Someone needs to give Melissa "Missy" Roe her own reality show. Missy has what most of those babes on the various Real Housewives shows don't have: a real life. She has a real job (Roe serves as chief of staff and legislative director for U.S. Congressman Sam Graves), a real crown (she was voted Mrs. Missouri USA in 2010) and a real blog. A food blog called the Perfect Bite: Kansas City.
Roe also has a powerful husband, Jeff Roe — a political consultant popular with right-wing candidates — a hefty man who looks like he hasn't ever missed a meal. Luckily, the lithe Missy shares his passion for food, but without any visible weight gain. (She exercises and eats sensibly when she's not dining out, she says.) But her passion for eating was the driving force behind the Perfect Bite. She explains it all on her blog site: "I’m always looking for that 'perfect bite.' Whether it’s the section of the burger where the toppings line up perfectly or the exact amount of fruit to top my bite of foie gras, somewhere there’s a balance combination that exceeds your expectations."
If you meet Missy, you'll understand why it's important to her that a burger's toppings line up perfectly. Missy is perfect. Her hair, her clothes, her posture, her engagingly self-deprecating sense of humor, her gleaming toothy smile. She's a perfect candidate to be followed everywhere by a camera crew: campaigning, eating, writing, eating ...
And please, don't confuse her with another kind-of-famous blonde with a similar name: Misty Rowe, the lisping comedienne on the old Hee Haw TV show. But they apparently both share an affinity for food. Misty Rowe has created a one-woman holiday show called A Misty Christmas ... Finally a Fruitcake You'll Like.
Missy Roe, unlike many other local food bloggers, has actually worked in the restaurant business. She was a waitress at the Yia Yia's restaurant in Wichita while majoring in communications at Wichita State. Her classmate Aaron Confessori — owner of Westport Cafe & Bar and the Boot — remembers her wearing her starched Oxford shirt and apron, leaving campus to start her shift at the restaurant. After college, Roe worked as a TV news reporter for station KMIZ in Columbia, Missouri, covering crime and the courts.
"But I had always loved politics," Missy says. She joined the Sam Graves staff in 2005. She met her future husband while working for Graves; Roe served as chief of staff for Sam Graves until 2005, when he left to form his consulting firm, Axiom Strategies.
"Jeff is my biggest champion," Missy says. "He was the reason I started my blog. I was posting things I had written about food and restaurants on my Facebook page and taking my own photos. Jeff said, 'You need to start a food blog.' So he built a blog with my name on it, and I took it from there."
The Perfect Bite: Kansas City is sort of an online memoir of one woman's search. Not for the meaning of life, but something a little more earthy: "I’m continually searching for an amazing new food experience," Roe writes. "That’s really all you need to know — small-town girl now indulging in Kansas City’s culinary offerings and beyond. No authority on food here. I just want to partake in the feast!"
Of course, Missy wants to partake in the feast. The native of Tyrone, Oklahoma (population 1,000), wasn't exposed to a variety of culinary possibilities as a girl. The restaurant choices were few: Pizza Hut, El Amigo Chavez and the Hong Kong. "It was the only Asian restaurant in town that wasn't a buffet," she says.
The Perfect Taste: Kansas City blog offers up Roe's observations on the local restaurant scene. She doesn't pretend to have a definitive view (her writing style is girlish, honest and unpretentious), but she knows what she likes. And if she doesn't, well damn it, she says so! Describing the Buttermilk Cider Chicken at Thomas Restaurant, Roe writes that the boneless breast was "covered in a light melty cheese, likely swiss." Roe also writes that it was "a very nice dish I would order again, but probably not drive across town to get."
"You could get a little more critical," I suggested.
"I'm just now learning how to voice what I felt and experienced at a meal," she said.
But Missy Roe has learned the art of diplomacy in her political career. She might not drive all the way across town (the Roes live near Liberty) to eat Buttermilk Cider Chicken in midtown for a second time. But then again ... she might.
This sense of diplomacy served her well when she took on the Mrs. USA Missouri Pageant. Her personal trainer goaded her into it, but Missy is nothing if not competitive. On very short notice, Roe entered the pageant, pulled a suit and an evening gown out of her closet, and drove to St. Joseph, Missouri, for the event. It was only when she was actually onstage, answering questions posed by the panel of judges, that she had an epiphany: "What am I doing here?" She was voted second runner-up.
