Barrel 31

Ironically enough, as soon as I returned from the land of whiskey I was invited to visit Barrel 31. - Barrel 31 is a restaurant and whiskey bar that is taking the old Velvet Dog space in Martini Corner and is aiming to help revamp the feel of the corner. - So I packed up all of my brand new whiskey knowledge and headed down to see what was in store. 

You may or may not know this about me by now, but I love a good whiskey. Naturally, I had high hopes for Barrel 31. In my mind, I had it built up to be a laid back, approachable, yet still sophisticated establishment to go have a good whiskey with friends whilst also realizing that there was a possibility that it could turn out to be pretentious and over-priced with lack luster offerings. Fortunately for me, and for all of you, Barrel 31 more closely aligns with the former than the latter.

When you walk in, you will find a wall of whiskey (and a few other liquors) behind the bar, to your left. High top tables are available for seating in the bar area while more traditional seating is available in the dining room. There will ultimately be 3 floors and a back patio, but only two of the three floors were finished when I was there. There is a second, smaller bar on the second floor. The interior walls are brick, with wood and ornamental metal accents (the ornamental metal pieces are shaped like little men attempting to scale the brick wall as ornamental metal sharks swim on the opposite wall), the way that one would want their own whiskey den to look (if they had one).

The aforementioned wall of whiskey has almost every type of whiskey you can think of, not every maker, but at least one from every region and multiples from some regions (from Kansas to Scotland, including Auchentoshan - the Scotch that I brought back from Scotland). As one could reasonably deduce, B31 also uses those whiskey to make some pretty mean cocktails (including some barrel aged cocktails, similar to the one that I had at The Majestic). 

The Drunken Irishman cocktail was insanely delicious and deceptively refreshing. The DI is made with Jameson whiskey, Guinness and mint reduction, fresh mint, and then topped off with a splash of Guinness. Given the ingredients, one would not immediately label this as a spring patio beverage, but it absolutely is. The mint springs to the forefront of the flavour profile making this concoction a dangerous libation because of how hidden the very real strength is. The DI is a bit like Teddy Roosevelt in that it speaks softly but carries a big stick.

The Bobby Burns cocktail is named after the national poet of Scotland. It is essentially a Scotch Manhattan that comes with a shortbread cookie (like high tea). Replace your standard whiskey with Dewars, add house-made bitters and a few drops of Pernod liquer and you have yourself the Bobby Burns.

I also got a chance to sit down with John, the owner, and talk about our shared love of whiskey. He was a super awesome guy and I love his vision.

Not a whiskey lover? B31 has plenty of flights for you to try to find one that they like. Failing that, there is a KC Bier Co. tap at the bar.

Though to this point I have focused predominantly on the whiskey, Barrel 31 has some great food as well! They have different takes on a lot of old favorites (I have included a few pictures below).

House-made Pork Rinds w "Haba-peno" aioli

Deviled Oysters

Heirloom Beet Nik

Another solid item, besides the Heirloom Beet Nik salad, if you are looking for something on the healthier side is the bourbon glazed edamame.

Pork Belly

Pork Osso Bucco

I was only able to try a couple items on the Barrell 31 drink and food menu during my first trip, but I plan on making plenty of trips over the next few months in hopes to try the balance. Here is to hoping that Barrel 31 is around for a long time! Cheers!

Tour de BBQ

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of taking part in the Tour de BBQ with a buddy of mine. Tour de BBQ is a 62 mile bicycle ride, benefiting the University of Kansas & Children's Mercy Cancer Centers. I love riding my bicycle, I love eating BBQ, and I really hate cancer (I mean really, really hate cancer, I don't think you fully understand the hate I have toward cancer), so this ride seemed like a natural event to take part in. It was extremely cold at the start of the race and didn't warm up much as the day went on, but it was a fantastic ride anyway!

The ride:

A 62 mile ride, 6 BBQ stops, 8 hours to complete (although we did not need nearly that long).

It was 39 degrees when I walked out my door and got on my bike to ride down to the Power and Light District (where the ride began) at 6:40. All I could think about when I was zooming down the hill, and the wind was so cold that it was making my eyes water, was "I wonder how much convincing it would take to talk Dan (my buddy) into just coming over and hanging out instead of riding today", but our hatred for cancer prevailed. 

The ride began a tad late (at about 7:15 AM, which does not change this post at all, but wanted to make not of it so no one judged us for riding the first few miles super slowly).

The stops:

The Stack (Mile 10; 7:40 AM): The Stack, formerly Smokestack BBQ (started by the same family as Jack Stack), provided BBQ chicken wings. The Stack is now under new ownership that has completely overhauled the entire menu from the restaurant's Smokestack days. I have yet to visit this restaurant, but I can tell you that their chicken wings are awesome! I am not a huge BBQ chicken wing guy, if I am going to be having wings, I prefer them buffalo style, but the stack is working on changing that. The rub, combined with the small bit of caramelized sauce on the outside of the wing, were perfect. The wing was juicy and if I return to The Stack anytime soon, it will be hard for me to order anything but the BBQ wings.

Gates (Mile 15; 8:00 AM): I do not know what Gates provided for the ride, as they either forgot that they were providing BBQ for the ride, or we just rode too fast and got there before the BBQ was ready. Lots of "Hi, may I help you?!" jokes were made and Gates received no red star from Tour de BBQ (these jokes will only makes sense to those who frequent Gates, if you don't get them, go to Gates and you will understand).

