Expat BBQ From Gerard Craft Opens in St Louis

St Louis-based 2008 F&W Best New Chef Gerard Craft seemingly can’t help but go big. He recently opened a new barbecue concept, Expat BBQ, where he and executive chef Sam Nawrocki combine global flavors with classic American barbecue technique. Not only is it the 11th restaurant from Craft’s hospitality company Niche Food Group, and their fourth to open at City Foundry STL—a massive 15-acre mixed-use development located at a hundred year old foundry site— it’s also their largest project to date. “I became a Food & Wine Best New Chef in a 1,500-square-foot restaurant, and this one is 16,000 feet,” he says.

Craft had already been working with City Foundry STL—he helped launch their food hall and runs a wood-fired pizza operation there, as well as speakeasy None of the Above. But when a tenant backed out of the massive space during Covid, Craft took the opportunity to open the barbecue concept that he had been thinking about for years.

Craft connected with Nawrocki, who was previously chef de cuisine at 404 Kitchen in Nashville. Conveniently, she had been contemplating doing an international meat-and-three restaurant in Nashville, but ultimately was looking to move back to her hometown of St. Louis. A phone call between the two revealed that they both had a similar project in mind.

Expat is grounded in American barbecue traditions, like ribs, brisket, and pulled pork, but, according to Craft, “the pantry is just so different.” Inspired by what it’s like living outside of the United States, Craft uses ingredients that an expat might lean on. So on the menu, you’ll find dishes like jerk chicken wings, a Frito pie with braised black-eyed peas and plantains, fried kimchi pickles, and what might make a traditionalist’s head explode: smoked St. Louis-style ribs that have been rubbed with five spice (replacing the typical chili rub) and topped with chili crisp.

“Barbecue has traveled so far,” says Craft. “It’s already this melting pot of cultures from its inception.” With the help of Nawrocki, who is especially interested in tracing the international origins of Southern food, they were able to explore the connections between different cuisines and American barbecue. Think, Vietnamese pork shoulder served with a Carolina “hogwarsh” sauce, or berbere-rubbed smoked chicken. There’s even a Spanish-influenced, vegan twice-smoked sweet potato, served with sherry vinegar-based barbecue sauce that Craft calls “dynamite.”

The concept is spread across three floors — a full-service dining room  and cocktail bar on the first floor, a private event space on the second, and on the third, a big terrace with a fast-casual counter serving sandwiches, burgers, and salads; a bar, an outdoor patio, and a live music stage. “The space is broken up, so it never feels too overwhelming when you’re looking at it,” says Craft.

Even though the kitchen closes around 10 p.m., Expat is a 24-hour operation. “As soon as everybody leaves, we’re getting stuff back on the smoker,” said Nawrocki. They run two Ole Hickory Pits from Cape Girardeau in Missouri that use only applewood. They also employ a Bewley smoker from Texas, which, according to Nawrocki, is “a big giant beast of an old school smoker that I don’t know the whole story about, but it somehow came with the building.” That one gets fired with 75% applewood and 25% white oak. 

So what’s the key to running a 16,000-square-foot barbecue restaurant with a kitchen that’s always in operation? “We’ve got an incredible team and some very smart thermometers,” said Nawrocki. “When it’s the middle of the night and I’m in a panic, I can look at my phone and be like, ‘okay, we’re good. The brisket’s good.’”