Kansas City Food Blog

​We've decided here in Fat City that eggnog season starts a few weeks after Walgreen's and CVS pharmacies put out their Christmas merchandise -- you know, mid-October -- and that no one needs to make the concoction at home anymore (using those cute punch sets that you can find at flea markets and estate sales) since it's easier to have someone make it for you. Jonathan Bender discovered the Top Five Eggnog Options in Kansas City (stay away from the Silk Nog, he warns) and Charles Ferruzza tasted two kinds of eggnog shakes in this week's Battle of the Dishes: Eggnog milkshakes.

The question we didn't answer, but inquiring minds want to know, is where the hell eggnog comes from? Well, here's a very brief history of the drink. You'll never think of a noggin as a human head ever again. Still, you may want to use your noggin (the thing that protects your brains) to remember the important etiquette rules when it comes to buffets. You can use the historical noggin ("a small carved wooden mug") to sip a draught of Boulevard's Harvest Dance Wheat Wine. Or a ham daiquiri.

We discovered wine openers and wine coolers and such at the newly-expanded Function Junction store in Crown Center, which opened last Saturday and Jonathan shared a holiday wine guide. Oh, the big new Function Junction store does sell casserole dishes, which might come in handy if you plan to enter blogger Emily Farris's annual Casserole Party, like Nadia Pflaum did. She lost, but her report on the event was a winner.

Have you made your Thanksgiving reservations yet? Here are some ideas.

(Image via Flickr: Labelitlove)

 

 

A rainbow of culinary creativity in one week!

​Remember Rainbow Brite? No, not Strawberry Shortcake, that other quasi-cartoon TV character and toy marketing device from the 1980s. Rainbow Brite was full of colorful rainbows and happiness -- just like this week's Top Stories in Fat City!

 Well, it was colorful, anyway, beginning with white, as in White Castle -- one of the Top Five Chain Restaurants that Jonathan Bender wished were here in Kansas City. As Pitch readers know, White Castle hamburgers -- invented in Wichita -- have come and gone from Kansas City twice in the last seven decades. Maybe the third time -- if there is one -- will be the charm.

Jonathan next drew the brown crayon from his creative palette: nut brown, that is. As in the The Battle of the Nut Brown Ales. Brown is also the color of crisp bacon, but not the shade of traditional crisp envelopes. Still, the combination of bacon and envelopes may be the next big thing. Brown is also the color of pecans!

 And for a splash of turquoise blue, there's the new Shabby Hattie's Tea Room in Parkville!

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!

The Great Cannibal Pumpkin

​Haunts, horrors and things that go bump in the night were only a few of the topics that we covered in Fat City this week, including Jonathan Bender's recollection of serving an abnormal pizza and Charles Ferruzza's many memories of horrific Halloweens in the past, perhaps all caused by his refusal to wear a Halloween costume. With tonight's big haunted holiday on the horizon, Jonathan Bender went into sugar shock researching candy strategies and comparing new flavors of that seasonal classic: candy corn.

And on the subject of candy, what about the closing -- today's the final day, folks -- of the popular Russell Stover Candy Kitchen on 51st Street? That post led to conversation about the original Russell Stover flagship store on Linwood Boulevard and the building's current Frankenstein-like makeover, which also makes us think of this.

There wasn't much reaction in Fat City over the closing of the Coyote Grill -- did anyone really care? -- but Jonathan's post about the Definition of a Dive Bar encouraged comments. On a happier note, the new Ingredient opened downtown -- ready to scrap it up with another new restaurant with a similar concept: Marie Scaglia's new The Mixx in the Power & Light District.

And finally, how about the Top Ten Pumpkin Dishes in town?

(Photo via Flickr: nonemoreblack1966)

 

Feed a cold, starve a fever ... or vice-versa?

​Someone in Fat City -- we're not mentioning any names -- waited just a bit too long to get a flu shot and suddenly one day woke up with a terrible cough, a fever and all kinds of aches and pains. Kind-hearted friends are bringing over hot-and-sour soup from Kin Lin and Thom Yum from Hot Basil, but after reading this article about flu-fighting foods, we might also suggest some other combinations of garlic and onions and mushrooms.

