Johnson County bar opens. It aims to be perfect spot for girls’ night out
“My seat made a stand, and my quiet courage made a nation.”
An employee dressed in black waited in a tight room, concealed by heavy pink curtains, for an answer to the riddle Wednesday evening. Once given, she grabbed a keycard labeled “Rosa Parks” and pulled open the door.
Past an entryway lined with lockers, a bartender poured brandy. Ladies sat in plush chairs around the space and chatted. Femme tunes trilled in the background.
On the surface, Heddi Monro is a newly opened downtown Overland Park boutique at 7900 Conser St. And it certainly is that.
It sells blazers, jeans and skirts, all from women-owned brands like Favorite Daughter, Endless Blu and Bishop + Young. Employees fold clothes behind the front counter.
But through one of its dressing rooms, the only one with a neon sign, lies the other half of the business: a speakeasy-style lounge that offers cocktails and cheesecake. Perhaps the anagram name, which unscrambled spells “hidden room,” blows her cover.
Yes, said owner Christa Johnson, the dual concept is meant to be Girl Paradise.
It sells pretty dresses and candles. A mural of Marilyn Monroe covers the entrance of the bar, which they’re calling The Dressing Room at Heddi Monro. Trivia questions, the barrier for entry, center around pivotal women in history. Drinks named things like “The It Girl” and “No Mansplaining” follow a clear theme.
One of Johnson’s biggest surprises since opening more than a week ago is how many guys have stopped in.
“They’ve all had a good sense of humor,” Johnson said. “It’s been pretty cute to see how many of the couples have been embracing it, as well.”
Husbands and boyfriends have been booking birthday celebrations and surprise date nights for their ladies. Men are more than welcome to visit, too, Johnson said, but it’s not a pickup joint.
That said, the women in Overland Park and surrounding areas have made the strenuous opening worthwhile. Girl gangs are showing up in droves, Johnson said, to sit at her pink bar and catch up.
“Our community and our base group of ladies … they’ve then continued to put us on their social medias and reach out to their networks as well,” she said.
Focus on female empowerment
The space is owned by two women: Johnson and her longtime friend, Meghan Dudek. The pair met on their sons’ little league baseball diamond years ago. Since then, they’ve talked about opening a concept together that uplifts other women.
The Dressing Room at Heddi Monro is just that, they believe. Each spirit on the shelf is from either a women-owned or women-led company.
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Johnson and Dudek are in their 50s and remember having to fight for a seat in boardrooms. Johnson said it gave workplaces an unnecessarily competitive feel.
“Women were not awesome at lifting each other up,” she said. “It’s been so refreshing to see how women are better at supporting each other and themselves.”
Woman-made spirits create cocktails and mocktails
James Williams, who built the menu, previously crafted drinks for P.S. Speakeasy. That similarly clandestine spot is tucked in the mail sorting room of Hotel Phillips downtown. But Williams is excited to contribute to a spot so intent on female empowerment.
Candidly, he admitted to The Star Wednesday, he had his doubts at first.
“Initially, when they told me when we were gonna do all-female spirits, I kinda freaked out,” he said. “I didn’t want to limit ourselves.”
Williams had to eat his words. There are far more female-ran distilleries than he could’ve imagined: ANNX, Mean Mule, Restless Spirits, Freeland Spirits, Lucy Pistolas, to name a few.
With those ingredients, he crafted cocktails to appeal to a variety of palates.
Lady Bird ($15), for example, has blackberry-infused Restless Spirits Sons of Erin whiskey, lemon and egg white. Power Hour ($16) contains Mean Mule Gold agave, Italian espresso liqueur, Giffard vanilla, and espresso from Cafe Corazon.
The Matriarch ($17) has Catoctin Creek Braddock Oak Rye, sweet vermouth and house bitters.
Johnson described The Sovereign ($14) as a “spa in a glass.” It has Builder’s Botanical gin, tonic and cucumber ice cubes.
Williams said he creates the veggie cubes by sending cucumbers through a processor, adding water, freezing the cubes, unfreezing the cubes so the colors can separate, then refreezing them again. The drink was crafted after a happy accident when he ordered too many cucumbers for a soft opening event.
Mocktails are big at The Dressing Room at Heddi Monro, with Williams saying he’s noticed an increasing demand for equally thoughtful nonalcoholic drinks.
“We want thoughtfully crafted drinks, not just juice,” he said, repeating the criticism.
To satiate the public’s desires, he crafted drinks like Powerplay ($16) with Seedlip Spice 94, fig and tea infusion, walnut-date syrup, fresh lime juice, aquafaba, and NA fig and walnut bitters.
‘Celebrate women winning’
Johnson loves cheesecake, so she’s baking them on a rotating flavor schedule. At the moment, she’s serving cereal milk cheesecake with cornflake crust and a fruity pebble topping.
The bar is 3,000 square feet in all, with muted pink pillows, intricate floral light fixtures and gold accents. Perfect for a girls’ night out, Johnson said.
“We really wanted a space to celebrate women winning,” she said.
Heddi Monro is taking walk-ins and reservations. The bar side is open from 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The boutique side opens at 11 a.m. on those days and is open until last call, at 10:15 p.m.
P.S.: Whoever picks up the tab at the end of the night gets a square of chocolate bark.