Pizza 51

Since moving out of the South Plaza area over eight years ago, I don't frequent my old haunts as much as I thought I would. I found a new Peanut to call my own, a coffee shop other than Muddy's, I'm frequenting the northernmost Bo Ling's, and aside from dropping in at the Mixx and Accurso's, I mostly drive quickly through the area to get to my people in Brookside or Waldo. But on a recent warm night we found ourselves pulling up outside Pizza 51 to enjoy a little al fresco pizza.
I'm sure there are times when the place is crawling with college kids, but summer means the place is crawling with the younger set. Yelling, galloping, and making chalk drawings on the concrete patio, these kids were having a good night. Mixed in with the young couples, families, and big parties, the vibe on the patio was lively and fun. Ordering at the counter was easy, our table service was quick and attentive, and the pizza was fairly good. The crust had a crispness and chewiness that was very pleasing, but lacked a little in the flavor department. The toppings were plentiful, however, and the side salads were made even better with the addition of their house herbed vinaigrette, which was more like an herb paste and was wonderful for dipping my pizza crust in.

Pizza 51
5060 Oak Street
816*531*1151
open 11am-10pm daily

Dessert vs Dessert

After eating dinner on 39th Street, we decide to treat ourselves to dessert. We have two new choices! We can either head down to the newly opened Miami Ice, which has a color and design scheme that makes me feel slightly uneasy, or we can try out Little T's Big Lick, in the space formerly occupied by Angie's. Little T's Big Lick has an unfortunate name, and when pitted head-to-head against Miami Ice, it is chosen simply by virtue of proximity. Sometimes decisions make themselves based on laziness.
After perusing the menu, we settle on custard. They have shaved ice, and the very delicious option of a shaved ice/custard combination, but we go straight for the custard. Straight chocolate for the less adventurous, and some ridiculously indulgent concoction of custard, caramel, Nutella, sliced almonds, whipped cream, and a cherry for me. You really can't go wrong by putting Nutella on anything - remember that. The almonds are unnecessary, and the cherry is donated charitably to the top of the chocolate custard next to me, but the rest of the dessert is a winner. My dessert is $4.88, but a single custard is a very reasonable $1.49 - and if you try out one of their hot dog combos, you can add a single custard or a brownie for a very low price.

Little T's Big Lick
1710 West 39th
open Wed & Thurs 11am - 9pm
Fri & Sat 11am - 10pm
Sunday 12 - 8pm

Events

Lots of good stuff going on this weekend...

• Blue Bird Bistro is having a Farmer's Table on Saturday (the 19th) featuring organic fare from Jim & Mary Woods. $45 per person. Call 816*221*7559 for reservations from 6pm to 9pm.
• The Troostwood Youth Garden Market opens Saturday morning! This awesome market takes place from now until October on Saturday mornings from 8am to 2pm and is located at 52nd & Paseo. Their season kicks off tomorrow with a Green Neighborhood Festival from 10-4 that features information about rain barrels and compost bins, a giant yard sale, garden tours, a planting ceremony and more!
• The Kansas City Literary Festival takes place on the Country Club Plaza on Saturday from 10am to 6:30pm. It is hosting a number of notable author events and has a Culinary Stage with cooking demonstrations by JJ Mirable of Jasper's, Domhall Malloy of McCormick and Schmick's, and the Barbeque Queens, Judith Fertig & Karen Adler!
• Kansas City's first Kosher Foods Festival, KosherFest 2007, will take place at Congregation Olev Shalom (5311 W. 75th in Prairie Village) on Sunday May 20th. From 12 noon to 7pm, they will be serving up tasty kosher treats like bobka, blintzes, stuffed cabbage, noodle kugel, matzo ball soup, and potato latkes to eat on site or take home! There will be live music and more...admission is free.

Good Gravy!

I've heard tell that a humble plate of biscuits and gravy can make any hangover a little more bearable. Or maybe it's that it lulls you into a food coma, which allows you to nap, and that nap is what makes the hangover go away. Whatever it is, it's a hearty breakfast sure to cure something that is probably ailing you, even if the only thing that you're suffering from is hunger. Hunger is painful enough.
The Brick takes a plate of b&g to new heights on Saturday mornings, by offering a Biscuits and Gravy Bar for $3.95. Last Saturday the gravy choices included savory ham, traditional country sausage, and a cider house gravy with apples, sausage, and maple syrup. It was good gravy - especially the cider house - served with perfectly dense little drop biscuits and even more excellent with a side of bacon.
Their "Brickfast" menu has some standard choices on it, all good, but I recommend you ask about the specials. Last weekend's special was a crab cake benedict and it was awesome. Not too much hollandaise, the egg wasn't too runny, and the crab cake was especially crisp - good for holding its own against the egg and sauce. Served with potatoes (with a dollop of sour cream, a nice touch) and a little fruit, it was a bargain at $5.95.
In the cool dark interior of the Brick, with some hot coffee and good service, you can start to think about facing your Saturday. Or heading home to take a nap.

