mizzouatheart "Homegrown Foodie"

Michael Smith is located in the Crossroads District of Kansas City and features local and seasonal food in an upscale setting. The space feels very modern with dark color and contemporary decor, although it has the requisite white tablecloths. The greeter took some time to find my reservation but me and my friends were soon seated.

While the food is spectacular, the experience was somewhat lacking because of the very aloof and minimal service. We were there during a weekday lunch and while it was reasonably busy, it took quite some time to get our check. For three attorneys who are busy, it was a bit too long although we enjoyed the visit. I was more bothered by how unfriendly unpersonable our server was in his manner.

However, the food was wonderful. We each received a generously sized warm yeasty ciabatta roll with perfect room temperature butter. My starter salad was huge, really entree size, full of mixed greens, pine nuts, thinly-sliced pears and a pine nut vinaigrette. I could not really taste the pine nut flavor in the vinaigrette but it was a reasonably good salad. My entree was the braised rabbit with potato gnocchi. I grew up in the country and we actually ate wild rabbit on a few occasions but it’s been years since I tasted it. It was wonderfully cooked, not gamey, but gentle in flavor and texture and melted into my mouth with the velvety gnocchi and creamy sauce. The wild mushrooms added a nice earthy flavor and texture. While it was very rich, the portion was enough but not too much and did not give me a food coma for the afternoon.

Overall, I would visit again but the overall experience was not what I had hoped it would be given the wonderful reputation of the place.