Lost Tables

Eighty-eight-year-old Ray Gallardo first came to the United States from Mexico as a young man, working as a dishwasher at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara. His next visit to the Biltmore would be as a successful restaurateur.

Ray told me his story at his office above the City Coffee & Creperie in Clayton, which he owns with his wife Ann.

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Eddie Neill is best known for Cafe Provencal, which has thrived in Kirkwood for almost 30 years. But from his first restaurant, T.P. Neill’s, to Chez Leon, to The Dubliner, there were many others along the way. I talked with Eddie at his home, a 5-minute walk from Ted Drewes.

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The Buttery Restaurant closed for good on Halloween. The South Grand diner had been serving the Tower Grove South Neighborhood for almost 40 years.

I’d never dined at The Buttery. I must admit, I didn’t know it existed. But when someone posted its closure in the Lost Tables Facebook group, and the group exploded with comments, I had to find out what The Buttery was all about.

Bryan Lawrence had worked as a cook at The Buttery for 7 years. Laura Mcgrath had worked there as a server for 25 years. Bryan and Laura helped me unde...

By popular demand, chef and restaurateur Greg Perez is back for more.

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Someone once called Greg Perez the Forrest Gump of restaurants. From Rich & Charlie’s, to his award-winning Painted Plates, to the Grateful Inn, it was indeed, “Run, Greg, Run!” from one project to the next.

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Monarch opened for business on Manchester Road in Maplewood in 2003, and thrived for almost 10 years. Aaron Teitelbaum and Jeff Orbin talked with me about their restaurant at Teitelbaum’s Kingside Diner in Clayton.

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La Tropicana Market was an institution on the corner of Lindenwood and Hereford for over 30 years. Rafael Trabanco told me his family’s story when I talked with him at his longtime office on South Broadway.

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Gregg Mosberger ran his own catering company – Gregory’s Creative Cuisine – for 34 years. But Mosberger began his career as a dishwasher at Richard Perry’s Jefferson Avenue Boarding House.

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Culpeppers was an institution in the St. Louis area for almost 80 years. Its Central West End location was the first to open and had the longest run.

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Louis Fiddleman operated Louie’s Delicatessen from 1955 to 1987. I talked with Alan Fiddleman about his father over a noisy breakfast.

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Harry Giessow owned The Candlelight House on Clayton Road. He and his son, Gary, owned the Howard Johnson’s in Kirkwood and the Howard Johnson’s on Clayton Road, which Gary morphed into Layton’s. I talked with Gary and his wife Lil at their home in Ladue.

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Michael Del Pietro has opened more restaurants than he wishes to remember. I talked with Michael about growing up in his parents’ restaurant, training at The Culinary Institute of America, and opening his first restaurant, Portabella.

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Ken Bland may be less well known that some of his restaurants, such as The Leather Bottle, Cork ‘n Cleaver and Dierdorf & Hart’s. I talked with Ken about his restaurant career at his home in Clayton.

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Kopperman’s was an institution in the Central West End for over thirty years.  Myron Kopperman passed away in 2019. But Sanford Rich is still alive and well and living in Miami.

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Mel and Alan Sherman opened Sherman Brothers Deli in 1963. From its longtime home at Olive & Mosley to the Pastrami Joynt to Shermies, the family business thrived for almost 40 years. Mel Sherman’s sons, Mark and Stuart, shared the story of knishes and corned beef and more.

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David Slay is an acclaimed, award-winning chef, with four thriving California restaurants along the southern coast of Santa Monica Bay, and a vineyard nestled in the hills near Santa Barbara.

But David’s roots are in St. Louis. David was in town for the weekend, and he told me the story of how he built a successful restaurant career on the foundation of a healthy dose of failure.

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You may not have heard of Scoville’s Cafe. I hadn’t. It was a fixture in the National Stock Yards in National City, a suburb of East St. Louis, from the late 1920’s until 1988. Someone suggested I learn about it from 90-year-old Jack Scoville, which I did at his home in Belleville. I was glad I did.

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Mickey Garagiola’s younger brother Joe was a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and went on to host NBC's "Today" show and broadcast baseball on NBC's "Game of the Week."

But Mickey didn't stand in his brother's shadow. He made a name for himself as a waiter at Ruggeri's and as the ring announcer on Wrestling at the Chase.

Martina Garagiola Bettlach & Bob Garagiola told me their father’s story.

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Julius Hunter was born and raised in St. Louis. He graduated from Sumner High School and taught school for a year or two after graduating from Harris Teachers College.

In 1970, Julius secured a job in television with Channel 5 news. He moved to Channel 4 in 1974, and a year later was teamed with Steve Schiff, anchoring the 6 and 10 o'clock weekday news.

By the mid 1980s, Channel 4 news became the highest rated local newscast of any CBS-owned and operated station. Julius Hunter was on the top of his game. And then he decided to open a restaurant.

