Taco Town; March 2021

C O F F E E S H O P C O N T R OV E R SY O N T R O O S T / M Y Y E A R O F E X T R E M E I S O L AT I O N

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ART DIRECTOR

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Melanie Bremer melanie@kansascitymag.com Sarah Perfect sarah@kansascitymag.com WRITERS

Pete Freedman, Natalie Gallagher, Hampton Stevens, Madison Yohn PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Zach Bauman, Caleb Condit, Lisa Corson, Katie Currid, Joanna Gorham, Samantha Levi, Rebecca Norden, Nate Sheets, Jeremey Theron Kirby

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MARCH 2021

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Range Life

Home Body

Pushing Luck

A Spring Hill homestead is filled with rustic and modern details.

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We combed the city to compile a list of 35 must-try tacos.

One writer’s year of extreme isolation.

Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day at home with a to-go Irish breakfast box.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

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In This Issue MARCH 2021

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T H E LO O P

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TA S T E

Hello, Dear Dear Society shows off their spring pieces.

New boba tea spot on the Plaza.

Spilling Beans Well-known coffee shop moves to Troost and sparks a conversation.

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Happy Family?

Turning Pages

How the pandemic has affected kids’ mental health.

Local community leader releases his new memoir.

Thaw Out

Self-care rituals to prep your body for spring.

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In the Saddle

On Paper

Local entrepreneur launches All Black Everything magazine.

A woman’s love for horses sparked design inspiration in her home.

E V E RY I S S U E

14 Editor’s Letter 27 Calendar 96 Backstory

TA C O T O W N

O N TH E C OVE R

| C O N F E S S I O N S O F A M I DW E S T G R O C E RY WAS H E R

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We picked up tacos from San Antonio’s, Cancun Fiesta Fresh and California Taco Shop and dropped them off at photographers Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden’s doorstep, who were quarantining. Art director Katie Sloan conducted the shoot via Google Hangouts.

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SPECIAL SECTION

44 Beauty Guide

Pot of Gold

To-go Irish breakfasts from Browne’s Irish Marketplace.

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Perfect Day

92

In a Fog

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Bubble Up

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Get to know local activist Kimberly Carlson.

Sandhill Brewing’s Junco is a must-try hazy.

Newsfeed

The latest in KC food news.

’Cue Card

Jonathan’s WoodFire BBQ & Seafood in Olathe has quite a setup.

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FROM THE EDITOR

Pete Freedman WRITER

The piece about how Texans feel about Torchy’s was written

by Pete Freedman, the founder and publisher of the Dallasfocused culture publication Central Track.

Madison Yohn WRITER

Also in the taco package, Northland native Madison Yohn wrote about her unending love of In-A-Tub.

Joanna Gorham ILLUSTRATOR

The images with an essay about living the last year in extreme isolation were drawn by Joanna Gorham, a freelance illustrator who lives in Portland, Oregon.

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MARTIN CIZMAR ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID BABCOCK CONTRIBUTOR ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOANNA GORHAM

I

t was just before noon when I had the realization: I just ate an entire chicken.

This had not been my intention when I made a taco trek from my home in Brookside to the avenue, city and state of Kansas. I started out at El Pollo Rey, where I’d been a few times before—the smoky half chicken was so good I plucked most of it off the bones. Then I made my way over to a place that was new to me, El Pollo Guasave, expecting to take a few bites.

Well, that Guasave chicken (page 56) was even more to my taste— layers of citrus, spice and smoke I’ve been obsessing about since—and so I ate it. All of it. Medio plus medio equals todo. Before noon.

That’s a little insight into how this issue came together. Our team has been eating tacos—hundreds of them—over the past six weeks to bring you a list of thirty-five essential picks in Kansas City. In particular, food critic Natalie Gallagher spent several days driving around the city eating tacos from a carefully researched list. She loved one so much she insisted I go eat it, too, and then demanded we give it a full two-page spread (page 60).

KC is famous for barbecue, of course, but we’re no less a taco town.

The confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers has been connected by an ancient route to Mexico City since time immortal, and if you start driving south on I-35 now, you’ll end up on Mexico’s Federal Highway 57, the busiest in the country. You’ll get to DF, the largest city in North America, in just over a day.

Those ties have brought Kansas City an enviable Mexican food scene, epitomized by the dozens and dozens of excellent taquerias in KCK, which are now being wisely marketed as a tourism destination through the city’s new Taco Trail app. But there are amazing, authentic tacos tucked into pretty much every corner of the city if you know where to look.

We hope this issue will help point you to some of the best. Just be forewarned: You may well find yourself one Martin Cizmar full chicken deep before the clock even EDITOR IN CHIEF strikes noon.

MARTIN@KANSASCITYMAG.COM

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COURTIER

S H O U T- O U T

NUMBERS FROM THIS ISSUE

2

The Beatles played just two concerts in Missouri during their career.

PA GE 2 8

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The cochinita pibil is roasted in banana leaves for ten hours at Lalo’s The Corner Kitchen.

PA GE 60

134

Browne’s Irish Marketplace opened one hundred thirty-four years ago.

PA GE 8 8

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B OT TO M ’ S U P

“The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit” from the August 2014 issue of GQ was an inspiration to writer Hampton Stevens as he worked on his feature about living the last year in extreme isolation.

PA GE 7 2

Our February issue included an in-depth feature on the resurrection of the Holladay Bourbon brand at McCormick Distillery. Five years ago, the distillery in Weston, which is the oldest operating business in the region, started making its own bourbon again after leaving its ironclad warehouses empty for the past thirty years.

“A good friend of mine was a lead chemist when they started back up. He took me all over.

It was very neat place.”

—Randall Turner “Is bourbon not like champagne in that it has to be distilled in Bourbon County, Kentucky?”

—Tim Wenham “No, just has to be made in America. You can look up the other requirements.”

—Chris Miller “I discovered Ben Holladay’s Private Keep bourbon in the early 80s and it soon became my favorite... then it

“

BEHIND THE SCENES

disappeared. So glad to hear it’s returning soon— can’t wait to get in some quality sipping time.”

—Mark Scrivner “Eastern Missouri has an internationally acclaimed yet little-known statewide distillery.

Pinckney Bend is in the small east-central town of New Haven, Missouri, about an hour west of St. Louis. I-70 road trip!

Bed and breakfasts are plentiful, so no worries about drinking and driving.” —Sue Robison “A very cool place to visit. Can’t wait to try the bourbon.” —Lou Havrilla

Rebecca Norden and Caleb Condit are among our favorite local photographers. The pair was diagnosed with Covid (they’re all better now!), so art director Katie Sloan delivered the tacos on our cover to their door and talked through the cover shoot on Google Hangouts.

PA GE 52 CONTACT US

Kansas City

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

We know that the physical Covid pandemic will end. But an emotional health pandemic is just beginning, and we need to be prepared.”

—CARRON MONTGOMERY, LPC

Av i a t i o n

®

KANSASCITYMAG.COM MARCH 2021

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L E A D I N G T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N I N K A N S A S C I T Y

A barista makes a coffee drink inside Equal Minded Cafe

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

THE NEW NEIGHBOR A high-profile coffee shop’s move to Troost— directly between two existing shops—sparks a conversation about gentrification.

BY M E G A N F O L M S B E E A N D A M I JA H JAC K S O N

KANSASCITYMAG.COM MARCH 2021

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The owners of Anchor Island inside their shop

New competition makes Troost coffee shops fear the future of their businesses.

I

T ’ S N O S E C R E T that Troost has long been a dividing line in Kansas City, with racial covenants and banking practices prohibiting Black citizens from owning property to the avenue’s west. On the street itself though, there’s a tightknit community. Armando Vasquez and Michael Hastings wanted to be part of it by opening Anchor Island Coffee at 41st and Troost last March—just days before the pandemic hit.

“The first year of business is always interesting,” Hastings says. “You either survive or you don’t, and we have Covid to deal with, too.”

Unforeseen by Hastings and Vasquez was a new neighbor: Oddly Correct, a high-profile coffee shop and roaster that plans to move a block away early this summer.

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Oddly Correct is known for its strong showing in national barista competitions and for its outspoken, left-leaning social media presence.

A post regarding the results of the November election, for example, was removed amid a “stick to coffee” backlash. “If we’re JUST a coffee company here to create something for you to consume, you clearly haven’t been paying attention to us,” read a follow-up statement.

An Instagram post announcing the move to Troost drew more than three hundred comments, some extremely critical.

In an email to Kansas City, Oddly Correct’s co-owner Michael Schroeder says the move to Troost is an effort to get its roasting operation under the same roof as its cafe instead of being three doors away.

“We’ve been wanting to bring them together for a long time but couldn’t

find a way to do it,” he wrote. “So we’ve had our eyes out for quite a while for something that could work well and bring our whole crew under one roof.”

Schroeder says his shop isn’t competing with neighborhood spots.

Three-quarters of Oddly’s customers only visit once a month, at most, and just three percent visit at least once a week, he says. And two-thirds of his total business is roasting coffee.

“We all had underlying concerns about how to make adding another food/drink business on Troost something that creates more value for everyone there,” he says. “We want to center ourselves as funneling as many of our customers to the unique things these two businesses—Anchor Island and Equal Minded—have to offer.”

Schroeder admits he made a mistake by announcing the opening on Instagram before reaching out to business and community leaders on Troost—a “short-sighted and presumptuous mistake” that was a valuable reminder “that intention does not equal impact.”

Anchor Island co-owner Hastings says he thinks Oddly will bring more people to Troost—but he’s not sure that his own shop will survive with another opening so near.

“There’s still a lot of fear and negativity surrounding the area,” Hastings says. “People don’t want to come here.

Oddly Correct will bring them. Oddly doesn’t spend their time or money in this community, so they don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.”

One block south of the planned Oddly Correct space is Equal Minded Cafe, owned by Dontavious Young and his family. The three-year-old shop has blossomed into a community meeting place, hosting Sunday poker nights and Tuesday open mics.

“Having a place where people can get food and drinks along with having a meeting place is what we needed in the community,” Young says. “It wouldn’t have been there otherwise. When Covid hit, we thought our business wouldn’t grow anymore, but it still grew because of the tremendous support the community has for Black-owned businesses.”

“Do I need to do something bigger and better so I could compete?” Young says. “[Oddly Correct] asked me how they could make themselves more adaptable to the community, and I said include minorities in everything that you do.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

THE LOOP THE NEW NEIGHBOR

COME AND

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Check out all of our upcoming camps at: WWW.WONDERSOFWILDLIFE.ORG/CAMPS KANSASCITYMAG.COM MARCH 2021

21

THE OTHER EPIDEMIC How the pandemic is affecting the mental health of children and adolescents.

BY N I C O L E B R A D L E Y

O

V E R T H E L A S T Y E A R , Carron Montgomery’s workload has nearly tripled.

“At first, we didn’t quite know how serious the pandemic was,” says the licensed professional counselor based in Kansas City. “I found myself excited, if excited is even the right word. I was like, ‘I get to spend this time with my kids. The world is slowing down, and kids are finally getting what they need, like time with their parents and family dinners.’”

HARDEST OF ALL 22

Her outlook changed when children with no pre-existing mental conditions started seeking Montgomery’s help for disorders like OCD, major anxiety disorder and depression. Montgomery’s practice, Aster Counseling, went from getting three calls a week for children needing therapy to ten.

“All of these kids were typically very active and very structured,” she says. “When that structure was taken away, along with their ability to engage in sports and activities, they felt lost.”

Montgomery saw kids who felt hopeless and were acting out of character—kids who wanted to sleep all the time, who didn’t want to get ready in the morning and who increased their screen time for immediate gratification.

According to her, children were also taking on the stress and worry about their friends who weren’t doing well: “The kids were all talking to each other about it, but not to adults.”

Montgomery also notes that heightened emotional sensitivity became prevalent in children—lack of social interactions caused what Montgomery calls the “social muscles” to go dormant and for them to be more negatively affected by what other kids say. “They’re more sensitive and more raw than they’ve ever been, so it feels ten times worse.”

Pediatrician Dr. Julie Brown has also seen more children come into her practice, Shawnee Mission Pediatrics, experiencing depression. She notes that most have not previously needed help.

“I think everybody, especially in the wintertime, is feeling more isolated as time has gone on,” she says.

“I’ve also had more kids admitted for suicide attempts.”

Brown says her younger patients are dealing with the pandemic the best. “I think kids are better at following these rules than adults are,” she laughs. “There are so many times when I see my patients reminding their parents to fix their masks. For two- and three-yearolds, it’s normalized at this point.”

In this current stage of the pandemic, where many children are back in school and socialized again, Montgomery has seen an increase in panic disorder. She says that, along with an increase in workload, fatigue, stress, trouble concentrating and lack of coregulation are causing children to have panic attacks.

To help your child through this phase, psychiatrist Dr. Carolina Aponte Urdaneta recommends holding kids to a routine. “It’s important to keep a structure,” she says. “They get in the shower, they dress up for the day, they get vitamin D. It’s also important to get moving and decrease screen time.”

“We know that the physical Covid pandemic will end,” Montgomery says. “But an emotional health pandemic is just beginning, and we need to be prepared.”

Seniors who live alone have had it hardest of all during the pandemic. “Doing things like going to the grocery store, going to the pharmacy, going to the bank, going to church are what keep them connected to the world,” Urdaneta says. “All of these things have been taken away completely.”

KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

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T H E LO O P I N TERV I EW

POINT OF LIGHT In his new memoir, local activist Alvin Brooks reviews his decades of civil rights fights.

BY K AT H L E E N W I LC O C K

Having served as a street cop and later on the Board of Police Commissioners, do you think that the push for police reform will help solve police brutality locally? There has to be some self-ex-

amination. There have been a lot of changes that are substantive, positive changes, but there’s still racism. And,

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KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

unless the Board and the chief deal with that—first by examining themselves and then dealing with that—you will continue to have complaints of police brutality, many of them substantiated. You will still have shootings that are not justifiable.

Do you believe the various acts of protest that we have seen this past year help people see a need for change? I

don’t think riots help reform. I think that drives a further wedge between the community and the police, though I think there is good conflict. I think conflict can prick the conscience of people that hopefully move them to give consideration to the conflict, and that is where substantial changes come about. And I’m not being contradictory.

I’m just saying that they do and should indicate that something is wrong.

Will improving educational opportunities in historically marginalized areas of Kansas City help alleviate racial issues?

No. You see, there’s something that I call America’s structural racist system, and that started with what the Europeans did to the Native Americans.

And that structural racist system is prevalent in all American institutions.

And therefore, we can pass laws, have marches and slogans, chants and all that, but none of that really changes the structural racist system. White America has to do some self-searching, some self-examination.

