Food Critic: Takes Time To Find Your Legs In A New Establishment

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It's bragging rights for being first to the courthouse, so to speak.

Then the journal critics—me included—start their rounds of eating and file their opinions in turn. Most, if not all of them, issue within a week of their last meal.

And then there's my review.

Because KC Magazine works two months ahead of publication, I arrive on the scene like an echo, long after the party is over, often writing about dishes that are no longer on the menu, and sometimes, about staff that has moved on.

So, here I am to tell you about The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, nearly six months after it opened and after dozens of local mouthpieces have already fêted and featured it in their pages, both online and in print.

Normally this lag would be inconsequential. But with The Rieger's opening, time lost was momentum missed. In my five years as a critic for this publication, I have never seen such a strong or promising start by a new restaurant in this city.

Even before chef Howard Hanna and co-owner Ryan Maybee opened their doors in December 2010 after giving a slight facelift, The Rieger boasted a cult following. A large part of the excitement admittedly was for the reopening of Manifesto, Maybee's specialty cocktail speakeasy in the basement of the historic hotel.

But there was also a fair amount of buzz around Hanna's concept in those early days, which was described mouth-to-ear as "nose-to-tail," the banner under which meat and all its butchery byproducts hang their hat. Foodies frothed at the thought of pig parts and game goods.

By my fourth meal there, however, I witnessed something a bit more sensible, a bit more diverse than that. Thank goodness.

If you get no further than the bar, you might peg The Rieger as an old-time saloon with British tendencies. Like the restaurant's full name, it evokes the sepia days of Prohibition. A cast of vested and bearded gents stirs and shakes behind a dark bar, while offering wild boar rillettes, headcheese and a variety of snacks on toast (the best being popcorn shrimp on brioche with a lemony sauce, $3—more po'boy hors d'oeuvre than ye olde potted shrimp on toast you might expect).

But move a little closer to the open kitchen in the dining room, and you'll find a menu that reads like Italy and tastes like the South.

There's polenta and cavalo nero, also known as grits and kale ($21). By any other name, the dish would be just as delicious. The polenta was milky and soft, the greens fleshy and bitter, and it all was served with large cubes of pork shoulder layered with collagen and fat—meltingly soft inside, crispy on the outside.

There's pot pie ($19). This one, big enough for two and made with rabbit instead of chicken, was excellently executed. The filling was rich and thick, full of peas, carrots, garlic and onions, and it was topped with fluffy drop biscuits.

If it's chicken you want, there's that too. Served bone-on, the poussin—an incredibly young chicken—was juicy and tender with crispy, seasoned skin ($19).

At its best, Hanna's food is immensely soulful and incredibly comforting.

If the chef must choose just one totem to hoist, it's The Rieger Pork Soup ($7), a hearty stew that is stretchy with gruyere cheese and threaded with bacon and pork confit. It deserves every inch of press it has received. You must order it.

There are pastas, all in half portions, like a toasted flour fettucine offered as a special one night. Nutty with a whole-grain feel, the noodles came with cauliflower florets.

Hanna's risotto ($11) was creamy, its kernels tender. Mine was stained a glowing shade of orange by winter squash, its mellow sweetness cut by a tart swirl of herbed goat cheese.

A block of lasagna at lunch ($11) was deeply satisfying yet incredibly light. Served on some truly wonderful tomato sauce, the strata of spinach pasta, béchamel, ricotta and Bolognese were almost fluffy. If it weren't for a slightly overcooked skin of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, it would have parted easily with a fork.

You'll also find sandwiches like the Al Capone at lunch—breaded and fried eggplant smashed with olives and mozzarella between two toasty slices of whole wheat bread ($6). It's one of the many vegetarian options on Hanna's menu. So was a carousel of Swiss chard gnudi with brown butter and flakes of ricotta salata ($10). The gnudi, Italian dumplings, were a touch starchy and a tad dense, but the flavors were wonderful.

And the borlotti bean soup ($6), textured with faro, was delicious proof that vegans can eat just as well as carnivores.

In all, I found very few faults on the menu besides veal that was too tough and a weak "tuna mayonnaise" on the classic Vitello Tonnato duo ($9). And while a filet of barramundi, a soft, white-fleshed fish offered as a special one night with a delicious sunchoke puree, arrived with a nicely charred skin, the meat underneath was watery and mushy.

If the restaurant has one weak link, it's the desserts ($6), all of which I've tried at the time this article goes to press. The rice pudding was watery, which wasn't surprising given the use of basmati rice, whose nuttiness I found overwhelming. A mini banoffee pie tasted great, but, seemingly fortified by a layer of hardened toffee, its shell was nearly impenetrable. Better was a dark chocolate tart with salted caramel: The crust was crumbly, the ganache filling was smooth and the caramel was runny and rich. That one was a keeper.

As the reviews that have gone before this one prove, I'm not alone in applauding Hanna and Maybee for opening The Rieger. Together they bring food and drink closer to the center of the current, culinary zeitgeist with local ingredients, thoughtful cooking and a hearty dollop of comfort.

SIDEBAR

Upscale Downstairs

The opening sous chef at the original Room 39, and later executive chef of the members-only River Club downtown, Howard Hanna is no stranger to the Kansas City culinary scene. Saddle up to The Rieger's beautiful, stone-topped counter with a view of the kitchen and watch him in action.

Below the restaurant, Ryan Maybee, Beau Williams and a team of bartenders (including award-winning Arturo Vera-Felicie) mix specialty cocktails in the modern speakeasy bar, Manifesto. Among my favorites is the leathery La Prohibida, musky with mescal, and the Smokin' Choke, dark with applewood smoke, maple syrup and whiskey ($12 each). To see the full drink list and make a reservation, go to The Rieger's homepage and look for the "key."

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