Four Inane Questions with The Go To’s Chef Brett DeHart
Photo Courtesy of Brett DeHart
Chef Brett DeHart doesn’t mean to brag, but in his 30-plus years in the culinary field, he’s whipped up pretty much every kind of cuisine imaginable. “I started out in a mom-and-pop restaurant where I fell in love with food,” he says. Since then, he’s done it all, from fine dining to gastro pubs. Dare we say, he’s mastered the art of culinary versatility. “I’ve been coined, more than once, as a Pangaea chef,” he adds. (You may remember him from the Mexican-infused Fénix and Asian-inspired Tora Zushi in OP.)
Earlier this year, the multi-dimensional chef got a wild hair to tackle a new venture in Louisburg. “It’s The Go To, where we serve chef-inspired pizza and burgers,” he says.
Of course, we wanted to know the obvious question: Why Louisburg? Turns out there was a bit of fate, karma, and kismet involved. “In 2022, my wife Sarah and I moved from Lenexa out to the country on 12 acres in the Louisburg area,” he says. “We were interested in a vacant, old garage on the corner of downtown Louisburg. That’s when I started thinking, What type of concept would we do if we purchased it? What does this town need or deserve?”
Naturally, he picked the two foods he loves to eat—gourmet burgers and high-end pizza.
Chef DeHart partnered with Paul and Vicki Scruggs and started to put the wheels in motion. After plenty of trial and error, The Go To’s expansive menu was born. “Our goal is to bring chef-driven ingredients and flavors, paired with locally sourced ingredients as much as we can,” he says. “We’re talking sourdough pizza, Tea Biotics kombuchas, house-ground smash burgers, and the list goes on. We’ve been working non-stop for months to get this place ready for takeoff, and now we’re finally open!”
We caught up with the KC culinary pro during his launch to inundate him with our inane-ness. He answered while making us a very tasty (and off-menu) meatball, mushroom, and garlic pizza. We’d highly suggest ordering it. Bless.
Photo Courtesy of Brett DeHart
The Pitch: ‘Fess up, what dessert needs to be permanently added to every menu in the free world?
Chef Brett DeHart: In my opinion? A good crème brûlée. There’s really nothing better than a well-done crème brûlée. A close second? It would be anything with a combination of chocolate, pretzel, and peanut butter. It’s an all-time favorite. I’m a sweets-aholic.
Photo Courtesy of Brett DeHart
If you were a T-shirt slogan, what T-shirt slogan would you be?
Hmmm, that’s a tough one. Probably ‘What you see is what you get!’ I’m pretty transparent in my life and truly try to be a good, faithful person on this earth to everyone. I’m almost 50 and I tend to be surprised when I come across people that want to be hateful to one another. I guess I try to lead by example and treat people genuinely how I want to be treated. Cliché or not, it’s a pretty true testament.
What food do you refuse to ever try?
There’s a few, but bleu cheese is 100 percent. Moldy, stinky, funky. It was a bad idea from the beginning—although I do use it as an ingredient in many ways and appreciate that others enjoy it.
What’s a perfect melding of pizza and burgers? (e.g. What’s the perfect cheeseburger pizza?)
This may be TMI, but a parbaked crust that you press end to end into a burger patty on the griddle for a few. It then gets scooped up onto a peel, then topped with fries, onion, and cheese. Throw it in the woodfire oven for a few minutes to finish, top with lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a Dijon mayo or 1000 island something drizzled over the top. Add pickles on the side because no one likes 600+ degree hot pickles.
