Reprinted from: http://www.dispatch.com/news/trips/taste/chef0728.html
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I don't think we're in Kansas (City) anymore, Toto
Courtesy of Lidia's |
| Chandeliers fashioned from grappa bottles highlight Lidia's Kansas City restaurant. |
By Sue Dawson
Dispatch Food Editor
July 28, 1999
"Everything's up-to-date in Kansas City."
This line from a song in Oklahoma! says it all.
For a place once known mostly for stockyards, Kansas City has become a destination for food lovers.
Famous for its barbecue joints and steakhouses, the city that straddles the Missouri-Kansas border hosts a number of haute cuisine restaurants, including the four-star American Restaurant.
It also lays claim to the only Dean & DeLuca store in the Midwest, the only Lidia Bastianich restaurant outside of New York City and the largest open-air farmers' market in six states.
Manhattan meets Missouri
Dean & DeLuca, New York's one-of-a-kind food and cookware emporium, opened a store in suburban Leawood, Kan., in November 1997. A mouthwatering experience for gourmets, the store offers more specialty ingredients and takeout fare than cookware, but home cooks can find ample copper pots, bowls and cookie cutters to covet.
Fresh meats and seafood and a world of cheeses are sold here -- all pricey and incredibly tempting. An international assortment of packaged goods, from condiments to grains to dry mushrooms, also is displayed.
Go when you're hungry. You won't be disappointed, only frustrated that you can't sample everything.
Fresh fruit, salads, grilled Cornish hens, apricot-glazed pork chops, crab cakes, osso buco, polenta, garlic mashed potatoes, sushi, pizza and focaccia are just a few tempters.
A made-to-order sandwich bar features a large assortment of breads, deli meats and cheeses, and condiments. If your stomach can hold more, try some creme brulee or chocolate silk torte, or simply settle for Ben & Jerry's ice cream and espresso.
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Dean & DeLuca, Town Center Plaza, 4700 W. 119th St., Leawood, Kan., 913-498-3131. Lidia's Kansas City, 101 W. 22nd St., 816-221-3722. City Market, 5th Street and Walnut, 816-842-1271. |
There is limited seating in the store and on the patio, but out-of-towners can carry their selections to a park or back to their hotels for dining.
Taste of Italy
Lidia Matticchio [Motika] Bastianich -- star of the Public Broadcasting Service series Lidia's Italian Table and guiding light of three New York City restaurants -- opened Lidia's Kansas City last October.
A native of Pula, Istria, Bastianich is known as the first lady of Italian cuisine. She and her son, Joseph -- who have enjoyed success with Felidia, Becco and Frico Bar -- decided to begin expanding their business in the heartland at the suggestion of managing partner David Wagner, a native of Kansas City.
The stunning 175-seat restaurant is housed in a converted freight house near Union Station. Designed by noted restaurant architect David Rockwell, the open-expanse dining room is marked by spectacular chandeliers made from hand-blown grappa bottles.
It also features a two-story stone fireplace and a circular wine display with 300 backlit bottles.
The menu features Bastianich's own dishes from northern Italy, seasoned with Slavic and German influences, as well as dishes from other Italian regions. Duck With Gnocchi, Osso Buco, Calf's Liver With Caramelized Onions, Short Ribs Braised in Wine and Saltimbocca are among the offerings.
A sampler of three seasonal fresh pasta dishes is featured daily.
Desserts range from a simple assortment of cookies and Blood Orange Sorbet to Torta Rigojancsi -- a rich combo of chocolate sponge cake, Amarene cherries and chocolate mousse. The torte was named after a Hungarian violinist who used the dessert to seduce his Belgian wife.
Bastianich considers wine an integral part of any Italian meal, so she presents two wine lists: one is the "Best of Italy"; the other features 90 labels of Italian and domestic wines priced at $18 a bottle.
The good news for folks who don't travel is that Bastianich's cookbook Lidia's Italian Table (William Morrow, $26), a companion to her TV series, is readily available. And, according to Wagner, Columbus is on a short list of cities being eyed for another restaurant.
To market, to market
Kansas City's City Market is flanked by downtown and the Missouri River in the center of the historic River Market district. Riverboats from St. Louis began unloading their provisions in this area in the early 1800s.
Today the area has produce stalls, specialty markets, restaurants, galleries, antique shops, the River Market Brewery and the Arabia Landing Museum. Many shops are in renovated buildings dating to those early riverboat years.
Open year-round, the City Market sizzles to life in the summer when farmers bring in truckloads of fresh produce. It becomes a place to get dressed up and be seen. Chefs arrive to handpick items for their evening menus, and families shop with children and wagons in tow.
Like the song about Kansas City says, "They've gone about as far as they can go."
Copyright © 1999, The Columbus Dispatch