urbanSTL

https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... ddafd.html

The acclaimed Webster Groves restaurant Balkan Treat Box has announced a new venture, the cafe Telva at the Ridge and the event space the Ridge Room. Telva at the Ridge and the Ridge Room will be located at Rolling Ridge Nursery at 60 North Gore Avenue, also in Webster Groves.

Telva at the Ridge, described in the announcement as a “grab-and-go cafe,” will feature Bosnian-style coffee, which is roasted in a wood fire and brewed individually in a copper pot called a džezva. The menu will feature “Balkan-inspired” open-faced sandwiches, pastries and other cafe fare.

“We’ve always talked about opening a cafe that serves coffee in the style that you would find in the Balkan region from Bosnian, Turkey and Greece,” Balkan Treat Box chef and co-owner Loryn Nalic said in a statement. “We live in Webster Groves, and when we heard the Rolling Ridge team was looking to open a cafe space, we felt that our team was ready to take on the project.”

The Ridge Room will offer space for up to 60 guests for events. Both Telva at the Ridge and the Ridge Room are slated to open in winter 2023.

Balkan Treat Box has also announced an expansion of its ownership. Joining Nalic and her husband, Edo, are Edo’s brother, Emir Nalic, and Emir’s wife, Erna.

Loryn and Edo Nalic launched Balkan Treat Box as a food truck in late 2016. They debuted the brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2019 at 8103 Big Bend Boulevard.


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I'd love to see them open a location in the city that isn't attached to the new soccer stadium. 

I feel like they would dominate with a location on South Grand or in Midtown near City Foundry. 

A new breakfast, lunch, dinner serving tradition American fare will open at 220 S Tucker (first floor of city garage at Clark and Tucker).

Looks like Union Loafers is moving right down the street to 1532 Tower Grove this spring? That will be a nice renovation hopefully!

They are also opening Union Bagel at 8705 Big Bend in Webster.


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dbehrens011 wrote:
Looks like Union Loafers is moving right down the street to 1532 Tower Grove this spring? That will be a nice renovation hopefully!

They are also opening Union Bagel at 8705 Big Bend in Webster.


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I believe it’s just their bakery moving. …Restaurant will stay in the same spot.

walker wrote:

dbehrens011 wrote:
Looks like Union Loafers is moving right down the street to 1532 Tower Grove this spring? That will be a nice renovation hopefully!

They are also opening Union Bagel at 8705 Big Bend in Webster.


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I believe it’s just their bakery moving. …Restaurant will stay in the same spot.

Guessing they're big enough to where having both in the old spot is holding them back.

Seriously can't overstate how excited I am to see this building renovated. I drive past it on Tower Grove every day and it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the surrounding blocks and makes Botanical Heights feel less connected to FPSE.

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Anyone have intel on what's going on with Pi Pizza? They've closed all their local restaurants except for the Central West End location. Along with 2 locations in DC and Iraq (?). 

^ during Covid Chris Sommers founded a tech start up and went on to sell it to a firm in Nashville, he commutes back and forth and is pretty much out of the restaurant biz- 

According to StL Magazine, Kemolls is no more after quietly serving its last meal on December 31st.

https://www.stlmag.com/dining/kemoll’s- ... ort-plaza/

Many on this site (rightfully) lampooned the move to a has-been office park that looks as though it’s stuck in the 80s and employs fewer than 5,000 people.

Although the article doesn’t mention COVID, one must assume that the loss of office workers in Westport really hurt business.

It’s worth noting that by moving to Westport, Kemolls lost access to downtown’s daily workforce (roughly  60,000), game-day diners, convention diners, and the thousands of hotel guests staying downtown at any given time.

I hope this serves as a cautionary tale to other restaurants thinking the grass may be greener in west county.

Actually I feel like I've seen several restaurants over the course of my lifetime move out of the City and then go out of business a few years after the move. Makes me wonder if restaurants do this thinking it's a good business choice just to get burned or if it's something fancy City restaurants do when they're struggling. Maybe after hearing "we can only make the trip from West County down here once a year cuz parking's so bad" or whatever their suburban diners say they get the idea a move will save the business and it doesn't...

^I think you may have nailed it there. It's because they are in a boomer feedback loop. Old school restaurant owner has old school customers who are out in West County and tell him/her how much better they will do if they move out to their neck of the woods. 

So maybe that customer and a few others increase their annual visit to said restaurant to two or three times per year, but you lose out customers who liked the central city location. 

I wonder if King & I will see a similar fate. 

Wasn't Kemolls not all that good, just had a really cool perch atop 1 Met Square?  

The cheese bread was good. But yeah it had long been passed up by the modern fine dining scene. It’s just sad to see one of our classic (albeit outdated) restaurants go out with whimper in a far flung parking lot than in the city where so many generations made memories together.

dweebe wrote: ↑

Jan 09, 2023

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

Jan 09, 2023

I wonder if King & I will see a similar fate. 

I see the point, but they're staying well inside the 270 loop.

In any other city the spot they're moving to would still be in the city. Instead they're moving to an inner ring suburb.

Hmm a few of the restaurants I'm thinking about moved from the City to Clayton before closing, like Chez Leon. 

I think St. Louis' access to really good, authentic Thai has really blossomed over the last three to five years.

King & I might be feeling it. Personally, I consider it overrated and think there are numerous better spots for Thai in the region.

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PeterXCV wrote: ↑

Jan 10, 2023

dweebe wrote: ↑

Jan 09, 2023

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

Jan 09, 2023

I wonder if King & I will see a similar fate. 

I see the point, but they're staying well inside the 270 loop.

In any other city the spot they're moving to would still be in the city. Instead they're moving to an inner ring suburb.

Hmm a few of the restaurants I'm thinking about moved from the City to Clayton before closing, like Chez Leon. 

I wonder how  Tony's is doing.

its wild to me that these legacy restaurants don't look at zip codes of credit card transactions, i would bet that 50% of Kemolls receipts in downtown was out of metro stl.  In Westport? maybe 10%?   they move because their regulars went west or dont want to come downtown but their regulars were old people to being with and are mostly dead now.  Like if you are 40 and under you aren't going to go get dinner at Kemolls in westport but you would if Kemolls was located on the 40th floor in downtown because its good for the gram. 

^Hmm, maybe they are pausing until the reopen of the Beale on Broadway space. Broadway Oyster Bar has been filled to capacity the last couple of times I have been there for Voodoo band events. And it seems to be a favorite for industry folks after the 1:30 bars close.