Lost Tables

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. Did...

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. Did you...

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. Did you enjoy this episode?

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. Did you enjoy this episode?

Louis Fiddleman operated Louie’s Delicatessen from 1955 to 1987. I talked with Alan Fiddleman about his father over a noisy breakfast. Did you enjoy this episode?

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...

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...

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. Did you enjoy this...

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. Did you enjoy this episode?

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...