Kansas City magazine October2023 by Kansas City Magazine

KC SYMPHONY DIRECTOR’S SWAN SONG / LENEXA’S EXOTIC CUISINE

We’ve been to every pit in town. Here’s our Top 10 right now. The Full Monty at Chef J

PLUS OU R NO.

BBQ PICK

Someone is acciden injured every secon

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oting LeBlanc 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 kathy@kansascitymag.com MANAGING EDITOR

Dawnya Bartsch dawnya@kansascitymag.com ART DIRECTOR

Kevin Goodbar kevin@kansascitymag.com ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR

FO U R CO N V E N I E N T LO C AT I O N S TO S E RV E YO U

Molly Higgins molly@kansascitymag.com FOOD EDITOR

Tyler Shane tyler@kansascitymag.com PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Dominique Parsow dominique@kansascitymag.com EDITORIAL INTERNS

Emma Flannery and Alexia King COPY EDITOR

Kelsie Schrader WEB COORDINATOR

Madison Russell SALES

Angie Henshaw angie@kansascitymag.com WRITERS

Nina Cherry, Martin Cizmar, Emma Flannery, Molly Higgins, Alexia King, Nicole Bradley Kinning, Matthew Korfhage, Reece Parker, Tyler Shane, Whitney Youngs PHOTOGRAPHERS, ILLUSTRATORS & DESIGNERS

Zach Bauman, David Babcock, Julie Babcock, Caleb Condit, Jeremey Theron Kirby, Samantha Levi, Rebecca Norden, Brandon Waldrop

KANSAS CITY

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Kansas City

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.

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FEATURES

KC’s Top 10 ’Cue Spots

We hit the pits, visiting dozens of barbecue joints to make this list.

Being Neighborly

Lenexa Food Adventures

Swan Song

A local author started chatting with his 109-year-old neighbor one day and turned their conversations into a national bestseller.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Lenexa Public Market is fast becoming a destination for international cuisine, and our food critic tried every stall.

Kansas City Symphony’s longtime conductor talks about his last season and his legacy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

OCTOBER 2023

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In This Issue OCTOBER 2023

FOCUS

Movie Magic

TREND

TA S T E

Dashing Denim A classic is making a comeback—this time as a maxi skirt.

Fox & Bull

The neighborhood bakery that’s the new place to be

Missouri hopes to lure Hollywood players by reviving a defunct film tax credit.

40 Going Girly

After a summer of Barbie, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, women everywhere are going girly.

84 It’s a Small World

Lenexa Public Market takes diners on an adventure with an array of international food vendors.

42 Soapy Superstar 90 New Kid in Town A local organic soap maker took her business from farmers markets to international retailers.

High Bar

Local designers talk about the latest in home

E V E RY I S S U E

Brain Drain

Missouri is trying to keep young talent around by giving companies with internship programs a boost.

The first phase of a controversial Leawood development project starts.

32 Calendar

Breaking Ground

A new Shawnee brewery experiments with yeasts, creating fruity flavors.

92 Perfect Day

The executive chef of nonprofit Thelma’s Kitchen talks about serving food with dignity to those in need.

94 Newsfeed

The latest in KC food news

Editor’s Letter

20 Up Front 96 Surreal Estate

SPECIAL SECTIONS SCENE

51 Women’s Health

72 Fall Festivities

Autumn Apples

Weston’s annual Applefest draws thousands every year. Are you going?

Maestro Bids Adieu

KC Symphony’s conductor talks about his last season.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Jazzy Pipes

Jazz organist Chris Halzelton releases his first album in over a decade.

79 Fall Food & Drink

O N TH E C OVE R

Photograph by Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden

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FROM THE EDITOR

C O N T R I B U TO R S

IKE MOST Kansas Citians, I have a deep love for barbecue. But unlike most Kansas Citians, my love for the smoked, sauced-up meat didn’t start in Kansas City but in California, a state not known for its barbecue. Needless to say, Kansas City has a welldeserved reputation for BBQ, and when I moved here I really wanted to know what the hoopla was all about. Could KC really be offering up something that different? Yes. The answer is a definite yes. Armed with an empty belly and a bit of skepticism, I ventured out to try the famous spots and the not-so-famous ones. I began eating my way through the metro. I can honestly say I really didn’t know what authentic barbecue was until I started devouring it Kansas City style. My first taste of KC barbecue was Arthur Bryant’s, of course, and I was in disbelief at how different it was from anything I had eaten in my home state. At that moment, I Dawnya Bartsch wasn’t even sure if what stood for barbecue MANAGING EDITOR on the West coast could actually be DAWNYA@KANSASCITYMAG.COM considered BBQ. The smoky meat with sauce on the side and those crazy-delectable Arthur Bryant fries opened up a whole new world. I realized then and there that my knowledge of barbecue was severely lacking. Since then, I have tried so many different BBQ variations, including Gates, the other hometown favorite. Although Gates is on par with Arthur Bryant’s, I left my heart at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and East 18th Street. How could I not? It was my first. My husband’s favorite is Gates, though. We’re a house divided. This leads me to how much I enjoyed reading this month’s feature highlighting the metro’s top ten barbecue spots (page 54). It’s written by two ’cue aficionados: Martin Cizmar, our de facto BBQ editor and former Kansas City magazine editor-in-chief, and his cohort Matthew Korfhage. This duo truly knows BBQ. I would say if you want to know where you should go right now, check out this list. But on to the other things unique to Kansas City. National author and Kansas Citian David Von Drehle penned a biography, The Book of Charlie, about his 109-year-old neighbor and friend Charlie White. It’s a quick, enjoyable read that doles out wise words of wisdom and bits and pieces of KC history all while chronicling White’s adventures. Contributor Hampton Stevens spoke with Von Drehle about his neighbor, his book and living in Kansas City (page 74). I’d venture to say it’s the perfect book to read while eating a slow-smoked brisket sandwich. Bon appetit!

18 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden PHOTOGRAPHERS

This month’s feature photography was shot by the Pilsen Photo Co-op, a collaboration between artists Rebecca Norden and Caleb Condit. When not spending their time shooting food, travel and portraits, they are hiking mountains, seeing live music, tending their garden or checking another country off their bucket list.

Reece Parker WRITER

This month’s story on Missouri’s move to renew a film tax credit was written by Reece Parker, a creative writing student at UMKC and frequent Kansas City contributor. A book lover, fitness fanatic and coffee addict, she spends nearly all her free time in the library, gym and cafe.

Matthew Korfhage WRITER

This month’s barbecue feature was written in part by Matthew Korfhage, who writes about culture and food for USA Today Network and has spent his adult life eating his way through every major barbecue region in the country.

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UP FRONT

NUMBERS FROM THIS ISSUE

BEHIND THE SCENES

2017

The year the Lenexa Public Market opened. PA GE 8 4 TREE HOUSE

The estimated amount that filming Gone Girl in Cape Girardeau brought to the local economy. PA GE 2 3

The number of Gates Bar-B-Qs around the metro. PA GE 67

The twenty-one-thousand-square-foot visitor center will house spaces for exhibits, events, a cafe and a gift shop, along with staff offices. The project cost approximately $22 million, with $11 million coming from The Arts and Recreation Foundation of Overland Park. The foundation began fundraising for the project in 2016. The remaining funds came from Overland Park’s city coffers.

S H O U T- O U T

The story talked about the merits of the building, but readers’ comments were focused on either their displeasure or joy over the new facility and the larger development as a whole.

It seems odd to cut down hundreds of trees and call it expanding an arboretum. – Brent Fergerson Too bad they stripped all the nearby trees away completely. – David Reep Wasted tax dollars yet again. – Frank Peter Moley Over half of this amazing facility was funded by very generous private donors. – Phil Bressler

The other part by city taxes – oh and where is the solar? – James Muir Cannot wait! Thank you, donors! – Kim Ward Jensen Johnson County needs three times the amount of park and conservation acreage based on its population. It falls short of that. – Devin Kellerman

Thanks to writer Whitney Youngs for her flexibility, for doggedly pursuing her KC Symphony interview subject and for quickly writing and submitting her copy.

Kansas City

P.O. Box 26823 Overland Park, KS 66225-6823 (913) 469-6700 EMAIL: editor@kansascitymag.com

“In my opinion, at its core, barbecue and soul food are the same thing. So it just makes sense to dive into it.” – Tyler Harp, owner of Harp Barbecue

20 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

JEREMEY THERON KIRBY; CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN; TODD ROSENBERG

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Our most talked about story was a minor back-of-thebook piece on the LongHouse, the new community building at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens that recently opened.

Photographers Rebecca Norden and Caleb Condit creating the perfect shots for this month’s barbecue feature.

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LEADING THE CONVERSATION IN KANSAS CITY

FOCUS Lights, Camera, Action

PROVIDED

BY REECE PARK ER

Filmed in east Missouri, the major motion picture Gone Girl brought close to $7.9 million into Cape Girardeau’s local economy in a matter of weeks. Not long after the film’s 2014 release, tourists from across the country looking to go on the “Gone Girl driving tour” poured into the approximately forty thousand-person town, says Steph Shannon, Kansas City Film Office director. “That could be any town in Missouri.” Armed with information like this, Shannon and others had been lobbying state legislators and Missouri Governor Mike Parson to renew a film tax credit program that had gone dormant. The efforts finally paid off: Parson renewed the program nearly a decade after it expired. The Show MO Act hopes to offer incentives for more movie productions in Missouri. The passed legislation not only reauthorized the bill but strengthened it. The bill will allow Missouri to be more competitive in the film industry, securing more film locations and, hopefully, strengthening the overall economy. Continued on next page KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

FO C U S LIGHTS, CA MER A , ACTION

Local actors are hoping a renewed film tax credit will bring more motion picture magic to Missouri. “We are marketing Kansas City as a destination for projects,” Shannon says. “But the pain point for years [was] when we don’t have a film incentive, it really shuts the door on us.” Shannon isn’t the only one that feels this way. At a Senate hearing in February, before the bill was passed, Erin Brower spoke on behalf of Hallmark Media. “We shot ninety-two movies in 2022,” Brower said. “Now, the majority of those movies were filmed in Canada, which has a very generous film tax credit. But as more states adopt film tax credits, we shot nine in the U.S.: North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Hawaii. And so, if Missouri does pass this bill, Hallmark Media will be able to finally consider Missouri as a film production site, which we will be thrilled for.” The film tax program would allow approved motion media productions filmed in Missouri to receive tax credits up to $16 million. The base incentive would start at twenty percent and could increase to sixty percent if certain requirements are met. Additional incentives could be stacked if the project takes place in rural or blighted areas. To ensure incentive money is spent properly, productions will undergo two audits: one by a licensed Missouri CPA and the other by the government. “Every project is a business in and of itself,” Shannon says. Each job can employ three hundred to four hundred people including actors, camera crew, lighting, audio and even jobs that aren’t quickly associated with filmmaking like plumbing, carpentry, catering and accounting.”

24 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Many actors from Missouri are hoping the act will lead to more filming and production opportunities in the state. One of these advocates is David Dastmalchian. You may recognize Dastmalchian from films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Suicide Squad, The Dark Knight, Prisoners and, most recently, Oppenheimer. But before Dastmalchian appeared in Hollywood blockbusters, he spent a childhood in and around Overland Park. “I spent my childhood in either Kansas or Missouri and so the stories that I am yearning to tell often are set in either those specific locations or fictional locations I’ve created that evoke the same atmosphere,” he says. Several Missouri-based stories haven’t been filmed in the state due to lack of tax credit incentives. The Paramount+ original series Tulsa King was originally titled Kansas City King, and the hit Netflix series Ozark, whose story revolved around Missouri’s lake region, was produced in Atlanta, Georgia. “The producer of Ozark has, every year, supplied us with a letter of support to show legislators that they really did want to film more here,” according to Shannon. There have been some efforts to cut costs and bring projects to KC. After the state’s original film tax credit expired in 2013, Kansas City passed its own regional incentives. Dastmalchian was the first to take advantage of these, filming his project All Creatures Here Below in KC. He provided a look into the financial and creative benefits of having a program across the state. Producers have already latched onto the new bill. Since being signed into law, five productions have shown interest in filming in Missouri, according to Film in MO, a volunteer-run organization that advocated for the film tax credit in Missouri. Other independent filmmakers have already taken advantage of the new legislation, like Jefferson City local and seasoned producer Gina Goff. Goff is looking to return home to film a major motion picture adaptation of the short film At Niangua’s End, which is set in the Ozarks. “[The film] definitely piqued my interest because [of] the Missouri element, because this is home,” Goff says. Goff knows from experience that filmmakers seek out tax-friendly states for production. “Unfortunately, Missouri has missed out on so many things by not having the tax incentives in place,” she says. She adds that on top of Ozark and Tulsa King not being filmed in Missouri, “a lot of people don’t realize that Yellowstone was based on a Missouri story as well.” The At Niangua’s End film adaptation is budgeted to be a $3.5 million movie shot at the Lake of the Ozarks, featuring local businesses and landmarks. “What I think will be special about it is to not only see something finally shot in Missouri, but just all of these Missouri-based filmmakers and actors and crew members coming together to make a movie,” Goff says. After working in and around Los Angeles for three decades, Goff says, “I’m excited to finally be returning home to make a movie.”

PROVIDED

Pictured: Behind the scenes at the Missouri Production Lab film Boy Mom.

