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KC Media Digest for week of December 28, 2006 - January 4, 2007 The Kansas City Star Food Section Jill Silva and Lauren Chapin take a nostalgic look at the food of '06 in a year in review. Jill offers a low-fat ricotta cheese dip in Eating for Life. Janet Majure visits with an Overland Park woman who relies on grilling and steaming for flavor and health in Come Into My Kitchen. Lauren Chapin reviews the Dorie Greenspan book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. This week's Food Calendar can be found here. Preview Section Lauren Chapin shares her personal "best of" 2006. A list of sparkling wines to toast the new year in this week's Good & Cheap Other news: The Bangkok Pavilion is re-opening after recovering from lightnening and fire damage; and The Brick is now serving a biscuit and gravy bar. In the Business Section Joyce Smith looks back at news and trends in the food and retail scene and shares her wishlist for 2007. The Pitch Charles Ferruzza finds the winter weather inspires a quest for soul-warming beef & beans and answers the question "who go to Nara and order chili?" And if Monday morning finds you you in the market for 'hangover helper', he lists some restaurants open on New Year's Day in My Big Fat Mouth. The Lawrence Journal World For those in the Sunflower Cable viewing area, watch for the recovery menu In Jayni's Kitchen. <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some area media outlets, which do not 'go to press' before we do, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

Welcome aboard, Pete. Glad to have you. Other resturants in Lawrence worth mentioning (IMHO) are: La Parilla (pan-Latino), Zen Zero (pan-Asian), Cafe Beautiful (best sushi in the area - again, IMHO), Local Burger (just what it sounds like), West Side Deli (recently relocated from west 6th to downtown and renamed the New Hampshire Street Bistro), Teller's and, of course, Pachamama's not-so-recently relocated from Alvamar to downtown. This is by no means comprehensive but representative of some of the good things going on over there (finally!).

Not sure if it's in the book but I shamelessly borrowed a recipe of his from a magazine and it's one of our go-to entrees. Essentially a salmon filet is butterflied, spinach laid atop it, the salmon is rolled, tied and grilled. I think I started adding some pine nuts to the filling somewhere along the line. Simple and scrumptious. I am so jealous. Enjoy whatever he makes for you.

It wasn't really intended as a JoCo barb - this time. I just heard something on the radio about a misunderstanding of the term yesterday and your post brought it to mind. They also were long an outlet for Strawberry Hill povitica (before SH opened their own retail storefront) so there was that connection in my sick, twisted mind as well. And you made UE's tail wag which, after all, is what we're all about here, so it's a happy holiday all the way around!

Are you sure they weren't holiday pastries?

Food recognition drastically decreases when people have no menu to rely upon. Not sure I understand -- do you mean literally no menu? I can't think of a place that has no menu. To be certain they are typically augmented with chalkboards or server-recited specials. And I'm trying to think of anywhere I've eaten in NYC without any written menu. So maybe your meaning is more figurative?

KC Media Digest for week of December 21-27, 2006 ETA - here are a couple of items in Friday morning's KC Star that I thought worth mentioning: In the FYI Section, Hearne Christopher tells us about a new food-related radio show hosted by Jasper Mirabile, Jr., slated for a January launch. Mike Hendricks' editorial helps us prepare for the loss of long-time downtown institution Danny Edwards' Famous BBQ. Another riff funded by TIF. And, in Cityscape, Joyce Smith writes of an whimsical new restaurant in Belton, MO. If solving a riddle or doing an impersonation sound like a more fun way to earn a discount than clipping coupons, you might want to check out Whimsies. The Kansas City Star Food Section For a make-ahead, no-fuss, healthful breakfast, see Jill Silva's overnight omelet casserole in Eating for Life. Gail Borelli offers several recipes for festive holiday fudge. Doug Frost reveals a dirty little secret about champagne. For the chocoholic who has everything on your list, head to Panache for some ChocoFlakes. Lauren Chapin recommends these books to inspire cooking with the kids. This week's Food Calendar can be found here. Preview Section Lauren Chapin visits the long-awaited Nara, but finds the robata and more than a few other things lacking. In Good & Cheap Ms. Chapin checks-out a Waldo favorite so special a fan wrote a letter urging her to try it. The Classic Cookie serves up homey daily specials in addition to their namesake. The Pitch Charles Ferruzza reports on the latest iteration of Indian cuisine on 39th Street, Taj Palace. The Lawrence Journal World For those in the Sunflower Cable viewing area, cold winter comfort foods are on the menu In Jayni's Kitchen. KCUR-FM 89.3 The Food Critics return to The Walt Bodine Show tomorrow at 10 a.m. Just go to their website and click on "Listen Live." <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some area media outlets, which do not 'go to press' before we do, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

