The Making of a Foodie

Hottest Ticket in Town

The arrival of the first day of Summer, ahhhhhh! Can you feel it? I can. OMG, it is hot. It is 400 degree oven hot. What do the soaring temps mean to me: time off, traveling to eat/drink my way through other cities or my own, more time by the pool wondering the answer to the question tan lines or no? (never have figured that one out), perfecting my sangria and experimenting with new home-made ice cream recipes (this summer it's basil ice cream and bacon and eggs ice cream) and finally droppin' da' top on the Foodie-mobile.

As the city clears out and the tourists take over the Plaza and the Power and Light District, it also seems like the official Foodie events start to drop off, as people start entertaining and getting together with family and friends in their own backyards and neighborhoods. I don't know about you, but we lit our grills and our Green Egg up on Mother's Day and they have been fired up ever since.

However, there are some Foodie Events that I have placed on the blog that I think are some of the hottest Foodie tickets in town this summer. One of them is my Brazilian cooking class at Culinary Center of Kansas City, so some do fall in the shameless self-promotion category . . .but isn't that what having a blog is all about? I plan to attend all of these events just to break up the monotony of all that sun, sangria and grilled food. You should too!

Chef's Classic - Sunday, June 29, 2008 6:00 pm, The American Restaurant. Knowing the good works that Harvesters, our Community Food Network, does for the hungry children and families in Kansas City, I feel only too happy to support such a worthwhile organization with both my time and money. I told myself if I volunteered my time to help put on Forks and Corks this year . . .and survived (Look Bob, still standing!) , I would treat myself for the first time to tickets to Chef's Classic. I purchased my tickets back in April. I bought them then because it is a limited seating event that sells out every year. I didn't want to miss out on all of the fun. But, a little birdie has told me that there are a handful of tickets remaining, so checkout the line-up and the menu and then buy your ticket and come sit with me.

Of course, little did I know when I bought my tickets, that this would be the final opportunity for me to see the now former Executive Chef of The American, Celina Tio, in action as she and her family will soon be moving to Charlotte, NC where she will be opening her own restaurant she plans to call "Julian" after her two culinary idols and teachers Julia Child and her uncle Julian. Meanwhile, July 1st is when American alumni, Executive Chef Debbie Gold, of 40 Sardines fame, will take back over the kitchen where she and ex-husband Executive Chef Michael Smith put Kansas City on the culinary map by winning our city's first set of matchy-matchy James Beard Awards. So, this dinner will be bittersweet for me, as I say goodbye to a fire-starter of a KC Chef in Celina who brought fresh, creative new food and flavor combinations to a restaurant that may not have always embraced the new and can sometimes suffer under the weight of it's own history. Celina will surely be missed from the Kansas City culinary landscape, but Debbie Gold will clearly rock as The American's new culinary Queen Bee. Buzz-buzz!

So besides getting to witness this changing of the guards at The American, the rest of the Executive Chef line-up for Chef's Classic is impressive and the menu looks even better. Check it out.

 • Eddie Allen, Ameristar Casino, Kansas City, Mo.
• Roberto Donna, Bebo Trattoria, Washington, D.C.
• Mike Lata, FIG, Charleston, S.C.
• Joe Hafner, Gracie's, Providence, R.I.
• Keith Luce, The Herbfarm, Woodinville, Wash.
• Nick Wesemann, The American Restaurant, Kansas City, Mo.
• Dan Swinney, Lidia's, Kansas City, Mo.
• Howard Hannah, The River Club, Kansas City, Mo.
• Jonathan Justus, Justus Drug Store, Smithville, Mo.

Brazilian Party Food Cooking Class - Wednesday, July 23, 2008 6:30 pm, The Culinary Center of Kansas City - So before I was a Foodie, I was the owner of The Brazilian Cargo Company located west of the Plaza on Holly Street, a successful retail store that sold foods, arts and crafts from Brazil from 2000 to 2005. We provided the ever growing Brazilian community and Americans with Brazilian ties the staples to make the dishes from their beloved country.

