Gastropub Pig & Finch adds to Park Place dining mecca

From the Des Moines folks who brought us 801 Chophouse, one of the most expensive steakhouses in town, comes a more casual concept. It’s an attractive bar and grill called Pig & Finch, which opened a couple of months ago in a remade Park Place space that formerly housed Trezo Vino.

At Port Fonda, brunch with a slice of the city

Port Fonda is more than a restaurant. It’s a place to introduce newcomers to Kansas City. Whether we’re talking about the KC hats by Baldwin Denim worn by the staff, local food or the mishmash crowd, it’s a mirror of some of our city’s finer qualities.

Blast that destroyed JJ’s also leaves a hole in KC’s culture

To some people, JJ’s, the edge-of-the-Plaza restaurant leveled by a gas explosion Tuesday night, had the best and deepest wine list in town. To others, JJ’s was a white-tablecloth dining room for special events, power lunches, tender steaks and sumptuous seafood. JJ’s was a down-to-earth place that felt like a hideaway.

Port Fonda is a sizzling success

Patrick Ryan’s restaurant moves from a trailer to a Westport building with its delectable Mexican food and hipster vibe intact. When Ryan debuted his refurbished 36-foot trailer in The Star’s parking lot to inaugurate Food Truck Friday in May 2011, the lines that snaked across the asphalt indicated he had an instant hit on his hands.

Cafe Provence in Prairie Village makes Zagat’s ‘top service’ list

Zagat Survey has selected its 25 “top service restaurants” in the nation. Prairie Village’s Café Provence, in The Village shopping center at 3936 W. 69th Terrace, made the list, described as adorable, family-owned, and a hidden monument to flavor and hospitality with a crew that “makes you feel at home.”

Good vibe, good food in President Hotel’s Providence

When the renovated President Hotel reopened under the Hilton flag in 2006, its Drum Room lounge and restaurant looked pretty good, but the restaurant operation never really caught fire. Now, the dining room has been made over once more. Providence, New American Kitchen has a pleasant, all-American vibe, and the results seem much more like a hit.

Peanches serves a singular vision and excellent food

As a family-operated place, Peanches, in a hilltop strip center along 39th Street in midtown, feels like the kind of quiet, slow-moving but ultimately remarkable place you’d find in the European countryside and write home about. There’s almost no other restaurant like it in Kansas City.

New Overland Park restaurant to feature Mexican cuisine

A new Overland Park restaurant will be inspired by the cuisine of the Traqueros, the Mexican railroad workers brought their regional recipes with them. Traqueros Fresh Mexican Grill is scheduled to open in late February in the former Foster’s Grille spot at 11831 Metcalf Ave.

Street tacos slow-cooked, made fresh at Cancun Fiesta

Street tacos have become easy to find in Kansas City’s casual, family-owned Mexican restaurants and groceries. Cancun Fiesta Fresh, a little dive across the street from the Westport CoffeeHouse, was one of the first to offer the palm-size soft corn tortillas filled with slow-simmered fillings, and nobody does them better.

Sugo’s serves up crowd-pleasing Italian classics

As the name implies, there’s a whole lot of fork twirling at Sugo’s Spaghetteria. The casual, family-style Italian eatery, which opened in May in an Overland Park strip mall, is the first spaghetteria in the Kansas City area for St. Louis-based restaurateur Michael Del Pietro. The streamlined yet crowd-pleasing menu based on fresh ingredients doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel.