Kansas City Food Blog

More than a novel, a play or a sandwich

​It doesn't seem possible that the Monte Cristo sandwich received not one, but two mentions in Fat City this week -- as the subject of this week's Where is it? question and as a menu selection featured in the post about Grand Street Cafe's new breakfast menu.

The Monte Cristo is a glorified grilled ham-and-cheese which was -- depending on which story you believe -- introduced in California in either the 1880s (which would make it older than the fabled Croque Monsieur, an unlikely possibility) or the 1950s. The sandwich is probably named after the Alaxandre Dumas novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, published in 1844. Actor James O'Neill (father of playwright Eugene O'Neill) played the role many times in Kansas City in the 19th century at the old Coates Opera House, which once stood near where the Quaff Buffet (which now serves food) has served liquor since 1954.

And speaking of 1950s-style buffets: If you're planning a holiday cocktail buffet this season, you can't beat the hundreds of culinary ideas in this week's Relic Tray offering: 500 Tasty Snacks. And what tastes better with Ham Banana Rolls than a wine created by the 7-11 vineyards?

While gathering even more holiday entertaining ideas in Fat City, don't forget what Jonathan Bender learned this week: It's the ice that makes the drink and where there's Liquid Smoke, there's fire.

Also this week we learned that Max Chao has turned up at Nara, that Sharp's 63rd Street Grill was temporarily closed after health inspectors found cockroaches, and that people eating at home want steak, damn it! We shared the news about two restaurant benefits -- one for ReStart at Anthony's on November 18 and one tomorrow at the RecordBar for 14-year-old Sierra King.

Last, but not least: You don't need to be from Monte Cristo to count all ten of the Top Soups in town!

​You need plans. Fat City has a recycle bin full of listings. In this post, all our problems are solved.

The Hen House Holiday Celebration -- a benefit for Harvesters -- runs from Friday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) to Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at the Overland Park Convention Center. Public television's Katie Brown holds cooking demonstrations on Friday at the food expo and there's a hot dog eating contest slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday. The $5 admission gets you access to try food and beverage samples, as well as a reusable shopping bag to take home. 
 
If you are still disoriented from Halloween candy, that's likely the only reason you didn't know that Kansas meets Kansas State on the gridiron this Saturday. You might as well be surrounded by hundreds of fellow fans, who you can cheer with or taunt, depending on your loyalties. That will be happening in the central courtyard of the Power & Light District, where the game plays on the big screen above the KC Live stage. Admission is free, with drink and food specials beneath the heat lamps.

​America gets blamed for a lot of things, and now we can add to the list 7-Eleven's decision to produce wine. 7-Eleven and 7-Eleven Japan will stock stores with Yosemite Road Chardonnay and Carbernet Sauvignon. The two vintages, produced by The Wine Group, retail for $3.99 in the United States ($4.99 in Florida). From the release:

The winning vintners created a Chardonnay, described as fresh and zesty with notes of apricot, peach and honey, and a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with juicy plum overtones. Both are well balanced, offered at an affordable price and can be enjoyed anytime of the year.

You've already tasted some of The Wine Group's products -- in fact, they probably got you through college. The San Francisco-based company is the third largest wine producer in the world and owns the Franzia brand of boxed wine (among its other brands are Mondavi Woodbridge and Sutter Home). It made a splash last year with its Recession Red, also priced at $3.99 a bottle.

​Everyone has a moment when they grab a meal from the freezer or stare at that half-eaten package of hot dogs and think -- am I really going to eat this? According to the BBC, a new study suggests that you're right to pause because processed foods could be linked to depression. 

The study involved 3,500 middle-aged civil service workers in Britain who were split into two groups according to diet. The first ate primarily whole foods (fruit, produce and fish), while the second group ate fried foods, sweets, refined grains and high-fat dairy products. Those on the first diet were 26 percent less likely to suffer from depression, while those who mainly ate processed foods were 58 percent more likely to be depressive.

​The rules for burgers haven't been established, because the burger sits at the uneasy intersection of gourmet food and fast food, and we keep changing the definition of a burger.

