Jade Jaguar: A Taste of Mexico City in the Crossroads
“Regardless of what you do or which industry you’re in try to become undeniable” is a quote that has carried Gomez through out his career– and into his new Crossroads bar, Jade Jaguar.
Happy holidays! I’m coming at you with the first in a series of highlights on great new cocktail bars downtown. Today, I’ll be introducing y’all to a brand new bar, Jade Jaguar!
I’m pretty sure some you are already quite familiar with this new Mexico City-inspired cocteleria located in the Crossroads since its opening in mid October. Los hombres behind this idea are Manny Gomez and Seth Goldwasser. These two names have become synonymous with the cocktail scene here in Kansas City for years.
I have personally known both these gents since 2017. Gomez comes from quite the pedigree of talented entrepreneurs. For example, his madre is the talented jeweler Georgina Herrera. Kind of a full circle moment since I am pretty sure my first article for MIKC Explore was on Georgina! About the same time, I met Seth when he was working at Port Fonda in Westport then he transitioned to The Town Company. Fast forward to about a year ago, Manny reached out to Goldwasser after finding him on Instagram and noticed his extensive travels to Oaxaca and how much he truly appreciated the culture. Instagram definitely has its pitfalls, but it certainly can be a great tool to meet the right people.
Before their brick and mortar, they began as a pop-up concept. Can you guess, where their first Jade Jaguar pop-up was? Well, if you guessed Le Lounge you are correct! They first popped up about 3 weeks after Le Lounge opened their doors. After that, they had popups every single month up till the opening of Jade Jaguar located on the first floor of Reverb Apartments– amassing a well deserved following before they even opened their doors.
Lets tap into the name, Jade Jaguar. Seth enjoys the process of illiterations. As he was searching around for inspiration, he found out that the Jade Jaguar is a temple room in the Chichen Itza archaeological site in Mexico. You can see a picture of the temple in the waiting area inside Jade Jaguar. In this ancient Mayan temple, there is a red throne room with a red jaguar with jade inlays of spots and eyes. This was the inspiration for the beauty that is this new Crossroads hotspot. Transitioning from Bar Medici to Jade Jaguar was a very quick turn around– completed in only a month. The magic of Manica Architecture did an amazing job with the renderings, and turned the space into a colorful Mexico City-style bar while giving homage to its vibrant culture.
For those of you who want to get out and sway your hips, Jade Jaguar will be hosting el bailongo every other Wednesday with live music. (Tentative to change with events that they have planned in the future, so follow their Instagram page to stay in the know).
“The OG of JC” Juan-Carlos Chaurand makes frequent appearances at Jade Jaguar with his noches de tropical. You will definitely work up an appetite after dancing. Their daily botanas are chef’s kiss thanks to chefs Mitch Fetterling (who has moved on to Scratch Gourmet Kitchen) and Chef de Cuisine Josiah Nielsen. Expect chicharrones, guacamole, tostadas de tuna, sopes, queso fundido and my favorite, a Sonoran style smash burger (La Hamburguesa). For those with a sweet tooth like myself, there will be a couple of options but definitely order the horchata ice cream. Essentially elevated snack and bar food.
To wash down all the delectable cravings you will have a variety of options. Libations will consist of everything from classics like the margarita, mojitos and palomas. Both Gomez and Goldwasser stated that they have the best paloma in town and I might have to agree with them. If you want to be adventurous order “La Bandera”. It uses a special bottling of Vago Mezcal made for Exit Strategy. They use Cuishe agave plant as the base and cut it with a vermouth that has been infused with hoja santa and made for you table side! This will set you back a few extra pesos but well worth it.
Now that you have an idea what Jade Jaguar is all about, head on over and see what all the hype is about. As I mentioned before they are located on the first floor of Reverb Apartments at 1800 Walnut St. Suite 100 Kansas City Missouri 64108. They are opened Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesdays. Weekdays they’ll be open 5pm till midnight with full food menu available till 10pm. Fridays and Saturdays open from 5pm till 1:30am with full food menu available till 11pm. Sundays open from 5pm till 9pm.
“We are here to be a part of the community but still standout and have our own identity,” Seth tells me. It’s a unique identity they’ve built– we hope you get a chance to get to experience it!
