Tasting menuChef Lidia Bastianich$$$$$55 pasta tastingcrossroadsBook 2 weeks ahead
Lidia Bastianich's Kansas City room opened in 1998 with son Joe, set in a converted railroad house. Located in Crossroads. Tasting menu $55 pasta tasting.
Tip: The pasta tasting trio is the move: three handmade pastas family-style with unlimited refills.
Wine barChef Wes Gartner$$$$$70 to $100west-bottomsBook 1 to 2 weeks ahead
Golden Ox in Kansas City's West Bottoms opened in 1949 inside the Live Stock Exchange as the birthplace of the KC strip. Led by chef Wes Gartner.
Tip: The stockyards-era dining room is the destination; reservations on Tock. Voltaire is the sister wine bar.
MediterraneanChef Michael Smith$$$$$60crossroadsBook 1 week ahead
Michael Smith won a James Beard Award before Extra Virgin and runs a Mediterranean tapas concept in the Kansas City Crossroads with wood-fired plates.
Tip: Big Night Italian Thursdays are family-style. The wine list goes deeper than the menu suggests.
MediterraneanChef Nick Goellner$$$$$95longfellowBook 3 to 4 weeks ahead
Nick and Leslie Goellner's Longfellow room in Kansas City is the chef's-counter pick of the city: Persian, Mediterranean and East Asian small plates.
Tip: Nick Goellner is a three-time James Beard Best Chef Midwest semifinalist. Book the chef's counter for a tasting; the dining room runs a la carte.
Tasting menuChef Ryan Brazeal$$$$$85crossroadsBook 2 to 3 weeks ahead
Ryan Brazeal and Jessica Armstrong's East Crossroads tasting menu in Kansas City pairs chef-driven small plates with Jessica Armstrong's pastry.
Tip: Tock reservations open 30 days out at noon. The bar takes walk-ins for a short menu and the same wine list.
New AmericanChef Linda Duerr$$$$$90mission-woodsMon 11:00-15:00, Tue-Thu 11:00-21:00, Fri 11:00-23:00, Sat 17:00-23:00Book 1 to 2 weeks ahead
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.
Tip: Sister to the casual Cafe Sebastienne. Quieter midweek; the bar takes walk-ins.