Me again, still catching up on bygone times. So then, back to the KC weekend (and yes, even more to be posted - hey, we take a heck of a lot of photos!)...
Kansas City gave us the opportunity to have a couple of nice meals together with Conrad's family. His mother was down from
the UP for the weekend before her birthday while Conrad's nephew, Justin, and his wife, Tonna, are KC residents. Happily, that meant that we had local knowledge of where to dine. On the Friday night, their suggestion was quite fine.
Blue Bird Bistro is a funky place that was not nearly so busy on a Friday night as it deserves to be. It was one of those places where I read the menu and I am boggled because there are so many enticing options. In the end, the plating was not refined, but we left very happy. We almost decided to go back the next evening!
But on to dinner there, and fine group it was to dine with.
House cured salmon. Flavoured with lime, jalapenos, and cilantro served over organic mixed greens and sprinkled with chipotle-orange vinaigrette. Conrad and I shared it.
Conrad's dinner: American wild-caught scallops, pan-seared and served with seasoned rice and raosted asparagus, drizzled with cumin brown butter. It didn't look refined, but the cumin brown butter was delightfully fragrant, providing some evocative flavour to the meal.
My dinner: Grass fed bison tenderloin prepared in a
Boulevard Wheat (beer) reduction, greens and roasted potatoes.
We declined to have dessert (though there were some attractive choices). Ah well. Our wine was a bottle of Seghesio Zinfandel. A fine dinner, and again, we were dismayed that the palce was not packed when we left. If you got to KC, drop by this place - it's worth it.
The next night - a finer restaurant and a little bit less casual a look. You know, I'm really loving wearing the ties these days.
Saturday dinner was at
Starker's Restaurant down in Country Club Plaza. How interesting that KC has a shopping precinct like that - so far from downtown but so much like a downtown, not a mall. The restaurant itself is a little finer, known for its wine. The light fixture gives that away.
So we all made ourselves pretty...
Again, a lot of interesting menu options. We all started, though, with a non-menu item: an amuse-bouche of asparagus soup. Tasty!
We didn't photograph everyone's meals as we wanted them to enjoy their meals while warm. Rest assured, they all enjoyed what they had. As for us, well, first up for me was foie gras. This came just a day or two after Chicago repealed its (frankly silly) ban on selling it within the city. Justin had never tried it before, and he was surprised, when I offered him a bite, to find that he liked it.
Conrad had a crab duo for an appetizer. Alas, the photos were not good. Ah well. Instead, here's his dinner: Free range veal rib chop with wilted local greens, grilled spring onions, English peas, and crawfish Bordelaise.
My dinner of Circle 7 Ranch sprng lamb "en crepinette" with potato puree, fava beans, local mushrooms, and picholine olive puree. It doesn't look pretty, I concede, but gosh darn was it substantial and good.
Conrad, by the way, famously (in our house) hates peas (also sweet peppers, and he's not wild on liver). He was a good boy that night.
After dinner we walked around the Plaza neighbourhood. Brush Creek runs through the area, and walking along it in the twilight was a good way to regain space for a stop in a gelato shop for dessert.
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