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Located inside Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Oil on Linen is open Wednesday–Sunday from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. On Thursdays, the restaurant stays open on Thursdays for small bites from 3–4:30 p.m. and dinner service beginning at 4:30 p.m. with a last seating at 7:45 p.m. Weekly dinners feature prix fixe menus with the option to order a la carte.

About the food

Menus celebrate Chef Ted Habiger’s artful approach to the aesthetics, influences, and origins of a dish. Like the museum’s exhibition calendar, the menu will change, and visitors will often find connections between the two, like the Lucía Vidales quesadilla, which Habiger developed with the Monterrey, Mexico-based 2025 Atrium Project artist while she was working on her site specific installation that opened with a ticketed dinner by Habiger in September.

A three-time James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef Award nominee, Habiger is a chef, restaurateur, sommelier, and entrepreneur with a decades-long commitment to local farmers and sustainable practices. He led Cafe Allegro, Kansas City's top Zagat-rated restaurant (1996–2000), served as sous chef at Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe in New York City (2001–2003). Habiger is the owner and chef at Room 39, which opened in 2004 and recently joined the new CPKC Stadium as a vendor for the Kansas City Current. In addition to Room 39, Habiger is chef partner at Ánima, a restaurant in Mérida, Mexico, and he owns a commissary kitchen in Kansas City that supports local food trucks and entrepreneurs.

Rachel Rossin, After GTA V, 2015, oil on canvas, 60 x 78 inches. Collection of Bill and Christy Gautreaux, Kansas City, Missouri. © Rachel Rossin, courtesy of the artist and ZieherSmith, Nashville, TN. Photo: Anna Petrow Mulvihill, 2024.

About the art

Works by artists including Sanford Biggers, Ronald Jackson, Annie Lapin, and Joiri Minaya among others from the internationally acclaimed collection of Kansas City-based collectors Bill and Christy Gautreaux are on view in the courtyard and entrance.

Also on view in the courtyard is a durational drawing titled set in place (mis en place) by Kansas City-based artist Kevin Townsend. This drawing performance began in September and is taking place over more than 200 hours, evolving in full view of diners with each dot capturing the cafe’s dynamic energy.

Frederick James Brown’s floor-to-ceiling site-specific installation of more than 100 paintings, titled History of Art, remains on view in the café gallery as it has since 1994. In the installation, the Brown both paid homage to the artists and styles throughout history that influenced him, and contextualized his own work within that history.

The Toledo chairs designed by Jorge Pensi that were original to the courtyard when it was first enclosed have returned, soft seating has been added to encourage longer and more casual visits, and new custom-made artisanal furniture by Kansas City-based designer Matt Castilleja has been added throughout the space.

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