For some St. Louisans, The Grill at The Ritz-Carlton has historically been a “special occasion” place to eat. Others think of it as an off-limits high-society hotel restaurant. But as the Clayton hotel gets set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this month, executive chef Michael Mandato is poised to shake up those notions. Mandato, who holds 25 years of culinary experience working at restaurants, luxe hotels and resorts, recently signed on with Andy Ayers of Eat Here St. Louis to supply the hotel’s kitchens with farm-fresh products, which means diners will be seeing loads of locally grown foods on a special weekly menu. What’s more, menu prices have been lowered, and even those in jeans are welcome – “as long as they aren’t torn,” chuckled Mandato.
Prior to coming to The Ritz-Carlton in 2006, you were working at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in the Canadian Rockies. What led you to St. Louis?
I wanted to get back to a city. You need to go and actually touch food, and taste food and experience other restaurants. I missed that element, because my career was restaurants before hotels. I wanted to get back and see what everyone was cooking.
What do you like about working in a hotel restaurant?
With hotels, I think we’re able to do more; we have more support. We have the resources to go to [national suppliers], do team building and things like that. If we need to go experience something, … we’ll go. … In the restaurant, you can’t divvy up your time as easily.
Tell me about the changes you’re making at The Grill.
We structured our menu so we are competitive with other restaurants in Clayton and we’re really giving ourselves an identity.
What do you think that identity is?
Typically we consider ourselves steak and seafood, but we’re really not a steakhouse. I’d like to consider us a real St. Louis restaurant. We are looking at the menu now and putting on things that are regional. And that’s why we are going to incorporate the from-the-farm menu as well.
What other changes are in the works?
We’ve looked at what some of the other restaurants are offering. The steakhouses are going to offer the big steaks, so we’re going to let the steakhouses do their steakhouse [thing]. … We have a great tenderloin, but it’s not a 10-ounce tenderloin. It’s going to be a 6-ounce tenderloin, great preparation and in a price range that is reasonable.
We’ve got to shrug the stigma of being a big stuffy room. We want it to be a fun room. We want people to enjoy what we’re making and have a good time. I think the thing that really puts us in a spot where we can take advantage of what the hotel has to offer is that you can have your dinner, you can move into the lobby. Friday and Saturday night there’s live music. There’s a pretty fun crowd here. They are coming in jeans. They are not suit and tie, and that was associated with The Grill for a while. We’re not like that anymore.
The Grill has added what you might call “street-inspired” dishes. For example, you’ve got a take on a slider and even deep-fried Oreo cookies among the dessert selections. How does street food fit into the way that you are reinventing the menu at The Grill?
I think it’s more a regional thing – food that people can associate with. And the farmer’s menu is really ingredients that people can relate to. A lot of the guests are local, and when they see something that is from their area of Missouri or Illinois, there’s a sense of pride. … They say, “Oh, I want to try that. This is something that is homegrown.” There’s a sense of ownership there. From that perspective, you connect with guests.
What are some other things you envision on the farmer’s menu?
I see a lot more of the prepared products – chutneys and preserves. We get goat cheese from Newark, Mo. Eggs. Produce will obviously be big. We had a chance to try some Missouri pecans from Brunswick; they are fantastic. They are not bitter, they’re not dry – the oil content is a lot sweeter. You can easily incorporate those things into the menu.
Will we see this locally and regionally sourced food only at The Grill, or will it expand to other areas of the hotel’s food operations?
We’re starting off with just that menu, and then we’ll eventually incorporate it into the lobby and in-room dining.
As a chef who’s cooked in other cities, what have you noticed about St. Louis diners?
I’m surprised [by] how much fish we sell. I figured beef would move, and pork, but we sell trout, Atlantic fishes. We sell almost 50-50 fish-to-meat. That’s what I like about St. Louis. We can put almost anything on the menu, and they are open to it.
What’s your take on St. Louis’ dining scene right now compared to what’s happening in other cities?
In St. Louis, there are a lot of talented chefs … [who] cook with a lot of passion. And they are not afraid to experiment. I think they keep things a lot simpler and they are cooking with flavor. It’s not always about going to the extent of the decoration and detailing the plate to the point that they are handling the food too much, because you see that in the big cities. I think people here are really concentrating on the flavors.
The Grill at The Ritz-Carlton
100 Carondelet Plaza,
Clayton 314.863.6300
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2010.