Four Inane Questions with The Spot KC’s Shanita McAfee-Bryant

Courtesy photo

If you’re on a perpetual prowl to try new foodie digs in the metro, look no further than The Spot KC, which opened in late July. This 1,200-square-foot café, coffee shop, and fresh grocer (2010 Vine St.) is staffed by students enrolled in a 16-week culinary job training program. It’s headed up by chef-activist Shanita McAfee-Bryant, who is the guiding force behind the eclectic eatery. 

“It’s an indescribable feeling to see this space finally come together for these students,” says McAfee-Bryant. “We’re ready to welcome the community into our space and start making an impact.”

Housed in Kansas City’s first public works building, The Spot KC is helping to reinvigorate the area. (The original structure was abandoned in the 1970s.) You want a cup of joe to go? Check. A fancy latte or frou-frou lemonade? Check and check.

Or feel free to carbo-load with McAfee-Bryant’s homemade baked goods, including turnovers, muffins, cinnamon rolls, croissants, tarts, and breakfast sandwiches, including one with house-made chicken sausage.

McAfee-Bryant tells us the bistro is where food and philanthropy come together. She adds that it’s part of her Prospect KC initiative, a ground-breaking, high-impact social enterprise founded in 2019 to serve Kansas City’s Eastside, a neighborhood struggling with food apartheid, a racist and oppressive system that creates inequitable food systems. 

We caught up with the hard-charging founder to ply her with our whackadoo questions. Good thing she’s a morning person. 

The Spot KC. // Courtesy photo

The Pitch: What’s the hardest you’ve ever laughed? Like, laugh-snort-laugh-cry-laughed?

Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant: My grandfather was a pastor, and I think he mostly scared the urge to laugh in public out of me. But it might also be the reason why I have a habit of laughing my hardest at the most inappropriate times. 

I have what I call a slow sense of humor. Sometimes it just takes me a long time to catch the punch line. By the time I do catch up, it sometimes turns into that laugh-snort-laugh-cry-laugh thing you’re talking about.

What’s the world’s most useless kitchen instrument/gadget/device?

I think those ridiculous little silicone garlic roll peeler thingies that are sold at kitchen stores and online are just so incredibly silly. It’s a dumb holiday stocking stuffer that just takes up space in the drawer. 

Why not just use your knife to smash the garlic? Place the side of the blade across and a handful of garlic cloves and form a fit with your other hand. Whack the blade. The blunt force allows the clove slips out of the papery skin. Not. That. Hard. 

What album cover best represents your life?

I have two favorites: Ring The Alarm and Flawless by Beyoncé. I choose both of those covers because the songs on each speak to me. It’s almost as though she writes for my life.

What dish—hands down—can you make better than anyone?

Oh, that’s a hard one. I’m closely associated with red velvet waffles from my restaurant days. Now, we are developing a reputation for killer cinnamon rolls and lush charcuterie boards through our catering arm at The Spot KC. 

But I would have to say the dish I can run circles around anyone with is mac & cheese. My version includes smoked gouda, which makes it next level! I mean, how can you go wrong when Gouda is involved?

Bonus 5th Question: Golf or bowling—which are you more skilled at? 

I don’t golf or bowl. If I had to choose one, I would choose golf because my wrists are terrible! But I don’t do either because, after 20-plus years of cooking, my wrists are truly trash. I can barely lift a 6-pound bowling ball. And golf? Yeah, no.

Give me a cozy couch and a K-drama (Korean drama). That’s how I relax.