Grammy-nominated producer taking over Kansas City restaurant and rooftop bar

Canary, a midtown restaurant and rooftop bar, is changing owners and concepts.

Joseph Macklin, a Wyandotte County native and Grammy-nominated music producer, plans to open Boho Sway at Canary in the spot at 3835 Main St.

“We want to create an atmosphere where everyone is welcome — really good food, amazing drinks, nice live entertainment from time to time,” he said.

Macklin, known professionally as “Jo Blaq,” said he is auditioning chefs and will have 20 to 30 employees.

Starting on Oct. 8, he will have pop-up events on the rooftop to introduce the concept before it officially opens in December.

Canary opened in 2020 in the redeveloped The Netherland apartment building.

The Spanish revival-style building, circa 1928, made the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, but it was rapidly deteriorating. Exact Partners snapped up the building about six years ago and spent two years taking it down to its concrete floors and beams.

It put The Canary Bar + Bistro in the first-floor lobby, as well as on the rooftop. Keely Edgington and her husband, Beau Williams, were the owners.

In August, Edgington said she would concentrate on her new Westport retail shop, Becoming, while Williams would operate Canary and their Julep cocktail bar, which is also in Westport.

This past week, Edgington said they haven’t been involved in Canary since late August, and she is “still unable to comment per our lawyers’ instructions.”

“We wish the new owners well,” she said.

Canary’s former chef Mark Dandurand said it was definitely difficult to open a restaurant during a pandemic. But overall Canary was working better than expected with “the streetcar construction and pretty intense cold fronts.”

“A lot of work and effort was put into it but at the same time we did it because we cared about the place,” he said.

But after the ownership change, he and many other employees left. “I left because I was not comfortable implementing the rules that would potentially reduce employees’ full-time hours and benefits,” he said.

Macklin said he planned to raise the pay for employees who stayed on and to make sure they got the hours they wanted.

“Mark is a great chef. We wanted to work together,” he said.

Ilan Salzberg, principal with Exact Partners, said: “We’re sorry to see Canary go in its current form. Restaurants don’t have rearview mirrors and we are excited about what is coming.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 3:46 PM.