Dinner in an Enchanted Castle: Renee Kelly’s Harvest

I often associate a good meal with magic.  The chef transforming an everyday occurrence into a memory of delight and enchantment. I see each course as a different magic trick. I recently have been captivated by the sorcery at Renee Kelly’s Harvest in Shawnee Mission.

I met with other members of The Pitch Bite Club, a club of foodies that meets once a month to enjoy a good meal together, at The Harvest on a rather chilly evening in January, after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I think we were much like some weary travelers, seeking refuge for our tired palates. One too many holiday hams and bad wine at family gatherings. The stage was set for some magic. When you pull around to the restaurant itself, it looks rather ominous. I’ll be frank, the place looks haunted.  The building is an old castle with a giant wooden door and this beautifully ornate lion’s head in the center. You immediately feel like Belle wandering upon the Beast’s doorsteps.

Then you open up the door and it’s inviting, like you’ve just walked through the wardrobe. There are tables to the left, wooden with a little rustic flare.  There are charming simple chandeliers hang from the high ceilings.  A giant staircase lies in front of you when you first walk in leading up to a loft area. The lighting is just right for some alchemy.

As members of the club started to turn up, cocktails were served and conversations were ignited.  The cocktails are infusions and concoctions of voodoo themselves. The Harvest boast a drink menu with homemade Limoncello and house infused syrups, vodkas and whiskeys.  I tried a Lemon Basil Blossom- a cocktail made with hand crafted basil syrup and Limoncello. Later in the meal, I tried a Pear Cinnamon Manhattan.  Take it from someone who hates Manhattans, it was delicious! Pear syrup and infused pear rye whiskey with Dolin Rouge Vermouth. The resident bartender, Matt, was most gracious and came up to serve a few of the drinks himself. He told us a few bar anecdotes about the Old Fashioned and Pimm’s and how they came to be and how he creates the Harvest cocktails.

We should talk about the main course before we get to the food. Our host for the evening, Chef Renee Kelly is this vivacious larger than life character.  She comes into the room and you are instantly spellbound. The entire time this woman is talking I have a giant smile. It’s that goofy smile that spreads your nose all over your face and your eyes smash up.  (Well,mine do anyway.) She’s standing there in her white chef coat, her red hair thrown in a braid with little stray hairs sticking out, talking with her hands.  They tell her they are going to put her on camera and with all her sass she promises not to cuss while being filmed.

Think Disney princess, like Ariel or Merida, but they went to culinary school, then owned their own restaurant and had a sassy mouth.  She’s pretty much a badass Disney princess.

As Renee talks about her concept for The Harvest she reminisces about her days as a wedding and big event caterer.  The Harvest originally was an event space for weddings.  She was serving food to people who really didn’t care about the food but really just about their event.  ‘Which, it’s your wedding, why wouldn’t you care?’ she says. But she wanted to do something different- so she decided to transform the castle into a farm to table restaurant. She wanted to tailor the restaurant to fit more of how she lives her own life, supporting local farmers and eating well. Thus, Renee Kelly’s Harvest, a farm to table concept, was born in a castle to a badass Disney princess chef.

Our first course at the Harvest was cured duck with black rice, beet and huckleberry sauce. Even if you aren’t a duck fan, you should give this a try. It’s not like you are eating the Swan Princess or anything. I didn’t find it gamey or plucky in the least.  The sauces were a nice pairing and that black rice was amazing.

Second course might have been my favorite. It was a carrot bisque with crystallized ginger and creme fraiche (creme fraiche is like fancy sour cream).  She served it in this tea cup with a miniature spoon. I imagine these are like the tea cups Alice and the Mad Hatter drank from. The bisque was creamy, not gritty and had spices in it like nutmeg or perhaps cinnamon. I’m typically not a ginger fan, but in this case it worked to set off the tart flavors in the creme friache and add sweetness to the carrots.

Main course was a Scottish fillet with pink potatoes and butter braised turnips. What is a Scottish fillet you ask? So you’ve had prime rib? They take the center part of the prime rib, the meaty part, and cut off the fatty parts. The Harvest is the only place in Kansas City you can currently get this cut. The steak is hard seared then cooked rare to medium rare.  I found it tender and not as stringy as you find prime rib to be. The butter braised turnips were actually really good! (Shhh..do NOT tell my grandmother.) And the pink potatoes? Have you ever in your life eaten a pink potato? Same texture as normal potatoes just pink in color.  Some kind of hocus pocus I tell you…

Final course was a chocolate butter cake with hazelnut musse, orange syrup, house made caramel, and a candied orange on top. One of my club members finished hers before I even dug my fork into mine. That’s how good it was.  The hazelnut musse was piled on there so high it must of been held there by a fortifying spell.  I particularly enjoyed the candied orange.

As I walked down the staircase and out the door of the castle, I left feeling rather full, inspired and slightly bewitched. Maybe some of it was the pear infused whiskey or eating an enchanted castle with a sassy Disney princess or maybe it was just being with good company and other passionate souls.  There really is something to be said about doing what you love. It shows through in each dish how much Renee Kelly loves what she does.  Get caught up in her spell.  Go see her and her magic castle.  Let her feed you and support your local farmers in the process. Maybe you’ll leave just as transformed as I was by the experience.

Front of the castle!

