The Making of a Foodie

December 2008 Table Hopping

TASTEBUD Magazine
Table Hopping - December 2008
“Shopping for Foodie Gifts with a Bite.”

Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates
1819 McGee Street 

Kansas City, MO 64108

(816) 842-1300
http://www.elbowchocolates.com

Christopher Elbow started his chocolate making career as the Pastry Chef for The American Restaurant. Eventually, he found a space of his own and began making his hand-painted beauties full time. Now, he has moved his whole operation into a sleek space with a retail store on a quiet block on 18th Street downtown. Go in for some customized bon-bon shopping and treat yourself to a glass of Liquid Chocolate for $4. The drinks are spiked with various fruit or spice flavors similar to those he uses in his candies. GIVE: a box of custom chocolates or let them choose for you. Almost too pretty to eat . . .almost. A 4-piece box is $10 and they go up to a 42-piece box for $75. 

Upper Crust Pie Company
Inside Pryde’s Old Westport Kitchen and Home
115 Westport Road
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 531-5588
http://www.prydeskitchen.com/

Pryde’s has been a mecca for kitchen gadget lovers in KC for over 39 years. Located on the lower level in back of their jam-packed kitchen shop is the Upper Crust Pie Company. Upper Crust sells an impressive selection of homemade seasonal pies & quiches every Friday and Saturday. Sisters, Jan and Elaine, make petite pies for around $7 that feed 1-2 or fruit, nut or cream pies for around $19 a pie. They are now accepting Holiday Pie orders. Upper Crust also offers two types of quiche on the weekend. GIVE: a colorful Fiestaware pie baker for $16 from Pryde’s and let the cook in your life make their own flaky confection from scratch.

Culinary Center of Kansas City
7920 Santa Fe Drive
Overland Park, KS 66204
(913) 341-445
http://www.kcculinary.com/

When Laura O’Roarke started the Culinary Center of Kansas City in downtown Overland Park in an old carriage barn she had converted, she had a dream to bring culinary community to KC. Ten years later she has expanded her operation to include cooking classes, team building, private dinners, catering and a retail kitchen shop. The newest program offered to the public is “Staff Lunch”, served every Tuesday from 11:30 am -1:30 pm. For $10, first come/first serve, you will dine on a delicious meal the CCKC Chef has prepared, plus dessert. GIVE: culinary inspiration and education with a gift certificate to attend a cooking class, or for more serious cooks consider gifting the Professional Culinary Arts Program offered at CCKC.

Parker Farms Natural Meat CSA
Tom and Paula Parker
43602 Hwy F
Richmond, MO 64085
816-470-FARM
parkerfarms@peoplepc.com
http://parkerfarmsmeats.com/

Give the gift of locally raised food to your family or someone you love by joining a community supported agriculture group. CSA’s can be found for meat and eggs or just vegetables during the spring and summer months. It’s basically a system of buying food direct from the farmer with no middle man. You benefit from local, grass-fed meat/eggs and they benefit from a guaranteed income. Parker Farms is a meat (beef, pork, lamb & chicken) and eggs CSA with a 12 month program. All of their beef and lamb is 100% grass-fed. The meat is delicious and the fresh farm eggs will always remind you why local is better. GIVE: a whole share of meat & eggs for $1,150 for the year or get a half share for $600.

Restaurant.com
1-888-745-6991
info@restaurant.com
http://www.restaurant.com

In these economic times, eating out can sometimes feel like a luxury you cannot afford. Check out Restaurant.com for a way to enjoy your dining experience more affordably. Working with local restaurants, Restaurant.com offers gift certificates that you can purchase at a discount online. Choose from thousands of great local restaurants – like Teocali, 1924 Main, Tatsu’s French Restaurant, Waldo Pizza and many more. Just enter your zip code and begin searching for a restaurant you fancy. Most restaurants offer at least a $25 certificate that you can purchase for only $10. Restaurant owners are willing to sell these certificates at a discount to bring in more customers. GIVE: a great meal with discounted gift certificate for a whole host of independent restaurants across the Kansas City Metro area, and while you are at it, pick up some for yourself.

Ice, Ice Baby

Click below to see the new Japanese toy that Jonathan Justus of Justus Drugstore is letting his bartenders - Jay Beavers and Chris Conatser (who won the KC Bartending Competition this year) play with up in Smithville. This video was taken last Saturday night after the last guest cleared the house and Jonathan had some time to show us his new toy in person. (Double click on the picture to start the video in Quicktime.)

Chilling, no? So, I'll confess . . .I have been a late to the party in understanding the importance of ice in a cocktail.

I understand that ice is what makes a drink cold, of course, but the utter importance of the purity of the water the cube is made from and the actual size of the cube in terms of keeping a drink cold while not diluting it, has been a bit of a realization for me. Apparently, ice is a very, very important ingredient in a cocktail and (let's say it in unison ladies) size does seem to matter. A great deal actually, depending on which bartender/mixologist you talk to in this town.

While, I have been more of a wine drinker the last few years, my go-to cocktail of choice is a classic G&T or gin and tonic when the mood strikes. So, it stands to reason that I should take a healthy interest in ice when my inner "bathtub gin diva" strikes. Ice is a very important part of the "on the rocks" experience as my friend Ryan Maybee has told me many times. Here, I have attached a radio interview I did with Ryan for Chef Jasper's - LIVE from Jasper's Kitchen radio show on 710 AM KCMO every Saturday morning at 11:00 am, and if you listen to this fascinating interview we did, in the middle of this clip he discusses his view on the importance of ice in a cocktail. Take a listen.  