Now many people, looking for medicinal relief, prefer alcohol. Jonathan Bender explains how some prefer a basic shot to a flu shot.

Still, all kinds of comfort foods can be soothing remedies when one is feeling under the weather. Chocolate, we discovered in the new exhbition at Union Station, has a long history as a restorative. If one can't find a cup of ancient Mayan cacao beverage, how about a few chocolate pumpkins? And in the comfort food category: A well-buttered flapjack has long been rumored to have curative powers. In fact, in today's Top Ten list of pancakes, we run the gamut from the sweet to the savory, like the appetizer pancake filled with flu-fighting onion at Po's Dumpling Bar. 

Since onions, mushrooms and garlic are frequent ingredients at Japanese steakhouses, one might consider those restaurants to be flu fighters. Jonathan's post about the new Japanese steakhouse, Kobe, opening in the Power & Light District, generated many comments. We're assuming the chefs at Kobe might perform showy tricks to entertain customers at those white-hot grills. That's not the case at the venerable GoJo steakhouse, which is so busy that the teppan-yaki chefs simply don't have time to do a show anymore.

Other possible healing foods discussed this week: Shatto's new pumpkin spice eggnog, any kind of creamy cheesecake, and flaming bananas.

(Image via Flickr: Stefan)

It takes balls to get a job these days

​In today's New York Times, two Ohio twins living in The Big Apple -- Kristy and Katie Barry -- are profiled because they're young, pretty and can't find jobs. They send homemade gifts to potential employers: those chocolate-covered peanut butter balls called Buckeyes. Competition is particularly intense in NYC right now: even Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl, who was in Kansas City on Wednesday night plugging her new big green cookbook, got her pink slip from publisher Conde Nast.

The good news, in Kansas City anyway, is that Waldo Pizza waiter (and future novelist) Joel O'Laughlin is not only employed, but was voted "Best Waiter" by the Pitch readers. And although it's not a high-paying gig, wine expert Doug Frost picked up another PBS-TV role as one of the judges in The Winemakers reality show, which premieres this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on KCPT-Channel 19.

If you can't be working on TV, there's always the food service industry, where tipping -- To Insure Prompt Service -- is the primary income for most servers and bartenders, although Jonathan Bender discovered that some people don't think tipping should even exist. In Fat City, we believe that all people who dislike tipping should be forced to work at least one shift as a server in a dining room filled with pushy, disagreeable cheapskates.

We also learned that kids who eat too much candy may grow up to be violent (and potentially bad-tipping) adults and that not everyone has the patience to visit every single farm on the Kaw Valley Farms Tour. And speaking of candy, Jonathan Bender discovered there are, mercifully, alternatives to candy corn just in time for the Halloween buying season. Those choices come in cellophane bags, but if you want to get really ambitious, you can always make homemade Buckeye balls -- don't forget the wax.

(Image via Flickr: robinlynne.org)

 

​The American Dream, in the 1950s, was to have the best of everything -- it was even the title of a 1959 movie! And guess what, people still want the best of everything, even in a difficult economic climate. And, damn it, that's what The Pitch wants you to have, providing lots and lots of enticing suggestions in this week's annual Best of Kansas City issue.

Naturally, in Fat City, we're most concerned with the culinary choices offered in the issue, both the choices selected by The Pitch staff and by the readers. This week, our Fat City round-up included some choice best bets, including a fabulous video by Casey Lyons showcasing The Pitch choice for Best Diner, Neighbors Cafe in beautiful downtown Lee's Summit. OK, so maybe it's not as lushly produced as The Best of Everything (with Kansas City's own Joan Crawford as the female publishing tycoon who had almost everything -- except a man!).

The lyrics to the Tom Petty song, "The Best of Everything" open with: "She prob'ly works in a restaurant/That's what her mama did." And on that maternal note, Kansas City's popular Mama's 39th Street Diner was one of many breakfast and brunch spots chosen by Pitch readers in our Best of Extra: More Best Brunches. Oh, and if the best breakfast is the one you eat at 3 in the morning, after the saloons shut down, try consulting our Best of Extra: Late Night Eats list.

