Eat a pig, have a beer, meet a chef

Oct. 31, 201210:05 a.m.

November, the most delicious month of the year, is starting off deliciously with several interesting dining events.

I love the logo Oeno Wine Bar, 330 N. Mead, came up with for its Pig Out Swine & Wine dinner, scheduled for 7 p.m Saturday.  will feature all the best parts of the big, including a pig ear salad, crisp pork belly and bacon and maple gelato. It costs $35 a person, a three of the courses will be paired with wine. It starts at 7 p.m. For reservations and information, call 316-440-5000.

A few days later, Oeno’s sister restaurant — Caffe Moderne, which sits across the plaza at 300 N. Mead, is putting on a Tallgrass Beer Dinner featuring beer from Tallgrass Brewing Company. It’s $35 a person and starts at 7 p.m. Thursday For information, and reservations, call 316-260-1199.

Chef Aaron Whitcomb during his last class at Cooking at Bonnie’s Place

Also, I’d recommend the Nov. 15 cooking class being put on at Cooking At Bonnie’s Place,  9747 E. 21st St., by Chef Aaron Whitcomb of Denver, who is the executive chef for Newport Grill. I attended his last class this summer so I could write a story, and I learned tips from him I still use today. Plus, the food was delicious.

This one will start at  6:30 p.m., and attendees get to see Whitcomb prepare a meal and then sample it for themselves. They also get the recipes. He’ll post the menu soon. Admission is $55 a person. Make reservations at www.cookingatbonnies.com.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Beer, Cooking demonstrations, Wine, Wine dinners | Comments

Nine restaurants shared recipes for “official” Wichita cookbook

Nov. 18, 20111:46 p.m.

If you’ve lived in Wichita for very long, you’ve either sampled or cooked a recipe from the Junior League’s popular and well-circulated 1995 cookbook, “Women of Great Taste.“ It has a picture of the Mona Lisa spearing a tomato with a fork on the cover and many very good recipes inside.

Now, the Junior League has a new cookbook out. It’s called “Pinches & Dashes: Recipes & Life Measures” and includes recipes for everything from special-occasion dinners to fast weeknight meals.

The formerly most popular Wichita cookbook

It also includes recipes provided by nine local restaurants: Caffe Moderne, Chester’s Chophouse, Freddy’s Frozen Custard, Newport Grill, Luca Italian Kitchen, River City Brewery, Sabor, Watermark Books & Café and YaYa’s EuroBistro.

The book is $28.95 and is available at places such as Watermark Books and The Plaid Giraffe or online at jlwichita.org. Proceeds will go toward organizations that combat child abuse.

And get this — Mayor Carl Brewer has named the book the official cookbook of Wichita. This is a relief to me because I have always wondered what our city’s official cookbook was.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

Exciting dining addition to Riverfest

May 12, 20113:23 p.m.

Sometimes, the Wichita River Festival wears me out. (I’ve only been covering it for 13 years, ya know.)

But one thing I always love about the festival is the food (which I’ve been reviewing for 13 years, ya know.) I’ve come to love some of the annual offerings, and each year I can’t wait for my Tad’s Bodacious Burrito or tray full of deep fried dill pickle spears (with dipping sauce.)

This year, the festival is offering a new type of food court that could be very cool. The Waterwalk Pavilion will be set up nightly on the lawn near the Hyatt fountains. Under a huge tent, a local restaurant will sell food, and nearby, a local band will perform. Adult beverages will be served, and a new rule allows partakers to walk with their drinks in hand along the river.

The festival is trying to attract a young professional crowd with the new event, and if I count as a young professional, their efforts are probably going to work on me. Following is the schedule festival president Janet Wright sent me. They’re still trying to find a few restaurants to fill in on certain nights, but I plan to be there for sure on June 9 and June 11.

Saturday, June 4

6 – 9:30 p.m. – Grateful Not to Be Dead
6 – 8 p.m. – Carlos O’Kelley’s Mexican Café
Chicken Burrito Wrap with Beans, Chips & Salsa, $10
Chili Con Queso with Chips & Salsa, $10
Carlos Nachos Supreme, $7

Sunday, June 5

6 p.m. – Rachelle Coba Band
6 – 8 p.m. – BBQ from the world-famous Wichita Wagonmasters grill
BBQ Brisket Sandwich, Cole Slaw & Baked Beans, $8
BBQ Brisket Sandwich, Brat, Cole Slaw & Baked Beans, $10

Monday, June 6

7:30-8:45 pm – Flatland String Band
Restaurant TBA

Tuesday, June 7

7:30-8:45 pm – Walnut River String Band
6 – 8 p.m. – Truffles
Choice of meatball sub or chicken parmigiana sub, pasta salad, chips, cookies, $7
Choice of pasta Caesar salad, garlic bread, roasted potatoes with vegetables, brownies $10

Wednesday, June 8

7:15-8:45 pm – Swing Daddies
6 – 8 p.m. – Caffe Moderne
Chicken Veggie Wrap with salad, chips & cookie, $10
Southwest Veggie Wrap with salad, chips & cookie, $10

Thursday, June 9

6-8:45 pm – Mudbugs Cajun & Zydeco Band
6 – 8 p.m. – Hyatt Harvest Kitchen & Bar
Choice of dirty or white rice, chicken and Andouille sausage
jambalaya, crawfish & pepperjack cornbread, $8

Friday, June 10

6-9:30 pm – Mumblin’ Jones
6 – 8 p.m. – Toni D’s
Beef & pulled pork sliders, $10
Vegetarian sliders, $10
Both served with potato chips, choice of potato salad or
Italian pasta salad & homemade cookie

Saturday, June 11
4:30-6:30 pm – Smugglin’ Yo-Yos
7:00-9:45 pm – Ten Day Wish
Restaurant TBA

Beverages

Pepsi Products                     $3 or 2/$5.00

Budweiser                                          $4.00

Craft Beer                                          $4.00

Wine & Specialty Drinks            $5.00

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , Filed under Dining events | Comments

Art while you eat

July 13, 201010:55 a.m.

A very...melony mural adorns a wall at Copper Oven.

A very...melony mural adorns a wall at Copper Oven.

I’ve ingested many a skillet with eggs over-easy while staring, eyebrows furrowed, at the very curious watermelon mural that adorns the back wall of Copper Oven, a delicious and popular eatery at 2409 W. 13th St. What exactly is going on in this eye catching art work? It almost seems as though a father and son are patiently waiting for a crowd of sliced melons to break into dance on the disco floor.

Restaurant owners love decorating with murals, and Wichita has lots of them. Artist Steve Murillo’s colorful murals can be found on the walls at Larkspur, River City Brewery and Caffe Moderne. I’ve always loved the calming blue sky/cloud mural on the ceiling at Abuelo’s. And many Mexican restaurants in town have conquistador murals (of varying quality) to be enjoyed and studied over margaritas.

What’s your favorite Wichita restaurant mural?

*UPDATE* Reader Pat Handley alerted me to the fact that the watermelons in this mural are from “Sandias Con Leyenda: Viva la Vida” a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. He also points out that the man in the painting looks like Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s husband. So much for the melon disco theory…

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , Filed under Restaurant artwork | Comments