By CHARLES FERRUZZA
Two years ago, The Pitch named Cassis, chef Patrick Quillec's bistro in Leawood's Town Center Plaza, the Best New Restaurant in Kansas City. This week the restaurant's phone service was disconnected.
Quillec has reportedly left town (he didn't return messages left on his cell phone). Quillec, who has opened a number of restaurants in the metro area since his first success, Hannah Bistro Cafe, in 1998, closed nearly as many.
The first Hannah Bistro closed in 2003. A grand attempt at launching an East Side Hannah Bistro in the dining room of a modestly priced Lee's Summit hotel in 2002 was a flop (it closed two years later) and when the tastefully mounted 145-seat Cafe Paris in Overland Park wasn't raking in enough euros (Quillec attributed the drop in business to anti-French sentiment after the start of the Iraq War), it was re-named Hannah Bistro. This third Hannah Bistro was history a year later.
Quillec's longest-running success is Cafe Provence in Prairie Village, which is still very much open and continues to be operated by Quillec's sister and brother-in-law.
The closing of Cassis wasn't a huge surprise to at least one of its former employees.
Culinary teacher and professional sommelier Lisa Burgess was the restaurant's first bartender and helped create the wine list.
"I knew even before I left that the restaurant wasn't going to last," Burgess says. "It opened with a lot of high spirits and enthusiasm, but the necessary structure and procedures needed to operate a successful restaurant were never in place."
"The place just ran out of steam," says another former Cassis associate who requested anonymity.
Even loyal fans of the Brittany-born Quillec are beginning to wonder if his celebrated career in Kansas City has, too.
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It would have also helped if the last manager I saw had been there to take care of business without drinking up the proceeds when she was there. I frequented that beautiful spot and always saw her with a glass of wine sitting down at the bar instead of taking care of the customer. I knew that would eventually hurt that lovely restaurant since it was rarely busy when we where there.
Sad loss for the city and it's foodies, but you need to have a complete package to succeed in any town. My wife loved the decor also.
Luckily we still have Cafe Provence who has a great staff. Love their food too!
Casis could never have succeeded, any more than its predecessor could. At this downturn in the business environment, 6 or 7 better capitalized chain eateries have opened within a quarter mile. Restaurant corps with their test kitchens, marketing staffs and interior designers pretty much beat a skilled cook with a dream every time.
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