We suspect a future Best New Restaurant nominee might be chef Celina Tio's Julian, which opened in Brookside this week. Jonathan Bender was there to see what the new bistro was like. And while we're on that subject, here are this year's choices for Best New Restaurant, from The Pitch and the readers in the Best Extra: More Best New Restaurants post.

Who says you can't have everything?

 

There are bee hives and bee hives...

​ 

There are beehives, like the traditional home for a swarm of buzzing honeymakers, like the photo above, and then there is the beehive hairdo, which was considered high fashion in the big hair days of the 1960s. Don't believe me? Check out Miss Dusty Springfield, Queen of Vietnam-era Pop and sumptuously teased-out tresses!

Over on Independence Avenue, the queen of the oldest Dairy Queen in Kansas City -- Esther Saladino McMurray -- she of the towering bouffant hairdo that looks like a super-sized dipped cone, was honored on Wednesday for two anniversaries this week: her 50th wedding anniversary to business partner John McMurray and for her 43 years behind the counter at the Independence Avenue DQ. This was such a honey of a local interest story that it even made news on our other daily blog, The Plog!

Now some people like to use honey -- speaking of beehives -- as a sugar substitute, but this week's post by Jonathan Bender about the new sugar substitute Stevia had quite a bit of buzz among our Fat City commenters.

We don't know if Debbi Fields, the creator of the Mrs. Fields cookie empire (she and her husband sold the company to an investment firm in the 1990s; the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year) ever boasted a beehive hairdo, but she did have great hair in her heyday as queen of the gourmet cookie. Free Mrs. Fields cookies are among the Freebies, Contests and Deals that Jonathan discovered and shared with the Fat City community.

Cookies are delicious with cold chocolate milk and we learned that local Shatto Dairy's chocolate milk is the third best in the world! And while squid -- fried or marinated -- is probably better with a cool glass of white wine that chocolate milk, we also discovered where the Top Ten Calamari is in Kansas City.

And if you've ever wondered if a squid, or an octopus in this case, could have hair bigger than Esther Saladino McMurray -- we're here to show you..yes.

(Image via Flickr: gserafini)

 

 

 

Doesn't anyone leave cash anymore?

​Well, who doesn't deserve a gratuity every once in awhile? The question is -- how much? Jonathan Bender's post titled Reconsidering the 15 Percent Tip drew a lot of comments this week. Whether you are a big tipper or a stingy one, it's a good read!

In order to answer a reader's plea to find a local restaurant where she could have a romantic dinner and dance a little, we requested tips from the Fat City community and found that pickings were slim. Dancing made us think of the late, great Ginger Rogers -- the dancing film star of the 1930s and 40s -- who grew up in Independence, Missouri. I tried to think of a movie where Ginger played a waitress, but couldn't. I mean hasn't every great actress either played a waitress or been one at one time? Local actress Missy Koonce, who mixed drinks and sang show tunes at her own nightclub, the former Bar Natasha, is now singing and tending bar at the Piano Room. And yes, she gratefully accepts gratuities.

Here in Fat City, we don't mind tipping big for a perfect frosty milkshake. But milkshake-loving Jonathan Bender informs us that old-fashioned milkshakes (you know, the chocolate and vanilla kind) are getting fashion make-overs. Here's a recipe from that post for a lemon-buttermilk shake that sounds extremely refreshing, maybe with a hot pastrami sandwich. But is pastrami becoming an endangered species?

Now that airlines (well, some of them) are upgrading in-flight food, can the tipping of flight attendants be far behind?

 

 

 

After this, just eat something

​No one likes a hangover, particularly in Fat City, where food and drink are celebrated 24 hours a day. That means, unfortunately, that hangovers are inevitable for some of the merrier residents here. Inspired by this, Jonathan Bender and Charles Ferruzza created a list of the Top Ten Places to Dine While Hungover.

Poet John Ciardi once wrote, "There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation." And that goes for eating pies too, although Jonathan Bender discovered that if one is going to over-indulge by entering a pie-eating competition, there are ways to survive with one's dignity intact. Moderation is rarely practiced during eating competitions -- at least not by the winner.

The legendary Billy Joel, who has had his own issues with alcohol over the years once said, "I keep telling people: Don't make me the poster boy for AA because I don't know a lot about sobriety, but I do know a lot about drinking." What many drinkers like Billy Joel don't know is that there are great wines to be found right here in the Missouri Heartland.

