Denis Culinary Tours

Re-Discovering Reason The other day, despite not being all that hungry, I stopped by Porto do Sul in sunny southern Overland Park. No real reason – just hadn’t been in for a while.   I was so pleasantly surprised I thought I’d tell you about it. First, I’m not sure I really knew I didn’t have to eat a whole bunch!   You know the feeling . . . if you’re buying dinner for 49 bucks for 17 cuts of meat and a huge harvest table of all kinds of assorted side (and main) dishes, you feel like you gotta eat lots.   Buffet fever I call it.   But I learned I could also try some Brazilian favorites starting at just $12.50 for lunch or dinner.   Things like the picanha house special which is a sirloin sandwich on their famous cheese bread and their special Porto sauce for $13. Or their churrasco plate with sirloin slices, bacon-wrapped chicken, sausage and pork loin grilled with parmesan cheese and two slides for $17.   Ok, that’s a lot – but my friend...

Hereford House’s quite excellent lunch menu! As a long-time resident of K.C. and its burbs, I thought I knew everything about Hereford House I needed to know.  Hand-cut steaks, four locations (east, west, north, and south) plus Pierpont’s in Union Station, great burgers (hand ground from their steak meat every day), good happy hours, and this year, sixty years old.  What I didn’t know about especially was their great lunch specials every day of week, like a 12 oz. ribeye for just $25 on Mondays or what turns out to be a pretty famous meatloaf on Thursdays.  On a recent lunch date with publisher Kathy Denis last week, we were treated to their newest steak – the Hereford special strip steak.  What makes this different is the fact that it’s “marinated” overnight – dried porcini mushrooms, salt, black and crushed red pepper, and a couple of other ingredients.  The result is the juiciest and most flavorful strip I’ve ever had – and I’m a ribeye girl....

Make that when I’m at North Italia Restaurant . (Which, as you probably know, is really south in Leawood at 119 th and Roe.)  This Italian bistro is always upbeat and bustling but the other evening, make that late afternoon, I went for their happy hour, which I haven’t done for a while.  Their happy hour ends at 6 p.m. so going at three when it starts or a bit later makes sense.  At least to confirmed happy hour devotees like me.  Drinks, at least wine and sangria, are cheap – five bucks for a glass and $16 for a bottle and beer is four dollars or the same $16 for a pitcher.  So I can start out pretty pleasantly.  My favorite things are on the HH menu, short as it is.  First, the zucca chips which are light, crispy, and salty.  You get a big bowlful for three tiny dollars and I think only about the healthy zucchini I’m eating, not the oil and salt. Their chef’s board is $10 instead of $16 and the assortment fluctuates.  Va...

Today I tried Cacao Restaurante for lunch!  Cacao Restaurante is a partnership between Marquez and long-time restaurateur Victor Esqueda, owner of Ixtapa Mexican restaurant in the Northland, and his nephew, Alfonso Esqueda. Cacao name comes from the bean that gives us chocolate. It is simply a catchy name that ties the blue decor, with a nice bar area, a private dining room and seating for 200 people. We're seating on a booth and our service was delightful. I like particularly the option "Two for you" You can have soup or salad with a choice for entrees for $9. I had the house salad and I asked our waiter his recommendation for the Tortas. I had barbacoa: barbacoa chicken with refried beans, avocado and red onions, served with roasted potatoes. Delicious! Coconut panna cotta with passion fruit. I can wait to try their dinner menu! Cacao 5200 W. 95th Street  Prairie Village, KS 66209  Ph. (913) 296-7485  website

I ventured to 135 th Street recently to Prairiefire and the two plus month old Grimaldi’s Coal Fired Pizza place.  I’d call it upscale pizza (as do the managers) – not just because of the price  which in pretty much in line with non-chain gourmet pizzas – but the environment. It’s brick, spacious, big bar, great large pictures of famous people who’ve eaten at the mothership Grimaldi’s, inventive chandeliers, cloth napkins and highly attentive service.  These were all good things, but not as important as the bottom line, pizza.    And the pizza is really, really good.  Two primary reasons for this (besides the hand-tossed dough).  One, that coal fired oven, which is huge and very, very hot.  The coal is the best quality anthracite and heats that brick oven up to 1200 degrees – leaving the front areas for the pizzas at around 530 degrees.  What this does is somehow create a crust that is thin, somehow crispy, yet still foldable – vita...

Sweet, Perfect Desserts at Pierpont’s As much as I love desserts and writing about them (hence, this series), I have to tell you I seldom get to try three at once.  That is largely due to the malevolence called sharing. My portly companion and I feel too guilty usually to eat an entire dessert by ourselves.  Also generous friends usually know the sharing-with-me-rule but still, since they share usually, too, that reduces the choices. But the other day at beautiful Pierpont’s in Union Station, I tried three delicious desserts all by myself that you will love. First thing you need to know it that for some of us, it’s hard to bypass the “ Death by Chocolate Cocktails ,” since they definitely qualify as a dessert with a bonus.  I am going there some day with friends just to try the Double Dutch Chocolatini, the Moondance Martini (Jameson’s, Godiva Dark Chocolate, Bailey’s, and Guiness), and the King Alexander.  My friends will have to give me tasting privileges on...

