Denis Culinary Tours

New and Crafty Call me parochial, call me insular, call me narrow, but since I don’t live out there, going south is sometimes a bit of a trial.   So I’m thrilled when something opens out there that’s worthy of comment.   That’s the newest restaurant, the Brass Onion , the concept developed by Brancato Family Catering with whom you may already be familiar.   This Prairiefire place was/is somewhat of revelation. I only have space today to talk about their cocktails.   Fortunately, that’s one of my favorite topics. Besides an extensive list of the usual (and not so usual) beer and wine suspects, they have a program where they age their booze in 10-liter oak barrels for 40 days.   These rotate and when you go, ask for what’s special for that day.   They make their own shrubs and syrups, too and you’ll be impressed by the variety at this impressive bar.   If you’re a real martini fan (as opposed to a cosmo or lemon drop fan), you should ...

What’s Your Favorite Restaurant? I get asked that a lot.  So does every food writer, everyone who works for a publisher like the Restaurant Guide, every chef.  It’s a great dinner topic for a lagging conversation (even if everyone isn’t “into” food).  But let me say up front, “I hate this question!” Since you asked, let me tell you why.  Too many variables.  Best special occasion place?  Are you talking best burger ever?  Fall back place cuz it’s always consistent?  Cheap but good?  Best ever in your entire life?   So many choices, so many criteria.  Maybe it’s just the last place I remember where I had a really good time. But if I do answer and the next question is, “What’d ya have?” then I REALLY hate this question.  Three days after one sublime experience and one good and one not-so-great, it’s hard to remember specifics.  Maybe it’s a great treatment of something I especially like.  Maybe the dr...

One thing I like and appreciate about the restaurant industry is that it is possible to rise from dishwasher to chef to even owner over a period of time.   While Matt Barnes, Executive Chef of Pierpont’s , didn’t exactly do that, he did begin 13 years ago as a chef’s apprentice and through his hard work, attention to detail, creativity and he added, luck, he managed to, as he put it, “Work my way up for a great company in a great job.” Matt and I sat in the iconic bar the other day, drinkless alas but not deliberately as part of my less drink regimen.   We talked about his position, his life, and his restaurant – which he regards as too hidden away to be a KC regulars’ spot.   I have to say, I think Pierpont’s has the most beautiful bar in town, and as I thoroughly perused the happy hour and other menus, I concluded, like most of Kansas City should, that I ought to come here more often. I asked him what was the hardest chunk of his work and he said he thrives o...

Thai One On Kansas City, our oh so international home, is lucky to have a number of Thai restaurants.   You may not be aware that one of the very first was the original Thai Place on 87 th Street in old-ish Overland Park back in 1991.   That one was founded by Ann Liberda (still there, though it has a different owner now) but Ann and her family, having begun way back in 1987, are probably the best known Thai restaurateurs in Kansas City. So you’re definitely going to want to try their latest endeavor.   It’s Waldo Thai Place and Ann has worked with son Ted and daughter-in-law Pam to open their newest on 85 th and Wornall.   After a soft opening a few weeks ago, they’re now fully open, including cocktail service.   You’ll see some favorites and some new things, too and items will rotate according to what’s in season.   They’ll even accommodate special requests.   The food all looks amazing—and it is, according to the one dish I tried -- ...

When Dickens’ Oliver Twist said, “Please sir, I want more,” he was starving.  Restaurants today often hear a variation of this, but it has nothing to do with starving.   Instead, it’s about their generosity to all the many fund raisers for noble causes going on in this town all year long.   I’ve been thinking about this, because as part of Les Dames d’Escoffier’s and Jazz Ambassadors SupperClub 2018 , on September 14 th , (yes, small plug) we’ve been asking several of our favorites for these donations (like GaslightGrill which has both dinner AND jazz), about different ways to raise money.  That took me to Bd’sMongolian Grill which is pretty much a win/win as a fund-raiser.   They have a Benefit Night which, once you’ve set it up there, you invite your supporters to visit the restaurant during a specific day and time and a percentage goes back to the cause.   Or you can have two guest grillers who face off to your supporters who’ve bought a ticket ...

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...

