Spring is in the Aer

The year of the food truck... again. By this point in this blog's life my wild love affair with food trucks has to be painfully apparent! Food trucks are one of the closest things that I can find to the reason that I started this blog in the first place, in Kansas City. I have tried to make it to every food truck in KC (although I admit that I do have a few that I have not made it to yet), and even a few in other cities. I would love to place a link to every food truck post that I have ever made, but I feel that it may create some sort of cyclic black hole that would have a pull strong enough to crash Google's servers, so I will spare you... this time.

As it does every spring, the warmer weather peels back the blankets that Kansas Citians have taken shelter from the cold beneath and brings food truck rallies. Unfortunately, the inaugural rally each year is preceded  (and followed) by beautiful weather but often finds itself on the receiving end of a kick in the crotch from the cold winter witch holding onto that last cold breath. This was the case last year when the May First Friday was snowed out and it happened again this year. It did not snow on us this year (but I guess we still have May to look forward to - looks around for wood to knock on), but I do not feel like I should need a winter coat to walk around a First Friday event in April.

It actually worked out great for me, I gorged myself on tons of delicious food and got lots of face time with the amazing people that run these mobile eateries. However, that is pretty terrible for them, that means that they bought and prepared all of this great food for it to end up going to waste (which is always a terrible thought knowing that there are children going to bed without food in their bellies in this country and in others, but I'm sure it's also hard to get a food pantry to take prepared-perishable food at midnight). Now allow me to step down off of what I am sure some of you will think of as my "liberal, hippy, left-wing, bleeding-heart" soap box and go around the horn to tell you why you should come out the next time there is a rally so that this doesn't happen again.

Prairie Fire Oven - As I have documented before, David and Nancy White (and usually David's parents too) bring you some of the best pizza you have ever had in your life. Neapolitan-inspired, wood fired, pliable thin crust pizza that is not to be confused with that thin crust mess that they serve in that city down the river. PFO uses the freshest ingredients that they can find and even locally made sausages. But do not think that the PFO menu stops at the standard sausage or pepperoni, I mean they have that too, but you can get things like truffle oil, beets, and (one time last summer) mango on your pizza.

Street Wings  - The newest truck on the KC streets, brought to you by the owners of Little Italy, has a menu that consists of chicken wings and the like. The all-star on the Street Wing menu is something that some of you have never even heard of before (I know I hadn't): Stuffed Chicken Wings. When you read that, you probably think like I did and think it is stuffed with mozzarella, bleu cheese, or something creamy. If you think that, you would be wrong, just like I was. These chicken wings are stuffed with brisket, like the chicken that the wings are from went HAM on some cooked beef.

Little Italy - Speaking of Little Italy, the purveyors of all things Italian (including pizza when they are not at the same event as PFO). If you only have one thing from Little Italy, make it the risotto ball! Creamy goodness inside of a shell of crisp breading, you will not regret it. As you can see, with menu items like risotto balls and stuffed wings, Little Italy and Street Wings really put the extra time in to get their menu items right.

Wilma's Real Good Food - What can I say about Brett that I haven't already said? I call him The Mad Scientist, Adrian from Indios Carbonsitos calls him Brainiac, but to put it in laymens terms: He is the only man crazy enough to cook with Tank 7 while still being smart enough to pull it off! I have had plenty of items made with Tank 7 (although I have yet to have the Ale House Tank 7 doughnuts), and none of them have been up to snuff. I am a firm believer that if you are using beer to cook with then you use cheap beer, unless it is an item that you know that the flavour of the beer is going to come through. Brett makes food like fancy vinegar makers make vinegar. It may be unnerving to pour a $150 bottle of pinot into a carboy to make red wine vinegar, but they do it knowing that the finished product will show the difference.

I bring up Tank 7 because Brett was tossing fried grits and cheesesteaks out of Wilma's window that came smothered in Tank 7 cheese sauce. Do not mistake this for cheese wiz! The dishes that the sauce came on were no slouches themselves. Then, as if fried cheese grits with Tank 7 cheese sauce wasn't enough, dude was serving up frog leg street tacos with candied bacon chopped up in there too. Yes, real frog legs! - This was my wife's first frog leg experience, which is kind of funny that frog legs took this long given all of the other stuff I have gotten her to eat.

