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Steak with blue cheese sauce

on May 21, 2020

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Those Were the Days My Friends . . . or Wasn’t 1997 Just Yesterday?

Let’s go back: Twenty years ago, the Kansas City restaurant world was a different place. The Plaza had many local restaurants while downtown really wasn’t an eating destination other than daytime. The Power and Light District, the Sprint Center, the Kauffman weren’t around. The Crossroads basically didn’t exist either. Zona Rosa wasn’t developed until 2004. Prairiefire followed ten years later when 135th wasn’t too far South for many to even contemplate. If you were asked back then about our restaurants, you’d probably mention only steak and barbeque – not sure we could be called a “restaurant town” like we are today. A restaurant town, according to Charles Ferruzza, acclaimed food critic here who is writing a book about “old” KC and its eateries, means that our metro area has “a lively, varied and interesting selection of independently-operated restaurants, upscale chain restaurants, and ethnic dining that go beyond the traditional.” We did certainly ha...

Restaurants with a Past – The Back Story

Behind the kitchen, beneath the dining room, before the present You sit down, perhaps at a white-garbed table, perhaps not. Maybe the walls are old bricks, maybe they’re sheathed in drywall. You enjoy the ambiance, whatever it is, and perhaps even remark on some of the accoutrements – the flowers on the table, say, an unusual picture, perhaps even the bar and its lighting. Sitting there, you’re probably unlikely to ponder the history of your location. But, as you await your drink, take a moment to think about where you are eating. You may be surprised to learn some of the history behind a few of our eateries. Dining at Union Station Let’s start with one you may know about, Pierpont’s in Union Station. You probably have admired their bar and the elegant dining room, but what you may not know is that the restaurant’s three story structure originally housed the women’s smoking room (gasp!) and the women and children...

Phil Bourne and Waldo Pizza

SPOTLIGHT: When a Pizza Place is Not JUST a Pizza Place . . . Phil Bourne and Waldo Pizza I caught Phil Bourne, owner of Waldo Pizza, twice in the last week – once at his restaurant, the other time on the phone. Waldo Pizza has long been a favorite of ours – and almost everyone else in the broadly surrounding neighborhood as near as I could tell. I’ve never been to the Lee’s Summit restaurant (1543 NE Douglas Street) The pizza joint has been there since 1987; Phil bought it on April Fool’s Day in 1993. Originally from St. Louis, he’d been in the record business for a while, but his brother owned a casual restaurant and he thought it might be fun. He started working at Waldo Pizza two years earlier – from dishwasher to delivery person to waiter before the original owners said they were tired of it and Phil made them an offer. Since then, he has basically turned it into simply the kind of pizza place he would enjoy himself. It’s St. Louis ...

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