In this interview with Ryan, we talk about the art of cocktailing right now more as a movement looking back at the past, but this new article from the New York Times talks about the 8 Important Movements right now in cocktails. I read this with wonder and awe as my homework this week, and I thought all of you would enjoy reading it as well.

Remember my friends, with the holidays upon us (Can you believe it is Thanksgiving already? Geesh!) when you decide to mix yourself or a loved one a cocktail, you should stop and consider where the ice you are using has been. Perhaps ice spheres is not that crazy of an idea afterall . . .truthfully I think I would rather just drive up to Smithville and let Jonathan or one of his talented team make me a drink. I know then that my ice will be in perfect shape to enjoy.

Sweet Veil of Tradition

Here are the happy newlyweds, Julie and Kelly Zamboni. (No, Kelly is not heir to the Zamboni ice rink machine fortune. Yes, Julie is adjusting nicely to her new name, thank you. I would too - would you look at this tall, handsome man she just snagged? Seriously, call me anything you like, if that is mine to have and to hold.)

I met Julie through a friend of a friend, and I used to work with Kelly's brother Rob when he lived and worked as a graphic designer in St. Louis. It is a small world, indeed . . . I thought to myself when my friend, Starr, called and asked me to accompany her to Julie's wedding as her date. I happily agreed. Weddings usually mean good food and good drink and I was looking forward to seeing my friends tie the knot.

When Starr said the wedding was going to be at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church down in Columbus Park, a traditionally Italian neighborhood in Kansas City, I didn't think much about it. I am not Catholic or Italian, but I assumed Julie might be as her maiden name was Lucito. It looked like I was in for an Italian Wedding, although I was not sure what exactly that looked like as I had never been to a traditional Italian wedding before.  We parked the car in front of this very old and very beautiful church and went inside.

The second we walked through the front doors of the church, I knew I was in for a lovely surprise.  The colorful stained glass windows, the 26 ornate statues of Mary and saints around the room, the lushness of marble altars placed me in an absolute Italian spiritual nirvana. When the church was founded, Columbus Park was a solidly Italian neighborhood. This church was built by hard-working Italian immigrants as their sanctuary from a cold, cruel world far away from everything they knew and loved. Here they felt welcomed and understood. In this church, they could find peace and inspiration while restoring their faith and refilling spiritual reserves. I was fascinated throughout the ceremony by the icons, the history and the rituals that were so different from my own church experiences. Growing up in Oklahoma, I received very little experience with or opportunity to learn about other religions and their ceremonies. Almost 90% of everyone I knew growing up was Baptist, and the remaining 10% made up the rest of the Protestant melting pot. None of my friends were Catholic or Jewish. Zero. Na-da. 

My husband grew up in St. Louis with most of his friends being Jewish or Catholic. He had just the opposite experience from me. I'll never forget the first wedding I brought my husband to in Oklahoma. After the wedding ceremony, they kept us in our seats and would not release us to go to the reception until they had asked for those moved by the spirit to come to the front of the church to be saved. Oh, yes they did. Many did get saved that day, as I remember. After we sat through that, we went down into the church basement for cake and punch. No reception per se, no dancing and certainly no alcohol. My husband was utterly speechless . . .and a bit offended. For the price of the wedding present we gave, he at least expected a free cocktail in return. I laughed and told him to watch out for the end of that big old bible belt, because it can whip you when you least expect it.

After Julie and Kelly's wedding, Starr and I found ourselves back on the street and headed to Figlio's Tower Room on the Country Club Plaza for the reception. We were looking forward to a pasta feast and a glass or two of vino before steeling ourselves for the inevitable wedding line dancing that lay in front of us - The Chicken Dance, The Electric Slide, The Macarena, The Hokey Pokey and the end of the night Conga Line. It was going to take a lot of food and a lot of wine to get me out on the floor. 

But before the my inner dancing queen would be released, I stumbled upon a most interesting Italian wedding tradition that sparked all my Foodie senses, and it was one that I had never seen before. The Wedding Cookie Table. 

The origin of the cookie table is a somewhat contentious topic; some believe it began in Youngstown, Ohio, while many from Pittsburgh, Pa., claim the table as their own. However, the tradition also has strong ties to Italian communities, as well as Catholic marriages.

Regardless of where or with whom the tradition started, traditional wedding cookies are always made in abundance and used as party favors for guests at the wedding. The Mother of the Bride is often found walking around, at the end of the night, handing out empty bags or boxes for guests to fill with cookies from the table to take home with them.

The experts also think another reason this tradition was started was because the materials to make a wedding cake could be very expensive and depending on the budget of the bride and groom it might not be possible to afford a wedding cake big enough to feed everyone attending the wedding. In those cases, the women of the community would be called upon to bake cookies to fill the void that was left by a lack of wedding cake. This ensured that all guests walked away from the wedding with a little taste of sweetness thus wishing the happy couple good luck with their marriage.

The wedding cookie table at Julie and Kelly's reception made me speechless. It was big and simply overflowing with traditional Italian cookies in flavors that I had never seen before in my life. I immediately dumped my purse in a corner and whipped out my camera and begin snapping photos of these cookies. (If you ever see me or anyone else snap photos of food in public, try not to be alarmed. It is simply our way.)

