Wichita adds its latest fine-dining restaurant this week, and the dishes are truly unique
Wichita will add another fine-dining restaurant to its roster when chef Josh Rathbun opens his new restaurant — Lotte at 320 S. Market — on Tuesday.
The restaurant, which has taken over the space on the ground floor of Fidelity Bank’s ’s RISE Car Park that First Mile Cantine operated until it closed in April, put on a couple of soft openings over the weekend, and I attended — along with the majority of the food blogger community in Wichita.
I was beyond impressed by the new restaurant, which showcases the skills Rathbun — a Wichita native — has fine-tuned after years leading the kitchen at Siena Tuscan Steakhouse and working in restaurants across the country. He’s created a menu (which you can see, with prices, below) that features dishes unlike those found at other fine dining restaurants. They’re well thought out and composed dishes that capitalize on in-season produce acquired from local farmers — a longtime passion of Rathbun, who once organized a “farm-to-table summit” in Wichita.
Lotte, which is named after the chef’s daughter, 8-year-old Charlotte, and is pronounced “law-tee,” also offers a different type of experience for Wichita diners. The restaurant is set up so that an army of chefs is preparing and finishing plates in full view of the dining room as Rathbun calmly oversees the proceedings and inspects each dish as it goes out. Diners are even able to reserve front-row seats at a bar that faces the line. As the orders come in, Rathbun calls out the dishes, and the chefs repeat him, their voices in unison — a very “yes, chef” moment that those familiar with the excellent FX restaurant drama “The Bear” will appreciate.
I tried several dishes but really loved the Black Truffled Chicken, which featured a melt-in-your mouth serving of chicken whose moistness was achieved by topping chicken breast with a house-made chicken sausage consisting of tender dark meat. It’s served with buttery chanterelle mushrooms and a rich farro porridge. The scallops also were a treat, and their briny saltiness was enhanced by the crunchy pine nuts and sweet golden raisins used as garnish.
The menu, which isn’t huge, also features a salad made with local greens, a sunchoke bisque topped with crab and walnuts, and a couple of vegetarian pastas. Appetizers choices include a tuna crudo topped with crispy shallots, and a bacon-wrapped pork terrine. When’s the last time you saw a terrine on a menu in Wichita?
Other entree proteins include lamb, steak, catfish and an attention-grabbing bone-in pork chop, which is served with brown butter sweet potatoes and creamed greens. The bar also has a menu of craft cocktails, wine and beer.
Rathbun redecorated the restaurant from its First Mile days, adding new paint colors, stylish tables and chairs, and new bar seats. He also commissioned his neighbor — the plant shop and bar Grow — to create an attractive moss wall art piece featuring the Lotte logo in the restaurant’s entrance. During opening weekend, he had the two garage doors on the east end of the restaurant thrown open, which allowed a nice breeze to flow through — along with a few bothersome flies. But they should be gone soon enough.
The restaurant will be perfect for people who want to try something new, who want to grab a nice dinner before a show downtown or who just want a special night out. The only thing holding the restaurant back is the fact that it faces a one-way downtown street that has few other businesses and doesn’t get much drive-by traffic. Lotte, though, looks like it will be special enough to become a destination that people will be willing to search out, much like Cafe Bel Ami, a hidden downtown restaurant that has been in business for 25 years.
Lotte isn’t open for lunch, though that’s something Rathbun has said he may add eventually. Starting on Tuesday, the restaurant’s hours will be 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 3 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant takes reservations at tables.toasttab.com
Lotte menu
