One chapter in my work-in-progress, Barons, Brewers, and Bootleggers: A Social History of Beer in Missouri (Fall 2025), briefly recounts the history of The Big Rip Brewing Company. Opened in May 2013, The Big Rip was the first of the modern wave of craft breweries that opened in Kansas City in the early 2010s. The chapter also introduces head brewer Bri Burrows, the only owner of The Big Rip who is queer.
Flames and glowing coals in Fox and Pearl’s hearth are visible through the restaurant’s west-facing windows. The well-tended wood fire in the kitchen is an invitation, a flickering signal for diners and travelers to gather in the Westside’s newest addition. Chef Vaughn Good and his partner and co-owner Kristine Hull opened Fox and Pearl near the bottom of a steep hill on Summit Street. In a way, the restaurant is a summit in the couple’s journey as restaurateurs.
From Lawrence to the Westside Good, who grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, moved to New York and studied at The International Culinary Center. “I was into molecular cooking and super modern food,” Good says. Then he met a chef at the school who inspired a shift in focus. “Charcuterie was his thing. It was a turning point for me. I started working with him and became fascinated with [butchering] and rootsy cooking.”
Good returned to Lawrence and worked as a sous chef at Pachamamas, where he had previously interned. Next, Good and Hull opened Hank Charcuterie in 2014. The shop concept quickly expanded into a full-service restaurant that appeased demand for his dishes but outgrew Good’s original intent.
“When it initially opened, I wanted it to just be a butcher shop and charcuterie,” Good says. “We couldn’t change the business name because it was already established. I felt stuck at Hank.”
Lawrence’s food scene is mostly geared to college-age diners. Good couldn’t find an audience for specialty offerings like foie gras sausage, for example. He says, “I was dictated to about what would work. We sold lots of burgers. The specials were our passion but we couldn’t sell it.” After a four-year run, Good and Hull considered moving the business to another location in Lawrence. They decided to migrate to Kansas City. The relocation made sense to them. Good says, “Sixty or seventy percent of our customers were coming from Kansas City.”
Their new concept Fox and Pearl refers to the middle names of their daughters. Temporarily based in Novel’s former restaurant space (815 W. 17th St., Westside, Kansas City), Good began expanding his menu for a fresh audience. “The foie gras sausage at 815 was one of our biggest sellers,” Good says. “I only made burgers one day a week.”
Good’s confidence grew, knowing he had creative freedom to explore ideas and develop dishes. Meanwhile, Hull and Good also searched for a more permanent location.
They were drawn to an empty space with spacious windows and maple flooring on the corner of Summit Street. The couple worked with real estate developer and landlord Adam Jones to radically transform the space. The restaurant and bar occupies the main floor with additional seating and open kitchen on the mezzanine, and an outdoor patio. They installed a spiral staircase that leads to a basement bar. Good and Hull now had a setting to fashion a full-blown restaurant concept that suited their interests, expertise, and vision.
“I’m excited about the building,” Good says. “The time we had at the Novel space was important. We got to know people in the neighborhood. We want to be a neighborhood space for people in the community.”
From the Hearth The wood-fired hearth is a key fixture in Fox and Pearl’s open kitchen visible from the mezzanine. Regarding the kitchen design, Good says, “People are interested in knowing where food comes from. People are interested in photos of the cooking process.”
Split pieces of oak and hickory wood are stacked on the patio, readymade fuel for cooking in the mason-built hearth. Local artist Bill Wenzel constructed the smoker positioned to the left of the hearth. Fox and Pearl also has a separate larger smoker formerly used at Hank Charcuterie. Good makes charcuterie and butchers meat in a dedicated room in the basement.
“Having a hearth will change the cooking quite a bit,” Good says. “I knew how to cook over fire. Now it’s getting in there, learning the tricks and setups and what works here. The built-in smoker can also be used as a warming oven. It imparts good flavor.”
Good drew inspiration for live-fire cooking from other chefs. Fox and Pearl developed its basic hearth design on chef Ted Habiger’s setup at Brewery Emperial in the East Crossroads. Both Habiger and Good were individually inspired by Camino, an influential Oakland, California, restaurant known for its wood-fired cooking. Highly-regarded Argentine chef, author, and restaurateur Francis Mallmann was another culinary North Star for both Habiger and Good’s aspirations to use a hearth in their kitchens. Good and his chef de cuisine Isaac Hendry (above right), who previously cooked at Hank Charcuterie, Bluestem, and Port Fonda, also researched many books on wood-fired cooking.
