With fine dining more expensive than ever, the experience of being waited on, choosing the perfect wine and relishing food we didn’t have to prepare is indeed a luxury. Restaurants are being challenged on both fronts—diners are pickier with their hard-earned dollars, and the rising cost of, well, everything makes producing a quality meal that wows all the more difficult. That’s why restaurants that still go above and beyond, like Bar Medici, are lighthouses in a fog of dining uncertainty.
As far as fine dining establishments go, Bar Medici may sooner hang its hat on its cocktails rather than its food. That’s what the Crossroads hotspot is, really: an upscale bar that happens to serve crudo, handcrafted pastas and New York strip steaks. It’s the latest endeavor and first dip into the restaurant world for locally owned hospitality group Exit Strategy, which also operates The Monarch Bar, The Mercury Room and Verdigris—without a doubt a few of our city’s swankiest high-end bars. Rather than a head chef, Bar Medici has a culinary director, Mitch Fetterling, who is also in charge of Exit Strategy’s other more low-key bar food programs. And yet, it delivers a caliber of dining that surpasses most. Bar Medici’s atmosphere and drinks are pretty dang outstanding. The food menu has some catching up to do, but it’s almost there.
David Manica, co-owner of Exit Strategy and owner of Manica architecture firm, designed Bar Medici’s dining room alongside Hive Design. Together, they incorporated stunning visuals, like an abstract painting from local artist Jennifer Janesko and a massive map of Florence made with imported gold aluminum plates and mounted on the west wall. An opalesque gray banquette splits the dining room, and the tables are adorned with gold flatware and tealight candles. A bar encompasses the south wall for those just coming in for a sip. It’s not a large space—42 seats to be exact—but the intimacy plays well against the dining room’s polished feel.
Don’t be fooled by the website’s description of Bar Medici as a “cafe and cocktail bar.” You’ll also find appetizers, pastas, entrees and desserts on the menu—granted, only a select few, but a selection nonetheless. The menu is inspired by the Italian cultural ritual of aperitivos (pre-meal drinks meant to whet the palate before dinner, considered the equivalent to the American happy hour). Anything from Bar Medici’s drink menu will fit the scene quite nicely, but the Il Contadino cocktail with mezcal, and the Saronno Sour, a libation complete with whiskey and red wine foam, are great summer draws that showcase Exit Strategy’s ability to make a damn good cocktail.
There’s also a nice selection of spritzes and negronis, but the list labeled “Sovrana” is where the bar program really takes off. Cocktails made with top shelf liquors sell for upwards of $20. The most expensive is $40. I’ll let you be the judge there. Personally, I found the homemade cherry soda to have the perfect fizz-to-sour ratio. A small but intentional wine list is also offered. Poggio Anima’s Pecorino, with its citrusy brightness, is a must in the August heat.
A stellar drink selection was expected from the owners of the Mercury Room and Verdigris, but what I was more interested in at the restaurant was the food—especially when I saw a plate of orzo pasta going for $30. Fetterling, who worked at the late Bluestem and Michelin-rated Saison in San Francisco among other fine dining establishments, created an intentional regional Italian menu focused on the use of fresh ingredients. If you’re looking for spaghetti and meatballs, you’re out of luck. Fetterling has assured me it’s not going to happen.
When it comes to the small plates, Bar Medici nails it. The fluffy mushroom donuts tossed in an umami-rich porcini powder and served with a salty taleggio foam are a beautiful experiment in taste and texture. The same goes for the tuna crudo topped with cucumber slices, condensed watermelon balls, tomato water and mint leaves. It’s a heavenly blend of crunch and piquancy that erupts with the brightness of summer. Even the tartare and meatballs (sans spaghetti) appetizers manage to stand out. Each has a refreshing take despite being common menu items.
What Fetterling really wants is for Bar Medici to be known for its pastas, and given my experience with the crab bisque pasta, this should be no problem. It’s one of the best seafood pastas I’ve had in KC. The thin flat noodles are tossed with the French cajun-style bisque (made from a holy trinity mirepoix with bell peppers) and topped with just enough crab meat. Perfectly light and aromatic, it’s Italian decadence on a plate. The other house-made pastas, like the sweet corn agnolotti, are just as impressive. They’re not drowning in sauce as is common in the Italian American-style. Instead, they’re ingredient-forward with fresh vegetables and herbs. If the kitchen added just a hint more salt to its boiling water, their pastas could be considered perfection.
As for that $30 orzo pasta, it was not worth its price tag. When it arrived, it was clear that it had been sitting under the heat lamp for too long. But even if the dish had been the creamy version I envisioned, for $30, I’m not sure how the vegetarian option could ever live up to its high price point. The sandwiches—tri-tip on focaccia and an Italian beef—seemed to be Bar Medici’s attempt at upscale bar food, yet the meat on both was dry. When a sandwich falls in the $20 to $25 price range, dry meat doesn’t work. As for desserts, do yourself a favor and order the lemon sorbet. The acidity from the citrus is enough to shock your taste buds into next year. I couldn’t get enough of it.
When I was impressed, I was really impressed. But when a dish wasn’t up to par, even if just undersalted or oversalted, it was disappointing. That’s the thing about fine dining. With high price points, there’s less room for forgiveness. Luckily, what I perceive as Bar Medici’s shortcomings can easily be tweaked in the kitchen. Bar Medici’s menu is well thought out, and I tip my hat to Fetterling for his dedication to fresh ingredients and respectful innovation.
As I visited Bar Medici’s Renaissance-era Florentine-inspired dining room over the course of several weeks, I was reminded how powerful attentive service in its many forms can be. The table service was top-notch. Every server was well-versed and prompt. It was the small details like wiping our table down if there were crumbs, replacing our utensils and plates between each course, even noticing our table’s candle went out—and relighting it promptly. In a time where wallets are strained and consistency is challenged throughout the industry, the art form of hospitality is oftentimes the first to be rendered futile. But at Bar Medici, it is prioritized above all.
It may seem contradictory, maybe even a little silly, my aforementioned talk of hard economic times and what could be seen as the glorification of fine dining. But think of it like this: if you’re going to spend money, you want it to be worth it. You don’t go to somewhere like Bar Medici for the Italian beef sandwich. You head there for the opportunity to sip on a mauve cocktail with a clear single ice cube and to eat a mushroom pasta so good it makes you want to lick the plate. So skip the Italian beef and bask in the graciousness of Bar Medici’s staff. They recognize hospitality as the exchange it is—an act of trust on your end as the diner and an act of integrity on theirs.
