The St. Louis Hills restaurant Edibles & Essentials will close after service March 3, chef and owner Matt Borchardt announced Wednesday. Borchardt is taking a position with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis as the executive chef of the new Ronald McDonald House now under construction at Tower Grove and Chouteau avenues in Forest Park Southeast.
“We have been blessed with extremely loyal guests, employed some of the best culinarians in town, received numerous accolades and I hope left everyone smiling on each visit,” Borchardt said in the announcement. “This experience has been rewarding and exhilarating as much as it has been humbling, stressful, hot and very demanding. I’ve enjoyed it every day!”
Borchardt opened Edibles & Essentials in October 2015 at 5815 Hampton Avenue, featuring an eclectic and oft-changing menu that won numerous plaudits, including multiple mentions on this critic’s annual STL 100. Signature dishes included smoked-and-fried ribs and the french fries, which Borchardt spun off into the food truck Essential Fries. (The truck ceased operations in September.)
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In Wednesday’s announcement, Borchardt said he has been involved in the design of the kitchen and meal plan that will feed the families staying at the new Ronald McDonald House.
“(My wife) Mary Beth and I feel it is an honor for me to accept this position and work for this world-renowned organization,” Borchardt said in the announcement. “We can hardly wait to give back to an organization that has and will continue to give us so much.”