Hello again and welcome to Arch Eats the show for Saint Louis Food fans. That gives you some information that maybe you didn't know about the local dining scene. This episode of Arch Eats is sponsored by the Repertory Theater of Saint Louis with me as always is my cohort in Crime, Cheryl Bear. Good morning,
good morning. Good frosty morning to
you. And we will cover that later. That's gonna, that's gonna come up a little bit later on teaser. Yes. Today we're gonna talk about trends we see in Saint Louis for 2024 and a few we'd prefer not to see. And then we'll end up with a rant about what irritates us about some Saint Louis restaurants in the winter. But first, it's what we can't stop thinking about this week. Ok. I'll go first for me. This is brand new News Southern closed this week. A great Nashville hot Chicken restaurant.
Rick Lewis and Mike Emerson opened this place. They spent a lot of time down south down in, in, in Nashville, down in Memphis, down in the, the, the roots of, of hot chicken land, uh, learning about how to properly prepare it they were bringing the first Nashville hot chicken to Saint Louis and they wanted to do it. Right. I just remember a lot of the things that they did, they are things that I didn't know they put the spicing into the meat. They did the meat marinade. So,
the spice isn't in the breading. Huh? I didn't know that the only spicy part of the breading is what they coat it in the spice mix, which it's a powdered mix that they mix with a little of the fryer oil. That's how they make the paste. And it's a very light, it's almost like a glaze. It's not like a paste. I thought that was pretty interesting and that's what made it better. And the other thing that
they did is something that Mike did at Pappy's. They had a door person there to meet, greet and answer questions and basically entertain the people in line. And a lot of the time that was Rick Lewis and I just think that was something that was crucial to the success of both those places. They, you got to meet the owner and what Rick Lewis did, which was really interesting. He offered chicken at one of the lower spice levels just as a barometer. Just so you
knew how to order. Once you got to the head of the line, I thought that was brilliant. Southern changed. They took uh chicken breasts off the menu which met with a lot of disagreement. Uh in favor of uh just chicken tenders. Nothing wrong with chicken tenders, but you gotta have a chicken breast on the menu. And I think what happened to them is, is I was trying to analyze it is they took a long time to open up after the pandemic. I'm not sure they ever regained that lost business.
Anyway. Southern closed last week. It was unfortunate. But, you know, to me it was the first Nashville hot chicken joint in the city. And for several years anyway, it was the best.
It was spicy, but it was so flavorful. You didn't, you couldn't stop. That was
the problem. And there's other Nashville hot chicken places that have come up since then. Uh Chuck's a place called Heaters in Kirkwood. Uh Grace Meat and Three where Rick Lewis moved on to, he still sells, I think the original recipe and then a place that I know you love Sunday best. Yeah. Their
hot chicken is wonderful. The tenders and the, uh, in the bone in version. Well, George, if you're talking about Southern and Fried chicken, of course, one place that I can't stop thinking about and I recently discovered this little trick or hack. I don't know, in the parlance of our times if that's what we want to call it. But, um, f Frank and Helen's is a university city institution. It's been there forever. I have memories of my grandma sitting
there getting a reservation. Sitting down with Helen in one of the booths at this place. And, I mean, it's been there for decades but they do broasted chicken, which is a pressure cooked style of chicken that results in very juicy meat. But this very light but super crispy coating on the outside. Well, the broasted chicken, it's wonderful on its own. But they also serve a creamy garlic dressing for their salad, which I think it's the best salad dressing
ever to be invented. I'm, I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say this. It is the nectar of the gods. And the owner told me that I should get an order a side dish. Oh, yes, of the creamy garlic dressing and dip the fried chicken into it. And I'm telling you it's, it's transcendent. Highly recommend. I'm
shaking my head, but I respect your palate. I, I, and I love Frank and Helen. So, uh, I did not know about that. Have you had the dressing though? Yes, I think I've had it on a salad. I, I never thought to put it on chicken
garlic bread in there. I'm not gonna lie. It's, uh, put,
put that on your special, put that on your to do list, folks Frank and Helen's chicken with the dressing 10
out of 10.
