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
Tap List | Jelly Bean Beer & Nevertheless She Brewed
Since you occasionally eat in between drinking beers, this felt like a good time to visit with Bier Station’s new food menu. In addition to the beer bar’s regular fare of pretzels, wings and tacos, the Waldo spot has a hot chicken sandwich, bierocks (Heirloom Bakery brioche stuffed with beef, onion, red cabbage, and Swiss), a…
Pi Day, Burnt Ends Reuben & Other Weekend Possibilities
Here are the five words you’ve been longing to hear … corned beef burnt ends Reuben. The limited-run sandwich is back at Joe’s Kansas City on Thursdays in March and this Saturday, March 16. [FLEX-CONTENT] The U.S. Coffee Championships will be in Kansas City this weekend. The championships will crown the top barista, brewer, roaster…
Tap List | Green Beer, Snake Saturday & Not Lost Brewing’s Grand Opening
Feel like being a beer tourist? Not Lost Brewing (229 S. Main St., Ottawa, Kansas) is holding its grand opening on Saturday, March 16. The Kansas brewery, about an hour south of Kansas City, will be serving a kiwi sour, an IPA made with hops from the Kansas Hops Company (which is also in Ottawa),…
Not Quite a Hat Trick | Kansas City’s Two Seasons of Pro Hockey
Joe Lynch makes slow, easy circles on the Crown Center Ice Terrace testing the edge on his newly sharpened ice skates. A pair of sisters watch wide-eyed, waiting for help to tie the brown laces on their skates. I approach Lynch, an ice rink attendant, explaining that we might catch him in the background for a…
All The Pancakes, All The Coffee & Other Weekend Possibilities
I hope you’re drinking coffee right now, as we have a lot of coffee news to get through this week. Go get some. I’ll wait. Checks email. Signs up for Flatland’s newsletter. Follows Flatland on Twitter. Just kidding, I follow Flatland and you do, too. Got a cup? Good. Let’s go. Ever wonder how coffee…
Tap List | Pink Boots Society Brew Day & Flyover Beer Fest
Annie Davis, the cellar at Double Shift Brewing Co., isn’t trying to make a statement by wearing pink boots. The founder of the local chapter of the Pink Boots Society has a simple answer for her choice of footwear on a recent Thursday. “They’re comfortable,” she said. Kansas City didn’t have a Pink Boots Society —…
Boulevard Brewing Co. Thinks it Can Make a Splash With Craft Cocktails
The future of beer could be cocktails in a can. Boulevard Brewing Co. is getting into the ready-to-drink spirits business with Fling Craft Cocktails, which will launch its initial lineup of cans on Opening Day for the Royals, March 28, at Kauffman Stadium before hitting retail shelves later in April. “It’s a great time to…
Chicken & Waffles, Lime Daiquiris & Other Weekend Possibilities
The last eggs will be cracked at Cascone’s Grill (15 E. 5th St.) today. The long-time diner will close after more than 80 years in the River Market. Next up for the space, CitySceneKC reported that Anton Kotar, the owner of Anton’s Taproom on Main Street, will open Estelle’s Diner in the space. [FLEX-CONTENT] It’s a concept…
Tap List | 3 Trails Brewing Co. Debuts on Independence Square
Let’s call this one Eastward Expansion. 3 Trails Brewing Co. (111 N. Main St.) opened last Thursday on Independence Square at the corner of East Maple Avenue and North Main Street. [FLEX-CONTENT] This past Sunday, a dad bounced on a baby on one hip next to a group of women casually paying attention to the…
The ‘Mayor of Flavortown’ is Here, KC
Guy Fieri doesn’t just show up overnight in Kansas City, Missouri, park his red convertible and proceed to casually begin selling tacos. When Guy Fieri’s Dive & Taco Joint opens today in the Power & Light District it will have been — surprisingly for a chef-lebrity that covers everything in flames — a slow burn….