Sneak peek: Plaza’s two-floor, chef-driven food hall and late-night hangout opening Monday
November 4, 2023 | Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
With the Strang Chef Collective’s third location set to open Monday on the Country Club Plaza, the food hall concept is expected to help serve transformation within Kansas City’s iconic shopping and entertainment district, said Shawn Craft.
Strang Chef Collective on the Country Club Plaza; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
“To get in on the ground floor and to be a part of that is exciting for us,” Craft, CEO of Strang Chef Collective told Startland News. “We viewed it as having an opportunity for more chef-driven restaurants on the Plaza, as well, and we think we fill that void nicely.”
The new space — located in the Cascade Hotel at 4620 Wornall Road — showcases restaurant concepts by four local chefs: Khai-Noy by chef Chris Jones, which will feature Southeast Asian cuisine with a menu heavily inspired by the cultures of Thailand and Laos; Gasthaus by chef Bruce Dunseith, which will offer approachable German-inspired cuisine; Parma by chef Derek Losson, a modern spin on traditional, handcrafted dishes from southern and northern Italy; and Verde by chef Nicole Schute, which stems from her love of Latin American cuisines and flows through other island flavors up to Spanish influences.
RELATED: Food hall to put ‘chefs out front’ from breakfast to late-night crowd
The Plaza location follows the original Strang Hall in downtown Overland Park’s Edison District and Strang Chef Collective at lightwell — which opened in the lower level of the downtown building in December 2022.
“Like all of our locations, Strang Chef Collectives at the Plaza will showcase local talent and be a launching point for their culinary skills, all while providing a true authentic chef-driven experience to one of Kansas City’s most iconic areas,” Craft said in a news release. “We prioritize chefs and provide them with an accelerated platform to shine and focus on the food while removing the headaches of administrative tasks like payroll and staffing.”
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Chefs offer tastes of what’s to come at KC’s newest food hall
Strang Chef Collective on the Country Club Plaza; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Strang Chef Collective on the Country Club Plaza
The new chef collective space on the Plaza — which was announced in February and will be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night eats — spans 11,000 square feet over two floors and includes two full-service bars and outdoor dining space, plus provides dining, room service, catering, and a coffee bar to guests at the Cascade Hotel (which is set to open on Tuesday) and, eventually, the Marriott Aloft Hotel.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to serve this community,” added Craft, who said Strang Chef Collective leadership is considering other locations both in and out of the Kansas City market. “It’s going to be exciting times for us and exciting times to partner with the (Overland Park-based) Capital Management team, the Cascade Hotel, and the Marriott.”
Three of the four chefs with concepts in the new location have ties to other Strang Chef Collective locations. Losson and Schute both have concepts in the lightwell location with Panacea — a new American bistro — and the original Verde, and Jones worked as a sous chef at the popular Anousone restaurant at Strang Hall.
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