Scratch Gourmet Kitchen has undergone a remarkable transformation since the restaurant's grand opening. What began as a pandemic-era project has rapidly grown into one of Kansas City’s premier dining and catering experiences.
Tyler Morrison is the owner and founder.
“In July of 2023, Scratch evolved into a destination casual fine dining restaurant focused on creating memorable moments for our guests with a service-forward, small dining approach,” says Morrison. “As we have continued to grow and develop out of an initial Covid opening, Scratch has begun to imprint itself as a best-in-class restaurant and premier catering company in the Kansas City area. Fifteen months later, we now find ourselves fully booked on weekends for both the catering side of our business and the restaurant dining experience. We now have our eyes set on finding a new location to expand the business so that we can continue to grow and serve our loyal customers, as well as the new ones we meet daily.”
As autumn sets in, Scratch’s menu is embracing the season with a creative and ever-changing lineup. The fall offerings will highlight ingredients inspired by local harvests.
“Our menu is constantly changing, which makes working at Scratch so much fun. We get to be creative and inventive while providing new and unique tastes for our guests. This fall will feature a lot of ingredients based on local harvests such as local squashes and gourds, fresh fall corn, and honeycomb from our family-owned farm in central Kansas. The menu will be centered around the idea of providing our guests with elevated comfort food for a fun transition into Kansas City's colorful, cool fall. Each week, Chef Taylor will debut a new weekly chef special that allows him to play with so many fun colors and ingredients.
“Our new fall cocktail program is a culmination of our mixologists' deep love of bourbon, excitement for the upcoming holiday season, and rooted history within speakeasies on the West Coast over the last 15 years. We will debut a curated collection of bourbons from unique, hidden gems to highly allocated, sought-after collector's items. The cocktails will feature new playful techniques, such as the use of smoking bubble guns, seasonal fall infusions made in-house, and riffs off of classic holiday desserts that might just rival your grandma’s best baked goods! We’re really excited to showcase our new menu to appeal not only to the seasoned cocktail aficionado but also to introduce newcomers to an array of interesting spirits and cocktails in an imaginative way that’ll entice you to keep coming back to experience each new release.”
2024 has been an extraordinary year for Scratch, marked by a 175% growth in business and recognition from prestigious institutions. Scratch was honored with the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, a global accolade that places it among just seven local restaurants to receive this distinction. Additionally, the restaurant earned OpenTable’s 2024 Diner’s Choice Award for outstanding food and service.
“Each week we sit down with our wine distributor reps (hint—stop by on Tuesdays at 4:00 p.m. if you want to taste some wine) to go through different wine allocations in the state and taste new vintages. We carry over 55 wines by the glass and 160 unique labels on our wine menu. Each week, after tasting the wines, we select a few and try them out through different avenues. I have a 'Tyler's pick of the week,' where we put out a new wine each week at a special glass and bottle price to gauge our guests' interest in the wine. We also host two five-course wine pairing dinners a month, where we invite the winemaker or national representative of the winery to fly to Kansas City to co-host the dinners with us. Both of these are great ways for us to learn about more wines and create a unique selection to offer on our wine list.”
This year, Scratch is more prepared than ever for the season, having started planning its holiday menu back in March to ensure an exceptional experience for all guests.
“Fall is the best time of the year for dining al fresco at Scratch. We have a beautiful view from our patio that allows guests to enjoy the changing colors outdoors. Our patio is covered with heaters and custom blankets that provide great warmth to our guests while they dine. We are even more excited to be gearing up for the holiday season. From large galas to corporate and social holiday parties, it's really a fun and busy time of the year for our team. This year, we are the most prepared we've ever been for the holiday season. We started planning the holiday season menu in March to create an exceptional product for our guests.”
Scratch Gourmet Kitchen is located at 3939 W 69th Terrace in Prairie Village. For more information, visit scratchgourmet.com.
Article by Allison Swan
Photography by Janie Jones
Originally published in Leawood City Lifestyle