Kansas City magazine April 2023

Top Cop KC’s first female police chief ushers in a new era Gravy Train Roundup of KC’s best biscuits and gravy

AMAZING SPACES

12 inspiring digs show how homeowners, designers and builders turn houses into dream homes

Leaders in Lung

Cancer Care

As a member of the MD Anderson Cancer Network®, a program of MD Anderson Cancer Center, AdventHealth brings together clinical excellence and wholeperson cancer care close to home. Our network of specialists provides access to some of the latest treatments for common and rare cancers. With leadingedge technology in our hands and compassion in our hearts, we’re moving cancer care forward in Kansas City.

OUR MISSION

We love Kansas City like family. We know what makes it great, we know how it struggles, and we know its secrets. Through great storytelling, photography and design, we help our readers celebrate our city’s triumphs, tend to its faults and revel in the things that make it unique.

PUBLISHER Kathy Boos k athy@ kansascitymag.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Martin Cizmar martin@ kansascitymag.com

ART DIRECTOR Kevin Goodbar kevin@ kansascitymag.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, STYLE & EVENTS

Molly Higgins m olly@ kansascitymag.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Dawnya Bartsch dawnya@ kansascitymag.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, FOOD

Tyler Shane tyler@ kansascitymag.com

EDITORIAL INTERN

Reece Parker

COPY EDITOR

Kelsie Schrader

WEB COORDINATOR

Madison Russell

SALES

Angie Henshaw angie@kansascitymag.com

WRITERS

Dawnya Bartsch, Nina Cherry, Jill Draper, Molly Higgins, Reece Parker, Tyler Shane

PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Matthew Anderson, Zach Bauman, Christian Blaza, Caleb Condit, Barrett Emke, Britt Fowler, Mark Fredrickson, Joanna Gorham, Josie Henderson, Jeremey Theron Kirby, Samantha Levi, Rebecca Norden, Kelly Powell, Brandon Waldrop

SUBSCRIPTIONS

kansascitymag.com/subscribe or call 913-469-6700

Kansas City magazine is published monthly by 435 South, LLC. No part of this publication can be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s permission. Kansas City magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Kansas City magazine adheres to American Society of Magazine Editors guidelines, which requires a clear distinction between editorial content and paid advertising or marketing messages.

kansascitymag.com

INQUIRIES

Kansas City P.O. Box 26823

Overland Park, KS 66225-6823

(913) 469-6700

@kansascitymag

@kansascitymagazine

Keeping kids as healthy as possible is about more than ER visits and diagnosing rare diseases. We want to be there for your parenting questions, from the breakfast table to your biggest fears. Because when we partner together, we can clear new paths for every child’s potential. Learn more at childrensmercy.org/imagine.

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Design Inspiration

A look at some of the most interesting spaces around Kansas City.

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Historic Transformation

A local theater is at the heart of Pleasant Hill’s revitalization.

GRAVY TRAIN

KC’s biscuit and gravy scene is hot.

In This Issue

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Going Native

More and more homeowners are looking to replace grass with native plants.

‘70s Statement

Burnt orange and avocado green are becoming the colors of choice.

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New Kid in Town

Sushi and barbecue? Yes, please.

Meet Stacey Graves

There’s a new sheriff in town.

Parkville Brew Fest

The area’s longest running microbrew festival showcases the best of homebrewers this year.

Midtown Moves

Housing activists voice concern over luxury developments.

Clean and Chic

Brides-to-be are opting for modern twists on tradition. Passion

We talked to master glassblower Tyler Kimball.

Hot Spot

Tease your palete with traditional Korean food.

Drink

A novel new hop makes its way to a brewery in Brookside.

Perfect Day

Chef Aqui Greadington is on a mission to heal.

‘Cue Card

A live-fire pit restaurant finds a new permanent home.

Newsfeed

The latest in KC food news

Brews and Tunes

The new Vine Street Brewing Co. plans to add music to the mix.

ON THE COVER

Photography by Matthew Anderson

ll I really wanted to do in Kansas City media was write about barbecue.

When I moved here in 2018, I was working remotely for a national political site. But I’ve always used journalism to connect to my local community and saw a yawning vacuum in coverage of a BBQ scene that was just then beginning to evolve from stacks of Jacks and “fall off the bone” ribs to what we have today. I emailed editors of a few local publications to pitch in-depth barbecue writing. Not even a nibble.

So, a couple of months later, I came across the editor-in-chief job at a lifestyle pub called 435 Magazine. I learned there was a plan to take things in a new direction and eagerly jumped aboard. We added topical news coverage and some serious long-form work. We took what was good and made it even better, culminating in a full rebrand. We dealt with all manner of calamity and even produced two issues while being laid off in the early days of Covid.

A stable of like-minded people gravitated to the new  Kansas City magazine, often saying something along the lines of “Wow, I’ve been waiting for a publication like this in KC.” And, of course, I started covering barbecue in every single issue. That’s what they call playing the long game.

Having seen this plan through—I’ve accepted a new position with an international publisher known for its obsession with excellence in journalism— it’s now time for me to leave this amazing city magazine to a group of people that will make it even better.

The only reason that I’ve been able to do anything I did here is because of the support of publisher and owner Kathy Boos, who has always given the creative team freedom on the page and been far more generous in her commitment to quality than circumstances should have allowed.

People often think that this work is about talent. “Talented” is a word I barely take as a compliment. There are thousands of guys with as much “talent” as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan who you’ve never heard of. This magazine absolutely could not exist in the form it does with divas, clock punchers, penny grubbers and the like. From what I’ve seen, there’s just no place for that anywhere in local media these days. But, to whatever extent there is, it ain’t in KC. If you’re doing this for money or ego, it’s better if you just…don’t.

It’s been an honor to help tell the stories of this city in these pages. I want to use the last of my space to shout out the contributors and team members who went above and beyond to an absurd degree at one point—or many points— during my tenure. These are the people I’d hand a Purple Heart in publishing. In chronological order: Leslie, Kathy, Katie, Julie, Kelsie, Nicole, Zach, Nate, Kim, Kayla, Jeremey, Rebecca, Caleb, Shawn, Danielle, Alex and Molly.

Reece Parker EDITORIAL INTERN

Reece Parker, an editorial intern who is a student at UMKC, takes readers out to the Peoples Theatre in the quaint town of Pleasant Hill.

Martin Cizmar EDITOR IN CHIEF

People have occasionally asked me how we’ve been able to do some of the things we do. I tell them the truth, which is that both Kathy and I prize scrappiness. You treat everybody the same, you never ask anybody to do anything you wouldn’t do, and you do the best you have with what you have in the time you have.

My time here is over with this issue. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege.

Jill Draper CONTRIBUTOR

Contributor Jill Draper wrote the opener to this month’s Loop section, which is about the effort to reclaim lawns around KC using native plants.

Barrett Emke PHOTOGRAPHER

This month’s profile on Kansas City’s first female police chief was photographed by Barrett Emke, a local photographer whose work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bon Appétit.

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The most talked about story from our March issue was a piece in the loop section looking at the future of Snow Creek ski area in Weston. The pandemic, a series of warm, short winters, and the sale of the hill to Colorado megaresorter Vail have all led to tough questions about the future of Snow Creek. Here’s what readers had to say about the future prospects of the hill.

Entire towns in the Alps are dismantling their lifts because there just isn’t enough snow anymore to justify making fake lousy mushy snow for skiing. This is the world we live in.

—Dan Renzi

It’s been a disappointing season for sure! I would be beside myself if I had purchased a season pass. We bought a two day Local restricted pass and tried to get Snow Creek to make an exception on Presidents Day weekend since there has been so few opportunities to ski due to the warm weather/lack of open runs. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t allow us to use it and not sure we will be able to use them at all before they close.

—mishandbrian on Instagram

we get a decent snow in the area so you can maybe get a few days in at Snow Creek. That way you aren’t putting all your bets on this tiny hill that should be looked at as a bonus perk for locals.

—Honest-Guarantee-444 on Reddit

I can’t imagine buying a season pass for Snow Creek without plans to use it at least a few times a year in Colorado, knowing that winters in Kansas City are getting progressively warmer, and knowing that they don’t issue refunds for weather-related closures. If that possibility doesn’t sit well with local folks that like to ski and snowboard, maybe don’t spend money on a season pass.

—EMPulseKC on Reddit

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If you’re silly enough to buy a $613 season pass to a threehundred-foot hill in Missouri with high expectations, that’s kinda on you. I ski regularly and have had both Epic and Ikon passes, especially pre-Covid. The smart thing to do would have been to purchase an Epic pass & use it in Colorado for at least 3-5 days. Then hope that

Snow Creek will survive, but when the weather was less manic in behavior, a season pass made sense. These last few years have been brutal and not quite cold enough for a standing period to keep their slopes open like they used to be able to.

—Responsible-Ad-7146 on Reddit

Thanks to Brian and Mary Rooney, the owners of BKS Artisan Ales, whose beer is reviewed on page 88, for always being loyal friends of the magazine—and for their old coffee grinder.

Photographer Caleb Condit making things just right in an effort to capture the golden hues in a glass of pale ale.

Millions of acres of lawn that American homeowners maintain. Some in Missouri are ripping out their grass to install native plants.

The number of Christmas ornaments made by glass artist Tyler Kimball while he worked in a factory to learn his craft.

Number of feet the spire of the Independence Temple rises in the air.

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“There are so many cool things you could do with capes. It gives you that glamorous feel but without that necessarily traditional look.”

—Bridal stylist Sydney White

BLUE VALLEY At Loch Lloyd

Coming Fall 2023

Blue Valley at Loch Lloyd offers a new ownership experience in the area’s most sought-after community. 23 acreage lots comprise this new neighborhood located exclusively in Johnson County, Kansas.

THE PLAINS TRUTH

Inside the movement that wants to remake KC’s outdoor spaces with native plants

BY JILL DRAPER

ON ONE MAP of national parkland, Missouri ranks near the top of the fifty states. That’s not thanks to the Gateway Arch Park, which is the smallest national park in the country and the only one in either Kansas or Missouri.

It’s thanks to an unofficial park called Homegrown National Park. That ranking comes from local property owners registering their fields, yards and other spaces on a website promoting the idea that half of our lawns should be replaced with native plants and trees to restore habitat for birds, bees and other small wildlife.

Homegrown National Park is a (pardon the pun) grassroots call to action—the largest cooperative conservation project ever attempted. There are other movements advocating ecological corridors, but author and entomologist Doug Tallamy came up with the catchy Homegrown name when he realized that reducing our nation’s forty million acres of lawn by half would create more acres of conservation than most national parks combined.

Kenn Boyle’s yard across from the tennis courts at Loose Park in KCMO is on the Homegrown map. Last year, he registered 4,700 square feet of native grasses, flowering perennials and shrubs in his front and side yards. Next up, he’ll replant much of his backyard.

After renovating his 1950s home several years ago, Boyle turned his attention to the landscape. He focused on plants that grow wild in Missouri after attending a talk by Deep Roots KC, a network of partners that promote native landscapes in the area.

“It was a slippery slope from there,” he says. Neighborhood feedback was positive, but his own feelings were the most surprising. “It was an almost visceral emotional and physical reaction. I hadn’t anticipated that.”

He reacted not just to the flora but to the fauna the plants attract— goldfinches, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, dragonflies and five kinds of bees. The change was so impressive that he set up a camera to take photos every ten minutes during daylight hours. He’s thinking of merging the images into an educational video.

“It never occurred to me that my old yard didn’t have biodiversity or nutritional value,” he says, “and the savings on water alone is significant.”

Boyle initially worked with a consultant to install some forty native species in a semi-formal design, including classic flowers like coneflower, coreopsis and penstemon, grasses like prairie dropseed and sedges, and bushes like witch hazel. But other native enthusiasts simply

replace areas of turf lawn with buffalo grass or allow autumn leaves to remain in beds beneath trees like oaks, willows and wild plums to provide beneficial bugs, especially caterpillars, a soft landing during their life cycle.

It all counts and every bit helps, says Stacia Stelk, director of Deep Roots. Switching out a traditional landscape can be overwhelming, however, and her organization is launching a new program this spring called Nature Advisors, through which  volunteers meet one-on-one with homeowners and recommend a native landscape plan, resources and installers, if desired.

The KC Parks department is joining the movement after the City Auditor’s Office recommended more sustainable practices. Deep Roots helped advise them on how to begin planting more than two hundred acres of city property with natives.

Stelk credits three things with putting Missouri relatively high on the Homegrown National Park map. First, the Missouri Department of Conservation established its Grow Native! program (now outsourced to Missouri Prairie Foundation) long before many other states. Second, Missouri Wildflowers Nursery in Jefferson City pioneered retail sales of natives. And third, the state sits smack dab in the middle of the monarch migration route from Mexico to Minnesota, generating extra interest in pollinators.

