
What is Kansas City’s Status as a Foodie City?
Food writer Jonathan Bender, who recently launched Recommended Daily, posted the following question on his food-based site: Is Kansas City an Up-and-Coming Foodie City?
The question and post was prompted by Chef Graham Elliot’s statement in Forbes that Kansas City is becoming a foodie destination. Read Bender’s post to learn why Elliot thinks so.
Is Kansas City an up-and-coming foodie city or has it arrived already?
First of all, what makes a city a foodie destination? The answer to that query is subjective, but here are a few factors to consider.
• Does Kansas City have a wide range of quality local food producers and wholesale/retail suppliers – bread, cheese, chocolate, produce, meat, dairy, etc?
• Does Kansas City have a notable range and depth in its culinary offerings – fine dining, ethnic, street food, vegetarian and other dietary needs?
• Does Kansas City have a strong base of culinary talent that helps distinguish the city’s cuisine from others?
• Does the city have an active and widespread audience of consumers to support local restaurants, producers and vendors?
So, let’s address this admittedly unscientific and opinionated criteria one at a time.
Range of quality local food producers and suppliers – Yes, Kansas City is home to bakeries such as Fervere, Farm to Market, Le Monde; pastry purveyor Natasha’s Mulberry & Mott, coffee roasters ranging from The Roasterie to Parisi to Oddly Correct; specialty dairy such as beloved Shatto Milk Company and Green Dirt Farm’s sublime, award-winning sheep’s milk cheeses, chocolate from experts Andre’s, Christopher Elbow, and Patric Chocolate out of Columbia, Mo. But there’s always room for more.
The short list above doesn’t begin to address the many area farms that supply restaurants like The Farmhouse, Succotash and Renee Kelly’s Harvest among others; butchers like Broadway Butcher Shop, Local Pig and Paradise Locker Meats; specialty food retailers like Pryde’s, The Better Cheddar and Olive Tree, and indie producers like Zim’s Sauces, Savory Addictions Gourmet Nuts, Jude’s Rum Cake, and award-winning Firebug Grill’n sauces by Shannon Kimball.
The list goes on – ethnic shops carrying ingredients for Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, African and Latin American cuisines, etc.
What’s missing? Kansas City could use better sources for fresh seafood.
What do you think is needed in Kansas City? Tell me in the comments below.
Depth and range of culinary offerings – KC’s ethnic food scene is far more diverse than it gets credit for locally or nationally. There’s excellent ethnic food to be savored in town, if you’re willing to seek out Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Malaysian, Chinese, Latin American food at El Porton and El Salvadoreno, Mexican street tacos through Kansas City, Kan., sushi at Kaiyo, etc.
What’s missing? Tell me below.
Kansas City could still use a decent, authentic Thai restaurant (Hot Basil is my favorite, for the record) and greater depth of restaurant selection in every ethnic cuisine. Of course, we’ll never compete with cities like Chicago and New York with larger, more diverse populations but who wants to? There’s plenty to discover and eat where we live.
We have more vegetarian options than ever. Restaurants like Waldo Pizza and Cafe Gratitude are paying attention to the dietary needs of gluten-free diners. At the other end of the spectrum, there’s no shortage of barbecue and burger joints around town.
The food truck trend has formed a solid community and garnered a loyal audience. The main factor working against these vendors is Kansas City’s cold weather in winter. Hey, we can’t all live in L.A. and San Diego.
Culinary Talent – The city has a deep roster of talented chefs in their prime with young talent breaking out as well. Kansas City is home to four veteran chefs – Celina Tio (Julian, Collection, The Belfry), Debbie Gold (Red Door Grill), Michael Smith (Extra Virgin, Michael Smith), and Colby Garrelts (bluestem, Rye) – that earned a James Beard Award for Best Chef – Midwest. That’s pretty impressive for a metropolitan area the size of Kansas City.
Awards and media attention aside, these other chefs scattered throughout the metro also bolster the city’s credentials as a destination for fine dining – Megan Garrelts (bluestem, Rye), Jonathan Justus at Justus Drugstore, Jennifer Maloney at Cafe Sebastienne, Howard Hanna at The Rieger, Carl Thorne-Thomsen at Story, Ted Habiger and Andy Sloan at Room 39, and Michael Corvino at The American (read my piece on Corvino).
