Wandering Vine in Shawnee is fine dining at its best—impeccable service, unique ambience, and unbeatable food. It’s a lot more than that, too.
In mid-May, Bryan Sparks—the former owner of Wild Rose Bistro and The Classic Cookie—took over as Wandering Vine’s executive chef. In the months since, he and the Wandering Vine team have worked to show that while the restaurant is undeniably luxurious—it’s in a castle built in 1907, after all—it’s also a delightful social destination with an enviable patio, a robust shareables menu, and wine-driven experiences galore.
The Patio
If you haven’t seen the patio at Wandering Vine, you’re in for something special. Call it castle casual.
The interior’s luxurious low light is replaced by sunlight; the dining room’s stone walls and deep wood tones are replaced by a garden planted by Dan Dyer, the co-owner and a former agronomist—or “dirt doctor,” as Sparks calls him. You can feel the fresh oxygen the plants provide.
“It’s in the middle of Shawnee, and it feels fresh, it feels light,” says Sparks. “We are right off Johnson Drive and Shawnee Mission Parkway, and you would never know we’re sitting back here.”
Sparks describes date night at Wandering Vine as a mindful experience where guests sit enveloped in blissful bubbles and enjoy each course. But on the patio, he says, “it’s you and your friends and coworkers sharing focaccia pizzetta, charcuterie, and craft beers.”
“You can come here and you can have an experience with everybody you’re dining with,” says Sparks.
Shareables
Whether it’s a multi-course date night or an after-work hangout, the quality at Wandering Vine doesn’t change. It’s amazing what you’ll get just chilling on the patio after work.
Take the focaccia pizzetta. When it comes to your table, Sparks says it just “looks like a cool pizza.” And it is a cool pizza—with tomato chutney seasoned with urfa biba peppers, house-made ricotta with its whey folded into the focaccia, and topped with lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, fried basil leaves, and broccoli flowers. Shareable, $14.
“It doesn’t feel over the top when it hits your table,” Sparks says, “but the same level of care went into it as with our big New Year’s Eve wine dinner.”
Sparks says the menu was, like so much else at Wandering Vine, a collaborative effort.
“The goal is to have people come to Wandering Vine and have the best food in the city,” Sparks says. “How do we get there? By being collaborative, with everyone having input. At the end of the day, we end up with the best product.”
The Wine Dinners
Dyer and his wife, co-owner Carla Dyer, have been all over the world. The wine dinners at Wandering Vine are their way of bringing you along.
September 14 is the French wine dinner; October 9 and 10, diners explore the wine and cuisine of Germany, Austria, and Hungary for Oktoberfest; November 14, they’ll experience a wine dinner inspired by the Gold Rush in Central California and the Willamette Valley.
“This is not something where we go on Google and type ‘top ten wine dishes,’ here’s your wine dinner,” says Sparks. “There’s a lot of effort, a lot of thought—every dish, every ingredient, every component, it all has meaning, it all has purpose. And that purpose is to tell whatever story we’re telling at the time.”
For the first course of the Gold Rush wine dinner, the team chose wine from a Willamette Valley Riesling grower and oysters from a farm 30 minutes away. That farm was established in 1907—the same year the castle was built.
Like after-work hangouts on the patio, these wine dinners are communal experiences. The staff guides you and your tablemates through the meal’s story, with opportunities for audience participation.
The Drinks
No matter when you dine at Wandering Vine, you’ll have access to one of the area’s best beverage selections, courtesy of beverage director Evan Spieker.
It has an extensive selection of premium whiskey, cocktail classics, and restaurant-exclusive cocktail and mocktail creations. The popular Pear Dauphine is made with Spieker’s house-made spiced pear liqueur.
Over the last four years, Spieker and Dyer have been curating Wandering Vine’s exceptional wine list. With over 150 selections sourced from 20 different countries, it has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and is consistently voted among Johnson County’s best. It is constantly evolving, with frequent new additions.
“We have a marvelous wine list,” Spieker says. “For special occasions, we have a selection from several of the world’s best producers that cost hundreds of dollars a bottle, but we also have a very broad selection of delicious wines for $11 to $15 a glass. With such a broad selection, we can always make perfect pairings to match your meal and your mood.”
“I personally assure you, everything on our wine list is really good,” Dyer says.
Learn more about the restaurant’s menus, wine list, events, and history on Wandering Vine’s website.