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BRAIN DRAIN Missouri lawmakers hope to keep college grads from leaving the state with a new corporate tax credit. B Y R E E C E PA R K E R L A W M A K E R S A R E H O P I N G a new bill giving tax credits to companies that hire college

interns will stop Missouri’s brain drain. There is no lack of qualified individuals in the state, says Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., a nonprofit composed of businesses and civic organizations created to spur economic development. “Missouri colleges and universities build a strong pipeline for undergraduate talent,” Hall says. “But our team found that we are exporting twenty thousand of those college graduates to other states, and that is unacceptable.” Earlier this year, Governor Mike Parson signed a bill focused on creating job opportunities for young people and businesses alike. The Intern and Apprentice Recruitment Act is a tax credit program incentivizing companies to hire more paid interns and apprentices. The act offers companies a $1,500 tax credit for each paid intern or paid apprentices up to $9,000, or six positions, and is set to start Jan. 1, 2024.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

However, the tax credits are not available for just any company to use on any intern. The credits will only apply to newly created positions, not internships already existing, in order to increase the number of internships available across the state. The bill also notes that an employer cannot claim the tax credit if the intern or apprentice is being paid less than minimum wage. State Rep. Brad Christ, a Republican who represents parts of St. Louis, says, “If you hire on average ten interns a year, now you have to hire eleven, twelve, thirteen, up to sixteen to take advantage of the tax incentive.” Historically, Missouri has had fewer internships available compared to other states, Hall says. Lawmakers and job advocates are hoping this tax break will encourage companies to create more positions and stem the post-grad migration. Internships have become crucial to companies’ growth considering many businesses end up offering part-time or full-time positions to their interns afterwards. Kathy Mazzarella, president and CEO of Graybar, an electric supply company in St. Louis, has witnessed this firsthand. “Our interns not only gained valuable experience through [our internship] program, many of them have chosen to stay with our company after graduation,” she says. Industries such as agriculture technology and geospatial and advanced manufacturing are becoming increasingly important sectors of the state’s economy. “We need to fill these high-quality jobs and careers,” Hall says. “Retaining and attracting talent is just critical.” Governor Parson believes that if people want to pursue careers close to home, they should not be marred from that choice by a lack of opportunity. “There’s no reason in any category they can’t work right here in Missouri,” he says. Lawmakers hope that this program will not only create opportunities and retain young talent but also help protect the future of the state’s most vital industries. Parson believes the bill emphasizes the state’s commitment to opportunity and prosperity for young talent. “Missouri is committed to growing and developing a workforce that is prepared to meet the demands of the future,” he says.

SHUTTERSTOCK

FOCUS JOB PROGRAM

Returning to the Jewish Community Center! Enjoy: National performing artists Delicious kosher food Art, jewelry and more for sale from talented artists Wine tasting Children's activities Electric car test drives Israel art showcase And so much more! Visit JewishCultureFest.org for more info and to buy tickets today!

F O C U S L A ST H A RV E ST

PAYDIRT

After several yearsGREEN of contentious developers will WAY AERIALdebate, VIEW soon break ground on a swath of Leawood farmland. EAST VILLAGE - PHASE 3 & 4

LE AWOOD, KS

03 J U LY 2

BY EMMA FLANNERY

and Stateline Road in Leawood. After years of debate over the merits of a massive development project known as East Leawood Village, the City Council finally approved the first several phases of the $300 million development project that will see homes, shops, parks, trails and, eventually, an amphitheater replace acres of farmland. It hasn’t been easy for Rick Oddo, president of Lenexa-based Oddo Development, who is spearheading the project. The last few years have been contentious, with Oddo, residents and city planners often at odds. “People are afraid of the unknown,” Oddo says, adding that most people like many aspects of the development, such as the new parks and trails. However, locals have raised concerns over design elements, the number of homes planned and the traffic that comes along with so many new residents. After several concessions, Oddo won his battle to rezone the one hundred and sixteen acres last year and then received preliminary approval with a 5-4 City Council vote. This spring, Oddo won final City Council approval of the first two phases of his several-phase plan.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

R EV I S E D 07/ Currently, there are six phases planned for the East Leawood Village development. The first four focus primarily on residential properties with single-family homes, brownstones, “mansionstyle” homes, twin villas and condos. Phases five and six will focus primarily on retail space and senior living facilities. Future phases are still a ways off and have yet to be discussed by council members in a public forum. Part of the development also includes what the developers refer to as Chadwick Park, an entertainment center that “all of Leawood will want to attend,” Oddo says. The park will have an amphitheater and host popular community events, such as theater in the park and family movie nights. Along with residential and commercial areas, there will be greenspaces with bike paths and hiking trails, including a natural habitat, according to site plans. The entire project will take anywhere from six to ten years, with the timespan largely dependent on the state of the economy, specifically inflation, Oddo says. “Lower interest rates are always going to be better for us,” he adds. However, with the first two phases approved, Oddo hopes to break ground after this fall.

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WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN O CTOBER

SCENE

PROVIDED

Applelicious Apple pies, apple butter, apple cider, apple dumplings and, of course, just plain old apples can all be found at Weston’s annual Applefest. Since 1990, this quaint Missouri town has celebrated all things apple with this annual fall festival held the GO: October 7–8. first full weekend of Main Street, October. It began as a Weston, Missouri. way to acknowledge Weston’s rich history of apple growing and orchard farming, but civic leaders later decided to turn their city’s idyllic Main Street into a free family festival. The historic downtown district—which dates back to 1837—serves as a scenic backdrop for more than sixty artisanal booths as well as brick-and-mortar shops full of undiscovered treasures, restaurants, bars and a brewery. A parade complete with marching bands, antique tractors, classic cars and fire trucks kicks off the festivities Saturday morning. Throughout the weekend, festivalgoers will have the opportunity to learn how apple butter and apple cider are made. Along with live music, there will be plenty of other entertaining activities for adults and kids alike, including a maze, pony rides, face painting and pumpkin painting. Go ahead and grab a warm fritter, find the perfect hand-crafted art object, and get ready for a new season. –MOLLY HIGGINS KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

The Mars Volta

W H A T Y O U W A N T T O D O T H I S M O N T H B Y M O L LY H I G G I N S

October

SCE N E CALENDAR

October 8. 7 pm.

Known for their progressive rock sound and surprising lyrics, El Paso-based The Mars Volta have made a splash in the music scene during the last twenty years. The band’s only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, with a rotating cast of supporting instrumentalists. Teri Gender Bender is opening for them on their self-titled tour stop in KC. October 8. 7 pm. Uptown Theater.

Lucinda Williams October 10. 8 pm.

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Lucinda Williams began her long and lustrous career with traditional country and blues but later moved toward a more rock ‘n’ roll sound that cemented her as a music icon. She’s making a stop in KC with her band in support of her newly released album, Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart. October 10. 8 pm. Uptown Theater.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ October 12–15, 19–22 and 25–29

Beyoncé October 1. 8 pm.

Put on your sequined cowboy hats and black bodysuit: Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is coming to KC. Her opening act features soulful ballads, leading into a show that includes most of the Renaissance album along with other hits from her iconic career. Beyoncé’s enduring impact and legacy within the realm of Black musicians and artists resonate throughout the three-hour performance, embodying her far-reaching influence. October 1. 8 pm. GEHA Stadium at Arrowhead.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ pays homage to the Harlem Renaissance with a sassy, sultry celebration of a vibrant era in American history and jazz legend Fats Waller. Expect to hear his beloved tunes like “The Joint is Jumpin’” and “Handful of Keys.” October 12–15, 19–22 and 25–29. Times vary. Music Theater Heritage.

ODESZA October 1. 6:30 pm

First formed in Omaha in the late eighties, 311 got their name from the police code for “indecent exposure,” and things have only gone how you’d expect from there. Capitalizing on the late ’90s rap-rock fad, the band went on to fuse reggae, hip-hop, funk and metal to carry them into the new millennium. 311 is one of the longest original lineups in rock, alongside Radiohead or U2, but that’s where the comparisons end. On their stop in KC, the band is joined by AWOLNATION and Blame My Youth. October 1. 6:30 pm. Grinders.

The Wonder Years October 6. 6:45 pm.

Pennsylvania-based pop-punk legend The Wonder Years is touring this fall

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their fourth album, The Greatest Generation. Altogether, they have released seven full-length albums, two EPs and several splits/compilations. They will be playing from their large repertoire of music, joined by openers Anxious, Sweet Pill and Action/Adventure. October 6. 6:45 pm. The Truman.

KC Oktoberfest October 6 & 7.

While KC may be thousands of miles away from Munich, residents can still enjoy the authentic German festival at Crown Center organized by local favorite KC Bier Co. Every year, thousands of visitors come decked out in their best overalls and clogs to enjoy German-style beer and Bavarian cuisine. October 6 & 7. Times vary. Crown Center.

October 13. 6:30 pm.

Washington-based uber-popular EDM duo ODESZA is coming to KC in their anticipated follow-up to last year’s The Last Goodbye Tour. The second leg features support from Big Boi, TOKiMONSTA and OLAN & QRTR. October 13. 6:30 pm. T-Mobile Center

Unleash the Beats October 13. 8 pm.

Chicago-based troupe Tap Theatre seamlessly blends tap and concert dance, creating a captivating performance complemented by live music from the city’s finest musicians. Unleash the Beats promises to be an unforgettable night of rhythmic brilliance spanning diverse musical genres, from Duke Ellington to David Bowie. October 13. 8 pm. Midwest Trust Center.

JOCI SAMPAIO; JULIETA CERVANTES

311

Ghost Light 2023 October 13–14.

In the dark woods of Roanoke Park comes the fourth annual frightfully fun night of ghost stories and songs. Embrace the start of Spooky Season with the musicians, writers and storytellers that make up KC’s diverse arts community at Ghost Light. Enjoy the free hybrid concert and ghost-story event with art-making activities, live performances from the Ghostlight Orchestra and a haunted parade complete with costumes. October 13–14. Grounds open at 4 pm; performance at 7:30 pm. Roanoke Park.

Jekyll & Hyde October 13–15 & 19–22.

Kansas City Ballet’s Jekyll & Hyde brings the haunting tale of a dark mind and shady streets to life. This North American premiere, choreographed by Val Caniparoli from the Finnish National Ballet, presents the timeless tale with music performed by the KC Symphony. October 13–15 & 19–22. Times vary. Kauffman Theatre.

Sugar Skull! A Día de Muertos Musical Adventure

after-show Q&A about both Poe and Union Cemetery and guided cemetery tours before Friday performances. October 19–22, 26–29 & 31 and November 3–5. 6:30 pm. Union Cemetery.

Nobuntu October 20. 8 pm.

The female a cappella quintet from Zimbabwe, Nobuntu, has drawn international acclaim for their inventive performances and sound, ranging from traditional Zimbabwean songs to Afro-jazz to gospel. Their concerts are performed with pure vocals, supported by minimalistic percussion and traditional instruments like the mbira—a thumb piano—and authentic dance. October 20. 8 pm. Polsky Theatre.

Ruben Studdard & Clay Aiken October 23. 7 pm.

Twenty years after Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken faced off in the final round of American Idol season two, the unlikely duo is going on tour together twenty years later. The aptly named Twenty The Tour will be hitting major cities across the U.S., with songs from both artists’ repertoire. October 23. 7 pm. Uptown Theater.

What the Constitution Means to Me October 24–29, October 31–November 5 & November 8–12.

Direct from Broadway, playwright Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans in What the Constitution Means to Me. In this hilarious and hopeful new play, Schrek reimagines her teenage self in order to connect the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. October 24–29, October 31–November 5 and November 8–12. Times vary. KCRep Copaken Stage.

The Phantom of the Opera October 25. 7 pm.

Aspiring young opera singer Christine Daaé discovers she has a secret admirer hiding in the shadows beneath the opera house, but luckily he’s brooding and hunky. To enhance the spookiness ahead of Halloween,

the 1925 German silent film will play as organist Dorothy Papadakos provides the ominous soundtrack on the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ. October 25. 7 pm. Kauffman Theatre.

Clint Black October 27. 8 pm.

Country music star, singer-songwriter, actor and jack-of-all-trades Clint Black cemented himself as an icon when his debut, genre-altering album in 1989, Killin’ Time, was met with critical and commercial success. His widespread influence can still be felt in the works of artists today—you won’t find “A Better Man” than him. October 27. 8 pm. Yardley Hall.

P!NK October 27–28. 7:30 pm.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter P!NK is coming to KC for the third time in a decade. This time, the entire KC skyline turned pink when the singer announced her tour dates. She’ll be playing hits new and old from her sprawling career, including “Just Give Me A Reason” and “Try.” Mid-2010’s poppy radio hitmaker GROUPLOVE will be opening. October 27–28. 7:30 pm. T-Mobile Center.

October 19. 7 pm.

Sugar Skull! A Día de Muertos Musical Adventure is a touring bilingual and bicultural musical for the whole family that uses traditional, regional Mexican music and dance to tell the story of twelve-year-old Vita Flores, who finds herself on a magical journey to find the true meaning of Día de los Muertos. October 19. 7 pm. Yardley Hall.

Electric Poe October 19–22, 26–29 & 31 and November 3–5. 6:30 pm.

Hidden KC gem Union Cemetery hosts a chilling outdoor performance of Electric Poe. The talented R.H. Wilhoit adapts Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre masterpieces for the stage, including Annabel Lee and The Cask of Amontillado. Accompanied by live music, the haunting allure of Poe’s works come to life—or death—in front of the historic “Holding Vault” of KC’s oldest public cemetery. There’s also an optional

To Kill a Mockingbird October 24–29.