The Glitzy and Glamorous Life of a Restaurateur Comfortably ensconced in my padded chair, I daintily sip a glass of good summer rosé and peruse the elegant menu.  Ooh, I think, I could own a restaurant like this.  It would be sooo cool. So very fab. So glamorous. So glitzy.  So satisfying.  Surrounded by creative people, I would oversee delicious food and drink and my customers, no, guests, would heap praise upon me by the giant spoonful.  I would go all over the world tasting other menus.  I would hob nob with the rich and famous.  Maybe a TV show even.  Of course a cookbook.  At least on the radio. Cindy McClain and her team have been injecting energy in the Independence Square since 1999. Aaaawk!  Screeeeech! Crash! Stop.  That’s the sound of reality breaking the window glass of my dreams. Ask any restaurant owner, any executive chef, about the glamour and excitement of running a restaurant -- and they’ll laug...

Since it was cool, even if rainy, at long last this week, I took some friends on the streetcar and we ate at il Lazzarone , a not so new anymore pizza place in the city market. What struck me most was that three of them hadn’t been on the street car and that the entire excursion could be considered an adventure – which one kept exclaiming it was.   What if we started looking at all such trips as adventures?   Life would be so much more exciting.   And even if you’re going to a familiar place, you can turn it into an exploration. For instance, one HOT day last week, I was at McCormick and Schmick’s .   No way was I going to sit outside.   Yet there was a breeze, hot again, but we braved the heat and decided to sit on their lovely patio, ordered a tropical drink and then their fresh strawberry lemonade, ate the perfectly seared bigeye ahi tuna and despite the cars, I pretended I was in Hawaii.   It certainly all felt tropical – and I felt better about ...

THE FACTS America has become a sushi-loving nation since sushi’s west coast expansion after World War II when it was considered a delicacy enjoyed mostly by celebrities and other movers and shakers. By the late 1970s sushi restaurants were booming throughout California and spreading throughout the country. Today, sushi has become an American staple for everything from dining out to dinner parties to cocktail happy hours. Sushi was a street food Sushi began in the 1830s as a fast food sold at streetside stands in a place called “Edo,” modern day Tokyo. Because there was no refrigeration, fish was typically marinated to prevent spoilage. By the late 1890s, ice making machines and other refrigeration systems were used to keep sushi fresh. Most sushi is actually maki or nigiri Sushi comes in many forms, including cone-shaped rolls known called temaki and a rice bowl topped with fish referred to as chirashi. Typically, when Americans refer to “sushi,” they are talking abou...

5 Great Reasons to Happy Hour on the Plaza Friend Nancy and I went to Café Trio this week and it reminded me I need to come here more often.     There are several reasons for this brilliant assessment.  1. The food and drinks are VERY good. And there are so many choices – including soups and salads which you seldom see on a happy hour menu. I went for the chicken livers and they were great and plentiful – and I am an expert on chicken livers, at least eating them. But there’s also excellent truffle fries, flatbread, fried chicken, mussels, crab cakes and steak burgers – 14 different items right now.  2. The prices are REALLY reasonable -- $4 well drinks and wine, $5 martinis, $3 beers. Their food features range from $5 to maybe $8 and these are good sized portions, folks.  3. They have a GREAT location with their OWN parking. It’s the Plaza and you can easily park there. Whoo-Hoo.  4. They have TERRIFIC ambiance inside and a WONDERF...

The Top Ten Reasons to Attend Stems: A Garden Soirée JUNE 23, 2018 - 7-11p.m. Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens $150   General Admission Ticket $250   Patron Ticket BUY TICKETS Visit   stemssoiree. org   or call  913.322.6467 for all ticket and event information.

Dinner and a . . . Sometimes I could kick myself. I eat out a lot. But I could be eating out and doing more at the same time if I just opened my eyes a bit and planned better – just the tiniest bit. Here’s what I mean: the Gaslight Grill in Leawood offers periodic (free) music by talented KC musicians on their Cabaret evenings besides their five days a week jazz in their Back Room. On May 8th, which I missed of course, they had Kristen Alley and Alyce Pickering singing tunes from James Taylor, Carol King, and Chicago. See my first sentence. Webster House has a full program of events including their monthly supper clubs, jazz trios, special happy hours and the like. Back on the 9th their supper club featured Candace Evans and on May 23, they have a special wine tasting. There’s lots going on – there are three ways to find out easily. The first is to go to our Events Calendar . The second is to search by nightlife , or to sign up for our Instagram , or twitter . The t...