We have a global problem

The marine food supplies are in danger folks. Just ask the people in the Gulf of Mexico, Japan, Africa and Australia. This is a shame because I'll eat just about anything that comes from the sea, I prefer seafood to anything else.

Midwestern fresh waters have a big problem too. If you're in the mood for Asian carp, there are plenty. Here is a video of the carp in action. I don't know why the guy in this video is laughing. This shit isn't funny.

Here is the Wiki.

"Dave Camp, Congressman for the 4th District of Michigan, along with Senator Debbie Stabenow has introduced the CARP ACT, which directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take action to prevent Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes. It is estimated that it will cost more than $30 million in 2010 to prevent the carp from invading the Great Lakes."

30 million? I suggest that you put a $5 bounty on every dead Asian carp turned over to Conservation Departments. I have a feeling their numbers would drop off rather steadily.

Hotdogs for homophobes

This is funny!

Yes, your menu is tired

BA Foodist points out the 5 most played out restaurant dishes. I can think of a dozen dishes that could be added to this list. Kansas City, especially, seems stuck in a culinary time-warp of copycat dishes. Do chefs in KC dumb down their menus to suit the pallets of their patrons or do they lack creativity? Both I think.

"If imitation is the best form of flattery, then there's a whole lot of flattery going on in Kansas City restaurants."

What other menu items need to be retired?

Chinese Government to Execute Food-Safety Violators

Hot damn! The Chinese don't mess around.

"China warned Thursday that the worst offenders of food safety rules would get the death penalty in a new crackdown on an industry that has spawned embarrassing and deadly scandals in products ranging from seafood to baby formula."

Quick Bites

Preparing a well thought out review for a restaurant can be time consuming. It also often leaves me a little remorseful upon later visits for my opinions can change. I usually like to visit a place a number of times before I craft a review. In that light I am able to stand by my reviews with a clear heart... a clear mind ("Can't lose"... sorry for the Friday Nights Light Reference).

However, I have been to a number of local places recently so I wanted to give my first impression of said locations. I was mostly sober (usually) when I visited these places and I was able to remember key items about each. I also wanted to keep our readers informed about who may be on the Royals next season. You may not know many of these guys so it is my job to inform the mass of readers who yearn for Royals news as the season just ended.

The Billy Butler - All-Star Pizza (allstarpizzaandpub.com) is located in the Tuileries Plaza. Basically, it's in the Northland. Just like the young Royals slugger this place provides consistent pizza and a great pizza/pub atmosphere. In the same mode as Butler, this pizza joint will hit for a high average in providing heavily-topped pizzas and and a good selection of taps. It also features the best football game's line board. If you don't know what that is ask your uncle Morty who always looks sick at Thanksgiving when the Cowboys don't cover the spread. Just a word of warning... just like young Billy, don't expect many home runs with this place. It's good, it's solid, it's just not a homer every time.

The Alex Gordon - Granite City Food and Brewery (http://www.gcfb.net/) is located in many places, but I hit up the Zona Rosa location recently. This place is just like Alex Gordon. When Granite City started showing up nationwide beer geeks went nuts. Afterall, the microbrewing craze was, in many parts, in its infancy. Unfortunately, just like young Alex, these places flopped in my view. The food was of an Applebees quality with a a much higher price point. However, I recently gave the place another look and I was surprised. The hand-crafted beer actually tasted, well... hand-crafted. The server was fantastic (and probably should leave that place and start working at Plaza III or the American). The food was good. The prices were appropriate. Just like Alex Gordon's recent resurgence at the plate (and as a left fielder), Granite City made a comeback in my book.

The Chris Getz - The Art of Pizza (http://www.artofpizzakc.com/) has opened a new location in Westport. I touted this move a few months ago and was waiting expectantly for the Westport location to open. The owner assured me he had trained the staff there and it was going to be great. He was wrong. First of all, how many times must I say it... DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOU HAVE YOUR LIQUOR LICENSE! This isn't a cupcake bakery or a tea hut, this is a pizza restaurant and as such requires at least beer. But what about the food? It was not good. The pizza by the slice was bland and lacked any real flavor. I made the mistake of ordering the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich (yes, I know I have an obsession with those). It was the worst, most bland Philly I've ever had. They should change it to the Erie or the Scranton. Philly, a town of battery hurling hoodlums, should attack this place and demand that the term "Philly" be removed.

How does this apply to Getz? This guy was supposed to be good. We were told he had great speed and great defense and well.... we're still waiting. Just like I'm waiting on the Art of Pizza to hopefully iron out their kinks.

Happy Eats...

It's marijuana I swear!

Funny skit from 3rd Rock.

"This whole time we have been eating her slop and you're a damn gourmet!"

