Room 39 in midtown Kansas City hosted a fundraiser this week, serving a five-course tasting menu made with vegetables from immigrant and refugee farmers. The dinner was part of the touring Anti-ICE Supper Club, and sold out more quickly than organizers expected, according to Flatland KC.
A National Dinner Series Lands in Kansas City
The Kansas City stop was organized by Roads & Kingdoms, a media and travel company that runs the series nationally, with tickets listed at $175 per person for a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, according to the event listing on Roads & Kingdoms. The dinner ran Wednesday evening at Room 39, located at 1719 W. 39th Street, with net proceeds designated for Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, known as AIRR. Room 39 owner and chef Ted Habiger built the menu around what local farmers were harvesting that week, with vegetables sourced from Kansas City urban growers, including immigrant and refugee farmers working with Cultivate KC, per the same listing.
Flatland KC reported that Kansas City was the series’ 10th stop and that three local meals were held that week; the Yoli dinner was the second. According to Flatland KC, Roads & Kingdoms selected the city partly because of executive editor Charly Wilder’s local ties and Kansas City’s progressive politics. Wilder, a Kansas City native now living in Berlin, has described the project as a revival of a model Roads & Kingdoms first ran in 2017, when Anthony Bourdain launched the Banned Countries Dinners with chefs from Somali, Persian and Syrian diasporas to address scapegoating under the first Trump administration.
Backyard Barbecue and a Sonoran Menu at Yoli
Flatland KC reported that one of the week’s other events was a backyard barbecue at Yoli Cocina, hosted by owners Marissa and Mark Gencarelli, who founded Yoli Tortilleria in 2017 and focus on Sonoran tortillas made from heirloom corn. The menu included oysters from Brandon Hayden, tacos de discada in the style of Durango from Fernanda Reyes, and cheesy steak lorenzas and chicken wings prepared by Marissa Gencarelli.
Yoli Tortilleria has built a national profile of its own, selling products at Whole Foods and winning a James Beard Award for outstanding bakery in 2023. Roads & Kingdoms reached out to Gencarelli this year about hosting or providing space for an event, according to the Flatland report, and tickets for the Yoli dinner were priced at $95 with proceeds also benefiting AIRR.
Why AIRR Was Chosen as the Beneficiary
Organizers and residents recommended AIRR, a Kansas City-based nonprofit advocating for immigrant and refugee communities across Kansas and Missouri, as the local beneficiary, per Flatland KC's reporting. The group says on its own site that it is working to keep families together and end what it calls the humanitarian crisis facing the immigrant community, according to AIRR. AIRR program director Itzel Vargas said people immediately rallied behind the organization once it was named, telling Flatland the group was left speechless by the support. Vargas said AIRR needs help with court watching and rapid response, as well as donations.
AIRR has also taken a more confrontational public role, criticizing ICE agents operating in Kansas City and alerting community members to enforcement actions across the metro, Flatland reported. As of the Flatland report, AIRR was still tallying the Kansas City event's local fundraising total. The backdrop for that work includes enforcement activity documented elsewhere in the state: a widespread ICE operation continued across southwest Kansas in late September, hitting Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal, according to KCUR. Liberal Vice Mayor Janeth Vazquez said dozens of people had been detained since that operation began, while ICE had not given local officials an exact arrest count, the station reported.
Local farms and enforcement in context
The immigrant and refugee farmers whose produce featured at Room 39 are part of local farm-support programs: Cultivate KC describes New Roots as a four-year training program supporting refugee, immigrant and English Language Learner farmers in developing sustainable businesses. KCTV5’s analysis of ICE records found arrests increased 76% in Missouri and nearly tripled in Kansas from January to October 15, 2025, compared with the previous year, with roughly one in three arrests occurring in the Kansas City metro, according to KCTV5.
How the Series Funds Itself
Roads & Kingdoms organizes these fundraising dinners with partner restaurants. José Andrés, who founded World Central Kitchen, serves as an investor and adviser to Roads & Kingdoms, which describes its mission on its website as a belief that food offers a powerful window on humanity.
The company has organized 20 dinners and counting since reviving the tour format last year, typically holding two to four dinners per city — aiming for at least one limited-seat, high-end sit-down dinner alongside a larger, more casual event in each stop. The series has already visited Minneapolis, Denver, Chicago and Key West, Florida. Related stops elsewhere have shown a wide range of formats and price points: a Minneapolis pizza party at Wrecktangle charged $95 per person for an all-you-can-eat buffet, according to Roads & Kingdoms' listing, while a Chicago dinner at Hermosa listed $500-per-person family-style tickets. Wrecktangle separately raised more than $200,000 earlier in the year following the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, money the restaurant used for meal kits and deliveries to people in need.
Kansas City diner Laura Hughes Cahner attended two nights of events, Flatland reported. A New Orleans event post drew critical comments. The series planned four nights of dinners in New Orleans after its Kansas City run, and New York is among its stops.
AIRR's Need for Support
AIRR has called for volunteers to assist with court watching and rapid response, as well as donations.