Not long ago, Missouri’s conservation agency asked residents where they spent the most time experiencing nature. The answer? In their own yards. So it makes sense to create a landscape that supports the natural world, Stelk says.

“There’s something about establishing a sense of place, our cultural history of being in the Great Plains,” she observes. “Our state has really leaned in. And we can do more.”

Local homeowners are increasingly turning to landscape projects that use native plants.

“It never occurred to me that my old yard didn’t have biodiversity or nutritional value, and the savings on water alone is significant.”

NEW TOP COP

A KCK native is KC’s first female police chief.

BY DAWNYA BARTSCH

FROM RECORDS CLERK to police chief, it’s been a twenty-five-year journey for the Kansas City Police Department’s first female leader.

Department veteran Stacey Graves began her police career with the department in 1997 as a civilian, filing papers. Eventually she went to the police academy, and about four months ago, she became the city’s top cop and the first woman to hold the position in the department’s almost one-hundred-and-fifty-year history.

Graves, who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, says being the first woman to helm the department is “awesome because I have women of all ages, races, backgrounds come to me and say they support me, and I think that’s great. But I also don’t want my gender to take away from my qualifications. I’m qualified. I’ve got the experience and the tenure, and I’m the right person at the right time.”

Tasked with finding a new police chief after embattled former police chief Rick Smith retired, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners conducted a nationwide search but ultimately settled on homegrown Graves. At the time, Graves was serving as interim deputy chief of police for the department.

She has performed many roles during her tenure, serving stints as a patrol officer, detective, captain and supervisor in internal affairs and media relations.

“She’s somebody who’s going to do the work to make sure that past any personalities and any politics, we’re trying to get things done,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told local news channel Fox4.

Graves was sworn in the same day she learned she had been selected. “We’ve just hit the ground running,” she says. “There is a lot to do. We’ve had some celebrations and we’ve had some sorrows. It’s been a lot condensed into the time I’ve been here so far.”

Graves has taken over the department during a difficult time. KCPD is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division for its hiring practices. The department is also navigating fraying relationships with the city’s power players and the communities it serves, as well as trying to heal after a long-time police officer and canine officer were killed in a car crash while on duty.

“I think we can all agree that policing has changed so much probably within the past five to ten years—I think mostly for the good,” Graves says. “I think it’s an evolving profession.”

Graves says her top priority, coming into this position, was to work on the department’s relationships. “If you don’t have good relationships with people, you just can’t be successful,” she says.“Making sure we have those relationships with our neighborhoods, our communities, but also with our local leaders—we need to have a good relationship with City Hall, we need to have a good relationship with our prosecutors.”

Graves says she wants a progressive police department that is able to problem solve by listening and thinking in new ways.

“When I say a progressive police department, I mean forward thinking, innovative, mindful,” Graves said. “Policing is changing, and it’s changing so quickly. We need to progress along with those changes.”

“

“I think we can all agree that policing has changed so much probably within the past five to ten years—I think mostly for the good.”

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MIDTOWN TURF WARS

Affordable housing activists are pushing back on luxury developments.

BY REECE PARKER

KANSAS CITY AREA Transportation Authority meetings are usually small, sedate affairs, but that wasn’t the case at a February meeting, when a group of Midtown residents, labor unionists and tenants rights activists showed up and successfully blocked a developer from receiving tax incentives for the second time.

Forming a united front and armed with signs and T-shirts, the group demonstrated its opposition to developer Mac Properties’ request for a fifteen-year tax abatement of seventy-five percent for a project at Main and Armour. This wasn’t the first time this group of activists has battled the developer of luxury apartment complexes over tax incentives.

In the fall of 2022, Mac was looking to receive tax breaks from the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority, which is an incentive agency through the Kansas City Economic Development Corporation.

To receive those subsidies, Mac was required to follow the city’s set-aside ordinances, which required developers to set aside twenty percent of their housing units as affordable for people who are earning sixty percent of the median family income. The remaining units can be sold at market rate.

However, Gabe Coppage, a leading activist with the local tenants union, says, “our city’s definition of ‘affordability’ allows for a $1,200 one-bedroom apartment to be affordable.”

Mac’s proposal sparked a lot of energy from local Midtown homeowners and tenants. Midtown Tenant Union, a neighborhood chapter of emerging political powerhouse KC Tenants, was formed to take on a campaign against Mac’s proposal in 2022.

The group says it first approached Peter Cassel, the company’s community liaison, presenting a list of demands for more truly affordable units and asking the company not request a tax abatement through the city. However, Coppage says that the group did not receive an offer to negotiate.

Mac Properties develops luxury apartment complexes in Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. To activists, though, they are the leading gentrifier in Midtown and seen

as responsible for displacing hundreds of Kansas City residents since their first development in 2007.

Mac already has a large presence on Armour Boulevard. “Since they have come here, in a span of ten years, the Black population has decreased by twenty-one percent, and it’s not a coincidence,” Coppage says.

After speaking with Cassel, the MTU felt determined to protect the $10.5 million Mac properties sought to use from an expiring Midtown tax increment financing fund. Believing there was a better use for the money, the MTU proposed redirecting the money into the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which promotes and builds long-term affordable housing.

The City Council ultimately denied Mac Properties’ proposal, citing Mac’s historical displacement of Midtown

residents. This decision marked a big win for the tenants union. However, the victory was short-lived.

Now, the MTU is facing off with Mac Properties again to protect the Main and Armour corner. Mac Properties revived their Main and Armour proposal with fewer units—all at market price—and sought a fifteen-year tax abatement of seventy-five percent from RideKC, even though City Council already denied Mac’s request. RideKC is an incentive company that endorses and aids transit-oriented developments. “The southwest corner of Armour and Main is one of the best sites in Midtown,” Cassel says, due to the walkability of the location and Streetcar access.

Now, with the development of a new Royals stadium and freeway, the question remains how KC Tenants and the MTU will continue to preserve their neighborhoods as developers set their sights on Kansas City.

Coppage makes it clear that the tenant union is not anti-development. “We’re anti-getting-priced-out-ofour-neighborhood,” he says.

According to Coppage, there is no lack of luxury housing in Kansas City. There is only a lack of truly affordable housing. He believes developers catering to that need should be the ones receiving public incentives. The fight between MTU and Mac Properties is only one battle in a much larger turf war between big developments and anti-gentrification groups.

The MTU wants to expose the many avenues and loopholes that developers use to get financing from the city, Coppage says. KCATA has not addressed these loopholes, and housing activists are questioning the group’s role in granting incentives to companies already denied by the city.

The MTU believes neighborhood constituents should have a say in how their taxes are spent in order to protect their neighborhoods.

Face

Raffle Prizes, Specials, Appetizers & Drinks

A BREW WITH A VIEW

If you’ve ever seen Fourth of July fireworks over the Missouri River in Parkville, you have the people swilling beer in April at the Parkville Microbrew Festival to thank. English Landing Park on the banks of the Big Muddy is home to both events, which are produced by the nonprofit Main Street Parkville Association. The fireworks are free, but the tasting glass will cost you about $50—which funds the fireworks. Parkville Microbrew Festival is the oldest and most beloved beer festival in the area, having been founded in 2004, when Fat Tire was an upand-comer, and having established itself as the social event of the year in the local beer scene. This year’s fest has new blood (Broken Hatchet, Outfield, Range 23 and Surly, among others). There will probably be rain—because there almost always is. Also per usual, the festival has a row of taps pouring homebrew, a key part of what makes the event so unique. The best homebrewers tend to be even more adventurous than cutting-edge commercial brewers, and you can get a sip of the future if you find your way to the right line. “Having homebrewers adds such a fun element to this festival,” says Kelly Putnam, who heads the Main Street Parkville Association. “Throughout the years, we’ve had folks pour as part of the homebrew clubs, then eventually pour at the event with their own professional brewery. We love seeing and supporting that evolution.”

– MARTIN CIZMAR

GO: Parkville Microbrew Festival, Saturday, April 22. English Landing Park. $45 in advance, $55 day of.

Black Hoof Disc Golf

April 1. 9:30 am.

Two brand new disc golf courses will be opening at Lenexa’s Black Hoof Park. The new courses will have a championship-level eighteen-hole timber course and a family-friendly nine-hole course to provide fun for people of all ages. On the grand opening day, there will be all-day events such as clinics (including one for beginners) and a tournament. April 1. 9:30 am. Black Hoof Park.

Harlem Globetrotters

April 1. 2 & 7 pm.

As the hundredth anniversary of the team approaches, the Harlem Globetrotters are making a stop in KC, showing off their athleticism and tricks against the Washington Generals. Although mainly seen as entertainers, they have truly changed the way basketball is played. Moves such as the jump shot, slam dunk and half-court hook shot are a direct reflection of the creative moves made famous by the Harlem Globetrotters. April 1. 2 & 7 pm. T-Mobile Center.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

April 1. 3 pm.

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays from a wide catalog of music, from jazz to opera, and has also worked on film scores like The French Dispatch and Atonement, the latter of which won him an Oscar for his original score. His program in KC will include the complete Debussy Préludes. April 1. 3 pm. Folly Theater.

Masters of Percussion

April 1. 8 pm.

World-famous Indian classical instrumentalists Zakir Hussain, Kala Ramnath and Jayanthi Kumaresh come together for the first time as a trio, seamlessly fusing North and South Indian music traditions as a way for the traditional instrument veena and the violin to meld. They have named this tour “Triveni” in honor of the mythical site where three sacred rivers in India meet, representing the convergence of their varied musical talents. April 1. 8 pm. Yardley Hall.

John Mellencamp

April 4. 8 pm.

Indiana native John Mellencamp’s musical career in music has spanned more than three decades. He’s transitioned from pop idol to heartland rock songwriter while dating a slew of famous women throughout the decades. He is perhaps best known for his music from the eighties, with now-dad classics like “Hurts So Good” and “Jack & Diane.” April 4. 8 pm. The Midland Theatre.

Menopause The Musical

April 2. 3:30 pm.

Written in 2001 by Jeanie Linders, Menopause The Musical follows four middle-aged women who all happen to be shopping for lingerie at the same Bloomingdale’s sale rack. Each one’s symptom of menopause is told through lyrics parodying popular music from the Baby Boomer era through the sixties, seventies and eighties.  April 2. 3:30 pm. Kauffman Theatre.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

April 5. 8 pm.

New Zealand psychedelic rock band

Unknown Mortal Orchestra is best known for their hit song “So Good at Being in Trouble,” which exemplifies their beach-rock, lo-fi sound that has served other contemporary bands like Tame Impala well. April 5. 8 pm. Uptown Theater.

Noel Miller

April 6. 8 pm.

Noel Miller got an early jump on the becoming-famous-from-the-inter-

net game when he uploaded a viral seconds-long clip on now-defunct site Vine. Miller went on to capitalize on that small amount of fame, gaining popularity from his Youtube show and later, podcast. Now he’s on his “Everything Is F#&ked” comedy tour, a super-positive reflection of the state of the world today. April 6. 8 pm. Uptown Theater.

Floyd Nation

April 7. 7:30 pm.

Showing their reverence for one of the most influential bands in rock and roll history, Floyd Nation takes audiences on a journey through Pink Floyd’s discography, playing favorites from albums including Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. In true Floyd fashion, the show also includes immersive sound, lights and lasers to complete the psychedelic journey to the past. April 7. 7:30 pm. Kauffman Theatre.

Kevin Morby

April 7. 8 pm.

KC native Kevin Morby has been in a few bands over the years, but he’s best known for his work as a solo indie rocker, with a melodic sound that features croony vocals and soft guitar. April 7. 8 pm. recordBar.

Straight Jokes! No Chaser Comedy Tour

April 8. 8 pm.

This twenty-three city arena comedy tour is hosted by comedian and actor Mike Epps and features stand-up legends from Def Comedy Jam and The Original Kings of Comedy, including Cedric The Entertainer and D.L. Hughley, among others. April 8. 8 pm. T-Mobile Center.

The Emo Night Tour

April 8. 8 pm.

Starting nearly a decade ago in an East L.A. bar,  Emo Night quickly became wildly popular with aging millennials. The now-national tour plays hits from early 2000’s pop-punk bands like Good Charlotte and My Chemical Romance for now-thirty-year-olds who got bullied in middle school and made it their entire personality. April 8. 8 pm. The Truman.

The Mountain Goats

April 9. 8 pm.

Despite their name, The Mountain Goats was a one-man band, formed by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, for the early years of its career. When other members joined in the early aughts, the band reached their pinnacle of success, relying on the croony vocals and folksy guitar that made them popular in the underground indie rock scene. April 9. 8 pm. Liberty Hall.

