Bye Bye, Brett

A friend and I recently wandered into George Brett’s (210 West 47th Street) for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, and the four-year-old sports-themed restaurant was nearly empty. I hadn't been in the joint since I first reviewed it in 2004 ("Home Plates," January 22, 2004), and the interior didn't quite look the same. The décor was still stylishly sleek, but I remembered more photos of George Brett in the dining area when this place first opened. And now there was a stage in a back corner.

"We have bands now," our server explained during one of the few moments we actually saw him anywhere near our table; attentive, he wasn't. "The restaurant is going to undergo a transformation."

"Is it still going to be called George Brett's?" my friend Bob asked.

The waiter looked off into space and said, "It might be called something else. I've heard it might be changed to 210 Fedora."

That would be a tribute, if you can call it that, to the two former restaurants that once occupied this space: the fancy Putsch's 210 and Fedora Café & Bar. Both of those restaurants were created by legendary Kansas City restaurateurs Jud Putsch, Joe Gilbert and Paul Robinson.

Jud Putsch is now nearly forgotten. But in his heyday, he was the proprietor of the first-class Putsch's 210 — a real glamour joint from World War II that closed in 1973. Putsch also had his namesake cafeterias. I probably would have starved my first few years in Kansas City if it hadn't been for the modestly priced meals served at the Plaza location of his cafeteria.

Several years after Putsch's 210 closed, restaurateurs Joe Gilbert and Paul Robinson opened a Parisian-inspired bistro in the location, complete with tile floors, Art Nouveau-style booths and the most popular bar in town. Even in its waning days, Fedora still did a thriving lunch business.

And then came George Brett's, which hasn't exactly pulled in the sports-loving crowds. A few groups of women came in for lunch while I was there that day; meanwhile, the 810 Zone sports bar, just around the corner, was packed. I know because I peeked in after my third-rate lunch at Brett's, and you could barely move inside the 810 Zone's massive main room.

It's going to take more than a name change to score points at 210 West 47th Street.