“

I think conflict can prick the conscience of people that hopefully move them to give consideration to the conflict, and that is where substantial changes come about.”

PHOTOS COURTESY ANDREWS MCMEEL UNIVERSAL

A LV I N B R O O K S H A S S E E N I T A L L .

The eighty-eight-year-old Civil Rights activist has been dedicated to the community for decades, including a decade-long stint on city council and a mayoral run in 2007. In his new autobiography, Binding Us Together, Brooks shares stories of his time as a cop in the fifties, his tenure as the first Black head of a city hall department and his time as an elected official. After receiving a personal phone call from an FBI agent, Brooks helped defuse the tension after the riots that followed the assasination of Martin Luther King. Brooks’ long, varied career—he founded the AdHoc Group Against Crime to investigate the unsolved murders of nine black women in the city and was once recognized as one of George H.W. Bush’s 1,000 Points of Light—has given him a unique and deep perspective on the challenges KC faces and how to fix them, all shared in his new memoir.

We talked to Brooks about the book and how his work relates to the current push for racial justice.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM MARCH 2021

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABE HOPKINS, PROVIDED BY THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART

WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN MARCH

March

01

GO: Water Lilies: From Dawn to Dusk will be on display through January 2022 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

DEEP WATER

The newest exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Monet’s Water Lilies: From Dawn to Dusk, was born of the pandemic—two pandemics, actually.

Claude Monet worked on his famous Water Lilies series while seated in his garden in Giverny during the Spanish flu epidemic, as World War I raged so near that he could hear the sounds of battle as he painted.

In the early months of our current pandemic, Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, the museum’s senior curator of European arts, was trying to envisage the mood when the public returned to the museum. That brought her back to the Monet in the Nelson’s collection—the right-hand panel of a triptych whose siblings

reside in Cleveland and St. Louis.

“I started thinking about how the conditions that Monet was painting this in were very similar,” she says. “He hoped others could find refuge and a place for peaceful meditation in this work.”

Marcereau DeGalan wanted to accentuate the immersive, transportive nature of the Water Lilies in a “quiet, contemplative space.”

That ended up taking the form of a dedicated gallery where the painting is accompanied by a ten-minute light program that imitates the daylight cycle from sunrise to sunset, along with a backdrop of nature sounds. Those sounds were carefully sourced from amatuer orthological field recordings of European robins and tawny owls. – TA R A D O L L

KANSASCITYMAG.COM MARCH 2021

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T H E B E AT C A L EN DA R

21

March

Crash Test Dummies Mmmarch 21, 8 pm.

W H AT YO U WA N T TO D O T H I S M O N T H

3

The Beatles in Missouri March 3, 7 pm.

VIRTUAL EVENT HELD THROUGH ZOOM BY THE MID-CONTINENT PUBLIC LIBRARY. FREE.

No, Paul and Ringo are not reuniting here, but this library lecture will discuss the two times the Fab Four did play concerts in the state of Missouri. Join Beatles scholar Aaron Krerowicz for a look at both shows, as well as the band’s stay at Pigman Ranch on their 1964 American tour, the only downtime they had in between the series of shows that would make them icons.

Big 12 Tournament March 10-13 T-MOBILE CENTER. WILL AIR ON ESPN.

The moment most people in Kansas City point to as recognizing the severity of the coronavirus pandemic was the cancelation of last year’s Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center. There’s still no definitive word on what this year’s tourney will look like, but the plan is to put the players in a bubble for the tournament as it plays out from March 10-13 at the T-Mobile Center downtown.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Rag Doll Workshop March 16, 7 pm.

VIRTUAL EVENT HELD THROUGH ZOOM BY THE MID-CONTINENT PUBLIC LIBRARY. FREE.

Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s rag doll played a major role in her life. At this workshop, participants will hear the story of the rag doll and then make a rag doll of their own with some special touches added. Supplies needed: paper towels, markers, scissors, small rubber bands and a little yarn.

THE MMMADRID THEATRE, 3810 MMMAIN ST., KCMMMO. $46-$80.

Once there was an event listing for this concert featuring a Canadian band you may remember from the ballad “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” which a magazine ran multiple times over the course of a year because the pandemic just wouldn’t end. They (the magazine) couldn’t explain it; it always just ran again. We want nothing more than for the pandemic to abate to the point that this Crash Dummies concert happens and the spell is broken. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

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Boozy Adult Easter Egg Hunt at KC Wine Co.

Jackie Kashian March 4-6, times vary.

7260 N.W. 87TH ST., KCMO. $20 PER TICKET, SOLD BY TABLES OF TWO OR FOUR.

Wisconsin-bred standup comedian Jackie Kashian mines deep into her teenage awkwardness for a routine that delves into the oddities of Midwestern family life and across the pantheon of geeky hobbies.

The Improv in the Northland has socially distanced seats sold by the table.

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March 27, noon-6 pm.

3875 S. GARDNER ROAD, OLATHE. PRICES VARY.

KC Wine Co. is hosting an adult Easter egg hunt at its farm in Olathe. Participants search for hidden eggs around the rural spread, which can then be traded for prizes.

There will, of course, be snacks, plus wine, cider and frozen wine slushies.

T H E B E AT I N T ERV I E W

NATIVE SON

of this town. I made my creative debut through a series of album release shows, and the first one was grand. I took a Tuesday night at recordBar and filled it with a cast of fifty different players, including eighteen musicians and models, all dressed in costumes.

There were stilt walkers and harpists and opera singers. I don’t know that I would have been able to pull that off anywhere else.

Artist Calvin Arsenia highlights his favorite things about Kansas City.

BY N ATA L I E G A L L AG H E R

What do you like most about Kansas City audiences? The audience in KC tends to be forgiving and open. I always feared that if I were to express myself on stage, it would not be welcome. Each time I’m on stage, I’m challenging my own social norms and pressures and feeling that the audience has the opportunity to accept or reject me. I’m sharing in that opportunity to accept or reject myself, and as I’ve seen audiences accept me and take me in, I’ve been able to accept myself as well.

C A LV I N A R S E N I A WA S R A I S E D I N O L AT H E ,

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZACH BAUMAN

but anyone familiar with his music will be forgiven for first assuming he arrived on this planet via a fantastical starship from a distant galaxy.

The artist—for that is the only word that aptly describes Arsenia, who is a singer, songwriter, producer and classically trained harpist, among other things—first interrupted our consciousness with his 2018 breakthrough debut, Cantaloupe. His 2019 follow-up, Honeydew, took the introverted beauty of that first album and spun it into a decadent dancehall remix. If you’ve been fortunate enough to see Arsenia live, you know that he also has a talent for world-building, merging mediums like video, dance, high fashion and fine art to create an experience that gives new meaning to the phrase “in concert.”

We caught up with Arsenia about where he finds inspiration in Kansas City.

How do you think living in Kansas City has shaped your music? Living in KC allows me to truly be an artist. The cost of living is quite low compared to other cities, and that allows me to be creative and try more things. I’ve gotten to take a lot of risks in my short but deep career so far, and I think that’s because it’s not as competitive or cutthroat here.

You’ll see sharing of talents between projects. I love the collaborative aspect

Do you have any favorite local traditions? Our Mardi Gras community is the reason I still live here. There are parties that happen over the whole course of Mardi Gras. My favorite part is the sunrise march that happens in the Westside. Everyone is in costume and we march for a mile, from West 18th Street to East 18th Street, and party all day long. It’s a very sincere love of decadence and pleasure and dressing up and being together.

DAY I N KC Morning Ritual “I live close to the Missouri River, near Riverfront Park, and it’s such a beautiful space— peaceful and calm and hidden in plain sight. That’s where I would start my day.”

Fab Finds “I love shopping at Boomerang on 39th Street. I’ve used their costumes over the years for different parties and events, and I would love for people to find something new there and unleash their inner glam.”

Fish Food “When I want to splurge on a celebratory meal, I go to Jarocho in KCK. It’s a beautiful Mexican seafood restaurant.”

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C U R AT I N G A B E A U T I F U L L I F E Yellow Hair Clips by Nat + Noor, $12

Gold Round Chain Necklace by Maslo, $68

Cornflower Blue Tiered Midi Dress by En Saison, $110

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMANTHA LEVI, MODEL MEGAN

Petite Wood Beaded Purse, $56

SISTER STORES

Recently recognized by Vogue in a Midwest travel guide, women’s clothing store Dear Society (115 W. 18th St., Suite 100, KCMO) in the Crossroads highlights the luxurious side of vintage and curates a sense of effervescence with modern staples and standouts. Co-owners Maria Casteel and Chanel Jezek expanded their vision with Dear Collective (3566 Broadway Blvd., KCMO), a sister shop and collaborative retail space promoting local female makers and designers. The Collective’s featured vendors have it all, from hand-picked vintage garments to artisan home goods to holistic skincare. In an attempt to marry their vintage and modern ways, a spring collection-exclusive airy cornflower blue dress paired with a vintage-inspired woodbeaded statement bag is an ode to a long-awaited spring. dearsocietyshop.com — M E G A N F O L M S B E E

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THAWING OUT

Prep your body for the changing seasons with three local self-care menus.

BY M E G A N F O L M S B E E

Sit in the sauna at Hand and Land Jess Moler, co-owner of Hand and Land (3216 Gillham Plaza, KCMO), says holistic practices have “always been in her blood.”

T h e sh op hous es sustainable everyday products and plantbased skincare goodies for all. Moler says “a spa was always the idea,” and their 2020 move from Park Place to the historic Nelle Peters building in Midtown gave them the space to bring in certified massage therapists, acupuncturists and facialists. Most discussed are Hand and Land’s beloved sauna happy hours every Thursday from 4-6 pm—saunas raise your core body temperature and claim to detoxify, promote better circulation (cold weather can cause inflamed blood vessels) and strengthen your immune system for the changing season.

ACK

IN

F E B R U A R Y,

Mr. Groundhog said to expect six more weeks of winter. Well, those six weeks are almost up, and it’s time to treat yourself to some self-care practices that will help prep your body and mind for spring. Check out these three local winter warmup ideas.

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Get a facial at Etiquette “Etiquette is a bit of a hidden gem,” says Amanda Rose, owner of Etiquette Beauty (115 W. 18th St., 2nd Floor, KCMO). “When folks come in, they feel removed from a pretty hectic pace that most of us keep. We really encourage people to be present, even if it’s just for an hour or two.”

Located on the second floor of The Bauer event space in the Cross-

Relax with a massage at The Spa at Briarcliff The Spa at Briarcliff (4133 N. Mulberry Drive, KCMO) is managed by esthetician Amanda Schaub. The menu runs the gamut from body treatments to facials to nail services to spray tanning to a no-holds-barred full-day spa experience. Winter living translates to couch living, and those stiff muscles of yours could use a massage. The experience at Briarcliff is pure luxury—they even have European-style baths.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMANTHA LEVI

B

roads, Etiquette has several offerings.

On the top of the list is biodynamic facials. Skin feeling parched? That’s because cold air and wind suck the moisture out of your skin. The spa’s dermaplaning facial, which uses fresh plant-based oil blades, will give your skin a fresh glow and get it feeling like itself again. Or go all out with the deep restoration facial, which aims to tackle skin dullness and puffiness.

All facials are done by Rose herself, and the spa is also known for its lash extensions, which can help wake up tired winter eyes.

CREATING THE PERFECT SMILE FOR YOUR SPRING BREAK PHOTOS.

THANK YOU! OUR LOCATIONS | KIDSMILEKC.COM KANSAS CITY

8919 Parallel Pkwy.

Suite 460 Kansas City, KS 66112

OVERLAND PARK

14420 Metcalf Ave. Overland Park, KS 66223

OLATHE

15151 South Black Bob Rd. Olathe, KS 66062

PRAIRIE VILLAGE

8226 Mission Rd. Prairie Village, KS 6620

Everyone at Margarita’s would like to say thank you to Kansas City for making Margarita’s your favorite location for our one-of-akind, classic tacos.

LOCATIONS Original Margarita’s Southwest Boulevard 2829 Southwest Blvd Kansas City, MO North 7013 North Oak Trfy Kansas City, MO Lenexa 7890 Quivira Road Lenexa, KS

Liberty 1910 Victory Drive Liberty, MO Martin City 13401 Holmes Road Kansas City, MO Restaurant Dining Now Open!

Curbside pick up still available.

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Local entrepreneur launches magazine to spotlight Black business owners.

BY N I C O L E B R A D L E Y

calls herself a serial entrepreneur: Her expansive portfolio of businesses includes a live theater production company, a youth activewear line, children’s books and an eyewear collection.

Since Mitchell is a business owner herself, she wanted her next venture to highlight other Black business owners and entrepreneurs. So she canvassed All Black Everything, a quarterly magazine that celebrates professionals in the Black community.

“I am an African American entrepreneur and business owner, so I know firsthand the struggles that we face as it relates to growing our businesses,” she says.

“I really wanted to have a platform for African American business owners, actors, songwriters, musicians, makeup artists and more to promote their work and talents.”

PAT R I C I A M I T C H E L L

K A N S A S C I T Y FAVO R I T E S New Theatre & Restaurant I go here pretty exclusively with my mom. It allows me time with her to bond and we enjoy a production and a great meal.

It’s become something that we are accustomed to doing together.

Manny’s I love the

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ambiance and I love, love, love the food. I’ve been doing a lot of takeout due to Covid.

Union Station When my kids were younger, I would take them there all the time.

And now, I like to take my grandkids there. They absolutely love the exhibits.

KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

How do you choose who to feature in the magazine? If someone is interested in having their business featured in the magazine, they can log on to the website, allblackeverythingmagazine. com, and provide me with their contact information and a little blurb about their business or service or what they do. When I first started, I got probably fifty emails within twentyfour hours.

From there, I set up Zoom interviews and have them send me some high-quality images of their business, service or product.

Can you give us a peek inside the first issue and share what can we expect to see in future issues? I had the opportunity to interview law enforcement and have a conversation with them as it relates to some of the social unrest that we’re seeing in our country. I also interviewed African American nurses and a doctor on the frontlines during the Covid pandemic.

I would really like to incorporate finance into the magazine. Growing up in an African American community and family, we didn’t learn about investment, we don’t learn about interest in CDs and making our money work for us and making our money grow. I really want to change how the African American community looks at money and spending habits.

GO: Order a print or digital copy of All Black

Everything on Mitchell’s website, allblackeverythingmagazine.com.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMANTHA LEVI

PAGE TURNER

How did you test the market and determine All Black Everything would be a success? I’ve been able to meet quite a few entrepreneurs in my time as a business owner. One of the biggest ways I’m finding them is through social media. Initially, I reached out to these business owners and asked, “If I were to create this production and have a place for all Black businesses to promote their products and services, would you guys want to participate?”