Life on the Vertical

April 11. 7:30 pm.

National Geographic Live presents

Life on the Vertical, with a special engagement from climber Mark Synnott. After traversing peaks from Baffin Island to Pakistan, Synnott has used his skills to reach previously inaccessible environments and discover new species. Now he’s presenting his findings on the remote beauty, followed by a question and answer session. April 11. 7:30 pm. Kauffman Theatre.

Sullivan King

April 11. 8 pm.

Los Angeles DJ, vocalist and guitarist Sullivan King has risen to fame over the last few years through his surprising blend of

EDM and heavy metal, taking his guitar-centered dubstep and rock beats to some of the biggest festivals around the world. April 11. 8 pm. The Truman.

Lil Duval

April 14–16.

Stand up comedian and actor Lil Duval isn’t a household name yet, but he is recognizable, especially among millennials, after successful runs on MTV shows like Guy Code and Hip Hop Squares. After a slew of cameos on Mike Epps’ comedy films, Lil Duval is back on tour, bringing his classic comedy/ parody songs. April 14–16. Times vary. Improv Comedy Club.

George Hinchliffe’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

April 15. 8 pm.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has become somewhat of a worldwide phenomenon since they began over thirty-five years ago. When they began, the general public opinion was that an orchestra consisting entirely of various ukuleles was a strange concept. But performers had grown tired of the same conventions and instead formed the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, which combined elements of old-fashioned sound with a new performance style. April 15. 8 pm. Yardley Hall.

Dawes

April 16. 8 pm.

L.A.-based folk rock band Dawes has been on the scene for about

a decade. They’ve followed suit with other folksy radio-hit makers of the same time, like Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers, focusing on melodic vocals and soft guitar riffs. April 16. 8 pm. Liberty Hall.

Annie

April 18–23.

PNC Broadway in Kansas City presents one of the most popular musicals of all time, Annie, at Kauffman Theatre. Originally written by playwright Thomas Meehan and composed by Charles Strouse, with lyrics by Martin Charnin, this production returns anew, now directed by Jenn Thompson. The musical still keeps its timeless celebration of chosen family and enduring optimism. April 18–23. Times vary. Kauffman Theatre.

Holst, Haydn, and Hindemith

April 21–23.

Conductor Michael Stern and chorus director Charles Bruffy lead the Kansas City symphony chorus to Holst’s Walt Whitman Overture, Haydn’s Symphony No. 96, “The Miracle,” and Hindemith’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. The first and last performances are based around poet Walt Whitman while the second is named after Haydn’s 1795 boisterous performance in which a chandelier fell from the ceiling, luckily injuring no one. April 21–23. Times vary. Helzberg Hall.

Black Flag

April 27. 7 pm. Probably one of the most iconic

punk bands of all time, Black Flag rose to fame in the early eighties with their no-nonsense attitude and anarchist mentality. As one of the pioneers of post-hardcore, the short-lived band went on to influence generations of rock rebels after them. Although frontman Henry Rollins and the rest of the band disbanded in the mid-eighties, founder Greg Ginn is touring under the band’s name, performing the album My War as well as their greatest hits. April 27. 7 pm. recordBar.

Blippi

April 29. 2 pm.

Blippi, the way-too-caffeinated adult man who has captured the attention of bouncy tots everywhere, is coming to KC, bringing his chaotic energy with a “musical party.” The event features monster trucks and excavators, along with song, dance and the opportunity for your child’s very own picture with Blippi—for an extra price, of course. April 29. 2 pm. Cable Dahmer Arena.

The Root

April 29. 8 pm.

KC Jazz Orchestra presents The Root, a celebration of the root of jazz in another great Black art form: the blues. Honoring various Kansas City musicians who have embodied the blues in many forms, such as Charlie Parker and Bobby Watson, this show is a celebration of the deep ties between blues and jazz. April 29. 8 pm. Helzberg Hall.

Mandabi

April 19 & 22

Director Ousmane Sembène’s 1968 Mandabi was the first ever film made in the Wolof language, marking an important first step toward the director’s dream of making films for, and by, Africans. Heavily censored at its release, the film is an ironic—and brutal—takedown of colonialism. April 19, 7 pm; April 22, 2 pm. Stray Cat Film Center.

COUNTRY GEM

TUCKED BETWEEN LEE’S SUMMIT and Harrisonville on Highway 7 lies the charming town of Pleasant Hill.

On a recent Saturday night, the foyer of the Peoples Theater filled with the smell of popcorn as people shuffled through the front doors with buzzing excitement. The floors of the century-old building creaked as crowds poured into the lofty auditorium, filling the theater seats row after row, waiting for the velvet curtains to draw.

Over the past five years there’s been a transformation of Pleasant Hill’s historic downtown. Today, it might remind you more of Weston than Belton. Jennifer Rugh, a real estate investor who came to Missouri from California, is currently in the process of making Pleasant Hill her permanent home after being drawn to

the community’s quaint charms. She recently took on the project of renovating the Peoples Theater, a staple of the community since its construction in 1909.

Her goal is to restore the building’s history and make it a hub of the town, a place for everyone to gather. Rugh purchased the theater earlier this year from Dennis Dittemore and his family, who have cared for the town landmark since 1982.

Dittemore is still around, hosting The Big Creek Country Show. It is a weekly musical production that has been performing every Saturday night for over forty years. His show attracts over a hundred people each week and features different musical guests. “Really it’s like a big family down here,” Dittemore says, expressing admiration for his patrons. Rugh hopes to expand that family by adding movie screenings and more live shows on Friday nights. One of the anticipated musical guests will be Hunter Mounce, returning from Nashville to sing for his hometown.

But the Peoples Theater is only part of the package. The downtown area has procured an eclectic array of local businesses taking over the town’s old brick buildings, giving the rustic square a new life. “There is a lot of creativity here,” Rugh says.

The New Town Auction House’s unique collection of antiques attracts people from all over the Midwest. People file into the auction house with bid cards in hand, standing shoulder to shoulder, ready for the chance to bid on everything from vintage seventies dresses to a novelty Hush Puppy lamp. Across the street, the American Dwelling boutique specializes in beautiful hand-crafted items and has a style that Rugh compares to the iconic apothecary shop featured in the show Schitt’s Creek. The Wyoming Street Wine Shop is a community favorite known for their paninis and “Wine Snob Wednesdays” wine tasting nights. They also host poker and bingo tournaments and the occasional murder mystery night.

Pleasant Hill is also home to the oldest pool hall in the United States—The Pleasant Hill Pool Hall, which opened in 1907, has been a gathering place for the community for over a hundred years. Inside, not much has changed. The establishment retains many of its original features, from the barbacks and pool cue racks to the wood floors and intricate gold-tile ceilings. It is rumored that the tables inside have “floated three times.”

Beyond its business atmosphere, Pleasant Hill has a large off-road vehicle community. They host events and holiday celebrations where people elaborately decorate their utility task vehicles and parade through the town. They are extravagant events that are uniquely Pleasant Hill.

Like Rugh, many of the town’s residents aren’t originally from Pleasant Hill, but the community has an inherent magnetism that draws people in. Rugh says the people there have a “loyalty to Pleasant Hill” and “it feels like people are looking out for you.” There is an admirable connectivity within the community. Pleasant Hill is welcoming, and the people there are excited to openly share the treasures of their town with outsiders.

The Peoples Theater is the center of a bold revitalization of the quaint town of Pleasant Hill.

BY REECE PARKER

SUDS SHED

KEMET COLEMAN HAS envisioned opening a brewery since 2015.

“I tried to go down the path a few different times with a few different people,” says Coleman, a local emcee and entrepreneur. But those plans never came to fruition. “I just kind of said, ‘forget it, this isn’t going to happen.’”

In November 2020, Coleman decided to call Woodie Bonds Jr. on a whim. Bonds is a brewer and the creator of the craft beer festival Hip Hops Hooray. The pair had known each other since 2013, when they both worked at Boulevard Brewing.

The next day, Bonds called Coleman. Coleman was in with one condition: brewer Elliott Ivory had to be included, too. “We haven’t looked back,” Coleman says.

Now, Coleman, Bonds and Ivory are the founders of Vine Street Brewing Co., Missouri’s first Blackowned brewery. But from the day it opens, Vine Street, located in the historic Jazz District, will be about more than beer. “Music is embedded into the DNA of the brand,” Coleman says. “We want to be a platform for artists to showcase their creativity and original music.”

From modern jazz to hip hop, Vine Street Brewing plans to host live music twice a week initially—a combination of quarterly residencies and rotating

artists—expanding onto the beer garden as the weather gets warmer. Artists will include top names in the KC scene: Eddie Moore, Kadesh Flow, Amber Underwood Flutienastiness, Julia Haile, DJ Skeme and Coleman’s own band, The Phantastics. “We want to show how dynamic and broad jazz––the music that calls this neighborhood home––can be,” Coleman says.

In addition to live music, the taproom will feature artwork from Warren Harvey and Jessie Green, along with brewery tours led by Coleman that highlight the Jazz District’s history and legacy.

Vine Street Brewing is located in the south building of 2000 Vine, KC’s first public works building that was abandoned for decades. It’s part of a larger development that also houses the Warren Harvey Art Gallery and office and venue spaces. The taproom boasts two bars on each level, with large windows facing out onto the beer garden and the original stonework on full display.

Although Vine Street Brewing opened its doors last month, the brewery will have a grand opening celebration later this month. Their signature beer, the Jazz Man black lager, can already be found in several restaurants and self-pour stations at the new KCI terminal.

“When I think about what Vine Street Brewing means to the Jazz District, I think about opportunity,” Coleman says. “We have an awesome opportunity to leverage all of the amazing talent we have in Kansas City.”

GO: Vine Street Brewing Co. grand opens this month at 2000 Vine St., KCMO. Watch the brewery’s social media accounts for the official opening date.

New brewery Vine Street Brewing Co. brings a dynamic music program to the Jazz District.

BY NINA CHERRY

“

“Music is embedded into the DNA of the brand. We want to be a platform for artists to showcase their creativity and original music.”

LEFT TO RIGHT: Kemet Coleman, Woodie Bonds Jr., and Elliott Ivory

Hit The Trail

We know the best places to experience the great outdoors! Whether it’s hiking, biking, paddling, horseback riding or gearing up for your next adventure at The Grandaddy of All Outdoor Stores: Bass Pro Shops® Outdoor World®, we love our city and know the best places to eat, drink and play.

SEE YOU IN SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI

SENIOR CARE AUTHORITY

At Senior Care Authority, our goal is to help you find the safest, most affordable senior housing and care resources based on your criteria. We will define a customized search for you and help you through every step in the process. Contact

EVA GAVIN Platte, Clay, Wyandotte, and Leavenworth Counties, and the City of Shawnee 913-706-7286 eva@SeniorCareAuthority.com SeniorLivingKansasCity.com

DON & ELAINE MINTER Johnson County Kansas 913-488-8609 don@SeniorCareAuthority.com SeniorCare-KansasCity.com

Jackson and Cass Counties 816-533-7800 patrick@SeniorCareAuthority.com SeniorCareAuthority.com/kcmo

SENIOR CARE AUTHORITY of KANSAS CITY

PATRICK & TINA KERSHAW

THAT ‘70S STYLE

Mid-century modern has been in style for several years now, but current interior design trends are moving a little farther down the timeline. The focus is still nostalgic styling with whimsical statement pieces, but today’s trends are moving past the Atomic Age—now, seventies and eighties influences are popping up in home decor, with bold vintage colors like burnt orange and avocado. The style is shifting from the Eames era to texture-driven pieces, like velvet fabrics, bold prints, and surprising shapes, like exaggerated angular furniture or surprising soft curves. The focus is on statement accessories, such as a set of colorful textured chairs or eye-catching light fixtures to add pops of visual interest.

This trend modernizes the style of past decades with more of a grown-up and modern sensibility, as we’ve seen with clogs, fringe pieces and crochet tops coming back in vogue. This familiar vintage style meshes contemporary taste with bold, nostalgic styling to make your space feel unique to you

—MOLLY HIGGINS

Fredrick Ramond Mid-Century Chandelier at Swanky! Interior Design Gallery

CAPES (Left)

For modern brides who may not like the traditional look of veils, capes are a hot trend right now.

“There are so many cool things you could do with capes,” White says. “Some go over your head and some attach to the dress. It gives you that glamorous feel but without that necessarily traditional [veil] look.”

Brides opt for the cape look because it is something unexpected, Smith adds. “It truly gives brides a fun surprise or different look without having to buy a whole other dress.”

CAPES ARE THE NEW VEILS

BY MOLLY HIGGINS

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT nearly forty percent of couples get engaged between November and January. With many brides-to-be beginning their dress shopping for the busy spring and summer wedding season, we sat down with Abby Smith of True Society (locations in the Crossroads and Lenexa) and bridal stylist Sydney White to get their insight on bridal dress trends for this upcoming wedding season.