What's Next?

This is pure genius. Who comes up with this stuff? Grant Achatz that's who. There is so much innovation and advanced thinking going on here.

"Next Restaurant will explore world cuisine. It is being developed by chef Grant Achatz, Nick Kokonas, and the creative team that built Alinea, including Crucial Detail designer Martin Kastner, Architect Steve Rugo, and Interior Designer Tom Stringer.
Next Restaurant will serve four menus per year from great moments in culinary history – or the future. Our team of chefs will investigate, test, refine, and present authentic menu interpretations from cultures, places and times."

Food from the past and future? Check.
No bar or bartender? Check.
Tickets instead of reservations? Check.

Here is the about, and here is the trailer.

Anyone for a deal?

The above pic is the logo for a relatively new restaurant in KC called "C. Withers Restaurant". This family run BBQ and comfort food joint was recently opened on Broadway (kind of across from the Uptown Theater). I really don't know too much about this place. I hear they have good BBQ and their side dishes are fresh and homemade.

I do know, however, that I will be trying this place soon courtesy of some FOX 4 deal thingy (wdaf.incentrev.com). In short, you get 50 bucks worth of Gift Certificates to this place for $16.50. I recently used one of these deals for Room 39 and had a great time.

Also, from a practical standpoint it allows your cheap ass friend (we all have one... If you don't know who it is, it's probably you...) to actually go out to eat. According to some basic reviews, getting this deal should allow one person to get at least 3 meals out of this amount of Gift Certificates.

If you are into Mexican food, it includes the same type deal for Dos Hombres and a place called Maya's Mexican Bistro as well. Cheap Asses Unite!

"Do you think there is really a grill in here at all?"

I met Mid Town Food Guy over at Bonefish Grill the other night. We didn't meet because we like to go on "Guy Dates", we met because the Bonefish people sent us a couple "Challenge Packs". Basically it was a folder with a gift card for Bonefish and a gift card for what they called their "competitor". Their "competitor" turned out to be Red Lobster.

I had been to a Bonefish Grill once before, about five years ago in Clearwater, Fla. I remembered it being very good, I had salmon on a cedar plank. For this visit we chose the Northland location on 45 highway. The dining space seemed upscale, dimly lit and classy. The entire staff dresses in white chef coats. This makes it hard to distinguish anyone, from anyone else, that you may, or may not want to bother for something.

I sat at the bar and waited for Mid Town for a few minutes while sipping a cocktail. Mid Town eventually joined me at the bar and this is where things went horribly wrong. We ordered food! Mid Town ordered a house salad to go with his Mango Fish Tacos. I ordered Crab and Corn Chowder to go with "Grilled" Scallops and Shrimp.

Mid Town's salad was lettuce on a plate, nothing fancy and it's hard to screw up lettuce. The Corn and Crab Chowder it seems, is really easy to screw up. Not a hint of corn flavor anywhere in the dish. Isn't this the peak of corn season? There were some bits of something that more closely resembled crayfish tails than crab, but tasted like nothing. Yellow Water would be a more fitting name for the dish. No amount of salt and pepper was going to save this crap.

When the entrees came out I gave Mid Town a couple scallops and shrimp in exchange for one of his fish tacos. It was like trading crap for crap, neither of us got the best of this deal. The scallops and shrimp were so tightly packed together it appeared they could have been on a skewer at some point. There was no mention of skewers on the menu and there were no holes through the meat. This row of seafood "meat" had come out of a cryovac bag of some sort. It had "grill marks" on one side of the "meat" but they seemed to be airbrushed or painted on. The other side of the "meat" row was kind of a pale gray. After some inspection by Mid Town, he turns to me and says, "Do you think there is really a grill in here at all?". I was really doubting the presence of a grill at this point. I suspect my meal was cooked either sous vide or microwaved in cryovac. The only flavor it had was a salty, fake char taste.

The Mango Fish Tacos were just as poorly executed. After a bite of the super sweet, creamy, runny taco I opened it up and could not find one piece of fish.

How do they get away with serving this crap? If someone from Bonefish reads this please post, enlighten me on the preparation of that shitty shrimp-scallop dish.

I hope my trip to their "competitor" is a better experience. At least then I'll have something to thank Bonefish for.

See you in twenty years

The fine folks over at Sonic's PR house invited me to come try their food again. It had been twenty years since I'd visited a Sonic drive-in. I was offered a $50 Sonic gift card to try Sonic's menu. I knew It would take me some time to use all $50 so I invited three friends to join me for lunch in Westport.