Food is served on earthenware dishes created by Lawrence artist Michael Crouch. Good discovered the artist’s handcrafted coffee mugs in a Lawrence shop and commissioned the dishware. “It was his first time making plates,” Good said. “The kiln is wood-fired. Each firing gives each dish its own personality.”
The focus on butchery and charcuterie is evident on the menu. Pork, beef, and chicken as well as rabbit, duck, lamb, and eventually goat will make appearances. For instance, made-from-scratch rabbit bacon sausage arrives on a cream-colored dish with a deep lip. Grilled potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, paprika sauce and mango-colored flower petals also adorn the dish. While categorically a meat-and-potatoes dish, the tangy mushrooms and savory sauce added pleasing depth to comfort food that’s far from plain. I paired this course with Off Color Brewing’s Apex Predator. This farmhouse ale is juicy and hazy with a dry finish and fruity character. Quite different from Belgian-forward floral saisons and farmhouse ales like Boulevard’s Tank 7, Apex Predator seamlessly paired with the caramelized flavors and delicate smokiness of Good’s lightly grilled food.
Other dishes include porchetta on a bed of horseradish turnip purée with grilled onions and salsa verde. Smoked and grilled duck breast is served with caramelized onion tart, cider turnips, and duck jus. Large parties might opt for the family-style portion of fried chicken with fermented hot sauce and pickles.
Vegetables, starches, beans and ingredients kissed by flame and smoke are also key components of dishes. For instance, roasted root vegetables are plated with peach sorghum vinegar, duck confit, and a crispy poached duck egg for good measure.
Simplicity sometimes means restraint, allowing fresh ingredients to express flavor without unnecessary adornment. Subtly smoky tomato vinaigrette contributed umami to a salad of heirloom tomatoes, spicy greens, grilled squash, and cucumber relish. The dressing added depth without drowning the salad in a tsunami of excess. Nettle sheep’s milk cheese and crispy strands of fried shallots offered contrasting textures to a salad as pleasing as a summer lullaby.
Duck pâté topped with strawberry jam and served with Ibis Bakery bread arrives on a wood plank. Ibis Bakery produces some of the best bread in the city. Its crunchy crust and chewy interior dappled with air pockets was a smart choice as a platform for what felt like a sophisticated PB&J. The bread counterbalanced the pâté’s custardy texture while the jam’s sweetness brightened its mild flavor.
Served in a petite iron skillet, a blueberry buckle dessert was on point with its homespun feel. A buckle is a coffee cake-like dessert where the cake batter rises or “buckles” around the fruit. This version had the lightness and texture of a sweetened cornbread with intense berry flavor. While an unconventional choice, I ordered a glass of J. Brix Skin Contact Pinot Gris 2018 to accompany the dessert. The Pinot Gris’ cherry notes, subtle spice on the finish, and gentle structure of this skin contact (aka orange wine) paired well with the buckle and delivered a satisfying conclusion to the meal.
Lo-Fi Wines and Cocktails With Character General manager and wine director Richard Garcia, who first met Good and Hull as coworkers at Pachamamas, also worked at The Golden Ox, Novel, and The Antler Room. The couple recruited Garcia to be a core team member at Fox and Pearl, where he fashioned the wine list with an emphasis on biodynamic wines.
“I call them lo-fi or minimal intervention wines,” Garcia says. Vineyard management and use of chemicals is 100-percent dependent on the environment and climate. When possible, Garcia sources wine from small producers dedicated to using “little to no chemicals in the vineyards that would wind up in the ecosystem.” These selections mirror “what Vaughn is doing in the kitchen” as far as working with small, eco-conscious farms and producers.
Designed to be approachable, the wine list highlights lo-fi wines and also lesser-known New World and Old World wines. Garcia says, “The world of wine is vast and hard to navigate. You try to find importers that parallel your values and offer wines you enjoy.”