As we enter wedding season, modern brides are opting for contemporary twists on tried and true bridal looks.

DETACHABLE ACCESSORIES (Above)

Arguably the most popular trend for the upcoming season is detachable accessories, which allow the bride to have a more modern look and get a better bang for her buck by creating two looks from one dress.

A detachable overskirt can create drama in a dress, which makes it look more like a ball gown for the ceremony, then the overskirt is taken off for the reception, which gives the dress a sleek, sexy look and makes it easier to dance in.

“Detachable accessories I would say is the hottest trend in bridal right now,” White says. “An overskirt can give you a completely different look. Having a fitted gown with a larger overskirt gives you two looks in one. Also, detachable sleeves or gloves can add more looks to your dress throughout the night.”

This season, detachable voluminous sleeves are one of the most popular ways to change from a more glamorous ceremony look to a more relaxed feel for the reception. “A detachable voluminous sleeve is great, so if your venue is indoors and then a party after outside, or vice versa, you could leave on or remove them for two beautiful looks,” Smith says.

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S VEIL (Left)

Accessories that can be added or removed to create different looks are a popular option for brides who don’t want the traditional veil.

Many brides adjust their headpiece depending on the location and vibe of the wedding, opting for a shorter fingertip veil or headpiece like a floral wreath at a beach or destination wedding.

A recent trend this season has been bold veils that fuse tradition with a splash of color to stand out. “Beautiful veils with floral embroidery or a floral wreath that comes in a couple different colors [is popular], so we’re seeing brides wanting to incorporate some color into their accessories, in the veil particularly,” Smith says.

CLEAN AND CHIC (Above)

Minimalist looks are trending right now, especially for summer brides braving the lower Midwest’s humidity—though White says  “clean and chic is one of those looks that I think can translate really to any time of year.”

Clean and chic is popular because of its elegant simplicity that can be changed, depending on the bride’s taste, with detachable accessories. “They could add some off-the-shoulder straps or a dainty little belt,” White says.

Many brides who like the minimalist clean and chic look can also add a statement piece, like a large removable bow to have two looks in one.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL FLORALS (Left)

The second most popular bridal trend this season are dresses with 3D floral detailing, especially as we move into spring and summer.

“I love dainty and romantic 3D florals,” White says. “I see a lot of brides during the spring and summertime try to incorporate [similarities] from their floral arrangements into the lace pattern or the beading detail on their dress,” White says.

3D florals add a subtle and unexpected flair to the dress. Often brides want to add a bit of sparkle or texture to the florals to create even more visual interest.

GLASS KING

BY MOLLY HIGGINS

KANSAS CITY NATIVE Tyler Kimball has had a passion for glass work since he was a child admiring his parents’ stained glass window. This installation was the first time Kimball thought about the processes by which human hands could make such intricate designs with glass. It began his lifelong passion for glasswork.

Kimball climbed up the ranks, from being a cold worker in a factory to lead glass blower. After traveling around the United States for nearly two decades and working in countless studios, Kimball returned to KC to open Monarch Glass Studio in late 2015. We talked to Kimball about glasswork processes and Monarch Glass Studio.

How did you get started working with glass? After getting my degree in creative writing, I realized I was much more interested in glass than I was in writing, so I moved in hopes to get a job in glass. Actually, I was looking to get a job in creating stained glass. I became a cold worker at a factory and I made over a hundred thousand Christmas ornaments while I was there. A lot of people come up through a school, but I got my knowledge and excitement for glass blowing through working and coming up through the factory. Now, I get to marry the two things that I really love, which is the process of glass blowing and the finished look of stained glass.

Can you tell us more about the founding of Monarch Glass Studio? I moved back to Kansas City from the Northwest in hopes to set up a glass studio here. It’s really expensive in the Northwest, and it’s saturated with glass. I grew up in Kansas City, but there was nowhere I could find the answers to the questions that I had. So I wanted to come back to my hometown and create those answers for people who had a passion for learning about glass.

How did Monarch Glass Studio get its name? I found a great building in the 18th and Vine District that had an old elevator shaft that I could turn into a nice ventilation duct, and it had all cement floors—I mean it was just primed and ready for a glass studio. There’s such a rich history of baseball here in Kansas City, and being four blocks away from where the Kansas City Monarchs used to play, it seemed like a fitting name. I also make rondels for stained glass artists. One of the premier sheet glass makers in the nation nicknamed me the rondel king about about ten years ago. I already had that kind of monarchy feeling behind me. So I was like, we gotta open up Monarch Glass Studio—I’m the king of rondels.

What can people expect to find at Monarch Glass Studio? I am still very involved with education. I have to do what was done for me, which is to hand down any knowledge that I have to the next generation. But the glass blowing is where the drama is at and it’s what people want to see. It’s got the fire and excitement.

I love doing art installations because it’s not just for one person—it creates that location’s personality. But I also like when somebody comes in and they’re looking for something that they can’t find in the gallery and we can talk about making it specific for them. We have some really nice barware and pieces that are always in the gallery for purchase, too. You’re not going to go to Target and find these.

We talked to Tyler Kimball about his lifelong passion for working with glass and Monarch Glass Studio.

KRYSTLE ESPINOZA

Global Real Estate Advisor

BASH & CO. SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY 1900 SHAWNEE MISSION PKWY, SUITE 220 MISSION WOODS, KS 66205 816.377.4600 I KRYSTLE@BASHCOSIR.COM I KRYSTLEESPINOZA.BASHCOSIR.COM

As a top agent in the Greater Kansas City area, Krystle Espinoza is an accomplished real estate professional. She has made her professional home at Bash & Co Sotheby’s International Realty, with an office in the heart of the city . Krystle is an active Kansas City Centurion, sharing her love for the area while taking time to serve the community and continuously learn about what/who is making an impact in KC. Krystle brings a unique perspective, having previously been a loan closer with a local title company, ensuring each process is as seamless as possible while partnering with her clients each step of the way. Her experience and deep commitment she has with her clients shows. Krystle is a licensed REALTOR® in 3 states, serving both sides of the state line as a trusted advisor. As part of a global network of Sotheby’s real estate agents across the world, her access to an unparalleled network has proven helpful when connecting with buyers and sellers moving to and from Kansas City. When buying or selling a home in Kansas City, trust that Krystle’s proactive approach will provide you with the guidance and expertise you need to achieve your goals.

“We cannot give enough stars for Krystle, she was professional, extremely knowledgeable, and has a true passion for her profession. She knows the market and worked fervently on selling our home. We interviewed a few agents, but we knew Krystle was the one for us after meeting with her and we would highly recommend her to any of our friends and family. If you need an agent, call Krystle, you will not be disappointed. We relocate often due to husband’s job and wish we could have her as our agent every time. She definitely had our best interests in mind.” -The

Acords

Where medical spa and relaxation become one. We are committed to natural looking beauty, and the belief that transformative results can be achieved without expensive and painful lasers or surgery!

Photo left: Missouri River Bridge

Photos from top: Katy Trail State Park, Missouri State

Central Dairy Ice Cream Parlor, Missouri State Penitentiary

TOP REAL ESTATE AGENTS 2023

Shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began, housing prices started to creep up as supply dwindled. Three years later, even though most parts of life are back to normal, the pandemic continues to have an effect on the local housing market, though the tide is beginning to turn. The percentage of original price received on homes sold is 97.3 percent, and the average price for a home sold in Kansas City increased to $317,506 in February of 2023, according to Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors. Inventory has improved but continues to drive home values. Homes sold in an average of forty-six days, which more than doubles days on the market for the same period last year.

We are again recognizing the agents who make the market go. This list was made using sales figures provided by the agents or brokers. Topping the list of agents are those high producing teams, listed in order of sales volume.

All other qualified Top Agents are listed in alphabetical order by category brackets. The highestproducing agents and teams are listed first by sales volume category, with a platinum designation for the highest sales volume. Within those categories, they are listed alphabetically by last name.

THE 2022 SALES NUMBER CATEGORIES:

Teams of 10+ - $100 million or more (platinum)

Teams of 10+ - $60 million or more

Teams of 6 to 10 - $36 million or more (platinum)

Teams of 6 to 10 - $24 million or more

Teams of 3 to 5 - $16 million or more (platinum)

Teams of 3 to 5 - $10 million or more

Teams of 2 - $12 million or more (platinum)

Teams of 2 - $6 million or more

Individuals - $20 million or more (platinum)

Individuals - $8 million or more

TEAMS OF 10+

Teams of 10+, Platinum $100 million or more

The Rob Ellerman Team $734,726,468

Koehler Bortnick Team $470,393,072

Malfer & Associates $256,787,126

Jonas Barrish & Betsy O’Brien, The GRID at Compass Realty $113,672,327

Cami Jones Collaborative $105,048,212

Teams of 10+ $60 million or more

Dani Beyer Real Estate

The Butler Group at Keller Williams Partners

The Collective

The Gresham Group

The Ellen Murphy Team

Ripley Associates

TEAMS OF 6 TO 10

Teams of 6 to 10, Platinum $36 million or more

The Austin Home Team

The Andy Blake Group

Group O’Dell Real Estate Team

Guide Group KC

The Haley Epps Team

Susan Fate Real Estate Group

LOCATE KC

Moore Homes, Inc.

The Portfolio Group

Ray Homes KC

Amber Rothermel Real Estate Team

Tradition Home Group

Teams of 6 to 10 $24 million or more

The Bradshaw Group

Roger Deines Real Estate Group

Hellings Group

The Bill Hightower Team

Alison Rank Team

Twyla Rist & Associates

Lisa Ruben Team

Teams of 3 to 5, Platinum $16 million or more

Amy & Mindy Homes & Lifestyle

Anderson Dreiling Real Estate Group

Sara Bash Reda Group

Jodie Brethour Group

Brimacombe & Cohen Team

Brooks & Mitchell

Budke & Budke

Sold by Colby Team

Conners Savage Group

Destination Home Team

Discover KC

The Fisher Hiles Team

Generations Real Estate

The Goldstein Team

The Groves Johnston Team

The Hayhow Group

Audra Heller & Associates

The Kauffman Group

KC Homes Group

The Rob Lacio Team

Long Real Estate Team

The Lyman Staton Group

The Shannon Lyon Group

The Madden-Myers Team

Malina Real Estate

The Manning Horn Team

Terri Marks Team

Ellen Murphy Real Estate Team

Parson | Mirakian Team

The Northrop Team

Price Curry Team

Richey Real Estate Group

Selling KC

The Small Real Estate Team

Smart Team

Cindy Spicer Sales Team

Phil Summerson Group

The Jeff Taylor Team

Kathryn Thomas Team

Tamra Trickey Team

True KC Team

David VanNoy Real Estate

Ward Residential

Wehner Real Estate Group

Sherry Lynn Westhues

Janelle Williams & Associates

Wolfe~Sweeney and Courtney

Yocom/Mueller & Rach the Realtor

The Zillner Group

Teams of 3 to 5

$10 million or more

The Andrew Bash Team

Brookfield McKee Group

The Coast Crew

Christine Black

The Gail G Dicus Group

Suzanne Golomski

Kara McGraw

Karie Parsons Team of Realtors

Rick Sanford & Ryan Reed

Carol Rossi Zabielski

TEAM OF TWO

Teams of 2, Platinum

$12 million or more

Anderson Dreiling Group

The Breakey-Fitzpatrick Team

Michele Cook Group

Elevate KC

The Fay Team

Fry-Lewis Team

Amy Greif/Kylee Fishwick

Sheila Hampton Team

Mac Homes

The Holmes Team

KC Homes Sales Team

LolaKelly

Leading Edge Homes

George Medina Team

The Red Door Group

Diane Roberts

Shanan Group

Leslie Stelzer/Bailey Goodman

The Stephens Group

Tradition Home Group

The Westhues Team

Alison Zimmerlin

Teams of 2

$6 million or more

Austin + Jarrett

Bleakley Anthony Homes

Chartrand Group

City + Suburb

Engle Home Team

Gregory / Pinter Team

Amy Greif/Kylee Fishwick

Hunt Homes Team

Kilby Anderson Group

LivinKC

Shelly Doris Milburn

The Muller Team

The Peel Group

The Rao Group

Reese Group

Ronning Van Deusen Homes

The Simpson Group

Leslie Stelzer/Bailey Goodman

The Timbrook Team

The Transition Team

Dan Vick Team

Mark Wolf

INDIVIDUALS

Individuals, Platinum $20 million or more

Lisa Bunnell

Peter Colpitts Homes

Murray Davis

Leslie Feeback

Sherri C Hines

Linda Martin

Lynne Matile

David Mombello

Miles Rost

Rebekah Schaaf

Lindsay Schulze

Kaleena Schumacher

Sara Stucker

Andrea Wardell

Individuals

$8 million or more

Dana Allen

Tiffany A Allen

Shannon Barry

Karen K Baum

Heather Bauer

Brian Bechler

Dana Benjamin Team

Beth Borders

Robert O Chadwick

Julie Connor

Brian Courtney

Nita Criswell

Dustin Delaney

Rita Dickey

Sheri Dyer

Haley Epps

Krystle Espinoza

Anita Fichman

Wendy Foil

Nikie Jo Glasbrenner

Norma Gray

Julie Grundyson

Sarah Harnett

Farah Hassanzadeh

Natasa Gacpar-Helixon

Susan Hoskinson

Tonja Hulet

Andrea Hunter

Tracy Jackson

Marcy Jacobsen

Jessica Jasa

Jordan Johnston

Melissa Josenberger

Mellanie Koprivica

Janine Korgle

Sandy Krueger

Legacy Team

Nick Leslie

Cathy Maxwell

Jennifer Messner

David P Mombello

Sandy Murphy

Taner Neighbors

Bettina O’Brien

Heather Phillip

Aly Plunkett

Charlie Potchad

Lindsey Pryor

Angie Ripley

Shannon Rixson

Kristin Searle

Hannah Shireman

John Simone

David Slawson

Larry A Stanley

Kana Steinmeyer

Sonja Stoskopf

Bala Subramaniam

Sara Sweeney

JoLynn Tarantino

Emily Aylward Vogt

Alicia Washington

Charlotte White

Debbie White

Alan Williams

Kiley Willis

Herre Holistic Dental KC has provided dental care to the Kansas City area since 1953, and we want to help your family thrive today. We are a family-focused office that provides holistic, biological care. As functional dentists, we believe in preventative treatments to help take care of your oral health and overall wellness.