I opened the store to have access to the ingredients of the Brazilian cuisine, which at the time I was trying to master. It all started in 1995, when as a newly married woman, I needed to learn how to make some of the Brazilian dishes my new husband and his family were used to eating on weekends and holidays. I didn't even think that what a Brazilian would eat on Christmas would be different than an American, but as soon as I saw my husband's face when my family served jello salad as part of the Christmas meal . . .I knew I needed a crash course in Brazilian cuisine. And fast.

So, I called up my husband's mother, Anna Lucia, who was also my devoted partner and right hand in the Brazilian Cargo Company, and asked her if she would teach me the dishes of Brazil. She confessed that she was not the cook in the family, but that her mother, my husband's grandmother, "Dona" Ita would be happy to come teach me the dishes their family grew up making and enjoying.

Over the next few months, we cooked together, with me writing everything down and then practicing over and over . . .and of course over time, I got better and better. I knew I had really achieved some level of expertise when Dona Ita declared my Brazilian cooking to be better than most Brazilians she knew. That's when I proudly gave myself the title: "The Dona from Oklahoma."

That's also when I reached out to Laura O' Rourke, the owner of the awesome Culinary Center of Kansas City, as a way to promote the store . . .if I taught Kansas City how to make the dishes of Brazil, then they would need to come to my new shop to buy the ingredients. I am in Marketing, ya know.

(Um, see this guy in the blue shirt in this picture . . .that's Kurt Oetting, owner and founder of the now famous local catering company CHOP! who was the "culinary host" for my cooking classes back in the day. Look at Kurt serving my food!)

Laura was willing to take a chance on a newbie, and I taught several classes there with much success and I even had a few requests for private party classes, which I happily did on the side to earn extra money for the store. I loved teaching cooking classes. It was a kick. 

Many years passed, and I forgot how much fun it was to take classes and give classes at the Culinary Center . . .it had dropped off my radar screen. Life got in the way, and the store needed more attention than either Anna or I had time for with my new infant son, Dominic, now on the scene, so we sadly closed it and that chapter in our lives.

Imagine my surprise, when Laura calls me out of the blue (someone in her office found my blog) and asks me to teach a class, my old Brazilian Party Food class. I happily agreed and am proud to give you the details. (Just call the Culinary Center to register for a class.) If you never knew this place existed in KC, you need to. It is a wonderful resource for all home cooks and wanna-be Chef's.

BRAZILIAN PARTY FOOD
Get ready to party Brazilian style with “Table Hopping” columnist for Tastebud Magazine, former Brazilian Specialty Store owner and dedicated foodie. We’re happy to have Jenny back in the house teaching with us again!  The national dish of Brazil is a black bean, sausage and rice dish called “Feijoada Completa” and is prepared only on weekends or celebrations. We’ll also learn to make Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo) Brazilian Rice, Manioc Meal with Butter and Egg (Farofa), Collard Greens (Couve), Vinaigrette Sauce, Passion Fruit Mousse (Maracuja) and Brazil’s most famous muddled lime and sugar cane rum drink, the Caipirinha, which you’ll learn to make the “right way”! We’ll also enjoy Guarana, a Brazilian soda pop made from berries picked in the Amazon jungle. (Tasting) Wed. 7/23/08 6:30-9:00 $50 Instructor: Jenny Vergara.

2008 Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition - Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 6:00 pm, The Uptown Theater.

Last Year, I attended the first annual Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition at The Uptown. I brought my ex-bartender husband to the event, along with my Foodie friends from Lawrence. After settling them into a table in the back, I partied with the crowd filled mostly with service industry professionals, who were attending and/or competing in this event. Yep, if it is on a Sunday night, you know it is filled with industry folk. I was among my restaurant peeps. Word!

With last year being the first year of this event, I wasn't sure what to wear or what to expect. It was basically like a combination of one of those Sunday afternoon food competition shows on Food Network, mixed with a rock concert. Only this event was a really cool cocktail competition, and the bands were awesome local hot shots. I later referred to it as a: "competitive cocktail-licious concert". It is certainly a youth movement event, with different hipsters from different restaurants camped out in the crowd cheering on their home team bartender. I wasn't sure what drew the bigger crowd last year, the bartending event, the delicious free food from local restaurants or the bands that played afterwards. It was all good.

