Tannin Wine Bar! (One of the very Best!)

Where can you find a sample of the best wines around?  Do you obsess over the best cheeses from around the world?  Do you know a spot that forages for local mushrooms in the spring and makes a cream of mushroom soup that makes your whine for more?  Tannins, on Walnut Street in downtown Kansas City, holds the wine novel you seek, and some of the best local food west of the Missouri River.

We started the night with a flight of wines recommended by the bartender, starting with dry whites, then to the bold reds and ending with the crisp, sweet whites.  This just fuels you to order the best glass(es) for the meal to come.  Hand-crafted, hot crepes filled with roasted chicken, fresh ricotta, recently harvested chives and parsley, all dusted with nutty parmigiano reggiano teased our taste buds to order more!  Served alongside my robust Argentine Malbec wine was a truffled, wild mushroom cream soup with local morels sourced from a countryside neighbor.  It was truly exquisite and made my head spin with its mushroom divinity. More! (Please) ;)

I still talk about my perfectly seared steak topped with Maytag blue cheese butter and a balsamic reduction that brought out the juiciest bites, topped with local (thin) frites and sautéed green asparagus.  These three dishes alone made this meal “hands down” one of the best meals I've eaten in Kansas City.  It definitely could be in the running for my "last meal."

The night was young and begging for more food joy, so we finished with something sweet and fragrant.  I revisited my moscato from the taster I had previously enjoyed and paired it with their peach tart with homemade, vanilla ice cream.  And as if that weren’t enough, the grand finale was their famous cheese plate.  If you like cheese even a little, you must try their cheese plate which gives you a sample of the most exquisite cheeses from around the world and a generous dollop of raw honey and spiced walnuts.  Oh, how I adore cheese, and the god of cheese was with me this night!  You get to choose from the bountiful list they offer, and each one piqued my interest.  On this evening, I chose the Comte, Manchego, and Point Reyes.  This was pure HEAVEN and the perfect ending to a gorgeous feast.

Contrary to what you might think, good quality cheese holds enzymes that actually help you digest your food.  (Raw cheese is the very best for this.)  In fact, it typically is recommended toward the end of your meal for this reason.  Or you could order a digestive liqueur, and your digestive enzymes will thoroughly thank you.

I look forward to many more lunches or dinners at Tannins wine bar in Kansas City and hope to also venture in the early evening to their happy hour!  Check out their specials on Sundays and Mondays, and their tasting menu!  Fellow “winos,” this is your Mecca, so dive in and bring a few local friends while you're at it.

For more information please visit:
http://www.tanninwinebar.com/

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Tapas are Alive in Kansas City!

Being born in Spain, I have a deep appreciation for "tapas" and even more affection for the taste explosion that reeeeally good tapas can offer your pallet and your hunger.  If you've never experienced a tapas joint (what?!), then please allow the well-renowned (James Beard award winner) Michael Smith to indulge your tasty curiosity at Extra Virgin, in Kansas City!  He studied mainly in France and brought his expertise to us by using the finest ingredients around.

Extra Virgin makes contemporary tapas fare an instant classic.  They transport you to new heights with the artistic elements around the center bar that pull you towards their cocktail magicians and a view to the wood-fired oven that blazes out new creations every few minutes.   I, for one, couldn't pull my eyes from the way the bartender used homemade bitters in my drink and then adorned it with a basil leaf needled through a lemon slice.  I suppose the alcohol content made it seem more majestic as it quickly became the artistic centerpiece to the outrageous tapas that surrounded it.  This simple perfection is what they’re known for.

 Let me preface the description of their food by saying that this is one of the most innovative and fearless kitchens I've seen in Kansas City.  Roasted marrow bones, duck tongue tacos and grilled beef tongues are just a few of their bold offerings.  Please don't be scared!  Michael's a pro, and there's no use in being boring and getting the same ol’ thing.  Seriously folks, the chicken tenders with gravy are down the road (not that I don't adore that), but here, the sky opens up and new flavors sprinkle down like rain on a blistering hot day.  Open your mouth and feel renewed. 

You can start feeling alive with their ahi tuna ceviche tacos that are packed with avocado-wasabi flavor and cutely served in a perfectly crisp taro shell. Genius!  These melted me instantly, and with the slight squeeze of lime, my eyes spontaneously closed and my heart prepared for the perfect bite.  Who doesn't like mac-n-cheese?  Well, add the spice of a poblano, and the thermogenic effect kicks up the flavor to a new height!  Here's an adventure for the Midwest: order the grilled octopus, and sink your teeth into the complementary flavors of the charred radicchio, sweet chickpeas and the crunch of marcona almonds.  It's difficult to make octopus good--but this place does it right.  These are just a few of the tapas tasted... but not one failed in flavor and charm.  This is certainly no place to be timid, so ask what is recommended, and allow the chefs to do it “their way.” 

