The Making of a Foodie

Andrew Olsen Tapped for Bar Program at the New Cleaver & Cork

The dream team is coming together at Cleaver & Cork. Chef Alex Pope’s new restaurant is preparing to open its doors at the end of the month in the Power & Light District – with bartender Andrew Olsen helming the drinks program.

Olsen has been working behind the bar at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, one of the city's most prestigious cocktail bars. It's owned by local mixologist and J. Rieger & Co. whiskey-maker Ryan Maybee, who also owns Manifesto, the speakeasy downstairs.

While Olsen is a familiar face to many Kansas City cocktail lovers, this will be Olsen's first time running the bar program. He says he's prepared for the task.

“Operationally, I have learned so much about running a smooth and prepared bar program from my time at the Rieger,” says Olsen.

Running a successful bar entails the preparation of a Boy Scout, says Olsen: “Pre-measuring and batching cocktails so there is consistency in every drink. Delivering them with speed and accuracy is the key.”

He knows the guests he'll serve at Cleaver & Cork are just as likely to order a Bud Light as a Horsefeather, the craft cocktail he designed using Kansas City whiskey, ginger beer and angostura bitters, which will be on tap at the bar. He is fine with that.

“I know I am going to have guests that just want a cold beer on a hot day on our patio, and I know I am going to have guests that will come in wanting to try our signature craft cocktail, and I am okay with all of that,” Olsen says. “I just want people to come in and enjoy themselves.

“If I can introduce that beer drinker to a new cocktail that he or she enjoys, then I will have done my job.”

He is working on a drink right now for the Cleaver & Cork menu using Tequila Ocho Reposado, a top-drawer tequila aged for eight weeks and eight days. Olsen says, “It is a brand that many of us are playing with right now in Kansas City.” 

The cocktail menu he is developing for Cleaver & Cork is definitely whiskey-focused at the moment, but he acknowledges that he will also have some delicious fruit-forward “pounders” for patio drinking.

“The weather is going to be nice soon, and we’ll be open and ready to serve them as Cleaver & Cork is going to have some of the best seats in the house,” says Olsen.

Cleaver & Cork

1333 Walnut Street

Power & Light District

Kansas City, Missouri

 

Johnson County Community College hosts A Taste of Fashion: Dining and Dressing through Four Decades on Feb. 13

If you love American fashion, history and food, then you’ll want to check out Kansas City’s Johnson County Community College (JCCC) special 5-course pre-Valentine’s Day dinner. It may be just the thing to get your heart pounding.

On Friday, February 13^th from 6-10 pm, faculty from JCCC’s Fashion Merchandising & Design Program and the Hospitality and Culinary Academy are partnering to create the first dinner of its kind at the college that will take guests through the fashion and food trends of the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

JCCC Fashion Merchandising & Design Instructor, Britt Benjamin, will be raiding the on-campus designer closet to put on display the most important clothes trends of each decade, while JCCC Culinary Instructor, Chef Felix Sturmer will create his own culinary twist on the restaurant dishes that were the most popular in each decade during this 5-course dinner with wine pairings. 

“Guests will enjoy an exciting menu that will mirror what was happening in America, covering fashion and food trends from the fifties through the eighties,” said Sturmer.

The menu will feature wine pairings with each course and will start with Lobster Thermidor, representing the French influences of the 1950’s. That will be followed by a second course representing the artistic “Mod” period brought on by the British invasion of the 1960’s. The third course, a seasonal salad, will represent the influences in the 1970’s and of Chef Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkley, and the rise of California cuisine. The decadent power lunches of the 1980’s will feature a decadent duck dish followed by Charlotte a la Russe for dessert.

Talking you through each decade in detail will be JCCC English Instructor, accomplished author and food historian, Andrea Broomfield, who will tie together the fashion and restaurant meals that were on everyone’s hips and lips during each of the four decades.

