When Jodie Ferguson opened Clara B’s Kitchen Table, she said she was not thinking about becoming a retailer.
“I just wanted to cook good food,” Jodie stated with a heavy helping of modesty that belies her genuine talents as the chef and owner of this beloved Metro East culinary treasure.
Today, the Belleville restaurant has become much more than a place to get mouth-watering pancakes or a hearty smothered chicken plate. It is a gathering place where homemade food, southern hospitality, and community align around the table. It is also a thriving independent retail business that reflects Jodie’s passion for serving others.
“I love being a restaurant retailer, because I come across so many different people,” she said. “I know there is a common customer, but when you get a new customer who says, ‘I’m not sure about this place,’ and then they have the food and they talk about, ‘That was something that I did not expect.’ I think the idea of being able to expand your palate or your experience—I want to be able to facilitate that for more people.”
“We have a saying here: ‘Eat Good, Be Good,'” Jodie said with a warm smile.
Serving breakfast, lunch, and handcrafted cocktails, the restaurant prides itself on preparing nearly everything from scratch.
“We are a 95 percent scratch kitchen,” she said. “We make our own breads, we smoke our own meats, make our own sausage. It’s important to me because I’m very passionate about the food that I serve people. I want people to enjoy it, feel nurtured, feel taken care of. I don’t feel like you get that kind of experience from things that just come out of a bag or a box.”
For Jodie, the meal itself is only part of the experience.
“Eating is one of those occasions that people will actually slow down and enjoy each other,” she said. “You’ll notice that we don’t have active TVs in here. I want people to be engaged with each other, with the food, even by themselves.”
Jodie said she intentionally created a space where guests feel relaxed enough to linger over a meal, read a book, or simply relax.
“I love the fact that people feel so comfortable that they can come here and just hang out,” Jodie said. “They know me by name, I know them, I know their orders. I’m hospitality-minded, so it actually makes me feel great.”
That welcoming atmosphere is rooted in the restaurant’s namesake.
Clara B’s Kitchen Table is named after Jodie’s grandmother, Clara B., the matriarch of her family. Growing up on a dairy farm after moving from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, Clara B. became known for feeding neighbors and travelers passing through the community.
“The whole idea of Clara B’s Kitchen Table came from the fact that she wanted to take care of the community,” Jodie said.
That legacy continues today.
“I want my customers to feel like they just got up from their grandmother’s table,” she said. “You are fed; you are taken care of. You could probably go take a nap if you needed to, but you’re smiling.”
Jodie’s own culinary journey was shaped by family traditions and diverse cultural influences.
“I was raised by a community that was steeped in cooking at home,” she said. “I had influences from Filipinas, Latin, Hispanic people as well as just down-home Arkansas roots.”
The menu also reflects her upbringing in Lockhart, Texas, which is a community that proudly wears the distinction of being “The Barbecue Capital of Texas.”
“Clara B’s Kitchen Table is an homage to Texas southern hospitality,” she said. “We have influences from Tex-Mex to southern, even a little bit of Asian. If you’ve been to Texas, it’s quite eclectic.”
The restaurant itself was born during one of the most uncertain periods in recent history. While serving as executive sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis, Jodie was furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing that her career path was changing, she decided to take a chance and launched Clara B’s Kitchen Table as a food truck.”
Those early days weren’t easy.
“The first service with the food truck was rough,” Jodie recalled. “Nobody knew who I was. I didn’t have the chef name or backing that I have now, so it had a lot to do with just word of mouth.”
She said the turning point for her restaurant came when respected St. Louis food writers began taking notice.
“George Mahe of St. Louis Magazine did an article on me when I was doing the food truck,” she said. “After that I got picked up by Ian Froeb, and after that, it kind of just steamrolled.”
As the business grew, so did the opportunity to expand into a permanent home.
Today, Clara B’s Kitchen Table operates inside the historic former Belleville train station alongside LongStory Coffee. The partnership came about after the ownership of LongStory Coffee approached Jodie about bringing elevated food to complement the coffee shop. The location has allowed both businesses to complement one another while serving this close-knit community.
Although Jodie initially didn’t think of herself as a retailer, her perspective has evolved alongside the business.
“The more that I did it and the more that I’m pumping out food, I realized that I am providing retail,” she said. “People are asking, ‘Can we get a bottle of the hot sauce? Can we get this? Can we get that?’ There’s so many avenues and revenue streams. We’re not just providing breakfast anymore. It’s more than that. I am a retailer.”
She also recognizes the significance of her success as an African American woman business owner.
“I do feel extra responsibility,” Jodie said. “People come in and tell me, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ We’ve never met, but they tell me they’re proud because to be a female and to be African American is so rare and to be put in a positive light.”
For Jodie, independent restaurants provide something that larger chains simply cannot replicate, which is an opportunity for authentic relationships. Guests know the people preparing their food. Staff know customers by name. Meals are prepared with care instead of convenience. The result is an experience built on hospitality, craftsmanship and community, which is a winning recipe that keeps customers coming back.
For anyone considering opening their own restaurant, Jodie does not sugarcoat the challenge.
“You have to have a passion and work ethic that is on another level,” she said.
Running a restaurant requires balancing food costs, staffing, maintenance, insurance and countless other responsibilities that customers rarely see.
“It never ends,” she said. “If that’s something that you really feel passionate about and you want to provide that to the community, go for it. Come up with a plan. Get supporters, get your family behind you, and make sure that you have an actual business plan and some protocols in place. Winging it like you do at home does not translate in a restaurant.”
For Jodie, the long hours are worth it every time a customer leaves with a full belly and a smile. After all, that’s exactly what Clara B. would have wanted.