There’s more to life than fine dining. You’ll also find distinctive dishes, rustic fare and traditional, comfort food by Patrick Ryan at Port Fonda, Michael Foust at The Farmhouse, Jasper Mirabile at Jasper’s, Quillan Glynn at Pizzabella, Josh Eans at Happy Gillis, Beth Barden at Succotash, John Williams at Potpie, and so forth. The list of chefs producing good food at locally owned venues is endless.
Also, resources like JCCC’s culinary program and the work of Chefs Bob Brassard and Justin Hoffman at Broadmoor Bistro help replenish the supply of local culinary talent. These programs train future generations of chefs and hospitality industry professionals that often find their first industry jobs here. Folks like Chef Joe West.
Audience – Naturally, the hospitality industry depends on attracting and retaining a loyal customer base. But that’s true anywhere. What’s vital to touting Kansas City as a foodie (a word I detest, by the way) destination is growing its critical mass of people that support local restaurants, farms and retailers. Without that support, it’s hard for food-based business owners and employees to earn a livelihood, much less produce consistent quality in food and service that will attract people from around the globe.
That said, Kansas City has a dedicated but small core audience of diners and foodies celebrating local food and drink culture. It would be nice to see more than the same faces at food-, beer- and wine-oriented events. It’s helpful to have more people broadcasting positive support for eating and drinking local on social media, blogs and local television appearances. After all, local dollars spent at locally-owned and operated businesses has a positive ripple effect on the area economy.
Better local press coverage would be a boon as well. Since the loss of Lauren Chapin, The Star’s restaurant critic for eight years, the coverage of local food has suffered over the past five years. Local writing about food and drink has increased in some respects because there’s more to write about and it has been trendy to do so; however, the quality of that writing is inconsistent or missing.
We’re fortunate to have a few veteran writers in media plugging away including Jill Silva, food editor at The Kansas City Star, freelancer Anne Brockhoff covering the local wine, beer and spirits scene at the city’s paper of record, Jonathan Bender’s writing at Recommended Daily and Charles Feruzza’s story-driven reviews for The Pitch. Still, most food coverage in our local media lacks insight, well-researched food journalism or originality. The quality and variety of good food has certainly increased over recent years, whether it is fine dining or street-style grub. What hasn’t kept pace is the quality of the food writing. Like getting butts in seats at local venues, we can always use more.
Why is better coverage of our food scene important to a local audience and to the city’s food reputation as a whole? Residents need to be better informed on a consistent basis so they are more willing to visit locally-owned businesses, spend money and spread the word (positive, negative or somewhere in the middle) about their experience. Accurate, timely, entertaining and informative writing helps create demand and fosters decision-making. We can’t and shouldn’t rely on buzz from national magazines, blogs and television and cable shows to alert us to what’s hot and noteworthy in our own city.
Food Destination or Not?
Back to my original question, is Kansas City’s food scene up-and-coming or has it already arrived? Kansas City has been a foodie city for a long time. Beyond our historic reputation for steaks and barbecue, we’ve been blessed with a steadily improving food scene. There’s plenty of good eating out there, but there’s also room for growth and improvement.
On a side note, I have avoided mentioning the rise and strength of Kansas City’s beverage culture, be it coffee, wine, beer or spirits. Local entrepreneurs have made strides to introduce and improve what we drink. Cheers to that development!
The rise of KC’s beverage community and culture works in tandem with the elevation of our food scene. Brewers, roasters, distillers and other producers are collaborating with chefs, food producers and farmers to pair food with beer, coffee and wine. Further, look at what Port Fonda has been doing with Little Freshie’s juices. Or Little Freshie’s cross-promotion with Fervere’s bread offerings. The Roasterie has expanded its offerings to balsamic vinegar, Dizzy 3 vodka, chocolate, ketchup, barbecue sauce and more.
Locals, it’s time to step out and show up. And the rest of the world, drop on by and see what you’re missing.