The veggie burger was just becoming mainstream a decade ago, and since then we've seen an explosion of meats and fish turned into "burger" patties. Even Emeril Lagasse is offering his take on what a burger should be at his new restaurant, Burgers And More. And what do those letters spell? Burgers And More ... B ... A ... M ... BAM! See how he did that? How he snuck back his catchphrase when we weren't watching? We must remember to always be vigilant -- Emeril is no longer as fast as once was, but he is no less wiley.

Burgers and More, which features burgers that are a mix of prime and grass-fed beef, is set to open on November 22 at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
 

Max Chao is back in the Crossroads

​Last year, Max Chao was working as general manager for the newly opened Masalas Authentic Indian Diner at 91st and Metcalf in Overland Park. Masalas had opened in the spot where Chao had, for three years, been running a casual dining restaurant called Ohana Hawaiian Grill.

But Chao says he was "downsized" by the owners of Masalas a few months ago, and started looking for new employment opportunities. When he stopped by restaurateur Casey Adams' Nara a month ago to say hello to his friend Koji Sakata, Nara's sushi chef, he was encouraged to talk to Adams about a job. Adams had recently hired former Room 39 general manager Kathi Rolfing to oversee his restaurant's operations; she had been "downsized" from Room 39's Leawood location and was looking for a a change in the Nara menu of hot Asian dishes.

Nara is just a block north of the spot at 1728 Main where Chao was the chef-owner of  Max's Noodles & More, which was razed years ago to make room for a parking garage.

Chao, who grew up working at The New Peking Chinese Restaurant, which his parents created and later sold, has added several of his Pan-Asian signature dishes to the Nara menu and creates different lunch specials every day.

Beginning with tonight's First Friday menu, Chao says, Nara is going to focus more on organic ingredients, using produce from local farmers. Chao is creating a new version of his Kimchee Trio using organic daikon and Napa cabbage.

Welcome back, Max.

​The New York Times blog You're The Boss is back with the second half of its "100 things a restaurant staffer should never do." And although author Bruce Buschel suggests that these are merely guidelines for his restaurant, the insinuation is that there's a lesson every server can learn.

It's interesting to watch Buschel's tone change slightly from what he describes as "a modest list of do's and don'ts" in part one (published earlier this week) to the end of the second post's introduction where he thanks the Internet for its helpful comments. Not to get too meta, but there's an etiquette lesson somewhere in this etiquette guide.

Justin Kendall has the story of two former employees accused of poisoning the salsa at Mi Ranchito in Lenexa over on the Plog.

Husband-and-wife duo Arnoldo Bazan, 30, and Yini De La Torre, 19, are accused of mixing a Methomyl-based pesticide into salsa and serving it to customers at Mi Ranchito's Lenexa location.

Court documents allege that Bazan and De La Torre plotted to poison Mi Ranchito's customers, hoping to hurt the restaurant's business as well as hoping the blame would fall on the restaurant's owner.

Stopping in at Los Corrals brings praise for the tacos and a solid Indiana Jones joke. [Lunch Blog KC]

A photo tour and recap of the Trappist Beer Dinner at McCoy's Public House. [McCoy's via JJS in KCK]

This list of 25 fast-food toy offerings is a nice way to remember when you bought the food in order to get the toys. [Screen Junkies]

Food Inc., the documentary about the industrialization of food in America, is now out on DVD. Don't eat popcorn while you watch this. In fact, don't eat anything. [Pop Watch]

​I never knew how much ice could matter until I was given the choice of crushed or cubed. After that, my eyes were opened to the possibility that the solid in my drink mattered as much as the liquid.

Bartenders have apparently come to the same conclusion, and a simple thing like an ice machine is starting to seem passe. The Mixoloseum has a guide to ice tools unlike anything I've read, which suggests that artisan ice is the next big trend and you can start experimenting at home to get ahead of the curve.

The first tool on the list is an ice tapper (I've also heard it called an ice cracker), used to crack cubes into smaller pieces. This is useful when you need to cool a drink quickly -- think about how crushed ice works on soda. If you don't have a tapper, the back of a bar spoon (or metal serving spoon) would be just as effective.