The Making of a Foodie

Wine Flights & Chef's Whites

JP's Wine Bar has become a bit of an obsession as of late. I've been there recently for after work drinks, a meeting or two which ended in drinks and a wine flight before dinner reservations downtown. You name it and I have used it as an excuse to drink a flight or two at this watering hole.

I can't help it, with catchy and clever names for their wine flights like "Get Sideways" and "Like Butta"  names given by their creator Owner/Sommelier/Mixologist Ryan Maybee and I have to say,"I'll drink to that!"

Combine good juice with a beautiful and tasty local cheese plate and other nibbles from hilarious and truly talented Executive Chef Darren Bartley and I ask you; why would want to go anywhere else for a drink and a bite when you are visiting downtown? They make it so easy, don't they? Probably too easy.

Recently, I have discovered my favorite time to visit JP's is Saturday afternoons between the hours of 3 pm - 5 pm. If you happen to find yourself at JP's at that day and time, sit outside on their patio for front row seats to witness the changing of the cooking/serving guard from the Power & Light District as the lunch shift comes off and the dinner shift goes on. See them pass as singles or in groups of 2's and 4's making the long walk across the I-70 bridge either coming from or going to the parking lots around JP's Wine Bar.

Those that are walking towards the Power & Light on their way to work are typically moving briskly and seem somber and serious as they put their game face on to get ready for whatever the night is going to throw at them. Contrast those people with the ones walking away from the Power & Light toward their cars, their homes and freedom. These people are usually half undressed, carrying some portion of their uniform, talking on their cell or texting madly to find out where the party will be that night. If they are walking in groups you might hear laughter, or see a smile on their faces as they talk about their night off and how they plan to spend it.

It is a magnificent sight to see. So many of our city's talented cooks and Chefs proudly sporting their whites as they walk into work. Crisp and clean going in, and dirty and accomplished coming out. Who knows the type of action those whites have seen during their shift on the clock?

You will also see Servers, dressed all in black, carry hats or aprons with color logos that announce to the world which team they are playing for that night. Watch them as they stroll swiftly toward their restaurant head cocked firmly to the left with their cell phone nailed between their ear and their shoulder trying to get that last contact with the outside world in before they have to clock in. See them walking with aprons tucked haphazardly under their armpit, strings dragging the ground as they dig in their purses, satchels or pockets to check for their waiter wallets, a lighter and their favorite wine key . . .or if they are coming off shift see them counting tip money all the way to their cars.

I spoke to Ryan briefly about this daily parade outside his front door, and he said that as more and more of the Power & Light restaurants have opened that parking around his restaurant is becoming and issue for his guests, as they circle around and around looking for a parking spot that never seems to open up. He is working with the city right now to find a happy solution for all.

I hope they do work to find an equitable solution for all, as I would hate to think that my little Saturday afternoon delight could be interrupted . . . permanently.

Honestly, the highlight of my recent patio visit was seeing Chef Rob Dalzell of 1924 Main, Souperman, Pizza Bella and chefBurger fame riding his bike, lickety-split, down the sidewalk right next to JP's patio where I was sitting. He was zooming from the lunch shift at chefBurger down to 1924 Main to spend some time in the kitchen there. Rob is known to ride to and from all of his restaurants during the day to check in, work a shift, whatever the schedule demands. I would have called out to him and chatted him up for a moment, but on his bike, in between shifts . . .and restaurants he looks like a very busy man in need of some uninterrupted time on his bike.

I can appreciate that . . .and him, so I am happy to keep sitting and sippin' at JP's Wine Bar for the best free Foodie show in town.

An Indian Wedding

We were invited to go to our first Catholic Indian wedding on Saturday. We know the groom well. He is a smart, handsome Indian fellow who finally managed to tie the knot with his longtime girlfriend, now blushing American bride. She looked smashing in a stunning bridal gown made of royal blue silk. Both of her hands were ceremoniously covered with an ornate Mehendi, a traditional Indian bridal henna tattoo, and she wore a bindi on her forehead and lovely gold bangles on her wrist.

This event had been a long time coming, and over a year in the making. They both seemed very happy and relieved to finally see this day come to pass. For many reasons they had chosen to wait to tie the knot. It was complicated - between his citizenship status and family living a world away, there was much to figure out before the ceremony could take place. The wedding and reception following at Studio 2131 was one of the most relaxed and enjoyable we had ever been to, and we KNEW the Indian food at the reception was going to rock.  We purposefully did not eat lunch in preparation for the feast that lay ahead.

You see like all good Catholic weddings we were invited to attend the ceremony at the church which started at 1:00 pm and ended sometime around 2:30 pm. Then you go into this odd void known as the "the Catholic wedding holding pattern" while you wander around town all dressed up and no place to go waiting for the reception to begin at 5:30 pm. Strange ritual for the guests, I have always thought. I hope the extra wedding picture poses the groom and bride get out of this deal are worth our monkey suit parade all over town. It worked out fine for us, once we decided we would definitely NOT eat lunch in preparation for the meal ahead. Instead, we found a perch to land outside and enjoyed the awesome day - talking about this and that until it was time to drive over for the reception.

The reception was a lovely affair full of Indian colors, flavors, aromas, decor, dancing and for the brave of heart, free henna tattoos, where you could choose your very own design and have it done right there. What a great idea! Everyone loved it, including me. I patiently stood in line for my henna tattoo behind great grandma's, grandma's, mothers, daughters, and small children too. Young and old, it seems, loved the idea of playing with a tattoo that would naturally wear off in a week or two.

I was watching the two ladies they hired to do the henna tattooing for the event. Aside from the fact that they looked like sisters with their long red hair, long hippie skirts and Birkenstock sandals, they both seemed to have had lots of practice with henna tattooing. The fact that they were able to take hands of all different makes and models and paint a picture of them that looked just like it did in the book, free-handed, was very impressive. I wondered what they did for a living? Henna Tattooing? They did look like they could (very easily) follow the Renaissance Festival for part of the season and then fill in with birthdays and weddings in between for extra cash.

They work from tiny henna bottles that remind you of a small puff paint bottle from the arts & crafts store. They do the design which does, oddly enough, have the consistency on your skin of brown puff paint. When they are finished they spray your tattoo with a little bit of hair spray. You are then expected to hold your (hand, in my case) hand very still to allow the paint time to dry. Once it is dry, then it will begin to flake off, which you will immediately feel panicked about.  Don't worry, the top layer is supposed to rub off to expose the lovely brown henna tattoo stain underneath.

Apparently, you can make your own henna dye and most people who do henna often make their own, however beware of black henna. It apparently does not exist, and some disreputable henna artists were mixing black hair dye and other things into their henna to get a more realistic tattoo look, with very scary allergic reactions.

The food, how was the food, you ask? Spicy hot and delicious. The happy couple hired a local caterer to do the standard American dishes, beef tenderloin, pasta salad etc. and the Indian food was catered from Ruchi's, which I think is one of the best places to eat Indian food in KC.