As for the competition, each of the twelve finalist last year were asked to make their signature cocktail under a certain time limit, then they described it as each of the judges tasted the drink and they were rated. Then they were subjected to some pretty basic cocktail trivia questions they had to answer. Last year, there were 100 entries and 12 finalists that represented some real heavy hitters in the local restaurant scene: Bar Natasha, M&S Grill, VooDoo Lounge, JJ's, Morton's, Bluestem, Potpie, JP Wine Bar, Thai Place, 1924 Main, City Tavern and The Drop. Last year's grand prize winner was David Smuckler of Morton's, who walked away with $1,000 and his recipe published in Cheers magazine.

I thought that the panel of judges really gave an air of creditability to the competition, as they were taking the event serious, but not too serious. Of course, neither were the contestants, which was obvious when Potpie's bartender wore overalls and no shirt, and at one point pulled a flask out of his back pocket to add a special ingredient to his cocktail as he competed on stage. Then there was the antics of the bartender from The Drop who pulled a stunt at the end of making his drink that rivaled the Bobby Flay standing on the cutting board moment on Iron Chef, offending his competitor Iron Chef Morimoto.

This event is the love child of Ryan Maybee and Doug Frost. Ryan is an Owner/Sommelier of JP's Wine Bar and a mean Mixologist himself. He is soon to be responsible for a new bar downtown called Manifesto which is going to be serving old school cocktails with new school flavors. Doug Frost, well, he is an international wine expert, consultant and writer as well the Wine Zen Master to the Sommeliers of tomorrow. If you meet someone in Kansas City who is wicked smart about wine, see how many degrees of separation that person is from Doug Frost, usually only 1 to 2 degrees. We are lucky Doug Frost calls Kansas City home.

The event is put on for charity benefiting the HALO Foundation and at last year’s inaugural event, they raised nearly $8000 for the HALO Foundation. But as important as raising the money for charity was the goal was to “raise the bar” for the art of mixology in Kansas City. A lofty and important goal, my friends.

Dale “King Cocktail” Degroff will be the celebrity guest judge this year, along with Ryan, Doug and Lisa Burgess.  Dale is one of the most revered experts in his field, and authored the book “The Craft of the Cocktail”.  Lisa Burgess is a local expert in the restaurant and bar community. 

This year your $20 ticket price will include not only front row seats to the bartending competition, but also live music from 2 local bands, a DJ, a flair demonstration by the Angel’s Rock Bar bartenders, and food catered from Jp Wine Bar, JJ’s, The Drop, and Makers Mark Bourbon House. 

Quixotic - Esoterra Show, Thursday June 26, 2008 and Friday June 27, 2008 8:00 pm at The Uptown Theater.

Okay, so honestly there is nothing truly Foodie, in the strict sense of the word, about this event. Not unless you count feeding your soul as a Foodie activity, like I do. This little local troupe of artists feeds me in powerful ways, and gives me such hope for the future of performance art in Kansas City, along with all of the other, more traditional, art genres this city has to offer.

Quixotic means: Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality. Yes, I want to be that . . . I want to support that kind of frivolity in myself and in KC.

I am one of the many in Kansas City who supports, protects, and champions this troupe; I am a sponsor, a benefactor and a regular customer. I am a patron of the art this troupe delivers with their impressive aerial feats and beautiful and whimsical costumes and choreography.

Every time I see the name Quixotic attached to any event, I buy tickets because I know it is going to be a good show and I know it is going to sell out. I even spent my New Years Eve night this year at Harrah's Casino at the VooDoo Lounge just to catch another live performance of this talented, local theatrical troupe. They never have put on anything less than a spectacular performance.

For a taste of our very own local Cirque du Soleil, buy your tickets now before we lose this talented team to bigger venues and larger cities. If you have never been Quixotic, there is no time like the present.

Have a tasty Summer. There is so much to sink your teeth into. Enjoy!

