Hold on to your milkshakes, Kansas City, Justin Bieber is in town. And as Blanc Burgers + Bottles breathlessly reported on Facebook, the Biebs had a chicken caprese burger and truffle fries at the Plaza burger shop last night. It's just nice to see a kid eat his vegetables.
Last night, pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini, formerly of Jean Georges in New York City and currently the head judge on Top Chef: Just Desserts, was in town to sample fare at Julian and drinks at the Riot Room. He's headed for California, and KC is his latest stop. If he's sleeping in this morning, he can drop us a note, and we'll get him a cinnamon roll.
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 ...
You can tell a lot by where a man chooses to rest his fork and knife. Kansas City's own Tom Watson was recently interviewed by Golf Digest for its My Town series, wherein a pro golfer offers a succinct travel guide to their city.
And in between recommending the Negro Leagues Baseball Hall of Fame and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Watson showed, with a host of feel-good, home-cooking restaurant suggestions, why "he is comfortable in the congenial and plain-spoken Midwestern atmosphere."
Chad Ochocinco is coming back to town and first on his list? The Peachtree Buffet (6800 Eastwood Trafficway). The aspiring soccer star -- remember that tryout with Sporting KC -- and actual NFL star fell in love with the soul-food institution back in March, taking the No. 47 bus line there twice.
An enterprising television executive has rightfully assumed that America has only so large a palate for celebrity chefs. Unfortunately, the answer may not be a lot more palatable. VH1 announced its latest reality show -- Famous Food -- wherein "celebrities" set out to launch a restaurant.
So if you've always wanted to see Heidi Montag talk to Juicy J and DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia about upholstery for a banquet, here's your opportunity.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco's first stop in town? Oklahoma Joe's for a Z-man and fries, courtesy of SportingKC. His four-day tryout begins today with Kansas City's soccer team, and Pitch reporter Ben Palosaari will be there. Ochocinco has eaten with Bengals and rivals' fans in the past. So drop him a line at his Twitter handle (@ochocinco) or in the comments with your restaurant recommendations -- I'll ask Ben to pass them on to the aspiring futbol star.
Elke Mermis has the details on Guy Fieri's return to our fair city over on our music blog, Wayward.
Fieri -- the spiky-haired food dude from Diners,
Drive-Ins and Dives -- is an unabashed fan of Kansas City. (So far,
the Food Network star has hit up Mama's 39th Street Diner, Grinders,
Happy Gillis, the Brick, and a whole bunch more. For
a full list, click here.) As you can tell by the
cherry-red '67 Camaro that Fieri drives between joints, he probably
digs a little rock and roll. That's why he's bringing a cooking -- and
rock -- stage show to the Midland in May.
That's right, the former host of Reading Rainbow, the star of Sister Act and the man behind Top Gun's theme song are indeed scheduled to make appearances in Kansas City soon. And at least as far as the first two are concerned, if you're willing to spend the money, you could enjoy a meal in their vicinity.
First on our menu of star experiences is Levar Burton. On February 18, he'll nosh and mingle with patrons of the Storling Dance Theater production Underground at Johnson County Community College's Carlsen Center.
Dinner with Burton + orchestra seats at the performance costs $100. Add an extra $100 for access to a VIP reception. (Read: more face time with Star Trek: The Next Generation's Geordi La Forge -- will he wear the glasses?)
| Cheril Vendetti wants you to eat something. |
"Paula picked my video as one of her favorites," says Vendetti, who will appear in Kansas City on Sunday, December 19 doing her stand-up act at the Eighteen22 Ultra Lounge at 1822 Main Street.
She'll be selling her cookbook too.
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