There's only one of these restaurants left in the metro -- the Texas-based chain closed a couple of its other Kansas locations -- but this one, in a high-traffic tourist spot, is popular for its frequent low-priced dinner specials. The current special offers an unlimited bowl of pasta (patrons can choose both the pasta and the sauce) and an all-you-can-eat salad for less than 10 bucks. For an additional $1.99, you can gorge yourself on unlimited meatballs, too.
Where am I eating this dish?
It's not enough for french toast to merely be french toast anymore. It now needs to be stuffed with a sweet cream cheese concoction, soaked in liqueur, or dipped -- after marinating in an egg-and-milk bath -- in something slightly crunchy, like crushed cereal flakes.
Thanks to several co-workers who lead a meatless lifestyle, I've become a lot more sensitive to the tribulations that local vegetarians and vegans must endure in Kansas City restaurants. Even though I still eat meat, I find myself asking questions in dining venues that my vegetarian friends might wonder about. Are the refried beans cooked in lard? And speaking of lard, what about the biscuits -- or the pie crust?
Recently, I dined in a new upscale restaurant that offered, as the potage de jour, a bowl of potato soup prepared with caramelized onions. The waitress raved about the soup. "It's not a vegan soup," she informed us, "because it's made with cream. But it's a wonderful vegetarian soup."
For some reason, I didn't trust her.
The actual dessert is called Belgian Chocolate Rum Mousse and it's on a dessert selection at a restaurant very close to the Kansas City metro, but not quite in it.
Update: There were excellent guesses to this week's "Where Am I Eating?" question, but all near misses. For the correct answer, read through to the bottom of the original post.
The vintage china and the teacups probably give this mystery question away quickly, but where can you find this sandwich: a combination of sliced chicken breast topped with chipotle mayonnaise, pepper-jack cheese, red onion, lettuce and tomato on a French-style loaf?
In the United States, an ethnic dish has officially gained popular acceptance when it's no longer found only in the restaurants that traditionally serve a distinctive culture's cuisine. For example: egg rolls and fried rice, once exclusive to Chinese restaurants, can sometimes be found at American-style buffets, like the Golden Corral. Ditto spaghetti and meatballs (a staple of American restaurants, particularly steakhouses, for decades) or tacos.
The latest dish finding mass appeal is the Vietnamese pho, a hot noodle soup, usually made with chicken or beef.
Not too many local restaurants serve dishes wrapped in shiny foil. The Latin Bistro, north of the Missouri River, offers a particularly snazzy shrimp dish in a foil pouch that's opened to great effect, releasing a little cloud of steam. It evokes the excitement of opening that Epcot-like sphere of Jiffy Pop, back in its visually impressive foil incarnation, pre-microwave ovens.
But even a foil box, like the one above, has a giftlike allure.
Tis the season when you hope to discover that your friends' plans for holiday entertaining include baked brie. After it's served, you simply need a few moments alone in the living room so you can shovel crackers in your face and eat more of the circular gooey cheese than you'd admit under oath.
But sadly, unlike asiago, brie isn't on too many menus around town. While recently dining out, I dipped my fork into thick slices of brie served inside a pastry tart. So, Fat City readers, where was I eating?
| Panna cotta in a variety of flavors... |
It's a confection seen on more and more Kansas City dessert trays lately. And for good reason: it's very light, not terribly fattening and a simple way to end a heavy meal.
| A turkey-spinach-and cranberry brunch crepe looked all holiday-like last weekend. |
I stopped at a local bistro for brunch over the weekend and found out that even the savviest restaurateurs have to come up with creative uses for their Thanksgiving leftovers. In this case, it was a tasty breakfast dish made from leftover turkey and cranberry sauce.
Milk & Honey has the best I've had in KC. http://milkandhoneykc.com/
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