República to take Ingredient space on the Country Club Plaza

Bread & Butter Concepts plans to open another homegrown restaurant on the Country Club Plaza.

República (ri-POO-bli-kuh) is scheduled to open in late July at 4807 Jefferson St., just around the block from another Bread & Butter restaurant, Gram & Dun.

The space on Jefferson Street formerly housed Ingredient, which now has a closed sign on its front door.

Alan Gaylin, founder and chief executive officer of Bread & Butter Concepts, said República would be a “modern take on traditional classic Spanish cuisine paired with current sensibility, and locally sourced and house-made ingredients.”

Spanish restaurants with a twist have taken off on the coasts, Gaylin said, and he wanted to bring something similar to Kansas City.

“There are only a couple of Spanish restaurants here. We’ll bring in a little bit of classic Barcelona tapas bar with some eclectic and modern touches,” he said. “And I think the Plaza is the premier location in town.”

República will have a wall of porróns, which Gaylin describes as traditional glass wine pitchers typical of Catalonia, but also well known in all regions of Spain, and resembling a cross between a wine bottle and a watering can.

República’s food will focus on fresh ingredients and include tapas, paellas and “planchas,” referring to both a style and a method of cooking using a metal slab heated over a gas flame, according to the company. It’s widely used in Spanish tapas bars and restaurants to cook an assortment of foods from mussels to mushrooms and even desserts.

Gaylin plans to work closely with Realm Architecture + Design of Phoenix on the new República design. It will have 75 to 100 employees.

Glenn Stephenson, vice president and division manager of Plaza owner Highwoods Properties, said in a statement: “It will be great to see what locally owned Bread & Butter Concepts has in store. … We’ve seen first-hand the success of Gram & Dun, and how its innovative approach has made it a destination restaurant, and, of course, widely acclaimed. We’re pleased to be a part of bringing another local, modern concept like this to the Plaza. And, the Spanish angle is obviously a perfect fit to the great environment the Plaza has to offer.”

Bread & Butter Concepts was founded in 2009 and operates several restaurants and a food truck: BRGR Kitchen + Bar, Gram & Dun, Urban Table and Taco Republic. In January, it took over Ingredient restaurants in downtown Kansas City, Leawood’s Park Place and Columbia, Mo., and re-branded them as Ingredient True Eatery, while also was working on taking over the Plaza Ingredient space for República.

The former owner of the Plaza Ingredient couldn’t be reached for comment. Ingredient, which was founded in 2007, also has locations in Lawrence and Omaha that are under different ownership groups.

Bread & Butter Concepts also is developing another venue, G. Berto Cucina in Westwood, which is scheduled to open in the fall.

This story was originally published February 15, 2015 at 3:41 PM with the headline "República to take Ingredient space on the Country Club Plaza."