Food & Drink
Baramee Thai Bistro Brings Heat to Crossroads
By Kevin Collison Crossroads diners beware, here’s an insider warning to the new Baramee Thai Bistro that just opened in the former Pizzabella space at 1810 Baltimore: don’t order your first dish hot. “I recommend starting mild,” said co-owner Douglas Hoffman. “For 90 percent of the people, medium is good for them.” He looked over…
Alma Mader Brewing Brings Taste of Pacific Northwest to Kansas City
(Editor’s note: Alma Mader opened for business in mid-April 2019) By Kevin Collison With a place called Alma Mader Brewing, it’s appropriate that Nick Mader may be the best educated new microbrewer to join KC’s booming craft beer scene. Mader not only has the academic chops, he received his master’s in brewing from Heriot Watt…
Local Pig & Pigwich Bring Home Bacon to City Market
By Kevin Collison The Local Pig and Pigwich have opened in the former Winslow’s space in the City Market, and owner Alex Pope is thrilled to be back where his life began in Kansas City. “I love the City Market,” he said. “We lived in the River Market when we first moved here in 2006….
Historic 909 Walnut Building in New Hands, Second Spokes Rolling In
By Kevin Collison The historic 909 Walnut apartment building has a new owner, and one of the first changes will be the opening of a second downtown outlet for Spokes in the former Scooters coffee shop space. The 35-story tower at Ninth and Walnut, the tallest residential building in the Midwest outside Chicago, has been…
City Barrel to Washington: Free Beer
Kevin Collison When life hands you 500 gallons of IPA you can’t sell thanks to the sour mashup in Washington, what’s an aspiring Crossroads brewmeister to do? You tap that time-tested crowd pleaser, free beer. And while you’re at it, you offer a special invite to the party to all those furloughed federal employees sidelined…
Downtown Chefs Savor the Rush of KC Restaurant Week
By Jill Wendholt Silva Michael Werner’s staff at The Jacobson in the Crossroads is preparing to get slammed during “the busiest 10 days of the year,” aka KC Restaurant Week. Located at 2050 Central St., the hip eatery known for mingle plates and flask service can bring in “$100,000 easy.” In exchange, 10 percent of…
New Crossroads Microbrewery Goes West
By Kevin Collison The Crossroads latest microbrewery, Rochester Brewing and Coffee Roasting, is straying a bit from the neigh-brew-hood and plans to open in late March on the west side at 2129 Washington St. “The Crossroads is a great place for breweries, but it’s getting saturated in that (East Crossroads) corridor,” said David Bulcock. “We…
Chef Remy Ayesh Launches Lazia, Upscale Italian Restaurant in Crossroads Hotel
By Jill Wendholt Silva, CityScene KC contributor If Remy Ayesh could create a restaurant to reflect her personality and style, it would be a rustic-yet-hip Italian concept with a hip-hop soundtrack. Lucky for her, that concept already was in the works when she landed at The Crossroads Hotel, an upscale Italian steakhouse that opened at…
Poi-ō Brings Wood-Roasted Chicken to West Side
By Kevin Collison Carlos Mortera comes from a long line of restauranteurs, going back to his childhood days in Querétaro, Mexico. “I’ve been cooking for awhile,” he said. “My dad and grandpa had restaurants in Mexico.” Now, his dad Carlos Sr. is helping him fire up the oven with cherry wood at his new place,…
KC Pinoy Serves a Taste of the Philippines in the West Bottoms
By Kevin Collison Chrissy Nucum helped her mother, aunt and grandmother prepare meals growing up in Manila, but it took persistence to wrangle the recipes for her new West Bottoms restaurant, KC Pinoy. “My grandmother was the cook in the house and keeper of the recipes,” she said. “In 2013, she visited the States and…