T he name “Brandt’s” has been part ofthe Loop streetscape for years, but

over the past two decades the space at6525 Delmar Boulevard has undergonemore makeovers than Madonna. “Istarted out with a natural-food store andwound up with a jazz club,” laughs JayBrandt, who in 1985 took over the store-front previously occupied by his dad’spackage-liquor store.

Now Brandt is stepping back from thebusiness he shepherded from health-food grocery store to deli to sit-downrestaurant, just a couple of years after amajor renovation gave birth to the RedCarpet Lounge, a retro-flavored night-spot reusing the name (and recallingthe vibe) of his parents’ club in the sto-ried Gaslight Square district. Perform-ers from that era, such as Mae Wheelerand Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum, havebecome regular attractions, and Brandthas clearly enjoyed continuing the fam-ily tradition.

However, not long after the Red Car-pet Lounge opened, Brandt’s wife’semployer, May Company, was bought byFederated Department Stores. The goodnews was that Cherie Brandt was offereda job by Federated; the bad news was thatit was in Cincinnati. As the family pre-pared to move, Jay Brandt began lookingfor a buyer, hoping to find someone whowould continue Brandt’s with the sameformat. Enter Rick Fessler, who runs achain of Cingular cell-phone stores and asmall-business consulting firm, and wasformerly married to Brandt’s niece.

“I was looking at opening up a restau-rant at one time, and was thinking aboutmodeling it on Jay’s concept: food, wine,live jazz and outdoor dining,” Fesslerrecalls. “It’s just always been a passion ofmine.”

Informed by Brandt’s stockbrokernephew, Adam, that the business hehoped to emulate was for sale, Fesslersaid he’d buy it — “but only if you comein with me.” Adam Brandt agreed, and inDecember papers were signed, putting athird generation of the Brandt family inbusiness on Delmar.

Fessler and Adam Brandt have alreadyexpanded the café’s beer and wine lists,and in February the kitchen will close forten days for a complete refitting. “Wewant to expand the menu a little bit,”Fessler says. “We thought it could use areally good steak and a couple of goodgourmet hamburgers, and those thingsrequired a grill back there.”

Jay Brandt retains a minority interestin Brandt’s and will continue to bookbands, maintain the Web site, and serveas consultant and “host emeritus,” mak-ing the five-and-a-half-hour drive fromCincinnati to St. Louis about once amonth. He says Brandt’s will continue topresent longtime jazz favorites likeWhalum, Wheeler and Jeanne Trevor,but also hopes to entice younger patronsby bringing new musicians into the mix,such as fusion-jazz guitarist Todd Mos-by, bassist Tom Kennedy’s trio, acid-jazz/remix duo Mo and Dawn, andsinger-songwriters Cat Sansone andJesse Gannon. “If you go to most jazzvenues in St. Louis, it’s an older crowd,”says Jay Brandt. “Brandt’s wants to bethe jazz room for the younger crowd.”

— DEAN C. MINDERMAN

riverfronttimes.com M O N T H X X–X X , X X X X R I V E R F R O N T T I M E S 1

b-sides

Sharon Osbourne, Extreme: My Autobiography(Springboard Press)

Chronological memoir, with a modern-day narrativethread at the beginning of each chapter that has thereader following “Sha-ron” around Beverly Hills fora day — April 20, 2005, to be exact.

Sharon Arden grows up in England. She works forher music mogul father, Don Arden. He rips her offfinancially and treats her like crap. She marriesOzzy Osbourne, becomes his manager and seversties with her father. Ozzy gets drunk and abusive foreleven of the next twelve chapters, but the book’sepilogue is serene.

Ozzy Osbourne, “obsessed with Phil Collins” andplaying Collins’ first solo album, Face Value, over andover at full volume, until his bandmates throw thecassette out the window.

Sharon Osbourne referring to Smashing Pumpkinsfounder Billy Corgan as “a lightbulb in trousers, YulBrynner’s mutant brother.”

Survival. Survival, sarcasm and also knowing whereto find a fabulous pair of custom Heidi Klum Birken-stocks, dahling. Osbourne tells her tale with candorand humor, and it makes for an entertaining (andalternately horrifying and touching) read.

Courtney Love, Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of CourtneyLove (Faber and Faber, Inc.)

Schizophrenic scrapbook, with postcards, letters,journal entries, handwritten lyrics and Polaroidsnapshots arranged in chaotic, semi-chronologicalcollages.

Courtney Menely grows up in Oregon and is a prob-lem child. She travels to England, then later LA andthen later Seattle, with various stops in between. Shechanges her last name, starts the band Hole, marriesKurt Cobain and gives birth to their daughter, FrancesBean. Love then becomes the (admittedly still-recov-ering) “grunge widow” after Cobain’s death.

Love penning a letter to Cobain some ten years afterhis death, asking him to put a hex on Frances Bean’steacher.

From an early letter from Cobain to Love: “Let’s bemountain junkies and breed Satanic mall rats.”

Many people — especially Courtney Love — are mor-bidly fascinated with Courtney Love. That’s partlybecause of her drug-induced duality — she can be anamazingly intelligent, talented woman as Sober Court-ney, or a plane crash hitting a train wreck as StonedCourtney. Dirty Blonde shows bits of both, but leavesplenty of demons unexorcised.

Book

Format

Synopsis

Surprising scene

Interesting quote

The point

Old Wives’ TalesSharon Osbourne and Courtney Love have a lot in common. They are both outspo-

ken, headstrong women who married men that later became monstrously famousmusicians. They both had plastic surgery. They are both known for throwing

things — Love for hurling makeup at Madonna, Osbourne for pelting Iron Maiden witheggs. And now, they’ve both written books about themselves. But the tomes of the twomost (in)famous rock wives since Yoko Ono take us on vastly different — but equally sen-sational — trips. Here we roll out the high (and drunk) points of each. — NIKI D’ANDREA

Brandt New Day

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Jazz hands: RIckFessler (background)and Adam Brandt

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