Soon We Will Be Singing Auld Lang Syne to 2025. New Issue Heralds End-of-Year
Compiled by Grayling Holmes
Soon we will be singing Auld Lang Syne as we say farewell to 2025. The song literally means “old long since” or “old times” in the Scots language. It translates to for the sake of old times. Throughout 2025, we’ve brought you many good times. We’ve shared with you the good life, both near and far. Sophisticated Living St. Louis is the region’s leading luxury lifestyle omnichannel publication. From print, to digital, to social media, we make sure that you have your finger on the pulse. We avail you of what’s happening in your world as you attend galas, shop for luxury goods, the best interior designers, build the most exclusive homes, wear the best fashions, and get the most out of travel both in the States and abroad. Our November/December year-end issue toasts the many experiences you’ve had in 2025. It toasts the new. It toasts the now. It gives a nod to the future.
As November dawns on Saturday, it’s ready, set, go — a mad dash to wrap up 2025 in style.
Thanksgiving — Thursday, November 27th
Hanukkah — Sunday, December 14th - Monday, December 22nd
Christmas Eve — Wednesday, December 24th
Christmas Day — Thursday, December 25th
Kwanzaa — Friday, December 26th - Thursday, January 1st
New Year’s Eve — Wednesday, December 31
New Year’s Day — Thursday, January 1st
Let’s take a look back at 2025 through the lens of Sophisticated Living’s January/February, March/April, May/June, and September/October issues, and say hello to our newly-minted November/December issue, which will be available soon.
January/February 2025
Excerpt from the cover story “The Chef Who Transformed St. Louis’ Culinary Landscape” by Craig Kaminer
“Food is about more than just feeding people. It’s about telling a story, building community and creating moments that people remember.” — Gerard Craft
St. Louis has long been a city of culinary traditions, rich with its toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake and deep loyalty to local favorites. Yet over the past two decades, a revolution has redefined dining in the Gateway City. At the heart of this transformation stands Gerard Craft, a James Beard Award-winning chef who not only elevated the city’s restaurant scene but also positioned St. Louis as a national food destination.
March/April 2025
The Artist Collector: Robert Lococo has been dealing in art for decades, by Alexa Beattie
Excerpt:
Lococo has worked as a fine art publisher for more than 30 years. Although based primarily in St. Louis, the reach of his company–Lococo Fine Art–spans the globe. His prints can be found in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Boston Museum of Fine Art, Maison des Écrivains in Paris, Albertina Museum in Vienna and Kochi Museum of Art in Kochi, Japan. He has printers in three states (Missouri, New York and Florida) and attributes his notoriety to the quality of work and to his team.
May/June 2025
Excerpt from cover story: The Revolutionary Ice Cream Company/ by Craig Kaminer
For Tamara Keefe, the founder, CEO and self-described “Flavor Temptress” behind Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Ice Cream, ice cream is something far more profound than a simple sweet indulgence. To her, it is a vehicle for connection, a channel for transformation and an art form that has redefined what it means to follow your passion.
Instilled in Tamara is an abiding belief: food - especially something as universally loved as ice cream - has the power to bring people together.
July/August 2025
Caught in the Eye of the Storm by Christy Marshall
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).
September/October 2025
Something Old. Something New. by Christy Marshall
Excerpt:
When Marie-Hélène Bernard, then executive director and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, came to interview for the job as chief executive of the St. Louis Symphony, she immediately noticed a problem — not with the symphony but with its residence.
“When I took this job, I had it in the back of my mind that we had to adjust and improve Powell Hall to meet the needs of current and future audiences,” Bernard said. She landed the job in February 2015 and she moved here four months later. From the moment she got the position, she started working on a strategic plan to renovate and expand the existing concert hall. The Powell Hall Task Force was created, experts were consulted and studies were commissioned. Ultimately, the Symphony board was convinced and in 2018, Bernard got the green light to go ahead.
Now, 100 years after first opening its doors, the building has a new $140 million, 64,000 square foot complex and it has a new name, the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, named after the late founder of Enterprise Holdings.
November/December 2025
A Pasta Assassin/ by Christy Marshall
Excerpt:
Brandon Benack shows up to your house looking like he's about to commit a crime. He’s got a gun case slung over his shoulder and a massive cutting board tucked under his arm.
Fear not.
That case holds his collection of antique pasta-making tools. That cutting board becomes the stage for the resurrection of centuries-old Italian pasta traditions that most people have never seen.
"I walk up looking like a pasta assassin," Benack laughs, describing his arrival at clients' homes for his increasingly popular pasta dinner experiences. It's a fitting description for a guy who's basically waging war against everything you thought you knew about fresh pasta.
After 13 years as the executive chef at Truffles — one of St. Louis's most beloved restaurants, Benack made the leap into entrepreneurship last year. But his path there was anything but traditional, much like the pasta he's now obsessed with making.