Lost Tables: Monarch

Monarch

Aaron Teitelbaum grew up in University City; he graduated University City High School in 1992. It was while in high school that Teitelbaum, in need of spending money, took a job at Mark Erker's Catering St. Louis. He would move into a management position with the company by the time he was nineteen.

Erker was my first mentor, and he taught me about business, serving people and doing what you do with care. He instilled in me how important it is to be your best. That's an important thing for me, sometimes to a fault.

Teitelbaum worked for Catering St. Louis for eight years before leaving the company to go to college. Once there, however, he realized that school wasn’t his thing. After a year of floundering, he returned to St. Louis and again worked for Erker.

After three years, Erker encouraged Teitelbaum to apply to culinary school. He was admitted to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. where he fell in love with cooking, both inside the classroom and during his externships, including a stint at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute, Teitelbaum wanted to learn about the front-of-the-house side of the restaurant business. He applied for a job at Daniel, Daniel Boulud's Upper East Side Manhattan restaurant.

I didn’t know anything about it. I was big enough in my world in St. Louis that I knew I was going to do a good job, but I didn’t know what I was getting into there. They ended up hiring me as an assistant general manager — a new position — but they had to sneak me in under the chef's nose because I wasn’t French, and they wanted me to prove why this non-French guy was running the show in his house. For the first month, they hid me from him, which was so bizarre because he lived above the restaurant.

Teitelbaum and Boulud grew close, with Teitelbaum learning not only the operations and cooking sides of the business, but also how important it was for a restaurant owner to be a part of the community. But Teitelbaum's stay in the Big Apple would come to an end.

After 9/11, New York changed. I decided it was time to move on and move back to St. Louis to open a restaurant.

Daniel Boulud at Daniel

Jeff Orbin and Aaron Teitelbaum were friends as kids. Orbin grew up in the Florissant area and graduated Hazelwood Central High in 1988.

Orbin had a background in design. He owned Project 13, a graphic design firm in St. Louis. When he designed and marketed the sushi bar Miso on Meramec, he became turned on to the restaurant business.

That's when it got in my blood. I called Aaron in New York and said, "Let's do this. St. Louis is ripe for something like this, and if we don't do it now, we never will."

Orbin and Teitelbaum formed a business partnership based on Orbin’s sense that the city was ready, and on Teitelbaum’s experience as a chef and restaurant manager. They conceived of a place that fused food, wine and art. But they needed a chef.

At the time, Brian Hale was executive chef at SqWires Restaurant in Lafayette Square. His resume also included Al Baker's and Harry's. Hale had found his way back to St. Louis after spending time in Europe. His culinary career included a series of apprenticeships in Milan, Paris and Brussels.

I just traveled and found different chefs to work under. I’d go in and cut celery and onions and carrots for eight hours a day for free. I'd gain speed and precision at that level while I was soaking up as much as I could from each chef. I took everything I learned and I used it to create my own art.

Orbin stopped by SqWires for lunch because he'd heard Hale was considering opening his own place. He ordered Hale's signature lobster mac-and-cheese.

It blew me away. It was a cool restaurant with a different menu, and so I decided to talk to Brian.

Orbin and Teitelbaum explained their restaurant philosophy to Hale and he agreed to join them – before the restaurant had a name or a space.

Brian Hale

In 1996, Bob and Barbara Suberi had purchased a building in the heart of Maplewood, at the corner of Manchester and Sutton. It had originally housed a Katz Drug Store. They opened Bobby's in the space, a restaurant they had originally operated as Bobby's Creole in University City.

By 2003, the Suberis had had enough of the restaurant business. They closed their restaurant and leased the space at 7401 Manchester to Aaron Teitelbaum and Jeff Orbin.

