Category Archives: Kansas City

April 12, 2011 · 4:22 pm

restaurants to check out all over the Midwest

Found a copy of the  Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Midwest Living on the library’s sale rack – so scooped it up since there’s always good recommendations on things to do in this neck of the woods. Here’s some restaurant recommendations:

– In Indianapolis, Recess (soup!)

– In Chicago, Gilt Bar and Restaurant on Magnificent Mile.

–  Woodbury, Minnesota (where we have friends!), Apertif (rotisserie chicken) and in neighboring St. Paul, Heartland (clever meat and potatoes) and Clearwater, Minn., Nelson Bros. Restaurant (yes, at a restaurant on I-94; fritter french toast w/wild rice sausage)

– Omaha, Hiro 88 (sushi and more in the Old Market district)

– Madison, Wisc. L’Etoile (longstanding haute green cuisine in new location)

– Kansas City, Glace Artisan Ice Cream (peanut butter ice cream with swirl of strawberry jam…) and Succotash

–  Traverse City, MI, Soul Hole (southern food in Old Town)

– Iowa City, Blue Bird Diner (Sunday brunch)

 

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Filed under Chicago, DINING, Illinois, Indianapolis, Iowa, Iowa City, Kansas City, Michigan, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Omaha

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January 30, 2011 · 6:29 pm

Romantic getaways in Iowa-area

The DMRegister today has some ideas for romantic get-aways in Iowa and beyond. Some I know about (Honey Creek Resort in Moravia, Ia. and Suites of 800 Locust in DM). Here are some I didn’t know much about for future reference.

Greenfield, Ia: The Brass lantern at Windcrest Farm. //mysite.verizon.net/res18ndl/ which has the added bonus of a heated indoor poor. (Things to do nearby: Henry A. Wallace Country LIfe Center and Prairie Preserve in Orient; ken Sidey  nature area, south of Greenfield; John Wayne Museum in Winterset – and the Bridges (of Madison County) of course.

Red Wing, Minn: The Golden Lantern Inn (things to do: get your fill of famous Red Wing Pottery at the museum and mall of th same name.

Kansas City, Mo.: Hotel Phillips

Galena, Ill: The Inn at Irish Hollow

 

 

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December 28, 2010 · 2:50 am

From Wright,Ks. back to Des Moines

No weather problems this time – and smooth sailing the entire nine hours, for which we were grateful, especially given what friends and family are dealing with on the East Coast. We stopped in the slowly reviving town of Greensburg – which was devastated by a tornado several years ago – at a hip looking coffee shop, then onto Wichita where we opted for our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, which was packed and has the world’s fastest service, and pleasant service, and mighty good Bun (all around us people seemed to be ordering what N and I ordered #45  Bun – noodles, shredded lettuce – with char-broiled pork and a fried spring roll. We stopped at N&J, our favorite middle eastern place, to pick up some humus and homemade chips and one, just one, piece of baklava, to bring home. In Kansas City, we dropped by Gates to pick up ribs to take home for dinner. Yes, it’s all about the food. Good to be back here, although it’s at least 20 degrees colder and a lot snowier than Kansas.

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Filed under DINING, Dodge City, Kansas City, Kansas misc, Wichita

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July 26, 2010 · 12:20 am

salina, Ks.

Oh that I could share some of the secret charms of Salina, Ks. with you but alas we saw nothing of it but the inside of the Ramada hotel. Such is the reality of my husband’s family reunion. I did hear tell that Salina is the terra-cotta capital of Kansas – no small feat considering how much terra-cotta clads the buildings of Wichita – but I didn’t get to see it – or visit some of our favorite restaurants such as the Cozy Inn and Jim’s Chicken. We did stop today on the way home at Freddy’s – the frozen custard/steakburger chain we first discovered in Oklahoma which seems to be expanding across Kansas. (We last spotted it in Hutchinson, now it’s in Topeka and Junction City.) Very rich custard – maybe too rich. My stomach hasn’t been right since – and eating Gates BBQ, which we picked up in Kansas City, probably won’t help. But fortune favors the brave….

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July 7, 2010 · 10:33 pm

Going to Kansas City?

Here’s what I recommended to friends looking for places to stay and eat and things to do during a trip this week to Kansas City:

– A good recent NYT travel article (http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/travel/16hours.html) on the city – recommends staying at The Raphael which is what I was going to suggest (although I’ve never stayed there but heard good things about it.)  My husband, a former Kansas City resident, also  recommends this:
www.bestwesternmissouri.com/hotels/best-western-seville-plaza-hotel/

I don’t know most of the restaurants mentioned in the NYT story (except the BBQ places  Gates and Bryants, which are favorites). We also like the BlueBird Cafe (although it’s out of the way and hard to find) and Lidia’s – http://www.lidias-kc.com/, a good contemporary Italian place.

The new wing of the Nelson Atkins well worth a visit – including walking outside on its green roof/sculpture garden. We also like the Kemper Museum – although we haven’t been to its restaurant, which is mentioned in NYT story.


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