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Have you heard about Sopranos Kitchen? It is a superb restaurant in St. Louis Park’s West End Shoppes and is essentially a neighbor of our CRAVE West End location.

On Tues. night they hosted a extremely unique event. They invited 2 dozen people in for a private, closed event for a Chef’s Tasting dinner. What makes the it unique is who they invited. After Sopranos opened they experienced some Internet unhappiness with their menu. The attendees of this event were the folks that left these reviews across 7 different websites on the internet.

I should hand it to Sopranos Kitchen. They not only read the feedback that was left for them, they really incorporated it into the continued development of their menu. As a result of this, last Q4 they rolled out a new menu with new pricing and on Tues., they invited these folk in for a closed event to taste a few of these items. They were also given one or two special off the menu selections made solely for them.

The guests arrived, were greeted, and seated in a beautiful personal dining room. A host thanked them for coming and explained the reason they were all there. They were being treated to the great meal they should actually have had the 1st time they came in. JP Samuelson (Executive Chef of Sopranos) talked to them about the new menu, the meal for the evening, and the way ahead for Sopranos Kitchen menu. They enjoyed a 5 course meal, house wine, and some of the best service they've ever experienced. JP personally made and plated every single plate.

As the guests filed out at the end they were all fast to thank Sopranos for the amazing evening. One or two people honored the Salmon as some of the best they've ever eaten. Most commented it was a shining example of top notch consumer service. The results were superb as a 6 folks went back online to leave great reviews for Sopranos for their attempts to regain advocacy.

So kudos to Sopranos Kitchen for getting it rightfood, hospitality and particularly the consumer service!

Tom McLeod has a love of restaurants and has many great articles featuring varied restaurants, food, and reviews. These include great events hosted for foodies.

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Pasta salad recipes are really easy to prepare. They need little time plus they can provide the optimum mixture of vitamins and minerals for a wholesome, well-balanced diet regime. Despite the fact that white pasta are much more extensively accessible and in higher range, it can be best to get wholegrain pasta for your food. White pasta possess a reduced dietary value, and predispose to chubby, diabetic issues and bowel irregularity. This type of meals can be offered cold or warm based on the recipe. A few salads work both methods, yet make sure you test the recommendations in the recipe to offer it properly.

Here are some of the most favored pasta salad recipes that you can find in on-line reviews as well as on cooking web sites:

-chicken pasta salad;

-chicken tortellini salad;

-turkey raspberry mint salad;

-curried chicken salad;

-salmon/tuna pasta salad;

-cabbage tortellini salad;

-ravioli salad;

-pasta broccoli bacon salad and many others.

The list of pasta salad recipes is unquestionably much longer so you can surely identify tops of this hottest pasta salads which differ from the one previously mentioned. Preferences and tastes change a great deal. A lot of people desire much more standard elements for their food, whilst other individuals look for that exotic taste in their meals. It can be usually best to choose the pasta salad recipes which match for the complete family’s flavor.

Numerous of your pasta salad recipes which constantly seem on the web symbolize the personal contribution of community members. Pretty much everybody improvises in the cooking area, offering a unique touch to an otherwise widespread salad dish. Constantly improving the menu symbolizes one of this sweetest points to do for a lot of households. However, not everybody is fond of cooking, or a lot of people just lack the time to invest in cooking. There is certainly no crime or disgrace to this.

Even for such situations pasta salad recipes work fine since they take very little time to prepare and need a minimal work. Wholegrain pasta are outstanding for youngsters, people who undergo a great deal of bodily and psychological anxiety, for the people looking to shed fat or retain fitness and also for the diet-conscious who need to stick to a healthful lifestyle.

You can purchase a guide with pasta salad recipes to have at hand any time you would like. You get some such recipes with complicated fat loss and health and fitness applications. They can be also down loaded and printed from on-line web sites. Some cooking lovers may also go to the extent of buying a food preparation software to have quick access to some wide quantity of recipes as well as get buying lists for that planned foods.