Tray after doily-covered tray were filled with lightly frosted chocolate spice balls, almond cookies, pale white anise flavored cookies, jam-thumbprints, long skinny cookies covered in powdered sugar or sesame seeds and peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's kiss in the middle. The table seemed to go on and on, heaped high with the equivalent of green kryptonite to my diet . . .cookies. I can refuse many things, but cookies I cannot. They weaken my will-power. 

But as I moved closer to the table I noticed little white cards with the names of the cookies handwritten on there and the name of the relative who had made them. That's when I realized that all of these cookies were hand-made for the bride and groom by family members.

Many sources mention the tradition of all of the women in the family gathering together to bake these cookies and catch up on family gossip. Grandmothers, Mothers, Sisters, Aunts and Cousins and future-in-laws as well would start slaving over these cookies months in advance to ensure they had more enough to go around and have some left over for the guests to take home. If there was talk of someone in the family not being able to make their allocated amount of cookies then, someone else in the family would be nominated to pick up their slack and make the remaining cookies. The cookies would get done, one way or another.

After the wedding, I began asking other foodie friends if they had ever seen or enjoyed cookies from an Italian Wedding Cookie Table. I was surprised, because I could not find one person who actually liked wedding cookies. In fact, I found just the opposite, many people hate them. What? How could anyone hate a defenseless little cookie?

There were two common complaints given: 1) That the cookies tasted generally like paste . . .all of them. Regardless of the type of cookie, they completely lacked of sweetness and flavor. 2) That the cookies tasted stale or were rock hard.

First let me say this, I can assure you, having skipped dinner that night at Julie and Kelly's wedding reception in favor of trying one of each of the wedding cookies on their table . . .their cookies did not taste like paste and nor were they stale. They were soft, flavorful and uniquely delicious.

How could a simple cookie tradition have so few fans? And why would this tradition linger on if it was commonly known that these cookies were stale and tasteless? It wouldn't. Which leaves me with two hypothesis. 

First - The cookies I tasted did have very interesting, even old-fashioned, subtle flavors. Could it be in our society with cookies at the mall bigger than your head that are not only frosted and then topped with M&M's, but also chock full o' nuts and chocolate chips that we, as a society, have lost sight of what a simple, traditional cookie can taste like? A tea biscuit, so to speak? Perhaps our palates have been so blown out by the rich and decadent (ingredients that would have been very expensive and in short supply back in the old days, no doubt) we think the wedding cookies are bland by comparison? Or perhaps some wedding cookie makers are simply better than others.

Second - I believe the stale cookie issue is a simply matter of most of these cookies being made months in advance. If they are not stored or frozen and re-thawed properly, I can absolutely see how they might taste stale and old. Again, I come back to some wedding cookie makers are simply better at the craft than others. 

All I believe is needed to truly appreciate this sweet veil of tradition is an experienced wedding cookie maker and a palate willing to enjoy the subtle, graciousness of a small, simple tea cookie.I wish you could have tasted the cookies made for Julie and Kelly's wedding - they were brilliant.

Weddings really are a wonderful way to learn more about other religions and cultural traditions. I say, go to as many different weddings as you possibly can. I always end up learning something new about myself or a religion or tradition that I had never knew existed before.

In this case, I learned first hand that cookies really do equal love. I heart cookie tables and all the tradition and love that goes into them.

Speaking of love, I wish the happy couple much luck, love and light in their future lives together as husband and wife. 

Rumor of Royalty

It was late Spring of this year, when I found myself on the outdoor patio of Le Fou Frog in the River Market with darling Chef Marshall Roth, who is now the Corporate Executive Chef for McClain Enterprises which owns and operates in Independence Square - Ophelia's, Café Verona, Square Pizza, Clinton's Soda Fountain and Courthouse Exchange. This was our "first date", but I had met and written about him in the blog many times. He called me out of the blue one day and we chatted by phone when he asked me if I wanted to meet him for a cocktail. His contract as the Corporate Executive Chef for the Cordish Company who owns the Power & Light District had just ended when we met for a drink, and he seemed to be enjoying his brief moment of freedom in between his old gig and his new one. I remember the weather being lovely, perfect for sitting on the outdoor patio at Le Fou. 

We settled into a breezy conversation about restaurants in Kansas City over a snack of helix escargot compacted and baked with garlic herb butter and served with crunchy French bread. I was still in my Absinthe/Pastis cocktail phase, so I ordered a refreshing glass of Pernod with a water-back. Chef Marshall's eyes lit up as I placed my drink order with the waiter, and as he turned to leave, Marshall said to me: "I can see we are going to be fast foodie friends."  I smiled at him, as the waiter dropped off my cocktail and bottle of water. As I slowly drizzled my water into my two fingers of Pernod, carefully watching the clear liquor turn milky-white, I asked Chef Marshall where he liked to eat in Kansas City.

That's when he surprised me by telling me that every Friday (or most Friday's) he was really enjoying going for lunch at the Webster House. Marshall is good friends with the Executive Chef at the Webster House, Chef Charles d'Ablaing. I think they worked together when they were both at Hotel Phillip's.

Now, I had not been to the Webster House to eat for many years. In my mind it was a "ladies who lunch" place, and not very interesting to me at the time. I have since enjoyed a couple of Chef Charles d'Ablaing's meals, particularly from their new dinner menu, and found his skill and plate presentation to be tasty and impressive.

