
Manifesto is the handiwork of one of Kansas City's best bartenders, Ryan Maybee - who also runs the bar program at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange (same address and owners). The entrance to the 48-seat basement bar is unmarked and, in classic speakeasy fashion, the drinks are mostly retooled classics.
It's been a good year for Manifesto. This summer, Yahoo named its Unbridled Julep one of the 10 coolest new cocktails. Taste By Niche in St. Louis was the only other area bar to make the Eater list.

The winner is looking at an estimated $289.55 million (or a lump-sum cash payout of nearly $135 million) for the split jackpot. Fifty-eight tickets had the first five numbers correct for a prize of $1 million. Among those was a ticket sold at the Sun Fresh at 2415 N.E. Vivion Rd. in Kansas City. For those who need signs that the next one is going to be theirs, Missouri has had 27 Powerball jackpot winners, good enough for second in the nation. So you're totally due.
In case you have just emerged from your sensory-deprivation chamber, the winning numbers were 5-23-16-22-29 with Powerball 6.

The three-month tour builds on the success of his performances in Las Vegas and a limited run on Broadway in New York City earlier this year. Tyson's show, directed by Spike Lee, features Tyson telling stories about the world of boxing, his relationship with Robin Givens and why he bit Evander Holyfield's ear. Tickets, which range from $35 to $65, go on sale Friday. Who's going to see the champ?
The Pitch sat down with chef Max Watson at Remedy recently to talk inspiration, ingredients and ice cream. The first part of our interview, in which he shared his start at Room 39 and cooking in an Airstream trailer, ran yesterday.
Ghost Adventures' formula is simple: Tatted-up host Zak Bagans and his buds blow into a supposedly haunted place, set up a bunch of cameras, chat up the locals and try to find ghosts. It's must-see TV for dude-bros with a weakness for the paranormal and a cable package that includes the Travel Channel. And sooner or later, it was bound to find KC's Union Station.
We ran across the recently broadcast Union Station episode (also viewable on YouTube) and watched it so that you wouldn't have to. Spoiler alert: The only spirits are behind the bar at Pierpont's.
No, the chills in this episode are pretty earthbound. The part, for instance, when a security guard named Marcus tells Bagans (who is, surprisingly, not a hobbit - more like Guy Fieri trying out for the Scooby gang) that he once saw a woman's legs in high heels, and Bagans asks if they were nice legs. Icky. (Marcus says he tried to talk to her, but she disappeared - because obviously she was a ghost. "Ain't nobody can evaporate," he tells Bagans.)

Go Viva is offering the three-day package, which also includes a personalized chef's coat, a four-course tasting menu and a peek inside the private testing kitchen at Topolobampo, and a tour of Bayless' garden. While your hotel is part of the package, airfare is additional. Assuming you don't have four-large to drop on a night with a chef but still want to dream big - who is your dream culinary date?
"My mom was running food up and down stairs while she was pregnant with me," Watson says of his mother, Leslie, who had no choice but to take him to work with her at Annie's Santa Fe on the Plaza. "She said I got her so many tips. I've been in the business since before I was born."
Twenty-six years later, Watson is back running food - his food. Watson, the executive chef at Remedy Food + Drink, leans back from a table in the Waldo dining room and watches plates leave his kitchen on a recent Thursday. He can't help but begin his story with his mother's kitchen.
"My mom had every intention of being a chef," Watson says. "She attended the CIA [Culinary Institute of America] but didn't graduate for financial reasons. So when I was growing up, we would spend an entire Sunday morning making pâte à choux. She set the groundwork that it was OK to cook."
On October 18, the Lee's Summit City Council voted 6-2 to spend $80,000 on a "brand manager," who will develop a plan over the next seven months for the city's new slogan, "Yours Truly."
"We think it's very important to come up with one brand identity," says Nancy Bruns, Lee's Summit Chamber of Commerce president. The chamber is expected to announce the hire in the coming weeks. "People see the same message, and it resonates more."
City building is no longer just infrastructure improvements and trash removal. Cash-strapped communities are betting their budgets that community branding matters. Even suburbs like Lee's Summit are getting into the business of destination marketing.
"Before the downturn, Lee's Summit was totally hopping," Bruns says. "We didn't have to market the community as much as we may need to in the future."
Name: STRETCH
Occupation: Artist, restaurateur, TV personality
Hometown: Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Current neighborhood: Home, Center City; work, Crossroads Arts District
Who or what is your sidekick? DUF, my dog
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? Magic-carpet salesman
What was the last local restaurant you patronized? Filling Station, Vietnam Café
Where do you drink? Home, Grinders, the Peanut

Finding restaurant tenants for three potential dining venues in the City Market is one of the priorities for the Prairie Village-based KC Commercial Realty Group, which will take over the management contract for the historic shopping district on December 1. KCCRG replaces longtime operators Copaken Brooks, which managed the facility for eight years.
"KCCRG's proposal set many goals, including the immediate goal of securing a local landmark restaurant for the long-vacant space at 429 Walnut," says Meghan Buum, the marketing and events manager for the City Market. Buum, property manager Deb Churchill and the other four members of the City Market staff will continue their positions at the market after KCCRG takes over the operation of the property.
The building at 429 Walnut - originally built as a bank but for many decades the Hien Vuong Asian Market (it moved to the old Jennie's Italian Restaurant space in Columbus Park) - has been vacant since 2008. It will be interesting to see if KCCRG can lure any restaurant into the high-profile building, let alone a landmark venue. Two other currently empty spaces in the City Market include a former wine store and a former seafood vendor. Buum says both are considered prime spots for restaurant operations.
The Gaf has closed in Waldo
Which out-of-town restaurant would you lobby to bring to KC?
Kanrocksas single-day tickets now on sale
The Pitch's Questionnaire with T2 creative director Travis Schlitter
Police leave Union Station after suspicious package found
Where to celebrate American Craft Beer Week in KC
OSHA orders reinstatement of Wolf Creek whistle-blower
The Sucka Free Producer's Showcase is tonight at RecordBar