For Adventurous Tapas

Chef Michael Smith owns two of Kansas City’s most lauded restaurants, his eponymous fine-dining eatery and the adjacent Extra Virgin, a more casual spot with a playful atmosphere (think jewel tones, oversized paintings and a central wood-and-iron bar) and a creative menu of Mediterranean tapas. Go with a crowd and share family-style, making sure not to skip the tuna ceviche tacos, a bright citrusy concoction wrapped in a crunchy toro shell, or the housemade charcuterie. Chef Smith also has an adventurous side, serving stellar options such as the much-talked about duck tongue tacos (if you can sell duck tongue to hoards of adoring fans in Kansas City, you must be on the right track), roasted marrow bones (a heavenly meat butter served with grilled bread and pickled onions) and a crispy pigs’ ear salad (in which the salty, rich pork is perfectly balanced by the bite of the frisee and radish). The James Beard award-winner makes a lot of ingredients in-house, including the bitters and barrel-aged bourbon, so if a cocktail is in your future, order the handcrafted Manhattan.