One of St. Louis’ most anticipated restaurants of the year now has a new home.
Good Fortune, the so-called “Chinese-Americanese restaurant” from Bob Brazell, Corey Smale, Hana Chung and Ryan McDonald, will open at 1654 Tower Grove Ave. this July, as first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Botanical Heights space was formerly home to a daycare, and lies just down the street from Elaia, Olio, La Patisserie Chouquette, Union Loafers and Nixta. Renovations are set to begin soon with the help of Gabe McKee and V Three Studios.
Good Fortune first announced plans to open a takeout-style restaurant near the Tech Artista coworking center in the Central West End last spring. The team ran into some snags with the location, but was able to conduct menu R&D at pop-up dinners and events over the past 10 months. The delay proved useful, though as the team has tweaked the concept to include dine-in service and a more traditionally Chinese menu.
Smale attributes the changes to the team’s interactions with diners over the past few months, adding that they want to continue to build on those relationships in a restaurant setting.
Menu R&D for Good Fortune: mapo tofu with fermented black beans, tofu, red chile, scallions and white rice.
“I can’t help but feel like this is the right direction for us,” Smale says. “Botanical Heights is becoming a super cool food destination, and we are ready to step in and get started too. We have so much to explore with this cuisine. The huge emphasis will be on eating and feeling good with fresh, light and healthy items.”
The Good Fortune menu is tightly under wraps by McDonald, who will head up the kitchen, but Smale was able to reveal a few preliminary details. He notes that the restaurant will serve a small menu with several permanent items, along with an aggressively rotating line of specials.
“We have gotten really close to our customers,” Smale says. “Our biggest challenge moving forward will be nailing that still and translating that feeling and relationship to a restaurant form.”
Although the Botanical Heights location won’t be up and running for a few months, diners can soon get a taste of what to expect at Good Fortune. On Fri., Feb. 24 and Sat., Feb. 25, Good Fortune will team up with Mike Randolph (Randolfi’s, Público and Half & Half) for a 12-plus-course, Escoffier-inspired pop-up dinner.
Moving forward, Smale and the rest of the Good Fortune team are excited and ready to get to work.
“This delay gave us time and distance to help us see the bigger picture in what we want,” Smale says. “I really think it is a blessing.”
Tickets for the Good Fortune Diversion Dinner are on sale now. Dinner starts at 7pm both Friday and Saturday at Half & Half, 8135 Maryland Ave., Clayton, Missouri, 63015, Diversion.tocktix.com
Good Fortune, 1654 Tower Grove Ave., Botanical Heights, St. Louis, Missouri, facebook.com/goodfortunestl
