Denis Culinary Tours

I love steak, but secret confession: I usually don’t eat steak out, thinking that other dishes sound so much more interesting and are a better test of a chef’s skill. However, we went to the Final Cut Steakhouse at the Hollywood Casino on a recent Friday night and I was pretty much blown away.   They are running a promotion currently called Friday’s Feature and the word feature doesn’t do it justice. Before I describe this fabulous feature, a word about the Hollywood Casino.   You have to (get to?) walk through the casino to the restaurant, which faces the Kansas Speedway.   Once inside the restaurant, you totally lose the casino – it’s just not there anymore.   The restaurant feels like a classy steakhouse – which, believe me, it is.   A cozy bar is the entrance and there are true Hollywood artifacts sprinkled throughout the place – from Dorothy’s blue pinafore to Celine Dion’s dress to a James Bond tuxedo – not that all the artifacts are clothing as th...

Ring in the New Year at Kansas City's Biggest NYE Party! Get your all-inclusive tickets now for just $89 before prices go up! Ticket Includes: -All-inclusive and top-shelf bar package from 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. at 14 different venues -All Access to 14 different bars and clubs -Complimentary food from 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. -A live band -Midnight celebrations including a spectacular fireworks show, confetti cannons, party favors and the Midwest's biggest ball drop!

Ever since Webster House opened, way back in 2002 when the Kauffman Center was barely a glimmer in someone’s mind, I’ve loved eating (and shopping, alas) there.   A recent evening with a large group of hospitality professionals was no exception.   The food is always exceptional: meticulously prepared, flavorful, and pretty – that night even a relatively simple dish like roasted pork loin medallions was executed with flair.   The asparagus was crisply tender, just as it should be, and the mashed sweet potatoes were plate-licking good.   Our house salad was fresh greens from Two Sisters Farm with an excellent champagne vinaigrette and of perfect size.   The petite tiramisus were the final delicious finishing touch.   The fact that my table was full of fun people (not that the others weren’t of course) made for a terrific evening. The restaurant is always doing something new and interesting, besides serving excellent meals consistently to diners and gro...

Is this the year you’re eating your way around the world?  Unless you’re the editor of a travel/food magazine, probably not.  Our suggestion? Take a quick virtual trip with us instead, with many of the cuisines and none of the travel pain.  So get ready for the non-traveler’s quick guide – just the basics of foods and flavors.  Mexican is one of the oldest ethnic cuisines in Kansas City with Southwest Boulevard at one time being about the only stop.  Not so anymore. Like all foreign meals, flavors vary depending on the region. It is impossible to condense the culture and history of Mexico (or any country) and its impact on food, so suffice it to say that the Indian basics of corn and cactus were inculcated with European (especially Spanish) reflections of additional fruits, vege-tables, meats, grains and spices of the Old World.  For instance, today you’ll find differentiation based on meat (beef) in the northern portions of Mexico; in the southeast, y...