All rise for Harper Lee’s timeless classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, in Aaron Sorkin’s celebrated adaptation presented by the American Theatre Guild. This Pulitzer Prize-winning play, directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, has become a true phenomenon. Witness the emotionally shattering and soulful portrayal of this American classic. October 24–29. Times vary. The Music Hall.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

SCENE MAESTRO

PASSING THE BATON

Outgoing KC Symphony music director Michael Stern talks about his tenure with the orchestra and his swan song. BY W H I T N E Y YO U N G S

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

W H E N M I C H A E L S T E R N took over as KC

symphony director nearly two decades ago, he knew it had been years since the orchestra had tried to tackle pieces by Gustav Mahler, a composer many classical musicians strive to master. Stern was determined to make this happen. Since then, the musicians have become rather familiar with Mahler, the beloved Bohemian composer who wrote pieces so monumental and intricate that virtually every emotion of the human condition is captured in the music. Mahler believed the symphony is the embodiment of our world, which is why so many classical musicians view his work as omnipotent. Stern, with his musicians, began approaching Mahler in a consistent manner. Now Stern has been lauded for transforming the symphony into one of the top twenty-five orchestras in the country, as ranked by the League of American Orchestras. He grew the symphony’s audience base and shaped the classical music programming by not only showcasing his exploration of virtually all of Mahler’s symphonic catalog but also premiering new works by American composers. With that in mind, Stern can’t think of two better Mahler pieces to conduct in his final season than “Songs of a Wayfarer” and “Resurrection.” Both pieces reflect the program’s overarching theme of what it means to search for home and highlight the orchestra’s accomplished understanding of Mahler. The symphony’s forthcoming season, with performances of Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, culminates June 21–23, 2024 and marks the end of Stern’s nineteen-year directorship. A graduate of Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music and founding artistic director of Tennessee’s Iris Orchestra (newly renamed Iris Collective), Stern will stay in his concurrent role as music director of Colorado’s National Repertory Orchestra and Connecticut’s Orchestra Lumos. He will take on a new role as artistic advisor to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Canada. Kansas City magazine talked with Stern about his time with the symphony and its upcoming performances featuring orchestral legends Yo-Yo Ma and Joshua Bell, along with opera singers Joyce DiDonato and Kelley O’Connor, pianist Yefim Bronfman, and violinists Pamela Frank and Philippe Quint. How do you prepare for a concert?

PHOTOGRAPH BY TODD ROSENBERG

For me, preparing for every concert is a three-piece puzzle: 1. A complete and thorough personal preparation to make sure I have a clear idea of what we all hope will happen in the rehearsals; 2. A process of efficient hard work, discovery and experimentation in the rehearsals so that everyone is on the same breath; and 3. Never take for granted the privilege of being on stage with musicians and music you love. When we are all in the moment, trusting each other and the music itself, special things can happen spontaneously, and that can lead to magical performances.

musicians and my abiding belief in the importance of music and the arts in Kansas City. You’ve underscored the camaraderie of the Kansas City Symphony. As a conductor, is that something you can immediately sense in the orchestra’s performance?

Absolutely. Any guest conductor who has happily stood on our podium would agree that the energy, open-minded friendliness, ease and immense talent of the musicians in the orchestra are all immediately palpable. I am most thrilled that the instantaneous electricity between the musicians and Matthias Pintscher (Kansas City Symphony’s incoming director) ignited so powerfully in his very first rehearsal. How lucky for all of us, and for Kansas City, that he will be the next music director. Who are some of your favorite composers and why?

There is a certain core repertoire which I hold very close to my heart: Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler and Strauss, as well as early twentiethcentury French music, constantly reveal new miracles every time I come back to that music. I couldn’t describe my musical aesthetic without emphasizing American music, from Barber, Copland and Bernstein through the exciting voices of our time. Honestly, though, I can’t really answer more definitively, since the question is as impossible for me as asking me which one food I prefer or which of my children is my favorite. I’ll dodge the question with another truthful but offpoint answer: The music I love best is whatever music is in front of me in the moment of commission on stage. One lesson drummed into me since my earliest childhood was that whatever music you play must be the most important to you in that instant. Without that, your conviction in the performance will not come across to the audience. Can you tell me about this year’s classical music program?

My first concert as a guest conductor with the Kansas City Symphony was in the spring of 2003. My final one as music director will be in June of 2024. My thoughts keep coming back to the musicians themselves and the connection we have built with our audiences and our friends in the community. So I wanted this next season to be all about that. In each program, I looked to highlight the individual and collective virtuosity of our musicians and also find a breadth and excitement of repertoire which would underscore what our music making has come to mean to me, including the music of today. In addition, it is very touching to me that so many extraordinary people—personal friends and great friends of our symphony—have agreed to come and bring their artistry to this special season. What’s next for you?

More music, wherever my curiosity and possibilities may lead. And watching, laughing and loving as my children grow. I only missed two concerts in my entire tenure in Kansas City. The first was in 2006, when my first daughter was born, and the second was in 2009, when my younger daughter came into the world. They are now both in high school, the older one graduating this year. I don’t know where the time went.

You’ve had a long tenure with this symphony. What kind of imprint do you think you’ve left?

My goal was always to leave the orchestra better, stronger, happier and more poised for success and greatness than when I arrived. With humility, and sharing credit with many other people, especially our musicians, I think we have accomplished that together. My overarching guide always was, and will always remain, my unflagging loyalty to the

My thoughts keep coming back to the musicians themselves and the connection we have built with our audiences and our friends in the community. So I wanted this next season to be all about that. KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT

Switching gears from soul jazz, organist Chris Hazelton releases After Dark, his first swinging album in over a decade. BY NINA CHERRY T W E N T Y Y E A R S A G O , organist Chris Hazelton wasn’t

an organist––he was a bassist. Now a jewel of the region, Hazleton was first drawn to the organ in 2004 while listening to an album by fusion band Medeski Martin & Wood. Hazelton’s then-professor at Kansas City Kansas Community College told Hazelton he had to check out local jazz legend Everette DeVan. Soon after, a nineteen-year-old Hazelton snuck into Bobby’s Hangout, where DeVan’s trio was the house band. Amid a backdrop of velvet curtains in the swanky Midtown cocktail lounge, DeVan swung effortlessly on his Hammond B-3 organ console. “I was blown away and floored,” Hazelton says. “It was like: ‘Well, this is what I have to play. This is the instrument I was meant to pick up.”

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

“I was blown away and floored. This is what I have to play. This is the instrument I was meant to pick up.”

After sneaking in a few more times to listen to DeVan, Hazelton worked up the courage to introduce himself and inquire about lessons. Immediately, DeVan invited him to come over the following Tuesday, marking the beginning of a mentorship that ensued until DeVan’s death in 2021. In August, Hazelton released After Dark on Vancouver label Cellar Music, harkening back to tradition with his first swinging, straight-ahead jazz album in over a decade. A striking contrast from his more recent releases with his popular soul jazz project Boogaloo 7, Hazelton grooves equally as hard on After Dark’s standards as he does playing funky favorites on First Fridays at the West Bottom’s The Ship. Backed by John Kizilarmut on drums, Brett Jackson on baritone saxophone, Pat Conway on congas and Jamie Anderson on guitar, Hazelton’s quintet of longtime collaborators is commanding. “After Everette passed, I realized there’s a very specific sound within the organ that he taught me that’s pretty unique to him and this region,” Hazleton says. “So a lot of the tunes on the album highlight that laid-back swing that he was known for.” The album’s final track, “Watch What Happens,” epitomizes that style. The buoyant yet relaxed swing driven by Kizilarmut––combined with Conway’s conga playing and the dense, gritty marriage of the B-3 and Jackson on bari sax––brings a fresh and uniquely Kansas City feel to a beloved standard. “I wanted to show that mainstream jazz can still have a nice groove,” Hazelton says. The album also marks a new chapter and musical motivation for Hazelton. Over the past couple years, Hazelton lost two of his most notable mentors–– DeVan and Dr. Lonnie Smith––and one of his closest friends and musical collaborators, drummer Kevin Frazee. “It seemed like losses were becoming a pattern and grief was becoming more than I could bear,” Hazelton wrote in the album’s liner notes. “I suddenly felt a new weight of responsibility for carrying on the tradition of the Hammond B-3 organ in jazz. Consequently, I found a fresh sense of purpose and inspiration.“ And it made him realize it was time to get back in the studio. “After dark, there is always light,” Hazelton says. GO: Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7. Friday, October 6, 10 p.m. The Ship, 1221 Union Ave., KCMO. $10 cover at the door.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ERICA JOI; ALBUM COVER PROVIDED

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Please join us for an evening of wine, live music, and food as we continue our fight against Alzheimer’s. All proceeds from ticket sales and silent auction benefit the Walk to End Alzheimer’s - Kansas City.

Thursday, September 28, 2023 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM Blue Jacket Crossing Vineyard, 1969 N. 1250th Road, Eudora, KS 66205

Tickets on sale NOW at this link: http://act.alz.org/goto/SCA or use the QR Code above. $25 per person in advance; $30 per person at the door. Tickets provide entrance to the event, a full meal, and a complimentary glass of wine. Silent Auction to be held in the Tasting Room. Live Auction with Dave Todd. Live Music by The Mike Roberts Trio. Meal provided by GG Catering.

Team Senior Care Authority: Don and Elaine Minter, Eva Gavin, Patrick and Tina Kershaw, Charley Lewis, Angie Connley, Valerie Johnson, Megan Miller.

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CURATING A BEAUTIFUL LIFE

TREND Dependable Denim

PHTOGRAPH BY SAMANTHA LEVI; MODEL: AMY APPLETON DREYER

Denim maxi skirt available at: Nordstrom in Oak Park Mall, Freepeople, Madewell and Evereve.

Once a staple in the post-free love movement of the seventies, the classic denim maxi skirt is back—though it never really went out of style. Long denim skirts are making appearances in many designer Fall 2023 collections, and celebrities like Bella Hadid and Julia Fox have recently been seen wearing the tried-and-true staple. Like many recent trends made popular by Gen Z TikTokers, the denim maxi skirt is a piece many of us still remember—or perhaps even still own. It has been prominent in the fashion scene for over fifty years. In the ’70s, upcycled denim maxi skirts mirrored the free-spirited nature of the times. In the ’90s, it was emblematic of the grunge DIY aesthetic made popular by rebels like Courtney Love. Today, it represents a bit of both those ideals, pushing back against fast-fashion and micro trends while sending a message of resourcefulness and comfort in these uncertain and fast-moving times. People today are looking for dependable, timeless and comfortable pieces that can easily transition from day to night, which has led to many classic, comfortable pieces coming back in style. And for those still subscribing to the Marie Kondo way of thinking—a clutter-free wardrobe made up of timeless, high-quality pieces—the denim maxi skirt is essential. While it’s an obvious fall fashion staple, the denim maxi skirt is a transitional piece you can wear for every season and a range of occasions, whether with a loose sweater for a polished boho look or leather boots for a classic autumn vibe. —MOLLY HIGGINS KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

TR E N D SPA R KLE

The Babe Standard, a small boutique in the Northland’s Iron District, hosted a free friendship bracelet-making station during Swift’s visit to KC. “Women were just sitting down and making best friends with other girls and doing what would be perceived as a childish activity, just for the sake of having fun,” owner Ashley Donnell says. “Girls are coming in groups and doing them,” Donnell says. “Sister bracelets, friendship bracelets, mom and daughter.” BARBIE & RETURN TO GIRLHOOD

As everyone knows, it was a Barbie summer, with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie breaking box office records with its empowering take on girlhood and all that’s bold, pink and glittery. “Fashion-wise, we’re seeing girls gravitate more towards bold colors,” Donnell says. Despite the protagonist’s unnatural look, the nuanced Barbie movie inspired a national conversation, challenging unrealistic beauty norms and urging women to celebrate authenticity. “It definitely has influenced fashion and more so the way that women think about themselves and how they think about each other,” says Gracie Key, a local fashion designer and Kansas City Fashion Week event manager. “Pink has been literally everywhere—luggage, dishes, cars—everywhere pink. It goes beyond fashion.” It’s a statement. Seeing Barbie became a special occasion, inspiring viewers to reflect on their “best Barbie” selves and how their clothing reflects their identity.

GLAMOROUS GIRLHOOD Glitzy glam is taking over. BY ALEXIA KING F R O M H O T- P I N K to friendship bracelets, girly-inspired fashion is not just a moment—it’s

a movement. Women everywhere are embracing femininity through clothing in what fashionistas are calling the “girlhood trend.” This trip down memory lane seems to encourage every femme fatale to connect with their inner little girl while embracing femininity, too. Events like Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the Barbie movie and Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour are encouraging women everywhere to have a little fun. FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS

It seems Swifties aren’t the only ones obsessed with friendship bracelets. Taylor Swift’s phenomenally successful summer Eras Tour appeared to unite women of all ages. Swift’s music, specifically her album Midnights, sparked the friendship bracelet trend. What began as a concert keepsake transformed into a widespread phenomenon as women proudly wore colorful bracelets.