The response was an overwhelming, resounding “Yes.”

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1

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MANE EVENT

How designer Laura McCroskey translated a homeowner’s rustic lifestyle into modern-dappled design.

BY N I C O L E B R A D L E Y | P H OTO G R A P H Y BY N AT E S H E E T S

T

I N A C O R L E Y ’ S I N S P I R AT I O N for her home came from two things: rocks and horses.

“I have a thing where I look for heart rocks,” she says. “This place is essentially a rock. I mean, we had to dynamite this place in, which resulted in millions of rocks. I kept finding heart rocks, and I knew it meant something, so that was one

of my inspirations.”

Corley is also an avid horseback-lover—she’s ridden since she was young and collects equine-themed art and paraphernalia. Her homestead vision came to life with the help of Laura McCroskey of McCroskey Interiors. McCroskey has been in the design business for twelve years and is known for blending elegance with savvy touches for a high-end, functional product.

“Not all horse paraphernalia and items are Western and rustic,” Corley says. “I have some English pieces, too. If you’re talking about riding English, that style is more Ralph Lauren.

Laura helped me blend all my pieces.”

Since Corley spends so much time outside with her horse on the forty acres she shares with her husband, Shannon, McCroskey aimed for everything in the home to be clean and user-friendly.

“We tried to go with a modern look that was still approachable,” McCroskey says. See how she helped Corley blend her affinity for horses—both in decor and in hobby—with modern touches at her home in Spring Hill.

1 LIVING ROOM The neutral limestone fireplace is the living room’s standout centerpiece, bordered by built-ins on either side that are tightly flushed into the wall by sheetrock.

Modern touches, like the iconic statement Platner armchairs, balance out the room’s rustic finishes, like the wood beams and earthy tones.

“If you’re trying to go for a certain look, you have to be mindful to use different materials so that not everything starts to look the same and staged,” McCroskey says. “We’re using old beams, so if you start putting in, say, too many antique-looking furniture pieces, then it starts to look too dated one way.”

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2

2 KITCHEN When prospectively scoping McCroskey’s work, Corley fell in love with the designer’s kitchens—specifically one she saw in a model home.

“I’d never seen one quite like it,” Corley says. “It was so unique. It really is the heart of the house.” Now, her own kitchen is her favorite room in her home. When she started working with builder Kirk Cornelius and architect Scott Bickford, she had one request: to be able to see the sunrise and sunset out opposite windows of the kitchen.

“If you look out the kitchen windows, it’s kind of a bird’seye-view, kind of a tree house effect,” she says. “The canvas is always changing. The sky is changing every day. So that’s kind of my art in this space. I wanted the inside of the house neutral so that colors didn’t stop your eye from looking outside.”

The serenity in this kitchen is brought on by the warm, honey-toned white oak cabinets. Behind the cooktop are sliding Carthage Stoneworks marble panels to hide where Corley keeps spices, oils and an iPad full of recipes. Another crucial player in maintaining clean lines is the absence of hardware—all cabinets are equipped with sleek finger pulls.

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3 OFFICE Shannon’s office is an eclectic mix of rustic and masculine, with different textures and fabrics tastefully brought together by McCroskey’s design eye. Standout pieces include the wall art from Restoration Hardware and a geometric-patterned rug from RugStudio.

“I show clients modern, transitional and traditional fabrics,” she says. “I start getting a handle on what they like. Then I start paring it down to my favorites from those pictures and piles and putting it together with my own design and editing it until it’s, in my mind, beautiful and right.”

3

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4

4 BARN This is the second barn Corley’s had custom-built, so she’s learned a little something along the way when it comes to building materials, maintaining, feed rooms and more. The barn is built under the ground and therefore is warmer for her horse. McCroskey helped Corley pick out the stain colors, as Corley “didn’t want your standard barn or you walk in and it’s pine-colored.” “[When designing a barn], it really depends on your riding discipline,” Corley says. “I’m older, and I don’t want to breed a mare. I don’t want stallions.

I just want to ride a little gelding out in the pasture and have some fun.”

5 TACK ROOM The tack room is where Corley displays not only saddles she’s currently using but also saddles that she’s retired and is keeping for memory’s sake.

“When you ride thirty years in one saddle, you want to keep it,” she says. She has different saddles for different uses: a cutting saddle, a ranch saddle and a saddle for riding the creek, just to name a few.

5

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6 MUDROOM The mudroom cabinet doors were inherited from a friend of Corley’s and were originally sourced in Mexico.

“These were hand-carved,” Corley says. “I had those doors leaned up against the wall of my home.

I always thought, ‘If I ever build another house, I’m building these in somewhere.’ So I put them here.”

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7 POWDER BATHROOM The floating vanity in this powder room made by Carthage Stoneworks is a Tuscan-style marble and balances out the room’s modern fixtures, like the floating pendants and the Ann Sacks ivory modern moon tile.

7

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BROW BAR

A unique beauty spa nestled in the Brookside Shops, Kansas City

816.834.0100 328 W. 63rd Street, Kansas City, MO, 64113 browbarkc.com

SPEC S PI EACLI A LA ADDVV EERRT ITS II SN GI NS GE C TSI OENC T I O N

2021

BEAUTY GUIDE KANSAS CITY MAGAZINE

LOOK AND FEEL YOUR BEST

B E AU T Y GUIDE In the craziness of today’s fast-paced world, carving out time for your health and wellbeing is more important than ever. We’ve gathered several local experts to share rejuvenating and reinvigorating treatments and services so that you have all the resources you need to look and feel your best.

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2021

S P E C I A LS PAE D C IVA LE ARDTVIESR IT NI S GI N GS SEECC TTI OI ON N

BEAUTY GUIDE KANSAS CITY MAGAZINE

REFLECTIONS BODY SOLUTIONS

R E F L E CT I O N S B O DY S O L U T I O N S .CO M

Reflections Body Solutions 7824 W 119th St, Overland Park, KS 913.322.3433

Reflections Body Solutions offers a new treatment option for the tightening of the skin & visible reduction of wrinkles & lines.

VirtueRF works by applying sterile microneedles deep into the dermis of the skin. The needles create microscopic channels that deliver radio-frequency heat energy at the desired depths to promote remodeling of the collagen and the elastin that tightens & lifts the skin.

robotic precision delivery system.

The insertion of the needles is so exact that it creates no tearing or trauma to the skin. It delivers the heat under the skin precisely where it needs to go without causing burning, itching or irritation.

VirtueRF treatments are spaced 5 weeks apart and a series of 3 treatments is recommended for a patient who has never had the

VirtueRF before. A maintenance treatment is recommended every 6 months.

VirtueRF can treat the face, neck, chest, arms, stomach & knees. We are very excited to be able to offer this exciting technology to Reflections Body Solutions. Our consultations are complimentary & look forward to seeing you soon!

first and foremost, but quality of products, services, tools and everything in between as well. We offer the comforts of a high-end spa but with all of the advanced beauty treatments women are looking

for. Our mission is to make every beauty treatment, even a brow wax or botox, feel like a spa experience. We want you to leave feeling beautiful and relaxed!

– Tammy Sciara, Owner

Patient Benefits from VirtueRF: • Tighter Skin • Reduced Pore Size • Improved Tone & Texture.

• No Downtime VirtueRF microneedles are driven into the skin using the exclusive

BROW BAR BROW BAR is a unique

B RO W B A R KC . C O M BROW BAR 328 W 63rd Street, Kansas City, MO 816.834.9100

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KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

beauty spa nestled in Kansas City’s Brookside Shops. I started BROW BAR because I saw an opportunity to offer beauty services in a way that was not being done. So many times I had visited aesthetics studios, salons and medical “spas” that gave me what I needed but not what I truly desired. I always felt like these visits were the perfect opportunity to relax, but I never felt relaxed. I usually felt rushed and that the experience was cold and sterile. I knew I could do better, so in 2018, I started BROW BAR. From day one the focus was on quality.

Quality of the experience

SPEC S PI EACLI A LA ADDVV EERRT ITS II SN GI NS GE C TSI OENC T I O N

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2021

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BEAUTY GUIDE KANSAS CITY MAGAZINE

CENTER FOR NUTRITION & PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

TAG U E N U T R I T I O N .CO M

Center for Nutrition & Preventive Medicine, PA 4963 W. 135th Street Leawood, KS 913.814.8222

Most Americans have gained weight in recent months. Being overweight can rob you of joy, energy and health—and with COVID-19 added to the list of common health concerns, weight loss has never been more important.

Losing weight and keeping it off is far more difficult than most people realize, and unfortunately, common weight loss attempts are ineffective. Food cravings, chronic hunger or a sluggish metabolism can make weight loss impossible.

A powerful, personalized, medically based treatment plan can be the key to success.

Since founding the Center for Nutrition in 1996, Dr. Rick Tague, M.D., M.P.H. & T.M., has

assisted over 30,000 patients in losing over 500,000 pounds.

A medical weight loss and “Optimum Health” specialist, Dr. Tague is an Alpha Omega Alpha honors graduate of Tulane University School of Medicine.

He also holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Tulane and is board certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Board of Family Medicine.

Dramatic improvements in self-esteem, energy levels, activity levels and health measures have been typical among Dr. Tague’s patients while losing 20, 40, 60, 100 pounds or more. If you need a personal treatment plan to lose weight and

improve your nutrition, seek help from someone with understanding and experience.

Dr. Tague’s Center for Nutrition and Preventive Medicine has medical clinics in Leawood and in Topeka. For more information, or to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation, contact the Center for Nutrition at 913-814-8222 in Leawood or 785-2734443 in Topeka, or visit TagueNutrition.com.

MYOFASCIAL RELEASE THERAPY M I D W E ST M YO FA S C I A L R E L E A S E .CO M Overland Park 7270 W 98th Terrace Suite 220, Overland Park KS 66212 Westwood / Plaza 1421 W 47th Street Kansas City, MO 64112 913.343.9042

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KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

If your muscles are tight and you don’t feel as flexible as you used to be, Myofascial Release Therapy might be for you. And flexibility is far more than just touching-your-toes bragging rights—tightened muscles can lead to serious injury or ongoing pain issues. Myofascial Release Therapy is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. Jan Kelly established Midwest Myofascial Release Center to empower healing at one’s own pace in

hopes of returning to a painfree, active lifestyle through individualized treatment.

Myofascial Release Therapy is the foundation of our treatment approach, and in addition to MFR, we offer Far Infrared

Sauna sessions, Therapeutic Massage, Scar Tissue Release, and Myofascial Cupping to assist the body in detoxing and releasing restrictions to further assist the body in breaking the cycle of pain.

SPEC S PI EACLI A LA ADDVV EERRT ITS II SN GI NS GE C TSI OENC T I O N

Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective handson technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion.

913.343.9042 midwestmyofascialrelease.com

Mind, Body, Spirit & Emotions Overland Park 7270 W 98th Terrace Suite 220, Overland Paark KS 66212 Westwood / Plaza 1421 W 47th Street Kansas City, MO 64112

Consider this an invitation...

to relax, to exhale,

to clear

your mind.

Monthly Sunlighten Purifying Treatment memberships gives you regular sauna sessions for optimal results and health benefits, such as weight loss, anti-aging, detoxification and more.

As low as $50/month + sign-up gifts! https://sunlightdayspa.com/kcmag/

I-435 & Metcalf

913.754.2023

SUNLIGHTDAYSPA.COM

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BEAUTY GUIDE KANSAS CITY MAGAZINE

SUNLIGHT DAY SPA

S U N L I G H T DAY S PA .CO M

7373 W 107th St., Overland Park, KS 913.754.2023

Sunlight Day Spa opened in 2008 with the vision of providing an upscale retreat with a community feel for Kansas Citians to experience Sunlighten® infrared treatments. This vision quickly expanded to a full-service day spa. Sunlight Day Spa is focused on services that promote natural healing. Sunlighten infrared sauna memberships, deep tissue massage, organic facials, and body contouring are just a few offerings on the menu.

Shining light on infrared therapy, Sunlighten® is the global provider of personalized infrared light therapy that empowers healthier living. With programs for detoxification, weight loss, antiaging, relaxation, cardio and pain

relief, it is truly customizable for each user. It is a place for healing.

A place for empowerment. A place to invest in you. That place is Sunlight Day Spa.

REVERSE MEDICAL SPA REVERSE MEDICAL S PA . C O M 15900 College Blvd Suite 100 Lenexa, KS 913.268.0400

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Reverse Medical Spa is a full service med spa with many treatment options for face and body. We’ve had the great privilege of helping our clients gain the results and confidence to live their best lives. No matter your concern – wrinkles, incontinence, complexion and skin rejuvenation, fat or hair removal – you can expect a thorough consultation and treatment plan made just for you and your budget. Visit Reverse where we strive to help every-day women and men in the Kansas City area look and feel their best.

To learn more about Sunlight Day Spa, visit us at 7373 W 107th St, Overland Park, Kansas, online at sunlightdayspa.com, or call 913-754-2023.

SPEC S PI EACLI A LA ADDVV EERRT ITS II SN GI NS GE C TSI OENC T I O N

New to Reverse

EVOKE ™ SKIN TIGHTENING Provides skin tightening and lifting benefits, including three-dimensional facial tissue remodeling and restoration of a more youthful facial appearance.

March Special

ONE Face Skin Tightening & Wrinkle Reduction Treatment for $299 1 PER NEW CLIENT / CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER / EXPIRES 03/31/21

913.268.0400 Our services include Injectables, Dermal Fillers, IPL, Hair Removal, Facials, Microderms, Peels & more!

Medical services provided by Reverse Medical Services, LLC, a Kansas professional limited liability company

Call us today to schedule your free consultation.

913.268.0400 | www.reversemedicalspa.com 15900 COLLEGE BLVD. SUITE 100, LENEXA

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PHOTO BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

A taco trio of al pastor from San Antonio (top), birria from Cancun Fiesta Fresh, and fish from California Taco Shop.

2021

V LO

VE• T

COS • WRITTEN BY I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y

A

OS • AC

LO

E • T

GU I DE Kansas City is known around the world for barbecue. But, in some ways, we’re just as much a Taco Town—all things considered, taquerias probably outnumber pits in these parts. Over the last few months, our team has spent hours researching and amassed piles of Styrofoam takeout boxes sampling hundreds of tacos to make this guide to our thirty-five favorites in Kansas City.

