Zona Rosa adds Cajun restaurant with St. Joseph ties

Suman Kandagatla, a native of India, has traveled throughout the U.S., trying different cuisines.

But he’s puzzled that his favorite Cajun cuisine isn’t more popular on the national scene, especially as a restaurant franchise. So Kandagatla says he is taking “small steps” to change that.

In November, he opened Bourbon Street in a building his sister owns in St. Joseph. It only seated about 50 people and soon had built such a following it had a waiting list.

So Kandagatla relocated the restaurant to a much larger, corner building in St. Joseph’s downtown in mid-May. The new restaurant has seating for 156 people in the main dining room and bar, and another 120 people in a private dining area. It also has a patio.

Now Kandagatla is taking another “small step,” entering the Kansas City market with a new restaurant in Zona Rosa, close enough to St. Joseph so he can travel easily between the two operations.

His most popular menu items include the Crawfish Etouffee & Tails, Shrimp Etouffee & Fried Shrimp, the Jambalaya, and chicken fried chicken. Bourbon Street also serves catfish fillets, stuffed tilapia, mahi mahi, Seafood Courtbouillion, pastas, steaks and chops, chicken and seafood served broiled or blackened.

The side dishes include seafood mashed potatoes, Cajun mashed potatoes, dirty rice, and fried green beans.

If the Zona Rosa restaurant also takes off he plans to open another in the Kansas City market.

“If it get pretty busy it will give me courage to do the next one,” he said.

He plans a late summer opening in Zona Rosa, 8741 N.W. Prairie View Road.

In other Zona Rosa updates:

▪ Francesca’s, which was founded in 1999, offers trendy clothing, handbags, shoes, and jewelry for women. It is now open at 7250 N.W. 86th Terrace, former home of Cold Stone Creamery. Cold Stone Creamery temporarily closed and will reopen at 7251 N.W. 86th Place in mid-July.

Francesca’s also has locations on the Country Club Plaza, in Independence Center, Oak Park Mall, Summit Fair, and Town Center Plaza.

▪ Amelia’s Boutique, a locally owned store selling women’s clothing and accessories, relocated to the center from Briarcliff Village earlier this month. It took a spot at 7102 N.W. 86th Terrace. Owner Dawn Gore said she needed a larger space.

“And we have developed so many great customer relationships in the Northland that we wanted to keep those,” Gore said.

Amelia’s Boutique was founded in Atchison, Kan., a dozen years ago and then relocated to the Northland about eight years ago. It also has a location at 6776 W. 135th St., in Overland Park.

▪ Bath & Body Works has temporarily relocated to 8721 N. Stoddard Ave. It will return to its expanded location at 7250 N.W. 86th Place this fall and reopen with an addition - its White Barn collection of candles, home fragrances and other accessories.

Coming soon

Hearth, a wood-fired bakery specializing in hand-crafted, naturally leavened breads and pastries, plans a grand opening at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Owner Dylan Low is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, and has worked at several area restaurants including Bluestem. The bakery, at 17985 Missouri 45 North, will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 10:06 AM with the headline "Zona Rosa adds Cajun restaurant with St. Joseph ties."