Pasta House closes a West County location, reportedly plans to open one in Kirkwood
By Jacob Kirn – Managing Editor, St. Louis Business Journal
Mar 6, 2023
Pasta House has closed a location in West County, as it reportedly plans to open another in Kirkwood.
A sign at the Italian chain’s longtime restaurant at 14007 Manchester Road, near Manchester and Weidman roads in unincorporated St. Louis County, says it has closed.
Officials with property owner Scott Properties declined to comment. It advertises that anchor tenants for the shopping center include Ashley Furniture and Bandana’s Bar-B-Q, with an asking lease rate of $16 per square foot.
A Pasta House sign has been taken down from a closed location along Manchester Road.
Pasta House officials, including owner Joe Fresta, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
St. Louis Magazine in January reported that Pasta House planned in late spring to take the former Pi+Rico space in Kirkwood, at 10312 Manchester Road. Pi+Rico closed last year. Brown & Sons’ Foodliner Inc., tied to company President Jonathan Browne, owns the strip mall housing that space.
Fresta told St. Louis Magazine that expansion plans were “on hold,” but that the 4,500-square-foot Kirkwood space was “in the perfect position” (the nearest Pasta House is in Creve Coeur), “in perfect shape” (requiring minor retrofitting), and “almost all the amenities we’d need were in place and useable.” He also said the Kirkwood location could include bar items such as wings, nachos and fries.
The Pasta House in 2021 opened a Ladue location, following the shutdown of its flagship restaurant in University City.
Fresta, the late John Ferrara and the late Kim Tucci founded the Pasta House in 1974. It lists 15 locations on its website.
St. Louis County retail center trades for $10M
By Gloria Lloyd – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal
Nov 29, 2022
A grocery-anchored shopping center in St. Louis County has changed hands.
Fenton Plaza, near the intersection of Highway 141 and Gravois Road, sold Nov. 23 for $10 million, said the buyer, Webster Groves-based Novus Cos. The seller, Clayton-based commercial real estate firm Sansone Group, purchased the plaza for $10.3 million in 2014.
The retail center is anchored by a newly expanded Aldi grocery store, according to a news release from a broker involved in the transaction, Mid-America Real Estate.
The tenant roster at the plaza, which totals 99,989 square feet, includes a Family Dollar, Advance Auto Parts, Viviano’s Festa Italiano restaurant, NAPA Auto, F45 Training and Penn Station Subs, among others.
Fenton Plaza, near the Gravois Bluffs shopping center, has an “excellent infill location in the heart of the Fenton trade area along Highway 141,” which has daily traffic counts of more than 50,000 vehicles a day, Mid-America said.
Mid-America Principal Ben Wineman was the broker for the transaction, in cooperation with Sansone Group Senior Executive Director Tim Cherre and Director Tim McFarland.
Welcome to Hangar Kitchen & Bar
Hangar Kitchen & Bar opens today in Rock Hill
With its sprawling patio, the aeronautically themed restaurant will open in the former Slider House location at the corner of Manchester and Rock Hill Road.
BY GEORGE MAHE
AUGUST 7, 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
After a long, slow approach, it’s wheels up for Hangar Kitchen & Bar, the airplane hangar–themed restaurant with an eclectic menu. Hangar (which also gets its name from the owners’ vodka preference) is opening in the former location of The Slider House, the city’s first slider-based eatery, which opened in early 2016 in Rock Hill and closed three years later.
Hangar’s owners are industry vet Chris Sedlak and his wife, Courtney, whose background is in bar and club ownership. To reduce costs and better control the results, the project was largely self-contracted. “If we didn’t like a finish or a technique, it was no big deal to just redo it,” says Courtney, who also designed the space.
At Hangar, antique bottles, some of them blob-top soda bottles from the mid-1800s, serve as flower vases.
The couple wanted to create a restaurant that could feature an eclectic menu featuring tweaks on some of their favorite dishes that they remember from their travels, so the airplane hangar theme fit right in. “We had some pretty good ideas for focal points,” says Chris, including the restaurant’s eye-catching indoor seating: six tube-shaped booths made of slats of stained wood. The booths each seat six and are naturally socially distanced, “an unintended bonus,” says Chris.
“We’d intended to open Hangar earlier this year but decided to wait for obvious reasons,” he says. The restaurant is opening with patio seating and takeout service, with limited indoor seating. “Everyone will want to sit in those booths anyway,” Courtney says, “so that part was easy.”
