Rising Stars 2021: St. Louis
As one tumultuous year comes to a close and a new one begins, we’re celebrating those paving the way to a brighter future in our region’s restaurant industry. From the farm to the kitchen to the front of house, these individuals deserve the spotlight not only for their talent, grit and determination but also their ability to lead and inspire during one of the industry’s most trying times.
As they pursue their passions and find their niches, they’re spreading joy with everything from boiled bagels to Vietnamese coffee to edible flowers. They’re also using their newfound platforms to address topics such as sustainability, food heritage and equity within both the industry and our communities.
Despite the uncertainty that the pandemic has caused – and continues to cause – these rising stars exhibit a level of creativity and optimism that makes us hopeful for better – and more delicious – days ahead.
Juwan Rice, founder, JR’s Gourmet
Not many 12-year-olds have their own business cards, but that’s just one testament to Juwan Rice’s lifelong passion and drive. Now 19, he started cooking when he was 6 years old and officially began selling his cookies and other baked goods at age 12. When his mom started taking his packaged desserts with her to work, Rice realized he could actually make some money – and JR’s Gourmet Desserts and Catering was born. Rice, who has since gained experience in the kitchen at a few local country clubs, River City Casino and, most recently, Bait, soon broadened his concept to focus on gourmet meals and private catering. When COVID-19 hit the area last spring and many restaurants closed their doors, he began selling comforting, scratch-made dishes such as red wine short ribs, blackened salmon Cajun pasta and buttermilk-brined fried chicken drizzled with lemon-pepper honey butter for curbside pickup. In an effort to give back, he also founded Feeding the Frontline STL, which provided hundreds of meals to healthcare workers helping to battle the virus around the St. Louis area. In 2021, Rice plans to return to his true passion – pastry – when he launches a new branch of JR’s Gourmet to provide elevated desserts (think a honey-lavender cake layered with vanilla bean-espresso buttercream and honeycomb crunch served with lemon caviar pearls, vanilla bean sugar crumble and citrus curd) to restaurants across St. Louis. facebook.com/chef.juwann (Photo by Jordan Bauer)
Sarah Schlafly, CEO, Mighty Cricket
Sarah Schlafly wants us all to live mightily. Her St. Louis-based company, Mighty Cricket, sells protein powder and high-protein instant oatmeal made with crickets – that’s right, crickets. For years, Schlafly taught nutrition and cooking classes, and her passion for food equity drove her to build a clean and equitable protein supply to help sustain our communities. “Not in food deserts, but elsewhere, at places like Walmart, you can find good produce at decent prices,” says Schlafly, “but the hardest part is finding a healthy, sustainable and delicious, yet affordable, protein source – something that can lead us into the future as the global population continues to grow exponentially.” Although entomophagy (the practice of eating insects) is commonplace in many cultures outside of the U.S., when Schlafly first considered consuming them herself, she thought, frankly, that sounded disgusting. Now she happily munches on whole crickets – which she compares to popcorn – and she’s working to change other Americans’ perceptions of insects as well. Schlafly lets her products, from flavorful vanilla protein powder to decadent dark chocolate oatmeal to classic apple-cinnamon oatmeal – which all feature mild, nutty crickets – speak for themselves. This year, she had big plans for the company involving restaurants and festivals, which the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted, but she was able to shift gears, moving retail to the forefront, and companies in Southeast Asia and Mexico are showing interest in her products, which has opened her eyes to new export opportunities. When the restaurant industry finds its feet again, Schlafly hopes to work with chefs to position cricket protein to appeal to the American palate. In October, she launched Aya’s Market, an online grocery store that aims to make nutritious food accessible to all – a project that naturally aligns with the ethos of Mighty Cricket. Now, she’s focused on growing those businesses together. mightycricket.co; ayasmarket.com (Photo by Jordan Bauer)
Darren Young and Charlene Lopez-Young, chefs-owners, The Fattened Caf
