An Overlooked Effort
Jun 12, 2009 St. Louis, chefs, restaurants
True, flour for pasta isn’t available regionally, and the fact that they’re running a busy restaurant 52 weeks a year means it’s difficult to source the quantities needed to buy exclusively from the area, but Stellina Pasta Café has quietly been operating one of St. Louis’s most fiercely local restaurants since opening. From the Hinkebein Hills pork they use for the South Side Smoke, to the Claverach greens in their salads, they pick their battles one week at a time, striving to do their best year round, and never requesting fanfare for the effort.
So it’s high time to offer them a little fanfare because it’s clear Chef Jamey Tochtrop and his wife Lisa simply feel it’s the right way to run their business. Throughout the growing season is when they really shine as each week they showcase the best local products available in their weekend specials. Best of all, you can find out what those specials are in advance as each Friday they send out a friendly reminder which you can get by signing up for the Stellina Pasta Café mailing list.
As an example, here’s the email that went out this afternoon…
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