The dining room seats 68, where the free-standing tables have comfy leather seats meant to simulate the captain’s chairs found in an old school airplane cockpit. The same pattern was repeated on the backless barstools.
Then there’s the bar itself, which was relocated to better show it off. Made from brushed aluminum, it’s been shaped and riveted to resemble an airliner’s smooth, shiny surface.
Reservations are suggested at Hangar and accepted for the dining room, bar (both with limited seating), and dog-friendly patio.
The cocktail menu, created by Courtney, features a curated list of 12 themed refreshers. The beer menu is draft-heavy (10 crafts, plus Bud Light and Stella Artois), and there are cans and bottled selections available. The 20-item wine list includes three varieties of Veuve Clicquot and Gekkeikan Plum Wine.
Above the bar is an old wooden propeller. On a side wall are sections of upcycled airplane windows that shine as bright as the bartop. Another wall was faced with refurbished factory windows meant to conjure the clerestory windows in an old hangar. Edison bulbs, placed at different heights, sway gently above.
“There are so many additional things we could have done,” says Chris, “but we’re really happy with the few we chose. There are just enough to justify the theme.”
Even the existing Big Ass Fan (that’s the brand name) looks at home in the space.
The vibe that the Sedlaks were after at Hangar was “casual date night,” Chris says. “We wanted to create a comfortable place with an eclectic, approachable menu and design details that people will talk about. It’s no more complicated than that.”
The Sedlaks were able to assemble and train a crackerjack crew, led by general manager Sal Palazzo, who held the same position at The Tavern for years and more recently helped manage Bugatti’s in St. Charles. He’s assisted by Heather Straling and executive chef Jeff Davis, whose resume includes stints at Café Napoli, The Ritz Carlton St. Louis, and the Frontenac Hilton.
Braised short rib, with goat cheese mash, natural jus, and gremolata, is a steal at $22.
The menu (or itinerary, staying with the theme) is a combination of small and shared plates divided into five sections: Farmers Market (salads), Sushi (five different rolls), Tacos, Mains (from an $18 steak frites to a $29 tempura-fried lobster tail), and For The Table (a catch all including mini burgers, a Mexican egg roll, and lobster mac and cheese). If it reads like a random assortment of dishes, that was the intent.
“They are a lot of our favorite things, things we remember, things we crave,” says Chris. “We’re pretty sure we’re not alone.”
Hangar’s most obvious focal point, in the initial stages anyway, is the sprawling patio, one of the most versatile in the city. Partially obscured by plants and a fountain, its 72 seats are situated slightly above grade, an appealing to passersby. An operable, windowed garage door (OK, a hangar door) opens onto a covered portion, while the remainder of the tables are divided by large palms and tall planters. There’s even a lush green space. As summer transitions to fall, firepits will help warm the space, and there’s already discussion of converting the covered patio area to all-season dining.
“We knew that for the next couple months, the majority of the action was going to be outdoors, which is fine with us,” says Courtney. “We were lucky to have such a naturally beautiful space to make our own.”
Hangar opens today, August 7, at 4 p.m. Reservations are being accepted for inside and outside here. Beginning tomorrow, August 8, regular hours will be 4–10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Hangar Kitchen & Bar
9528 Manchester, St Louis, Missouri 63119
PHONE 314-473-1221
WEBSITE VISIT WEBSITE
HOURS
Mon-Thu: 4 – 10 p.m.; Fri-Sat: 4 – 11 p.m.
(Lunch service and happy hour TBA)
PRICE RANGE Moderate
Fast-casual chain adding location in Kirkwood
By Veneta Rizvic – Digital Producer, St. Louis Business Journal, Aug 9, 2019, 3:42pm EDT
Colorado-based fast-casual chain Rush Bowls is adding a second St. Louis-area location, in Kirkwood. The concept opened its first local spot in 2018 in the Central West End.
Rush Bowls will open Thursday at 343 S. Kirkwood Road, owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Kim and Ken Moroney. The couple is signed on for at least three more St. Louis locations over the next several years, officials said.
“We are thrilled to continue introducing Rush Bowls to the St. Louis area,” Kim Moroney said in a statement. “The community has really embraced us over the last year and we love that we are able to make healthy eating easier for so many in the area. A healthy lifestyle has always been an important part of our lives, and now others can make health a priority as well.”
Rush Bowls serves meals on the go in the form of bowls made from blended fruits and vegetables and topped with organic granola and honey, among other ingredients. The restaurant has 40 bowls on its menu.
The company was founded in 2004 by former Wall Street executive Andrew Pudalov.
