Denis Culinary Tours

Thanks for the Memories, 2017 I’m a lucky girl as I get to eat out often.  A lot.  But when asked to come up with the best meals of 2017, I must pause, ponder, try to remember.  I would say that entire spectacular meals are tough to recall –  , well, not to recall beyond, “That was all wonderful,” which makes for really boring reading.  Instead, I tend to remember one especially wonderful dish which casts its glimmer on everything else to create that total glowing impression. So I’ll mention a few, briefly. First things first.  That means, before dinner, a drink.  Surprise. I’ve been on an old-fashioned kick recently (well, the last ten years) so I think I’d pick the one made with Scotch at Porto do Sul or one of the newer riffs on the classics at Pierpont’s .  I also really like the aquavit tasting at the Krokstrom Klubb and Market – you drink these and your mouth even feels clean as your brain gets cold. Since my perfect meal dre...

One Great Chef:  Jeff Dietzler Back at the end of September, a friend and I went to Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar and were treated royally.  We had about six different things on the menu, and honestly, all were terrific.  Shortly after, I spent some time with Jeff Dietzler, chef de cuisine there and we had a great conversation about him, his views, his challenges; oh, let’s just say his life in general.    Jeff is a pretty determined and motivated guy I concluded.  He grew up in St. Louis and then went to Johnson and Wales University in their culinary school in Denver.  He worked in Denver for ten years and then for three years at the local Jax, gradually working his way up the ladder.  He transferred to Kansas City to open up the restaurant here and became chef de cuisine in the spring of this year. Jeff said that this current position puts much of what he learned at school to work – the scheduling, costing, management s...