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the flagship French fine-dining restaurant of the Quillec family in the Shops of Prairie Village, owner-operated for more than two decades and a perennial OpenTable “Top 100 Restaurants in America” honoree; Tier 1 as a long-running, family-rooted KC-metro fixture.

Description

Café Provence is a casual-elegant French restaurant in the Shops of Prairie Village, Kansas, owned and operated by the Quillec family for more than twenty years.1 The kitchen pairs “the fantastic culinary resources of the Midwest with classic French tradition,” working with local farmers and artisanal purveyors to produce a Provençal-rooted menu.1 Executive chef Philip Quillec — a member of the founding family — leads the kitchen and was named Best Chef in the Johnson County Post’s 2024 readers’ awards.1

The restaurant runs lunch Monday–Saturday and dinner Monday–Saturday, with Monday-night French dessert soufflé specials and a seasonally inspired four-course prix fixe offered on Tuesdays.1 Around the corner in the same Prairie Village shopping district the family operates the French Market, a café and épicerie selling Café Provence soups, sauces, sweets, and prepared foods to go.1

Café Provence has been one of Kansas City’s most decorated restaurants: it has appeared on OpenTable’s “Top 100 Restaurants in America” list across more than a dozen years, was named the Kansas City Star’s Best French Restaurant (2024), and has been honored among OpenTable’s “100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America.”12 As of 2026 it remains open, with current hours posted and a Yelp listing updated May 2026.3

Ownership and history

Café Provence is the flagship of the Quillec family’s Prairie Village restaurant group. Patrick Quillec, a French expatriate, and his wife Joanne, a Philadelphia native, settled in Prairie Village and built the restaurant into a Kansas City fine-dining destination.45 By multiple datelines the restaurant was established around 2001: in January 2022 the Johnson County Post described it as a “20-year restaurant,” and the family’s own materials and 2024–2025 coverage describe ownership of “more than 20 years.”21

Executive chef Philip Quillec — a member of the next generation of the family — now leads the kitchen.1 The Quillecs went on to expand the family’s footprint within Prairie Village, opening the French Market in 2013 as a French café/épicerie, and in May 2020 opening Verbena at The Inn at Meadowbrook — an American restaurant reflecting Joanne Quillec’s East Coast (Philadelphia) roots.54 Café Provence remains the French anchor of the three-restaurant family enterprise.

Last verified: 2026-06-17 · Source: Café Provence official site (dinner + lunch menus) · URL(s): https://cafeprovencekc.com/dinner-menu · https://cafeprovencekc.com/lunch-menu · Confidence: High

Provençal-rooted, Midwest-sourced French cooking. Menu is seasonal and subject to change; soufflé dessert specials are offered Monday nights and a four-course prix fixe is offered Tuesdays.6 Prices below are from the current online menus.

Signatures

  • Les Escargots de Bourgogne — Burgundy snails smothered in garlic-parsley butter; $146
  • Filet Mignon Sauce Bordelaise — Beef tenderloin, red-wine bordelaise sauce, potato gratin, vegetables; $556
  • Sole de Douvres Meunière — Dover sole, lemon meunière sauce, fingerling potato, haricot vert; $556
  • Soufflé au Fromage de Chèvre — Goat-cheese soufflé, pea-and-tarragon purée, asparagus, carrot; dinner $28 / lunch $206
  • Foie Gras Terrine — Foie gras terrine, brioche, strawberry-rhubarb compote; $236

Starters (Les Petits Plats)

  • Les Moules Marinières — PEI mussels, onion, garlic, parsley, white-wine butter broth; $176
  • Coquilles Saint-Jacques — Pan-seared diver scallops, mustard-mushroom cream sauce; $23 (dinner) / $30 lunch entrée6
  • Galette de Crabe Bleu — Blue crab cake, Meyer-lemon aioli, mango salsa; $236
  • Pâté de Campagne — Country pork pâté, cornichon, stone-fruit compote; $146

Soups & Salads

  • Soupe à l’Oignon — French onion soup, crouton, bacon, gruyère, beef broth; $146
  • Soupe du Jour — Chef Daniel’s daily soup; cup $8 / bowl $126
  • La Salade de Chèvre Chaud — Warm breaded goat cheese, butter lettuce, mustard vinaigrette, tomato; $156
  • Salade Niçoise — Preserved tuna, haricot vert, olive, tomato, egg, potato, vinaigrette; lunch $186

