Ferruzza À La Carte

Menus are snapshots of how people eat and entertain themselves. Apparently, what tastes good changes with the times. Through the Kansas City Museum’s Community Curator program, Pitch food critic Charles Ferruzza has studied menus from the 1920s through 1968 from old Union Station eateries the Harvey House and the Westport Room. “The prices, of course, are mind-boggling,” Ferruzza says. Imagine getting a prime rib dinner for less than $5! Canned peaches or rice pudding constituted a good dessert. And on the children’s menus: “There’s not a fried chicken finger to be found,” Ferruzza says. (Back in the day, little ones had to settle for chicken livers and no dinosaur shapes.) Ferruzza will discuss the evolution of these local menus in a free 2 p.m. talk in Union Station’s Town Hall (30 West Pershing Road, 816-460-2020).

Sun., Nov. 16, 2 p.m., 2008