We sat down with Executive Chef Elizabeth Huff of Catalpa in Missouri. Dining at Catalpa Restaurant in Missouri offers a refined culinary experience, showcasing a creative, locally sourced menu with a modern twist. The ambiance combines rustic charm with contemporary elegance, making it ideal for both intimate dinners and special occasions. Expect attentive service and thoughtfully crafted dishes that celebrate regional flavors with artistic presentation.

Tell us about what your morning routine looks like, and how you like to end your day?

On weekdays, I wake up early and get Ellis out of bed (my adopted son who will turn 7 on Christmas Day). While Ellis eats breakfast, I take out the dogs. We have Goose, a 120 pound 10 month old Irish Wolfhound puppy and Duck, a 10 pound Shih Tzu mix. I also let our cat, Bingham, out to roam the town for the day. We live in a village of 56 people, but he still manages to get into mischief on the regular. I drive Ellis down the road to our local school (4 kids including him in his first grade class this year) and come back home for a cup of coffee while I answer business emails and reservation requests on my iPad. I usually bring the reservation book home with me at night so I can enjoy that one cup of coffee at home while still getting something done. Then I head to the restaurant to start my day. The school bus lets Ellis off at the front door of the restaurant and he stays there with me until I am done with prep or dinner service, depending on the day. Sometimes my servers let him help with things like delivering bread to tables and, if not, he usually finds a customer he feels like he needs to meet or a child he needs to give a tour to. He is 100% growing up in a restaurant and I feel like there are definitely worse things. I get to sleep in a little on the weekends and head into work by 10 or so. I try to work not much more than 12 hour days but sometimes that’s easier said than done. If Ellis and I get home early enough before his bedtime, we will either play inside games, have a water balloon or water gun fight outside or just watch a movie together. After he gets in bed, I have laundry, dishes, general housework and animals to take care of before I head to bed myself. In a perfect world, there would be time and energy left in the evenings for me to write, draw or paint but that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now. I have high hopes for that to happen sometime in the future, though. I have an entire cookbook stored in my head that is waiting to be written.

Do you have any awards or achievements you’d like to mention?

I have received quite a few awards so far in my career. Feast Magazine has awarded me both Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year multiple times. We got Rural Missouri Magazine Restaurant of the year either 5 or 6 times, Thrillist named us for Missouri as the best small town restaurant in every state as well as quite a few “Only in Your State” lists and I know we were featured several years ago in a “Best Restaurant in Every US State” article on MSN, but I can’t find it. There are a few more, but these are the ones I could find with a simple Google search. Many times, I have discovered things I didn’t know I had been listed in when “Googling myself.” I try not to focus too much on the awards and more on the happiness of each individual guest that comes in for dinner. Making amazing memories for people through my food. That’s what I am trying to achieve. I am so happy to be back with fine dining. It really is where I shine.

Do you have a favorite chef that you look up to and what advice would you give to aspiring chefs?

My Chef idol is definitely Julia Child. My dad, mom, sister and I watched her PBS show together as a family from the time I was born. Her recipes became staples in our family meals in Marshall, Mo where I grew up. I moved to Boston in the late 1990’s after New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. My sister and I moved there together and rented a place right off of Somerville Ave on the Cambridge Somerville line. I had jobs at Harvard University at that time, both at the Law School and undergrad dining services. On my walks to and from work, I often made it a point to walk out of my way a few blocks past Julia’s house on Irving Street, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. That never happened, but I we did shop at the same Star Market and I stalked her while shopping one time. I read an article in the Boston Globe that she liked a certain butcher shop in Newton Centre, Massachusetts so I just went there and applied.

There wasn’t a job opening, I just thought it would be awesome to cut meat for Julia Child. I walked in and told them I wanted a job and somehow talked them into it. I answered the phone religiously hoping every time that it would be her on the other end of the line and the first time it was, I think I dropped the phone. She said, “hello, this is Julia. I would like a duck and a capon and some good veal cutlets.” I remember feeling like that was the best day of my life! The next day when she came to pick up the order, driver came inside and she stayed in the car. She rolled down the tinted back window of her car and gave us a quick wave. I also remember thinking, No, yesterday wasn’t the best day of my life, THIS is the best day of my life!”

What do you typically cook at home?

