Kansas City Food Fest (eGullet Gathering, July 23-26, 2009)

As many here know, folks on the eGullet Heartland board get together in a different city every year and eat a lot of food.

Last year it was Chicago, and ronnie_suburban, G Wiv, and David Hammond had lead roles in various events, and a number of other cross-pollinators attended.

This year, we're hosting in Kansas City, and I consider this (as all of our food-related gatherings) much less about one board or another than about getting a bunch of crazy eaters together. If I could put half an LTH icon on this post, I would. I don't know what the eGullet presence will be like down here, but I'd love to see as many LTHers as possible too. There isn't a huge tradition of great big LTH gatherings outside Chicago, but there certainly have been memorable forays by smaller groups to Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and yes, Kansas City.

I just posted on eGullet to get to serious work on event planning, trying to pin down numbers, etc. It should be a good time, and as with most events here, the more the merrier. (KC, by the way, is about an 8-hr drive from Chicago; and if you pay attention to Southwest, you can often get RT tickets for around $120.)

--Edit: A couple additional relevant points. For those unfamiliar, the centerpiece of the eGullet gathering is a Saturday night meal prepared by attendees. We shop local farmers markets and stuff Sat morning and use the day to prep as needed in a nice facility that serves as our kitchen and eating place that evening. And a critical piece of information...the Sat night meal is scheduled for July 25, 2009. Presumably there will be events ranging from a Thursday night dinner through Sunday brunch, and you can attend any or all as you wish.--

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?sho ... &p=1639987

Okay, as moosnsqrl mentioned above, we’re moving into real planning territory for this summer’s gathering. While we’ve got a Sat. night venue booked, we’d like to get some feedback on how many people will be here, for how long, and what kind of events you’re most interested in.

So first, if you’re thinking about coming, it would be great if you can classify yourself as definitely, probably, or maybe for any or all of the weekend so we can have some numbers to plan around.

Second, when are you planning on coming or going, or more to the point, when are you wanting to start attending organized events? We’ll for sure plan for Friday night and Saturday, and Sunday morning. I guess we need to know if there will be enough people around to plan for Thursday night or Friday day.

Third, events. We’ve got lots of ideas, but I’ll throw out just a few here to see what sticks. Please feel free to express which of these are the most interest, or throw out your other ideas.

--“Nice dinner.” This would be Thursday or Friday night, so please express your preference by day, typically at one of a town’s finer restaurants. We were thinking of doing this a little differently. Seeing as how these types of restaurants might not show their best serving a dinner for 30, we may do something like have cocktails for all from 5-6:30, and then start staggering reservations for smaller groups so that the restaurant has manageable party sizes and the full menu is available to each table. Also, feel free to comment on any cost concerns for this event (given the current climate). You can go from $150pp to $75pp and still have a very nice meal.

--BBQ…obviously a big part of KC’s image. We’re kicking around the idea of reserving a pavilion at a nice urban park and sending local-led teams to pick up BBQ from area hot spots (e.g., Bryant’s, OK Joe’s, LC’s, Gates, etc.) and meeting back for a grand sampling. But maybe folks would rather pick one or two or three and eat in? What do you think? Is BBQ something you’d rather explore on your own vs. with the group. We’re thinking this would be Friday lunch, by the way.

So really, add in the Sat morning shopping and the Sat evening meal, there aren’t too many slots left, but here are a handful of other things we’ve kicked around:

--a visit to a local meat purveyor of national renown, like Paradise or Arrowhead

--tour of local microbrewery, Boulevard

--something with Christopher Elbow chocolates (whose Dark Rocks bar was recently named best in the USA or some such nonsense by Food & Wine)…Christopher really knows his chocolates
--there is a local high school with what may be the best high school culinary program in the country…not sure how to best incorporate that, but it’s a point of interest

--a local market/off-the-beaten path type tour...this may fit in to Sat morning shopping

--booze…a bar tour, or nice cocktail experience like last year at the Violet Hour (though we don’t have anything like the Violet Hour or Velvet Tango Room…yet, there are rumors of that type of spot arriving before the Gathering, and there are plenty of other spots in town worthy of a tipple

--eating local…KC has a surprisingly robust urban agriculture and local food movement…again, not sure how we would approach this from an event standpoint (and surely the theme runs through a lot of our activities anyway) but to the extent this is of particular interest, maybe we arrange something else

--or perhaps people have interests more tangentially related to food…there are some really stellar (and under-known) attractions here. The Nelson-Atkins is a world class art museum, the national WWI memorial and museum is here, the Steamboat Arabia Museum has a phenomenal collection of preserved artifacts (including foodstuffs) from a mid-19th century steamboat wreck, a jazz museum, a Negro Leagues baseball museum, a killer contemporary visual arts scene…okay, I’m off on art and museums, but you get the idea. Maybe the Royals will be good this year, they’re supposedly doing some great work on the stadium out there. And we’re good at creatively incorporating culinary elements into these ideas, so where there’s interest, do let us know and we’ll do our best.

This list is pretty long already, hopefully more exciting than overwhelming. Please chime in with what looks good, what doesn’t, what’s missing—and most importantly, if and when you think you’ll be coming.

Finally, any locals interested in pitching in, please send me a PM or an email.

