First Look: Charred Crust in Clayton

Co-owners James Flemming and Andrew Simon have opened Clayton’s newest lunch spot, Charred Crust, at 105 S. Meramec Ave., in the former home of Uptown Cafe.

Charred Crust’s sourdough-based pizza is one of the centerpieces of the new eatery, which officially opened Aug. 21, but Flemming said they offer far more. “We don’t want to label ourselves as a pizzeria,” he said.

Flemming and Simon come from now-shuttered Scape American Bistro, where they were, respectively, executive sous chef and executive chef. At Charred Crust, they created a menu based around high quality, locally sourced meats and house-made breads, like their focaccia and a sourdough pizza dough.

Customers can build their own pizzas or choose from five of Flemming and Simon’s creations, like a pineapple pizza with pineapple, charred tomato sauce and Sartori BellaVitano chipotle cheese or a Mediterranean pie with herb pesto, charred red pepper, spinach, banana pepper and feta cheese.

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Six sandwiches are also available on a choice of house-made focaccia, ciabatta or a baguette. Options include a hot coppa sandwich with Comté cheese, pickled red onion and arugula, and a veggie sandwich with charred squash, roasted red pepper, oyster mushroom, mozzarella and an herb pesto.

Salads at Charred Crust include a Caesar and one simply titled Roasted Chicken, which features arugula, spinach, Sartori BellaVitano chipotle cheese, cranberries and charred Parmesan vinaigrette. Charred Crust’s two pasta options include gnocchi with black garlic cream and a house-made linguini with sausage and shrimp.

The tight bar program includes three red wines and three whites, as well as couple Italian beers like Menabrea. “We’re trying to challenge the area,” Flemming said. For domestic beer lovers, he said they have Budweiser products.

Charred Crust is open for from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Here’s a first look at Clayton’s newest lunch spot.

Adam Rothbarth is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.