It’s been 25 years since Kansas City’s historic Union Station reopened to the public, after renovations to the interior of the Beaux-Arts style depot that had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect. The remodel of the building originally designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt took the city’s collective breath away when it reopened in November 1999. The downtown train depot reveled in its original glory, one that President Woodrow Wilson called “great gate to the West” when the building first opened in 1914.
Only a few weeks after the station reopened, Pierpont’s at Union Station followed, bringing a splashy new upscale steak and seafood restaurant to the northeastern corner of the newly remodeled landmark. The restaurant was built inside the former women and children’s waiting lounge, and highlights the original 25-foot-tall ceilings and Vermont marble floors. Pierpont’s was named after the middle name used by J.P. Morgan, a famous American financial titan and powerful railroad magnate who was also rumored to love good food and drink, so it seemed like a fitting name for a restaurant serving prime steaks, seafood towers, and an award-winning wine list.
The three-story restaurant was originally modeled after the now iconic Balthazar restaurant, which opened in New York City in 1996 to rave reviews for its warm décor and French cuisine. Everything from the creamy butter-yellow paint on the walls to the massive pillars and rich mahogany wood were inspired by the interior of that New York City landmark restaurant. But the one feature that Pierpont’s is perhaps best known for and shares with Balthazar is the stunning bar featuring a soaring mirrored bar back that stretches eight shelves tall, complete with a sliding library ladder to reach the tippy-top where only the rarest and best bottles of whisky are stored. The rest of the shelves are organized with gin and rum running down one side, and vodka and tequila down the other, with the middle of the shelves being home to one of the largest whisky collections in the city, stocked with more than 460 different bottles of American, Irish, Scottish, and Japanese whisky arranged alphabetically by brand.
Pierpont’s recently underwent a restaurant refresh that also expanded the cocktail lounge just in time to celebrate its own 25th anniversary. Gone are the heavy booths, which have now been replaced by cocktail tables and towering plants revealing views of that amazing bar from every seat in the room.
Scott Deigert, the bar director at Pierpont’s and the developer of The Conductor Club, an intimate and immersive pop-up bar by Pierpont’s located on the third floor of Union Station, is the person responsible for the drink program, and he has a drink recommendation that J.P. Morgan himself would have been sure to love.
The Jezebel Martini, much like the woman it is named after, is one for those who like it dirty, as it features a unique three-olive medley infused with the vodka, giving the martini a surprising pinkish hue. This dirty martini needs no olive juice, as the olives impart all their oils and flavor during the vodka infusion process. Make a batch at home and keep it in your freezer for a quick and dirty martini anytime, or come in and sit at the beloved bar at Pierpont’s and let Deigert and his team fix you one as you toast to another 25 years.
The Jezebel Martini
- 3.5 ounces Tito’s Vodka infused with three olives*
- .5 ounce dry vermouth
- 2 blue-cheese stuffed olives
In a cocktail shaker add olive-infused vodka with ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds to one minute to dilute, chill, and emulsify the flavors. In a martini glass, add the dry vermouth with a few cubes of ice. Swirl vermouth ice mixture in martini glass for 30 seconds, then discard. Strain cocktail from shaker into your vermouth-rinsed martini glass. Garnish with two blue-cheese olives skewered.
*Three Olive Infused Vodka
- 1.5 cups pimento-stuffed Spanish olives
- .5 cup Kalamata olives
- .5 cup Niçoise olives
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 bottle of your favorite vodka
In a sealed container, combine all ingredients ensuring the olives are entirely submersed by the vodka. Let infusion sit covered at room temperature for a minimum of three days and maximum of 10 days to properly extract the flavors and infuse the vodka. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer and bottle ready for mixing.