Archives: November 2015

Folk Alliance International announces Judy Collins as keynote speaker for 2016 conference

%{}% The Folk Alliance International has just announced the keynote speaker for its 28th annual conference — and it is the one and only Judy Collins. The FAI has also announced the artist showcase lineup for the conference, held February 17-21 at the Westin Hotel at Crown Center.  More than 190 artists from 11 countries will perform at the conference. For more…

Where to eat on the busiest shopping day of the year

%{}% Shoppers on the Country Club Plaza might want to know that Zócalo Mexican Cuisine & Tequileria (620 West 48th Street, 816-756-5555), O’Dowd’s Little Dublin (4742 Pennsylvania, 816-561-2700) and the Granfalloon (608 Ward Parkway, 816-753-7850) are teaming up with nine retailers — Coveted Home, Paper Source, Parlor: A Beauty Bar, Pinstripes, Skin, Three Dog Bakery, Tulip, Urban Outfitters, and Vinca…

Plate opens Tuesday at 6201 Oak

%{}% The lights were on, the front door was open and chef Brian Mehl — former executive sous chef at the Classic Cup — was back in the tiny kitchen, arranging pieces of pink grilled salmon with winter-squash puree and zucchini caponata. Last night was the “friends and family” soft opening for Plate, the 49-seat bistro that owners Christian and…

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout events, Cinder Block Whiskey-barrel-aged Black Squirrel release, Ballast Point launch and more events

%{}% THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26 Odell Russian Pirate tapping, at Flying Saucer (101 E. 13th St.), 7 p.m. Thanksgiving, with 10 percent of sales going to Harvesters, at Gordon Biersch (11652 Ash, Leawood), 4–11 p.m. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27Goose Island Bourbon County tap takeover, at Barley’s Brewhaus (16649 Midland Dr., Shawnee), 11 a.m. Goose Island Bourbon County tap takeover, at Bier Station…

The Union of Westport closes for good on Saturday

%{}% You’ll have to find somewhere else to burn up a dance floor, shoot pool and revel in the cheapest of cheap drinks in Westport after Saturday — the Union’s final day of business.  “We were unable to get our lease renewed,” the Union’s general manager, Sonya Walker, says of the closing. “We tried fighting it in court and we lost….

Before the holiday switch gets flipped on the Plaza, we try to work off those preholiday pounds

%{}% While furiously pedaling on a stationary bike at 8:30 on a Monday morning, I started dreaming about sweet-potato casserole. Thanksgiving was a week away, and I could already taste the baked marshmallow crust dissolving on my tongue like a well-kept secret. I equated every revolution of the bike’s pedals with another guilt-free bite. I hoped that squeezing in a…

Drink This Now: 3975 at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar

%{}% I curl my hands around the 3975 at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, attempting to gauge the temperature of the cocktail so as not to singe my tongue on the first taste. The glass is hot — very hot. Kenny Cohrs, Jax’s bar manager and the co-founder of the cocktail consulting company Liquid Minded Concepts, suggests that I…

Elliot Wiersgalla, green coffee buyer, quality control director and social media manager at the Roasterie, answers The Pitch‘s Questionnaire

%{}% Twitter handle: @theglitterbeard Hometown: Independence, Wisconsin Current neighborhood: Westport What I do: I am in charge of sourcing, tasting and buying all the green coffee we use at the Roasterie. What’s your addiction? Coffee. For real. It’s an addiction. Do they make a patch for it? Somebody help! What’s your game? Avoiding confrontation … or bowling What’s your drink?…

Brooklyn

%{}% %{}% In a political season now dominated by shameful anti-immigrant rhetoric, Brooklyn — John Crowley’s film version of the Colm Tóibín novel, nimbly adapted by Nick Hornby — is the big-hearted bear hug of a movie that a lot of folks could use. It’s anchored by Saoirse Ronan’s luminous performance as Eilis, an Irish immigrant whose rough passage to…