2007 U.S. Foodie Tour

In 2007, at the start of my Foodie adventure, I went on my own private U.S. Foodie Tour. I had frequent flier miles left over from my previous corporate gig and I wanted to use them to travel and do something to signify the start of my new interest in food. However, my funds were limited so I had to get creative about where I could go and what would be important to see.

I did some research and discovered that many of the cities that I had a couch to crash on, also had significant food events that were FREE to attend. So, I got out my calendar and mapped out the 6 different "Taste of Insert Your City Here" food and wine events I would be attending. I decided to use these events to see if I really could indeed get a "taste" of each city.

The cities were picked based on nothing more than if I had a friend/relative in each city I could stay with to avoid hotel costs. My plane rides were free, and I had cab fare and eating/drinking money, so I mailed each event asking for a press pass using my Tastebud Magazine Table Hopping credentials. The passes just started rolling in.

I attended the Taste of KC, Taste of Chicago, Taste of Dallas, Bite of Seattle, Taste of Colorado and finally the Taste of St. Louis. I was on the road at least once a month with one of these events from April - September 2007.

I learned so much about myself and food on those trips. I learned what I knew about food and wine, and what I didn't know. That was the most humbling realization and fueled the fire to learn more and push myself further along this path. It is the reason I chose to call this blog - The Making of a Foodie.

The Taste of KC was held at Harrah's last year and was sponsored by The Pitch. It was like an Iron Chef Battle between local hotel and casino chefs, and did little to capture my interest or imagination. However, I did get a chance to meet Eddie Crane, Josh and Abby Jo Eans at the event, the owners of The Drop and Blanc Burgers + Bottles who were providing their excellent food for the event. They really made this event for me, as not much else did.

Next, it was time to get out my suitcase. Before I would step on a plane, I used Chowhound to post and ask local Foodies in each city what I should eat at the festival in order to get a "taste" of their city's food roots or current food scene. The second thing I asked was if they believed I could get a "taste" of their city while attending events called "Taste of . . .", and if not, then what restaurants should I seek out to get a taste of the food their city was built on. I approached these trips like book reports and did my homework before I went.

The answers I received to my posts were interesting and unexpected. Some cities really wanted to take on the challenge and help me taste their city, and some wanted to complain that I had picked the wrong event to really sample the best cuisine their city had to offer. Some posters had no idea what one should taste when visiting their city.

My question seemed to touch on something that many of the Foodies on Chowhound may have not have ever considered about their own city - what does one eat to taste the food of their city?

I starting placing these posts on Chowhound after I did the Taste of Chicago, which was one of the first and largest events I attended. I traveled to Chicago by myself and roamed the event in search of what would give me a "Taste of Chicago." That's when I decided just to stop and ask the locals what they would recommend.

After stopping several groups I was given this short list of things to eat to Taste Chicago:
1 - Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza
2 - Chicago-style Hot Dogs
3 - Italian Beef Sandwich

This is not fancy food, this is food that came from the large immigrant population and workforce that flowed from the port into the Windy City. It is food that all Chicagoan's know and call their own. So, I ate it, and it was good. And I realized that working class food, or comfort food is what points to the immigrant population that has most impacted a city's culinary roots. America, as we all know, is the ultimate melting pot . . .and that goes for our food as well.

I did eat a lovely sashimi dinner one night at Japonais where I was one on one with their head sushi chef as I was seated in front of his station. I ended up here after calling fruitlessly to get a last minute seating for one at Alinea, Topolobampo, Blackbird and Avec.

When I came home from Chicago, I did my postings on Chowhound to ask for recommendations in Dallas, Seattle, Colorado and St. Louis.

Next, I attended the Taste of Dallas, where I was directed by Chowhounders in DFW to go eat: Texas BBQ, Country Cookin' or Tex Mex food . . .or really any dish involving lots and lots of meat, preferably BEEF.

