Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys and brrrrrrrrrrs

April 30, 201312:01 p.m.

The Flying Stove’s Jeff Schauf at last year’s Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys

I’m excited about attending Friday night’s Second Annual Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys at Botanica– though I’m not very excited about the non-springlike forecast. A 51 degree high on May 3? Unacceptable!

The event was fun last year and featured local restaurants such as Newport Grill, The Anchor and Scotch & Sirloin, competing to make the best Bloody Mary. The Candle Club won with a traditional concoction floating with green beans, gherkins and a hunk of beef jerky.

Those who have a $40 ticket will be invited to roam the grounds sampling each of the Bloody Marys, or if they choose, stopping for a beer. The best part: The Flying Stove food truck is catering, which means the Schauf boys will put out a whole lot of their best dishes, which patrons can just walk up and take. That’s worth the price of admission all on its own.

This year’s event starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Botainca, 701 N. Amidon It will include live music by Spirit of the Stairs, beer provided by Wichita Brewing Company and River City Brewery, and lots of Bloody Marys, made using sponsor Pinnacle’s vodka.

Tickets are $40 and available at 316-264-0448 or by visiting botanica.org.

The Candle Club’s winning Blood Mary from last year

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

A Valentine’s dining guide for procrastinators

Feb. 14, 201310:05 a.m.

If you’re one of the brave souls opting to brave the Feb. 14 restaurant crowds, I applaud you. Please let me know how that goes.

But if you’re a procrastinator — or just don’t like fighting for air on the busiest dining day of the year — several restaurants are planning to extend their Valentines Day offerings throughout the weekend. (I’m going for Bocconcini’s dinner because I simply must have that chocolate ravioli, but I’m going on Friday instead.)

Following are some of the restaurants offering specials for those who are putting off their celebrations a bit.

Abuelo’s, 1413 N. Waterfront Parkway, 316-634-2230: The Mexican restaurant is offering a dinner-for-two special good through Sunday that includes fajitas plus a choice of dessert for $29.99.

AVI Seabar & Chophouse, inside the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview, 135 N. Waco, 316-262-3300: The restaurant is serving a $79-a-couple meal that includes choice of appetizer, salad, filet mignon with coconut shrimp or grilled or blackened salmon with coconut shrimp plus a dessert to share and one glass of champagne each. The special is available from 5 p.m. to close through Saturday, and the regular menu will be available as well. Call for reservations.

Bocconcini Italian Eatery, 4811 E. Central, 316-613-2523: The Italian restaurant is running a special four-course Valentine’s Day meal through Saturday. It’s $35 a couple without alcohol or $55 with choice of a bottle of red wine, white wine or prosecco. The dinner includes choices for each course, and among the entree options are lemon chicken, pork saltimbocca and pancetta-wrapped salmon. Call for reservations.

Hereford House, 1400 Terradyne Drive, Andover, 316-733-7800: The restaurant has a standing offer of a four-course dinner for two for $65. Call for reservations.

Newport Grill, 1900 N. Rock Road, 316-636-9555: Newport will offer a special Valentine’s Day dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. through Saturday. It’s $50 a person and includes a steak and lobster dinner, a salad and a dessert of chocolate terrine with a raspberry coulis. The regular menu also is available, and those diners can add the dessert for $6. Reservations are recommended.

Zaytun, 2020 N. Woodlawn, 316-613-2474: The Indian/Pakistani/Turkish restaurant will be serving a four-course meal for $25 a person from 5 to 9 p.m. through Saturday. Among the several entree choices are tandoori chicken masala and Australian lamb shank. Call for reservations.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , Filed under Holiday specials | Comments

My close encounter with $$ truffles $$

Nov. 14, 20121:15 p.m.

This is the face of a chef who’s less than 24 hours away from getting to cook with a rare and expensive ingredient.

I stopped by Newport Grill last night, not only because it was $5 martini night (and that place has some pretty amazing martinis) but also because executive chef Aaron Whitcomb was in town. I met Whitcomb this summer when I wrote a story about his fun and informative cooking class at Cooking At Bonnie’s Place, and the manager told me he’d be back in town on Tuesday. Whitcomb, the executive corporate chef for Wichita’s Newport Grill, lives in Denver and also oversees Ya Ya’s Eurobistro restaurants in Kansas City and Little Rock. He comes to Wichita every couple of months.

Whitcomb is in town this time because he’s cooking a big-deal private charity dinner tonight for 50 people who support Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas. Because the dinner’s a big deal, he wanted to do something special, he said.