The Brick
1727 McGee in downtown KCMO
open Monday-Saturday from 11am to 3am
Saturday Brickfast served 11am-3pm

Longboards

On the second half of the Food Critics today, they talked about all of our great eating choices North of the river. Since I'm in old Northeast KC, the Northland beckons from my back yard and operates as my 'burbs of choice. So I tuned in to see if there were any recommendations for places we haven't tried. Lo and behold, I think we've missed a place or two.
Longboards was the perfect stop for a late lunch this afternoon as we found ourselves driving along North Oak. They serve "California-style Wraps and Bowls" in a funky little storefront hidden in one of the many ubiquitous strip malls lining the trafficway. We've driven past it a couple hundred times, but I can guarantee you we won't be missing it again.
They have cold wraps, hot panini-style wraps, cool bowls, and hot noodle salads (cold noodles with hot toppings). They have the ginger beer I fell in love with in Jamaica and really excellent garlic potato salad. We tried the Kung Pao panini wrap and the Baja Club. The hot wrap was crispy on the outside and perfect on the inside - the spicy kung pao chicken had a good dose of Sriracha sauce along with rice and crisp veggies. The cool Baja Club combined turkey and bacon with the creaminess of guacamole. It was the way a wrap sandwich should be done - never dry, fresh and crisp veggies in every bite, with not too much tortilla gumming up the works.
They've got great choices for vegetarians and lovers of krab as well as the musclebound protein seeker. We ate for less than $15 and surfed on out of the strip mall, fully satisfied.

Longboards
California Style Wraps & Bowls
6269 North Oak Trafficway
816*454*0008

mon-fri 11am - 8pm
sat 11am - 7pm
closed sundays

F&C Wrap-Up

I was too busy eating to take many photos - they are all blurry or poorly composed - but we had some wonderful bites last night at Forks and Corks.

Highlights included:

* An incredibly long line for Andre's Chocolates, which included really delicious chocolate from Madagascar and, my favorite, their Bittersweet Almonds.

* Room 39's chilled asparagus soup (served with truffle oil)...I went back for more.

* Lots of really lovely salmon served by JJs (smoked on crostini), McCormick & Schmick's (smoked salmon dip), Room 39 (beet cured salmon on crostini with goat cheese), and The American (smoked salmon with asparagus and celery).

* "Crispy Chopstick Shrimp" served by Phillips Chophouse.

* My husband's favorite, the Capital Grille's lamb chops (porcini-rubbed, drizzled with balsamic).

* Boulevard Brewery's new Saison was on tap. They ran out. This bodes well.

* The grilled meats served by Em Chamas. The marinated chicken drumettes were out of this world.

Harry's

I love Harry's Country Club. It is my favorite outdoor eating and drinking venue in the city and a great place to show off KC to an out-of-town guest. They have a great beer (and whiskey...and tequila) list, I have yet to eat anything off the menu that I didn't enjoy, and if you're lucky enough to have Rose as your server, you're guaranteed a good evening. (She's "sparky," as my mother-in-law likes to say.)

Start your evening with the onion rings, which are served with a roasted ancho ketchup. And while I'd eat an old shoe covered in the roasted ancho ketchup, these rings are even good nude. They have awesome sandwiches, including a yummy Catfish Po' Boy, a messy Patty Melt, and a delightfully lowbrow Fried Bologna on white bread. The sandwiches come with fries that are perfectly thin, crisp, and salty.

The City Fried Chicken has a creamy pan gravy and comes served with garlic cheese grits, while the Pork Chop Adobada is marinated in a flavorful blend of stuff and comes with a huge chile relleno and corn relish. It's a dish that will make you the envy of your table. If you have room, polish your meal off with a milkshake, or maybe just another can of Old Style.

Harry's Country Club
112 E. Missouri Ave, in the River Market
816*421*3505