The 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards gala was held this evening. Gerard Craft, chef-owner of Niche, Pastaria, Brasserie and Taste, was in the running for the title of Best Chef: Midwest; however, the four-time finalist did not win this year. The honor went instead to Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City, Mo.

Craft (pictured at right) won’t return to St. Louis with a James Beard award in hand, yet he can come home satisfied at having given NYC a great taste of St. Louis. On Thursday, he and Sidney Street Cafe chef-owner Kevin Nashan, who was named a semi-finalist for a Beard Award in the same category as Craft this year, hosted a Spirit of St. Louis dinner at City Grit. City Grit is a culinary salon that serves as a space for chefs from around the world to showcase their culinary talents. Craft and Nashan teamed up to prepare a six-course tasting menu that highlighted modern Midwest cuisine. They also presented guests with goodie bags containing foodstuffs from local artisan purveyors Pint Size Bakery & Coffee, Salume Beddu, Sump Coffee and YellowTree Farm. 

See all our coverage of Gerard Craft here, and read Michael Renner’s New and Notable review of Niche, published in the May issue of Sauce, here.

— photo by Carmen Troesser

Visitors to the Moonrise Hotel in The Loop will soon be able to choose between two dining destinations perched eight stories above Eclipse Restaurant at 6177 Delmar Blvd.

Situated on the east wing of the hotel, the new addition, called the New Moon Room, will house 2,100 square feet of lounge space that will open to the public on Wednesday, May 8. The space will also be available for private parties of up to 175 guests.

According to hotel owner Joe Edwards, the menu, which will focus on small plates created by executive chef Isaac Hardwict, is in the final stages of development. It will be distinct from the menu Hardwict offers downstairs at Eclipse. Edwards also noted that rooftop patrons will be able to move freely between the New Moon Room and the hotel’s other sky-high space, the Rooftop Terrace Bar.

The New Moon Room is more than just a rooftop hangout, however. It is the first restaurant roof in the U.S. made entirely of solar panels, according to a press release issued by St. Louis-based Microgrid Solar, the company that installed the panel canopy roof. “Unlike traditional solar modules, the glass panels that form the roof are frameless, translucent modules that take the place of a traditional roof, and which allow sunlight – and moonlight – to peek through,” said Microgrid Solar founder and CEO Rick Hunter.

The New Moon Room is water-tight and will be heated and cooled so that it can be enjoyed year-round. The new 25.6-kilowatt solar array is expected to produce approximately 33,000 kWh of electricity annually, enough to power the entire rooftop dining area and bar. This is the second solar application atop the Moonrise Hotel, as a 4kW solar awning was installed on the hotel’s original rooftop bar in 2011.

Nathaniel Reid, a native of Farmington, Mo., and an award-winning pastry chef, has been named the new executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis and will be overseeing pastry operations for the luxury hotel in Clayton. Reid replaces Simone Faure, who left the position at The Ritz last fall to open her French patisserie, Chouquette.

Reid graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris with a Grand Diploma in Culinary and Pastry Arts. He’s also a graduate of the University of Missouri–Columbia. Prior to joining The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis, he served as pastry chef for Norman Love Confections in Fort Meyers, Fla. His resume also includes time working as the executive pastry chef at St. Regis Monarch Beach, a Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond resort in Dana Point, Calif.; a pastry position at Joël Robuchon Restaurant at The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas; and a pastry position at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel (now called Ravella) in Las Vegas.

Reid was named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America by Dessert Professional magazine last year, and, in 2010, he was named Pastry Chef of The Year at the U.S. Pastry Competition in New York. He also served as a judge for the highly regarded competition in 2011 and 2012. In 2009, he placed first in the best chocolate/confection category at the Golden Scoop Awards. That same year, he helped Team USA take home third place at the International Patissier Grand Prix in Tokyo.

Robert Zugmaier, pastry chef at Sidney Street Cafe, is in the running for Food & Wine magazine’s The People’s Best New Pastry Chef in the Central Region category. Zugmaier, a member of the Sauce Ones to Watch class of 2013, is up against 16 other pastry chefs in the region.

Go here to submit your vote and bring this sweet award to St. Louis. Voting begins today and runs through April 8.

— Photo by Carmen Troesser

After nearly a foot of snow kept us cooking soups and braises far after the official turn of the season, today’s gorgeous weather makes us want to climb up to the sunny rooftop and scream: Spring is here! Spring is here! As we get ready to reveal our new issue, we take a look back at some of our favorite stories, recipes, dishes and drinks from March. You know what they say: Fall back, spring forward.