We'll be right back in the heart of the ocean. A tale of Revenge unfolds. Moby Dick live on stage at the repertory Theater of Saint Louis from February 6th through the 25th. Don't miss the drama, the Danger, the Hunt, get tickets now at Rep stl.org
and now back to the show.
So that brings us to the main part of our show where we're gonna talk about some trends and we're gonna take them in and try to be organized and take them in, in categories. We're gonna talk about some food trends, some drink trends, some restaurant trends and some service trends. I think we've got something to say about all those. And then I think we're gonna do some trends. We just like to see,
go away. Some of these are things that we've already seen, seen. There's been some groundwork for them, others, you know, we haven't seen here at all. We're getting our crystal balls out. I think one of those things that we really have seen a lot of groundwork laid already are plant based meats. I don't know if we call meats meat alternatives. It's
hard. You have to, you know, use the quotations all the time because, uh, whenever you say, you know, it tastes just like steak or it's, it's a vegan steak, steak in quotes. But I
think there is, you know, you need that reference point because that's what they're going for with these. And one of the most exciting people to watch is Chris Burke at Vegan Deli and Butcher, which opened kind of later last year in Bevo Mill. You know, he's been doing this for years. He was kind of one of the first people in town to do like the vegan versions of all your fast food bowls, like the Jack In the Box tacos and the Big Macs and all of that. He's the
poster boy for chefs in this town.
He really is. He's so it's
g but he kind of is, he kind
of is to be honest. So he's really doing at his deli and butcher shop there. He's taking some of the classic deli dishes, think smoked salmon, think corned beef pastrami. And he's doing them with plant based meats. And I find that really exciting. Um Another place and we've actually talked about them before. Um I think it talks about them in terms of biscuits and gravy is Looking Meadow, the coffee shop in Maplewood, the vegan sausage on those
biscuits and gravy is fantastic. But they also do a wonderful version of a French dip with a vegan version of roast beef that a local woman named Amy Simmons makes for them. I mean, I'm telling you, I am a of avowed meat eater and this stuff's delicious.
And, you know, we talked about this a little bit too. There's a local product called Harvest Shreds and it is just like I said this before. It fooled carnivore George. It's, it's locally made. It's plant based. It's a sustainable shredded meat alternative and it goes great in taco salads and tacos and it's being used in a bunch of, uh, Mexican restaurants in town
and it's just an excellent product. And I think you're gonna see a lot more of this product and products like it in 2024 both at the grocery store and on, uh, restaurant menus. I know they have it at Ivy. I know they have it at Grace Meat and Three. Look for it when it's becomes available. I think, I think it's available now at Parker's table, but I'm not sure. And before we get off of Chris Burke, we were talking about some of the things he does. Yeah, he does.
He's created all these meats. But he also does. You said he does a, a quote salmon. He also does a lobster roll. A vegan lobster that I haven't tasted it, but I've seen it and it looks pretty much like a lobster roll. And, um, anyway, that is another trend that's coming, is this whole faux fish trend, this vegan faux fish where they're making, uh, scallops and, and snow crab and lobster out of, uh,
you know, plant-based products. And I, I read there's a crab cake out there that tastes like a crab cake that's made out of Enoki mushrooms and celery root. Oh, I don't know what kind of magic is that. I mean, I don't even see how that's possible, but I know what some of these guys can do. Anyway. It's gonna be a very significant year for plant-based meats and
goodies. I agree. And I think, you know, the bottom line on that is, it's not just, um, you know, it's not a segmented thing anymore where you find it in a vegan restaurant but you won't find it anywhere else. I think that's part of the trend is a lot of like restaurants that appeal to all different diets are finding that they want options for variety
because somebody in your group is going to be a vegan or a vegetarian. You better accommodate for them. The other one that I saw, I haven't seen it here yet, but they is an alternative chocolate that's made without cocoa. Oh, think about that. And apparently it has the same taste smell and melt of original chocolate and has no cocoa in it. I mean, just what I say, it's gonna be a, just a fantastic year. I can't wait to see that stuff come down. Yeah. All the
food science stuff is very interesting for sure. What else do you have that you're excited about?
