With a new chef on board, St. Louis’ Angad Arts Hotel plans to open a new concept in the former Grand Tavern space

St. Louis’ Angad Arts Hotel has a new chef, and he’s getting ready to take the hotel’s food concepts in a new direction.

St. Louis native Matthew Birkenmeier has been named the new executive chef for the hotel. Birkenmeier, known to many as Chef Birk, will lead food operations for the entire hotel, including the ART Bar on the hotel’s rooftop as well as an upcoming restaurant located in the former Grand Tavern space. Birkenmeier has been the executive chef of local hotels in the past, but perhaps most notably, he has been lauded as the chef and managing partner at Biggs BBQ Restaurant and Bar in Montego Bay, Jamaica. 

“It feels great to be back in the kitchen after COVID-19,” he said in a press release. “It’s been so long since we’ve heard the familiar hustle and bustle of restaurants, and it’s fantastic to see people coming back out to enjoy a meal together. There’s nothing like being a chef in St. Louis and I am proud to be a part of a locally-owned hotel group.” 

The new restaurant concept at the hotel is expected to debut late this summer, focusing on European fare. For now, guests can find Birkenmeier’s dishes on the revamped ART bar menu upstairs. New offerings include lamb chop lollipops with tomato-mint salsa and apple jelly demi, cast-iron lime-pepper salmon with tomato-caper concasse and a balsamic reduction and a grilled Caesar made with grilled baby romaine salad and a signature Mayfair dressing, which the chef brings with him to every restaurant. 

The ART Bar is open Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 11pm and Friday and Saturday from 5pm to midnight.

Angad Arts Hotel, 626 N. Grand Blvd., Midtown, St. Louis, Missouri, grandtavernstl.com

https://www.feastmagazine.com/st-louis/article_a7429028-c479-11eb-a5f1-1b8bce23c094.html