Kansas City

[joiei]

Bluestem report, just too good, almost enough to make me want to move to KCMO, or KCK either one. OP not so much.

We ended up sitting in the wine lounge section just having a great time, you should of been there, really. The wine was flowing, Solitare chardonnay, the cab, i didn't catch the name of that one. The Moules Frites was excellent served with a flight of dipping sauces for the frites. My favorite was the spicy aioli, more frites, a charcuterie board of italian hams - yum. Then we ordered an almost dinner of waygu beef tartar, I was tempted to order a second, but not wanting to embaress anyone, I held off, damit.

This morning, I had breakfast at Sparks in Brookside, it has lots of great reviews. I thought it was only okay, nothing really inspired or interesting. Oh well, back to Room 39.

Signing off so I can get ready for my trip to Shreveport and New Orleans.

[ulterior epicure]

Bluestem report, just too good, almost enough to make me want to move to KCMO, or KCK either one. OP not so much.

We ended up sitting in the wine lounge section just having a great time, you should of been there, really. The wine was flowing, Solitare chardonnay, the cab, i didn't catch the name of that one. The Moules Frites was excellent served with a flight of dipping sauces for the frites. My favorite was the spicy aioli, more frites, a charcuterie board of italian hams - yum. Then we ordered an almost dinner of waygu beef tartar, I was tempted to order a second, but not wanting to embaress anyone, I held off, damit.

This morning, I had breakfast at Sparks in Brookside, it has lots of great reviews. I thought it was only okay, nothing really inspired or interesting. Oh well, back to Room 39.

Signing off so I can get ready for my trip to Shreveport and New Orleans.

←

Of course, we didn't need joie's excellent round-up or the NY Times to tell us that we have great food. Congrats to Celina Tio, Debbie Gold, the cast and crew at Lidia's, and Colby Garrelts for their work and achievements in making KC a great place to eat.

u.e.

[MarketStEl]

Just about everything that's been raised, discussed, and pureed over on that thread about Detroit is encapsulated in that New York Times article, which I imagine is being clipped and saved (figuratively speaking) throughout metropolitan Kansas City.

It also reminds me anew how clueless many East Coast denizens still are about our nation's heartland and its cities. Johnson County's always been spectacularly wealthy; the folks in NYC are only now understanding it? Because some of them have Sprint cell phone service or visited town for a convention? (See, there's that inner Kansas Citian springing up in me, getting all defensive about my forever hometown.)

Still, the Times reporter did an excellent job.

[bbqboy]

Mkt. St. E, I liked your idea on the other thread about regional dining/food destinations.

Competing with the big boys seems a pointless exercise, but what seems to have come of age is a sense of place and self that allows cities like KC and Portland to not really care what folks in NY or SF are thinking. That's a good thing.

Edited July 19, 2007 by bbqboy (log)

[MarketStEl]

I knew KC had come of age when it began to embrace rather than hide its wide-open, Jazz Age past during "Boss Tom's" heyday.

If I understand the chronology in The Grand Barbecue correctly, KC 'cue also got its start in this same era. And the city began to celebrate 'cue before it celebrated its jazzier side, so you could say that food was the gateway to self-confidence for the city.

[divina]

I was just in Kansas, doing a guest chef thing at Jasper's and had lunch at Micheal Smith's new place.

Only just opened.. was FAB!

really nice menu, portion size perfect.

we had a nice prosciutto and melon salad with arugula and an incredible sort of bruschetta.. with toasted whole wheat bread, topped with sauteed mushrooms, melted cheese, sauteed greens and a perfecty poached duck egg ( very Bistro!)

I had the perfect " smithburger" with blue cheese, cooked to perfection perfect fries and a fabulous ale!

no room for dessert.. I cleaned my plate.. but saved room for Christopher Elbow's chocolates.

I love Kansas!

[ulterior epicure]

I was just in Kansas, doing a guest chef thing at Jasper's and had lunch at Micheal Smith's new place.

Only just opened.. was FAB!

really nice menu, portion size perfect.

we had a nice prosciutto and melon salad with arugula and an incredible sort of bruschetta.. with toasted whole wheat bread, topped with sauteed mushrooms, melted cheese, sauteed greens and a perfecty poached duck egg ( very Bistro!)

I had the perfect " smithburger" with blue cheese, cooked to perfection perfect fries and a fabulous ale!

no room for dessert.. I cleaned my plate.. but saved room for Christopher Elbow's chocolates.

I love Kansas!

←

Ahem, Michael Smith is technically in Missouri (although Jasper's and Chef's Smith's previous restaurant, 40 Sardines, are in Kansas).

Thanks for posting. I too have been in to Michael Smith for lunch, and have found it enjoyable. Did you have any dessert?

[divina]

oops was thinking kansas city!!! know there are the kansas side and the missouri side!

coming from Florence Italy... the borders are not clear!

thanks!

no room for dessert!

wish I did as a former pastry chef, for me it is the most important part of a menu

[MarketStEl]

oops was thinking kansas city!!! know there are the kansas side and the missouri side!

coming from Florence Italy... the borders are not clear!

thanks!

no room for dessert!

wish I did as a former pastry chef, for me it is the most important part of a menu

←

That's perfectly all right -- you're excused.

I have a rather arch reply for my clueless brethren on the East Coast who respond with "Kansas" when I tell them where I grew up:

"If I were from Kansas City, Kansas, I would have said so."

(And that statement also accurately describes local usage. Still.)

However: Mom was a Jayhawk through and through. The state line remains more blur than line drawn in the sand.

[mamagotcha]

Bluestem report, just too good,

←

We finally got around the the bluestem brunch a few weekends back. What a great deal! Sundays only, though...

This morning, I had breakfast at Sparks in Brookside, it has lots of great reviews. I thought it was only okay, nothing really inspired or interesting. Oh well, back to Room 39.

←

Do you mean Sharp's? or did something else open down there that I've missed?

And since we're talking breakfast... has anyone tried the Aixois breakfast yet?

(Yeah, it's been a long time... I've missed you guys!)

Katje

[joiei]

My bad, you are right - Sharp's.

Aixois does breakfast? then I am there the next time I am up which hopefully will be soon.