City: Kansas City, MO

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (913) 648-7639

Address: 10561 Mission Rd.

Description: Don’t let the cute room with mismatched chairs fool you: chefs and co-owners Ted Habiger and Andy Sloan have created a sophisticated menu. Lunch could be a simple bowl of butternut squash soup or seared bass over roasted beet risotto. Dinner continues the love story with New Zealand king salmon with pureed cauliflower and a few ingredients we’ve never heard of. And, really, isn’t that the point of dining out—to update our culinary dictionary? If you see Green Dirt Farm on the listing, don’t worry: it’s artisanal cheese and lamb from a small provider in nearby Weston. Ted and Andy insist on buying locally whenever possible. Good luck getting a table in the morning, when Kansas City’s elite cool their heels to wait for the best brioche French toast around. Fans of Room 39 who live out south were thrilled when the owners opened a second location at the ritzy Mission Farms a few years ago. The decor may be a little more refined, but the food retains the same quality.