This has been a fairly open secret for about six months, but now it's official.

I think it is unfortunate that a restaurant which has been such a cornerstone in the neighborhood pulls up all stakes at the hint of an incentive. I will never eat at Niche again. The region is a cannibal when it comes to restaurants as well. See ya

downtown2007 wrote:I think it is unfortunate that a restaurant which has been such a cornerstone in the neighborhood pulls up all stakes at the hint of an incentive. I will never eat at Niche again. The region is a cannibal when it comes to restaurants as well. See ya

It is unfortunate for Benton Park to lose such an important resident, but I'll withhold judgment until we see/hear what Craft has planned for the Benton Park location. If he wants to move Niche to Clayton to cash in on the expense account crowd, but keep the Sidney Street location as an incubator for new and different concepts, then that would almost be better. It would keep Benton Park the interesting and adventurous destination while letting the Clayton location foot the bill. Craft might pull stakes from Benton Park entirely, but the fact that he owns the building makes it a little less likely.

downtown2007 wrote:I think it is unfortunate that a restaurant which has been such a cornerstone in the neighborhood pulls up all stakes at the hint of an incentive. I will never eat at Niche again. The region is a cannibal when it comes to restaurants as well. See ya

That seems a little extreme. Niche has been good for the neighborhood for years, and was well-known enough to have left years ago and bring its diners with it. It sounds like Craft wants a larger space for it (I've heard they've struggled with space in the past, isn't that why Taste moved to the CWE?). If he owns the building, maybe he'll do something else with that space.

What do you mean by "incentives?" I get frustrated when businesses cross a municipal line for tax incentives, but when they think they'll better serve their clientele, or need a different/larger space, I think moving is a reasonable decision. I don't think people consider it cannibalism when a company moves from somewhere else into the city (Mango, Space, etc).

the central scrutinizer wrote:I'll have to stop by and check it out. I suspect they'll do a lot more business in Clayton.

Perhaps, because Niche has a loyal following, and now it has a high-profile address as well.

But the Clayton restaurant scene has always been interesting in an odd way to me, because even in warmer weather when sidewalk tables are filled in the evenings, everything just seems so dead for some reason.

So is this going on Forsyth? Or the large empty space on the plaza (facing the entrance to the building)?

Niche and Pastaria will occupy the westernmost bays of the Centene Shops, about halfway down that block of Forsyth. From St. Louis Magazine: http://bit.ly/x3Rbfk

Oh ok thanks.

Alex, I think it's going to look like the original rendering. They are starting to hang the metal.

Alex Ihnen wrote:^ All the framing's up. The image here is the original, but at some point they went back to Clayton to get the plan modified. That may have just been to not wrap the west end of the garage though. We should see soon.

See video.

http://youtu.be/n6xALclizl0

brickandmortar wrote:
There is a bit of a tease on Gerard Craft's tweet regarding staying tuned for fun dinners on Sidney Street.

https://twitter.com/nichestlouis

Today I noticed a For Sale sign on the old Niche location on Sidney Street

I was hoping Craft would open a new concept in that smaller space

Guess not.

Did you notice who is selling it it grab the phone number by chance? I have someone that would buy that building. Thanks in advance KBS

I didn't but I'll probably go by there on the way home tonight. I'll make sure to jot the # down and PM it to you.

Awesome. Thanks

Oops, my bad. The For Sale sign was for one of the condo/lofts in the adjacent building.

St. Agnes Church down the block at Sidney and Salena is for sale though if your friend is interested in that