Chef Loryn Nalic is the owner of Balkan Treat Box, and Telva at the Ridge where they serve Balkan-inspired cuisine straight from the heart of St. Louis, MO. Balkan Treat Box began in 2016 as a colorful food truck, complete with a wood-fired oven, offering authentic street food-style dishes inspired by the elaborate cuisine of the Balkans. Balkan Treat Box, the brick-and-mortar restaurant, opened in 2019 in St. Louis. Following opening a kiosk in STL City Park soccer stadium in 2023. Finally opening Telva at the Ridge in 2024.

Loryn began her career in hospitality working at many St. Louis restaurants. She became interested in cooking authentic Balkan recipes when she met her husband and his family, Bosnian refugees who emigrated to St. Louis after the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. To recreate the classic Balkan recipes, Loryn traveled many times around the region learning age-old culinary traditions from locals. While traveling through each city center, she was also inspired by the varying forms of food sold on the streets, which later became the concept for the restaurant.

Loryn has received 3 Semi Finalists nominations from The James Beard Awards for Best Chef Midwest. Awards the couple has received include Food & Wine’s Best Bites of the Year, Bon Appetite Top 50 Restaurants, St. Louis Business Journal’s Best Food Trucks, Feast Magazine’s Best Savory Food Truck and Best New Restaurant, St. Louis Magazine’s A List Awards Best Food Truck, and The Number 1 spot for Best Restaurant in Ian Froeb’s 100 Best St. Louis Restaurants, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Best New Restaurants,  and Sauce Magazine’s Best New Restaurant and Best New Restaurant People’s Choice. Accolades in Forbes, Travel & Leisure, New York Times, Splendid Table, and the Wall Street Journal (Webster Groves, MO).