small bites

• One of my most favorite recent bites was the Jalapeno and Cheese Tamales at Tarahumara (1001 W 87th Street in Overland Park). Perfectly moist and surprisingly hot and spicy. Sooo good.
  
• Enjoyed last week's KU game at the Tower Tavern on Martini Corner (31st and Oak in KCMO). Lots of TVs, excellent soft pretzels with beer cheese dip, and really good 12" pizzas. The pizzas had crusts that were both crunchy and chewy, great toppings (BBQ Chicken pizza with cream cheese and applewood smoked bacon...yum), and one was enough for two people, when paired with their excellent salads.
  
• Arun Thai Place (7th and Walnut in downtown KCMO) was home to the spiciest meal I've eaten in recent memory. You know how you order something "hot," expecting something less than hot, and then it comes out exactly as hot as it should? It was a deliriously endorphin-inducing experience. My Phad Kee Mow was incredible...and even hotter as leftovers the next day.
  

The Drop

I've been meaning to drop in at the Drop for some time now. I like the whole 31st Street thing - not so much the "Martini Corner" thing - but the actual vibe of the street and the development that is going on around there. I like the old homes, the new lofts and the fish tacos at Sol Cantina. I like to sit outside at the Velvet Dog and watch low clouds envelop the KCPT tower on weeknights. I even enjoyed the low seating and the dimly lit vibe of the Buddha Bar. You can still get a little of that vibe at The Drop, though the music has been swapped for 80s tunes and weirdly nostalgic videos on the televisions. An upgrade has taken place in the kitchen, however, where you can get crunchy, imaginatively-filled paninis and interesting bruschettas for lunch and dinner.

We sampled three of the paninis on a recent evening and found two to be pretty outstanding - the Smoked Turkey and the P.L.T. The paninis themselves are thin and perfectly grilled - the ciabatta was crisp with just the right amount of chewiness and the focaccia had a dense interior and a perfectly crisp exterior. You can enjoy the flavors of all the toppings - none were overdone - the oven-dried tomatoes were pungent and the pancetta was salty and good. For the starters, the white bean hummus was speckled with sesame seeds and a great accompaniment to one of their martinis.


The Drop
409 E 31st Street
816*756*3767

mon-fri 11am to 1:30am
sat 5pm - 1:30am
sun 5pm - 12am