Fat City, Pitch

Parkville Microbrew Festival and other weekend possibilities

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:10:00 -0500

Humankind was meant to drink beer in the sunshine. Find your calling at the 10th annual Parkville Microbrew Festival on Saturday.…

Ninth Annual Troost Festival and other weekend possibilities

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:40:00 -0500

It's street-festival season, and one of the best block parties is Saturday. The ninth-annual Troost Festival is from noon to 10 p.m.…

Change Up: The Pitch combines its blogs

Justin Kendall — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Notice something different? We've combined The Pitch's longstanding blogs (Plog, Fat City and Wayward Blog) into one stream of news, entertainment, food and events: The Fast Pitch.…

Saru Jayaraman laughs at the $25 hamburger and other restaurant myths

Charles Ferruzza — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:16:00 -0500

I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard, during the years I was a server, a customer gripe: "If your employer would pay you a decent wage, I wouldn't have to leave a tip."

My response: "But they don't, Blanche. And they're not going to as long as they can get customers to subsidize our salaries and the National Restaurant Association to aggressively fight a rise in the tipped minimum wage."

That shut them up pretty quickly.…

Which Wich is headed to Westport

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:29:00 -0500

If you've ever envisioned yourself as a sandwich artist, then Which Wich may be the place for you. The sandwich chain, which is opening a location at 556 Westport Road (the former Einstein Bros. and Fuji Japanese Steakhouse space), lets customers design their lunch by marking ingredients on a paper bag with a red Sharpie.…

Freebirds opens in Overland Park Thursday

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:10:43 -0500

Pack up your camping gear, it's burrito hunting season. Freebirds World Burrito is opening its Overland Park location at 7552 West 119th Street on Thursday, April 18.…

Pickleman's opening in May at 75th and Wornall

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:45:53 -0500

Missouri graduates should really consider living close to Waldo. Pickleman's Gourmet Cafe will be opening in May at 7442 Wornall in the former Jackson Hewitt space (on the corner of 75th and Wornall across the street from Walgreens).…

Barley's Brewhaus celebrates its 17th anniversary this week

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:49:00 -0500

Barley's Brewhaus (16649 Midland Drive, Shawnee) is celebrating its 17th anniversary this entire week, which means you have plenty of chances to enjoy the party. Tuesday is all about stouts, with 10 bombers priced at $10 each.…

Futbol Club Eatery & Tap gets into the game Tuesday

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:55:29 -0500

Futbol Club Eatery & Tap (12030 Blue Valley Parkway, Overland Park) kicks off its inaugural season tomorrow. The bar and grill that celebrates all things soccer opens at 11 a.m.

Futbol Club is the official bar of FC Kansas City, the new professional women's team based here, and will be one of the few places where fans can watch Champions League and English Premier League games at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.…

Green Dirt Farm's Cheese Appreciation Event tickets are on sale now

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:15:00 -0500

Get out your calender. I'll wait.…

Josh Eans will be the interim executive chef at the American

Jonathan Bender — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 09:14:22 -0500

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.…

Hopfest tickets are now on sale for all you crazy hopheads

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:32:15 -0500

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.…

Benton Bash and other weekend possibilities

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:51:00 -0500

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).…

Boulevard and Farmland Foods have teamed up on beer brats

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:00:25 -0500

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.…

Rawxies are the rare vegan dessert that might tempt non-vegans

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:30:01 -0500

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.…

French Bee Bakery now open in Parkville

Charles Ferruzza — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:00:00 -0500

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.…

Pie Five Pizza Co. is Kansas City-bound

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500

Pie Five Pizza Co. is coming to the Kansas City market. The Kansas City Star reports 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.…

Artopia 2013 is about the arts and the eats

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:45:40 -0500

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.…

Which sandwich in or around KC is worth the drive?

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:30:00 -0500

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.…

Roasterie's 20th Anniversary Platinum Blend debuts today

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:00:16 -0500

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.…

The Melting Pot is celebrating National Cheese Fondue Day this week

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:00:53 -0500

Bet you didn't know that Thursday was National Cheese Fondue Day. (If you did, let us raise a fondue fork to your love of cheese.)…

Pigwich's banh mi is porktacular

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:27:19 -0500

Pigwich, the yellow sandwich trailer behind the Local Pig (2618 Guinotte Avenue), throws open its windows at 10:30 a.m. daily. Not long after that time this past Saturday, the world came to eat.…

Royals set to unveil new concession lineup for Opening Day

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:32:00 -0500

There is an art to building a good baseball-watching lineup. You need a proper mix of salty and sweet with just the right influx of beer to ensure that you're not having to miss any action.…

Chef Debbie Gold is leaving the American's kitchen

Jonathan Bender — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:39:00 -0500

Just a short while after being named one of the top 100 restaurants in America, the American Restaurant is losing the chef responsible for that ranking. Chef Debbie Gold will be moving on from the American to another, as yet unnamed, restaurant in Kansas City.…

Saber! A Celebration for JJ's and other weekend possibilities

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:00:45 -0500

The tragedy at JJ's Restaurant has brought out the best of the restaurant community. And many of the best will be at Saber!…