A Glass a Day (MAY) Keep the Doctor Away!
The perceived benefits, agreed upon by most physicians, come
from multiple aspects of the grape including plant nutrients called flavonoids found in grape skins (as
well as other fruits and vegetables). Both red and white wine contain
flavonoids; however, since red wine is typically produced by fermentation in
the presence of the grape skins, red wine has been observed to contain higher
levels of flavonoids, and other antioxidants such as resveratrol.
Cheers,
Michael
2013 Kansas City Restaurant Week rolls on!
We started at The Jacobson on Friday followed by Remedy and Louie's Wine Dive Saturday night! And the event is less
than 48 hours old ... so what's next? The 2013 edition of KC Restaurant Week is in full swing and judging by the
response at local venues combined with the outpouring of commentary on Twitter
(#KCRW2013) it’s off to an incredible success!
Take a look at recent reviews
from these great 2013 Kansas City Restaurant Week spots:
- The Boot (Westport)
- Gram and Dun (The
Plaza)
- The Lounge @ Bluestem (Westport)
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| Crispy Sesame Crusted Oyster Mushrooms served with Ponzu sauce and Sriracha aioli for dipping at The Jacobson |
Kansas City Restaurant Week was created by the Greater Kansas City
Restaurant Association and the Kansas City Convention & Visitors
Association in an effort to support the local restaurant community spanning
both sides of the Missouri and Kansas border. 2010 marked the inaugural year
for the 10-day event, designed to spotlight Kansas City as one of the country's
premier dining destinations and in partnership with Harvesters – The Community FoodNetwork, to fight hunger in the Kansas City area.
The event also benefits The Kansas City Regional
Destination Development Foundation and The Greater Kansas City RestaurantAssociation Education Foundation, both nonprofit organizations helping to advance culinary education
and the restaurant and tourism industries in Kansas City.
The 2013 Kansas City Restaurant Week highlights
a smorgasbord of cuisines with hundreds of menus for lunch and dinner that will
be crafted by participating restaurants’ culinary teams. The prix fixe menus will
offer various courses for lunch and dinner at $15 and $30, respectively.
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| Rockwell Club = Sliced roasted turkey, maple glaze bacon, baby spinach & provolone cheese on sliced grains galore bread with cranberry aioli at The Jacobson |
Ten percent of each Restaurant Week menu meal
ordered will be donated to the three aforementioned organizations. In 2012, the
event raised $143,000, a record for Harvesters – the Community Food Network
which, in turn, provided more than 700,000 meals to the hungry in Kansas City.
A newly
updated mobile App and website are now available allowing diners to access a
complete list of participating restaurants and full menus, which are being
uploaded as they are received by participating restaurants, that will be
offered during the 10-day event.
Once again,
diners will be able to make reservations at participating restaurants directly
from the mobile app via OpenTable.com.
The enhanced website will offer similar functions as the mobile app and will
also feature photography of some of the actual dishes that you will find during
Restaurant Week. Kansas City Restaurant Week can be found online at KCRestaurantWeek.com.
Diners can
also find regular menu sneak peeks, insider information and can enter to win
gift cards at participating Restaurant Week restaurants by “liking” the Kansas
City Restaurant Week Facebook page at facebook.com/KansasCityRestaurantWeek.
Kansas City Restaurant Week is also on Twitter at @RestaurantWeek.
Barista's on your mark, get set, go!
Meet the competition for the Big Event this weekend in Kansas City!
- Competitors: http://usbaristachampionship.org/?p=bigcentral&s=comp
- Schedule: http://usbaristachampionship.org/PDF/2013-big-central-scheduleofevents.pdf
Live streaming throughout the weekend here:
http://new.livestream.com/SpecialtyCoffeeAssociationOfAmerica/BCRBC
Hosted by:
- PT's Coffee Roasting Company
- Kaldi's Coffee
Lots of great coffee fun all weekend long!
More at http://usbaristachampionship.org/?p=bigcentral!
Prepare your Palates: KC Restaurant Week is almost here!
SAVE the DATES: January 18th through January 27th!
An unparalleled exhibition of Kansas City's finest culinary talents (and award-winning chefs), Kansas City Restaurant Week will offer a variety of mouth-watering foods from top chefs across the metro area, demonstrating why the KC dining scene is among the nation's best - and up until now, one of the best-kept foodie secrets (the Zagat Survey has called Kansas City the No. 1 dining bargain of all the major cities it reviews - I think they are correct!).
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| The 2013 KC Restaurant Smartphone Application will guide you through the many culinary options available! |
Restaurant Week features an array of restaurant participants so diners can visit old favorites and also try the many new restaurants that have opened recently in the Kansas City metro area. KC Restaurant Week diners order from special prix-fixe menus at participating restaurants. Multi-course lunches are $15 and dinners are $30 - A huge bargain for the level of cuisine beginning offered!
So where to go and what to do? The best way to plan out your week is by downloading the KCRW Smartphone Application for either iPhone or Android!
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| The new Fan Wall on the KCRW Application for Apple & Android phones |
The app is very simple to download and use ... I found the Restaurant List easy to navigate and, to be honest, the best part of the app (My favorites by cuisine will be my next few posts followed by reviews of my visits during restaurant week). Menus are clearly posted for each restaurant (lunch and/or dinner) and I was pleased to see so many of my favorite spots in town participating in KCRW!
One addition I think is great: The Fan Wall! Under the notion of comments not solicited are rarely listened to the marketing gurus have allowed us foodie folk a chance to voice our opinion digitally and engage others in the discussion! Great idea!
