The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art’s restaurant, formerly known as Café Sebastienne, was most notably helmed by its original chef, Jennifer Maloney, who ran the kitchen for two decades before her passing in 2016. Since then, chefs have come and gone. So when chef and restaurateur Ted Habiger was approached to take over the museum’s kitchen, he knew what had to be done—end Café Sebastienne and start a brand-new restaurant from scratch.
“We needed to respect the legacy of Café Sebastienne and Jennifer Maloney by ending it,” Habiger says. “We needed to make a new name, start renovations, fix some of the challenges with the sound. Just launch a whole new restaurant.”
That new restaurant is Oil on Linen, which Habiger owns and operates. It officially opened in November with a new look—contemporary and art-forward, of course. Operating a restaurant within a museum is a first for Habiger, but he’s been making the connection between food and art for a while now.
The Brookside native is the chef and owner of not only Room 39, a restaurant that’s practically a 39th Street institution at this point, but also Ánima, an open-fire gastronomy restaurant in Yucatan, Mexico. It’s there that he also runs an artist residency program, Casa Ocea.
“One of the things I’ve noticed with artists is that they love food,” Habiger says.
So when the Kemper’s current featured artist, Lucía Vidales, a painter from Mexico City, came to the museum recently, the chef picked her brain for inspiration to create an Oil on Linen menu item.
The result was a quesadilla, one of Vídales’ favorite foods, filled with butternut squash puree, huitlacoche (which is essentially delicious corn fungus) and lots of queso Oaxaca. Vídales’ installation, Hambre, and the quesadilla, are both available at the Kemper until the end of February.
As for the rest of the menu, it’s inspired by Habiger’s experiences traveling and cooking in Mexico. The chef plans to keep it seasonal and change the menu every two to four months. Maybe the new menu will be inspired by the museum’s next featured artist; maybe not.
Oil on Linen is also offering dinner Thursday nights, the same night the museum stays open late—something the restaurant hasn’t done in years.
Another once-permanent fixture in Café Sebastienne, Matthew Ritchie’s Experienced Time painting that had hung on its east wall for more than 20 years, was replaced. The new piece, Set In Place (Mis En Place) is by KC-based artist Kevin Townsend.
Chef Habiger isn’t trying to return the Kemper’s restaurant to its former glory. Café Sebastienne’s era has ended, and Oil on Linen begins a new chapter, he says.
Ted Habiger’s Perfect Day in KC
Lunch: One of my favorite places to eat is El Pollo Rey on Independence Avenue. I love the simplicity of the menu. I also get this humbling experience of all that wood smoke, which reminds me of my restaurant in Mexico. I always get a Mexican coke and an avocado with my meal.
Walks with the Pups: I love going on walks with my dog. I have a Great Dane and a rescue from Mexico. The walks through the Henry Moore Sculpture Garden are wonderful.
Baseball: I’m a big baseball guy. I love pitching. That’s my kind of baseball game—fast and quick. A perfect day would be going to a Royals game and sitting right behind home plate watching the pitcher.
Date Night: Novel and The Antler Room are some of my favorite places. The Antler Room was where I went on my first date with my wife. I love Nick and Leslie’s food. I get jealous sometimes. They’re talented people.
