Leasa Caron, the owner of Jovito’s Italian Café, is steeped in the lore of Our Town’s local food establishments. Her former in-laws, The Fiorellas, owned all the Smokestacks and Jack Stacks. She and her ex-husband, Dr. Russell Fiorella, briefly owned a Smokestack up north. When restaurateur Jo Marie Scaglia moved back to Kansas City from […]

Rick Mullins, executive chef at Café Sebastienne at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, got into cooking by default “I was working in bars throughout my ‘20s, living close to the edge. I really didn’t start professionally until I was 31. By then, I was sober and more mature mentally. It was easier for me to […]

As the executive chef at Waldo Thai Place, Pam Liberda represents a new generation, a branch of a storied family tree that consists of her husband, Ted, and her mother-in-law, Ann. At one point, Ted, Pam, and Ann owned and oversaw eight Thai restaurants throughout the metropolitan area. Ann and Ted still have Thai Diner […]

To many of Our Town’s foodies and midtown residents, Calvin Davis is a hero. In June of 2017, a drunk driver, going 70 miles per hour, crashed into his well-received restaurant, Freshwater, located on Southwest Trafficway. The accident destroyed the window and collapsed the front corner of the building. “We were fortunate that no one […]

Food halls are red hot right now, providing a variety of cuisines for the most capricious of palates. (But don’t confuse them with food courts, with their sampling of fast food kiosks, found in shopping malls and airports.)  Food halls provide ethnic, artisanal, farm-to-table fare. Great Britain originally took the lead in this trend, with […]

Open since March, Tribe Street Kitchen has a funky, global feel, yet it’s also quite sophisticated. That is no coincidence. It showcases a large array of street food from around the world. The three owners, Wichita natives and childhood friends Sam Hagan, Ben VinZant and Jordan Mathes, are passionate, intrepid travelers and eaters, whether it’s […]

Probably one of my fondest memories of food from my childhood (my very own Proustian madeleine) is a lobster roll from one of those rustic roadside places in Maine. You place your order at the window and out comes perfection in a red and white checked paper basket: a toasted bun with just the right […]

When I walked into The Savoy at 21c’s bar area at the newly renovated 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City, I literally did a time travel back to my teens and twenties. My cousin, Richard Stern, and his partner, Gino Happy, used to hold court at the front table almost every night. With drinks and cigarettes […]

Before you even enter The Russell, Our Town’s fabulous lunch spot on Main Street, which opened in February, the smell of hickory wood and savory roasting food emanates from the Argentinian fire table, measuring 10 feet and weighing three and a half tons. Located in the heart of the kitchen, it was handcrafted by Co-owner […]