Joe West previews Stock Hill, Bluestem promotes chef Andrew Longres, plus the week’s restaurant events

This hasn’t been the year Joe West pictured.

Six months ago, the chef — a veteran of the kitchens at Bluestem, the Cincinnatian Hotel and Wynn Las Vegas — was well on his way toward opening his dream restaurant, Kusshi, inside Erik Borger’s soon-to-open Komatsu ramen restaurant. In May, though, West and Borger dissolved their partnership, and Kusshi (already familiar to some diners after months of pop-up events) was suddenly over.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to be a chef anymore,” West says, recalling his early summer. “I was exhausted, and I had been out of professional kitchens for about a year.” 

Then he was approached by Alan Gaylin, whose Bread & Butter Concepts needed a chef to head its ambitious new undertaking: Stock Hill, a 300-seat steakhouse at 4800 Main Street — the Board of Trade building address that was once home to Bo Lings. 

“I was won over by his demeanor,” West says of Gaylin. “He gave me a visual for what he was thinking. Everything I saw was very fresh. Some of it was classic. Some of it was progressive. It wasn’t going to be a stuffy, cigar-smoking environment.”

West said yes — to more than just strips and sirloins.

“We obviously will have steaks — a traditional steak list, but with more options than a normal steakhouse: dry aged, different sizes, wagyu,” he says. Besides appetizers, salads and entrees, West is working up a pasta dish with a 63-degree egg, lardons, Australian black truffles and parmesan snow; and a 14-day dry-aged Duroc pork chop with almost-burnt miso and apple butter. All of this presented in a way tailor-made for Instagram. 

“I try to plate clean, with a whimsical side to that plating,” West says. “Color is very important to me. A lot of people think that it’s molecular gastronomy, but I’m just using traditional cooking techniques and molding them into what I guess some people would call art.” 

The renovated Board of Trade space gives Stock Hill — with its two-story windows, showpiece lounge and open kitchen — a high-ceilinged vastness. West and his team are still hiring and training staff, on track to open just before Thanksgiving. It’s a high-pressure moment, but West says he wants the restaurant to evoke the opposite of that feeling.

“I want it to feel like you are on vacation — a place that’s very pretty and definitely a place that looks grand, but where you can be yourself.”

Bluestem (900 Westport Road) announced last week the promotion of Andrew Longres to executive chef. Prior to coming to Bluestem, Longres honed his skills at the French Laundry in California. 

“I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to continue working with the outstanding culinary team at Bluestem,” Longres said in a press release. “To have Megan and Colby [Garrelts, Bluestem’s owners] express their confidence in me with this promotion is a great honor.”

Blip Coffee Roasters is back in the roasting business in the West Bottoms, at 1101 Mulberry Street. Following a fire this past January, the local business community rallied around owner Ian Davis, helping him restart Blip in a new location in the neighborhood. Nine months later, he is back to his original passion: roasting. 

“When Blip was started, a little over two years ago, it was strictly roasting,” he says. “We weren’t even planning on being open to the public. So it felt pretty odd not having that as part of the business. It’s a great feeling getting back to the basics and firing up the roaster again.”

On to this week’s restaurant events: 

Saturday, October 15 

Lawrence does many things well, including Oktoberfest. Beginning at 2 p.m. today at the Lawrence Library Plaza (707 Vermont), you can try a variety of local and imported beers, as well as food from the Burger Stand at the Casbah, Fine Thyme Foods, Leeway Frank’s, Torched Goodness, Mr. Bacon BBQ and Juice Stop. Tickets ($10) are for sale now at TicketWeb and in person at the Granada (1020 Massachusetts), Phoenix Gallery (825 Massachusetts) or Weaver’s Department Store (901 Massachusetts). 

Sunday, October 16

Dairy do-it-yourselfers can head to Hoot Owl Gardens (30750 Osawatomie Road, Paola) today for a class covering different methods for making buttermilk, sour cream and even a batch of soft cheese. Items will be available to take home after the class. See hootowlgardens.com for more information and to purchase tickets. 

Tuesday, October 18

Tannin Wine Bar & Kitchen (1526 Walnut) is hosting a wine dinner tonight, featuring the highly praiseworthy wines of Chateau Muscar in Lebanon. Winemaker Marc Hochar, who is traveling to Kansas City for the dinner, guides the tastings over five courses, with seven varieties of Lebanese wine (four of them from Chateau Musar). Tickets are $75, exclusive of tax and gratuity. Call 816-842-2660 for reservations. 

Wednesday, October 19

Tonight Sullivan’s Steakhouse (4501 West 119th Street, Leawood) is teaming up with Market Vineyards of Woodinville, Washington, for a five-course dinner. It’s led by executive chef Taylor Fluevog. The dinner is $125 per person, before tax or gratuity. Call 913-345-0800 for reservations.