When you walk into the small but mighty Kounter Kulture, you’re met with a friendly greeting. It’s a very cozy atmosphere, especially on a cold night—so cozy that there’s no on-site seating, just a waiting area and large, open kitchen where you watch your meal being prepared. The warm cup of delicious miso broth offered to you while you wait for your order doesn’t hurt either. Customers line up in a row against the windows wishing they could stay and hang out a while.

The restaurant on Watson Road is an extension of Kitchen Kulture, a name regulars of the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market know well. That’s where owners Chris Meyer and Michael Miller offer prepared foods, and now a popular breakfast sandwich, every week. To understand the allure of their operation, you need to go back about eight and a half years, when the two met while working as waitress and line cook, respectively. “The restaurant we were at was shutting down for four months to remodel, so we had to find something else to do,” Meyer explains. She chose to return to a previous job, landscaping, for a brief stint and invited Miller to join her. “I knew he was a hard worker,” she says. “And after getting to know each other even better, we ended up cooking together quite often and realized we had similar values about food.” Those values include using high-quality, sustainable products from local crops. Meyer has always had an interest in farming and organic produce and even worked on an organic farm in Missouri for a few years. “When preparing dishes, you want to start with beautiful, pristine products and treat them with the utmost respect to bring out the essence of the food,” she says.

The two devised a plan to continue working together—one that initially didn’t involve cooking. “I approached Patrick, who runs the Tower Grove market, about our idea to sell kitchen-themed T-shirts, but he said we would be required to sell food as well,” Meyer explains. The new business partners accepted the challenge of offering prepared, packaged foods made with items from farmers at the market. “We started in spring of 2011 and offered about five different products, things like salad dressings and pickled radishes,” she says. Quickly, the demand for their food increased. Phased out now, the T-shirts became just a memory of their humble beginnings.

Now in their sixth year at the popular Saturday market, they offer between eight and 18 dishes every week when the market is open, from mid-April through November. “The items continually change depending on the season and produce available,” Meyer says. “We try to offer frozen options as well as fresh sides. We have a very sophisticated culinary approach in a very unassuming setting. It’s a little bit of a hidden gem.”

To raise some capital, they kept their full-time jobs for a couple of years and dabbled in catering before fully diving in to grow the business. After five years, they decided to stop being ‘nomads’ and find a physical location. Roughly six months ago, they opened the doors at the Watson location. They had hoped for a dine-in restaurant (still the ultimate goal), but the carry-out spot is what worked at the time. The menu is based on sustainable, local products. “Asian food lends itself to seasonal cooking, and we wanted to help area farmers grow their business, for this to be a continuation of what we do at the market,” Meyer says. “Farmers are some of the greatest resources in the Midwest.” McKaskle Family Farm, which produces all of Kounter Kulture’s rice and grits, is run by fifth-generation farmer Steve McKaskle, and Meyer has strong relationships with Three Rivers Community Farm and Buttonwood Farm, among others, she notes.

“The biggest response has come from the neighborhood, and it was immediate,” Meyer says. “Our customers wanted to support us outside the market, and we wanted to serve more people. Everyone is happier now!”

omu ramen
the omelette:
6 oz. cooked fresh ramen noodles
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 c thinly sliced cabbage
1 c mung bean sprouts
1/4 c thinly sliced scallions
2 oz. cooked and chopped chicken (optional)
1 T light soy sauce
1 T roasted sesame oil
2 T vegetable or any other neutral oil
Salt

the garnish:
Kewpie Mayo or any other store-bought variety
Bulldog sauce (Japanese Worcestershire)
Toasted sesame seeds
Thinly sliced scallions
Pickled red ginger

» Preheat oven to 400 F. Heat neutral oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat until the oil just begins to smoke. Add the noodles and cook until they start to crisp up slightly stirring constantly.

» Add the cabbage, scallions and sprouts (and chicken if using). Toss in the pan with the noodles so that everything is well-incorporated and then spread the mixture out evenly in the pan.

» Whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil and eggs. Season with salt.

» Slowly drizzle the mixed eggs over the noddles as evenly as possible.

» Remove the pan from the heat and put directly into the oven. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or just until the eggs barely set. Remove from the oven.

» Fold the omelette in half, drizzle with mayo and bulldog sauce, and sprinkle with scallions, sesame seeds and pickled ginger.

Pictured: Michael Miller and Chris Meyer
Photos: Bill Barrett