Culinaria, a Schnucks Market Grand Opening

The annual Downtown St. Louis Restaurant Week returns the week of August 3^rd thru 9^th.  Restaurant Weeks are a vital part of over 30 major cities' annual schedule of events.  This year 25 of downtown's finest dining establishments will offer a special three-course dinner dining promotion for a fixed price of $25 per person, plus tax and tip. There are no passes to buy, coupons to carry or cards to punch. Patrons simply attend the participating restaurant of their choice from Monday August 3^rd - Sunday August 9^th.  As part of the promotion, restaurants will also offer the Restaurant Week sponsors' Terrazas De Los Andes wines for $7 per glass.

Restaurant Week includes the following (25) fine dining establishments: 400 Olive (Hilton Hotel), An American Place, Anthony's, Asia (Lumiere Place), Beechwood Bistro (Union Station), Burger Bar (Lumiere Place), Carmine's Steak House, Charlie Gitto's, Cielo (Four Seasons Hotel), Clark Street Grill (Westin Hotel), The Drunken Fish, The Dubliner, F15teen, Gio's, Harry's, House of Savoy (Lumiere Place), J. Buck's, Kitchen-K , Lombardo's Trattoria (Drury Union Station), Lucas Park Grille, Mike Shannon's, Mosaic, Red Kitchen & Bar (Hyatt), Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (Hyatt), and Top of the Riverfront (Millennium Hotel). 

City Grocers has been a part of the downtown scenery for nearly 5 years now. As the downtown market continues to evolve and grow, so does many of our new businesses. At the end of August, City Grocers will reposition itself and open as City Gourmet. Featured items at the new 6,000 square foot gourmet will include City Dining-to-Go, Bakery City Dragon featuring custom stir fry, Burrito City featuring a taste of the Southwest, espresso, fresh fruit smoothies, new beers with lower prices, a larger wine selection, additional dining space and much more. For more information, contact 314.621.0010.

The 80^th MLB All Star Game made history and reached its largest total audience in 10 years with their July festivities held in St. Louis.  The All Star Game in St. Louis boasts record viewership, seen by a total audience of 33.6 million viewers; an all-time attendance record for MLB All-Star FanFest with a total of 150,804; extensive sponsorship activity; and, a Presidential visit by President Obama.  The All-Star Game was seen in 230 countries in 17 languages and will forever be a part of St. Louis history!

Take a piece of All Star history home by purchasing one of the All Star Game Banners that lined the streets during All Star Summer. The banners cost $250 each, are 2˝ ft x 7 ft. and include a Certificate of Authentication from the St. Louis Cardinals. For more information, click here.

 The openly accessible 3 acre Citygarden opened a month ago to considerable acclaim and has quickly become the "Urban Oasis" it was promised to be.  At any given day and hour the Citygarden is a playground for children playing in the fountains, or a quiet haven for workers and tourists enjoying the art, reading books or just relaxing in the garden.

Gateway Foundation invested nearly $30 million into the two-block city owned garden which is part of the Gateway Mall and located between 8^th and 10^th and Market and Chestnut Streets. Highlights of the public garden include impressive landscaping, three fountains and pools, a six-foot waterfall, places to sit or stretch out, a state-of-the art spray plaza with 102 computer-controlled spray jets and custom lighting, twenty-four sculptures, a audio tour of the garden accessible by cell phone or internet and so much more. Later this month Jim Fiala plans to open a beautiful glass pavilion café called the Terrace View offering lunch and dinner with indoor and outdoor seating.

The success of the Citygarden hopes to inspire development for the rest of the Gateway Mall. A full list of features and photos can be found by clicking here.

Over $7 million worth of renovations are being completed to the former TWA Reservation Center at 310 North 15^th Street to make room for one of the top performing charter schools in the city Confluence Prepartory Academy. The school has leased 120,000 square feet over three floors and will open in time for the new school year.  The new downtown high school will include a variety of learning spaces, such as an interior courtyard, an executive-style seminar center, and technology enriched classrooms and offer advanced placement and honors courses, as well as college field trips and college immersion opportunities throughout the students' four years at Confluence.

The college prep high school will also offer a sports program that includes football, cross-country, basketball and track. After-school programs include cheerleading, yearbook, robotics, newspaper, debate and student government.  Confluence Prep is now enrolling students for 9^th and 10^th grades. Tuition is free and transportation is provided. The school will add a grade in each of the next two years and plans to eventually serve 900 students. For more information, call 314.588.8487 or click here.

Cannon Design, an internationally recognized architectural and engineering firm, relocated their St. Louis regional offices to the Powerhouse Building at 1106 Clark Street in 2008.  As a result of their commitment to sustainability, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded the building a LEED® Gold Status.

Cannon Design's adaptive reuse of the Powerhouse involved creating a three-story tall interior gallery, an exterior 3,500 square foot urban garden, exterior restoration, windows replacement maintaining the original masonry openings, and the interior space completely rehabilitated.  Two partial levels were constructed, adding to the existing two floors and rooftop penthouse, resulting in a total of 32,000 square feet of office and conference space.  The Powerhouse is part of the Municipal Service Building complex, occupying an entire city block bounded by Clark, Spruce, 11^th and Tucker streets.

The Powerhouse was originally built in 1923 to supply steam heat to four new public buildings as well as eight additional city buildings funded by an $87 million bond issue.  The Powerhouse also supplied steam for the Kiel Auditorium, the largest steam jet cooling system in the U.S. in the mid-1930s.

