Dish & Drink KC: Cozy solo visits to Green Dirt on Oak and Affäre

Illustration By Teddy Rosen

Fall brings that happily-anticipated feeling of all things cozy. If I do leave my house during the day for anything besides essential errands or a skip across town to a friend’s warm apartment, it’s often to procure a warm beverage and perch in just enough sunlight to keep sane.

While full cold isn’t yet upon us, I’ve been scouring new spots for a tasty, warming drink in the form of chai or matcha. 

Green Dirt on Oak is known for its farm-to-table cheeses and charcuterie boards, a sign inviting guests to enchanting dinners upstairs. But if you stay downstairs, a nooked cafe kitchenside offers lattes and afternoon sunlight pouring in to warm a small seating area and a very comfortable leather couch. They offer a milk option I haven’t seen in this city, maybe anywhere, that I am beyond thrilled about: sheep’s milk. 

Chai at Green Dirt on Oak // Photo by Samantha Russell

Visiting Green Dirt for a meal with a friend last month, I eyed the unique dairy option on the menu and made note to return to try it. I tried going on a Monday (closed, as on Tuesdays) and again on a Friday (closed for a private event), but, when I finally got my hands on a hot sheep’s milk chai last week ($7.50 pre-tax and tip), I was ecstatic. 

Thick, with a creamy decadence and robust mouthfeel, I fell in love with sheep’s milk two years ago when I first tried it from a Lower Austria grocery store. 

The Green Dirt on Oak barista asked if I had ever had their sheep milk. He plied me with a shot of sheep milk, then another. They were heaven to taste after two years without it. 

Half-sipped Chai at Green Dirt on Oak // Photo by Samantha Russell

Any traditional latte on Green Dirt’s menu can be made with the milk for a $2 upcharge. It’s best served lightly warm instead of piping hot—or even cold if you prefer, to retain all of the creaminess.

Sipping my chai, I wanted to pound my fists on the table; it’s so good. This is no oat milk. 

A2 proteins in sheep’s milk make it easier to digest than cow’s milk. As someone who receives an onslaught of swollen joints and intestinal bloating if my lips encounter any slight pass of cow’s milk product, I fare completely fine with sheep milk. It’s also notably high in protein—a one-cup serving will get you 13 grams of protein. (It’s high in saturated fat too, but we’re going to focus on the protein.)

The average milk drinker may say, ‘This tastes like whole milk mixed with half and half,’ but oh lover, don’t you know the glories of tasting that indulgence after years without such flavor?

My chai was very quickly consumed. 

I was compelled to leave with a small bottle of sheep milk’s for home ($10). I shared the love by doling out shots of sheep’s milk to friends. I have since gone back to purchase larger bottles. 

Green Dirt on Oak is located at 1601 Oak St, Kansas City, MO 64108.

Smoked spinach salad at Affäre // Photo by Samantha Russell

Affäre felt like an intimidating place for my unassuming self to dine at alone.

It rings of decadence too high a price point for my wallet. But that’s only a knee-jerk misinterpretation of German directness taken as unapproachable. The restaurant’s immediate atmosphere of warmth and their gumption for good food quickly made me feel welcome. 

I was greeted with a kind smile as a solo diner with a reservation I made maybe fifteen minutes prior, which was not yet in the system. The hostess proffered: inside or outside? Outside felt right. She led me through the modern-outfitted dining room that held a very cozy opulence.

However nice the dining room was, I was transported to romantic ecstasy when we entered the small courtyard. Vines dangled from pergola-like wires. Tall brick walls boxed in the space, nice and cozy, and afternoon light filtered in from the top down. String lights added soft warmth to the light of the setting sun. I had landed in Europe.

Courtyard at Affäre // Photo by Samantha Russell

The dish titles are in German, with a breakdown of the components below them in English. I went with the Geräucherter Spinat Salat ($18)—smoked spinach salad—(and a main dish of seasonal blood sausage with potatoes that is no longer on the menu) with the gracious help of my hostess-turned-server. 

Already content in the beautiful outdoors, I was further enamored to receive the salad in a glass jar, the inside swirling with smoke. The server opened the jar and wafted the smoke towards me for sensory benefit. It was rich and woody and shocked my unassuming nostrils as my brain processed that the smoked salad was most literally smoked. She poured the contents of the jar—spinach and apple and caramelized walnuts and pickled red onions and goat cheese—onto the plate, all components decked lightly with a blackberry-walnut vinaigrette. 

The crisp spinach, thick with smoky flavor, was reminiscent of savoring the taste of a campfire. Soft, supple goat cheese rounds out every bite. The nutty crunch of walnuts rings underneath as apple guides the palate towards the zing of pickled red onions that made the smoke flavor pop all the more.

Tickle me pink… You really can smoke a salad. 

Affäre is located at 1911 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64108.