They had a grand display of both types of food living harmoniously together on the same table. The caterers had their hands full, as not only did they have to keep their dishes stocked, but they were also in charge of freshing up the Indian food as well from what had been delivered to the reception.

There was Ruchi's famous Butter Chicken, Palak Pakora, Rice with vegetables, Tandoori chicken and Naan bread . . .all of the food was really packing some heat, so you know the groom must have asked for it to be "Indian hot." It was worth the water and wine I chugged afterwards, because it was delicious.

So, congrats to the happy couple and for allowing us to share in your special day. We enjoyed ourselves, the decor, the dancing, the henna and the food . . .but most of all we enjoyed watching the two of you so happy together on your special day. Good Luck, friends.

P.S. I guess this will officially count as my first Indian Wedding ceremony, which means another item gets checked off my bucket list . . .for complete details see the bottom of my "About me" page.

Feelin' the Love

Meet Chef Tim Love. He is 37 years old, straight, and a Scorpio from Ft. Worth, TX . . .at least that's what his publicist wrote on his MySpace page. He also wears his trademark cowboy hat in place of a traditional toque. You gotta love a man who leaves his hat on . . .seriously.

His interests are listed as cooking, his wife and kids, Western culture and the Fort Worth Stockyards where he has two restaurants and one bar: The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro his flagship, The White Elephant Saloon his live music and bar venue and The Love Shack his funky cool burger joint that is connected to The White Elephant Saloon next door. He is also a self-taught Chef.

He opened another Lonesome Dove restaurant in The Flatiron District of New York City in 2006, but closed it in 2007 due to underwhelming performance. New Yorkers wouldn't understand a Texas boy's cookin' anyway, besides they see too much faux Western to know the real deal if it hit them on the head. Trust me, Chef Tim Love is the real deal.

"The Fort Worth chef-entrepreneur confirmed recently that he has also sold his west Fort Worth steakhouse, Duce, to Chicago-area chef Efrain Benitez, who most recently was the chef at Tuscany in Chicago's Oak Brook area."

This concept, Duce, was a martini bar with suede couches and funky, modern food. Frankly, coming from a good old Texas boy, the food coming out of the kitchen here from Chef Love was really pretty impressive, even sexy . . .but didn't seem to touch the heart and soul of who he is.

Love also said he is developing a fresh food-to-go concept with Z Market at the company's Dallas/Fort Worth Airport locations. I have read about many nationally know Chefs are doing airport deals right now. Very hot, especially after 9/11.

"Chef Tim Love also won his challenge on Iron Chef, the Food Network show that pits visiting chefs against the show's panel of resident chefs. Chef Love competed against Masaharu Morimoto with the mystery ingredient chiles."

"Chef Love opened his menu with a chile-infused margarita, followed by a surf-and-turf course, and a chocolate-chile cheesecake accompanied by a trio of teas that wowed judge Jeffrey Steingarten."

"Morimoto confessed up front that he wasn't familiar with chiles, but still managed to lose by only one point."

"Savvy viewers might wonder why Love didn't compete against chef Bobby Flay, whose strength in Southwestern cuisine makes him the more obvious foe but who is rumored to have rejected Love's request for a match-up. (A Food Network spokesman says he can't confirm that rumor.)"

"Love and his two assistant chefs wore cowboy hats and repeatedly interrupted the hour-long cooking contest with shots of Tuaca, the vanilla-flavored liqueur served at Duce." Any man that can do shots of Tuaca and still maintain his masculinity . . .is my kind of man.

Honestly, I am in love with Chef Love. . .here's why . . .he's cute, he's from Texas and he is a forager and believer in using local ingredients as his press release describes below:

"In 2003 Love celebrated the late James Beard’s 100th birthday with his first annual trail drive. Traveling with horses and camera crew from Fort Worth to New York City, and then riding up on horseback to farmers’ markets along the trail to select local ingredients, Love’s Trail Drive culminated with a gala dinner at the James Beard House that featured all the products he picked up on the trip north. More than 30 million people followed Love’s trail drive as it was featured in various print publications and NBC’s “The Today Show.”

"In 2004 Love embarked on his second annual trail drive. This time, the trail moved to the West in honor of Love’s participation in the American Express Celebrity Chef Tour, an annual charity event featuring celebrated chefs. This unique philanthropic dining adventure was captured by the Food Network in a documentary, “Cowboys on the Trail,” and was nominated for a James Beard Award."

For me, I'm impressed with the guts it took to pull off something like this in preparation for the James Beard dinner. If you are going to cook for some of the finest foodies in the country, of course you would want the food to be spectacular . . .but food you foraged on your way to the dinner is something else, all together. Watching these videos, I also decided to become a James Beard member . . .with access to discount tickets to events, email updates, etc.

The image in both of these videos that sets my heart all a flutter for Chef Love, is seeing him in the woods on this trail drive with his cowboy hat on and his pant legs rolled up as he is stopping to forage something from a creek bed that he planned to use in his dinner. My bodily reaction to watching this strapping young man physically pull something from the ground with his bare hands that he plans to feed me with touches me in some really profoundly prehistoric and primal way. You would really have to trust that this man knows what he is doing to allow him to do something like this for you. I trust Chef Love, trust me, I do.

As I watched this video . . .over and over and over again, I realized that I needed to figure out a Spring foraging experience that I could do as a newbie to the scene. Something not too dangerous or poisonous, but something where I would feel confident that if I did manage to find it, I would know for sure what it was, and I would feel confident eating it.

My opportunity came in the form of a hunter friend who casually mentioned that he loved coming to our neighborhood during the very short morel mushroom season and foraging for morels. Apparently, my backyard is a hot spot for foragers. Who knew? Then I had a conversation with Chef Marshall Roth and he said this time of year always reminded him of foraging for ramps in Europe with a Chef he worked for over there when he was a young lad. He said they were like a cross between a leek and garlic. Then, Chef Ted Habiger was the icing on my foraging cake . . .when he served me a wild nettle soup as part of a tasting menu at Room 39. He said a farmer friend had brought to him and asked him if he could do anything with it. He knew just what to do with the poisonous stinging nettle leaves. The result was an interesting soup that tasted like a cross between asparagus and spinach with a very mild, "green" taste.

So morels and ramps were my goal, as I set out last weekend on my first foraging experience with my family in our neighborhood. Before I walked in the footsteps of Chef Tim Love and others, I did my research . . .reading websites, watching You Tube videos and dressing appropriately (Basically, like a trash collector in the park, complete with a long stick . . .although I wore my brown Juicy sweatpants, as shown in this picture . . .because God knows where else I would wear them except foraging. Right?)

I learned how important proper dressing was when I pulled three ticks off my son's privates later that night at bath-time after he spent the day following me into the woods in shorts.

