Generations of families and restaurateurs have loyally turned out the delectable foods that made Kansas City the food destination that it is. Opened in 1930, the Infante family's El Nopal at 416 West Thirteenth Street is reputedly the first restaurant to introduce a wider Kansas City audience to Mexican food. The city's beloved Savoy Grill was not only one of Harry S Truman's favorite haunts but also the restaurant where many Kansas Citians remember eating their first lobster dinner. Amazin' Grace Harris's tiny Kansas City, Kansas H & M Barbecue kept alive Kansas City's Paris of the Plains reputation--for those in the know. Author and native Andrea Broomfield goes on a journey to discover the roots of Kansas City's favorite restaurants.
While some cities owe their existence to lumber or oil, turpentine or steel, Kansas City owes its existence to food. From its earliest days, Kansas City was in the business of provisioning pioneers and traders headed west, and later with provisioning the nation with meat and wheat. Throughout its history, thousands of Kansas Citians have also made their living providing meals and hospitality to travelers passing through on their way elsewhere, be it by way of a steamboat, Conestoga wagon, train, automobile, or airplane. As Kansas City’s adopted son, Fred Harvey sagely noted, “Travel follows good food routes,” and Kansas City’s identity as a food city is largely based on that fact. Kansas City: A Food Biography explores in fascinating detail how a frontier town on the edge of wilderness grew into a major metropolis, one famous for not only great cuisine but for a crossroads hospitality that continues to define it. Kansas City: A Food Biography also explores how politics, race, culture, gender, immigration, and art have forged the city’s most iconic dishes, from chili and steak to fried chicken and barbecue. In lively detail, Andrea Broomfield brings the Kansas City food scene to life.
Generations of families and restaurateurs have loyally turned out the delectable foods that made Kansas City the food destination that it is. Opened in 1930, the Infante family's El Nopal at 416 West Thirteenth Street is reputedly the first restaurant to introduce a wider Kansas City audience to Mexican food. The city's beloved Savoy Grill was not only one of Harry S Truman's favorite haunts but also the restaurant where many Kansas Citians remember eating their first lobster dinner. "Amazin' Grace" Harris's tiny Kansas City, Kansas H & M Barbecue kept alive Kansas City's "Paris of the Plains" reputation--for those in the know. Author and native Andrea Broomfield goes on a journey to discover the roots of Kansas City's favorite restaurants.
Wichita is the birthplace of Pizza Hut and White Castle. But from its early days as a cattle drive stopover on the Chisholm Trail to its current life as a hub for aviation manufacturing, the city has been filled with hundreds of popular restaurants owned by generations of hardworking entrepreneurs. The 1920s and 1930s were a time for tearooms like Innes and for cafés like Holly Cafe and Fairland Cafe. The '60s and '70s ushered in swanky private nightclubs like Abe's. And there are classics like NuWay Cafe, Old Mill Tasty Shop and Angelo's that are still around today. Author Denise Neil details the rich history of Wichita's favorite classic eateries.
Located a long way from any ports of call, Wichita is perhaps the last place where you'd expect to find a diverse culinary scene. From its early days as a rough-and-tumble cow town on the Chisholm Trail, the city first achieved dining sophistication through the efforts of the Thursday Afternoon Cooking Club, now the oldest such club in the United States. Steakhouses in the north end invented and popularized what some consider the city's signature dish: garlic salad. Waves of immigrants from three parts of the world--Mexico, Lebanon and Vietnam--stamped the dining habits of residents with dishes such as piratas, shawarma and Saigon Oriental Restaurant's famous No. 49. Author Joe Stumpe tells these stories and more while providing nearly two hundred prize recipes from restaurants and home cooks.
Featuring 140 mouthwatering new recipes, a gastronomic journey of the Italian regions that have inspired and informed Lidia Bastianich's legendary cooking. For the home cook and the armchair traveler alike, Lidia's Italy offers a short introduction to ten regions of Italy—from Piemonte to Puglia—with commentary on nearby cultural treasures by Lidia's daughter Tanya, an art historian. · In Istria, now part of Croatia, where Lidia grew up, she forages again for wild asparagus, using it in a delicious soup and a frittata; Sauerkraut with Pork and Roast Goose with Mlinzi reflect the region’s Middle European influences; and buzara, an old mariner’s stew, draws on fish from the nearby sea. · From Trieste, Lidia gives seafood from the Adriatic, Viennese-style breaded veal cutlets and Beef Goulash, and Sacher Torte and Apple Strudel. · From Friuli, where cows graze on the rich tableland, comes Montasio cheese to make fricos; the corn fields yield polenta for Velvety Cornmeal-Spinach Soup. · In Padova and Treviso rice reigns supreme, and Lidia discovers hearty soups and risottos that highlight local flavors. · In Piemonte, the robust Barolo wine distinguishes a fork-tender stufato of beef; local white truffles with scrambled eggs is “heaven on a plate”; and a bagna cauda serves as a dip for local vegetables, including prized cardoons. · In Maremma, where hunting and foraging are a way of life, earthy foods are mainstays, such as slow-cooked rabbit sauce for pasta or gnocchi and boar tenderloin with prune-apple Sauce, with Galloping Figs for dessert. · In Rome Lidia revels in the fresh artichokes and fennel she finds in the Campo dei Fiori and brings back nine different ways of preparing them. · In Naples she gathers unusual seafood recipes and a special way of making limoncello-soaked cakes. · From Sicily’s Palermo she brings back panelle, the delicious fried chickpea snack; a caponata of stewed summer vegetables; and the elegant Cannoli Napoleon. · In Puglia, at Italy’s heel, where durum wheat grows at its best, she makes some of the region’s glorious pasta dishes and re-creates a splendid focaccia from Altamura. There’s something for everyone in this rich and satisfying book that will open up new horizons even to the most seasoned lover of Italy.
The ultimate guide to Kansas City's food scene provides the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings. Written for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information including: food festivals and culinary events; specialty food shops; farmers’ markets and farm stands; trendy restaurants and time-tested iconic landmarks; and recipes using local ingredients and traditions.
With Italian steakhouses, the Younkers Tea Room and Stella's Blue Sky Diner, Des Moines's culinary history is tantalizingly diverse. It is filled with colorful characters like bootlegger/"millionaire bus boy" Babe Bisignano, a buxom bar owner named Ruthie and future president of the United States Ronald Reagan. The savory details reveal deeper stories of race relations, women's rights, Iowa caucus politics, the arts, immigration and assimilation. Don't be surprised if you experience sudden cravings for Steak de Burgo, fried pork tenderloin sandwiches and chocolate ambrosia pie, à la Bishop's Buffet. Author Darcy Dougherty Maulsby serves up a feast of Des Moines classics mixed with Iowa history, complete with iconic recipes.
