Award-winning Seattle chef opens street eatery in St. George – St George News
ST. GEORGE —Real chefs are cooking up unique street food at this new St. George restaurant, and you need to taste the out-of-the-box food for yourself.
Street Eats owners Cory and Ashley LaFranchi
pose inside their restaurant in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
“We’re bringing in very high-end ingredients with very skilled chefs,” Chef Cory LaFranchi, owner of Street Eats said. “All of our team came from higher-end restaurants to make burgers and tacos. We use very complex ingredients and methods of cooking, but we’re interpreting it to the community as burgers and tacos, which is easy to understand.”
What was once Zeppes on Sunset Boulevard has been transformed into Street Eats, an eatery featuring unique street food such as “Watchos,” and “Sad Snacks” like a “Kitchen Sink” salad. The Seattle-inspired restaurant officially opened its doors on Aug. 20.
“It’s literally you order, you can watch our chefs cook it from the raw state and then deliver it to your table within 10 minutes. Everything is fresh,” he said.
The Street Eats menu features a collection of burgers, tacos and other chef snacks made with unique ingredient combinations. Their guacamole, for example, contains fried Brussel sprouts and bacon and is topped with Tahini, creating a layered complexity of textures and creaminess.
A variety of Street Eats menu items are shown, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
“All of our items are like that,” he said. “We ferment our own hot honey. Ferment all the peppers, we create all of our sauces. So all of our ingredients you can find in Michelin-starred restaurants.”
The meat served at Street Eats comes from Creekstone Farms, which LaFranchi said is “arguably the best cattle farm in the nation,” and the same meat used by big-name chefs like Gordon Ramsay’s burgers.
After attending culinary school and working in the industry for a few years, LaFranchi said he left to work in construction in order to provide for his family. A trip to visit his mom in Philly reignited his passion for cooking along with a delicious idea. Starting with $200, a pop-up tent and tacos, he began selling his street food.
In 2018, the pop-up tent turned into a Seattle food truck, Street Eats, which was a huge success. The truck won Best Food Truck of Seattle and LaFranchi won Best New Chef of Seattle.
When they closed the food truck for the season, the couple opened a cocktail lounge, which also offered their food truck menu. At one point, LaFranchi said they had a fully-stocked food truck they weren’t using and a cocktail lounge that wasn’t the vision they had hoped for. The couple had visited Santa Clara many times to see family and when the pandemic hit, they decided it was time for a change of scenery.
“We never thought we’d ever leave our state but we ended up selling everything and moving here, not knowing exactly what we were going to do,” he said.
To feel out the Southern Utah dining scene, LaFranchi first worked at Wood Ash Rye. To spread his name throughout the community, he also dropped off his food and business cards to local businesses. From there, he began providing private course meals inside people’s homes, and that’s when things really took off.
Cory and Ashley LaFranchi take a photo in front of their home restaurant in St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
“Essentially, I’m creating a whole restaurant and bar inside your house where you’re inviting friends,” LaFranchi said. “Everything’s really elevated and we’re creating menus for each event, which were always changing.”
In addition, the couple began selling their Street Eats menu on Local Chow, a platform that allowed customers to place orders online and pick them up at the cook’s homes. The businesses took off quickly and the couple found themselves slammed with orders, which was great…until it wasn’t.
As the snowbirds flew the nest to escape the summer heat, Ashley LaFranchi said their loyal customers unexpectedly cleared out – something they hadn’t planned for. They sidestepped and she took a job as Cliffside Restaurant’s Banquet Coordinator while her husband became their Executive Chef.
The front of Street Eats is shown on Sunset Boulevard in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
“The whole idea behind that was reshaping and refining the cuisine and products, bringing in new and elevated food,” Cory LaFranchi said about Cliffside. “We see what the cuisines are doing and have kind of an upper hand with Seattle, we’ve seen it, we’ve done it, this is our industry.”
When they parted ways with Cliffside, the couple started expanding in “weird” ways, which included turning their one-car garage into a restaurant. Customers would order food from their Instagram, come to their house at their selected time slot and pick up food from their driveway.
“It was wild,” Ashley LaFranchi said.
As the home restaurant grew, they provided tables for dining, pop-up tents for shade and free drinks. New to town, LaFranchi said the people “came in masses” to see what they were doing and who they were.
The inside of Street Eats features hand-painted art and seating, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
The couple decided it was time to look for a permanent location. After inquiring on their Instagram about locations, they signed a lease three days later. The location, which was previously a farmers market for Tias Artisan Bakery, was completely renovated by the couple themselves, from the benches to the hand-made countertops. Cory LaFranchi’s mom painted all the wall art by hand.
As a way of encouraging chefs, the couple plans to send one member of their staff to culinary school each year and pay their tuition.
“We want more than just chefs,” LaFranchi said. “We want people to care for food. We want people to understand how food grows, where it comes from. If no one knows how to cook or butcher or grow a garden, we’re in trouble.”
Street Eats is located at 1812 W Sunset Boulevard #2 in St. George. Follow Street Eats on Instagram and Facebook to stay up-to-date with new menu items and more. For more information on Cory LaFranchi, visit his website.
“If we create something well enough and treat people like they’re important because our community is important, the people will come,” LaFranchi said about Street Eats. “We work, we cook, we create experiences and people are just hungry for that – new experiences, new food, new types of dining. And we captured it.”
Photo Gallery
Cory and Ashley LaFranchi take a photo in front of their home restaurant in St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
Street Eats owners Cory and Ashley LaFranchi
pose inside their restaurant in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Chef Cory LaFranchi
stands inside Street Eats in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
The sign for Street Eats is seen off Sunset Boulevard in the Dixie Sunset Plaza, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
The front of Street Eats is shown on Sunset Boulevard in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
“Watchos” from Street Eats features waffle fried and various toppings, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Fish and Korean tacos from from Street Eats are shown, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A variety of Street Eats menu items are shown, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
Street Eats menu items are shown, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
A burger from Street Eats is shown in St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
A variety of Street Eats menu items are shown, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
(L-R) Chefs Kortland Hunt and Chris Tamplin pose for a photo inside Street Eats, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
The inside of Street Eats features hand-painted art and seating, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Free-hand art by Cory LaFranchi’s mom is shown on the walls inside Street Eats in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
The inside of Street Eats is shown in St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Chef Cory LaFranchi is seen in his element, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
Cory LaFranchi renovates the new Street Eats location in St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
Cory and Ashley LaFranchi take a family photo, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cory LaFranchi, St. George News
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Jessi Bang was born and raised in Utah and has a passion for nature and the great outdoors. She graduated from Kaplan University in California with a degree in criminal justice. She has extensive experience in marketing, content creation, photography and copywriting. You can find her showcasing outdoor adventures through her blog, “The Rambling Raccoon.” In her free time, she enjoys climbing mountains, trail running, working out and cuddling her two lovable pups.