COVID pushed this Kansas City restaurant’s debut back a year. It opens next week
Loews Kansas City Hotel, downtown’s new flagship convention hotel, planned a big grand opening nearly a year ago. It didn’t plan on the pandemic.
So the April 2020 debut was pushed to June, when the 800 rooms, a lobby bar, coffee bar and seasonal rooftop bar debuted with COVID-19 safety measures in place.
Now, nearly a year after the planned opening, its destination restaurant, The Stilwell, will open for dinner Thursday. It is on the lobby level of the hotel at 1515 Wyandotte St., overlooking downtown.
It comes as Kansas City recently eased COVID-19 rules on bars, restaurants and gatherings.
“Our focus is Midwest-forward New American fare. Kind of taking the best of the area and putting our unique spin on it,” said Patrick LeBeau, chef de cuisine.
One of LeBeau’s favorite dishes is his clam “chowder,” a nod to a stint in Rhode Island. It’s not a rich soup but an entree — steamed little neck clams on top of a toasted brioche puree, garnished with marble potatoes, crispy bacon, brioche croutons and shaved celery.
A large tub of fresh Brussels sprouts is for another favorite dish — crispy Brussels sprouts with aged cheddar, walnuts and pears.
LeBeau is a native of New York and studied at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. He most recently was chef de cuisine at NoMi Kitchen in Chicago.
He has rolled out menus for the Loews’ other dining concepts — Bar Stilwell and Red Wheat Baking Co. on the lobby level, and Horsefeather Social, the seasonal rooftop bar — and built a following of local residents.
The delayed opening for The Stilwell restaurant also gave him time to get to know Kansas City and establish ties with local vendors that are featured on the menu.
Menu items will include appetizers such as whipped goat cheese and Ibis Bakery sourdough bread, beef tartare, pork belly with house-made barbecue sauce using bourbon from Tom’s Town Distilling Co., and Gulf coast crab cakes.
For entrees, it will have nearly a dozen selections, including smoked beef short rib, duck breast, shrimp and grits, black pepper tagliatelle, and chicken from Farrar Family Farm for its fried chicken with macaroni and cheese.
The Stilwell will have several desserts, including a green tea panna cotta with mint, cucumber and coconut, and an apple cake with cheddar ice cream using cheddar from Hemme Brothers in Sweet Springs, Missouri.
The open kitchen looks out onto the dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides. A wraparound terrace will seat diners during nicer weather.
The name is in homage to The Stilwell oyster car, which made its first run from Port Arthur, Texas, to Kansas City in early 1898, bringing fresh oysters from the Gulf of Mexico to the City Market.
Hours: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. It will expand hours and add lunch service at a later date.