Indios Carbonsitos - Adrian brought the heat with a special that he has normally brought out for private parties: Camarones Divorciados (or Divorced Shrimp for our non Spanish speakers). Two skewers of shrimp, seasoned with a light chile rub and a little butter, one topped with Mike's Hot Honey that PFO introduced us all to and the other topped with Adrian's Mex-IQ version of a chimichurri sauce. Both of them plopped on top of some of the best cilantro lime rice I have ever tasted. Make sure that you taste the rice before the camarones or ask for some on the side because it is easy for the camarones to overpower the rice and the rice really deserves respect of its own.

You all should also know, with my love for food truckers, that I believe their hustle to be much harder than a brick and mortar restaurant. Brick and mortars believe that food trucks have an unfair advantage, but I believe that to be reversed. You can fit 3, maybe 4 workers on a food truck and they turn out way more orders than your average kitchen will during a dinner service. I do not take kindly to brick and mortars trying to encroach on the food truck game. I get it from a catering perspective. If you are going to use it solely for catering, cool. But if you are trying to capitalize on a trend, shame on you. I am a food truck purist, sue me. All of that being said, I had completely misjudged the Moose Truck!

Moose Truck  - As you can probably guess is a truck that is put on the streets by good folks from KCHopps. When I first heard that the Blue Moose was putting a truck on the street, I expected it to serve something like deep fried, previously frozen, chicken strips from Sysco foods. Boy was I wrong, not only is this truck NOT a glorified concession stand, but the KC Hopps executive chef (Chef Ryan) cruses around with the truck. When I got a chance to talk to him about it, he said that it was probably his favorite part of his job (cruising around in the food truck), because he actually gets to cook on the truck. Chef brings his "A" game too! The Moose Truck had menu items like shrimp and grits (and you know I love shrimp and grits) and sandwiches covered in blue cheese (on Farm to Market bread). The shrimp and grits were legit too! Buttery, cheesy grits with slaw between the shrimp and grits (Where have you ever seen this? Let me answer that for you, nowhere!).

Food truck season is upon us. Get hungry!

Food Truck Roundup (Part 4)

Sorry for the wait! I know that November is pretty much the swan song on food truck season for most trucks and I did want to get this post out before they go into hibernation for the winter, but I had to let the Aaron Sanchez post marinade for a couple weeks (for my own vanity) before I made another one. I apologize once again, but I promise that it was well worth the wait, because I have 3 new (or maybe just new to me) trucks (2 actual trucks and one pizza oven trailer) that are going to rock your world!

First up is Prairie Fire Oven . PFO is an open air wood-fired oven experience that also serves up some  pretty awesome thin crust pizza. Although the pizza is thin crust style, it is not dry and rock hard (like some thin crust pizzas) because of the properties of the wood fired oven. When the wood is burned in the wood-fired oven it releases the moisture that was contained in the logs and produces a moist heat that does not dry out your crust (you won't get that at Domino's).

The pizzas from PFO have a bit of kick to them. We had The Margherita and The Duo, both were made with super fresh ingredients (which does make a difference) and both had a medium amount of kick to them (depending on who you ask, of course). Both also go great with the Mike's Hot Honey that is offered up with the standard Parmesan cheese and pepper flakes. A little bit of the Mike's goes a long way! (Tangent Alert: Mike's is a Brooklyn-made imitation of a South American honey infused with chilies. A guy named Mike from Brooklyn came across this creation in his South American travels, decided to bring it back Stateside with him, and started making it for distribution.) David and Nancy (the owners of PFO) fell in love with it and thought it would go great with their pizzas. They are right, it is killer! You can even order an off-menu pizza (although I may be overstepping my bounds by letting out this secret, oops) called The Bee Sting that is made with Mike's Hot Honey and then fired in the oven, this is for serious heat-seekers only.

David and Nancy also let me take a peek inside the oven, jealous?

