KC Restuarant Week: Day 3

Greetings all,

As you didn't know, this past Friday marked the opening of KC Restaurant Week 2013!! Let the marathon eating begin! The Fella and I, thanks to the handy dandy KC Restaurant Week app, have already planned out myriad restaurants that we want to hit up in these 10 days of Thanksgiving-scale consumption. There's just one problem: we've got more restaurants on the list than meals! Guess we'll have to start tacking on extra meals this week.

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Is it any surprise that the Armstrongs are completely ecstatic for this week of marathon eating? We practically plan our vacations around restaurants and chefs. What more excuse do we need to plan an entire week of eating in our own hometown? Thank you, Kansas City, for being so completely amazing in this regard!

Besides being just downright tasty, KC Restaurant Week is the penultimate experience for me and my blog. It encompasses my entire tagline: Living and Giving Well in Kansas City. All the boxes are checked:

Living Well: Eating at delicious local restaurants
Giving Well: A portion of the menu proceeds benefit one of my favorite charities Harvesters.
In Kansas City: Duh. It's in Kansas City.

What more could you ask for?


Here's a short recap of where the Fella and I have already eaten this week, and where we plan to eat in the coming days:


FRIDAY, JANUARY 18:

Lunch
La Bodega - Leawood
I met my mom at La Bodega for lunch on Friday. The menu here was pretty good. I had the salad and the Cubano sandwich. The salad was quite tasty and perfectly dressed to my taste (very light on the dressing), but I found the sandwich to be rather bland. The bread:fixings ratio was completely imbalanced. But the fries were tossed in a great garlicky, truffle butter. My favorite! It was a nice opener for the week.

Dinner
Avenues Bistro - Brookside

THIS menu has certainly been my favorite so far! The fella and I cracked open a delicious bottle of Garnacha wine and went to town.

We both opened with the Bacon Wrapped Dates. YUMville, population me. Always a delight.

Next was a tasty salad. Nothing to write home about, but very good all the same. I liked all the fruit. A nice change during these cold winter times.

Next I had the Rags of Pasta. These were wide, homemade pasta noodles with a light cream sauce, peas, lobster and shrimp. The Fella thought I'd been jipped by the small size of the pasta bowl, but I felt it was just the right amount for a course in a four-course meal.

I closed the evening with an amazing bread pudding. This was seriously one of the best ones I've had in Kansas City! I was so pleased to hear that it is a main staple on the regular menu. I will definitely be returning to Avenues soon (preferably on a Sunday for half price bottle night) to be enjoying more of my favorite dessert.

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 19

Lunch

Gram and Dun - Plaza

I was looking to have a lighter lunch after all of the rich food we'd eaten the previous day, but I unfortunately did not find that on Gram and Dun's KCRW lunch menu. But the food was delicious all the same. I started the meal with a chicken and sausage gumbo.

Then I moved on to a panko fried catfish over collard greens and mashed potatoes. This dish was deLISH, but just a little too rich for me. I really wanted to eat more than I did, but I couldn't.

DINNER
Plaza III - Plaza
This was my second time at Plaza III. If you're looking for a good deal during KCRW, I'd recommend coming here. The menu is typically $35-50 a person, but with the KCRW menu, you could get a three course meal for only $30. A very good deal. I had the house salad, the salmon, and a key lime pie for dessert. The salmon was cooked a bit over medium (my preference), but I still enjoyed it.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 20

LUNCH
Tavern in the Village - Prairie Village

I used to joke that the space that this restaurant occupies in Prairie Village was cursed. After the Flix and Disks left it about 12 years ago, nothing has been able to stay longer than two years. There was another movie rental store, an Applebee's, a Mexican restaurant, and a couple of other endeavors. I'm very pleased to see that this restaurant has been able to last. So far, they've proven to be a very philanthropic restaurant, and they even participated in Treads and Threads 2011. A very smart business move on their part.

I opened the meal with a steakhouse wedge salad. The squiggly things on top are fried onion strings. I think they're homemade. I liked them. And you can see a tiny pretzel roll in the back of the photo! I love me some pretzel rolls.

For the main coarse, I got the fish tacos. They were fantastically seasoned! I really thought those were some good fish tacos, given their geographical location (the best I've ever had were from San Diego).  I think the Fella had order envy. He got the burger for his main dish, and found it a bit bland. Though, I think any red meat would be bland in comparison to the Plaza III prime rib he had on Saturday.

At least this meal was relatively lighter than ones we'd eaten previously this week. That's especially good considering the fact that we're going to Pierpont's tonight. I'd better wear my stretchy pants. How am I ever going to fit my dress for Party Arty next Saturday?

Here's the plan so far for the rest of KC Restaurant Week:

Sunday, Jan. 20 

DINNER - Pierpont's - Union Station

Monday, Jan. 21 

LUNCH - N/A

DINNER - TBD

Tuesday, Jan. 22
LUNCH - N/A (work)
DINNER - Trezo Mare - Northland

Wednesday, Jan. 23
LUNCH - N/A (work)
DINNER - N/A (class)

Thursday, Jan. 24
LUNCH - N/A (work)
DINNER - Julian - Brookside

Friday, Jan. 25
LUNCH - N/A (work)
DINNER - Coal Vines - Plaza

Saturday, Jan. 26
LUNCH - TBD
DINNER - N/A (Party Arty)

Sunday, Jan. 27
LUNCH - TBD
DINNER - TBD

Happy Eating, Kansas Citians!


Does your city have a Restaurant Week?