Well, um, we've touched on some of this, this whole tinned fish trend. Uh Ben Pemba has a lot of it on the menu at bar morrow. These are these, you know, don't think uh you know, sardines and, and some of these older tuna in a can, these are higher end uh scallops and finer fish if you will. This is the fancy canned it is and some of them are $8
and some of them are 30. But you're gonna see a lot more of these, they, they've been kind of in the news and so much to the point that there are now sea coterie se a coterie boards with all this stuff, all these smoked fish, all these tinned fish on them. And I thought, and we've talked about this, why not throw a few of those anti gun smoked shrimp on there when we're putting something like that together at home? I think you're gonna see sea
cutie boards. I can't get over the term cutie. I mean,
I thought, I, yeah, I'm always known for my, you always like, look at me, you know, cross eyed when I come up with these cutesy terms, but that's one of them
Archie should do like a dictionary. Like the word of the year is C coterie. I'm officially crowning that our word of the year.
That that works. How about dry aging? Now we've seen dry aged meats. They've been on local restaurants for a long, long time. But now, you know, with the advent of Sado and Indo, Nick Bognar comes along and dry ages fish, I thought was something new for Saint Louis, but apparently that's been done in different cities and Nick was the first one to bring it here. Now, I was talking to Ben Pambo about that. He goes, he goes, I've been doing that for a long time. I just haven't told people
about it. So he's been dry, aging different meats, you know, I, I'm not really too sure. I know he was doing, uh, I think some duck and maybe what really interested me was he's gonna be dry aging vegetables at some of his new restaurants. I don't even know what that means. I know that dry aging takes the moisture out of it, increases the flavor makes it more tender. So, anyway, creative dry aging. That's one for 2024.
That's, that sounds interesting.
So there's one food item that I read about recently that does have local ties and I just like everything about it. It's called Gar Leak. Garleek. A cross between garlic and a leek like a leak. You can chop the whole thing up and use the whole thing, which always drove me crazy. But uh what's interesting about that? It's being developed by a guy Dan Barber, uh Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. That's where the Galena worked before they came to Saint Louis.
And this guy up there has developed all these seeds and all these uh unusual vegetables. And uh when he developed something called honey nut squash Visa in Saint Louis with the Galenus was the first one to use it. So my intention is when Gar Leak comes down the pike this year that we will see it and probably see it at one of the Galena restaurants because their buddies with chef Dan barber. How about that? You can use it root to tip. It's got the
benefits of both garlic and leek. I mean, why didn't we have this
sooner? What more do you want? Now, someone just needs to have the Shaik or something? Because shallots are the next one on that list. That are amazing.
That's another word for the art.
We'll put the Shaik on our sea Coie board. The other
thing that I think we're going to see more of is uh is Wagyu beef. Uh It's, it's appearing on, on a lot of local menus, both Japanese, which is the highest end and Australian and American Wagyu, it's just ridiculously expensive, which I thought this is really going to have a limited appeal. And I'm wrong about this out at Napoli three in Saint Charles and Napoli C. They have a, a Wagyu steak that's 202 $125. I was just at Napoli C
and they displayed it. It's this giant tenderloin just beautiful. And, but the cost is 225. And so is that
a shareable thing for people? Like you get it? It is,
but it's like, you know, how many of those do you sell? And surprisingly a bunch of them. And in Napoli three, they sell all kinds on the weekends. So that tells me there is a market for this even at that high price point and they make a big deal of it. They have this c this seal of, uh, or the, uh, certificate of authenticity. It takes up a whole menu page and they make a really big deal about it. But this comes from a company in Saint Louis, a locally owned company called
Standard Meat Club. And we've talked about them before. You, you go to their website, they have pages upon pages of Wagyu meat. So Wagyu is, is, it's been around for a while, but it's gonna be a big deal. I think in Saint Louis in 2024 you're gonna see it on more menus and somebody's got that money to spend. It's, it's, it's not me but uh it's selling in restaurants well, and
even seeing it in different, like we've discussed on here before from um the catalog you're discussing, you know, we could see it in hot dogs, we could see it in sliders. You know, it doesn't have to be the pomp and circumstance of a gigantic steak. I think we're going to see it. Exactly. I mean, why not? It's
a thing. And I kind of thought just due to the cost it was a passing fad. Not true. Another one that won't be a passing fad for sure is cannabis cuisine.
