The former Bar Natasha becomes chef Martin Heuser’s Affare restaurant in May. I could have sworn that the sign in front of 1911 Main had been painted with the word bagatelle – a trifle, a short musical composition – a month or so ago. The sign now boasts the upcoming restaurant Affare. Both concepts were the creation of chef Martin…
If we’re taking bets on this year’s indie-rock crossover summer jam (past winners include Foster the People and MGMT), I’d give good odds on Los Angeles duo Electric Guest. The band’s falsetto-heavy funk is charming, but its connections are why I think we might have a radio hit on our hands. One of the members is Asa Taccone, brother of…
Country legend Glen Campbell announced last year that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Rather than taking a bow, he followed up that news with a new album, Ghost on the Canvas, which includes collaborations with ’90s rock icons Chris Isaak, Paul Westerberg, Jakob Dylan and Robert Pollard. Somewhat incredibly, he decided to embark on a goodbye tour, on…
Spaghetti and meatballs…meet mouth. In this week’s review, Charles Ferruzza discovered larger-than-life characters and oversized sandwiches at Michaelangelos Grill in Independence. In addition to loading up on fried meatballs and pasta dishes, Ferruzza found a rarity in the Kansas City area: a good Reuben. Click here or on the picture above for photos by Angela C. Bond. Categories: Dining, Food…
Pantry Collective We’re nearing sweet corn season. You’re really giving up corn and black bean salsa? It can often feel as though a restaurant is playing out the motions with its side dishes. Sure, you’ll get a plate of cottage fries or a pasta salad with a high degree of mayonnaise. But what’s lost in that shuffle of Tupperware is…
Vision for Humanity Missouri is not at peace. Let’s start with the good news. The Institute for Economics and Peace believes that the United States is at its most peaceful state of the past two decades. And now the bad. According to the institute’s 2012 United States Peace Index, that feeling of tranquility can’t really be attributed to either Kansas…
Local noisy pop-rock band High Diving Ponies is playing its first show of the year at RecordBar tonight. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. The 18-and-older show costs $7. Knifecrime and Til Willis support. Fans: Expect to hear new tunes. The band recently released a free “e-single” called Western Interior Sea. Intriguing! It’s a tiny release — both tracks (“Western Interior…
Andrea Silenzi Walt Bodine says goodbye Friday morning. Walt Bodine’s final broadcast is Friday morning at 10. Our friends at KCUR 89.3 have really done a great job of paying tribute to Bodine in the waning days of his 72-year career. Click here for the best of Bodine, including a fabulous show from 2004 with This American Life’s Ira Glass….
James Rhymer (pictured) is accused of killing James Conklin. James Rhymer confronted James Conklin for disrespecting his family and for showing up at home at 405 North Wheeling, where he wasn’t welcome anymore, court records say. Conklin had stopped at the basement bedroom of a woman whom he used to date. Records say Conklin tried to kiss and touch the…
Carrie Coogan Name: Carrie Coogan Occupation: Executive director, Literacy Kansas City Hometown: Born in North Hollywood, California, but grew up in Denver, Colorado. Current neighborhood: Downtown Kansas City, Missouri Who or what is your sidekick? I have 16 nieces and nephews who range in age from 4 to 21. All so wonderful and fun! What career would you choose in…
Photo by Sabrina Staires By Rob Schamberger’s count, pro wrestling has crowned 208 world heavyweight champions. And by the time he finishes painting all 208 – and there will likely be more champions by the time he’s done, he’ll probably wish there were fewer. “When Colt Cabana beat Adam Pearce, I was like, Oh, Jesus – 209,” Schamberger says. “Then…
Michaelangelos Grill in Independence has turned a former filling station into something just as classic — a homey restaurant with filling Italian dishes. Photos by Angela C. Bond.
Today, Penn Station brings you free fries. Fries should be hand-cut – this is one of the few food absolutes that we should have in this world. And Penn Station East Coast Subs, to their credit, understands this point. The Ohio-based chain, known for its Philly cheesesteaks, is offering a free small cup of fries to dine-in customers today. There’s…
Facebook: The Beacon The Beacon is open. You know what they say. When the public forces one tavern to close, another always opens in its place. The Beacon: A Kansas City Tavern opened its doors last week in the former Jack Gage American Tavern space at 5301 Main. Fat City’s Charles Ferruzza broke the story that new life would be…
The Good Gatsby Even if we solve brain freeze, ice cream might still come with a few risks. There is an entire drugstore aisle devoted to food disagreements: those unhappy outcomes resulting from devouring foods that you love but which choose to not return the favor. I have a long-standing love-hate dynamic with Sriracha sauce. I can’t get enough. It…
After his former band, Cross Canadian Ragweed, dissolved, Cody Canada formed another. Called the Departed, they follow the same red dirt path blazed by the likes of CCR, and their first album was released last year. This Is Indian Country is a collection of songs originally by other Oklahoma artists, charting the influences of Canada and his bandmates. Cody Canada…
I am a fan of both ambitious ideas and country music and so, last Thursday, I corralled a few pals and drove out to Overland Park for the grand opening of Kanza Hall, a new, country-oriented live-music venue at 119th Street and Metcalf. Kanza Hall is phase one of One Block South, club owner Shawn McClenny’s plan to re-imagine a…
UMKC A Winter’s Tale UMKC’s Theatre Department closes its 2011-12 season with Shakespeare’s romantic story of love, passion and jealousy involving King Leontes; his wife, Hermione; his friend, King Polixenes; and, as always with Shakespeare, many supporting characters. Faculty member Barry Kyle directs the classic with a more contemporary take. It plays April 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 29…
A note to fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: Jon Jory’s 2006 stage adaptation, onstage at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, is the SparkNotes version. And to those unfamiliar with the 1813 novel? You might read the SparkNotes summary before attending. I fit in the first category, so I wasn’t helped by rewatching the six-hour (also condensed) BBC version (Jennifer Ehle…
Stephen Sondheim claims that his Tony Award-winning Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street isn’t about cannibalism. Musical Theater Heritage’s George Harter told an audience last weekend that the story of the murderous barber, whose customers become key ingredients in a meat-pie recipe, is Sondheim’s “horror movie for the stage.” (It’s also, Harter added, Sondheim’s homage to Bernard Herrmann,…
How does a classroom of students at the University of Kansas respond when their English instructor plays Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died”? “Well, you see, most of the people in my class, their idea of punk is that SoCal ’90s thing,” Iain Ellis says. “It’s kind of a strange world to them, and I think they think it’s kind…
Terence Davies is one of Britain’s best living filmmakers — his work resembles no one else’s. But he’s had the kind of cursed career suffered by the likes of Carl Dreyer and Andrei Tarkovsky. For reasons that remain obscure, The Deep Blue Sea is his first narrative film since 2000’s The House of Mirth. The two features that made Davies’…