Next up on this tour is Jazzy B's . Jazzy's is where you go for some far out food that will leave your stomach full, your taste buds blown away, and you scratching your head saying "how in the world did he come up with that?!?". Brandon (the owner of Jazzy B's) and Adrian (the owner of Indios Carbonsitos) are constantly going back and forth over which one of them has the best tacos, the best burger, and overall the best menu. Both are incredible and if I had to choose between the two, I would claim that I had to taste each of them again, solely as an excuse to get more food!

Brandon has incredible sweet fries that are plucked from a fryer and tossed in a secret blend of brown sugar and other sweet flavours. The brisket tacos are out of this world! They abide by the corn tortilla rule, he told me that he tried flour tortillas, but there was just something missing. The brisket is juicy and tender, the slaw is tangy and adds the perfect crunchy compliment to the tender brisket. Brandon does a smoked-fried-chicken, he decided that smoking the chicken wasn't enough, that it needed to be fried to get that crispiness to it. He even has "Armadillo Eggs" and the "Armadillo Egg Burger". Lets just say that mixing gourmet jalapeno poppers, bacon, and a burger is a sure fire way to get EatingAwesomeness to eat at your food truck window. I will definitely be coming back for the AEB! 

Last up on this tour is Little Italy food truck . I really wanted to try more from Little Italy, and will soon, but I was completely stuffed by this stage of the night. I could not however pass up the risotto ball that I had been dying to try for weeks. A friend of mine went to Rome over the summer and kept telling me that the best thing he had while he was over there was "this rice ball thing", when I saw the risotto ball from Little Italy I knew that had to be what he was talking about. It did not disappoint! The risotto ball was delicious and even donned an Italian flag when it came out of the window. Imagine a creamy risotto ball with a crispy shell, covered in marinara sauce, assolutamente fantasitco!

Tour de Lawrence

In honor of school starting back up, I have decided to write a beginner's guide to eating (and drinking) in everyone's favorite college town: Lawrence. I was blessed enough to spend my college years in Lawrence and would like to impart some of the knowledge that I learned in my 4 short years there. In dining, much like in life, I did not learn all that I know in just 4 years, but have continued to learn more each time I return to Lawrence. I will try and make this post follow some logical order, but no promises.

Places to have a great dinner:

Nearly every time my wife and I go to Lawrence (whether it be for a football game, basketball game, or just on a whim on Saturday night at 9PM decide to go to Lawrence with an Australian coworker), we have to at least stop in to Free State Brewery. Whether we are there for dinner, drinks, or just stopping in to fill up a growler with beer from a newly tapped keg, Free State never disappoints. Starting out with the spinach artichoke dip is a must! From there, you cannot go wrong with any entree. My wife loves the chicken avocado wrap, while I will almost always get something from the Daily Savory Specials menu. From the Cuban pork sandwich, to the salmon, every menu item I have ever had has been phenomenal! If you live too far away and cannot make it to the brewery, do yourself a favor and pick up one of their 6 packs from your local liquor store, you will be amazed. The fact that they have 6 packs in stores makes me try a new seasonal each time we go. My favorites: Oktoberfest, Lemongrass Rye, and the Hop Jack Ale.

Another great brewpub in Lawrence is 23rd Street Brewery. Also a great restaurant. Also has great beers. This restaurant was once owned by K.C. Hopps (under the name of 75th Street Brewery), but it has since been purchased by a local and renamed (appropriately so, as it sits on 23rd Street and not 75th Street). You cannot beat the pub chips on the patio on a Sunday (fishbowl special day), with a fishbowl full of great beer that is brewed in house. You can also take home a growler from 23rd Street.

Set 'em Up Jacks is probably the best place in Lawrence to go catch a game. They have the biggest screen in town! It is a great low key place to watch the game or grab a wrap and some sweet potato fries. They were even the last place around to sell out of Boulevard's Chocolate Ale, so we made a special trip to Lawrence just to have a couple (or 4) glasses of it.

Tortas Jalisco is an authentic Mexican restaurant on the north side of town. This is one of those places that I found on a trip to Lawrence after I graduated. They are the Lawrence home of my beloved street tacos, and they are quite good too!

