Peppe's Apt. 2, Kirkwood

Peppe Profeta began cooking before he was old enough to grow a beard or tall enough to sneak into rated-R movies. At the ripe old age of 10, in his native Italy, he learned his family’s treasured recipes and techniques at his grandfather’s side. Then Peppe traveled to America and spent his teenage years honing his skills at Gian-Peppe's on the Hill before willing into existence his own Peppe's Apt. 2. Today, he labors in the kitchen to create Italian and Mediterranean pastas, beef carpaccio, and tender pork chops as guests lounge amid the exquisite beauty of the dining area—a historical Victorian house. There, elegant white-cushioned chairs cradle diners beneath twinkling crystal chandeliers as they dig into pasta primavera or rack of lamb. Outside on the patio, a canopy of umbrellas and magenta flowers shields diners from the sun, and a wall of meticulously maintained shrubbery blocks passersby from attempting to start a staring contest.