Rothschild’s Antiques was a fixture in the Central West End for 43 years. It was the springboard for Pete Rothschild’s real estate empire, much of it in the Central West End and much of it housing restaurants. Pete told me about his multifaceted career as a landlord, starting with where he grew up!

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Rich and Terri LoRusso met in a restaurant as teenagers and would go on to open their own restaurant, LoRusso’s, an institution on The Hill for 38 years. I sat down with Terri in her home, and she told me the bittersweet story of how she and her larger-than-life husband made it all happen.

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Peter Spoto opened the South City Diner on South Grand in 1992, and under his leadership, the diner thrived for 24 years. But Peter got his start in the restaurant business at the other end of the dining spectrum, working at high-end restaurants like Balaban’s and Fio’s La Fourchette.

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John and Anna Mineo opened John Mineo’s Italian Restaurant in West St. Louis County in 1973. John Mineo Jr. shared his family’s story when I interviewed him at his restaurant in November of 2023.

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Salim Hanna opened a Lebanese restaurant on South Grand in 1974. What followed was a career of almost 40 years in the restaurant business. I interviewed Salim at his home in Ballwin in May of 2023.

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Tony Pietoso’s Napoli restaurants are certainly not lost. In fact, Tony is making them easier to find, as he and his sons continue to expand their footprint in the greater St. Louis area and beyond.

But we don’t want the story of Tony growing up in Italy to be lost, or the winding road to his first small restaurant on South Bemiston in Clayton.

Tony told me that story as we sat in the backyard of his home in West County.

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Lia and Benedetto Buzzetta opened restaurants throughout St. Louis, including Benedetto's on Manchester and Benedetto's in Frontenac. Lia told her family's story at her restaurant in July of 2021.

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Wade and Lois DeWoskin owned Port St. Louis from 1960 to 1992. I visited with their son Tom and his wife Karen at their home in the Central West End, surrounded by relics from their parents’ restaurant.

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Legend has it that the Mother In Law House, at 500 South Main Street in St. Charles, was built in 1860, with one side for the owner and his wife, and the other side for his mother-in-law. But that was legend.

Donna Hafer purchased the Mother In Law House in 1981. I visited with Donna at her home in St. Charles in January of 2019. Along with her son, Bob, she told me the story of how she came to St. Charles from a small town in Illinois and fell in love with Main Street.

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Soulard's Restaurant and Bar was opened at the corner of Seventh and Soulard for almost forty years. Dan Badock told the story of his family’s restaurant over coffee in April of 2023.

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In 1978, Bob Mepham bought a small outdoor fish stand in the University City Loop. He called his new business Bob's Seafood. 

In 2005, Bob bought a building on Olive, just east of I-170, and moved Bob's Seafood to the western outskirts of University City. But University City forced Bob to close his doors in 2022.

I interviewed Bob Mepham about 2 weeks later.

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Giovanni’s on the Hill was the lifeblood of Giovanni Gabriele for almost 44 years. In 2021, Carmelo Gabriele recounted his father’s story, with an assist from his 78-year-old mother, Fina Manno Gabriele.

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In 1999, Leon Bierbaum opened a French bistro on Laclede in the Central West End. He called his bistro Chez Leon.

Leon Bierbaum isn’t around to tell the Chez Leon story – he died in 2016. But Haris Zukanovic started working at Chez Leon on day one, and was there for 10 years.

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Bryan Young spent almost 20 years at Balaban’s, working his way from assistant waiter to manager. He also ran a successful catering business for many years.

I interviewed Bryan at his home in October of 2024. At age 70, he’s still larger than life, with his deep melodic voice and booming laugh

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Restaurateur Danny Meyer is firmly planted in New York City, with eateries like the Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack. But Danny’s roots stretch across the country to St. Louis, where he grew up exploring many of our city’s Lost Tables.

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Frank and Helen’s became a Lost Table on December 8th of this year. This is the second of a two-part podcast celebrating the restaurant’s long history.

 The second half of the Frank and Helen’s story will be told by told by the individuals who owned the restaurant after Frank Seitz sold it in 1991. First, Bob & Betty Oddy, then Scott and Mary DePolito, and finally, Patrick and Rebecca Horvath, with the help of longtime employee, Rose Hepler.

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Frank and Helen’s will become a Lost Table after its dinner service on December 8th of this year. This is the first of a two-part podcast celebrating the restaurant that became famous for its pizza and broasted chicken.

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We once again return to Duff’s, with another voice and another perspective. Ginger Carlson’s perspective. Ginger was Duff's first chef. This is her story – a story she wanted to tell.

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Kemoll’s, one of the oldest family-owned restaurants in St. Louis, became a Lost Table this past New Year’s Eve. Owner Mark Cusumano made that decision. 

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Adalaide Balaban left her restaurant and the Central West End over 30 years ago. But from her home in Silsbee, Texas, the memories came flooding back.

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John Clark opened a bar near St. Louis University right out of college. This spawned a restaurant career that would lead to Lucius Boomer, Clamorgan, Jake's Steaks and more.

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