Ben Poremba opens AO&Co. at Contemporary Art Museum in Grand Center

Ben Poremba’s Bengelina Hospitality Group opened a second location of AO&Co. at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) at 3750 Washington Blvd. in Grand Center in early March. The new AO&Co. serves coffees from Quarrelsome Coffee, loose leaf teas from Firepot Tea, and a menu of salads and sandwiches featuring items from Poremba’s other restaurants, including Olio and Deli Divine.

Poremba said the idea to bring AO&Co. to CAM came about partly thanks to his business partners’ long-term involvement with the museum. “There was always a synergy between us and the museum with visiting artists and that sort of thing, we've always encouraged creatives to come to Olio and Elaia and all of our other spots,” he said. “We've always kind of joked around about we should be doing this we should put a little cafe in there, it just took some time to realize what we want to do there.”

Given the museum setting, it’s not surprising that this AO&Co. is strictly a cafe. The original AO&Co., which opened in Botanical Heights in 2019, features a market selling a variety of fine foods, drinks and cigars in addition to its cafe service. At CAM, AO&Co. has taken over the museum’s former cafe space and made some limited cosmetic adjustments. “We wanted to bring a little pop of color, we’ve changed all the furniture, we brought in some new equipment, we rearranged the counter and cut the height of it, we changed the top of it,” Poremba said.

 

The coffee program at the CAM location includes drip coffee and espresso drinks, as well as three pour-over coffee options featuring Guatemalan, Honduran and Costa Rican beans from Quarrelsome Coffee. The drink menu also includes canned cold brew from Sump Coffee, as well as a range of loose leaf teas from Firepot Tea, sister brand to Kaldi’s Coffee.

Poremba said he’s been impressed by Quarrelsome’s innovative use of anaerobic fermentation techniques in processing its coffee beans, and he’s keen to showcase the Central West End-based roastery’s coffees at CAM. “We feel like they are a great partner for that space, just because of the quality of their coffee and the cutting edge stuff that they do,” he said. “I love the coffee shop, I love their stuff, I like the people, but beyond that I'm just interested in what they're doing ... That's the stuff that excites me about this industry, being a veteran and being at it for 25 years opening and closing restaurants, and I'm still learning and I'm still getting excited about things that are happening around us.”

AO&Co. is open when the museum is open, but food service ends at 3 p.m. For the food menu, Poremba draws on a number of items that have proven their worth elsewhere. “We thought about light breakfast fare and light lunch fare that includes some things from both AO&Co. and some favorites from our company,” he said. The breakfast menu includes yogurt parfait, a couple of egg-based breakfast sandwiches, Deli Divine bagels served either with schmear or lox, and a selection of pastries: a smoked cheddar scone, croissants, blueberry muffins, and chocolate and sea salt cookies.

Lunch is available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes a number of items inspired by or borrowed from Poremba’s other restaurants, such as the egg salad tartine, bruschetta, and hummus King of Kings, all from Olio. There are easily shareable appetizers like the caponata or burrata plates, served with baguette, and there are salads: choose between the little gem, wedge, and tomato cucumber. Several sandwiches finish off the menu, including a prosciutto, fig and brie sandwich, ham and gruyere, tomato mozzarella, and Vito the Mooch (mortadella, sopressa and mozzarella on foccacia).

AO&Co. is open during CAM’s opening hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.