Chiefs QB ripped KC restaurants 25 years ago. Today’s chefs explain what’s changed
Twenty-five years ago, quarterback Steve Bono was enjoying what would be the best season of his 15-year NFL career.
After a decade as a backup, mostly in San Francisco, Bono was given the Chiefs’ starting job in 1995, and by November, he was in the process of guiding the team to a division title and earning his one and only Pro Bowl appearance.
Chiefs fans, however, were furious with him.
It had nothing to do with Bono’s play on the field. He would lead three fourth-quarter comebacks as the Chiefs rolled to a 13-3 record. But a Sports Illustrated story quoted Bono as joking that “the worst restaurant in San Francisco is better than the best restaurant in Kansas City.”
Bono also said he and his wife, Tina, took matters into their own hands when ordering from Kansas City restaurants.
“A lot of the restaurants here are well-intentioned, but they don’t understand how to put things together,” Bono said. “They’ll order all these interesting ingredients and mix them in strange combinations. So what Tina and I will do is order a dish, but without two or three of the ingredients, and then order a couple of other ingredients that belong in there on the side.”
Bono’s comments cut like a paring knife.
Award-winning chef Colby Garrelts of Bluestem and Rye restaurants was in culinary school at the time. He took offense for both Kansas City and the area restaurant industry, where he planned to make his mark.
“That was very hurtful,” Garrelts told The Star. “I’m a Chiefs fan and this guy is the quarterback.”
But Garrelts conceded Bono may have had a point, since Kansas City was known at that time for its barbecue and steaks, with a handful of local operations like Jasper’s “carrying the torch.”
Twenty-five years later, Kansas City’s culinary reputation has improved greatly. Just this month, Esquire picked Fox and Pearl as one of the best new restaurants in the United States. A few years ago, Thrillist named Kansas City one of the country’s underrated food cities.
Ted Habiger was a 25-year-old cook at the former Cafe Allegro in 1995. Since founding Room 39 in 2004, Habiger has since been a James Beard Award semifinalist three times. He recalled Bono’s comments.
“Cafe Allegro, The American and Venue were about the only fine dining restaurants,” Habiger said. “But it was on the cusp of people going out to eat. It was going up 15% every year until 9/11 slowed down the growth. Now we have 20 restaurants on the same par — Port Fonda, Fox and Pearl, the Antler Room, Novel.”
During his time in Kansas City, Bono couldn’t get the Chiefs to the Super Bowl. He was benched late in perhaps their biggest playoff gut-punch: a 10-7 loss to the Colts after the 1995 season.
But the franchise got there eventually thanks to quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who helped alter the way the country sees Kansas City with a victory in Super Bowl LIV.
Local chefs, meanwhile, have helped change how Kansas City is viewed from a culinary standpoint.
“It’s nothing like it is now. There are far more restaurants and we are exposed to so much more because of the Internet,” Garrelts said. “If you want to research authentic Thai, you can do that. It’s just a more respected career than it used to be.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 1:33 PM.