So, as Chef Marshall and I are talking about Chef Charles d'Ablaing, he suddenly turns to me an says a bit under his breath, "Well, you know Chef Charles comes from royal blood."

"What?" "Reeeaaaally, how do you know this exactly," I asked Marshall, keeping one eye on my slippery escargot I was trying to extract from it's shell and one eye on Marshall's body language looking for signs of puffery or exaggeration.

Without, batting an eye, he says to me,  "Yes, his real name is Charles d'Ablaing "something" (I could not remember, nor pronounce the family name that Marshall said here.) and he comes from royal family and royal blood lines over in Europe. He doesn't like to talk about it, so he has just shortened his name, dropping the family name, for ease and anonymity here in Kansas City." Interesting and mysterious . . .why the need for anonymity . . .is he an heir to a throne? Good gravy, Man, inquiring minds want to know.

Since I was meeting Chef Marshall for the first time, I decided not to press my luck and ask more questions about this juicy rumor. I simply made a mental note of this conversation, and filed it away in my memory banks for use or confirmation at a later date. The next morning, I found Chef Charles on LinkedIn and asked to be linked to him. We chatted over email and he invited me to lunch at the Webster House, so we could meet. I agreed having not been there in a while.

When I arrived for our lunch, I was immediately seated in the back at the Chef's Counter which sits right in front of Chef Charles cooking station. What a wonderful seat! I loved the experience of getting to sit so close to the action, and to watch the entire staff burning and churning their way through a busy lunch hour.

Chef Charles cooked as we chatted, and I discovered that his lovely wife, Silvia, is Brazilian, as is my husband. Silvia had also attended my wonderful Brazilian Baby Shower when I was pregnant with my son, and she used to shop in my Brazilian store west of the plaza called Brazilian Cargo Company. Turns out, I know his wife, very well, but it had been years since I had seen her in Kansas City. Chef Charles told me charming stories of their trips to Brazil, of picking coffee beans on the plantations there and how much he loves the culture and food of Brazil. We shared Brazilian dishes and places to visit as he prepared my lunch for me. I found him handsome, charming, mature beyond his years and interesting to talk to. I was glad I made the connection with him.

Do you think I remembered to ask him about this royalty rumor during our lunch meeting? Unfortunately, I did not. He blinded me with talk of Brazil and his work at the Webster House and the new dinner menu he was working on. His mysterious pedigree never once came up.

Fast forward to this weekend, I am doing some research on a blog entry, and I am reading a newsletter I had saved concerning a charity dinner that Chef Charles did as a fundraiser for the Powell Gardens. It talks about this auction item dinner that Chef Charles will prepare. I stop and catch my breath when I see the name they have listed for Chef Charles in this Powell Garden newsletter.

It read: Urban Cooking Demo & Dinner: The lovely Crestwood home of Wendy and George Powell is the setting for an interactive cooking and dining experience. The enthusiastic Charles d’Ablaing Vangiesseburg, Executive Chef of Webster House, will demonstrate how to use
urban garden herbs and vegetables easily grown on your patio to create a sumptuous meal and one-of-a-kind evening. 

Charles d' Ablaing Vangiesseburg? That's the same name Chef Marshall had used this Spring on the patio at Le Fou Frog. There it is.  It's in writing.  

I did the only thing I knew to do . . .I Googled his name. The only thing that came up was this newsletter for Powell Gardens . . .nothing else. So, I have printed off a copy of this Powell Garden newsletter, so I have proof, in writing, that this name does exist for Chef Charles.

Curiously, the elite in KC, know and refer to Chef Charles by his "royal" name. Perhaps, they know the secret to Chef Charles hidden pedigree.

I haven't been into the Wesbster House in a while for a meal . . .I think I need to get in there to talk to Chef Charles. I'll admit it, my curiosity has been sparked. Oh my, my inner "Chefetish" is showing again, isn't it?

 

Eating the Big Apple

Jeff and Nicole Conrick have quickly become very important Foodie friends to me and my family. I met Nicole years ago when I was the Marketing Manager for E-Commerce at Payless ShoeSource, and she was my Interactive Media Director at VML in Kansas City.

 Jeff, her husband, and I did not really get a chance to know each other until my Christmas party last year - where he brought me the only terrific bottle of French Beaujolais Nouveau (Louis Tete, 2007) I have ever had. Typically, Beaujolais Nouveau's are considered the Grandparent's Day greeting card of the wine world. Not really recognized as a real event, but marketed to us as one. Available the third Thursday of November, this light, fruity red wine is meant to be enjoyed soon after. Full of tradition and authenticity, this Beaujolais Nouveau gifted to me comes from the finest terroirs of the region. It was full of strawberry and cherry flavors. Decent grape juice for a marketing ploy.

I also learned at that Christmas party that Jeff brews his own beer at home. In fact he is so serious (and I can tell you first hand really good at brewing his own beer) that they just moved into a home where Jeff could have his own beer kitchen to craft his ale from scratch. He keeps his fermenting beer in large red lacquered, Asian-inspired cabinet. I think that is so cool.

They also take trips to certain places every year just to eat and drink. Nicole travels quite a bit for work and they are able to use her points to take several of these eating excursions each year. They always go back to New York. They try new places, go back and visit old favorites and I learn more about where I want to go and recommend to others from their trips to the Big Apple.

They are in New York this weekend. We talked about my jealousy at their fabulous eating trips, and every year we talk about tagging along with them when they go. Then with that, they step on the airplane and are off to explore the city together.

