Historical September–October 2020 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
The developments now underway on DeBaliviere have made me think of the 60’s on the illustrious, often infamous “DeBaliviere Strip”. We’ve previously written about the grand Garavelli’s Restaurant and the Stardust Lounge on the west side, as well as the Parkmoor on the east side.
We also had a wonderful interview with Rita L’Ecuyer Cohen, who lived among the excitement and roller skated around DeBaliviere, soaking it all in. Rita knew the Kollias family, Greek immigrants who had a “watermelon garden restaurant” in the 20’s and 30’s at the southeast corner of Pershing and DeBaliviere.
There were other small restaurants at that site all the way to the 60’s. That’s when an industrious young man started his pizza empire there. That young man was Mike Faille of Talayna’s. What a unique individual he was, and what memorable restaurants he created, most of them right here in our neighborhood.
He told writer Jeanette Cooperman (St. Louis Magazine, November 2011) that he was born at 1028 Hamilton, worked at Sorrento’s (corner of DeBaliviere and Waterman), and opened his own pizza place at 304 DeBaliviere in 1964.
Then he moved across the street to 315 DeBaliviere (as Pepe’s Pizza?) from 1965-1968. That was a tumultuous time on DeBaliviere, and in 1968, he moved to his most memorable location at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway.
In the 70’s, 304 DeBaliviere on the east side was replaced by a Burger Chef, then a Pasta House, followed by a great restaurant in the 80’s called Redel’s. Talayna’s was a St. Louis fixture for nearly 30 years at the Skinker corner.
In 1997, when WU bought and redeveloped the Skinker property, Faille went back to his roots, buying his original 304 DeBaliviere location from the Redel’s owners for a purported $800,000.
He stayed there for a few years, selling the property (but not the name!) in 2011.
The food: Here’s how he described it: “Good pizza is crispy. Right amount of sauce and cheese, good sauce, good cheese, good spices.
The dough is proofed, not too old, but not too fresh or it won’t rise, it’ll get doughy, dark on the outside and raw on the inside…
Some people might use all provel cheese, which is not good, and they use a conveyor oven.
I use a stone oven… No one goes through what I go through.” The decor on Skinker: After he expanded to the whole first floor, the decor was, shall we say, bold. Stained glass windows from a demolished church were everywhere, and Greek and Roman statues abounded.
A take-out window was manned by a very efficient and friendly guy with one ear missing.
The personality: He was the jitterbug champion at the old Club Imperial.
The gambling? Neighbors of a certain age will remember the huge house on Lindell he half-built and left unfinished for several years.
The name Talayna’s? Said to be Yiddish for Italian, a nickname he got from older Jewish players at the old handball court in Forest Park. Talayna’s was a vivid part of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood for 47 years. Note: Previous articles on the DeBaliviere Strip can be found in the TMES OF SKINKER DEBALIVIERE website, http://www.sdtimes.org. See the Special Articles section or use the “custom search” feature to find: Memories of the Boulevard, September-October 2013 KO Koverly and the Mural Room, February-March, 2014 The DeBaliviere Strip, April-May, 2014 Girl Who Owned DeBaliviere, Summer, 2014 Garavelli’s, Summer, 2014 Grant Green and the Holy Barbarian, Summer 2014 Grace Piccione and the Apollo Theater, April-May, 2015 Echoes of History–500 DeBaliviere, April-May, 2016 Parkmoor, September-October, 2016 Molls Grocery, Summer, 2017 Some DeBaliviere West History, April-May, 2018
Original photograph caption
Mike Faille.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 2020.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2020_09.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
