Eating Like Kings, Part 6

Friday, December 6, 2013

My hands-on culinary education continued as I learned more basics of traditional French cooking techniques. Apprenticing as a cook in a busy French bistro meant busting butt and applying common sense. Cooking at Le Fou Frog was a dangerous, passionate ballet with a fast-moving staff in tight quarters surrounded by flames, steam, hot oil, slippery water, sharp knives and delicate, expensive ingredients. Read More

Eating Like Kings, Part 5

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Learning the Way My formal culinary education began over 20 years later when I convinced Chef Philippe Lechevin at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Kansas City to hire me as an apprentice. Philippe agreed to hire me even though I had no formal training or experience, stating that it was easier to train someone that had a drive to learn and no bad habits already developed. Originally from Vittel, Lorraine in northeastern France, he spoke with an accent in a slightly nasal tone. His cherubic cheeks flanked a brown goatee. Philippe...

Eating Like Kings, Part 4

Friday, November 15, 2013

My Kitchen, My Classroom Kansas City, 1975 (continued) I always managed to complete my homework in time to set the table, eat and talk to my mom. Most of our conversations elude me now. The glow of being in her presence remains. I continued to listen, smell and watch while Mom cooked Thai and American food day after day. The Thai food introduced my palate to the sudden heat of sliced bird chili peppers and the gradual burn of red curry sauces. I rarely enjoyed the over-cooked Brussels sprouts, canned green beans and...

Photography

Coconut Rice at Kim Long Asian Market and Restaurant

Coconut Rice at Kim Long Asian Market and Restaurant, one of my favorite places in the city to shop for ingredients to make Thai food and pick up a treat that I’d never make for myself at home. Read More

Interviews

Raquel Pelzel, Senior Food Editor for Tasting Table

Raquel Pelzel is an award-winning food writer and has written and collaborated on more than a dozen cookbooks. Her work has appeared in Saveur, The Wall Street Journal, Cook’s Illustrated, Fine Cooking, and many others. She is presently the Senior Food Editor for Tasting Table and writes the blog raqinthekitchen.com.

Food and Drink

KC Magazine May 2012 Cowtown Vegan

In a city with exceedingly good barbecue, some find it difficult to discover palate-pleasing vegetarian dishes. Uninformed critics bemoan the meat-centric restaurant options, but our city is actually home to diverse and sophisticated vegan and vegetarian fare worth exploring.

Business

Think Big Partners Offers More Than Room to Grow

KC Business Magazine, 2013 – Established in July 2010, Think Big Partners stands apart from other co-working spaces that have sprung up throughout the metro. Designed for the full spectrum needs of entrepreneurs, Think Big combines an early-stage business incubator program with the resources of a start-up accelerator, mentorship-based collaborative networking, co-working space and a [...]

Lifestyle

Nicola Heskett, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired

Nicola Heskett Photo by Random Photography

KC Magazine, October 2013 – New Leadership, Expanded Vision. Nicola Heskett was appointed as executive director of the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI) earlier this year. I interviewed Heskett about her new role.