Do yourself a favor, and ask the server what he would order for dessert.  Ours just put his head down and placed his hand on his heart as he walked away muttering what seemed like a prayer.  And prayer it most certainly was, because what came to our table was a homemade, plum crostata with a pineapple sorbet melting on top, served with a night cap of sangria... OLÉ, I was home. 

Tapas and cocktails are a sacred tradition handed down from Spain and certainly something I hold dear; however, Extra Virgin does a beautiful job of mixing flavors from different regions of the world, adding their own flare and grounding it beautifully here in the soul of Kansas City.

 Head over for their half price happy hour M-F, 11:30 am-6 pm, for their best deals.

Please visit their website to indulge your curiosity:

http://extravirginkc.com/

Local Bakery On The Plaza Feeds My Addiction (and I like it!)

We all have our vices, addictions and, well, our obsessions!  Mine are sweets and, specifically, a little French sweet called, "macarons."  Your mind might just have drifted off to the popular, fluffy coconut cookie called, "macaroons."  Allow me to correct your vision just slightly, because what I speak and dream of are actually French Macarons, not coconut macaroons.  I travelled to Paris a few years back and tried these unassuming cuties, and this officially stoked my love affair with these French delights.

I found my love again on the Plaza in Kansas City at this tiny, local bakery called Natasha's Mulberry and Mott.  A mother and daughter team, Vicky and Natasha, opened this patisserie in 2005 and did so well that in 2008, they opened a second in Leawood, Kansas.  I have become somewhat of a connoisseur of French patisseries (because I adore them so much), and this is one of the best I've visited.  The croissants filled with wonderful goods like spinach and brie, or ham and gruyere hold the perfect texture and have the right amount of homemade, buttery goodness.  If you ever wish to try truly homemade marshmallows, you must taste theirs. Take a bite, and then close your eyes and drift away dreaming of a perfectly gourmet s'more made of a biscoff cookie, a dark chocolate square, and one of their delicate vanilla marshmallows.  Okay, maybe it’s just me who does that... but it would truly make the most divine s'more if I could just wait until I had a campfire to eat it.

Lest I forget the macarons, they are exquisite and just what I've been searching for since I left Paris.  They have the most deliciously decadent, creamy filling sandwiched between two, tiny macaron cookies.  They are light, crisp and creamy all in one heavenly bite.  I love how adventurous they get with their flavors.  Just recently, they had a bright red macaron which held flavors of chocolate, cinnamon, and a touch of cayenne.  It’s a taste of France and South America in one bite.  Don't get stuck with one flavor, try them all and be surprised by the diversity in sensations.   This local patisserie is a little taste of France on the corner of Ward Parkway and Central.

This heavenly bakery feeds my local addiction not just for Macarons but also a taste of true Paris.  Take a stroll through the Plaza while you bite into your favorite croissant or chocolate chip, caramel cookie topped with sea salt.  I can already envision strolling down the walkway when the winter arrives with a scarf and boots, and my gloved hands holding a steaming hot espresso as my mouth bites into the most perfect macaron.  Mmm, now that is love!

For more information on the two bakeries, please visit:
http://www.countryclubplaza.com/Restaurants/Natashas-Mulberry-And-Mott

~For the love of Macarons and all things made with love~

Room 39 Captured My Heart

Blink, and you might miss this little gem-of-a-restaurant located on 39th Street in Midtown, Kansas City.  However, walk inside, and you won't be lost anymore.  The feel inside calls you home, and the generosity and kindness from everyone inside makes it easy to want to dine there daily.  A room bursting with amazing, local food!

It's not just any food.  The local ingredients awaken in your mouth, and the flavors linger on your tongue while you contemplate what secret ingredients were used.  The best part: it's affordable (especially for breakfast and lunch) and simply delicious!  You know you have a great dish when every, single item on the plate is "your favorite"!  There is something truly exquisite about sourcing the best local ingredients and letting the ingredients decide the dishes offered.  It's sort of the difference you taste between
freezer-burned food and something that just came from the farmers market.  Add a few fresh herbs, brilliant cooking skills, passionate combinations, and pure love... and boom: GREAT EATS!