Our approach connects the dots of your whole body health to identify the root cause of disease and provide personalized treatment. We believe that movement, nutrition, sleep, laughter, and caring relationships are all essential to becoming the best versions of ourselves.

Our care centers around the airway, with the goal of helping your family breathe and live healthier. From tongue tie releases, to TMJ and sleep appliances, to airway-focused clear aligner treatment, we have the tools to help you reach your wellness goals.

TIMOTHY HERRE, DDS, FACD

SLEEP APNEA/ SNORING

MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPY

HOLISTIC DENTISTRY

HEADACHES

TMJ

TONGUE TIE

CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

AIRWAY FOCUSED ORTHODONTICS

SAFE AMALGAM REMOVAL BIOCOMPATIBLE MATERIALS

SEAS ONAL

Cool Sculpting

Sculptra

sculptrausa.com

As you age, you’ll begin noticing a decrease in collagen production and your skin becomes thinner, drier, and more elastic. Sculptra is an FDA-approved injectable that activates the skin’s natural regenerative process and is used to help spur the production of new collagen. The rebuilt collagen strands begin to gradually help restore volume and the look of fullness into the treated areas, which can be in both your face and body. It’s made from a Poly-L-lactic acid and can improve facial wrinkles, crepey skin and cellulite. Gradual results are expected and can take two to three months, so plan now for improved skin by this summer. Results can last up to two years.

Georgous Aesthetic Bar

georgouskc.com

CoolSculpting is an ideal treatment for stubborn fat especially in those hardto-lose areas such as the abdomen, flanks, bra fat and others.  The treatment uses cryolipolysis technology to help permanently freeze fat cells and reduce unwanted fat by up to 25%.  The CoolSculpting specialists at Georgous Aesthetic Bar offer complimentary consultations to discuss treatment plans and determine if CoolSculpting is right for you. Candidate selection and appropriate treatment plans are incredibly important to ensure a safe and successful outcome.  The clinic also offers dual-sculpting, so you spend less time in-clinic for treatments when treating multiple areas.

Aesthetic Surgical Arts

asa-kc.com

Breast A ugmentation Skin Rejuvenation

Breast augmentation is a consideration if you’re self-conscious about the size and symmetry of your breasts. As with most procedures, medical advancements have been made from the surgical technique to the prosthetic implant, so if you’re considering the surgery, it is recommended to schedule a consultation to determine if you’re a good candidate. The surgeons at Aesthetic Surgical Arts in Overland Park will work with you to determine the best type of implant for your needs. They are fully customizable, and the surgeon can assist in giving you predictions for post-surgery results, if you’re undecided. For your recovery, plan three to four weeks before resuming normal activity, so plan now for a summer-ready change.

T ummy T uck

AesthetiCare MedSpa

greatskinkc.com

Forget the razor – hello laser. Let the team at Aestheticare lead you through a new way to address unwanted hair. With five FDA-approved lasers, they are using advanced technology to treat clients of all skin types quicker and more comfortably. You may see optimal results after four to eight treatments, but a complimentary consultation is encouraged prior to treatment to determine how to achieve your desired results. Although you may find a vast reduction in hair after just a couple treatments, several spanned treatments are recommended as different areas of the body, age, and even hormonal changes can affect the cycle of hair growth. Visit Aestheticare to learn more with locations in Leawood and Liberty, and a new, larger 20,000 square foot location coming soon to Ward Parkway.

Sculpt &Tone F acial

The Grove Spa

thegrovespa.com

Tummy Tuck

plasticsurgery.org

Bikini season is right around the corner, so if you’re wanting a flatter tummy, you may want to consider an abdominoplasty, or better known as a tummy tuck. The procedure will remove excess skin around the abdomen and the goal is to tighten and slim the tummy area. Liposuction is commonly used in conjunction with the process to remove pockets of fat, which is one of the various techniques that are used in this surgical procedure. Consult with a certified plastic surgeon to determine the option that best suits your body type and the results you’re wanting to achieve. Recovery time will vary depending on the type of tummy tuck you choose.

Laser H air Removal

Get your face in shape! One of the newest treatments gone viral in Europe and New York is now available in Kansas City. Using the most powerful EMS (electric muscle stimulation) device on the market, and manual toning techniques, the Sculpt & Tone Facial at The Grove Spa stimulates muscles at a deeper level, providing sculpting, toning, lymphatic drainage, and improved circulation. This facial takes just 30 minutes, and results are seen immediately. Follow @thegrovespa to see videos and results of this workout for your face!

AMAZING SPACES

Take a look at what several local builders and designers have done to create striking, livable homes.

By Dawnya Bartsch

It has been said that the pandemic has forever altered the way we see our homes and how we choose to live in our spaces. Home is no longer just a place to lay our heads but also a place to work, study, dine, exercise and entertain.

With so many activities happening in one place, it’s no wonder Americans have turned inward and looked at ways to transform their houses into multi-functioning retreats. Research found that around seventy percent of Americans embarked on some type of home improvement project during the height of lockdown, and the trend seems to be continuing as we transition into a post-pandemic world.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a pandemic has been said to alter housing and the way we live. During the 1918 flu pandemic, homeowners began installing small main-level bathrooms so guests would not need to wander through the entire house to use the facilities, spreading germs. Homes with small guest powder rooms on the first floor have been a popular choice since.

From creating unique places to entertain, such as a room for sipping top-shelf bourbon, to quiet spaces designated for work and Zoom calls, pleasing home environments have always been important. Now, it seems people are thinking even more imaginatively about the different areas of their homes, carving out unique rooms for activities or adding dramatic touches to make entertaining at home a very special experience.

While it’s still left to be seen what home trends will be permanent as we move farther away from Covid, the desire to create spectacular living spaces seems to be timeless.

ZACH BAUMAN

Rising to New Heights

NATURAL WOOD TONES WARM UP A CONTEMPORARY DESIGN.

A contemporary wood and metal floating staircase spanning nearly forty feet from the bottom level to the top gives Jason Walker the clean lines he was looking for in his family’s lake home.

Every inch of Walker’s over seven-thousand-square-foot home has been thought out, including the massive stairwell that dominates the entry. Walker of Walker Custom Homes worked with his “metal guy” to create the sleek and simple horizontal metal handrail design. The risers were topped with wood treads.

To make sure that the space didn’t come off as too cold, Walker worked with interior designer Kendra Minor of Evolve Interiors to bring in softer wood tones, like a floor-to-ceiling walnut wall. Minor used natural wood tones and warm brass colors to contrast the black metal throughout the stairwell and other parts of the house. But in keeping with the dramatic entry, the duo chose sculptural light fixtures.

Clean and Sleek

A DESIGNER CREATES A GLAMOROUS YET CLUTTER-FREE SPACE.

Designer Jan Long used warm taupes, dusty grays and gold accents to create a laid-back and comfortable space with a touch of glam when she designed her Prairie Fire home.

“I would call my home comfortablemodern,” Long says. She used accordion glass doors on one side of the living room to let the outdoors in when weather permits. “I wanted it to have a California feel, to open the doors and have indooroutdoor living.”

Long’s space is sleek, streamlined and free of clutter. Much of the furniture and art are pieces she purchased on trips to different design markets across the country, such as High Point in North Carolina. She says she’s always searching for the perfect pieces.

Long used warm cream and blush tones mixed with the taupes and grays to create a soothing backdrop that she can accent with pops of color.

Long, textured horizontal tiles emphasize the height of the fireplace, and two glittering gold paintings by an Italian artist flank the fireplace and compliment the gold accents throughout the living space.

“It’s a fun space to be with family and friends,” Long says.

LEFT: MATTHEW ANDERSON; ABOVE: ZACH BAUMAN

Mediterranean Retreat

A SALTWATER POOL AND WATERFALL OASIS

Lounging by the pool, gazing at the columns and listening to the water trickle down, you may think you’re in a Tuscan villa, but this Mediterranean retreat is smack dab in the middle of Kansas City.

Located on Ward Parkway, this saltwater pool with a traditional stepped waterfall sits in the retreat-like grounds of a 1955 landmark Kansas City home.

At one point in the home’s history, a grand portico with columns was built on a slight hill behind the pool. This created an additional place to sit and gaze toward the back of this massive home. The height of the patio allows for a fountain with waterfall elements leading down to the pool.

The pool is surrounded by a massive, tiled outdoor patio with plenty of room for tables, chairs and loungers. There’s plenty of space to entertain and pretend you’re sipping a cocktail on the Côte d’Azur.

Going Bold

MAKING A STATEMENT WITH BLACK, WHITE AND GOLD

Despite the dramatic use of black and white quartz and bold fixtures, this kitchen is actually quite functional, says designer Kendra Minor of Evolve Interiors. It was designed to “easily entertain,” and there’s a place for everything, she says.

The bold choices in material create the perfect backdrop for an amazing party, and the kitchen’s functionality makes hosting a breeze. For example, the kitchen is right next to the outdoor grill for easy access, and the grill leads directly to the pool overlooking the lake. Inside, hidden from view, is a pantry and a prep space with a dishwasher where lots of messy meal prep work can occur.

A large piece of black and white quartz was chosen to create the kitchen island, and Minor duplicated those colors throughout the space, using pops of gold as accents. “They really designed this house for family and friends,” Minor says of her clients.

Private Screening

THE MAGIC OF THE MOVIES RIGHT AT HOME

Entering into this home theater is like stepping into an old-school private Hollywood screening room.

Paneled walls, art deco-looking fixtures and a curtain across the screen make for a true big-screen experience on a smaller scale. The theater eschews some of the more contemporary trends in home theater design while still embracing the glamor of the movies with its ten big, comfy recliners. You could come dressed in sweats, wrapped in a blanket or wearing an evening gown and still fit right in.

The bar and other lower-level entertaining spaces are in a different room from the theater, so the doors can be closed and distractions eliminated for a proper movie-viewing experience. The room’s traditional long and narrow configuration focuses your attention to the screen and truly transports you into an alternate reality.

Closet Glam

SHOP YOUR OWN CLOTHES.

Closets have become more than just a place to hang your hat. Now they are stylish spaces just as suitable to primping as they are to storing clothes.

This glammed-up closet is no different. With a starburst light fixture in shades of gold, marble floors, and sophisticated black contrasting shelves, it feels more like a high-end boutique than simply a closet. Along with being pretty, this closet is also functional. It can be accessed from both the primary bathroom and bedroom, and it has a washer and dryer.

When Patrick Willis of Willis Custom Homes went about designing this space for the 2022 Artisan Home Tour presented by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, he had both luxury and ease in mind: The closet is meant to make the homeowner’s daily routine simple and easy to execute.

Bourbon Bar

A WAY TO GET AWAY

What better way to pretend you’re having a night out on the town than hanging out in your very own bourbon room?