Despite the challenges the pandemic has imposed, 2020 was a big year for Darren Young and Charlene Lopez-Young. Pre-pandemic, the couple planned to pop up at Earthbound Beer on Cherokee Street once a month to serve their signature version of Filipino barbecue; instead, their business, The Fattened Caf, has made at least three appearances per month and has been selling to-go meals of chicken inasal, pork belly sisig, ube (purple yam) brownies and assorted brunches every week. Now, their delicious prepared meals and longanisa (Filipino sausage) are also available at Schnucks stores across the St. Louis area. Although this kind of growth was unexpected, it’s exhilarating, and The Fattened Caf shows no signs of slowing down. Charlene left her full-time position to keep up with demand, and the couple hopes to one day open a brick-and-mortar location on the same street where they first shared their food with customers. “It’s just this thing that’s taken off, and we’re riding the wave and we’re really excited,” says Charlene. “We’re so excited to see how big it can get, and as long as everyone’s willing to still eat Filipino barbecue, we’ll be here.” instagram.com/TheFattenedCaf (Photo by Rolf Ringwald)
Kurt Bellon, owner, Izumi
Have you seen that person dishing out Japanese-style sandos from a bright-red 1995 Subaru Sambar? That’s Kurt Bellon. In October, Bellon launched Izumi, a Japanese pop-up concept inspired by konbini – Japanese convenience stores that sell premade sandos served on shokupan (Japanese milk bread), alongside green tea, milk drinks, shrimp chips and Pocky (chocolate-coated biscuit sticks). Named after his mother’s hometown in Japan, Izumi features snacks reminiscent of those that Bellon would pick up on trips to the country. The first month, Bellon was operating Izumi from different pick-up locations around The Grove, and his first four dates sold out within hours. For several months, he did all prep work at Chao Baan, a highly regarded Thai restaurant in The Grove where he served as general manager, but he’s not sure exactly what shape Izumi will take in the future. He hopes to maintain some kind of konbini-inspired business – whether that’s his own brick-and-mortar restaurant with a grab-and-go feel or a spot at other St. Louis food businesses where fans can easily snag his sandos – but Bellon is moving the business forward one step at a time. “I just think that there’s so much potential in St. Louis for a lot of Japanese food past sushi and ramen,” he says. izumistlouis.com (Photo by Jordan Bauer)
Hannah Kerne, co-founder, Bakers for Black Lives
When protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement swelled throughout the country last summer, Hannah Kerne, who had been working as the assistant pastry chef at Vicia up until COVID-19 hit the area, found herself grappling with a sense of urgency and powerlessness at the same time. As she began talking with her roommate, fellow pastry chef Sharon Harter, the two realized the solution was more obvious than they’d thought. “We just looked at each other and said, ‘Why don’t we just bake?’” says Kerne. “This is our love language; there’s no other way we can express ourselves more radically than this form of love.” The duo enlisted other local pastry chefs, including Tyler Davis and Meghan Coltrain; before they knew it, their initiative, a bake sale dubbed Bakers for Black Lives, had blossomed into a community-wide effort with more than 40 establishments contributing baked goods. So far, the bake sales have raised $30,000 for local racial justice organizations such as Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders and STL Mutual Aid, and more events are planned for this winter. Kerne, who says she’s always wanted to combine her love for food and advocacy, hopes that Bakers for Black Lives can be a vehicle to help connect people with their community and better serve the needs of the city. “You have to meet people where they’re at,” she says. “Everyone’s form of activism is different in the way that they’re comfortable contributing, and I think a lot of people [saw] this as a way they could be part of the movement and gain understanding at their comfort level.” (Photo by Jordan Bauer)
Patrick and Spencer Clapp, owners, Coffeestamp
Patrick and Spencer Clapp have a simple approach to roasting coffee: Start with the best beans possible. Born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the brothers grew up immersed in the coffee industry – as soon as their mother let them start drinking coffee as teenagers, they were enjoying carefully roasted handpicked beans that their neighbors would bring over from their farm. When they moved to the U.S. in 2012, they were struck by the difference in both quality and price of coffee, and they set about creating a local coffee brand focused on ethically grown and responsibly sourced beans. Now, they’re realizing that dream with their Fox Park micro-roastery and café, Coffeestamp, located inside a 100-year-old two-story building that the brothers renovated themselves after the city’s stay-at-home order halted their construction plans early last year. They’re proud to source beans from their childhood friends at Finca La Alondra as well as other single-origin coffees from farms in Brazil, Colombia, Rwanda and Zambia, which are roasted upstairs and served to guests downstairs. And with a full coffee bar (plus a few scratch-made dishes, including eight flavors of empanadas), Patrick and Spencer not only provide ethically sourced, expertly roasted coffee but also help guests taste why that matters. coffeestamp.com (Photo by Jordan Bauer)
