Photos: Krystyna Ninh

Fast-food workers and their supporters kept their pledge yesterday in staging a large and boisterous march and rally Thursday afternoon in the Delmar Loop.

See also:
- St. Louis Fast-Food Workers Want Better Pay, Union Representation
- Slideshow: Fast-Food Workers March Though Delmar Loop

Chanting slogans such as "get up, get down; fast-food workers run this town!" and "we want change; and we don't mean pennies!" the group of more than 100 marched past Church's, Chipotle and other fast-food restaurants before ending at Vintage Vinyl for speeches.

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Dave Bailey with daughter Lyla outside Baileys' Range downtown | Jennifer Silverberg

Prolific St. Louis restaurateur Dave Bailey (Baileys' Chocolate Bar, Rooster, Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar and Baileys' Range) announced via email last night that he will open yet another restaurant, Small Batch, in the former Ford Motor Building at 3001 Locust Street in Midtown. The new restaurant will feature vegetarian cuisine as well as an extensive selection of bourbons and American whiskeys.

Bailey says that a vegetarian restaurant has been at the top of his list of concepts since even before he opened Baileys' Chocolate Bar. Until now, he tells Gut Check, "We didn't have the right space.

"It's been ten years in the making."

See Also:
- The Ten Best New Restaurants in St. Louis 2012
- "Best Decor" 2012: Baileys' Range

Gut Check is always hungry for more restaurant news. Feed us your tips.

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via Facebook

- A reader tipped Gut Check off that the Soulard restaurant Sage Urban American Grill (1031 Lynch Street; 314-256-1203) was no longer open for dinner -- or perhaps no longer open, period. At any rate, our tipster said he and other diners who arrived at Sage around the time he did, intending to eat dinner, were confused.

Gut Check is always hungry for more restaurant news. Feed us your tips.

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- Gringo (398 North Euclid Avenue; 314-449-1212), the new Mexican joint from the Pi Pizzeria team, opened softly in the final days of last month -- so softly, in fact, that we just plain forgot to mention it until now. Never fear: We will have an extensive First Look at the restaurant, where your taco options include grasshopper, very, very soon.

In the meantime, Gringo is open 11 a.m.-midnight Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday.

Gut Check is always hungry for more restaurant news. Feed us your tips.

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Protesters gather outside Jimmy John's in Soulard yesterday. More strikes are scheduled for today.

Rasheen Aldridge had just finished working the lunch rush at the Jimmy John's in Soulard when he says his manager handed him a hand-written sign and asked that he hold it while he snapped a photo. The sign's message? "I made three wrong sandwiches."

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Ian Froeb

St. Louis Deli & Grill (8544 Watson Road) opened last December in an old Taco Bell in an unincorporated area of St. Louis County between Crestwood and Marlborough.

In the comments to yesterday's "Tidbits" post, reader jzavist informs Gut Check that the restaurant, which served sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs, has already closed.

See Also:
- St. Louis Deli & Grill Now Open

Gut Check is always hungry for more restaurant news. Feed us your tips.

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Chefs Casey Shiller and Dana Holland hard at work on Cupcake Wars | Food Network

Congrats to Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe (8509 Delmar Boulevard, Ladue; 314-993-5455), two time winner of Food Network's Cupcake Wars! Back in February, Jilly's cupcake chef, Casey Shiller, and its executive chef, Dana Holland, duked it out against other past competitors for a chance at redemption. The theme was the South Beach Food and Wine Festival in Miami, and Jilly's represented the Midwest in what became a battle of the regions.

Shiller couldn't tell us much about the episode when we spoke in April, but the episode aired on Sunday evening, so now the secret's out. Jilly's cupcakes took home the grand prize of $10,000 and the opportunity to have its own display at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival.

See Also:
- Jilly's Cupcake Bar Seeks Redemption at Cupcake Wars
- Chef's Choice: Casey Shiller of Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe

Screen caps from the episode as well as details about the winning flavors after the jump.

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Mabel Suen

- Last month Gut Check heard from readers -- and saw for ourselves -- that the relatively new Middle Eastern restaurant Sultan Palace Bakery and Cafe (4144 South Grand Boulevard; 314-875-9653) had closed. Calls to the restaurant led to a full voice mailbox.

Now we've heard from at least one reader that the restaurant has reopened (or, if you prefer, that its as-yet-unexplained hiatus has ended). Calls to the restaurant still lead to a full voice mailbox, however. Anyone dined there recently?

See Also:
- First Look: Sultan Palace Bakery and Cafe Serves Shawarma and More on South Grand

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Megan and Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City | Courtesy: Estes Public Relations

Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City won the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef: Midwest" award for 2013 at a gala ceremony in New York City this evening. Garrelts edged out Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755) and three other chefs: Justin Aprahamian of Sanford in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Jack Riebel of the Butcher & the Boar also in Minneapolis.

See Also:
- Meet Chef Megan Garrelts, Co-Author of Bluestem: The Cookbook

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This evening the James Beard Foundation will announce the winners of its annual Restaurant and Chef Awards at a gala event in New York City. For the fourth time in the past five years, Gerard Craft of Niche (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755), et al., is one of five finalists in the "Best Chef: Midwest" category.

Is this the year that St. Louis' most acclaimed chef brings home the award?

See Also:
- Gerard Craft To Be Featured in Art Culinaire Magazine
- Gerard Craft of Niche a James Beard Foundation Award Finalist for "Best Chef: Midwest"

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