The ramps were the easiest to find as they grew like crazy in every field in our neighborhood. But morels, proved to be a challenge and after hacking my way through every thicket of forest in my neighborhood and peeking under every downed Elm tree I could find, I finally gave up after a 3 hour search. I came home with an exhausted child and a nice handful ramps.

Of course, I emailed this hunter friend to see if he had any tips on exactly where he had his luck, and in return he sent me a picture of him holding a 4 lbs. morel that he had just found on his own hunting trip that day. Thanks a lot, friend.

I set to work cleaning and trimming my precious ramps to hold them in my vegetable drawer. I was surprised by the strong onion/garlic scent they gave off during cleaning. Reminding me more of garlic, than of leek. I washed my hands for days trying to eliminate the smell from them. My son, smelled my hands and just said: "You smell like food, Momma."  Indeed. I have used the ramps in several things this week.  A weekend breakfast of scrambled eggs, a white wine and garlic cream sauce and I even threw some into a mid-week stir fry.

So, I applaud you, Chef Tim Love . . .for blazing your own trail onto our American culinary scene and for your ability to capture our hearts and our imagination with your passion for really wonderful and exciting food using local ingredients. Just keep doing it your way, buddy, and make us catch up to you.

And if you ever stop in Kansas and need someone to carry your foraging basket, feel free to give me a call. I know this really great neighborhood in Kansas City that is supposed to have the best stash of morel mushrooms and this Foodie would definitely make the time in her busy schedule for you.

May 2008 Table Hopping

From my column in TASTEBUD Magazine
Table Hopping  - May 2008
“Flippin’ over Burgers!”

Blanc Burgers + Bottles
419 Westport Road
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-931-6200
http://www.myspace.com/burgerandbottle

Eddie Crane, Ernesto Peralta and Jenifer Price, along with new partner Chef Josh Eans, also owners of The Drop on Martini Corner, are working their magic again. This time in Westport, capitalizing on the red hot trend of the gourmet burger bar.  A sleek, all white interior with exposed brick walls are a comforting contrast, making this a hot place to eat or a cool bar to have a drink. With handcrafted ½ lb. tenderloin burgers and a 150 bottled beer list, you will want to do both. Splurge, order the American Kobe Burger with port onions, mustard aioli, truffle butter, watercress on a buttery brioche bun by Farm to Market Bread for $12. ENJOY: Custard milkshakes made from creamy hometown Foo’s custard and Shatto Milk for the most delicious “local” shake around.

chefBurger
1350 Walnut Street
Kansas City, MO 64105
816-842-2747
http://www.chefburgerkc.com

Superstar Chef/Owner Rob Dalzell continues to amaze with his fourth concept chefBurger, one of the few local haunts in the KCP&L District. Dalzell worked for the famous Taylor’s Automatic in Napa Valley when he was a culinary student, and there learned the art of making the perfect burger. You can expect nothing less than that level of taste and quality when you visit his 60’s retro cool burger joint. Light and bright, Dalzell is serving wine and beer along with a tempting list of spiked milkshakes, but this place is less of a watering hole and more of a dining hall. Start basic with the Chef Burger with your choice of cheese for $5.99 and wonder how he cuts perfectly square iceberg lettuce for your burger. CHOOSE: unusual sides over regular choices, with sweet potato fries and fried green beans topping the list.

Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill
817 Westport Road

Kansas City, MO 64111
816-931-1986
http://www.westportfleamarket.com/

Voted KC’s best burger 22 years in a row, “The Flea” was once at risk of being destroyed for a Hooter’s. Enter our hero, Joe Zwillenberg, owner of Joe Joe’s Italian Eatery and Joe’s Burgers both on Main Street, who bought and saved this funky outpost. He hasn’t changed a thing, and when you taste their famous burgers you will know why. A Flea Market Burger is 10 oz. of ground chuck from McGonigle’s, only $7.49 including curly fries. Dress it your way at their toppings bar. VISIT: on “Two for Tuesdays” when the regulars pack the place for “two for the price of one” on Mini (um, made with 5 ½ oz. of meat) Market Burgers and curly fries, 5 pm to close.

Max’s Burgers & Gyros
8240 Wornall Road

Kansas City, MO 64114

816-444-6297   
http://maxsburgersandgyros.com/

The original owner of Max’s Auto Diner passed away in 2005, leaving his restaurant to carry forward in name, but now with a Greek twist. Max’s Burgers & Gyros is a tiny testament to how good meat grilled over an open flame can be. Blame it on the original Greek souvlaki, or the British who visited the islands, but people of Greek descent typically can cook a mean hamburger. Max’s is no exception, if you like more of a flame-broiled burger. Get the Big Max Burger with cheese, only $5.40, with shredded lettuce, red onion, tomato and dill pickle. TAKE: it to-go, place your order then hit the road, the inside dining area is really only big enough to hold the people coming to get their food.

Hi-Boy Drive-In
3424 Blue Ridge Cut Off
Independence, MO 64055
816-861-2677
http://www.hiboydrivein.com

When Larry and Cheryl Comer bought two of the Hi-Boy locations in 1991, with Jim Messick buying the third on Blue Ridge Cut Off from the original owner, they promised to carry on the tradition of making great burgers and sponsoring local baseball teams. Today, they still deliver on both. Thin patty style burgers are some of the best in KC and the most famous player to have worn the Hi-Boy uniform is St. Louis Cardinal, Albert Pujols. Order the ¼ lb. Hi-Boy Burger with their cravable Hi-Boy sauce, pickle, onion, lettuce, tomato and cheese for only $3.89. Onion Rings must sit on the side here. ORDER: between 2 pm to 4 pm and get your soft drinks for half price, during their version of Happy Hour.

Jenny Vergara is a full time Foodie and a woman on quest to develop her palate and herself through cooking, eating, drinking, traveling and writing. She has spent the last 5 years documenting all the restaurants she found along the way in a series of personal restaurant journals she keeps for her own enjoyment. Email her at tablehopping@gmail.com or keep up with her Foodie adventures at  http://www.makingafoodie.com.

Tasty Tibits, Morsels and Nuggets

This Foodie's event calendar really picked up in April. Somewhere between my committee work on Forks & Corks and the event itself last Thursday and the fact that once the weather gets warmer Foodies start heading outside, hosting parties, inviting others to come join them. Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal, (okay, to a Foodie it really means lamb, asparagus, peas and fiddlehead's are back on the menu) and that means the plans that most Chefs and Restaurateurs have been percolating on all winter are finally ready to be tasted.

So in making my rounds this April, here are some interesting things I picked up speaking to different Chefs around town as I have been out and about. These are all things experienced first hand, or told to me by a local Chef or restaurateur. It's good stuff, and I was so honored to be given the scoop on, so I thought I would share it with you. It's like a wedding - something old, something new, something borrowed . . .you know the rest.

