Shannon Weber Feast Magazine
Chef-owner Bob Brazell made a splash in the last days of 2024 when he brought Byrd & Barrel home to roost inside his iconic Tamm Avenue Bar. The homecoming was a sweet one for the neighborhood and for Brazell, who has delighted guests with a menu of alluring comfort food alongside rotating specials that let him flex his fine dining prowess. Along with Byrd & Barrel, Brazell owns Nick's Pub, SOHA Bar & Grill and The Tenderloin Room.
He is also a delight beyond the kitchen, with an easygoing demeanor and genuine enthusiasm for what he does and who he's doing it for. Brazell got his start in tightly-run fine dining kitchens like Monarch and Niche, in large part due to his talent, but also due to his personality. "I walked into the original Niche after culinary school one day, [where] I kind of had an in: Nate [Hereford] and I have a mutual friend. I thought it was going to be a meet-and-greet, 'I'd love to work here one day,' kind of thing. And he's like, 'Where's your knife?' and I was like, 'Oh, okay.' I worked for eight hours that day, and it was awesome. I staged at Niche on my weekends off from Monarch for three months."
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But within a week of walking through those doors, Hereford, a massive music fan, was already digging into music with Brazell; the two began exchanging music, kicking a friendship into gear that's still alive today.
Walking into the dining room on the first day of service for Byrd & Barrel this past December felt like walking into a house party. Regulars showed up in droves, hugs abounded and a genuine warmth filled the space. One thing brought it all together: the music on the speakers, a meticulous curation of hip-hop from recognizable tracks to deeper cuts, put together with the unmistakable flow of a music lover.
We sat down with Brazell recently to talk about his love for music and the artists - and people - who have made him as passionate about the art form as he is about cooking.
On his musical upbringing:
I got into music super young. I spent a lot of my childhood at my grandparents' house, which was right here in Dogtown on Wise Avenue. My grandfather had this old record player in the living room, and I was just blown away by it - how it works, all of it. Later in life I got into spinning records, but that was like my first obsession. [My grandfather] was wild: He listened to crazy stuff. He was like Ryan [McDonald]; one day it would be the weirdest stuff, and then it would be, like, Steely Dan. That started me off on the right foot. My first phase as a kid was as a little skater punk; [I was] into Operation Ivy and Rancid, and then that turned to total backpack hip-hop head. I feel like all of it still lives in me, but the hip-hop side has been huge in my life. That's been the biggest influence on me.
But I like everything, you know? And I like finding weird music. The DJ side of me likes digging for records and finding weird remixes of stuff. It makes you hear it in a totally different light. A recent example for me is Steven Wilson Jr., he does [a cover of] "Stand By Me." He's a country, folky guy, and it's just so haunting in a way that's completely different from the original. I try to, in a weird way, equate it to food, I think. We do very simple stuff [at Byrd & Barrel]; I spent a lot of time doing fine dining, and I loved that. So I try to incorporate [fine dining elements] in some ways into this [menu]. I guess that's kind of my "remix."
On silent kitchens versus back of house music:
I've worked in silent kitchens, like brigade system, super "yes Chef, no Chef." That's all you say for six hours. I loved that part of it, and I love that I was able to grow up in an era where I was able to do that. I feel like unless you're going to chase a Michelin star, there's not a lot of that left, you know what I mean? It's shifted, so I'm really thankful that I was able to do that.
But nowadays, I have to have music. It's the first thing I do [at Byrd & Barrel]: I come in, turn the lights on, turn the music on. And here's it's weird, because the Tamm Ave side runs off TouchTunes, so it's like, the same songs over and over again unless somebody picks a song, which, they're probably picking f**king Creed or something. But over here, we play our own stuff. And in the kitchen, they have their own speaker, so they play their own stuff. It's cool to walk from out here [in the dining room] where we're listening to Wu-Tang [Clan] to back there in the kitchen where it's Talking Heads or something. It changes your mood from room to room.
On the tight curation of playlists at all his restaurants:
I'm huge on curating playlists, even down to which location and times of the day they're played. I'll walk into Nick's during the day, like, "What are you doing? Why are you playing this?" and they'll be like, "It's one of the playlists you sent," and I'm like, "This says 'P.M.'" For me, there's a huge difference. I like starting off the day with stuff like Talking Heads, or something like that. Sometimes we'll get some yacht rock going, and by midday we're back into hip-hop.
Then at night - so I told you I love everything, right? I love all kinds of music. So the older I get, the more of a Deadhead I become. It's really crazy. I was never a huge fan, and then I went and saw Dead & Co. at The Sphere two days in a row a couple of years ago with some buddies, and I was like, "Oh, f**k, now I get it. Now I'm going to dive into the real stuff." And now I really get it. So that'll make its way in.
I've never been much of an EDM guy; that to me is too much. I'll get into things like Pretty Lights, stuff like that, but that's about it. I have a very, very good friend who recently moved to Kansas City, but when he comes into town, he stays with my wife and me. It'll be nine in the morning and I get in his car, and he's got [EDM] on. And I'm like, "I can't ... I can't do this. You gotta change it. And he's like, "It's a great song!" and I'm like, "It might be, but not right now." It's too much, man.
