Denis Culinary Tours

Fiesta Time at Pryde’s A true foodie knows that a delicious meal is about more than taste – there’s the ambience of the place, there’s the staff, the smell, and the visual, too. Recently, the visual has come to mean the arrangement and the sheer esthetic of the food. But wait, say I, what about the basis, the foundation? Yes, I’m talking PLATES and their accompanying family, dishes and glassware. And silverware, too, if you must be exact. But what comes first to my mind when I think of the well – dressed table? The plate. How does it fit the food item? Does the color make the food look more appetizing? Does the texture add or subtract from the flavor? And the first plate that has continually struck my fancy? The circa 1930s fabulous Fiestaware with its trademark bright – or light – colors and high gloss surface that almost beams its own light onto the food. And if we’re going to talk Fiesta, we need to talk Pryde’s Kitchenware and Necessities. They’ve only been i...

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  – Easter Sunday is a foodie paradise at the restaurants at Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa with traditional holiday menus set for Journey Steakhouse and Terrace Buffet. All nonsmoking restaurants are located off the casino floor offering hundreds of seating options for the whole family on Easter Sunday. TERRACE BUFFET Starting with breakfast, Terrace Buffet has two prices for Easter (April 16) depending on a diner’s arrival time. Traditional breakfast favorites will be offered from 7 to 10 a.m. at 14.99 for adults and 9.99 for children. With nearly endless options of made-to-order selections featuring fresh, local ingredients, the Easter Buffet is open from 11 a.m. to 9pm for $26.99 (adults) and $15.99 (children). The Terrace Buffet Easter Special offers traditional Easter cuisine such as leg of lamb, sliced-to-order ham, slow-roasted strip loin as well as non-traditional favorites from throughout the world: Italian, Chinese, Japanese, as well as seafood,...

Let’s Get Happy for an Hour (or More)  You have probably noticed that Kansas City has a plethora of Mexican food restaurants. Some are specific to an area, some are, pretty commonly here, what we need to call Tex-Mex. That means, broadly, lots of cheese (queso) of one kind or another, meats, veggies, often with a variety of sauces ranging from mild to hot due to chili peppers but those are usually red or green.  For a fuller explanation of the origin, don’t miss my current centerfold article, “Culinary Customs” in the newest Restaurant Guide, available all over town or right here . OK, done with shameless self-promotion.  Anyway, I have a place for you to try for happy hour – it’s cheap, plentiful, vacation-y feeling, and very good. Ted's Café Escondido has a new (since January) happy hour from 3-6 p.m. weekdays. It’s a place where $5 goes a long way: 18 ounce schooners of house margaritas, Dos Equis Amber or Pacifico beers. Great way to start. Then ...

There are a lot of exciting things going on at Grimaldi ’s in March! They have just updated their wine list with 13 new wines , carefully selected to be a part of what is already an extensive wine list. On the sweeter side, two new seasonal cheesecakes are being offered through the month of March. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake is a creamy vanilla cheesecake sprinkled with chunks of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups & topped with whipped cream. You can also go with the Caramel Coconut Cheesecake , a caramel cheesecake topped with caramel glaze and toasted coconut on top of an Oreo cookie crust and finished with a chocolate drizzle and whipped cream. Complete cheesecake heaven!  Also, don’t forget about the Stoking Social Hour . This deal is too good to pass up! It’s every week day, Monday – Friday, from 3:30PM - 6PM where you can enjoy $2 off draft beers, $2 off glasses of wine (house wines excluded), and $2 off Bruschetta Trio and Antipasto platters. The popul...

We sat there, waiting. And waiting. Talking a bit but clearly just waiting. Our server must have passed by us five times and never stopped. It was soooo annoying. Finally, I stood up and walked towards him, caught his eye, and used the universal sign language to get the check. And so, finally, he brought it.” My friend was talking about dining in Paris, where she ran into this phenomenon several times. “What is it with them?” she asked. “Ahh,” say I, “I do happen to know about this. That is the custom there. They think Americans are hugely rude, not to mention crass, with our delivering the check with the dessert or at the end of the meal with a ‘No rush’ comment. They believe in a leisurely meal over an appropriate amount of time. They’re not really being rude or neglecting you. It’s their custom.” Ok, so French. But every country, every part of the world, has its own customs and traditions that you may not know, and may not glean, from the guide books. Those customs may not be...

I’m not a big gambler, to put it mildly.  But the other night I was invited to the new restaurant, The Lucky Taco , at the Argosy Casino.  So I went and ate – too much!   It’s a quite large dining space (holds nearly 150 people) fun music was playing, and there were tables for crowds (think after work) and regular seating as well.  It was bright, festive, and most importantly: VERY good.  One thing I learned was that their chef de cuisine, Juan Zavala, was on the team that created the all new recipes.  Zavala was originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, and has been at the Argosy since 2004 after receiving his degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu in Mexico City.  It shows. I do think there’s a serious problem there: they offer you all of these chips and then you can go to their very big salsa bar and create your own mixtures of salsas (from mango habanero to chile de arbol and a great pineapple one were three of my favorites) an...

Oyster eaters could win $1,000 at the 3rd annual Jax Fish House oyster eating competition on March 25 Jax declares March as Oyster Month and will offer oyster specials, charitable support, contests, giveaways and more KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Feb. 27, 2017) – Jax Fish House& Oyster Bar has declared March as Oyster Month and plans to celebrate the mollusk all month long. Oyster month kicks off on March 1 and will feature oyster giveaways, oyster specials, drink specials and Jax’s third annual oyster eating competition on March 25. For every Emersum Oyster sold throughout the month, 10 cents will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Oyster Month festivities will include: Oyster Eating Contest Jax’s third annual oyster eating competition will take place on Saturday, March 25 at 3 p.m. Teams of four will attempt to slurp the most oysters in a two-minute battle. The team that slurps the most oysters in the given time will win $1,000 cash. The entry fee for the...