Anchor, Siena teaming up for monthly beer dinners

March 15, 20134:45 p.m.

Gross and Roth, living the dream

Schane Gross knows beer.

Marshall Roth knows food.

Now Gross, the owner of The Anchor at 1109 E. Douglas, and Roth, the executive chef at the new Siena Tuscan Steakhouse in the Ambassador Hotel at 104 S. Broadway, are activating their wonder twin powers for a new beer dinner series that will launch in a couple of weeks.

The monthly dinners will take place on the second Tuesday of each month in the Siena’s well-appointed dining room. They’ll feature multiple fine dining courses prepared by Roth and his staff, each course paired with a high-end beer that Gross selected.

Mmmm. Ribeye.

The first dinner is scheduled for April 9, and the duo is already taking reservations. Though they haven’t settled on a price or an exact menu yet, at a tasting a few minutes ago, the two were throwing around words such as “foie gras creme brulee” and “bananas Foster.”

Those who want to make a reservation should call Siena at 316-239-7100. Roth has clearance to offer a $119 room rate for beer dinner attendees who want to spend the night.

Also, Roth recently got a good deal on a shipment of Creekstone Farms  14-oz. rib eyes and is selling the beautifully marbled steaks, paired with mashed potatoes and asparagus, for $25 through the month of March.

Look how much he loves his steaks!

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , Filed under Beer | Comments

Valentine’s meal: a week, three days away

Feb. 4, 201311:28 a.m.

This week, I’m busy gathering up information on all the special Valentine’s Day meals being offered around Wichita, and it seems like there are more than usual this year.

The options range from fancy prix fixe meals at places such as The Ambassador’s Siena Tuscan Steakhouse and the Kansas Star Casino’s Woodfire Grille to a funky cheese and beer pairing/ movie screening by Tallgrass Film Festival at the Anchor. A couple of places are putting on wine dinners, including Oeno Wine Bar, which is calling its “Crush.”

Look for the completed list on this blog by Wednesday and in the paper on Friday, then make your reservations.

E-mail me if you are aware of an event that should be included.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , Filed under Holiday specials | Comments

Siena Tuscan Steakhouse opens Friday

Dec. 31, 20123:28 p.m.

Check out the awesome ice balls used at Siena Tuscan Steakhouse’s bar.

They’d originally hoped for a New Year’s Day opening. But managers of Siena Tuscan Steakhouse, the new restaurant inside the Ambassador Hotel at 104 S. Broadway, say it won’t open until dinnertime on Friday.

Its first time to be open to the public and serving from the menu will be Friday evening, when it will open for dinner. (There’s a big party in the hotel tonight, but the restaurant won’t be open in its usual capacity.)

The restaurant is now taking reservations. Starting on Saturday, the restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. It also will join the big Sunday brunch fray.

I wrote a post a few weeks ago outlining what would be on the menu, but I did not mention this very interesting ice ball making device the restaurant has. These balls are supposed to to be superior to cubes for chilling your whiskey and other drinks.

Here’s the restaurant’s new Facebook page, which features food shots, info and more. For reservations, call 316-239-7100.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under About-to-open | Comments

A sneak peek at Siena Tuscan Steakhouse

Dec. 10, 20124:44 p.m.

Every time I’ve driven past the under-construction Ambassador Hotel at Douglas and Broadway over the past few months, I’ve wondered what’s going on behind the paper in the windows.

This afternoon, Marshall Roth, the executive chef at the hotel’s Siena Tuscan Steakhouse, offered to show me.

He gave me a tour first of the 14th floor “Rock Star” suite (amazing), followed by a look at some of the more standard guest rooms plus the hotel’s new banquet and meeting rooms.

Chef Marshall Roth tests out a just-installed banquette in the bar of the about-to-open Siena Tuscan Steakhouse inside the Ambassador Hotel.

We finished the tour at the almost-complete restaurant, where workers were busy putting together bar tables, rolling in new banquette seating and unpacking dishes in the shiny and sparkly kitchen. The dining room is classy and comfortable, with a black/red/grey color scheme. It seats 60, and the bar has another 35 seats.

The plates, bowls, platters and more were the most exciting part for Roth, who said that opening the boxes was like Christmas for him. He spent weeks choosing exactly the right silverware and German made-dishware he wanted. The ones he chose, he said, will give guests a feeling of quality and luxury as soon as they sit down.

Chairs waiting to find their spots inside Siena Tuscan Steakhouse.

He also let me peruse the menu he’s working on, which won’t be set until he does final-stage recipe testing and VIP tastings during the next several weeks. At the moment, it contains several interesting dishes, such as a panzanella salad, first-course pasta dishes such as mushroom risotto, several steaks, a pork osso bucco dish, a seafood stew known as cioppino, and “duck fat fries,” which are French fries cooked in duck fat.