Katz Drug Store, 7401 Manchester at Sutton, 1958

Bobby's, 7401 Manchester, 1997

Teitelbaum and Orbin's new restaurant, which they called Monarch, opened for business on June 4, 2003. Orbin had designed and transformed the massive space into an innovative floor plan. His imaginative use of expensive hardwoods, supple leathers, chic fabrics and art glass made Monarch one of the most visually interesting restaurants in St. Louis.

The large formal dining room was nearly theatrical in design, with silk fabric overhead, draping across the ceiling in billowing waves. Its adjacent glass-walled wine cellar, visible from the dining room, accessed a secluded private dining area.

Monarch's Main Dinning Room and Glass-Walled Wine Cellar

The bistro section, with its separate menu, was a bright, narrow room along the east side of the building. It had a more casual decor, with big casement windows that opened onto Sutton Avenue.

Aaron Teitelbaum (left) and Jeff Orbin in Monarch's Bistro
St. Louis Jewish Light, Jun 16, 2004

A large bar was located off the reception area. Off the bar area was an art gallery, which featured monthly exhibits by local artists. Restaurant guests could wander through the gallery after dinner or drinks, enjoying and often purchasing pieces on display. Monarch prided itself on being the only commission-free gallery in St. Louis.

Monarch also boasted a chef's table – a glass-encased skybox for 10 people, suspended above the kitchen for a bird’s-eye view of the mayhem. Hale would chat with skybox diners and create a five-course meal to their liking.

I dance a little more when someone is at the chef’s table. I get a little more animated. Spoons fly. Flames rise.

Monarch's Skybox

Teitelbaum called Monarch's cuisine international. Hale's approach was haute cuisine with a French twist.

Simply put, Monarch is a food lover's paradise. Or, as one dining companion – a man who plans his vacations around food and wine – phrased it: "This is the closest thing St. Louis has to a New York City-caliber restaurant."
Guests in the "fine dining room" begin their culinary journey with an amuse-bouche, the French term for a gratis pre-appetizer whose aim is to "amuse the mouth." This gift from the chef titillates your palate while you soak in the dining room's visual feast, and it also allows Hale to indulge his whimsy while portending the meal to come. On one visit, our edible trinket consisted of two asparagus spears drizzled with beurre blanc, plus a couple of nut-stuffed dates.
Our appetites sufficiently whetted, we ordered the crab martini, an exquisite appetizer of small rounds of lump crab meat served in a chiffonade of radicchio and endive, dressed with a vanilla-bean vinaigrette and presented in an oversize martini glass. If food can be art, then Monarch is a gallery.
Hale and crew's artistry continued with braised beef short ribs, boneless and slowly cooked to tender beauty, then bathed with a rich, concentrated cabernet reduction. Next to the beef sat a truffle-celeriac-polenta tart, the earthy-tasting celeriac (celery root) nicely complementing the richly flavored dish. Chilean sea bass got its proper treatment, arriving perfectly pan-seared – crisp exterior, succulent center – atop purple Peruvian potatoes and crowned with a cucumber-onion-mango relish. A final drizzle of a brothy leek reduction paired well with the mouth-filling richness of the fish. The vegetable accompaniment for all dishes comprised a colorful medley of whole baby carrots and thin spears of broccolini and white asparagus. And that brought the only quibble from our table: With an abundant supply of fresh raw material available this time of year, sending out the same standardized vegetable dish with every entrée betrays a certain lack of enthusiasm in the kitchen.
Most desserts are distinctive, although there is the regulation molten chocolate cake. More satisfying is the crème caramel or the fresh-made sorbet du jour, not to mention an adventuresome mango-coconut-papaya bread pudding.
Michael Renner, Riverfront Times, Aug 27, 2003

Monarch, 7401 Manchester

In August of 2008 it was announced that Brian Hale was stepping down as Monarch's executive chef, moving on to take over dining operations at the Chase Park Plaza. By September, Josh Galliano was manning the stoves.