Back to Mass Street. If you have a craving for Asian food, then Zen Zero is your place! Zen Zero has a lively atmosphere and awesome Thai food. The noodles from the wok, the noodles in broth, and the curries are all amazing. Admittedly when I was in college and had a much less distinguishing palate (and sometimes still do to this day), I loved to order the Thai style sweet and sour chicken. I know that this is a super boring option, but the veggies that come in the dish are always fresh and go so well in the sweet and sour sauce. You can also get my favorite Asian dessert drink at Zen Zero, the Boba (Bubble) Tea!

Jefferson's Restaurant is somewhat of a chain, but the Lawrence location was only the second location to open, so we will give it a pass for today's purposes. It has always been known for its walls that were completely covered in dollar bills, multiple bills thick in some locations. That all changed when the previous owner got into a little tax trouble and the restaurant came under new ownership, the old owner took all the old bills, but the walls are slowly getting recovered. The menu is still the same, and dispite claims that it is not as good, it is 100% as good as it always was. The hot wings are awesome and so are all of the other southern favorites that are served up at Jefferson's. I love everything: the Jeffferson Burger, pulled pork, fried seafood, and the great big beer specials.

Pepperjax Grill has the self proclaimed best Philly in America. I cannot attest to that, as I am not a Philly fanatic, but I can tell you that they make an amazing rice bowl! It is very similar to a Chipotle fajita burrito bowl, it is made with seasoned, steamed, long grain white rice. The chicken (you can also get the Philly meat or a veggie bowl, if you so chose) is sauteed on the flat top and seasoned right in front of you, with the onions and peppers. The seasoning is similar to seasoned salt, but has some extra kick to it. Top it with black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream and you have a fantastic dinner on your hands! Pepperjax has also expanded to KC, just to feed the rice bowl cravings of former Jayhawks now living in Overland Park.

Wheat State Pizza is another local chain that got started in Lawrence, now they have restaurants all over Kansas. They have the best pizza in town, in my opinion. The crust is what makes the pizza, something about that wheat crust just enhances the other flavours in the pizza. You cannot go wrong with any pizza from Wheat State, but I highly recommend the BBQ Chicken on hand tossed wheat crust with any of their desert pizzas as a finisher.

Yellow Sub is a sub shop (thank you Captain Obvious) that gets its name from the popular Beatles song. Yellow sub was the first branch of what later became the Planet Sub chain. Are you seeing a pattern here? If you can make it in Lawrence, you can make it anywhere. Yellow Sub has great great sandwiches that they put on daily fresh baked bread that they toast when you order your sandwich. If you like Planet Sub, go check out where it started (although the real original Yellow Sub was town down, along with The Crossing, to build the new Oread Hotel, may they RIP).

Places to grab a drink after dinner:

Quinton's is a great place to go get a sandwich before a KU basketball game. It is also the best place in town for a college kid to grab a drink after dark. I have spent many a night feeding singles into the jukebox upstairs at the ice bar.

Sandbar is a bit of a locals spot, so it will get super busy and be "one in, one out" at 9PM, but will be dead by 1AM. Go for the Shark Attack and the Dirty Banana (the specialty drinks) and stay for the hurricane (the specialty... well... I don't really know how to describe the hurricane, you just have to see it for yourself). If you are lucky, you may even spot former Jayhawk basketball star and NBA veteran Scot Pollard. 

Fatso's, 4 words: Long Island Iced Tea! Fatso's is also a good live music/DJ venue. Random story: We also watched a door guy get fired (mid-shift) at Fatso's one night. He was on his phone and not paying attention to time. For some reason he turned the OPEN sign off and shut the door an hour before closing time, the manager came over and ripped him a new one and sent him packing and then had no one to work the door. Only in Lawrence.

Red Lyon is your place to go to down some Guiness and some popcorn while catching a soccer game with the Mass St. Mob (Sporting KC Fan Club, Lawrence Chapter). They get most of the major games, you may however be on your own if you are trying to watch your favorite German Bundesliga II team.

Jazzhaus is one of the more chill atmospheres you will find on Mass. Street. They have open mic nights, jazz jam band nights, and then just straight chill nights. Order a Stoli Blueberry & Sprite and thank me later, it tastes exactly like a blueberry muffin.

