Anjin hits James Beard list
Anjin in Kansas City was named a 2026 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant, positioning it inside the national shortlist. (kcur.org) The restaurant sits near 17th Street and Oak by the old Kansas City Star building, and chef/owner Johnny Leach and beverage director/co‑owner Helen Jo Leach say they want guests to try more adventurous dishes in a welcoming setting. (kcur.org)
Anjin, a Japanese-style pub in Kansas City’s Crossroads, is a 2026 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant. (jamesbeard.org) The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists on March 31, 2026, and listed Anjin alongside six other restaurants in the national category. Winners are scheduled to be announced June 15, 2026, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) Anjin opened in July 2025 at 1708 Oak St. in the Crossroads, with about 20 seats at a bar facing an open kitchen. The restaurant serves small plates, skewers and sake flights in the style of a Japanese izakaya, a casual pub built around drinks and shared dishes. (kcur.org) The nomination puts a Kansas City restaurant into one of the foundation’s national restaurant categories after a year when local 2025 nominees did not advance to the finalist stage. KCUR reported in January that the metro had multiple 2026 semifinalists across chef, pastry and bar categories before Anjin emerged as the city’s lone finalist. (kcur.org) (startlandnews.com) Co-owners Nick Goellner and Leslie Newsam Goellner built Anjin to introduce diners to parts of Japanese cooking beyond the sushi-and-ramen frame common in many Midwestern markets. Newsam Goellner told KCUR they wanted a more intimate room, and Nick Goellner said the menu was designed to show “the breadth of Japanese cuisine.” (kcur.org) The menu includes dishes such as a fried Sakura pork collar sandwich, pickled mackerel, skewers and rotating soft-serve flavors like black sesame or strawberry. KCUR reported that reservations are often easiest to find around 5:30 p.m. or after 9 p.m. because prime hours book quickly. (kcur.org 1) (kcur.org 2) The restaurant also extends the Goellners’ James Beard track record in Kansas City. KCUR reported that Nick Goellner, a French Culinary Institute graduate and Kansas City native, had previously earned multiple James Beard semifinalist honors for Best Chef: Midwest through The Antler Room, the couple’s other restaurant near Hospital Hill. (kcur.org) For now, the shortlist is the story: a 9-month-old Crossroads restaurant is one ceremony away from a national James Beard win. (jamesbeard.org)
