Three restaurants that brought new life to Botanical Heights are leaving the neighborhood at the end of the year.
Elaia, Olio and Nixta, located at the intersection of Tower Grove and McRee avenues, will move to the Delmar Maker's District, owner Ben Poremba announced in a Facebook post on Saturday.
"After unsuccessful efforts to buy the joint buildings we've called home, we have made the difficult decision to relocate," Poremba wrote. "December 31, 2023 will mark the end of our stewardship of this beloved corner."
Ben Poremba in the dining room of his restaurant Bar Moro in Clayton on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, Poremba said that efforts to purchase the buildings housing the restaurants were unsuccessful. Elaia and Olio opened in 2012, with Nixta following in 2016. They have consistently made Post-Dispatch critic Ian Froeb's list of the top 100 restaurants in أغر؟´«أ½.
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The search for a new location led to the Delmar Maker's District, which is situated on Delmar Boulevard between Kingshighway and Union.
"We try to get the restaurants kind of in the same place," Poremba said. "And we saw the same kind of potential that I saw 12 years ago with Botanical Heights. That this could be a new thing. Community development is really important for us."
He said the three restaurants will be reopening "incrementally" in Delmar Maker's District in 2024, along with a fourth restaurant featuring a new concept.
"I don't have specific dates," Poremba said.
Several businesses that he owns or is affiliated with are remaining in Botanical Heights, including AO & Co. and La Pأ¢tisserie Chouquette.
"I want people to understand that we're not abandoning the neighborhood," he said.
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