Dinner at The Providence New American Kitchen at the Hilton President in Downtown Kansas City

Aaron, Caleb, Tara, and I are in downtown Kansas City because later this evening, we are meeting Matthew and his wife Jaclynn at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City to see the premier of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  Arriving early, we realized we hadn’t eaten anything and picked a nearby restaurant that had decent reviews; the Providence New American Kitchen at the Hilton President.

The verdict: It was good, the price was more than reasonable (I think after sales tax and tip, it worked out to $35 or less per person), the food was well-presented, the atmosphere was comfortable, the server nice, but we all walked away – and this is the weirdest thing – feeling ambivalent about it.  The more we think about it, the more we liked it, and when we discuss our individual dishes, we were all happy, but it’s like something out of a fairy tale where there’s magic at work – none of us have any desire, nor objection, to returning in the future.  It’s just sort of … there.  Which makes no sense given how satisfactory everything was.  And it was all of us; this was not something that I was feeling by myself.  That is what makes it even stranger.  I can find no explanation for it.

So, would I recommend it?  I … don’t know.  Maybe Will Smith showed up halfway through dinner and wiped out minds a la Men In Black style?  Tara said it well: “The more I think about it, I liked it”.  That sums it up nicely.