While the American (200 East 25th Street) searches for the next head of its kitchen, Josh Eans will be serving as the interim executive chef. Eans took over the reins this weekend from chef Debbie Gold, who left the Crown Center eatery for another opportunity with a locally based restaurant group that hasn't yet been named.
"I'm sad to see [Debbie] go, but I'm excited to take over and do some cool things here," Eans said. "It's an honor to have this position."
Eans was most recently the executive chef for Blanc Burgers + Bottles. He began working at the American as a sous chef in November 2011.
Until Fat City scrapes together the cash to put a giant Bat-like signal in the sky with a pine-cone shaped symbol, you'll have to settle for an online announcement. Hopfest tickets are now on sale. The annual ode to hops at the Well (7421 Broadway) and Lew's Grill and Bar (7539 Wornall) is set for Saturday, May 18, from 2 to 6 p.m.
The only way to truly honor Thomas Hart Benton is with free beer and cake. Celebrate what would have been the painter's 124th birthday tonight with the Benton Bash at Kelly's Westport Inn (500 Westport Road). The party runs from 5 to 7 p.m. and includes one free drink and cake.
There's beer in those brats. Farmland Foods (a Kansas City-based subsidiary of Smithfield Foods) and the Boulevard Brewing Co. have partnered on a pair of sausage products: Pale Ale Bratwurst and Unfiltered Wheat Bratwurst. The new pork brats are now on grocery-store shelves (Hy-Vee, Price Chopper and Hen House) and are available at the Boulevard and Farmland Grill concession stands inside Kauffman Stadium.
Rawxies will win over vegans and non-vegans alike.
Just as bacon is the gateway drug for carnivores, Rawxies may become part of the germination for the vegan movement in Kansas City. The heart-shaped cookies that exist in the space between food bar and dessert are a KC product created by Callie England. In a nice counterpoint, the raw, vegan, gluten- and soy-free cookies are made in an East Bottoms space just a few blocks from the Local Pig.
Tracy Torres was inspired by Napoleon for her bakery, but she doesn't serve napoleons...yet.
Not being a student of apiology, I didn't know there was a difference between a French bee and a honeybee that buzzes around Lenexa (and maybe there isn't). But Tracy Torres, the proprietor of the three-week-old French Bee Bakery, at 404 East Street in downtown Parkville, says France's emperor Napoleon had a bee - a Gallic one, presumably - embroidered on his clothing. "It was a symbol of rejuvenation," says Torres, who has taken several career paths in her life but feels that her new business is the culmination of a dream.
She started the French Bee as a catering operation, making and delivering box lunches for corporate clients. When the gray building at 404 East Street - a former hair salon - became available for rent, Torres leased the little house, creating a cozy space for drinking coffee (her own Roasterie blend) and eating freshly baked scones or having a light lunch. There are only a few tables in the buttermilk-colored dining room, and the venue fills up pretty quickly on Saturday mornings. The second front room is reserved for her glass pastry case, featuring scones (pear pecan, ham and cheese, maple bacon date, chocolate raspberry), fluffy squares of old-fashioned cinnamon-yogurt coffee cake, flaky cinnamon swirls, cookies, and three kinds of delicious quiche (yesterday's selection included a first-rate artichoke and sun-dried tomato) in a buttery crust - no lard ever used.
Pie Five Pizza Co. is coming to the Kansas City market. The Kansas City Starreports that Dave Goebel, the former chief executive officer for Applebee's, has signed a franchise agreement with the chain that opened its first location in Fort Worth, Texas, only two years ago. Pie Five has been characterized as the Chipotle of pizza, so diners have to come prepared to pick from the periodic table of toppings.
Discover the art of eating and catching a bartender's eye at The Pitch's Artopia on Saturday, at the Screenland Crossroads (1656 Washington). The arts celebration runs 7:30 - 11 p.m. and features food from Accurso's (which earned the Sweetheart at February's Sugar Rush), Blue Bird, Grace's Best Cookies and the Melting Pot. Wash down that food with Tallgrass beer and Smirnoff vodka. General-admission tickets cost $25 in advance; for another $10, get VIP access with early admission (7 p.m.) and a goodie bag. Buy 'em at secure.pitch.com.
Sandwiches are like the aging action stars of menus - they hang around forever because restaurants just can't kill them off. That's in part because we keep ponying up our money and because, every once in a while, a sandwich shows why it earned a starring role in the first place.
I treat sandwiches as my refuge from fast food. When I'm somewhere where I don't know what to eat, I seek comfort with meals made with bread, a hoagie roll or a tortilla wrap. But I'm not always looking simply for sustenance. I'm also seeking out the city's best sandwiches. The Pitch is located at 1701 Main, and I've got a full tank of gas and an hour to spare - what sandwich is worth a drive to seek out?
The Roasterie's 20th-anniversary blend takes flight this morning.
The Roasterie is hoping you'll raise a cup to its birthday with its new 20th Anniversary Platinum Blend that debuts in all three cafes (6223 Brookside Blvd., 1204 W. 27th St., and 4511 W. 119th St. in Leawood) today and in grocery stores this week. If you'd rather raise a pint, Coffee Ale, the collaboration between the Roasterie and Boulevard, can still be found on a few taps (Bier Station, Lew's) and liquor-store shelves around town.
Voltaire - the saloon, not the philosopher - opens tonight
Big Rip Brewing Co. expands the Northland's beer universe
A consultant tells KC that big retail could save Citadel Plaza
Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper are headed to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
WWE's Monday Night Raw returns to Kansas City October 14
Courtney Cole, Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus executive director, answers The Pitch's questionnaire
Yo La Tengo is at Grinders tonight
Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn face two new civil lawsuits