Bulrush (STL)

[Alex]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

Oh my gosh, Rob. Congratters!

 

A field trip maybe?

 

Ha! I was thinking about that just last week. Let me pull the rest of my thoughts together and I'll start a topic.

[Kerry Beal]

And this year he won!!!!!

 

Congrats Rob - you've earned it!

 

https://jbf-media.s3.amazonaws.com/production/pressreleases/2024 JBFA R&C Nominee Announcement_4.3.2024.pdf

[gfron1]

As we go into the final week or two of JBF judging, I'm proud to share this interview I did with our local NPR affiliate  about our work with a local high school. The school is in the historic red-lined district of St Louis, which, while legally ended in the 70s, practically continued into the 80s and some would argue, today. HERE  is the interview.

 

On Thursday we were named the #1 restaurant in the city by the Post-Dispatch (the city's main newspaper). We were #2 last year. I'm immensely proud of my team!

 

Edited April 20 by gfron1 (log)

[rotuts]

@gfron1

 

Congratulations !

 

Thank you for the ref to see more 

 

about the restaurant,

 

Congratulations , again,

 

Well deserved.

Edited April 20 by rotuts (log)

[Shelby]

Congratulations!!!  I hope to be able to come see you and enjoy your creations some day!!!

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, gfron1 said:

As we go into the final week or two of JBF judging, I'm proud to share this interview I did with our local NPR affiliate  about our work with a local high school. The school is in the historic red-lined district of St Louis, which, while legally ended in the 70s, practically continued into the 80s and some would argue, today. HERE  is the interview.

Congrats on the JBF finalist nom and the #1 St. Louis recognition!  
And thank you for sharing the link to that NPR piece. I saw you mention it on IG and thought it might be a 5 or 10 min segment but it was a really nice, in-depth session. You and your mentee should both be incredibly proud of what you’re doing. 
For those of us who'd like to offer a bit of financial support the program, but can’t pop over to St. Louis with our checks, is there any other way we might contribute?

 

 

Edited April 21 by blue_dolphin
Missing word (log)

[gfron1]

12 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

For those of us who'd like to offer a bit of financial support the program, but can’t pop over to St. Louis with our checks, is there any other way we might contribute?

Checks can be mailed to HERO H.U.T. Fund which is the school's account for extracurriculars. Memo line should read: O'Bannon Culinary Team. If it is sent to the restaurant then I can catch it for the financial match (3307 Washington Ave, STL, MO 63103). I also have talked the Les Dames de Escoffier local chapter to match as well, so all donations are being double matched. And I don't have an electronic way of doing this because it would have to go through my personal venmo or paypal, and that's too messy. Thank you!

[weinoo]

I don't know if any/everyone has heard the news, but Rob has closed Bulrush.

 

Quote

 

A statement from Bulrush restaurant

It is with great sadness that I announce the closure of Bulrush restaurant. Bulrush has been my professional dream - allowing me to merge my passions for social advocacy, research, and of course, food. Over the past five plus years I have had the honor of working with some of the best hospitality professionals in the city, and we’ve been able to create a one-of-a-kind experience, playing our part in shining the national culinary spotlight on St Louis.

I came back home to my birthplace of St Louis from New Mexico in 2017 not knowing how my culinary chops would stack up. An intense inferiority complex came with me, and will unfortunately leave with me as well. I hope that it leaves only with me and allows those who have worked at Bulrush to shine in their future positions. I hope that the community better views Zero Waste as an opportunity and not a burden. That obsessive local sourcing is a gift, not a cost. And that we can honor those people and cultures who have come before us, and are at the heart of everything we do in modern kitchens. I will continue to believe in business-led reparations, and have demonstrated one model for successfully doing so.

Most of all I am proud to have served so many kind and generous customers. Each time I heard “I thought I hated beets” or “I never knew you could eat acorns,” I was re-energized for the next guest, the next plate and the next night.

There are two stories I hold dearest. The first was the 92-year old lifelong Ozarkian who told us, “I didn’t recognize a single thing you just served me…but every bite reminded me of my childhood.” The second was the five-year old son of a couple who had enjoyed COVID-era take out with our videos of me describing the course and our purpose. The son, a couple of years later saw a parent throwing food away and said, “Chef Rob would say to not throw that away.” My work here is complete!

 

But why now, when we are at a height of accomplishment? I have become uneasy promoting a state that is actively working to harm the LGBTQ community, especially the trans community. As an owner of a reparative restaurant working to make amends for the harms of the past, I can not continue supporting my own oppressor.
 
Attorney General Bailey has stated he is doing this for the safety of the children, but this is simply election-year  hate politics at its worst. We know this when we look at the lack of action on Missouri's infant mortality, poverty, or childhood health rates. Missouri ranks the 4th worst state for child education, yet Attorney General Bailey instead chooses to focus on destroying the intimate relationship between a trained medical doctor and a patient. True action doesn’t garner votes – speaking from the bully pulpit does.
 