40 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Another popular singer-songwriter adding her personal spin on femininity is Beyoncé. Her traveling musical extravaganza, the Renaissance Tour, debuted this summer and hits KC on October 1. Her music and elaborate costume changes have encouraged women to embrace individuality and recognize that each woman’s story is a masterpiece in progress. “We’re seeing our customers becoming less minimalistic, wanting more statement styles,” Donnell says. “We’ve seen a lot more requests for feminine details like pearls or sparkles.” Donnell credits much of these trends to the extravagance seen in the costumes and clothes worn by Beyoncé, Swift and Barbie movie actors. Maximalism has been a fashion trend for months, emphasizing fun in personal style. Women have donned sparkly cowboy hats and spandex bodysuits inspired by Queen Bey’s iconic looks. “People are really getting into any sort of fringe,” Key says. “Sparkles and rhinestones are having a resurgence.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY PHON WILLS

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T R E N D I N TERV I EW

How did growing up on a farm in North Topeka influence you? My whole family

always gardened. Being around that environment in Sabetha and Holton from a very young age helped me see the benefits of fresh, organic produce as well as the flowers and herbs that my great grandmother would use to make her own teas. Seeing how they lived, helping them garden, created a lifelong practice. Do you remember going to your grandma’s house? You always remember that smell of cookies—there are certain scents that make you feel a certain way. Scent can be a “happy trigger.” How did your medical background inform your passion for natural products? I

Paola, Kansas-based Fire Lake Soapery owner Laura Rozell tells us how her health-care background inspired her nontoxic vegan products. B Y M O L LY H I G G I N S A F T E R P R A C T I C I N G physical therapy for thirty-five years, Laura Rozell decided to channel her

passion for wellness in a different direction and started creating natural household products. Rozell began making nontoxic vegan products like soap, candles and bug repellent in her basement and hawking them to family, friends and farmers market shoppers. Rozell eventually outgrew her basement digs and decided to take the leap and purchase Fire Lake Soapery in Paola, Kansas (5 E. Piankishaw, Paola, KS), a thriving candle and soap business with a similar philosophy. Along with the business came a quaint brick-and-mortar shop on the edge of Paola’s historic town square that included a manufacturing area, allowing Rozell to keep making all her products in-house and start holding workshops for people wanting to create their own.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Tell us more about Fire Lake Soapery’s products. The skin is the largest organ

in your body, and we have to take care of it—no paraffins, no mineral oil, no soy, no toxins. We don’t use any kind of fillers at all. We only use organic oils. It’s a cold-pressed soap, just like my great grandmother made. We infuse botanicals, herbs, all that good stuff in the soaps. We make so many different kinds of soap that have different medicinal purposes. And that’s really our focus—to make sure that we’re producing the best soaps that we can for the right purpose. You can find Fire Lake Soapery’s products online (firelakesoapery.com) and in select Whole Foods, Price Chopper, Family Tree Nursery and Made in KC stores.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

SAFE SUDS

practiced physical therapy for thirtyfive years, and through that time period, I became a massage therapist. I’ve always been into natural medicine as a way to prevent pain and increase fitness and ability. I’ve worked with disabled children doing a lot of stretching exercises, and we found that aromatherapy, botanicals and natural oils helped them relax and led them to stretching even better. I found that those things were beneficial in combination with my practice. So, soon I started making natural products for family and friends.

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TREND HOME

HIGH

SET THE BAR

Bring the party home! These tips from local interior designers will help you perfect your home bar. BY NICOLE KINNING W H E T H E R Y O U ’ R E L O O K I N G to spruce up a space where you can unwind after a long day or entertain during a Chiefs game or you’re simply looking for a stylish spot to stow your spirits, these home bar tips are sure to shake things up.

44 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

THEY WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT. THEY’RE NOT AFRAID OF COLOR AND HAVE A PRETTY ECLECTIC STYLE.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHEW ANDERSON

PLAY WITH LIGHTING

In this bar, Lindsay Brungardt of Schloegel Design Remodel focused on one major feature: lights. Lights play a crucial role in any bar. Consider the way translucent spirits shimmer in their bottles in the right light. “[This client] loves to entertain and have parties, so they wanted something different,” Brungardt says. “This is evident in the rest of their house as well. They’re not afraid of color and have a pretty eclectic style.” Everything about this bar is wellthought-out, from the light fixtures to the custom asymmetrical shelves to the tile in front of the bar. The panel wall changes color with a remote, allowing the homeowners to set the mood for any game or event. The lights positioned beneath the front of the bar also serve a significant purpose. “We really wanted them to wash down the front of the bar and look nice on that tile that we picked,” Brungardt says. KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

TREND HOME

PROVIDED

ADD IN SOMETHING UNEXPECTED

46 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

And by unexpected, we mean a portrait of George Washington smoking a bubble pipe. (Kidding— kind of.) This home bar space, which was a collaborative project by the team at Mid-West & Co., exudes a speakeasy/pub feel. The dark ceiling and cabinetry and brick backsplash contribute to this ambiance, as do the vintage thrifted books and (revisionist, at times) historical art. “We also had the floors refinished with an intentional imperfect finish,” the Mid-West & Co. team says. The gold hardware and faucet stay true to the style, and the brick backsplash makes for a cozy, old-world charm. Mid-West & Co. also includes a horse motif in their projects as a signature. “[The horse head statue] and the cowhide covering the floor bring just the right amount of Midwest flair to our ol’ English pub.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHEW ANDERSON

THE ENTIRE BAR IS CATERED TO THE HOMEOWNER’S TASTE AND BOURBON COLLECTION.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB GREENSPAN

ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES

While bars can be placed virtually anywhere in a home, they’re often situated in basements. Basements are also common places for bulky appliances like furnaces and HVAC systems, exposed pipes, storage areas and more. If you wish to conceal these eyesores, you may have to think creatively. In this polished basement bar, Maureen Lindstrom of ML Designs faced the challenge of hiding a sump pump. “[It] gave us the opportunity to be creative with the custom cabinetry design, with the mechanism being hidden inside one of the center cabinets,” she says. Concealing the sump pump allowed the bar to shine. The reeded cabinets, glossy snakeskin wallpaper, brass shelving, alabaster sconces and leathered black countertop all contribute to their own unique visual appeal.

MAKE IT YOURS

Sure, you’ll likely use your home bar to entertain guests, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it a reflection of you and your own interests. When Donna Kirsopp of Schloegel Design Remodel was approached about this home bar project, the client had one request: that his prized Blanton’s Bourbon barrel stave serve as the centerpiece of the space. “It was sitting on the table, and he said, ‘I want this to be the front and center part of this bar,’” Kirsopp says. Wish granted. The entire bar is catered to the homeowner’s taste and bourbon collection. The custom reconstituted veneer shelves were even designed to create distinct spaces for displaying different bottle heights. A diffused LED ribbon around the shelves creates an amber bourbon glow from the bottles, and the strip is spaced to eliminate hotspots on the wall. The textured wallpaper adds a rustic feel not unlike one you’d find at distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

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48 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

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How we made this list We hit the pits. We’ve been everywhere over the years, and we revisited dozens of top KC barbecue spots over the summer to make this list. We like smoke. Great barbecue can be made in lots of ways, but we admit a preference for traditional methods using live fire. No favoritism. This list is not influenced by advertising or personal relationships. We do not accept free food in the judging process.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

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The 10 Best Barbecue Spots in KC Right Now By Martin Cizmar and Matthew Korfhage photography By Caleb Condit and rebecca nordEn illustrations By david babcock

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

No.

Chef J J

CHE

CHEF

— j ustin easterwood owner and pitmaster

chefjbbq.com

KCMO

“ I’m still cooking over live fire, and these fires will be burning all day and all night.”

CHEF J

1401 W. 13th Street Suite G

IN THE FOUR YEARS Chef J has been open, the platters

keep getting bigger. “That’s what we want,” says owner and pitmaster Justin Easterwood. “When we opened, people weren’t used to the sell-out method, and now they are, so they get there early and they don’t have a problem bringing some food home with them. People know they need to load up.” Count us among those who are fully locked and loaded at this pit operating out of the snack counter in a West Bottoms haunted house. For a while, Chef J was solidly in second place, but over the course of several visits it got progressively better. The ribs, especially, have become unmatched, something Easterwood attributes to a pilgrimage he made to Texas, where he learned a few new tricks of the trade from Lone Star standouts like Interstellar BBQ’s Carlos Cruz and Franklin Barbecue’s Aaron Franklin, both in Austin. “I know how to barbecue myself, but when I’m out there talking to these people, it’s that little stuff I pay attention to,” Easterwood says. “What [Carlos] told me was exactly the problems I was experiencing with my ribs, which was from how we wrapped and held them. Not that we changed a lot, but it really made a difference.” Easterwood also learned a philosophy of trimming— specifically, that you should trim a little tighter so the patrons aren’t pulling your ribs apart to remove large white hunks of fat. “That bark is your flavor profile for your entire piece of meat,” he says. “You need the correct amount of fat left so it caramelizes and renders down but also so people eat it. If there’s too much fat, they’ll just pull it all off and there goes your flavor.” Chef J has always been consistent. At a time when too many other Texas-influenced upstarts are diluting their quality in a quest to branch out with smoked squid ink pasta and artisan corn dogs, Chef J’s

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

consistency is especially admirable and appreciated. It’s what won Chef J the top spot on this list. “Consistency is the number one thing for me in this game,” Easterwood says. “We set our standards high, but the customers set our standards high as well. They come in wanting a very good experience because we’re talked about highly. I one hundred percent want to give that customer a true, authentic barbecue experience.” Chef J is also now serving at Chiefs games, taking over a kiosk in section 107 on the home sideline. Easterwood is also opening a new full-service restaurant at the Pennway Point development, a new

entertainment district next to I-35 south of downtown that will be anchored by a one-hundred-and-fifty-foot ferris wheel. “We’re going to be seven days a week, lunch and dinner, and we’re going to be able to have some brunch items as well,” he says. “We’re going to be able to take our game to the next level.” That space will be served by four onethousand-gallon wood-burning smokers. “We’re growing and we’re taking it to the next level, but we’re not changing our mindset quality-wise,” Easterwood says. “I’m still cooking over live fire, and these fires will be burning all day and all night.” —MARTIN CIZMAR

Platter Places Four surefire signs you’re at a trendy Texas-ish barbecue spot

1 Tray Way

2 Sliced Thrice

3 purp walk

4 check, please

There’s always a tray, often aluminum, sometimes plastic, usually covered with heavily branded paper.

The ribs are cut by the bone instead of being presented as a half or whole rack. The brisket is served in slices without sauce. The sausage is usually sliced up instead of served by the link. Why? The bourgeoisie hate using knives, obviously.

There are almost always bright-purple pickled onions, which look very nice on Instagram. Are these edible, like parsley, or ornamental? Best to ask.

A spread like this will set you back at least $50, probably closer to $100.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER OCTOBER 2023

00 57

BUCK

T KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

BUCK

No.

Buck Tui 6737 W. 75th Street Overland Park bucktuibbq.com

“ We’re always evolving, trying to stay ahead of the game.” — t ed and Pam liberda owners

WE’VE SEEN PEAK PLATTER. In the

last five years, unsauced sliced brisket plated on a tray with white bread and pickles, the Texas way, has become a trendy food across the country. KC has a half-dozen solid spots, but you can also find respectable brisket in Indianapolis or Idaho Falls. The next big trend in barbecue is the opposite of old-school traditionalism. It’s the brisket fried rice at Blood Bros. of Houston and the Ethiopian awaze-glazed brisket at Smoke’N Ash BBQ of Arlington. Some call it fusion, but Buck Tui’s owner and pitmaster Ted Liberda prefers “crossover.” “I hate the word ‘fusion,’” he says. “It indicates that it’s not authentic. It’s the evolution of barbecue for the modern day.” Liberda, who grew up working at his family’s local Thai restaurants and owns Waldo Thai with his wife, Pam, started Buck Tui as a pop-up. It made this list two years ago while operating out of a trailer at the Overland Park farmers market. The operation and menu has grown beautifully since, taking over the former Plowboys location on 75th Street. A larger menu, great cocktail selection and comfortable dining room have made it a go-to spot when I have out-of-town visitors. It was my seventy-five-year-old mother’s favorite spot on a marathon tour of KC’s elite eats last Christmas. Buck Tui is one of a handful of Thai BBQ spots around the country. But unlike spots like Eem in Portland, where the curries steal the show, Buck Tui hews far closer to Midwestern culinary tradition. Take the X Man sandwich with brisket, papaya salad and tiger cry sauce or the brisket rangoons. “It was important to me to emphasize Kansas City barbecue because it is a part of everything we do,” Liberda says. “We’re always evolving, trying to stay ahead of the game.

When you’re mixing barbecue and Thai food together, there’s so much you can do. Where to take it from here? Peak platter may be past, but peak pickleball is still looming. The casual paddle sport continues to grow at a breakneck clip, with several local spots like Chicken N Pickle and Serv offering courts alongside mid-grade food and drink offerings. Liberda has his eye on a Thai BBQ pickleball spot next. “Pickleball is huge, man,” he says. “We need a pickleball place that’s exclusive, smaller-scale, with four courts or something like that, and a good restaurant where you can sit down and get a good meal. Something different.” —MARTIN CIZMAR

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

q39 1000 W. 39th Street KCMO 11051 Antioch Road Overland Park q39kc.com

“I THINK IT’S FAIRLY SAFE to say that I’m the only British guy doing Kansas

City barbecue in Kansas right now,” says Q39 pitmaster Philip Thompson. Thompson might be selling himself a little short: We’re pretty sure he’s the only one doing it in Missouri, too. He’s certainly the only Kansas City chef taking trips to Scotland to learn the fish-smoking traditions of the whisky peat bogs—only to bring it back as an oak-smoked salmon dip. The south of England native is also a classically trained chef in the French tradition, a veteran of four-diamond hotel restaurants, a certified barbecue judge and a rooftop beekeeper. In short, Thompson is the perfect heir to the iconic Midtown and Overland Park barbecue restaurants begun by Kansas City barbecue legend Rob Magee, who lost his fight with cancer in late 2021. Q39 has always been an outlier in Kansas City barbecue, with a pedigree straddling barbecue competition trophies and highfalutin’ culinary degrees. The restaurant isn’t fancy. But it isn’t not fancy either. Instead, it takes a smoky art forged on blacktop and gravel and turns it over to a classically trained chef ’s devotion to the moisture and tenderness of meat. Kansas City, the crossroads of barbecue, is where a place like Q39 gets made. It’s a city that has absorbed every smoked meat tradition, from Texas brisket to Tennessee ribs, and made those its own. When Thompson came to this city, he worried locals would have a hard time accepting an English pitmaster. But it turned out that his customers just wanted to know how a British fellow learned to make barbecue like this. You can’t argue with results. The saucy ribs on our last visit were trimmed to almost eerie perfection. And Q39’s onion-straw-laden Mr. Burns burnt ends sandwich showcased more science than a nuclear reactor. Indeed, that sandwich was one of the single finest bites of barbecue we ate in Kansas City this year: a school in crisply caramelized bark and meat more tender than the love Elvis sang about, in the years before the British came to take over rock ‘n’ roll. —MATTHEW KORFHAGE

