If you ask gin lovers about the best gin bars in the U.S., those in the know will include The Gin Room (natashasginroom.com) in St. Louis (STL), MO, that is also a haven for cocktails, amaro and food inside Natasha Bahrami’s parents’ former Cafe Natasha’s restaurant, a beloved Persian restaurant since 1983.
The restaurant was named after Behshid and Hamishe Bahrami’s daughter who founded the Gin Room in 2013. Bahrami’s partner, Michael Fricker (who opened natural wine and spirits shop Grand Spirits Bottle Company nearby late 2021), works with her and their team, crafting a refined cocktail menu that educates with drinks to suit all palates.
Natasha grew up part of the family business, learning the restaurant and bar “ropes” from a tender age. In fact, in her youthful restaurant days, she fell in love with gin tasting a dirty gin martini. From then on, she was passionately curious about the botanical spirit, digging deep into its vast (and over the past decade, rapidly expanding) territory. Facing obstacles of opening a gin destination in a beer-and-whiskey-dominant Midwest city, Natasha utilized education.
Known as the Gin Girl (@thegingirl), Bahrami created Ginworld (www.ginworld.com), an education platform and events, launching an annual gin festival in STL in 2015. Natasha and her Ginworld Ambassadors have gone on to host Ginworld events in multiple cities, including spring 2022 in Oaxaca, Mexico.
At Gin Room, major changes have been underway. The roots and bones of the charming brick building on South Grand Boulevard remain, but in Spring 2022, Bahrami’s parents retired after nearly 40 years. While this is a bittersweet change, Natasha carries on the family tradition, hospitality and her gin legacy — but isn’t afraid to evolve dramatically.
Their new restaurant was slated to open late May 2022 as Salve Osteria. They brought on chef Matt Wynn, previously of notable NYC spots like Hearth and Craft Steak, and STL favorites, Niche, Sardella and Taste. The dining room got a full facelift, as did both kitchens, the second one becoming a prep kitchen for housemade pastas. Modern Italian, Spanish and Mediterranean influences form the osteria-esque menu. On the Gin Room side, Natasha and Mike’s legacy of educating via blind tastings, seminars and flights continues. Having built out a collection of a few hundred gins, Natasha has also upped the focus on amari, vermouth and bitters, including a new amaro cart with tableside service.
In 2017, Natasha was inducted into The Gin Guild for excellence in promoting gin. She judges gin/spirits in global spirits competitions, including International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC), American Distilling Institute (ADI) International Craft Spirits and the World Spirits Awards. She was inducted into Les Dames d’Escoffier International in 2019, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in hospitality. The accolades continue: in 2020, she joined the Museum of Distilled Spirits as director of gin curation, education and programming, while in 2021, she became the 8th inductee — and first American — inducted into the Gin Hall of Fame.
In her own words, Natasha tells us how she decides what spirits to stock, how her team navigated pandemic and what she sees as the future of the bar world.
What led you into the cocktail and the bar world?
I might be unique in some ways in that my obsession with understanding every single gin actually pushed me deeper into the bar world. I [learned to] crawl in my parents’ restaurant, but I really knew nothing about cocktails. As the craft distillery movement exploded in the United States more and more gins started hitting our bar. Each gin was so different, I felt I needed to learn the range of cocktails to best utilize their individual nuances. It became the way we were able to introduce and share our passions for the category of gin to our guests.
What is unique about your bar and how does being based in STL influence your bar’s style and operations?
As I chuckle, I remember how many times I heard that I shouldn’t open a gin bar, especially in the Midwest city of St Louis, as “no one drinks gin” in this beer and bourbon town. I would say this has influenced us to be a strongly education focused bar, as we had to be to create a demographic base that would grow to love gin. We built drinks to attract whiskey lovers [and] cocktail lovers, but we also “nerded” out with every guest who would listen, discussing the category, botanicals, nuances and the amazing range gin encompasses. We pride ourselves for continuing to be education focused, hosting daily gin education flights, distiller events and being a guide to all who are inquisitive about gin. This will never change.
How is Gin Room changing in this new era as your mother retires?
After nearly 40 years, we are starting a new chapter, moving from a legacy Persian restaurant to a new concept intentionally built to compliment the gin program in addition to strong focus on amaro. The synergy between our new cuisine and the Gin Room will allow us to create a complete dining experience and a level of hospitality that we’ve always strived to achieve.
What is your philosophy on deciding what brands/bottles to stock in your bar?
It’s all about flavor. There are so many amazing distillers creating right now. We are lucky to have an environment that attracts some of the best. We have never strived to have the most. However, we have built our back bar to have some of the widest range and spectrum in the category of gin, and we are proud to showcase some of the best regional and global gins on our back bar in St Louis, Missouri.
How do you educate customers on small batch, quality spirits?
This is what we love. We thrive off introducing guests to their new favorite spirits, many of which are made locally or by small craft distilleries around the world… Being willing to discuss the variations on the distilling process and how that manifests in the flavors they are tasting. We are fortunate to attract some of the best distillers to the Gin Room to help educate guests and help them understand why craft, small batch spirits have such a influence on the current spirit movements.
What new forms of business have you implemented in pandemic? And how do you envision the bar world evolving in coming years?
The pandemic shifted consumer to be much more educated about what they are drinking. We pride ourselves in being part of that education. In the past, we hosted more large-format consumer and industry events. However, we have now shifted focus to daily, one-on-one targeted education. Guests not only come to imbibe, but to learn about what they are drinking. I believe bartenders and bars will become the forefront of consumer education and the most influential force in trends and consumer interests. •