Nicole Bradley, Martin Cizmar, Megan Folmsbee, Pete Freedman, Natalie Gallagher, Madison Yohn

Camille Caparas P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y Natalea Bonjour, Caleb Condit, Jeremey Theron Kirby, Rebecca Norden

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• TAC O T OW N • 10 MISSION TACO JOINT

Out South 1 THE CORNER LALO’S KITCHEN 2 DOS DE OROS TAQUERIA 3 EL FOGÓN 4 SANCHO STREETSIDE 5 SUMMER MOON 6 TACO CACAO

Midtown 8 CANCUN FIESTA FRESH 9 KC TACO COMPANY

25 EL CAMINO REAL

9 13 10

21

28 31

22

35 18a 20 12

8

11

1 4

29b 7

6

5

3 23b

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35 TAQUERIA EL POBLANO

& MINI MARKET #2

24 CALIFORNIA TACO SHOP

34 29a 23a 25

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34 TACOS EL GUERO 100% MICHOACANAS

23 BONITO MICHOACAN

17 TAQUERIA SUPER TACO

19

33 TACOS EL MATADOR

Kansas City, Kansas

27

18b

32 TACO REPUBLIC

22 TACOS EL GALLO

16 TAQUERIA HERNANDEZ FOOD TRUCK

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31 SAN ANTONIO

21 RICOS TACOS LUPE

14 EL REY DEL TACO

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29 MI PUEBLITO MEAT MARKET 30 PEPE’S CARNITAS

20 PONAK’S

13 EL PASO DEL NORTE

24

28 EL POLLO REY

19 MIRANDA’S MEXICAN FOOD TRUCK

Independence Ave.

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27 EL POLLO GUASAVE

18 MARGARITA’S

12 TIKITACO

15 TACOS LA GUERA FOOD TRUCK

7 TACO NACO

26 EL MENUDAZO

Southwest Ave.

11 RUDY’S TENAMPA TAQUERIA

2

17 16 15

14

El Camino Real has a traditional trompo spinning in the window.

Birria at Taco Cacao

PHOTO OF EL FOGON BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

BY P E TE FREEDMAN

PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

903 N. SEVENTH ST., KCK

How Does Texas Feel About Torchy's?

7927 WORNALL ROAD, KCMO

Taco Cacao hasn’t yet opened a taqueria inside the former JerUSAlem Stone space in Waldo, but you’ll already see guys in stocking hats bundled up tight against the winter cold, waiting patiently to order from a white cart out front. The peculiarities of area freeway paths formerly made it quite a hike to get to cheap, casual street tacos from Brookside or Waldo. So expect a warm welcome for Taco Cacao and its classic lineup of taqueria tacos, all generously meaty for $2. The slow-cooked birria is mild and warming, its earthy flavors pairing well with the shop’s tart green salsa. —MC

AL PASTOR AT EL CAMINO REAL I’m something of a purist about al pastor. That is to say, I won’t often order it unless I see a trompo spinning in the front window. El Camino Real does it the, uh, real way— you’ll see a vertical rotisserie fired with a gas flame in the front, topped with a slice of pineapple that drips its sweet juices down as the meat slowly roasts. The result is perfect pastor taco ($2), juicy and with the flavors of the chile marinade coming alive from the kiss of fire. –MC

taqueria on the west side of the street and not the pleasant family restaurant to the east. Inside, you’ll find banda music from Edwin Luna playing, aguas frescas bubbling behind the counter and tacos with ultra-tender adovada piled high. —MC

Barbacoa at El Fogón

10450 METCALF AVE., OVERLAND PARK

If you’re in the ’burbs and have a hankering for street tacos, El Fogón is the place to go. The taqueria tucked inside a strip mall off Metcalf is simple, the

Adovada at Dos de Oros Taqueria

650 E. BLUE RIDGE BLVD., KCMO

made-from-scratch tortillas are tasty, and the service is fast and efficient for a quick in-and-out lunch.

The tender and meaty barbacoa with the hot green salsa ($2.19) is a special combination. —NB

The first thing to know about Dos Oros is that there are dos—if you’re down here on the southern edge of the city looking for street tacos, you want the tiny

NO SELF-RESPECTING TEXAN would ever proudly

list Torchy’s Tacos as their favorite taco joint, no. But you know who might? Our state’s many recent transplants, including all those pesky tech bros from Califor-ni-yay, who would probably find some familiar West Coast comforts in this Austin-sprung chain’s lauded offerings. And, hey, no shame there!

Truth is, the tacos at Torchy’s are indeed as

“damn good” as their tagline implies; it’s just that, in a state as blessed with tacos as ours is, the approachability that Torchy’s initially built its brand upon has lost some of its sheen. On the other hand, that’s also led to familiarity statewide.

It feels like most Texans have a go-to order at Torchy’s at this point—I’m a Trailer Park (done up trashy-style) and Fried Baja Shrimp guy, always on

flour—and everyone knows that ordering the queso is a must.

Actually, it’s fitting that former President Barack Obama visited the flagship Torchy’s location for lunch while attending South by Southwest toward the end of his second term. Torchy’s might not hit every mark on your taqueria checklist, but when you consider some of the lesser alternatives, you could really do a lot worse.

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MEDIO POLLO AT EL POLLO GUASAVE 1600 CENTRAL AVE., KCK

The coastal state of Sinaloa is famous for banda music and for its rich cuisine, including a style of citrus-marinated grilled chicken made famous by the El Pollo Loco chain—now based in Los Angeles but born in the town of Guasave. At El Pollo Guasave in KCK, you get half ($8) or whole ($15) birds that have been butterflied and grilled inside this humble yellow structure on Central Avenue. The birds are less smoky than at El Pollo Rey, offering complex layers of fruity, spicy and char that’s haunted me for weeks. –MC

TLIGHT SPO

Tub ‘O Love B Y MA DI SO N YO HN

EVEN THOUGH I NOW LIVE in Springfield, two hundred miles from Kansas City, there are times I’ll still make the midnight drive back to the Northland.

My destination: the drive-thru at In-A-Tub, where I can get five deep-fried tacos with mild sauce, a Pepsi and a side of extra cheese to devour in the comfort of my front seat.

If you don’t understand that—well, you’re probably not a Northlander.

Originally known for ice cream served in a giant tub—hence the name—the wood-paneled eatery is now most famous for serving tacos

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with fluorescent orange-colored powdered cheese sprinkled on top. The tacos are filled with seasoned ground beef, lettuce and mild sauce, deep-fried to a crisp, then topped with the Tub’s famous nuclear orange powdered cheese.

These tacos account for about half of In-A-Tub’s sales, according to owner Aaron Beeman.

Although no one remembers how the cheese started getting used, it's a rare commodity after four decades. Beeman has to buy five thousand pounds at a time for a whopping $23,000 due to the cheese’s scarcity.

Whether I order in the drive-thru or set up shop in a cozy formica booth inside the restaurant, I always ask for an extra side of that powdery goodness to take home. It beats making that midnight drive.

PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

Marinated chickens on the grill at El Pollo Guasave, where you'll often find people lined up for birds.

Al Pastor & Carne Asada at Tacos El Gallo 806 SOUTHWEST BLVD., KCMO

It may be the hanging pinatas, the smell of homemade tortilla chips, the welcoming stove hands or the assortment of Mexican snacks and sodas, but something about Tacos El Gallo feels antiquated and genuine. You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but try the el pastor and carne asada tacos ($2.50), which pair well with a crisp Modelo. –NB

Chicharron at Tacos la Guera Food Truck

5420 E. TRUMAN ROAD, KCMO

The woman at the Tacos la Guera order window recommends the asada, and she is absolutely right to do so: It is delicious, faultless.

You should get the lengua, too. It’s a soft and sweaty pile of joy, and that’s not a euphemism, we swear. But please, do not leave that food truck without at least one chicharron taco ($2).

Crispy fried cracklins these are not. Instead, strips of skin-on pork belly are stewed until soft in a vivid salsa verde that pops with a feisty kick of jalapeño.

They are just fatty enough to remind you of bacon— and just as addictive. Pull up to Tacos la Guera any night of the week and take note of the fandom: whole families and groups of friends sitting in their vehicles, happily plowing through paper plates piled with tacos. –NG

FRIED FISH AT CALIFORNIA TACO SHOP

PHOTO BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

1268 KANSAS AVE., KCK

A good fish taco should transport you to a warm seaside taqueria— even if you’re enjoying it in the middle of the Midwest on a frigid winter day. You can expect as much from California Taco Shop, where the fried batter encasing the fat cod fillet ($3) is perfectly salted and crispy and finished with matchstick strips of fresh cabbage and a dollop of bright lime mayo. Don’t skip the salsa bar: The hot verde molcajete is worth hoarding, but try the “XXX” sauce at your own peril. –NG

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4019 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., KCMO

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PHOTO BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

TACOS DORADOS DE BIRRIA AT CANCUN FIESTA FRESH

Last fall, Westport’s Cancun Fiesta Fresh transformed its parking lot into a drive-thru to boost business during the pandemic. That makes it all too easy to get your hands on the trendiest tacos of the year: tacos dorados de birria (three for $12). Birria is the filling, which takes everything you like about tender beef barbacoa and makes it juicier. Tacos dorados—“golden tacos”—refers to the preparation: Corn tortillas are dipped into that deeply savory stew, stuffed with birria, cilantro and onions, deep-fried until golden, then served with a saucer of birria consomé for dunking. It’s the tacoFrench dip mashup you didn’t know you needed. –NG

Guisado Verde & Rojo at El Paso del Norte

3430 INDEPENDENCE AVE., KCMO

PHOTO OF EL POLLO REY BY K ATIE CURRID. PHOTO OF KC TACO COMPANY BY NATALEA BONJOUR

Calling all spice fiends: Do you gravitate toward bottles of hot sauce that have FDA warning labels? Do you carry whole serrano peppers in your bag for emergencies?

Are you looking for your next fix? If yes, please see: the guisado rojo ($3) at El Paso del Norte. Chunks of pork are stewed in a hellfire-red guajillo sauce that some might call punishing, but once you get over the shock to your system, you’re left with an inexplicable desire for more. If extreme heat is not your game, go for the guisado verde ($3): pork stewed with potatoes in a rich (and more diplomatic) jalapeño sauce. –NG

Half at El Pollo Rey 901 KANSAS AVE., KCK I think of the Chicken King as much as a barbecue restaurant as a taco spot.

As you can tell from the tall stacks of firewood lining the east wall, the birds here are spatchcocked and cooked over live fire, sucking up lots of smoke as they make their way across the grates and to your foam plate. The chicken—it comes as a half ($8) or whole bird ($14)— is served with tortillas, a ziploc of escabeche and a little cup of blended salsa with a pinkish hue, all of which pair well with the smoked meat. –MC

Carnitas at Pepe’s Carnitas

3208 STRONG AVE., KCK

The smiling pig being roasted alive on the sign at

the back door (the door to use) at Pepe’s Carnitas tells you what this restaurant on the north end of the Argentine neighborhood is all about. Inside, you’ll find a trough of tender

braised pork served up five different ways, including in generous piles atop fresh corn tortillas ($2 each) with salsas that have enough bright acid to balance things out. –MC

AHI TUNA AT KC TACO COMPANY 520 WALNUT ST., KCMO

If you’re craving a poke bowl but feel drawn to the taco shape, the tuna tacos (three for $12) at Rivermarket’s KC Taco Company were made for you. Pretty pink cubes of raw ahi tuna are lightly dressed with soy sauce, fresh ginger, scallions and sesame seeds and spooned into bubbly, crispy wonton “shells” before receiving a finishing squiggle of inky hoisin sauce. –NG

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PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

At Lalo's the concinita pibil is marinated for a day then slow-roasted for ten hours.

COCHINITA PIBIL AT THE CORNER LALO’S KITCHEN 5038 LAMAR AVE., MISSION

“These are the best tacos in Kansas City,” said Lalo Alvarez, handing me a to-go container. I smiled behind my mask and thanked him. By that point, I’d been to at least a dozen different taquerias in town in half as many days, and plenty of taqueros had made similar declarations.

In my car, I popped open the Styrofoam. Three tacos stared up at me, a tangle of vibrant cherry-red pork, neon-pink pickled onions and emerald cilantro inside crescent moon corn tortillas. A gourmand’s rainbow. I picked up a taco, intending to sample the goods before driving home and giving the rest to my roommate. The pork was finely shredded, oozing marigoldhued ink—and yet, the lambskin-soft tortillas hadn’t cracked.

I took a bite.

My life after discovering the cochinita pibil tacos (three for $8) at Lalo’s Kitchen is largely the same as it was before, with one notable difference: Every day, I think about that bite. I see these tacos in my head, I feel their weight and warmth in my hands, and I recall the sublime layers of flavor.

Alvarez isn’t surprised when I declare my love for his cochinita pibil. They taste so good, he says, because he puts so much of his own heart into this dish.

It’s a long process: Alvarez layers the bottom of a large pot with banana leaves, then in goes boneless pork butt for a day-long bath in his boldly aromatic enchilada sauce (made with fresh guajillo peppers and a proprietary spice blend he’s packaged for sale at the restaurant) and a paste he makes from achiote, sour orange, garlic, onions, bay leaves and whole pepper kernels. More banana leaves cover the pork, locking in moisture and a subtly sweet, tropical buzz. (Traditionally, a whole suckling pig—the cochinita—is wrapped in banana leaves and buried in an earth oven—the pib—to cook, but Alvarez is keen on avoiding any health code violations.) After marinating, the pork roasts slowly for ten hours.

To serve, Alvarez forms a canyon with two corn tortillas, which he orders weekly from Tortilleria Morelos in Arkansas, and then spoons in a smoky chipotle sauce, then the cochinita pibil and garnishes. “They don’t use chipotle sauce with cochinita pibil in Mexico,” he says. “That’s more the way I want to eat it and serve it.”

His instinct is spot-on. Are these the best tacos in Kansas City? Listen, I don’t know. If you don’t like pork, they’re not the best tacos for you. But they are special. They are precious.

They have so much heart.

