Imbibe 75 Person to Watch: Fionna Gemzon

Fionna Gemzon moved around a lot as a child. While St. Louis was where she (mostly) grew up, she traveled to cities like San Francisco and Omaha often enough to search for non-locational ways to establish a sense of home and belonging. That’s where food came in.

Born in the Philippines and then living in predominantly white neighborhoods, Gemzon found that ingredients similar to those from her homeland provided a deeper sense of community. “Being away from family and from any familiar comforts, food felt like the most direct line back,” she says. So when Gemzon, who has worked in hospitality 12 years, had the opportunity to join the team at None of the Above, a speakeasy-style cocktail lounge in the subterranean levels of St. Louis’ City Foundry, she came on board with all of her food memories and previously unsung ideas.

As the bar manager and general manager, Gemzon is piling on the local praise. Her Filipino heritage inspires her tendency to lean on high-acid and sweet-sour flavors behind the bar, which also makes the bar’s Scantron-style cocktail questionnaire (for guests who want to try something new) particularly helpful. The menu aims toward luxury and technique-driven drinks while incorporating unique and nostalgic flavors. The Aranas cocktail combines a black pepper and bay leaf–infused rum with miso honey and calamansi lime purée to evoke the flavors of chicken adobo. Sharing her food culture is just one way that Gemzon is bringing new light to the once-dark tunnels of City Foundry.

Click here to read more about some of 2025’s other Imbibe 75 People and Places to Watch.