All in all I am really excited to be only a week or so away from my favorite food time of the year!
I'd love to know what you think about the application, it's design and ease of use as well as what you are excited to try the week of January 18 to 27 for the 2013 Kansas City Restaurant Week!
Let us know on Twitter (@eatkc), Facebook (/eatllc) or below this post! Be sure to follow along on Twitter using the hash tag (#) #KCRW2013!
Here's to good eats KC and to preparing your palates for another great Kansas City Restaurant Weeks ... now just a few days away!
Cheers,
Michael
What do I serve with (Thanksgiving) Turkey?
 |
| The perfect wine make the perfect meal event better! |
There are lots of answers to this question, but many of them depend on what you are doing to your big bird (Now that he has been saved ...). While we are on the subject, I should comment that it amazes me how seemingly easy it is for people to match wine with chicken but totally lose these same folks are when it comes to turkey. It just a bigger bird! Most of these fowl are commercially “farm raised” and bred for larger amounts of white meat, so a lot of the wild gamey flavors that are inherent have been systematically reduced. Those of you who buy “fresh kill” birds from a local farmer or Farmer’s Market will have a little more flavor to deal with and a little more dark meat as well. I highly recommend giving them a try!
The recommendations below for pairing wines with the holiday feast are just that; recommendations. If you are feeling adventurous, you can try almost anything because chicken, turkey even Cornish game hens are fairly neutral in flavor. What gives these items their flavor are the sauces (dressings) and herbs and spices you use to prepare them.
Generally, however, for a traditional turkey dinner I would have to say that I recommend good crisp whites and reds with low tannin's and high forward fruit (if these are foreign phrases to you then hit up your favorite wine shop and ask a pro to guide you: Off The Vine in OPKS, Rimann Liquors in PVKS, Cellar Rat in KCMO or even the Brookside Market in KCMO). Rieslings work very well, especially the crisper Kabinet’s, QbA’s and even some Spatlese from either Mosel or Rhine River Valleys. Note: they do not have to be the sticky dessert variety ... try a dry Riesling and your world just might be changed forever!
 |
| Red Burgundy and Turkey = Yum! |
When in doubt about your group and their tendencies towards white or reds, you can always serve sparkling wine ... A great Prosecco (Italian sparkling) is a light frothy alternative and producers like Nino Franco, Mionetto &/or Tenuta S. Anna make affordable offerings. Real Champagne lovers should be thrilled with the affordable Charles Ellner Reserve Brut which is an EAT - Entertaining and Training favorite (Although tougher to find these days).
A big bold wine with the right balance of richness and acidity that will certainly compliment and holiday meal from appetizer through your turkey.
For the free thinkers out there who serve beef, game or roast goose you can think big reds. I especially like the wines from the Northern Rhone (Paul Jeune’s Cotes-du-Rhone) or even a Right Bank Bordeaux with their earthy, gamey flavors. I prefer these old world versions over the ripe, higher alcohol and slightly sweeter Shiraz’s (same grape as Syrah) from Australia and or California ... but that's just me!
I hope whatever your choose as your entree, that your holiday season is filled with the joy that comes from good food, wine, friends and family.
From our family to yours ... have a great holiday!
Cheers,
Julie, Michael and the staff at EAT - Entertaining and Training!
Paris of the Plains Showcases Best of the Best
PopFestKC ... the psudo-acronym for the cocktail and culture explosion that has just now cleared the air finally wrapped up last Monday with an epic gala (Benefiting KCPT) saluting all of the events, personalities, venues and participants in the 10-day long festival!
But the night before (and many nights before that) the spirits were flowing and showing why KC is the place to be! The EAT - Entertaining and Training team plus The Lab staff partnered to shoot, post, tweet and publicize The PopFestKC Bartending Competition that featured 12 of the country's best mixologists (vests and hats were not mandatory but were welcomed) in a showdown that thrilled the nearly 200 guests for more than 2 hours!
See all the Facebook excitement at: https://www.facebook.com/PoPFestKC
See all the Twitter excitement at: https://twitter.com/PoPFestKC
Contestants had to apply/enter the competition by qualifying (See full list of requirements/rules at http://www.popfestkc.com/competitions/paris-of-the-plains-bartending-competition/rules/). They had to confirm they were comfortable preparing any of the top 26 classic cocktails listed here (Compliments of BarSmarts): http://www.popfestkc.com/competitions/paris-of-the-plains-bartending-competition/top26/. And then they had to be selected as one of the top 12 finalists.
Those finalists included:
And the winner(s) is:
1st - Chris Conaster / Justus Drugstore, A Restaurant (Smithville, MO)
2nd - Jenn Tossato / The Rieger / Manifesto (KC, MO)
3rd - Alberto Santoro / Extra Virgin (KC, MO)
Fan Favorites:
Matt Seiter / Sanctuaria (St. Louis, MO)
Judges included:
- Doug Frost MS, MW: All-around wine, spirits and beverage guru! More at DougFrost.com (@winedogboy)
- Steve Olson: aka Wine Geek! More at akawinegeek.com (@akawinegeek)
- Chris Patino: Manager of Trade Education at Pernod Ricard (@NYCocktail)
- Celina Tio: James Beard Award-winning chef, Iron Chef and Top Chef Masters competitor and owner of KC's Julian! More at CelinaTio.com! (@celinatio)
See a gaggle of pictures from that night at: http://bit.ly/popfestkc2012
Cheers to Brandon Cummins, Ryan Maybee and Doug Frost on another amazing week showing the best of the best in cocktail culture (& KC too!)
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