Coffee connoisseur Mike Marquard led The Scoop with news of his new coffee shop; we paid our respect to the grande dame of the kitchen: cast iron; Meatless Monday columnist Beth Styles gave spring a warm welcome with a veggie-lovers pizza; art director Meera Nagarajan shared her love for everything Home Made; we went green for St. Patty’s; New and Notable reviewer Michael Renner visited Ben Poremba’s new restaurants, Elaia and Olio; Vegetize It columnist Kellie Hynes took the schmaltz out of matzo ball soup; we reveled in Cary McDowell’s recipe for cast-iron sea scallops; we got to meet one of our favorite Top Chefs; we proved that great salads need no lettuce; we had breakfast for dinner; Gerard Craft got another nod from James Beard; we made pot pie in less than an hour; we chatted with the guy behind the guys (and girls) in STL’s restaurant kitchens; we peeked into a new deli downtown; we offered a darker take on canapes; we gave rotisserie chicken the respect it deserves; we made shakshuka at 2 a.m.; and managing editor Stacy Schultz embraced her inner sweet tooth with a 1-dollar wonder.

Ever since Perennial Artisan Ales entered the local scene in fall 2011, its head brewmaster, Cory King, has become, well, a perennial favorite. One of his latest beers, Abraxas, recently garnered 100 points from Beer Advocate, which left beer enthusiasts wondering what was next up his malty sleeve. King, who is also Sauce’s beer columnist, divulged his next move yesterday on a StewedSTL podcast: He is starting his own brewery.

To be specific, King will be opening a gypsy brewery. That is, he is leasing Perennial’s system and space on the weekends to brew his own beer. “I buy the malt, barrels – everything,” said King. “I just rent the brewhouse.”

The unofficial name for King’s new enterprise is Side Project Brewing. King cautioned, however, that the name “might be trademarked” and that a lawyer will “look over everything” before marketing materials or product are made available.

While the legal team does its thing, King has already begun brewing. “Everything is barrel-aged in oak,” he said of his brewing concept, noting that all of the casks are spent, some having held chardonnay, others Chamboursin, still others Rittenhouse rye. “I see my first release probably in the next six months, but last week, I filled 18 oak barrels. Those might not be ready for over a year.” King explained that he is able to start brewing because he is using Perennial licensing.

As for distribution, King expects his small-batch brews to be sold at the Perennial tasting room. If Perennial were to become licensed as a winery – which is a possibility – then he could self-distribute Side Project’s beers, since breweries can’t self-distribute, but wineries can. He also noted that being licensed as a winery would give him and Perennial co-owner Phil Wymore the ability to make cider and mead.

What was the impetus behind starting Side Project? Figuring out a win-win situation for himself and for Perennial. King explained that Wymore took him aside recently and asked, “When are you leaving me?” King explained that his gypsy status was “a good way for me to stay on at Perennial and I get to do my own thing on the side.” We’ll consider that a win-win for St. Louis.

The Good Pie is moving. The Neopolitan pizzeria will be relocating to 6665 Delmar Blvd., in The Loop, said owner Mike Randolph, who called The Scoop today to inform us that he had just signed the lease on the property in U. City.

The Good Pie’s future home, which is currently occupied by Ginger Bistro, will be partitioned, with The Good Pie taking the 2,000 square foot on the western side of the building’s first floor. Randolph noted that the additional 600 square feet of space compared to The Good Pie’s current location at 3137 Olive St., in Midtown, will not only mean a larger kitchen for his pizza crew (who will get to enjoy a new oven handcrafted in Naples) but also an extended bar for patrons.

Randolph explained that he decided to move the popular pizzeria to The Loop because of the “younger demographic” that frequent The Loop, including students from nearby Washington University, and that the move also places the restaurant closer to West County and the central corridor. Of course, it’s also closer to Half & Half and Little Country Gentleman, Randolph’s double-restaurant concept at 8135 Maryland Ave., in Clayton.

Randolph hopes to have doors open at The Good Pie’s new location by early summer.

— Photo by Carmen Troesser

UPDATE 1.8.13: Co-owner Nick Luedde expects to sign a lease for The Libertine within the next few days at 7927 Forsyth Blvd., in Clayton. This is the former home of Chez Leon, Leon Bierbaum’s upscale French restaurant that closed in May of last year. Luedde noted that, although the contract has yet to be signed, the terms still being negotiated are “all minor stuff.” St. Louis Magazine’s George Mahe broke the news of the location, which Luedde has now confirmed to The Scoop.

Ever since Monarch restaurant closed in March of last year, St. Louisans have been waiting for news on what its executive chef, Josh Galliano, would do next. The wait is over. Galliano is teaming up with restaurateurs Nick and Audra Luedde to open The Libertine this spring. An announcement regarding the restaurant’s location is expected in the coming weeks, though Galliano did tell The Scoop that it will be in Missouri, not Illinois.

According to a press release, The Libertine will be a “reminagined neighborhood eatery” that combines the “warmth and easy one finds in their favorite local ‘everyday’ eatery.” It went on to say that it will “defy convention with fresh and creative cuisine, exemplary drink and impeccable service, all provided in a space that is fun, comfortable, but also stylish and perhaps, even a little bit sexy.”

The culinary focus will be to offer the “nuance and flavor” of top-tier restaurants but “without the pretension or the hefty price tag.” The menu, comprised entirely of shared plates, will be divided into the three categories: vegetables, meat and seafood. Galliano will prepare numerous items in-house, including bread, cheese, charcuterie and desserts. Initially, the restaurant will only offer dinner service; lunch service is anticipated later in the year.

