from scratch and cook every dish to order. This gives Kitchen 95 the feel that you are feasting at someone's home in Taipei, not a converted north county Taco Bell — though with wontons this magical, you couldn't care less where you eat them.
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