Starting Mon., Aug. 21, Kansas City diners can drink like royalty in a space that oozes international elegance and style when The Monarch Cocktail Bar & Lounge opens to the public at 4pm.
It took a little over a year to bring this highly anticipated cocktail lounge to fruition, but owner David Manica could not be more pleased with how it turned out. To open the concept, he teamed up with Brock Schulte, Kenny Cohrs and Mark Church of Liquid Minded Concepts. “This was a very personal project for me. I love Kansas City, and I believe we have created a unique space for people to come and enjoy a great cocktail,” he says.
The team from Liquid Minded Concepts, including bar consultant Brandon Cummins, have spent the past several months developing the thoughtful and wildly creative cocktail menus for each of the three distinct spaces. These include the outdoor Monarch Terrace, which seats 60, and the Main Bar, which seats 24 at the bar and 50 more in the surrounding lounge. The Parlour is the private room accessible by reservation or invitation only, which seats 15 to 20.
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The Monarch Terrace offers the most casual experience, offering three iced cocktails on draft that were designed to be enjoyed outdoors on a warm day. The Main Bar features the full menu, which is a piece of art all on its own. It is full of craft cocktails, spirits, wine and beer all based on the migratory pattern of the Monarch butterfly. The menu takes classic cocktails and reimagines the flavor profiles to fit the longitude and latitude of where the monarch butterfly travels during its migration.
To that end, look for oaky whiskey and rye-based drinks sipped in the middle of the country during fall as well as sunny rum-soaked cocktails found in the Caribbean. If the monarch flies there, you can find a drink to match that place on the menu. The bar is open seating, and tables can be reserved online. “The drinks and service were designed to be as spectacular as the annual migration of the monarch butterfly,” explains Schulte, who serves as the bar manager. The butterflies are represented on everything from the lighting to the coasters to the monogrammed ice cubes in your glass.
The bar cart will be the first of its kind in Kansas City. Made completely of ash wood by local woodworker and artist Peter Warren, it will make the rounds in the lounge at the bartender’s discretion based on availability and tableside access to the floor. The cart will be equipped to make six different variations of the Negroni or any classic, stirred or thrown cocktail on request.
Finally, the Parlour, with its plush midnight black interior and Midas gold touches, represents the most luxurious and labor intensive cocktails found in the house. Using only the finest high-end spirits, the summer menu features a series of interactive cocktails that, as they unfold in front of you, tell the story of various Aesop’s Fables.
Custom glassware and extensive presentations are involved with each of these cocktails, making them worth their $20 to $30 price point per drink. This is more than a cocktail; this is dramatic theatre. The room also features 12 liquor lockers for private collectors and has its own separate bathroom.
The Parlour can be reserved for private parties or, if no parties are planned, it may be opened for reservations. Up to 10 groups of two people can reserve the space for four 3-hour blocks throughout the evening with a $75 minimum, which amounts to one drink per hour.
Make no mistake: The Monarch is a place where the cocktails come first and the food comes second. That doesn’t bother executive chef Theresia Ota, who loves a good challenge and enjoys making seasonal small plate menus made to pair with whatever the bar team throws at her. From pigs in a blanket made with Broadway Butcher Shop cocktail weenies, Monarch mustard, horseradish and Worcestershire ketchup to $120 Osetra caviar service, there is a dish to delight your palate and pair with your drink.
The 3,500-square-foot space has clearly spared no expense. It has a worldly feel without coming across as too stuffy or pretentious. The space was designed by Manica and his team at MANICA Architecture, and is an amalgamation of all the world-famous cocktail bars Manica has experienced and been inspired by during his travels.
“I wanted to create not just the best bar in Kansas City, or even the best bar in the country. My goal was to create the best cocktail bar in the world with The Monarch,” says Manica.
Make it your goal to come in for a cocktail and enjoy this new gem in Kansas City’s cocktail crown.
The Monarch Cocktail Bar & Lounge will be open Monday through Saturday from 4pm to 1am and Sunday from 11am to 7pm. Reservations are suggested and can be made online a.
The Monarch Cocktail Bar & Lounge, 4808 Roanoke Pkwy, West Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.437.7912, themonarchbar.com