Eat This Now: Pommes frites with port wine ketchup at Voltaire

Voltaire // Photo by Samantha Russell

I never thought I’d so highly sing the praises of ketchup in my lifetime.

Ketchup and I have always tolerated each other. I’m not one to turn my nose up at it the way I do with classic yellow mustard, and it doesn’t side-eye me when I choose aioli or mayonnaise.

But oh, Voltaire’s port wine ketchup is divine. Divine. Sweet port and tomato ketchup were always meant to go together like this.

Post-show in the West Bottoms, I was informed that food could be had at Voltaire, late, with a wide-ranging menu encompassing hearty soup and mussels—and the best fries in the city. A claim that made me raise my eyebrows with a curious appetite to find out.

Voltaire is just across from the Livestock Exchange Building on Genessee St. It’s got a speakeasy feel with seating that nods to prohibition-era times and large speakers that spout tunes spinning on vinyl. The food descriptions are graced with dry wit after its philosopher namesake, not taking anything too seriously, providing good music and good food and good company at a reasonable price.

A quick description about the fries ($12) so I can get onto the ketchup: they are slender, creating the perfect fry ratio of soft inside to crispy outside. They’re dusted with grana padano and parsley, and a side of herbed jalapeño aioli decks one ramekin. Its creamy undertone uplifts the star of the show residing in the adjacent ramekin: port wine ketchup.

A dive into the dessert wine of Portugal occurs with each crispy fry dunk. Layers of tang and sweet rise in tandem, undulating apart, at last drawn back together with a tail-whip of sweet acidity that belies ketchup alone. Port wine grants new depth to the sauce of tomatoes and sugar, hitting every tastebud along the way.

I asked the bartender what ingredients make such a fantastic sauce, and she outright told me. I wasn’t told not to tell, but I feel that I shouldn’t. You have to taste it for yourself. 

Voltaire is located at 1617 Genessee St, Kansas City, MO 64102.