Tickets for the dinner are $100 per person, and can be purchased here: purchased here: http://www.jccc.edu/foundation/giving/friends-with-taste/events.html

“In addition, guests who attend this dinner will also receive a complimentary ticket for JCCC Student Designer Fashion Show called “Eclectic Statements,” to be held on Friday, March 6^th at 7:00 pm in the Carlsen Center,” adds Benjamin. Tickets for the fashion show will be given out to each guest at the dinner.

Fashion never tasted so good!

Bonchon, a new Korean Wing Concept, plans to open in Lee Summit in Spring 2015

Tom Hughes, owner of Butcher Block Concepts in Overland Park, has announced plans to open Bonchon, a Korean fast-casual restaurant concept, in Lee’s Summit, Missouri this March or April.

It will be the first Kansas City-area location for the concept, says Julie Chung, assistant marketing manager for Bonchon Franchise LLC, although there are outlets on the East Coast, as well as the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

 “Bon Chon” is the Korean phrase for “original village,” or “home town.” The restaurant chain was founded in 2002 in Busan, South Korea. The first U.S. location opened in 2006 in New Jersey and the chain has grown to more than 23 locations.

Bonchon is most known for Korean-style fried chicken wings, drumsticks or strips. They develop their signature crispiness from a special double-frying method that makes the chicken extra crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Your choice of one or two Korean sauces gets hand-brushed onto the crispy chicken giving it an extra punch of flavor. Choose from soy garlic or spicy hot, or both. 

The managing partner for Butcher Block Concepts, Hughes has a long restaurant background. He worked for many years for Kansas City’s own Jack Stack Barbecue and is looking forward to getting the word out about the new concept he’s bringing to the area.

Bonchon has won good press as it begins its expansion across the U.S. Kate Krader, restaurant editor for Food & Wine magazine, named Bonchon’s chicken wings as among in the U.S. in 2014.

She wrote, “This cult Korean wings spot features exquisitely crispy fried chicken that comes with a choice of glazes: soy garlic sauce, or spicy hot. This is one of the few places where both choices are equally delicious; so go for half and half.”

Opening Soon:

Bonchon, Summit Wood Shopping Center, 1740 NW Chipman Road, Lee’s Summit, MO.

 

 

Three New Faces in Different Places: Chefs on the Move

It is a fundamental fact of life that change is inevitable. In the case of the restaurant industry, particularly Chefs, this seems especially true. But when good culinary talent moves, it just means new opportunities and good food is sure to follow. Every time a chef makes a move, two chefs get a new job. 

Here are some of the chefs in Kansas City that have recently made moves:

Eric Carter, formerly executive chef at Providence New American Kitchen in the Hilton Hotel President, has made the move to Martini Corner to head up the kitchen at Barrel 31 as their new executive chef. Eric has over ten years of experience in kitchens all over Kansas City, but his passion has always been comforting Midwestern American cuisine.

When asked about the match between Carter’s cuisine and the menu at whiskey-centric bar and kitchen at Barrel 31 Carter responded, “I thought it was a perfect fit for both of us.”

Carter looks forward to putting out his first menu in the Spring, and in the meantime will focus on sourcing high-quality ingredients, creating consistent dishes and building on the overall dining experience at Barrel 31.

Hope Dillon has taken over the kitchen and an ownership stake in 8-year old The Drop Bar located across the street from Barrel 31 on Martini Corner. When we last caught up with Dillon, she was the executive chef at the tasteful cafe Vivilore in Independence, MO. Dillon had decided she wanted to open something in the Union Hill area and in looking for possible locations, she reached out to Chris Ridler, who owns The Drop, Sol Cantina across the street and Zócalo Mexican Cuisine on the Plaza. He talked to Dillon about taking over The Drop as her new baby instead, and she jumped in with both feet.

Having been in the kitchen for a couple of month, Dillon has already streamlined the existing menu, and added more creative and fun bruschetta’s back on the menu, which continues to be the signature dish most associated with The Drop. It was a dish developed by the original chef, Josh Eans, who now owns Happy Gillis, as a way to serve excellent food with no working stove in the tiny bar kitchen. Some of Dillon’s new bruschetta offerings are Thai Chicken & Peanut Sauce, Pimento Deviled Cheese and Lemon Pea, Parsley & Roasted Garlic.