Cheers,

Aaron

For anyone thinking about this, a more detailed idea of what's entailed is now posted:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?sho ... &p=1664404

Links are now posted at which tickets can be purchased, shaping up to be a great time (even without much Chicago LTH representation )

Thursday, July 23, Dinner: Lidia's
(no advance ticket needed)

The famed cookbook author, PBS hostess, and one-time eGullet contributor Lidia Bastianich runs one of the few Bastianich family restaurants outside NYC. We'll have the opportunity to enjoy Lidia's market-driven regional Italian menu.

Lidia's
101 W 22nd St
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 221-3722
http://www.lidias-kc.com

Thursday, July 23, Cocktails: Manifesto
http://eg2009manifesto.eventbrite.com/

Kansas City's entry in the classic cocktail sweepstakes, Ryan Maybee has brought the revival to Kansas City with this underground, speakeasy-styled tavern. This place opened in March, and it's a worthy stop for any cocktail-lover.

Manifesto
1924 Main St (entrance in alley, rear of building)
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-536-1325

Friday, July 24, Barbecue lunch
(no advance ticket needed)

We'll either tour as a group or divide in conquer to manage the Friday lunch rush, probably starting at 10:00 am when Arthur Bryant's opens and going for as long as there is stamina. At least three guaranteed stops:

LC's Bar-B-Q
5800 Blue Pky
Kansas City, MO 64129
(816) 923-4484
http://www.lcsbar-b-que.nv.switchboard.com/

Arthur Bryant's
1727 Brooklyn Ave
Kansas City, MO 64127
(816) 231-1123
http://www.arthurbryantsbbq.com/

Oklahoma Joe's
3002 W 47th Ave
Kansas City, KS 66103
(913) 722-3366
http://www.oklahomajoesbbq.com/

Friday, July 24, Dinner :bluestem
http://eg2009bluestem.eventbrite.com/

Helmed by three-time Beard nominee Colby Garrelts, bluestem may be Kansas City's best and most interesting restaurant. High class cuisine with a comfortable, contemporary sensibility. There's probably more eGullet type on this place than any other spot in KC. Colby (ChefCAG) is an eGullet regular and is looking forward to putting together a special tasting menu for the Gathering crowd.

Bluestem
900 Westport Rd
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 561-1101
http://www.kansascitymenus.com/bluestem/

Saturday, July 25: The Main Event
http://eg2009mainevent.eventbrite.com/

We'll meet in the morning at Kansas City's year-round open-air market, which in late July will be featuring a bounty of fresh, delicious, local produce, meats, and cheeses. We'll arrange side trips to area markets as necessary.

The Saturday schedule is a work in progress, depending on what everyone chooses to make and wants to do, so now is the time to speak up. We're still putting together details of some event options during the afternoon at our meal site. Our cooking and dining destination for the afternoon/evening is Studio 2131, an artsy, loft-type, gallery and event space in the heart of the Crossroads. (more below)

The City Market
20 E. 5th Street, Suite 201.
Kansas City, MO 64106
http://www.thecitymarket.org/

Studio 2131
2131 Washington Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
http://www.kansascityeventspace.com/about.htm

Sunday, July 26, Breakfast/Brunch: Crum Farm
http://eg2009crumfarm.eventbrite.com/

These farmers market regulars have generously volunteered to host our concluding event at their lovely farmstead about 25 minutes from downtown KC. Food prep will be led by son Dave Crum, recently of bluestem and Starker's Restaurant. Brunch will likely be around 10:30, wrapping up around noon, to avoid the summer heat and allow those who have an afternoon flight to catch it.

I just posted this on the KC LTHForum for local folks interested in the Saturday cooking part and will share here too:

Saturday will start at the City Market, where the market manager has graciously agreed to meet us and give a short talk on the past and current market. Sandwiched around that talk (probably 9:00-9:20 or so) folks will be trolling the market looking for the best fresh produce, cheese, honey, and the like to fit into the rough meal outline we'll create in advance. While this menu is something of a work in progress, here's an idea of where we're headed:

Hors d'oeuvres throughout the day: cheese and accompaniments, some homemade charcuterie, some high-end tea recently brought back from China, Fervere bread, etc.

Course 1. cold soup (market driven)
Course 2. (quail?) egg dish, possibly with home-smoked trout from a central Missouri attendee, possibly with salmon someone is bringing down from the Pacific NW, with a side of farmer's market vegetable(s) cooked "barefoot tempura" style
Course 3. green chile risotto with sous vide pheasant
Course 4. pulled pork, cornbread, market veggie bruschetta
Course 5. undetermined poultry dish, with a vegetable/homemade charcuterie side
Course 6. Pie; Cobbler, chocolate cups

Plus plenty of beer, wine, cocktails and the like.

After the morning market, we store our wares, probably grab some lunch and out-of-towners may have some time for a little additional tourism. We head to Studio 2131, a pretty sweet Crossroads event space around 2 o'clock to begin eating, drinking, and meal prepping, and probably starting the actual dinner around 6 or 7.

Aaron-

Sounds like a fantastic event. Had I been paying more attention earlier, I might have tried to fit it into the summer schedule. I lived in KC for two years, but my LTH instincts were dormant. I'd love to come back and explore.

-Mary

The event was a success, I believe. I'll post more here about some of the specifics, but the recap thread on eGullet is pretty comprehensive:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=125401

ronnie_suburban has also posted some good accounts on LTH about the BBQ tour and the dinner at bluestem.