While I hope I’m never “that” difficult diner that insists on anything, I do like to take advantage of what our world has to offer. Is that scallop I had this weekend naturally from Missouri? Nope. Did I enjoy it along with the locally produced mushrooms and root vegetables. Yes. Can Missouri catfish ever be the same as a scallop? Nope. Can a local Missouri chanterelle compare with an Alba white truffle? Can that bottle of Bordeaux from France compare with a local vintner’s offering? Can South Carolinian BBQ compare with Kansas City BBQ? They’re all different and wonderful in their own ways. But given the choice between a locally produced turnip and an imported one, I’ll go for the locally produced one. ← Apparently, though, it *is* still true that one should let sleeping dogs lie.

Amen to that. You know what they say . . . to the victors go the spoils, and that's what I want. Glory doesn't taste all that great. At a Heritage Foods dinner at the local Lidia's, Sra. Bastianich had the various farmers stand as she introduced them to thunderous applause. It was, well, cute is the only word I can really think of Those guys are clearly not accustomed to being treated like rock stars and Frank Reese's face was as red as one of his turkey's wattles!

Well, first of all, thanks for the list of restaurants - definitely some places to check out when we're in the neighborhood. It appears that many of these (I didn't take time to look at them all and didn't find online menus for some) are doing essentially what our handful of locals are, i.e. doing their best to use local ingredients and the credit them on the menu, but still offering scallops, skatewing and the like to round-out their selections. It does appear that there is more indoor/hoophouse/hothouse growing going on in Madison than these parts and I am jealous. A few years ago we had a retail/wholesale business, Local Harvest, that provided at least some opportunity to get chefs and farmers (and civilian consumers) together year-round. Sadly it grew too fast and didn't survive; but the concept of being able to find those goods all year is sadly missed and filling that void was one of the goals that started me on my mulit-state odyssey this summer. I am truly coming to the conclusion that the distribution system is the number one problem and if it can be resolved the rest will follow. So back to work.

Lest anyone think the growers aren't trying for us . . . this program agenda just came across my virtual desktop. In my naive, non-farmer way, I asked why hoophouses/high tunnels weren't the answer - just too expensive to implement initially or ??? Apparently, although some things will do OK in them, the real cash crops still just need more hours of light per day than they get here in the winter months. I suppose this is mitigated by the $8/lb spinach price but, as many of us have pointed out, the consumers balk at $4/lb heirloom tomatoes so, for now at least, I can't see how this can be viable. The farmers are an inventive lot, though, and as evidenced by the high tunnels program in January, they're working on it.

That's funny. Can you imagine if Green's had a solid brick wall on the Golden Gate side?

