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.

I talked with Julius at his home in University City.

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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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