Clay & Fire

Clay & Fire is a Near-Eastern restaurant in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood, opened in September 2020, known for Turkish and Middle Eastern fare cooked in a built-in clay oven; it pairs developer-owner Adam Jones with local chef Brent Gunnels, whose menu emerged from a pandemic-era remote collaboration with Turkish restaurateur Orcan Yigit.

Description

Clay & Fire is a Near-Eastern restaurant located at 815 W 17th Street in the Westside neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. The restaurant describes its cuisine as “near Eastern,” centered on Turkish cooking and drawing in dishes from Iran, Lebanon, and surrounding regions. A defining feature is a large clay oven built into the kitchen — described in coverage as roughly eight feet deep — used to bake traditional flatbreads and other dishes, alongside extensive wood-fired cooking.

The menu spans Turkish coffee, mezze, and brunch dishes as well as fire-oven items such as Turkish pide (including a Trabzon pide), khachapuri, Turkish sausage, kebab platters, a “Grandma” pizza, and several varieties of hummus. Service has shifted over time between a daytime brunch/coffee format and an evening dinner format.

The restaurant occupies a converted Westside building and has been positioned as a farm-to-table, fire-driven Near-Eastern concept.

Ownership and history

Clay & Fire is owned by Adam Jones, described in coverage as a real-estate developer, farm owner, and restaurateur. Jones originally planned for Turkish restaurateur Orcan Yigit to lead the kitchen, but when COVID-19 halted international travel in 2020, Yigit — along with his chef and a shipment of fabrics, furnishings, and plateware — was stranded in Turkey.

Jones pivoted to local chef Brent Gunnels, a Westside resident known for Cult of Pi, a home-based, donation-basis backyard pizza operation that had developed a cult following. Gunnels learned the traditional Near-Eastern menu through remote, Skype-based cooking sessions with Yigit and his chef in Turkey, then executed the concept in Kansas City. The restaurant opened in September 2020.

Tier classification

Tier 2. Clay & Fire is independently and locally owned and chef-driven, with strong KC-Westside roots through chef Brent Gunnels and his local Cult of Pi following. It lands at Tier 2 rather than Tier 1 because the founding concept and culinary identity were authored by a Turkey-based restaurateur (Orcan Yigit) rather than originating from the KC owner/chef — a qualifier on the “owner’s own roots” measure — even though execution and ongoing operation are firmly local.

Links

• Website: https://clayandfirekc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clayandfirekc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClayandFirekc/

See also

• westside-kc
• Registry
• blue-bird-bistro

Sources

1. Feast Magazine — “Clay & Fire opens in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood, serving Turkish coffee, mezze and more” — https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/clay-fire-opens-in-kansas-citys-westside-neighborhood-serving-turkish-coffee-mezze-and-more/article_1f42f0ec-f1e2-11ea-87b3-cbd4866e28a5.html — accessed 2026-05-30 (September 2020 opening, address, owner Adam Jones, clay oven, Yigit collaboration, Gunnels/Cult of Pi)
2. KCUR — “Continents Apart, A Kansas City Pizza Chef And A Turkish Restaurateur Help Each Other’s Dreams Come True” (2021-02-28) — https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2021-02-28/continents-apart-a-kansas-city-pizza-chef-and-a-turkish-restaurateur-help-each-others-dreams-come-true — accessed 2026-05-30 (Gunnels–Yigit collaboration, pandemic pivot)
3. Flatland KC — “Near East Cuisine Meets Westside at Clay & Fire” — https://flatlandkc.org/eats-drinks/near-east-cuisine-meets-westside-at-clay-fire/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (concept, Westside, menu)

Verification

Drafted 2026-05-30 from web research; 3 sources. Base data attributed Clay & Fire to “chef Brent Gunnels” as owner; research clarifies ownership is Adam Jones with Gunnels as chef — corrected. Founding year confirmed as September 2020 (base data listed “2020s”). Current hours/service format flagged provisional. Social links (Instagram, Facebook) confirmed.