Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
The interior at the former Cafe Osage in the CWE
Photo by George Mahe
In many ways, Gerard Craft’s Niche Food Group is an apt successor to the beloved Café Osage, which closed in late November. The chef's ties to the restaurant, slated to reopen in August with Craft at the helm, run long and deep.
Located at Bowood Farms nursery in the Central West End, Café Osage was owned by the late John McPheeters and his family. A free-spirited naturalist, McPheeters was the co-founder of Magnificent Missouri, a state conservation effort that Craft helped kick off more than a decade ago and an endeavor that he continues to support.
When McPheeters’ daughter, Lizzy Rickard, closed Café Osage last fall, she told SLM, "The cafe space will evolve. It will be different. That's all we know at this point."
Fortunately for Craft, the space had been remodeled before and during the pandemic, so he says additional design changes will be minimal. A new bar and more seats had already been installed on an elevated platform in the retail space, increasing interior seating to 80.
Some of the prime tables were located on the chat-topped garden among the abundant plants, and Craft intends to dress up that area even more, adding a wood-burning oven and grill to the space.
Photo by Ann Lemons Pollack
The overarching goal is to create “a neighborhood restaurant but not a burger joint,” he says. It will initially serve lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. Menu details and personnel announcements will be made at a later date.
With a quarter-acre garden located a stone's throw away and an herb garden on the roof, Café Osage was a locavore restaurant in the truest sense. Craft plans to continue that tradition, honoring McPheeters’ dedication to the farms in the Missouri River Valley.
“At the same time, I want the place to feel like a hug,” he says, “because we all need a hug right now.”
