Sound Bites is produced in partnership with Sauce Magazine, our monthly installment exploring cuisine in the St. Louis area.
In this year’s Sauce Magazine Readers Choice Awards, two local dining favorites became clear: Olive + Oak in Webster Groves and Katie’s Pizza & Pasta in Rock Hill.
Katie Collier, the founder and owner of Katie’s, was voted the magazine’s chef of the year, the first woman ever to snag the title.
Meanwhile, Olive + Oak was voted best new restaurant. It opened in 2016.
Collier and Mark Hinkle, the co-owner of Olive + Oak, joined St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh alongside Sauce Magazine’s Meera Nagarajan to discuss the secret sauce that goes into their restaurants and plans for expansion.
Nagarajan said that the restaurants’ beautiful spaces, upbeat music and impeccable service are part of what makes readers love them so much.
On the program, Collier shared that Katie’s Pizza and Pasta will soon open a second location, this time in Town and Country, within the next two months. Recently, she also launched Vero Pizza and Pasta, a pizza and pasta meal delivery service.
Hinkle said that Olive + Oak, which is notoriously hard to snag a reservation or bar spot at, will open a café concept next door to the restaurant in a former local bookstore.
Listen as Collier, Hinkle and Nagarajan discuss what goes into making a restaurant that people like and want to return to:
Want to know what other restaurants landed on the Readers Choice list? You can find them all in Sauce Magazine’s June issue and online here.
St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.
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