Lost Tables: Remy's

Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar

Joseph Slay was born in Syria in 1889. He immigrated to the United States at the age of four. In 1911, he and his wife Moneitta opened a small restaurant in St. Louis at 1105 Chouteau. He sold the restaurant in 1919 "on account of other business and illness."

Slay went on to own a drayage company with his brother, become superintendent of refuse collection for the City of St. Louis from 1933 to 1941, and serve as a St. Louis alderman from 1946 to 1949. In 1949, he returned to the restaurant business, opening Slays Bar and Bar-B-Q at 2652 Hampton. When Joseph Slay died in 1951, three of his sons – Michael, Anthony and Francis – took over operation of the restaurant.

Anthony Slay's seven children grew up in his restaurant. Lisa Slay started working there at age 12, washing dishes and busing tables. She went on the payroll at age 16, working every weekend throughout high school. She had no formal culinary training – she learned to cook in her grandmother Monietta Slay's kitchen and from her father.

After half a semester at Southeast Missouri State University on a basketball scholarship, Lisa Slay decided school wasn't for her. She returned home just months before her father was killed during a robbery at his restaurant in March of 1982.

After her father's death, 19-year-old Lisa stayed close to home to be with her mother. She began cooking with her brother David at Cafe Hamton, a restaurant he'd opened at 2607 Hampton in January of 1982. She was still working with her brother when he transformed the restaurant to La Veranda in 1984. When David Slay moved to California in 1988, he sold the building to his bar manager, Tim Mallett.

In November of 1988, Tim Mallett reopened the space as Blue Water Grill. Lisa Slay stayed on as day prep cook. She would become the restaurant's executive chef in 1992, the year Mallett opened a second restaurant, Big Sky Cafe, in Webster Groves.

In February of 1995, Mallett opened a third restaurant at 222 South Bemiston in Clayton. He named the new restaurant after his son Remington, calling it Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar.

Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar, 222 South Bemiston

Although Mallett was already operating two well known restaurants, his "wine bar" concept got off to a slow start.

I was late to the party in Clayton, but I had traveled to New York, San Francisco and Chicago and saw how restaurants that featured wine had become very popular. It didn't do well at the start, because people thought it was just for those who were very serious about wine. I intended it to be more of a fun experience. I wanted a wine bar for the rest of us.

Mallett's wife Kimber provided much of Remy's decor, including a wire mesh likeness of Bacchus near the entrance and gastronomical quotations stenciled on the walls.

Remy's entrance with wire mesh Bacchus

Remy's dining room

Remy's dining room

Remy's bar

Lisa Slay moved from Blue Water Grill to Remy's as executive chef. She would become a shareholder in Mallet's restaurants in 2001.

When we opened Remy's, Tim said, "What do you want to do? Do whatever you're comfortable with." With Remy's I got to design the kitchen, order all the china. I'd opened restaurants with my brother, but Remy's is like my baby.
Tim and I really clicked early on. He knew a lot about business, and I knew how to cook, so we made a good pair. For the longest time I couldn't imagine doing all of it because the kitchen is so much. It's constant. Even if you have a slow night, you're still busy. I gave him the respect he deserved, and he gave me the respect I deserved, and he pretty much let me do what I wanted.


Lisa Slay	Tim Mallett & Lisa Slay

Slay returned to her Syrian roots with a Mediterranean inspired menu of small and large plates.

We emphasize healthy Mediterranean food with olive oil, fresh herbs, grains and pastas.
It was something different to St. Louis at the time, and I had some family background in it. Fifteen years ago nobody knew what couscous was. No, give me some potatoes.

Upon being seated at Remy's, diners were greeted with a tangy tapenade – a mixture of kalamata olives, garlic, capers and olive oil. The tapenade was served with golden, crisp crostini.

Black Olive Tapenade

Small plates came hot and chilled. The hummus was a house specialty, made from Slay's grandmother Monietta's recipe. It was sprinkled with feta cheese, finished with red and yellow peppers, and served with flatbread rolled into cones.

Hummus

Another house specialty, and another of Slay's grandmother's recipes, was the stuffed grapevine leaves. They were filled with rice and ground lamb, and topped with a tangy tomato-cumin sauce.

Stuffed Grapevine Leaves

A popular small plate was the pan seared scallops and spinach. The spinach was served with a tomato balsamic vinaigrette and goat cheese.

Pan Seared Scallops & Spinach

A house specialty large plate was the Bronzed Mahi Mahi. The pan-seared fish was dusted in a blend of seventeen spices, including paprika, cayenne, cumin, cardamom and coriander. It was served in a light sauce of white wine and butter, over French lentils, and topped with two lightly seared jumbo shrimp.

Bronzed Mahi Mahi

Slay's most popular dessert was her apple-raisin bread pudding. It was served in a pool of hard brandy sauce and caramel, and had a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top.

Apple-Raisin Bread Pudding


2014 Remy's' Dinner Menu (click image to enlarge)	Lisa Slay

Remy's had an extensive menu of wines by the glass and by the bottle, and was one of the first restaurants in St. Louis to offer wine flights.

Experiment with a wine flight – three half glasses of wine served together to compare and contrast tasting characteristics. The wines are grouped together by varietal, growing area, or however we want to!

Each flight was accompanied by an information card describing the wines served in the grouping.

"Just Around the Blend" Wine Flight

2014 Remy's' Wine Flights Menu
(click image to enlarge)

In December of 2017, Tim Mallett announced that Remy's last day of service would be on December 31. He was downsizing to concentrate on his other restaurant, Big Sky Cafe, and spend more time with his family. Mallett had closed Blue Water Grill in 2008.

We’ve done everything right here for a long, long time and I want to go out on a high note. The last thing I want is for people to say, "Yeah, they should have closed that place five years ago."

Mallett would sell Big Sky Cafe at the beginning of 2022, retiring from the restaurant business. Lisa Slay would continue to cook.


Tim Mallett with his grandchild	Lisa Slay