Jay Sanders was going to open a wine bar. That had been the original plan, at least. In 2021, he had been operating his cocktail bar, Drastic Measures — a James Beard Award finalist — for about a year. Then the shop next door moved away, and he began envisioning a second business for the empty space: a sleek, sophisticated hangout spot his parents might enjoy. But while he was serving drinks at @drasticmeasures.kc one night, a woman out with friends pulled him aside: “I’m gonna order a cocktail, but I need you to not put alcohol in it,’” she told him. “‘I’m expecting, but it’s too early, and we can’t share that yet.” “Absolutely,” Sanders responded, discreetly omitting alcohol from the drink. But the conversation stuck with him long after, making him second-guess his wine bar ambitions. “I was like … ‘What if I made that a space where if you don’t drink, we put just as much care and attention into that?’” Sanders said. At 11022 Johnson Drive, his new bar, Wild Child, is just...