Jonathan Bender
Reporter
Jonathan Bender is a former KCPT Food Content Editor and the founder of the Recommended Daily. He is the author of "LEGO: A Love Story," "Cookies & Beer" and "Stock, Broth & Bowl." He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where has judged the American Royal World Series of BBQ, eaten sandwiches for a month, and pitched grain as a brewer’s assistant — all in pursuit of learning more about what Kansas Citians eat and drink.
Stories by Jonathan Bender
Artisan Chick Event & Other Weekend Possibilities
The Artisan Chick Event is Saturday (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at Crown Center. You can browse and shop handmade local goods and artisan food products (everything from brigadeiros to pickles), try a cookie and beer pairing, or sample spirits from Union Horse Distilling Co. and J. Rieger…
5 Surprising Ways You Can Get Your Coffee Fix
Coffee. It’s not just for cups any more. Restaurants and coffee shops are transforming the reason we get out of bed every morning into everything from dinner to the cocktails that follow dinner. We just don’t have new coffee shops (read our piece about Goat Hill Coffee & Soda, which recently opened on the Westside)…
Chapter 3 | Making Ends Meat
The popularity of burnt ends created an unusual problem for pitmasters in Kansas City. Even with a ready supply of briskets, there wasn’t enough of the ends of those briskets to make the menu item known as “burnt ends.” Briskets taper at both edges — it’s the thinner parts that get crusty and crispy and deliciously charred….
Weston Applefest & Other Weekend Possibilities
How do you like them apples? (#SorryNotSorry for that pun.) The 28th annual Weston Applefest is Saturday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Shop for handmade goods, watch a hay baler in action, or stuff yourself on apple butter, cider, or pie. Admission is $1. There’s beauty in watching…
Chapter 2 | Demand, The Myth, The Legend
Arthur Bryant’s has been luring folks, like James Beard Award-winning chef Colby Garrelts, to the counter for years with the siren call of smoke. Garrelts, the co-owner of Rye and Bluestem, has been coming to Bryant’s since he was a child, just like writer Calvin Trillin (who famously shined a light on burnt ends four…
KC Bier Co.’s Oktoberfest & Other Weekend Possibilities
Raise a stein or two this weekend at Kansas City Bier Company on Saturday and Sunday. Oktoberfest returns with dancing, a stein holding competition, a lederhosen competition, and the tapping of a Festbier. Make it an Oktoberfest weekend. The Lee’s Summit Oktoberfest is today (5 to 11 p.m.) and tomorrow (10 a.m. to 11 p.m.), while…
Chapter 1 | From Discard to Destiny
Kansas City is often called a melting pot of barbecue. The idea is that we’re willing to cook a lot of different meats, and that we’ve taken the time to understand how to do each one right (here’s a hint: it’s almost always low and slow). But Kansas City isn’t just an aggregator of barbecue,…
Corn Mazes & Other Weekend Possiblities
Corn is no longer just for eating. You’ve got your choice of a pair of area corn mazes to test your directional sense without Google Maps to help. The Liberty Corn Maze opened last weekend and has two side benefits: a beer garden and open fire s’mores. The Louisburg Cider Mill opens its pumpkin patch…
Burnt Legend, our New Digital Series, Will Make You Hungry
Kansas City is known for burnt ends, those charred, crispy bits of beef that are fatty and succulent and rich and… [sorry, we just had to leave the keyboard for the second, things were getting too steamy.] And Kansas Citians know that we’re known for burnt ends. It’s the first dish we tell visitors to…
Shatto’s Family Day at The Farm & Other Weekend Possibilities
Get to know a neighborhood cow at the Shatto Milk Company’s Family Day at the Farm (9406 N. Highway 33, Osborn, Missouri). The open house is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and features cheese-making demonstrations, hayrides, farm tours, milk samples and the chance to pet a baby calf. The event on the farm…