Exciting new restaurant in Old Downtown OP KS

[Katie Nell]

as for your "couple of meals" - i would recommend bluestem, 40 sardines and zin - not necessarily in that order (i just visited 40 sardines this week, my third visit, and it was still a pleaser).  all very different experiences, but all very solid.  can't speak about city tavern myself... i've avoided it because i've heard mixed reviews... any other egulleters wish to comment on that?

u.e.

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I tried going to City Tavern just now...

They refused to serve me lunch because they stop lunch service at 2:00PM. The time was 1:45 and I looked in the dining room where I could see people with opened up menus, ordering food. Not a very good first impression on my part and it sounds like people are being lazy.

Since when I first got back in town I've had a great time enjoying things I can only have in KC (Since I currently live in Denver)... Ive had Arthur Bryants Burnt Ends open faced sandwich, Town Topic Breakfast, Toasted Subs at KC Toaster, Lunch at 1924Main, Lunch at The American, Dinner at Tonic, Chocolates at Elbows, and now Ive gotta choose a a couple of meals out of City Tavern, Zin, 40 Sardines, and BlueStem ..... oh boy Im so glad my chef sent my check to me in KC!

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Man, you have been busy! Must of been a nice paycheck!

How was 1924 Main? I'm dying to try the lobster pot pie on the menu this week!

Edited to add: Sorry, just saw your post further on down! I'll go read that now!

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Sometimes I wish it was as nice as you may think but the paycheck is just an added bonus to what really matters and that's doing something you love to do. As far as where I work, the place is called "Restaurant Kevin Taylor's" in Denver, I most recently worked at Adega(Denver) and Frasca(Boulder), both of which I would be more prouder to speak about.

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We almost went to Frasca this summer, but I'm afraid after a day of hiking, we didn't look quite like the rest of the clientele! I guess there's always next time!

[ulterior epicure]

jwest and others interested in k.c. restaurants: you can see my meals at 40 sardines, bluestem, 1924 main, piropos, and others on my flickr account. i'm still working on others, so please be patient. unfortunately, i don't have pictures from my visits to many visits to the american (always managed to forget my camera), melbee's, zin, bluebird bistro, and others... will try to be more consistent next time i visit those... perhaps i shall review them on my blog.

cheers.

the ulterior epicure.

Edited December 31, 2005 by ulterior epicure (log)

[avant-garde]

Overall the food is good, theres some spots to improve on but hey, what do you expect when the restaurant hasnt even had it's Grand Opening yet. The waitstaff seems inexperienced and lack of any real knowledge about food and hospitality. The bar tenders and managers seem to lack of focus on detail. I wasnt offered a beverage of any kind once while sitting at the bar.  My friend who is the hostess actually talked with me a few times asked if I wanted to have a soda or something and then she had to refill it twice. I had to wait a long time for my check and the only reason I got my check was because Jon, asked the manager to go get mine. I was never asked how my food was or asked if I wanted to order anything. The only reason I had service was because Jon knows who I am.

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JWest:

I couldn't agree more with your observations here. My wife and I ate there this past week and I felt myself picking everything apart. In a nutshell, the evening went like this:

We arrived to two waiters leaning against the hostess desk, while one said (as if we interupted his play time) "Can I help you guys?" To which I responded, "Uhhh...yeah! My wife and I would like to order dinner. Are you open?" WOW! What a horrible first impression. After being seated the server came to wait on us. She seemed a little nervous and unsure of herself. She had also not tried any of the dishes; thereby not being able to recommend anything to us. Not a good move on the kitchen's part.

We ordered a couple tapas and basically sat alone in the restaurant while listening to a bunch of drunk (and loudly cursing) patrons in the bar/fish tank area. I know the chef heard them because he turned around and looked at them like "what the...?" As an owner or chef I would have kindly asked them to leave; that's how bad they were. The food was not excellent, but it wasn't bad either. I enjoyed most of it, as did my wife. There were some things that really needed some attention, though - obvious things like the thick skin on the pot de creme, cold haricot verts, etc... After dinner, we sat and just kind of observed things for a bit while having some coffee. At this point, I'd say there were maybe five or six tables that had been seated in the time we'd been there.