The franchise fee for a Rush Bowls establishment is $45,000, according to the Rush Bowls website. The total estimated initial investment is between #235,000 and $577,000.
Click here to see the original article: STL Biz Journal
Layla opens Webster Groves location
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS
One of the additions at the new spot is a $19 burger called The Second Mortgage.
BY IAIN SHAW
FEBRUARY 13, 2019
12:08 PM
Burger and shawarma restaurant Layla opened its second location, in Webster Groves, on Monday, in the space that formerly housed Milagro Modern Mexican. The restaurant will serve a largely similar menu to the original location in The Grove but with an expanded wine list, new cocktails, and a few fresh dishes.
Owners Jason and Maria Sparks say they’re excited to bring Layla’s gourmet burger concept to the neighborhood. “There’s nobody in Webster that’s really a burger place,” Maria says. “There are places in Webster with burgers on their menu, but there’s not a burger place.”
The couple looked at a few spaces for a second Layla location, including a space in Clayton, eventually settling on 20 Allen. With quick-service concept Sumax also in the works at the City Foundry development (now slated to open in May 2020), however, the turnaround in Webster had to be fast. “We decided if we’re going to do this, we have to do it now,” says Jason, “and it has to be open by February.”
To smooth the process, the couple decided not to make any structural changes. The new restaurant is an L-shaped space, larger and roomier than the original Layla, with a long bar. The Sparks repainted the restaurant, added a few new fittings, and decorated the walls with the music and movie posters familiar from the Grove location. “It’s like our first apartment versus our house now,” Maria says. “The stuff on the walls is the same, but the house is different.”Expand
The menu at the Webster Groves location is largely carried over from The Grove: beef burgers based on Layla’s blend of brisket, chuck, and short rib; poultry burgers and meat-free burgers; shawarmas and salads. Each location will have a few unique items, though.
One of the additions: a $19 burger called The Second Mortgage (see lead image). “It’s a big burger,” Jason says. “Two 35-day dry-aged beef patties, bacon, melted cheddar, fontina, lettuce, sumac onions, tomatoes, our house 33 sauce, over-medium egg, on a brioche bun.”Expand
Cluck Norris – two cornflake-encrusted chicken breasts, spicy batata slaw, lemon garlic mayo and house pickles on a brioche bunExpand
Kill Bill – dry-aged ground beef burger, smoked poblanos, smoked mango sauce, pepperjack, lettuce, chipotle mayo, house made chips, pretzel bun
The couple is also anticipating the arrival of a new, gluten-free take on the meatless Impossible burger, sourced from Impossible Foods and used in Layla’s Unicorn burger. Jason says it should be on the menu within the month. “I got a demo of it, and they made meatballs out of it,” he says. “It had this crisp, really awesome surface. I don’t know what they’re doing with it, but it sure is fun.”
The Webster location also features an expanded wine list and seven new cocktails, including The Elder Statesman, named for the Webster Groves High School mascot. Brunch service will launch on March 2.Expand
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/layla-opens-webster-groves-location/
St. Louis Character: Jean Scholtes dishes the dirt on Kind Soap Co.
February 1, 2018
Jean Scholtes, founder of the Kind Soap Co.
Jean Scholtes, founder of the Kind Soap Co., said she became an entrepreneur out of necessity.
Scholtes has a background in design and marketing, spending 10 years as creative director for Sara Lee before joining a local ad agency, doing work mainly focused on packaging design. However, when Anheuser-Busch was acquired by InBev, and took much of the brewery’s marketing work out of St. Louis, Scholtes was one of many working in the local industry who found themselves facing a future with much less demand for their services.
“There were so many creatives out of work, and at my level of creative director, the jobs were going to be very scarce because everyone was going to be competing for the few that were out there, especially in the area that I wanted to stay in, which was consumer goods and package design,” said Scholtes, 46. “So I thought, why don’t I just create my own brand?”
Scholtes had been experimenting with formulating soaps and skin care products from all-natural ingredients, making up batches of products in her basement and selling them at local craft fairs.
“I decided to marry my newfound passion of making my own skin care products with my experience and background in marketing and brand management and package design,” Scholtes said. “I don’t know if I would have done it had I not been faced with the prospect of not being able to find a job that I really liked. So it was partly necessity and it was partly just optimism that was based on nothing. I just thought — I can do this. This will work. I don’t know why not.”
Scholtes registered the Kind trademark and launched the company in 2009, selling her all-natural skin care products online, at farmer’s markets and through other local stores. In 2011, she opened her first brick-and-mortar store in Webster Groves, and five years ago, she moved the store to its current larger location at 20 Allen Ave., in Webster Groves.
