6 Rising Stars to Know in Columbia, Missouri in 2019
From savory cooks to bartenders to pastry chefs, these talented individuals are pushing boundaries either in kitchens of their own or under the direction of some of the region’s best chefs. Meet this year’s roster of rising stars in Columbia, Missouri.
After graduating from college, Frances Harvey snagged a gig serving boozy slushies at Tropical Liqueurs in Columbia. A few years later, curious yet inexperienced with mixing craft cocktails, she interviewed for a bartending position at the then-forthcoming Barred Owl Butcher & Table. Her résumé proved to be an asset: Bar manager Andrew Ruth hired Harvey because of her lack of experience. In the two years since, Harvey has become a “bar star in the making,” according to Ruth, growing from a volume bartender to a skilled mixologist. Working alongside Ruth, Harvey has developed a keen attention to detail and quality. Her drinks are regularly featured on the bar's cocktail menu, including the Call Down the Thunder, a spicy rye whiskey tipple with Thai chiles. (Photo by Aaron Ottis)
Barred Owl Butcher & Table, 47 E. Broadway, Columbia, Missouri, 573.442.9323, barredowlbutcher.com
Crystal Hartman honed her pastry skills in bakeries across Asheville, North Carolina, before moving back to the Midwest. In her third year as pastry chef at The Wine Cellar & Bistro in Columbia, she continues to refine her craft through inventive desserts that often use unexpected earthy and savory flavors. Hartman worked at 44 Stone Public House and Broadway Brewery before joining The Wine Cellar, where chef-owner Craig Cyr has helped her grow as a seasonally driven chef. Fresh ingredients – vegetables, in particular – regularly find their way into her desserts, including the Garden Cake, made with grated beets, zucchini and carrots finished with a goat cheese frosting. Hartman eventually hopes to open her own plant-based and vegetable-forward café in town. (Photo by Aaron Ottis)
The Wine Cellar & Bistro, 505 Cherry St., Columbia, Missouri, 573.442.7281, winecellarbistro.com
The night before her first shift at Cafe Berlin, Jess Bowman was searching YouTube for tutorials on how to chop onions. Two years later, after mentoring under former head chef Jamie Davis, she’s risen to the top spot at the Columbia favorite – and she's now a pro at chopping any vegetable you throw her way. Bowman has worked to maintain Cafe Berlin’s longstanding legacy while growing relationships with local farmers and producers. Try dishes like a smoked baby carrot and fennel salad with massaged beet greens, roasted and pickled baby beets, herbs, garlicky yogurt and a chermoula sauce made with carrot tops and fennel fronds. She’s also started hosting dinners at Three Creeks farm, which supplies a majority of the produce used at the restaurant. (Photo by Drew Piester)
Cafe Berlin, 220 N. 10th St., Columbia, Missouri, 573.441.0400, cafeberlincomo.com
Meriwether Café & Bike Shop in Rocheport, Missouri, has quickly become a favorite stop along the Katy Trail. In spring 2017, chef-owners Brandon and Whitney Vair revived the shuttered trailside café, filling an empty, gray space with vibrant color and rustic, seasonal scratch-made fare. Whitney heads up the pastry program, preparing cardamom-caramel buns, pumpkin muffins, espresso-chocolate scones, cornmeal-pecan cookies and apple Danish. On the savory side, Brandon offers hearty and comforting breakfast, lunch and dinner items like the house-smoked brisket hash with sweet potato, red onion, poblano pepper and a poached egg as well as the Roche-Pork grilled cheese sandwich with aged white Cheddar, Patchwork Family Farms pulled pork, caramelized onions and chipotle-lime aïoli. (Photo by Aaron Ottis)
Meriwether Café & Bike Shop, 700 First St., Rocheport, Missouri, 573.698.1222, meriwethercafeandbikeshop.com
Shelly La Fata spent January 2018 reconnecting with her Italian heritage, traveling down the Liguarian coast to visit her grandparents’ native Sicily and learning recipes along the way. The trip had a larger purpose: To further inspire her Columbia pop-up restaurant, Sidebar. Italian-inspired Sidebar is a rare treat, as La Fata spends spring and summer running the festival kitchen for the Ozark Mountain Biscuit food truck. Yet in the fall and winter, you can get a taste of Sidebar at Klik’s or Cafe Berlin, where La Fata serves from-scratch pasta including fist-sized ravioli with fillings like oyster mushroom-Cabernet and squash-Gorgonzola. Most of Sidebar’s menu highlights plant-based fare; for La Fata, the fun begins with fresh ingredients, some of which are sourced from her neighbor’s garden, plus local farms. Occasionally, on Saturday mornings, La Fata sells frozen ravioli at the Columbia Farmers Market. (Photo by Keith Borgmeyer)
Sidebar, facebook.com/sidebarcomo
Jessica Vaughn
Jessica is a freelance writer based in Columbia, Missouri. She lives by the words of M.F.K. Fisher: "First we eat, then we do everything else."
As featured on
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She's the festival manager at Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. and owner of Pasta La Fata.