Their fresh nettles soup I tried back in the Spring would put any other "green soup" to shame.  Not only is this soup wickedly medicinal for you, as it brings alkalinity to the body and helps seasonal allergies, but the flavor of nettles mixed with fresh herbs and a touch of cream was one of the best soups I've tasted.  (Note that nettles grow wildly in the Spring when allergies are most prevalent.  Nature is crazy smart this way...  and this is why eating locally and seasonally proves also intuitively smart.)  Order a cup of it, and it will make you hungry for the next dish.



Nettles Soup



I have to sadly confess that I do not enjoy goat cheese.  I try with all of me to adore it to no avail.  So, when their goat cheese gnocchi came highly recommended, I tried to hide my “goat cheese pout” and quickly recommended that my friend get it instead. ;) After watching my friend’s eyes roll back in ecstasy, I decided to try it and instantly fell for the homemade pillows of love—even if they are bathed in local, goat cheese.  For goat cheese fans, these pillows spell the sweetest dreams.



Goat Cheese Gnocchi


Okay, my friends, let's take a moment of food silence for scallops cooked properly, perfectly browned and crisp on the outside, while delicately tender and succulent on the inside.  It’s pure seduction, and I love it!  There are fewer things sexier than a scallop cooked beautifully and topped with a buerre blanc sauce that makes you close your eyes and drool.  Yes, it seems you can chew and drool at the same time.  It's almost like your mouth is impatiently screaming for more, while your soul soaks the flavor up slowly.  No need to thank the heavens, because surely God is in that kitchen! :)

Heavenly Scallops

A delicious sigh also goes out to the farm that provided the okra and green tomatoes that were delicately fried up with a saffron aioli.  I will take two more plates, please, with extra aioli!

We could not decide on dessert because it all sounded perfect, so to save us further agony, the manager brought us three to try all the different flavors.  Life is a beautiful buffet; you should try a bit of all the magic offered.

The menu at Room 39 changes seasonally and sometimes weekly, so please check out their menu online.  The local farmers are listed on the menu also.  I would bet you return there at least 39 more times...

Please visit this link for more information:
http://www.rm39.com/

In Love and Health,

~Christy~

Eat at the Farmhouse! (Impeccable taste and local flare)

There is a Farmhouse in downtown Kansas City that calls me back for consistently good eats over and over again.  It never fails!  Steeped in local enthusiasm with a modern-rustic flare, The Farmhouse Restaurant serves up some of the most innovative, local comfort dishes and cocktails that I've tasted.  Add a dash of superb service, creativity, and a plethora of ever-changing seasonal dishes, and you're already looking forward to their next meal. 

Situated on a corner street, one need only walk by to feel the warmth exuding from the people inside, and the smells pull at your soul as you sit comfortably and unwind.  The Farmhouse has an amazing knack for pulling you far from your stress and transporting you away with every bite of food you take... as if you were, indeed, on a farm, in the city. Next time you're in, check out the proud list of farms that provide the local ingredients prepared daily for you.  Their "farm-to-table," "tip-to-tail" movement breathes inspiration. 

I have yet to go and eat and not make fast friends with the servers.  They are both knowledgeable and charming and make you wish you could stay all day.  In fact, the first day I visited for Sunday Brunch, we had a few minutes to wait due to a happily filled restaurant which proved great for me because it allowed more time to peruse the menu.  Our server brought us fresh apple cinnamon scones with a caramel sauce and homemade butter (fresh, local apples) for having to wait a few minutes.  “Are you kidding me??  You can be late anytime you want if fresh scones are involved.  In fact, please, take your time."

Apple Scones


 

Digestive Elixir

I started with an elixir drink made with a homemade herbal vinegar and soda water, sweetened with honey.  May sound odd, but it was the perfect pick-me-up to get my digestive juices going, and the bitter quality helped me digest the scones.  They certainly know what they're doing over there.  Next, came their famous "chickpea fritters" with a homemade tomato chutney, pickled carrots, and an herbed sauce that I would have dipped anything in.  Their fresh beet salad is pure perfection with the pistachio vinaigrette and honey-marinated feta.  Honey marinated feta?  I'll take that on pretty much anything, please.

Chickpea Fritters

Let me snowball the delicious effect even further by stating that their grass-fed burger with a purely sinful aioli and Bloom Bakery egg bun can be topped with a local fried egg.  There's not much said at the table when the first bite of burger is tasted and juices embarrassingly pour down your chin. (Not that I cared one bit.)