I didn’t share. –NG

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KOREAN BBQ TACO AT TIKITACO 1710 W. 39TH ST., KCMO

Minnesota Avenue gets meat fresh from the large butcher’s shop in the back. You can get asada at pretty much every stop along the KCK Taco Trail, but there’s a reason the simple, flawless steak tacos ($2) from this spot make our list. –MC

We love TikiTaco for their fun and funky creations, the latest of which is a Korean BBQ taco ($3.50). Beef short rib takes a forty-eight-hour bath in a punchy marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil, Asian pear and fresh ginger before it’s grilled to order, plated in a Yoli corn tortilla and crowned with cucumbers, pico and a sassy Korean barbecue sauce. –NG

BLT Taco at Mission Taco Joint

PHOTO BY NATALEA BONJOUR

Sonoran Taco at Ponak’s

2856 SOUTHWEST BLVD., KCMO

When it comes to tacos from Ponak’s, it’s all about the cheese, please. This classic KC Mexican spot, opened by a Vietnam vet, makes a Sonoran-style taco with a flour tortilla, moist beef strips and, oh yeah, mountains of iceberg lettuce and shredded cheese on top. It’s $5 and not especially similar to

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what I’ve encountered in Sonora but delightful nonetheless. –MC

KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

Chicken Fajita at Bonito Michoacan

1231 E. SANTA FE ST., OLATHE AND 1150 MINNESOTA AVE., KCK

The fajita tacos ($1.79) at the taquerias inside the area’s two Bonito Michoacan grocery stores are classic: seasoned chicken with

mixed peppers that come fresh off the grill, sitting snugly inside corn tortillas and topped with onion and cilantro. –MF

Asada at Mi Pueblito Meat Market

1311 MINNESOTA AVE., KCK.

SECOND LOCATION

IN SHAWNEE.

The taqueria at the front of this grocery store on

409 E. 18TH ST.,

KCMO AND 5060 MAIN ST., KCMO

Mission Taco Joint steers West Coast-style— which you can thank owner-brother duo Jason and Adam Tilford for. The brothers grew up in California before migrating to St. Louis and opening Mission Taco Joint in the Delmar Loop and eventually two KC locations in the Crossroads and South Plaza. The Joint’s splashy menu includes coastal taco styles like mango habanero shrimp and spicy chorizo and pineapple. The BLT Taco ($3.75) is also a winner here—on it you’ll find, quite literally, the biggest piece of beerbattered bacon you’ll ever lay eyes on, chipotle aioli, avocado, lettuce and pickled tomatillos. –NB

PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

Taco Naco in Overland Park sells trendy peanut-based salsa macha by the pint.

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Sexy Spicy Salsa macha has been proclaimed “Most Valuable Condiment” by the New York Times. Here’s where to find the trendy peanut-based sauce in KC. B Y NATAL I E G AL L AG HE R

TOWARD THE END OF 2020, as we were collectively casting about for something to lighten our weary load, an unlikely hero emerged: salsa made with peanuts. This was new to most. Different. Thrilling, even. (It had been a long year.) And as the salsa macha trend spread across the nation, we wondered when Kansas City might be blessed.

Enter Taco Naco, a catering company that recently opened a storefront in Overland Park.

The salsa macha from Taco Naco is not designed for a bag of tortilla chips while binging Bridgerton on the couch. No, this salsa expects more from you: It calls on you to employ it in the marinating of chicken, in the slathering of ribs, in the dressing up of that sad cauliflower rice bowl you microwaved for lunch.

Chef-owner Fernanda Reyes makes her salsa with roasted garlic, white onions, tomato

paste, chile de arbol, fresh cilantro and peanut butter. It’s a riff on the traditional Veracruzana salsa macha, typically a thin, oily sauce. But Reyes—born in Durango and trained at the Culinary Institute of Mexico in Monterrey—was inspired in equal parts by her mother’s mole de cacahuate (peanut) and Indian curry.

“Moles are like curries,” Reyes says. “They have a similar texture, and that’s where the idea for our salsa macha came from. In my house, I like to mix a couple spoonfuls of the salsa macha with a can of coconut cream or coconut milk, and when it’s almost boiling, I add shrimp.

It’s sexy-spicy. You feel the kick of the chile, but it just makes you want to try it again.”

Taco Naco salsa macha is $6 for 16 ounces.

Taco Naco, 8220 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park.

Taconacokc.com

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LAMB BIRRIA TACOS DORADOS AT EL MENUDAZO 904 N. 18TH ST., KCK Tacos dorados de birria get dunked just like a French dip sandwich.

PHOTO BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

Taco trends come and go, but menudo is forever. At El Menudazo, the simple menu delivers on both. The shop has developed a cult following for its menudo, a slow-boiled soup of tripe and hominy said to cure hangovers, colds and whatever else ails you. Then there’s the other half of the menu built around trendy tacos dorados de birria. These tacos are filled with a rich stew of beef or lamb (get lamb) and fried until golden, then served along with a rich consomé broth for dipping ($2.75 each with cheese plus $1.25 for consomé). –MC

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TLIGHT SPO

Wherefore Art Thou, Kansas City Taco?

The national media says Kansas City’s native style of crunchy shell taco is endangered. Don’t be so sure.

PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

B Y NATA L I E GA L L AGH ER

AS A KID, I hated Taco Tuesday.

OREJA AT TAQUERIA SUPER TACO 3616 INDEPENDENCE AVE., KCMO

We owe a lot to the humble pig. Bacon, of course.

Ham. Al pastor. The list of porcine gifts is as long as a CVS receipt, and it includes—though perhaps not as prominently as it should—oreja (pig ear). At Taqueria Super Taco, you’ll find wavy strips of slow-braised oreja ($2) that are both tender and, thanks to the cartilage, chewy. The customary smattering of onions and cilantro accentuates the oreja’s mellow earthiness. –NG

Lengua at Taqueria El Poblano & Mini Market #2

1003 OSAGE AVE., KCK

You can think of lengua as the gateway to the broader world of offal.

At El Poblano, lengua ($2) is braised until tender and shredded.

Shredded is not typical— usually it’s diced—but the effect is exquisitely soft, lightly earthy cow tongue that tastes not unlike mom’s pot

roast. Not even warm butter melts with this much grace. El Poblano serves its street tacos in the customary corn tortillas with cilantro, onions and a generous helping of guac, which does not cost extra. –NG

Tripas at El Rey del Taco

6450 E. TRUMAN RD., KCMO

The tripas taco ($2) at El Rey del Taco sings so sweetly it deserves

a record deal—and you might not expect to hear that about cow intestines, but we swear on the angelic vocals of Luis Miguel, it’s the truth. Tripas are cleaned, boiled and then panfried (ask for them extra crispy) before getting a rough chop and touching down in a corn tortilla landing strip with red onion and cilantro.

Playfully gummy, wonderfully farmy, this tripas taco shows the rest of them how it should be done. –NG

Every time it rolled around at my school in rural Wisconsin, I was presented with the same uninspiring fare: two stale corn tortilla shells containing a frugal amount of bland ground beef, limp iceberg lettuce and some unspecified yellow cheese. How could we call these tacos? I was therefore dubious when I discovered the regional tradition of Kansas City tacos—deep-fried corn tortillas stuffed with ground beef and dusted with parmesan.

Legend puts the origin of the Kansas City taco somewhere in the fifties. It reached the height of its popularity in the eighties, thanks in large part to Ponak’s (est. 1975), Manny’s (est. 1980) and Margarita’s (est. 1985). Margarita’s owner Dave Quirarte credits the Kansas City taco with saving his business.

“We were the new kids on the block, and the economy sucked,” he says. “Our sales were so bad that we decided to do two-for-one tacos on Tuesday, and it took off.”

Thirty-seven years later, Margarita’s tacos are still made the same way: Ground beef is seasoned with a mix of spices and cooked with tomato sauce and onions, then packed into corn tortillas (delivered fresh from Perez Food Products, right across the boulevard), pinned together with toothpicks, fried until golden and, finally, garnished with lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and the customary dusting of powdered parmesan.

These are satisfying—crunchy, flavorful and absolutely delicious with a michelada. But with the rise of “authentic” street tacos, a writer for a national food blog asked how long this unique style can carry on. At Margarita’s, they’re in no danger.

Before the pandemic, Margarita’s would put out up to two thousand of their “original” tacos a day— double that on Tuesdays. Quirarte says the tacos are still the restaurant’s number one-selling item.

“I still eat them,” he says. “I can sit down and knock off six, easy. They’re just damn good.”

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Grilled Fish at Rudy’s Tenampa Taqueria

1611 WESTPORT ROAD, KCMO

When Rudy’s opened in 1993, fish tacos were not widely seen at Mexican restaurants around town. They were an instant hit, and twenty-eight years later, Rudy’s still serves them the same way–flaky grilled pollock fillets shoved inside a puffy fried flour tortilla with lettuce and pico de gallo.

Order the Tijuana taco plate (two tacos with rice and your choice between beans and nopales, $12) or get your fish taco a la carte ($4). –NG

Shredded Beef Puffy Taco at Margarita’s FIVE LOCATIONS INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL

AT 2829 SOUTHWEST

BLVD., KCMO AND IN

JOHNSON COUNTY

AT 7890 QUIVIRA

ROAD, LENEXA.

Puffy tacos are what they sound like: They’re flash-fried so the flour tortillas puff up and get brittle and crunchy.

The style was supposedly invented in San Antonio back in the days of disco, but they’re also a favorite at this beloved five-strong local chain. At Margarita’s, order two of the puffy tacos filled with shredded beef ($5.50 each) and generously topped with two types of cheese, shredded and sprinkled, for a big and hearty meal. –MC PHOTO OF MARGARITA'S BY NATALEA BONJOUR. PHOTO OF EL TORITO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY.

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Viva La Gordita A gordita isn’t really a taco. But, as food critic Natalie Gallagher was unable to convince her editors to pursue an entire gordita issue, we present this for your consideration.

B Y NATA L I E GA L L AGH ER

Gorditas vary widely by region, but we love them all.

IF SOMEONE CALLED you “little fat one,” you’d probably share a few choice words of your own. In Mexico, “gordita'' is a term of endearment—and an apt moniker for the ubiquitous street food. This thick corn cake, similar to the Venezuelan arepa and the Salvadoran pupusa, is usually made with masa and seared on a comal.

From there, the gordita is sliced open and stuffed with the same fillings you’d get in another type of taco.

EL TORITO MEXICAN RESTAURANT & TAQUERIA

For the holy grail of gorditas, look no further than the powerhouse taqueria inside Supermarket el Torito (1409 Central Ave., KCK). Five bucks will get you a blimp packed

with a generous dollop of refried beans or a thick slice of queso blanco and the protein of your choice, plus lettuce, onions, tomatoes and sliced avocado. You can’t go wrong—El Torito’s in-house carniceria ensures an abundance of fresh options—but the al pastor, marinated in a fortifying mix of cumin, garlic and cloves and colored brick-red by guajillo chiles, will haunt your dreams.

GORDITAS DURANGO

The best thing about gorditas is that the dense, pliable masa does an excellent job of containing even the juiciest of fillings.

At Gorditas Durango (3124 Strong Ave., KCK), that’s the chicharron en salsa verde: soft, fatty chunks of pork skin

stewed in a lovely, medium-spiced green sauce. This tiny family-owned shop is open daily during breakfast and lunch for takeout only.

FRUTOPIA

Frutopia (3737 Independence Ave., KCMO) specializes in antojitos (Mexican street food), so of course, their gordita slays.

Order either a corn or flour gordita and watch the chef slap a fresh masa cake on the griddle for a quick blister while he grills your asada.

Good luck resisting the temptation to add a mangoneada.

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830 KANSAS AVE., KCK

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If you were only going to eat one taco on this list—though you should instead eat many tacos on this list—this would be my top pick. San Antonio makes fresh flour tortillas that are perfect with the simple, stewy shredded beef known as deshebrada ($2). Splashed with green or orange salsa, these are beef tacos in their purest, most elemental form. –MC

PHOTO BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

DESHEBRADA ON FLOUR TORTILLAS AT SAN ANTONIO

Guilty Pleasures We asked our staff for their favorite Mexican guilty-pleasure picks.

The fishbowl-size margaritas at Taqueria Mexico on Southwest Boulevard. They require two hands to pick up and are the perfect selfie opportunity. —Nicole Bradley Although it’s not a Mexican restaurant, Brick House has the best fish tacos.

They pair perfectly with a Moscow mule.

—Sarah Perfect Tacos El Mercadito in Lee’s Summit serves up tiny tacos al pastor sprinkled with cilantro, chopped onions and a side of bright green salsa. They’re perfect for a yummy meal on a busy day. —Julie Babcock The lunch chimichanga special at Tequila Harry’s, right by our office. I like it with six Diet Coke refills and approximately thirty-five bowls of the spicy salsa. —Martin Cizmar Chile con queso at Jalapenos in Brookside.

The pleasure of this creamy Tex-Mex dip outweighs the shame. —Natalie Gallagher

Tijuana Sausage at Sancho Streetside

11101 JOHNSON DRIVE, SHAWNEE

Most of the inventive menu items at Sancho Streetside come off the kitchen’s wood-fired grill.

Order the Tijuana sausage taco ($5) for a taste of what happens when spicy pork sausage is smoked with pecan wood and encased in a flour or corn tortilla with

arugula, jack cheese, pickled jalapeños and spicy-sweet cayenne pepper crema. Spoiler: only good things. –NG

Bacon Breakfast Taco at Summer Moon

9127 METCALF AVE., OVERLAND PARK

Austin-born Summer Moon has locations across Texas, all serving coffee made from beans

BIRRIA AT TACOS EL GUERO 100% MICHOACANOS 1410 MINNESOTA AVE., KCK

that are roasted over an open fire of oak and drinks that use its own Moon Milk creamer.

Summer Moon recently expanded to Overland Park, bringing the state’s beloved breakfast tacos ($4) along for the ride.

These are textbook Texas breakfast tacos, with fluffy eggs and a bit of bacon nestled in a super-soft and pliable flour tortilla, and they pair well with a latte. –MC

Every once in a while, you come across a dish that bowls you over. You know what I mean: In the few moments where your tongue acclimates itself to the taste and those hard-working neurotransmitters connect the dots in your brain, you’re suddenly tasting a memory long forgotten, a legacy that isn’t yours, someone else’s first heartbreak. Somewhere between the cloves and cumin and cinnamon, between the ancho and guajillo, the succulent beef birria ($3) at Tacos el Guero captures this magic. Served in corn tortillas with diced onions, cilantro and a side of irresistible consomé. –NG

Margaritas at Ponak’s—jet fuel!

—Melanie Enderson The Trailer Park tacos at Torchy’s, which come with fried chicken, green chiles, pico, cheese and poblano sauce. And, of course, I would like to “make it trashy” (top it with queso). —Katie Sloan

PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

The Southwest Chicken tacos at On the Border. They’re topped with fried onion strings, grilled chicken, chile sauce and cheese. I like to top mine with salsa and rice.

— Amijah Jackson It’s pretty hard to pick, but I’d have to say the Chicken Avocado Enchilada at Cactus Grill is my all time favorite when it comes to Mexican fare. Combined with their extra thin chips and a salt rocks premium margarita, this combo could easily be my choice for a last supper. —Kathy Boos

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3029 SOUTHWEST BLVD., KCMO

In the 1960s and ’70s, Luis Lezama’s family would make a living by selling their tacos de canasta by the railroad in his hometown of Veracruz.

