Competition is the mother of invention in St. Louis

Nation's Restaurant News, August 28, 1995 by Carolyn Walkup

ST. LOUIS -- New restaurants here are trying to create their own unique niches in an attempt to stand out in this increasingly competitive market.

In the not-too-distant past, it was enough to open an Italian restaurant or a steak house -- and customers came. Now those customers have many more choices, with new restaurants opening both in the city and further out from the city's core as widespread suburban growth continues.

"It's important to find a niche because of the competition," said Bryan Carr, chef-owner of Bryan's in Richmond Heights, who is applying experience gained from his 10-year sojourn in California wine regions to his own restaurant.

Among his employers in California were Auberge de Soleil in Napa Valley, Fleur de Lys in San Francisco and San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara. Before opening Bryan's last February, Carr was the chef at the St. Louis Club in nearby Clayton.

"I cook in a way that is complementary to wine," he said. "I don't cook hot foods -- like Mexican or Thai, even though I like them -- because they tend to interfere with the wine.

"There are no gimmicks. Everything is very straight-forward. We don't pretend to create new kinds of cooking," Carr added.

Current entrees include Atlantic salmon with spaetzle and dill over fresh vegetables; duck confit with boulanger potatoes and sauteed cabbage; and beef brisket with white beans, sage and roasted garlic. Entree prices range from $14.50 to $17.25, and dinner checks average about $30.

Carr also advocates personal attention on the service side, which is supervised by Michael Tinsley, general manager. "The biggest problem in most restaurants is management's lack of participation," Carr said. "They leave the waiters out on their own and wait too long before jumping in."

He finds his main challenge is finding good employees and training them "to see things without being told about them."

Remy's Kitchen and Wine Bar, which offers more than 30 wines by the glass plus daily blackboard specials, is the third restaurant for Tim Mallett, owner of Blue Water Grill and Big Sky Cafe. Although he uses a tapas approach at his other restaurants, the Mediterranean theme is a new twist.

"We have both feet in Mediterranean. We haven't made too many compromises," Mallett said. Popular menu items include grape leaves with ground lamb and rice in tomato, cumin and lemon sauce; hummus with flat bread and feta cheese; red-curry grilled chicken breast with grilled chorizo and roasted peppers over cardamom rice; and bouillabaisse with saffron couscous.

"Business is getting more competitive all the time," said Mallett, noting that even quick-service and carry-out restaurants, such as Saint Louis Bread Co., compete with him for lunch customers. Staying open until midnight on weekends gives Remy's an edge for theatergoers who want a late-night snack.

Remy's has been getting its share of business through word-of-mouth advertising, largely because of the reputation of his other restaurants. Checks average $26 for dinner and $10 for lunch.

Remy's chef, Lisa Slay, also is a veteran of St. Louis restaurants. She grew up in the business with her brother, David Slay, who left St. Louis several years ago to open David Slay's La Veranda in Los Angeles.

Also in Clayton, Tobias and Kary Shapiro last fall opened Woods, specializing in spa cuisine. Chefs Tobias Shapiro and Rich Starwalt base many dishes on fish and vegetables, and they use various marinades with no added fat.

Nevertheless, the 44-seat restaurant does not list fat or calorie content on the menu. "It's a restaurant, not a clinic," Kary Shapiro said. "Customers don't want to know all the gory details. They're happy to know it's healthful."

The restaurant is named for the former Woods restaurant in Manhattan, where Kary's husband worked in the 1970s. A few of the house specialties are ravioli stuffed with lobster in a light seafood fumet; grilled jerk pork tenderloin with black beans and rice; wood-grilled garlic and rosemary chicken with roasted garlic mashed potatoes; and wood-grilled pizzas made with herbed dough and low-fat mozzarella.

Check averages at Woods are $24 for dinner and $13 for lunch.

In addition to these and other new influences, tried-and-true Italian food continues to be popular in St. Louis, as witnessed by a new generation of owners who have opened Italian restaurants within the last year. All offer some contemporary twists on the traditional cuisine.

Brothers Stephen and Jamie Komorek just opened their own restaurant, Trattoria Marcella. Calling his cooking style "rustic Italian," chef Stephen Komorek formerly worked at Kemoll's and Piccolo's, two local Italian stalwarts.

Like most of the other operators of newer local restaurants, the Komoreks are aiming their 70-seat trattoria at customers willing to pay about $24 for dinner. "People in St. Louis travel for value and quality," Komorek said. "Everybody is moving west, but they still come to St. Louis for the restaurants."

Rather than borrowing a lot of money to open in a high-rent district like Clayton, the Komoreks bought a restaurant business out of bankruptcy for $5,000. Consequently, they can price their menu moderately, keeping all entrees at less than $12.95.