Owner, chef opens up pasta restaurant, his finely crafted vision
By Marcus Clem
In Italy, a head chef is wholly in command of the high-concept dining experience, in that what is eaten, when and why, are all arranged together like the brush strokes of a painting, at last on display in St. Joseph.
After years of planning and construction followed by months of refinement, city regulations and last-minute revisions, this vision of Erik and Lesley Borger comes into being at EMI Ristorante. It is housed in the renovated and repurposed Frederick Avenue Fire Station at 22nd Street, and as of late May is accepting general-public reservations for Friday and Saturday evenings only. The eatery is named after the regions of Italy that have inspired this project, and also the initials of the Borgers’ children.
“This is my 15th restaurant,” said Erik Borger, who had a founding role at Il Lazzarone and Pizza Tascio in St. Joseph, among other projects near and far. “I don’t need to do any more restaurants. I’m done for life, hopefully. So, this is for fun. This is just for St. Joe. This is just for me to have a hobby. And I love cooking these recipes, but I bet some other people would like to try them as well.”
Some customers spoken to on Friday seemed to enthusiastically agree. Avowed foodie Sybil Dunn has actually experienced high-concept prix fixe dining before, she said.
“We were all able to compare and contrast our own experiences with it,” Dunn said. “I think this is going to be great for St. Joe, because I think it is something that different people can get into, but also, you don’t feel like you’re in St. Joe. It’s a very intimate setting.”
EMI Ristorante’s three-course prix fixe menu — offered at $39 per person with optional wine pairings (an Il Bastardo red and La Bastarda white) — is what the Borgers have developed after long study in Naples and other locales of that ancient country. As things stand, the Borgers are running the show, with limited additional help; but even if they had a fully staffed kitchen brigade, Erik Borger said, making everything from scratch with the vision they want would still require a set menu and days of preparation.
“I wish there was a way we could just snap our fingers and I’d have eight sauces that were stewed for 17 hours and pretend I didn’t have to throw tons of it away, but that’s not sustainable, and that’s not, you know, true to our art,” Erik Borger said.
Ashley Funk, another diner, said she expects to keep coming back to see what changes over time.
“It was really cool, that you had this feeling, you didn’t feel like you were in St. Joe, you felt like you were somewhere totally new, totally different,” Funk said. “The food was great. I love the fact that they have a rotating menu. It just seemed really fun and fresh.”
