kansascitykid

Wow, this thread couldn't have come at a better time. I'm returning home for a one week visit this month and I have some questions about whats still there and whats not. I've told my girlfriend about all of the places that were part of my childhood/teens/young adulthood and I've heard whispers that some of them are gone. I haven't been back to KC in two years(which was just a brief visit) and it sounds like alot has changed. 1. I heard that the 87?(maybe 85th) & Troost Strouds closed down. Is this true? (I'm staying in Overland Park and I kinda dont want to make the drive north) 2. Is Cascones breakfast spot still open in the river market area? 3. The Corner down in Westport was one of my favorite places to get breakfast and I heard its gone as well. Really? 4. Other than Bluestem which I'm going to try, is there any other fine/experimental/just plain good dining worth trying? 5. Who has the best cocktails in the city? Cheers

pork belly for dinner and bacon for dessert....sounds good to me. I'll report back. Thanks for the suggestions.

Making a trip to Blackbird this weekend, is there a flagship item(e.g. oysters and pearls, tuna napoleon "nicoise", zuni roast chicken) I should try?I realize the chef is pretty in tune with the seasons but surely there is something he's known for.

Well its all relative, Rays has 50 seats and 3 back of the house. Ruth Chris: 150 seats, 10 back of the house. I dont really think it has to do with ml2000 cutting corners, I think it has more to do with not fleecing the guest.

A pretend chat with Michael Landrum and KansasCityKid: KCK: Michael what are your favorite steaks? ML2000: Well I like alot of steaks, however... KCK: Okay, thats great. I was wondering if you sleep in your checks or do you dream of tartare recipes. ML2000: Thats funny, no I dont sleep in my checks and... KCK: Thats great. But what I want to really know is why are you steaks sooooo gooood? ML2000: Okay, seriously.... KCK: Okay then Im done. Now back to the real world, I think what alot of us are missing is that ML2000 is one of the citys best businessmen(if not the best). He's managed to take an unassuming space and turn it into the hottest ticket in town. Now I know its not just because of his New York strip or his hanger steak, and wine alone cant carry a business('cept maybe calvert woodley), or his ability to work the floor like its the high rollers pit at the Bellagio. What it boils down to is his formula, and how he implements said formula. I think the most important questions would be things like: When you were standing in a big open white room, with some money in your pocket, how on earth did you see a place that would book out 2 weeks in advance? Why is it that your steaks are priced so low? I know that old crazy Rays furniture blowout joke, but even on a national level you offer beef for next to nothing. It cant be cheap product, we have all tasted your steaks and determined you use nothing but the best. So....why....or how? How have you managed to sustain a viable restaurant without catering to the pseudo-aristocracy of the dc dining scene? All in all, I would like to say that I am enamored with the way Michael has executed this operation. From my first visit, I realized that Rays was much, much more than steaks. Its a restaurant and a business, that has restaunteurs and businessmen alike shaking their heads.

Good service comes from one having a predisposition to serve. The fact of the matter is that most people in the industry(specifically DC) are getting through college or supplementing their income while they make their bones in their desired career(does anybody say "when I grow up, I want to be a waiter."). The majority of servershere dont really care about aesthetics or comfort, they just want their 20% and to get the hell out. Ive only lived here a year and half (as a professional server) and I find the restaurant scene lacking service wise. It just seems a little too hodgepodgy, Ive seen polished veterans stacked next to stoned college kids. Ive paid a hundred dollars a head to find that sugar caddie was empty and that I didnt have fork to eat the wrong entree that was hastily placed in front of me. And to be honest Im a little fed up with this myself, I cant stand the idea of restaurants training me in steps of service when the waiter next to me is asking about phoeee grass. I dont really know if its always been this way, but its unfortunate that this trend exists. With the exception of one restaurant in this city, I genuinely believe there is little or no screening process that happens regarding waiters. And without that you invite the meatheads and alienate the good ones.

I know which caramels youre talking about. Ive considered shipping them myself, but it wont work, especially in september. Last Christmas MS. A gave me a box of forty of so and I headed home(see handle). I froze them for two days and started westward, they didnt even make the plane ride home, which was about 4 hours. By the time mom opened them, she had one big caramel. Im exaggerating, but really they got pretty sloppy by the time she got them. I couldnt even imagine what they would be like through ups or Fedex.

Those are all important, however in a great restaurant they should also just be a given. When talking about the best restaurants, one has to take into consideration their overall contribution to modern American fine dining. I guess the best comparison would be a thesis, that is what new concept or perspective on an old idea does it bring to the table. Look at Alice Waters (Chez Panisse), she brought the idea of the forager to the states. Forager: Local + Fresh = the ultimate food experience. That concept has been applied to almost every "great" restaurant in the last twenty-five years. Then look at Danny Meyers(union square, Gotham) and the way he redifined service on the east coast. After Reichl debunked the snooty service scene in NYC, Meyers said lets create warm, friendly, intellgent service and lead our guest by the hand through an experience. Then theres Mario Batali(Babbo) & Judy Rogers (Zuni Cafe), chefs who made it cool to serve grandmas food. By this I mean rustic food: oxtail ragouts, pork jowls & frissee salad w/ duck prosciutto. These restaunteurs are the ones that are truly "great", they've pushed the culinary world to where it is today. Now, Im sure that if you dined at anyone of these restaurant or several others, youll notice that the playing field is level. Service, quality of food, ambience are all on par with eachother. So you really need to look beyond all of that, and try and figure out whether of not the chef is trying to trick you or trying to share something special with you. This all may sound like a philospher turned foodie, but I can gaurantee that this is what each chef had in mind when they opened their doors.

Magic...maybe. Sometimes when I try and wrap my mind around why Chef Rutas food is so complete, I find there is only one real solution that I can come up with. Thats right, I think he might have made a deal with the devil for some mystical pots & pans. Seriously though, the chicken (without giving away a true recipe) is just the application of a couple of different techniques. First, Id like to refer to a "Good Eats" w/ Alton Brown episode, where he discusses the fundamentals of the brine. He explains the sugar/salt ratio, and then goes on say that after that its just up to you(Though hes actually brining pork butt). So decide if you want your protein to be a little more intense add more salt or if youre lookin for something a litte more subtle go with twinkies(JK). Then just load your brine with things that you believe would taste interesting infused into the meat. The second part, which is just as important, is to use a fryer instead of a roaster( See Zuni Cafe Cook Book pg.342), a larger leaner roaster cant take the heat. So your product either burns or cooks unevenly, so just look around at the butcher(what am I saying...there are no more butchers)or the refrigerated unit in whole foods until you find a fatty, small bird. This applied with a very high heat in the oven will not only give you the crispy skin your lookin for but a kitchen full of smoke. BTW, make sure you pat your bird dry before cooking. In fact last thanksgiving, a couple of us got together and brined our turkey. And after having run out of spices, we decided to throw a bag(3oz.) of dried shitake mushrooms in the brine. And no BS, the turkey tasted like shitakes through and through. Having said that, I think its important that you experiment to create your personal brine. And not try so hard to replicate the flavor of Rutas chicken, then it just takes the fun out.