Here are the truffles. For your sake, I wish this picture was scratch-n-sniff.

He emerged from the kitchen last night gleefully cradling a small plastic container filled with rice. “Look what I got,” he said, opening the container and waving it under my nose.

Truffles.

But not just any truffles. Imported white Italian truffles that cost $100 an ounce. Whitcomb had nine ounces of them, nestled among the grains of rice in the container.

He’d carefully transported his $900 worth of truffles from Denver with him in his luggage and was busy dreaming up ways to use them in tonight’s dinner.

I’ve never so badly wished I was a supporter of Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas. But I’ll settle for my up-close whiff of such a rare treat.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Chefs | Comments

Question of the week: Coveted restaurant recipe?

June 27, 20123:08 p.m.

Here's Chef Aaron Whitcomb just before he revealed his amazing scallop recipe.

Back in the day, my former colleague Joe Stumpe used to persuade local chefs to share recipes from their restaurants. He’d publish them at Christmastime as as a gift to readers. Many years, it was the best gift I got.

I attended a cooking class lead by Newport Grill’s corporate chef Aaron Whitcomb last night, and he shared a recipe for scallops with vanilla corn sauce, frisee and charred corn relish that he hinted could be added to the menu this summer. (ADD IT, CHEF!) The very valuable recipe sheet he distributed now will go in my collection along side my other very valuable chef-issued recipes.

This week’s question: What local restaurant recipe would you most like to have? I want the salad dressing from La Gallette, and now that we’re talking, Chef Whitcomb, I’d take the directions for those rock shrimp cigars, too.

Let me know what recipe you wish you had and we’ll see if we can pressure some chefs to share.

Answer in the comments section below.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Question of the week | Comments

Febres commits a Celeb & Chef Cookoff three-peat

June 13, 20125:03 p.m.

Tanya Tandoc, right, announces Taste & See's Jason Febres the winner of the cookoff.

As I stated earlier, the Celebrity & Chef Cookoff, a benefit for the Orpheum that happens each summer at the Corporate Hills Marriott, is one of the must fun fundraisers put on in Wichita.

I was a judge for last night’s event, along with Chef Tanya Tandoc and Beth Bower of the American Institute of Wine and Food, and our job was hard. We had to taste the dishes come up with on the spot in 45 minutes by eight teams of local chefs paired with well-known Wichitans, who worked as their sous chefs.

The experiment Febres conducted in these test tubes was a total success.

Though we didn’t want to be predictable, the dish prepared by Taste & See’s Chef Jason Febres was definitely the best. He’s already won the past two years, so we tried everything we could think of to talk ourselves out of giving him the title again. But we couldn’t. He created a four-course tasting that included a fried egg/scallop/bacon combo and a test tube gazpacho shooter. His flavors were all clean and fabulous.

We also loved the dishes prepared by The Petroleum Club’s Jake Lippincott, who along with partner Kelly Uran of Bank of the West, made a delectable salmon and scallop duo. And the dish by Kevin Derks of Newport Grill included some amazing fried potato and brussels sprouts shavings that I’d love to eat again. His partner was Splurge magazine publisher Jody Klein.

The event also included plentiful samples of dishes from restaurants all over Wichita, including Lotus Leaf Cafe & , The Anchor, Cero’s, Two Brothers BBQ and more.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Congressman Mike Pompeo, right, was paired with Marshall Roth, the executive chef of Treat America at Beech Activity Center.

Splurge magazine publisher Jody Klein, right, and her partner chef, Kevin Derks of Newport Grill, prepared another of our favorite dishes.

The judges: Tanya Tandoc, Beth Bower and me.

Bocconcini's chef Nathan Toubia with his partner, the WSU Foundation's Elizabeth King. The duo prepared a homemade ravioli.

Event emcees Dick Honeyman and his wife Bonnie Bing.

The Petroleum Club's Jake Lippincott, with his partner Kelly Uran, made a delicious salmon/scallop duo.

Tallgrass Country Club chef Ben George.

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

Next week’s Celeb & Chef Cookoff one of the fun fundraisers

June 4, 20124:13 p.m.

The 11th annual Celebrity & Chef Cookoff, a popular fundraising event for the Orpheum Theatre, is just a week away, and I’m pretty excited for this one.

I get to be a judge this year, which means I’ll help my co-judges, local chef Tanya Tandoc and AIWF’s Beth Bower, choose the best cuisine prepared by teams of Wichita celebrities paired with Wichita chefs. (Above, see a video I co-produced from the 2010 event.)

