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
Tea Time, A Drinking Circus & Other Weekend Possibilities
Hummus and pita and baklava and oh, why are we not yet eating? Kinzi Mediterranean Cuisine is open at 5329 Johnson Drive in Mission, Kansas. Get gyros, falafel, kabobs or curry. Kinzi is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Genovese is now the 1856 Bar and Grill (941 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Kansas). The…
City Barrel Brewing Co. Looks to Get Hoppy on Holmes
Shrimp get a quick cure in sour beer at City Barrel Brewing Co. (1740 Holmes St.), which opens this Friday in the Crossroads. The sour beer ceviche is just one of the reasons — a wine-beer hybrid and brews based on Tiki drinks are among the others — that City Barrel is going to alter…
Tap List | Free State Brewing Company Celebrates 30 Years of Beer
Free State Brewing Co. celebrates with one tap for every year of its existence this Saturday when Bier Station puts 30 of the Lawrence-based brewery’s beers behind the bar. Free State, founded by Lawrence native Chuck Magerl in 1989, has been the standard-bearer for craft beer in the Sunflower State. It was the first brewery…
Party Like It’s 1860 & Other Weekend Possibilities
Do you long for a simpler time when butter was still churned by hand? The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Historic Farm site in Olathe, Kansas, is hosting a dinner ($49) straight out of the 1860s from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Staff in period garb will take you by stagecoach to the historic home and to…
CBD Oil is Kansas City’s Next Big Food and Drink Trend
Cream? Sugar? CBD oil? The Roasterie made a splash last month when it introduced cold brew coffee with CBD oil in cans through a partnership with American Shaman, a chain of local CBD shops. Hogshead, a new American restaurant on the Country Club Plaza, is set to unveil a CBD-infused cocktail menu this Friday. The…
Tap List | Taps on Main Opens & Plenty of Beer To Love
Legendary actor Bill Murray has a reputation for jumping behind the bar in cities across America and taking over drink-slinging duties. For those of us who are not Bill Murray, what if we could pull the tap handle and let the beer flow? Taps on Main (1715 Main St.) opened Monday at 11 a.m. The pour-your-own…
The Campground’s Gimlet Wants You To Play With Your Gin
True adventurers wrestle the essence of nature into a lowball glass and drink their victory. The Campground, the pocket bar that grew into an established love letter to the outdoors, opened in the West Bottoms this past December. “We got inspired by other people doing fun things,” co-owner Christopher Ciesiel said. “We just happened to…
Be Our Neighbor With A Cardigan-Inspired Beer & Other Weekend Possibilities
Slip on a cardigan sweater and meet your neighbors. Strange Days Brewing Co. (316 Oak St.) is hosting a watch party from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” — the documentary about the life and career of Fred Rogers. Strange Days will debut Hoppy Cardigan, its hop-laden pilsner at the event. Kansas…
A Priest, A Chef and a Hunger to Feed Kansas City
The first man I serve has sunburned skin and is wearing a ripped T-shirt. “How is today going?” I ask. “Not well,” he replies. I’m not sure how to reply. The man scratches at his side before pointing to baked chicken and roasted potatoes. I fill his plate, carry it to the register and tell…
Tap List | Transport Brewery Opens in Shawnee
The local craft brewery boom will make its way to the Kansas side this year. Transport Brewery (11113 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas) will hold its grand opening Friday at noon. Transport is the first of a new crop of breweries expected to open in the coming months. Servaes Brewing Co. is in the works a block…