When he and Ana Mirandas, his co-chef and wife, opened their food truck in 2019, he dusted off the family recipe.

In Mexico, vendors sell tacos de canasta out of a basket (the canasta) lined with plastic and wax paper, which keeps them warm. Fillings vary, but Lezama braises pork shoulder with lard and a pepper medley for four hours before draining the liquid. His modernized tacos de canasta ($2.50) mimic the effect of his family’s recipe while keeping the health department happy: He dips corn tortillas in the juice, stuffs them with pork, cabbage, radish and cilantro and gives them a quick fry on the flat-top. The effect: a little crunch, a lot of flavor and total satisfaction. –NG

The Jorje at Taco Republic

500 COUNTY LINE ROAD, KCK

The Jorje at Taco Republic ($4.50) is like a taco roulette—you don't know if you're getting the crispy, craveable pork belly or refreshing blackened shrimp in every avocado and chipotle aioli-accentuated bite. Either way, these two proteins make a fantastic taco combo you won't find anywhere else. If you've got the thirst for an outside-the-box margarita, try their take on the Mezcal marg with desert pear syrup and a hint of lime. –NB

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Suadero at Taqueria Hernandez Food Truck

KANSAS CITY MARCH 2021

4722 INDEPENDENCE AVE., KCMO

If you’re unfamiliar with suadero, pay a visit to Taqueria Hernandez food truck, parked at the O’Reilly Auto Parts store on Independence Avenue Suadero ($2) is a smooth cut from the

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breast of the cow (carnicerias call it “rose meat” for its pink hue). At Taqueria Hernandez, it is delicately stewed until it shines, resulting in a taco filling that is boldly, unapologetically beefy. –NG

ALER T

Flour Power No, flour tortillas are not somehow “less authentic” than corn. KC is blessed with three spots making flour tortillas at an elite level.

B Y NATA L I E GA L L AGH ER

CARAMELO TORTILLAS

YOLI TORTILLERIA

12-pack for $6 caramelotortillas.com

10-pack for $10 1668 Jefferson St., #100, KCMO. eatyoli.com.

Sonora-born Ruben Leal started Caramelo Tortillas because he was longing for a taste of home. Sonoran tortillas omit a leavening agent, using only flour, salt, water and fat (traditionally lard—Caramelo also offers duck and avocado). His tortillas, which have a cult following among barbecue pits across the country, are so thin that you should be able to see the light of a clear blue morning shining through.

At Yoli Tortilleria in the Westside neighborhood, Marissa Gencarelli produces the buttery, flaky flour tortillas she grew up with in her home state of Sonora. Yoli offers traditional Sonoran flour tortillas made with pork fat and a vegan option made with avocado oil. The structural integrity of these tissue-thin beauties is no joke—and the proof is in the Yoli breakfast burrito.

Tortillas from Yoli Tortilleria

CARNICERIA Y TORTILLERIA SAN ANTONIO

10-pack for $4 830 Kansas Ave., KCK The flour tortillas made fresh daily at Carniceria y Tortilleria San Antonio are markedly different from the processed and factory-perfect packages lining grocery store shelves. These splotchy ten-inch rounds are made with flour, salt, baking soda, oil and water and are large enough to roll up a house cat.

PHOTO BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

Tacos de Canasta at Miranda’s Mexican Food Truck

CARNITAS AT RICOS TACOS LUPE

PHOTO BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

802 SOUTHWEST BLVD., KCMO

You can’t miss Rico Tacos Lupe. The storefront is bordered in a bright orange paint. Inside, you’ll find a quaint, character-filled tavern with friendly masked staff waiting to take your order.

If there’s one takeaway, it’s that you try the tender carnitas tacos ($1.75) drizzled in their zesty green salsa—they’re crushable in just a few bites. –NB

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Confessions of a Midwestern Grocery Washer WORDS BY HAMPTON STEVENS ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOANNA GORHAM

FOR NEARLY A YEAR, I HAVE NOT TOUCHED ANOTHER HUMAN BEING OR BEEN IN A BUILDING BESIDES MY HOME.

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T The ultimate villain is silence.

Yes, of course, you want to avoid the virus.

But the real enemy, the intimate foe, is a brutal, unrelenting silence. It is a silence born of solitude, a loneliness so vast and deep that no text, phone call, music, movie or TV show can do more than momentarily distract you from the cavernous dark.

Millions have suffered. Hundreds of thousands have died in this country alone. Next to that, my year has been a joyride, and I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to isolate.

But isolate I have. For nearly a year now, I have not touched another human being or been inside a building other than my own home. The challenges of that isolation, although nothing compared to the ravages of the virus itself, have not been for the meek of heart.

I am, you see, a grocery washer. In this most bizarre period of American life, there is perhaps no better shorthand for someone who takes the maximum precautions possible to avoid the virus. I’ve good reason to be wary, given a pre-existing heart condition, but the measures I’ve taken are no different than what everyone should have embraced. Since March 2020, when the world shut down, I’ve barely left my twelve-hundred-square-foot home in Westport. No shopping. No haircuts. No hugging my mom.

Some of us, you see, didn’t stop isolating when it got hard. We never returned to restaurants. We never held parties in the backyard or got together for Thanksgiving in the farcical belief that “everyone who’ll be there is careful.” We did these things out of fear. We did them because they were the right and smart things to do, and we watched for months while others stayed out in the world.

Admittedly, when the pandemic first struck, it was infuriating to see people act in ways that worsen the spread. Anger, though, is debilitating. It’s bad for body and soul. It soon became obvious that sustaining any sort of outrage over anti-maskers and super-spreaders would be self-defeating. Out of self-preservation and sheer exhaustion, I built up a tolerance for seeing people do dumb things.

Watching the local news, for instance. I can’t count the number of times they reported from some bar or restaurant with a room full of dudes happily munching away on chicken wings, licking saucy fingers, seemingly oblivious to the possibility of deadly pathogens swirling all around. At some point, after so many months of watching people behave that way, all I could

“The real enemy, the intimate foe, is a brutal, unrelenting silence.”

CONFESSIONS OF A MIDWESTERN GROCERY WASHER

muster was a mute, gaping wonder at the stupidity of it all.

Nor has that sort of foolishness been limited to strangers. I’ve had conversations with intelligent friends who ask about the wisdom of throwing a birthday party at their house. Do I think it’s okay?

No. No, I do not.

Emphatically, I do not think it’s “okay” to throw a birthday party in the middle of a global pandemic.

The question, in fact, is insane.

What, exactly, is the cost-benefit analysis of throwing a party in a plague? The benefit is that you get to see a few friends, drink a bit, and maybe eat a little slice of cake. The cost is that you could catch and spread a deadly illness. You could die, or leave someone you love gasping for oxygen, drowning inside their own body and dying alone in a hospital room. But I’m the weirdo for wanting to stay home?

It’s not like I don’t have longing or regret. The last thing I did before the world stopped was go to a friend’s wedding. We were still at the church, when news came about Spain and Italy going into lockdown, and I decided to skip the reception. Maybe I should have gone. My friend wanted me there.

I feel bad to this day about letting him down. It also, as it turned out, was the last chance I’d have for a long, long time to be with people.

Carrying those memories through the cold winter could have done a lot to keep me warm.

I

t’s striking, from the grocery washer perspective, to have people express surprise at my level of precaution. They ask if I’m a germaphobe,

for instance. That’s a negative, Ghost Rider. A “-phobe” implies a phobia. In other words, an irrational fear. Avoiding a deadly disease is, on the contrary, quite rational.

Irrational would be, say, hanging out at a birthday party while knowing that someone among the crowd and cocktails could be exhaling raw death into the air.

So, yes, for the sake of others, but mostly for myself, I wash the groceries delivered to my front porch—with profound gratitude for the delivery folks who help protect me. Yes, I’m uncomfortable talking to my next door neighbors, even masked from a supposedly safe distance. Masks are great, but they’re not magic. Six feet, ten feet, or whatever the experts say now, is terrific, but it’s not an impermeable bubble. These are recommended minimums that may or may not work, depending on lots of variables. I’ll err on the side of caution, thanks.

It’s been fascinating, in fact, to see people pretend like their halfhearted safety measures are a guarantee of wellness. Folks seem to use a kind of “plausible deniability” objection when talking about their precautions. It’s almost like they’re trying to negotiate with a virus, or arguing with it the way a child might squabble with a parent over bedtime. The “eating and drinking” exception, for instance. It is fundamentally bizarre to see people sitting in restaurants, munching on dinner, masks around their chin, as though the virus is bound by Sandwich Law, incapable of infecting anyone who’s enjoying a pastrami on rye.

My actions, on the other hand, have been guided by what might be called “The Larry Brown Theory.”

The legendary basketball coach has a mantra: “Play the right way.”

That is, make the best decision you

can at the time you have to make it.

Don’t do the flashy thing. Don’t do the brave or cool thing. To the best of your ability, do the smart thing.

With luck, those good decisions will accrue into victory. That’s been my approach. I’ve simply tried to make the best choices possible. Should I go to the store when delivery is an option, for instance? Should I get a haircut? Should I date? Should I eat that barbecue that a friend dropped off without warming it first? In every case, the answer is an incredibly obvious “no.”

Those choices, however, have come with a cost. There’s been a price to pay for seeking safety.

First, of course, came fear. That’s not unusual. Pandemic-induced hypochondria has been a bear for a lot of us, with every tickle in the throat, sending shockwaves of anxiety through the body. The best remedy I’ve found—beyond a standard-issue panic attack—is simply reminding myself that I am, in fact, made of flesh. Sometimes I’ll be aware of my body and its functions.

That’s inevitable, and catastrophizing every sneeze is a recipe for hair loss and heart palpitations.

Fear, though, is fleeting. The real burden has been solitude. This year of self-imposed solitary confinement has been nothing short of bone-crushing, forcing a continual self-reflection that has profoundly tested my soul. And, in some strange way, made it more resilient.

In solitude, there is nothing to take you out of yourself. There is only you, alone, day after day, season after season, with thoughts of everyone you’ve met, all the places you’ve been, and all you have ever done echoing in your head. I cannot count the sleepless hours I’ve spent rehashing the past, endlessly running over every wrong done to me and the wrongs I did to others, wincing at every career opportu-

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nity fumbled, regretting every lost love and lamenting every heart I treated badly.

That pain is always there. Sometimes it’s sharp, stabbing at the cerebellum. Sometimes it feels like swimming in wet cement. All of it, every moment, has been written on my face in dark circles, lines and bags, and it’s no wonder that avoiding mirrors has become an essential aspect of my daily routine.

The only thought that’s kept me relatively sane is a bit of ancient Buddhist wisdom—reinforced, oddly enough, by Ross Perot’s running mate.

Early in the pandemic, I saw someone on TV talking about Admiral James Stockdale, who ran with Perot during his quixotic third-party run in 1992. Stockdale, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, described how he stayed mentally strong during a torturous sevenand-a-half-year confinement in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.”

Contrary to what you might assume, Stockdale said, optimists didn’t fare especially well in captivity. An optimist might, for example, get excited about the possibility of release by Christmas. Then Christmas would come and go. Then Easter. Then Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and another Christmas would pass.

Optimists might find themselves in

CONFESSIONS OF A MIDWESTERN GROCERY WASHER

“We’ve all been in survival mode for a year. It’s been a psychic war.

And, like any war, the deepest wounds are sometimes the ones you don’t see.” a perpetual cycle of high hopes and disappointment. The people who thrived, or at least survived, said Stockdale, were those who kept faith in their own ability to withstand the ordeal, but didn’t dwell too long in the abstract.

For me, that’s meant an exercise in mindfulness. Throughout this brutal year, the most comforting thing has been to stay focused, as much as humanly possible, on the sensory experiences of the moment.

“This food is delicious,” for instance, or “I’m grateful to have a bed with clean sheets.” Anything else, whether it’s getting lost in the past or doing too much fantasizing about a post-pandemic future, only leads to regret and desire.

That forced mindfulness, though, has become a weird sort of blessing.

Almost despite myself, I’ve been left with a newfound sense of self-sufficiency. It simply doesn’t feel like I need external validation the way I once did. Maybe that feeling will fade once I return to the ordinary world. But maybe not. Something feels different now. There’s a new stillness inside me, as though an inessential part of my being has been burned away.

Not everything in my experience, of course, has been so detached

and high-minded. A year alone gets pretty weird, and you’d better not take yourself too seriously. I’ve definitely indulged in some plain-old goofiness. Like when I grew out my right pinky nail for absolutely no reason. I also let a single hair grow from the bridge of my nose until it became long enough to enter my line of sight. I did this to see what I’d learn. What I learned, mostly, was not to do that. It’s super gross and weird.

There was plenty more, of course.

Like a nonjudgmental indulgence of every OCD-like quirk, and developing an affectionate attachment to Alexa that rivaled how Tom Hanks felt about his volleyball in Castaway. Ridiculousness, too, is part of being in the moment.

Mindful or not, however, it’s impossible to completely avoid imagining the future. Nor should we.

Post-pandemic life will come. As mass vaccinations become a reality and this horror ultimately subsides, all of us will have to take stock and readjust. That is a psychic reckoning with which we, as a society, have barely begun to grapple.

For some, of course, that reckoning means adjusting to the loss of a loved one or the long-term effects of this insidious disease. For anyone

lucky enough to avoid a close brush with death, though, the readjustment will be far more subtle.

Someday, Good Lord willing, I’ll see live music again. I’ll drink in bars with friends, fly on airplanes and visit new cities. How I’ll react to those situations after avoiding them so carefully is difficult to say.

What will it be like to walk into a grocery store or restaurant? When will the nightmares about finding myself unmasked in a crowd finally come to an end? What about dating? Someday, I hope to touch and hold another human being, feeling skin on skin, and I’ve absolutely no idea what lingering impacts a year alone might have on my ability to experience physical intimacy.

None of us knows. We can’t, not in the midst of so much danger and pain. Beaten down and bedraggled, we simply do not have the intellectual capacity to address the emotional demands of an uncertain future. Soon, though, we must. We will have to find ways to let each other heal. Just as importantly, we must give ourselves permission to do the same. We’ve all been in survival mode for a year. It’s been a psychic war. And, like any war, the deepest wounds are sometimes the ones you don’t see.

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T

he drive from Kansas City to Ridgedale, Missouri, is about three and a half hours. The southbound route passes through a number of charming towns and past a bevy of billboards promising untold riches in the back of antique shops. Green pastures give way to an increasingly rugged terrain dotted with towering oak, pine and dogwood trees.

