Matthew Daughaday was down to the last day, Dec. 31, deciding to locate his new restaurant, Reeds American Table, outside of Maplewood. Then Maplewood commercial landlord, Rob Birenbaum called and offered him the former Home Wine Kitchen space (7322 Manchester Road). Daughaday said he hadn’t heard it was available.
He said once he started looking at Maplewood, and what it had to offer, it became obvious that it was by far the best choice. See also: Chef to open ‘American brasserie’ in former Home Wine Kitchen space
Daughaday said he knows Chris Bolard, who just opened Bolyard’s Meats & Provisions from when he worked at Sydney Street Cafe.
“Him having a space there and Strange Donuts having a space and all the new things happening in Maplewood, it seemed like an awesome opportunity,” Daughaday said. “I kind of fell in love with the idea of being in Maplewood.”
Daughaday said the idea is a “family dinner atmosphere with food that’s not too far over your head—hits that nice middle ground.”
He said wants to recreate a feeling he had growing up in University City.
“We ate dinner every night at 6:00,” he said. “And no matter what you had going on, it was a requirement—me and my brothers and sisters—that everybody made time for dinner.”
He said many of his family didn’t eat at Taste much; he was executive chef there the past three years, and with the opportunity to do something on his own he wants to “get a little closer back to why I started cooking in the first place.”
Daughaday’s new restaurant was listed in December as one of the Riverfront Times most anticipated openings in 2015, even before it was known what or where it would be.
Sounds like a perfect fit for Maplewood and a promising replacement for Home.
Can’t wait to see the menu! Glad to hear he’s going for family and price-conscious folks. We tried HWK a few times, but it was just too expensive and overrated (Acero is better). This should hopefully fill the void that the two new places at Manchester & Sutton will not be serving!
Loved Home Wine Kitchen…………..sounds like this will be a respectable replacement. Kudos to Birenbaum for reaching out and filling the space with a reputable chef. We look forward to the new restaurant.