Although this room sits under a staircase tucked off to the side from the main entertaining area, a large wall of glass makes the moody room visible. Through those doors, you can see the accent wall—dark walnutcolored wood punctuated with sleek black shelves and dramatic lighting. It’s the perfect place to display a bourbon collection.

The room was created as a way to get away from the main party without going too far. Keeping it minimal but luxurious was key to making this room feel integrated with the other areas of the house. The home was built by Willis Custom Homes and made an appearance on the 2022 Artisan Home Tour.

JOSIE HENDERSON

A Hole in One

A high-tech golf simulator just below this space’s main entertainment level rounds out a room meant to meet every family member’s needs. But even without the simulator, this large play space is not lacking.

The builder, Willis Custom Homes, created a multi-level haven for fitness, gaming and party enthusiasts. The simulator sits below a Cheers-style bar—which is next to a pool table, glass-enclosed fitness center, bourbon room and more.

The simulator isn’t just a simple putt-putt game. It’s in a large space where golf enthusiasts can really focus on their swing.

According to GOLF magazine, this is the golden age of simulators. Originally devised just as a way to entertain, they have evolved into more than just simple games. These hightech versions are used to track shots, angles, spin rate and much more. Some people even have golf-pros visit and teach a lesson at their home.

Why would you ever want to leave?

Mega Closet to Mega Office

A narrow spiral staircase originally led from a primary bedroom above to a massive closet below. Although the size and breadth of the closet was surely envy-worthy, the configuration was a bit awkward, to say the least. No one wants to sleepily navigate steep stairs to collect their clothes.

The closet was adjacent to a large lower-level entertainment area leading out to a pool. Thinking outside the box, the homeowners created a new primary closet on the same level as the main bedroom and transformed the downstairs space into an office.

Part of the wall that sealed the closet off from the rest of the living area was replaced with a glass wall and door. The glass makes for a dramatic peek into the office space and visually expands both rooms. The original closet’s beautifully crafted built-ins were easily transformed into display shelves for memorabilia and storage for the new space.

JOSIE HENDERSON

Wall of Fire

FROM CAVERNOUS TO COZY

It’s not unusual to think that a custom eleven-foot metal linear fireplace would make a bold statement. But it is unusual to think such a fireplace would make a living room with soaring ceilings feel cozy.

When Jason Walker of Walker Customer Home looked at his voluminous living room and its twenty-six-foot-high ceilings, he knew the room needed a focal point and a bit of warmth, so he got to work with his “metal guy” and they started designing.

The entire fireplace, from its cut metal façade to the firebox, was made explicitly for Walker’s Lake Winnebago home, which is why it works so well.

“People always comment on how cozy it feels, even though it’s such a large space,” Walker says. Walker went all out building his family’s dream home, which he has dubbed “The Retreat.” The home was also featured in the 2022 Artisan Home Tour.

MATTHEW ANDERSON

Eating Nook, Reinvented

A BUILT-IN WINE RACK ADDS ENTERTAINING DRAMA.

There are a few things designer Jan Long of Long Interiors knows: She likes wine and she likes people. So when Long was designing her kitchen in her new Prairie Fire home, she wanted spaces that reflected that.

One of the ways she achieved that is turning part of a kitchen eating nook into a wine space with large glass doors. “We didn’t need more spaces to eat,” says Long, who chose to reinvent the space to more aptly reflect her family’s lifestyle.

By enclosing the nook with double doors, adding dramatic lighting and lining the walls with sleek, modern wine racks, the space is now functional and a topic of conversation. Long also chose to panel the back wall with a blonde wood that matches the flooring. The unexpected space adds a touch of glam and sets the mood for entertaining.

Garage Envy

CLUTTERED MESS TO GARAGE MAHAL

This detached three-car garage in Mission Hills was “a cluttered mess” before Steve Novak tackled one of his company’s biggest and best projects there. Novak is the owner of Garage Experts of Kansas City, the local franchise of the country’s largest garage makeover company. The core piece of the business is sealing floors with polymers, which was done here using a custom red and black decorative flake epoxy floor.

But this customer wanted to go for a full transformation, turning the space into what Novak calls a “Garage Mahal.” You’ll find the homeowner’s motorcycle helmets hanging on what’s known as a Slatwall system, a stylish upgrade from the oldfashioned pegboard. Custom cabinets were built around the space’s refrigerator, along with a Snap-on-style auto tool cabinet, a gun safe and even an air compressor. There’s also a butcher block workbench. For most customers, putting in a polymer floor is completing a project that was undone from the beginning. A garage is a place most people pass through every single day, Novak says, unlike the basement rooms that many people spend time and money finishing.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a house when it’s being built, but until there’s flooring in, it looks unfinished,” Novak says. “Everything else can be done, but until the flooring’s in, it never looks finished. And that’s the way most garages are. Even in multimillion-dollar homes, we see garages with these ugly gray floors and it just looks like an unfinished project.”

—MARTIN CIZMAR

ZACH BAUMAN

KITCHEN & BATH

IslandDesign

Bright Ideas

WILSON LIGHTING wilsonlighting.com

This stunning lantern by Mariana is among the thousands of lighting options offered by Wilson Lighting in Overland Park. The clean lines of the Boxford create a focal point in a transitional home or office. It’s perfectly suited to use (as a pair) above large, kitchen islands. It is equally well-suited for use (singularly) in smaller entries, or primary bathrooms. The clear Lucite frame is accented with antique brass embellishments that enhance an architecturally simple pendant. You can also choose from two sizes and a polished nickel finish.

KENNY’S TILE & FLOOR COVERING

kennystile.com

When considering a bathroom renovation, a steam shower can be the ideal addition. It’s basically a steam room that offers the normal features of a shower. They are usually installed in the same space as a traditional shower, but incorporate a steam function. With the various tile and stone options available at Kenny’s, a dramatic steam shower can create a spa-like ambiance in your bathroom. Steam showers can also provide both physical and mental benefits. You can achieve clearer skin, treat respiratory issues, and provide stress relief. The steam and water create a soothing relaxation for sore and tense muscles, while the warm air can release endorphins in the brain to relax your mind.

Spa-Like Experience Tip

CONSIDER MOVING YOUR MICROWAVE FROM ABOVE COUNTER PLACEMENT TO BELOW THE COUNTER TO CREATE A MORE VISUALLY APPEALING DESIGN.

ROCKTOPS rocktopskc.com

Waterfall design is a growing trend in kitchen remodeling projects and can be accomplished using granite, quartz, or marble. A conventional application would have the countertop resting on a cabinet base, but a custom waterfall panel adds a whole new level of design! Instead of a standard installation, the countertop material cascades vertically down the side of the cabinet and extends to the floor. Its sleek edge provides a unique look that becomes the focal point of sophistication your space needs. Ideally, the waterfall will appear to be one continuous material without interrupting the stone's pattern or vein flow. A skilled fabricator can help make that happen, and the team at Rocktops can offer their expertise in design, fabrication, and installation for your next project.

NIECIE'S Niecie's soul food diner has been serving Kansas City for nearly thirty years with the motto of "Good food. Served right."

IT’S

GRAVY

A roundup of Kansas City’s best biscuits and gravy dishes

By Tyler Shane / Photography by Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden

DISTRICT BISKUITS

Originally a pop-up concept, KC native Chef Guroux's new flagship store slings not only homemade craft biscuits but also Nashville hot fried chicken biscuits sandwiches and mac and cheese with bacon jam and a hot honey drizzle.

NOT LONG AGO,

the standard American diet called breakfast “the most important meal of the day.” It was, according to dieticians and grandmothers, in our best interest to jump-start our morning with a sufficient calorie intake to maintain energy throughout our busy days. However, as the West’s modern dietary practices are being continually reevaluated, research is beginning to suggest that the morning mealtime is no more important than any other.

I imagine the dish that inspired the debate about breakfast’s importance is probably the indulgent yet classic meal of biscuits smothered with gravy. Whether the meal was a treat that dad would whip up Christmas morning or you found yourself ordering it at your grandma’s favorite diner, it can be agreed that the hearty Southern dish doesn’t usually inspire a 5K run once devoured.

KC’s B&G scene offers significant variety, from your white-tablecloth brunch platter with fresh cut chives and homemade sausage to the strip mall diner where the gravy mingles with a side of greasy, golden hash browns, giving it that extra touch of Southern love.

DISTRICT BISKUITS

504 Armour Road, North Kansas City, districtbiskuits.com

THIS FAST CASUAL biscuit-focused restaurant based in the Northland is not to be slept on. The menu features several biscuit sandwiches, though the Biskuits and Gravy remain a staple. They’re elevated with caramelized onions and a touch of heat from red pepper seasoning. The sweet diced onions provide a beautiful contrast to the homemade biscuits that Chef Guroux has been perfecting over the last fifteen years.

NIECIE’S RESTAURANT

6441 Troost Ave., KCMO, nieciesrestaurant.com

IT’S NO SURPRISE that the soul food diner listed on our Top 40 Best Restaurants serves an impressive dish of B&G. At first glance, the dish doesn’t stand out from other diners, but one bite in the façade is lifted. Large chunks of hot sausage swim in the savory and perfectly seasoned gravy while the country-style biscuits are tender and fluffy.

THE MOCKINGBIRD LOUNGE

204 Orchard St., KCK, themockingbirdlounge.com

THIS STRAWBERRY HILL bar and diner spices up the familiar breakfast dish with a heaping spoonful of bright-red chorizo. Chorizo is dolloped onto the bed of creamy sausage gravy and Pillsbury biscuits, adding a bright yet mild dose of flavor to the otherwise classic breakfast dish.

MILDRED’S

1901 Wyandotte St. and 908 Baltimore Ave., Suite 103, KCMO, mildredskc.com

THE BISCUIT IS the star of the show in Mildred’s take on the breakfast classic. It’s a tangy homemade pastry with buttery layers reminiscent of a Pillsbury biscuit busted from the can. The peppery gravy blends harmoniously with it, and the entire dish is served with your choice of crispy bacon or breakfast potatoes.

BLACK DOG COFFEEHOUSE

12815 W. 87th St. Parkway, Lenexa, bdcoffeehouse.com

SERVED ONLY ON the weekends, you’ll want to beat the crowds for the B&G made in collaboration with Black Dog’s joint business, Ibis Bakery. The house-made biscuit is crumbly, while the classic white gravy with Wiener Kitchen sausage is delightfully seasoned with fresh sage, pepper, and salt.

LULA SOUTHERN COOKHOUSE

1617 Main St., KCMO, lulakc.com

THIS CROSSROADS RESTAURANT offers an impressive brunch menu filled with delights such as fried oysters and chicken and waffles. But the biscuits and gravy stand out thanks to their pillowy biscuits with glazed tops that have a taste reminiscent of sweet corn bread. The gravy is bright, and the dish shines with the garnish of chopped chives.

HAPPY GILLIS

549 Gillis St., KCMO, happygillis.com

THE COLUMBUS PARK eatery serves no-frills B&G in its most classic form: soft, tender biscuits drowned with a few ladles of thick gravy. You can choose between sausage or mushroom gravy or have the best of both worlds and get both.

YOU SAY TOMATO

2801 Holmes St., KCMO, yousaytomatokc.com

THIS ECCENTRIC CORNER breakfast joint makes their biscuits and gravy entirely from scratch. The biscuits have a crispy outer layer with a fluffy interior, and small chunks of sausage provide gentle bursts of flavor. As at Happy Gillis, you can get the gravy with sausage, earthy mushrooms or both.

SNOOZE

4144 Broadway Blvd., KCMO, snoozeeatery.com

BLUE BIRD BISTRO

1700 Summit St., KCMO, bluebirdbistro.com

THIS WESTSIDE BISTRO’S soft biscuits are the ideal vessel for the herbaceous and savory mushroom gravy. You can dress the dish up as you please: Add an egg, organic bison sausage or Barham Farm pork sausage, or get the vegan version.

ALSO

GRANTED, SNOOZE’S breakfast pot pie is not technically B&G, but the essence of the classic dish (a pastry topped with gravy) is still there. The Westport restaurant’s unique spin on the savory breakfast includes a flaky puff pastry bowl filled with house-made rosemary sausage gravy and topped with a sunnyside-up egg.

TRIED: BANKSIA, TOWN TOPIC, NEIGHBORHOOD CAFE, RONNIE’S RESTAURANT, THE BIG BISCUIT

This vibrant diner has a Jetsons feel with its retro decor and mid-century colors of bright orange, pea green, and mustard yellow.

SNOOZE

, In celebration of Q39’s 9th anniversary, they are bringing back fan favorite menu items each week throughout the month of April. The April throwbacks include Buffalo Cauliflower, available April 1 through April 8; Smoked and Fried Chicken, available April 9 through April 15; Sausage & Pork Belly Corn Dogs, available April 16 through April 22; and pictured here, the Beef Short Rib Griller, available April 23 through April 30. Visit each week for one of your throwback favorites!

