New Brookside bar and grill bustling with fresh oysters, shellfish, frozen gin & tonics
Just a couple of days after opening in the Brookside area, Earl’s Premier is popping.
The dozen bar seats are filled with happy couples and trios of friends catching up on the day. Nearly every table of the long and narrow “shotgun” space is filled and more customers are streaming in. Only one says, “I will come back later” after seeing the crowd.
Co-owner Todd Schulte is in the open kitchen overseeing a variety of dishes, while his business partner, Cory Dannehl, is at the raw bar at the front window shucking oysters.
They describe the new spot, which softly opened last week, as an American bar and grill with a strong emphasis on fresh oysters and shellfish.
That includes oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktails, clam dip with potato chips, New England clam chowder, Bangs Island Mussels with chorizo, and po’boys with fried shrimp or oysters, along with cheeseburgers and salads. They have a Portland, Maine, purveyor so seafood is from “ocean to our front door” within two days.
For dessert there are dark chocolate tarts, Atlantic Beach pie with citrus and sweetened condensed milk and a saltine crust, and soft serve ice cream cones with rainbow sprinkles, or olive oil and Maldon salt.
It will have featured menu items on certain nights, and a Rosé Sunday brunch is in the works.
Signature cocktails include Caught in the Rain with rum, pineapple, coconut and blond chocolate. But with outside temperatures still soaring, bartenders were busy pouring drinks from the frozen gin and tonic machines using gin from J. Rieger & Co. in the East Bottoms.
Displays of vintage Guinness beer coasters line one wall. A “very expensive” antique mermaid figurehead from Portland Architectural Salvage in Maine keeps watch over the very back.
As the sun starts to set, a few customers venture to the patio on the east side.
Several said the spot, at 651 E. 59th St., feels so comfortable and well-run it seems to have been there for decades, not days.
Schulte was executive chef at Brookside’s popular Joe D’s Wine Bar Cafe & Patio. He was then fishmonger for Seattle Fish Co. while starting The Happy Soup Eater about two decades ago — creating, making, selling and delivering a variety of soups directly to Kansas City consumers.
In 2008 he was the first owner of Happy Gillis Cafe + Hangout in Columbus Park and then Genessee Royale Bistro in the West Bottoms. He closed the bistro in 2018 and has since been working for Christopher Elbow. He lives within walking distance of Earl’s Premier.
Dannehl had worked for Central States Beverage Co. for 23 years and lives in the area.
The best friends often travel together, mostly to coastal regions and talked about opening a seafood restaurant in Kansas City.
“Now I’m working with my best friend. He makes it really easy to come to work every day. He doesn’t let me lose my sense of humor,” Schulte said.
They had several tentative names for the spot, including Tuna Louise (for “Gilligan’s Island” star Tina Louise). But they settled on the Earl’s Premier name because it was similar to other East Coast seafood spots and reflected on the quality ingredients, including spirits, on the menu.
Chai Shai formerly operated in the space but closed in late 2021 after 11 years.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 2:19 PM.