Interview: Chef Joe West of Kansas City’s Reborn Savoy

Executive chef Joe West made a cheesecake this morning, even though it’s not on his menu. This evening, he’ll make off-menu shrimp and scallops in garlic sauce. And a few weeks ago, he pulled off a chocolate souffle on the fly — all to please nostalgic guests at his brand-new, old restaurant. The Savoy at 21c in Kansas City opened quietly in early July after a four-year hiatus following a kitchen fire. The original Savoy Grill opened in 1903, and in over a century of operation hosted local and national names alike. KC native Harry S. Truman and his wife Bess frequented the Savoy, enjoying lunch in booth number four. (It’s still there, now adorned with a plaque and renamed the Presidents' Booth.) The Savoy was, at the time of its closure, Kansas City’s oldest continually operated restaurant. The menu is new, but much of the decor is not. A quick glance at the new Savoy, reimagined as part of the newest hotel project from boutique group 21c Museum Hotels, doesn’t exactly ev