Chef Mitch Fetterling talks working in Michelin Star restaurants, his new role at Scratch and his perfect day in KC

When news broke that Bar Medici, an Italian small-plate hotspot, was closing last September, locals expressed their sorrow in comment sections across the social media stratosphere. The shuttering of the Crossroads restaurant was worthy of lamenting, but many seemed most concerned that chef Mitch Fetterling’s stellar crab bisque pasta would no longer be available for consumption. But there is good news: Fetterling is bringing his talents to a new kitchen, and pasta is definitely on the menu. 

I reviewed Bar Medici, one of several bar restaurants under the Exit Strategy hospitality group, last year and fawned over much of Fetterling’s work. He had crafted a menu that was full of innovative dishes, such as tuna watermelon crudo and mushroom donuts, but still recognizable enough with handmade pastas and meatball appetizers. I praised the crab bisque pasta as nearly perfect, even noting it as “one of the best seafood pastas I’ve had in KC,” so needless to say, I found myself relating to the aforementioned despondent commenters. 

Fetterling, a North KC native, cut his teeth at the Plaza’s Fogo de Chão and Room 39 before taking an internship at a restaurant in Copenhagen, which launched him into the fine dining sphere. He went on to work at the since-closed top-rated Westport restaurant Bluestem, then, most impressively, worked several years at the two-Michelin-starred Saison in San Francisco. What’s it like working in such a high pressure environment? “Intense,” Fetterling says, but also rewarding, if only for the ingredients he was able to work with, which he says are unlike anything found in most restaurants around the world. They are high-end, high-quality and high-priced. At Saison, most cooking methods were rooted in traditional Japanese culinary techniques, whether that’s fish preservation or vegetable fermentation, he says. Fetterling continues to use many of these methods in his cooking styles today.

Now, Fetterling is helming the kitchen at Scratch, a restaurant that recently made a splash when it announced it would be taking over the space that formerly housed the beloved Story restaurant in Prairie Village. Fetterling plans to “refine” Scratch’s menu, he says.

“I like to make things that people are going to recognize,” Fetterling says. “I don’t want them to look at a menu and think ‘I don’t know what that is.’ So my plan is to prepare things that are familiar to people but also slowly introduce new things into the menu so they can have that experience.”

Take, for example, the winter menu item of espresso pasta, which includes flakes of brown espresso and whole wheat pasta filled with sweet potato mascarpone. At a recent wine dinner, Fetterling incorporated a “raw” course with offerings you’d find in an omakase-style restaurant, like a hamachi crudo and fermented Asian pears with shiso and sesame puff rice. 

“We don’t want to be the special occasion restaurant where you only come once a year,” Fetterling says. “We want to be the type of restaurant where you can also come in for lunch once a week. We’re trying to bridge the gap between fine dining and a more approachable style of service.”

As for that crab pasta, Fetterling says it’s not his priority to make it for Scratch’s menu anytime soon. But he’s excited to offer other delightfully polished and delicious dishes, like his lunchtime katsu sandwich, which comes with a fried chicken cutlet topped with gochujang sauce and slaw with miso ginger vinaigrette.  

Mitch Fetterling’s Perfect Day In KC

Rise & Shine

I would go to Hi Hat Coffee in Westwood. The drink I get there is called a Bam Bam. It’s a double shot of espresso with some cream and honey in it.

Produce Run

I love going to the Overland Park Farmers Market every week. I signed up for a CSA box from Happy Hollow Farm there, so I’ll pick that up and then shop around.

Deli Stop

I just absolutely love Italian Sausage Co. Anything on their menu is great, and I’m really excited about them coming to the City Market. I’m definitely getting a sub or a cold cut. 

The post Chef Mitch Fetterling talks working in Michelin Star restaurants, his new role at Scratch and his perfect day in KC appeared first on Kansas City Magazine.