Kansas City Delicious

By KATIE VAN LUCHENE

From tasting menus and craft cocktails to backyard brews and dives, Kansas City’s food and beverage scene has something for whatever you crave.

Gone are the days when Kansas City was known as simply a bastion of barbecue and steaks (although it certainly excels at both).

Today, our region boasts more than its share of James Beard Foundation award-winning chefs, semifinalists and nominees.

Michael Smith, one of the first chefs to win JBF’s Best Chef Midwest, oversees two spaces in the Crossroads Arts District: Farina, an Italian restaurant and oyster bar, and Extra Virgin, the spot for Mediterranean tapas.

For KC’s James Beard nominees, it’s not if they’ll win that coveted medal, it’s when. Several offer tasting menus from four courses to ten-plus, including Michael Corvino at Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room. Martin Heuser’s Affäre celebrates a seasonal menu with a German twist and gourmet brats to grill at home. A six-course repast at Carl Thorne-Thomsen’s Story is a culinary treat. And while Nicholas Goellner doesn’t have a tasting menu, fans create their own with Antler’s Room’s exquisite small plates.

> From jazzy lounges to secretive speakeasies, Kansas City's glass is always more than half-full.

There’s a secret-knock vibe at a handful of KC cocktail bars including the Conductor Club at Union Station, with its rotating pop-up themes like Willy Wonka and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. J. Rieger Co.’s Hey! Hey! Club is a sexy hideaway and P.S., a nod to KC’s jazz age, is behind an unmarked door under Hotel Phillips.

Downtown Lee’s Summit offers The W as an intimate space to sit and sip. Drastic Measures in Shawnee claims “no wine, no beer, just cocktails.” And don’t miss the perfect selfie photo opp at Goat & Rabbit in the Volker neighborhood, with its “Our Little Secret” neon sign.

> Head's up, beer enthusiasts! There's an ever-growing number of taprooms, microbreweries and beer halls popping up in every corner of the metro.

Boulevard Brewing Company, founded in 1989, is the largest specialty brewery in the Midwest and offers a popular tour, beer hall and a Rec Deck with shuffleboards. North KC’s Cinder Block adds puppy yoga and live music to its lineup of smallbatch brews and ciders. KC Bier Co. serves up Bavarian-style beers and BKS Artisan Ales brews an award-winning IPA.

Hop on the JoCo (short for Johnson County) Ale Trail and catch Red Crow, where every beer is named after a woman influential in a staff member’s life, or ExBEERiment, to order off the “beeriodic” table. Try a new off-the-wall sour at Servaes Brewing Company. Or catch a local food truck while you sample an amber ale at Transport Brewery

Bonus: try a “collaboration beer” made by good ol’ stand-bys like Boulevard Brewing and Crane Brewing in conjunction with KC’s new, Blackowned brewery, Vine Street Brewing. More on that on pg. 90.

> Insiders know where to find KC's hidden gems, from gives to dreamy bistros. And now so do you.

No coast? No problem. Get delicious seafood — including cioppino — at Earl’s Premier in the Rockhill neighborhood. (Save dessert for The Littlest Bake Shop’s gorgeous cupcakes a few steps away.)

Asian food finds a delicious home here, too. Authentic Chinese food, including dim sum, makes ABC Café a popular spot. Chewology serves upscale Taiwanese street food like dumplings, steamed buns and ramen in a cheery space.

Cozy joints like Housewife Café & Bistro in Grandview or Black Dog Coffeehouse in Lenexa offer a nice spot to post up with a cup of joe and a locally-made pastry. Or find artisanal chocolates at Christopher Elbow in the Crossroads Arts District.  And Sunday brunch is BIG in KC — get down on some beignets at Louie’s Wine Dive on 119th, a bourbon chicken-n-biscuit at Blvd Tavern or a brunchy cocktail at Brass Onion. n