Fiddlehead Fern Cafe

Take Me Here Using Metro Transit

Fiddlehead Fern Café is a woman-owned and operated business located in the Shaw neighborhood. The once abandoned gas station lot was completely renovated in 2017 to build the café. Now a buzzing community space, offering an all vegetarian menu in a biophilic atmosphere, Fiddlehead is always full of life and good vibes. Their coffee is sourced from PERC Coffee Roasters in Savannah, Georgia where owner and 4th generation Shaw resident, Darcy Heine, had previously worked and lived. Fiddlehead has ingrained sustainability into all of its operations. In addition to the made-from-scratch menu and innovative beverage program, there’s a lot more going on here that makes it a special place to meet  friends, study, or host an event.

Sustainable business practices have helped Fiddlehead navigate the financial costs of running a food business. To reduce food waste, they use leftover pulp that comes from making cashew milk in their dog treat recipe; the ginger pulp from juicing ginger root for making house-made ginger powder and syrup; carrot pulp from juicing carrots to make carrot cake muffins, and a house-made vegan tzatziki sauce made from cucumber pulp from juicing cucumbers. They’ve offered spent coffee grounds to the public for garden fertilizer, and even made an exfoliating scrub out of it, too.

Fiddlehead works hard to minimize packaging and material waste. They offer post consumer, compostable, and recyclable to-go packaging. They offer a reusable thermos discount program. They offer discounts on any reusable thermos or coffee cup you bring in, and a larger discount if you purchase their branded coffee thermos, which are sold at cost. Everything from the food to the cleaning supplies are purchased in bulk. The buckets their coconut oil come in are repurposed for containers for pickling; glass honey jars are repurposed for dry mix cookie kits for sale; and glass bottles are reused to hold all of their house made syrups and beverages. They have a draft system which offers Confluence Kombucha, wine, and cold brew on tap.

Fiddlehead Fern Café works with several local purveyors to provide a well-rounded vegetarian menu. Fruits and veggies are sourced from locally operated purveyor, Ole Tyme Produce, and their microgreens are sourced from Good Life Growing. Nearly everything is made from scratch in house, except for bread sourced from Union Loafers just around the corner. Dairy is sourced from Rolling Lawns out of Greenville, IL, just 42 miles away from St. Louis. Pasture raised eggs are sourced from Becker Farms in Earlville, IL. They source local honey from some of the best kept secret beekeepers in St. Louis; wine from Noboleis Vineyards in Augusta; Herbarium Teas from Old Bakery Beer Co; Paradise Coconut water from O’Fallon, MO, and teas from local Big Heart Tea Company.

Any food waste that cannot be repurposed is composted with New Earth Farm, a local Known & Grown farm that offers composting services to residential and commercial businesses. The newly renovated space features all LED lighting, motion-sensor bathroom lights, KE2 evaporators in the walk-in coolers, a high-efficiency hood, thermal windows and doors, smart thermostats, and a maintenance schedule for refrigeration. Fiddlehead Fern has also made investments in clean chemicals using Better Life products for nearly all of their cleaning operations.

Enjoy your coffee, tea, cold-pressed juice, or even a cocktail on their newly renovated patio, featuring a rain garden with Missouri native plants, or have lunch inside on tables made by Rustic Grain using reclaimed barn wood from Missouri barns. Enjoy the biophilic atmosphere featuring several indoor plants and a beautiful family heirloom golden framed mirror which reflects the natural light. Ride over and make use of their custom made fiddlehead inspired bike rack, or if you’re in the neighborhood visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden or Tower Grove Park, do yourself a favor and stop by Fiddlehead Fern Cafe! It’ll easily become one of your favorite sustainable coffee shops in St. Louis.