Vora: College Hill Dining Destination

The same year we opened Reverie Coffee Roasters (2013), I decided to move my family into College Hill, one of Wichita’s oldest Eastside neighborhoods. Why did we choose College Hill? Because it had amenities our family desired. It’s walkable, there are businesses to patronize, and it has this charm unlike any neighborhood in Wichita.

There hasn’t been much new development in the College Hill area in the last six years, with one major exception. Uptown Landing, the brand new residential/retail complex is the newest project to be completed.

Vora Restaurant European, a new restaurant (and coffee customer) in College Hill.

Located prominently at the corner of Douglas Ave. & Rutan St., this multi-story building houses Wichita’s newest fine dining establishment, Vora Restaurant European. When brothers Brad & Brent Steven rolled out plans for this new endeavor, specialty coffee was one of the must-haves. Vora offers a menu of traditional espresso-based beverages, as well as specialty drip coffee, for the customers to enjoy with their primarily French and Italian inspired menu.

“We love College Hill and Crown Heights,” said Brad Steven. “Those areas have always been good to us.”

Coffee plays an important role in the European food-service experience. It’s hard to find restaurants that place the same value on their coffee program as they do for their food programs. In my opinion, menus should be of a consistent design and quality from start to finish. “I feel good knowing that our coffee game is just as good as our booze game,” said Brad.

“Espresso is huge in Europe and we wanted a legit machine at Vora,” said Brad. “Andy and the team at Reverie found us the best unit for what we wanted. Couldn’t be happier.”

Vora’s uniquely curved bar creates a welcoming entrance to the dining establishment.

Moreover, it’s great to see coffee being valued as a contributor to the success of the customer experience. Specialty coffee roasters have worked hard to stand tall alongside the restaurant industry. Vora is doing great things to raise the bar for the complete dining experience, and we’re excited to keep working with the Steven brothers.

“Once everything was locked in, we worked on the design, menu, etc. in great detail,” explained Brad. “Eventually we came to the question of coffee,” Brad said that drip coffee initially was an afterthought. He continued, “Andy (Gough) said ‘why to spend all the attention to detail in the restaurant but pour bad coffee?’ After that conversation with Andy and Jason, I realized that we needed their high-quality drip coffee, too.”

If you go to Vora for lunch or dinner, expect to find a variety of rustic prepared dishes, rich with layered flavors, such as Filet au Poivre and Osso Bucco. On my first visit, I enjoyed Orange Roughy Meuniere, a pan-seared fish with lemon parsley butter sauce.

Vora, displaying it’s French made UNIC espresso machine for espresso based drinks.

It’s fun to see the coffee culture in Wichita expand into the whole dining scene. At Reverie, though we depend on coffee sales to drive our success, we are eager to show how completing the dining experience can help drive our customer’s success. Specialty coffee in restaurants isn’t the norm, but it is becoming more visible. And for that, we can be grateful!

Be sure to grab a coffee the next time you are at Vora Restaurant Europe. It is a fantastic way to end a fabulous meal. Cheers!

Andrew Gough, owner
Reverie Coffee Roasters

Vora Restaurant European
3252 E. Douglas Ave., Ste. 106
Wichita, KS 67208
www.vorawichita.com