Owners of KC adored East-Coast-style oyster bar Earl’s Premier and Italian restaurant Bacaro Primo, Todd Schulte and Cory Dannehl are at it again.
The duo is expanding Earl’s Premier to include a market, which is exciting, but there’s more. They’re also opening a new restaurant in the former Blu HWY steakhouse restaurant in the South Plaza.
Earl’s Provisions
Schulte and Dannehl bought the space right next door to Earl’s last year. Schulte says that, for a while, they were using it as an office and place to store “used restaurant equipment.”
“We figured we should do something with it. We’re huge fans of the French Market in Prairie Village so we’re taking a page from their playbook and seeing how it works out for us,” Schulte says.
Earl’s Provisions is slated to open the first week of June. The 2,000-square-foot-space will sell prepared foods, especially some of their restaurant’s big sellers like soups, crab cakes, dips and salads.
“We might bring some recipes from Bacaro [Primo],” says Schulte. “We might even bring some from Happy Gillis and Gennessee Royale (former restaurants that Schulte has owned). We’re just gonna let it grow and see what it needs to do.”
Earl’s Provisions will have a separate entrance but because the expansion is technically part of the Earl’s Premier restaurant, it might also include additional dine-in seating. Earl’s Provisions will sell wine, but if a customer wants to pause for a frozen gin and tonic (my favorite) after hours, they can take a seat at the market.
The additional space will also allow for the expansion of Earl’s Premier’s kitchen, which will allow the restaurateurs to “diversify” the menu. Earl’s Premier just celebrated three years in business.
The duo expects Earl’s Provisions to be open Monday through Saturdays, 8 am to 7 pm.
We ranked Earl’s Premier as one of KC’s top 5 spots to grab oysters on the half shell. Read more here.
Sea Capitán Cocina Costera
Schulte and Dannehl also signed a lease for the space that formerly housed Blu Hwy steakhouse restaurant, which closed in September 2024. Sitting on the corner of 51st and Main Street, the duo hope to finish putting their personal touches on their restaurant, Sea Capitán Cocina Costera, by the end of June (5070 Main St.)
Sea Capitán Cocina Costera is about 5,000-square-feet and the largest restaurant Schulte and Dannehl have ever operated.
“You could put Earl’s and Bacaro inside [the restaurant],” says Dannehl.
Although it’s a large restaurant with room for around 130 seats (the patio seats around 50), they say “most of it’s kitchen.”
The food will be inspired by coastal Mexico, anywhere from the Yucatan to the Baja Peninsula.
“It’ll be a lighter, fresher take than most of what the offerings are here in town,” says Schulte. “There’ll be a good selection of ceviches, aquachiles, and some oysters, of course. They’ll be all kinds of proteins and vegetables. It’s not exclusively seafood, we’re just going to lean into that.”
Schulte and Dannehl are particularly excited about the black and copper bar. It’s large, seating 20, including some drink rails and a lounge area. The bar program will focus on tequila and mezcals and they plan to offer a membership program for those particularly interested in tastings.
Tequila lockers separate the private dining rooms and will be available for customers to rent.
“That’ll give us the opportunity to invite the people that rent out the lockers to quarterly mezcal and tequila tastings and offer them some products through the restaurant,” says Shulte. “They’ll get to come in and tell all their friends that they have their own locker there, which is exciting.”
