Politically Correct

Since it's the largest city in Johnson County, Overland Park has always been a magnet for new restaurants -- like the second Golden Ox location, on Metcalf (see review). Neighboring Shawnee is an older town, but it's never had much allure as a dining destination -- even though it has lots of chain restaurants and the weirdly retro Leona Yarbrough. As for fine dining, pickings have always been pretty slim. "Slim? Nonexistentis more like it," says my friend Nancy, who used to live there.

But Nancy's distant cousins, Mary and Mark Mollentine, plan to change all that. Later this month, the couple will reopen a restaurant in the 153-year-old Shawnee home (at 10910 West 60th Street) that, in 1854, was the headquarters for Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder. In the 1980s, two local doctors turned the two-story brick home into a restaurant called The Governor's Mansion, where they served homestyle dishes like fried chicken, but the place fizzled out by mid-decade. The Mollentines bought the building in 1997 and gutted it down to the lathe and plaster, making the first floor a restaurant and special-events facility now called The Governor's Meeting House.

For the past few years, the Mollentines used the home only as a catering venue for private parties and banquets. But its two sunny dining rooms and outdoor porches will be set up for restaurant customers -- by reservation only -- starting April 25. The place will serve dinner on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 to 9 p.m. (The locals like to eat dinner early.)

By Shawnee standards, Mark Mollentine's spring menu is haute cuisine. The appetizer list features crepe triangles filled with warm brie and topped with tropical fruit chutney. He'll have meat and vegetarian entrées and a selection of seafood dishes, including chipolte shrimp on Kansas corn cakes and a roasted salmon filet with a lemon-tarragon cream sauce. None of the entrées will set anyone back more than $20, and the Mollentines have already created a limited but imaginative wine list of moderately priced vintages.

Is Shawnee ready for such an intimate, sophisticated boîte? "Yes," says Mark Mollentine. "We've been asking that question a lot to people around here, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. And remember, this is only a sixty-seat restaurant, so I think we can pull it off."