It's a Great Time to be a Knucklehead

Knuckleheads is a KC institution. You'd be hard pressed to find a Kansas Citian that hasn't been to a show at Knuckleheads. You're even more hard pressed to find someone who actually knows how to get there. We all end up in the general vicinity and somehow just follow the marquee lights. It's true that you have to drive through a few, ahem, unsavory parts to get to this fine establishment; don't worry though because it's absolutely worth it and only like 3 people have been raped.

In some ways Knuckleheads reminds me of the Original Strouds, before it got all fancy and "followed health codes" and moved to the burbs. I remember going to the run-down restaurant at 85th and Troost and noticing that while the building and neighborhood itself was less than shiny, the place was always packed. It didn't matter that every other business in the area had boarded up shop, Strouds had a wait every single night. Who cared if there was an open hole in the dining room floor, pass the fried gizzards!

Nestled against the railroad tracks, Knuckleheads is a great venue for fried chicken live music. Intimate, eclectic and worn. Whether or not you are visiting or a long-time resident you need to get yourself down here. Part of the charm IS the dodgy neighborhood.

Friday night the local Talking Heads tribute band, Found a Job, put on one helluvah show. There was such a great cross section of this town in attendance, a great night for dancing indeed. And for "borrowing" other people dope-ass glasses.

So, Kittens and Cats (KC for short...), listen to me when I say go to Knuckleheads! If you'd like to ease yourself into it, there is a free (FREE) show coming up this Saturday. Just Remember to bring a non-perishable food donation for Harvesters.

And remember that the bar is cash only.

Speaking of Coffee...

The morning after the murderers left my house it was obvious Dan and I had to go to Corner Restaurant. We needed good food, better coffee and I didn't want to spend $50 for 2 people. Like I said - obvious.

It's not unique to Corner Restaurant but they have a coffee station in their waiting area for guests to help themselves. (Sidenote: to anyone who gets annoyed that you have to wait for brunch... don't go to brunch. It's like getting annoyed that eggs are on the menu - It's a fact.) When we were sat our waiter kept refilling our coffee cups WITHOUT ever charging us for coffee.

Kudos to your Corner Restaurant! Not sure if this was over-sight, an accident or on purpose but you made your good coffee BETTER that morning.

We killed it!

Westportlandia threw a Halloween party this year and made it a murder mystery to boot. Inspired by Clue, the 1920's and all things creepy we set out creating the characters and writing a pot line. Who has the cash to buy on of these things anyway? That's booze money y'all!

Suspects, erm, guests arrived in style.

 The party came to a screeching halt when we found Riche Morte hanging, dead, in the basement. Who would want to kill Riche Morte? Turns out, everyone has a motive...

Everyone is a suspect, the detective clears the crime scene and presents the evidence.

The detective questions the Iranian Mafia, why were they here tonight?

Who did it? The Ex-wife? The physic? The art dealer? The broke artist? The Fiance?

Chaz did YOU do it?

More screams coming from the library!

John, Riche's recently discovered bastard child is dead!

No, seriously, who did it?

 This isn't a laughing matter.... OK, maybe it is....

Bel'la finally comes forward confessing her guilt, she killed her father to get the inheritance and after Johnny, her newly found half brother, was unveiled she decided she had to kill him too.

That's a wrap! 

Murder Mystery Party!

Your presence is requested by Riche Morte and his fiance Roxana Darius for a special event. This celebration is to showcase and view Mr. Morte's latest addition to his priceless fine art collection. Music and dancing will commence in the grand ball room at 8pm.

Cast of Characters:

Riche Morte
Art Collector, import business owner and philanthropist

Roxana Darius
Riche's much younger fiancé, heir to a Persian fortune

Michel Fourniet
Artist that had lucrative art dealings with Riche Morte.

Luis Garavito
Business Partner and longtime friend to Riche Morte.

Carroll Morte
Riche's business partner and ex-wife.

Chaz Moran
Carroll's current husband and speakeasy owner.

Be'la MorteOnly child of Riche & Carroll.

Atlanta Ripper
Investment banker and long time business associate with Riche

Prof. Charles Cullen
Art professor & Life-long friend of Riche

John Vila
Charles' nephew and school mates with Be'la

Pearle Nelson
Art Dealer, Business associate

Madame Sofie
Friend and psychic

Ellen KeyArt critic and socialite

Iranian Mafia

Sabrina, Sunday, Surprises!

Sabrina is always full of surprises and Sunday's Fancy Lady Date was no exception.

Surprise #1
We ended up going to neither Blue Bird Bistro OR Westside Local, but rather she made reservations for us at Webster House.Talk about fancy! This place is inside of an old Romanesque-style school and in addition to delicious food, this place also houses an antique store. But Imma gonna focus on the food. Or maybe even just the drinks because 2 words: Bottomless Mimosas.

