Local Chef Kitchen will close its doors in Ballwin

Local Chef Kitchen will close its doors on June 13, according to a message posted on its Facebook yesterday, June 5. 

In the emotional note, owner Mitzi Uyemura talked about her husband, executive chef Rob Uyemura, who passed this February after a two year battle with cancer. “He was the driving force behind the restaurant, and was an incredibly talented chef, gardener, local foods enthusiast, and restaurateur,” she wrote. 

Though the team fought to keep the spirit of the concept alive even after Rob passed away, the coronavirus added complications that were too big to ignore. “But owning a restaurant is an enormous amount of work, never-ending stress, and not a money maker,” Uyemura wrote. “And with the coronavirus impacting business so significantly, it just doesn’t make any sense to keep going.” The full message can be found below. 

Local Chef Kitchen was known for its local and organic food and its focus on sustainability. 

Editor's note: This post has been updated to state that Rob Uyemura passed away this February after a two year battle with cancer. It originally stated that he died two years ago. We regret the error.