Seafood Entrées (Rivières et Océan)

  • Le Pavé de Saumon — Pan-seared salmon, pistachio butter, risotto, blackberry coulis; $35 (dinner) / $25 lunch6
  • Filet de Flétan Poêlé — Alaskan halibut, charred green-onion velouté, mascarpone polenta; $456

Meat & Poultry Entrées (Le Terroir)

  • Carré d’Agneau Rôti — Rack of lamb, creamed spinach, fingerling potatoes, roasted garlic; $456
  • Lapin Braisé à la Moutarde — Braised rabbit, potato gnocchi, mustard cream, chorizo, leek; $406
  • Poitrine de Poulet — Amish chicken, morel-brandy cream, haricot vert, fingerling potato; $346
  • Les Escalopes de Veau — Veal scaloppini, lemon-butter-caper, potato gratin, vegetables; $326
  • La Daube Provençale — Classic braised beef stew, carrot, onion, beef–red-wine sauce, fingerling potato; lunch $206

Sources

Disputes

(None active.)

See also

  • French Market — Quillec family French café/épicerie, Prairie Village
  • Verbena — Quillec family American/New England restaurant, Meadowbrook Park

Footnotes

  1. Café Provence — About Us (official site) — https://cafeprovencekc.com/about-us — asserts: Quillec family owned/operated 20+ years; address 3936 W 69th Terrace, Prairie Village, KS 66208; casual-elegant French, Midwest-sourced; executive chef Philip Quillec (JoCo Post 2024 Best Chef); Monday soufflé specials, Tuesday four-course prix fixe; sister French Market nearby; OpenTable Top 100 and Most Romantic awards; KC Star Best French Restaurant 2024. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  2. Johnson County Post — “Café Provence in Prairie Village lands on OpenTable’s ‘Top 100 Restaurants in America’ list again” (Jan 20, 2022) — https://johnsoncountypost.com/2022/01/20/cafe-provence-top-100-restaurants-139835/ — asserts: owners Patrick & Joanne Quillec; described as a “20-year restaurant” (implying c. 2001–2002 founding); repeat OpenTable Top 100 honoree. ↩ ↩2

  3. Yelp — Café Provence (Prairie Village) — https://www.yelp.com/biz/caf%C3%A9-provence-prairie-village-2 — asserts: 3936 W 69th Ter, Prairie Village, KS; open as of May 2026 listing update (282 reviews); current lunch/dinner hours, closed Sunday. ↩

  4. Johnson County Post — “‘It felt right:’ Café Provence owners open American restaurant Verbena at Meadowbrook during COVID-19” (May 18, 2020) — https://johnsoncountypost.com/2020/05/18/it-felt-right-cafe-provence-owners-open-american-restaurant-verbena-at-meadowbrook-during-covid-19-93078/ — asserts: owners Patrick & Joanne Quillec also operate French Market and (as of May 2020) Verbena; Joanne is a Philadelphia native; Verbena reflects the family’s American side. ↩ ↩2

  5. French Market — About (official site) — https://frenchmarketkc.com/about — asserts: French Market founded 2013 by Joanne and Patrick Quillec, who also operate the award-winning Café Provence nearby in Prairie Village. ↩ ↩2

  6. Café Provence — Dinner Menu & Lunch Menu (official site), accessed 2026-06-17 — https://cafeprovencekc.com/dinner-menu · https://cafeprovencekc.com/lunch-menu — asserts: current French menu items and prices — Les Escargots de Bourgogne ($14), Filet Mignon Sauce Bordelaise ($55), Sole de Douvres Meunière ($55), Soufflé au Fromage de Chèvre (dinner $28 / lunch $20), Foie Gras Terrine ($23), Moules Marinières ($17), Coquilles Saint-Jacques, Galette de Crabe Bleu ($23), Soupe à l’Oignon ($14), Le Pavé de Saumon (dinner $35 / lunch $25), Filet de Flétan Poêlé ($45), Carré d’Agneau Rôti ($45), Lapin Braisé à la Moutarde ($40), Poitrine de Poulet ($34), Les Escalopes de Veau ($32), La Daube Provençale (lunch $20); menu seasonal/subject to change; Monday-night soufflé specials and Tuesday four-course prix fixe. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21

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On the record — ks.city/registry/cafe-provence · record updated 2026-06-23