Imagine my surprise when I blow open my email last night to find two nightly email updates from Jeff regaling me with stories of where they ate and what they had the last two nights in New York. Why it's the next best thing to being there!  I have devoured his emails over the last few nights, cursing myself for not giving Jeff my camera to take photos.

I've decided to make my friend, Jeff Conrick, my guest blogger tonight. I think you will enjoy his stories as much as I have.

The title of the email that Jeff sent to me both nights was:
"Check out this place we went last night . . ."

Friday 11.14.08

Jenny,

You would absolutely have loved this place….it was one of the most inventive places I have been, it’s an offshoot of a local favorite called Public.  It was way sexier than I expected, and was basically a door out of the other restaurant Public into a little room that was called the Monday Room.  It totally different, and almost all the tables were low and you sat on leather couches.  It was lots of fun, but the food, wow – it was out of this world and quite inventive, here's the menu.

(JV- So, let me get this straight. Jeff says I would have loved Monday Room because it is inventive, sexier than expected, totally different and lots of fun. Why, thank you, Jeff! What a wonderful compliment.)

I picked a place close to where we’re staying that had good reviews, but I expected something laid back and not nearly as impressive as we got.  Think a 4-Star restaurant in what was essentially a trendy nightspot kind of place.

We each had a flight of wine (Nicole tried European whites, and I had a flight of hard to get Beaujolais (not your mother’s Beaujolais), which was just amazing (JV-Wait, I see a pattern here!), and then we did the tasting menu, and these small plates were what we had:

●Glazed eel with pickled beansprouts and soft boiled quail egg

●Raw Tasmanian sea trout with piccalilli, shichimi, and a three slice pile up

●Grilled Maine scallop, crispy pork belly and Thai glaze with a shallot, mint and ginger salad

●Corned Kobe beef tongue with roast marcona almond purée, black mission figs, chorizo oil and chocolate wafer

●Braised lamb shoulder with green olives and rosemary crust with roasted parsnips and carrots

●Chocolate tart with chocolate raspberry crémeux and salted caramel ice cream

We may stop back in another night and try these:

●Chicken liver crème caramel with Cabernet roasted grapes and crispy parma ham (people next to us were raving about this)

●Pan-seared foie gras on spiced french toast with pineapple chutney, maple glaze and crispy bacon

Just a great (and unexpected) food experience and I thought I’d pass it along as one to put on the list for the next time your in NYC. (JV - It's on the list, now, Brother.)

As the week goes on I’ll continue to share, because I don’t know if I’ll remember all these places by the time we get back….but that’s part of the fun. (JV - Thank goodness for cabs in NYC.)

Jeff

Saturday 11.15.08

Alright, if you enjoy it, (JV - Trust me, I begged for more.) here we go again…..Who knew I’d be blogging  to the blogger.  ;-) (JV - I have my big foam Foodie finger on and in the air for you, Dude. Rock on.)

Ok, so last night we went to one of my favorite chef’s place’s here in NYC.  It’s Chef Johnathan Waxman, he started out in San Francisco working at several different places, most notably at Chez Panisse under the immortal Alice Waters.  Sometime in the 80’s he brought his show to NYC and opened many of his own restaurants, during this time he even mentored one of the best chefs of our time, Bobby Flay, who calls Waxman “my number 1 mentor”.
Anyway Waxman’s current place in the West Village, Barbuto, is a place that we discovered probably 5 years ago, and I never miss a chance to have at least one meal there when I’m in town.  Also, he came out with a cookbook last year that Nicole picked up for my birthday and I really love it, you’ll see it, it’s all over the website.

It’s a rustic Italian place that changes the menu nightly, and does whatever is fresh and in season, and never tries to get too cute with complex dishes.  He’s one of those chefs that can take 5 ingredients and turn it into something simply amazing.  It’s a small little place with a laid back atmosphere, an open kitchen and where the with windows are made of garage doors (much like the windows at The Coffee Girls Filling Station on Gillham in Kansas City).  He’s almost always in the kitchen (or at least somewhere in the restaurant) every dinner or lunch I’ve ever been there, which I really like, but often he’s just mingling with the guests because he trusts his sous chefs.

Anyway since they don’t seem to update their online menu’s daily, I’ll have to recall from memory what we had, but you can get an idea of the type of things he cooks by looking at the menu.

We each started with a pasta. Nicole had gnocchi with roasted butternut squash, and I had to try the butternut squash ravioli with crumbled Italian almond cookies on top (would have never guess this could be as good as it was).

Nicole then moved on to a roasted cod filet with crispy skin on a bed of sautéed leeks, onions and celery root.  The flavors on this dish were outstanding and the cod was perfect – crispy skin on the outside and probably the most buttery texture on the inside I’ve ever experienced.
I had the Seared Scallops with an herb crust on one side sitting around a mound of roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon. Simple and delicious.

Finally, Nicole finished with a Scoop of Dark Chocolate and a scoop of Pear sorbet, while I finished with an Italian Chocolate pudding (budino) and one of the richest I’ve ever had.

It was a great night with a packed house and we both came out so happy we skipped the taxi or subway and made the two mile walk back to our apartment so we could enjoy the night air.  Beautiful 60 degree night in NYC. (JV- Que? 60 degrees, that's warmer than in KC, my friend, enjoy.)

Perfect end to a wonderful meal.

