Thursday, April 24, 2014

Kansas Town - Great Food, Bring Your Own Crowd



UPDATE: 7/7/2014 - Kansas Town is closed.


UPDATE: 6/24/14 - Chef Kasper is no longer at Kansas Town. Look for him at Lulu's Asian Bistro opening later this summer in Westwood, KS

On why he no longer dined at Ruggeri's, a St. Louis restaurant, Yogi Berra famously explained, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

It might be said of Kansas Town, "Nobody goes there yet. It's always empty."

There are any number of reasons that a restaurant might be empty. The most insidious reason is simply - it's empty because it's empty. Dining at a restaurant is not merely about eating food prepared by others. The whole process is theater. Attentive service, quality food, attractive plating, and buzz. Diners typically crave the company of other diners. There's always a point where too many patrons means slow and inattentive service but ultimately dining out is a social occasion and being surrounded by like minded people is a big part of the fun. So it stands to reason that potential diners walking by Kansas Town might just keep walking when faced with the thin crowd.

And that's a shame because there are some very good reasons to eat here.