Denis Culinary Tours

Usually by the third week of April, I’ve dined/imbibed at one or two outdoor dining spaces in K.C.  These are also known typically as patios and several restaurants around town have created lovely spaces for those who want to dine al fresco. This year, however, no dice.  For starters, it’s snowed, sleeted, semi-hailed, or rained or been freezing cold every weekend – but you are probably also aware of that. Once I got over my surprise at being unable to control the weather, I sought solutions. I found four that could come close to the answer.  Sullivan’s Steakhouse ’s outdoor dining is partially covered and enclosed.  You can eat an entire steak dinner or just snack on their bar bites – either works well.  You can also, the last time I was there,  smoke a cigar.  Brewery Emperial in the Crossroads has an entire “beer garden” where you can get much more than a beer.  You can warm up around their “au natural” (almost) fire fit.  You’ll ...

Peppercorn Filet ~ Piropos, a taste of Argentina Argentine food is an amalgam of Spanish, Italian and French cuisine, neither spicy or bland. The pride of Argentina is its fabulous steaks and Piropos follows the tradition. 8 oz. Filet 1 oz. Cracked peppercorns 2 oz. Brandy 2 oz. Heavy cream  Olive oil, salt to taste 2 Portobella mushrooms 6 white mushrooms 1 tsp. Rosemary 1. Coat one side of the filet with peppercorns and season with salt. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Sear filet on both sides to desire temperature. If cooking medium to well done, place in oven to bring temperature up. 2. After removing filet from skillet, de-glaze the pan with brandy, stir in cream and reduce to desired consistency. Add salt to taste. 3. Sauteed mushrooms in olive oil on medium heat until al dente. Add rosemary, salt and pepper.  Piropos Restaurant 4141 N. Mulberry Drive  Kansas City, MO 64116  Ph. 816-741-3600

One Great Chef: Colby Garrelts In doing a bit of research on Colby Garrelts, I found his recipe for chipped beef on toast with white gravy.   My navy guy dad called it s*** on a shingle, and my mom made it from packaged dry beef and cream of mushroom soup.   He wouldn’t eat it but we kids liked it though we couldn’t call it what he did. Colby’s recipe has 16 ingredients, and reading it, I immediately wanted to make it.   Or rather, I wanted to order it. But it did make me go buy his second cook book, Made in America .       You probably already know all of Chef Garrelts’ credentials: a 2013 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Midwest award winner, 2005 Food & Wine’s Top 10 Best New Chefs, author of two cookbooks (with semi-finalist Outstanding Pastry Chef, wife and co-owner Megan), semi-finalist Outstanding Restaurant for Bluestem in 2018, the third time on this prestigious short list, and all kinds of showcases and awards in various mag...

Fast Breaking Deliciousness In the last couple weeks, I’ve broke my fasting relatively early to try two different places on the Plaza for a real breakfast.   Not just coffee but a true breakfast with eggs and bacon and carbs and all my favorites which I never do at home.   There are really only two choices right in the heart of the Plaza for that and of course, that’s the iconic Classic Cup Café and then the new – to the area – Rye Restaurant , which maybe isn’t necessarily thought of as a breakfast place. The Classic Cup is frequently touted for its long-term status, its people watching, its patios, its wine events, and its famous buttermilk pancakes.   Though I have long wanted to try their bread pudding and just call it a day, I typically opt for one of three benedicts or one of five omelets – though three eggs do make for a hefty breakfast.   Their French omelet is especially tasty – smoked bacon, spinach, apple and brie. I’m going to either get t...

You Sweet Thing, You It’s appropriate that I’m writing this on International Women’s Day (even though I decry the need for this “holiday” which has been around since the 1900’s) because I’m writing about Rye ’s desserts, all crafted by Chef Megan Garrelts. You probably know she is again a James Beard Semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef. Her previous nomination was for the pastry (a very broad category really covering everything from bread to doughnuts to cakes and elegant concoctions) at Bluestem, the other restaurant she co-owns with her husband. Her pastry expertise and creativity is the foundation of all the desserts at all three restaurants – to say she’s busy is an understatement. But on to the goodies . . . The Rye dessert menu has a little something for everyone. There is the famous lemon meringue pie of course, sprightly tart and sweet and in my opinion, even as a confirmed chocoholic, the perfect ending to any meal. Her MOKAN pie is another favorite – her...

The American Awarded James Beard 2018 Design Icon Award The James Beard Foundation announced today that The American Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, known equally for its architectural and culinary artistry, has been awarded this year’s Design Icon Award. 2018 Design Icon honoree The American Restaurant opened on Valentine’s Day 1974 atop Crown Center in Kansas City. Designed by Warren Platner, it became the conceptual parent of all the over-the-top top-of-the-building restaurants that followed, including some by Platner himself. Platner described it as, “Bridging the contrast in scale between great volume of space and the minute detail of food and tableware, between public gathering and personal intimacy, the design entertains the diner and gives distinction to the server in this emporium of elaborate meals.” One travels to The American by elevator, arriving at the top of the three story-high restaurant in a carefully designed but modest entry space. As the visitor de...

The (Not-So-Secret) Secrets of 11 Great Chefs “I’ve Got a Secret” was an old TV series, even before my time almost (1952-67) but then it was revived a couple of times in various formats which I never saw.  The schtick was that a panel tried to guess a contestant’s “secret.” The definition of secret was pretty broad but it was supposed to be amazing, unusual, humorous, or embarrassing.  The contestant could be a famous person or someone more like you or me.  I remember there was a lot of back and forth banter and that my parents liked the show a whole more than I did. Maybe that’s because the secrets never seemed all that fascinating to me, or that’s how I remember it anyway.  A secret should be really that – deep, mysterious, intriguing.  The whole problem with that concept today is that there seem to be few secrets – everybody knows everything about everybody.  Thank you, internet. Well, that’s not really totally true.  What if, I thought, w...