Denis Culinary Tours

With the new menu, it is worth it all your pennies For more informations!

Ragland Road Irish Pub in the Power and Light district is the most recent place to fall under the spell of what I’m learning is a trend of cuisine confusion. The restaurant is gorgeous to behold, although its sheer size betrays some of the intimacy of a real Irish pub. It has an excellent beer selection and what appears to be a correctly inspired menu until the final result arrives. I have lamented over the recent gimmicky trend of restaurants to try to dress up food that is better left alone. I ordered fish and chips, a bellweather for Irish food if one ever existed. I received some sort of fish sculpture with a couple of confused sauces and a creative and, frankly, useful chip presentation. If only the fish came the same way. Fish and chips is a lovable dish from the U.K., one of the few palatable native cuisines of that area of the world (and I am an anglophile, I drive an English car, wear English clothing, and am an intolerable Doctor Who fan). I expect it to be served in a s...

There is a confusing trend in the restaurant world these days: upmarket 'gourmet' prolaterian cuisine. While I am not adverse to food like hamburgers and pizza, the recent attempts to somehow turn these into a special dining experience makes little sense. If one is going to do it, however, pizza can at least be understood, especially since Wolfgang Puck’s experimentation with gourmet pizzas in the 80’s. Even with that the concept is a tricky one to navigate. Pizzabella is a nice execution. California Pizza Kitchen is not. Apparently this has now morphed into the fad of upscale hamburger joints. To me, the best hamburgers can still be found at places that smell of grease and serve them in paper, in a manner that is completely unpretentious and serves the nature of the food. Recently I attended a team lunch at Blanc in Westport. Blanc is situated in the location previously filled by Tatsu Arai’s unsuccesful sattelite bistro. Although the name is reputed to be a reverent nod to Wh...

My wife and I recently had dinner at Azul Latin Bistro and loved it. The interior design is remarkably different compared to its exterior. It set a great mood for a great meal. We started off with the chorizo and goat cheese quesadilla and a couple of their signature cocktails. The drinks were a bit strong, but good nonetheless. The quesadilla was fantastic, perfect amount of cheese and chorizo. Our dinner took about 20 min to get to the table, which was fine considering my wife ordered the chicken and received a bone-in chicken breast cooked perfectly. I had the chile relleno and found it impressive. The black bean puree and ancho chile sauce was a great contrast smoothed out by the cream sauce. The presentation on all of the dishes was great and each had a good balance. I read on some other posts that the service was sub-par but I have to disagree. We had excellent service, very attentive and the right amount of talkative. Perhaps some of those post were older and they enacted some p...

Boudreaux’s located in the New Mission Farms area in Leawood. They feature unique Cajun and Creole inspired cuisine. We were seated within the large, open dining area which is the perfect setting for a casual and relaxed dining experience. If you prefer outdoor dining, they also have a very large, comfortable patio which overlooks the beautiful golf course. Our extremely friendly servers made every effort to assure our comfort and provide us with a fun and enjoyable experience. Owner Robert Boudreaux was also there to greet us and answer any questions we had. He was very nice and went to each table to personally introduce himself to everyone in our group. We were served several interesting appetizers to start us off. We were all impressed with our appetizer of Fried Alligator. These bite sized nibbles have a mild taste and texture and are served with a side of cream style gravy for dipping. Most of us had never tried alligator before so it was quite a tasty treat! The Crab Bisque ...

EBT is the acronym for Emery Bird Thayer but after our March Dine Around, I would venture to change that to stand for Extraordinary, Brilliant and Tasty! Our large group of diners was treated to an awesome sampling from this exquisite menu amidst the beautifully remodeled interior. When we first entered the restaurant, we could tell right away that this was no ordinary place! The ambiance bellowed luxurious yet relaxing. Our servers were very friendly and knowledgeable. The food was incredible! As we dined, we were entertained with the soothing sounds of live piano music. Our meal started with a few appetizers including an Artisan Cheese Plate, and melt in your mouth Maryland Crab Cake served with remoulade sauce. We were then treated to a sampling of beautifully prepared and presented entrees. The Parmesan Breaded Chilean Sea Bass was amazing! It was served with large spiral pasta with a sun dried tomato cream. Being the seafood fan that I am, I would say that was my favorite. Ho...

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...