In early September, Michael and Tara Gallina welcomed a handful of guests to an empty building in St. Louis’ new Cortex Innovation Community in the Central West End. Natural light was spilling in through two walls of windows, and the excitement for their presentation was palpable.

The husband-and-wife team was unveiling the first look at the soon-to-be home of their first restaurant, Vicia, slated to open by the end of the year. Michael, a St. Louis native, first met Tara while working at the James Beard Award-winning Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a famed restaurant, nonprofit farm and education center in Tarrytown, New York. After working for four years at its partner restaurant in the city, Michael was made chef de cuisine of Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Tara, who held several front-of-house positions including service captain, says working under owner Dan Barber provided her and Michael with a different perspective when it came to food, proportions and food waste.

“[Stone Barns] is first and foremost about education, both in the restaurant and on the farm,” she says. “Both Michael and I were able to really get once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to learn from people who are at the forefront of sustainable farming.”

These principles have shaped the Gallinas and the kind of restaurant they plan to run at Vicia, with Tara managing operations and Michael as executive chef. Plans for the restaurant were put into motion when the Gallinas moved from New York to St. Louis a year ago to expand the Gateway City’s ever-growing culinary scene. They got their feet wet by hosting pop-up dinners under the name Rooster and the Hen, where their admiration for the city’s inclusive, tightknit food scene grew.