Tidbit #1 - Cool Cocktails & Hot Expansion for Justus Drugstore. I was up at Smithville enjoying another incredible meal at Chef Jonathan Justus's and his lovely wife Camille Eklof's place, Justus Drugstore. We came early for a chance to sit at the bar and enjoy a unique cocktail from his charming bartender. I really love their cocktail menu. If you look at the end of the bar you see, glass jar after glass jar filled with fresh fruit and some sort of liquor hanging out together getting happy. We had almost enough people in our party to try all of the cocktails featured on the menu and each one was a standout. My favorite, was the one I got (mostly because it featured my poison of choice, gin) called a Silver Elder Fizz. It was a delightful concoction of (I think these ingredients are close) gin, elderflower syrup, lemon, vanilla vodka and frothy egg whites from Campo Lindo local eggs. It was completely refreshing with the bright citrus and gin waking up your tastebuds while the silky egg whites give it a very rich mouth feel. The vanilla vodka and elderflower syrup were sweet and floral, which gave the drink an innocent perfumed aroma . . .the best cocktail I have had this year. Jonathan said, he likes this drink so much he is thinking this will be one he keeps on his menu for a while. Hurry, while it is on there and get one. Take it from me, this is an award-winning cocktail.

After our meal, and being one of the last tables in the place, Jonathan pulled up a chair and sat down to chat with a lovely glass of red wine in his hand looking every bit a man enjoying his place, his guests and the moment. We talked about life in Smithville, the national press making the circuit through his doors and the new patio that is being poured on the far side of the restaurant. (See cement wall in this photo.) "Just in time for the good weather," he tells me when I ask about the staked off patio and concrete. At this point he is thinking the patio will be a different dining experience than what you would receive inside the restaurant. He sees the patio as more of a faster dining experience with a different menu of small plates that would be available. Patio season in KC just keeps getting better and better.

Morsel #2 - Michael Smith planning to open his second restaurant, Extra Virgin, in mid-June.  I went to the Urban Picnic a week ago hosted annually by the KC Originals as their lovely guest appreciation event and had an opportunity to chat with a strikingly casual and relaxed Michael Smith, who was dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, about his new Happy Hour promotion at Michael Smith. He had said those will be running only until he gets Extra Virgin open in late June. Located next door to Restaurant Micheal Smith, Extra Virgin's address is 7 W. 19th Street, literally in the same building. In an article Hearne Christopher Jr. published in the KC Star on April 10, 2008, Michael Smith describes his new baby this way: “We’re going to do olive oil martinis. And, like, when you walk into the place you’ll see food immediately. There’ll be an open-air kitchen and a patio on the sidewalk.”

As for the new restaurant itself, “It’s going to be very casual fare — hip, rustic foods, small foods,” Smith says. “And we’re taking the bar out of the Michael Smith side and bringing it over here to increase the seating on the Michael Smith side. So it’ll be a 90-seat restaurant. I’m only 70 now.” Smith’s take on having two restaurants side-by-side: “We just feel that one will feed off the other. There’s a customer that wants a Michael Smith restaurant, and there’s a customer who wants something casual.”

This is an interesting strategy, where Michael Smith will be able to utilize both spaces to flow traffic back and forth, potentially never losing the guest to another restaurant. Waiting for your table at Michael Smith? Walk over and sit outside or at the bar at Extra Virgin and sip an olive oil martini while you wait. No room to squeeze you into Michael Smith's tonight for dinner? Head over next door and see if you can snag a table for a quick bite before heading out to a downtown event. Potential cost savings from shared kitchen help, servers and food costs will all be a plus as well.  I have to say, the menu and restaurant theme of Extra Virgin sound very similar to Chef Rob Dalzell, of 1924 Main, (located around the corner from Michael Smith's) Pizza Bella concept. Let's hope there are enough charcuterie-lovers in this town to go around. Count me in!

Nugget #3 - chefBurger's success demands menu change. Speaking of Chef Rob Dalzell, I was lucky enough to be included in a special spring menu tasting at 1924 Main where I had the opportunity to meet, Margarita, Chef Rob's very sweet and hard-working wife. After chatting about the delicious menu whose highlights for me included a Seared Diver Scallop, Crispy Artichokes, Basil Pickles and Crayfish Remulade served with a Champalou Vouvray from France and the Cheese Flight with Accompaniments and a "Jonesy" Port we had a chance to talk about the other concepts, most notable the new chefBurger in the Power & Light District.

I had asked Margarita about the menu change I had seen over the last few weeks since they had been open, particularly the disappearance of the "Build Your Own Burger" component which dominated the original menu at chefBurger, but seemed to be missing on my last visit.

"Rob really wanted the whole concept of chefBurger to be built around the idea that you could have your burger anyway you wanted it, that you could build it from the bun up," she said. "But the reality was it was very time consuming on the line to make these special order burgers."

She also said, that very few people were actually using the "Build Your Own Burger" feature, instead opting to order one of Chef Rob's specialty house burgers.

She explained, the cooks at chefBurger would be flying through the standard chefBurger orders, but when a "build your own" was thrown into the mix it slowed the prep & cook times down considerably, as the cooks had to really study the order to make sure it was customized properly. With the heavy crowds that continue to pour into the restaurant, Chef Rob decided to take them off the menu to provide a faster food to table times and to keep his guests happy.

I have to admit there is something really wonderful about a man who can admit his mistakes and learn from them. How sexy is that?  I personally think that this is a feature that although novel in approach is not a "make or break" component of the concept.

I was assured by Margarita that chefBurger is still happy to add or delete any ingredient from any of their thick and juicy specialty burgers, so you can still "have it your way."

Tidbit #4 - JP Wine bar adds new southern location, and is opening a traditional cocktail bar downtown. Last week, I was met a man named Craig Adcock, who sold me a life-changing rum cake, who also happens to own a successful BBQ catering company in town called Belly Up BBQ. He wanted to make the exchange of cash for cake at JP's Wine Bar downtown, and I agreed.  Of course, given that my new friend also happens to have a wonderful depth of knowledge about wine as well, we decided to stay for a glass of wine, which then turned into a bottle back in the wine locker tasting room of JP's Wine Bar. 

It also gave me an opportunity to talk with Owner/Sommelier Ryan Maybee, about his plans for the second JP's Wine Bar which will be located catty-corner from Town Center at 119th and Roe in the Crate and Barrel Shopping Center. This will be a spectacular location for this concept, and should really fit in nicely with the other upscale retailers surrounding him. Ryan says you can expect this second location to be open by September-October 2008.

But even more interesting and exciting for me was to learn that Ryan is also going to open (not far from JP's current location downtown) a traditional cocktail bar called Manifesto, specializing in hand-crafted, precision cocktails that use traditional ingredients and house cracked ice cubes. Think old-school 'tails. Think Pegu Club in New York City and it's famous mixologist Audrey Saunders who has brought back traditional cocktails but is making them with all of her own mixes and infusions, which brings a fresher, brighter flavor to these long forgotten, but still glamorous cocktails. These may be your grand-daddy's cocktails, but he has never tasted them this good before.