“I’m the only British guy doing Kansas City barbecue in Kansas right now.” — p hilip thompson pitmaster

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Q39 Q3

Q39

No.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

BIG T 'S

B I G T'S

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'S G T

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Big T’s 6201 Blue Parkway KCMO

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN about the history

“ No gas, no electricity.” — T imothy Jones owner and pitmaster

of Kansas City, you could go to a museum. But if you want to taste it, you might as well just go to Big T’s. In the big brick wall of a smoker behind the counter at Big T’s, the smoke-kissed and spice-rubbed brisket is made the old way. “No gas, no electricity,” Timothy Jones told us the last time we were able to track him down. No temperature gauges, either. It is wood, it is smoke, and it is time. If the beef takes longer to cook today, then today it just takes a little longer. It is a process you learn to feel more than measure, and Big T learned it from his father, Oscar, who smoked meat for the whole neighborhood in a backyard brick barbecue off Swope Parkway. There is a quality in cooking that people used to call soul, and Timothy’s father had more than most. Oscar placed second in the American Royal when the American Royal was just a baby. He had his own barbecue spot, Oscar’s, in the 1970s. When the time came, Timothy opened his own pit on Blue Parkway and carried that feeling forward another few generations. He’s well into his sixties now, but his neon orange-red sauce feels much older than he is. The thin sauce at Big T’s carries the ancient and needling chili heat of the oldest Kansas City barbecue—the kind that arrived with Henry Perry and had no mercy. Timothy won’t tell you what’s in it, and some days he doesn’t even serve it. He’ll serve you a mild and sweet version that’s still a little bit hot and not very sweet. As the oldest spots like Arthur Bryant’s pass into the hands of branding companies, Big T’s still carries a flame passed torch to torch through generations. Thin-sliced brisket or ham or turkey with character-filled bark that lets you taste the time it spent in smoke. Spice passed on only in families. Sauce that kicks like the butt of a rifle. And, as we were reminded on a visit one humid June afternoon, some of the best damn french fries in Kansas City. Jones shut down his second location during the pandemic, leaving him free to double down on his original spot. These days his barbecue is as good as we’ve had it. Come on by, but don’t be late. The brisket will sell out, and then the sticky-good ribs. And then you’ll have to come on back. —MATTHEW KORFHAGE KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

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KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Scott’s Kitchen 11920 N. Ambassador Drive KCMO scottskitchenandcatering.com

WHEN IT COMES TO KANSAS CITY BARBECUE,

Scott Umscheid has popped more cherries than an orchard picker in July. “Get off the airport, search for ‘restaurants near me,’ and I’m the closest to the airport,” he laughs. “I just am.” And so diners come in from California or Florida, and Umscheid’s six-year-old Scott’s Kitchen becomes the first barbecue they taste in Kansas City. For all he knows, he’s the first real barbecue they’ve had. But a funny thing began to happen: In a city full of barbecue, those same tourists would come back around to eat at Scott’s again on their way out of town. Kansas City locals, on their way out to some godforsaken smokeless place, might also do the same. Take one bite of Umscheid’s thick-cut and thickbarked brisket, rubbed with a farm’s worth of spices

“ The restaurant industry is full of temptations to take shortcuts.” — s cott umscheid owner and pitmaster

before an overnight smoke, and you’ll know why. Over the years since Umscheid opened, that brisket has been dialed tighter than the instruments on an airplane: tender without being soft, moist without losing an iota of integrity. The secret is no secret. Umscheid does the work. And he puts in the reps. And he refuses to cut a corner. He still peels and zests twenty-four limes to make each batch of coleslaw. His barbecue sauce has too many ingredients, and still he uses them all. It takes him three hours to make it, the same way it did when he was making it in his home garage. He mixes his own brisket rub, which also has too many ingredients in it. He cooks his meat overnight and gives it time. That brisket was already terrific four years ago. By now, it’s the song that meat would sing to itself. The ribs pull back to reveal just enough bone to let you hang on, and each bite pulls off gently as you like. “The restaurant industry is full of temptations to take shortcuts,” Umscheid says. The key is never to indulge them. But sometimes it’s just a matter of knowing when better is better. Last year, Umscheid got invited out to Arrowhead Stadium to cook sausage for thousands of fans. He couldn’t stuff all those sausages himself, so he had to ask the excellent sausage makers at Paradise Locker Meats over in Trimble for some help in making Umscheid’s ghost pepper recipe. Theirs was better. “It had all the flavors we’ve been making forever, but there was extra flavor,” he says. “They nailed the texture in a way we’ve never been able to consistently do.” Now, the sausage at Scott’s comes from Paradise. And when Paradise took that ghost pepper recipe to a sausage conference in Iowa, it promptly won first place. Every time we get off an airplane in Kansas City, we’ll need a damn good reason why Scott’s isn’t one of the first things we eat. —MATTHEW KORFHAGE

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

No.

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RP BARBEC

RUNNING A RESTAURANT is very HARP

Harp Barbecue BAR

BECUE

6633 Raytown Road Raytown harpbarbecue.com

“In my opinion, at its core, barbecue and soul food are the same thing.” — t yler harp owner and pitmaster

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

different from running a pop-up. That’s true of the most successful pop-up in Kansas City history, especially when it’s the only notable restaurant opening in Raytown in a generation. And, yes, those honorifics are owed to Harp Barbecue, which kicked off the current renaissance in KC ’cue and owned the top spot on our last two versions of this list. Harp sits a little lower this time, but not because owner-pitmaster Tyler Harp has lost his touch for world-beating sliced brisket and the best sausages in the city. Rather, the competition has gotten stiffer, and Harp has become a bit less consistent as it’s grown into its own space around the corner from the brewery backroom where it began. The menu at Harp has expanded and shifted as Harp has worked to capture the attention of a local lunch crowd in Raytown in addition to the fleet of crossover SUVs with Kansas plates you can expect on weekends. “The best change we made was definitely putting the fish on the menu,” Harp says. “It’s incredibly popular. It started as a way to have something else on weekdays because just brisket and ribs is very expensive and we were trying to reach a crowd that might not have the same budget to buy a pound of brisket for lunch. That’s how it started, and now it’s pretty cool—a lot of people are adding fish to their tray on Saturday.”

That fried fish is swai, a Vietnamese catfish that’s a little milder than its American cousins. It’s part of a menu expansion helped along by a Soul Food Sunday collab with well-known private chef Jayaun Smith. You’ll also see the soul influence on the sides— greens, macaroni and cheese, and mashed sweet potatoes. “In my opinion, at its core, barbecue and soul food are the same thing,” Harp says. “So it just makes sense to dive into it.” What you won’t see is alcohol. After opening in the back room of Crane Brewing, Harp elected to pass on the easy money of beer sales by not getting a liquor license. “I wanted to build the culture I wanted to build at a barbecue restaurant, and that’s why I decided not to go that route,” he says. “For me, alcohol is just something I do not prefer to be around, so that’s why we don’t do it. It’s just a personal choice. It’s not part of my vision.” These decisions make for a slower, lonelier route than those selected by many other upstart restaurateurs. Harp—one of the most introspective and analytical people you’ll find in a professional kitchen—says he knew the path he was picking would require a slow and steady approach. “To really do what we’re doing in the city we’re doing it in is going to take time,” he says. “I try to tell people you can get into this business if you do it smart and take your time without having to cut up your pie, so to speak.” —MARTIN CIZMAR

Gates Bar-B-Q Five locations around KC. We prefer 1325 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd.

ollie gates owner

KCMO gatesbbq.com

Hall of Famer

GATES

GA T

B-

-B-Q

TES BAR-

No.

I help you?” at Gates Bar-B-Q is just as much a trademark as its smokey sauces and tender burnt ends are. Combine that with the local chain’s seventy-plus years in business and you’ve got a beloved KC institution. Gates owner Ollie Gates is receiving some well-deserved accolades, and not a moment too soon. This past August, Gates got word he’ll be inducted into the Missouri Restaurant Association’s Hall of Fame. Family, friends and the Missouri Restaurant Association surprised Gates at one of his restaurants with the good news. He’ll be formally recognized in February 2024 at the association’s annual gala. The restaurant has been family-owned every step of the way. Ollie is the son of the restaurant’s original owner, George W. Gates, who opened his shop in 1946 under the name of Gates Ol’ Kentucky. In 1956, after earning an engineering degree and serving in the U.S. Army Corps, Ollie became involved in the family business and helped open several more locations. Gates Bar-B-Q now has five locations throughout the metro, each one adorned with a red hood and their “Struttin’ Man” logo decked out in a tuxedo. The engineer turned restaurateur designed his family’s restaurants for better traffic flow and introduced more standardized kitchen practices. Ollie also took the business national, stocking Gates’ famous sauce at local grocery stores and distributing it across the country. Ollie was also inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2021. And yet, it seems like no amount of recognition can fully eulogize the Gates family legacy. The barbecue chain not only elevated the food genre but played a part in making barbecue bigger than anyone could imagine.

since the Truman administration, running long hours seven days a week. There’s rarely a long line. The sandwiches are a great value, especially the nooner lunch special. Perhaps it’s better to think of Gates not as another ranked entry on this list but as a city amenity. Gates is not merely a restaurant serving chopped brisket on a bun with the consensus best sauce in a city known for great sauce. It’s an institution that enriches our civic life. Gates has been serving since Satchel Paige was on the mound for the Monarchs. Every walk of life comes here, all greeted with the same cheery-on-paper-but-not-in-practice offer of assistance. The instantly recognizable Struttin’ Man is part of the city’s visual language. They give jobs to felons who might otherwise struggle to find good work. They—this bears repeating—still make the best base barbecue sauce anywhere. But Gates is on this list not just because every out-of-towner we take here gives a piece of their heart to the city or because any list without it would feel incomplete but because we still love grabbing lunch there as often as anywhere. Gates is the rare restaurant that makes its city a better place to live, and we are so lucky to have it. —MARTIN CIZMAR

BAR-B-Q

T H E R E S O U N D I N G G R E E T I N G of “Hi, may

IT’S TOO EASY to take Gates for granted. The iconic KC barbecue chain has been open

By Tyler Shane

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

WHO IS THE NIGHT GOAT? These days,

NIGHT

No.

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night goat At Fox and Pearl 2143 Summit Street KCMO Sundays only from 11 am to 3 pm

foxandpearlkc.com

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

“ O ver time, as I’ve been doing this, I’ve kinda become the Night Goat.” — v aughn good chef-owner

says Fox and Pearl chef-owner Vaughn Good, it’s probably him. At first it was a feeling. A bit more than two years ago, the Oklahoma native caught that barbecue bug that always seems to be going around Kansas City. He began to spend each sweaty Saturday night huddled by a cabinet smoker he’s since swapped for a hickory-and-oak-fueled offset. He checked his brisket by touch, and watched the colors of smoke, a telltale sign of how dirty the wood is burning. And he blasted “Night Goat” by Seattle sludge band Melvins—a song that might be the precise sound of slow-cooking meat. His barbecue Sunday brunch at Fox and Pearl, Kansas City magazine’s 2019 restaurant of the year, is of course nothing like this feeling. Night Goat is Day Goat, a sunny and perhaps uniquely swanky barbecue experience in this former cowtown, served up with mezcal cocktails or pinkies-up Pimm’s Cups. The neat-barked and accomplished brisket you’ll find there, if you’re smart, will arrive as part of a two-meat platter that includes a tart, crisp jalapeno salsa and rich duck-fat flour tortillas from local maker Caramelo. Your other meat should be sausage, whether jalapeno-cheddar or an earthy, spicy guajillo beef whose expertly emulsified hand-grind straddles the old cowboy values of character and integrity. Good will also show you his cheffy bona fides with a biscuit sandwich that balances the fat and char of smoked pork belly with sweet, tart blackberry jam and the floral nuttiness of smoke-cured cheddar. But the pristine quality of that meat, which Good trims with obsessive-compulsive precision, comes from the time Good spent huddled in the dark. “Over time, as I’ve been doing this, I’ve kinda become the Night Goat,” Good says. Soon, your meaty Night Goat experience will start to feel a little more like his. The Fox and Pearl chef has quietly taken possession of a little speakeasy space in the same building. When they’re done building the place out, Night Goat will indeed happen at night. It will be dark, and underground, and maybe even loud. “It’s going to be a dive bar with barbecue,” Good says. “It’s definitely not going to look like Fox and Pearl.” For now, Night Goat barbecue can be had at Fox and Pearl only on Sundays from 11 am to 3 pm. —MATTHEW KORFHAGE

Joe’s Kansas City BBQ No.

j oy and Jeff stehney owners

3 0 0 2 W. 4 7 t h A v e n u e, K C K E

J O E

joeskc.com

A R B E C

K A N S

AT JOE’S KANSAS CITY THIS SUMMER, we

saw something strange: A table full of large men had gone to the most famous barbecue sandwich spot in Kansas City, and they didn’t order a sandwich. Instead, they ordered a bunch of thin-sliced smoked brisket, ham, turkey and pulled pork. And they had these meats all spread out on a multitude of trays like a collage made of meat—like something they’d seen on a TV show about craft Texas barbecue. Do not do this. Joe’s is not Texas barbecue. The brisket at Joe’s is part of a venerable Kansas City barbecue tradition that finds its true expression in sandwich form. The brisket Z-Man sandwich is what made Joe’s famous, and the brisket Z-Man sandwich is what you should order. The brisket here is sliced thin because that’s what a sandwich demands, not because nobody here knows how to slice it thick and drop it on a plate like they do in that other state. You smoke the brisket slow, you slice it thin and layer it onto a kaiser roll, you top it with smoked provolone and two onion rings, and you slather it with a sweet, tangy sauce famous for hundreds of miles. And then you eat it with a side of some of the city’s best french fries. That—the heavenly composition of all of these things—is why people wait in line for longer than seems reasonable. The brisket Z-Man is a form of magic, a food more than the sum of its parts. Consider it a Kansas miracle that Joe’s can make a thousand of these a day and they all taste this good. Besides, you probably don’t even have to stand in line. Just show up a half hour before Joe’s is officially open and you’ll discover they’re secretly open anyway. The door’s unlocked. Locals know this the same way they know to order the sandwich—and that Kansas City isn’t Texas. —MATTHEW KORFHAGE

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

C I T Y

3Halves Brewing 1 1 0 E. K a n s a s S t r e e t Liberty 3halvesbrewingco.com

IT’S BEEN A ROUGH FEW YEARS for

almost everyone in the restaurant industry, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any place that has had more turbulence than 3Halves. In April 2021, the brewery navigated the passing of founding brewer Rodney Beagle, one of the most beloved personalities in the KC beer scene. A little over a year later, the brewery just off the town square in Liberty weathered the departure of food partner Jousting Pigs, a standout barbecue pit that elected not to renew its lease in order to focus on a second location at the Legends, which later closed. And yet everything at 3Halves was great on a recent visit. And the barbecue has never been better. Owner John Kennebeck was not a professional cook or brewer before opening this spot. Rather, he was in the popcorn business. His family owned K&W Popcorn, based in the Missouri town of Trenton, where Kennebeck started working at age fourteen. The company sold to a competitor, and Kennebeck worked with the buyer for a few years before leaving to do something else. One Saturday morning, he happened across Aaron Franklin’s barbecue show on PBS. “It completely changed my perspective,” Kennebeck says. “That’s when I really got serious about what I was doing.” Getting serious can be a humbling journey. “I’ve ruined a metric shit-ton of brisket,” he says. “And I had no real intentions of being in this business. But I had cooked barbecue for catering events and things like that, and I really enjoyed it.”