Her success in 2009 inspired Missy to enter the pageant again the following year. This time she was determined to win. She did. It propelled her to the Mrs. United States National Pageant in Las Vegas ("The Premiere Pageant for Married Women") where she tied for 13th place. Mrs. Mississippi won the crown.
As political campaigns begin heating up this summer — Graves is running for re-election — Roe realizes that she may not have time to post on her blog every day.
"During Restaurant Week, I was posting every day," Roe says. "But typically it's three or four times a week. But the work I do can require long hours. That cuts into the free time I have for writing about restaurants."
But as long as there are "amazing new food experiences" out there, Missy Roe is out searching for them. And looking perfect.
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@Bill: you are a dick, and you are either high or drunk. I merely argue the point about her appearance because that was the center of this puffy piece (no pun intended) because CF mentioned how attractive she is suppose to be, where in fact she comes off as a dragon-lady. I would think that regardless of political affiliation. (Have you looked at Hillary Clinton or Dianne Feinstein? Yikes?!) As for hushharp, see prior comments. Part of the focus here is her alleged "good looks." In the end, I hate racism, homophobia, etc. However, taking cues or opinion about how attractive a woman may be from Charles Ferruzza is about as reliable as getting driving directions from Walt Bodine. Maybe Walt should even take the wheel?
A bunch of folks sure got their collective panties in a wad over this one. In all fairness, Fat City covers many local blogs when they are just starting out. They profiled mine just a couple of weeks after it got started. After reading this I am glad they left out all references to my boyish good looks and former Mr Olympiad physique.
I will resist the urge to take the opportunity to turn the tables and be restaurant guy who reviews food blogs. I will say that the difference between the food blogs I read and the ones I don't, is their focus. Fat City and KC Lunch Spots rarely feature pictures of the authors at trendy spots. They don't show the food they cooked at home or share recipes. They are taken seriously, because they are not about the author creating a forum to show off the restaurants they eat at as way to show how trendy they are. I wish more "food bloggers" would take their lead.
Normal left-wing bullshit being posted on here by you idiot Libs. If she was married to some idiot Lib....you'd all be rejoicing how great she was...
Seriously, people. Are we children here? Let's cut through the insipid comments on physical appearance.
For all intents and purposes, Jeff Roe owns the political turf in KC. He's a scary man. His wife is no less scary, simply by association. Is he trying to use press flurry about her as a shield for his back-alley kneecapping?
What is this article supposed to achieve?
No, no, no. I get it. You have to have a really, really dry wit to get it. But there is a purpose there. Sometimes you have to read between the lines.
Is this a joke? Her looks should have nothing to do with the equation, and I usually avoid cheap shots regarding appearance. However, since that is part of the focus, I have to ask: am I the only one here that thinks she is not fun to look at? She hurts my eyes. You're slipping Charles.
I'd like to see you interview the guys over at will not be televised. they did a review on chi-chis sometime back that was the tits...
(not necessarily blond tits)
"With one week to go before the pageant, I was finishing my outfit, rehearsing my talent, brushing up on current events, and running 18 miles a day on about 400 calories. I was ready."
My vote for the next Perfect Bite review: Missy Roe vs. Waid's
I'm here all week! Tip your servers and bartenders!
I'd like to profile a Democrat, vegan, food blogger. Oh wait I don't care about politics when it comes to food. Leave it out of the equation. Also focusing of her looks does not lend weight to her food blog, as if a beautiful person isn't capable of eating good food, or that as a good looking woman her words hold more weight than someone less attractive.
@Please, no more articles like this! "Woof????" Are you serious a-hole? Take your sexist, BS remarks to Tony's Kansas City...jerk-offs like you are welcome there.
Meesha: David LaCrone may have, arguably, the oldest food blog in the city but he's too young to be the oldest food blogger in town. And he is definitely worthy of a profile. Oh, how do you know he didn't used to be blonde?
A beauty queen no more... woof! My wife is much hotter, makes more money, and is probably much smarter. Write an article about her.
Nice write Charles. I remember her when she won the Miss Missouri crown.
I had no idea she was that busy. Quite the girl!
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