Galliano, a Louisiana native, had trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London. He worked at Michelin-starred restaurants throughout Europe before returning to his home state to work at the renown Commander's Palace in New Orleans. He then traveled up the river to St. Louis, accepting the position as chef de cuisine at Larry Forgione's An American Place.

Galliano's approach was different than Hale's and he completely revamped Monarch's menu.

Better to say that Galliano approaches every dish with restraint and respect. The technique is always impressive, and the presentations are often striking, but the ultimate focus is on the ingredients.

Consider the rib eye. The steak arrives at the table in three thick slices, its exterior seared to a perfect savory-sweet crisp, the interior, a shade of red only just faded from purple. A gorgeous piece of meat, it would be utterly satisfying on its own. Yet the sauce, dense with mushrooms, provides an earthy backbeat, while pearl onions contribute a mellow sweetness. Because this is a steak, there must be potatoes, here in the form of potato-pecan croquettes.

For all these accompaniments, it is the rich flavor of the steak that lingers. Likewise, braised short ribs, tender enough to be cut by the mere mention of a fork, are a hearty winter pleasure. The meat seems to dissolve into its sauce of red wine and roasted root vegetables; a garnish of parsnip chips adds a dash of brightness to all this savoriness.

Chicken dishes are often a sop to the unadventurous diner, but Galliano's garlic-crusted chicken breast is a winner — though here the chicken really plays a supporting role to the garlic. Not only is there the garlic crust, but also a purée of black garlic. This is garlic that has ripened in the sun: It marries the subtle flavor of roasted garlic to the tannic edge of raisins and adds a striking grace note to this dish.

Sharing the plate with the chicken breast is a hash of mushrooms and fingerling potatoes, as well as roasted Brussels sprouts. This might not sound especially exciting, but the dish as a whole strikes me as Galliano's most impressive creation: Without calling attention to itself — no clever names, no showy presentation — it takes the humble pleasure of a roast-chicken dinner and presents it in a new and interesting form.

Few area restaurants expend much creativity on their seafood offerings. There is shrimp, and there is salmon. Yet it is here that Galliano seems to cut loose. Seared albacore tuna (not as luscious as yellowfin or bluefin tuna, but more environmentally responsible) comes with caramelized fennel and braised Jerusalem artichokes. This is a study of sweetness: the clean flavor of the fish, the fennel's strong licorice note and the sunchokes' mild, somewhat nutty taste. Saffron-scented (and beautifully turned) potatoes provide backbone, and an orange-balsamic jus ties everything together with its touch of acidity.

The tuna is immediately appealing, whereas the Missouri rainbow trout at first seems too busy: There is a sweet potato-apple gratin, housemade bacon, buttered cabbage and a grain-mustard jus. Yet as the flavors combine, it makes sense, the combination of sweet and smoky evoking an autumn campfire.

There were a few disappointments. A trio of local pork, a special, lacked variation in texture or flavor. Pork loin with a traditional garlic and parsley persillade was only a shade different from spiced ham with a hash of garbanzo beans and roasted garlic. The latter came with an agrodolce sauce, yet both its sweet and sour notes seemed muted. Braised pork belly was the standout, its luscious texture given a striking contrast by its exterior, which was seared to a brittle texture like the surface of a crème brûlée.

The appetizer selection is small. Ravioli filled with puréed winter squash are lovely, with a warming combination of nutmeg and a sage beurre blanc. Honey-roasted pork belly with cornbread croutons, baby beets, gnudi (ravioli filling without the ravioli) and basil cream is very good, if almost too rich to be an appetizer. For all those components, it needed a steak of acidity or spice to cut through the heaviness. Similarly, the lamb pâté on the housemade charcuterie plate lacked a distinctive flavor. On the other hand, the thinly sliced bresaola burst with flavor.

Galliano also created the desserts, and the selection, though brief, is striking. I opted for the dreamsicle semifreddo, which perfectly captured the flavor of that childhood treat. To complement its orange-vanilla flavor, Galliano serves it with a sort of oatmeal cookie, sage ice cream and a coriander-spiced tuile. A burst of summer freshness amid the depths of a very cold winter.