. SILO MODERN FARMHOUSE

silocanyonfarms.com

A perennial Best of KC winner, Silo Modern Farmhouse continues to deliver new and decadent menu items. This towering madefrom-scratch dessert is one the most popular dishes on the menu. Layer upon layer of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and drizzled with an amerena cherry chocolate sauce. It’s topped with vanilla whipped cream and a delightfully crunchy chocolate and burnt sugar lace. Trust us, you’re going to want to make room for dessert. Open Tuesday through Friday 11 – 8 and open until 9:00 on Friday and Saturday.

If you’re a seafood lover, you have another option to tempt your tastebuds. Most recognized for their Mexican cuisine, Taco Naco also delivers on their popular shrimp and fish artisanal tacos. Chef Fernanda Reyes crafts her shrimp taco with seafood that is marinated in a guajillo sauce and handcrafted chorizo. It’s topped with chipotle aioli, red cabbage, pico de gallo, and fresh cilantro in a 5-inch white flour tortilla. They also create handmade salsa and delicious cocktails. Order online or at their location in Overland Park.

. CINDER BLOCK BREWERY

cinderblockbrewery.com

Cinder Block cider cans have officially hit the market. For those of you familiar with their French and English ciders, these products have been repackaged into the new Fresh Pressed line that is now available year-round at local retailers. Made from fresh, local apples, Fresh Pressed hard cider is available in two flavors. If you’re a fan of dry cider, the Apple Cider delivers a semi-dry and pleasantly crisp taste. For a slightly sweeter flavor, the Cherry Cider offers a semi-sweet, lightly tart finish. Keep an eye out for seasonal cider releases in addition to these two mainstays!

TACO NACO , taconacokc.com

AdventHealth’s Living in Vitality promotes, empowers and amplifies the health and wellness of women in Kansas City and beyond. Join the energy that inspires more than 1,000 women every year to LIV well, mentally, physically and spiritually.

Friday, September 29, 8 am to 4 pm

FOILED AGAIN

Sushi and barbecue have a long history together. In Japan, some of the fishermen who snared salmon slow-cooked meat over a stone box stuffed with charcoal aboard their boats. So it’s impossible to say there’s anything new about the country club roll at the new sushi and barbecue spot Hokibar (100 Ward Parkway, KCMO. hokibar.com).  The idea of a roll with baked crab, salmon, shrimp tempura, avocado and cucumber probably occurred to someone over the years but you probably haven’t seen anything like this roll, which is baked and served in foil. It’s part of a solid menu at Hokibar, which also does more traditional rolls as well as excellent rice bowls with chopped sushi, grilled meats and veggies all tied together with splashy sauces. This novel form of fast casual restaurant was opened by a group of friends who love Hawaiian poke bowls, but there’s an obvious Sweetgreen salad influence, as well.

—MARTIN CIZMAR

Korean-inspired dishes include the KFC, Korean Fried Chicken, which we recommend with the soy-citrus glaze as opposed to the gochujang, and the moon snail salad, or golbaengi-muchim. The salad salad—Chef Kim’s take on a traditional Korean bar food dish—is a mix of moon snails and wheat noodles. If you don’t see it on the menu, you can order it as a secret menu item.

A FRIEND INDEED

Westport’s much-hyped new Korean spot Chingu delivers on its pretty promises.

BY TYLER SHANE PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

HINGU WAS ONE OF THOSE new food joints that, upon its launch, brought me simultaneous hope and hesitation. As word began to spread about a new Korean restaurant in the making from Keeyoung Kim, owner of Sura Eats in the Parlor food hall, I followed along on social media to keep updated. Chingu’s Instagram teased with dewy, saturated pictures of noodle dishes and orange peel-garnished cocktails. Kim had joined forces with some of KC’s most notable people in media, from photographer Alyssa Broadus to graphic designer Frank Norton. As the masses flocked to Westport’s newest hotspot, countless pictures were shared of the restaurant’s neon sign, which casts a mesmerizing pink cloud over the bar counter and shelves lined with Korean spirits. I prayed that Chingu served more than aesthetics.

During my second visit to Chingu, our enthusiastic young server indulged us in humorous banter, even throwing some occasional flattery my way. But all joyful repartee came to a halt when my friend and I, who had just picked over the two very filling starters of Korean pancakes and pork dumplings, proceeded to order two more dishes to share from the “Larger” section of the menu. Her eyes widened and she nodded her head as if in an attempt to understand our perceived gluttony.

“That’s a lot of food,” she said with her eyebrows raised in concern, most likely debating if she needed to repeat her initial introductory spiel: “For two people, we recommend between two to three dishes.” We maintained our order and she humbly conceded.

A plate with six massive chicken wings piled on top of one another was set at our table alongside a large clay bowl of sizzling bibimbap fixings whose depth seemed never-ending. We dug in, bumping chopsticks as we passed dishes from one side of the table to the other. The restaurant’s neon sign was the furthest thing from my mind, and my phone even remained in my purse. As the waves of dishes rolled in, a small feast gathered on our two-top. I was immersed. All forms of pleasantries went out the window as we became enraptured by the gorgeous funk of kimchi, tore away at juicy slices of beef short rib with our teeth and ferally bit into ungodly sized Korean fried chicken wings.

A handful of Korean restaurants in Overland Park generally constitute the majority of Kansas City’s Korean food scene. While Korean barbecue has recently become more widely recognized, most likely due to its familiar name, most Korean establishments have a section of their menu dedicated to Pan-Asian dishes to appease the masses. Ramen and stir-frys are there for those unwavering diners who refuse to do their taste buds a favor by exploring traditional Korean delights like kimchi jjigae or brothy woo-guh-ji kalbi-tang. Not at Chingu.

“I didn’t want to put pad thai or udon stir-fry or ramen on my menu because

I wanted to be true [to Korean food]” Kim says. The son of first-generation Korean immigrants, Kim is intentional with his menu at Chingu, serving only Korean-inspired food and often putting his own take on traditional dishes. On the restaurant’s small menu, all elements of Korean cuisine are accounted for, including barbecue, street food and homestyle cooking. When the servers tell you that the dishes are meant to be shared, they mean it. Their large sizes are inspired by Kim’s mom, who always made large amounts of food, divvying up the leftovers between friends and family.

Cocktails go by the names of K-pop songs like “Candy Sugar Pop” and “Dirt on My Leather.” They’re easy sippers and the Korean old fashioned is a savory marvel with the addition of gochujang sauce. But you’d be remiss to not indulge in a bottle of mellow green-apple soju for the entire table.

Small bowls of Chinese broccoli, bean sprouts, kimchi, and pickled onions and jalapenos are immediately served to accompany your dinner. The crowd favorite is the pajeon, a pan-fried savory pancake filled with cabbage, onions and perilla leaves. It’s a great introduction for those with little experience in Korean food with its straightforward flavor of fried batter and veggies. The subtle finishing salt and sweet soy

sauce are beautiful pronouncers for the crunchy and dense pancake. The moon snail salad is also a great dish that gently nudges those with with reservations to surrender to their Korean dining experience. It’s a mix of buckwheat noodles, frisee lettuce and vegetables, with chewy moon snails found throughout. Tossed in a gochujang-pear vinaigrette, this pungent salad is a roller coaster ride of textures and flavors and a welcoming initiation into the flavorful depths of Korean cooking.

A bowl of kimchi stew should be ordered for the whole table, with tofu to soak up the hearty, savory liquids. Use it as a dipping sauce, or order a side of white rice to combine it with. The Korean staple is a wonderment of funk, spice and leafy greens, and it was the only dish that I consumed in totality. The meat-forward menu items include a platter of beef short ribs over a bed of charred onions, DIY pork belly wraps and juicy jumbo chicken wings. All these meats shine with elements like fermented shrimp, twenty four hour marinades, and sweet gochujang sauce.

With the restaurant only several months old, hiccups are inevitable. My friend, who had visited Chingu once before, claimed that the bossam pork dish was this time lacking the crispy outer layer he had enjoyed so much on her first visit.The homemade dumplings

Kim graduated from Northwestern with a degree in economics but ultimately pursued a career in the food industry, against his parent’s wishes. “There’s something really unique about how firstgeneration Korean immigrants come to the states with nothing,” Kim says. “My mom was an art teacher, my dad was in international finance. They immigrate to the states and, suddenly, they’re dishwashers and cooks. There’s something about food that is positively correlated with survival in the Korean community with immigrants.”

were good but had soggy bottoms that undid their pan-fried crispiness. The broccoli and bean sprouts were seasoned perfectly on my first visit but not enough on the second. When I went on a busy Friday evening, we had to wait thirty minutes to be seated despite having a reservation. We were given the option to dine at the bar to avoid the wait for our table, which we declined. When we finally sat down, we were given a complimentary starter to ease the inconvenience. Surely, Kim and his team will overcome these inconsistencies as they continue to find their stride. The minor issues I encountered are a faint memory in comparison to the overall dining experience, in which I was immersed in much more than just food.

As opposed to the Western style of ‘yours’ and ‘mine,’ Chingu’s family-style dining will have you crossing arms in the exchanging of plates and fumbling over your fellow company for a bite of a dish you’ve likely never had before. It invokes vulnerability. Many of us may be taking a leap of faith ordering off a menu with moon snails, silken tofu or gochugaru. So take on the mindset of a traveler exploring foreign land. Embrace your lack of knowledge, as it’s the key to experiencing something new without the burden of expectations. It will help you to know that Kim named his restaurant after the Korean word for “friend” for a reason. He understands that education must be offered alongside his strictly Korean menu, so all servers are prepared to answer questions and make recommendations.

If you take the explorer’s perspective, you’ll notice that as you indulge with your fellow company, kimchi will splatter across the table, bare chicken bones will be scattered about, and dishes will fill your table, requiring you to constantly reorganize. It’s a bit of a mess. But this messiness is the result of the comfort that follows when you let your guard down. It’s the process of curiosity and laughter taking precedence over practices of formality. So, let your chicken bones fall where they may and surrender to the experience

“I didn’t want to put pad thai or udon stir-fry or ramen on my menu because I wanted to be true to Korean food.”

FLOW STATE

BKS uses a novel new hop concentrate to make a standout West Coast IPA.

BY MARTIN CIZMAR

WITH HOPS, MORE ISN’T MORE. The bittering agent in beer balances the sweetness of cereal grains with flavors like citrus and pine, giving IPAs and pale ales their bite. But as hops quantities go up, undesirable grassy and vegetal off-notes tend to overwhelm their fresh, resinous bite.

For the past decade or so, IPAs have outsold every other craft beer style combined, leading to an arms race between brewers who want to make the hoppiest hoppy beer. New beers from BKS Artisan Ales in Brookside are using the latest and greatest tech, a product called “hop kief.” This month, look for a few beers using hop kief made from Nelson Sauvin hops.

Like the cannabis product it’s named for, the hop kief is a concentrated hop oil. In February, I had Current Past, a West Coast IPA made with Motueka variety hops. It’s maybe the single best beer I’ve ever tasted in Kansas City—delicate but robust flavors of lime zest and tangerine with kisses of pine and fresh-picked flowers.

The product’s maker, Freestyle, is also the hop farmer. Freestyle offered a handful of top hoppy breweries around the world a chance to play with the product, including BKS, which has won national recognition for its hazy IPAs. The concentrate is “flowable,” meaning it’s liquid at room temperature and can be poured into the wort to provide crisp, clean bittering. Current Past, the clear West Coast IPA I was blown away by, was dry-hopped with Strata, Mosaic and Centennial. “We’ve never smelled or tasted bold yet soft and elegant hop character like that in any beer,” says brewer-owner Brian Rooney. Same here. I’m already excited for the next batch.

FULL CIRCLE

Aqui Greadington is on a mission to provide men of color with a space of support and healing.

BY TYLER SHANE

AQUI GREADINGTON has worn many hats in the food industry, whether working as a private chef, a cooking instructor or a caterer. You may have seen his name featured on the menu of a local chef’s dinner series, or maybe you’ve seen him at the Brookside farmers market demonstrating how to make jam with leftover summer tomatoes. His pop-ups sell out consistently—his most recent was at the Kinship Café, where biscuits were the theme. Classic biscuits and gravy were present, of course, but the chef wowed with his creative meal of Biscuits N’ Blueberries, a homemade biscuit layered with brown sugar cinnamon butter, brie and blueberry compote topped with a Chantilly cream and lemon zest. For Greadington, the goal is to not only serve

great food but also educate hungry eaters.  Greadington’s activism goes beyond the food space, though. As the co-founder of the Black and Brown Men’s Healing Circle, he’s on a mission to provide men of color a space of support and healing. “Many of us have an extra layer of familial and cultural trauma, and we’re walking around without knowing who we are,” he says. “The way to combat that is vulnerability and unity.”

