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
Today’s Special | The Hemingway Daiquiri
Before Ernest Hemingway was Ernest Hemingway, he was just a young reporter for the Kansas City Star. In 1918, a teenage Hemingway worked a beat that included Union Station and the downtown police station. His time at the daily paper would prove formative, not just in terms of his writing, but for his palate. As current…
The potential of a bean, of a business
You could call the space at 645 E 59th Street a business percolator. It’s here, a few doors down from Chai Shai, in the low-slung Brookside strip center with echoes of a Swiss chalet, that Pirate’s Bone Coffee and Café Noble, a pair of fledgling businesses, are looking to find their sea legs. On a…
Today’s Special | Pork Tenderloin Sliders
It’s not the size of a sandwich that makes it great. There are two-handers and hoagies and superheroes and sammitches with far more meat and heft than The Rieger’s pork tenderloin sliders. There are pork tenderloins that hang precariously over the bun and others that appear to have come from pigs of prehistoric stature. But…
Eat Your (Royals) Heart Out
It’s all blue in Kansas City right now. Folks have donned shirts and hats to tell the world that they’re ready to see the Kansas City Royals take the crown. We don’t have an ocean, but we’re a sea of blue. Since the quickest way to your heart is through your stomach, we set out…
Today’s Special | Boulevard’s Beer Backpacks
This story of craft beer and baseball begins on Opening Day three years ago at Kauffman Stadium. Neil Witte, a training and technical support manager with the Boulevard Brewing Company, made his way through the parking lot as tailgaiting Kansas City Royals fans hoped that the fat grey clouds overhead didn’t put on a damper…
Of beer, beans and cycling
David Smock knows that there is something brewing in North Kansas City. The owner of Dutchman Coffee Roasters just hopes it is his brew that fuels the local food boom. Dutchman began selling its beans and coffee at the North Kansas City Farmers Market this August and had a tap of cold brew coffee at…
Giving that moment of happy, GF-style
The remains lay open on the stainless steel table. The knife just a few inches from a deep cut that has split the victim down the middle. “This is what we do,” said Robin Knight, owner of Emily Kate’s Bakery, nodding her head toward Erin Brown and the flayed cinnamon roll on a white plate…
The variety of life with spice and pancakes
Six words changed Nick DeFeo Jr.’s life. He was in the middle of his route, delivering spices for R.L. Schreiber. It was one of dozens of stops — a luncheonette run by a wily old cook. Jerry’s Café, 1209 W 103rd Street, was the second go round for Jerry Naster, the cook who once made Jerry’s…
Doughnuts for grown-ups
Jake Randall straddles a groove in the concrete floor of the future home of Doughnut Lounge in Westport. He’s five months and two contractors into remodeling a former clothing shop. “I love Lamar’s and Fluffy Fresh and Hana’s (Donuts), but I want something outside the box,” Randall said of the concept slated to open later…
Get in, get your ramen, and get out
Despite its small size, Josh Eans knows that his latest venture comes with big expectations. He’s standing inside the 450-square-foot garage next to Happy Gillis Café & Hangout –the restaurant he owns with his wife Abbey-Jo Eans. A short hallway connects the luncheonette with the future home of the Columbus Park Ramen Shop. “We want…