Chef Roth’s beloved German clay dishes, which just arrived.

The restaurant will have a “soft opening” after Christmas, which is for invited guests. Then, it’ll be used as part of the hotel’s grand opening New Year’s Eve event. It should be open for regular service to the public on Jan. 1, Roth said.

Siena Tuscan Steakhouse will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. I’ll update you as construction gets closer to complete.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under About-to-open, Hotel restaurants, Italian food | Comments

Wichita “Restaurant Week” planned

Nov. 29, 201210:36 a.m.

Now this is a cool idea.

The  Boys & Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas is teaming up with Go Wichita and the Kansas Restaurant & Hospitality Association to put on a “Restaurant Week” in Wichita. They’re planning it for June 21 to 30 and hope to get 25 local restaurants involved.

Restaurant Weeks are big deals in big cities, where many of the more expensive, trendy, hard-to-get-into restaurants agree to spend a week offering prix fixe meals to participants. A prix fixe (price fixed) meal is a set, multi-course meal that costs one price. About 30 big cities around the country, including Dallas, New York and Chicago, put on popular Restaurant Weeks. I attended a Restaurant Week dinner at a fancy place in Dallas years ago, and it was memorable. (Even though I can’t remember the name of the restaurant I visited. Ha.)

Restaurant Week won’t be quite the same animal in a smaller city like Wichita, but it could still be fun and offer Wichitans an excuse to try places they haven’t been to. Though organizers haven’t signed up any participants yet, they’ll ask restaurants on the list to donate 10 percent of each meal back to the Boys & Girls Club.

I already know who I’d put on a dream list. The new Siena Tuscan Steakhouse  that will open in the Ambassador Hotel in December has to join in. Harvest Kitchen/Bar inside the Hyatt should, too. I could see Luciano’s on this bill as well as some of Wichita’s ethnic restaurants such as Pho Hot Bistro and Taqueria El Paisa. Maybe this would be a good way for Lakeside Club and Candle Club to lure potential new members, too.

The organizers have promised to keep me updated as plans progress. I’ll keep you updated, too.

In the meantime, let me know which restaurants you think should participate in a Wichita restaurant week. Tell me in the comments section below.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Dining events, Fundraisers | Comments

Ambassador’s planned restaurant has a chef

Aug. 29, 20127:12 p.m.

Siena Tuscan Steakhouse, the upscale restaurant scheduled to open inside the new Ambassador Hotel at Douglas and Broadway when it opens at in December, has named an executive chef.

Marshall Röth, who most recently worked as executive chef at the Hawker Beechcraft Global Delivery Center, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has worked for famous chefs such as David Burke and Todd English.

He started his career at Burke’s Park Avenue Cafe in New York City and also has worked at the Regent Wall Street, at English’s Olives Aspen in the Aspen St. Regis Hotel, at the Palace Hotel in San Fransisco, at Hotel Phillips in Kansas City. He also founded Dog Nuvo in Kansas City with Harry Blasco.

He lives in Wichita.

The Ambassador Wichita will be a 14-story, 117-room luxury boutique hotel. Siena Tuscan Steakhouse will be a fine-dining restaurant featuring traditional dishes from the Tuscany region of Italy. The 2,400-square-foot restaurant will have floor-to-ceiling windows, seating for 100 and a 500-square-foot patio facing Douglas. It will be visible from the street and is expected to open at the same time the hotel does.

It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, provide catering for events at the hotel and serve hotel guests as well as locals.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under About-to-open, Chefs, Italian food | Comments

Siena Tuscan Steakhouse will open in new Ambassador hotel

Aug. 15, 20122:26 p.m.

The Ambassador Wichita, a 14-story, 117-room luxury boutique hotel scheduled to open in December in a historic building at Douglas and Broadway, will have a restaurant on the ground floor — and that restaurant now has a name.

Siena Tuscan Steakhouse will be a fine-dining restaurant featuring traditional dishes from the Tuscany region of Italy. The 2,400-square-foot restaurant will have floor-to-ceiling windows, seating for 100 and a 500-square-foot patio facing Douglas. It will be visible from the street and is expected to open at the same time the hotel does.

It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, provide catering for events at the hotel and serve hotel guests as well as locals. Managers are interviewing executive chef candidates, including chefs from Wichita and from out of town. The chef should be chosen by mid-September.

The Ambassador Hotel Collection also operates boutique luxury hotels in historic buildings in Tulsa and Kansas City, Mo.

I’ll share more details as I get them.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under About-to-open, Hotel restaurants | Comments