Ah, Julian.  When I first found out that Lance and I were traveling to Kansas City I rushed to make a reservation for Celina Tio’s restaurant.  Chef Tio has been on both The Next Iron Chef and Top Chef Masters and, as an alumn of my high school, I’ve enjoyed cheering for her while she has been on both shows.  I knew we had to eat at her restaurant and I was thrilled that we were able to get reservations. 

Then our flight was delayed and we almost missed our reservation!  Thankfully we were able to go straight from the airport to the restaurant and the hostess was happy to stow our suitcase away.  As a result, these are cell phone photos since my camera was buried in the suitcase somewhere. 

Sadly, Chef Tio wasn’t at the restaurant that night, which is an oddity for her, but the experience was amazing regardless.  While Julian is certainly a fine dining experience, it is not a super fancy place.  The food is homey and comforting, the staff all wear t-shirts.  It was a comfortable and relaxed dining experience that just happened to come along with delicious food. 

baby arugula, local cauliflower, pretzel croutons, mustard vinaigrette
For starters, Lance got an arugula salad.  It was topped with crunchy pieces of cauliflower and homemade pretzel crouton bits.  He loved ever bite of it.