Fresh off chef-owner Loryn Nalic’s historic win for Best Chef: Midwest at Monday’s James Beard Awards, the team behind Balkan Treat Box is giving St. Louis diners another reason to celebrate.
Balkan Treat Box and its sister restaurant, Telva at the Ridge, have launched new cocktail programs rooted in the flavors and traditions of the Balkans, expanding the beverage offerings at both restaurants while staying true to the culinary ethos that has made Nalic a nationally recognized name.
To bring the programs to life, Balkan Treat Box tapped industry veteran Corey Moszer, formerly of Press and The Lucky Accomplice, to oversee its beverage program and front-of-house operations. At Telva, Mikael Hegerstroem, previously of Louie and Elmwood, now leads the restaurant’s cocktail program. Both collaborated closely with Nalic to develop menus inspired by Balkan ingredients and drinking culture.
“We don’t put things on the menu just to have them. Everything we do has to reflect the flavor and history of the Balkans,” Nalic said in a statement. “Corey and Mikael have been working on these menus for months. I’m so happy with the results, and I think they do a really great job of showing people here another aspect of the Balkan dining culture.”
At Balkan Treat Box, the cocktail list mirrors the restaurant’s tightly curated food menu: concise, focused and built around ingredients with deep roots in the region.
The Old-Fashioned combines bourbon and rakija, the fruit brandy distilled throughout the Balkans for centuries, with sour cherry, black pepper and bitters. The Spritz incorporates tequila, apricot, cardamom, prosecco and agda, the restaurant’s house-made syrup flavored with vanilla, rose, cinnamon and orange.
The Balkan Cocktail, available in both alcoholic and nonalcoholic versions, features vodka, pomegranate, orange, lime, sumac and saline. Meanwhile, the Sutlija Sipper nods to one of the restaurant’s signature desserts with toasted rice-infused aged rum, pistachio, lemon and rose water clarified with sutlija.
Moszer said working with unfamiliar Balkan ingredients presented a creative challenge.
“The Balkans have this incredible pantry, rakija, mastika, sumac, agda, that most people haven’t had in a cocktail. Myself included,” he said. “I loved the challenge of taking these ingredients and figuring out how to show them off in a drink while also reflecting Loryn’s food.”
The beverage program has also been a collaborative effort internally. BTB team member Dylan Lawrence helped develop the cocktail menu and oversaw much of the restaurant’s wine selection. He is currently developing a dirty martini inspired by kupus and fefferoni brine.
At Telva, cocktails are organized by mood rather than spirit. The menu includes drinks like the Telva Spritz with apricot rakija, white grape and limonata, as well as the Greenhouse Gossip, which combines gin, mastika, cucumber, basil and black pepper. Richer offerings include the Fortune Toddy, made with apple brandy, chamomile-saffron tea and burnt honey, and the savory Bloody Baba with vodka, roasted red pepper, dill and smoked salt.
“The inspiration comes from Balkan and former Yugoslav flavors, especially the ones that show up in Loryn food: coffee, fruit, herbs, spices,” Hegerstroem said. “I’m not trying to translate those flavors into cocktails in a literal way. It’s more like letting them sit underneath the drinks so they feel connected to the rest of the menu.”
Alongside the cocktail launches, both restaurants have introduced wine programs highlighting the Balkans and neighboring wine regions. Balkan Treat Box’s list features producers from Slovenia, Austria and Italy, while Telva’s concise selection includes wines from Hungary’s Tokaj region and Italy’s Emilia-Romagna. Both programs are expected to continue expanding, with a growing emphasis on producers from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia.
