Meet St. Louis

This episode is about beer and science. It’s been more than a decade since Derrick Langeneckert graduated with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, and he eventually took that knowledge not to a hospital but instead to a brewery. He got experience working at Square One Brewery before deciding to venture out on his own and start his brewery. Alpha Brewing was born in the spring of 2013....

Two Men and a Garden, a locally made salsa and pickle brand, started just as the name implies, with two guys who loved to garden and had an overabundance of produce. As the start of the farmer’s market and the gardening season gets into full swing, we wanted to know the backstory of one of St. Louis’ favorite salsa companies. So we headed down to High Ridge to talk with owners Joel Austin and Bret...

For three decades, Cheryl’s Herbs in Maplewood has brought a holistic approach to business. Started in 1991 by Cheryl Hoard, the shop sells essential oils, herbs, tinctures and more. It was a store Tiffany Jones fell in love with when she moved to St. Louis. So when Tiffany heard it might close after the owner's death, she decided to step in. We sat down with Tiffany to talk about growing the whol...

This week is episode 228 of the Meet St. Louis podcast. For nearly five years, we’ve brought you episodes showcasing the best of our city and region. A city with a food and drink scene that continues to grow. All the way back in episode 3, we took you inside Vicia, the vegetable-forward restaurant in the Central West, garnering national attention. That attention hasn’t changed. The restaurant cont...

Angela Ortmann, aka St. Louis Wine Girl, has been at the forefront of the hospitality world in St. Louis since 2009. She wears a lot of hats in her job, from consulting for area restaurants to hosting tastings, dinners and classics, to social media and writing; she does it all. And does it while championing our ever-expanding food world. It started with a blog and evolved into a career, and she ta...

Juwan Rice is a chef. But his resume holds a lot of titles. Entrepreneur, food stylist, consultant, project manager and now a restaurant owner. Oh, and by the way, he’s just 21 years old. The young entrepreneur started early; at just 14, he started his own catering company, JR Gourmet. It started with friends and family but quickly grew, and he hasn’t stopped working since then. He worked at Bait,...

Grandma’s Cookies has a long history in the City of St. Charles. The quaint brick building dates back to the 1800s, and when Charlotte Thompson purchased it in the 1970s, people thought she was crazy. But the mother and grandmother saw potential, and more than 40 years later Theresa Rubio is keeping the family business alive and thriving. We sat down with Theresa to talk about the perfect cookie,...

One of St. Louis’ hottest new restaurants is in a nondescript strip mall off Hampton. The space is small, with just 24 seats, so you’ll often find a line outside. But the service moves quickly at Steven Pursely’s ramen shop. The compact restaurant is reminiscent of Japan, where Steven grew up and eventually returned after college to study ramen. Steven shares his journey and the role his family pl...

Jeff and Heather Hardesty opened Narrow Gauge Brewery inside Cugino’s in Florissant back in 2016. A longtime home brewer Jeff knew what he wanted to brew – a style of beer that wasn’t readily available in St. Louis. What he didn’t know was how the beer community would react. The reaction was excitement and lines out the door. Seven years later, the North County brewery has long outgrown their base...

Amy and Phil Le grew up in their mother’s restaurant business. They spent their childhood and school years in their mom’s Chinese restaurants, and while both took other paths in college and after, they both found their way back to the kitchen. Amy started Saucy Porka in Chicago, first as a food truck and then as a brick and mortar. But the call back home to St. Louis was strong and the pandemic br...

Chef Dave Owens knows chocolates. He was the chief chocolatier and vice president of Bissengers for years before making a major pivot and joining Proper Cannabis. He saw the opportunity to make hand-crafted chocolates and candies with Honeybee Edibles as medical marijuana took off in Missouri. Now that recreational marijuana is legalized, the possibilities for growth are huge. We sat down with Dav...

For more than a century, St. Lousians have flocked to South Grand for handmade and hand-dipped chocolates and candies at Merb’s Candies. The neon site beckons customers into the corner store, where they’re greeted with the sweet smell of chocolate. In the back, employees handcraft chocolates on equipment that’s been around for decades, some of it older than Taylor Bearden herself. Taylor and her s...