This is food that came from the men out on the ranges herding cattle and eating trail food and from the Mexicans that moved across the border into Texas that influenced their cuisine. I dutifully obliged and ate BBQ beef, prime rib beef sandwich, soft tortillas filled with tender pork and finally fried chicken and mashed potatoes from the most beloved Babe's Chicken Dinner House. I even had a bite of a frito chili pie . . .which no matter how old you get still tastes nostalgic and comforting.

I went back to Dallas later in the summer and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at York Street and the best tacos I have ever had at Fuel City.

From there I attended the Bite of Seattle, where the Seattle Chowhounders suggested I eat at Chef Tom Douglas, Seattle's most well-known restaurateur's, upscale culinary booth. (Chef Tom hosts a FOODIE tasting within the bigger event that one can experience for an additional price.) They also suggested anything the Indians would have eaten such as corn, fresh salmon and berries and finally any Asian food booth . . . and there were plenty to choose from: Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian etc. Heck, I walked around this event drinking fresh coconut juice straight from a coconut. Unforgettable.

Seattle's food scene seems to come from what the Asian population has brought with them and their access to fresh fish and the desire to buy local, eat local . . .fresh and in season whatever the land gives you, much like the Indians. I read an article last year that said the Northwest might be the only region in the US that can claim to have it's own distinctive regional cuisine.

As you can see from the photo gallery on the side of this blog, the other culinary high point of this trip was spending time with my favorite Aunt eating at restaurants I had only read about in Food & Wine Magazine. Sitka & Spruce and Lark were our dinner choices, after we tried twice to get into Elemental at The Gasworks only to be turned away as they were full both nights at 5 pm.

Then, I headed to Taste of Colorado in Denver over Labor Day weekend, and although the festival was impressive and large, I found very little to eat and enjoy that I would say came close to representing the cuisine of Colorado. Lots of funnel cakes, corn dogs and candied nuts . . .when I was looking for local corn, green chili sauce and succulent grilled lamb. However, I also had one of the best dining experiences of my life at the stand out restaurant in Boulder called Frasca Food and Wine. This restaurant experience alone, and meeting the person who recommended it to me, made the trip more than worthwhile from a personal and culinary standpoint. Imagine the smile on my face when I saw Jerry Shriver of USA Today in December of 2007 name Frasca - "The best meal of the year."  I ate there, I thought. I've had the best meal of the year.

Finally, I completed my trips with the Taste of St. Louis. My posting on Chowhound brought back some very interesting and thoughtful comments. I was told by bobzemunda (AKA Bill Burge, food writer  extraordinaire from St. Louis and contributor to one of my favorite food magazines Sauce.)  to eat the following to taste St. Louis:

1 - American Lager aka Budweiser
2 - Toasted Ravioli
3 - Gooey Butter Cake
4 - Slinger - eggs, home fries, and a hamburger patty all covered in chili and topped with cheese
5 - Pork Steaks - cut from the pork shoulder blade
6 - St. Louis style pizza - Cracker style thin crust pizza with provel cheese
7 - St. Paul Sandwich - an egg foo young patty with bean sprouts and white onions, dill pickle slices, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, and Wonder Bread.

This list is interesting because it is all items that originated in St. Louis. There were only three I did not find or taste while I was in St. Louis, they were the Slinger, Pork Steaks and St. Paul Sandwich. I don't think my stomach was up to the challenge, but next time I am in St. Louis . . .watch out, I plan to finish the list.

All of the comfort food items recommended to me were really not so different in terms of influence from the many delicious "fancy" restaurants, many Chowhound posters thought I should be eating at to get a taste of their city's best cuisine. These upscale restaurants serve food that usually comes from some specific influence in the Chef's background, his education, his ingredients, his interests or his experiences. French, Italian, Spanish, German, Chinese . . .heck even California, I suppose, could be listed. Fusion cuisine comes from melding two or more of these influences together.  It is still an outside culture bringing their cooking style and cuisine to America. After all, aren't we all considered immigrants to this land?  Unless, of course, you are an American Indian.

So, perhaps the bigger question is what should you eat to get a "Taste of America?" I think my answer to that would be to eat it all . . .every cuisine from every culture that has landed in America and call it ours. Because it is us, it is food we brought from our countries of origin to America. We are the land of opportunity . . .opportunity to eat and enjoy a bounty of foods from the many cultures that have come to this country.

