feeding good | All 15 dining concepts at City Foundry STL’s Food Hall have joined the GiftAMeal program. The nonprofit helps fight food insecurity by working with restaurants and Operation Food Search. Diners simply download the app and take a photo of their meal at a partner restaurant, and GiftAMeal helps provide a meal to someone in need. The new City Foundry partnership is expected to help provide thousands meals in 2022.
cup of joe
Looking for a caffeine fix? Goshen Coffee Roasters is moving into the former Soulard Coffee Garden space at 910 Geyer Ave. in Maplewood. The popular Edwardsville coffee company offers a variety of roasts and specialty drinks, and each coffee variety is paired with a unique charity to which a portion of its sales are donated. … In more brew news, Northwest Coffee Roasting Co. has opened up a new space in Schnucks in Webster Groves. It’s serving up the same menu as the coffee shop’s Central West End spot.
under new management
Michael and Tara Gallina’s restaurant group, Take Root Hospitality, has acquired Bar Les Freres in Clayton. The restaurant is one of the trio of beloved spots owned by Zoe Robinson, which closed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bar Les Freres will remain a French bistro, and several popular menu items also will continue being served. The relaunch is expected to happen in June.
taking root
Local plant-based food company rootberry has expanded its headquarters to the former Weber Grill restaurant in the St. Louis Galleria. As well as serving as the company’s corporate headquarters, the space will be used for preparation and production of its products. In more rootberry news, it also now will be partnering with Mercy Hospital to provide health care workers, patients and visitors a healthy dining option with its ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat meals.
opens + closes
This spring, Warson Woods is getting a new Italian restaurant with an impressive local pedigree. Vangel’s Restaurant & Bar is a new concept from Louis Vangel, grandson of restaurateur Charlie Gitto, and will open at 10017 Manchester Road. … UKraft has opened its third location, UKraft Cafe & Smoothie Exchange, at 14888 Clayton Road in Chesterfield. … After a final Pi Day celebration on March 14, Pi Oh My! in Maplewood has closed. The bakery opened in 2012. … At the end of the month, Persian restaurant Cafe Natasha’s will close. Owner Hamishe Bahrami plans to retire, and her daughter Natasha Bahrami will launch a new concept in the space.