barbecue

Plus a politician's kiss, a hot new restaurant, East St. Louis jazz and more.

At Expat, the James Beard-award winning chef combines international flavors with familiar techniques to create a barbecue spot inspired by wanderlust, homesickness — and hunger.

The event, which had been planned for early September, had once been touted as a significant tourism draw for downtown St. Louis.

Kansas City and St. Louis are both known as barbecue destinations, but recent efforts to redefine the cuisine have sidelined the very barbecuers, pitmasters and restaurateurs who made it an institution.

Nicole Jackson came to the first Midwest SoulVeg Fest to get some inspiration on her slow path to being a vegan. She admitted that as a black person who...