Tavern in the Village Upscale but Casual American Style Cuisine

Opened in February of 2011, Tavern in the Village in Prairie Village is definitely worth checking out.

Locally owned and operated, Tavern in the Village’s concept is the vision of owner and Prairie Village native Kelly Manning, an established local restaurateur with more than 20 years in the restaurant industry. The menu is the creation of Executive Chef Lon Froneberger, formerly with The Oread in Lawrence, and McCormick & Schmick’s. It features upscale-casual Ameri- can style cuisine using fresh ingredients and dishes prepared to order.

To complement the refined menu, Tavern in the Village features an extensive wine list and cocktail menu. David Smuckler, winner of 2007 Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition, > is the mastermind behind the handcrafted cocktail list. Smuckler uses only the freshest ingredients and the unique offerings include a Blueberry Cilantro Margarita, a Rosemary Monk and the Rosewater Citrus Ricky just to name a few.

I have been to Tavern in the Village a couple of times and have been quite impressed. My first visit was a media event that gave plenty of insight about the restaurant and samplings of all the great fare offered. My second visit was for a late lunch with my husband. The weather was beautiful so we decided to sit on the patio and enjoy one of Smuckler’s cocktail creations. The drink of choice was a lavender lemongrass drop which features Ketel One Citron Vodka, Coin- treau, lemon, lavender simple syrup, and lemongrass ($9.50). For lunch, we split the grilled beef tenderloin sandwich ($11). It features roasted red peppers, chunky bleu cheese dressing and arugula on a soft onion poppy seed bun. Our server was wonderful; the food was amazing; the cocktail unique and delicious. As far as a third visit goes, I definitely see one in my future as I have my eye on the Tavern Brownie Tower. This brownie features a warm peanut butter caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, what is not to love about that?

Tavern in the Village offers many unique events and wine dinners. Last July they participated in the Northwest Cherries Tree to Table. This promotional campaign chooses one restaurant from each state to send some Rainier cherries to and then have the chef at that restaurant create a special dish using the cherries. Tavern in the Village was honored to be the one Kansas restaurant to take part in this cherry event. To highlight the cherries, Froneberger created a seared duck breast entrée topped with a pink peppercorn Rainier cherry cabernet sauce, which they served on the menu all month.