The stretch of Lafayette Avenue between South Jefferson and South Grand in the Gate District has greatly evolved over the years with much rehabbing and new modern construction filling in a lot of gaps.
Add a new restaurant to the mix: Have a Cow Cattle Company and Urban Farm Store, opening soon at 2742 Lafayette. You can’t miss the restored 1947 Allis-Chalmers tractor out front on the patio that hugs the sidewalks.
The patio extends to the side of the building where a unique outdoor seating area will exist. The modern look and feel of the new construction infill fits in well with it’s older neighbors.
The place is eye-catching and I wanted to learn more. So, I sat down with owner Steve St. Pierre to hear his story on why he’s opening a restaurant in the Gate District.
Have A Cow Owner - Steve St. Pierre
Steve grew up in San Francisco, CA through middle school, his family moved a lot, but he eventually landed in Edwardsville, IL where he went to high school before heading to the University of Texas where he studied finance.
He had the idea of opening a toy store and did just that in Edwardsville in 1987. That endeavor grew to three successful toy stores that were in business for 18 years.
Steve had an epiphany in the latter years in Edwardsville where he was inspired to step outside his circle of wealth and privilege to start helping people with less than he. Feeding the hungry and caring for the poor was the driver behind his inspiration.
His desire to help and do for others led him to missionary work in a slum area in Kabira, Kenya, near Nairobi where his church was providing meals for school children. He found particular inspiration by a five year old girl who was orphaned after the death of both her parents to AIDS. She was alone and abused, living by herself in the slums of Kabira.
This was the moment, back in 2006, when he knew he had to do something and make some changes and walk the walk back home to help people living is dire conditions back in America. He felt if he stayed in his wealthy circles in Edwardsville, he would not get anything accomplished when it comes to understanding the needs of those with less and how to be part of reconciling with and helping them.
That’s what made him move to St. Louis, when his wife Lisa found a house and they moved their three children to the West End Neighborhood on St. Louis’ near north side that same year.
New City Fellowship, Steve’s church, does a lot of work in the West End and that’s where they decided to settle down. The night they moved in, three young men were shot with AK-47 rifles at the end of his block. Nothing was said, written or mentioned of the incident. If three teenagers were shot in Edwardsville, it would be the top news story in the Metro East and beyond.
He was in a new world.
Restore St. Louis is the organization the St. Pierre’s worked with, including one of its ministries, Harambee LLC, a company that trains young men and women to do tuckpointing.
They were focusing on building relationships with their new neighbors.
He asked some of the young men what they needed most. The answer was “jobs”.
That’s where the idea for “Have A Cow” was spawned around 2016 when he decided to buy a farm where the rural would bridge to the urban, and a restaurant and retail operation to sell food from the farm, bridging neighborhoods and people.
He wanted to create jobs and build something that could be life changing for his employees. He sold the toy store buildings/business and that was the seed for this project you see on Lafayette as well as the farm near Owensville, MO. He and his family worked with neighbors and read and watched YouTube videos on how to raise cattle, and it worked, he’s a cattle farmer. He drives the three hour roundtrip from the farm to the store to feed and care for the cattle.
Steve invites his West End buddies to go out to the 180-acre farm on the regular and help with the operations. Many had never been to a farm before, hadn’t even been to the Zoo or out of St. Louis before.
The farm is now established and they are raising 80 head of grass-fed (corn finished) Hereford cattle which will supply the restaurant and retail beef offerings. You can get a hamburger, a steak, a pound of ground beef or a whole side, depending on your needs. It will all come shrink wrapped, frozen and USDA inspected.
Steve needed a location for the restaurant and retail operation. His goal is to have people he’s employing to rub up against as many people in the community as possible. To have people from different walks of life mix together. He wanted to be in a “bridge neighborhood” that would attract patrons and clientele from all over. He wants his employees to see how the other half lives, and vice versa, all the while providing a boost to help build a career or gain marketability for all involved.
There is a theme you’ll see on the logo and other branding “Love Your Enemy”. Steve explained that as mixing with people and making friends with people who are different than you. Immersing yourself in a place that needs help, ask what is needed and get to work together, helping people make money and support their families.
They needed a location.
That’s where Mark Keoshkerian comes in. Mark lives in the Gate District and owns a development company, Metamorphi Development that has done a lot of work on Lafayette and beyond. He knows Steve from the same church and they’ve travelled together to Pakistan to do missionary work. Mark convinced Steve the Gate District would be a good location for the store and restaurant. He and Steve worked together to design the new build on Lafayette.
Mark worked with a partner, Tim Garrett, on this project, which will also include a new apartment directly adjacent to the store. And nine apartments and four additional commercial spaces on this stretch of Lafayette.
The build out of the space includes a seating area for the restaurant, pastry and coffee counter and a retail section with supplies for urban chickens, bee-keeping, bird feeding items and much more including homemade soap, etc.
The restaurant will offer breakfast (all day), lunch and, eventually dinner. Of course, there will be hamburgers and steaks from the farm, as well as salads, etc. Chef Tom Shuman sat with us and grilled up a couple delicious burgers.
They are roasting their own Columbian coffee beans under their “Barbed Wire Brew” brand which will be available at the store as well as cappuccino, espresso, Americano, latte, cafe mocha and brewed coffee drinks. The biscotti and espresso I had were delicious.
Steve wants the business to grow into other areas, like building backyard chicken coops and a feed delivery service, encouraging people to share eggs with neighbors and selling them back to the restaurant…employing more people.
The store will offer honey raised in hives in the city called Sweet Justice Honey.
The buildout is modern, but has a country-store vibe, complete with a wood burning fireplace and walls made from wood from an 1800’s barn near the farm in rural Missouri.
There are several garage doors that will open up the front and side to the exterior patio.
The exterior patio will have seating with fire pits and an area for kids to run around. A little bit of rural right in the middle of the city.
The lot where the restaurant currently sits had been vacant for years, Mark has owned it for the last ~5 years. Infill is much welcomed and adds to the interesting mix on Lafayette. Mark is also rehabbing a storefront immediately west of the restaurant/apartments.
During the interview, the lights were on and neighbors were walking in and asking about the opening date, and if he needs any help or does he have any jobs. It already seems to be working.
The permitting process and liquor license was in its final stages during our discussion, so opening day is just around the corner.
So, need a good locally raised hamburger, a hearty breakfast or bird feed, chicken coop supplies, soap, coffee, a gift for a friend, check em out.
A little taste of farm to table with a social justice bent.
Small businesses are the heart of our community and each place has a story, thanks to Steve for sharing his.
In full disclosure, I’ve known the Keoshkerian’s for many years as our kids have been in school together since they were in Kindergarten. I’d look for Mark on the sidelines of many a St. Margaret of Scotland soccer game so we could talk St. Louis stuff, social justice stuff and just chit chat.