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Technorati Tags: chef, cooking, cooking lessons, food, hobbies, home, home cooking, Italian Food, learn to cook, recipes

There are lots of good things about choosing Italian food. The cuisine is actually notable for its simplicity for ingredients, with commonly between four and eight ingredients for each dish. Italian restaurant menus will certainly carry many areas’ meals and also the usual menu will hold as much as about 50 dishes.

Italian food got its influence from many parts of Europe and may trace its roots to way back to 400BC. It really is known for its simplicity in preparation and also the dynamics of its cooking, which often derives from grandmas instead of cook books. Due to this, it’s perfect for your home cooking. Several popular regional meals are now acknowledged nationally at Italian restaurant menus, like cheese and wine, and coffee has become essential as well.

Italian food provides a wonderful selection of ingredients, varying from fruit and nuts to fish, olive oil and meats such as salami as well as ham. The ingredients utilized are typically quite simple, along with the cook depending on the standard of the ingredients rather than the difficulty of the dish. Italian cuisine is well known due to its distinctive variety of pasta dishes. There are lots of types of pasta to be found in Italian restaurant menu, which range from noodles of varying length to shapes and colored pastas.

There exists a great diversity of meals readily available throughout the regions. Chocolate is known as a favorite of Turin, having its specially shaped chocolates. Pizza is also a favorite, with authentic pizza being an easy task to prepare and with sparse ingredients. Meals are taken very seriously at Italy, with a wide range of kinds of restaurants available. These include the Agriturismo, which is a farm that serves meals and houses people. Typically, only guests may eat here. Additionally, there are bars or cafes which are proud of their specialty coffee, soft drinks, juice and alcohol. They’re usually open from 6am to about 10pm and in some cases, offer snack foods with the drinks too.

Then there is Birreria, the bar that offers beer in Northern Italy. Frasca or Locanda are wineries that provide wines throughout the day. Gelateria are ice cream parlors where one can visit get an ice cream or cone. A Pizzeria is the place you can visit to get a pizza during the day or evening. The pizzas are usually prepared in a wood fired pizza oven, a specialty in Italy. A Ristorante is actually an upscale establishment which accommodates high-end eaters and has a complete Italian restaurant menu. A Spaghetteria provides pasta dishes throughout the day. The range and quality of the meals to be found in Italy helps it to be one of the most desired places to eat on this planet.

Want to find out more about Italian food, then visit Duncan Byers’s site on how to choose the best Italian restaurant menu for your needs.

Technorati Tags: Italian Food, Italian restaurant menu

I have been on the hunt forever slow cooker quality recipes for a lengthy time, and I can’t seem to find everything which I prefer. I guess it is because I am very picky regarding what I like to eat, and a lot of of the excellent recipes which I encounter possess something in them that I merely can’t stomach. I am still searching though, and I hope to conjure up at least ten of them that are seriously good and actually easy to flip together. Students have simply days when I comprehend I have many function to do and I may a little shell out my free time with my small female compared to by cooking a meal.

Slow cooker recipes are everywhere, and you can find them with a simple search online. The most common type are recipes for stew, but they all seem to have the same ingredients. The problem that I have is that I do not like cooked onions, and if a recipe calls for them, I won’t make it. My husband thinks I’m being silly, but I just can’t eat them. I like them raw on a burger or hotdog, but I cannot stand to have them in slow cooker recipes. Unfortunately, this cuts down my options quite substantially. You may not be as picky as I am, and if that is the case, you should have no problem finding slow cooker recipes that you will love to make for your family. For the most part, you simply add the ingredients to your cooker, turn it on and let it go all day. You shouldn’t even have to stir it. You can even find great slow cooker recipes in your local grocery store. They have kits that are already put together and you usually find them in the freezer section. All you have to do is dump the contents into your crock-pot and turn it on. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

I may end up getting to come across slow cooker quality recipes that I can alter. However doing so may spend doing, I’m sure there is something I can do. I am not a chef, but I do comprehend how to experiment, also if it implies ordering pizza a couple of nights when a few of my creations possess not labored out prefer I had hoped they did. In the mean time, I carry on to search for slow cooker excellent recipes which might be able to be used, and probably try a few from the grocery store.

