Even entrepreneurs have to slow down to eat. Lab 1500 entrepreneur center will host an underground dinner—which they’ve dubbed Salon1500—with self-taught St. Louis chef célèbre John Perkins and Adam Hautly, founder of Brains And Bacon. The event is open to the public and offers St. Louisans the opportunity to get to know many of the key players in the city’s burgeoning startup scene—not to mention enjoy a great meal.

Perkins was the chef behind Entre, an immensely popular pop-up restaurant that was one of the most sought-after tickets in town and eventually morphed into a full-service catering company. Recently, Perkins founded one of the city’s hottest restaurants, Juniper, serving Southern cuisine.  For Salon1500, Perkins and staff will turn on the Southern charm with three courses of local seasonal fare, each paired with either beer or wine, plus a pre-dinner cocktail especially crafted by Cocktails Are Go, which is helmed by mixologist and ALIVE spirits writer Matt Sorrell.

Lab1500 will turn on the Southern charm as well by transforming into a themed salon right out of the 1800s along with live acoustic music by Camo Pancakes. The building’s original wood floors, exposed brick walls and tin ceiling—features that have been restored from the building’s early history dating back to the 1890s in the St. Louis garment district—already go a long way to creating just the right atmosphere for this intimate dinner party. Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler would feel right at home.

Salon1500 takes place at Lab1500, 1500 Washington Ave, beginning at 6pm on Friday, May 2. Seating is limited and tickets are $75. For more information, call Brains and Bacon at 314.779.8329.