Tag: the american restaurant

travel: kansas city… (2014)

~ Evidently, the gestation for Midwestern maturity is slow.  Two years ago, I took an honest (some might characterize it as critical) look at the eating culture of my hometown of Kansas City.  Cautious with praise and focusing mostly on quality, I also used that blog post to acknowledge and recommend a few local restaurants, businesses, artisans, and food […]

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travel: kansas city… (2014)

~ Evidently, the gestation for Midwestern maturity is slow.  Two years ago, I took an honest (some might characterize it as critical) look at the eating culture of my hometown of Kansas City.  Cautious with praise and focusing mostly on quality, I also used that blog post to acknowledge and recommend a few local restaurants, businesses, artisans, and food […]

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save the date: kansas city…

~ This year marks the sixteenth annual Friends of James Beard Foundation dinner at The American Restaurant in Kansas City, the longest-running fundraising dinner for the foundation in the country.  Over the past decade and a half, this event has brought some of America’s most respected chefs to my hometown to raise money for the James Beard Foundation, including Jean-Louis Palladin, […]

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save the date: kansas city…

~ This year marks the sixteenth annual Friends of James Beard Foundation dinner at The American Restaurant in Kansas City, the longest-running fundraising dinner for the foundation in the country.  Over the past decade and a half, this event has brought some of America’s most respected chefs to my hometown to raise money for the James Beard Foundation, including Jean-Louis Palladin, […]

Continue

dinner: the show must go on…

~ As the nation watched Hurricane Sandy plow into the Eastern seaboard, submerging subway trains and flooding the field at LaGuardia airport, I sat at home on the phone with Debbie Gold, executive chef of The American Restaurant, drawing up Plan B. Three of the six guest chefs for this year’s Friends of James Beard […]

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dinner: the show must go on…

~ As the nation watched Hurricane Sandy plow into the Eastern seaboard, submerging subway trains and flooding the field at LaGuardia airport, I sat at home on the phone with Debbie Gold, executive chef of The American Restaurant, drawing up Plan B. Three of the six guest chefs for this year’s Friends of James Beard […]

Continue

kansas city: save the date…

Over the past few years, I’ve helped organize two annual fundraising dinners in Kansas City, both of which are hosted by Debbie Gold, executive chef of The American Restaurant. My involvement in these events has afforded me the privilege and honor of helping to bring some of our country’s finest chefs to Kansas City to […]

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kansas city: save the date…

Over the past few years, I’ve helped organize two annual fundraising dinners in Kansas City, both of which are hosted by Debbie Gold, executive chef of The American Restaurant. My involvement in these events has afforded me the privilege and honor of helping to bring some of our country’s finest chefs to Kansas City to […]

Continue

dinner: collaboration…

The last time I pushed back from the table at a collaboration dinner, I vowed I’d never attend another. They’re just so tricky.  You take a group of random chefs, put them in a random kitchen with random cooks, all of them trying to orchestrate their random plates of food, and, somehow, it’s supposed to […]

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dinner: collaboration…

The last time I pushed back from the table at a collaboration dinner, I vowed I’d never attend another. They’re just so tricky.  You take a group of random chefs, put them in a random kitchen with random cooks, all of them trying to orchestrate their random plates of food, and, somehow, it’s supposed to […]

Continue

photo of the week 28: nobody knows the truffles i’ve seen…

My friends never cease to amaze me with their generosity. Last week, I had dinner with one who was in Kansas City for the holidays.  We hadn’t seen each other for months. Unexpectedly, he pulled out a Christmas gift, a glass jar of arborio rice stuffed to the brim with a wad of paper towels. […]

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photo of the week 28: nobody knows the truffles i’ve seen…

My friends never cease to amaze me with their generosity. Last week, I had dinner with one who was in Kansas City for the holidays.  We hadn’t seen each other for months. Unexpectedly, he pulled out a Christmas gift, a glass jar of arborio rice stuffed to the brim with a wad of paper towels. […]

Continue

james beard worked here…

Kansas City is home to one our country’s most storied restaurants. Yet, sadly, it is perpetually overlooked by locals and foreigners alike.  Do you know about it? In 1971, the founder of Hallmark Cards, Joyce C. Hall, opened Crown Center, a commercial palace to complement his company’s headquarters in downtown Kansas City.  The jewel to […]

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james beard worked here…

Kansas City is home to one our country’s most storied restaurants. Yet, sadly, it is perpetually overlooked by locals and foreigners alike.  Do you know about it? In 1971, the founder of Hallmark Cards, Joyce C. Hall, opened Crown Center, a commercial palace to complement his company’s headquarters in downtown Kansas City.  The jewel to […]

Continue

photo of the week 8: rodeo truck driver…

One year ago this week, I had the honor and pleasure of inviting Johnny Iuzzini, the executive pastry chef of Jean Georges (and co-host of the upcoming BravoTV show “Just Desserts“), to cook at a special dinner here in Kansas City.   The American Restaurant agreed to host the dinner, a benefit for the James Beard […]

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photo of the week 8: rodeo truck driver…

One year ago this week, I had the honor and pleasure of inviting Johnny Iuzzini, the executive pastry chef of Jean Georges (and co-host of the upcoming BravoTV show “Just Desserts“), to cook at a special dinner here in Kansas City.   The American Restaurant agreed to host the dinner, a benefit for the James Beard […]

Continue

best of 2009, the restaurant edition…

Corton New York, New York The course of any meal unfolds in a highly personal and circumstantial way.  Evaluating any restaurant experience devoid of personal context (e.g. company, mood, and personal preferences) is an impossible task. Though I like think that I can be scrupulously objective, I know that emotion trumps reason, personal preferences cloud […]

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best of 2009, the restaurant edition…

Corton New York, New York The course of any meal unfolds in a highly personal and circumstantial way.  Evaluating any restaurant experience devoid of personal context (e.g. company, mood, and personal preferences) is an impossible task. Though I like think that I can be scrupulously objective, I know that emotion trumps reason, personal preferences cloud […]

Continue

homecoming…

The American Restaurant How thrilled was I to read in the Kansas City Star that Debbie Gold will be returning to The American Restaurant, where she and her ex-husband, Michael Smith, won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest (first for Kansas City)? Very. A few months ago, I lamented the closing of 40 […]

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homecoming…

The American Restaurant How thrilled was I to read in the Kansas City Star that Debbie Gold will be returning to The American Restaurant, where she and her ex-husband, Michael Smith, won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest (first for Kansas City)? Very. A few months ago, I lamented the closing of 40 […]

Continue