Here is my biggest complaint about Tonic. I believe they are focusing too much of their attention on being a bar AND restaurant. Half the time I felt like I was eating at a club. I feel they need to decide which of these they're going to be, because I won't pay $70.00 (for two) again to listen to a bunch of loud parties carrying on. Half the decor is very beautiful, but the other half looks like your typical trendy nightclub. The good news is that Tonic definitely has potential. However, in this day and age (especially in Kansas City), you have to really hit all the points very well if you want to succeed. I love supporting restaurants like this, but I expect them to deliver excellence on many levels, not just one or two small things. It'll also have to be much better next time for me to even consider a third visit.

Perhaps I'm sounding a bit harsh, but I know from experience what will make it or not here. I desperately want Kansas City to become a better place for fine-dining. When I worked at the American, I believe it was the only "fine-dining" establishment in the city. Only now has it started to become somewhat interesting (Bluestem, 40 Sardines, etc), and if places like Tonic want to be a part of this, they're going to have to step up to the plate. Otherwise they'll be closed in a couple years.

Food: ***

Service: **

Atmosphere: **1/2

Edited January 2, 2006 by avant-garde (log)

[moosnsqrl]

Sounds like you had a pretty bad experience and I feel somewhat responsible. From your report, and Joe's, it sounds like they have some REAL service problems. Having sat at the bar twice, and gotten some attention from the owners/chef, we were fortunate to avoid that pitfall.

I am mystified that the bar aspect has taken over, since they mentioned that they intended to have multi-media displays on the flat screens rather than sports, etc. It kinda sounds like, after two weeks, the customers have been more bar-oriented and have driven the direction. Unfortunate for Jon, since he is trying to put forth good food and that's not going to be easy if there are loud, rowdy drunks running things. Funny that we sat at the bar and didn't experience the feeling that we were in more of a bar than restaurant. Just lucky, I guess.

In any case, I hope they get it all sorted out. I do think there's a niche there (good food but casual and a price point where you can just pop in for a few small bites without too much rationalization) but, you're right, there is enough competition that they'd better fix what's broken and sooner than later, or they'll be in the weeds in the business sense. Thanks for the update/warning.

[Katie Nell]

In any case, I hope they get it all sorted out.  I do think there's a niche there (good food but casual and a price point where you can just pop in for a few small bites without too much rationalization) but, you're right, there is enough competition that they'd better fix what's broken and sooner than later, or they'll be in the weeds in the business sense.  Thanks for the update/warning. 

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Perhaps you should mention this discussion to the chef or owner... I'm sure it would help them to have some feedback and constructive criticism at this point.

[Milt]

Since Tonic is only a couple of blocks (.3 miles, according to MapQuest) from my son's home - I do believe we will stop in for a meal on our next visit. Is their location where a coffee bar/breakfast restaurant was located? We ate in such a place on our last visit and it seems to be almost exactly where Tonic is now located.

[moosnsqrl]

Sorry for the delay, this fell off of my radar. It is on Santa Fe in old downtown OP, where The Schoolhouse once was.

And I'm assuming you've read about some of the service issues and are going in with your eyes open. I still stand by my good food experience but have quieted down recommending this after several fellow posters experienced fairly aggregious service gaffs.

[Katie Nell]

Thought everyone might want to see this:

http://www.tonickc.com/

I went there on Friday... will report as soon as I can figure out getting the pictures from my phone to the computer!

[JWest]

I hope Katie gives her report on her last visit...

I stopped in earlier this evening for some tapas items. A couple of things are different since the 1st time I visited Tonic (which was before the Grand opening).

- Lot's of people in the bar/lounge area. A little bit more exciting, a mix of young and older crowds. Hip and sophisticated crowds as well.

- Service was a 100% better this time for me. Hey, I wasn't dying of thirst this time! My server was very nice and informative about timing of food.

- I asked if it was okay to not have a reservation and the host said it was perfectly fine and that I could sit in the dining room but then he realized he couldn't... for some reason? When I went to restroom I noticed the dining room wasn't completely full.. just 3/4. So, I sat a table in the lounge area.

- The menu seems virtually the same. I didn't see anything new on the menu.

- The food in quality was the same for me, which is sad. Extremely hit and miss with more misses.

First Tapas

Coriander crusted Tuna with seaweed salad and wonton.