I do NOT cook at home as a general rule. I feel like that would be like a lawyer going home from work and writing contracts just for fun. I love food, I love curating dining experiences and writing recipes, but not for myself. I enjoy doing that for other people. If I have any free time on my hands, Ellis and I are going to Sonic or A&W for a root beer float and a burger. The restaurant is the place for fancy stuff and we eat “real people food” at home. We did make some cherry gummy dinosaurs together a few weeks ago that were delicious. I have also been known to eat an entire box of Stove Top Stuffing as a meal at midnight. Did you know that if you make Kraft Mac & Cheese with heavy whipping cream, it tastes extra fantastic??

What’s a food trend that you’re loving right now and why?

I make it a point to not follow what the trends are so I couldn’t say what my favorites are. I actually get mad if I’m doing something and find out it’s trendy. I usually stop doing it and come up with something different.

What’s the strangest food combination you’ve ever tried? And, did you like it?

I couldn’t think of anything to say for this one. I am pretty good about knowing how combinations of ingredients are going to taste before I taste them and wouldn’t put something together if i wasn’t pretty sure it was going to yummy. That being said, I waited until my kiddo got off the bus (age 6), gave him a bowl let him go through the restaurant coolers to put something strange together for me to taste. I just now tried a raw egg, some cucumber peels, a squirt of fresh ginger teriyaki sauce, a chunk of watermelon a spoonful of Indonesian cinnamon ice cream and some sliced scallions all mashed up together and it was not good.

What drink do you enjoy most?

On December 1 of this year I will have been clean and sober for 20 years. I am very proud of my sobriety but I am still a restaurant owner with a liquor license. I do lots of wine, beer and cocktail dinners but do it all by smell. I guess if I have to choose a favorite beverage, it would be an Almond Joy Latte - Triple shot of espresso, almond, coconut and dark chocolate syrups. That, and my go-to Sonic drink which is a Route 44 Diet Cherry Dr Pepper with easy ice, add diet cherry syrup.

Have you ever cooked for a celebrity? Do you have a story to tell?

When I was gearing up to open the first iteration of Catalpa in 2002, I got a call from a friend in my home town (15 minutes away from the restaurant) who happens to be related to Cameron Diaz. She and her family were coming to the area to visit and my friend asked me if I could do dinner for them. Much of my equipment hadn’t even been delivered yet but that opportunity is just not something you turn down so I was determined to make it work. When they arrived, she came into the kitchen and shook my hand and said, “Hi, Liz, I’ve heard a lot about you. My name is Cameron. It’s nice to meet you.” Nicest person ever! Everything was going perfectly until Cameron’s dad went to pay the bill and his credit card kept getting declined. It turned out that my card reader had been programmed to take every other card except AmEx which happened to be the one he was using. He was very nice about the whole thing but I felt awful. My first night cooking for anyone in my first restaurant and it happens to be a big movie star and their card gets declined. I thought it had to get better from there!

What’s your Instagram so readers can follow you?

I am technologically and time challenged so my Facebook page is the only one I really do anything with. I hope to get it together soon with the other platforms. I try to post something every day on my Facebook page: Facebook.com/CatalpaRestaurant

Why should readers visit Catalpa in Missouri?

There are tons of reasons to come to Catalpa! We have a really cool restaurant in an even cooler little village. The entire village of Arrow Rock, Missouri, is designated a National Historic Landmark. We got this designation in 1963 to recognize our village’s significance in Westward Expansion (we are at the very beginning of the Santa Fe Trail) and the awesome ways we maintain the well-preserved historical character of the mid-19th century. This also includes Arrow Rock State Historic Site which is part of the Missouri State Park System. We have a wonderful campground here in the park that borders the village as well as multiple vacation rentals in town if you want to stay overnight with us. There is another great restaurant right across the street from me, J Huston Tavern, and we also have Bingham’s Coffee House down the street. It’s worth staying overnight to enjoy a great breakfast, lunch and dinner here. We are also the home of the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, a 416 seat professional regional theatre which is a 1 minute walk from the restaurant. You can take an historic tour of our beautifully restored and maintained 19th century village, have an amazing meal with me and see a Broadway-caliber musical all in the same day. How cool is that?! I do tons of special meals and events throughout the year. I do multiple course wine dinners, beer dinners, murder mystery dinners, a very fun Charles Dickens Dinner in December and cooking classes for individuals and groups. There are also our 12 person maximum Catalpa Supper Club nights which are a must if you are a foodie. Come see me at Catalpa!

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