There was an unexpected outbreak of vomiting at one local restaurant, but it had nothing to do with the over-consumption of alcohol.

And last, but not least, it's one thing to fall off the wagon in the sobriety sense -- but quite another to fall off the vegetarian wagon!

(Image via Flickr: Better Off Dead)

 

​The big news in Fat City this past week was that our talented blogger, author, comedian, and adventurous eater Jonathan Bender and his wife became the parents of a very beautiful baby girl.

The birth of bambina Bender was the inspiration for this week's Top Ten list: The Top Ten places to take kids to dinner. In case we left your favorite off the list, please comment: Jonathan will need to make his own personal list soon.

This week we also learned the secret of the 12-second cocktail. And on that note, the most famous non-alcoholic cocktail of all time is named after the most famous child movie star of the 20th century: Shirley Temple. This recipe for a Shirley Temple is actually taught in many bartending schools: ginger ale or 7-Up, grenadine syrup, a splash of orange juice and a maraschino cherry. No hangover, guaranteed.

But if a hangover is a problem, consider a nice scoop of Pepto Bismol ice cream. It may not be suitable for small children.

And while all children -- large and small -- love playing games, including the best board game, ever. This drinking game is strictly for adults.

(Image via Flickr: warren_j_thompson)

 

 

 

Tags: 12-second cocktails, cocktails, kids, Mystery Date, Shirley Temple, This Week's Best of Fat City

​Since one of this week's Top Stories from the Fat City is our list of the Top Ten Cafes to write a Novel, we thought it was time to take a more literary approach to this weekly list of potent past posts. Some critics of blogging insist that this mode of internet communication is driving readers away from reading the classics, from Aristotle to Zora Neale Hurston, but that's not true in Fat City, where every post is carefully translated from ancient Greek texts. Including this one. But back to the list:

 Jonathan Bender wrote about the myth and legend of New York bagels without, shockingly, making a single reference to the Sharon Kahn mystery novel, Fax Me A Bagel: A Novel Introducing Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife.

We met the new young chef at the InterContinental Hotel's Oak Room, Kyle Baker, who is not the same Kyle Baker who creates graphic novels (the fancier version of comic boooks, sort of).

We thought of famous novelists who liked to write novels in famous cafes: Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Kansas City for a few minutes, Samuel Becket, James Joyce, and this generation's Whitney Terrell (who wrote to tell us he has a fondness for Kansas City's Savoy Grill). Thus, we made a list of the Top Ten Cafes to write a Novel, not realizing that one of the chosen ten, Mike's Tavern, was currently not open, thus not welcoming novelists. The most recent novel to feature a restaurant in Kansas City may be chef Lou Jane Temple's first culinary mystery, Death by Rhubarb, which was set in a fictional 39th Street restaurant called Cafe Heaven -- unabashedly inspired by Temple's own 39th Street bistro, Cafe Lulu.

We explained that the Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri received honors -- including a gold medal -- at the American Cheese Society Competition in Austin, Texas. The staff at the Green Dirt Farm may not be quite as colorful as the characters in the hilarious Stella Gibbons novel Cold Comfort Farm (well, Tony Glancevski might be), but there's a book there somewhere. 

And last, but not least, just in time for a sultry weekend, the Record Bar's lovely mixologist Janelle Mead showed us how to make a cocktail featuring elderflower liqueur. In case you're wondering if there was ever a mystery novel about a bartender, yes there is: What Goes Around Comes Around: A Mystery Novel Featuring Bartender Brian McNulty by Con Lehane.

 

 

​These are the posts we feel were the Top Stories in Fat City this week:

1) The Top Ten Cheap Tacos

2) Is the honeymoon over for the Weinermobile and Hawaii?

3) The Michael Jackson Diet

4) Battle of the Dishes: Frozen Custard

5) Your chance at food immortality

Taco Bell's beloved, iconic Gidget

These are the posts we think were the top stories this week in Fat City.

Gidget dies! No, no, not Sandra Dee from the 1959 movie Gidget (Dee died in 2005) or the very-much-alive Sally Field from the 1965 Gidget TV series. Tragically, unexpectedly, the "semi-retired" former spokesdog for the Taco Bell chain went to Chihuahua Heaven this week.

