Editorial – Peacemaker Lobster & Crab

Chef Kevin Nashan is an institution in St. Louis. His first restaurant, Sydney Street Cafe has received numerous awards and is on the top of everyone’s list of great places to eat in St. Louis. He recently opened up a second restaurant down the road from Sydney Street called Peacemaker Lobster & Crab. As you can tell by the name, Peacemaker has a focus on shellfish but even if you’re not a fan of lobster (although who isn’t) there is lot of other great food to choose from as well … brisket po’boy with a side of fried green tomatoes anyone?

I recently had the opportunity to photograph Peacemaker for a feature in Feast Magazine, which was a whole lot of fun. Kevin is the nicest guy you could ever meet, and I should point out that whenever you compliment him he attributes all of his success to his staff. “Without them”, he says, “none of this would happen.” Kevin is a stand up guy and his food is fantastic. And don’t let the fact that the only body of water near St. Louis is the Mississippi River; Kevin makes a daily trek to the locale airport to pick up fresh lobster, crab and all kinds of other shellfish that was pulled from coastal waters mere hours earlier. Peacemaker is a must-visit destination in St. Louis.

A final note about the live crabs above: those suckers are delivered packed in ice to keep them docile, but as soon as you take them out of the ice they start to revive, and boy are they pissed. It took a little bit of doing to keep them in place while I was shooting them because they were scrambling to get away. And those claws are no joke – one wrong move and the big guy there in the center would have taken off a finger.