For our sixth meeting of the Supper Club Six, our host Michelle chose a place with a unique concept. You can try on shoes while you are waiting for your table. A new open air center with shops, a spa and restaurants opened in Leawood at 119th and Roe called simply One Nineteen. Soho 119 is a clothing store designed to resemble an art gallery with high end (pricey) designer duds. The space uses screens hung from the ceilings to divide the open floor plan. In the back of the store, there is a gourmet restaurant separated from the store by a glass paned wall.
After meeting at Michelle's for wine and cheese, we headed to One Nineteen for our 8:00 p.m. reservations. Upon entering the store, the women's clothing is on the left and the men's area is to the right. We made our way to the back of the gallery/store--stopping to check out the displays on the way--and were immediately seated. A few other diners were seated in the rather small space. The service was excellent and our waiter was very attentive. In fact, there appeared to be more servers than customers. Staying true to our priorities, we began by ordering cocktails from the martini menu. Our drinks were quickly served and received a thumbs up all around the table. The vodka dirty martini hit the spot. For our appetizer, we ordered a platter of antipasto. Let me remind everyone, this was our second round of appetizers of the evening having consumed about 10 pounds of cheese at Michelle's--but we still devoured the platter without complaint.
Lamb chops with polenta and a pistachio encrusted chicken were among the specials. There was a consensus on the chicken which both Maggie and Michelle enjoyed. Opinions were mixed with regard to the lamb chop and lobster avocado panini. Two of us really liked the lamb chop and panini we ordered while two others were not as impressed with their entrees--finding the lamb too fatty and the panini bread to hard. All in all, the food was fine but the prices seemed steep for the portions. The smaller portions are fine, even encouraged, but the price should also reflect the amount of food on the plate.
Our group did agree that the concept and location are unique (odd actually). Two things I do not expect to find when I dine are gnats and shoes. Shoes I can handle but when gnats crash your dinner party the table becomes a bit crowded. Our waiter apologized several times for the gnats swarming around our food. I'm not sure what caused the gnats--though we had fun coming up with possible theories. It gave dinner kind of a picnic feeling and not in a good way.
We wandered around the store when we were leaving to the chagrin of the wait staff I'm sure. We were the last people to leave the store and they quickly locked the door behind us. No one can argue that the clothing and shoes were not beautiful. If you are in the market for a $625 pair of shoes or a $400 shirt, this store is for you. However, it felt more like a place to go admire clothing for its aesthetic value rather than to purchase anything in the store. We left wondering whether the target customers even exist in Johnson County--especially given the state of our economy at the moment. --Janel
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