True sits just outside of St. Louis in O’Fallon Missouri. As such, we were excited when the new restaurant from local restaurateur Mike Randolph was announced as a semi-finalist for the James Beard Best New Restaurant Award. 

Público is a Latin-inspired, wood-fire cantina restaurant, offering traditional Mexican and South American dishes with contemporary influences. Located in University City, just west of downtown St. Louis, the menu centers on the Missouri oak wood-burning hearth for spit-roasted and grilled meats, vegetables, and seafood. The beverage program offers updated takes on classic Latin cocktails such as the margarita and paloma, a selection of Spanish and Argentinian wines, craft and Mexican beers, and housemade agua frescas and horchata.

Publico’s open hearth design with pinto beans cooking with lamb drippings and the favorite spit roasted al pastor with pork shoulder and pineapple.

At True we’ve talked about what makes “A Chef’s Kitchen” and it boils down to the concept that the kitchen was designed with a purpose in mind. Publico has designed a kitchen that is uniquely built to cook their unique menu. Publico’s kitchen is built around a custom 8ft wood fired hearth, where they use all Missouri oak, and the rest of the kitchen caters to Publico’s very specific menu.

“If I was to take over a space for a new restaurant, I would scratch it and build a kitchen that specifically performs the concept at hand.”-Chef Mike Randolph

And, It’s not just the back of the house that’s beautiful. Publico partnered with SPACE Architecture + Design to create a space that wow’s guests as they enter.

Last, but certainly not least, the food: Randolph describes his cooking style as agressive, where well-seasoned food is important. See some of Publico’s menu items below, including lamb tartare with arbol chile, mint and puffed rice (left), and octopus a la parrilla with Veracruz-inspired green olive puree, cilantro and chili (right).

So when you think about your home’s menu , how are you going to build a kitchen that fits your lifestyle? Do you need a set of refrigerator drawers to outfit your smoothie station? A bar decked out to service your own special beverage program, or maybe you’ve got a wood burning grill outside where you need some cold storage for ready to cook meats and veggies.

Start dreaming up your dream kitchen and find a dealer to help you make it a reality.