Kind Soap Co. now carries over 100 products, ranging from soaps and lotions to lip balm and bubble bath.
“Going from the ad agency world to the retail world is pretty much like going from the frying pan into the fire, but Jean had a plan and a vision, and she’s stuck to it,” said Cordell Jeffries, creative director at Osborn Barr, who previously worked with Scholtes at the former White Space agency. “I’m not sure how someone can go about their business tirelessly and still manage to make it seem effortless, but Jean does exactly that.”
Kind now carries more than 100 products, ranging from soaps and lotions to lip balm and bubble bath. In addition to the Kind boutique, the products are available at Whole Foods stores in St. Louis and Chicago and in a variety of mom-and-pop stores in Missouri and Illinois. The company had about $250,000 in sales last year, with about 75 percent coming from retail and 25 percent from wholesale. Scholtes said the company now is looking to increase production to allow it to expand its wholesale accounts.
Scholtes lives in Webster Groves with her husband, Jeff, and their four teenage children.
What is the Kind Soap Co.? Kind Soap is what I created initially to have products for myself and my family because my son had really bad eczema at the back of his knees and was always clawing at them, and doctors just kept giving him steroid creams. I started researching into what would be a better option than just steroids every day on a 4-year-old. Then I started realizing all these products out in the market that say that they are safe and natural and great for kids have all these ingredients in them that, after you research it, you don’t want to put them on your kids. I started looking into everything we put on our skin, and I saw all these harmful carcinogenic and hormone disrupters and irritants. I thought, I’m just going to make my own products. I threw away all of the our skin care products — all the things that were being absorbed into my family’s skin — and I started making my own.
How did you go about making the products? My husband set me up a little workspace in the basement. I had a little sink, and I had a little hot plate. It was basically cooking. There are ingredients. There are things that you melt. There are things that you boil. You follow recipes. I went on Amazon and bought like 20 books on how to make soap, how to make lotions, natural-this and ingredients-that. This was almost 10 years ago, so YouTube wasn’t really around that much. Now I would have been on YouTube 24/7 just watching tutorials, but back then I was reading books. It was just trial and error. Making up batches, and some things just did not work out and some things did.
Did you go through any training? Being all natural, I didn’t use any synthetic fragrance, and everyone wants things that smell really good. So that’s when I really started looking at essential oils and natural fragrances, and I decided I really needed to get educated on that. I enrolled in courses with an online program through the American College of Healthcare Scientists out of Portland, Oregon, and it took me about three and a half years, but I got my certificate in aromatherapy, which means I am able to safely and effectively manufacture products with essential oils. I would say that was harder than my bachelor’s degree. It was intense. It was all about how the different chemicals affect different systems in your body. It was chemistry; it was physiology. It was a lot of work.
Which Kind product is your favorite? That’s like asking which kid is my favorite. It depends on the day. Honestly, after all this stuff, my favorite is still just a good bar of soap.
You’re a Missouri native? I’m from Ste. Genevieve. I went to college at SIU in Carbondale. My first job out of college was designing bikes in Olney, Illinois, which is a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, and I really needed to get back to civilization, so I applied for jobs in St. Louis and got a job as an art director at a small agency and then from there I went on to Sara Lee.
What do you do when you’re not working? I don’t have time for hobbies. I have four teenage kids, so when I’m not here I’m running them around to different things. I’m active with our trade association here in Webster. The Old Webster Trade Association puts on all kinds of trade events in town, and I do all of the graphics for them. Other than that, I am really kind of a homebody. I like to hang out with my dog. I like to read.
What are you reading? “The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs” by Kevin Johnson.
Where can we find you? My husband and I spend a lot of time over at The Block restaurant. We call it our Cheers — we just go in and sit at the bar. I guess I’m Norm, and he’s Cliff. Sushi Station is another place we like to go and hang out, and Olive & Oak is great.
NOW OPEN: Introducing West Community Mortgage
West Community Credit Union Blog
August 10, 2017
ROCK HILL, MO – Our Mortgage team officially has their own footprint! After years of getting members in the perfect mortgage for their perfect home from within the walls of the credit union, we are pleased to announce the expansion of our mortgage department into a brand new division, West Community Mortgage!
“We have always taken great pride in our ability to help our members with their mortgage needs with a wide variety of mortgage services,” said Denny McGrane, the Director of Mortgage Services. Denny was just named as one of the “Best in Banking” by St Louis Small Business Monthly. “Being able to expand from our success with the Credit Union and starting West Community Mortgage has been very exciting for all of us involved.”