Dillon’s favorite item on the new Winter menu is her Soup of the Day that she comes up with on the fly, and she also recommends her chorizo stuffed mushrooms and the pastrami Rueben.

“I would love to add a steak to the night offerings, and that is in the works, after Restaurant Week is over,” said Dillon.

Joe West returns to Kansas City as the new executive chef at 801 Fish in Leawood. A top KC culinary talent, West has returned home after he made the move to Cincinnati, OH in 2014 where he headed up the kitchen as the executive chef of Cincinnatian Hotel & Palace Restaurant, a AAA 4 Diamond restaurant in the heart of downtown. 

West who was raised in Prairie Village, has cooked in top kitchens like Alex Restaurant at the Wynn Las Vegas and he left his position as Chef de Cuisine of Bluestem in Kansas City to take the job in Cincinnati. West was also named as one of Eater.com 50 Young Guns in 2014, which annually names people under 30 who work in the restaurant business, and who are considered “ones-to-watch.”

West, says he definitely has his eye on the future at 801 Fish, as the concept is set to expand in 2015.  Additionally, he has been posting some truly gorgeous seafood dishes on his Facebook page since he started. A recent dish was a perfectly composed plate featuring New Zealand John Dory, vegetables blanched or pickled, compressed Granny Smith Apple, an emulsion of scallop and Sauce Normandy. A scallop crudo dish almost looked too pretty to eat. 

With a chef like West heading up the kitchen at 801 Fish, a reservation at the Chef’s Bar is definitely in order for you to taste his talent for yourself.

Good Pho You, and Ramen Too

This is the time of year our bodies crave noodles in hot broth. On cold nights, we dream of large bowls filled with noodles, vegetables and protein all swimming in a steamy, savory broth. Nothing fills that craving quite like a giant bowl of Vietnamese Pho, Bun or Japanese Ramen. It is one of the most delicious ways to survive Kansas City’s long, cold winter months. Nothing clears the sinuses, warms the bones and cures a hangover faster than this catch-all soup. It will cure what ails you.

Here are four noodle bowls to help get, and keep you, right as rain this winter:

Spicy Bun Bo Hue from iPho Tower Vietnamese-French Bistro on Broadway:

Owner, Spike Nguyen, opened his original location on Independence Avenue as Pho Hoa, but once he decided to open his second location on Broadway in the Spring of last year, he renamed both locations to iPho Tower. I stumbled in here on New Years Day looking for something to take the edge off my headache earned the night before and his Spicy Bun Bo Hue did the trick for $8.95. Made with pork broth with slices of beef brisket and beef meatballs over vermicelli rice noodles, the bun bo has a fantastic depth and spice to it, with aromas of anise or Five Spice in the broth. My version did not have the traditional pigs blood in it, but, trust me, it was not missed.

iPho Tower Vietnamese-French Bistro

3623 Broadway, Kansas City, MO AND

1447 Independence Avenue, Kansas City, MO

http://www.iphotower.com

Combo Charbroiled Lemongrass Pork Vermicelli from Nguyen Pho+Grill in the River Market:

Kim and Jack Nguyen, a married couple, decided to jump on the chance to open their new Nguyen Pho+Grill restaurant in the midst of road construction because they loved the bustling corner location which is located right on the new streetcar line. They reason it is also close to many Vietnamese families who live or work around the River Market area. He works the front of the house and she is in the kitchen cooking like she does at home. Open only a few months, the couple has been busy serving their family recipes featuring Pho, Vermicelli and Bahn Mi sandwiches ever since. Try their Combo Charbroiled Lemongrass Pork Vermicelli with shrimp and a crispy egg roll for $8.75, for a sweet and sour take on the traditional noodle bowl. Want yours to-go? Use their website to place and pay for your order online before you go and pick it up. It makes the process fast and easy.

