mississippi morsels
Chef Candice Poss is firing up a new food truck called Graffiti that will serve the kind of Southern cuisine the Mississippi native is known for around town. She expects to have the truck up and running by February or March, and menu items will include pickled fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, hot tamales and more. Poss previously worked at 909 Public House in Wentzville.
major makeover
A new Mexican eatery will move into the old Momo’s Greek Restaurant space in U. City this spring. Owned by Natasha Kwan and Rick Roloff, who also operate Frida’s next door, Diego’s Mexican Restaurant will offer traditional menu items such as enchiladas, tacos and quesadillas, in addition to lesser-known entrees like huaraches, fried masa and bean flatbreads. The menu also will include Latin American items such as crab-stuffed avocados and arepas.
Seoul Taco has expanded its Korean-Mexican fusion footprint in Chicago with a new location in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood. But that’s not all; the eatery is just the first of two new locations in the Windy City. Owner David Choi plans to open the second in the suburb of Naperville this winter. That brings the grand total to three restaurants in the Chicago area, with the first opening in 2016 in the River North neighborhood. All told, Choi has restaurants in St. Louis, Chesterfield and Columbia, Mo., plus Chicago and Champaign, Ill.
change of venue
Rex Hale has left his job as chef at Bakers & Hale, the Godfrey, Illinois, restaurant he co-founded with Kelly Baker Walden in August. Hale said he’s looking for another St. Louis-area project that fits his seed-to-table ethos. He stated
that his reason for leaving Bakers & Hale was to spend more time with family.
guerilla fare
Guerrilla Street Food is set to open a new location in Maryland Heights, along with a new concession at Two Plumbers Brewery & Arcade in St. Charles. The new stand-alone location will take over the space formerly occupied by Big Baby Q & Smokehouse at 11658 Dorsett Road (closed Dec. 29). Co-owner Brian Hardesty says the Maryland
Heights location won’t have a dining room and will offer counter service and delivery only. The concession will feature a walk-up window just like the one at 2nd Shift Brewing Co.