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.
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Thrive Homes builds ‘life-changing’ independence for those struggling with mobility, aging in place
The impact of Thrive Homes is as simple as it is profound, said Christian Hill, whose startup taps into state and federal health funds to provide timely home modifications for residents with disabilities and accessibility issues. The Overland Park-based company makes it possible for people with certain health conditions — and those who are experiencing…
She started by getting Black art into Black spaces; now Natasha Ria El-Scari wants all of KC to know what they’ve been missing
A Renaissance woman, Natasha Ria El-Scari — gallerist, curator, poet, spoken word performer, educator, and life coach — has surrounded herself with art throughout her life. However, as the Kansas City native watched her hometown’s art scene flourish and thrive, she noticed not everyone was included. “As the city started to change, and the Crossroads…
Travel on tap: How a KC couple built a self-serve port for international wine lovers north of the river
Grab your wine passport, Russ Johnson said, because this self-serve wine bar allows customers to taste the world one sip at a time. And the technology that makes the business possible? Johnson — a software developer-turned-entrepreneur — built it himself. “Our brand is really focused on going on a vacation and having this world experience —…
Don’t like cookies? Your new favorite weirdough baker hungrily accepts the challenge
Tierney Larson is on a mission to bake the perfect cookies for those like herself with a not-so-sweet tooth, the Outliers Baked Goods owner shared. Each month, the self-taught baker and New York native experiments, developing four new adventurous flavors to please the taste buds of the outliers or weirdoughs of the dessert community —…