 

Grass-fed Burger



Dessert to go? Never!
I need an entirely new paragraph for the dessert section.  Please do yourself a favor and save room, because these local treats will melt your heart, and everything is seasonal and subject to change... so don't miss out.  Jude's Rum Cake with homemade vanilla ice cream represents tons of rummy-caramelized goodness, and the cake is crazy moist.  The homemade pecan pie stood up to my Mom's own pie, and only the tiniest crumbs were left for the birds.  So far, I have yet to have something there that didn't leave an "mmm" on my tongue and in my memory.

Rum Cake!

Check it out yourself and dive in to local bliss!

http://www.eatatthefarmhouse.com/





Badseed Farmers Market Sprouts Verdent Abundance

Celebrate your community's passion for locally grown food by heading to Kansas City's own Friday night market.  Whether pulled in by the passionate musicians outside or the draw of the vibrant and wild produce seen through the inviting windows, you won't be dissapointed by what you find inside.

Badseed Market is housed in the Crossroads area, in downtown Kansas City and can easily be part of your "First Fridays" or any Friday detour for that matter.  (It perfectly complimented my mini-mission to Christopher Elbow's chocolates just a few doors down.)  Why not go door-to-door hopping while you're down there?  Each door opens a new world of flavor, and begs you to keep tasting... which I gladly did.

Badseed market is not your ordinary farmers market.  I found it to be a world within a greater world of deep awareness and passion for community-based, local health, and it's here in Kansas City!  The proof is in the look, the taste, and the quality of all the produce and products housed there.  Call me a hippie all you like, but there's no disputing that love is felt when tasting the samples offered.  Yes, I'm serious, every fruit and vegetable simply looks super-humanly beautiful and the garlic alone looked like it belonged in some fantastical vampire story--even hanging from the ceilings for extra effect.  I would wager that it can stave off fierce illnesses much like it would vampires. The purple hue of the seasonal eggplant was other worldly, and heirloom tomatoes were such that I had keep taking photo after photo.  "Did someone add color to these tomatoes?"  They even offer organic apples that are pretty-darn-down-the-road.  For a girl who's always on a mission for local apples, this is epic!

 Badseeds Create Superhuman Food?
The Badseed Farmers Market, planted and nourished by Brooke Salvaggio and Daniel Heryer, offers vendors and products that adhere to organic, local, sustainable, and passionate practices.  Their urban farm in downtown KC, "Urbavore" is proudly described as "beyond organic" due to their "no nonsense" farming practicing they love and live by.  In short, they hand pick vendors that live by similar practices, and therefore, produce magical food.


This Friday Night Farmers’ Market offers a fantastic array of local, organic delights including colorful fruits and veggies, baked goods, gourmet mushrooms, goat cheese, eggs and free-range meats.  I sampled some incredible eats, and will never forget the localbucha (homemade kombucha) that can assist in many digestive and health disorders. The homemade pineapple and cilantro soda is also etched in my memory. All this, in our downtown--backyard.

Go out and smile at your local farmers; they will not forget you. Shake the hand of passionate farmers who put health back into our community. The practices of this market is revolutionizing the way that we grow and eat food, and planting great wisdom for generations to come.  Come and celebrate in happiness and health!

Badseed Farmers Market is located at:
1909 McGee Street, KCMO, 64108
Summer hours: 4-9 pm Friday
Winter hours: 4-8 pm Friday

To learn more about their practices, classes, and events please visit their site:
http://www.badseedkc.com/

(If you wish to help our city compost, check out their free composting program that helps us turn waste to gold: http://www.badseedkc.com/farm/services/)

In Love and Health,
~Christy~

Food Truck drives a new Westport Restaurant

You may recall the trendy Food Truck that once beckoned us outside the Rieger Hotel, in the early hours after a late night? Or, perhaps, better suited for memory... the smell of onions, salsa, fried eggs, and tortillas that made up their life-changing, chilaquiles!?

Port Fonda food truck has taken the wheel and driven itself to Westport, as a delicious restaurant.  It seems they have outgrown their truck for good reasons, and now the flavor of true Mexico welcomes you with pride and bright colors.

This is not your typical Tex-Mex, "fill up on chips and salsa," type of place.  This is real Mexico!  Don't be frightened by the fried chicharrones with salt, chile and lime that welcome you to the table.  This is the typical "chips and salsa" in many parts of Mexico. If you want the real experience come here and do it right.

When I say "do it right," that may include letting them twist your arm with a taste of mezcal and agave nectar.  This, of course, was kindly gifted to us by our server to help us taste the real experience. On that note, the service is impeccable and quite informative. The menu describes the taste of dishes very well, and the drink list is deliciously adventurous.