What I discovered in talking to Ryan, is not only is he a "Frosty", or a disciple of Doug Frost (a KC native who is royalty in the wine world for being one of three people in the world who have successfully taken and passed both the Master Sommelier examination and achieved the Master of Wine titles) which would explain his impressive wine knowledge and experience, but Ryan also happens to be a master mixologist. He was chosen as a finalist in the 2007 Vinos De Jerez Cocktail Competition held in New York City last year. Although he did not win the competition he said he was competing against many talented bartenders from all over the world. In KC, he was also the organizer for the HALO 2007 Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition.

Let's just say, Ryan has the fever for really great retro cocktails. Manifesto should be open by June -July 2008. I hope I get an invitation to the opening . . .gin is my favorite sin, well one of my favorite.

Morsel #5 - Is Chef Jasper Mirabile Jr. headed for a Throwdown with Bobby Flay? I was invited to attend Jasper's 54th Anniversary Party of his restaurant Jasper's this Saturday at the restaurant.  As a warm crowd of friends, family and well-wishers noshed on Jasper's incredible trademark salad, garlic bread and pasta, Chef Jasper Mirabile Jr., or JJ, as his friends call him, was live on the air hosting his Jasper's LIVE radio show on KCMO 710 Saturdays at 11:00 am.

I was amazed that JJ was able to concentrate on getting through the show with all of the excitement and chaos going on in the restaurant with the anniversary party. But he managed to  keep it together enough to interview the Kalaris family who owns Tasso's Greek restaurant and who had been close restaurant neighbors to the original Jasper's when it was on 75th and Wornall. He also interviewed his mother about the name of the restaurant and told us that she had made the cream puffs that we would be enjoying for dessert at the anniversary party.

After the show was over, and the candles on the anniversary cake were blown out, I had a chance to sit and talk with Jasper for a few minutes before he was needed back in the kitchen to prepare for the Saturday night crowd. This man never stops for one minute. He can easily do 6 things at once and still make you feel like you are the most important person in the room. He is talented, relevant and a genuine person who had shaped the Kansas City restaurant scene with his drive, talent, passion and customer service. I am a big fan.

I toured his wine room with his brother, Leonard, who is the front of the house man and who does all of the wine buying for the restaurant, which sports a fabulous collection of Italian wines, including one that he found that bears his family name, Mirabile.

As I was chatting with JJ on the way out, he said that he had been contacted by the folks at Food Network about Bobby Flay's Kansas City cookbook signing on May 9, 2008 at 7:00 pm at the Unity Temple on the Plaza. JJ said, "I don't know, but this could be a set up for a Throwdown match between Bobby and I." (referring to Bobby's hit show where he travels to different towns challenging local cooks to a cooking throwdown). JJ thought it seemed too convenient Food Network would call him about Flay's appearance. I told him, if they do end up having a Throwdown to be sure to call me. I'll be the first one on the front row cheering JJ on to victory. UPDATE: See this hilarious account from JJ of what happened when he arrived at a radio interview with Bobby Flay he posted on his blog.

Nugget #6 - Chef Marshall Roth is definitely OUT and about between the 6 restaurant & bar menus he is executing for ECI, the Cordish Company's restaurant and club division. I went into Vinino Wine Bar in the Power & Light District with a friend for a drink after an event to see if I could tell if Chef Marshall Roth had been able to make any noticeable improvements to the drink/food menu since taking over at the beginning of the year. I had very high hopes for the place, that were quickly dashed upon sitting at the bar. I have to say Vinino is still really at the bottom of my list for both food and especially disappointing was the wine . . .none of what I ordered appeared to be in stock and if it was it was vinegar when they poured it into my glass and served it to me. I didn't even have the strength to remind them that they had the words "Wine Bar" in the name of the place.

That's when we spotted Chef Marshall Roth and his signature bleach blonde mohawk coming out from the McFadden side into the Vinino side where he spoke to the front of the house manager about something before heading out the back door and across the way to Tengo Sed Cantina. After about 10 minutes in that restaurant, he came back out across the courtyard with a leg of pork or beef in a plastic bag over his shoulder and took it back into the Vinino kitchen. We somehow managed to get him to stop long enough for a chat, but not before he cell phone rang and he excused himself to speak to "his boss."

You definitely get the impression looking at him that this is a talented man who is getting pulled in too many different directions with almost all of the ECI Cordish restaurants/bars opening in the next 2 weeks. He looks tired and beaten and running on coffee, love and who knows what else. His Dad is still battling cancer, and Marshall talked openly about his concern for his Father's health, which was the reason he relocated to KC after years as a trendy, boutique hotel chef. But eventually it is back to his boutique hotel roots that he is hoping to get, once he decides to move on to his next gig.

But for now, his eyes light up as he discusses his work on the menu for the new Maker's Mark Restaurant & Lounge in the Power & Light district which had its soft opening last Thursday night and will officially open on May 2. He likes working with this concept because it is more upscale in nature.

Marshall, I know you are tired and need a break, but you need to stay focused. Kansas City needs you more than ever to rally to the occasion and make your impact.  We are counting on you.  We want to see that from you.

Now you know what I know . . .just a little bite of somethin', somethin' to hold you over. Enjoy!

Chowder Song

Please double click on my son, Dominic, to hear him sing this lovely song he learned at school. It tickles my Foodie funny bone every time. Enjoy! (This video is in Quicktime, so if his photo does not show up for you, you can download Quicktime to see it on your machine.)

2007 U.S. Foodie Tour

In 2007, at the start of my Foodie adventure, I went on my own private U.S. Foodie Tour. I had frequent flier miles left over from my previous corporate gig and I wanted to use them to travel and do something to signify the start of my new interest in food. However, my funds were limited so I had to get creative about where I could go and what would be important to see.

I did some research and discovered that many of the cities that I had a couch to crash on, also had significant food events that were FREE to attend. So, I got out my calendar and mapped out the 6 different "Taste of Insert Your City Here" food and wine events I would be attending. I decided to use these events to see if I really could indeed get a "taste" of each city.

The cities were picked based on nothing more than if I had a friend/relative in each city I could stay with to avoid hotel costs. My plane rides were free, and I had cab fare and eating/drinking money, so I mailed each event asking for a press pass using my Tastebud Magazine Table Hopping credentials. The passes just started rolling in.

I attended the Taste of KC, Taste of Chicago, Taste of Dallas, Bite of Seattle, Taste of Colorado and finally the Taste of St. Louis. I was on the road at least once a month with one of these events from April - September 2007.

