Blue Water Grill David Slay owned an ugly building sandwiched between a Dairy Queen and an Arthur Treacher’s at 2607 Hampton Avenue, just south of Interstate 44. The building housed David Slay’s Pizza & Pasta from 1979 to 1980. Slay converted his eatery to Cafe Hamton from 1981 to 1984, expanding the space by demolishing the Dairy Queen. He then morphed Cafe Hamton into La Veranda in 1984. When La Veranda was moved to Union Station in 1988, Slay sold his ugly building to Tim Mallett. Tim Mallett grew up in St. Louis, graduating from St. Louis University High School and attending Saint Louis University. He worked as a waiter in high school and his first management job was at Lucius Boomer on Laclede's Landing, which he managed for eight years.
Tim Mallett opened Blue Water Grill in the ugly
building at 2607 Hampton in November of 1988. Mallett's partner and chef was Greg Perez. By
1990, chef Lisa Slay was added to the mix.
"We tell people the menu revolves around the grill, specializing in seafood with Southwest overtones," said Mallett. "I wanted something that said Mexican, but also seafood – and a casual atmosphere." A seaside mural with vivid blues and corals occupied one of the restaurant's white walls, while a blue sailfish dominated another. Over the bar was a shark being devoured by a bigger blue piñata shark. Mallett believed that a casual atmosphere, together with affordable prices, invited people to drop in anytime, not just on special occasions. "It’s the California influence – people want to relax when they go out," he said. The Blue Water Grill menu included a few traditional and authentically prepared Mexican dishes, such as quesadillas. But there were no tacos and the only enchiladas were the house special chocolate enchiladas served as dessert. Carnitas – marinated pork with garlic, orange and ancho chile sauce, served with tortillas – were a house specialty. When the restaurant first opened, all-you-can-eat carnitas were offered as a special to attract business on Monday nights. Carnitas soon found their way to the regular menu. Most diners came to Blue Water Grill for the imaginatively prepared seafood, such as sautéed sea bass with orange hollandaise sauce or chargrilled mahi-mahi with grilled pineapple and macadamia nut butter. Southwest cooking, with its influence of peppers, chiles, tomatoes and herbs, came naturally to Greg Perez, with his half-Mexican half-Irish heritage. Perez drew on his extensive travel and cooking experience to come up with creations such as watermelon shrimp – sautéed shrimp with watermelon, white zinfandel wine and coconut.
"People will ask where does that come from," he
said. "Shrimp with coconut is done often. The watermelon is sweet
and white zinfandel is sweet, I thought it would be light and
perfect for the summer menu."
In 1991, Blue Water Grill began featuring its Flying Saucers menu on Monday nights. Flying Saucers were Blue Water Grill’s version of tapas and included some thirty imaginative dishes, ranging from a salad of artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted pepper to griddled red chili polenta to smoked salmon quesadillas with caper and red onion garnish. The menu changed weekly to take advantage of seasonal specialties and the kitchen’s preferences.
Flying Saucers was Mallett’s idea after a
restaurant deal he was working on didn’t pan out. "We had wanted to
do something just like this at the new place, but when that fell
through, we decided we could do a restaurant in a restaurant on
Monday nights, and provide a creative opportunity for the people in
the kitchen."
In 1992, when Tim Mallett opened a second restaurant – the Big Sky Cafe in Webster Groves – Greg Perez left Blue Water Grill to work at Kemoll's and Lisa Slay took over as Blue Water's executive chef. Slay's menus included special touches such as a banana ketchup dipping sauce, corn bread with bits of jalapeno pepper and steamed mussels with chunks of chorizo sausage. There were grilled portobello mushrooms topped with crumbled gorgonzola cheese and smoked tomatoes, snapper basted with chipotle peppers, under a relish of roasted red peppers and tomatoes, and a Mexican bouillabaisse. * * * * *
On January 14, 1999, Tim Mallett opened a new
Blue Water Grill at 343 South Kirkwood Road, across the street from
the Kirkwood Cinema, and closed his original Hampton Avenue
location.
"It was harder and harder to put up with no bar
or parking in such a tight space," Mallett explained. "We kept the
concept of casual dining, where people can stop in for a quick
seafood meal or an appetizer, but now we can do more."
Phil Noe, who began his career at the famed Jefferson Avenue Boarding House, was now the executive chef. "We wanted to offer people the opportunity to try new varieties of both East and West Coat oysters," Noe said. "The boiled crab claws, smoked mussels and shrimp have gone over well with customers, too." A shellfish fiesta platter gave customers a sampling of each. The move was a success. With more dining space and additional parking, business tripled the first year. Blue Water Grill won the title of best gourmet seafood restaurant in St. Louis by two publications. By the beginning of 2002, Mallett had added Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar and Ellie Forcella to his burgeoning restaurant empire. "The restaurant business is just like any other," Mallett said. "I do a lot of research before opening a new restaurant. I don't take chances." Mallett continued to maximize the talent in his kitchens. Lisa Slay, who started at the Blue Water Grill, had moved to Remy's and then became executive chef for all four of Mallett's restaurants. When Phil Noe departed in the fall of 2002, Slay returned to Blue Water's helm. * * * * * On November 8, 2008, after a 20-year run, Tim Mallett decided to close his seafood restaurant.
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