Betty Rae’s Closes (For the Season) & Other Weekend Possibilities

Some will tell you there’s a time and place for ice cream. I would tell you, as Les Miserables would also tell you, that time is now and the place is here. Betty Rae’s Ice Cream (7140 Wornall Road) is closing for the season tonight at 10 p.m. Our ice cream partner on this summer’s Float (a celebration with soda, beer and coffee floats), has plenty of ways to get you through the winter. Maple Donut is a maple syrup-based ice cream with pieces of yeast donut in it, sweet potato marshmallow is like a high-end holiday casserole, and honey lavender is a fine choice regardless of the temperature.

Need a little more sweetness before we put 2016 behind us? Try the Cirque du Sucre Holiday Party. The dessert truck will be pulled up alongside Natasha’s Mulberry & Mott (216 West 73rd Street) from 12 to 7 p.m. today. Load up on macarons, ice holiday cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and marshmallows. They’ll have free hot chocolate to keep you warm.

Sweet Siam opened earlier this month in Westport. The Thai restaurant is an import from Lenexa and has opened in the former Thai Place space at 4130 Pennsylvania. Work your way through a series of curries and noodle dishes. Sweet Siam is open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch on Tuesday through Friday and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. for dinner (10:30 on Friday). They’re open from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Get in the holiday spirits. Julep (4141 Pennsylvania Avenue) is open on Saturday night — that’s Christmas Eve and the first night of Hanukkah — from 3 p.m. to midnight. Order off the holiday cocktail menu, consider the Auld Lang Syne (prosecco, Lillet Blanc, lemon and pomegranate) and they donate $1 to Harvesters 

The Rockhill Grille (2000 Grand Boulevard) has a Christmas Eve Prix Fixe Dinner that has seatings from 4 to 8 p.m. Your dinner could look like a kale salad followed by herb roasted prime rib, and a banana cream pie. The three-course meal ($45), also has an optional wine pairing for an additional $22. Reservations are required. Call 816-389-5800.

Mesob Restaurant (3600 Broadway, Suite 105) is hosting a Christmas Party on Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Reveillon at the Ethiopian and Caribbean restaurant is free to attend. They’ll have dancing and food and drink available for purchase. 

Since you own it, you might as well use it. Red Crow Brewing Company (20561 S Lone Elm Road, Spring Hill, Kansas) is hosting a Tacky Ugly Christmas Sweater Party from 5 to 10 tonight. Marigolds food truck will be slinging dinner and it is family friendly.

Ruins Pub (1715 Main) does the ugly-sweater thing Saturday night, and encourages folks to bring canned goods to the party. What’s in it for you, besides heavy-knit embarrassment? Happy-hour pricing all evening. That means $2 wells, $2 pints, and $4 Boulevard Tank 7s. See other beer events in the coming week courtesy of our weekly On Tap beer calendar, our beer column produced in partnership with The Pitch.

— Jonathan Bender writes about food trends and is the author of “Cookies & Beer” and “Stock, Broth & Bowl.” Follow him on Twitter @jonathanbender.