It’s a pleasant enough jaunt down Route 86, but the real joy of the trip is the final destination. Once you’ve passed under an archway emblazoned with the words “Welcome to Paradise,” you’ll know you’re there.

Big Cedar Lodge is sprawled out over 4,600 acres, the property smack dab in the middle of prime Ozark territory on the shores of Table Rock Lake. The spread of polished buildings, glittering blue lakes and landscaped foliage framed by mountains is breathtaking—and it is just the beginning.

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IN THE OZARKS

LEFT:

Cabins tucked away into the rugged landscape of the Ozark Mountains.

ABOVE:

Perched high on the property, Falls Lodge is a grand, rustic lodge offering breathtaking views.

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GLA M PING —A N D THEY M EA N IT Even if you’ve come to Big Cedar Lodge with a specific activity in mind—worldclass golfing, perhaps, or a family vacation taking advantage of Fun Mountain—it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the countless activities and amenities the resort has to offer.

Upon check-in, your concierge will outline the most crucial information: the route to your sumptuously appointed digs, the most popular attractions and restaurants, where to find the various outdoor and indoor pools, how to get to the beach and marina, how to get to the rental canoes and boats, how to access the golf courses. There are plenty of activities to cram into your vacation schedule—but first, you’ll need to unload your luggage.

Last year, Big Cedar Lodge made a notable addition to its lineup of Ozark-inspired cabins, the ones that feature impressive vaulted ceilings, wood-burning fireplaces and shower-steam rooms. Minutes from the main camp, along the shores of Table Rock Lake, Camp Long Creek was introduced, with fifty-six units of nature-based accommodations: cottages, shepherd’s huts and luxury glamping tents.

Enjoy your morning coffee on your private balcony overlooking the glittering blue waters of Table Rock Lake.

The cottages have all the contemporary features you’re accustomed to, like modern kitchens with high-end appliances, fine beds appointed with plush linens and jacuzzi bathtubs, as well as rustic touches like screened-in porches and s’mores kits for guests upon arrival. The huts are slender, with pretty kitchenettes (enviable farmhouse sinks included) and cozy queen beds.

The glamping tents are marvels: Canvas tent walls are upheld by sturdy support beams, and they conceal king beds beneath chandeliers with full electricity to support a fridge and the essential coffee machine.

Enjoy your morning coffee on your private balcony overlooking the glittering blue waters of Table Rock Lake, and when night falls make good use of that s’mores kit with your personal fire pit. Glamping means you have a private bathroom with a shower, of course, but make sure you take advantage of your outdoor tub, perfect for relaxing with a glass of wine while you gaze at the stars and listen to the hum of cicadas.

Camp Long Creek is ideal for guests interested in water sports. Long Creek Marina features an outdoor pool, beach access and rentable boats and sport equipment.

Catch your dinner—the fish are always biting at Table Rock Lake, particularly the bass—or treat yourself to a sunset dinner yacht cruise on the elegant Lady Liberty.

FOR GOLF A N D GLORY Golf is a beautiful game. Even without the clubs and balls, it would be beautiful: Ambling along a manicured green, blades of grass still flecked with morning dew while delicate birdsong welcomes you to the day. It would be enough to just stroll along the course, especially if that course is Payne’s Valley.

Payne’s Valley is the newest addition to the list of world-class golf courses at Big Cedar Lodge. The a ninteen-hole course was built to showcase the natural beauty of the Ozarks and has the distinction of being the first public golf course in the U.S. by the legendary Tiger Woods and his firm, TGR Design. It is a spectacular family-friendly design, made for players of every skill level to enjoy the game amid the backdrop of the majestic Ozark Mountains.

The landscaped green is breathtaking.

There are exposed rock outcroppings

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ABOVE:

Situated on Table Rock Lake, enjoy a serene backdrop while relaxing in a luxury Glamping tent.

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ABOVE:

Payne’s Valley, the first ever public access course designed by Tiger Woods, is set to open this fall.

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that are, of course, designed strategically for golfing, with winding streams and cascading valleys lined with trees. For a golfer, the possibilities are endless: Experienced players can challenge themselves with creative shots from the sprawling fairways. The game ends with a par-three hole designed by Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops and Big Cedar Lodge, culminating on an island green shrouded by waterfalls.

Payne’s Valley is the fifth golf course at Big Cedar Lodge. It joins the ranks of the Tom Fazio-designed Buffalo Ridge course (named second Best Public Course in Missouri by Golfweek, second only to Ozarks International), the Jack Nicklaus Signature-designed Top of the Rock (perched high above Table Rock Lake), the family-friendly Mountain

Top Course (a thirteen-hole par-three short course with stunning views) and Ozarks National (named the Best New Public Course in America by Golf Digest and Best Public Course in Missouri by Golfweek). It’s no wonder that last year GOLF Magazine named Big Cedar Lodge as the number one family resort in North America.

One of the great pleasures of golfing is the setting in which you play. The courses at Big Cedar Lodge are nothing short of idyllic, and as you shoot that sun-dappled white ball across the green, do not be surprised by the feeling of serenity that sinks down to your bones. It doesn’t matter if you’ve parred the hole or not: What matters is that you’re breathing in the crisp Ozark air as the sun caresses your cheeks. That’s paradise.

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ABOVE:

Soak in the sunset from the highest elevation point in Taney County.

RIGHT:

The Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail is the perfect appetizer before heading to Top of the Rock for dinner.

The courses at Big Cedar Lodge are nothing short of idyllic.

A CONSERVATION IST ’ S DR EA M Johnny Morris’ name is everywhere at Big Cedar Lodge. Seeing as he’s the lodge’s founder (and the man behind Bass Pro Shops), that’s no surprise.

But his legacy as a conservationist deserves particular attention: Last year, he was awarded the National Audubon Society’s Audubon Medal, one of America’s most prestigious conservation awards. Morris has spent his life working to preserve wildlife and wild places for future generations, and there is perhaps no better example of this work than Big Cedar Lodge’s expansive acreage.

Between cleaning Table Rock Lake out of all its fish and setting golf records, take the time to explore the two-and-a-half-mile Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail. As always, Big Cedar Lodge promises convenience above all things: You’ll enjoy a close-up look at some of the Ozark’s natural plants, animals and rock formations—all from the comfort of a golf cart that you can drive yourself. Go ahead, wear flip-flops.

Trick your kiddos with red buckeye, which gets its name from the white scar on the seeds, mimicking the eye of a male deer. In the spring, the buckeye’s red flowers draw hummingbirds. Black-eyed Susans grow wild here, and so does the white dome hydrangea. Flower and butterfly enthusiasts will consider this a sanctuary.

Stop the cart and hop off to get a closer look at the naturally formed rock shelters jutting out from the sides of the earth: Hundreds of years ago, Native Americans and early settlers took refuge in the cool shadows of these very structures. The view hasn’t changed much since then. The sound of waterfalls slick against the limestone is soothing, enough to offset the excitement of seeing a native fox, raccoon or woodchuck.

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The Lost Canyon Cave is the centerpiece of the trail, and it is a wonderful stopping point, thanks to the convenient Bat Bar at the entrance, where fresh-squeezed strawberry lemonade (or vodka lemonade, if that’s your pleasure) is poured into a plastic cup, to be enjoyed for the rest of your journey. Big Bear Cave, on the other hand, is awe-inspiring, with toothy stalagmites extended from ceiling to floor. It is simultaneously dangerous and elegant: Extending a hand into the depths is like reaching into a bear’s mouth. There’s no risk of being bitten, though, unless you’re counting the nature bug.

The views at Big Cedar Lodge are spectacular no matter where you’re at.

A MOUNTAIN OF FUN Fun Mountain is an indoor facility built to appease the child living inside us all—as well as actual children. Here, you can get lost in a four-thousand-square-foot arcade boasting over sixty video and arcade games, both modern and vintage, tackle an interactive climbing adventure, beat the heat with an indoor golf simulator, zip around in a bumper car, dominate at laser tag and sharpen your pool skills.

Given all the games—and the pirate ship suspended from the ceiling, complete with climbing ropes—you’d be forgiven for thinking Fun Mountain was designed

by Peter Pan’s rambunctious lost boys.

The show-stopper is, of course, Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl. Walking into this bowling alley is like being blessed with mermaid vision. The sixteen lanes are cast in deep oceanic blues that shift like waves, and the sharks, fish and other sea creatures suspended from the ceiling move with the water. It’s enough to make you feel like you’re sending bowling balls down a dock at the bottom of the sea.

LEFT:

Grab a drink at the Bat Bar before riding through this stunning cave.

BELOW:

The Buffalo Bar is your picture perfect destination for world-class cuisine in the Ozarks.

Get a bottle of pinot noir and order a wood-fired pizza or a perfectly seared filet mignon.

Sunsets here are an event. As the sky darkens, the jazz band will introduce a new guest: a bagpipe player, whose rendition of “Amazing Grace” pays homage to golf’s Scottish roots and serves as a stirring salute to the setting sun. As the last note lingers in the air, a Civil War cannon is fired, the great boom echoing throughout the trees.

But the cannon doesn’t have to signal the end of your night. Below the Buffalo Bar, find the End of the Trail Wine Cellar. Get yourself a glass of something—wine, of course, or take advantage of the exceptional whiskey and Scotch offerings—and explore the underground quarry. There’s a large fire pit overlooking the grounds, and in the air, nothing but peace.

Speaking of peace: Everything about Cedar Creek Spa suggests that it is a sanctuary for your spirit, much like Big Cedar Lodge itself is a sanctuary of Ozark wilderness.

Here, between moments of explosive joy— the satisfaction of parring a hole on Payne’s Valley’s immaculate green, the thrill of “underwater” bowling, the excitement of discovery on the Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail, the sublime pleasure of toasting to a heart-soaring sunset—you’ll find tranquility unlike anything else. It’ll stay there, just for you, until you return again.

DIN N ER W ITH A V IEW The views at Big Cedar Lodge are spectacular no matter where you’re at, but they are perhaps most enjoyable when you are sitting at one of the plush leather chairs on the veranda of Buffalo Bar. Here, tables look across the view of Table Rock Lake, and if you are lucky enough to book a table for dinner, you can watch the crystal-blue waters shift to reflect the glowing pinks, oranges and purples of the sky.

Everyone here is in a good mood, from fellow diners to staff, and it is infectious.

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ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS

E AT I N G A N D D R I N K I N G W E L L I N K A N S A S C I T Y

CLUTCH PEARLS The noughties are back, baby. While artisan cupcakes, flip phones and Von Dutch trucker hats remain consigned to oblivion, Juicy Couture trackies and bubble tea are shooting up like GameStop stock. On the Plaza, new bubble tea shop Bruú Café is taking the trending beverage up a level. Owner Bay Vanithbuncha’s stylish shop makes fresh boba every four hours, dumping any leftover tapioca pearls, and customizes levels of sweetness, boba color and ice level. Some of the more elaborate house creations like the Milk Tea Creme Brulee (brown sugar bubbles, house-made creme brulee sauce, cream and caramelized sugar topping) and a strawberry marble latte with rainbow bubbles are dripping with both color and flavor—a drink you’ll snap a selfie with before slurping up every last little orb. – M A R T I N C I Z M A R

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

GO: Bruú Café. 4709 Central St., KCMO. bruucafe.com.

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TA S T E FE AT U R E

DUBLIN DOWN St. Patrick’s Day events are canceled, again. Cheer things up with this Irish breakfast from Browne’s.

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

P O P Q U I Z : Where is the oldest operating Irish business outside of Ireland?

If you guessed KC, then, well, good on ya.

Browne’s Irish Marketplace on Pennsylvania Avenue was founded in 1887 by immigrants from County Kerry.

Current owner Kerry Browne is the great-great-granddaughter of the original owners.

In the Before Times, Browne’s would make Irish breakfasts once a month most of the year, plus every Saturday leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. Those breakfasts were, along with other St. Patrick’s Day events, among the first things canceled last March with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Everybody sat together,” Kerry Browne says. “People would break out singing. It was great… We’ll have those again.”

In the meantime, cooking an Irish breakfast at home brings its own unique pleasures: Your home will be filled with the lingering aromas of strong black tea and hardy brown bread.

Here’s what comes in Browne’s Irish Marketplace’s breakfast box—and, someday again, on the plate.

MCCAMBRIDGE BREAD

Browne’s imports the top bread brand in Ireland, a whole wheat bread that’s a staple in pantries across the country.

B AT C H E L O R S B E A N S

Baked beans are an integral part of both Irish and English breakfasts— Americans could do worse than to adopt the habit, as they’re packed with fiber and protein. Batchelors is the top-selling baked bean in Ireland.

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F R I E D T O M AT O E S

“My uncle said once it gives an acid to help balance out the flavors,” Browne says. “Once you grow up with it, it’s very normal. I would never have a fried tomato with anything else, but it just seems wrong to have an Irish breakfast without it.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

E G G S & P O TAT O E S

There’s no particular way to cook them, and they are not included in the breakfast box at Browne’s, but they’re always on an Irish breakfast platter.

Browne scrambles them and adds a little parsley and Irish cheese.

The homefry-style potatoes are cubed and fried with onions, peppers and seasoning.

JA M RASHERS

Irish bacon from the pork loin is leaner than American bacon and cut into thicker, wider squares.

“It’s not as fatty or as salty,” Browne says. “When you cook it, you add a little oil. When thinking of our bacon, adding a little oil isn’t something you would do.”

Browne’s carries eight different brands of Irish jam in flavors that are exotic to Americans, including rhubarb with ginger and black currant. Orange marmalade is a classic. “Their jams are pretty game-changing,” Browne says.

“You can take a frozen waffle and put Irish jam on it and have a great meal.”

BANGERS

BARRY’S TEA

Barry’s tea comes from Cork, on the far south of the island, and is the most popular tea in Ireland and among Browne’s customers.

Rival Bewley’s, from Dublin, operates cafes and hotels and is therefore popular among Dubliners and tourists.

“It gets political there, too—people who want Bewley’s want Bewley’s, but they’ll settle for Barry’s,” Browne says.

“Anyone who doesn’t get their first choice will still say, ‘Well, I’ll take the other any day over American tea.’”

Irish sausages are ground much finer than American sausages and typically use a breadcrumb filler to get the right texture. The dominant flavor is sage.

Not pictured here but normally included in Browne’s Irish breakfast are black and/ or white pudding. Both are blood puddings.

SODA BREAD & SCONES

Ireland doesn’t have many yeast breads because of the high humidity. Browne’s makes a number of different soda breads, including this one, called Holiday bread, which is flavored with raisins and nutmeg.

