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Burnt Ends, one of beautifully smoked meats we enjoyed on this food tour of Kansas City, Kansas |

Story and photos by Jerome Shaw
Mention barbecue and Kansas City is sure to come to mind as one of the locations that is famous for creating this American culinary classic. But, which KC are you imagining? Kansas City, Missouri or Kansas City, Kansas, the little brother of KC-MO?
KCK is no slouch when it comes to BBQ and certainly no one's little brother or sister. KCK can hold its own with KC-MO and any of the other pretenders to the BBQ throne.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Expert Tip: Do a little pre-checkin research online to find the theme you’d enjoy. Certain themes are more fun than others. My favorites were the island and Polynesian themed rooms.


Expert tip: Skip the pretty blue drink and try one of the other vintage cocktails or absinthe serve properly. The scuttlebutt is they make a mean Sazerac.
It was time for some serious BBQ. We didn’t have to travel far, the BBQ came to us. Slap’s BBQ, Joe’s KC Bar-B-Que, Arthur Bryant’s’ BBQ, Woodyard Bar-B-Que and Gates Bar-B-Q all set up tables of their BBQ and selected sides. The side dishes were tasty but the meat was the star of the show. I loved the ribs from Slap’s BBQ paired with their warm potato salad. Gates BBQ had one of the most original BBQ variations, Burnt Ends with dill pickle chips. We also got to sample Smoked Turkey (Woodyard) , Brisket (Joe’s) and Pulled Pork (Arthur Bryant’s.) One of the hits of this BBQ Buffet was the Cheesy Corn from Woodyards. Of course each BBQ place showcased their own BBQ Sauce. Most are available bottled if you like to give them a preliminary taste before you head out to KCK. To top the night off was a platter of fudge in about any flavor you can imagine.

Expert tip: try fudge with a hoppy beer. The Boulevard IPA, a Kansas City brew, was a good pairing with the sweetness of the fudge. Who knew?
Out first full day on the KCK Foodie Trail brought us to MeMa’s Bakery. It is truly hard to detail all the wonderful things we had a choice of at MeMa’s. I was up to the task and sample most everything. I had apple strudel, carrot cake, cinnamon roll, cherry and lemon danish and a new one on me Povitica Bread, a Croatian Layered Bread. Povitica is reason enough to for visit to MeMa’s and KCK.

Double Expert Super Secret Tip: Buy a few of MeMa’s cinnamon rolls in jar. They have a long shelf life and make excellent & curious gifts.
Next stop, Krizman’s House of Sausage in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood. After such a sweet-filled start to the day something savory sounded perfect for stop number two of the KCK Foodie Trail. We sampled a variety of Old World Sausages made by Joe Krizman just the way his father made sausages. At Krizman’s we not only got to sample the sausage but also see how it was made and even make a bit of sausage ourselves. The old adage that you should NOT see sausage made if you want to continue enjoying it certainly didn’t apply at Krizman’s.

Expert tip: try their handmade sauerkraut with the Cheddar Jalapeño Sausage.
Is lunch time yet? No, it barely past mid-morning.
Must be time for more BBQ.

Expert tip: don’t eat for several hours before a visit to Slap’s and then eat everything.
It is still morning and we’ve got more eating to do. Pace yourself Jerome.
We enter El Camino Real in central Kansas City, KN and are immediately met by puffs of steam rising, the smell of onions and peppers frying and the staccato clatter of a spatula scraping the sizzling meats on the grill. El Camino has held true to their roots as a food cart, they are now just indoors. The small cafe puts out quite an array of Mexican inspired foods but you can’t call them street tacos, anymore. The is no frufru, quasi Mexican Restaurant. They serve the real deal, platers of tacos, burritos, gorditas and tortas with meat, onions and peppers. Scattered with cilantro and a few wedges of lime and you have El Camino.
Expert tip: it is not secret but don’t pass up the original fusion food, Tacos al Pastor. If you are a fan of chorizo this is the place to order it.
Finally it is time for lunch.

Expert tip: Just because you can does not mean your should. Don’t taste Da’Bomb if you plan to taste anything else on your trip to Kansas City, Kansas. Instead swing by the Juan’s closeout shelf and pickup a bargain on a hot sauce or spaghetti sauce.
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Ester from Laugh With Us Blog give her dough a flip at 1889 Pizza |
But our work is not done.
We have to cook our masterpiece in Pizza 1889’s wood fired ovens. We are instructed by the resident
pizza chef a true Italian on how and where to slide our pizza into the oven. It requires a deft hand to deliver the pizza to the back of the oven without sliding into or over another of the other pizzas already in the oven. But with a stroke similar to that of a skilled outdoor shuffleboard player I slide the paddle into the oven and with an abrupt stop of the paddle the pizza skids perfectly next to the fire. The chef monitors my pizza then using a long handled metal paddle he deftly rotates my pizza and tilts it toward the fire and after minute or so places it on a plate. Even though I am not the least bit hungry I eat a couple pieces the pizza I made and sample several of Pizza 1889’s salads and imbibe on a nice red wine.
Expert tip: Grab a Peach Nehi to go with your pizza. You won’t find Peach flavored Nehi very many places. If your taste run a bit drier try one of their selection of Italian wines on tap.
We have another non eating stop next, thankfully.
We take a tour of the famous Kansas City Steak Company’s facility. Before there was Amazon, Blue Apron and Plated there was Kansas City Steaks shipping food to your home. This is where they warehouse and ship the wide variety of meats they have on the website. It was absolutely immaculate and bitterly cold. No photos were permitted in the warehouse area but trust me, it is an efficiently run operation and not as automated as I expected. Even though they do employ robotics and lots of high-tech machinery, it is human beings that selects the steaks you ordered.
Expert tip: Buy a few gift cards to spread around at Christmas. You will be remember fondly by friends and family well into Spring. The steakburgers are an excellent value.
The final stop this afternoon is at Rowe Ridge Vineyard and Winery. This was a well place oasis of
calm on a hill outside KCK. It is a family affair, the grape growing and picking and the wine making. The family home sits beside the trellises of grapes. We took a walk through the vineyard and heard about what grapes grow well in the midwestern climate and what grapes haven’t taken to hills of Eastern Kansas. We also got to see first hand one of the grape presses being disassemble and the skins of the crushed grapes being removed. Making wine can be a messy process but is ultimately rewarding. Our reward came in wine tasting session with one of the owners, Pam Rowe. They offer tasting to the general public on weekends and by appointment.
Expert tip: My favorite wines at Rowe were the dry, light bodied but robust 2009 St. Vincent Red and the sweet, thick, boozy Blackberry Wine. These are wines at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Our KCK Foodie Trail is not yet complete but we take a short respite to relax back at the Chateau - I like saying that. “Back at the Chateau.”
We still have places to go and food to eat. Our mission is not yet complete.




I Love this story only because i Love uva too but the city is fantástic. I apreciate your Works.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your beyond belief blogs stuff.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Miami/blog-1032098.html