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The signature dish at the Peppercorn Duck Club (see review) is roasted duck. It’s delicious. And fattening. And biblical. Yes, Bible scholars point out that in the lists of clean and unclean fish, seafood, poultry and insects (well, you never know) in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, all birds are fair game except eagles, vultures, falcons, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, storks and herons.
Which might make duck the perfect thing to serve at Sunday brunch — especially since one local restaurant’s brunch incurred the wrath of a Lenexa minister. The pastor (who did not return calls from the Pitch) reportedly complained during his Sunday sermon that he hadn’t received enough food and gravy at the brunch at Paulo and Bill’s (16501 Midland Drive). One of the restaurant’s employees heard the sermon and was shocked to see the minister join his family at the restaurant for brunch his way a few Sundays later. “He didn’t eat,” says a spokesperson for PB&J restaurants. “The server told us he brought in a fast-food bag.”
Brunch gets a much more godly spin each Sunday this month at the Madrid Theatre (3810 Main Street). That’s when the superb choir from St. Monica’s Catholic Church in downtown Kansas City performs inspirational favorites while paying guests feast on a Southern-style buffet created by the talented chef Peter Castillo of Great Plains Catering. The event is set up to benefit both the venue and the choir, which receives a percentage of the ticket cost ($25 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and children under twelve). The 78-member choir performs from 1 to 2 p.m. Doors open at the theater at noon so diners can chow down on scrambled eggs, sausage, country-style potatoes, cheese grits, Chicken Creole, grilled salmon, fresh fruit and bread pudding. No duck, however. Call 816-753-4909 for reservations.
A much more earthly — and earthy — buffet stretches out each night at the Main Chinese Buffet (1000 West 39th Street), which was briefly closed after a fire. The steam tables are once again covered with all kinds of Oriental-style dishes, although some of them take a devil-may-care attitude when it comes to truth in advertising. On a recent night, a vat of fiery red crawfish was labeled “sautéed (mainland) lobster.” And the “crabmeat” in the appetizer bacon-wrapped crab looked and tasted suspiciously like surimi, the faux version. Off to the confession booth, I say!
A few blocks to the north, a new Chinese restaurant, Twin Dragon, is scheduled to open in the building once occupied by the Pancake House Restaurant (3620 Broadway), next to the Pepto-Bismol-pink Rodeway Inn. No word yet on whether the Twin Dragon will also have a buffet. I hope so, because this former altar boy just loves a new place to go for brunch after a stimulating church service!