I was extremely dissapointed in the way this was presented. Small triangles of Tuna that werent seared evenly, wasn't very appealing with the poor slicing. The wonton was stale, which was pretty much a base for the seaweed salad. The seaweed salad was awesome again. The coriander kept your mouth spicy throughout the whole dish but with the sweet basalmic reduction kept it balanced...tuna got lost in this dish, there was more seaweed then tuna..

2nd Tapas

Seared Duck Breast With Yam Puree, Thyme Jus

Duck was cooked well done...why!? You can't mess up pureed yams. The thyme jus looked and tasted like the Minors beef stock base that you get in a bucket.

3rd Tapas

Rack of Lamb with Creamy Polenta and Jus

Rack of lamb looked over cooked but it was mid rare in the inside. So im guessing they roasted them ahead of time, sliced them and then when the order came in just warmed them in an oven. So it didn't look pretty at all. The Creamy Polenta... I dont know how they get creamy out of that because it had the texture of chickpea flour and cream. It also was broken too... I dont know how you do that but... there was a puddle of oil in the corner of my plate and the polenta had a broken texture. It was dry but still soft if you can get an idea what that would be like. Once again, the jus tasted like processed cheap Minor's beef stock base or it was just bad stock thickened with cornstarch.

Obviously Tonic has been focusing on the martinis, night life, and the bar a little more than the food I think... I still havent had any of the regular entrees but if the tapas' are the main attraction .. I can't imagine what the entrees are like.

I thought it was kind of funny to see televisions in the bathroom too.

It's definetly a cool place to hang out if you aren't looking for food as a primary reason to go out. Although, it may have some okay food for a bar atleast.

[moosnsqrl]

I, too, returned there this week for the first time in months. It has clearly become more bar than restaurant (there was a big singles group meeting the night we were there, leading to some amusement on our part since we were having a business meeting and not planning on being hit-on ). We also had the tuna - apart from the slicing (ours was fine) my take was the same. I didn't try the wonton, expecting that it was more of a serving vessel than part of the dish; I do love their seaweed, though. We were curious where they're getting it? I had the tempura battered portobello and I still found it well executed. My colleague had fried mozzarella and enjoyed it (although I think he was expecting the regular bar food version and this at least appeared to be fresh mozzarella rather than the pasturized, processed kind). Jon was there but I didn't try to visit with him. I would have to think he's disappointed that it has evolved into more of a hip night spot. Joiei and I tried to have lunch there back in May before I realized they had stopped serving lunch and opening at 5. I guess that should've been my clue that it's a club now, essentially.

Oh, and I've long been bothered by being "advertised at" in the restroom, but tried to tell myself that those dollars of revenue might make the difference to an independent during lean months. But the TV version kicked it back up near the top of my annoyance list.

[JWest]

I just recieved an event announcement about a wine dinner at Tonic on August 15, 2006. Andrea Marshall and Todd Izzo from Standard Beverage Corporation will be attending with notes about Folie a Deux Wines.

The cost is $65.00 per person plus tax and gratuity.

They are featuring the Folie a Deux line of wines with Jon Dallen's Four Course Tasting Menu:

First Course

Pan seared U-10 scallop served over a sweet pea Risotto with pomegranate butter

Or

Sesame crusted seared tuna served rare with seaweed salad and soy glaze

Paired with the Menage a'Trois 2005 White

Second Course

Field green salad with our house Rice Wine Vinaigrette

Or

Chilled cucumber lime soup with a lemon lime crème fraiche

Paired with the Menage a'Trois 2004 Red

Third Course

6oz center cut filet mignon grilled and sliced to perfection served with

Herb whipped potatoes and grilled asparagus.

Or

Seared duck breast sliced and served with sweet potato puree

Sautéed spinach and mushrooms with a blackberry sauce.

Paired with the Folie a'Deux Amador 2002 Zinfandel

Dessert Course

Raspberry and chocolate tart with fresh berries and raspberry sauce.

Or

Foreign and domestic cheese tasting with fresh berries.

[joiei]

I don't find the menu very interesting, sorry. I will not pick it apart, but mostly it is boring. That is just my personal take on the menu.

[JWest]

I don't find the menu very interesting, sorry.  I will not pick it apart, but mostly it is boring.  That is just my personal take on the menu.

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I have the same feelings but I honestly think it sounds better than there regular menu.. so if anyone plans on going... try to go to this if anything. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.