Like so many St. Louisans, chef Michael Gallina has been away and come back. After glamorous culinary stints across Europe and in and around New York (the acclaimed Blue Hill at Stone Barns, for one), this is where he says he wants to be. He and wife Tara opened the sleek, new, ‘vegetable forward’ Vicia in the Cortex in March and say they have no plans to move again.
Where did you go to high school? (We have to ask!)
I grew up in Brentwood and went to Brentwood High School. My favorite subjects were English and baseball.
What or who was your culinary inspiration?
My grandmother on my father’s side and grandfather on my mother’s side both influenced me a great deal in the kitchen. I’m from a very small but tight-knit family, and we always came together around the table—my grandmother made huge feasts; my grandfather would get out his Julia Child recipe book and invite me to cook with him.
You call Vicia ‘vegetable forward.’ Explain your love of vegetables.
Vicia is a celebration of what goes on above and below the soil. We really have respect for the land, and care how our food is grown and raised, as well as how it’s cooked. So by working with ingredients that have been tenderly cultivated, we believe we’re setting the tone for a really great meal.
How did you get into cooking?
I went to University of Missouri for a couple of years, hoping to study journalism and play baseball. But traditional college didn’t work for me, and I ended up attending the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
What is your favorite thing to eat/cook?
I’m a complete sucker for pizza—cheese, a good sauce, pepperoni and chili flakes. As for cooking, I love to fill a grill with vegetables and add them to rice or grain bowls. I love meat, but also eating light—especially this time of year.
What is your fondest childhood food memory?
Making Yorkshire pudding with my grandfather. You cook it in the oven at very high heat. He always set off the smoke alarm and smoked us all out of the kitchen. Or my grandmother’s mostaccioli pasta with Bolognese sauce.
What is the best meal you’ve ever had?
At Etxebarri, 45 minutes south of Bilbao. I was working in Spain at the time and got off shift and just went for a drive. I came across this restaurant in a tiny village where everything is cooked on various woods and charcoal. It had a 12-course tasting menu. Six years later, I still remember it.
Favorite cookbook?
On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen by Jeremy Fox
Where do you like to eat/go in St. Louis?
I live in the Shaw area and one of my favorite places is Union Loafers in Tower Grove. We go there once or twice a week for pizza and sandwiches. I’m also a die-hard Ted Drewes fan.
Why were you keen to come back here?
The people in St. Louis are incredibly nice and very supportive of small, family-run businesses. It’s also an emerging food city. There are a lot of great chefs here now, and they are doing some very exciting things. We’re prideful of what we’ve done and what we’ve learned, so we wanted to share it with more people, bring it back home, and communicate it to a new audience. I wake up every day thinking, “Why can’t one of the next best restaurants in the country be in St. Louis?”
What do you like to do besides cook?
I love going to Cardinals games and taking long walks in Tower Grove Park with my two dogs.
Photo: Greg Rannells