McGonigle's Meat Market

In this cow town that we call Kansas City, McGonigle's Market is revered for the high quality meat cuts that they sell. You will find meat that passes through McGonigle's on the menu at nearly all of the hottest eateries around town (Westport Flea Market, Beer Kitchen, even James Beard award winning Debbie Gold serves it at her Red Door Grill, and that is just the tip of the iceberg). However, in this same cow town (the land of Arthur Bryant's, Jack Stack, Gate's, and Oklahoma Joe's), McGonigle's is probably the most slept on established BBQ place around.

Sure, they are at a bit of a disadvantage because they don't have a typical dining room. They served their smoked meats out of a trailer, that sits in front of their store, before it was fashionable. And if that wasn't enough, there are really only enough parking spaces for about a dozen cars, before you have to get creative. Yet still, it baffles my mind that you do not hear the name McGonigle's on the Travel Channel or even in the heated arguments between friends about where to get the best burnt ends in KC.

As I recently stated in INK Magazine's Summer Dining Guide, McGonigle's is a must eat, especially when you have great weather outside! You walk inside the market, pay for your meal (I suggest to go with whatever the special of the day is). Then you walk outside to the trailer, hand them your receipt, and then they hand you a box/sack of  smoked awesomeness. There are tables set up in the adjacent strip of grass where you can eat beneath the shadows of umbrellas and shade trees. Admittedly, this system may seem a little convoluted to a first timer, but trust me, it's well worth the wait!

You can get anything from ribs to half chickens, and everything in between: brisket sandwiches, burnt end sandwiches, burgers, and of course the best smoked sausage in KC. Despite what the above linked INK dining guide may tell you, I was misquoted in saying that they have the best Italian sausage, the best sausage in town is a casing-less smoked sausage (think long skinny meatloaf) that comes in many different varieties and levels of heat. The sandwiches are piled so high with meat that, no matter how skilled of a sandwich eater you are, you will be unable to fight off the forces of gravity that pry the meat from right between the two buns (so make sure you grab a fork when they hand you your food).

The meats have a great rub caked on them. A rub in which you can taste slight hints of each of the components that you find in a good rub: salty, peppery, garlicy, and a little bit of sweetness, but no one of them overpowers the others. They are served dry but I love to put a couple spoons of the Blues Hog BBQ sauce (that is essentially spiced molasses) on my sandwich, despite the fact that Blues Hog is made in Memphis, and top it off with a couple house made pickle slices. That is a sandwich my friends!

So swing by and enjoy the weather, or grab and go, but no matter what you do: You have to stop sleeping on McGonigle's!

"That sounds great, but where do I get my McGonigle's fix in the winter time?" you ask. Go inside and get it from the deli counter, of course.

Anton's Taproom

I run by Anton's all the time, as it is on my regular running route. I have been saying (since before they opened) that I really wanted to go there, but for some reason I had yet to try it, until my beautiful wife gathered a group of friends and took me there for my birthday (plus she probably wanted me to stop saying "I really need to try that place"). Admittedly, I had built Anton's up quite a bit, and it still lived up to everything that I had hoped that it would be!

As soon as we sat down, I started to to work my way through the list of saisons that are on tap at Anton's.

We started off with smoked barbecue chicken wings and fried pickles. The wings were so tender that they almost fell off of the bones, I am sure that the only thing holding the meat to the bones was the skin. The wings came with a really nice, house-made bleu cheese dipping sauce (for you bleu cheese heads, like myself). The fried pickles were equally awesome; the batter on the pickles almost tasted like a funnel cake batter (which was surprisingly good). The dipping sauce for the pickles was even better than the bleu cheese, it was a cucumber buttermilk.

Continued my way down the list of saisons.

Entree choices were easy given Anton's adjacent butcher shop and lengthy selections of steaks; we did  what was essentially a tour of steaks. Anton's has filets, strips, and both bone-in & bone-out ribeyes, all of which are available in grain fed or grass fed and 14 or 28 day dry-aged versions (think they have enough steak choices?). *For those that don't know the difference between grain fed and grass fed beef, I will explain that (to the best of my ability) in the below note* The grain fed, dry-aged filet was without a doubt the best steak that I have ever had. The grass fed, dry aged KC strip had a stronger beefier taste, but was not near as tender. Finally, the grain fed, dry-aged bone-out ribeye was also some sort of fantastic. To go with our steaks, we had the seasonal roasted root vegetables (carrots and beets), they were just as good as everything else (I have no idea why people sleep on beets).

Enjoyed some neat whiskey (if it's not good enough to drink neat, its not good enough to drink, IMO) and switched from saisons to a dubbel (before beginning a long explanation about grass fed beef).

*Above referenced note (grass fed vs grain fed beef, in laymen's terms): Once upon a time, cows roamed free and ate grass & hay. Then, somewhere along the line, some beef farmer got the great idea to feed them grain to fatten them up (so that they would sell for more at the market). This industry tactic to add cheap weight to their cattle had the happy side effect of adding fat marbling to the meat, which adds tenderness to the texture and richness to the flavour. This is partially why we chose the grass fed strip, because that cut naturally has a slightly higher fat content, since grass fed beef is lower fat than grain fed beef. Grass fed beef is more natural, lower fat, and has a stronger beefy flavour. Grass fed is favored by many for dietary reasons, including higher omega 3 fatty acids and lower saturated fat levels, but also takes a lot more careful preparation (as the lower fat content makes it a lot less forgiving). Paleo dieters also love the grass fed beef, but the thing that I don't get about these Paleo people is how they have no problem with cell phones, tv, or air conditioning (cavemen didn't have those things either, why just pick on the food? </rant>). Long story short: I see both sides, therefore will continue to eat both types of beef.*

We wrapped up an awesome birthday with a chocolate mousse dessert, which was as good as you could ask it to be!

Anton's also has organically raised tilapia (raised in their basement) that they use in the fish & chips and fish tacos. They are very proud of this and love to give tours, all you have to do is ask.

P.S. I have no idea what kind of crack Urbanspoon voters are smoking, but 72%?!? No way this place is 72%, it's incredible!

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!