An eagle-eyed reader tipped us off to the fact that Nosh, a small bistro located at 7322 Manchester Road in downtown Maplewood, closed this past weekend. Chef-owner Paula Anderson opened the restaurant in July of last year, fashioning a thoughtful, seasonal menu around locally grown, free-range, grass-fed and organic ingredients. Anderson was unavailable for comment, but according to Rachelle L’Ecuyer, director of community development for the City of Maplewood, the closure at least partially due to family circumstances that made Anderson unable to attend to the daily operations at Nosh.
“I was addicted to those portabella wraps,” lamented L’Ecuyer, who added that Cassandra Vires, the former executive chef at Ernesto’s Wine Bar in Benton Park and a 2011 nominee for a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award, will be taking over the space along with her husband Joshua Renbarger; a press release sent late yesterday confirmed the news. The restaurant, Home Wine Kitchen, will serve “elevated comfort food.” Renbarger, who currently works with wine importer and wholesaler Ionia Atlantic, will serve as GM for Home Wine Kitchen.
Renbarger told The Scoop that he and Vires had been working on the concept for Home Wine Kitchen since moving to St. Louis in May of 2006. The couple had been looking for another space in Maplewood when the Nosh space suddenly became available. “It was time. Cassy’s goal has always been to open a restaurant by the time she’s 30.” Home Wine Kitchen will offer lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. Look for a June opening.
This article appears in April 2011.