French Market recently expanded both its café and market space at its Prairie Village shop.
Katelyn Umholtz/The Star
There’s now more space to eat a crêpe, then purchase provisions in the same market that’s been a staple in The Shops at Prairie Village for more than a decade.
French Market reopened Aug. 27 after a short renovation period that involved the Quillecs — the family that owns the shop and Café Provence — taking over an empty space to the right of the store that used to house Pride Cleaners, which has since moved in the same shopping center.
Noah Quillec, a partner in the family business and son of the couple who opened Café Provence in 2001, said that about 1,500 square feet was added when they tore down the wall to the right of their market and café. It gives the store and the kitchen more room.
The larger cheese section at French Market. Katelyn Umholtz/The Star
The new space was taken over by the market and is now filled with grab-and-go meals and a bigger cheese counter. Also in the market: More vintage glassware and kitchen goods for purchase, like French cookbooks and linens.
Quillec said he also hopes to eventually rotate out the grab-and-go meals with more seasonal offerings, especially during the holidays.
“(It’s) more efficiently laid out,” Quillec said. “And one area of the French Market is now really the market.”
It brings the space somewhat back to its roots. When French Market opened in 2013, it sold some provisions and grab-and-go food like homemade soups, seasonal quiche and classic French dishes ready for reheating.
But when they added the café in 2019, it took space away from the market and put shoppers and diners into one, sometimes long line.
French Market has expanded both its cafe and market space at its Prairie Village storefront. Katelyn Umholtz/The Star
Now guests there for a midday latte, croque monsieur or a Sancerre wine can check out separately and quicker.
Its breakfast, lunch and dinner menus aren’t changing, but thanks to a bigger pastry case, there is more availability of sweet treats like cakes and tarts.
Two weeks after they introduced the revamped space to their guests, Quillec admitted that they’re still finding ways to fill up the space.
“(More space) has been a huge relief on some levels,” Quillec said. “At the same time, we see all this empty space, and we’re really not used to that. We’re trying to fill it up as soon as we can.”
He doesn’t imagine that will be a problem come holiday season. And anyway, he said, guests seem happy about the additional space.
French Market is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The café serves breakfast until 11 a.m., lunch until 3 p.m. and dinner until closing. The address is 6943 Tomahawk Road in Prairie Village.
Katelyn Umholtz
The Kansas City Star
Katelyn Umholtz is The Star’s Food Insider and covers Kansas City’s restaurant scene and food and beverage news. She comes to Kansas City from Boston, where she was an award-winning food and restaurant reporter for Boston.com and the Boston Globe Media Partners. She has worked in newsrooms across the country for nearly a decade as an education journalist, breaking news reporter and editor. Katelyn is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she studied journalism.
Dining and Cooking