Kansas City Club closed suddenly, building is for sale

Chef Joe Shirley still plans to host his May dinner for Uberdine — his inventive pop-up restaurant business — tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 25 — in the Kansas City Club’s building at 918 Baltimore. It will be, in a way, the last hurrah for the club’s kitchen and the club.

As of Saturday, there was officially no more Kansas City Club. And Joe Shirley — who was hired in March as executive chef of the venerable club — is unexpectedly jobless. Over the weekend, the board of directors of the club sent a letter to its membership stating that  “Despite months and years of creative problem solving, loans and financial gifts, our cash flow situation has become untenable.”

The letter also states that “all clubhouse operations cease effective 11:59 pm, Saturday, May 23, 2015.” The board will “Increase marketing efforts on the building to source prospective buyers and use funds to pay off our mounting debt….and (would) retain Legal Counsel and file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy…”

Shirley’s comment: “I’ll be OK,” he says.