Restaurant patios around the city are abuzz with al fresco diners eager to sip and sup under the stars. Festivals are in full swing, serving up barbecue, cotton candy and street food. Farmers markets on both sides of the state line supply shoppers with local produce for bountiful dinners on the grill.
Anything pink with an umbrella or sugary rim is dismissed as girly and lightweight. But summer spirits are my favorite. When you’re landlocked like we are, who doesn’t want that beachy feeling that daiquiris, margaritas and coladas bring? Here are some of my favorites.
More than three years after it closed, Westport mainstay The Corner Restaurant has been resurrected in the same spot but with new owners, a new decor and new menu. Executive chef Natasha Sears said the kitchen uses many local vendors, and makes about 90 percent of the menu from scratch on-site.
Oak Park Mall said it has signed local fast-casual chain Ingredient for its food court. Menu items include salads, grilled sandwiches, soups, wraps and panini, burgers, and gourmet pizzas.
At this French fusion bistro in the One Block South entertainment complex in Overland Park, the chefs’ training and pedigrees are evident in the well-executed, interesting and tightly focused menu — five hors d’oeuvres, a soup, four entree-size salads, five sandwiches, five entrees (ranging from $12 to $20), plus a few desserts.
Anthony Accurso, 26, has designed a sleeker space, yet it’s clear that he’s still paying homage to his family’s roots with sepia-toned family photos on one wall and a menu still aiming to balance the whims of a hipper dining crowd while taking care of loyal regulars.
Zagat has your “must-try” dishes when traveling from “sea to shining sea.” They include a burnt-end sandwich in Missouri (specifically Arthur Bryant’s) and barbecue ribs in Kansas.
Robert Duensing, the owner of Best Regards Bakery & Cafe, starts with seriously good breads and cheeses and adds interesting extras including fresh basil and avocado or Black Forest ham or extra-sharp Tillamook cheese.
Fans of the Crossroads restaurant Grinders now can get some of their favorite menu items at Sporting Kansas City soccer matches at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. Starting Saturday, the Crossroads restaurant will offer some of its menu items in the stadium’s Boulevard Members Club.
The new owner is making changes, renaming the restaurant The North End. He has remodeled the spot at 910 E. Fifth St., putting the kitchen in back and opening up the dining room for more seating. He has added menu items including such appetizers as mozzarella sticks, along with handmade “giant” pork tenderloin sandwiches and a hot Italian beef sandwich called “The Don Bosco.”
A Joplin, Mo., family is moving to Kansas City and bringing their restaurant concept with them. Zola is scheduled to open in July at 916 E. Fifth St., by Lasala’s Deli.
A PB&J founder is among the partners in the first of this franchise in the Kansas City area. Meanwhile, Chacko’s Eatery is to close in Mission, and Jimmy John is opening near Crown Center.
Award-winning chef Debbie Gold is leaving the American Restaurant. Gold, who joined the Crown Center restaurant in mid-2008, plans to depart on April 13 for another Kansas City opportunity.
For more than a year, a father-and-son team has been converting a building on Swift Avenue into Kansas City SmokeShack BBQ. They plan an April 17 opening less than three blocks from Smokin’ Guns, which more than quadrupled in size this year.
A huge American fusion menu, and nearly four dozen wines, promises something for everyone at Cooper’s Hawk, a Chicago-based chain now open on the Plaza in the former 810 Zone space.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s new report found that 97 percent of children’s meal options at the nation’s largest chain restaurants do not meet its nutritional criteria for 4- to 8-year-olds.
Contests and culinary school join forces at Jon Russell’s BBQ, where fruity sauces complement the smoked meats. And, as is turned out, the fire truck parked nearby was a good omen.
For the seventh time, Colby Garrelts, the executive chef of Kansas City’s Bluestem, has been named a finalist for the James Beard Award’s best Midwest chef. Garrelts and his wife, Megan, recently opened Rye in the Mission Farms development in Leawood.
At Anton’s Taproom the typical farm-to-table system is turned upside down. As the name implies, the bar at 1610 Main St. features 67 beers — and six wines — on tap, but that’s just scratching the surface.
Going to the NCAA tournament? Here’s a list of restaurants near the Sprint Center that we’ve recently reviewed.
After four years of operations. WestChase Grille has closed in Overland Park. Friends John Westerhaus and Chase Wilcox opened the “fine dining without all the fuss” restaurant in late 2008. They had been in the business for a combined 35 years and both are trained chefs.
Chef and food activist Alice Waters’ iconic restaurant, Chez Panisse, remains closed after a fire on Friday damaged the Berkeley, Calif., landmark. No one was injured, but firefighters had no estimate on when the restaurant will be safe to reopen.
A judge struck down New York City's pioneering ban on big, sugary drinks Monday just hours before it was supposed to take effect, handing a defeat to health-minded Mayor Michael Bloomberg and creating confusion for restaurants that had already ordered smaller cups and changed their menus.
Food & Wine is letting readers pick the best chefs in the country. Ten chefs are in the running for The People’s Best New Chef: Midwest, including two from the Kansas City area: Patrick Ryan from Port Fonda in Westport and Carl Thorne-Thomsen from Story in Prairie Village.
Owner Alex Pope says the truck, called Pigwich, will peddle sandwiches made with Farm to Market bread and all-natural Local Pig meats — which are hormone, steroid and antibiotic free — in the lot behind the butcher shop at 2618 Guinotte Ave. in the East Bottoms.
