Remembering One of Kansas City’s Most Lavish Restaurants

In 1974, architect Warren Platner, known for designing Windows On The World in New York and Chicago's iconic Water Tower Place, designed The American, Crown Center's crown jewel of a restaurant perched atop Crown Center, offering spectacular views of Downtown Kansas City and Crown Center Square. Platner called it his Valentine to Kansas City.

The restaurant, known for its timeless design and elegant surroundings, is well-known in architectural circles for Platner's use of wood, glass, and light. Its interior tent of white oak columns branched into a ceiling web of elongated hearts, which gave those dining a feeling of intimacy while retaining airiness.

Yet, The American wasn't just known for its architecture and the designs Platner and renowned graphic designer Milton Glaser brought to it. It was also known for being where some of the restaurant industry's most brilliant talents spent time, including consultants James Berard, Joseph Baum, and Barbara Kafka. Chef Bradley Ogden's first exposure to culinary fame was at The American.

Additionally, the American hosted the James Beard Foundation Dinners, which brought a variety of famous chefs to Kansas City for those events. The American was recognized nationwide as an outstanding icon of fine cuisine, earning a Mobil Four-Star rating, AAA Four Diamond Award, Wine Spectator Magazine's Award of Excellence, and the Chaine des Rotisseurs Hall of Fame Award.

Here's a great short video Crown Center posted about The American and its architecture and design a few years ago:

Then, in 2016, the restaurant surprisingly announced it would be ending its 40-year run as Kansas CIty's iconic four-star flagship restaurant. Its fate is very similar to that of the Skies revolving restaurant. The space is reimagined for private dining experiences and unique pop-up dining experiences that make up what Crown Center calls The American Concept Series.

I miss these iconic restaurants located in landmarks with spectacular views and an air of elegance. No, dressing up and sitting down at a four-star restaurant where you converse politely and try to figure out what fork or spoon is the right one to use has never been my favorite thing.

Yet it's the experience—the breathtaking views. It's being in an iconic landmark building and being seen. It's appreciating the architecture. It's experiencing one of the finer things a city has to offer.

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Although I haven't done it often, whether it was the revolving restaurant atop the St. Paul Raddison, the more affordable lunch buffet in The Signature Room at the Hancock building in Chicago, or some fancy restaurant we went to when my Dad was trying to impress my Grandma that no one seems to remember the name of, the experiences and good memories have stuck.

It's a shame that these places seem to be getting harder and harder to find.