Meet St. Louis Meet St. Louis

When Steph Hampton started hiking with her kids, she never imagined she’d create an entire community of people who just want to get outside and explore. But that’s exactly what has happened. Her friends called her the park lady, now she inspires thousands to explore St. Louis and beyond. Her Instagram is Explore STL Parks, and she vividly remembers hitting 100 followers. Now she’s at almost 100K. We sat down with Steph, a mom of four, to talk about getting outdoors, the vast number of parks to explore in Missouri and Illinois and how to get over the fear or apprehension of taking your kids on a hike.

You can learn more about the parks we discuss in this episode and how to join the family hiking group by heading to Steph’s Instagram page, @explorestlparks

Step inside Casa Don Alfonso at the Ritz Carlton in Clayton and your eyes are instantly drawn to the open kitchen. Inside, you’ll watch them craft and create fresh made pasta, on the walls are hand painted tiles. It’s all part of Mario Laccarino's mission to bring you to his homeland of Italy. To his family. The Italian restauranteur is in town from his home in Positano to visit his one and only restaurant in the US. And it’s right here in St. Louis. The Michelin-starred restauranteur sat down with us on the Meet St Louis podcast to share how he came to open Casa Don Alfonso in Missouri, where the recipes come from, and his favorite thing to hear from his customers when he visits.

Chef Mike Risk heads up the kitchen at Clover and the Bee and O + O Pizza in Webster Groves. He’s part of the O + O Hospitality family that’s found huge success with some of the best restaurants in town. But Mike got his story early in life, starting off in his first kitchens as a teenager. It was the iconic Trattoria Marcella that changed his life. Italian is his passion, and it’s what inspires his work at O + O. But a recent diagnosis with multiple sclerosis is changing everything. We sat down with Mike to talk about what it means for him in the kitchen, how he’s found balance over the years as a chef and a father and why food sparks so much joy for him.

Soulard Farmer’s Market is one of the most treasured and historic spots in St. Louis. It’s been in operation since 1779, when farmers would gather in the area to sell their goods. Fast forward to now and there are 146 stands with a waitlist of dozens of people who want to sell at the market in the heart of the city.

This week, we sat down with the market manager Bob Ray and the co-owners of Soulard Spice Shop, Miriam Schnur and Dana Frenzel. The spice shop is one of the long-time vendors, selling spices since the 1920 and it’s always got a line on weekends when Soulard Market sees 10 thousand shoppers.

We talk about the past, the present and the future of the market.

The Soulard Farmer’s Market is open Wednesday – Saturday.

If you’ve driven down Manchester Road recently in The Grove neighborhood you might have noticed a new building with a big N-G on the outside. Inside is a unique greenhouse using hydroponic farming to grow the freshest lettuce around. Neon Green just opened, and owner Josh Smith hopes to make some big changes to the way we eat, think and grow our food. The St. Louis native moved to New York to be a set designer for television and movies, but the pandemic created a pivot. The pivot eventually brought him home to St. Louis to open Neon Green, a made-to-order craft salad eatery. We’re taking you behind the scenes in this week’s episode of how they’re taking farm-to-table to the next level.

Baseball is back, St. Louis. There’s nothing quite like Busch Stadium, and there’s no greater fans in baseball than Cardinals fans. And for 10 years, Ballpark Village has been the next-door neighbor to the one and only St Louis Cardinals. In celebration of the start of the season and to commemorate 10 years, we sat down with Mike Lamartina, the Chief Operating Officer, to talk about it all. We discuss the significance of the work-play-live concept of BPV, how they’re preparing to celebrate a decade in business and how they continue to grow and expand. Ballpark Village lives and breaths Cardinals, as well as sports in general in St. Louis, but they also have to think beyond baseball for many months of the year. You can find local favorites like Salt and Smoke, Katie’s Pizza and Pasta and Arch Apparel. The full calendar of events can be found: https://www.stlballparkvillage.com/events