Creed surprises but doesn’t quite go the distance

%{}% %{}% Nearly four decades ago, Rocky, an underdog box-office hit about an underdog boxer, did what underdogs do: It stole a big prize from worthy contenders, in this case the Best Picture Oscar that could have gone instead to Taxi Driver or Network or All the President’s Men. Each of those films was, and remains, better than the shamelessly…

How does a mother lose custody of her child to a man the courts know has beaten her? In Eastern Jackson County, it’s not that hard

%{}% Part One of Two The first time Joseph Zaroor assaulted Christy DiMaggio was the same weekend she became pregnant with their child. They were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was 2008. Zaroor and DiMaggio had met through a mutual friend at the Lake of the Ozarks, where Zaroor lived at the time. DiMaggio was living in Lee’s Summit. The…

See Rich Bowman’s “Tempered Land” before his show closes

%{}% %{}% Rich Bowman’s “Tempered Land” is more than just a sunset. Magmatic red reaches like a crimson hand across the canvas, extending cloud fingers as dark as ash. Black land anchors the painting, and above the dramatic light is a pale, serene blue — violent dusk turning to gentle night. The painting’s size, little more than 5 feet by…

KC’s SCP snaps back to life after seven years with Current Works

%{}% %{}% Last year, five former members of the Society for Contemporary Photography — a nonprofit that dissolved in 2007, after almost a quarter century — came together to discuss reviving the organization. This past June, the new Kansas City Society for Contemporary Photography introduced itself with a show at Columbus Park’s Kiosk Gallery. “We’re getting back to our roots…

Jazz Beat: New Jazz Order Big Band, at Green Lady Lounge

%{}% Rehearsal big bands are common in jazz. They perform publicly on a regular schedule for little pay, playing arrangements ranging from classic Ellington to the modern voicings of Maria Schneider to band members’ originals. Clint Ashlock’s New Jazz Order Big Band is one of Kansas City’s best. Ashlock, who also directs the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, brings together a…

Music Forecast 11.26-12.2: The Get Up Kids, Berwanger, the Silversun Pickups, Frank Turner, Night Riots, Radkey, Lights and the Mowgli’s, Duncan Burnett, Gee Watts, Clark Rooseveltte, the Carter Family

%{}% %{}% The Get Up Kids Here’s what you can expect at the Get Up Kids’ homecoming show at RecordBar, part of the band’s 20th anniversary tour: lots of ’90s throwbacks, lead singer Matt Pryor’s charm, a crowd that will make you feel like you’ve time-traveled in a DeLorean. Oh, and Berwanger, led by former Anniversary lead singer Josh Berwanger,…

At Fresh to Def, Eddie Moore brings the groove

%{}% %{}% No one is listening to Eddie Moore play the piano. Not tonight, not at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Leawood, where Moore has been playing nearly every Wednesday night for a year. Matt Leifer, who accompanies him on drums, hears everything, but the bar is packed — professional types at high-tops, with martinis — and not a single head turns…

Shirley Helzberg’s TIF isn’t the worst one, but it has spurred the loudest eco-devo backlash

%{}% %{}% Of all the tax-increment financing plans to get angry about, Shirley Helzberg’s Crossroads plan ranks somewhere in the middle. After all, City Hall has approved far more egregious incentives. The Citadel comes to mind. That mixed-use proposal for 63rd Street and Prospect wasn’t a bad idea for what it attempted and where, but that plan from the late…

Why is Tuesday a good night for dining out?

%{}% Tuesdays are, traditionally, slower restaurant nights. That’s why many local restaurants think of creative ways to lure patrons into the dining room. Here are a few suggestions: A  $17 steak dinner — with side dishes? Where? At restaurateur Laura Norris’ Ragazza Deli & Wine (301 Westport Road, 816-960-4744) — which was still called Cucina della Ragazza when The Pitch reviewed it…

Josh Groban is coming to Starlight in August

%{}% Superstar Josh Groban is going on tour next year in support of his most recent album, Stages — a release chock-full of Broadway covers that seem especially designed for Groban’s annoyingly crystalline pipes. On Tuesday, August 16, the multi-platinum artist stops at Starlight, with his stupid, adorable grin that we all kind of hate.  Tickets go on sale Friday, December 11, at…