Over the course of the year, I visit several foodie fundraisers, and this one is among the most fun. It’s full of good drinks, good food and — best of all — the excitement of watching local chefs in action. The celeb/chef teams compete “Iron Chef” style to come up with the best dish on the spot. A secret ingredient is revealed at the beginning of the contest.

This year’s chefs include Nathan Toubia of Bocconcini Italian Eatery, Peter Moretti of the Wichita Marriott, Kevin Derks of Newport Grill, Ben George of Tallgrass Country Club, Jake Lippincott of The Petroleum Club, John Fitzthum of The Candle Club, Marshall Roth of Treat America at Beech Activity Center and defending champ Jason Febres of Taste and See.

Among the celebs who’ve agreed to help cook: U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo and Jody Horner, president of Cargill Meat Solutions. My bud Bonnie Bing will emcee.

The event, which also will include prize drawings and auctions, is scheduled for 6 p.m. next Tuesday, June 12, at the Wichita Marriott Hotel, 9100 E. Corporate Hills Drive. Tickets are $75 a person and available at the Orpheum’s website or by calling 316-263-0884.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Chefs, Fundraisers | Comments

Next week’s menu: Burgers, bottles and Bloody Marys

April 23, 20122:54 p.m.

A cool shot I grabbed of my girls and me at Saturday's Midwest Winefest. Can you tell which one is me? We're like the Charlie's Angels of wine.

I’ve just now, at 3 p.m. on Monday, recovered from Saturday night’s Winefest enough to tell you a little bit about some more adult beverage-based events coming up next week.

I didn’t get too crazy at the Winefest, mind you. But the trip across the street to hang out at the bar of AVI probably was the opposite of what my group needed. (Amiright, Ben Arnold?) At least we were on foot!

The Winefest is one of my favorite food and beverage events of the year, and I never fail to have a great time. One of the highlights of this year’s events for me: The Dillon’s Marketplace booth, which was set up with a whole array of fabulous cheeses from the fancy Dillon’s cheese case. I sampled Merlot-flavored cheese, espresso-flavored cheese and raspberry-flavored cheese. The table also offered piles and piles of shaved Parmesan, which is only one of my favorite things on earth to nibble with wine.

And only two tables away, one of the vendors was serving up samples of Kim Crawford, one of our favorite Sauvignon Blancs. At some point, the kind pourer at the table wondered if we had sampled it enough to have decided whether we liked it. Woops.

Two more fun food and beverage events are coming up soon.

One is called Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys and doubles as Botanica’s 25th Anniversary Kick-Off Party. The event will include a beer tasting by River City Brewery and a Bloody Mary competition among local bars and restaurants such as The Anchor, The Candle Club, Heroes, A.V.I., Newport Grill, Scotch & Sirloin and The Vagabond. The event also will feature food by The Flying Stove and music by Spirit of the Stairs. It’s at 6:30 p.m. on May 4, and tickets are $40 a person. Make your reservations here.

Chester’s Chophouse chef Bobby Lane is putting on a VinoBurger Cookbook tasting event at 6:30 p.m. on May 1. The event will be on Chester’s patio and is $40 a person. Lane will prepare two burgers of his own as well as two from the VinoBurger cookbook. The event includes five wine and four burger samples. RSVPs must be e-mailed to whitney@jacobliquor.com.

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

The Irish-est, eating-ist holiday ever

March 15, 20123:57 p.m.

If only my favorite Patrick was old enough to have an ID...

The interesting St. Paddy’s Day dining deals just keep rolling in this week. Just in the past couple of days, I’ve learned that IHOP is making a green spinach/egg concoction on Saturday, another zillion or so bars are cooking corned beef and cabbage, and Burger King is giving away free fries with green ketchup.

And I learned about this one today, which I love: From noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, anyone named Pat, Patrick, Patricia or Patty will qualify for a free appetizer at Newport Grill, 1900 N. Rock Road. That’s a good deal because Newport Grill has some great appetizers, including rock shrimp cigars. (A co-worker is crying name discrimination, but it’s all in good fun.) The Pats must show their IDs to participate.

Sadly, the only people I know who qualify are my favorite 4-year-old, Patrick, who doesn’t have an ID yet, and a lawyer I once hired, whose services I no longer need. Wait! There’s a nice lady in the advertising department. Maybe I’ll get her to take me. Or perhaps I can lure Patrick Dempsey into town.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , Filed under Holiday meals | Comments

Weekend of eating: Loaf Off, Palette to Palate

March 5, 201211:39 a.m.

