The Antler Room is a fine-dining restaurant in Longfellow, Kansas City.
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 with a growers-only wine list.
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.
Address: 2506 Holmes St, Kansas City, MO 64108
Ryan Brazeal and Jessica Armstrong's East Crossroads tasting menu in Kansas City pairs chef-driven small plates with Jessica Armstrong's pastry. The room is intimate, the wine list grower-focused.
Tip: Tock reservations open 30 days out at noon. The bar takes walk-ins for a short menu and the same wine list.
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. The wine list leans Old World.
Tip: Sister to the casual Cafe Sebastienne. Quieter midweek; the bar takes walk-ins.
The Capital Grille on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza dry-ages its beef in-house for 18 to 24 days and hand-cuts to order, paired with a 3,500-bottle wine cellar in glass.
Tip: The Generous Pour Sunday wine programme is the value. Lunch service runs business-friendly weekdays.
Colby and Megan Garrelts' Rye Plaza on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City refined the Midwestern restaurant template. Fried chicken, biscuits, butterscotch pie anchor the menu.
Tip: Megan Garrelts is a multi-year James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef semifinalist for her Rye work. Brunch on weekends; Tock for evening reservations.
Mano and Barbara Rafael's French bistro in Kansas City's River Market has run Provencal classics on the corner of 5th and Oak since 1996. The wine list is the city's deepest French selection.
Tip: Tue to Sun dinner only. Mano works the room nightly; tip the line cooks in cash.
Anton's Taproom in the Kansas City Crossroads is a butcher shop plus steakhouse with grass-fed regional beef, in-house aging and a natural-wine programme rooted in growers.
Tip: Buy a cut from the case to cook at home and have the kitchen plate it for dinner first.
