Lunch, Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; dinner, Mon.-Thu., 5:30-11 p.m., Fri.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-midnight, Sun., 5-10 p.m.

Wheelchair accessible. Smoking permitted. Reservations suggested. All major credit cards.

So many restaurants have adopted the European custom of French doors that open to the street, so that the indoors becomes part of the outdoors, and Kansas City Prime, flagship restaurant of the Main Street group, is right in step. These doors were part of its recently completed expansion program, wherein it’s added a new bar area and dining area, with a pianist on every evening but Sunday and Monday. There’s pale-green fabric on the walls and a gold-and-greenish-brown jacquard on some banquettes and tan leather on others. The gold-leaf ceiling echoes the original room, and the feeling is sophisticated and civilized.

People seem to have two minds about Kansas City Prime: Some love it and could go there once a week if their budgets allowed, and others find it overpriced and lacking in good service. Though one would always adore lower prices, my experiences there have always been special. I love to start a meal with a martini, which the atmosphere definitely calls for-- steak and martinis, like blue crabs and beer, are a timeworn tradition. The waiter urges me to try a new vodka, Ulitmat, that few places carry. It is Polish and pure, but at $17 a pop, I'll stick to Grey Goose. On to oysters on the half shell, fat West Coast guys chilling on their bed of ice -- they are one of my favorite appetizers. Of course, they have the usual suspects, like jumbo shrimp (always tender), sweet and meaty crab cocktail and a special of a sushi roll with crab meat and cucumber.

I'm sure you know that one of Kansas City's delights is the Kobe beef, which goes for about $125. I don't think that any steak, even from a cow that lived in a condominium and was daily massaged and fed on beer, is worth that money, but there is a way to taste this wonderful meat without going into debt. Derek Davis, chef extraordinaire, will make up a plate of Kobe carpaccio for two people for about $45. I like it better this way, because a whole steak is usually just too rich.

I've always liked Davis' chopped salad, which contains every vegetable in the garden plus hard-boiled egg and bacon, but that's a meal in itself. Tonight we are urged to try the baked-potato soup with bacon, chives and sour cream, and damned if doesn't taste like a liquid baked potato with all the trimmings! I skip the luscious lobster bisque and nibble on the house-baked breads -- onion, pumpernickel, poppy seed sticks and plain rolls --listen to the welcome, soft piano music and look over the wine list. Sure, it's pricey, with lots of reds that befit a steakhouse, but I find many bottles under $40, and a few half-bottles that are a good price as well. Since I'm the only one who's drinking wine tonight, there are plenty of choices by the glass -- a Rothschild Graves ($9.98) and a Lungarotti Rubesco ($12) -- one for the oysters and one for the steak.

The staff is the attentive type that folds your napkin whenever you leave the table, but when one waiter trips up by bringing the wrong dish to one person, the captain rebukes him. I assume they've heard the complaints about the service and are trying to rectify it.

I have cowboy steak, "a massive rib steak served on the bone," and it is a gargantuan piece of dry-aged succulent beef, running with juices. It easily could serve three people, and it almost does, for I end up taking most of it home. My companion opts for a 2-pound lobster, lightly grilled, deliciously sweet, and it keeps her busy for sometime thereafter. I find the shredded carrots and zucchini that accompany it superfluous, when you can have a side of super-crisp onion rings, or asparagus hollandaise -- all old-fashioned steakhouse treats, and they, too, can feed three people. Only the lyonnaise potatoes disappoint. These are cut in chunks with caramelized onions, and I like them thin, burnt and greasy, more like hash browns.

Of course, Kansas City has a tremendous selection of beef -- Delmonico steaks, strip sirloins, filet mignons, cowboy steak, porterhouse for two, lamb chops and a special of tournedos of beef with seared foie gras and a foie gras cream sauce. Only a man of Davis' girth and inclination (he thinks he's living in the court of Louis XIV) would have the nerve, in this day and age, to serve that dish. For those who eschew meat, he not only has lobster and crab cakes, but he can sear a tuna steak with the best of them.

After this, there is still a formidable array of desserts to get through. Davis' raspberry-chocolate bread pudding has won many awards, but tonight we try a New York-style cheesecake made with farmers cheese that gives it a pleasant tartness.The cheese plate consists of perfectly ripe slices of Maytag blue, a Pyrenees sheep's milk, Tomme and a goat cheese. This comes with white-raisin semolina bread on the side, and a sprinkling of fruit.

Maybe they've heard complaints about the prices too, for Kansas City has instituted a loyalty program on Sundays, that gives you back 10 percent if you spend $200. If there have been any complaints about our cherubic Davis, I can only say that I've been eating his cuisine for many years, here and at other venues. He has a Rabelaisian love of food and expects the same of his customers. He can conjure up some wonderful things when he chooses to, but sometimes, a little complacency can creep in, a little laurel-resting, so to speak. But, when he's on his toes, he's the most underrated chef in town.

Another steakhouse note:

Morton's of Chicago has opened in the Court at King of Prussia mall, and is packing them in. They've wisely joined Ruth's Chris, and Maggiano's Little Italy, by branching out to service the hordes of people who live, work and visit out there. This Morton's, as does Maggiano's for that matter, looks almost exactly like all of the others. Same paneled walls, comfortable booths and dim lighting, same plastic-wrapped meat displays, but the same delicious steaks inside, with unbeatable side veggies -- hash browns, cream of spinach, etc.

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May 22, 2003
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