Chef John C. Smith and his business partner, Erik Gaucher, have spent a little over a year trying to find just the right place to open up their Southern-inspired “meat and three” restaurant called EJ’s Urban Eatery.
After walking away from a deal that would have landed them in the Po’s Dumpling Bar space on 39th Street, it was an accidental conversation at Trezo Mare, between Gaucher and the man who purchased the former Woodweather Cafe location in the West Bottoms, that led the two partners to cut a deal to lease the former restaurant, bar and the office space next door.
The 100-year old building has had a long history of good food. Located on Ninth Street in the West Bottoms, it was Jerry’s Woodweather Café until 2009 when Jerry Naster, sold it. A new family took it over at that point and opened it as Woodweather Café.
After that, John Sarkis took over the building, and he opened it in the Spring of 2016 as the Screaming Eagle Bar & Grill. He gutted the entire space, adding new brick paneling and natural wood trim, something that Smith and Gaucher have no plans of changing. He also rebuilt the bar and expanded the kitchen, adding a smoker to the long list of kitchen equipment he added to the space.
“He was a first time restaurateur, who started this project after his wife passed from cancer, and I think he just got buried underneath making this place run everyday,” says Smith. “It is sad when you see the kind of money he put in the place, and to know he never really got it off the ground.”
Right now, Smith says they have just started the process of getting the utilities turned back on, and putting some elbow grease into cleaning the kitchen equipment and bar.
“Honestly, space really doesn’t need much, and that’s why I am hopeful we will be ready to open as EJ’s Urban Eatery in 60-80 days,” Smith says smiling.
They do plan to add a new, more welcoming, front door to the restaurant, and the old glass block and single tiny glass window will be replaced by a much bigger picture window that will let some much needed natural light into the space.
Smith will be working at EJ’s full time once they get the doors open, but Gaucher says he plans to keep his full time job as Financial Advisor. He is there to help with the “business side of the business,” he says, “while John is the real heart and soul.”
They plan to be open for just breakfast and lunch to start, adding dinner service on Friday and Saturday nights a little later. Dinner will offer a single menu offering more traditional composed plate entrees with a couple of dinner specials.
Breakfast is will be simple, classic and delicious, and lunch is where the “meat and three” menu will roll out. Smith says he plans to offer 4-5 different proteins to choose from and over a dozen different side dishes of which guests will choose three to go with their main meat.
When you ask Smith about the type of food he plans to serve at EJ’s, whether it will be more comfort food or southern inspired, he explains that with a meat and three concept he plans to draw on dishes that cover the entire South.
“Different areas in the south, specialize in different dishes, and we plan to cover the entire south – from Virginia all the way down to Texas,” he explains. “We’ll do hot chicken from Nashville, smoked brisket from Texas, seafood from Charleston and creole from Louisiana.”
He also plans to work with locally sourced meats and produce to keep his offerings fresh, seasonal and always changing. Desserts will also be seasonal, made from scratch and will feature a rotating selection of pies and cakes to tempt those with a sweet tooth.
The large bar and liquor license for the space will allow them to sell beer, wine and liquor and they are starting to look for a rock solid bartender to be the familiar friendly face behind the drinks program for the restaurant.
Brunch on Sundays will be added when a Sunday liquor license is eventually secured, and plans to cater off-site and host private parties at EJ’s Urban Eatery are all in the business plan.
Right now, the two partners are content to stand outside chatting with their new neighbors and waving at every car, truck or motorcycle that passes by as they begin the work to get their doors open. They want to be a friendly new face in the neighborhood.
“Good food always brings people together, and everyone will be welcome at EJ’s, from the ladies who shop for antiques on the weekend to the truck drivers who stop-in looking for a hot meal and to stretch their legs, we also believe that some of the best restaurants in Kansas City are the ones that are in unusual places with lines out of the door because the food is so good people are willing to wait for a table, and that is our hope for this place,” says Gaucher.
EJ’s Urban Eatery, 1414 W. 9th Street, Kansas City, Missouri
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