 
Jack Stack (Mile 23.4; 8:34 AM): It is a well known fact that I think that Jack Stack has the best beans EVER (not just in KC), I would swim in a pool full of Jack Stack beans if I could, but today the Jack Stack sausage was the star of the show. The sausage was great, as always, it is no secret that Jack Stack has great BBQ. If you have not been to Jack Stack, join the 21st century and go give it a try.

The Burnt End (Mile 33.25; 9:20 AM): I had not tried The Burnt End before Saturday, whom ironically did not supply their namesake burnt ends, but instead provided shredded chicken sliders. Their shredded chicken was very tender, pickles were very good, and the sauce was a tomato based sauce (not dissimilar to Jack Stack's). I would definitely recommend adding The Burnt End to any SOJOCOer's BBQ rotation.

 Dickey's BBQ Pit (Mile 42.5; 10:00 AM): I did not partake in the BBQ at Dickey's solely on principle. I do not know if Dickey's is any good or not, I have never had it. However, on a tour of KC BBQ places, I was not going to include a TX chain in my day. Sorry, to anyone who loves Dickey's, my inner KC BBQ elitist keeps me from trying it.

R.J.'s Bob-be-que Shack (Mile 55; 11:00 AM): Yet another stop on the route that I had not tried before, R.J.'s was surprisingly awesome! The pork sliders were great, crunchy ends on the tender strands of tender pork combined with a tangy sauce (my favorite sauce of any of the stops) was a perfect combination. I will definitely be returning to R.J.'s with my wife SOON! Also of mention: everyone at every stop was as nice as could be, but the people at R.J.'s were in a league of their own (it is unknown if they were R.J.'s employees or Tour de BBQ volunteers, but just wanted to make not of it).

The Afterparty (Mile 62; 11:45 AM): 

Upon return to the Power and Light District, we were treated to a band and given drink & meal tickets, as if we needed more BBQ at that point (although I did not need it, I still partook anyways). The band was singing a mix of past hits and original songs about running and triathlons, it was a good fit for the crowd in attendance.

The Ride Home:

After getting cold from being sedentary while eating my final BBQ, having a couple beers, and watching the band, my muscles had time to get stiff from lactic acid settling in. Combine this with a full belly and an uphill ride home; the ride of less than a mile from the Power and Light District to my condo was much harder than the previous 62 miles I had ridden that day.

Final Thoughts:

All of the BBQ that I had was great! The roads were not closed for the ride, but the route was reasonably marked. It was extremely cold, but we had a good ride anyways. I would recommend taking part in this ride next year to anyone who loves riding bikes, eating BBQ, or hates cancer. They even have 15 mile and 35 mile rides for anyone who is not quite as intense as my buddy Dan and I are.

Tamale Wizard

After having the BBQ tamale and strawberry pecan tamale from Indios Carbonsitos, I was hungry for more unique tamales. When I first heard of Tamale Wizard and saw the menu, I thought it would be a must stop on my tour of authentic Mexican joints. Man, was I surprised when I walked in the door and saw a bunch of Gringos behind the counter! I thought I had just been dooped, but after talking to the guys, they are just a bunch of Gringos that share my extreme affinity toward Mexican food (but are much better at making it than I am).

A little background on the culinary genious that is Tamale Wizard. The propriator's son told us that he (the son) learned how to make tamales by cooking with his ex-girlfriend's family. His dad owned a food cart and began letting him sell his interesting takes on this Mexican classic. They got started as a food cart, then a food truck, now a restaurant. The rest, as they say, is history.

What you see to your right is as follows:

Mallory's plate (top of photo): black beans, green chile and cheese tamale (topped with jalapeno lime salsa), smoked pork tamale (topped with mango banana salsa).

John's plate (bottom of photo): black beans, smoked pork tamale (topped with mellow habanero salsa), sweet potato and black bean tamale (no salsa), and green chile and cheese tamale (topped with jalapeno lime salsa).

All of the food was amazing! I was a bit hesitant to try the sweet potato and black bean tamale, even though I pretty much love everything that is made with sweet potatoes blindly, I just didn't know how it would work as a tamale. I was pleasantly surprised with it, as we both agree that it was far and away the best tamale that we tried. The mellow habanero salsa was very good, it had the flavor of the habanero, but is very mellow, as the name states. The best salsa was the mango banana. I am just a sucker for that sweet flavor on the spicy tamale, I guess that is what growing up around KC BBQ has done to me.

We walked in late on a Friday night and they were sold out of almost everything. Most people would have been offended by this, but I take that as a sign that they have good food. I would much rather have food from a restaurant that is nearly sold out over a restaurant that has not sold a thing.

One big takeaway that I got from our visit to Tamale Wizard (aside from noting that they had a full collection of Mexican drinks and Boulevard beers) was that they have multiple vegetarian menu items. I am not a vegatarian, nor do I care if a place has vegatarian options ("why then would you notice that?" you ask?). I noticed that the black beans, sweet potato and black bean tamale, and green chile and cheese tamales were all vegetarian selections because that means that they were able to make these delicious tamales while making them slightly more healthy by omiting the lard that you get in a lot of tamales.