Hotel restaurants and bars aren’t just for travelers too tired to drag themselves to a secondary location. As Parker proves, they can be destinations all their own.
Positioned on the Country Club Plaza’s luxurious Fontaine hotel’s rooftop, Parker looks out over the West Plaza, letting you take in panoramic views of the surrounding treetops. The décor has a touch of midcentury-modern glamour to it, uncluttered and crisp on the restaurant side and slightly darker and more dramatic at the bar, which is illuminated by a spectacular chandelier. Aesthetically, it’s on par with any cocktail lounge you’ll find in Kansas City with one very big bonus: A sleek adjacent pool that makes every sip just a little more satiating by osmosis. (A moody fire crackles during the cooler months.)
Parker takes advantage of its plum location with a series of events leading into fall, including poolside yoga and Pilates classes, rooftop movies on Friday nights and pool parties on the last Friday of each month. Plus 7 to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Parker gets in touch with its inner rebel for Prohibition Nights, when the bar transforms into a speakeasy. Guests can sip classic cocktails like the French 75 and the Scofflaw and snack on bootleg bites (like Rockefeller Puppies, made with chopped gulf oysters, house tasso, milled corn, spiced parsley, Pernod, lemon and butter) while grooving a soundtrack of live jazz.
A blast from the past is all well and good, but Parker’s contemporary cocktails are also noteworthy, from signature sips like the Roast and Toast, a blend of The Roasterie’s nitro coffee, Four Rose Bourbon, Rieger Café Amaro, brown sugar and toasted evergreen marshmallow, to the kicky highballs made using Polly’s Pop craft soda—grapefruit Helix Vodka with orange soda, anyone? In addition to wine and beer, Parker also offers a few cocktails that get an assist from canned brews, such as the Jungle Bird, which uses Austin Eastciders’ Pineapple cider as a base, then punches it up with rum, lime juice, Campari, and cinnamon syrup.
The bar’s food menu provides plenty of treats to enjoy alongside the inventive drinks, from pimento-cheese fritters to the Duck-Duck-Goose—duck confit, duck-fat almonds, smoked blue cheese and preserved gooseberries. There’s also more conventional bar fare like fries and a flatbread, and the main restaurant offers even more dishes for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch—the Parker Brick Chicken, a half chicken cooked under a brick and served with roasted mushrooms, spring onion polenta, sunchokes, and carrots scored a special shout out from New York magazine.
Put the Lime in the Coconut
Cocktails don’t have to be decadent to be delicious. Parker at The Fontaine’s bar manager, Kaci Schultz, says this recipe was designed to be light and refreshing, a complement to the series of fitness events happening throughout the summer at the hotel. “When we thought about the flavors of wellness, we thought citrus and coconut water,” Schultz says. “The drink is easy to sip on and works great for hydration, whether you’re sitting poolside or you’ve just finished participating in an activity.”
- 2 ounces green tea-infused white rum
- 3 ounces coconut water
- 1 ounce velvet falernum
- Splash of lime juice
- Edible flower or twist of lime for garnish
Place ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake until chilled, serve up in a martini or cocktail glass. Garnish with an edible flower or a twist of lime. Enjoy!