The Downtown St. Louis business community will honor Senator Kit Bond with the 2009 John H. Poelker Levee Stone Award at a luncheon on Friday, September 18, 2009.  This annual award recognizes leadership, extraordinary vision and personal commitment in advancing the revitalization of downtown St. Louis.  Along with the award presentation Senator Bond will also give his reflections and perspective on downtown St. Louis, the region and the State.  More information to come.  

Centenary Cares, the agency most known for providing social services to homeless community, has changed their name to "The Bridge Outreach". Besides serving 3000+ meals weekly through its food program, The Bridge Outreach also provides homeless individuals a permanent mailing address, helps them to obtain state ID's and birth certificates, and offers access to phones and restrooms throughout the day. For more information, click here.

Thanks to a federal grant and a $12 million one-time emergency appropriation from the State of Missouri, approximately one-third of the Metro services that were suspended on March 30^th will be restored this coming Monday, August 3^rd. Metro anticipates that the federal and state funding combined with passenger revenue will support the restored service for a little more than 10 months. Click here to see the restored routes.

The 2009 City of St. Louis Business Celebration Luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2009, at America's Center.  Mayor Francis G. Slay will give his annual State of City Business address and present awards in the areas of Businesses of the Year, Developments of the Year, Quality of Life Award, and the Mayor's Award.  For more information, call 314.622.3400 ext. 305. 

Mayor Francis G. Slay presented Arcturis, a 32-year-old multi-disciplined design firm, the July Mayor's Spirit of St. Louis Award. The Mayor's Spirit of St. Louis Award recognizes businesses that make major expansions or improvements to their existing locations, open or relocate to the City, and certain major City projects.  Previously located in west downtown at 19^th and Pine, Arcturis recently relocated its offices to the Laclede Gas Building in the heart of downtown at 720 Olive Street undergoing extensive renovations and creating state-of-the-art architecture and design space.

Arcturis President/CEO Patricia Whitaker has grown her firm from a one-person business to a company generating more than $24 million in revenue by providing services that include planning, architecture, interior design, graphic design and other services for communities, major corporations, higher education, the hospitality industry, financial institutions and public facilities.

The new Ruth's Chris has opened in the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Hotel at 4^th & Chestnut Streets. The new restaurant is the second location in the area and employs approximately 100 people. It features New Orleans-inspired appetizers, aged USDA Prime steaks, fresh seafood, signature side dishes, homemade desserts and an award-winning wine list. Hours are Monday-Thursday from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm and Friday and Saturday 4:00 pm to 11 pm Sunday 4:00 - 9:00 pm. It seats 150 guests in the bar area alone as well as offers several private dining areas that are available for business meetings or other private functions.

The Left Bank Books downtown location is inviting the public to join their newly formed Lunchtime Reading Group. The book club launched this past week and will feature a mix of current affairs non-fiction and fiction novels. For under $20, you get a really good book, a tasty box lunch from City Grocers, and an hour to discuss the book with the group. The paperback books are 20% off

(LBB's Reading Group Discount). Contact Left Bank Books to reserve your lunch. Click here to review the book titles.

The Over/Under Bar & Grill has opened 6,000 plus square feet on the ground floor of the Lammert Building.  The name Over/Under refers to a wager on the total amount of points, runs or goals scored by both teams in a game. The Over/Under Bar & Grill features 37 large LCD TVs, an outdoor patio, massive 120-inch projector screen and a variety of game day and happy hour specials.  Hours are Monday - Saturday, 11:00 am - 1:30 am and Sunday 11:00 am - 12:00 am.

The former Frisco Cafeteria space has been converted into a Pan-Asian themed restaurant and lounge called Jade.  Menu specialties include daily lunch specials with your choice of 5 items, soup, California rolls, spicy tuna, beef with broccoli and much more. Hours are Monday - Thursday, 11:00 am - 10:00 pm, Friday, 11:00 am - 3:00 am and Saturday - Sunday, 5:00 pm - 3:00 am.

Flamingo Bowl is now forming bowing leagues.  Each Flamingo League session is an eleven week competition that includes one night of free bowl at the beginning and end of each session. A portion of the fee goes toward prizes. Flamingo Bowl has 12 lanes a bowling, a full menu and bar. For more information, click here.

The Soooo St. Louis Summer Fest will take place at the Old Post Office Plaza Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 3 - 9 pm.  This FREE family friendly 5-hour celebration will feature singer/songwriter/producer Brad Young as the headliner, as well as a special performance by Lil' Buddy - host of the Lil' Buddy Show.  Other St. Louis-based acts will include DJs, Bands, Poets, Comedians, Dancers and other proud St. Louis performers. Musical genres will include jazz, rock, hip hop, R&B, gospel and classical, to name a few. For more information, click here.

Let your inner slacker surface and join fans of the "The Dude" in watching cult classic, The Big Lebowski at the Old Post Office Plaza Thursday, August 6^th.  Wear your favorite Lebowski get up or best bowling attire and you can win a prize from Flamingo Bowl. After the show, enjoy great deals on bowling and White Russians at Flamingo Bowl (1117 Washington Avenue).  Wii Bowling and the costume contest begin at 8 pm with the movie starting at 8:45 pm. For more information, click here.

The Desco Group

Ford Hotel Supply Company

Gateway EDI

Harris Stowe University

Hogan Motor Leasing, Inc

ISC Contracting

Jack Dubinsky and Sons.

Kwame Building Group

Lashly & Baer

Midwest Aerials & Equipment

Parmenter One Financial Plaza

Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Assn.

The St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Equity Fund

St. Patrick's Center

The Stolar Partnership

Webster University

Wireless USA