Discover Kansas City: 39th street loves Room 39

When I moved to Westport two and a half years ago, I had no idea how much I’d fall in love with this district of Kansas City.  I think our initial thought about this location was that it’s a cool place to live within walking distance to local night life and great restaurants.  And not to boast but our apartment is pretty lovely for what we pay for a two-bedroom in midtown. We live on the west side of  39th street and couldn’t be prouder to call it home.  Most 39th streeters also share this love and pride for our striving neighborhood. 39th street is home to restaurants, bars, unique boutiques, record stores, a book store that will have you feeling like Belle, and even a resident chiropractor, Dr. Cobb at Alpha Chiropractic. When Small Cakes Cupcakery moved in they were well received until they painted over a mural on the side of their building. I think a lot of people in the neighborhood felt like they were stepping on some toes as the new kid in town.  When I visited the first time, the shop owner assured me they were hiring a local artist to paint a new mural.

Sometimes it seems hard for businesses and new restaurants to stay afloat in this area.  There is a space off Terrace and 39th that has changed from several different restaurants in the short years I’ve been here.  Why? I think because 39th street is a hard district to crack and it’s about finding your niche. We already have a sushi place.  We already have a Thai place. We just got a GREAT barbecue place, Q39.  Owner and chef, Rob Magee took his award winning competition barbecue and turned it into a restaurant. And it worked. The atmosphere is fun and the food is great.  (I recommend the burnt end burger!)

Basically if there isn’t something unique about you, you won’t be received well.

Room 39 owner and chef Ted Habiger gets it. Last night I had the pleasure of dining with Ted and some other great company via the Pitch’s First Bite Club.  I’ve eaten at Room 39 in the past but last night I was able to learn a little more about the restaurant and try some things off the menu I would have never been brave enough to order for myself.  Before I get into the food and this wonderful gem of 39th street- I want to talk about Ted.

This guy comes out in his white chef jacket, scruffy salt and pepper hair and beard, and starts talking with his hands. His well worn wedding band glints in the low light.  His eyes illuminate his entire face when he talks about what he’s trying to do with Room 39.  Habiger in a past life was a bartender and a teacher.  He said when he created Room 39 he wanted it to be a fine dining experience for everyone “from the hippies around the corner to people in suit jackets”.  His passion is that food brings people together.  He’s a story teller and rattles off how he used to take young college kids out for a meal on the college’s dime. Room 39 showcases dishes based local produce and livestock.  Habiger has developed relationships with the farmers joking, “Sometimes we’ll talk for 30 minutes before we actually get down to business.” He smiles as he tells us about a 70 year old farmer he gets mushrooms and nettles from.  Nettles typically grow in early spring but they found a variety that grows in the summer and this farmer agreed to grow them for the restaurant. There is this partnership with farmer and what we see on the plate that makes the food somehow even more magnificent. During our meal Ted takes the time to explain what things are, where they have come from, and sometimes even about where the idea came from to create a dish.  He’s gracious and inspiring- he might be my favorite thing in the whole restaurant. It was really refreshing and fully charged my heart meter to see someone so in love with what they do.  Room 39 has tables with lit candles and linen tablecloths. A question was raised about how much each linen cost per table- the answer is $6.  He spends $6 even before you’ve ordered anything off the menu.  In a world filled with greed and the bottom line is always scrutinized, here’s someone that just wants you to have an experience.  That’s what this is really about, the experience.

The Bite Club had a five course tasting.  We started with the Charcuterie Plate: foie gras torchon, chicharrones, duck rillette, and lamb pate with mustard, capers, housemade pickles and peach-jalapeno jam.

 

If you are like me, you have no idea how to say foie gras properly or even know what it is. It’s a duck liver cooked in it’s own fat. And if I’m honest, it’s delightful. The texture is strange, like a meat butter.  The flavor is soft and with a hint of sweetness. I thought it was great with the peach-jalapeno jam.  The duck rillette was also very good and added a great smokey contrast to the rest of the plate.

Second course, an excellent watermelon salad with queso fresco and jalapeno vinaigrette.  Again we have the sweet and spicy theme that carries out throughout the whole meal.  The watermelon was of two different seedless varieties from Simply Foods in Milo, Missouri.

Third course had everyone was head over heels in love, including myself.  We had a savory goat cheese gnocchi with lobster, local mushrooms, and nettle cream.   First, did you even know you could eat nettles? I certainly didn’t.  The dish smells like heaven in a bowl- you can smell the lobster and the mushrooms just as the plates are being sat in front of us.  Ted says we really shouldn’t call it gnocchi because there is no potato- just goat cheese, flour, and milk. By far the most amazing thing I’ve eaten in a long time.  The combination of the goat cheese and lobster just made my toes curl.  I would have licked the bowl if I didn’t think it’d be inappropriate to my dinner companions.

The fourth course, main course we were able to choose one of four entrees.  As an avid meat lover, I went with the locally raised grilled steak with smashed Thane potatoes, Mexican elote, and chimichurri.  The steak was fabulous as one would expect from the quality of food we’d already seen here at Room 39 but what floored me even more was the Mexican elote. It’s a Mexican street food.  A grilled corn cob with cheese and a chipotle sauce.  Street food with a steak? I’m totally in. What a whimsical delicious combination.

Our fifth and final course was dessert.  They brought plates of each dessert for us to sample. My favorites were the pizzelles, Italian waffle cookies, with ice cream and the churros with this amazing chocolate sauce.

The experience I had a Room 39 was awesome. I had a great time getting to know my dinner companions and enjoyed listening to Ted talk about his passion for food. He’s truly created a one of a kind place that will stick around for years to come on 39th street.

editors note: Ugh those pictures are terrible and certainly do not do the food justice! My phone is pretty useless! Next time I’ll take a real camera and show you guys some better examples!