Nick & Leslie Goellner

Nick Goellner and Leslie Newsam Goellner are the chef-and-wine-director couple behind two acclaimed Kansas City restaurants — The Antler Room (2016) and Anjin (2025) — whose work has earned repeated James Beard Award recognition.

Biography

Nick Goellner finished his college education at the University of Kansas, began his kitchen career at the French Culinary Institute in New York, then spent months traveling and staging in restaurants across Europe. He worked with French chef Alain Allegretti in New York, as sous chef at Boulevard in San Francisco, and with René Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen before returning home to Kansas City.¹

Leslie Newsam Goellner, a wine director with more than two decades in hospitality, drew early influence from Kansas City’s Room 39 while attending UMKC, and later worked for restaurateur Danny Meyer in New York and the Delfina Restaurant Group in San Francisco.¹

In 2016 the couple opened The Antler Room in the Longfellow neighborhood near Hospital Hill.¹ The restaurant is reported to take its name from The Antlers Club, a Prohibition-era speakeasy at Ninth and State Line across from the Armour & Company packing plant, which drew workers with gambling, boxing and jazz — and where Jesse Price and Buster Smith, both formerly of Count Basie’s band, played in a group that included a young Charlie Parker.² Nick has been a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Midwest three times (2019, 2020, and 2023), and the restaurant has drawn national notice.³ In July 2025 they opened Anjin, an izakaya-inspired restaurant in the Crossroads (with partner Drew Little), which was named a Best New Restaurant finalist in the 2026 James Beard Awards — Kansas City’s lone finalist that year.³

Legacy

The Goellners exemplify a generation of Kansas City chefs bringing world-class technique and hospitality home, building intimate, ambitious restaurants that have earned the city national culinary respect.

See also

• the-antler-room
• anjin

Sources

Footnotes

1. “About — Our Story,” The Antler Room — “a neighborhood restaurant owned and operated by Leslie and Nick Goellner, located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri”; menus that change daily. On Leslie Newsam Goellner: a hospitality career spanning over 20 years, “most of her influence came from Room 39 in Kansas City while she was attending The University of Missouri-Kansas City,” then several more Kansas City restaurants, work for restaurateur Danny Meyer in New York, and managing restaurants for the Delfina Restaurant Group in San Francisco. On Nick Goellner: began his kitchen career at the French Culinary Institute in New York after finishing college at the University of Kansas; staging across Europe; work with Alain Allegretti in New York, sous chef at Boulevard in San Francisco, and with René Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen; “Since opening the Antler Room, he has been nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s award for Best Chef: Midwest three times.” ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. “Antlers Club,” Charlie Parker’s Kansas City (Kansas City Public Library / American Jazz Museum project) — the Prohibition-era club at Ninth and State Line, across from the Armour & Company packing facility; gambling, boxing and jazz; Jesse Price and Buster Smith, former Count Basie band members, leading a group there that included a young Charlie Parker. ↩

3. “Kansas City’s Anjin named Best New Restaurant finalist in 2026 James Beard Awards,” KCUR 89.3, March 31, 2026 — Nick Goellner a three-time Best Chef: Midwest semifinalist (2019, 2020, 2023); Anjin opened July 2025 in the Crossroads at 1708 Oak Street with co-owner Drew Little; Anjin a 2026 Best New Restaurant finalist. ↩ ↩²