Simple food done really, really well

By Craig Kaminer / Photos by Zack Dalin

Not so long ago, chefs competed for attention and patrons. Of course, they still do. But now more chefs are collaborating, working side by side, learning from each other, creating additional buzz in the food community, and filling more seats in their restaurants. Perfect example: when Jacob Siwak joined Craig Rivard for a three-day chef collaboration in St. Louis. It immediately sold out.

Jacob Siwak grew up in St. Louis, graduated from John Burroughs School, Washington U. and then the International Culinary Center in New York City. In 2020, he opened Forsythia, a critically acclaimed Roman (aka authentically Italian) restaurant. Craig Rivard graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked in New York City at such restaurants as Gotham Bar and Grill, Marlow & Sons, Clover Club, and Lani Kai. In 2019, Craig and his wife, Mowgli, moved home to St. Louis to open Little Fox.

“The last time I came home to St. Louis to see my family, I told my parents that there were a number of new restaurants in St. Louis that I wanted to try,” Jacob says. “Little Fox was at the top of the list. I knew from the second I got to Little Fox that Chef Craig had spent time in New York working at some of the top restaurants there. It was immediately apparent.” The telltale signs including the chef’s immaculate coat and apron with all the necessary pens tucked into his sleeve, an organized open kitchen, “everything needed for plating organized in a clean line, his line cooks were clean and organized and the whole team moved with intention.”

Jacob says that he sees more cooking with intention in New York than he does anywhere else. “If you're not cooking with intention in New York, you're not gonna make it,” he says. “People just won't go to your restaurant. And Craig has spent time at some of my favorite restaurants in New York. So, I went up and introduced myself to him.”

Reflecting on his first meal at Little Fox, Jacob says the food was delicious. “It was nuanced and complex without being overwrought in that way. They call it modern neighborhood food, and that's exactly what it is,” he says. “The ethos of [Craig’s] cooking is very much similar to the ethos of my cooking, even if it's not Italian food. His whole mantra is simple food done well, which is exactly what my mantra is. So, it felt like a natural fit to me. Our menus are very alike. Even if one's very Italian and one's very much not, they still feel pretty similar to one another.”

Jacob and Craig started a conversation about a collaboration. Jacob wanted to see how St. Louis responded to his pasta and to food that's not necessarily what they traditionally imagine as pasta. His cooking is closer to what you would eat in Rome (as in why his restaurant is in the Roman genre) and not very much like the American take on Italian food.

“I love St. Louis, Jacob says. “I still view it as home even if I haven't been here for 10 years. Craig's from St. Louis and he feels passionately about St. Louis and, like me, he really wants to grow the food scene here.” Jacob recalls Craig vocalizing very explicitly that having other good restaurants pushes him to be better. So, cooking side-by-side made sense. Like their cooking, it was a collaboration with a large cup of intent. 

One thing Jacob did not expect was that “there are people in St. Louis who really want to be in hospitality, especially at Little Fox. It is a pretty unique thing to have an entire team that isn't just doing it as a gig and isn't just doing it to make a little money while they do something else.” The benefits of the collaboration were as good for Jacob as it was for Little Fox. “I got great feedback from the Little Fox team who were excited for the chance to work with a New York City restaurant…even if it were just for a few days.

Chef Craig reflects, “Sometimes I think with certain staff a collaboration with another chef could feel like a burden or outside of their routine. But everyone at Little Fox was genuinely excited to work with Jacob. Our culture is as important as the recipes. Happy cooks make better food. So, we spend a lot of energy on the culture at Little Fox and this collaboration was great for everyone.”

“I told Craig and Mowgli they have an unbelievable team,” Jacob says. “I said, ‘I don't know how you assembled a group of people like this here, where finding hospitality talent is infinitely more difficult than New York.’ It's exactly what we try and do in New York. We started by developing a culture that people really want to be a part of. We pay way above average. Our servers and our line cooks make more than they could possibly make at another restaurant. We offer actual benefits. We give real PTO [personal time off], which most restaurants don't give. At Forsythia, you can take a day off and still get paid. You can take a week off and still get paid. And that's unheard of. In New York, we offer health insurance benefits. When you work at Forsythia for a year, you get a largely free trip to Italy. We just offer benefits that companies outside of the hospitality industry offer. That makes a big difference.”

Jacob says that a lot of people think about it backwards in restaurants. They want to take care of the guests at all costs so that they can get good reviews, good feedback, and really positive reinforcement from the guest. Second to that, they take care of their employees. When Jacob worked in Italy, he found the exact opposite frame of mind. He says, he “was told to forget about the guests for a second. Let's pretend no one's eating at this restaurant. Let's all live happy lives where we all love what we're doing and have a shared drive towards total excellence. First, let's do that. And then it turns out that if everyone shares that mission and everyone is very excited to be at work and feels totally fulfilled by what they're doing and enjoys what they're doing in the moment that rubs off on the guest.”

It worked. “I saw firsthand that actually if you completely reverse it and you treat the people that work at the restaurant really well, they in turn will take care of the guests and give the guests a way better experience then trying to take care of the guests first,” Jacob says.   

While he is not currently planning any new restaurants, Jacob says if he does, they would be a different concept than Forsythia. But if he opened outside of New York, it would likely be another Forsythia with a very similar ethos and menu. 

The eternal question: Where does Jake like to eat in New York?  “I eat at Lord's a lot,” he says. “It's an amazing British restaurant known for its nose-to-tail cooking and extensive wine list. Owners Ed [Szymanski] and Patricia [Howard] also opened a restaurant called Dame, which is also phenomenal. They started it as little fish and chips pop up during Covid. Then they opened up Dame as a full seafood restaurant that immediately became the hardest table to get in New York. I think they're gonna open another restaurant soon. I would say those are the two restaurants I'm most excited about right now.”

Growing up, my father had a lot of friends who were New York City cops. They knew where all the best cheap eats were, and I still remember all of those places which had great food but no atmosphere. Now I ask chefs where they like to go and some of my favorite restaurants are other chefs’ choices. I love sitting at the bar and often bump into chefs and restaurateurs, who are some of the world’s best critics and culinary conversationalists.

Jacob isn’t sure when he’ll be back in St. Louis, but when he is and if he is collaborating with another chef, I will be sure to let you know. Until then, go to Little Fox and next time you’re in New York, head straight to Forsythia. You won’t be disappointed.