The Antler Room is a neighborhood restaurant owned and operated by Leslie and Nick Goellner, located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri. With a focus on the overall experience, we aim to make our guests feel a warm welcome, whether they are coming in for a small bite and a glass of wine at the bar, dinner with a friend, or a celebration.
Our menus change daily with inspiration stemming from seasonal ingredients, certain preparations, or dishes inspired by travels. We only have one ‘must’ for the dishes we serve: they have to be delicious.
If we haven't met you yet, we hope to soon.
Leslie Newsam Goellner
Leslie's career in hospitality spans over 20 years, where most of her influence came from Room 39 in Kansas City while she was attending The University of Missouri-Kansas City. She worked in several more Kansas City restaurants and for restaurateur Danny Meyer in New York before moving to San Francisco to manage restaurants for the Delfina Restaurant Group. She returned to Kansas City to open the Antler Room with her husband, Nick.
Nick Goellner
Nick began his career in the kitchen at the French Culinary Institute in New York after finishing his college education at Kansas University. After graduating, he spent months traveling, eating, and staging in restaurants across Europe. He landed work with French Chef Alain Allegretti in New York, sous chef at Boulevard restaurant in San Francisco and world-renowned Chef Rene Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen before returning to Kansas City, where he and his wife Leslie opened the Antler Room. Since opening the Antler Room, he has been nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s award for Best Chef: Midwest three times.
We are located at 2506 Holmes St., Kansas City, MO 64108.
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The Antler Room has been nominated for 2023 James Beard Award.
Wine Enthusiast has named The Antler Room as a top wine destination of 2023.
The Antler Room executive chef, Nick Goellner, was nominated for the second year in a row for Best Chef in the Midwest region.
Goellner’s globetrotting menu is delivered in small plate format — there are no entrees — via his warm and refreshingly casual clubhouse. Instead of white tablecloths and candles, the restaurant has a long bar, pale wood accents and as much natural lighting as possible.
Husband-and-wife owners Chef Nick Goellner and Wine Director Leslie Newsam Goellner serve small plates inspired by Mediterranean, East Asian and Midwestern cuisine. The wine list boasts international natural wines, including varietal pét-nats and grower Champagnes.
The Antler Room executive chef, Nick Goellner, was nominated for one of the prestigious James Beard’s Awards in 2019 for the Midwest region.
This civilized spot is spearheading the natural wine movement in the country’s dead-center, offering an extensive, international natural wine list, paired alongside a rotating menu of small plates. Dishes are heavily inspired by Mediterranean, East Asian, and Midwestern flavors, showing a unique, complimentary hybrid of various cultures and cuisines. Select by the glass wines are available for just $5/pop on specific days-- though we’d stick around for the restaurant’s extensive wine list, featuring 10+ skin contact wines and a slew of sparkling options.
Mediterranean meets Midwest at this husband-and-wife-run spot—go here if you need convincing that some of the most exciting cooking in America is happening far from the urban centers of New York and L.A. This is what happens when a husband and wife—Nicholas and Leslie Goellner—travel around the country, (him) cooking at and (her) managing restaurants, before returning to their hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, to open the ideal neighborhood spot.
In this edition of Feast TV, Chef-owner Nick Goellner’s talks with us about The Antler Room, Kansas City’s hottest new restaurant located on Hosptial Hill, his experiences and the dishes that are prepared.
2506 Holmes Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
T. 816-605-1967
M. hello@theantlerroomkc.com
