La Patisserie Chouquette's Simone Faure shares 5 of her favorite Black-owned St. Louis restaurants

Simone Faure knows good food when she tastes it. Faure grew up in Louisiana knowing and loving Creole food, and her culinary talents led to making pastries for The Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, then later at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis.

In 2013, Faure opened her own bakery, La Patisserie Chouquette, and the French-inspired pastry shop was recently named a semifinalist by the James Beard Foundation in the Outstanding Bakery category for the second year running. Here, Faure gives us a tour of her favorite spots in St. Louis, whether she’s grabbing a bite, an elevated meal or simply a great dessert.

Rated Test Kitchen
“Years ago, I was asked to judge a competition and when I got there, there was this young, eager cook by the name of Juwan Rice. I think he was a teenager at the time. I had a peach cobbler that he made and I was blown away. I've had million peach cobblers in my life, but it brought me a sense of nostalgia. It was different, it was warm and familiar but new, there was a depth to it and I said, ‘Who made this?’ They said, ‘That kid, that kid!’ I told him, ‘I can't wait to see what you do, this is what you're doing now?’”  

“Peach cobbler is a cultural food and you have to have a grasp of that. The place he opened [Rated Test Kitchen] is a playground where he can make whatever he wants, and people are accepting because they know it's going to be thoughtful and insightful and exciting and good quality. I think it's different and fun and new and it's also elevated. His menu is constantly changing. Before he opened, he did a brunch and a shrimp and grits trying to gauge menu items. I love shrimp and grits – and I typically don't order it outside of Louisiana – but it was so on point. It was beautiful and delicious and I just wanted more of it. Rated is definitely on my list.”

Patty's Cheesecakes
“I'm a big fan of banana pudding – we make one at the shop. I was with Melanie [Meyer] of Tiny Chef, we went to the [City] Foundry and we were like, ‘Let's get dessert’ and went to Patty's, and they had a banana pudding cheesecake. I went to the parking garage, I sat in my car, took a bite, and stopped and sat there. I went into Patty’s DMs and said, ‘Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am – this is so good. I just ordered my birthday cake from New Orleans, but if I hadn't done that I would have ordered this.’”

“[Patty’s Cheesecakes owner Pat Upchurch] showed up on my birthday at the bakery with a whole banana pudding cheesecake. She left her business on a Saturday and showed up here and gave me this cheesecake. It was so good. The crust, it might have been a Nilla wafer crust, or maybe she blended it? There was a sour cream topping: That's my weakness on a cheesecake, people don't do that enough. There were real bananas, fresh bananas, inside the cheesecake, but they weren't brown, they were delicious! You got banana in every bite in that cheesecake.”

“She's doing the Lord’s work over there, she's about to open a second location. I always say you can taste evil, and when something is made with care, it's love, you can taste it. If you're not in a good space you shouldn't be cooking, but that woman – so much energy flows from her heart when she's baking. I felt good, it made me want to be nicer to people that day. I was smiling, so people around me were smiling. She is definitely doing what she's supposed to be doing.”

Simply Delicious
“Simply Delicious downtown – they also own 4 Hens Creole Kitchen inside City Foundry. I was meeting a friend for lunch at Simply Delicious. Everyone there was super sweet, super nice, constantly pushing. I have been there three times now and I’m never disappointed, the chicken and waffles were delicious, the fried green tomatoes, they do a really good job there. It's definitely ‘feed your soul’ kind of vibes.”

SweetArt Bakeshop & Cafe
“Everything at SweetArt is good. I will say, I have no reason to not eat meat but if anyone is going to get my brain to think that cauliflower or broccoli is some form of meat, or a mushroom, it’s going to be Reine [Kleis, SweetArt owner]. I'm not vegetarian or vegan, but if I have an opportunity to eat like that, I'm going there. I don't know what kind of sorcery is going on in the kitchen, but I’m here for the magic. I’m from New Orleans, I’m all about the magic – and they are wizards in that kitchen.”

“When we first opened, customers would ask me, ‘Do you have a vegan thing?’ and I brought in vegan items from SweetArt. We did that for two weekends and I decided I cannot – I realized there are so many places doing their own thing, it's OK to recommend that people go to another, [so] we send all vegans [to SweetArt]. What they do is amazing.”

The Crooked Boot
“They’re constantly educating people about Louisiana and Caribbean cuisine. It's the closest thing to anything back home that I've found outside of Louisiana, because Creole or Cajun are such buzz words, but they know what it is. [Owner Coria Griggs] knows the language, she uses proper terminology, it's unapologetically Creole, and at its essence Creole is not just New Orleans, it's a Louisiana-Caribbean blend.”

“[Coria] knows her way around seafood, fried crab, and there isn't any other place in Missouri that I know of where you can get boudin balls. You won't find boudin balls in New Orleans, but in the Bayou – [and] at Crooked Boot, hers are real. I knew she was from a muddy parish in the Bayou because I could tell by the way she cooked and the way she talked. It was part Creole and part English – I call it ‘Crenglish’ – she writes the way my grandfather did and her food reflects where she’s from.”