1900 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 842-2202
http://michaelsmithkc.com
Michael Smith's new self-named restaurant is located at the corner of 19th and Main in the Crossroads district of Kansas City, MO, previous home to Zin, a restaurant with a very typical menu and such average, unremarkable preparation that a couple days later we had already forgotten about our meal. But that was then and surely "[n]ationally renowned and James Beard Award winning chef Michael Smith" would impress.
The entrance is oddly located in the lobby of what appears to be an art gallery, not on the corner of the building as one would expect. One thing I just now remembered from our Zin experience was walking down to the corner and wondering where the front door was. Maybe the next restaurant to move into this space will do something about it. The interior of Restaurant Michael Smith was appropriate given its location in the Crossroads, home to many local sculptors, artists, and photographers. Funky postmodern art adorns the walls of this otherwise industrial space and the Zinfandel-red wall accents make it warm and inviting, and perhaps pays tribute to the now defunct previous restaurant. The restaurant is nearly at capacity but the front of house staff are still attentive and helpful, and before long we are whisked away to our table and given menus.
The menu is simple and offers a variety of largely standard fare for this region--some sort of sea bass, steak, something with pan-seared dayboat scallops, something with raw or seared tuna, and some sort of salad with candied nuts and exotic cheeses (although kudos to Michael Smith for resisting the temptation to use a raspberry vinaigrette). There were a few things that stood out but of which unfortunately due to a certain liturgical season we were unable to indulge. From the starters, the braised rabbit with gnocchi and chanterelles and porcini sausage sound delectable and the roasted duck breast and eight hour pork roast were the first entrees to catch my attention.
Instead, we settled on the spinach & watercress salad and sauteed diver sea scallops as starters and the bass and barramundi entrees. The spinach salad (not pictured) was pretty standard although I enjoyed the contrasting flavors of the sharpness of the aged cheddar and the sweetness of the apple with the tanginess of the balsamic vinaigrette. The crispy bacon was perfectly rendered with a distinct smokiness of Kansas City barbecue. Oops, I wasn't supposed to eat that!
The scallop starter included two pan-seared dayboat scallops each sliced in half plated in Spanish lentils with a butternut squash cream. The scallops were perfectly seared and about medium doneness. Unfortunately, the lentils and butternut squash cream seemed like an afterthought. They neither added to nor took away from the dish. They were just.. there. The saltiness of the lentils masked any chance of the butternut squash cream to stand out and the lentils were a bit too al dente for my liking.
The barramundi is sitting atop a black trumpet mushroom and sunchoke mash, with thin strips of carrots and parsnips on top, and a lobster broth. Although the doneness varied (surprisingly it was the thicker end that was a bit dry), the fish overall was good and had great flavor. The mash had good flavor as well but I wasn't into the texture. The consistency was on the thin side to begin with and once the inevitable mixing with the lobster broth occurred, the sunchoke mash fell through my fork like a sieve leaving only the black trumpet mushrooms. The lobster broth was great--not too overpowering but a nice, very subtle addition to the dish.
The bass was done perfectly, although I found it a bit under seasoned compared with the barramundi. The shrimp and cauliflower "bolognese" was interesting although it's not clear why they refer to it as a bolognese. It was more or less just a sautee of cauliflower and shrimp, and seemed more like two separate components on the dish since there was really nothing to tie them together except perhaps the broth, which tasted neither like cauliflower nor like shrimp. Overall, I think I enjoyed the barramundi more.
We finished our meal with dessert, a chocolate pecan tart with Guinness stout ice cream, which was highly recommended by our server. The tart pastry had the perfect flaky, buttery texture. The chocolate pecan filling was extremely rich, although I felt the chocolate overpowered the pecans. The Guinness ice cream was fantastic, although after one bite of the tart the ice cream really had no discernable flavor and in fact tasted more like coffee ice cream than anything else. I don't think I'd order this again as I'm not really a fan of chocolate. I always prefer something more fruity and tangy for dessert, than something rich and sweet.
Overall, it was a pleasurable dining experience. The staff were all extremely friendly and the chef-owner himself even came out to greet his guests. Our server and others whom I could hear at other tables were extremely knowledgeable about the food and wine offerings, which is quite a task in itself given the complexity of the food and number of wines offered. We will definitely be back at least one more time, which is more than I could say about Zin. As far as American cuisine goes, Michael Smith is definitely among the top restaurants in Kansas City, but for the money I think I'd be much happier taste-wise at Trezo Mare, whose flavors and offerings are more in line with my tastes (I only wish they would learn to wipe greasy fingerprints off plates before serving them!).
