Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels and chocolatier Christopher Elbow toast their latest collaboration: Chocolate Ale with Raspberry. (Photo: Jonathan Bender | Flatland)

Chocolate Ale with Raspberry? That’s Our Jam.

Christopher Elbow sells drinking chocolate year round, but nothing quite like what the Boulevard Brewing Company is slated to release next Tuesday, January 12. Chocolate Ale with Raspberry is a new iteration of the Chocolate Ale that Boulevard and the chocolatier have produced in collaboration four of the past five years. “Raspberry and chocolate is…

Making Buddhism Matter, in KC

“Come inside.” Lama Chuck Stanford is standing just inside Kansas City’s Rime Buddhist Center on a frosty Sunday morning in late December, urging the morning’s volunteer greeter to come in from the cold. She can welcome people once they come indoors, he says. It’s what other greeters do. As visitors arrive to the entryway of the…

The Kansas City Chiefs had much to celebrate during last weekend's win over the Oakland Raiders. The victory takes us to this weekend's playoff game in Texas. (Photo: Reed Hoffmann | AP)

The Weekender

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the Weekender’s last hurrah on Thursday. Starting next week, we’ll be appearing on Wednesday afternoon — just to give you a little extra head start on making plans. You’re welcome. This weekend is all about football. The red hot Chiefs are going for their first playoff win since the Clinton administration began, and the city is…

Kansas Woman Says Health Reform Law Helped Her Launch Business

A Lawrence businesswoman has become something of a poster child for the Affordable Care Act. Meg Heriford, owner of the Ladybird Diner, didn’t seek the spotlight but has been thrust into the role by former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius, who also served two terms as Kansas governor, still has a…

After 10 years showcasing local and national talent, the RecodBar closed on Saturday, Jan. 2. On Friday, Jan. 1, owners Steve Tulipana and Shawn Sherrill played with their band, Roman Numerals. Using four cameras, Flatland's John McGrath shot a music video of their performance of "The Rule of V".

Sympathetic Vibrations | RecordBar’s Last Song

Halfway through Making Movies’ farewell set at RecordBar on Saturday, lead singer/guitarist Enrique Chi quipped, “We’re trying to play long because we don’t want to leave this place.” Chi’s joke resonated with the sold-out crowd, and likely the larger Kansas City music community, that reluctantly bid farewell to the space that has housed an institution…

panelist makes a point at the forum

Forum Explores Conservative Route to Kansas Medicaid Expansion

If policy makers in deep-red Indiana can do it, so can their equally conservative counterparts in Kansas. That was the dominant – though not unanimously held – message at a Medicaid forum Tuesday at Johnson County Community College, where the topic was expanding the Kansas Medicaid program to cover as many as 150,000 additional Kansans….

Going whole hog toward sustainability?

A global effort is underway that may change the way we look at waste from farm animals. China, Brazil, Costa Rica, and India, along with others, are all developing new technologies that use biodigester systems that essentially convert cow and pig manure into clean, renewable energy. Here in the United States, Smithfield Foods, the largest…

Still from Original Fare - Tractor

Food-obsessed filmmaker returns to her Napoleon, Missouri origins

Kelly Cox hangs with chefs, hunters, moonshiners and other characters across the country, filming her original web series Original Fare presented by PBS Food. She’s traveled the world searching for stories that cut through the pretty packaging and buzzwords of the foodie movement to make a slice of American authenticity accessible to all. Last November Kelly returned to…

Portrait of Gerard Eisterhold inside his vinyard in Kansas City. He also own his own business, Eisterhold Associates Inc. (Photo: Jim Barcus)

Dual Personality

As a student in the early 1970s at the Kansas City Art Institute, Jerry Eisterhold found himself pondering wine in addition to graphic design. It was a brief phase, yet one that foretold the future. “I thought it would be a cool thing to be a wine aficionado,” Eisterhold remembers. “So I went down to…

Year’s End Brings Changes for KC’s Rime Buddhist Center

As the year ends, Lama Chuck Stanford is departing his role as leader of Rime Buddhist Center, and he made his final public appearance in that role early this morning, at the Center’s annual New Year’s Eve “World Peace Meditation.” [For much more on this story, see our multimedia update] Members of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, representing more…

2015 2015 Flatland Locator Icon over prairie

Review Meets Preview

The Preview: We hate to humblebrag, but Flatland has had a big year. Inside the Hale Center, we burned through a lot of coffee gearing up for our October relaunch, where we showed off our new look. But Flatland is more than a pretty face. We’ve also re-tooled our digital focus, finding new ways to bring you into the…

The Z-man combines smoked brisket, onion rings, smoked provolone, and barbecue sauce on a toasted egg bun. (Photos: Cole Blaise | Flatland)

Ranking Kansas City’s Food Scene: 2015

The burgeoning food and drink scene in Kansas City earned a lot of national press this past year. We thought we take a quick look back at some of the notable mentions for libations and gustatory delights (and, yes, there’s a mention of KC BBQ below too) in print and online publications. Folks can’t seem…

Samantha Fish with guitar

The Weekender: New Year’s Eve 2015 Edition

New Year’s Eve is a terrible, terrible holiday. Just ask Jennifer Lawrence. The star recently told British talk show host Graham Norton how much she hates the holiday. J. Law knows. New Year’s Eve, after all, celebrates nothing. Most holidays have a spiritual or historical significance. Not New Year’s. The entire holiday exists as a…

Music | Best of Local Shows and National Sounds

To say the hosts of The Bridge‘s Eight One Sixty music show, Sarah Bradshaw and Chris Haghirian, have heard some tunes this year would be a massive understatement. Here’s their actual statements on the year that was in music: Chris Haghirian: Top Ten Shows of 2015 6/27/2015 The Rolling Stones | Arrowhead Went into it with no expectations and…

Spotlight on the Spoken Word | Angela Roux

We’re taking a moment to recognize Kansas City’s wordsmiths. Taken from KCPT’s “Arts Upload,” which has amassed an impressive collection of local poets reading their own works, “Spotlight” gives Flatland a chance to catch up with the artists. We find out what they’re up to and get their take on what to watch in the local and national art scene. This week:…