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

“ I’m always in the kitchen making stuff up.” — j ohn kennebeck owner

Rather than open with his own ’cue, Kennebeck teamed with upstart Jousting Pigs. When that operation didn’t renew its lease, 3Halves bought some of the kitchen equipment to make its own food. The plan had been pub fare, but customers expected ’cue. So Kennebeck set to work—but with new smokers, having replaced gas-assisted Ole Hickory’s with wood-only devices made in Dallas by A.N. Bewley Fabricators (see sidebar). “We went from using the Ole Hickory rotisserie-style gas smokers to live fire,” Kennebeck says. “It was kind of a shotgun start for us. We developed all of our recipes and our menu in three days.” The results are great. Perfectly taut ribs and tender Texas brisket both impressed, and there’s a welcome nod to the pub-grub plan in the form of fried cheese curds and a smash burger. The key to 3Halves not only surviving but thriving through tumultuous times has been what Kennebeck calls a “collective effort,” with everyone on staff contributing to the menu. The wasabi coleslaw, for example, is a recipe from brewer Bucky Buckingham. Kennebeck is “always back in the kitchen making stuff up”— experimenting with buffalo brisket cheese curds and an ice cream sundae made with hand-churned ice cream and barbecue sauce. “Some of these are things I’ve played around with over the years, but they weren’t necessarily up to the quality of a restaurant,” he says. “Our entire team pitched in and we tweaked a thing here or a thing there. We’re constantly making changes and trying to find different things we can do.” —MARTIN CIZMAR

Bewley? Bewley?

No.

T H E R E A R E M A N Y WAYS TO S M O K E M E AT.

3HAL

BREWI

BREW

As such, you’ll find all types of rigs running in local restaurants, from propane-powered Ole Hickory Pits at spots like Slaps in KCK to the ancient lockerstyle smoker at LC’s on Blue Parkway. We saw both of those again while making this list, but we’ve admitted a preference for live-fire pits like offset smokers, which give a smokey flavor that’s hard to match over gas or pellets. The pit that surprised us the most, though, is one that’s otherwise unknown in KC but common in Texas. That’s the hyper-efficient log-burning pit built by A.N. Bewley Fabricators of Dallas. The only pit in the area—probably the only one between Chicago and Dallas—can now be found at 3Halves in Liberty. Owner John Kennebeck drove to Dallas to haul back the pit himself. “It was the game-changer for us,” Kennebeck says. “It’s what’s taken us from what I would have considered to be decent barbecue to some of the best in the city.” Bewley pits are super-insulated and very efficient. They’re heated by wood fire with no gas backup—three or four logs can power it overnight. At 3Halves, the fire rarely goes out. They finish cooking at noon and then load it back up at 4 pm. “I don’t think it’s been extinguished completely in a couple of weeks,” Kennebeck says. “The amount of smoke we can get on a piece of meat without oversmoking it is just incredible. It creates a superior product, in my opinion.” We are inclined to agree.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

3HAL

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Chase County Kansas heartoftheflinthills.com Mark your calendar for October 6th and 7th for activities in Cottonwood Falls and Strong City during their two-day 150thanniversary celebration. Weekend highlights include a Victorian grand ball, fireworks and live entertainment featuring Michael Martin Murphey. There are also kid-friendly activities with the Kidzone, a caricature artist and model train display. Food and drink vendors will be on hand, along with a beer garden. Rounding out the celebration are the car show, 5k run, parade, time capsule, historical displays and tours of the historic courthouse from Frances and Dot — formerly the Towle sisters. The sisters are the daughters of a former Chase County Sheriff who lived in the courthouse. All activities are free!

Finley Farms finleyfarmsmo.com For the quintessential fall experience, head to Finley Farms in Ozark, MO. Located only 10 minutes outside of Springfield, it is the perfect pit stop as you make your way through the Ozarks. The sprawling historic property features an urban farm, multiple restaurants, and a charming coffee shop. To welcome Fall, Finley Farms has curated a seasonal menu of five diverse lattes at The Workshop. Pictured is the Creamy Caramel Cider, which is also a crowd favorite.

FALL FAVORITES

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St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station stlouisaquarium.com The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station is being invaded by pirates and a spooky patch of magnificently carved pumpkins this fall. "Pirates & Pumpkins," a new family adventure is open until October 31st with special activities on Fridays and Saturdays. Pirate-themed scenes, a ghost ship with smoking, booming cannons, and an exciting treasure hunt await you inside the Aquarium, so guests can take a self-guided tour through a highly themed wonderland of treasure caves and grottos. At the end of the quest, only the bravest adventurers can sit at the Pirate King's Throne for a triumphant picture. Kids who complete the hunt will get a sweet reward at the end of their journey. "Pirates & Pumpkins" is included with admission to the Aquarium. Tickets are available online.

Cinder Block Brewery cinderblockbrewery.com It’s football season and for many, Sundays are scheduled for the Chiefs, but not on their bye week! Mark your calendar for Sunday, October 15, and come out for Cinder Block Brewery’s annual Fall Cider Fest. They’ll be offering cider flights with six experimental flavors of fall. Guests who purchase a flight can vote for their favorite, and the most popular cider becomes the next official seasonal cider. For all those that participate, they’ll also be entered into a drawing for a chance to win two cases of Fresh Pressed Cider, one of Cinder Block's favorites. The afternoon will be filled with live music, a food truck, hot cider cocktails, and s’mores on the patio. Festivities begin at 1:00.

Silver Dollar City silverdollarcity.com Featuring thousands of lit pumpkins by night, dozens of visiting acclaimed craftsmen, makers, and artisans by day, and an all-new twinkling lantern canopy sky, fall is in full swing at Silver Dollar City’s Harvest Festival in Branson, shining through October 28. With over 10,000 illuminated pumpkins radiating through the streets of the 1880s theme park at night, The City shines brighter than ever, paired with all-age dance parties in the Pumpkin Plaza. Each day visiting artisans from across the country demonstrate their own unique crafts, including Yellowstone and Gunsmoke star Buck Taylor, showcasing his acclaimed artwork. Go online for all the details.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Chatting with Charlie

A Kansas City author reconstructs the life of his centenarian neighbor, giving readers a peek into KC’s past and lessons in resiliency. By Hampton Stevens Photograph by Jeremey Theron Kirby

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

David Von Drehle

wrote a book about Kansas City. Sort of.

Von Drehle, an enormously accomplished journalist and author who’s currently a columnist and deputy opinion editor at the Washington Post, wrote The Book of Charlie.

First spread: Author David Von Drehle at home in Kansas City and Charlie White as a centerian. This page: From top left to right, Charlie White in his youth outside the family home on Campbell Street; White as a doctor in the Army Air Corps during World War II; White as head of the medical staff at the old Baptist Hospital.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Book of Charlie tells the story of Von Drehle’s remarkable neighbor, Charlie White. For one hundred and nine extraordinary years spent as a doctor, musician, vagabond and bon vivant, Charlie grew up in—and along with—our city. It was a life of stunning sweep. This is a man born before the invention of penicillin, for goodness sake, who lived long enough to see heart transplants and laser surgery. More than a biography, though, The Book of Charlie is a volume of inspirational wisdom. A beautifully crafted meditation on perseverance and fortitude, Von Drehle explores how Charlie’s resilient heart, agile mind and, most of all, his amazing ability to embrace change helped him thrive through an astonishing century of upheaval. Von Drehle meets me at Front Range Coffee in Fairway, Kansas. Tall, with a clean-shaven head, Von Drehle wears a loose, striped polo shirt and khaki trousers. We sit outside under a temperate sun. A young couple planning a trip somewhere sits at the table beside us, with glossy brochures and a travel guide spread before them. Von Drehle moved to Kansas City from Washington D.C. in 2007, he tells me, after his wife, journalist Karen Ball, started having health problems. With four kids and one income, they needed somewhere more affordable than D.C. Ball, a Kansas City native, brought her family home. “But I’ve fallen in love with Kansas City,” Von Drehle says. “It’s a terrific place.” That love is evident in The Book of Charlie. It brims with firsthand bits of civic history, from young Charlie watching the construction of Union Station to his adventures in the jazzy, boozy, wide-open town that flourished under the Pendergast machine. I can’t help but wonder, though, how all that local history translates to a national audience. Why would the rest of the country care about Charlie’s brushes with, say, Ewing Kauffman, J.C. Nichols and Joyce Hall?

ALL CHARLIE WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS PROVIDED

A S L I M B I O G R A P H Y that reads more like a parable, The

Von Drehle smiles, amused but not surprised by the question. He mentions our city’s “charming modesty.” Kansas City, as he puts it in the book, “is a place where the skies are bigger than the egos.” That modesty, however, also has a downside—what Drehle calls “an unbecoming inferiority complex.” My question about the national audience, he says, “sort of reflects the idea that, well, maybe Kansas City isn’t important and there’s no reason why other Americans would want or need to know the history of the middle of the country.” He believes they do. When Charlie was born, he reminded me, Kansas City was bigger than Los Angeles, Seattle or Atlanta. Our city was “a bit like the San Jose of the late 19th, early 20th century. It was a place where people came to seek their fortune.” Or, at the very least, where they would pass through on their way to find it. He calls our town “the exciting, dynamic way station between the farm and the future.” “That moment needs to be described now,” he says, “one hundred years later, because Kansas City is potentially coming into another version of that moment.” As more people are able to work from anywhere, Von Drehle believes they’ll take a closer look at the pros and cons of different spots around the country. Many, he says, will choose our city as home. He notes how visitors are always surprised by Kansas City, particularly by how pretty it is. “And I tell them, look, there’s always been money in Kansas City, tons of money,” Von Drehle says. “But pretty early on, people realized they were very far away from other places. You know, far away from the ocean, far away from the mountains, far away from all these different places of recreation. And they made a conscious decision. ‘We’re going to make this a nice place to live as well as a lucrative place to live.’” So they did. The abundance of parks, boulevards and fountains here speaks to their success. As the conversation winds down, my coffee gone, Von Drehle and I share a charming little moment. The couple next to us rises to leave but stops by our table. They had been eavesdropping, it turns out, and ask if Von Drehle wrote The Book of Charlie. They proceed to rave about it, saying “everybody’s reading it.” The young woman then shares some distant connection she has to Charlie’s family. Von Drehle is visibly flattered by the praise. It’s a charming exchange, lovely and true—the sort of thing you can only get in a city that’s big enough to have strangers, yet small enough for them to discover mutual friends. Meaningful and life-affirming, it was a quick, pure moment of human kindness and connection. Charlie would have loved it.

As more people are able to work from anywhere, Von Drehle believes they’ll take a closer look at the pros and cons of different spots around the country. Many, he says, will choose our city as home.

Excerpts David Von Drehle initially set out to write an amusing and captivating fictional book for his children, but try as he might, it wasn’t meant to be. Rather he wrote about the extraordinary life-story of his neighbor and friend.

“A F AT H E R H O P E S to be as extraordinary as his young-

sters, in their innocence, imagine him to be, so that they need never become disillusioned with him. Perhaps some fathers accomplish that. As for me, my children matured, took notice of their father’s shortcomings, and gave up asking for a book written just for them. But now, here it is. Admittedly, this is not the book they wanted. While there are plenty of exploits and perils and tragedies and amusements in the pages to come, none of them involve castles or pirate ships or even much tender romance. The main character has undeniable charms, but he’s no hero, certainly no superhero. This book is bereft of wizards, crime-solving orphans, time travel, or empathetic talking spiders. It’s not the book they asked for, but I believe it is a book they will need. For this is a book about surviving, even thriving, through adversity and revolutionary change.”

“ ‘ I D O N ’ T R E M E M B E R being awfully happy,’ he once

said of his boyhood, but he chose not to dwell on unhappiness. As he put it, ‘We didn’t have time to be sad.’ In this attitude, Charlie manifested a precocious Stoicism. He would not be a slave to the actions, decisions, fates, or offenses of others.”