Garcia’s wine descriptions are intentionally light and “tongue in cheek.” For instance, a Hungarian Hegyi-Kaló Kékfrankos 2015, made from Blaufränkish red grapes, is summarized as “cherries and violets, balanced acid and texture, sleeper hit for sure.” A sparkling La Vignereuse Gaia Quoi! Pet-Nat Syrah, from Gaillac, France, sounds like a catchy K-pop song – “plum and violet fizzy pop, easy going and super fun.” The listing for La Vignereuse Mayga Watt 2017, a Gamay from Gaillac, France, is hardly pretentious – “strawberry soda sop, melty push pop, indeed chuggable.”
“Making wine lists is like making mix tapes,” Garcia says. “There are elements of yourself and poetry. Little gems you want to share with friends and the world.”
Bar manager Katy Wade (above right) honed her craft at top venues in Kansas City and Lawrence, including Voltaire, The Golden Ox, The Rieger, Julep, and 715 Mass. Her approach to unfussy cocktails further reinforces Fox and Pearl’s intent to be “a welcoming neighborhood place.”
Look for seasonal ingredients, such as blackberries and blueberries, and local spirits in cocktails. As an industry veteran, Wade is savvy to the wealth of well-made craft cocktails through Kansas City. She simply aims for her offerings to be “fun, accessible, and good.”
To that end, Copper and Tod is a riff on the animal names in the film The Fox and The Hound. Wade says, “It’s our take on an Old Fashioned.” J. Rieger & Co whiskey, Old Grand Dad bourbon, Amaro Nonino, and Luxardo Maraschino form the quartet in this classic.
The Third Plate is a rotating seasonal cocktail utilizing local produce. “It’s inspired by chef Dan Barber’s book on how we eat, what is available and seasonal,” Wade says. She also plans to develop alcohol-free and low-alcohol cocktails, a trendy alternative now available in New York and Los Angeles bars.
The basement bar and lounge, not a speakeasy, mind you, will have different offerings than the upstairs bar. Wade intends to feature spirits that “express a sense of place and terroir,” such as single-estate Tequila Ocho and sherries. She adds, “We’ll use the space to explore special spirits in a more intimate setting, where the bartender may spend more personalized time with guests.”
Feels Like Home Fox and Pearl’s food evokes the bygone days of farmhouse cooking once commonly practiced in households as a matter of necessity. Baking bread, putting up preserves, butchering meat, and growing vegetables in a garden were (and are) labor-intensive activities. Putting sustenance on the supper table was more practical than pastoral. Foodstuffs were once exclusively sourced from farmland, ranch, field and stream. Fox and Pearl offers a modern version of this experience, where guests may enjoy the delicious riches of someone else’s creativity and labor.
Good’s cooking draws on southern and midwestern cooking influences from his upbringing. His iteration of regional cuisine uses wood and smoke in time-tested techniques. Yet, he isn’t beholden to Kansas City’s barbecue tradition or boundary lines of what regional cuisine should be. The menu at Fox and Pearl is adventurous yet approachable. Chermoula-rubbed quail with stewed field peas and greens, black garlic yogurt, radish salad, pickled garlic scape, and hush puppy? Good deploys a North African sauce on a game bird supported by southern cooking staples. Elsewhere, heartland meets Old World as Good marries casarecce, a type of Sicilian pasta, with Kansas white beans, mustard greens, herbed buttermilk cheese, and black walnut gremolata. These dishes exemplify Good’s culinary imagination and versatility by tapping into seemingly disparate foodways.
Fox and Pearl will inevitably be described with words like rustic, farm to table, rootsy, and chef-driven. These words still have currency and apply, to a degree, to the food and experience that Good, Hull and their team have shaped. Yet, sometimes language or a hashtag serves as shorthand to sketch an impression, conveying an implied sense of being in the know without fully providing context.
Rustic evokes gauzy imagery of rural life in the countryside, where folks wear denim and mud-flecked boots and drive old trucks that run forever. The term also refers to unsophisticated, coarse people from the country, who lack social graces or polish. A yokel, if you will. The food, wine, cocktails, service, and decor at Fox and Pearl is anything but unrefined and provincial. Fox and Pearl connects diners in a cozy urban neighborhood setting with farms, ranches, and provisional suppliers located outside of city limits.
