maftoul

I no longer work in a restaurant, I'm the chef for a catering company, so our costs are calculated somewhat differently. It may be easier for us to build in cost increases. I wouldn't have a problem paying for bread if it was truly exceptional. That is usually not the case around KC. It wouldn't bother me if portion sizes were decreased slightly in many places. That would off set food cost increases and people don't need giant portions anyway.

You are so right. Flour prices have soared. The organic unbleached flour I purchased last month for $2. 60 per five pounds is nowt $5.00 or more per 5 pounds. It's increasing daily in cost. I see more restaurants charging for bread. The bread basket, bread plate, etc.. has been one of the most wasteful aspect of food service. Diners will barely comsume all the offered bread. They then ask for more, then leave 75% of the reloaded bread. Very frustrating. We never recycle the breadbasket stuff, once it hits the table, it is history. Too many people touching too much bread! But it is such a waste. I can understand small restaurants like Sarah's charging for bread.

That is sad news indeed

Unless things have changed very recently, 40 Sardines is the only place open Sunday night. The American, Bluestem and Michael Smith are all closed Sunday nights; Bluestem and Michael Smith are both closed Monday nights. Starker's Reserve would be a very good Monday night choice. All of the above are such good places, let us know where you end up!

To be more correct on this point, I *think* that ChefBURGER was conceived and marketed as a "gourmet burger" establishment. However, clearly in it's infancy, has yet to prove itself as such. From what I've heard and seen, it does not sound like the "gourmet burger" operation that I had heard it might be. Can anyone (who has been to ChefBURGER) clarify this point? ← define gourmet burger. From the things I have read, I will definitly give it a try the next time I am up. The menu reads far better than most of the offerings in this neck of the woods. ← I guess I don't consider it anymore gourmet than burger places I frequented in California when I lived there in the '70s. Many of those places had a wide variety of toppings and accompaniments, but they were definitely the counter service type burger place. Chefburger actually reminds me of some of those places, which is appealing to me.

Well, I for one, like more than just meat on a bun. Even at one of my very favorite places, Town Topic, I always get everything on it, except chili. The meat at Chefburger did not seem frozen to me, the fries certainly did. I don't have a problem with that providing the frozen fries are cooked crispy. Thomas Keller doesn't have a problem with that either! It will be interesting to see if Chef Dahzell does something about the fries "problem." Everyone I know who has eaten there feels the same...very good sandwiches, mediocre fries. I do have to comment on the buns. The buns are good. Hearty, without being tough or too chewy. I don't know if Farm to Market makes them, but they are quite good, they are toasted or grilled, couldn't tell which, because I didn't dissect the burger we had. I didn't detect butter, but that was ok. The meat was succulent enough without it.

I'm glad you enjoyed the report! The menu we picked up yesterday lists 9 shake flavors, 6 mix - ins, and 6 spiked shakes. The shakes looked good.

We went to Chefburger today for lunch. It was just before noon and relatively quiet. Within 15 minutes the place was nearly full. We shared a Chefburger with blue cheese and a Big and Tasty Crispy Chicken Burger with Bacon and a Ranch Chipotle Aioli. We had one order of fries. The burger and the chicken were both very good. I forgot to order the chefburger medium rare, but it came out a perfect medium, although the menu says cooked to medium well unless otherwise requested. It was nicely juicy and had good "beefiness." The chicken was indeed big, tasty and crispy. Great flavor and not as messy to eat as it sounds. Both sandwiches were totally enjoyable, some of the best we've had in this town. The fries were disappointing. Not crispy and of the skinny variety. It doesn't appear they are double fried. That might help. We couldn't go over the edge and get a shake, but after seeing other diner's shakes, next time we will order one to share. The look of the place is great, with fun graphics. The area as a whole is rather weird. There is a giant sign with neons that must look bizarre at night. It's a couple of cowgirls and a guy over a place called the PBR Cowboy Bar. How many bars does one 3 block area need? Apparently 12 with more to come. I can't imagine frequenting the area much, but Chefburger will lure us back. I'd like to try Bristol, too. It looked beautiful.

Several years ago our daughter was a cheese specialist at Whole Foods in Minneapolis. She would bring us burrata every summer, packed in a cooler, for us to have with tomatoes. We always looked forward to our burrata arriving.