Despite his current creative endeavors, not long ago Greadington was working a cushy corporate bank job where he was the top salesman for the Southeast region of the United States. As he achieved more monetary success, his mental health began to decline rapidly, leading him into a depression.

After facing difficulty finding mental health resources that accounted for his cultural background, Greadington took matters into his own hands and created the BBMHC on Juneteenth last year. The group gathering is open to all men of color and pulls spiritual practices from ancestral knowledge as opposed to Western practices. The group meets each Sunday at Anchor Island Coffee, where the men can speak openly, with gentle guidance from the group’s rituals of affirmations, mantras and meditative practices.

Greadington says the organization is a communal project that is very “alive.” The journey of healing can be emotionally heavy, which is why the BBMHC focuses on play as another tool for wellness. “You have to remember how to play because that’s in our nature and that’s how we learn,” Greadington says. Aside from weekly meetings, the group also participates in community work, exercise and retreats. One of the current goals of the BBMHC is helping all group members obtain a passport. “Some of us may not have even thought about leaving Kansas City, much less the country,” he says.

Asked how he might pitch the group to someone who is hesitant to begin their healing journey with his organization, Greadington doesn’t skip a beat: “You deserve peace. The people in your life deserve the authentic version of you.” While the organization is self-funded, it is also open to donations. Keep updated on the BBMHC on bbmhc.com or on Instagram @bbmhckc.

PERFECT DAY

Quick Bite: Hands down The Fix. Dave is the owner there and has done an excellent job creating what I call the “nourishing-neighborhood-spot” vibes. I know I can visit on any day and be greeted with a smile, great music and a sun-soaked table to accompany a great meal. I love to order the chimichanga plate with rice and guacamole. Tell them Chef Aqui sent you!

Dinner: A friend introduced me to a wonderful Nigerian-Jamaican fusion restaurant aptly titled Wah Gwan. On the eastern edge of Brookside sits this uniquely eclectic, women-led brick and mortar that yields your senses to the fancies of the sister-duo team of Tan and Wayne. The uplifting savory aroma from the Wah Gwan kitchen immediately transports you somewhere warm, coastal and lovingly Black. The dish that won me over is the honey-garlic tofu entree. Pair it with jollof rice, cabbage, fried plantains and you have got one bussin’ dish.

Dessert: Blackhole Bakery is one of the few reasons I’ll get up at six on a Saturday morning. I consider Chef Jason a friend, and I am so proud to see him doing his thing. My go-tos are almond croissants, sticky buns, any puff pastry, any mochi donut hole and an everything bagel with cream cheese.

TRAY WAY

Wolfepack BBQ adjusts to post-pop-up life.

BY MARTIN CIZMAR

“FIFTH STREET” ISN’T REALLY a thing—yet. But it could be in a few years with more openings like the new Wolfepack BBQ, which is right next to wildly popular Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê and down the block from Swoon Cookie Crafters.

Just over a year ago, Jared Wolfe opened his ’cue concept, which uses live-fire pits to make Texas-style sliced brisket, juicy turkey breast and pulled pork. His plan was to stay in his original location, Callsign Brewing in North KC. But then a friend spotted a storefront in Columbus Park

“It’s almost a destination,” Wolfe says of the strip. “We’re kind of creating this little Fifth Street small-business district where people can come and support us.”

As of our deadline, Wolfepack was still cooking and serving out of its original trailer as they waited for red tape and finishing touches on their building. But sometime in April, Wolfepack will open its own space. Although the obvious parallels to the Pack are next-wave spots like Harp and Chef J, which make a similar style of modern barbecue, Wolfepack’s restaurant will be more like a small-scale version of Q39 and Jack Stack.

Even from the cart, Wolfepack is serving smoked duck breast with apricot glaze, truffle celery soup and blackened shrimp with grits. “We’re playing around with all kinds of stuff now,” Wolfe

says. “We’re going to do barbecue, and we’re going to do the best damned barbecue we can. But it’s about listening to your people and then saying, ‘Can we do this, this or this?’ and ‘Let’s try not to do this.’”

But at the full restaurant, expect a grilled flank steak with chimichurri and serious cocktails.

“The cool thing about this spot is we have control over liquor, beer and such,” Wolfe says. “We’re still going to be known as a barbecue joint, but secondary is as a bar. We’ll have seasonal cocktails that rotate.”

To the extent possible, though, those cocktails will use local products. Wolfe’s philosophy is to “support Kansas City while remaining profitable,” and you can see that in the brisket wagyu hot dogs that come from a ranch in Weston to the buns from Roma bakery topped with fermented hot sauces from a small-batch local producer.

“I’m a small business guy,” Wolfe says. “The only way we survive is to help each other. We’re going to try and focus on keeping things local as much as possible around here.”

Also new at the standalone restaurant: french fries. Wolfe will be offering fries, which are an essential part of the experience at classic local pits like Gates, Bryant’s and Joe’s but which have thus far been avoided by the new class of pitmasters with a strong Texas influence.

“Kansas City is always pretty big about having fries with their barbecue, and we can have fries now,” Wolfe says. “Having fryers available opens a whole new menu of things we can do. I’m excited to do fries and to do things like brisket rangoon.”

WHAT’S NEW IN KANSAS CITY FOOD & DRINK

Tacos Valentina finds a home

Tacos Valentina has been popping up at local breweries like Alma Mader and Casual Animal, gaining a loyal following thanks to their stone-ground, hand-pressed nixtamal tortillas and authentic street food tacos. Now, the popular pop-up is officially setting up shop inside a different brewery, Torn Label Brewing Company (1708 Campbell St., KCMO).

Officially open on March 22, Tacos Valentina will be operating out of Torn Label’s Public House side of the building, serving lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday. The menu will combine departing head chef Vince Brink’s legacy dishes (like the Best of KC-nominated Belgian frites) with Tacos Valentina’s menu. As the menu is being finalized, customers can look forward to Mexican-style smashed patty hamburgers and a range of creative vegan offerings.

“We tend to view our food menu much like our beer program,” says Torn Label CEO Rafi Chaudry. “We want to give people a mix of staples they know and love, as well as rotational items that keep both us and our customers excited.”

As far as future taco and beer pairings, the brewery’s already brewing up a few ideas, but it may be several months until we see them due to Torn Label’s brewing schedule. In the meantime, patrons can enjoy “a cascabel-seasoned potato taco with our citrusy flagship beer, Alpha Pale Ale,” Chaudry says.

Bean to bar

Renowned chocolatier Christopher Elbow has been working on a new project to give the public a deeper look into the history and origins of chocolate: The Christopher Elbow Cacao Experience.

Christopher Elbow is one of the few chocolate companies in the nation to specialize in bean-tobar chocolate. The new experience, expected to be open this June, will offer guests the opportunity to see the chocolate-making process for themselves, starting with raw cacao beans.

The experience will take place in the back part of the crossroads retail shop (1819 McGee St., KCMO). Some may remember the space as the production facility where you could see chocolatiers working behind the glass wall. Along with chocolate-making, the experience will also provide an in-depth look into cacao’s origins, starting with its beginnings in South America as one of the most revered foods in Mesoamerica.

“Almost everyone is familiar with chocolate, but very few really get to learn the history of its origins and its importance to certain cultures, as well as the challenges that cacao farmers currently face in order to bring this sweet confection to the stores around the world,” Elbow says.

The project has been a long time in the making, having been pushed back several years due to Covid. Of course, there’s a chocolate tasting for those who attend. “People will also get to taste chocolate from different countries and discover just how different they can be based on where it originates in the world,” Elbow says.

Tacos Valentina

Christopher Elbow

Vine Street Brewing

Brew on Vine

Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery, Vine Street Brewing, opened this March and is hosting an official grand opening event in April. The highly anticipated space has been (ahem) brewing for a while: Owners Woodie Bonds Jr. and Elliott Ivory began as home brewers who have collaborated with twenty different breweries across the metro. Now, they’re transitioning into a commercial-scale brewery in the Jazz District and are excited to offer a taproom that celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the 18th and Vine Jazz District (2000 Vine Street, Building 2A, KCMO).

A range of high-quality and innovative craft beers will be offered, with particular excitement for their debut beer, Jazzman. “It’s a crisp and flavorful black lager that will make its debut at the restaurants, bars and self-pour stations at the new KC airport,” says co-owner Kemet Coleman. “It represents the foundation of our brewing style and the unique flavor profile we strive to achieve.”

The brewery won’t be offering food, but Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant’s food concept, The Spot, a fellow building tenant, will help provide food and beverages for Vine Street customers.

Pizza permanence

Jhy Coulter has been making waves in KC’s pizza scene with her pop-up Devoured. The mobile shop specializes in charred woodfire pizzas with fluffy crusts. Her flavorful pies also won her Hulu’s Best In Dough contest. Now, she’s giving her pop-up a permanent location with her micro concept, Orange By: Devoured “It’s a place to vibe out, meet a friend and enjoy tasty food,” Coulter says.

Although still in its early stages, Coulter has a plan and has started a campaign with community investors through Mainvest. She is still in the process of securing a location in the Union Hill area. The official pizza shop location will focus on slinging Devoured’s staple pizza combinations such as the Cheesy Bae, Martyz $pecial and Herbie Birdie. Snacks will be offered and are intended to be quick bite options inspired by her travels, such as rosemary, lemon, and mushroom risotto bites and gambas al ajillo.

“Orange By: Devoured is focused on being the favorite neighborhood pizza shop,” Coulter says. “We believe that quick food doesn’t have to sacrifice quality or experience. We strive to be authentically ourselves while forming and creating connections within the community.”

Proud Souls

Barbecue retail store Proud Souls has partnered up with local pitmaster Richard Fergola to open its first location in the barbecue capital of the world.

In addition to selling an extensive variety of barbecue equipment, the store will also offer competition barbecue classes taught in the store’s kitchen. Proud Souls already has two locations in Colorado, but the Northland Kansas City location (8646 N. Boardwalk Ave., KCMO) will provide a unique experience in collaboration with Fergola.

You might better recognize Fergola from his brand name, Fergolicious BBQ, under which he sells barbecue rubs. He has been featured on Food Network’s Chopped: Grillmasters His expertise, forged by his competition background, will be seen in the KC flagship store as he teaches barbecue classes fit for all levels of barbecuing.

According to Fergola, Proud Souls is offering something entirely unique to our barbecueobsessed city. “It’s such a well-rounded group of individuals,” he says. “Not only are they good at the retail piece as far as business goes, but they also cook barbecue. We have some of the best competition cooks in the world on our team.”

SURREAL ESTATE

THE STORIES BEHIND KANSAS CITY’S MOST EYE-CATCHING BUILDINGS

JESUS, ETC.

How a stainless steal spire came to poke the skies high above Independence

YOU CAN’T NOT NOTICE the otherworldly metallic spire. Rising three hundred feet into the sky, soaring above the Mayberry-esque downtown of Independence, Missouri, it’s meant to be seen.

Built for the Community of Christ church, which has roots in Mormonism, the temple’s dramatic shape was inspired by various shell shapes, most specifically the nautilus. Construction began in the spring of 1990 and was completed four years later, in 1994.

At the time it was built, the temple had the third-largest stainless steel roof in the United States, measuring some eighty thousand square feet. It was constructed before computers were used in the field, so the steel pieces were measured and cut as the building inched upward. Workers were high up on catwalks, installing the metal pieces and then measuring for the next one. They would use walkie-talkies to relay information to the engineers below. The pieces would then be cut and lifted into place.

Church congregants knew what they wanted, but it was architect Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum in St. Louis, now known as HOK, and the Kansas City engineering firm Zahner, that were able to bring the concept to fruition.

Church records indicate that creating a sanctuary using a spiral shape as its focal point was bandied about as early as the 1920s and ‘30s. “A group of women called the Temple Builders promoted construction of the Temple using the spiral concept,” says church spokesperson Elaine Garrison.  For the church, the temple’s spire represents many elements of both an inward and outward spiritual journey. The early 1990s construction of the temple was the “first to literally represent the Fibonacci sequence, first described by Leonardo of Pisa, a 13th-century Italian mathematician,” Garrison says. The Fibonacci sequence is when each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers, a pattern found throughout nature and the inside of a nautilus shell.

Groups of architecture and engineering students often tour the award-winning facility, which is also the Church’s international headquarters, Garrison says.

A fundraising campaign was kicked off at the Community of Christ’s world conference in 1988 to fund the future temple. In the end, more than twenty-eight thousand financial commitments from people around the world raised the $35 million needed to build the temple.

Temple tours must be scheduled in advance at cofchrist. org.

—DAWNYA BARTSCH

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