Hope all is well.  We come to NYC at least once a year, so when we come sometime, you guys should come along. (JV- If you're buying, I am flying, Dear.)

Jeff

I'll post any further updates here . . .I love my Foodie friends. Enjoy. 

Todd's Culinary Toys

Meet Todd Schulte. He and his wife Tracy, own Happy Gillis, the fantastic new breakfast, lunch and wine bar hang out spot in Columbus Park.

I had heard about Todd several years ago from several foodies in town when he had just started The Happy Soupeater, his soup delivery business. Yep, Todd started his food career in KC, making and delivering all natural soup door to door. He had a handful of zip codes he was delivering to, and unfortunately for me, mine was not one of them in Lenexa.

The way the process worked was you could sign up online for soup delivery, then you left your money in a pot on your front door step, Todd would come by and leave the soup in your pot and take your cash. That was in the early days . . .I think he actually makes you pay online these days. Smart man! Todd still delivers soup, he just makes it in the back of Happy Gillis. He is basically running two businesses in one.

(And for those of you who feel sorry for Todd that I posted this picture of him, let me set the record straight. I did not take this photo of Todd, I stole it from his Happy Soupeater website. It is seasonal and appropriate for the Fall season. Don't you think?  The other photo choice had Todd with "trou" dropped and a Santa hat sitting jauntily to one side of his head with a sign in front of his privates that says "Honk, if you like all natural soup." Trust me, this picture is the best one.)

So, I knew Todd from Happy Soupeater fame when he opened Happy Gillis in Columbus Park. That's when I had a chance to meet his lovely, bright and witty wife - Tracy. She knows everyone in KC. Seriously, everyone. She is crazy about Todd, and their two daughters, and that coupled with her smarts makes her a person of interest for me. I liked her almost instantly.

But it is Todd who has a broad vision of the future of his food business, and a solid head and understanding around viral and word of mouth advertising and how it can be the single most important thing to cultivate in the restaurant business. The more he acts like he doesn't know what he is doing, the more you need to watch him as he is usually in the process of changing up the game right in front of your eyes.

So, knowing all of that does it surprise you that Todd is one of the most connected people in Kansas City in terms of owning the latest culinary toys? He owns a soup delivery business and a sandwich shop . . .what the heck does he need an immersion circulator to gently cook and hold something sous vide style, or an anti-griddle to freeze items instantly, or how about a chicken bong? What you have never heard of the chicken bong? Okay, me neither, and that is not this little toy's real name . . . which is, The Smoking Gun, but the name given to it by me and my husband after we saw it demonstrated by Todd one afternoon at Happy Gillis.

Todd brings out this little hand tool sized machine that almost looks like a handle of a power tool with a little wooden bowl at the top that you pack with the wood chip of your choice, then you light the wood chips with a lighter and PRESTO out of the attached black rubber tubing comes 100% wood smoke that Todd uses to smoke the chicken breast that he uses at Happy Gillis.

If you press further, Todd will tell you he has played around with the anti-griddle and has called Chef Colby Garrelts, owner of Bluestem, to see if he wanted to come over and play with Todd's immersion circulator, thus in the process they would both learn more about how to use these new tools. These culinary toys are cutting edge culinary technology. Most of the Chefs today were not taught how to use these tools in culinary school, they have had to experiment with them and teach themselves how to use them.

I heard that The American Restaurant has an immersion circulator that Chef Celina Tio had purchased as part of her kitchen re-design, and now that Chef Debbie has taken over that kitchen and those tools, she is calling on the help of others to teach her how to use these culinary quizmos to get the most out of her equipment and her staff. Good idea, I'd do the same if it were my kitchen.

I know the other immersion circulator in Kansas City at the moment belongs to Chef Nate Feldmiller who used to cook/own Circe on 39th Street before moving to Cafe Europa in the Crestwood Shops. I have heard tale of Chef Colby Garrelts, Bluestem and Chef Dave Crum, Starker's Reserve borrowing Chef Nate's equipment for different dinners they have been a part of. I am amazed at the sense of community the chefs in KC have with each other. A fantastic testament to the great foodie town we live in.

I finally got it out of Tracy that her best girlfriend from KC married a man named, Philip Preston, who is the CEO of PolyScience which is the company that makes and creates the next big thing in culinary tools for the professional kitchen. Philip is credited for creating and selling the first anti-griddle. I also understand from Todd that Philip gives Todd all the newest toys to play with in his own kitchen. And the Chicken Bong, I mean, The Smoking Gun, is a toy that Williams-Sonoma just purchased for their holiday catalog.

I love this video from You Tube, where you see Philip Preston at his office and his home demonstrating all of the latest toys he is credited for creating on Gourmet magazine's TV show called The Diary of a Foodie. (My favorite show in the world.)

 

Thank goodness, we have the culinary talent in Kansas City willing to work to see how new culinary tools could be incorporated into their every day lives. Where a simple soup/sandwich shop owner can lead and entire city in learning more about the newest culinary tools based on a long-term friendship. Enjoy!

November 2008 Table Hopping

TASTEBUD Magazine
Table Hopping - November 2008
“Giving Thanks for these New or Notable Eateries.”