Chef Don Lucero with his winning loaf, which he cooked in an angel food cake pan.

The amount of eating I did this weekend is shameful, but it was all in the name of charity. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself (and my scale) this morning.

It started Saturday with the Fourth Annual Loaf Off, a meatloaf competition that was a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Kansas. My co-judges and I sampled 15 different meatloaves prepared by both home cooks and restaurant chefs (Tallgrass Country Club’s Ben George and the Hyatt’s Paul Freimuth among them).

The competition was at The Anchor, 1109 E. Douglas, tasters crowded both sides of the bar so thoroughly, it was difficult to move around the bar. In the end, we could not resist the meatloaf prepared by Don Lucero, who’s the chef at Via Christi hospital on Harry and also happened to win last year’s competition. (Clearly, the man knows his meatloaf.)

My tray of samples. The winning loaf has the bright yellow mango on top, near the bottom left.

Lucero, whose recipe included ground chuck, veal and buffalo, Italian sausage AND bacon, also won the People’s Choice Award. Today, he told me that he’s stepping down as a competitor in next year’s competition (gotta give someone else a chance) and join the judges’ panel instead. He generously shared his recipe for this year’s loaf, which you can find at the bottom of this post.

After I’d digested all that loaf, I headed off Saturday evening to Palette to Palate, an art and wine auction at the Drury Plaza Broadview Hotel that’s a fundraiser for KETCH. The event is only in its second year but has grown exponentially and was one of the most fun parties I’ve attended in a while.

Bid! Bid! Bid! Bid!

The giant ballroom in the Broadview was positively packed with people, all sampling wine and appetizers prepared by restaurants such as Luca Italian Kitchen, Larkspur, Harvest Kitchen/Bar, Cero’s, Bocconcini, Newport Grill, Corporate Caterers and more. When they were all nice and fed and watered, attendees bid on art, lots of wine and other fabulous packages in a live auction. (A chance to tag along on a restaurant review with me was among the silent auction items, and I spent the evening hovering around the bid sheet, bullying people into bidding MORE MORE MORE MORE.)

Thankfully, my stomach gets a vacation until March 31, when I’ll be a judge at Death By Chocolate.

Here’s Chef Lucero’s meatloaf recipe, which could feed an army. My suggestion is you divide it by one fourth to make a batch at home.

Read More »

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Chefs, Fundraisers | Comments

Where to get your Lenten fish

Feb. 22, 201210:36 a.m.

Newport Grill in Bradley Fair

Even though Wichita is no where near an ocean, we still have some decent fish and seafood in town. We even have several restaurant’s whose No. 1 focus is fish.

Recently, I’ve heard from several Lenten observers who are asking for alternatives to Long John Silver’s. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Long John Silver’s, home of the fabulous hushpuppy.)

Here’s a list of ideas.

FINE FISH DINING: Wichita has two finer restaurants whose focus is fish: The upscale Newport Grill at 1900 N. Rock Road and the popular chain Bonefish Grill at 10250 E. 13th St. There’s also always Red Lobster, the reliable chain that has stores at 555 S. West St. and 333 S. Towne East Mall Drive:

FAST AND FRIED: Fish fans also can choose from less fancy fish places, many of which have a loyal local following. Fast fried fish is available at In And Out Fried Chicken & Fish at  447 N. St. Francis and Wichita Fish Company, 1601 W. Douglas, and Pirate Pete’s Seafood Restaurant, 1648 S. Rock Road.

SUSHI SPOTS: Wichita’s list of great sushi places keeps growing. Among the spots to consider sampling during Lent: Kanai at 12111 W. Maple, Hana Cafe at 325 N. Mead, Sumo at 11233 E. 13th St. and Wasabi, which has locations at 912 E. Douglas Ave. and 3242 N. Rock Road.

ALSO: River City Brewing Co. at 150 N. Mosley offers some of Wichita’s most popular fish and chips. Freddy’s Frozen Custard always offers fried fish sandwiches and fish and chips during Lent. And When Pigs Fly Bar-B-Que at 7011 W. Central will offer fish specials such as lemon pepper smoked salmon and BBQ tilapia tacos on Wednesdays and Fridays through April 6. And The Seafood Shop at 6470 E. Central Avenue sells not only fish and seafood to be cooked at home but also carryout fish lunches.

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