“ T H E G A N G S T E R ’ S G I R L F R I E N D offered to pay hand-

somely for last ditch heroics. So, digging into the ambulance supplies, Charlie produced a length of rubber tubing and two IV needles. Plunging one needle into his own arm and the other into the arm of the dying man, Charlie and the moll watched as the rubber tube filled with Charlie’s blood. Whether the patient and his would-be healer had compatible blood types would never be known, because the rash experiment failed to save the wounded man. But the bereaved girlfriend was moved by the attempt and, true to her word, she produced a wad of cash from which she peeled a generous sum and pressed the bills into Charlie’s hand.”

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

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, Fall is upon us, and so are the delicious seasonal food and drink options that KC is delivering. From cider to seasonal cocktails and the comfort of barbeque, turn the page and explore some of the seasonal options you can eat in or carry out to satisfy those cool-time cravings.

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HOLLADAY DISTILLERY fivefarmsirishcream.com Five Farms Irish Cream is the world’s first farm-to-table Irish cream liqueur. Crafted from cream to bottle in County Cork, Ireland, it derives its name from the five family-owned farms that provide the single-batch dairy cream for the recipe. Once the cream has been collected, it is combined with premium triple-distilled Irish whiskey within 48 hours. Serve chilled and neat, pour over coffee, or mix into a delicious dessert cocktail such as the Five Farms Pumpkin Pie Martini. Five Farms Irish Cream is a premium brand of the Holladay Distillery and is available for purchase throughout the Kansas City metro area.

HAYWARD’S BBQ

UPPER CRUST BAKERY

haywardspitbarbque.menufy.com

uppercrustpiebakery.com

Football season is in full swing, and this KC-inspired cocktail is one you’ll want to add to your gameday festivities. Stop into Hayward’s and spice up your meal with a Burnt End Bloody Mary. It’s a flavorful combination that features Hayward’s popular burnt ends, 360 KC BBQ Vodka and their very own Bloody Mary mix rimmed with a special seasoning. The kicker is in the toppings, which are a colorful presentation of a dilled pickle, cherry tomato, green pepper, olive and a slice of lime. This is a mouthful of flavorful balance that is sure to become a gameday or any day favorite!

BLIND BOX BBQ blindboxbbq.com Blind Box BBQ is offering an elevated take on the classic charcuterie board, barbecue style. The Butcher’s Block consists of a sampling of in-house smoked meats – including Baby Back and Spareribs, Beef Brisket, and Sausage Medallions – accompanied by a curated selection of seasonal cheeses and fresh fruit. Designed as the perfect starter, The Butcher’s Block provides a dining centerpiece that is as beautiful as it is delicious. This must-have menu item is available at both the Shawnee and Village West Blind Box BBQ locations, and as a catering option for special events.

Fall is upon us and it’s time to celebrate the season with a twist on the classic apple pie. Upper Crust Bakery, known for its unique and flavorful offerings, has created the perfect dessert to satisfy your taste for autumn with their Apple Sour Cream Pie. The layers of apples are combined with a mixture of spiced sour cream for just the right blend of sweet and spice. It’s available in a 9” pie, serving six to eight, or stop in and purchase a single slice---sharing is optional! As a recent winner in the Best of KC reader’s poll, you’ll want to check out this winner and their other harvest time pies.

FIVE FARMS PUMPKIN PIE MARTINI 2 oz | Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur 1.5 oz | Vanilla Flavored Vodka 0.5 oz | Pumpkin Pie Syrup Add Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur, vanilla flavored vodka, pumpkin pie syrup, and ice to a shaker. Shake for 20 – 30 seconds until chilled and strain into a chilled martini glass. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Sláinte!

BEER KITCHEN beerkitchen.com

Photo Credit: Elaine Van Buskirk

CINDERBLOCK BREWERY cinderblockbrewery.com Fall is upon us and so is the Festbier at Cinder Block Brewery. You may remember Northtown Native, the first beer ever brewed at Cinder Block. They have brought this well-balanced brew back with a Dortmunder twist as a fall, seasonal offering. Its golden amber appearance delivers a light, refreshing, full bodied ale taste. It’s time for Oktoberfest, so stop in to try it on tap at the brewery and other local retailers. Also available in liquor stores through the end of October. 5.2% ABV. Use the Beer Finder on the Cinder Block website to locate Northtown Native at your local bars & retailers in Kansas and Missouri!

Satisfy your Kansas City barbecue craving with one of Beer Kitchen’s “Damn Good Burgers” - the Smokestack Burger. This customer favorite showcases a custom blend of locally sourced Hertzog’s short rib and brisket, piled high with smoked burnt ends. Each bite is an explosion of flavor with toppings like smoked gouda, chipotle aioli, pickle relish, crispy jalapeño straws and a delicious whiskey BBQ glaze. When you’re in Westport, this is a must-try on the menu, along with a basket of their popular Truffle Parmesan Hand-Cut Fries. Top it off with an ice-cold beer from the extensive beer menu, or a BK Bloody Mary for the perfect lunch or dinner in KC’s original gastropub.

A MODERN TAKE ON CLASSIC,

Kansas City-style BBQ VISIT ONE OF OUR TWO LOCATIONS TO EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE: SHawnee

Village West

13214 W. 62nd Terr. | Shawnee, KS 66216

1601 Village West Pkwy. | Kansas City, KS 66111

WE CATER!

BLINDBOXBBQ.COM

EATING AND DRINKING WELL IN KANSAS CITY

TASTE Bull’s Eye OWNERS OF FOX AND BULL BAKING

PHOTOGRAPH BY JILLIAN BODE

CO. ARE MAKING THEIR MARK.

They come for the cinnamon rolls and stay for the company. Open for a little over a year now, Fox and Bull Baking Co. (10510 Grandview Road, KCMO) took over an abandoned building and, after a seven-month DIY renovation, turned it into a bakery cafe. It’s now become a local gathering spot—something the owners are quite proud of. “It’s warm and welcoming,” says co-owner Christopher Fox Wilson. “We know almost everyone that comes in. Wilson and fellow co-owner Daniel Del Toro (toro is Spanish for bull) are the eponymous duo behind this thriving neighborhood hangout. Prior to opening their storefront, Wilson and Toro were selling their pastries and other goodies wholesale at local shops, coffee houses and farmers markets. They try to use local products as much as possible when creating their concoctions, such as Marion Milling’s flour that’s stone-milled in the West Bottoms and local artisan vanilla extract producer Vain Foods Vanilla, which uses high-end liqueurs. Some customer favorites are the lemon blueberry donut—a brioche donut filled with whipped lemon custard and topped with a blueberry buttercream—and a spiced cake donut with lots of nutmeg and ginger. –DAWNYA BARTSCH KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

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84 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

IT’S A SMALL WORLD

Our food critic tried every food vendor at the Lenexa Public Market BY TYLER SHANE PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

Pictured: 1 Topp’d Pizza + Salads 2 Cosmo Burger 3 Red Kitchen 4 Kimchi and Bap 5 Sohaila’s Kitchen 6 African Dream Cuisine

KANSASCITYMAG.COM OCTOBER 2023

TA S T E R E V I E W

COSMO BURGER

H E L M E D B Y C H E F Jacob Kruger, Cosmo

N I T S B E G I N N I N G D AY S , when the Lenexa Public Market was still

figuring out what it wanted to be, it was a hodgepodge of independent merchants hawking everything from tea towels and T-shirts to coffee and the occasional tamale. I know because I moved into an apartment across the street in 2017, the year it opened. The market was still finding its footing in the previously dormant suburban area. Part of Lenexa’s new city center—a massive development spearheaded by the city to create a “new downtown,”—the Lenexa Public Market (8750 Penrose Lane, Lenexa) has since established itself as an international food hall—and it’s blossoming. As it stands now, the variety is astounding. The south wall alone offers authentic West African, Korean and Pakistani dishes. According to the market’s manager, Tessa Adcock, accumulating the market’s current spread of worldly cuisines was a natural process. The market has turned into an ideal place for aspiring chefs to set up shop without much overhead and see if they can make a go of it. As the market has evolved, so has the food. Lenexa’s market has a solid track record of businesses that have flourished under its roof. The Taiwanese street food restaurant Chewology (which we named our Best New Restaurant in 2022) and Kate Smith Soirée’s bakery both started their journey at the market before graduating to brick-and-mortar shops in Westport and downtown Overland Park, respectively. It’s a place to keep your eye on for up-and-comers in KC’s food scene. Six food stalls, and Mr. D’s Coffee, the caffeinated sister business to Mr. D’s Donuts, serve everything from curries and burgers to gelato and authentic street tacos. It’s as if you’re visiting the food court at the United Nations.

AFRICAN DREAM CUISINE

“ N O T S P I C Y ” I S the message displayed

across the TV screen hovering over this onehundred-square-foot kitchen space. Husband and wife Neba Ngwa and Stella Musongong aren’t sure why so many Midwesterners believe African food is inherently spicy. They assure you theirs isn’t. Musongong and Ngwa cook the way their grandmothers did in Cameroon—with whole ingredients that ooze rich flavor all on their own. Spicy isn’t an accurate description, but savory is. Kongla fried rice, stews and vegetables make up African Dream Cuisine’s core menu. I ordered chicken stew with corn fufu, a starchy, almost doughy neutral-tasting food. On Musongong’s recommendation, I wadded up the fufu and used the small

86 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

balls to sop up the stew. It was one of my first times trying fufu, and what impressed me more than the novelty of it all was the incredibly bright and fresh flavors that shined through despite the dish’s heartiness. The smoked beef brisket was a little dry, but that didn’t stop me from devouring it along with the steamed potatoes and robust red pepper sauce. Ngwa used to smoke his meats onsite, but the limited kitchen space proved too challenging. He now uses an offsite smoker but it’s a process he is still trying to figure out, he says. African Dream’s delicious sides are integral to help cut through the meaty entrees. The cabbage was perfectly crunchy, and the subtly sweet fried plantains complimented the many savory dishes.

Burger doesn’t stray too far from its niche: a beefy smash burger and crispy tater tots. Aside from a vegan variation and the occasional special, that’s all you’ll find on the burger merchant’s menu. That’s also all you’ll need to feel satisfied. The trademark burger consists of a greasy patty, house-brined pickles, grilled onions, melted cheese and a special sauce all smashed together on a soft potato bun. You won’t miss fries. Golden brown tater tots make the perfect pairing. I’ve indulged in plenty of Kruger’s trademark burgers (they’re my favorite in KC) at his original spot in Waldo’s Dodson’s Bar. Kruger took over the bar’s kitchen in 2020, wowing customers with his burgers. Unlike the dark, moody Dodson’s venue, Cosmo’s market location takes on a fresh design with neon lights and a full bar. Recently, the burger joint has started canning its own cocktails in Lenexa Market’s upstairs kitchen, a space typically used to host pop-ups. I ordered the $8 watermelon tequila cocktail and, like many canned cocktails, it’s not exactly the most wellrounded drink.

SOHAILA’S KITCHEN

S O H A I L A H U M AY O N is not such a big fan

of her butter chicken bowl, but others sure are. “It’s too sweet,” she says. It’s also not a traditional dish from Humayon’s home country of Pakistan, which is distinguished by its spicy flavors. But when Humayon and her children were developing recipes, they wanted to offer something approachable and less spicy for the Midwestern palate. The bed of basmati rice smothered with chicken and a creamy orange sauce is the Pakistani food stall’s best seller. I found the chicken a bit dry, but it wasn’t anything the rich tomato-based sauce couldn’t compensate for. I was more interested in the menu items that are less apologetic representations of Humayon’s roots. With the rest of the menu, Humayon lets her hair down, so to speak, especially on the weekends when she makes traditional Pakistani fare like the aromatic karahi keema (a tomato curry with ground beef) and channa paratha rolls (chickpeas tossed with a chutney, spicy slaw and stuffed into a flaky flatbread with raw red onions). Both dishes wowed with their depth of flavor yet maintained a refreshing quality. The samosas are not to be passed over. They’re huge, crispy and delicious.

TOPP’D PIZZA + SALADS

I S A W F A M I L I E S with littles ones making the most out of free kids’ pizza night at Topp’d,

and almost all of them finished it off with a scoop of gelato. It’s definitely a fun and easy spot to take the kids. For me, with such an array of exotic dishes directly across the hall, I thought a standard pizza and salad stall might be a hard sell. But chef Chad Talbott has been with the Lenexa Public Market since the beginning, and his offerings are familiar and comfortable. The pizzas have a hand-tossed thin crust, and Talbott doesn’t skimp on the ingredients. I decided to forgo personalizing my pizza and try the stall’s signature pie, a red sauce base loaded with melty cheese, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives and red onions. It was quick and satisfying. The same goes for the Greek salad. The toasted Italian sub was fine, but I’d suggest sticking to the pies.

KIMCHI AND BAP

RED KITCHEN

the newest addition to the Lenexa Public Market’s swath of food vendors. The menu remains small, but the rice-and-veggie-heavy dishes should not be underestimated. Currently, the main offerings are bibimbap and japchae. One of Korean food’s highlights is its expertly seasoned vegetables, and Hamblen does not disappoint. In the bibimbap, carrots, bean sprouts, spinach, cucumbers, bracken (an earthy vegetable with a meaty texture) and more sit on a bed of fluffy rice, yet the veggies maintain a crunchy quality, with each one delivering a complex flavor. The steamed egg and tender beef bulgogi create a whirlwind of umamibased richness. The japchae consists of sweet potato noodles stir-fried with vegetables and served alongside rice and your choice of marinated beef or chicken. With a drizzle of gochujang sauce, it makes for a great comfort dish. Another perk of Korean food is great leftovers. Leaving Hamblen’s dishes to sit, mingle and marinate only enhances their heavenly flavors.

her tamales at Lenexa Public Market in 2017 as a pop-up. Now, she sells her authentic Mexican food out of a large space in the northeast corner of the market, and you can still snag her famous tamales to take home from the neighboring self-serve fridge. Tex-Mex aficionados won’t find chips and salsa but instead classic flavors and dishes from de la Fuente’s Mexico City upbringing. Red Kitchen’s homey items like burritos, stacked tostadas and street tacos are hard not to love. The tacos de guisado come with white rice in corn tortillas and a choice of toppings. I recommend the chorizo and potatoes. The sharp and slightly spicy flavor is mellowed with white rice. If you try anything from Red Kitchen, it should be the chilaquiles served only on weekends for breakfast and lunch. The tortilla chips, sauteed in a red chile sauce, are simultaneously crunchy and soft and mingle with salsa verde, crema, shredded chicken and raw onions. It is a roller coaster ride of textures and pungent flavors. Customers waiting in line for food “oohed and awed” when they saw my order. It was delicious.