Teocali Mexican Restaurant
2512 Holmes Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 221-4749
http://teocali.com

On a quiet street in the Longfellow/Dutch Hill neighborhood, find Teocali east of Hallmark, north of Truman Medical and south of Children’s Mercy. Seek out this charmer and settle in for authentic Mexican food and service with a smile. Owners, Enrique & Chela Gutierrez make food from their home in Teocaltiche, Jalisco, Mexico. Order the Carne de Puerco con Chile, and get chunks of tender pork slowly simmered in smoky hot sauce served with rice, beans and either corn or flour tortillas for $9. Fish tacos are also a house specialty here for $9. Margarita’s rule or try the Horchata, a traditional drink of cinnamon, sugar and rice-water. LIVE: or work within a reasonable distance and place a minimum order of $25, and they will deliver.

Kabab & Curry
12112 West 87th Street Parkway
Lenexa, KS 66215
(913) 888-8040

You won’t miss the newly opened Kabab & Curry in the back of this Lenexa shopping center because owner, Surinder Becker, has smartly hung a sign that says: “Yes, we’re open!” With a soothing upscale dining room, the breadth and quality of the Indian dishes delivers almost as much pleasant surprise as the decor. Most impressive is the list of traditional Indian breads, try an order for $2-$3. Sample various types and flavors of Roti, Naan, Paratha, Kulcha or Puri. Kababs from the tandoori oven are cooked to perfection, while the spicy Lamb Bhuna for $12 and the Curry in Chicken, Beef or Shrimp really deliver the heat. GET: your food spiced the way you prefer from mild to spicy, or ask for guidance, they know what level of heat tastes the best.

Delaware Cafe
300 Delaware Street
Kansas City, MO 64105
(816) 842-0303
http://www.giphter.com/delawarecafe

Here’s the buzz about the talented young guns at the newly reformed Delaware Café, which used to be just a breezy lunch spot in the River Market. The team is culinary whiz kid, Executive Chef Joe West, formerly of Bluestem along with Chef Chris Eis, formerly of 1924 Main and Chef Andrew Stannard, formerly of 40 Sardines. The lunch menu remains largely the same, but the dinner menu is filled with sassy dishes like, Pan Basted Sea Scallops with cauliflower pureé, foie gras pierogi, huckleberry “paint” and foie gras crisps for $27. Flirting with gastro techniques and eye-popping presentations, know that there is a method to the madness as the food is delicious and wholly satisfying. ORDER: the Kitchen Table Eight Course Tasting, $85 a person, and give thanks we have this team downtown.

Café Europa
323 E. 55th Street
Kansas City, MO 64113
(816) 523-1212

Café Europa is serious about serving the best classic American food at reasonable prices in Brookside. Owner, Andy Atterbury, hired Executive Chef Nate Feldmiller, formerly of Circe on 39th Street, and Pastry Chef Anna Morrow to figure out the type of restaurant that would be in demand and meet the needs of the diverse neighborhood clientele they serve. Café Europa does a brisk lunch business, with memorable soups, quiches and sandwiches. Try the Turkey with Sweet Nutty Cream Cheese sandwich served on thick homemade bread for $9. Chef Nate does a casual and relaxed dinner too, thus ruling the restaurant roost in the Crestwood Shops. SWEET: and sour, get the famous Lemon Cake for dessert, a carry-over item from the previous owner, Gigi Cowell.

t*a*s*t*e
7938 Santa Fe Drive
Overland Park, KS 66204
(913) 766-0320

Executive Chef Jonathon Dallen left his first restaurant, Tonic, and KC two years ago to tour the world on a yacht as a personal Chef. He came back to downtown Overland Park, where he bought the same space where it had all began. He has named the new restaurant Taste, in the hope that people would order many small plates to taste. See 26 small plates for you to mix and match all between $5-$12. Try the Tasting of Meat Satays with dipping sauces (Chef’s choice) for $10. Taste delivers comfortable food with a hint of Asian influence and all of the seafood dishes are a standout. This will be your favorite neighborhood hang-out. TELL: the Chef the number of “tastes” you are up for and he will gladly prepare a special plate for you to sample them all.

Halloween Pumpkins

I have been on the road to Tulsa frequently these last few weeks leading up to the election. My best girlfriend from college, Georgianna Oliver, is running for Congress there, and I am a part of her campaign team. The week of Halloween was a crucial and busy one for the campaign, and I flew in for a few days, early in the week, but explained that I needed to be back in KC to take my son, Dominic, trick-or-treating. (See him here as Commander Cody from Stars Wars, the Clone Wars.) So I left on Wednesday last week, and I promised to be back in Tulsa by the Sunday before the election.

I love Halloween. It's always been my favorite holiday as long as I can remember. I love dressing up, costume parties and candy, loads and loads of candy.

As an adult, I find myself skipping the dress-up part, because honestly, if I want to wear fishnet hose to work, I can. There is no one stopping me from dressing up to suit my own wildest fantasies. I no longer need to use Halloween as a day to make a daring fashion statement or wear something I would not normally have the guts to wear. I don't need to wear a costume, I am a sexy witch . . .naturally.

My food cravings have also shifted, away from the buckets of Halloween candies to a more natural, but equally interesting sweet treat . . .pumpkins. Not just any pumpkins but local pumpkin pie pumpkins which I found on sale at my local Hen House Market. They are much sweeter and smaller in size than the ginormous ones that we use to carve.

It was the first thing my son said when I walked through the door from Tulsa - "Oh good, you are back, just in time for us to find and carve our Halloween pumpkin." See, traditionally, Halloween Eve is the night our pumpkin gets carved. I learned my lesson the hard way . . .a pumpkin carved too early seems to decay faster and when placed in a forgotten formal dining room window, by the time you smell the rotting flesh it is too late and too bad. Dead pumpkins are not happy pumpkins.