A new restaurant, Westside Local, opened for business.

We discovered why some saloons used to be called buffets.

 Remembering the soft drink that was Blue Pepsi.

Inspired by local diarist Gloria Squitiro, Fat City's new blogger Jonathan Bender shows us all The Top Ten Places To Be Seen in Kansas City 

Jaime Warren

We're thinking these were the Top Stories this week in Fat City:

The fast food industry girds itself for next month's minimum wage hike.

We look for the Top Ten cinnamon rolls in Kansas City and learn from Fat City visitors that there are more than ten...

Owen Morris sips the new Boulevard Pilsner and wonders if it's a lawn beer.

Thursday was National Catfish Day and serious fried catfish lovers weighed in.

The secret of a perfect Margarita

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're thinking these were the top stories this week in Fat City:

The Top Ten Milkshakes in Kansas City

Recession Relief: Sunday night suppers at Cafe Europa

The extreme debate about alcohol in moderation

It's time to go out and pick blueberries!

The Godly gourmet

The pros and cons of being a Hooters waitress

 

(Image via Flickr: The Smoky)

Tags: The best of Fat City this week

We're thinking these were the Top Stories on Fat City this week:

Owen Morris has grainy thoughts about Grape Nuts cereal

Miss Cinerama of 1957 is ready for her close-up, 52 years later

 Love 'em or hate 'em: Domino's Bread Bowls

Farmers Market and Dunkin' Donuts in St. Joseph

Was Coors ever really good?

We're thinking these were the top stories posted on Fat City this week:

• Some Kansas City folks get their feathers ruffled over urban chickens
• Chef Linda Duerr finds a new job
• Owen Morris gets fired up about sriracha sauce
• We go down to the river's edge to bite into a hot dog
• Modern Marijuana: Not your Pop's Pot!

 

Tags: This Week's Top Stories

We're thinking these were the top stories posted on Fat City this week:

Charging for bread and butter

Guilty Pleasures: The Burger Joint

Cool Hand Luke can eat six saltines in a minute

Weekend vegetarian? Weekend hippie?

Tasting wine the Riedel way

 

 

 

(Image from Flicker: Roboppy)

 

Tags: The best of Fat City this week

We're thinking these were the top five posts this week on the Fat City blog.

The Best Fake Burger

Happiness is not another Chinese buffet

McDonald's launching new burger

Tom Watson: Foodie

1,000 brown M&Ms

 

 

 

We're thinking these were the top stories posted on Fat City this week.

The Comings and Goings at The Legends

Rainy days, Mondays and Sorbet

Owen Morris has a Schlitz moment

Burgers and stuff at Phil's Coffee Shoppe & Grill

Beer Wars: The Movie

 

 

Tags: The best of Fat City this week

We're thinking these were the top stories posted on Fat City this week:

Some restaurateurs let customers decide what price they'll pay for a meal

Owen Morris taste tests the new alcohol-flavored snack Pub-Corn

Brunch, The Musical opens in New York to mixed reviews

Need a job? Get in line to become a server

Believe it or not: Restaurant customers gone wild!

 

 

 

 

Flickr: mringlein

We're thinking these were the top stories posted on Fat City this week:

Bluestem owner Colby Garrelts is a James Beard Award finalist

Young inventor creates beer-flavored popcorn

Sheridan's Frozen Custard an official tenant of Kauffman Stadium

Chef Linda Duerr, laid off at J.J.'s Restaurant, looks for a new job.

Smitten by Campo Lindo Farms

 

 

Flickr: Endlisnis

We're thinking these were the top stories post this week on Fat City:

 

• Will coffee save the world?
• Pauwels brings the beer
• Gluten-free options more common
• We're going fishing, not so fast
• The first Fat City contest

 

 

 

In case you missed them, we're thinking the top stories on Fat City this week include:

• God hates whores and waitresses with cleavage.
• I'll take a dirty greeting card and an espresso
• Boulevard beer in aluminum: a step forward?
• It's not any store, it's THE Store
• For all your rain barrel, kombucha, and beer-making needs.