The American Restaurant
How thrilled was I to read in the Kansas City Star that Debbie Gold will be returning to The American Restaurant, where she and her ex-husband, Michael Smith, won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest (first for Kansas City)?
Very.
A few months ago, I lamented the closing of 40 Sardines, the gutsy Mediterranean-inflected restaurant that Chefs Gold and Smith opened together in 2004 after they left The American Restaurant.
One of my biggest dining regrets is that I never ate at The American Restaurant when Gold and Smith cooked there. It’s not in the same galaxy as, say, my regret of missing Gray Kunz at L’Espinasse or Alain Ducasse at the Essex House when that was open. But, the Gold and Smith team at The American Restaurant is considered by many to have been a *golden age* in Kansas City’s culinary history. I look forward to getting a glimpse of that storied era now.
Welcome home, Debbie Gold! I’m glad to hear you’re sticking around; our city needs you!