This exciting development will give the mortgage team a brick-and-mortar space completely devoted to getting members into their dream homes. The office is located in Rock Hill off of Manchester and McKnight and will operate as a stand alone mortgage space for buying or refinancing home loans.
The credit union’s CEO, Jason Peach, has been working towards this passion project for awhile: “While West Community Credit Union has been one of the top credit union mortgage lenders in St. Louis for decades, we’ve known that we could be positioned to help even more people in our community.” He continued, “The key to leveraging that opportunity is building awareness, which we will gain through the West Community Mortgage name and opening of a dedicated mortgage office.”
With the mortgage division, not only can you visit any credit union branch for your mortgage needs, you can also apply online or stop by West Community Mortgage and meet with the mortgage team.
“Our goal is to continue to provide our member’s with the great service we have become known for and giving borrowers, and Real Estate professionals an office that is completely dedicated to all of their mortgage financing needs,” remarked Denny.
Whether you’re a first time buyer, buying your next home, or simply need to refinance, our West Community Mortgage team is ready to put you on the smartest path to home ownership. Schedule your no-obligation mortgage consultation today!
Office Address |
Office Hours |
|
9534 Manchester Road |
Monday – Friday 10 a.m. -3 p.m. or by appointment. Call 636.720.2495. |
Sauce Magazine: Readers’ Choice Chef of the Year: Katie Collier
By: Matt Sorrell
June 1, 2017
The readers have spoken. Chef of the Year Katie Collier’s restaurant, Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria, is one of the hottest spots in town. She and her husband/business partner, Ted Collier, are poised to open a second location in Town & Country this summer and their meal kit company, Vero Pizza & Pasta, debuts this month. Here, Collier shared her unconventional childhood, love for Italian and plans for the future.
Why focus on Italian food?
“When I was 18, my mom worked as a professor at Washington University in the fine arts department. They put her in charge of the study abroad program in Florence, Italy, so she moved there. I dropped out of high school when I was 14 years old. At 18, all of my friends were going to college and doing other things. I was working at Zoe’s Pan-Asian Cafe, so I saved up all of my money for a plane ticket to Florence and I flew there to live with my mom. I went every spring. Obviously, food is the epicenter of Italian culture – I became super passionate about Italian culture and cuisine.”
What did your folks think about you dropping out?
“My parents are both eccentrics, and we were kind of raised wild, so no one noticed!”
Where do you like to travel?
“We use travel to discover and explore. We go places and try to get with nature and chill out and calm the brain. Usually I come back with great ideas and inspirations from that silence. Ted is an amazing fisherman, so we go to places that are fishing destinations and we fly-fish for hours and hours and days and days. That’s where I came up with Vero Pasto – walking down a river. We also love to go to cities and eat. We go to California a lot and travel the coast and eat at great restaurants like Osteria Mozza, Juniper & Ivy, République and In-N-Out Burger.
What’s your guilty pleasure food?
“Chinese food, and I’m into Vietnamese food, too. I have to have it at least once a week.”
What are your favorite local restaurants?
“We just went to Reeds American Table for the first time and loved it. We also love Olive & Oak. It’s close to the restaurant, so we can go by and get an early dinner. We go to Mai Lee often. Ted’s obsessed with barbecue, and we’re friends with Mike Emerson, so we like Pappy’s. We also like Sugarfire Smoke House.”
If you weren’t a chef, what would you do?
“When I was growing up, my dad worked in North St. Louis, buying fireplace mantles and doors and terra cotta from abandoned buildings. We opened a ‘junk store’ together, next to the original Katie’s Pizza before it opened. No name or phone number, just a big open room filled with architectural antiques and furniture. We’d travel to auctions and find stuff. I was pretty good at that. Whatever it would be, it would have to be something creative.”
What do you want to do next?
“We really love the brick-and-mortar concept we have. People often ask if we get bored doing the same thing, but if you really focus on Italian food, it can go in so many great directions. … Our goal – it’s delusional and crazy – but we’d like to have Katie’s Pizza & Pastas and Veros all over the country.”
How do you define success?
“Definitely not monetarily. Growing up, my family wasn’t wealthy. There were many times when no one had a car and we all slept on the floor. I can live with very little. Now that I have enough, I’m totally satisfied in that realm. I definitely feel successful right now because I get to work with my family and my husband every day and we’re good at what we do. My definition of success is when you can innovate something and change it and make it better.”
Photo by Ashley Gieseking
Recent Comments