Ian Froeb, Riverfront Times, Jan 21, 2009

Josh Galliano in Monarch's Bistro
Riverfront Times, Jan 21, 2009

In 2010, Monarch closed from June 1 until August 2 to renovate its space and design a new menu.

The main dining room changed its seating arrangement and updated its décor, with soft bronze colors, black chairs, eggshell-white linens, buttery lighting and clouds of coppery butterflies twinkling overhead.

The bar and bistro underwent the most significant changes, with the main entrance more open, flowing naturally into the bar on one side and the bistro on the other.

Monarch's Renovated Main Dining Room

Monarch's Renovated Bistro

A new southern-style menu was offered in the bistro and bar areas; the menu remained essentially unchanged in the main dining room. Inspired by Galliano's Louisiana upbringing and his work in New Orleans, the new menu included such items as crawfish etouffee, hush puppies, shrimp and grits, sweet potato crusted flounder, "signature" po-boys, beignets and homemade root beer floats.

About half the menu is devoted to "Snacks," small plates and po' boy sandwiches. These can be fun. "Crawfish Bread" is like an upscale Hot Pocket, with a blend of crawfish étouffée and cheese baked inside a thin shell of dough. The "miniature" Natchitoches meat pies are actually quite plump with a spicy ground-beef mixture. The "Surf n' Turf" po' boy overflows with tender, shredded roast beef and crisp fried shrimp. It's a knife-and-fork sandwich. A "special" sauce and horseradish ketchup give it extra savor and a mild kick. (In a move that is either cute or a cost saver — or both — the po' boys are served with a bag of Old Vienna potato chips on the side.)

"Surf n' Turf" Po' Boy

Only one of the small dishes sported the grace note St. Louisans have come to expect from Galliano's cooking. At first glance the hush puppies are conventional cornmeal fritters, with jalapeño providing a touch of heat. Yet Galliano adds a little bacalao (salt cod) to give it a subtle funk and then, crucially, serves the hush puppies in a burnt-lemon sauce. This is wonderfully complex: tart, toasty-sweet, with a lingering, mouth-filling richness.

Hush Puppies

Entrées include one of the better catfish dishes I've had, a playful Southern take on the great Daniel Boulud's sea bass wrapped in thin slices of potato. Here the fish is wrapped in shredded sweet potato and then sautéed. The browned potato adds depth of flavor to the mild fish and also keeps its flesh tender. Served in a sage beurre blanc with roasted mushrooms and braised red cabbage, it's the sort of dish I'd expect to find on Galliano's dining-room menu: a classic, elevated by his personal touch.

The Creole-spiced butcher (or hanger) steak — a naturally flavorful cut of meat served over mashed potatoes — might be the menu's most bistro-esque dish. The Creole spicing is gentle. What makes the dish work is the marchand de vin. The brightly flavored sauce, made here with Tasso ham, cuts through the steak's richness and adds flair to an otherwise straightforward preparation.

Ian Froeb, Riverfront Times, Oct 27, 2010

* * * * *

Despite its facelift and culinary makeover, Monarch announced it was closing its doors on March 11, 2012. Orbin said that the restaurant’s size, the economy and competition from restaurants participating in discount-dining offers had contributed to the decision.

The local dining scene now just isn’t large enough to support a 10,000-squarefoot restaurant anymore. In a perfect world, we would have found an 80-seat restaurant that we could purchase, build out and have running before we closed. We wanted to go out while we were on top and still be able to do this thing gracefully with severance packages and paying all our vendors.

The lights went out with a final press release.

We couldn't be more proud of the Monarch team for countless hours and continued commitment in building such an impressive brand, not to mention the numerous accolades and awards that we have been honored to receive both locally as well as nationally. This has been one of the hardest business decisions for us to make.

Monarch, 7401 Manchester