His restaurants have always focused on local vegetables and meats, since he opened his first place in the Benton Park Neighborhood nine years ago. In 2012, Craft moved his flagship, Niche, to Clayton’s Centene Plaza, adding Pastaria to the adjoining space. With a total of four St. Louis restaurants now, which also include Brasserie by Niche and Taste in the Central West End, Craft is viewed as a leader in the local culinary scene, and credits his upbringing with food as having molded him into someone who thoughtfully considers the environmental impact of his operations. This is what led him to join the Green Dining Alliance.
All four of Craft’s restaurants were recently audited by the Green Dining Alliance and have completed the certification process. Even Craft, with a long-held passion for sustainability, found GDA certification enlightening. Since completing their GDA audits, all the restaurants have undergone energy efficient lighting audits, Pastaria phased out their Styrofoam containers, and Taste and Brasserie by Niche both began composting. Through the audit process, he also recognized opportunities for staff training on waste sorting in the back of the house. Helping restaurants discover solutions to these challenges is why the Green Dining Alliance is here to help.
Often local foods are harder to come by in restaurants, but Craft has made it a priority, particularly at Niche. Growing up with farmers as grandparents, Craft always had fresh food to eat. Couple that with his French culinary training during the Mad Cow scare, and you have a chef who appreciates the artfulness of showcasing local food produced by farmers he trusts.
The menu at Niche is vegetable-centric. During the audit at Niche, no less than 5 farmers came in to deliver fresh seasonal veggies that ultimately wound up on the evening’s menu. Any item on the menu containing pork began as a whole pig in Niche’s small kitchen. Craft remarked that the extremely meat-heavy American diet “accounts for pretty much of all of our problems in the US: obesity, pollution, bad farming practices. In order to keep up with this level of consumption and demand, the meat producers have to do some crazy sh*t.” Showing his fine dining customers how delicious and evocative vegetables can be is in its own way a form of active environmentalism.
Craft’s staff is also expert at creating pickles and preserves which amplify the featured dishes. A hint of fish sauce or a sliver of fine meat is enough to make a dish pop. “It’s not about excluding meat,” he explained, “it’s about new ingenuity and creativity.”
Diners in St. Louis are lucky Gerard Craft chose to join the emerging creative dining scene in St. Louis – and the GDA is thrilled to see more innovative solutions in our local, sustainable food industry.
