John Brown’s Underground, Saltwell chef named semifinalists for James Beard Awards

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Post updated at 2:13 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24:

Morning text messages usually mean trouble for John Brown’s Underground general manager Dante Colombo, but on Wednesday he awoke to discover a slew of congratulations for the bar being named a James Beard Award semifinalist.

“It was the coolest news ever,” Colombo said. “It was a complete surprise.”

Established in 1990, the James Beard Awards are prestigious recognition for “leaders in the culinary and food media industries, and those in the broader food systems.”

John Brown’s Underground was nominated for outstanding bar, but they were not the only area establishment to receive recognition from the highly regarded, national foundation. Saltwell Farm Kitchen executive chef Rozz Petrozz was nominated for Best Chef: Midwest, which includes Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

This is the second time Saltwell Farms has been recognized. Petrozz was also a semifinalist for best chef in 2024. Both he and Colombo said it was important to remember that it takes an entire team of people to reach a certain level of success.

“It feels really beautiful, but also complicated because the nomination only names me, and I have 20 teammates who helped Saltwell become what it is today,” Petrozz said.

The James Beard Foundation presents 23 awards annually in a variety of categories, but Colombo noted that until recently, many of those awards were concentrated on people and establishments in larger cities. But as the foundation began focusing more on establishments off the beaten path, they discovered bars and restaurants across the country offering unique experiences.

Located approximately 20 miles west of Lawrence in Overbrook, Saltwell Farm Kitchen is not standard Kansas fare. A visit to Saltwell is an experience featuring a six-course tasting menu produced from locally sourced foods. Depending on weather, diners eat either under the stars or inside a historic home on the nearly 170-year-old McKinzie Farmstead.

Opened by Petrozz and Shantel Grace as a boutique catering business in 2021, the restaurant quickly found fans who embraced the culture of fine dining in a rustic setting.

While some restaurants stick with a menu and formula to keep guests coming back, Saltwell looks to its surroundings to change by year, season, and week.

“We are in constant motion, perhaps evolving faster than we can keep up with,” Petrozz said. “But the art of nesting seems to be one of our top priorities, and since we aren’t a business with unlimited funds, we tend to let the farm speak to us when it’s ready for one more baby step of change. It’s safe to say that the organic flow of our hospitality emotions takes the wheel of most decisions.”

In October 2023, Saltwell suffered extensive damage from a fire that started in a laundry room, but firefighters saved the structure and its inhabitants, including a litter of kittens that were unexpectedly born in the basement during dinner service that evening. With determination and the support of loyal customers, Saltwell reopened within a few months.

“The sweetness for us was having the majority of our staff stick with us helping us through the rubble day after day, and certainly it was the support from this one-of-a-kind community,” Petrozz said. “The nominations feel more like the garnish on an already delicious cake. You don’t need it, but damn it’s pretty.”

Jordan Winter/Lawrence Times Saltwell Farm Kitchen owners Rozz Petrozz (left) and Shantel Grace (center) pose with Mia Morrow, the sous chef who saved the restaurant from burning down, and one of their farm cats, Crouton, also known as “Dirty Face.”

On Wednesday, Petrozz was announced as a Beard Award semifinalist in a category for “chefs who set high standards in their culinary skills and leadership abilities, and who are making efforts to help create a sustainable work culture in their respective regions.”

Achieving such recognition doesn’t come easily. Because many of the bars and restaurants on the list in prior years were in larger cities, they had access to products and ingredients that enabled them to stay ahead of trends and offer unique drinking and dining experiences, Colombo said.

Colombo said each year he and his coworkers looked over the lists of nominees to see whose names they recognized and examined how those businesses evolved and adapted in the competitive bar and restaurant market.

When it opened in 2015, John Brown’s Underground operated like a speakeasy that served classic cocktails.

During those early years, the bar struggled to meet Lawrence codes requiring downtown drinking establishments to earn 55% of their income from food. When the COVID-19 pandemic closed drinking and dining establishments for months, it became a make-or-break event.

Many bars and restaurants didn’t survive, but Colombo said John Brown’s Underground used that time to examine how they wanted to hone their “program” as they moved into the future. They decided to focus on “artistically inspired, conceptual menus” and inventive, high-quality cocktails.

The plan worked.

“There were so many challenges, but I look back on it now with some fondness because it gave us a gut check,” Colombo said.

Dante Colombo, managing partner at John Brown’s Underground

Colombo credits current and former managers and staff for helping John Brown’s Underground evolve, but at its heart Colombo said they never lost sight of what they are at their core: a local bar that values people above anything else.

This week, John Brown’s Underground is closed for staff and management to develop a new menu that will launch when they reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

“This bar has lived a lot of lives,” Colombo said. “This is really a cool new chapter.”

Petrozz said that while the accolades are affirming and awards boost business visibility, there is an added sweetness in knowing that his recognition might have meaning for someone else.

“This year, the timing of the nomination is much more crucial for my community than any reservations we may sell,” he said. “As a trans chef, and as someone who is currently being told by the media, and arguably, our country, that I am invisible, hated, and not worthy of human dignity, I am most grateful that the James Beard Foundation is courageous enough to care about those of us who are historically erased from the ballot.”

James Beard Award winners are scheduled to be announced on June 16. A handful of Kansas City-area restaurants and chefs were also recognized as semifinalists.

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Andrea Albright (she/her), reporter, can be reached at aalbright (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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