Authentic North Indian cuisine opens in OP

In the middle of working to open an Indian restaurant near their home, a Lee’s Summit couple learned of a great space in Overland Park, abruptly switched gears and opened in the OP location just last month.
Kiran Kaur and Andy Singh opened Spice of Bombay Indian Kitchen & Bar (9940 College Blvd., KCK) in The Shops at Corporate Woods. The establishment serves authentic North Indian cuisine.
The couple has gutted their Lee’s Summit restaurant (436 S.W. Ward Road, Lee’s Summit), are remodeling it and have plans for a summer opening.
The restaurant serves such items as tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, chicken curry and chicken daal, along with special family recipes.
“The garlic cheese naan, that’s something my dad made in his restaurant,” Kaur says. “Even the kids that come in, they love the butter chicken and the cheese naans.”
Kaur’s father had an Indian restaurant in Columbia, Missouri, and Singh’s family owns the decades-old Waldo restaurant Taj Mahal. So between the two of them, they have more than 20 years of restaurant experience, despite both being in their early 30s.
Public market

The Lenexa Public Market is introducing a new Asian food vendor this month: Saap Saap Noodles.
Adison Sichampanakhone, owner and chef of Saap Saap Noodles, has created a menu full of family recipes inspired by his Laos and Thai heritage.
“Saap Saap translates to ‘good good’ in Laotian,” says Sichampanakhone. “We aim to provide everything a ‘good’ meal embodies within southeast Asian cuisine. Our mission is to offer homestyle recipes passed down from our families that create a sense of comfort when eating them.”
Menu items include traditional home dishes like Lao-style pho with a choice of protein (oxtail or chicken, for example), pad Thai, khao poon (red curry noodles) and egg rolls. Exotic desserts include mango sticky rice, taro ice cream and coconut ice cream.
Lenexa Public Market is known for its diverse group of food vendors, including African Dream Cuisine and Sohaila’s Kitchen, which serves Pakistani cuisine. This month, Kimchi and Bap, a Korean food vendor, closed but will continue doing pop-ups.
Prefix Coffee closed one shop and then opened another

Kansas City’s Prefix Coffee has closed one cafe just as it is opening another.
It recently shuttered its Grandview location, but it will soon open downtown on the first floor of The Grand apartment building (1125 Grand Blvd., KCMO) It will have a few seats inside and, later, a drive-thru (using the drive-thru of a former bank tenant).
Prefix is owned by three couples: Joel and Lindsay Friedrich; Joel’s brother Jonathan Friedrich and his wife Sarah; and Colin and Melissa Dwyer.
Prefix roasts its own coffee beans. Drinks include espressos, lattes, Americano, cold brew, tea and chai.
There’s the 801, described as a decadent espresso hot chocolate with vanilla and hazelnut; the Golden Latte, a caffeine-free steamed milk with a turmeric spice blend; and Espresso & Tonic paired with its seasonal syrup (currently cranberry). All of its syrups are made in-house.
The cafes also sell a variety of pastries from Fox & Bull Baking Co. including chocolate croissants, Danishes, Pop-Tart-like treats, cinnamon rolls and more.
“Whenever people walk through our doors, we have the opportunity to change their day for the better,” Melissa says. “We want to share the food that we love, the pastries that we love, the coffee that we love.”
The other locations are in Lightwell KC (1100 Main St., Suite 119, KCMO), and Midtown (325 E. 31st St., Suite 101, KCMO).
All in the family: The next generation takes over JJ’s on the Plaza

Jimmy Frantzé, owner of the popular JJ’s Restaurant, is stepping down and passing the torch to the next generation of Frantzsé.
The restaurant has been a Plaza mainstay for 40 years, and the Frantzes’ want to ensure it stays that way. The new owner is Kevin Frantzé, Jimmy’s nephew.
“I’m incredibly proud of what my uncle has built,” says Kevin, who grew up in KC but headed to Arizona for college before moving to Southern California, where he worked at various restaurants and hotels. “I’m excited to honor the family legacy.”
Known for its contemporary menu and popular wine selection, regulars flock to JJ’s for longtime favorites like Paco Shrimp and the wild boar ragu.
Kevin and head chef Kodiak Baer plan to keep JJ’s popular classics, but also incorporate more seasonal local ingredients, switching up the menu as the seasons change.