You heard me. Bottomless Mimosas. Megan and I both were able to throw back 3 before we *had* to leave. I still wonder if I had kept the glass could I have come back after for more? And let me state that this does not make me an alcoholic but rather an economicoholic. One Mimosa was $8 while the bottomless was $12. DO THE MATH!

And now for some pictures of the food....

Yes please.

Surprise #2
Don't know how she did it, especially for what we paid, but we had killer seats. In fact, I just assumed we'd need to go up and up and up the stairs to get to our seats. The ushers told us, after checking our tickets, to head back down to the main level!


This was the end of the Alice in Wonderland run, which is a shame. If you didn't catch it you missed a very fun production with a very large company, colorful costumes and jazzy new music!

Thanks Kansas City, you did not fail to impress on our fancy lady date! Let's do it again some time!

Brunch and Ballet

This weekend Whitney and I, along with Sabrina and Megan, will engage in one of our most favorite of hobbies: Brunch. The hard part will come in deciding where to go. Blue Bird Bistro or Westside Local? Both are in the same neighborhood and offer farm-to-market food. Both are in the same price range. Both have alcohol. Some decisions are hard.

As far as menu, there are similarities there too: they both have mushroom gravy, the both have the same salmon eggs benedict and a fancy sounding French Toast (Ciabatta or Apple Bread).

But since Brunch is a journey, not a destination I dived further into the menu and found an item on each that sounds appealing and a bit unique:

Blue Bird

Sweet potato AND GRANOLA PANCAKES   0900   half order 0600  freshly prepared with organic white wheat flour, Thane Palmberg Farm sweet potatoes, granola, and a touch of fresh cinnamon; served with pure maple  syrup from Shaker Mountain Farm 

Westside Local

Beignet PLATE$13
2 pc House Beignets, 2 pc deviled egg, fresh fruit, cottonwood river cheddar, Farm-to-Market parmesan crackers

Still doesn't make the decision any easier. 

After where-ever-we-go for lunch we'll be pirouetting over to the Kauffman Center to watch the Kansas City Ballet's production of Alice in Wonderland. We haven't said we're not wearing costumes, so, I still might pull out my Chesire Cat jumpsuit.

As Promised...

Alright Cats and Kittens, as promised here are 3 more, plus the original, Westportlandia Bingo Cards. Play with your friends, play with strangers... just remember that "black out" could mean so many things.

Bingo Night

Who doesn't love Westport? Who doesn't love Bingo?  I couldn't resist crafting our own version of the timeless game. Break out the troll dolls, bitches, it Bingo time... Westportlandia style.

Whitney and I are heading to Westport Saloon tonight for what should be some great music and probably a few bingo matches. We hope you like the game as much as we do, stay tuned for additional cards.

Where are you drinking going this weekend?

Ça Va

Kansas City has gained notoriety on the hipster scale and the local food and beverages scene will impress most pretentious-i-vores. But fear not those whom refuse to “put a bird on it;” most of KC keeps it real. That isn’t to say a lot of us don’t try to be pretentious…

Ça Va

This tres adorable Champagne Bar opened in March of 2014 and had mine and Whitney’s name ALL over it. THANKS CHAMPAGNE!

We were pleasantly surprised to find it tucked away on the southern edge of the shops and restaurant, in a quiet alcove that made you feel like you were not in Wesport. Bonus! Whit and I swooped in right before it got busy. We were cooing over the bricks, metal grommets on the tables and lighting while the blonde Pixie-cut waitress brought us our water. 

We ordered the Valencia & Buck Fizz and they came out looking identical, down to the orange peel garnish. “Did they give us the same drink?” They didn’t but we’d come to find that damn orange peel garnish was ubiquitous. 

Next came food. I ordered Olives (which came with an orange peel garnish) and the Celery Root Remoulade. Whit went with the Tomme Raclette. 

“The Celery Root Remoulade has turned into an Asparagus salad for the summer, is that OK?”

“Certainly!”

“And the Tomme Raclette has turned into a cheese plate.”

“We love cheese.”

5 minutes later. 

“The Asparagus Salad has turned into a Salmon Salad.”

What the hell kind of voodoo magic is happening in your kitchen?

“Please just bring me food.” 

And the cocktails are SsssTrong! I enlisted Whitney’s help to finish mine (Kir Royal) and her Garden Margarita was the best margarita I’ve ever had in a restaurant. With Mint and cucumber it was oh-so refreshing. And did I mention strong? 

 

We’ll definitely be back, it’s too charming not too. If I had wanted over-bearing, in-and-out service with a set-in-stone menu I would have gone to Applebee’s.