To understand the love that Kansas City has for JJ’s Restaurant, you must begin at the beginning. In 1985, owner Jimmy Frantzé purchased JJ Malane’s from his former business partner, who was also the saloon’s namesake. His partner left, but the double J’s stayed, and a West Plaza fine-dining institution was born.
Like the Country Club Plaza’s architecture, JJ’s original location was a low slung, Spanish-style building. The brick building had a colorful clay tile roof, large picture windows, and maroon awnings. The bar was always jam-packed with people, and it tiered down into the warm dining room. The original menu was relaxed and unfussy, but upscale, supported by an incredible award-winning wine list built by Frantzé and Kansas City sommelier Matt Nichols. The whole place had a very L.A. vibe, which was always part of its special sauce. Of course, everyone looked forward to seeing Frantzé working the dining room while his hospitality team made sure your dining experience was simply perfect.
By 2005, a massive office and hotel project called the West Edge broke ground across the street from JJ’s Restaurant, taking up the scarce street parking and creating an eyesore in full view of the restaurant diners. It was a devastating blow to JJ’s once bustling business. Eventually, the West Edge project stalled out and stopped, and a new project, Plaza Vista, took over the site to build the new headquarters for Polsinelli law firm.
Just as the Plaza Vista project was starting to wrap up in 2013, bringing an end to the eight-year construction slump for JJ’s, a tragic explosion from a natural gas leak blew up the restaurant, killing JJ’s server Megan Cramer and injuring several other restaurant employees. JJ’s Restaurant was effectively leveled in the blast. The site still sits empty 12 years later.
Yet it was the tragic ending of JJ’s first location that led to the beautiful beginning of its second one, when Frantzé and his brother, David, were presented with the suggestion to reopen JJ’s Restaurant in Plaza Vista. It made good business sense, the 4,800-square-foot restaurant space is in a prime spot just off the lobby, with a cozy bar and separate dining room, along with a particularly stunning and spacious outdoor patio. A mere 18 months after the blast, JJ’s reopened in their new location with most of the original staff.
It’s been 40 years since JJ’s Restaurant first opened its doors, and there are some new and exciting changes afoot. Frantzé retired last year, leaving his restaurant in the trusted and capable hands of his nephew, Kevin Frantzé, who has a background in hospitality, having managed restaurants and hotels in California for many years.
“After 40 years of running one of Kansas City’s most loved independent restaurants, my Uncle Jimmy decided he wanted to step back from the day-to-day operations of the restaurant and focus on his true passion, the wine list. With my background in hospitality, returning to Kansas City to take the reins was a natural fit and dream of mine since I was a kid,” says Kevin, who now serves as JJ’s managing partner.
Then earlier this year, JJ’s had some more good news when it was recognized as a semifinalist for the esteemed James Beard Award in the category of Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. Its extensive 40-year-old wine collection was thoughtfully curated, not once, but twice, when the collection had to be built back up after the blast in 2013. The current list represents an impressive variety of regions, styles, and vintages.
Josh Ditto, the assistant bar manager at JJ’s, acknowledges that the restaurant is most well-known for its wine, yet behind the bar he and his team have worked hard to develop a cocktail program that is just as exquisite as JJ’s wine list.
An example is Smokey the Pear, a crafted cocktail that features both smokey mezcal and reposado tequila, sweetened with barrel-aged honey and spiced pear liqueur, with lemon juice to brighten and pull the drink together. Try it at home or pull up a barstool at JJ’s and let Ditto make one for you. Cheers to 40 years of JJ’s Restaurant!
Smokey the Pear
- 1 ounce reposado tequila
- .75 ounce St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
- .25 ounce Vago mezcal
- 1 ounce lemon juice
- .5 ounce barrel-aged honey syrup*
Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake vigorously and strain over a large ice cube block in a rocks glass. Spritz a peppercorn mezcal saline solution.** Garnish with a dehydrated pear slice.
*Barrel Aged Honey Syrup
- 2 parts barrel-aged honey
- 1 part water by weight
In a small saucepan, mix two parts of barrel-aged or regular honey with one part water by weight, stir and slowly heat over a stove until the mixture is smooth.
**Peppercorn Mezcal Saline Solution
- 80 grams hot water
- 20 grams kosher salt
- 20 grams peppercorns
- 10 grams mezcal
Fill a pot with hot water and mix in the kosher salt and peppercorns, stir and let that stand for 30 minutes until the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the mezcal to the saline solution, finely strain and bottle up in a spritzer.