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Tasting $55 pasta tastingTasting menuCrossroadsChef Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Bastianich's Kansas City room opened in 1998 with son Joe, set in a converted railroad house. Located in Crossroads. Tasting menu $55 pasta tasting.
Book2 weeks ahead
TipThe pasta tasting trio is the move: three handmade pastas family-style with unlimited refills.
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Tasting $70 to $100Wine barWest BottomsChef Wes Gartner
Golden Ox in Kansas City's West Bottoms opened in 1949 inside the Live Stock Exchange as the birthplace of the KC strip. Led by chef Wes Gartner.
Book1 to 2 weeks ahead
TipThe stockyards-era dining room is the destination; reservations on Tock. Voltaire is the sister wine bar.
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Tasting $60MediterraneanCrossroadsChef Michael Smith
Michael Smith won a James Beard Award before Extra Virgin and runs a Mediterranean tapas concept in the Kansas City Crossroads with wood-fired plates.
Book1 week ahead
TipBig Night Italian Thursdays are family-style. The wine list goes deeper than the menu suggests.
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Tasting $95MediterraneanLongfellowChef Nick Goellner
Nick and Leslie Goellner's Longfellow room in Kansas City is the chef's-counter pick of the city: Persian, Mediterranean and East Asian small plates.
Book3 to 4 weeks ahead
TipNick Goellner is a three-time James Beard Best Chef Midwest semifinalist. Book the chef's counter for a tasting; the dining room runs a la carte.
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Tasting $85Tasting menuCrossroadsChef Ryan Brazeal
Ryan Brazeal and Jessica Armstrong's East Crossroads tasting menu in Kansas City pairs chef-driven small plates with Jessica Armstrong's pastry.
Book2 to 3 weeks ahead
TipTock reservations open 30 days out at noon. The bar takes walk-ins for a short menu and the same wine list.
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Tasting $90New AmericanMission WoodsChef Linda Duerr
The Restaurant at 1900 in Mission Woods, on the Kansas side of Kansas City, runs a tasting-menu programme inside a renovated 1967 Modernist building.
Book1 to 2 weeks ahead
TipSister to the casual Cafe Sebastienne. Quieter midweek; the bar takes walk-ins.