I'm kidding. Of course, I'm alone. But I'm also taking notes, casually ferreting information out of the staff and following the meals of diners at other tables to get a sense of what people think of a new place. As a result, I'm fairly content to have a plate of noodles as my only dining companion. So when a friend suggested that he will never eat out by himself because it's mortifying - as if he were carrying a sign that says, "I couldn't find someone to eat with me," I was surprised. I didn't realize that in an era where we can bury ourselves in a phone or paper/electronic media, that eating by oneself still had some stigma.
Does it bother you to dine alone?
When Fat City first reported - in December of 2010 - that restaurateur Richard Ng was moving his Plaza location across Brush Creek (from the Board of Trade Building at 4800 Main to the Skelly Building at 605 West 47th Street), Ng was hoping to have the new venue completed in 2011. Last September, Richard Ng told Fat City that "things were taking a little longer than we anticipated," but predicted the restaurant would be open for Chinese New Year of 2012.
Ben Paynter, a staff writer for The Pitch from 2003 through 2007, won in the Environment, Food Politics and Policy category for his Fast Company piece, "The Sweet Science."
"A lot of what I write is science and technology stuff, but I have a huge passion for food. I've even written about Cargill before and how they save offal from slaughterhouses in order to repackage it. This story was a nice way to combine those two passions," Paynter says.
Fat City caught up with him to learn more about his story on the sweetener Truvia (you can read it here), the awards night on May 4 at Gotham Hall in New York City, and what's next for the writer who still lives in Kansas City.
I took a swing through Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (7401 W. 91st St.) last night - the Colorado-based grocery chain that opened in the shadow of the Overland Park Whole Foods in April. Here are the results of one man's meanderings.
3 Women and an Oven (14852 Metcalf) will have five movie-themed cupcakes - Snow White and Black Forest - as part of the promotion. The Overland Park bakery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Another 10 cupcakes will be aboard the CoffeeCakeKC truck (see April's profile of Brian Jurgens to find out more about this rolling coffee shop). The big orange truck stop has planned stops at 9 a.m. (11th and Pennsylvania), 10 a.m. (17th and Washington), 10:30 a.m. (17th and Grand), 11:15 a.m. (17th and Walnut), and 1 p.m. (17th and McGee). Happy hunting.
There are a few reservations left for this Sunday's pig roast at Story restaurant at 3931 West 69th Terrace in the Prairie Village Shopping Center. The $10 dinner - roasted pig tacos with traditional garnishes and Santa Maria pinquito beans - celebrates the first anniversary of the upscale neighborhood restaurant created by chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen and his wife, Susan, in a former retail storefront.
Carl Thorne-Thomsen, the former creative-writing student who shifted his attention to culinary pursuits, says the first year was - unsurprisingly - a learning curve, especially in the day-to-day requirements and front-of-the-house operations of a restaurant. "My wife wasn't going to be involved in the restaurant initially," Thorne-Thomsen says. "We have two small children. But I learned quickly how difficult staffing was going to be and the front-of-the-house management. Susan had to step in for a while to help me. Things that involve a lot of time - payroll and paying bills - were taking me out of the kitchen."
There's been a fair amount of turnover since the restaurant opened: The original general manager is gone and several kitchen staffers. That's not unusual in a new restaurant. Thorne-Thomsen says 80 percent of the restaurant's original serving staff is still working in the dining room.
"This is a growing area and a great match for Spin," said co-owner Edwin Brownell in a release.
The new 3,500-square-foot restaurant in the Prairie Center shops seats 100 and has an outdoor patio with seating for an additional 48 people.
In an era of culinary experimentation, ice cream has moved far afield from chocolate and vanilla. And the guys most responsible for freezing your brain's capacity to understand what it's eating are likely Jake Godby and Sean Vahey (talking at Google above) - the owners of the Humphry Slocombe ice cream shop in San Francisco and the authors of the new book, Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book.
The Bay area ice creamery has gained acclaim (this New York Times piece is a good primer for the unfamiliar) for its unique flavor combinations, everything from peanut butter curry to salt and pepper to their signature secret breakfast, which somehow mashes up the world of bourbon and cornflakes. Their flavors are not meant to be novelties; they're instead meant to push the envelope of what is possible with ice cream.
Are you willing to experiment with your bowl of dessert or are you an ice cream traditionalist?
Their Scarlet Queen turnip (a bunch costs $3.50) is slightly bigger than a golf ball and comes in miniature-golf-ready bright white and pink. (The varieties due in the fall, he says, pack more spice and are bigger.) Kube admits that he hated turnips while growing up on a farm in Nebraska, but he loves them now. He and Hershberger fry or sauté them in olive oil and garlic.
When I travel for business, I often eat out alone. But I find it boring…
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New Plaza Bo Lings opens on June 11
Walking the aisles at Natural Grocers
A block party in Westport and other weekend possibilities
Sama Zama serves serious snacks where a cinema once stood
Aaron Confessori plants his Boot in Westport
How long would you wait to buy food?
Chef Charles d'Ablaing wins 2012 Golden Fork Award
Ben Paynter, former Pitch scribe, is now a James Beard Award winner