Mainlander’s Commitment to Missouri-Grown Ingredients Defines Its Monthly Menu

With an unwavering commitment to Missouri-grown ingredients, Mainlander serves elevated dishes such as rutabaga Rangoon, saffron-scallion pancakes, sweet potato mezzaluna and pineapple pork steaks in the Central West End.

Owners Blake Askew and Gordon Chen met in San Francisco 10 years ago. The former has been a chef for the better part of 20 years, working in kitchens from the East Coast to the West Coast, and the latter is a licensed chiropractor who’s learned his way around a restaurant over the years.

“The restaurant industry, as a whole, is unkind to entrepreneurs,” Askew explains, “and it’s very difficult to own a piece of the pie as a career cook. You just don’t get the opportunity to build that kind of wealth.”

Despite the odds, Askew decided that he wanted his own restaurant, and if that dream didn’t come to fruition, he was prepared to leave the industry. The Bay Area wasn’t financially feasible, so he and Chen began shopping around for new cities, and St. Louis made it to the top of their list. Here, Chen was also able to open his own practice while Mainlander got off the ground.

“I don’t work in his chiropractic office because he doesn’t need me there,” Askew says with a laugh, “but I need him here. We own and operate Mainlander together, and he’s very much a part of the daily team.”

In its 17th month, Mainlander’s success can be attributed to inherent creativity. “We continue to define this concept every day,” Askew says, “but that’s informed by our team and what they bring to the table. I want to make sure that everyone has a voice in the kitchen and space to get creative.”

The menu at Mainlander changes monthly, and every dish spotlights seasonal, regional ingredients. “I moved to California to immerse myself in the farm-to-table movement, which has almost become a cliché in the business,” Askew says, “but I wanted to work in it, not just think about it and talk about it.”

Mainlander applies that sensibility to Midwest dining, using inland fish as opposed to coastal fish, for example. The team utilizes what’s around them, honoring the seasons, the agricultural prowess and the ingredients grown here.

“That speaks to our name,” Askew explains. “We’re smack dab in the middle of the mainland, and we appreciate what we have here. We don’t need to look beyond our backyard; we don’t need to bring ingredients from the coast. With one à la carte menu a month, we still can’t cover the bounty of the Midwest, so we’re constantly mixing things up. In October alone, we used eight different varieties of pumpkin!”

One of the biggest stars on the menu is Ozark Forest Mushrooms, a family-owned operation whose top-tier products recently made their way into mushroom dànbǐng (Taiwanese egg pancake) at Mainlander. “Ozark Forest Mushrooms feeds the hunger for local, sustainable, thoughtful produce in this town,” Akew explains. “It’s the perfect example of why Missouri is a wonderful place to be a chef.”

Buttonwood Farms, which recently acquired Eat Here Saint Louis, is another indispensable vendor for Mainlander. Its chickens forage for their own food, taking free range to a new level and increasing the quality of its meat and eggs.

Behind the bar, the team relies on spirits from StilL 630 for a majority of its craft cocktails. Located in a former Hardee’s building in downtown St. Louis, StilL 630 is the most awarded distillery in Missouri and the fourth most awarded distillery in the country. “I had no way of knowing that the quality of the spirits would garner so much attention – without being an egomaniac,” owner David Weglarz says with a laugh, “which I am, but not to that extent. We’ve eclipsed our wildest aspirations in terms of quality.”

“I don’t foresee any time that StilL 630 spirits won’t be used in our drinks,” Chen adds. “[David Weglarz and Andrew Spaugh] do an exceptional job with everything from whiskey to gin to rum.”

With a background in Asian fusion, Askew has become accustomed to cooking without rules, and his team at Mainlander knows no boundaries. “We’ll use any cooking technique, any ingredient, as long as it results in a delicious experience for our guests,” he says. “It also comes back to the relationship between Gordon and me. He’s Taiwanese American, while my family is German Midwestern, and we’re creating our own brand of flavor.”

This month, the quirky cuisine at Mainlander has a lot of Taiwanese influence. To start, the team pairs Cahokia Rice congee with sweet-and-sour pickles, Taiwanese pork meatballs, sweet potato dumplings, herbed egg confit, barbecue baked beans made with purple hull peas and Tai Pei-style crullers. The main course features braised Missouri beef inspired by the fresh flavors of Taiwanese beef noodle soup, alongside saffron-scallion pancakes and gingered collard greens.

Other tidbits that might come out of the kitchen include crisped rainbow trout toast on Knead Bakehouse sourdough bread; a shredded kale salad dressed with Adam Puchta 1855 sherry; potstickers filled with bratwurst, sauerkraut and Hemme Brothers Cheddar; and St. Paul sliders.

If you’re interested in iconic local eats, the classic St. Paul sandwich layers a hot, crispy egg foo young patty, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and a smear of mayonnaise between two slices of white bread. According to popular belief, it was invented by Steven Yuen, owner of Park Chop Suey on Chouteau Avenue, in the 1940s as a way to draw more Missourians into his restaurant. Unique yet familiar, the sandwich began attracting attention, and its flavor and affordability helped it rise in popularity. Askew, of course, puts his own spin on the traditional dish, and he plans to include St. Paul sliders on the December menu as a vegetarian substitute for the filet-o-catfish starter.

Every meal at Mainlander then ends on a sweet note – think pumpkin-quark cake donuts and cardamom monkey bread.

“We’re fully committed to regional ingredients,” Askew emphasizes. “We’ll change our menu before we ever use, say, commodity meat, and we’re not interested in growing in a way that causes us to lose our core values. Don’t get me wrong – we’ll buy a pineapple here and there, but it’s all about accentuating local ingredients.”

Since Mainlander opened, people have referred to it as a supper club. It’s a respite from everyday life, and both residents and visitors are encouraged to give themselves over to the experience. Just make sure that you have a reservation – the restaurant doesn’t accept walk-ins – and remember that the prepaid price includes gratuity.