Scratch & Co.

For Steve Belden, Scratch & Co. represents nearly three decades of lessons about what makes a restaurant work—and what makes people want to come back.

At first glance, guests sometimes assume Scratch & Co. is part of a national brand. The contemporary design, polished dining room and attention to detail feel like something they might encounter in Kansas City or Chicago.

Belden takes that as a compliment. But Scratch & Co. is very much local, built around a from-scratch kitchen, approachable prices and a hospitality philosophy shaped by years of experience.

“We wanted that upscale atmosphere with an approachable menu,” Belden says. “You can still give the customer a fresh, in-house-made product for a competitive price.”

Belden started in restaurants at 16, making and delivering pizzas in his hometown in upstate New York. After moving to Springfield 17 years ago for what was supposed to be a six-month stay, he met his wife, Christina, started a family and built a career that eventually included overseeing more than 20 restaurants across the Midwest.

That experience gave him a wide-angle view of the industry: what customers buy, what keeps them coming back and what can get lost when efficiency begins replacing quality.

Scratch & Co. is where those lessons come together.

One is right in the name. There isn’t a microwave in the kitchen.

Belden understands why restaurants look for shortcuts, but that wasn’t what he and Christina wanted to create.

“I would rather have actual cooks involved,” he says. “We are actually cooking here.”

The menu reflects the couple’s shared interest in food. They travel frequently, seeking out restaurants in larger markets, watching food and beverage trends and collecting ideas they think could work in Springfield. Other dishes come from much closer to home.

Scratch & Co.’s best-selling beef stroganoff began with one of Belden’s favorite childhood meals. His mother made it with ground beef and egg noodles. At Scratch & Co., it’s reimagined with cheese tortellini, mushroom stroganoff sauce and a six-ounce grilled sirloin.

“It was really a melting pot,” Belden says of creating the menu. “Things that were important in our childhood, favorites we’ve found traveling and things we thought would work here.”

The menu will continue evolving through seasonal offerings, with more opportunities to use local ingredients and partner with Springfield-area businesses.

But Belden is just as particular about what happens after the food leaves the kitchen.

His instruction to employees is simple: Find a way to say yes.

A guest wants something changed? See what you can do. Two people want to split something? Put it on two plates. Hospitality, Belden believes, means looking for reasonable ways to take care of people instead of reasons not to.

“This is somebody’s chance to not cook at home, not clean up the mess and not do the dishes,” he says. “Let us take care of you.”

That philosophy is also shaping a larger vision at Plaza Towers.

The Daily Blend has become a morning meeting spot for business professionals. Scratch & Co. moves naturally from business lunches into dinners and happy hours. The Sunshine Event Center provides space and technology for corporate meetings, presentations and celebrations.

On Aug. 21, another piece arrives with the grand opening of Scratch & Co.’s expansive third-floor rooftop at Sunshine Street and Glenstone Avenue.

With seating for about 100 guests, a full bar, shareable food, fire pits, televisions and live music, the rooftop adds an evening gathering place to a property already active throughout the business day. Its central Springfield location and ample parking make it equally suited for meeting a client after work, gathering with colleagues or settling in with friends for the evening.

Belden calls the larger vision an “ecosystem”—a place that can serve different needs throughout the day.

“You can get coffee in the morning, grab lunch at Scratch & Co. and then do happy hour at night on the rooftop,” he says.

For Belden, those different experiences ultimately come back to the same thing that drew him out of multiunit management and back into a restaurant: people.

“We have the ability with food and beverage to make somebody’s day great,” he says. “It doesn’t take much to change that.”

Scratch & Co. may have the look and polish of something from a much larger market. But what Belden and his team are building is decidedly Springfield: good food made in-house, approachable prices, thoughtful hospitality and a place designed for people to gather.