As the Planet Heats Up, So Does Midsummer in St. Louis as Shown in Our July/August Issue
As you globe trot this summer, you may notice that the planet is getting warmer. 2024 was the warmest year on record since 1880. Record-setting temps have swept the country in June, and St. Louis is no exception with the heat index soaring to 105 degrees or more. It’s about to heat up a whole lot more, especially when the July/August issue of Sophisticated Living St. Louis hits your mailbox, or you pick it up at one of our advertisers. If you’re reading this, you’re probably from the Show-Me State, and as always we SHOW YOU the best in fashion, travel, cuisine, architecture, design, and philanthropic endeavors to be, well, for lack of a better word...seen. We spotlight the people and ideas shaping the city and the region’s present and future.
In this issue we shine a light on the new mayor of the City of St. Louis, Cara Spencer. She took the world by storm—literally—when faced with a once-in-a-century (or at least we hope so) weather event that terrorized the city with the EF-3 tornado that struck on May 16, 2025. The tornado hit just one month and a day after she was sworn in as the 48th mayor of St. Louis. Read our riveting story and learn how she rose to the challenge.
Learn also how another woman is taking the helm at the oldest botanical garden in continuous operation in the United States. As president and director, Dr. Lúcia G. Lohmann is leading the Missouri Botanical Garden into a bold new era. She is the first woman to hold this prestigious role. Learn where she is taking it.
And speaking of taking the old and making it new again, mega developer Lodging Hospitality Management has been hard at work transforming some of its signature properties into more upscale and sophisticated venues sure to make an imprint on the landscape of the city. LHM just opened its Basso on the Plaza in Westport; the sister restaurant to Basso Cheshire on Clayton road. The new Basso merges the old with the new and continues LHM’s 10-year charge to reinvent Westport and make it one of the region’s top entertainment districts.
The summer solstice just hit, and that means it is officially midsummer. Whichever way you consume the leading luxury lifestyle magazine of St. Louis—either through print or digital—you are in for a smorgasbord of literary and pictorial delights. Dig in!
Excerpts from the 2025 July/August issue
Caught in the Eye of the Storm
by Christy Marshall / photographs by John Lore and RJ Hartbeck
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe surveys the damage with Mayor Cara Spencer
Excerpt:
On May 16, 2025, one month and one day after she was sworn in as the 48th mayor of St. Louis, an EF-3 tornado came to her.
“Within minutes, we got a report from the fire department that a tornado had hit the city,” Mayor Spencer said. “It was at that point that we started to gather our team and try to understand just how impactful that tornado was and to meet with our emergency management commanders to understand what was going on and what the next steps were…
Within the hour, Mayor Spencer and her staff headed to the sixth floor of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Headquarters on Olive Street to set up a command center (Weeks later, the mayor and her staff were still there).
Returning to the Garden, and St. Louis
by Craig Kaminer / photos by John Lore
President and Director Missouri Botanical Garden Dr. Lúcia G. Lohmann.
Excerpt:
In the heart of St. Louis, where heritage and horticulture flourish side by side, the Missouri Botanical Garden stands as a global treasure. Founded in 1859, it is the oldest botanical garden in continuous operation in the United States and one of the most respected plant research institutions in the world. With the 2025 appointment of Dr. Lúcia G. Lohmann as president and director—the first woman to hold this prestigious role—the Garden enters a bold new era, bridging its storied legacy with a forward-thinking vision for sustainability, education, and global scientific leadership.
Reinventing an Original
After decades of running properties such as Union Station, the Cheshire Inn, the Hilton at the Ballpark, Lodging Hospitality Management has added to their properties at Westport.
by Grayling Holmes / photographs provided by Lodging Hospitality Management and Basso on the Plaza
Basso on the Plaza at Westport.
Excerpt:
The sister restaurant to Basso Cheshire on Clayton Road, the new Basso merges the old with the new. For those who have meandered down the winding staircase at the Cheshire Inn and been enveloped in the historic ambiance of the Italian eatery with its gaslit lanterns, Old World woodwork and roaring fireplace, you will feel right at home at the new restaurant. Wind through the bustling plaza. You will feel the energy infused by people vibing on the revamped areas. Upscale fun abounds. There’s live music this summer and every third Thursday as well as Sunday movie nights.