Nguyen Pho+Grill, 500 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO, http://nguyenphokc.com

Deluxe Pho from Big Bowl Pho in the Northland:

Last year, chef Dom Wiruhayarn and his wife, Marisa, opened Big Bowl Pho next door to their Tasty Thai restaurant in Kansas City’s Northland to rave reviews. Make this your spot to grab a bite coming from or going to the Kansas City Airport.

Are you back in town after a long trip? Stop in for their pho, and you’ll be ready for whatever lies ahead. Get the Deluxe Pho, for $9.95, with rice noodles floating in a umami-rich, earthy broth filled with thin slices of beef shank, brisket and tendon with fresh herbs.

Their portions are generous so you will have plenty to take home and enjoy for your next meal.

Big Bowl Pho, 7106 NW Prairie View Road, Northland, Kansas City, MO. http://www.kctastythai.com

 

Hokkaido Tonkotsu Miso Ramen from Ramen Bowls in Lawrence, KS:

Neither Shantel Grace, nor her husband Tim, are chefs or have ever owned a restaurant before, but after developing an appreciation for Japanese ramen while living and working in Hawaii, these Kansas University graduates decided to come home and figure out how to bring a piece of their islands experience with them. The cooks that the couple has hired to make their ramen have been trained by a Japanese ramen chef, and they make their stock by roasting bones to get the most flavor. The noodles, which are almost as important as their rich broth, are chewy to the tooth, a testament to their authenticity and freshness. Go for broke with the Hokkaido Tonkotsu Miso Ramen for $11.50. This noodle bowl features thick wavy noodles, hearty miso pork bone broth and a slice of grilled yakibuta (roast pork), napa cabbage, fried leeks, spring onions, fresh corn, tamago (soft boiled egg) and nori (seaweed). Well worth the drive for bowls this good. Live in Lawrence? Ramen Bowls delivers. Lucky you.

Ramen Bowls, 125 E. 10th Street, Lawrence, KS. http://www.ramenbowls.com

Bread & Butter Concepts builds fast-casual strategy, acquires Ingredient

Kansas City-based restaurant group, Bread & Butter Concepts (BBC), has acquired three locally owned Ingredient restaurants as part of their new strategy to add fast-casual dining to their stable of casual-dining restaurant concepts.

BBC announced this week that they has acquired three existing Ingredient restaurants including one at Park Place in Leawood, one in downtown Kansas City at 1111 Main Street and one in Columbia, MO. It was also announced that each of the acquired restaurants would close and undergo a remodel and would reopen as “Ingredient True Eatery.”

The Leawood location was the first to undergo the remodel and rebranding process and it has now reopened sporting the new look and menu. The Columbia location will follow closing January 18^th and reopening on January 20^th. The downtown location will be the last to remodel closing in sometime in mid-February.

No other restaurant group has exploded onto the food scene bigger or grown faster than Bread & Butter Concepts. From the group that has brought us Gram & Dun, Urban Table, two BRGR Kitchen + Bar locations, Taco Republic and the Taco Republic food truck and opening in the Fall of 2015 will be their new Italian concept called G. Berto Cucina, they have proven that they are investing in Kansas City in a big way.

Alan Gaylin, the Founder and CEO of Bread & Butter Concepts, said he took his time researching the market, and Ingredient as a viable concept to add to his list of BBC restaurants before he proceeded with the acquisition. Ultimately, he decided that Ingredient had just the missing ingredient that he needed.

“Moving into the fast casual sector of the restaurant business was a key factor,” said Gaylin. “It is currently the fastest growing segment of our industry and we like adding that to our portfolio.”

The new menu at Ingredient True Eatery still focuses on fresh ingredients and healthy choices. BBC plans to continue to offer a make-your-own-salad, but additionally they will introduce some fresh new signature salads like their Sonoma salad featuring romaine, swiss chard, kale, roasted peppers, golden beets, goat cheese, almonds and a sunflower vinaigrette.

Creative sandwiches and a build-your-own-burger option are all part of the new menu. They have also added a “snacks” portion to their menu with a Hummus of the Day, Cave Man Wings and Drunken Meatballs made with pork, bacon, whiskey glaze and jalapeño cornbread. Heartier entrée items will include Turkey Lasagna and a new spin on Fish and Chips that will also be on the menu.