I try to keep the same curated playlists [for Byrd & Barrel], Nick's and SOHA. The Tenderloin Room obviously is different. We gotta stay in the zone there. I've snuck some stuff in before. One night ... have you ever heard of Mayer Hawthorne? He did a full Mac Miller album, swing-style singing it, and it's amazing. I played that in the dining room and nobody complained. Everybody was like, "Oh, this is great music." Sometimes you have to switch it up, because you can only take so much Frank Sinatra, you know what I mean?
On the influence his brother has had on him:
I have a brother who's just two years older than me. When we were young, he was a big musical influence on me, for sure. I'm a public school guy, he went to SLUH, and he was the kid who hated everything: like, if other people knew about it, he didn't like it type of guy. That kid. If I even played something like Pearl Jam, he would say, "This is dog s***, what do you know about ... blah blah blah, some obscure band from wherever," and I'm like, "I don't know, dude, I'm like, twelve."
But early on - while most of my friends were listening to Biggie and Tupac, which I still love - he was introducing me to Black Star and Mos Def, stuff like that. So, he was a big influence on what I listened to.
On some of his first concert memories:
One of my first concerts was a Wu-Tang and Rage [Against the Machine] show before people knew Rage. At that point they were on their first album, and they were insane. Probably two early memories of shows ... things like Warped Tour and Lollapalooza were super impactful to me. You'd go to those and see so many different acts on the same day. I don't remember which festival it was, but I remember Tool closing out the show, and the lawn was literally a tornado of people, and you're just like, holy s***. It had to be around 1995 or so. It was unreal.
And then at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater ... do you remember the band Live? They were opening for somebody, and I'm sitting on the lawn with a high school girlfriend, probably trying to impress her, and lights go down, and it's silent for a minute or two. And everyone is like, "Oh, are they done?" and some people are clapping for an encore. All of a sudden, spotlight right on me, the lead singer's standing next to me with a wireless mic, he puts his arm around me, and there's one guy on stage playing piano. He starts singing John Lennon's "Imagine," and I'm like, "You're going to make me cry in front of this girl." Like way to go, guy, you're going to ruin it. So that was obviously insane.
And then recently, I'd say Run the Jewels. The vibe of their shows is kind of along the lines of Rage. It's so good. Trackstar, [Run the Jewels' tour DJ, has strong ties to St. Louis] - they are one of the few bands that can keep a whole venue of people going the whole time.
On the chefs he's worked with that influenced him musically:
Ryan [McDonald] and Nate [Hereford], without a question. Ryan and I still trade music. Josh Galliano, too. I remember he would just bust all of us. He's like, "If you play Sublime, I'll kick you out of my kitchen." He and Ryan would go at it because Ryan likes jam bands and Josh hates that s***. Mike Risk and I talk a lot about Wu-Tang. He's a great guy: caring, humble, keeps his head down.
Christian from Taco Circus is another one. We talk a lot about music because he's a Texas boy. And this is crazy, but he's related to Willie Nelson. So he's into old country music but also that really old Texas rap, the real gritty stuff. I took all my managers years ago to a Chance the Rapper concert for a holiday party. I had some extra tickets, so I called Christian, and he says, "Yeah, I guess I'll go," and I say, "Well don't sound so excited, man, you don't have to go," and he says, "No, I'll go." While we're at the concert, I look over at him and I'm like, "What's up, dude?" and he's like, "I hate it. I don't f**cking like any hip-hop made after 2000." And I mean, I can't blame him, dude.
On why music is still a major part of his life:
It's huge. I mean, even in the rare times I'm not at work. There's a speaker in my bathroom when I take a shower, records everywhere around my house ... yeah. It's a big, big part of my life. I used to always say my favorite time - and I loved being on the line and I loved service - but my favorite time in a restaurant was coming in early, by myself, getting some prep done, playing the music that I want to play. It's like my Zen time, you know? My favorite time now is service. Now it's a busy lunch or busy dinner, in the heat of all of it. Just because now I'm finally in a place where I can be out in the dining room; I get to see it [all] now. I get to see that energy; I get to see people enjoy it. For a very long time I was back there [in the kitchen] - I didn't see any of it. So, it's cool as s*** to get to be in the middle of it.
For more information and updates, follow Byrd & Barrel on Instagram, and listen to Brazell's playlist here.
Byrd & Barrel, 1221 Tamm Ave., Dogtown, St. Louis, Missouri, byrdandbarrelstl.com
Nick's Pub, 6001 Manchester Ave., Dogtown, St. Louis, Missouri, nicksirishpub.com
SOHA Bar & Grill, 2605 Hampton Ave., Clifton Heights, St. Louis, Missouri, sohabarandgrill.com
The Tenderloin Room, 232 Kingshighway Blvd., Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri, tenderloinroom.com
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