Story Restaurant   is an elegant, upscale neighborhood restaurant serving fresh, local, seasonal creative American cuisine with Spanish, French and Italian influences.  In August, Story’s wine list won a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence , an honor that’s been bestowed upon just 10 Kansas eateries. Story was one of just a handful of the 3,800 restaurants to make this year’s Award of Excellence list to get a feature in the magazine.  Some meals are just so special you can hardly write about them. Or take pictures. That’s apparently what happened at Story last night. This time we brought good friends, good eaters. The sun was out, and the breeze was light which made for a pleasant evening so we decided to seat outside on their nice patio and our service was delightful.  Jeff Thrall, manager and sommelier at Story, came to our table and talked about wine. In September 29, they are having a wine dinner that sounds amazing. For more information, go to ou...

Review: Hayward’s Pit Bar B Que  Barbeque is a fairly localized event in Kansas City, due to sheer volume of tasty choices, if nothing else.  I’m told by a reputable source there are at least 100 in the metro area.  So we often stick to a place closer to home and call it our favorite. But the other day I trekked out to Hayward’s Pit Bar B Que at 110 th and Antioch and was very pleasantly surprised.  I’ve not been there since it was at 95 th and Antioch and certainly not since Eric Sweeney bought it a little more than a year ago (Hayward Spears, the original owner, still remains the “face” of the restaurant and I assume his original sauce will [and should] never change.) I can only speak for lunch, where the sandwiches are very large and very tasty.  The burnt ends actually tasted like burnt ends should.  The deep fried okra was crispy.  The beer, on special, was only $3 for a large glass of Boulevard pale ale – they have a decent...

I just returned from a delightful lunch at Pig & Finch. I was greeted at the door by a friendly young woman and taken to my table. Russ (the wait staff person who comes highly recommended) took time to tell us about the menu options that were "in season" I chose the fish taco's that were delicious and will be off the menu at the end of the week plus the butternut squash and kale salad. The service was excellent, the atmosphere was wonderful and the patio is open for enjoying the weather.   Make this your next destination for an unforgettable experience. Pig & Finch 11570 Ash Street Leawood, KS 66211  Ph. (913) 322-7444

After a trip to Topeka for soccer, we decided to stop at Genovese Italian in Lawrence. Owned by Subarna Bhattachan and Alejandro Lule — proprietors of Lawrence's popular La Parilla and Zen Zero dining spots — and Mexican-born chef Armando Paniagua. It's located in the three-story building, Genovese features seasonal rustic Italian cuisine from the Liguria region of North West Italy by the Italian Rivieras. The restaurant imported Italian made wood-fired rotisserie and charcoal grill. Additionally, another cooking feature is the gas/wood fired pizza oven. The menu features hot and cold antipastis, soup & salads, crisp thin pizzas, homemade fresh pastas --ravioli, fettuccine, pappardelle and gnoochi, and wood-fired rotisserie meats. We were seated on the second floor and the dining room was noisy and upbeat, with high ceilings. The people can afford to become regulars here; the prices are modest. Diners can also choose from a wide range of wines from the wine list whet...

Maybe the Worst Plaza Location . . . but Food is PRIME! Ok we stopped for lunch, but it was all good.  Oysters on the half-shell* MKT  Cilantro Mignonette  were eminently scarfable.  You have to walk to Morton's Grille -- it's where M&S Grille was but this new place is worthier of the walk.  I was told by Brad Smith, General Manager, that soon there would be a valet (for 7  bucks) but we just parked behind the place, sorta. We're seating outside with a beautiful weather and our service was delightful.  If I could remember her name, I'd tell you to ask for her, but all the waitress were nice.  And they actually give recommendations, highly important in my book -- not just the old, "Oh, everything is great" which turns me purple.  Good drinks, too, also necessary to a bar.  Duh. I think this place will be a worthy entry into the happy hour market in KC -- and for regular hours as well.   Wine and b...

We have a little bit of chance to work from home because yesterday, we decided to go to Lawrence. The reason? Our son was playing soccer at Lawrence at 6:30pm. Well in France, we normally don't have dinner before 8pm but in this case, I have been dying to dine at Pachamamas. Amuse Bouche Pachamamas Restaurant is on the cutting edge of the culinary arts with national acclaim and numerous accolades received by Chef / Proprietor Ken Baker. If you've not been to this shiny restaurant for a while, hike on back.  It’s got a very cool vibe and an expanded Bar and outdoor dining area, should we ever be able to eat outside again.  Their happy hour with specials every night is worth the trip alone.  To conclude, we didn't choose happy hour because the menu was too appealing!  Smoked Carrot and Goat’s Milk Feta  Blistered Peppers, Toasted Barley, Cocoa, Pumpkin Seed and Agave Vinaigrette 9 Cider-Braised Pork Osso Bucco Smoked Gou...

When reviewing restaurants, I often find myself becoming something of a curmudgeon. I seem to expect failures, and so they often happen. It is the ultimate fate, I believe, of any critic, to be eternally disappointed. It is this resignation to destiny that makes a surprise so spectacular. Two Saturdays ago, I received such a surprise at Room39. I had dined there many times before at lunch, and always found it to be a charming little coffee house/bistro, but nothing earth-shattering. If I had any idea what a wonder this place became at night, with white-linen clad tables and low light, I would have dropped everything and come running. My wife and I had been out to the Auto Show and decided to get something in town, but, with it being a Saturday night, all the usual haunts were booked solid. I knew that Room39 had a dinner menu, so I suggested we stop in. . All of their tables were booked, but a seat at the bar was kindly suggested. We took it, and found ourselves transported...