At least they appear to be independents. Taj Palace is in an outbuilding in the Target parking lot in a space that housed a broasted chicken place for what seemed like about six weeks and a noodle place before it.…

Molly Killeen

No less than the New York Times currently has an article online (and in Wednesday’s paper) about our own local delicacy, gooey butter cake, as prepared by Molly Wessel Killeen, a native of Arcadia Valley, Mo. (about 80 miles south of…

Ami’s Manhattan-style pizza as served in O’Fallon. (Photo by Katherine Bish)

A’mis, which spun out of a Talayna’s at 9824 Manchester in Rock Hill about 20 years ago and opened a location at Highway K and O’Fallon Road in O’Fallon, Mo.…

Phelim O’Toole

A group of 20 firemen, all but one working in the city of St. Louis, will open Phelim O’Toole’s Firehouse Grill in the space formerly occupied by Soda Fountain Square at 1801 Park Avenue in Lafayette Square. Sqwires owner…

Home boy Larry Forgione of An American Place (well, OK, St. Louis also shares him with a little town on the east coast) is one of the featured chefs at the 2009 James Beard Foundation Dinner and Auction, which will be…

Open nominations began Tuesday for the 2010 James Beard Awards, which means the general public can submit the names of their favorite restaurants for consideration for the award. (Click on the link to do that.) The large list then goes to…

Work has been going on feverishly, so watch for a November opening of Sammy Scott’s, a new soup and sandwich place in the Schnucks Bellerive center with lead partner David Miller, grandson of Lester Miller of Lester’s fame (and, in business, of…

Virginia Willis, author of “Bon Appetit Y’all,” the International Association of Culinary Professional’s (IACP) cookbook finalist for 2009, will teach two cooking classes at the Schnucks Cooks Cooking School in Des Peres, 12332 Manchester Road, on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The…

Patrick Munster, who once worked with Kirk Warner at the old King Louie’s and is now chef de cuisine at the SW at the Wynn Las Vegas, will be one of the assistants on Iron Chef America at 9 p.m. Oct. 25…

Steve McIntyre outside Cafe Balaban in 2003

Ian Froeb at the Riverfront Times reports that former Balaban’s owner Steve McIntyre is opening Balaban’s Wine Cellar and Tapas Bar in the old Talbots/Hollywood Video space at Clarkson and Baxter. It’s Ian’s scoop, so…