I learned so much about myself and food on those trips. I learned what I knew about food and wine, and what I didn't know. That was the most humbling realization and fueled the fire to learn more and push myself further along this path. It is the reason I chose to call this blog - The Making of a Foodie.

The Taste of KC was held at Harrah's last year and was sponsored by The Pitch. It was like an Iron Chef Battle between local hotel and casino chefs, and did little to capture my interest or imagination. However, I did get a chance to meet Eddie Crane, Josh and Abby Jo Eans at the event, the owners of The Drop and Blanc Burgers + Bottles who were providing their excellent food for the event. They really made this event for me, as not much else did.

Next, it was time to get out my suitcase. Before I would step on a plane, I used Chowhound to post and ask local Foodies in each city what I should eat at the festival in order to get a "taste" of their city's food roots or current food scene. The second thing I asked was if they believed I could get a "taste" of their city while attending events called "Taste of . . .", and if not, then what restaurants should I seek out to get a taste of the food their city was built on. I approached these trips like book reports and did my homework before I went.

The answers I received to my posts were interesting and unexpected. Some cities really wanted to take on the challenge and help me taste their city, and some wanted to complain that I had picked the wrong event to really sample the best cuisine their city had to offer. Some posters had no idea what one should taste when visiting their city.

My question seemed to touch on something that many of the Foodies on Chowhound may have not have ever considered about their own city - what does one eat to taste the food of their city?

I starting placing these posts on Chowhound after I did the Taste of Chicago, which was one of the first and largest events I attended. I traveled to Chicago by myself and roamed the event in search of what would give me a "Taste of Chicago." That's when I decided just to stop and ask the locals what they would recommend.

After stopping several groups I was given this short list of things to eat to Taste Chicago:
1 - Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza
2 - Chicago-style Hot Dogs
3 - Italian Beef Sandwich

This is not fancy food, this is food that came from the large immigrant population and workforce that flowed from the port into the Windy City. It is food that all Chicagoan's know and call their own. So, I ate it, and it was good. And I realized that working class food, or comfort food is what points to the immigrant population that has most impacted a city's culinary roots. America, as we all know, is the ultimate melting pot . . .and that goes for our food as well.

I did eat a lovely sashimi dinner one night at Japonais where I was one on one with their head sushi chef as I was seated in front of his station. I ended up here after calling fruitlessly to get a last minute seating for one at Alinea, Topolobampo, Blackbird and Avec.

When I came home from Chicago, I did my postings on Chowhound to ask for recommendations in Dallas, Seattle, Colorado and St. Louis.

Next, I attended the Taste of Dallas, where I was directed by Chowhounders in DFW to go eat: Texas BBQ, Country Cookin' or Tex Mex food . . .or really any dish involving lots and lots of meat, preferably BEEF.

This is food that came from the men out on the ranges herding cattle and eating trail food and from the Mexicans that moved across the border into Texas that influenced their cuisine. I dutifully obliged and ate BBQ beef, prime rib beef sandwich, soft tortillas filled with tender pork and finally fried chicken and mashed potatoes from the most beloved Babe's Chicken Dinner House. I even had a bite of a frito chili pie . . .which no matter how old you get still tastes nostalgic and comforting.

I went back to Dallas later in the summer and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at York Street and the best tacos I have ever had at Fuel City.

From there I attended the Bite of Seattle, where the Seattle Chowhounders suggested I eat at Chef Tom Douglas, Seattle's most well-known restaurateur's, upscale culinary booth. (Chef Tom hosts a FOODIE tasting within the bigger event that one can experience for an additional price.) They also suggested anything the Indians would have eaten such as corn, fresh salmon and berries and finally any Asian food booth . . . and there were plenty to choose from: Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian etc. Heck, I walked around this event drinking fresh coconut juice straight from a coconut. Unforgettable.

Seattle's food scene seems to come from what the Asian population has brought with them and their access to fresh fish and the desire to buy local, eat local . . .fresh and in season whatever the land gives you, much like the Indians. I read an article last year that said the Northwest might be the only region in the US that can claim to have it's own distinctive regional cuisine.

As you can see from the photo gallery on the side of this blog, the other culinary high point of this trip was spending time with my favorite Aunt eating at restaurants I had only read about in Food & Wine Magazine. Sitka & Spruce and Lark were our dinner choices, after we tried twice to get into Elemental at The Gasworks only to be turned away as they were full both nights at 5 pm.

Then, I headed to Taste of Colorado in Denver over Labor Day weekend, and although the festival was impressive and large, I found very little to eat and enjoy that I would say came close to representing the cuisine of Colorado. Lots of funnel cakes, corn dogs and candied nuts . . .when I was looking for local corn, green chili sauce and succulent grilled lamb. However, I also had one of the best dining experiences of my life at the stand out restaurant in Boulder called Frasca Food and Wine. This restaurant experience alone, and meeting the person who recommended it to me, made the trip more than worthwhile from a personal and culinary standpoint. Imagine the smile on my face when I saw Jerry Shriver of USA Today in December of 2007 name Frasca - "The best meal of the year."  I ate there, I thought. I've had the best meal of the year.

Finally, I completed my trips with the Taste of St. Louis. My posting on Chowhound brought back some very interesting and thoughtful comments. I was told by bobzemunda (AKA Bill Burge, food writer  extraordinaire from St. Louis and contributor to one of my favorite food magazines Sauce.)  to eat the following to taste St. Louis:

1 - American Lager aka Budweiser
2 - Toasted Ravioli
3 - Gooey Butter Cake
4 - Slinger - eggs, home fries, and a hamburger patty all covered in chili and topped with cheese
5 - Pork Steaks - cut from the pork shoulder blade
6 - St. Louis style pizza - Cracker style thin crust pizza with provel cheese
7 - St. Paul Sandwich - an egg foo young patty with bean sprouts and white onions, dill pickle slices, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, and Wonder Bread.

This list is interesting because it is all items that originated in St. Louis. There were only three I did not find or taste while I was in St. Louis, they were the Slinger, Pork Steaks and St. Paul Sandwich. I don't think my stomach was up to the challenge, but next time I am in St. Louis . . .watch out, I plan to finish the list.

All of the comfort food items recommended to me were really not so different in terms of influence from the many delicious "fancy" restaurants, many Chowhound posters thought I should be eating at to get a taste of their city's best cuisine. These upscale restaurants serve food that usually comes from some specific influence in the Chef's background, his education, his ingredients, his interests or his experiences. French, Italian, Spanish, German, Chinese . . .heck even California, I suppose, could be listed. Fusion cuisine comes from melding two or more of these influences together.  It is still an outside culture bringing their cooking style and cuisine to America. After all, aren't we all considered immigrants to this land?  Unless, of course, you are an American Indian.

So, perhaps the bigger question is what should you eat to get a "Taste of America?" I think my answer to that would be to eat it all . . .every cuisine from every culture that has landed in America and call it ours. Because it is us, it is food we brought from our countries of origin to America. We are the land of opportunity . . .opportunity to eat and enjoy a bounty of foods from the many cultures that have come to this country.