Darin the manager hooked us up with all kinds of goodies. I had the Chicken Fried Steak sandwich and tater tots with cheese. I don't eat a lot of fried food these days so it tasted pretty greasy. To add to the greasy flavor was the fact that the oil the tots were cooked in was either past it's time or the oil wasn't hot enough. This resulted in tots that were super grease laden, nearly dripping with oil. My sandwich was good, definitely on par with most other fast food places. The other guys had the Foot-Long Coney Dogs and burgers. They enjoyed their meals, especially the Coneys. I think the ice cream shakes and sundaes were the biggest hit among the group, no surprise there.

Get over to Sonic and get some food. I'm not all that into fried foods but I know your fat ass can't get enough.

Will one of our own become the next Iron Chef?

It's true, Celina Tio is staring on The Next Iron Chef this season. Personally I don't think she will go very for on the show. I'm rooting for Ming Tsai and Marc Forgione.

Good Pizza is Better than Good Art?

Maybe not... But the Crossroads pizza joint known as The Art of Pizza (www.artofpizzakc.com) does a great job of making a spot on pizza pie. And it boasts some hipster art if you are into that sort of thing (like the "hands" extending from the wall).

The Art of Pizza is located across the street from its much publicized pizza cousin, Pizza Bella. While I had been to Pizza Bella at least a dozen times, I had always gazed towards The Art of Pizza and wondered what that place was all about. Sometimes as I munched on my Pizza Bella Brussels Sprouts I had even chuckled at that neighboring "red headed step-child" of local Pizza joints.

But this past week I decided to give it a try. And I was pleasantly surprised. In fact I was downright excited about the "find" I had made.

First of all, please know that this place is not, and does not attempt to compete with, their more upper crust pizza neighbor. This is pure NY style pizza with real ingredients like sausage as opposed to fennel sausage or ground beef as opposed to prosciutto. The atmosphere is much more laid back. The pie is super tasty. The price is super swell. And the friendly owner will pull up a chair and talk about anything from the weather to making beignets (which are also on the menu!).

I've only been to The Art of Pizza once and I am usually reluctant to review a place without multiple visits. In this case, I'll be making additional visits. And the place was just all around solid.

Also, The Art of Pizza is opening a Westport location in a week or so. Hopefully it will take off with the same standards that the Crossroads location has been putting out.

So overdue it's embarasing

When Thai Place opened in Westport some time ago (8 years?) I had no idea the impact it would have on my life. I'd eaten many Thai meals prior to Thai Place so I was delighted when I noticed they had taken over the space that was occupied by The Classic Cup in Westport. I raced in and haven't left yet.

I ate there constantly and quickly became friends with most of the employees, and the owners Ted and Pam. The food at Thai Place is always very, very good and super consistent. I've had most of the menu items and love them all. In my opinion Ted and Pam make the best Thai food in town. The dinning room is classy, dark and elegant. The kitchen is unbelievably clean and organized. They hire wonderful, efficient people who seem like they are all family.

If you haven't been to Thai Place, get your ass in there. If you have been there before, get your ass in there again. You will enjoy your visit, I promise. Thank you Ted and Pam for being so good to me over the years, I look forward to many, many more years sharing food with you and many more years of friendship.

Mystery trader buys all Europe's cocoa

What do you do with all the cocoa in Europe? I guess we're going to find out.

"It is unclear which person, or group of traders, was behind the deal, but it was the largest single cocoa trade for 14 years."

"The cocoa beans, which are sitting in warehouses either in The Netherlands, Hamburg, or closer to home in London, Liverpool or Humberside is equivalent to the entire supply of the commodity in Europe, and would fill more than five Titanics. They are worth £658 million."

A New Take on Mexican?

Well, Caliente Grill is no more. The 39th street Mexican joint finally bit the dust after a long struggle to establish a foothold on the Midtown Mexican landscape. As Pangea before them, Caliente was unable to generate enough business in their 39th street strip mall location to stay alive.

However, plans are being made to open a new restaurant at that (cursed?) location. Last week I was invited to a special tasting of some of the items which will be featured at the new eatery. It is also Mexican. I mean really Mexican. It will feature fresh flavors all around. From home-made mexican soups to hand cooked pork dishes, the yet to be named new grub spot will attempt to distinguish themselves from the rest of the crowded Mexican food lineup in K.C.

Overall, the food I sampled was really good. But... it's one thing to cater for a group of 20-25 people as opposed to running a restaurant. In the true spirit of an annoying food critic I will withhold judgment until the doors open. But I'm definitely excited. The potential is there. Just please don't start serving food until the liquor license is approved (why does every new place in K.C. think it's a good idea to open three months before their liquor license is approved?).

The dim lights of a shining star in L.A.