New Locations:

11563 Ash Street, Leawood, KS 66211

1111 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64105

 

304 South 9th Street, Columbia, MO 65201

Pizza Places & Pies to love in 2015 in Kansas City

I am a self-professed lover of pizza. All kinds of pizza. If I have a cheat food, pizza is it. It hits all of my hot buttons at once. It is that crispy, yet chewy, crust topped with a schmear of rich tomato sauce, add a little meat and some vegetables and plenty of ooey gooey mozzarella cheese that makes me happy. A sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a handful of Parmesan cheese and it's game on. Okay, so maybe a drizzle of honey on my crust, and then . . .by golly that pie is gone.

I come my by love of pizza honest. I grew up in a small town that had very few restaurant options, but pizza we did have. Every Friday night, my Dad would stop by Ken's Pizza and bring home a large thin-crust cheese pizza and a medium pepperoni for our 5-person family to enjoy. Mom would make a green salad to go with it and that would be our Friday night dinner along with a 2-liter of Coke. When I got old enough to drive, I got a job making pizzas at Ken's, and then I had FREE Ken's pizza on my break every Friday night.

I learned that I am a folder of my pizza slices. It doesn't matter what type of crust or how big the slices are, I like to fold my pizza over to keep the good stuff inside of the crust, and it prevents it from spilling into my lap.

My two favorite types of pizza are New York and Neapolitan, and thankfully in Kansas City of we plenty of great independently owned pizza places that cater to my two favorite pizza fetishes, and a couple of new ones on the way.

I like the thinner crust of a New York-style pie, with what I consider to be the perfect topping to crust ratio. These are large floppable, foldable pieces of pizza. Very satisfying to eat.

Neapolitan-style pizza, on the other hand, is like New York's cousin who just arrived from Italy. You might think she is more sophisticated, listening to her accent, but she is actually much more simple and pure in her ingredients. Smaller pies, cooked in hotter ovens with fewer toppings, but just a sweet to eat.

So, on the nights that I am stressed-out, on deadline or just don't want to leave my house . . .these are the places that I will dispatch someone to go and bring me pizza. Pronto. Grazie!

New York Style Pizza

Johnny Jo’s Pizzeria

1209 W. 47th Street

Kansas City, MO.

https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyJosPizza

Owner, John Milone, delivered his New York style pizzas for free, back when he first started thinking about starting his own pizza business. He was cooking out of his home back then, perfecting his recipe and delivering to friends and neighbors just see what they thought. These days, this hard working and super friendly pizza-man does a steady business in his West Plaza location that in true New York style serves his pizza by the pie or by the slice. It is hard to pass up a cheese, pepperoni or sausage pizza from Johnny Jo's. With a fantastic chewy crust and San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic, quality olive oil and the best mozzarella cheese . . . what else you do need? How about Johnny Jo's delivered right to your door? Get ready, he is currently testing his delivery radius and you can expect his delivery service to come online in the very near future.

Providence Pizza

12925 US 71 S

Grandview, MO

http://providencepizza.com

In Providence, Rhode Island, where owner, Luke Salvatore, and his brothers grew up, they ate thin crust New York-style pizza, thick crust Sicilian-style pizza and wood-fired oven Neapolitan-style pizza, but not necessarily all at the same place. Providence Pizzeria Co. is their effort to bring their pizza passion from Providence to Kansas City, by making all three unique styles of pizza and serving them all under one roof. At Providence Pizzeria Co., each of three types of pizza they serve requires completely different crusts or foundations to build their pizzas on, the rest is just topping choice. The work and pride they put into their crust is stated in their tagline: “No crust left behind.” For me, I prefer their New York-style pizza to the others, as good as they all are, the crust here is my absolute favorite. It has a chew to it that I really appreciate. I always stop in here when I am on my way to Tulsa, and buy a couple of slices. Okay, and sometimes I stop on my way back as well, but don't tell anyone. It will be our little secret.

