James Beard Award Winners in the Southland (Pt. 2)

On a recent trip, I saw this ad for Birmingham, AL in the in-flight magazine. It states that you can choose from BBQ joints OR James Beard Award winners. Luckily for Kansas Citians, we can enjoy James Beard Award winning chefs taking on BBQ and the like! Similar to Colby Garrelts' Rye, Debbie Gold parlayed her James Beard Award into bringing you midwestern favorites, cooked by burning wood. Where Colby cooks most of his menu with smoke, Debbie puts hers straight on the wood fire grill.

After adding her name to the list of James Beard Award winners at The American Restaurant, Debbie opened a burger joint (there are plenty of other awesome menu items there too, but I think this post will explain why I zeroed in on the burgers in the next paragraph) that brings blue collar fare (at a blue collar price too) to the white collar crowd in Leawood. 

It has been well documented that I am a huge How I Met Your Mother fan (more the early seasons, but I would be lying if I told you that I had not seen every single episode multiple times, or if I told you that I wasn't watching it as I type this). In HIMYM, "The Best Burger in NYC" was at a restaurant with a green door and "Burger" sign above that green door (pictured to the right). The crew spent an entire episode looking for this restaurant. That is exactly what I thought of when I heard about the Red Door Grill (now called Red Door Woodfire Kitchen & Bar, but who is counting?). Albeit, the door is red and not green, but you get where I am going with this.

Any-who, Red Door has a dining room (for those that prefer that environment) and a bar area (for those that want to watch sports and/or keep an eye on any injury updates that may have fantasy implications). I prefer the bar area for lunch, for obvious reasons (my fantasy football league isn't going to win itself), but both have the same great menu. The feel is modern, yet cozy.

As mentioned above: the burgers stuck out to me because they are made with McGonigle’s custom blend of beef brisket, short rib and chuck tenderloin, and I LOVE MCGONIGLE'S! I have personally had the Porkey's Revenge and The Remedy, both are amazing! If you are in the mood for something smokey, go with The Remedy. The aged cheddar, smoked bacon, and egg that top off that wood fire grilled burger will overcome your taste buds with smoky goodness. If you are thinking something more outside the box, go with Porkey's Revenge. The bacon jam, roasted tomato, and melted brie cheese do some kind of a tango between that fire grilled patty and brioche bun that leave you wanting more. Normally, I am not a big brie guy, but the melted brie on this burger will make you question everything you thought you knew about brie ("It's dank Brie!", sorry for yet another inside joke, but not sorry enough to not type it. You guys should really take a trip into my thoughts after visiting RDK&B, it's a pretty funny place). Your wait person will ask you if cooking your burger Medium is okay. The answer is YES! You may even tell them to err on the side of less medium (but not med-rare, we are not trying to get anyone shut down here) because that wood fire could severely dry out/char the wonderful McGonigle's meat blend if it is cooked any more than medium, and no one wants that.

The burgers are not the only amazing thing on the menu at RDK&B: The fries are outstanding, IMO they are probably right behind the BBQ Bohemoeth that is right across the parking lot, this is definitely a "fries first" place. The polenta is also pretty incredible; it is the creamy/soupy variety (like grits), not the fried/baked variety (like corn bread), but is full of smokey, creamy goodness. The one issue with the polenta is not about the taste at all, it is with the listing of it on the menu. It is listed as a table side, but since it is the creamy variety instead of the bite sized baked/fried pieces (that you may have seen elsewhere), it can be a bit awkward if ordered to split between a table of dudes (opposed to the "pound of fries"). 

Last, but not least, is my muse: The doughnut dessert dish (sadly, I did not catch her name). These yeasty doughnut morsels, rolled in sugar, and served with Chirstopher Elbow's Sweet Cream ice cream (from Glace) are perfect in every way. The outside is a tad crispy, the inside is a tad dough-y, and something about this combination is perfect for the fall!

Everything on this menu looks delicious, I am just sad that I cannot eat it all at once! I will definitely be back to try more, say "hi" if you see me there!

James Beard Award Winners in the Southland (Pt. 1)

You may know the names Megan & Colby Garrelts from their critically acclaimed (and award winning) restaurant Bluestem; They recently (less than a year ago) decided that only one awesome local restaurant was not enough, enter Rye. Rye is a trendy, locally-sourced, Midwestern focused restaurant with a large number of meat based dishes (i.e. fried chicken, pulled pork, burnt ends, roast beef) that you would expect to see at any restaurant that can truly call themselves "Kansas Citian". You will, however, also find some surprises on the menu too (but I am getting ahead of myself).

Taking its "locally sourced" theme to another level, Rye grows a lot of the herbs that they use right outside of the restaurant in planters that you can see when you drive up. But one thing that you will not find, naturally occuring, in Kansas City is the menu item that I chose to indulge in (the Southern favorite, Shrimp & Grits). It is incredibly hard to find good S&G (no, not "poops" & giggles, Shrimp & Grits) in the Midwest, so I had to give it a try. Fye knocked it out of the park! The grits were nice and creamy, with cheddar cheese and only a few of the tiny pieces of hominy were crunchy (forgivable). The shrimp were seasoned well, with a hint of smoke. The S&G were garnished with a few pieces of very good, smokey, tender, pulled pork (yes, meat as a garnish, it was wonderful). The creaminess of the grits and the smokiness of the shrimp/pork were tied together with the dark, smoky sauce that you see in the picture. Which brings me to my next point: Rye must employ the best restaurant ventilation system ever, because despite the smokiness of the dishes, you will not go back to work smelling of smoke (no need to dry clean those pants). The Leawood neighbors probably appreciate the lack of smoke coming out of the building as well.

Rye has a huge patio, overlooking their herb gardens and a pond, that you can enjoy your meals (or drinks) on while the weather is still warm enough for it.

Speaking of knocking things out of the park: Another fun aspect of my trip to Rye was a Billy Butler sighting. He appeared to be dining with family and friends, so most of the crowd left him alone. Although I did observe that his "Hit it a Ton" BBQ sauce was unmistakably absent, coincidentally (or maybe not) Billy did not "Hit it a Ton" in that night's game. So... let that be a lesson to anyone of you that is not superstitious.

One thing to note about Rye, it is very good food, and as with anywhere that has really good food, they are very popular and you may experience a wait. They even take lunch reservations, and it is not unnecessary to make them either.