Chef Celina Tio is going back to her fine dining roots with the opening of Ground Control, her 20-seat tasting room, created to highlight a wide variety of cocktails made from her new spirits label, ANNX Spirits Co. and located in the newly remodeled lower level of the building where Tio also operates The Belfry and Gerard’s Pool Hall at 15th and Grand Boulevard.
The bar is intimate and just quiet enough to hold a conversation. It features white and deep blue painted walls with framed pictures of the artwork found on the ANNX Spirits Co. labels. A gorgeous live edge wood table floats in the middle of the room with high top tables with mid-century modern dark wood chairs scattered throughout. An elegant bar frames a colorful picture of David Bowie, who hangs in a place of honor directly behind it.
At Ground Control, named after David Bowie’s song Space Oddity, guests can enjoy a curated collection of cocktails made by bartender, John Phelps, with Tio’s own Moon Age bourbon whiskey, Boat House gin, 600 Acre vodka and Collection blended straight whiskey along with a menu featuring a handful of luxe small plates. There is also some mezcal and rum drinks on the menu, and a small list of quality wines by the bottle also available.
The current menu has a handful of dishes created by Tio personally, designed to complement the selection of cocktails. The $140 caviar plate features 30 grams of Osetra Molossal caviar, served with blinis and traditional garnishes. She is also serving her famous crab cakes, a roasted cauliflower with an English pea purée and white bean ragu, thick and tasty clam chowder and a wagyu smash burger.
“I wanted to get back to creating menus that come from a specific event. Sometimes it’s a trip, sometimes an ingredient I see, or a single wine,” explains Tio.
Additionally, she has also been quietly offering on the first Friday and Saturday of every month, a 5-course tasting menu for $120 per person (not including tax or tip) with drink pairings, that Tio is hosting and cooking herself with help from her pastry chef and general manager, Darius Thompson.
“For those who have missed the “finer side” of my food, these limited and intimate evenings are just what you’ve been looking for,” says Tio.
Those that only know Tio for The Belfry, might be surprised to learn that fine dining is where her career in Kansas City started. After winning a James Beard award for Best Chef Midwest in 2007 and serving as the executive chef for The American for 6 years, Tio made the bold choice to leave her enviable post at one of Kansas City’s finest dining establishments, to strike out on her own.
The following year she opened Julian, her first restaurant, and much to the surprise of those who had eaten her fabulous fine food at The American, here she decided to specialize in what she termed “feel-good food,” with a menu that was more casual and approachable than fine or fussy, and a killer patio that everyone wanted to be seen on.
During her Julian years, she built a national following by appearing on television cooking shows like “Top Chef Masters” and “Iron Chef America,” and she also invested in her future by purchasing a handsome red brick building in the Crossroads at 1532 Grand Boulevard, where she would open The Belfry in 2014, her cozy bourbon, beer and burger bar. Later, during the pandemic, she would sell the building to Denver developer, Ken Wolf, and together the two of them opened Gerard’s Pool Hall in the front of that space with Tio managing it.
Now, they are focused on activating every inch of space in the building with another room in the works that can be rented for private parties soon.
Ground Control is open Wednesday through Saturday starting at 5 pm, and reservations are suggested (especially for her first Friday and Saturday night coursed dinners) and can be made by emailing events@thebelfrylounge.com or by texting 816-471-7111.
Ground Control, 1532 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, MO, 64108