So, the next question should be why we, as Americans, are obsessed with whether the ethnic cuisine we are eating are authentically prepared, or if they have been dumbed down to suit the American palate. Our ancestors brought these recipes here, and then they were passed down through generations and added to and substitutions were made for what was available and in season . . .and then they dipped it in corn meal batter and deep fat fried it and put it on a stick. (Just kidding.)

Seriously, I wonder why we, as a nation, give our collective palate so little culinary street cred? We eat food from all over the international UN buffet in this country. So, why are we so obsessed that we might be getting the ethnic wool pulled over our eyes or our stomachs? 

Of course, I say this having represented Brazilian cuisine in Kansas City for the 5 years I owned the Brazilian Cargo Company, and I had plenty of Americans come into the store and ask the most navel gazing questions about the food of Brazil. But as an American, I wanted to educate them about the food. To teach them what I knew about it, so they could move in the world with some level of confidence and understanding about a cuisine from a different land. We all have to start our Foodie journey somewhere.

Mine, started last year, on this U.S. Foodie Tour . . .but it was less about the cities I traveled to and even about the food I ate along the way.

What made these trips memorable were the people I met who shared similar interests and passions.  The ones on Chowhound who offered to meet me in St. Louis and show me around, the ones I did meet for a drink at Frasca in Boulder, the friends and family members I spent time with and reconnected with after a long time in Dallas and Seattle, and getting the opportunity to interview the lovely and down to earth, Chef Cat Cora at the Taste of Colorado. We talked about health and diet advice, her role as the only female Iron Chef on Food Network, her new restaurant concept (Global BBQ) and she shared tips on how I could get my son to eat a larger variety of foods based on her parenting experiences. And the last person I met who made an impact on me, was a quiet guy who was standing on the Pier in Chicago on July 3rd with me watching the fireworks who was from Cuba and eating his first burrito since coming to the US.

I guess our American food can also impact those from other countries coming here for the first time. Life is a journey, and I am so glad I took this one.

 

Do Foodies get to have Roadies? Or Groupies?

Below are the foodie events that I have attended or am making a point to attend this year. Most of them are new events for me, that is to say it will be my first time. The food festivals I chose were ones specifically hosted by local restaurants as a way to showcase their food, as that is where my current interest lies. I also chose ones where I could afford to travel to and usually had a place to stay once I got there.

The original idea behind attending these food festivals was three-fold:
o To learn more about the restaurants, food and wine trends in this country.
o To gain press credentials to give me access to the chefs for interviews etc.
o To potentially meet and impress the folks from Food Network sent to cover these types of events.

Kansas City is now being nationally recognized for our sheer numbers of fairs and festivals. Check out this article from the Kansas City Star regarding our ranking as the city with the third most festivals each year. Columbus, OH is number 1 and Austin, TX is number 2. Columbus, OH number 1? REALLY?

If you have suggestions on where or what I should be attending, please email them to me at tablehopping@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you at some of these table-hopping events.

APRIL 2007

April 15, 2007 - Giada De Laurentiis, Cookbook Signing
Unity Temple on the Plaza – Kansas City, MO
Girlfriend had two tickets and invited me to go, met Jasper Mirabile, Jr.

April 15, 2007 - Cooking with Suba, Indian Cooking Class
Michael Ong’s House – Kansas City, MO
Suba is a good friend who is teaching Indian cooking classes.

April 20, 2007 - Party at The Wine Bar at Lukas Liquor
Lukas Liquor 136th & Stateline Rd. – Kansas City, MO
Met Chef Terry Barkley who is the new Executive chef at the Wine Bar and the original culinary chef of Nara’s restaurant.

May 2007

May 3, 2007 - Forks & Corks, a benefit to raise money for Harvester’s Food Bank.
Grand Ballroom of the new Convention Center – Kansas City, MO
Bought $75 ticket to see some of the cities finest restaurants serve small plates and sampled local wine.

