Jonathan “Jono” Lorentzen has an infectious enthusiasm for what he and the Parker’s Table team are creating at the shop’s new Yale Bar (7120 Oakland)—something he credits proprietor Jon Parker with fostering in his staff and customers. Now, with a new menu and a burgeoning pastry program that includes his soon-to-be-famous pavlovas, Lorentzen is showing St. Louis diners why Yale Bar is already the quintessential neighborhood gathering spot—and why it’s only getting better.
You began working in the industry at a pretty young age.What was that like? I worked in the produce section of Eckert’s Country Store, where I learned about fruits and vegetables—it wasn’t too deep, but it was stuff like “If you wash kale this way, it will bloom,” or even just stuff like learning about garlic scapes in the spring. At the same time, I was working with the son of the Bert’s Chuck Wagon owner selling late-night Tex-Mex burritos on Collinsville’s main street until 3 a.m. It was just serving hot and ready stuff, but we served a lot of different people like skaters, cops, and people coming from the bars. I paired that with working at Eckert’s, and it was like this doubleheader of immersing myself in food.
Your first big break into the restaurant industry came at BEAST Craft BBQ.Tell us about that. My buddy, who I was working with at the time, told me about this barbecue place called BEAST Craft BBQ, where they didn’t have freezers, can openers, or microwaves. At the time, I was barbecuing a lot and had this crazy smoker that I would take out to do clandestine late-night barbecue burritos. I went to David [Sandusky], and he said they needed somebody because they were growing tremendously. BEAST was a huge building block in my career. It was the first time anyone handed me a measure of responsibility. Before BEAST, I was just doing things for fun and acting like I was a chef, but David put me up for that. At the time, we were No. 1 on Eater’s “Heat Map,” and we got onto other lists. That allowed me to meet other people in barbecue, as well as people in St. Louis and in fine dining, like Ryan McDonald, who really helped me in the early stages…