The short (and probably overly) simple answer is subsidies. Most countries in the world have never gotten so far out of sync with nature, seasons and local foodways because they simply cannot afford to. The economics of our food "situation" are propped up in so many ways by the artificially low cost of fuel (for transportation and refrigeration), grants for research to grow so-called 'super foods', paying farmers to let land lie fallow and on and on. If the true costs of all of this were figured in, we'd all be eating very differently. There's another thread somewhere (can't find it right now or I would link) discussing this in greater detail. Of course I think there's a cultural element there, too. To use your examples of France and Spain, they have food traditions dating back millenia, plus until relatively recently it was common for a person to be born, live and die within a 20k radius. And locals in one village will swear that the [fill in the blank] in their tiny area was far superior to that a few kilometres down the road. About the only thing we (in the US) can work up enough passion to haggle over the superiority of is tomatoes (well, maybe sweet corn and apples)! I've had 15-year-old males wait on me in markets in Europe and grill me about what I am going to serve a cheese with and when (meaning what time today - not this weekend or next) I intend to serve it so they can pick just the right one. Can you imagine a 15-year old male having that breadth of knowledge or caring about cheese that much here? If I buy produce that doesn't have a PLU or barcode and is more exotic than an apple or a potato I usually have to tell the checker what it is. I wish I were exagerating (and apologies to JWest and the handful of adolescent males in the area who may be exceptions) but I'm not. Finally, look at the Heritage Foods phenomenon. They started out trying to save some venerable old breed of turkeys, cows and pigs (among others). The end result was that most of their product comes from around here (meaning KS, MO), is processed 45 minutes from where I'm sitting as I type this, and the bulk of it is shipped to the coasts (they could give you exact figures but I think I've heard upwards of 80%). A few restaurants proudly feature their products but most don't because the price point simply would not fly around here. So we're back to the demand-side economics. Sorry this is dragging on so long but lastly, I attended a session on pricing of produce for area farmers markets and one of the farmers quite literally said that he could not afford to buy his produce at the prices he has to charge at the market to stay in business. That sent chills down my spine.

I ask myself this a lot - why can people in zones far north of us pull this off? I asked Benno Shirk, originally from PA (where much of their produce is sold in NY as I understand it) but he now runs the cooperatively owned Central MO Produce Auction, why there was little off-season growing going on here. I've wanted to get into business featuring local stuff but decided it seemed a little disingenuous to advertise anything close to local when there are at least 4-5 months of the year that would be impossible to deliver on. His reply was something like 'there are a lot of ways to lose money that are easier than farming in MO in the winter' (not a direct quote but that was the gist). Part of my quest over the last six months has been to identify what the obstacles are that prevent ag from happening here in the winter, when it clearly IS happening in PA, VT, NY, etc. It always comes back to the economics. I think we need an angel investor who can afford to lose money short-term and maybe even short long-term because the farmers - who cooperate in ways unimaginable to overcome the many other curves that nature and the government throw at them - are really not in a position to absorb those losses. To advance this discussion, let's look at a couple of restaurants there who have a local focus. Ideally they would also have an online menu so we can all check it out without anyone having to do a lot of leg work. Can you suggest a couple for this purpose, ILM?

very funny, bbqb

I have to agree but there are a few states' tomatoes I've yet to taste so I'm trying to remain open minded. Don't get me started! Since June I traveled thousands of miles and spent countless hours visiting with people from one coast to the other and many points between trying to figure out how to tackle this. While you were speaking at Growing Growers, I was listening to some very interesting people (not meaning to imply that you weren't interesting, of course ) discussing this challenge. Fortunately for all of us, there are much brighter people than I addressing the problem. I expect our friendly neighborhood Rhodes Scholar will finish his PhD, get his grant and have the whole thing sorted out by April. OK, maybe not quite that soon, but I do have greater hope now than when I thought it was going to be up to one old woman in a Mini.

But of course - any and all comments welcome. I imagine most people who care enough about food to be reading this agree with you (although thinking of a dolled up turnip is little troubling ). I just wonder if the market, as a whole, bears this out. I suspect some of the local chefs would feature different dishes if people would try them. That's why I was hoping they'd chime-in and let me know if that's the case or I'm way off-base (as usual).

Caramba! - I missed the bit about the TV show until just now. If anyone knows when/if it will be re-aired I would appreciate the info.

