Surf and Turf
Is Angela Braly more powerful than Oprah? Why is Meridian Street so dangerous? And was St. Elmo named by a sailor? Ask The Hoosierist.
By Sam Stall
Q: Why is St. Elmo Steak House, here in landlocked Indy, named after the patron saint of sailors?
Sarah H., Indianapolis
A: According to restaurant lore, the establishment is indeed the namesake of Saint Erasmus of Formiae—St. Elmo for short. A Christian back when Christianity wasn’t cool, he was martyred in 330 A.D., after enduring several over-the-top, NC-17–rated torture sessions at the hands of the Romans. He was named, post mortem, as the patron saint of sailors.
But how did he become associated with our city’s premier steakhouse? Especially when that steakhouse is many hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean? Management chalks it up to the original owner, Joe Stahr, who founded the place in 1902.
“He was an avid sailor,” says the restaurant’s manager, Chris Clifford.
Don’t expect more details than that, because Stahr’s history is far less well-documented than his eating establishment’s namesake. No one, it seems, can shed even the tiniest bit of light on his alleged maritime activities. Indeed, the folks who should know him best know almost nothing at all.
“Stahr founded the place, but I’ve never heard any history beyond that,” Clifford says. “Even Harry Roth [St. Elmo’s co-owner from 1946 to 1987] never met him.”
Interestingly, Saint Erasmus of Formiae, though prayed to by legions of sailors over the millennia, was pretty much a landlubber himself. Experts say he got his briny gig because he once refused to stop preaching after a bolt of lightning struck the ground beside him. This cut a lot of ice with all those mariners, who are for obvious reasons notoriously scared of storms. By the way, he’s also the guy to pray to if you’re afflicted by intestinal disorders or stomach pains, if your child suffers from colic, or if your cattle herd is afflicted by pestilence.
