Restaurant Preview | Seasons 52

By CowTown Chow | November 4, 2011 at 8:59 am | No comments | Restaurant & Bar Openings, Restaurants + Bars | Tags: Restaurant Openings, Restaurants + Bars

As you all know, we don’t formally review any restaurants or bars until they’ve been opened at least a month or two. Those first few weeks are full of kinks and bugs that need to be worked out and I don’t ever like to punish a place for something that is very typical across the industry. There are reasons why baseball has spring training, or NFL teams play 4 preseason games. They get months to get things ready before the lights come on for real and things count. Restaurants typically get a handful of teaser services where friends and family get to come in and eat for free while the kitchen makes dishes for actual diners, not just the rest of the staff in training, and the wait staff gets to practice on the point of sale systems so that orders get rung in correctly and tickets flow properly. Just a few days of this is not enough to adequately judge a place.

That said, I was given a chance to make my way down to the plaza this week and try out Seasons 52 here in Kansas City before it officially opens Monday November 7th. Situated in the old Eddie Bauer location at the corner of Broadway and Ward Parkway on the Country Club Plaza, Seasons 52 is a unique concept to Kansas City. They tout themselves as “a fresh grill and wine bar that invites guests to discover the sensational flavors of a seasonally-inspired menu and award-winning international wine list in a casually-sophisticated ambiance.”


Artichoke & Goat Cheese Flatbread

One of the cool things about Seasons 52 is that every item on their menu has less than 475 calories, yet they in no way come across as some health crazy restaurant that tries to force feed you cardboard tasting food simply in the name of cutting calories. If this was not actually mentioned on their menu then you would never guess all of the different offerings were created with a nod towards eating right. For that I give them kudos.

Tiger Shrimp Pasta with Lemon Butter Sauce

Upon entering the restaurant you immediately notice the warm rich colors that you’d expect from a high end fine dining Plaza restaurant. Sitting down and looking through the menu, you are however very pleasantly surprised by how reasonable the prices are. Nothing on the menu is priced over $20, and there are a number of options for around $10. The menu at Seasons 52 changes four times throughout the year to reflect the current season. It also has a weekly specials section that changes 52 times a year and is focused even further on the immediately fresh ingredients available. The menu has just about something for everyone, ranging from vegetarian offerings to steak. There are plenty of seafood dishes and a few pastas as well.

Seared Sea Scallops

Our table got a few different flat bread appetizers along with the tuna. We also ordered 4 different entrees and sampled a bit off everyone’s plate before finishing off the meal with their dessert offerings. The desserts are particularly intriguing as the server brings to the table a serving platter with 8-10 individual desserts on it. Each of them are presented in an over-sized shot glass and are just small enough to tempt anyone who wants a few bites of something sweet, but isn’t fully invested in an entire slice of cheesecake, pie, or a chocolate mousse. The satisfy that sweet craving you may have without making you feel guilty for throwing away a decently health-minded meal at the very end.


Spicy Shrimp and Chipotle Flatbread

All in all there were a couple of bumps in the road during our meal ranging from the kitchen forgetting to season the veggies on one entrée, to a couple of appetizers being unavailable because the serving platters were defective. That said overall the food was very good, the service was well ahead of where you’d expect it, and I will definitely be back here in the near future to see how things are once the lights come on and they’re playing for real.