Yes, that is definitely something that I just see. Sky is the limit opportunities in here in town. I think we've already seen the popularity of that, you know, with um cannabis themed kind of dinner clubs, a catering company. Rooted b, you know, I mean, they,
they, one of the best cannabis caterers in town. I didn't know that was a category, but it is,
apparently it is now because it can be now. Right. And, um, there's that Chartreuse dinner club
we've talked about them. She sells out those, I think she does three or four events a month and she sells them out
instantly, I mean, instantly and the other one that I saw also sold out. So if you are interested in doing this, you have to be, you know, set alerts for it. It's probably harder than getting a reservation at rights or wherever. But um you know, uh proper cannabis has done a couple of or at least they've done one that I know of with Balkan Treat box and um you know, Spencer Beniko, who's over at proper. He is very connected to the ST Louis food scene.
He's just been someone who's, you know, he had a great blog whiskey and so he's a great photographer. He's an amazing photographer, but he's over it proper. And because he has those long standing relationships with some of the best chefs in ST Louis, I think it's going to be exciting to see these dinner collaborations between proper and some of the biggest name chefs here in town. I think we will see that happen throughout the year and beyond. No question,
let's transition to the bar scene. What do you see happening? There's been a lot going on in 2023 in Saint Louis bars and, and the cocktail scene. Yes.
Well, I think the, the trend is that there is a bar scene. I think a lot of people were, you know, lamenting the loss of bars in, during the pandemic. I think that was one of the biggest losses, you know, just that kind of communal watering hole. And, um, they, they are roaring back with a vengeance and not just, you know, kind of your local dive bar. But we are talking these really creative experimental cocktail bars, high end
uh very interesting stuff. One of the places that you and I have talked about that I think is the gold standard of what's going on is none of the above Gerard Craft's Place which just opened in Foundry High end cocktails. Swanky Digs. Just a beautiful spot. I mean, that's just kind of the place that you want to go to, to have a wonderful cocktail, but
they're not the only ones. Um I've had wonderful cocktails, even though it's not in as Swanky, it's almost like an intentionally nostalgic uns Swanky vibe is to Chrome bar also in Bevo Mill. We're talking about Bevo a lot today. But um that's a really fun place and they're doing fantastic cocktails there. Chelsea Fister is the bartender or bar manager, I guess of the place and that's been a lot of fun to watch New Society on South Grand in the basement of Grand Spirits.
That's a partnership between Michael Fricker and MEREDITH Barry. Both of them esteemed bar minds in ST Louis the best in town. Yes. And then the one I'm really excited for is good company, which is going to open in the grove pretty soon. Those are the good ice people, the people who are doing those really high end beautiful filtered ice of all shapes and sizes, some of them embossed and engraved. Um I don't know what the term is for ice, but um they're doing those for a lot of cocktail bars
around town. So I think we're seeing these very elevated bars.
How about no alcohol and low alcohol cocktails? Is that, was that a fad or is that a trend that's gonna hang in there? I don't see
it as a fad. I mean, I think we're seeing that there's almost a generational change in views of alcohol, you know, kind of in terms of well and things of that sort. So I think a lot of people are still wanting that, you know, kind of collegial communal feel of going to a bar. They want to feel festive and upbeat. Um But they don't want to do it with
booze. They just want a well made cocktail. They don't want the alcohol and I think, and not to throw cold beer on this subject. But due to the popularity of, let's just say my altering substances which are not illegal. I think that that will affect the consumption of alcohol. I've been told by bar managers, bartenders that it has no doubt and, uh, they're still selling them. But, uh, again, these no alcohol, low alcohols, uh, cocktails are way up just because other
people are finding other things to do. That's
great. I think another thing that's exciting related to bars coming back and these really, really elevated cocktail bars as I did touch on it, um the elevated ice, you know, for by surface volume, it's one of the major, maybe the most major component oftentimes of a cocktail. And I think bars are realizing that they don't wanna put any old ice in there. That that is as much a component of a great cocktail as your base spirit and whatever you're putting in there.