Back in May I posted about a place in L.A. called the Edison. I said in the post that I was sure to visit when I was going to be out there later in the summer. The next day (seriously the next day) I received an email from their PR guy (Dan) saying, "Thanks for the Edison post!  Let me know when you’re in town, and ready to check out our space.  We’ll make sure you have a great time!" Last week I did, and they did.

Out of total coincidence, my blog co-writer Midtown Food Guy (MFG) was out in L.A. on a family vacation. Weird. I asked MFG if he would join me on my visit to the Edison, we agreed on Wednesday. I totally spaced off notifying Dan about our visit until about 3pm the day of. I texted Dan and let him know that we would like to come out that night and experience the Edison. Within like 4 minutes he texted back and said that we were set for reservations at 7:30 and the evening was on him! Man, this guy is good. If you ever need a PR guy, Dan is the man.

MFG, his lovely wife, and I arrived on time and were quickly escorted to our reserved table. We sat for 10-15 minutes (seemed longer) before we saw anyone that resembled waitstaff. When we did spot someone, she walked passed us to a table next to ours. With their order she strolled by again. She then walked passed us a third time several minutes later to attend to the table next to ours. I stopped her (Jacquie (sp?) pronounced Jackie) this time and asked if we could start off with some drinks. She stated, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you guys". I said , "You walk passed us three times, how did you not see us?" "What can I get you to drink?", she says, and then under her breath, "This is going to be fun." WTF? What kind of shit was that? 

After the initial glitch in the evening, everything was great.

The Edison is stunning! I've never seen any place like it. They spared no expense taking an old power plant and converting it into a beautiful bar and restaurant. It was like stepping back in time. The space is very dark and classy with attention to every detail. Check out the virtual tour here.

The menu is small and unpretentious, good solid bar fare. We shared several appetizers including; Blue Dates, Deviled Eggs, Bavarian Pretzel, Shrimp Cocktail, Squid, Singapore Wings and a Charcuterie Platter. All of the food was very good and perfectly prepared. Yes, the food was good, but looking at the Edison's menu it is easy to discern that this place is all about the the tasty booze!

The Edison has over 50 types of gin. Are you kidding? Right on! First, I had an awesome specialty drink prepared with gin called Southside Fizz. I don't remember the order of the next five, but I know there were some Manhattans and Old Fashions in there somewhere. Super classic mixology at it's finest! Since I had never tried Absinthe, and they had several choices, I ended with it. I woke up naked in an alley near Silver Lake. I'm kidding, everything was fine.

To summarize, the Edison is a must visit in L.A. (rumor is that they are planing one in NYC). The atmosphere, food, drinks and attention to detail are brought together in a manner rarely seen. I would like to thank manager John Bakalar for being attentive, classy and genuinely interested in our experience and the circumstances that brought us there. Also I can't say enough about Dan Cox. Thank you Dan for the unforgettable evening, you truly did make sure we had a great time!

If you don't know, well, you don't know.

I'm talking about the greatest sandwich on earth.... the Italian Beef sandwich. Born in Chicago, this big feller doesn't taste the same if prepared outside of the Windy City. I've tried dozens around Kansas City and other cities, none compare. There is always something not right about it. It's a simple sandwich but, it seems, nearly impossible to replicate outside Chicago. Bread, beef, giardineria and au jus. Sounds simple right? Call me in 1000 years when you've perfected it. Until then guess I'll go to Chicago or Venice Beach!! My favorite place to get one is Max's on Western.

That's right, Chicago's own "Mr. Beef" has setup shop on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Read all about it here.  I'll try one if I find myself around Venice Beach while I'm in L.A. next week.

Here are some awesome pictures of the best sandwich on earth! 

If you don't know, well, you don't know.

Philly Anyone?

Occasionally I have a true "hankering" for a good Philly Steak Sandwich. This "hankering" usually coincides with me watching "Rocky" or an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". Recently, my Philly obsession was spurred by watching the Cardinals match up against the Phillies this week. Ummmm! Phillies.

Just one problem for a KC dweller... where to go for a good, juicy Philly at a reasonable price? I stumbled upon PhillyTime in the Briarcliff Village area of North KC and this fast food-esque joint provided my Philly fix. (Site wasn't working but it is supposed to be phillytimekc.com).

Relatively economical with most Philly's coming in at $6.99, this place provides some good grub. As you stare out the window at the newly constructed "stores for the elite" in Briarcliff you won't exactly be transported to the take out line at "Geno's" (or "Pat's" if you like that joint better), but you will get a good, juicy, cheese dripping, mushroom stacked Philly.

Michelin Guide coming to Chicago

Here's the scoop.

I predict that Max's Italian Beef on the North side will receive the prestigious 3 stars.

"Everything's dying"

This will not get any better for a long, long time.

Gulf coast fisherman hauling in dead oysters... surprise!