Scape American Bistro‘s Eric Kelly has left the Central West End restaurant. After six years as chef and partner at Scape, Kelly is moving to Seattle to work for multi-concept dining operation Restaurants Unlimited. His last day in the Scape kitchens was April 10.
“I’m stepping away from the kitchen and going into operations,” said Kelly, who will join the company’s corporate office. Restaurants Unlimited manages nearly 50 restaurants, primarily located in California, Oregon and Washington. Kelly said the opportunity appeared just two weeks ago when the president of Restaurants Unlimited approached him. The two had previously worked together as employees of Levy Restaurants.
Scape began as a venture between Kelly, Ted Kolpar and his son, Sam Koplar, both of Kolpar Properties. The Koplars purchased Kelly’s share in the business. “It was a very, very difficult decision,” he said. “My experience at Scape, the relationships I built with hundreds and hundreds of great people from St. Louis – it is a difficult separation.” Kelly departs for Seattle May 1.
Taking the helm in Scape’s kitchen is Joe Everett, who transitioned from his role as Scape’s executive sous chef. “Joe is an amazingly talented chef,” Kelly said. “Culinarily, he’s more talented than I am. He’s going to take Scape to another level.”
Everett’s experience includes 10 years working for Levy Restaurants at venues in Florida like Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa before joining the team at Scape last year.
“He was ready for the task,” Ted Koplar said of his new executive chef. “We couldn’t be happier with the way the restaurant is right now. We have exciting plans for summer. We’re opening the courtyard soon. The team that is in place that people are used to is still there and doing a great job.”
-photo by Wesley Law
This article appears in April 2014.