Kansas City has no shortage of restaurants that showcase local products like meats, cheeses, produce, and beer. However, only a select few live on both sides of the “farm-to-table” equation.

That’s where Green Dirt on Oak comes in. On the longer-standing half of the family, you have the meats and cheeses of Weston’s Green Dirt Farm, a sheep dairy farm that has been operating for over two decades. The other half is the beautiful Green Dirt on Oak restaurant and market in the Crossroads Art District. The rustic, multistory spot has put together a menu that’s perfect for showing off the best that its sister farm—and other local producers—has to offer.

Green Dirt on Oak uses as many local, small-batch farmers as they can. Nearly all their proteins come from their own farm, Mac’s Farms, or Buttonwood Farms, and their produce almost exclusively comes from local sources as well.

Sarah Hoffmann, the owner and founder of Green Dirt Farms—and who uses the incredibly clever title of “Big Cheese” in our correspondence—says that every ingredient included on their menu is scrutinized. “If we aren’t sourcing locally, the next test is whether or not a producer is in the running for a Good Food Award,” she says. “The Good Food Foundation tests for quality, but they also have strict sustainability standards for all their categories. If a product wins a Good Food Award, it shows that there’s purpose behind it. Those are the types of producers that we want to support at Green Dirt on Oak.”

Hoffmann’s mentality is shared by the entire team, from Executive Chef Austin Suedmeyer to Director of Restaurants Oskar Arévalo and beyond. It also ties together the different ways you can enjoy Green Dirt on Oak.

On the first floor of their building (located on 16th and Oak Street), you’ll find a daytime cafe that serves lunch and brunch items, along with a small market of prepared items like to-go cheese and charcuterie. Move up a floor, and you’ll be in the dinner space, where shareable plates reign supreme, and Green Dirt Farm cheeses are included in nearly every dish. Finally, the top floor is a rooftop patio—when I went to visit Green Dirt on Oak, we could only order items and then take them up with us. In the near future, they’ll have a limited menu on the rooftop so you can take in the view while someone else brings you all the cheese and cocktails your heart desires.

There are even bigger plans in store for the rooftop space. Once they have their set “Cheese Hour” menu (instead of Happy Hour, naturally) in place, they plan on also utilizing the top story of the building for live events, like ticketed music events and private dining. Hoffmann is also excited to be able to allocate different areas of the restaurant for private events, as the large space has several areas that can be easily kept separated.

Of course, all these fun details don’t mean much if the food on offer isn’t worth it. In our experience, that’s not something we need to worry about. We started with some lamb tartare that easily ranks as some of the best tartare I’ve ever sampled. Veggie-centric dishes came next: root veggies with sunflower oil and a tart, tasty (and surprisingly large) salad were just what we needed to cleanse our palates after the richness of the tartare.

For entrées, we ordered the Mac’s Farm Heritage Pork and the Green Dirt Farms Lamburger. The pork was the perfect combination of textures and flavors—a beautiful sear on the outside of the pork and a few chicharrones lent a luxurious crunch to the dish, and a fruit chutney helped cut through the rich flavor and keep the flavor profile from being too one-note. The lamburger was also delicious, with a markedly different texture than what you’d find in a standard beef burger. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned and, after my first few bites, I’m not sure I set it down until it was gone. Dessert was a cheesecake that—despite us being stuffed— we absolutely inhaled. Cheesecake from a sheep dairy farm? No notes.

The nature of the menu is constantly evolving. Hoffmann says they try not to completely change up the menu every few days, but certain things do have to be altered based on the ingredients they can order. “We don’t want someone to order something on a Wednesday and tell their friends about it, only for them to come a few days later and not be able to find it,” she says. “That said, when you’re ordering local, small-batch items, you can’t always get the same things week-to-week. We’re grateful to have such a talented, creative team who can compose and thrive under a demanding setup.”

Beyond the food, there are many elements to enjoy at Green Dirt on Oak. The space, service, and drinks were all on point as well—a special shoutout needs to be made for the succinct but impressive wine list—and it’s a location that seems just as suited for cocktails and snacks at the bar as it is for a special occasion meal.

Hoffmann says that was all part of the process of bringing Green Dirt on Oak to life. “We’ve wanted to bring a version of our cafe to Kansas City since the farm opened,” she says. “We just knew we’d have to find the right vibe for the city. We found this location in 2021 and really decided it was go-time, starting construction in January of 2022. Every step along the way, we’ve tried to be deliberate about why we were designing or creating certain elements, and we can’t wait to see how things continue to evolve.” The restaurant finally opened for business on April 3rd of this year.

Whether you’re a cheese connoisseur or you’re just starting out, Green Dirt on Oak is a great way to taste what local farms have to offer. Even if you aren’t hungry, you can always just un-rind with a glass of Nebbiolo on the rooftop patio. Just get the cheesecake to take home with you.

Green Dirt on Oak is located at 1601 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO 64108 in the Crossroads Art District. The cheese and coffee shop is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m, with their brunch menu available Thursday through Sunday until 2 p.m. They are open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. through 10 p.m.

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