Chef Jodie Ferguson has early food memories thanks to her grandmother but she didn’t have plans to go into the hospitality business. That changed in college, and she ended up down the path of the hotel and fine dining. It wasn’t until the pandemic that she launched her now beloved food truck. As she explains, Clara B’s food truck was launched with $30,000 and some duct tape. But customers fell in...

For husband and wife Rob and Emilie Garwitz, their business is an extension of their family. And family is the reason they started Halo + Cleaver, a condiment company focused on using natural ingredients and no added sugar. It started like many businesses, in the family kitchen. Now they’re on store shelves across the country with their ketchups and BBQ sauces. Each store shelf takes work and Rob...

Meredith Barry grew up in the hospitality world, watching her dad and soon following her own path that eventually led her behind the bar in her hometown of Chicago. She remembers the first time she got the chance to serve customers, and she fell in love with the industry, an industry that isn’t always the easiest. Now, as the owner of Platypus in the Grove, she strives to take the decades of lesso...

Eating healthy is often one of the most popular resolutions in the new year, but to find success, chef and business owner Simon Lusky says you need to find something attainable. That’s what he hopes to provide at Revel Kitchen, an affordable and accessible way to eat good-for-you food. A fast-casual restaurant wasn’t always his goal. He came to St. Louis for what many would consider a dream job –...

Happy New Year from the Meet St. Louis podcast! We're excited to be back with new episodes for 2023; while there's so much attention on new things, this week, we're taking you to something old and rich with history: we head to Excel Bottling in Breese, Illinois. They opened their doors in 1936 and generations later, they still make your favorite sodas like Ski.

Happy Holidays from the Meet St. Louis podcast! This week, we're bringing you a listener's favorite: Katie's Pizza and Pasta. The episode has everything you need this time of year: family, food and frozen pizza.

If you follow the winding road of Highway 94, you’ll find yourself in Missouri wine country. Augusta is home to local wineries, the Katy Trail, and now a much talked about farm-to-table restaurant. Phillip Day opened Root Food + Wine in 2021. The menu changes monthly depending on the season, the local produce and when inspiration strikes. We sat down with Phillip in the century-old home-turned-res...

2022 has been a huge year for chef Brandi Artis. She’s opened two restaurants and is planning a third one, and it’s all thanks to the incredible welcome from the St. Louis community. Brandi hails from Kansas City, where she started her cooking journey. The journey took her to Chicago and eventually brought her to St. Louis. Her passion is breakfast and brunch. That’s what you’ll find as the focus...

It’s the holiday season and we’re making spirits bright. For Nick Colombo, spirits are his whole world. He started off brewing beer, but he ended up distilling spirits. He discovered his first love helped shape the unique spirits coming out of Switchgrass Spirits, a local distillery located in North St. Louis. The old American Legion Hall is now filled with hundreds of barrels aging whiskey, rye a...

The beloved record store Vintage Vinyl started as a booth in the Soulard Farmer’s market. For decades it’s served as a hub for St. Louis music culture and has been named one of the best record stores in the US. We sat down amidst the records and the CDS to talk with owner Tom Ray about the legacy of the store in the Delmar Loop. Tom has hundreds of stories to share and we dive into some of the cla...

Bijoux means jewel. If you look at Meggie Mobley’s creations that’s exactly what they look like, colorful beautiful gemstones. That taste delicious. The handcrafted chocolates can be found at her shop in Des Peres and soon in Webster Groves at a brand-new shop and production area. The smell of chocolate fills the space thanks to a very fancy machine that helps craft the artisan chocolates. The bon...

Ben Poremba has been shaping the St. Louis food scene for more than a decade. Each of his restaurants tells a story. The tiny details are his favorite part. Arranging the flowers, helping pick out the decors, things some restauranters don’t get the chance to do. He opened Olio and Elaia in the Botanical Heights neighborhood 10 years ago. This month he opened Bar Moro, a Spanish concept in Clayton...

This week, we've got a bit of a different episode for you. A few weeks back, we got invited to check out St. Louis City Park, the new name for the St. Louis CITY SC, our MLS team. This month, the inaugural event will take place at the stadium, and while many will be going to watch soccer, we know our listeners also want to know about the food and drink. The stadium will have 100% local food offeri...