Shio leads March’s expected restaurant openings, while other places close up shop
Let’s raise a quick cup of sake to a few of the ghosts that may still haunt 3605 Broadway, the oft-occupied midtown address that next houses chef Patrick Curtis’ Shio Ramen Shop. Here’s to Nabil’s. Here’s to Grille on Broadway. Here’s to Poco’s Latin American Grille. And pour out the last drops for Mr. Good Chicken and Foodoo. (Let us sip another cup in quiet contemplation without trying to recall the names of other tenants, none much memorable.)
Then crack open the beer of your choice and welcome Curtis to the block. (Shio will serve sake and beer, along with wine, as soon as Curtis and his general manager, Brady Lewis, are done jumping through the city’s licensing hoops.) Ahead of a projected March 11 opening, he has done much of the interior work on this narrow storefront himself, and it looks great — clean, smart and modern, with seating for 20 at five blond-wood tables, just large enough for a couple of hand-thrown ceramic bowls (by local artist Josh Wood) and a side dish or two (pot stickers, scallion biscuits, kimchi).
For all that work, though, Curtis, a Kansas City native who moved back to his hometown from Portland a few years ago, knows that this show is all about the noodles. About the ramen, yes — five featured bowls, ranging in price from $10 to $12 – but also about the sleek $30,000 Yamato noodle machine he ordered from Japan, visible in the exhibition kitchen.
Curtis doesn’t seem particularly worried about the sudden tangle of noodle shops invading Kansas City, including chef Erik Borger’s upcoming Komatsu, scheduled to open in late spring just a few blocks away, with noted chef Joe West in charge of the kitchen.
“I have great respect for Joe West,” he says, “but patrons are going to make the final decisions.”
Speaking of decisions, chef Kathy Hale, of the Can I Have a Bite catering and prepared-foods business, has settled on the location of her next restaurant, having waffled for months on possible buildings. She recently signed the lease in the low-slung 1950s brick office building at 633 East 63rd Street, which developer Butch Rigby has subdivided into a variety of storefronts. (Another restaurant is also eyeing a space in the building.)
Hale, who grew up in this neighborhood, is excited about the 1,200-square-foot space, where she’ll have a garage door installed to allow open-air seating near her “Healthy Belly Bar.” Naturally, that’s where you order nonalcoholic cocktails made with kombucha, teas, elixirs and tonics. “No fresh juices,” she says. “They can get those across the street at Unbakery.”
She adds, “Once I open, I will have both online orders that can be picked up or you can walk in and purchase off the menu. My menu has entrees, soups, sides and salads. The ‘deconstructed’ items in the refrigerator case would include favorite sides and sauces that could be mixed with proteins — meatballs, spicy pork bites, turkey bites, quinoa bites.”
Hale expects an early summer opening for Can I Have A Bite (which is still delivering food; see canihaveabite.com).
In other recent restaurant news, Bloomsbury Bistro closed in the Mission Road Antique Mall (4101 West 83rd Street, Prairie Village) in February after a 15-year run. Judith Dobson, a restaurateur from McPherson, Kansas, is taking over the space to create a new restaurant. Cellar & Loft, in the City Market, has closed.
The short-lived Mi Asia Bistro, at 1513 Grand, has also said sayonara.
Zaina Mediterranean Cuisine, formerly at 25 East 12th Street, has moved to 1108 Grand; a franchise of Pickleman’s Gourmet Deli will open in the 12th Street space.
And the Memphis-based fried chicken chain Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken, is now open in the former China Tom’s venue at 2816 West 47th Street in Kansas City, Kansas.