More to the point, Fox and Pearl’s team have realized a vision for their aspirations. Within the realm of possibilities for what a new restaurant and bar might be, Hull, Good, and their team’s combined ideas and raison d’etre for Fox and Pearl are synchronized and unified. Warm sunlight fills the space and glows across the maple floor. Spacious booths and banquettes, family-style tables, and cozy bar stools offer multiple settings to have an intimate meal, a convivial gathering, or to rub elbows with the charming person at the bar. While brand new, Fox and Pearl already feels as familiar and inviting as home.
Swedes and Sunshine Parking at the intersection of Summit Street and Avenida Cesar E. Chavez affords a view of the 1907 three-story brick building that houses Fox and Pearl. Cast iron five-pointed stars adorn the brick wall to the west like black sparks from an ancient fire long since cooled and bound in place. These stars are anchor plates, commonly used in European cities, towns, and villages on 18th and 19th century brick and masonry-based buildings. Connected to a tie rod or bolt, the anchor plates provide strength by reinforcing the wall. If read like a constellation and with knowledge of the city’s history, the stars are clues to the slow, gradual evolution of the Westside.
Fox and Pearl makes its home in a neighborhood long associated with its Latino and Mexican-American residents and cultural roots. Yet the building is a reminder that the area was once known as Swede Hill. In the 1900s, around 2,000 Swedes and western European immigrants settled in this hilly section of the city.
According to Niel M. Johnson’s Swedes in Kansas City: Selected Highlights of Their History, Swedes began arriving in Kansas City in 1868. Some continued westward to rural towns such as Lindsborg, Kansas. Others settled near Kansas City’s riverfront, where they worked at meatpacking houses and on the railroads.
By the 1880s, growing numbers of Swedish settlers congregated next to German and Irish immigrants. Swede Hill “was bounded by 25th Street (the railroad tracks) on the south to 16th on the north and from the bluff on the west to Broadway on the east,” according to Johnson. Gradually, Mexican-Americans rented and bought homes built by immigrant Swedes. By the 1920s, the neighborhood’s identity shifted from Swede Hill to the Westside.
Swedish-Americans once gathered in the brick building that is now home to Fox and Pearl. The building originally housed the Nytta, Nöje och Enighet Lodge [usefulness, enjoyment, and unity], a Swedish-American social organization. The Swedish Pioneer Club No. 1 (Pionärklubben), another fraternal organization established in Kansas City in 1896, also met at the hall.
Swedish-Americans observed native customs at the hall, such as midsommar and the julfest [Midsummer and the Christmas festival]. According to Johnson, cultural programs also included “readings of Swedish stories and reports by members on trips to Sweden or to remote places in the U.S.” Following each program, members served “a light supper, which might be accompanied by a case of beer and a fifth of ‘sunshine’ (whiskey).”
The first floor of the brick building later housed a drug store, possibly Stevens Drug Store, and grocery, likely Noon and Johnson. By 1970, the Swedish Pioneer Club and NN&E had dissolved. The latter organization sold their building to the Guadalupe Society.
A preserved Swedish lodge banner bearing the slogan Nytta, Nöje och Enighet is currently displayed on another floor of the brick building. The banner may be moved to Fox and Pearl’s upper dining room.
The Swedish spirit of usefulness, enjoyment, and unity and Westside roots imbues Fox and Pearl’s modern space with an innate sense of history tied to the community. Other signs of the building’s rich history are evident. Blue-and-white tilework by Fox and Pearl’s fire engine red front door designate “Drugs,” a nod to the pharmacy that once operated in the space.
Inside, Fox and Pearl displays a black-and-white photograph from 1923 of a grocery store and a second-floor butcher shop that once conducted business onsite. Artist Peregrine Honig and musician Mark Southerland, two longtime creative contributors to the cultural growth of the Crossroads, lived and worked in the building’s first-floor studio space years ago. Boulevard Brewing Company’s marketing department offices were once located on an upper floor of the building. Today, Fox and Pearl operates in a fully-transformed setting replete with rich history, providing hospitality, supper from its hearth, and even a bit of “sunshine.”
Kansas City Beer: A History of Brewing in the Heartland is now available. Since the official book release date of Oct. 24, 2016, the book is available at local retailers and for online ordering. Kansas City Beer is easy to read with short profiles of nearly 70 breweries from roughly the 1850s to 2016.