This is not a decision I have made lightly. I have spent over a year hoping to see the state correct its course and move on from the political games, but they haven't. My greatest sadness is that I love St Louis more than I can express and have such admiration and fondness for the Ozark region and its people - people who have time and time again, proven to me to be hospitable and loving of all.
 
And so it is with a heavy heart that I share that this past Sunday (6/23) was the final day of Bulrush. I don't know what will be next for me personally, but my belief in creating an equitable world for all is surely going to be a part of that decision.
 
Thank you all for such a wonderful and successful five years! I am immensely humbled and proud of the meals we’ve shared together.

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8prc6yJoMl/?img_index=1

[Shelby]

 I'm so glad some of you got to eat there.  I wish we had gotten to go.  I wish him the best of luck in his next endeavor.  I'm sure it will be another amazing adventure.

[blue_dolphin]

I saw that yesterday. I was shocked as Rob seemed to be putting down such deep roots with growers and the community at large. Also sorry I didn’t have a chance to visit. I continue to be impressed with his commitment to doing what’s right and interested to see what's next. 

[TdeV]

I'm so sad that political opportunism has real consequences.

 

Going to Bulrush was a marvellous adventure –– and here I was hoping @Alex and @Chris Hennes would organize another field trip soon!

[Katie Meadow]

This is really sad. State legislators that seem intent on limiting human experience and freedom, and scarily there are many of them, reflect a trend that's incredibly depressing. Best wishes to you, Rob, you have been doing great work.  

[gfron1]

Thanks all. This was a very deliberate planned political action. In the old days of eG this conversation would have to be hushed, but in 2024 we are in a place where food and politics are so often intertwined that you can't stifle the conversation. Bulrush has always been about social justice, reparations, empowering the disenfranchised in the region, and demonstrating how sustainability and sourcing are directly linked to those things. For me, it was important to go out on top simply because it would garner the most attention and hopefully get opportunist politicians to return from radicalism and back to their conservative nature. I don't hold out hope that will be the case, but as I've said a thousand times in the past week - what? I should put a bumper sticker on the car and hope for the best? No, there are many strategies to create change and I have chosen this on. We aren't finished yet. The national media is already working on this story.

 

(For anyone who gets lost on the topic - the issue is Missouri's Attorney General demanded personal medical records of trans patients. Regardless of how you feel about LGBT rights, a politician should never have access to the records created in the relationship between a patient and a trained state certified physician. Because if he has access to those files, then there is no systemic reason why he couldn't have access to any person's files).

[MaryIsobel]

53 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

Thanks all. This was a very deliberate planned political action. In the old days of eG this conversation would have to be hushed, but in 2024 we are in a place where food and politics are so often intertwined that you can't stifle the conversation. Bulrush has always been about social justice, reparations, empowering the disenfranchised in the region, and demonstrating how sustainability and sourcing are directly linked to those things. For me, it was important to go out on top simply because it would garner the most attention and hopefully get opportunist politicians to return from radicalism and back to their conservative nature. I don't hold out hope that will be the case, but as I've said a thousand times in the past week - what? I should put a bumper sticker on the car and hope for the best? No, there are many strategies to create change and I have chosen this on. We aren't finished yet. The national media is already working on this story.

 

(For anyone who gets lost on the topic - the issue is Missouri's Attorney General demanded personal medical records of trans patients. Regardless of how you feel about LGBT rights, a politician should never have access to the records created in the relationship between a patient and a trained state certified physician. Because if he has access to those files, then there is no systemic reason why he couldn't have access to any person's files).

Bravo to you. I have a viscreal reaction to what is going on regarding reproductive rights, social justice.... I so appreciate you taking a stance against all of the ignorance and I wish you well. You are truly going out on top.

[gfweb]

@gfron1 It takes conviction and guts to make a stand that costs you money. I'm impressed and sad all at once.

 

I'm hoping for a next chapter.

[Alex]

2 hours ago, gfron1 said:

For anyone who gets lost on the topic - the issue is Missouri's Attorney General demanded personal medical records of trans patients.

 

Wow. I had no idea. Texas's AG I knew about, but this has been under the radar. I'm glad the national media finally will be covering it.

[Smithy]

17 hours ago, gfron1 said:

Thanks all. This was a very deliberate planned political action. In the old days of eG this conversation would have to be hushed, but in 2024 we are in a place where food and politics are so often intertwined that you can't stifle the conversation. ...

 

Although this is true, eG still has this guideline regarding Decorum and Topicality:

Quote

• We permit political or religious discussion to the extent that it substantially focuses on our core subject of food and remains civil; however the scope of eG Forums discussions does not extend to general political or religious topics.

 

The points have been made; the says have been said; and I too am sorry I never had a chance to eat there. Good luck to you, Rob, in your next venture.