And I think we are going to continue to see these very elevated ice options, you know, for that are being prepared by
all these shapes. They're very hard and there's very little drink dilution with these. And that's very important to these bartenders. They don't want their drink water down and very hard, very fancy uh uh ice cubes that doesn't happen well, and as
a consumer, you don't want that either. You don't want to be two sips in and already have the experience diluted for you. So I think that's a good company has really been, you know, kind of uh the gold standard of that here in town and I'm excited to see what else happens with that. And
before we get off bars, I wanna do uh talk a little bit about wines and a couple of the trends that I hope will happen. I hope that we will see more low to mid priced wines on wine menus. Those wines are out there. I see them at all the liquor stores and wine stores and I just wish that restaurant owners would put more of them on there because again, the, the, the price to go out to eat is so high.
Help us out how however you can. Uh the other thing I like that I saw first, I think at Avenue was the uh wine poured at the table. They bring the wine out, they show it to you, they pour the glass right then and there, you know what it looks like. There's some interaction going on with the server. It's just why every place in town doesn't do that. I don't know. OK, it's another step, but still,
it's just a, a great hospitality nod. And the other thing that they do there again, more folks are doing this now is offering a half glass. They'll come back and say, would you like a glass of wine? You know how about a half glass? And I go the heck is gonna turn down a half glass of wine. That's exactly what we need right now.
Right? Well, I like that and I think that fits in with the, your non alcoholic trend or movement back off. Just a little. Exactly. You don't have to back off completely. But maybe just a
touch. Let's talk about restaurants. There was, uh, it was 23 was an interesting year in restaurants. There was a lot going on. There was a lot of, uh, uh, thematic restaurants that came about and I know some of them you reviewed.
I did well, a few of the ones and I would like to see more of these and I think we are going to see more of these are the um regional Mexican restaurants. I think that we, you know, there is a time and a place for a great Tex Mex. I was going to say,
don't give me shade on Tex Mex.
But yes, I am the first person to go to Miri and Cheeto. Like let's just say that another city institution. I think it's been really exciting to see some of these chefs do some creative, innovative things that really get to the heart of traditional cuisine. Taqueria Merita is one I'm really looking forward to. That is uh chef
Aaron Hernandez, who's been with the Visa folks for a while. Now, this is really a place that is um Harkens back to his childhood growing up in southern California and going down the Baja coast with his family. So it's nostalgic for him, but it also represents just a thrilling place. I mean, here we are in the cold right now. I can't talk, I can't think of somewhere more aspirational than eating these wonderful, fresh, vibrant fish tacos. He's
a fine dining chef that has gone the route of, of tacos. And I'm so happy for him because now they have a brick and mortar or they will see in the central west. And remember they were, it was a cool place. It was an outdoor restaurant at Visio. And, but then in the, in the winter time they moved to Winslow's Table and then they moved back to Visa though. That part of it was kind of screwy for me and it just wasn't cohesive. Now, he's got his own
brick and mortar. That's the way it should have been in the first.
Yeah. Well, I think they were excited about doing it as a pop up and then realized how wonderful it is that it just needed its own, its own thing. And the
other higher end one that I'm thinking of is Malinche out in Chesterfield.
Oh, it's even further than that. George. It is in Ellisville. It is. Uh, that's all Chesterfield to me. Yeah, exactly. Well, yeah, it's, it's my new Stomping Ground County folks. Thank you. Thank you melee for giving me something to cheer about out there. But Maleia is wonderful. I mean, that's another regional Mexican restaurant. It's been around for a little while, but you're just getting these flavors that are so exciting there. I'm also excited about El Molino de Cree that opened
up toward the end of last year. That is Alex Henry, who has Creste in City Foundry. Outstanding Cochinita Pibil. He's taken that concept and opened that in its own stand alone place south on King's Highway. And that is just this beautiful elevated very traditional restaurant with
a big mill in the window we know is right in the window, which is cool and it's, it's in use. It's not just a, just an artifact.
