Freelance Food & Drinks Writer

Tag Archives: Kansas City Star

The ‘life’ part of FoodDrinkLife

Life’s good these days, but it’s left me precious little time for blogging. Maybe you noticed? No? I’m not surprised. Your life is probably more hectic than mine. As soon as school let out, the pace picked up—swimming lessons, summer theater, preparing for the 4H fair, family reunions, attempting to keep at least the fruit trees, roses and other trees and shrubs alive during this searing heat…and suddenly it’s time to pack up and head to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail.

I have managed a little work in between it all. I wrote about the wonderful people at Dark Horse Distillery for the Kansas City Star (New Laws Spur a Generation of New Microdistilleries), and I’m working on a big piece about the Paris of the Plains Cocktail Festival for the same paper.

The folks behind Lenexa’s fabulous Dark Horse Distillery (from left): Kris Hennessy, Patrick Garcia, Damian Garcia, Mary Garcia, Jeanne Garcia and Eric Garcia.

There have also been a few restaurant profiles for 913, a Johnson County news magazine, and features for Lawrence Business Magazine.And I keep eying the stack of cocktail books on my office floor, thinking I really should get around to reading them.

Which is why I was happy to stumble across a book review by Wayne Curtis (What Goes Well with a Martini) in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal. If you like his writing as much as I do, then it’s well worth tracking him down at The Atlantic for his most recent column on Cognac’s identity crisis. Or go old school by picking up a copy of And a Bottle of Rum, perhaps one of the best rum books ever written. That should keep you busy ’til I get back to blogging.

 

At the bar: Gram & Dun

Few recent Plaza openings have made as big a splash as Gram & Dun. Maybe it’s because local restauranteur Alan Gaylin’s already built a following with BRGR Kitchen + Bar and Urban Table in Prairie Village. Maybe this spring weather has folks salivating over the pretty patio. Or maybe I’m just excited because Gram &… Continue Reading

Flipping for Grünauer

Grünauer’s Amontillado Flip got a lot of photo play in my winter cocktail piece in the Kansas City Star (Spirits of the Season) this week, but I realized only later that I’d given it short shrift in the article itself. That’s a shame, because it’s incredibly good. Scott Beskow created the drink, which is at… Continue Reading

Hot Toddy How To

Hot toddies are so simple they don’t really need instructions. Whiskey, sugar, hot water, nutmeg and possibly a slice of lemon have been fortifying folks through the winter months since at least the mid-eighteenth century. That said, there are a few things that make a difference. Good whiskey’s one. Scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish—it doesn’t matter,… Continue Reading

Where mezcal and rum play well together

Pairing drinks and desserts is tricky. Sweet-on-sweet can be cloying, while straight spirits, or complex cocktails, or many wines clash in other ways. Which is why I’m grateful to Craig Adcock for introducing me to what has to be one of the most satisfying matches ever: his Jude’s Kansas City Rum Cake with Del Maguey’s… Continue Reading