The year in restaurant shakeups

Ah, yes, here it comes: the end of another bittersweet year. It’s time once again for Fat City to acknowledge the local restaurants that vanished over the past 12 months, some of them capping long and relatively successful runs (Papa Lew’s Soul Delicious, Lil’s on 17th, Starker’s, the Gaf), others after an inglorious flameout.

The short-lived restaurants in the latter category sometimes came and went so quickly that no one but their landlords and me really noticed. This sad roster includes Clark’s American Caribbean Cuisine, the Orange Box in the Crossroads, Beignet on 39th Street, Milbourn’s Food & Drink Co. in the Northland, and the Woodsweather II diner and nightclub on Vivion Road. The fiercely combative chef Peter Peterman insists that he’s about to close his 39th Street restaurant, Peanches, but as of this writing, the room was still open.

More tears were shed over the restaurants that had been around for some time, including the popular Figlio on the Country Club Plaza (it had its fans, but I never understood why), the Jazz District’s Papa Lew’s Soul Delicious, Platte City’s cozy Shields Manor Bistro, and the stylish Plaza boîte known as Starker’s Restaurant.

Other casualties of 2013: Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse on the Plaza, the Marrakech Café in Westport, Chacko’s Bakery & Eatery in Mission, and DelHi Soul Food Buffet in Kansas City, Kansas.

But for every restaurant that closed, a newer operation popped right up. And some of those came with a lot more potential. That was certainly the case with the transformation of Trelle Osteen’s Lil’s on 17th (perhaps the only downtown restaurant with a pet-friendly patio) into the miraculously sophisticated Novel restaurant, from the very inventive chef Ryan Brazeal.

The Saffron Indian restaurant in the Northland was quickly replaced by another Indian bistro, Moti Mahal, with a slightly different menu (but the same ugly décor). Merchants Pub & Plate took over the unlamented Teller’s restaurant in Lawrence, and the old Paddy O’Quigley’s saloon in Leawood was gutted to create a new operation, the Red Door Grill, headed by former American Restaurant chef Debbie Gold.

Another American Restaurant alumna, Celina Tio, bought the brick structure at 1532 Grand once occupied by the Kansas City Café and turned it into a lunch-and-dinner operation named for a gathering spot at her childhood boarding school: Collection. Another homage to her schoolgirl days, a combination lounge and coffeehouse called the Belfry, is due to open in the same building.

Restaurateur Ray Dunlea — best known for his Irish-inspired pub, the Gaf (7122 Wornall) — stepped away from both of his Waldo properties over the past two years. The Gaf became District Pour House + Kitchen in the fall, and the seemingly cursed corner spot at 7100 Wornall, which Dunlea had leased for an unremarkable Mexican café called Cantina del Ray, finally found success as an outpost of the Des Moines–based Louie’s Wine Dive. The latter is noisy, but at least it has a sense of joie de vivre.

Another property with a lousy track record was the Mission Farms venue at 10551 Mission, in Leawood, which housed an unsuccessful Cajun restaurant, then an unmemorable Tex-Mex joint and, finally, the awful Lakeside Tavern, before Bluestem owners Colby and Megan Garrelts showed up. The couple revamped the suburban space to create Rye, an instantly successful paean to Midwestern comfort cooking (thick steaks, deep-fried chicken).

Chef Bryan Merker didn’t make many interior changes to his bistro at 320 Southwest Boulevard. He simply (and smartly) abandoned the mix-and-match culinary philosophy that was hobbling Nica’s 320, then reopened with a more straightforward vision of New Orleans–inspired cuisine. The place is now called Lagniappe, and it’s much-improved.

Not all recent dining innovations have felt quite so inspired. A combination upscale restaurant and movie multiplex in Prairie Village, Standees, opened with delusions of grandeur that had nothing to do with the movies playing in the cozy auditoriums. The opening menu was ambitious but poorly executed, and the behind-the-scenes drama spilled out of the kitchen in an unsavory way.

Of course, restaurants have a way of working out their kinks, and Standees, which has been trying to do just that for months, could still turn things around. Sometimes all it takes is replacing a chef. That definitely worked for the Reserve, the tasteful dining room and lounge on the lobby level of the new Ambassador Hotel. What had been a dining nonentity has benefited enormously with the addition of Irish-born executive chef Shaun Brady. Restaurateur Anton Kotar, of Anton’s Taproom and Restaurant at 1610 Main, went through several chefs before hiring young Brian Bromwell to oversee his steak emporium and butcher shop.

Other talent shifted in 2013, too. Chef Hope Dillon recently took her apron and tools from the kitchen of the Vivalore restaurant in Independence after guiding its owners through the difficult early months of their business. Tate Roberts left his role as executive chef at EBT Restaurant to work as sous chef under the guidance of executive chef Brian Archibald at the Rosso restaurant, on top of the Plaza’s new boutique Hotel Sorella. Dean Smith, the former general manager at Starker’s, is also now at Rosso.

Michael Corvino, formerly of the Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas, took over Debbie Gold’s former spot at the American, and then Josh Eans left the American to purchase Happy Gillis Hangout & Café, in Columbus Park, from Todd Schulte. Marcheski Hervey replaced Max Watson in the kitchen of Remedy Food + Drink in Waldo.

The biggest surprise of 2013 was probably the return of the Corner, the breakfast-and-lunch joint at 4059 Broadway that was wildly popular two-plus decades ago but died slowly and pitiably before sitting empty for three years. Young entrepreneurs Dawn Slaughter and Michael Pfeifer reopened the restaurant this past spring, with liquor among the draws. Corner chef Natasha Sears didn’t care for her long hours (the Corner was open for dinner, too, for a time) and gave notice, but Mickey Priolo, formerly of Bluestem and the President Hotel, replaced her in November.

Priolo’s arrival might allay some of the complaints against the place — people seem to have expected greasy-spoon prices — but the Corner is doing a brisk business regardless. And for anyone who lost a beloved food destination in 2013, the Corner is a comfort, proof that some places come back from the dead.

Can a new Gold Buffet be next?