The Clandestine Chef, originator of Entre:underground dinners in St. Louis, has revealed to Sauce that his heretofore secretive operation will now become at least partway above ground. Chef John (revealing his full name would spoil all the fun) has formed a catering company, Events by Entre, and has moved into the space formerly occupied by Revival at 3800 Chouteau Ave., which he is renting from Catering St. Louis.
What does that mean for chef John’s popular Entre supper series? “As far as the underground goes, we’re going to continue running it the way we always ran it. Technically speaking, I guess it’s not an underground restaurant in that sense. But there’s still the surprise reveal about the location and the menu,” said the chef.
In addition to the monthly underground, the Clandestine Chef will continue to strut his stuff at Entre Upstairs, a dining affair held four times a year at Maryland House in the Central West End. Typically, Entre Upstairs is an 11- or 12-course, nose-to-tail eating extravaganza.
While the new kitchen primarily enables the Clandestine Chef to do event prep somewhere other than “in my house with a pathetic stove and overstuffed fridge,” he does plan to begin a Wednesday evening food and wine pairing at the Midtown venue. That may begin as early as June.
Lastly, John hopes to have a food truck by the end of this summer for catering and events. “We have access to some sweet locations. The truck would enable us to roll up someplace and do dinner right out of the truck.”
– Ligaya Figueras
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2010.