Brothers Todd, 38, and Ryan, 34, have similar facial features and eyes. Physically, they maintain a muscular build from their days as athletes at Liberty High School. The brothers settled in Liberty, married their sweetheart, and are each raising a young family. As gear heads, Todd and Ryan both enjoy working on cars. The Crossley brothers share another important characteristic. They manage one of the most successful Ford dealerships in the country founded by their father Gary Crossley.
On December 23, 2011, Todd bought Gary Crossley Ford and became the dealership’s president and principal. He sold his software company to AutoTrader.com and generated the capital to buy the dealership as part of the succession plan. With Ryan serving as vice-president, the duo are poised to continue developing business growth for the 21st century and building on a rich heritage.
Plan for Succession
Originally, Gary Crossley and a business partner started the dealership in 1977 and Crossley took over operations two years later. By 1980, the patriarch became sole owner of the business formerly located in Liberty’s triangle at the intersection of Highways 152 and 291.
Moving forward, Gary Crossley Ford celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007 and is still going strong. Six years ago, the dealership moved to its current location on North Church Road in Liberty. The dealers expanded their property from 38,000 to 70,000 square feet. The relocation and subsequent growth also led to two additions to their sprawling campus.
Gary has been semi-retired for six months, but has acted in the role of consultant to his sons during the transition. “Dad has seen everything that could go right and wrong in the business,” says Todd. “He sees the big picture.”
Growing up in the business has given the brothers a strong foundation for running the dealership. Todd and Ryan have worked in every facet from sales to service.
“I knew what I wanted to do since elementary school,” says Todd of his commitment to working at the dealership. “I worked in the shop when I was young.”
Education has complemented the Crossleys’ firsthand exposure to the business. Ryan graduated from Northwood University in Michigan with a focus on automotive marketing. Todd graduated from Missouri State University in Springfield. They later attended the National Auto Dealer Association Dealer Academy in McClain, Virginia.
“It is a big advantage to study at the Dealer Academy,” says Ryan. The Crossleys valued the practical experience of their teachers. “The instructors are successful millionaires. They had been there and done that.”
Observing how their father conducted business also delivered new insights. “Watching Dad and his circle of friends was beneficial,” says Todd. “We learned there was no ceiling and no floor to how much you can succeed or fail. There’s so much potential, but you can also make mistakes and crash and burn.”
Earlier in his career, Todd worked in sales at a dealership in Omaha, Nebraska for a year to gain experience outside of the family business. He returned to Liberty and worked as a sales manager at Gary Crossley Ford. At one point, Todd’s father made him an offer to run the service department as part of a long-range vision for his eldest son to lead the entire operation.
“I knew the business, but I was scared about the long-term decision to run the company,” says Todd, who drives a black Ford Expedition.
Knowing how to sell cars and trucks was only part of the business. Today, successful dealerships focus on a balance of customer service, servicing vehicles, and sales. Ultimately, Todd made a commitment. He says, “I slept on the decision, woke up, and never looked back.”
Todd worked for a year as service manager and two years as service director before assuming the role of general manager at the dealership. In their current executive roles the brothers shoulder major responsibilities, but are prepared to shift into the next gear.
Ready, Set, Grow
The dealership has retained a strong customer base during the recession. “We have a lot of repeat and referral business. We have Dad to thank for that,” says Todd.
However, the brothers have not waited for new business to come in the door. They have reduced advertising and marketing costs by targeted online and direct mail campaigns, attracted a wide range of customers, an improved their profitability by operating more efficiently in sales, service, financing, and administration.
The improvements have been measurable both to the bottom line and in terms of recognition. Gary Crossley Ford was ranked as a Top 1000 Ford dealer nationally at its former location. After the move to their current address, the dealership has ranked in the Top 100. In 2012, the brothers anticipate that the dealership to be ranked in the Top 50 based on car sales.
“We have been the number one dealer for new car sales among Ford stores for five years running,” touts Ryan.
Gary Crossley Ford won the prestigious Triple Crown Award from Ford Motor Company in 2010, accelerating them into the upper echelon of dealerships. Only 60 dealerships have won the award – based on units sold, customer satisfaction index, and service – over a hundred year period.