May 4, 2007 - Interview with Jasper Mirabile, Jr. for Tastebud Magazine
Jasper’s 103rd & Stateline Rd. – Kansas City, MO
Met with Jasper on behalf of Tastebud on Slow Food and sampled some of his delicious cooking.

May 9, 2007 - ODV Wine Club, Wine Tasting Event
Cellar Rat at 1701 Baltimore - Kansas City, MO
Attended Wine Tasting Event for $21, just a wonderful wine shop in downtown.

May 15, 2007 - Eclectic Eats, Em Chamas at the Downtown Central Library
14 W. 10th Street – Kansas City, MO
FREE. Hosted by Charles Ferruzza of The Pitch

May 17, 2007- Taste of KC, hosted by The Pitch
Harrah’s Casino – Kansas City, MO
Bought a $20 ticket to attend what used to be called the Iron Fork to watch local chefs battle with over 15 different food booths by local KC restaurants.

May 19, 2007 - Dinner at Chef Robert and Molly Krause’s House in Lawrence
917 Delaware, Lawrence, KS
Invited by local Lawrence foodie crew to attend this dinner.

May 22, 2007 - Eclectic Eats, Blue Nile at the Downtown Central Library
14 W. 10th Street – Kansas City, MO
FREE.

May 29, 2007 - Eclectic Eats, Tasso’s at the Downtown Central Library
14 W. 10th Street – Kansas City, MO
FREE.

June 2007

June 8-10, 2007 - Festa Italiana
Zona Rosa, I-29 & Barry Rd., Kansas City, MO
FREE. Another longtime Kansas City tradition, Festa Italiana debuts at Zona Rosa bringing a popular local family event to the Northland. This once-a-year celebration will transform Zona Rosa to all things Italian and will feature food booths, a beer garden, vendors, live Italian music, dancers and more.

June 20, 2007 - The Drop - Foodie Experiece
409 East 31st Street, Kansas City, MO
A gathering of local "underground" foodies to taste what one of my favorite restaurants has to offer. An opportunity for me to meet other local foodies in Kansas City.

July 2007

June 29 – July 8, 2007 - Taste of Chicago
Grant Park, Chicago, IL
The world’s largest FREE food festival with over 70 different food booths by local Chicago restaurants.

July 13-16, 2007 - Taste of Dallas
Historic West End, Dallas, TX
The largest FREE food festival in Texas with over 40 different food booths by local Dallas restaurants.

July 20-22, 2007 - Bite of Seattle
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
The Northwest’s premier FREE food festival with over 60 different food booths by local Seattle restaurants.

August 2007

August 12, 2007 - 2007 Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition benefitting the Halo Foundation.
Uptown Theater, Kansas City, MO
Bartenders from all of best restaurants will be competing to see who has the most creative and original cocktail recipe.

August 17-19, 2007- Ethnic Enrichment Festival
Swope Park, Kansas City, MO
My favorite hometown food festival with over 40 different food booths, representing foods from all over the world.

August 31 – Sept. 3, 2007 - Taste of Colorado
Civic Center Park, Denver, CO
FREE. The Taste of Colorado has over 50 different food booths by local Denver restaurants.

September 2007

Sept. 1-Oct. 14, 2007 - Kansas City Renaissance Festival
Bonner Springs, KS
A 16th-century English marketplace comes to life for seven weekends amid a beautiful wooded setting. Entertainment includes fair damsels, jousting knights, sorcerers, artisans, craftsmen, dancers, musicians, cooks, jesters and royalty—all in authentic and colorful costumes.

Sept. 21-23, 2007 - Taste of St. Louis
Gateway Mall, St. Louis, MO
FREE. The Taste of St. Louis has over 30 different food booths by local St. Louis restaurants.

October 2007

Oct. 4-7, 2007 - The American Royal Barbecue
American Royal Complex, Kansas City, MO
The American Royal Barbecue is the opening event of the American Royal and the season finale for the competitive circuit. Spreading over 20 acres in Kansas City’s historic Stockyards District, and with nearly 500 teams competing in four culinary contests, The Royal is the largest barbecue contest in the world.