Some featured dishes that are I highly recommend are the chilaquiles, also known as "crack" to some. The queso fundido with chorizo and poblano rajas, was bold in flavor, and this is the only case where I would have begged for chips just to have a vehicle for more. They make a fierce soup that is like no other soup I have had in the States, called: Port Fonda.  It arrives topped with a fried egg and simmering meats, and infused with herbs and spices.  This has to be their grandmother's cure-all tonic.  Speaking of tonics, they carry one of my favorite tequila's called, "Clase Azul" which takes me instantly back to Mexico.  Ask for a slice of orange, drizzled in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon... and sip the tequila after your meal.  This will help bring all the flavors of the meal to life, and create a new, magical experience.  (A huge thank you to my dear friend, Brisa, for teaching me this time-honored tradition!)

Whether in a food truck or a restaurant, the passion of the owners is felt.  Brave and authentic, the tradition of Mexico comes to Kansas City... and we boldly accept the flavor! Venture out and support this local spot; open for lunch and dinner. The experience will surely call you back for more, and I'll come join you anytime! :)

Port Fonda is located at: 4141 Pennsylvania Street in Westport.

(Thank you, Jeff Carroll, once again for such a stellar find!)

Parker Farms Delivers Local Health!

I used to gawk in envy whenever I watched the British cooking star, Nigella Lawson, cook anything with eggs on the food network, because her egg yolks were so orange!  How is it that her yolks from England were so vibrant, and the ones I bought from my supermarket were barely yellow?

Parker Farms is my local answer!
Turns out that Parker Farms, in Richmond Missouri, offers what I envy, and I don't have to jet over to England... at least, not for eggs.  The answer to my question was so simple and the nutrition and taste profile profoundly different in both yolks.  Wildly different!

The one from chickens that graze in fresh sunlight and forage on grass and bugs has a bright orange/yellow yolk whereas the one in our supermarkets grossly pales in comparison.  Supermarket eggs are typically fed a commercial diet of grains, making them vastly inferior in nutritional quality. The bright color tells us something about the health of the chicken and, thus, the nutrients held in the egg.  The eggs and meat from chickens that graze on pasture hold a higher content of Omega 3 fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins like A and E.  With so much controversy on the topic of eggs, it would behoove us to stay informed about the nutrient content in meat and eggs from chickens who graze, and are happy!  Happy, healthy chickens bring back this super food we call eggs.
Of special interest: Don't be fooled by advertised "omega 3 eggs" in supermarkets, where flax seeds are placed in the diet of the chicken.  These are typically poor quality flax seeds that are oxidized before being fed to the chicken, therefore, rendering the egg more perishable and unhealthy, making this practice counterintuitive.



Kansas City is thriving with wonderful resources for local nutrition and great eats.  Parker Farms is a gem of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), offering local meat and egg shares.  Their vision is a sustainable, local food system! They provide far superior products than even your own, local butcher may offer... and I will boldly say, they have changed the way my family eats!  We get to witness nutrition as its very best.  I get to see bright eggs all the time now!   You can tell a difference immediately in the flavor, and cooking takes on a whole new dimension.

When I visited the farm recently, I got the honored privelege of touring the property and seeing the lambs and cows graze so happily.  Chickens were on the grass in the fresh sunlight, and the pigs were blissfully playing about and splashing in water.  I picked my own eggs with pride and deep gratitude.

Parker Farms pride themselves in working as a family and making you feel a part of that very family.  I think many of us take for granted the work and dedication that goes into providing food for our community. There is a passion and synergy alive there that you can both feel and taste.  Something comes to life in us when we feel the love in local food, and our hearts thrive in a plentiful community!



We eat what our animals eat:
We might want to rethink the whole "corn-fed beef" advertisement that's placed so proudly on some of our menus.  It's certainly not for the faint of heart.  Most of us know the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids for inflammatory diseases like cardiovascular, cancer, auto-immune diseases and obesity.  So, with that being known... here's the skinny on fats:
Omega 6 fatty acids are found in: grains
Omega 3 fatty acids are found in: grasses and seeds
The ideal ratio for health is about: 3:1 (omega 6 to 3).  Most western diets consist of a staggering 20:1, or worse yet, 50:1.  This is a real problem!  So if we are eating animals that are fed grains, we are getting even more omega 6 to omega 3.  Easier to remember: Grains fed to our animals make us fat and unhealthy!  Grass fed to our animals makes us thinner and healthier! Let's not make it so difficult.

Stay healthy by sourcing your meat and eggs locally.  To gain more information,  please visit their website, and support your local farms as much as possible:
http://parkerfarmsmeats.com/


Local is delicious!