So, the next question should be why we, as Americans, are obsessed with whether the ethnic cuisine we are eating are authentically prepared, or if they have been dumbed down to suit the American palate. Our ancestors brought these recipes here, and then they were passed down through generations and added to and substitutions were made for what was available and in season . . .and then they dipped it in corn meal batter and deep fat fried it and put it on a stick. (Just kidding.)

Seriously, I wonder why we, as a nation, give our collective palate so little culinary street cred? We eat food from all over the international UN buffet in this country. So, why are we so obsessed that we might be getting the ethnic wool pulled over our eyes or our stomachs? 

Of course, I say this having represented Brazilian cuisine in Kansas City for the 5 years I owned the Brazilian Cargo Company, and I had plenty of Americans come into the store and ask the most navel gazing questions about the food of Brazil. But as an American, I wanted to educate them about the food. To teach them what I knew about it, so they could move in the world with some level of confidence and understanding about a cuisine from a different land. We all have to start our Foodie journey somewhere.

Mine, started last year, on this U.S. Foodie Tour . . .but it was less about the cities I traveled to and even about the food I ate along the way.

What made these trips memorable were the people I met who shared similar interests and passions.  The ones on Chowhound who offered to meet me in St. Louis and show me around, the ones I did meet for a drink at Frasca in Boulder, the friends and family members I spent time with and reconnected with after a long time in Dallas and Seattle, and getting the opportunity to interview the lovely and down to earth, Chef Cat Cora at the Taste of Colorado. We talked about health and diet advice, her role as the only female Iron Chef on Food Network, her new restaurant concept (Global BBQ) and she shared tips on how I could get my son to eat a larger variety of foods based on her parenting experiences. And the last person I met who made an impact on me, was a quiet guy who was standing on the Pier in Chicago on July 3rd with me watching the fireworks who was from Cuba and eating his first burrito since coming to the US.

I guess our American food can also impact those from other countries coming here for the first time. Life is a journey, and I am so glad I took this one.

 

Keepin' it Rural

I went home recently to Oklahoma to visit my Mom, while she was on her Spring Break from school. She is a teacher and we usually see each other during her week off. While I was there, I went with her to Sam's Club and watched as she put a bag of fruit in her massive cart from Mexico. (Just like I, on occasion, have done at my local Costco.) Then we looked at the fine jewelry counter and the large flat-screen TV's too.

Is it right that we should be able to buy our food from the same people we buy our washer and dryer from?

That food is shipped in from all over the world to her little Sam's Club in Tulsa, OK to be sold to her at a discounted price because of their powerful distribution system. You can eat anything you want any time of the year . . .because it is always the growing season somewhere in this world. It doesn't mean that you should, or that it will taste better or be better for you.

Although, I am impressed with their competency within the supply and demand chain, I have grown to become concerned about its impact on our environment and our health.

See, I had just lectured my Mom that morning about the food she keeps in her house to feed her body. Frozen Lean Cuisine dinners and fat free cottage cheese, jello and walnuts that she makes into a breakfast salad and a Sam's Club size amount of Diet Mountain Dew. She is single, she lives alone and although she is 63, she eats like a cross between an 18 year old college kid and 80 year old woman. There is nothing fresh, local or alive about her diet at the moment.

So while we are waiting to check out at Sam's Club I decided to give her my little "local" test. I was trying to see if my very sweet and smart school teacher mother had heard of, or understood, anything about the "eating local" food movement.

So, I ask her: "Mom, what would you say if I told you to eat locally?"

She replies: "It means, you want me to go eat at a local restaurant."

I try again: "Okay, what if I told you to buy local food to eat?"

She replies, (like I am slow): "It means, you want me to go to my local grocery store and buy some food."

She has a point. If this were say, the 1940's, she might be right. Back then grocery stores in small towns were typically locally owned, not corporately owned. The grocery store owner probably worked with local farmers to get the produce he needed in his store, and because he was at the whim of the climate and time of year and the lack of other distribution channels he probably only stocked what was the freshest and in season. Therefore, you could eat local just by going to your local grocery store. Ahhh, those were the days.

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be turning into a "locavore" or "localvore", I would have not believed you. I don't even think I had a good concept of what constituted eating local and why that was important.

Wiki defines it this way: "Local food (also regional food or food patriotism) or the local food movement is a collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place."

The technical definition of eating local is eating food that has been grown or raised within 100 miles from where you live.

For the first time in my life, I have joined not one but two community supported agriculture groups or CSA's. I will be getting during the growing season my veggies from the Moon On the Meadow farm in Lawrence, KS which is located about 32 miles from my house and I will be getting all of my meat (except fish and seafood) from the Parker Farms in Richmond, MO located about 55 miles from my house.

My vegetables from Jill Elmers and Moon on the Meadows are organically grown and for 24 weeks this year, I will prepare, and my family will eat, food that still has dirt on it from the ground it was grown in. Whatever is in season and being harvested is what we will be eating.

My meat is from Tom and Paula Parker of Parker Farms Natural Meats which follows a fully organic (but not certified) method of raising animals. All beef & lamb is 100% grassfed (no grain, animal by-products, antibiotics, or hormone injections). Chickens are pasture-raised (weather allowing). Hogs are fed grain, but live outdoors. No petrol-based pesticides or fertilizers used on pastures. Have you read Omnivores Dilemma? Well, let's just say that this is the type of meat you are supposed to eat.

I am about to learn how my money can go to support a local farmer and feed my family veggies and meat that will be better for them, for me, for our health, for the environment and I suspect at the end of the year for my pocketbook as well. I want my son, who is being raised in the city, to understand the connection we have to the land, our food and our environment. I want him to know what a farm fresh egg tastes like.

I am pretty creative in the kitchen and look forward to Iron Chef battles with produce and meats I may have never cooked with, and I will be interested to see if this food lives up to my expectations of tasting better than anything I could by at a grocery store that has been shipped to me from south of the border.

I want to look into the face of the farmers, and I want to know their names and I want them to know mine. They are the caretakers of my share of the crop that I will use to feed my family. It is too important a job to leave to strangers, isn't it?

We are lucky in Kansas City to have a wonderful local grocery store chain like Hen House, who was one of the first to offer locally grown food in their stores, and who started their own CSA's with these suppliers. Everyone has to start their journey somewhere and shopping locally from Hen House was the baby step that I took last year, that leads me to this new foodie adventure in 2008.

I did use the Kansas City Food Circle groups website to do my research on CSA's and found it to be very useful. I even attended their Local Food Show in Independence last week to meet our meat farmer and give them our first check, which was a lovely and affirming experience for me.