So yes, and this is him bringing the food that he experienced in his childhood, you know, going back and forth between the States and the Yucatan, you know, he's bringing that here. So I'm hopeful that we will continue to see more these regional Mexican restaurants because wow,
the food's good. We also noticed in 2023 a whole bunch of bagel places opening up, you know, I I just thought it was great. They're all different. They're all, most of them are pretty good. And with the closing of the bagel factory that just left this huge void. And all of a sudden three or four guys jump in and I wonder if that is going to continue uh in 2024 whether we're gonna see, you know, will, will there be a bagel shop on every corner like a bakery?
See, I think this may be where you and I differ on this because I, I am thrilled at the bagel scene here now and we have some great places and I am here for it and I frequent them and they're wonderful. I feel like we've reached peak bagel. I don't know. Right. I don't know if we're going to see one on every corner like a total access, you know, urgent care. I don't necessarily see bagels on every corner.
I hope it doesn't get to that. But I think, I think different neighborhood, I think every neighborhood needs a good bagel shop. The other thing that I saw that I think we should mention is this, this whole ghost kitchen thing. Is that a, is that a fad? Is that a trend? I think it's going to continue with the popularity of pickup and delivery foods. You're gonna see more ghost kitchens. And I think the coolest thing that's going on there is what's going on at Urban Eats and has been going
on there for several years. There's several kitchens under one roof. It's almost like a stationary food truck if you will. It gives guys with an idea, a chance to test the waters for a year or two and just to see if anything, you know, if it's a good idea or not, there's a place called Mr Souvlaki that was a farmer's market staple for
a couple of years. He's got some great products. He's moving in there at a place called Wheelhouse Fish Company that's also coming to the Urban Eats space and I won't go into it right now, but read about that one in Saint Louis magazine. These folks are, have a fishing boat up in all Alaska. They, they, they split their time between Alaska and Saint Louis and they're going to do a little food stall at Urban Eats. So shout out to Urban Eats. I hope to see more places like that in 24.
That will give more of these fledgling restaurant guys a chance.
Yeah, I see that. And uh Black Salt, you know, the very popular Indian restaurant uh that uh from Chesterfield, they're opening up a spot in a ghost kitchen out of Hampton. So, you know, part of me thinks that is that a trend that was only in the pandemic. But you're right. I think people have
made a habit of dining in. So I think we have opportunities for maybe some of these concepts that have brick and mortars, you know, in some ways they're almost going opposite rather than starting out as a ghost kitchen and then using that as a launch pad, some of them seem like they've had a successful thing here in a brick and mortar and now they want to take that to different neighborhoods and a ghost kitchen is a low stakes way to do that. It's a
perfect way to do it early in 24. There is, I think it's the ce si think it's a consumer electronic show. Maybe that's in Vegas and it's all things, uh, electronic and, and techy. And it got me to thinking about the first thing I thought about was the guy from Alibi cookies who did that cookie bot. He has that, he has that cookie machine and it's so fun in town and it still exists. And, uh, I, I was reading up on the, you know, food related, uh, innovations coming there.
Pizza vending machines that are out there. Now, I didn't know of to the point that you can become a licensee for these, it's called pizza for. So if you want to become your own little pizza lady, you can do it in whatever neighborhood you want. Anyway, that's something new.
