But when Charles d’Ablaing, executive chef of the Webster House restaurant, wants to fill a craving without emptying his wallet, Swagger is one of the places he likes to go.
Like anyone else, Kansas City’s top chefs sometimes want something really, really good to eat at a place that is going to be quick, casual and — let’s say it — cheap.
The happy hours or bar fare for their own restaurants can be a great value, but top chefs also agree that many places have great food that is inexpensive. Many suggestions involve ethnic cuisine. Almost all of the places mentioned are locally owned.
The chefs we talked to — from d’Ablaing to Jennifer Maloney (Café Sebastienne) to Jonathan Justus of the celebrated Justus Drugstore: A Restaurant — said the places they return to time and again generally emphasize fresh, flavorful foods that set them above similar places.
Executive chef Charles d’Ablaing
Webster House
1644 Wyandotte
816-221-4713
One of the things d’Ablaing appreciates about Swagger is how the former Village Lounge in Waldo has set itself apart from the competition.
His friend Derek Boone, owner of Irezumi Tattoo, bought and transformed the space. It is still a neighborhood bar, but Boone hired some chefs who make things such as mayonnaise and barbecue sauces from scratch, and Boone smokes the restaurant’s meats.
“Whoever goes there is going to see there is such a difference in what he is doing with bar food and what anybody else is doing,” d’Ablaing said. “There is actually some thought, and he really cares about it, and there is a love of the food.
“He does his Cuban as a Fidel Castro ($8.95) and smokes all of the pork shoulder himself. He competes at the American Royal, so if he has anything smoked or barbecued on the menu, it’s going to be pretty good. And it is just an interesting place to go.”
Executive chef Jennifer Maloney
Café Sebastienne at the Kemper Museum
4420 Warwick Blvd.
816-561-7740
Lucia’s Restaurant, a small Mexican place on U.S. 24 in Independence, fills the simple-eats bill for Maloney, who has been executive chef at the museum’s casual but elegant Café Sebastienne for 14 years.
“We usually go a couple of times a month, just for lunch or an early dinner,” said Maloney, who lives in Independence. “It is not cheap cheap, but it is a really good value. You get a lot of food. They sell, like, big tacos platters to go ($8.75).
“I don’t know what it is, the grease or the salt, whatever, but it is really good. If you get there around 5 p.m., you have to wait outside because you can’t get in.”
When she craves a burger, Maloney will hit the Independence institution HiBoy Drive-In. There are three.
“They have really, really good burgers and excellent onion rings,” she said. “They are battered, and they are thick. They make everything fresh there.”
And if it is a cheap breakfast she wants, she suggests Cascone’s Grill by the City Market.
Executive chef Michael Smith, manager Nancy Smith
Michael Smith and Extra Virgin
1900 Main St.
816-842-2202
Smith, who has been nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef award, is the executive chef of his namesake Michael Smith in the Crossroads.
To reach Eric Palmer, call 816-234-4335 or send e-mail to epalmer@kcstar.com.
@Nyx.CommentBody@