I have to be honest though . . . being relatively new to the organic and local food scene in KC, there still is a bit of the hippy stigma that still remains attached to this movement at least from what I have been exposed to here in Kansas City. The Local Food Show was full of your typical image of what local and organic foodies look like - long hair, Birkenstock sandals, colorful carpet bag purses from 3rd world countries and lots and lots of intense passion for wanting to convince you why local food was better food. Some of them came across a little too passionate, which read like militant to me, which does strike fear in the hearts of many of us. If you make it seem like an extreme movement you will never reach the masses you want to attract. And then there was this was the crazy couple in the corner loudly playing the harpsichord and singing folk songs who just made you want to run screaming from the building . . .I am not one of them, I am not one of them.

I think in this day and age, as people like me and others, become more educated on eating locally and begin trying it for ourselves we will naturally understand why we would want to eat this way every day.

So, I know the hippies were the first to go there because they all opted out of "the system" a long time ago. They were our scouts in the field, and the trails they blazed will be those that many more of us will follow after them. Some of us will test it and be sucked back down the path of least resistance and convenience, some of us will allocate a portion of what we buy to this method of commerce and some of us will become just like them . . .only without the warbling harpsichord. Please.

So right now, I consider myself educated, but not assimilated into the local food movement. But I might be closer than I think, because if I am not mistaken, I just took a significant portion of my grocery money off the grid . . . Hey Mom, look at me! I'm just keepin' it rural!

Palmiers - the Quick Way

1 Roll of Puffed Pastry Dough - thawed to room temp
1-1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Sprinkle your board generously with sugar then lay the puffed pastry dough on top and flatten it as thin as possible with a rolling pin.

Then flip the dough over to coat the other side with sugar and trim ends of the dough until even. Sprinkle the top with sugar and draw six lines, vertically, making six even stripes up and down in the sugar. Then fold in the outside edge on each side in until it meets the next line. Then fold the dough over again toward the middle on both sides. Finally, fold both sides in until they meet and one long log of dough is formed.

Place the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes or until the dough it chilled enough to cut even slices.

Take dough out of the freezer and cut into 1/4" slices.

Take a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet and place the cookies side by side  and open the dough a little bit to allow for and expansion during the cooking process.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees with the over rack placed on the top rung of the over. Then slide in your cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the tray from oven and flip over all cookies to cook an additional 10-12 minutes until a light golden brown.

FOODIE NOTES: These cookies look very plain, but taste wonderfully complex. Sticky sweet from the melted sugar and the pastry dough becomes crisp and crunchy when it bakes. Delicious. I was at a dinner party recently that hosted a coffee cupping with the owners from the Friendly Bean Coffee Company, and these little cookies were the perfect thing with a good cup of coffee. I found out later from the hostess's Mother, who made these cookies, how easy they are to make and yourself. Enjoy!

April 2008 Table Hopping

 April 2008 Table Hopping -From my column in TASTEBUD Magazine
“Happy Hours – The best gourmet bites in KC!”

Bristol Seafood Grill – Downtown
51 East 14th Street
Kansas City, MO 64105
816-448-6007
http://www.bristolseafoodgrill.com

If you remember the original Bristol on the Plaza, or frequent their clubby location at Town Center, then you know the type of high quality dining you can expect. Now, visit this hometown favorite in its sexy new location in the Power & Light District and prepare to be blown away. The new restaurant boasts an updated, modern, California canyon house meets Vegas vibe. Visit the gorgeous bar area during Happy Hour on Wednesdays and treat yourself to a fresh 1 lb. lobster with clarified butter and famous cheddar biscuits for around $12. It is a luxurious meal for a steal; it’s also a great conversation starter.  GET HAPPY: Sunday thru Friday – 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Wednesdays only - 1 lb. Lobster at their cost, based on availability.

La Bodega
703 Southwest Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-472-8272
http://www.labodegakc.com

With a name like La Bodega, (what locals in Spain call the bars that serve drinks and small plates all day long), one would hope for one heck of a Happy Hour. Owner, James Taylor, delivers on the tradition with the longest Happy Hour in KC. No need to squeeze up at the bar to enjoy these specials, sit at any table and kick off your Happy Hour early with 50% OFF all cold or hot tapas and enjoy the same gourmet menu served all night long for half the price. With some of the best sangria in the city, it is the perfect accompaniment to all of their Spanish-inspired plates. GET HAPPY: Monday thru Friday – 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. 50% OFF all Tapas, Sangria, Beer, Wine and Cocktails.

City Tavern
Historic Freight House
101 W. 22nd Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 421-3696
http://www.citytavern.net

Located in the historic Freight House, City Tavern fosters a reputation for fine steaks and seafood in a classic old Hollywood setting. However, it is the freshness and variety of oysters that earns awards and draws people in the know back. Save a bundle, order them during Happy Hour and get fresh-shucked oysters with traditional dipping sauces and a saltine side for only $1 a piece. You can’t choose your selection, but wink at the waiter and you’ll get a couple of different types of oysters to compare flavors. Smile, remember what eating oysters can do for your um, attitude. GET HAPPY: Monday-Friday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. On Mondays until 9:00 pm get fresh shucked oysters for $1 a piece.

Bluestem
900 Westport Road      
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 561-1101
http://www.bluestemkc.com

Taking the space next door to their very popular and award winning restaurant, Bluestem, Chefs/Owners Colby and Megan Garrelts have now expanded their dining opportunities to include a Lounge. Decked out in brooding blues, take the opportunity to enjoy Happy Hour and 2007 James Beard nominee Chef Colby’s Lounge menu items at half price. Make a meal from the full menu of appetizers, entrees, dessert and cheese flights all half price during Happy Hour. Don’t miss the Truffled Pomme Frites with dipping sauces for only $2.50, normally $5.00, and the selection of cheeses are perfect with a glass of wine from their impressive list.  GET HAPPY: Tuesday – Thursday from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. $7.00 Martinis and ½ OFF all food on their Lounge menu.

JP Wine Bar & Coffee House
1526 Walnut Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 842-2660
http://www.jpwinebar.com

When Keith and Linda Gobel decided to move their little coffee shop in Lee Summit down to the heart of the Crossroads and add bountiful cheese plates and other delicious nibbles created by Executive Chef Darren Bartley along with the most interesting and just plain fun wine flights developed by Owner/Sommelier Ryan Maybee it was a huge step for their family business and a great service to all of Kansas City. Visit during Happy Hour for an opportunity to sample the best wine flights and gourmet snacks at reduced prices and take part in one of the busiest Happy Hours in KC. GET HAPPY: Monday – Friday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. $1 off all Wine Flights and 10% off all bar menu items.

Jenny Vergara is a full time Foodie and a woman on quest to develop her palate and herself through cooking, eating, drinking, traveling and writing. She has spent the last 5 years documenting all the restaurants she found along the way in a series of personal restaurant journals she keeps for her own enjoyment. Email her at tablehopping@gmail.com or keep up with her Foodie adventures at  http://www.makingafoodie.com.