Pat Gioia, bartender, STLBarkeep
Pat Gioia creates cocktails like a musician writes music. “Every note has been played,” he says. “You have to figure out how to structure them for you, so they vibe with what you’re doing.” The same goes for cocktail ingredients. A self-proclaimed “lifer” in the restaurant industry, Gioia met Matt Longueville, owner of STLBarkeep, years into his career, and the pair hit it off immediately. When COVID-19 began wreaking havoc, Gioia left his job as bar manager at The Block in Webster Groves, Missouri, to join Longueville’s team full-time, helping to launch a virtual happy hour program, virtual cocktail classes and more. “What’s unique about Pat is that he’s able to relate to everyone and make people feel comfortable with the craft cocktail world, creating this hospitable feeling and explaining [any] ingredients that people might not be familiar with,” says Longueville. “I see him being a leader in our industry for years to come.” Gioia embraces the farm-to-cocktail model that drives STLBarkeep, working with Eat Here Saint Louis every week to choose seasonal, locally sourced ingredients that go into the featured cocktails at the company’s socially distanced events as well as its Silver Lining cocktail series, which delivers batch cocktails to imbibers throughout the area. He’s also been asked to appear in a TV series produced by Mid Coast Media, where he’ll be pairing cocktails with food. The series focuses on wellness in the time of COVID-19, and Gioia’s role is to explain why people shouldn’t be afraid to have a cocktail. Above all, Gioia says he loves his job because it’s always different. “The ever-changing landscape that we’ve been able to navigate fairly successfully is probably the coolest thing about doing this right now.” As he takes this time to contemplate carving his own path in the industry, Gioia is also thinking about launching his own line of bitters one day. stlbarkeep.com (Photo courtesy of Pat Gioia)
Nico Shumpert, private chef
Private chef Nico Shumpert admits that he loves binge-watching shows on Food Network, but his cooking chops extend far beyond the reaches of his living room. Since graduating from culinary school, Shumpert has worked in kitchens across St. Louis, from St. Louis Bread Co. to Sidney Street Cafe to Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co., but themed dinner series are where he really showcases his prowess. At these immersive dining events, he aims to engage all the senses and give guests a break from the norm. For his Halloween-themed dinner series this past October, he not only designed the menus – layering prosciutto on top of asparagus flatbread to look like skin as a tribute to Hannibal Lecter, for example – but he also fine-tuned the setting, having guests dine by candlelight and playing appropriately creepy music. “I’m just a fun, creative person, and Halloween is a great excuse for me to do something like that,” says Shumpert. “When you reduce that pot down, though, and get to the real function [of these events], it’s about me hosting; it’s about me being able to serve people and bring people from different walks of life to the table to break bread. I just like to show love in that way.” In the future, Shumpert plans to play with other themes for dining experiences throughout the year. Currently, he’s also collaborating with St. Louis nonprofit Ujima on its new eight-month culinary training program, Project Salsa, which will teach kids in marginalized communities how to produce, package, market and sell salsa. Working with Nick Speed, founder and president of Ujima, Shumpert will help teach the high school- and college-aged students basic kitchen skills, and he has developed the recipes for different salsas – think spicy tomato and pineapple – which will be sold to support the program starting this spring. “I’m big on education, especially equipping kids with knowledge and some kind of direction,” he says. “When they go into the workforce, [I want] them to have a leg up on the competition.” Additionally, Shumpert is excited to launch a YouTube series this month, which will be his way to continue entertaining as more of us stay at home. nicoshumpert.com (Photo by Jordan Bauer)
As featured on
Across our region, these chefs, bartenders, farmers and more are making names for themselves.