Is that like the bagged pizza at the Critics Choice Awards that everyone was laughing about it. But
anyway, I was intrigued by it, but I, I read an article that says that the best things that I ate at the show and number one and two were ramen and stir fries, which I thought was fascinating. And this guy is a foodie and he said it was shocking how good they were and how fast they were prepared. Both of them in under two minutes. Anyway, point of my story, we might just see things like that with the cost of labor and you know, everything else that's
a possibility, good or bad. I'm not gonna weigh in on it. But, uh, you know, it's interesting that those two foods were the best that this guy tasted. So keep an eye out for
interesting vending machines beyond the Cheetos
as far as restaurants go. Uh We wrote a story a while back again, it was uh a guy named Danny Meyer who most of you listeners know who he is. He, he actually coined the phrase and he put the thought out on a, on a tweet that says six o'clock is the new eight o'clock and that early reservations are where all the action is. And that you remember how the eight o'clock reservation was, that was it. If you got the coveted eight o'clock reservation, you were the God, you were solid and now it's
gone the other way. And I think some of this is pandemic related. Everybody's just getting out at different times. Those of you out there that make reservations have probably seen this, that the 530 six o'clock reservations sell out before the 738. And
I am in that camp. I am, I always joke around that. I'm an early bird diner looking for my decaf and my trout almondine, but I love it. And I think that goes hand in hand with probably a trend we've seen for a couple of years now that people are dining out with their kids, they're dining out as families and you wanna make sure you're home in time for bed, you know, for their bedtime. So, or if you have to get a sitter, you have to do an early one. And I think they're great
and those of us without kids are dining out at happy hour and we're hanging out at 5530 then all of a sudden we can have that six o'clock reservation and it all works out great. We're all
just tired. I think that's what it boils down to. We're all just painfully tired.
So let's talk about, uh, service trends. There's been some changes. Uh, one of them that I thought was interesting was what I'll call hybrid restaurants that are part table service and part fast casual counter service. And, and I, I, uh, specifically talking about a place called Momo out in Rock Hill and he always wanted table service, but he couldn't do it because he didn't have the labor to do it. So we started off as a fast casual restaurant and that was going very well. But there are still
people that wanted full service. So, what has he done? And I think there's gonna, you're gonna see more of this part of the restaurant is full service and another part is counter service. So no matter what, how much you want to be waited on or how much you want to be left alone, you can be happy at a place called Momo. And I think that again, it, it's hard to staff a place. Restaurant guys don't like to do it. And, and, uh, restaurant folks
sometimes want the attention sometimes they don't. So, I think these hybrid restaurants, I think you're going to see more of this because there are people that love fast casual service and there are people that love full service and this is a way to cross
over and sometimes the same person loves them both, depending on their day. Exactly. So, I think it allows you to become loyal and become a regular at a restaurant, depending on, you know, what you need and what you want that particular day.
And then some of these places that are fast casual have a, you know, incorporate a QR code somehow. Some way some of them are at the table, some of them are at the, you walk in and you scan the QR code for the menu. You're, you're making a face over there. So get me
started on QR Code. I hate them. I hate them so much. Let me back up. I recognize that there are some positives to them. I recognize the sustainability issue of not having to print menus. I recognize, you know, you don't want somebody's funk on your hands when you're picking up a menu. You know, it just seems a little more sanitary or are kind of post
COVID or yeah, it was, it was a COVID reaction and it was a good one.
The thing I don't like about them is when you scan a QR code, you are holding your device in your hand, your eyes are downcast and you are interacting with your device. You're not interacting with the person. I think that's a great point across from you. So I feel like it really takes that communal aspect out of dining. I find them very hard. You know, I'm not looking at my server, I'm not
looking at my dining companion. I'm looking at my phone and maybe I'm even talking to them while I'm doing it. But I just feel like such a phone zombie when I'm doing it and it, it drives me crazy and especially when you're talking about wanting. What appetizer are we gonna have? What are you doing for your first course? You're not looking someone in the eye. It takes that human connection out. I
totally agree in, in, in, in a similar vein. Uh I've noticed this, you know, we go to websites to look for the menu. It's this, it's what everybody judges AAA restaurant on us. Show me the menu. What do you, what do you got to offer? And instead of seeing a, you know, verbiage menu, you see, scan this QR code for the menu. So you're looking at your laptop and now you have to get out a phone to check out the menu and I go, you know what? This is too much. I, I don't