The shop also sells scone mix from Ireland, to which you only have to add water. “What’s good about it is it has the Irish flour,” Browne says.

“People say, ‘Why can’t we get our scones the same?’ It’s because our flour is different here.”

K E R R YG O L D I R I S H B U T T E R

“It’s the best butter in the world,” Browne says of the golden block butter produced by a cooperative of Irish dairy farmers. “My family is all in Kerry and they have a dairy farm, so there’s a little bit of their milk in there. Kerry cows go higher in the hills, so they get more heather and the sweeter grains. The butter is naturally sweeter, and it’s better for you because it has more nutrients from the grasses.”

KANSASCITYMAG.COM MARCH 2021

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TA S T E PER FECT DAY

DAY IN KC Kimberly Carlson says “It takes a cultural lens to help people break through ‘the bamboo ceiling.’”

BY N ATA L I E G A L L AG H E R

Kimberly Carlson do?

The Topeka native has lived in Kansas City since 2008. She began her career as a vaccine scientist, then spent a decade overseeing training programs at four-thousand federally funded clinics.

Today, she manages the nation’s longest-running HIV study. It’s a busy and fulfilling professional life, and Carlson enriches it further with her involvement in the Kansas City chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

The NAAAP is a nonprofit organization that empowers Asian and Pacific Islander leaders. It was founded in 1982 after the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin—something that’s been on Carlson’s mind lately given the rise in hate crimes and coronavirus-related anti-Asian sentiment.

“Events like that trigger the community to come together, and NAAAP is a safe space to do that.”

W H AT D O E S N ’ T

What does NAAAP do and how did you get involved? When Crazy Rich Asians came out [in

2018], that’s when I first heard about NAAAP, and

I couldn’t believe it. NAAAP had rented out a theater at the Alamo Drafthouse and hosted a dress-up gala to celebrate the movie, and I knew that these were my people. I learned about their mission and decided to get involved.

We offer professional development programs on a local and national level, give back through community service and have monthly networking events that celebrate culture and community.

Our NAAAP Pride program engages the Asian American LGBTQ+ community, and NAAAP Self-Care and Wellness focuses on holistic well-being.

A lot of that is designed to break through and talk about things that may not have been discussed in an Asian family because of cultural beliefs or traditions.

P E R F E C T DAY A Running Start “I start with a two-mile run. I live in the Westside, so I run to Union Hill. My turnaround spot is Case Park, which has a beautiful overlook of the downtown airport and the West Bottoms. Afterward, I go to Yoli Tortilleria for their horchata and café de olla and combine them over ice.”

Comfort in a Bowl “I love the posole from Los Alamos. It’s just comfort in a bowl.

You can order it by the scoop—one scoop serves about two persons—and neighborhood families will bring their own pot. Los Alamos puts the posole right in your pot and you walk home.”

Hidden Gem “At noon on Saturdays and Sundays, Hung Vuong, an Asian grocer in the City Market, serves freshly baked sesame balls filled with sweet white bean paste. I think a lot of people are intimidated

by Asian grocery stores and don’t know how to navigate them. But you have to talk to people and just take a chance on something new.”

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Whatsabi “My all-time favorite dish is the chirashi from Bob Wasabi.

It’s the best value and variety. You’re getting a bowl of sushi rice and, like, thirty pieces of raw fish. I save the tamagoyaki, the egg omelet, for my last bite.”

Asian, intergenerational and it immediately felt like a family to me. It allows me to embrace my Filipino heritage. It’s positive and inspiring and inclusive, no matter what industry you work in. If you ever need guidance or mentoring, you can reach out to members and say, “I’m in NAAAP,” and they will help.

We provide people with tools and resources that can empower Asian and Pacific Islanders to become leaders and impactful employees.

It’s not dry lectures about business. It takes a cultural lens to help people break through “the bamboo ceiling.” Although Asians are a highly skilled and highly educated workforce, they’re greatly underrepresented in the C-suite, and there are barriers to getting promoted beyond middle management.

We address those challenges in our professional development, including the myth of the “model minority,” which is how Asians are often seen.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

What do you think makes NAAAP special? NAAAP is pan-

TA S T E DR I N K

THE HAZE ASCENDS Sandhills Brewing’s Junco is now among the city’s elite hazies.

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

promotes the production of glycerol, giving the beer its soft, luscious mouthfeel. They’ve also tinkered with the pressure they use when carbonating the beer.

It’s all the little stuff, but it adds up to the acceleration of one big trend: Junco now numbers among the city’s handful of elite hazy IPAs. “It’s a lot of experimentation, and moving Junco forward has been a thing since day one,” Cizek says. “We do that with a lot of our beers and especially the ones you see a lot. With to-go beers, we’ve found the IPA leads the sale.

You might sell eight beers and four of them are IPA because that’s what people want to commit to when they’re home. So you want to make it good.”

GO: 5612 Johnson Drive, Mission

D E M I C , I remember reading somewhere—maybe Foreign Affairs magazine, maybe a Dril tweet, it all blends together now—that the most likely outcome of this cataclysmic event wasn’t the emergence of new trends but the acceleration of existing ones.

In the beer scene, at least, that’s exactly what happened. Canned New England-style IPAs were already trending upward, and with so many people steering clear of taprooms, they’ve boomed.

Hazebros, take note: Junco by Sandhills Brewing would be worth finding a mule to buy, but you happily can DID YOU grab it anytime or enjoy on an inviting K NOW ? new patio as the weather warms The up. Junco is the Mission brewery’s forefather of hazy IPAs is flagship, selling double anything else it Heady Topper offers, owner Joe Cizek says. The beer from The debuted when the Johnson County Alchemist in Vermont. location opened in March 2019, and I had it for the first time shortly thereafter. It was good. But over the last year, it’s rounded into great.

“You have a learning curve with your system,” Cizek says. “We work on our efficiencies with every beer—partly to get the cost down but more to make the beers better. We’re so small, we’re not going to save a ton of money by changing the grains or anything, but we can make them better.”

Junco is still based on a hop bill of Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado, and as they’ve grown, they’re getting better batches. But, Cizek says, “the real improvement has just been the technique.”

Sandhills is now dry-hopping under pressure, which limits oxidization. They’re also doing their first round of fermentation at eighty degrees, significantly warmer than most other beers, which

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY LISA CORSON

AT T H E S TA R T O F T H E C O R O N AV I R U S PA N -

TA S T E B I T E S

TA K E F I V E

Ghost Kitchens

NEWSFEED

WHAT’S NEW IN KANSAS CITY FOOD & DRINK Smash-N-Nash

1

‘Stand’ and Deliver

Smash-N-Nash

The folks behind Summit Grill, Boru and Third Street Social take on classic smash burgers and Nashville hot chicken with this delivery-only operation from the chain’s kitchens in Waldo, Lee’s Summit and Gladstone.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY RESPECTIVE VENUES, BUTTERFIELD’S BAKERY & MARKET PHOTO COURTESY FACEBOOK

2

The Post Chicken

Family-style fried chicken dinners with elevated sides from Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar on the Plaza.

They’re doing their own deliveries, which saves you a third encounter of the week with the same DoorDash driver, and are speedy about curbside delivery, too.

3

Cosmo Burger

Also in Waldo, Dodson’s Bar & Commons is doing smashburgers, these with house-made pickles, for pickup. Also of note: the “Hamm’s sandwich” with two pounders of Hamm’s, four ounces of whiskey and a four-ounce pickleback for just $13.

5

Custard’s Next Stand

Johnny Wings

Waldo’s District Pour House + Kitchen launched this chicken wing ghost operation, which offers both delivery and pick-up. Their signature offering is the “Extra Krunchy” option with more breading.

4

Sura Noodle Bar

Macho Taco

Michael Forbes Grill in Brookside is operating Macho Taco, selling grilled steak tacos, smoked salsa, and, because there are no rules during the pandemic, chicken wings with chimichurri sauce.

Popping Soup The Parlor food hall is getting a new noodle spot, though your time to try it is limited.

Keeyoung Kim, the owner of Sura Eats, has started a noodle-fueled spin-off pop-up project featuring dishes like Korean-style ramyun soup and chicken kalguksu, which Kim says some call the Korean version of chicken and noodle soup. The Sura Noodle Bar pop-up opened in early February and will run through the end of April. “I love noodles,” Kim wrote when announcing the project. “They are delicious vessels for sauces and broths, and they are also fun to eat, especially when loud slurping is involved.”

Andy’s Frozen Custard is coming to Waldo, with plans to open sometime this summer.

The Springfield-based chain has already demolished the former Berbiglia liquor store, which stood empty at the corner of 79th Street and Wornall Road for six years, but it faces opposition from the city in its bid to further expand its footprint by also taking out a neighboring house, reports the Star. Removing a home to expand a business doesn’t jive with city planning, promoting hearings on the subject. As noted in our feature package, that stretch of Wornall is changing fast, with a new taqueria taking over for the former JerUSAlem Stone store across the street.

Lawrence continues to export restaurants to KC. Following on the heels of Pizza Shuttle, which landed in Johnson County before the pandemic, college town sports bar Jefferson’s is starting a standalone wing spot to be called Wing Stand by Jefferson’s, according to the Shawnee Mission Post. Wing Stand will be on Johnson Drive in Mission, right next to Sully’s Pub and close enough to the Mission branch of The Peanut that a hen could probably make the flight. Opening a wing spot right next to The Peanut seems like a bold move, but we haven’t had Jefferson’s.

Ollie out, Cliff in With the former Nick and Jake’s on the south Plaza set to become Third Street Social, the restaurant’s former general manager is starting his own new project, Cliff’s Taphouse, in midtown’s Union Hill neighborhood. The kitchen at the location, formerly Ollie’s Local, will be helmed by former Nick and Jake’s chef Laura Valdivia, according to the Star, and will feature dishes like Asian pork tostadas, lemon pepper wings, flatbreads, pulled pork sliders and the like.

‘Butter’ and Bread Two years ago, Kate Smith started selling macarons. Now, she’s got a full-fledged bakery and sandwich shop in the former Mad Man’s barbecue location inside the Lenexa Public Market, according to Feast. Smith was previously a wedding planner and her new spot, Butterfield’s Bakery & Market, sells creative milkshakes with house-made ice cream and sandwiches like a sourdough melt with bacon, blackberry jam, fresh jalapeño and Swiss cheese.

TA S T E ‘CU E C A R D

SURF, TURF AND MORE The properier of Jonathan’s Wood-Fire BBQ & Seafood does a little of everything.

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

J

O H N D. DAW K I N S I I I

going on.

You’ll know that immediately upon arrival at his six-month-old spot, Jonathan’s WoodFire BBQ & Seafood, in Olathe. Out front, you’ll see three or four different smokers burning away in the parking lot (all home built), plus the steamer for his seafood offerings, which include crab legs and shrimp with corn on the cob.

“Barbecue is something that’s been in my life my whole life,” Dawkins says. “I learned at my grandfather’s pit in the back of my grandmother’s backyard in Detroit.

Even long after he passed, we still light that smoker today. I was introduced to excellent smoked meats at a very young age.”

And barbecue—in addition to the newish space where Dawkins has two food carts—is just one of his interests. Dawkins is also a minis-

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HAS A LOT

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ter, and says his eponymous ministry drives everything he does. His main line of work, for the past fifteen years, has been as a concierge who arranges things for international business and military travelers brought to Overland Park for training in the city’s tech industries.

“Before they hit American soil, we take care of everything for them,” he says.

And if you need help securing a visa for an international traveler, he does that, too—forging business relationships in places like Indonesia, where he’s traveled, and plans to soon get small-batch coffee lots which he’ll start a company to roast.

“There’s a lot of moving parts to my life, period,” he says. And yet, if you want beef ribs, he’ll smoke you beef ribs, with a day’s notice. Beef ribs and crab legs are rarely sold under the same roof, but Dawkins’ plan is to expand into Texas, where that’ll be required.

“I plan to be just as big as Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen,” he says.

That’s a tall order, but the ribs at Jonathan’s, which have a nice, thick bark with layers of flavor, and the unique pineapple-accented baked beans are very well-made.

“I’ve developed an appetite and also the knowledge of how to use spices and such to make anything—I’ve known my way around the kitchen since I was a little guy,” says Dawkins.

“I’m crazy with Indian food, man.

You’d think I was straight from India. I know how to do it.”

The touches that come from Dawkins unique, internationally informed perspective are everywhere—he’s one of the rare pits in the city where someone can get ribs and if another is looking for halal barbecue beef, he’s got that covered, too—that’s why there are separate smokers.

It’s a lot of balls to keep juggling in the air. Which is exactly what he intends.

“When my life is over and I’m standing in front of God, I don’t want to have any gifts left,” Dawkins says.

“I want to use them all up. That’s the heart of everything I do.”

Scan for an experience that may lower your blood pressure while you read.

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BACKSTORY

1889 The story behind Kansas City’s first skyscraper, the New York Life building

“

BAC K I N T HE 1 8 8 0 S , when skyscrapers were invented, no one had ever seen a ten-story building before.

They blew people’s minds. And they quickly spread from Chicago and New York to cities all over the country. The

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ing in 1888 was a big deal no matter where you were. Even in Chicago, it was worth looking at.

The night they first turned on the electric lights, the story made the paper in Kansas City the next day. People had never seen anything like it. You could go up on the roof there and look out across the river, across the Great Plains.

Life insurance was becoming a huge business the same time people were building skyscrapers, so a lot of the first ones are named after life insurance companies. The New York Life company, from New York, went on a binge of building across the Midwest. The Kansas City building has an identical twin. If you drive up to Omaha, you can see a carbon copy of your New York Life Building [there renamed the Omaha National Bank Building], built with the same exact blueprint.

They’re gorgeous buildings. Right now the building is the headquarters of the archdiocese of Kansas City, but it really looks like a church. It was designed by one of the most prestigious New York architecture firms, McKim, Mead & White—these were the guys who did the old Madison Square Garden, they did Pennsylvania Station.

You stand there in front of the New York Life building, and you’ve got these huge granite pillars and an archway and this giant eagle statue that was the New York Life logo. Inside, there’s marble and mosaic pattern floors and a barrel-vaulted ceiling and a marble staircase. It looks like a church. The Catholic diocese did a good job picking it.”

term “skyscrapers” was a baseball term for a high fly ball.

The New York Life Building in Kansas City opened in 1889. It was the tallest thing in Kansas City, but it would have — Mark Houser, author of MultiStories: 55 Antique been the tallest thing in most cities Skyscrapers & the Business Tycoons Who Built across the country. A twelve-story build- Them, as told to Kansas City magazine

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY MISSOURI VALLEY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, K ANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY

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