Fat City started in July and since then, Charles Ferruzza, myself and company have written nearly 500 posts about various comings, goings, odd items and leftovers -- as we affectionately call the stuff we have no idea how to categorize -- dealing with Kansas City and food. Here are ten of my favorite Fat City posts from 2008:
Flickr: FuzuokoThere are a couple easy ways to get a food-industry worker's blood boiling. The easiest is to talk about stingy tippers. The second, nearly as effective route, is to casually mention that Rachael Ray is a great chef. What Billy Joel is to other musicians, what Dane Cook is to other comedians, Rachel Ray is to real chefs.
Although it won't be televised like the Oscars or the Grammys, the cooking equivalent takes place tonight at the Lincoln Center in New York City where the James Beard Awards are announced. The only chef from Kansas City to make the finals is Colby Garrelts from Bluestem, who's nominated for the "Best Chef Midwest" category. He's been nominated three years in a row, now. Last time I talked to Garrelts, he said he wasn't worried, because he and Megan, his wife and pastry chef, "know the drill."&nb
There is a saying in the restaurant industry: You can't make a living but you can make a killing. That pretty much sums up the boom-or-bust attitude. Even so, for most restaurant workers things can be a little bit more even. The industry magazine Star Chefs has released its 2008 report on how much one can expect to make working in a kitchen."Chefs might be the new pop culture superstars, but this doesn't exactly translate to more money for the average culinary professional," the article note
We might not have Miley Cyrus, but Kansas City is going to get a Guy Fieri show. The nickname-labeling, punky-haired host of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives plays the Midland Theater on December 7. The Guy Fieri Roadshow with Australian flair bartender Hayden Wood (despite what you're thinking this is not The Thunder From Down Under) is described as "food, rock n' roll, and everything they won't let me do on TV." As to what that entails, you'll have to pay Ticketmaster