Grinder’s

417 East 18th Street

Kansas City, MO

AND

10240 Pflumm Rd.

Lenexa, Kansas

http://grinderspizza.com

Expect the unexpected from STRETCH, A.K.A. Jeff Rumaner. artist, TV personality and restaurateur, Stretch, owns the wildly popular Grinders and Grinders West in the Crossroads. Last year, he purchased the historic, and (supposedly) haunted, Kieltyka’s Stonewall Inn. Eight months of renovations, and this suburban joint got “Stretchified” bringing Grinders gritty downtown goodness to Lenexa. The menu in both locations offers a cocky and creative mix of favorites including hand-tossed New York Style pizzas with crazy cool toppings. Try the Bengal Tiger. This one was featured on the Food Network. Inspired by the flavors of Northwest India. This pie starts with a rich green sauce topped with tandori chicken, real crab meat, and the unique flavor of hearts of palm and cilantro.

Neapolitan Style Pizza

PizzaBella

810 Baltimore

Kansas City, MO

AND

Mission Farms at

4000 Indian Creek Pkwy

Overland Park, KS

http://pizzabellakc.com

Chef Quillan and Hillary Glynn took over the operations and ownership of PizzaBella years ago, and have since opened a second location out south, giving everyone a chance to try and enjoy what continues to be some of the best Neapolitan-style pizza in Kansas City. They were the original wood-fired pizza in Kansas City, and they continue to wow not only with their fantastic pizza, but with their daily specials all made in the same wood-fired oven. They will make you eat your Brussels sprouts at PizzaBella, oven roasted with hunks of bacon, cranberries and balsamic vinegar reduction. I have a weakness for their Butter Lettuce salad, followed by their Prosciutto pizza with thin slices of proscuitto ham and dressed arugula on top.

Il Lazzerone

1628 Frederick Ave.

St. Joseph, MO

AND

OPENING SOON

412 Delaware

Kansas City, MO

Next to Quay Coffee in Spring 2015

http://www.illazzarone.org

Erik Borger is a man on a pizza mission. He opened his incredibly authentic Neapolitan-style pizza place in St. Joseph last year, and in just a few short months plans to open his second location, with an Acunto pizza oven twice the size of the one he has in St. Joe in the River Market on Delaware. You must try his most popular pizza, the Margherita, which is the only pizzeria in the area certified as serving authentic Neapolitan pizza by the American Delegation of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. It’s a certification he worked hard to received in his St. Joseph location, and he plans to apply for it all over again for the River Market location.“That certification of authenticity speaks directly to the type of pizza we make at Il Lazzerone,” Borger says, “and I want to make sure every one of my locations is meeting that standard.” Borger is excited to be a part of the River Market area, in a location he had been eyeballing for several years. He’d always associated the neighborhood, he says, with good food and the City Market.

OPENING SOON:

Pizzeria Locale

505 W. 75th Street

Kansas City, MO

http://www.pizzerialocale.com

Opening Summer 2015, next to Chipotle Mexican Grill in Waldo, which used to be Pizza Manifesto.

Pizzeria Locale is a partnership between Chipotle and Colorado restaurateurs Bobby Stuckey and Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson. They will serve Italian inspired Neapolitan-style pizzas topped with seasonal ingredients. Kansas City will be their first location outside Colorado. When the news of this expansion into Kansas City went out last week across the land, the pizza geeks rejoiced, as this concept will bring good Neapolitan-style pizza and good wine to Waldo when it opens.

SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza - Six locations across the metro, and two new ones, opening up in 2015. One will open inside of Crown Center and the other in Overland Park’s Corbin Park Retail Village.  http://www.spinpizza.com

This locally-started pizza chain has been franchising all across the country, but here in Kansas City we still think of it as our local pizza place. Chef Michael Smith, owner of Extra Virgin and Michael Smith Restaurant created the original menu, and still develops new menu items for them today. With craveable salads, gourmet Neapolitan pizza for Mom & Dad and cheese or pepperoni for the kids, the gelato will make both groups happy. Something for everyone and fun décor to boot.

If you aren't craving pizza by now, my friends, check your pulse. You may be dead.