The beverage program, under Nick Luedde’s direction, will include “modernized parlor cocktails” prepared using fresh and house-made ingredients, as well a diverse assortment of eclectic, value-driven wines and a selection of small-production craft beer. Nick Luedde, a St. Louis native, and his wife, Audra Luedde, have extensive experience in the beverage world. He is a sommelier and mixologist with 15 years of experience, including time working at restaurants and nightclubs in New York and Chicago, and has been recognized as Chicago’s Best Sommelier and Best Mixologist-Midwest. He also received The Wine Spectator’s Grand Award of Excellence.

According to the release, the design of The Libertine will be inspired by “the pared down styles of the early 19th century English Georgian and French Directory. The English club and the French salon were the beginning of the modern venue for socializing and drinking. The project will not only use stylistic cues from these precedents but, more importantly, will use spatial references: exposed brick, glass, metal, industrial accents and clear hand-blown glass along with rich accented lighting to create places of intimacy conducive to the art of conversation.”

Since Monarch shuttered, Galliano has kept busy. He launched a couple of one-day-only pop-up restaurants in August and September, and he recently signed on to design the menu for MX Movies, the new dine-in movie theater slated to open in the Mercantile Exchange downtown.  We’ll have more on The Libertine, including location details, as we learn them.

Dr. John Witte, brewmaster at Square One Brewery and Distillery, is hoping to open a brewery of his own next year. If all goes according to plan, Shaw Garden Brewery will open doors in spring 2014 at 4066 Russell Blvd., in the Shaw neighborhood, as first reported by Evan Benn of the Post-Dispatch.

But, as Witte noted in a conversation with The Scoop today, many factors have to fall in place before Shaw Garden Brewery becomes a reality. Witte is currently working on arranging financing to purchase the property, which is owned by the city of St. Louis. “I haven’t submitted the request for proposal because I am still working on the financing,” he said. “Once the proposal goes in, I go before the Shaw neighborhood. I’ve opened a lot of breweries, but I’ve never had to do this end of it,” explained Witte, who was the first brewmaster for Trailhead Brewing Co., when it opened in St. Charles in the mid-1990s. He has also consulted for breweries.

A post yesterday on the brewery’s Facebook page reiterated that Witte’s project was still in its infancy: “As of today we have the support of many of the people we’ll need to make this happen. We do not yet have the full proposal submitted, or approved. We have equipment estimates and a pretty good idea of rehab costs. All the financing is not complete and we must have that to complete the proposal for the city to be able to approve the project.”

Witte’s concept for Shaw Garden Brewery is a brewpub similar to his current place of employment. “We want to be for Shaw what Square One continues to be for Lafayette Square,” he explained. The 3,000-square-foot space would offer dining and bar seating for about 70 and “a really nice beer garden outside,” he added. Like brewing operations at Square One, Shaw Garden’s beers would be available only on tap, on-premise. John Stuhlman, former executive chef at Eclipse who has since spent a short stint in the kitchen at Sauce on the Side, is currently developing the “upscale pub food” menu and the kitchen layout, said Witte. “If there’s an opportunity for John to be part of that and the running of the operation, I would love that but I’d defer it to John. It would be his decision.”

Witte expects financing to take approximately six months, followed by another eight months for a build-out before Shaw Garden Brewery could open. “We’re talking March at the earliest,” he said.

Windowsills Cafe & Market is readying to open in Ellisville at 1326 Clarkson Clayton Center, next to Dierberg’s. The counter-service cafe will feature smoked foods, house-made sides, pies and Belgian waffles, while the marketplace will carry locally prepared sauces and jams and other specialty food items. The cafe-market, which The Scoop reported on last August, is the newest project by Jeff Allee, owner of Wildwood Pub & Grill. An employee at the pub stated that Windowsills is expected to open sometime this week.

The Press Box in Chesterfield is being reconceptualized as Scarecrow. Besides a new name, the space at 1095 Chesterfield Parkway will see a facelift and a new menu that will transform it from sports bar to upscale-casual restaurant by mid-January, as reported by Feast.

In addition, Chicago-based Prasino is opening a location in St. Charles. Prasino, which is the Greek word for “green,” is built on a concept of sustainability – from the locally sourced ingredients for the food (pictured) to the eco-friendly processes put in place in the kitchen. The restaurant will be located at 1520 S. Fifth St., with an anticipated opening of March, reports Feast.

Finally, while the calendar just flipped to 2013, diners thinking ahead to next year can look forward to the arrival of Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Town and Country. Cooper’s Hawk will be located at 1000-1272 Town and Country Crossing Drive at the intersection of Clayton and Woods Mill Roads, as reported by Evan Binns of the St. Louis Business Journal and the Post-Dispatch’s Evan Benn. The Cooper’s Hawk concept includes an upscale casual dining restaurant, full-service bar, private barrel-aging room, and Napa-style tasting room and retail gift store. The restaurant chain currently has 11 locations spread across five states, with expansion plans for four additional locations, including the St. Louis site.