“In 2011, only 18 Ford dealers out of 3,400 won a Triple Crown Award,” says Todd, who successfully vowed to win the award at Gary Crossley Ford before his father retired. “Doing so also put us on Ford’s radar.”
Full Service
Refining their service has been a boon for growth. “We want to be a one-stop shop and take care of people,” says Todd.
Ryan concurs that there’s more to the business than selling automobiles. “We’re in the people business,” he says. “You have to treat people right.”
They put this service philosophy into practice with Quick Lane, a service department where general maintenance and repairs take three hours or less. The object is to maximize the customer experience, extend the relationship after the auto sale, and reduce operating costs.
A single representative greets the customer in a covered auto bay, registers the check-in, handles the repair, coordinates parts procurement, updates the customer, processes payment, and facilitates departure. This A-Z approach to service saves time and money for the customer and dealer and increases customer satisfaction. Quick Lane has proven so popular that the dealership has added multiple shifts to meet demand.
For more extensive repairs, the union-based service department has numerous Master Certified Technicians on staff. This level of certification is the degree equivalent of a PhD. “Eighty percent of our techs are Master Certified,” says Todd.
The dealership is also one of six Ford Reacquired Vehicle (RAV) dealers out of 3,384 Ford dealerships in the country. When Ford Motor Company reacquires a vehicle from any dealer trade, and the vehicle needs extensive work, Gary Crossley Ford is the only RAV dealer in a sixteen-state territory for those repairs.
“We can fix problems that others can’t,” says Todd. “It’s a huge pat on the back for our service guys. We’ve been a RAV dealer for three years and see up to fifteen cars per month. We have a 98% repair rate.”
That distinctive level of expertise service makes the Crossley team proud. Ford Motor Company has taken notice and used GCF as a training center. “My fix-up guys are rock stars,” says Todd.
“The service we offer to customers all goes back to the facility, training, and operations,” says Ryan, who drives a black Ford F-150 with a custom lift kit and tires.
The dealership’s body work shop houses two full-bake paint booths that can reproduce a factory-quality paint job. Servicing commercial trucks from companies such as Dean has also fueled Gary Crossley Ford’s growth and expanded their customer base. An in-store custom department caters to gear heads that want to trick out their car or truck. Whether customers want parts for their drag car, a lift kit, or a little something extra under the hood to improve speed and performance, the custom guys speak the language.
“We want to make doing business with us convenient,” says Ryan of the dealership’s well-rounded offerings. Even the little touches are important. He adds, “Buy a car from us and you get free car washes for life.”
Relating to Customers
Developing customer relations goes beyond the sale and ongoing service. Communication with customers is a central tenet of the Crossley strategy. The dealership features a dedicated custom relations center where representatives track and respond to all emails and phone calls. “Traditionally, the number one complaint about car dealerships is that no one listened to want the customer wants,” says Ryan.
For example, a potential customer wants a model in blue. The sales agent show them a car in black because it is available. The Crossleys were determined to change that approach by listening and finding solutions to meet the customer’s need.
All customer interactions are monitored to maintain quality and find room for improvement. Ryan says, “We measure our responses and follow up with customers.”
Community Partners
The Crossley family believes strongly in supporting the community in Liberty. Over the years, they have sponsored numerous football, wrestling, and soccer teams at the high school. Ryan and Todd go beyond athletics to support lesser known scholastic endeavors such as the Liberty High School robotics team. With the dealership’s financial support, the team competed successfully and advanced to national competition.
They have hosted charity events such as Jerry’s Kids and donated money to Children’s Mercy Hospital and The Dream Factory. The dealership donated $10,000 in 2011 to the latter organization.
“We like to spread out our money among different charitable organizations and causes,” says Ryan, “but the local high school and The Dream Factory is our core.”
“Dad helped out a lot of charities over the years,” says Todd. “Doing so takes time and money. You want it to benefit people. We »» donate to The Dream Factory because 100 percent of the money goes to the kids. It’s an all-volunteer organization.”
Managing one of the top dealerships in the nation is no small feat. Todd and Ryan have taken steps to best serve customers through improved service, sales, and customer relations. Building on their father’s legacy, they have shifted Gary Crossley Ford from a top sales organization to a truly full-service operation. Together, the Crossley brothers have proven to be skilled businessmen and dedicated community leaders determined to drive forward for years to come.