L I S A H A M B L E N ’ S traditional Korean fare is

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TA S T E DR I N K

HAZY HOPS F R I C T I O N B E E R C O . (11018 Johnson Dr, Shawnee,

KS) isn’t worried about hazy IPAs going out of style. In fact, they only see possibilities. The new downtown Shawnee brewery’s owners Nathan Ryerson and Brent Anderson were brewing hazy IPAs seven years ago when the genre burst onto the scene. A hazy beer, as the name implies, is a beer with a purposefully cloudy appearance. While they’re considered cheugy, or outdated, by beer nerds, Ryerson and Anderson are sticking by hazies. Head brewer Ryerson’s Sugalumps hazy IPA packs an intense aromatic and sweet punch. That’s due to Ryerson’s addition of thiolized yeast. This fairly new genetically engineered strain transforms the compounds in malt and hops, creating tropical flavors like guava and grapefruit.

90 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

“They’re bringing out new flavors in hops that we haven’t been able to find before.”

“They’re the evolution of what yeasts are becoming,” Ryerson says. “They’re bringing out new flavors in hops that we haven’t been able to find before.” Omega Yeast, a leading company in yeast production for craft brewing, has been diligently researching the process behind the flavor-producing agent in thiolized yeast, and the company still has much to learn, it says. For the two owners, this nebulous space only lends itself toward possibilities—an optimal future for Ryerson’s experimental brewing style, which has recently produced strawberry blonde ales and maple coffee stouts. Neither of the owners seems to really care about what’s ‘in’ or ‘out.’ With science on their side, there’s always a new frontier to explore.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ZACH BAUMAN

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TA S T E PER FECT DAY

P E R F E C T DAY Farmers Market: Either Overland Park Farmers Market or Ivanhoe Farmers Market. Both are wonderful at engaging with the community, and I love that you can get to know and love the farmers at both markets. Ivanhoe has had some incredible classes, contests and harvest days where they harvest the garden and give produce to the neighbors in the community. Cheese: If in Weston, Green Dirt Farm for sure. I’m grabbing Prairie Tomme and all the fresh cheeses. Otherwise, I’ll go to The Better Cheddar for cheeses made from small artisan producers around the country. I usually end my cheese excursions at Whole Foods in the scrap bin. Oh, and I also love getting quark, a soft, spreadable cheese, from Mr. Hemme of Hemme Brothers Creamery at the OP Farmers Market. He told me to add honey to the quark and it is so delicious! It’s hard to eat it plain now. Fancy Dinner: The Antler Room is always what I need it to be, no matter the occasion. Lazia comes in as a very close second. For me, it’s neck and neck with The Town Company. Both places push me to try something new, and they make my chef brain smile with the innovative flavors and textures of the dishes. These restaurants make me proud to spend money there with the way they treat their teams and care for ingredients.

APPETITE FOR LEARNING Chef and podcast host Natasha Bailey shares her perfect day in KC. TYLER SHANE N ATA S H A B A I L E Y I S a bit of a culinary renaissance woman. Currently, she’s the executive

chef at the nonprofit Thelma’s Kitchen, but you may have heard the KC native’s voice on her KCUR podcast Hungry For MO or seen her smiling on a Whole Foods sign representing Green Dirt Farm’s award-winning sheep milk cheese. No matter the endeavor, Bailey believes food is a tool for building community. She was introduced to the ripple effects of food early in her childhood when she would help her grandpa deliver Meals on Wheels to the elderly. “It made me aware that food brings people together,” Bailey says. Her grandpa was an avid hunter and always had a garden.

KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

“I always knew where food came from.” From being a vegan chef at the Plaza’s vegetarian restaurant Eden Alley to making artisan cheese at Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Bailey is always looking to expand her culinary repertoire. At Thelma’s Kitchen, Bailey continues to challenge herself by creating health-focused lunch boxes for her customers. All profits go to provide social and mental health services for the Troost community. “We give people dignity and choice,” Bailey says. Sometimes you don’t have a choice in what’s happening, but you can come into Thelma’s Kitchen and get whatever you want. You choose what you get.” Taking her insatiable curiosity to a different medium, Bailey collaborates with local food writer Jenny Vergara on their podcast Hungry For MO (available to listen anywhere you listen to podcasts). The KCUR segment is dedicated to exploring Missouri’s food and history. An episode may cover George Washington Carver’s devotion to agriculture or the endangered native chinquapin nut and the group of people trying to save it. A cookbook, of course, is in the works. It’s dedicated to recipes with black walnuts and cheese. Bailey is aware of the strange flavor profile but, per usual, she’s letting her curiosity take the lead on this one.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ZACH BAUMAN

Dessert: Tiramisu and a bomba from Bella Napoli or a chocolate chip toffee cookie from Thelma’s Kitchen.

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TA S T E B I T E S

The House

Bar Medici

The brains behind a few of KC’s most trendy bars plan to open a Florence-inspired restaurant

WHAT’S NEW IN KANSAS CITY FOOD & DRINK

BY T Y L E R S H A N E

Funky dive bar reopens with new look and menu Wanting a new look and feel, the owner of the quirky neighborhood bar The House closed shop for a bit and retooled. Now owner Malisa Monyakula is open for business. “I’ve always loved the community feel in Westwood and am so thrilled to reopen our tiny little neighborhood bar,” says Monyakula, who also owns Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop. After knocking down a wall to create a more open space, the bar in the little blue house that sits right next to Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop’s Westwood location opened once again. The House (2707 W. 47th Ave. Westwood, KS), which seats only twenty, will now serve Lulu’s full drink and food menu, too. When it originally opened in 2021, it served just beer, wine and mixed drinks.

94 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

The interior has been fitted with “funky furniture and decor to match the quaint and quirky vibe it’s known for,” says Monyakula, who adds that customers can pick vintage records for staff to play on record players. An outdoor fire pit seats up to fifty. “As a small, women-owned business, we’re always looking for ways to support other small local businesses, so we’re very excited to feature local artists’ work at The House,” Monyakula says. “Every one to two months, we’ll switch out the artwork to feature another local artist. We want this to be a gathering place where everyone feels at home and welcome to come relax with a yard beer and enjoy vintage records.” The House is open Fridays and Saturdays from 5–11 pm and Sundays from 2–9 pm.

Private dining and bar opens in KC

A new restaurant with a private club is bringing a popular business model seen in larger cities to KC. Privee Restaurant and Lounge (700 Southwest Blvd., KCMO) is a fine dining restaurant, bar lounge and private members-only club in a massive nine-thousand-square-foot space that had been sitting vacant for nearly three years after housing clubs such as Casa Grande and 7Hundred. “Instead of having to go to the Capital Grille then leave and go to Monarch Bar, we put them all in the same place,” says Privee co-owner Tim Harris. “We wanted to give Kansas City a venue that they’re likely not ‘privy’ to.” Harris, a KC native, met his business partner, New York-born Marcus Easy, while working together at Cerner in 2016. Inspired by the upscale venues in larger cities, Harris and Easy opened Privee in early August. The restaurant is open to the general public, but for $250 a

ZACH BAUMAN; PROVIDED

NEWSFEED

Bar Medici is expected to open in the Crossroads this November (1800 Walnut St., Suite 100, KCMO) and is the sister business to highend cocktail joints like The Mercury Room and The Monarch Bar. A full bar menu with wine, beer and, of course, cocktails will be featured, but Medici’s menu is taking its inspiration from Southern Italy and the Mediterranean. “Unlike our other concepts, we will be offering a full lunch, dinner and brunch menu,” says Amanda Williams of Exit Strategy, the hospitality management group behind the new restaurant. “We will also offer coffee, tea and gelato. “The cocktails are curated to pair with small plates and food versus highlighting solely cocktails,” Williams says. The new restaurant will be on the ground level of Reverb luxury apartments in the same building as The Mercury Room. Bar Medici is being designed by Manica Architecture, who also designed The Mercury Room’s interior. Inspired by the Medici family, the restaurant will feature the window arches of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and the dots from the Medici family crest.

TA S T E B I T E S

Privee Restaurant and Lounge

“Our goal is to be a premier spot for Mexican food in KC,” says Tacos Valentina co-owner Roger Avila. “There’s a whole world of regional varieties that have yet to be introduced to KC, so expect a super-unique experience.” The former pop-up is more than just your average taco vendor. Tacos Valentina is a “molino concept, meaning we mill our own masa using imported Mexican heirloom corn,” Avila says. Along with playful and unique street tacos, customers can expect hand-pressed quesadillas, burritos, tetelas (delicious triangular pockets of masa filled with various foods, often beans), botanas (small snacks), desserts and more. There will also be vegan and vegetarian options. A collaboration beer between Torn Label and Tacos Valentina will always be on tap— Oro Especial, a Mexican lager. Taking over the brewery’s kitchen means “everything being pumped out [at Torn Label] will be our recipes as well as recipes produced by our staff,” Avila says.

month, Black Card members get exclusive perks like valet parking, a wine club and access to the upstairs Jade Room. The private club will also have security and a dress code. According to the owners, the private club is for collaborating and networking. Restaurants with private clubs have long been popular in larger cities. Executive chef Jonathan Wilson’s fromscratch menu focuses on seafood and steaks. Entrees like jerked teriyaki salmon, grilled lamb chops and herb-crusted chicken breasts stay in the $30 range, but for those wanting to splurge, there’s a $130 seafood tower and $200 tomahawk steak. Tacos Valentina

A taco pop-up shop found a permanent home behind a bar

After nearly two years of popping up around the metro, the taqueria Tacos Valentina has found a permanent kitchen to sling its authentic tacos. The taco makers will be taking over the Torn Label Brewing Co. kitchen (1708 Campbell St., KCMO) and transforming its traditional bar menu into innovative masa-based eats.

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From roasting to retail

Owners of a local wholesale farm-to-coffee roasting company plan to let their fair trade roasts take center stage at a new Crossroads coffee and retail shop. Christopher Oppenhuis and Mark Sappington of Marcell Coffee will be opening Take Care (419 E. 18th St., KCMO), a brick-andmortar shop in the former Chances Social spot at Grinders this fall. Take Care will serve the business duo’s new direct-to-consumer coffee roasting brand Oleo Coffee. They will be using beans grown on “single-estate farms,” meaning the beans come from one place. From farm to retail, the Oleo founders plan to be involved in every step of the coffee supply chain. “All of the inherent quality begins at the farm level and ends with the consumer, typically thousands of miles away,” says Oppenhuis and Sappington, both of whom have traveled to many of the estates and developed relationships with the farmers. The two-thousand-square-foot, two-story space will feature a full espresso menu with drip coffee, cold brew and tea. Homemade biscuits will be baked daily and served with seasonal preserves and flavored butters.

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SURREAL ESTATE

T H E S TO R I E S B E H I N D K A N S A S C I T Y ’ S M O S T E Y E - C ATC H I N G B U I L D I N G S

An early telephone pioneer built one of KC’s most coveted and iconic early homes. T H E G A R Y F A M I LY F O R T U N E began with the serendipitous purchase of a small

Missouri town telephone exchange that had fallen on hard times. It was considered a bit of a gamble: People weren’t quite sure if the telephone was going to take off. But Theodore Gary, a serial entrepreneur who dabbled in everything from furniture moving to lightning rod sales, soon became interested in the telephone industry. In 1897, after he had settled in Macon, Missouri, it just so happened that the local telephone exchange had fallen on hard times. The Bell Telephone patents had also recently expired. Theodore was able to purchase the exchange for $7,000, and the Macon Phone Company was born. Theodore soon began establishing phone exchanges across the state, country and nation. As his labyrinth of local exchanges grew, so did the family’s fortune. Eventually, the Gary family, including Theodore’s adult son Hunter, moved to Kansas City, where they went about establishing themselves as power players. Building a grand home was of the utmost importance to Hunter, and the result was a neoclassical, twelve-thousand-square-foot house designed by popular KC architect John Van Brunt Sr. Built in the tony neighborhood just south of the Country Club Plaza, the home’s facade was designed to resemble George Washington’s 1774 Mount Vernon home.

96 KANSAS CITY OCTOBER 2023

Restrained classical details surrounding the windows and doors demonstrate that intent. Formal rooms occupy the bottom floor, and a ballroom on the third is party-ready. The 1922 brick home sits proudly at the top of a hill and has large sweeping lawns dotted with grand trees and several auxiliary structures, such as a carriage house, tennis court and garages—one of which was transformed into a dog kennel. Hunter lived in the home until his 1937 death at sixty. According to an obituary that ran in the New York Times upon his death, Hunter was known to be a friend of President Calvin Coolidge. The obituary also stated that Hunter was preceded in death by his parents when in fact Theodore, Hunter’s ninety-year-old father, was still very much alive. The following day the Times ran the correction “Hunter L. Gary’s Father Survives.” Most of the home’s original details, such as the intricate interior plaster moldings and terrazzo floors in the sunroom, remain intact, and in 2008, the iconic KC house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. —DAWNYA BARTSCH

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRANDON WALDROP

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