think we're, we're, we're there yet. We have not arrived at that doomed doorstep. I think when you just have to, when you don't have to print a menu on a, on a website anymore. I think it's, I think it's wrong. So, and, and this kind of dovetails with the whole kiosk thing as far as self service and, and doing everything yourself. And, uh, are you a kiosk fan? When you walk into your favorite Taco Bell? Do you, do you go to the kiosk
or? I hate them. I hate Kias too. But again, I'm a human connection. I do, I'm coming down hard on him, but I'm a human connection person. I like that hospitality. I like that interaction. Maybe I have a question about something and I always feel like those things are great until they're not great, which is about probably 65% of the time
when they break down. And I don't know what my password is and this, that and the other and then I just sound like a, you know, grumpy old person waving my fist in the
air. And I thought it was interesting. I think it was at a Taco Bell. I walk in and you go to Taco Bell. I feel like this is a segment. And uh, so I walk in and the counter person is also the cook and he yells out from the kitchen station, go ahead and use the kiosk and I'll take care of your order. And I thought, isn't that interesting? You know, there isn't a counter person at all anymore. So that again, we're, we're seeing a little change there. So
I'm going to admit my Taco Bell habit to you in the context of, I want crunchwrap,
crunchwrap Supreme. I can't even say it, but I love it. I'm a
classic crunchy taco kind of gal. Crunchy Taco Supreme. Um, the, uh, I tried to go through the drive through and they wouldn't let me place my order at the drive through. I had to actually order on an app to then pick up through the drive through. I
thought, I think it's getting, I think it's getting a little too complicated, but I did see something I liked at the new shake shack out in de pair, you walk in and there's all kinds of, there's this, this bank of, of little, uh, kiosk machines and everybody's using them, but if you don't want to use them and there's a guy there that says, please use this kiosk. But if you want to go up to this counter, I can help you up there. And he's very gracious with an
open hand. So again, this kind of hybrid model, we, we want you to use the kiosk, but we're not going to force you to use the kiosk. I like options. I think that's a, I think that's a good thing. OK. So you've like been, been getting down today, getting down and dirty and I, I have a, a trend to die for 2024. And there's gonna be people that are gonna take me to task for this. But I, I'm really tired of these giant eight inch tall sandwiches and I know about the Instagram
ability and the appeal of them. They look great, but let's face it. There's no way to negotiate it. There's no way to eat it. I don't even know how you cut the thing in half. My contention is make them wider and not taller. I'd be fine with that. Just make it so that we can negotiate it.
So we don't have to unhinge our jaw like a python. So
like you don't need a signal beacon on the top of the thing. So anyway, that's my, that's my trend to die for 2024. Ok. So this week's micro rant, it's freezing cold out there today. We've all gone to restaurants that are entirely too cold in the winter. And I know you, we talked about this earlier. There's something that restaurants can do pretty easily that they don't do. And it drives me crazy why they don't do it.
There is. And I actually, I think this is fresh in my mind because I just had this happen to me at an unnamed but very tasty restaurant that I went to last week where it's a small spot and the door opens and you get this Arctic blast no matter where you are sitting in the place. And the thing that that I find interesting is there is a simple solution for it. You don't have
to build a breezeway. We're not saying to do that. Although
that would be nice, it would be nice. But I've actually seen places do something as simple as they take a rounded curtain rod, shower curtain rod, something of that sort. Yeah, a half hoop, a half hoop and hang a curtain from it. It kind of gives you a little bit of a, a door space buffer. But even having that fabric there, like really thick, like velvet fabric, for instance, first of all, it looks nice and dramatic and secondly, it really makes a world of
difference and I, you know, it can't be that expensive. The payback has to be instantaneous and let's face it when you walk through that curtain, it's like you've kind of got a big reveal. I think there's some value in that
too. There's the drama of
it. It's so, so restaurant owners think about that. You know, we, we're tired of stamping our feet in the winter time and it's really an easy problem to
solve. I bet you could solve that problem for 20 bucks.
Where are you getting your velvet?
Right. Amazon. Don't tell
anyone. And on that chilling note, this brings this episode of our cheats to a close. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time. There are links in the show notes to all the places we talked about. Today, we encourage you to follow arch cheats and share us with your friends. And remember that we put out a new episode every other week. You can also subscribe to our newsletters at STL mag slash newsletters or follow us on Instagram at Saint Louis mag or follow me at George Mahe.