The minds behind a longtime Kansas City wine bar have opened a second location
Since 2011, the Crossroads wine bar Tannin has benefited from its proximity to the T-Mobile Center a few blocks away. Customers stop by before and after shows for a proper meal or drink — a wagyu burger, a glass of pinot noir.
Now the minds behind Tannin — executive chef Brian Aaron, general manager Barry Tunnell, bar manager Brooke Silvey, and owner Major Baisden — have teamed up on another wine bar that aims to cater to showgoers.
Mineral Lounge opened Wednesday at 1700 Broadway Blvd., catty-corner from the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
“I think it can be hard for people coming to the Kauffman to walk all the way down the hill for a drink before or after the show and feel they have enough time,” Aaron said. “So we’re hoping to capture some of that audience. And we have a gorgeous view of the Crossroads from up here, too.”
The 40-seat room was previously used as an event space for KC Cork Dork, a wine storage facility with a social club component. Aaron and Tunnell, who first worked together more than 20 years ago at the pioneering Crossroads restaurant Zin, hosted a few events in the space and felt it had potential.
“It kind of screamed ‘intimate Mediterranean wine lounge’ to us,” Aaron said.
The kitchen at Mineral Lounge is small, and so is the food menu: eight appetizers and two desserts. It includes bay scallop ceviche ($17), a Greek-style heirloom tomato bruschetta with warm feta kalamata olives ($14) and Spanish-tinned fish spread with goat cheese-stuffed peppadews, olives, and crusty bread ($14).
Tannin’s beloved fudge-stuffed peanut butter cookie ($6) also made it onto the menu, alongside a Turkish coffee panna cotta. “We’re trying to marry a lot of different regionalities along the coastal sea,” Aaron said.
Wine is the emphasis, though. Tunnell’s list features 20 wines by the glass, most between $10 and $17.
“We have a glass from Chateau Musar on there, which is a Lebanese winery that Barry and I really love,” Aaron said. “And there’ll be some focus on dessert wines and some Portuguese and Spanish sherries.”
Silvey has devised a spritz-heavy cocktail list that also includes a Mediterranean gin and tonic ($13) and a Summer in Sorrento (vodka or gin, tomato, cucumber, basil, dehydrated cucumber and balsamic pearls; $15).
Hours for now are 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday. Parking is available in a lot just south of the restaurant.
Mineral Lounge joins two other recently opened spots on the West Side. The hi-fi listening bar XO opened at 709. W. 17th St. in June; and the American fusion restaurant Triune debuted at 1656 Washington in late July.