Well, Holly, I'm not Calvin, but I have eaten at that Winstead's for about 50 years. It's on East 47th Street, right off Main at Grand in KC. Haven't eaten there so much in the last few years, it's not quite what it used to be.

Do they sell Indian groceries, too? Or, is that just a name-play? ← Yes, there is a nicely stocked grocery market attached to the cafe. There is also, at least recently, a womens boutique, for Indian party clothes. The cafe becomes a disco on weekend nights, with Bollywood movies, music and dancing.

We have enjoyed Taj Grocer's Chaat Corner at 148th and Metcalf several times. Chaat dishes are Indian snack food, similar to tapas or mezze, but most are substantial enough to be considered lunch for us. The people who own it are great and the food is quite good and very inexpensive.

There is The Bread Bible, by Beth Hensperger, 1998. Then there is The Bread Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum, 2003 Personally, I'd be very pleased to never see a cookbook with the word Bible in its title again.

We had the potato pizza recently. It was very, very good. Just the right amount of everything, with the perfect balance of savory and salty. We also had the mixed green salad which was quite nice, but would have been easier to eat if the hazelnuts would have been chopped or even halved. They kept flying off the plate! We will look forward to anchovies.

Really? Like who? I know alot of well Known chefs and none of them smoke. ← Thank the lord!

Yeah, how true. And it's pissed me off for decades. I'm not a smoker and if I wanted to sit down with a cookbook, any book or newspaper for 5 or 10 minutes I'd get seriously reamed. BUT..if I would have been taking a smoke break, even in the middle of service, that would have been mighty fine. Thank god the day came that I was the one running the kitchens I eventually worked in. Smokers did NOT get more breaks than anyone else. I had to sack one guy because he couldn't go more than 30 minutes without a smoke break. It was pissing even the other smokers off!

Where is Restaurant Takashi? Chicago?

Would I rather be here on a weekend night or a week night? It's either here on a weekend night or Restaurant Alma. Which restaurant will be less frenetic? ← We were last at 112 on a Sunday night. The place was hopping! Very crowded with lots of energy, the good kind. Alma has a much quieter atmosphere to me. What a choice, though, both are terrific.

Al Habashi does indeed, as does Jerusalem Bakery on Westport Road at Roanoke. ← I actually found some at an Indian market somewhere between 103rd and 105th and Metcalf. The lady at the check-out looked at me skeptically when I presented her with the molasses. She asked me what I was doing with it. When I said I was using it in stewing chicken, she seemed to approve and let me buy it. Okay - so new question: where the heck can I find matcha (powdered green tea)? Dean & Deluca doesn't have it! ← Right around the shopping center from Indian Emporium. I've purchased matcha powder at The Oriental Supermarket, on the 103 street side just east of Marty. They have expanded into the old Irv's Kosher Market spot and have a wonderful selection of teas and other asian beverages.

We had great food at 112 Eatery. The cauliflower fritters were wonderful as was a very nice Berkshire pork chop. We also had the sweet and sour crab salad, halibut cheeks, and several pastas. All wonderful. Most of the food was summery, it was July. The service was excellent.

I'd like to add the Noodle Shop, at 59th and Holmes, Scotty's on 39th, located at (surprise) 39th and Terrace Street, in the old Macaluso's spot, and Spitfire Grill, on West 39th Street between Bell and State Line.

I've eaten at Cho Ga a couple of times. It was good, but not remotely close to us, so we don't go often. The banchan was interesting. Two of us were brought at least 7 banchan. It included the usual kimchee, fried and marinated tofu, a really good zucchini dish, shredded potato salad, pickled chile daikon, and warm soybean sprout salad, all very tasty. The oddest banchan was a marshmallow, celery and apple salad, similar to the ones I've suffered through at certain relative's Thanksgiving dinners. Didn't understand that one at all! We had b ibim bap, which we liked quite a bit, and a pork dumpling soup that was very good. There was a family of Asians sitting close to us that had the grill going with bulbogi and other meats. It looked and smelled wonderful.

I love Claudia Rhoden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food. But these days I especially love Claudia Rhoden's Arabesque. It is food confined to Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. A delightful book!

We make a mix of sumac, crushed aleppo pepper and dried mint and sprinkle it on olive oil roasted potatoes right when they come out of the oven. Add some hummus, feta, sliced tomatoes and pita and we have a nice light supper.