So in keeping with tradition, I went on Halloween Eve to the grocery store to pick out our pumpkin, and that's when I spotted the cute little pumpkin pie pumpkins. I bought three little guys, not really sure how I would use them and brought them home.

Then I bought one, really big one, that with the help of a pumpkin carving kit, I was able to transform into this haunted castle you see here. Not bad, for a tired Mom, at the end of a long day. My son slept on the couch while I dutifully scraped flesh, transferred the design and eventually carved it myself. Girl Power.

I ended up making Halloween Eve all about pumpkins, as I carefully spent my afternoon roasting all three little pumpkin pie pumpkins in the oven with a little olive oil on them, then carefully scraped the flesh out of the skin, which, once fully cooked, removed quite easily. Then I used two pumpkins to make pumpkin pies from scratch (I'll admit it, the pie crust is store bought. I don't do crust, I just suck at it, and besides I don't really like to eat the crust, so why bother.) I used the third pumpkin to make a wonderful Brazilian dish called Picadinho na Moranga or Chopped Beef Baked in a Pumpkin.

Finally, I saved all of the pumpkin seeds and roasted them with butter, salt and Buffalo hot sauce. They are really good. I am a sucker for roasted pumpkin seeds this time of year as a snack.

Let me give you the recipe for both the homemade pumpkin pie and Brazilian Beef in Pumpkin recipe, so you can try them before all of the pumpkins fly off the shelf.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

1 small pumpkin pie pumpkin, (split in half and scraped to remove stringy pulp and seeds)

1 cup of sugar

4 eggs

(1 and a half) 12 oz. cans of evaporated milk

A palm-full of your favorite pumpkin pie spices all mixed together. (For precision, assume 1 teaspoon of each of the spices you plan to add. I used Chinese Five Spice for a different, yet similar take . . .traditional recipes call for cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves or just buy ready made pumpkin pie spice.)

Roast the split and cleaned pumpkins in the oven on 350 degrees until the flesh is fork tender and scrapes easily away from the skin of the pumpkin. Usually around 30 to 45 minutes.

Take the scraped flesh from one pumpkin and blend it in the food processor or blender with all of the remaining ingredients. Take care to cool the hot roasted pumpkin down before adding the milk or eggs to avoid cooking them. Blend together until smooth. Mixture will look like liquid, no worries, it will firm up nicely in the oven.

(Make your own pie crust from scratch or poke the Pillsbury Dough Boy in his tummy like I do and use store bought.) Pour pumpkin pie mixture in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust with tin foil to prevent it from burning and turn the oven down to 350 degrees for another 45-60 minutes until firm in the middle and when a toothpick is placed in the center it comes out clean.

I have to say, I have never really loved pumpkin pie. Oh, I would eat a piece on Thanksgiving, because you had to have something traditional to chase down that piece of pecan pie, which is truly my favorite kind of pie in the world. I grew up eating them at holidays, when my great aunt called them Karo pies, after the corn syrup used in them. But this pumpkin pie, made from real, local pumpkins was absolutely delicious and sweet and spicy and a much lighter, smoother consistency than those made with the dark brown pumpkin squish from the can. Did you know canned pumpkin is mostly made with butternut squash and not pumpkin at all? Guys, buy a pumpkin, roast it in your oven, and fall in love with pumpkin pie for the first time. 

Chopped Beef Baked in a Pumpkin (Picadinho na Moranga)

1 small pumpkin pie pumpkin

1 lbs ground beef

1/2 lbs. chorizo sausage

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

finely chopped garlic

Olive oil for sauteing

1 large can of tomato puree

1/4 cup of red wine

2 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 package of shredded potatoes for hash browns, cooked first

1 can of black beans

2 handfuls of raisins

2 handfuls of green olives

1 bag of shredded mozzarella or cubed cheese of any kind that melts easily

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the top off of your pumpkin and scrape out the pumpkin and seeds to clean it. Season with salt and pepper and roast in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the pumpkin.

In a sauted pan place a little bit of olive oil and saute the onions, bell peppers and garlic until translucent, then add the ground beef and chorizo and sauted all of the ingredients together until the meat is fully cooked with no pink showing.

Add the tomato puree, wine, Worcestershire sauce to the meat mixture and simmer. Then when the mixture comes back up to temp. add in the raisins and green olives and simmer for a few minutes.

Finally, add in the cooked hash browns and black beans and simmer to bring all ingredients up to temp and to thicken the mixture. 

Once it has come back up to temp. take the pan over to the pumpkin and begin filling the pumpkin with the meat mixture. Layer the shredded cheese or cubes of cheese with the meat mixture as it goes into the pumpkin.

Place the pumpkin and lid back on the cookie sheet lined with foil and place it back into a 350 degree oven for another 20-30 minutes until the pumpkin flesh is fork tender, but the pumpkin has not collapsed with the ingredients on the sheet.

Remove from oven and place the entire filled pumpkin on the table . Use a serving spoon to scoop out the pumpkin flesh and meat mixture to be eaten together. Serve over white rice, with a green salad and crusty bread. Brazilians would typically serve this dish with Parmesan cheese on the side that you could sprinkle on top.

I think from now on Halloween Eve will include pumpkin carving, and dinner and dessert made from real pumpkins. Enjoy!