KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Are you ready? Jan. 18 officially kicks off KC Restaurant Week. It’s the fourth year for the festivities which highlight area restaurants. Many local foodies agree, Kansas City’s locally-owned restaurants are something to celebrate, not just during Restaurant Week, but throughout the year.
“We have a very very strong culinary scene here, a very strong culinary scene,” said Chef and Owner of Bluestem and Rye, Colby Garrelts.
Chef Garrelts and his wife, Megan, opened Bluestem about nine years ago, and business was so good there, they just Rye.
“It’s completely different than Bluestem,” Garrelts said.
He says some local restaurants in Kansas City have a good following, but there are challenges to owning a restaurant without corporate ties, especially in Kansas City.
“It costs us twice as much to ship food here, If we ship food here, like fish for instance is unbelieveably expensive here in the Midwest,” Garrelts explains.
However, he says consumers here seemed to latch onto the idea of eating locally.
“I just think the consumer in general is getting a lot more savvy to you know keeping it around us and supporting eachother,” he said.
Greg Morey agrees.
“Kansas City has been really really good to small independent restaurants,” Morey, who works for Cafe Trio, said.
He sees a trend that’s allowing locally-owned restaurants to hold their own, even when competing with some corporate chains. The personal touch he says is one reason for the success.
“I think that there’s a real personal connection between the restaurant-goer, and the restaurant owners and the chefs,” Morey said.
‘Restaurant Week’ runs Jan. 18 through Jan. 27.