A couple of us started a discussion on this thread that kind of drifted off the original topic but I would like to continue the dialog and hope some of the midwestern chefs will join in with anecdotes about how they may have tried to incorporate local, seasonal items on the menu and how those attempts sold versus the FedExd exotics on the same menu. I'm also curious if customers comment to you or staff about the diversity of offerings, both pro and con. For those who don't want to dredge through the old thread, here are the last two entries from IML and myself:

I wouldn't disagree but people will pay $30 for fish/seafood, knowing we're short on saltwater around here - not sure how high they'll go for a turnip, however creatively or lovingly it is prepared. It's an educational process. I worked in an office largely populated with CA transplants and they couldn't understand why some of the locals considered shrimp cocktail a must-have for a client appreciation event. This was ~20 years ago before all of the farm-raised product drove prices (and quality) down and made it quite commonplace. It's just a mindset from the days when getting anything fresh from the coasts was a luxury, I think. Conversely, turnips (which I personally love) are still thought of as plebian, as are most root vegetables. When I was a produce buyer for a natural food store, I always tried to stock humble root vegetables (parsnips, rutabagas and the like) and we couldn't give them away but now I see them in mainstream stores, so they appear to be making a comeback. I'm talking in generalities, of course. I don't mean to paint a bad picture of midwesterners. I just don't think most people are ready for humble ingredients elevated to star status at fine dining restaurants yet. The increasing appearance of offal on local menus is, IMHO, a sign that we're turning the corner on that front. I'm sure my grandparents would find it amusing that the humble cuts of meat they ate out of necessity are appearing on chic menus. ETA: we've kind of wandered from the original Lawrence context but I think this is interesting. I'll start a thread and hope that Big Country, Chef CAG, Tim D and others will join in the discussion. I know they all try very hard to use local stuff (to the extent of forcing their parents to buy acreage and toil from sunup to sundown in one extreme case ).

44 and I only marginally speak the King's English. I don't think I'm pompous, though, I've just always tested well.

I'd get into a tomato throw-down with almost anyone . . . Kansas tomatoes rock, from the ones I grew up on in south-central (Wichita area) to the north Lawrence dirt farmers, to the various Misery varieties I now find at farmers markets. I can find greater varieties and longer seasons elsewhere but, when they're in season here, they're tough to beat. Haven't been to Austin in forever, nor the other places you name. I would toss into the mix Devotay in Iowa City, while we're discussing midwest college town food. The owner/chef is a frequent poster here and I'm sure he can speak better for himself, but he's involved in slow food, buy fresh/buy local, and just about anything else that involves great local product done well for the table. I enjoyed an incredible lunch there this summer and will make a point of stopping there whenever I'm in the area. I think price point limits the embracing of local ingredients for some of the area restaurants. It's the ultimate irony - thanks to economies of scale and subsidies. It costs more to eat a local burger, buy a dozen eggs from the 100-mile radius, or enjoy hoophouse/greenhouse mesclun in these parts than to get comprable menu items from elsewhere. It's sad, it's wrong, but it's the fact. I know the bluestem boyz would rather go local but for the food they're putting out, the locals are already sticker-shocked; if they tried to go entirely local at this stage in the game, it could be fatal and I'd rather see them survive than martyr themselves as locavores. We've got to take baby steps.

I was going to point out the 'Kids' origin but decided not to split hairs - as KC and Lawrence have grown together even more rapidly than I predicted back in '08 when I was in school (and my friends all scoffed - ha!). But Lawrence WAS the home of BR549 - or Chuck Mead and one of the other originals, in any case. I think they morphed a bit over the years on Lower Broad in Bubbaville. Chuck worked delivering pizzas downstairs from a bar I tended. We used to swap their "mistakes" for drinks. Ah, the good ol' days. And, IML, I mostly agree with you about the Lawrence dining 'scene' but it is SO much better than it was even a decade ago; plus I tend to compare it to Ann Arbor's, and Lawrence has certainly closed the gap in the last 10-15 years. And yes, Wheatfields is a gem - we're very fortunate to have them in the 'hood.

I'll take 'em if they come with latkes! BTW, I challenge the truthiness of your recipe's number of servings as stated. There are very small percentiles of daintily noshing gentiles but some of us can pack away latkes with the best of you.

Reading that review made me long for the Kosmo Deli - my favorite "Korean Restaurant" in A2.