New Kansas City bar is made for ‘hi-fi nerds,’ and fans of good wine and/or music
For 65 years, the building at 709. W. 17th St. was the domain of Lawrence Brooks.
The squat structure, somewhere around 1,000 square feet, had once been a carriage house. Mr. Brooks, as he is affectionately known in his West Side neighborhood, opened a mechanic shop there in 1957.
In 2021, entering the 10th decade of his life, Mr. Brooks sold his shop. He still lives around the corner, over on Jefferson Street, but the old tires and oil-stained carpet have all been dispatched to the dumpster. The building has been gutted and concrete breeze blocks installed on its street-facing exterior. Beyond those blocks lies XO, a new hi-fi listening bar and restaurant that was set to open Friday.
“The emphasis is on natural wine, cocktails, Japanese-inspired small plates, and listening to records in an environment where there’s a real focus on music and sound,” said Mitchell Foster, one of the owners.
The ownership group includes Foster, William Minter, Jordan Hubner and Noah Manos, who owns the building. A few of them are owners of a similar bar, ESP, in Denver. Johnny Leach, the James Beard Award-nominated chef at The Town Company, created the food menu.
XO’s sound system — the details of which can be seen on its Instagram page, @xo.hifi — was built to cater to audiophiles, and the in-house vinyl record collection features “lots of jazz, blues and soul, but also more esoteric stuff like ambient and fourth-world,” Foster said.
“The collection will be constantly growing and changing,” he said. “And eventually we’ll be encouraging staff to bring in their own records and give them autonomy in purchasing records for the house collection.”
The space, designed by Manos’ firm Paper Airplane, seats 35. Much of the furniture was purchased secondhand from local antique dealers and shops like Retro Inferno. Light fixtures were sourced individually from all over the world, from Japan to the U.K.
“We want it to feel like you’re in a house or a kitchen as opposed to an overly designed restaurant space,” Foster said. “Lighting is so important for that, because nice, warm, indirect, dim lighting is such a great way to put people at ease and invite them to settle in. We wanted to create this portal feeling where you come inside and the outside world kind of melts away, and you’re in your homie’s kitchen getting fed great food and natural wine and talking about records.”
The drinks menu was still being finalized Thursday, Foster said, but expect “a variety of highballs, classic cocktails, and natural wines.”
Leach’s food menu draws inspiration from Japanese convenience store food, or “konbini.” Offerings include a baby red kale and sesame salad with radish and ginger ($8), edamame dip with fried yuba ($9), a nori egg salad sandwich ($11) and a pork curry katsu sandwich ($14).
Hours for now are Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight. They may add a Sunday brunch or an extra night of service based on demand, Foster said. A small patio out back is not yet finished but should be by the end of summer, he added. No reservations, and they’ll only seat parties up to six.
“The thing I love about this concept is that it provides a meeting space for a lot of niche communities,” Foster said. “Hi-fi nerds will love the equipment, natural wine heads will appreciate the wine list, architects and design people will appreciate the furniture and design, and musicians and DJs can come discover new music and have a place to come talk about it.”
The West Side — which boasts several restaurants but few bars — happens to be home to a lot of those types. So far, the neighborhood has been supportive, with strong turnout at the handful of pre-opening events XO has held. That includes Mr. Brooks.
“He stopped by one of the soft openings a few weeks ago,” Foster said. “He approves.”
