If you haven't met Robert McCain and Joseph Fulgenzi yet — they're well-known local real-estate agents and entrepreneurs — you'll be hearing about them soon enough. McCain, who owns the Blo Salon & Studio in Westport, told Fat City today that he and longtime partner Fulgenzi have purchased the troubled Jardine's Restaurant & Jazz Club at 4536 Main from owner Beena Raja.
"It will remain a jazz club," McCain says, "and Beena will continue on for a period to guide us through the change in operations."
Jardine's has been bombarded with negative publicity since Raja allegedly fired her entire staff — there have been more public versions of the story than in Rashomon — and no one seems to know if the servers and musicians stiffed by Beena have been paid. (Waiter, author and blogger David Hayden, who has been following this story in his blog, told Fat City this evening that only one of the former staff members has been paid.)
The telephone number for Jardine's has been "temporarily disconnected," and the Jardine's website, under the "Special Events" tab, lists the following under the December 31 date:
"Come and celebrate with us!!! Its gonna be a party. Come say hello to Robert,Joseph, Armida, Antonio, Pat and the entire gang!!! Beena is fired. Lets toast 2012 with a bang.
McCain says New Year's Eve will mark their debut as the new owners of Jardine's.
A new potentially distracting story about Haith is gaining traction today, as CBS Sports college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman tweeted this morning that the University of Pittsburgh is upset with Mizzou and Haith for allegedly tampering with Panthers freshman center Khem Birch.
If our earlier Fat City list of New Year's Day dining options didn't catch your fancy, here are several more ideas:
The manager at the Village Inn Family Restaurant in Mission (5800 Broadmoor, 913-236-7088) says a slice of this restaurant's French silk pie is a great hangover cure, preferably after a big hearty breakfast with eggs, toast, bacon, fried potatoes and lots of strong coffee. The Village Inn is open on New Year's Day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The tasteful, intimate Chaz on the Plaza in the Raphael Hotel (325 Ward Parkway, 816-756-3800) is almost booked up for Sunday-morning breakfast — it will be serving from the breakfast menu from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. But chef Charles d"Ablaing still suggests calling to see if a table is available because he's making his own hangover-cure breakfast on New Year's Day: "It's my version of the classic Truck Stop," he says.
Chubby's on Broadway (3756 Broadway, 816-931-2482) will be open New Year's Day if your tastes run to lusciously greasy breakfasts and big juicy burgers. For a more elegant breakfast burger, Celina Tio's Julian (6227 Brookside Plaza, 816-214-8454) will be serving its off-the-menu brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., including the brunch burger: a grilled English muffin topped with a juicy burger, bacon, a fried egg and supple hollandaise sauce.
Maybe a few hefty plates from an Indian buffet is the right way to usher in the year 2012. Swagat (7407 N.W. 87th Street, 816-746-9400) will offer a New Year's Day lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and serve from the dinner menu from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Westport's popular Korma Sutra (4113 Pennsylvania, 816-931-7775) will offer a lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner service from 5 to 9 p.m. Ruchi in Overland Park (11168 Antioch, 913-661-9088) will offer a lunch buffet on New Year's Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner service from 5 to 10 p.m.
Winn was detained by federal agents after he allegedly put his carry-on bag onto the X-ray belt, and security guards noticed the firearm. According to charges filed by federal prosecutors, Winn told authorities that he had picked the bag up from his mother's house in Independence and was going to take it to a friend in Arizona. He told agents, "If I had known there was a gun in my bag, I would not have tried to bring it on the plane." Federal prosecutors didn't buy his claim, and he has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and knowingly carrying a weapon onto a flight.
Authorities also said Winn was found to have $4,906 in his pockets, and his checked bag contained three pairs of jeans with a total of $26,515 stuffed into the pockets. Each of the charges he faces carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
You can read the full complaint, along with a thorough inventory of his luggage, here. He packed only five socks.
One Missouri town did make the top 10, with St. Louis chugging its way to eighth on the list (up from 24th in the 2010 rankings). While tailgaters and the early morning crowd at the Zoo Bar might disagree (as did Men's Health, naming Kansas City the 36th drunkest city earlier this year), this is a collection of cities that we don't really want to be keeping company with, based on the stats used to determine which city is the lush uncle of municipalities.
In November, the Waldos missed a pretrial hearing, which prompted arrest warrants to be issued for them. An attorney representing Ryan Waldo told the court that public judgment of the couple has been harsh, and they are too broke to afford representation, according to KCTV Channel 5 News.
Dan Miller told a judge that he's working for Ryan Waldo on a pro bono basis, and that both parents have lost their jobs in the fallout of the accusations.
In good news, I've got a full day to prep and a few kitchen's worth of utensils and appliances at my disposal. I'm looking for your best recipe, the one that you would use to get out of Dutch, get into heaven or get someone out of their apron. What's your go-to recipe?
I love your sense of humor, Courtney!
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