Denis Culinary Tours

L’École Culinaire – More Than “Just” a School Last Thursday I had dinner at L’Ecole Culinaire’s Presentation Room on the Plaza.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a private cooking school with locations also in Memphis and St. Louis.  They offer classes to us ordinary mortals as well (see our current wine contest for their wine class on February 12 th !) as well as degree classes and diplomas in culinary skills and restaurant management.  Students do the cooking and baking as well as the serving and hosting.  BUT, what I want to talk about is this dinner we had.  Prepared and served by students, it was delicious and remarkably, and I mean remarkably, inexpensive.  The charcuterie board was amazing, four or so different meats and pates, grilled bread, scallions, beets, couple of difference sauces – it was, truly, a meal for two all on its own.  Seven bucks.   Entrées were $12 and you could choose from five – a f...

Slurping oysters will win one lucky team $1,000 at the second annual Jax Fish House oyster eating competition on February 27 Jax declares February Oyster Month and will feature weekly food and drink specials and 10 cents per oyster shucked donated to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society during the month  Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar has declared February Oyster Month and is planning a month-long celebration, highlighted by its second annual oyster eating competition on Saturday, Feb. 27 with a grand prize of $1,000 and free crab for a year. Guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy weekly food and drink specials all month created by Chef de Cuisine Theresia Ota and Lead Bartender Kenny Cohrs. Finally, ten cents per every Emersum oyster shucked at Jax during the month of February will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Oyster Eating Competition Jax’s second annual oyster eating competition will take place on Saturday, February 27 at 2 p.m. Teams o...

Donate to JCCC Food Pantry and receive 20% off your order at The Pastry Shop (Open every Friday when classes are in session from 3 p.m. until sold out or 5:30 p.m.) The pastry program is partnering with the college ’ s food pantry and will accept items on Fridays during the sale. Please bring items from the list below and we will make sure you receive a 20% discount during checkout. Canned meats, tuna, chicken, and meat pasta sauces, peanut butter, canned fruit, chunky meat soups, protein or whole wheat, pastas, whole grain cereals.  If possible, please no canned vegetable products particularly canned corn and bean products (we have boxes and boxes). If you would like to make a cash donation Let the cashier know how much you are contributing above your total and it will be donated to the pantry. You may go to  https://secure.touchnet.com/C20110_ustores/web/store_cat.jsp?STOREID=3&CATID=606&SINGLESTORE=true  to make the donation. Checks should b...

If you like food & wine, you will love this... Publisher of the Restaurant Guide of Kansas City , Kathy Denis, a French government certified tour guide in the Bordeaux area in the 1990s, decided to lead twice-yearly culinary tours three years ago. Her husband is from France, and after their marriage, they moved to Kansas City and started publishing the restaurant guide.      “We had always given advice on travelling to France and helped people plan their vacations. While on a family trip to France in 2012, we decided to ‘officially’ share our knowledge, experience, and personal contacts in France by launching a sister-business called Global Culinary Escapades,” explained Kathy.      The main area they focus on is the city of Bordeaux, its surrounding vineyards including the town of St. Emilion, and the Dordogne Valley, including the medieval town of Sarlat. Kathy Pelz (Kansas City) and two former Dames have been among the 15 tr...

Bring in the New Year . . . Skipping the Bubbles Well, I am just about there – ready to say no more alcohol!  Between the food and the drink, I’ve successfully gained a few pounds this holiday season, which of course I needed.  So maybe it’s time to kick it down a notch.  Hmmmm, where to go to have a drink that’s not a drink and not just a drink that they subtract the alcohol from? I don’t want to talk about coffee or tea or diet coke or a green smoothie here.  I want it still to be pretty and sparkly if possible.  Like the seven Italian cream sodas, including orange or pomegranate or blackberry at Webster House .  My friend loves the Not Your Father’s Root Beer at Cleaver & Cork but they also serve Little Freshie seasonal hand crafted sodas , too. For the ultimate, perhaps, try the “ Nara Cure” at the eponymous restaurant – it’s made of healing elixirs: botanicals of cucumber, thyme, lemon and orange are said to promote a youthful glow an...

The word of the year, according to Merriam Webster, is a suffix.   This got me thinking . . . Despite the freneticism, the skepticism, and the commercialism, one of the reasons I truly love the holidays is the details.  Mostly, besides the good feelings I, and most others, seem to automatically have, it’s the new décor that interests me. The small, or large, touches that whisper, or shout, hey, there’s something special going on -- so lookie here, lookie here. Our K.C. restaurants, like those everywhere, join in this spirit.  Sure, it’s a great season for eating out but I get the feeling it’s more than a chore.  The purple tree at Bo Lings Plaza is festive and different.  801 Chophouse in Leawood has a giant tree not to be missed.  Walk into the Hilton President and gander at the garland, the tree and the many touches in this classic place before you dine at Providence .  Walk the Plaza streets and even look at the light poles befor...

It occurs to me that not only is it already December, but that brings Christmas and Hanukkah along with it – and the, let’s face it, responsibility and accountability of gifts.  Every year, the month is apparently a surprise – and somehow I’m never ready. There are a few ways to go here – endless, mindless traipsing, on-line clicking and re-clicking and then hoping it gets here or there in time, or simply knowing a few great places that somehow always seem to work. Among those places, for me, are Pryde’s  Kitchen &Necessities in Westport and the FrenchMarket   in Prairie Village.  Everyone knows Pryde’s whether your loved (or just liked or heck, just the person who works for you) wants premium cutlery or Fiesta Ware or a molcajete.  They have some really nice gift baskets I notice – whether the receiver is a barbeque fan (local of course!) or a gourmet coffee drinker.  Or, they’ll put together and package whatever you choose so beautiful...