Louise's Downtown is another chill bar in downtown Lawrence, grab a schooner (giant goblet-shaped glass that holds about 3 1/2 beers) and shoot some pool.

Henry's Upstairs has the best Sangria around, bar none! They will also occasionally have other specialty drinks on special (for instance, a hot apple cider and brandy in the fall), I have not had one that was not fantastic.

Eighth Street Tap Room is another place you can go for specialty drinks. There is a drink that you order there solely by brushing off your shoulders and then holding up the number of them you want. I do not know what exactly is in this drink besides Gin, but ordering it is probably one of the most interesting things I have done in a bar. Do not however try to order any type of "car bomb" drinks at this bar, they have a sign on the board that says "Car bombs kill people, we do not make them here".

If you are looking for more of a dance party atmosphere, then Abe and Jake's is your place. Go there, grab a vodka/Red Bull and dance the night away. Do however watch out for the obstacles, as I call them, in the middle of the floor that could be a tripping hazard. Abe and Jake's always has good theme nights and contests. A friend of mine even met his wife on the smoking patio out back that over looks the Kansas River (for anyone who may be wondering which river that is running back there, random inside joke).

Places to eat off what you just drank:

Pyramid Pizza is always the first stop after leaving the bars on Mass Street, and for good reason. The pinched style crust dipped in honey is amazing.

If you get back to your apartment or hotel room and are still not satisfied after your Pyramid Pizza, or if you forgot to stop for it, Pizza Shuttle will deliver a large pizza, until the wee hours of the morning, for under $10.

The Burrito King drive through is another great option, whether it is 2AM and you are headed home (with your sober driver), or if its 8AM and you need some breakfast. Burrito King is a local favorite that is only closed for about an hour each day, I can never really figure out why anyone would close for such a short amount of time, but its awesome cheap eats either way.

The morning after:

WheatFields: A small little hippie bakery and cafe that serves amazing food is definitely the place to go. They have the best French toast that I have ever eaten in my life! It is made from their own freshly baked sour dough bread that is dipped in the most incredible badder that contains just a hint of cinnamon. Also great are the egg white omelet with spinach and feta cheese, any of their breads, and any of their coffee drinks (as they are made with Roasterie coffee).

No matter the reason you are in Lawrence, time of day of your visit, or the length of your stay, there is something for everyone in the list above. I also do not claim this to be a comprehensive list, if you feel that I have missed any Lawrence essentials, please make a comment below and I will have to make an update (if I agree with your comment). Rock Chalk!

Minsky's Pizza

Minsky's Pizza is pretty much the gold standard that all other local pizza joints are measured by. Minsky's has 14 local locations, I have been to 4 or 5 of them, but the River Market location is my favorite. Its very close to my house, there are two levels and tons of TVs to watch all of the games that are on, and its also where my wife and I went on our second date.

One of the best things about Minsky's is that if you get on their mailing list, they send you a little birthday postcard for a free calzone within 2 weeks of your birthday. It had been quite some time since I had been to Minsky's and I thought that it would be the perfect time to return, nothing will get me to a restaurant like free food.

For my free 3 "topping" calzone (I use the term topping loosely, as they are really more like fillings than toppings), I chose pepperoni, salami, and Italian sausage. The calzone was stuffed full, the cured meats were great and very flavorful, it was overflowing with mozzarella (as you can see from the split section view to the right), and the crust on the pinched side of the calzone was reminiscent of a soft pretzel. The calzone was all around amazing, probably the most awesome calzone I have ever had. The calzones are also available with wheat crust, which I am a huge sucker for, but I did not notice this until after I had already ordered.

Since the great calzone experience I had, I have also had Minsky's pepperoni and combo pizzas. The pepperoni is good, but the combo is incredible. I love the slightly thicker than normal hand tossed (but not deep dish) crust, zesty sauce, and high piles of mozzarella that go perfectly with the black olives and an almost roasted tasting bell pepper of the combo pizza.

All in all, Minsky's is a great KC establishment. The Zona Rosa location is a great place to catch a Husker game that is on either PPV or the B1G Network, so my friend Dan tells me. The Prairie Village location is a great place to grab lunch, it is rarely packed and service is very fast. But River Market will always have my heart!