Fozzie's Sandwich Emporium Uses Garden Ingredients

Marc Lucas is an Indiana native and world traveler who has brought his talents and multi-ethnic cuisines to residents of in the form of .

The word "emporium" comes from the Greek word for merchant and is a term used to define a place that sells a variety of goods. Fozzie's is indeed an emporium—it offers a menu with something for everyone.

Lucas focuses on making Fozzie's food superior by using the freshest St. Louis-area ingredients, some of them from the restaurant's own garden. A large patio featuring apple-green picnic tables and the garden make the spot hard to pass up.

The garden delivers fresh basil, lemon balm, rosemary and mint, as well as eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes. One of the restaurant's summer specials is gazpacho soup made fresh from its garden tomatoes. Other St. Louis-area produce growers fill in the remainder of ingredients to create dishes filled with seasonal fruits and vegetables.

The menu offers spreads, salads, sandwiches, hotdogs, gyros, burgers, homemade chips and shakes. It has some classic plates—the reuben, chicken and eggplant parmesan, po'boys and french dip roast beef among them—as well as Fozzie's Originals. Those include The Gracey, Club Med and The Animal.

The Gracey, a vegetarian selection, is composed of crispy falafel, roasted peppers, grilled onions, baby spinach with an artichoke and spinach spread on flatbread. The Club Med features marinated chicken breast, grilled zucchini, squash, roasted peppers, arugula, goat cheese and lemon-oregano vinaigrette on grilled flatbread. The Animal is a sourdough sandwich stuffed with grilled chicken, arugula, portabellas and roasted pepper cream cheese.

I had the opportunity to taste the three original selections and can vouch for the exquisite freshness and delicacy of ingredients.

The peripheries of the menu allude to the Mediterranean, with spreads such as hummus, htipiti, tzatziki and babaganoush. Lucas created vegetarian offerings such as the veggie gyro, veggie and black bean burgers, the oinkless dog and many other meatless items. Lucas wanted to offer these choices because of the lack of vegetarian items available in other establishments. (His fiancee, Gracey, is a vegetarian and might have had an influence on his decision.) 

Fozzie's shakes include a particularly eye-catching selection, the blueberry-lemon cheesecake shake. It's made from fresh blueberries and lemon balm from the garden. One of the neighborhood favorites is the Foz-O-Licious, which is composed of goat cheese, roasted apples and caramel. Gracey also makes cookies and brownies that are served at the restaurant.

Kitchen manager Brent Morrisson helps create innovative specials. Fozzie's allows for more creative input and is a step up in his career, he said.

The magic doesn't happen by accident.

Lucas graduated from Johnson & Whales University on the East Coast; has worked in places such as Florida and Gold Lake Mountain Resort and Spa in Colorado; and topped off his resume with Barbizon, a two-star Michelin restaurant in Belgium.

Lucas has been a part of several successful restaurants—, , Boogaloo and others—either on his own or as a partner.

The meal under $20 is worth a try at Fozzie's, even if you go just to relax at the garden oasis in the back.