New upscale Champagne bar opens in Kansas City weeks after high-profile closure
Fresh on the heels of Champagne bar Ça Va officially shuttering for good in September, Blanc Champagne Bar has arrived just a few short blocks away, at 3835 Main St. in the historic Netherland building.
“I’d say we have the most extensive Champagne list in Kansas City,” said owner Jordin Johnson. “But we’re also trying to make things casual and not so stuffy. We’re doubling down here on making every moment a celebration, which is innately what Champagne represents.”
The restaurant business isn’t totally foreign to Johnson. She was previously a bartender and server at local spots like Mestizo and J. Alexander’s. But she’s taking a leap, having left a job at Hallmark, where she worked in marketing.
“I went through a big life transition where I realized I didn’t want to climb the corporate ladder anymore,” Johnson said. “I went to Europe and realized how much I love Champagne and sparkling wine in general, and I thought there was a niche for something like that in Kansas City.”
With Blanc, she has taken over a space most recently occupied by Boho Sway at the Canary. It includes a ground-floor restaurant and bar with seating for about 75 and a rooftop lounge 11 stories up that can accommodate more than 100 guests.
Johnson has outfitted the ground-floor space with bright colors and floral arrangements. Above the white marble bar are dangling lights meant to represent “floating Champagne bubbles,” Johnson said.
“Canary was more like a hotel lobby type of space that the tenants (of the Netherlands Apartments) would come and go through,” Johnson said. “I wanted us to be a little more closed off to that, so we built a wall between the restaurant and the lobby and kind of separated the back of house from the front.”
The wine list is extensive, more than 65 bottles in all, from $35 bottles of Spanish cavas to a $350 bottle of Bollinger’s La Grande Annee from 2014.
Several high-end Champagnes are also available by the glass, including Bollinger Special Cuvée ($30/$150), Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial ($35/$140) and Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015 ($55/$260). You can also pair that La Grande Dame with 10 grams of Osetra caviar served on a house potato chip or tableside on your hand — that one’s called Baller Bubbles & A Bump, and it’ll run you $100.
“We’re using a Coravin system, which helps preserve the bubbles,” Johnson said. “It allows us to open expensive bottles and have them last a little longer.”
There’s also a Champagne-centric cocktail menu and a zero-proof section for teetotalers and the sober-curious.
The food menu, designed by Chad Tillman and carried out by executive chef Tom Tabone, emphasizes small plates and shared plates. A black sesame ahi goes for $29, a 16-ounce KC Strip with fries for $42.
“From a chef perspective, Chad probably knows the most about Champagne of any chef I’ve ever met, and he was very intentional about making sure everything on the menu pairs well with Champagne,” Johnson said. “So it’s a lot of fried, salty foods that help with the acidity and balance. We have a fried Cornish game hen that you can order with a Champagne split — fried chicken with Champagne is really popular in Europe right now.”
Blanc guests can use the parking lot off Walnut Street behind the Netherland building or the parking lot south of 39th Street behind Hammers Dueling Piano Bar. Blanc validates. If you park behind the Netherland, Johnson said, remember your license plate number and tell it to the host, and they can electronically validate your spot.
Hours for now are 3 to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday. Eventually, Johnson said, they’ll start doing brunch on Saturday and Sunday.
“You can’t have a Champagne bar without brunch and mimosas,” she said.