But, life sometimes seems to be too short on time. Our lives are so rushed in the modern world, you sometimes don’t know if you’re coming or going. You rise early in the morning, get coffee and maybe a hurried breakfast. Get the kids off to school and then you’re off to work. By the time you get home, you may have little starch left in you to whip up a gourmet dinner for the family. You want to serve something tasty and nutritious, but you just don’t have the time to spend hours in the kitchen. Your budget probably doesn’t allow for take-out every night. So what can you do?

Here are a few secrets of the savvy cook, allowing you to put together a quick dinner recipe, from inception to the table in less than half an hour and even without a recipe!

The quick dinner recipe is at your fingertips, so long as your pantry is properly stocked.

A properly stocked pantry includes a selection of pasta, rice and potatoes, canned, fresh or frozen vegetables, chicken or beef bouillon, leftover or fresh meat and a handful of herbs and spices. With just these provisions, you’ve got a quick dinner recipe waiting to happen.

The basic ingredients of a one-dish quick dinner recipe are found in a selection from the basic food groups. Grains and pasta are the foundation of many a quick dinner recipe. All you need to add are vegetables, a bit of meat, a tasty sauce and seasonings to make a dish your family will enjoy and that doesn’t take all night. You know what foods your family enjoys. Your dish needn’t be complicated to be a success. Knowing how to make a sauce will ensure a gourmet touch to simple ingredients, earning you a reputation of a “good cook”. The French roux is a case in point. Melt one half cup of butter in a saucepan at low heat. When the butter is melted, add an equal amount of flour to the melted butter, stirring with a wire whisk until the mixture thickens. Add some bouillon, whisking all the time. If cheese goes well with the taste of your concoction, grate some in to your sauce. Add your vegetables, meat and seasonings and voila! You’ve got your own culinary creation, a quick dinner recipe, sure to please. All you need to round out the dinner is some garlic bread or fresh dinner rolls.

All people’s glad and you’re the hero or heroine of the quick evening meal recipe. Merely stock up on pantry basics, use the creativeness and mix it up. You’ll find it’s rather easy to be a quick evening meal formula expert!

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The world wide web has 1000s of websites focused on pasta cooking recipes. Despite the fact that particular to Mediterranean Italian cuisine within the majority of situations, pastas have entered international gastronomy specifications, being appreciated globally. It suffices to mention spaghetti, gnocchi, lasagna, fusili, penne and noodles, because everybody knows them. Noodles and rice pasta will also be popular in Chinese and South-Eastern cuisine. The cooking distinctions are usually discovered within the dressing, as well as within the some other principal elements.

Pasta cooking recipes vary a whole lot based on the sort of dish you need to get ready. Typically, pasta take much less time for you to prepare, but, that’s not correct for many recipes. Salads, for instance, are always simpler to get ready and you can find a lot of pasta salads recipes. With a Mexican-mix, seafood, green beans, mushrooms and olives, chicken breast, tuna fish or tomatoes, cheese and hot sauce, pasta salads are all set in 15 or twenty minutes at the greatest, and they make a fantastic dish for the total household. You could be vegan or meat eater, it doesn’t matter. Pasta cooking recipes offer this type of a variety of choices that you simply are unable to get tired of these.

Wholegrain or white pasta? This is actually the variety of problem that people usually forget about to inquire on their own. The general opinion is that pasta certainly are a great supply of energy (body fuel) because of their high carbohydrate content. Nevertheless, but, this really is only partly accurate. Pasta produced from white flour are not specifically balanced. White flour is considered accountable for bowel problems, ibs, overweight, diabetes and a lot of other health difficulty. Which suggests that for men and women on dietary limits due to chronic illness, pasta cooking recipes don’t make a viable option.

Therefore, for healthful nourishing pasta cooking recipes, you should decide on wholegrain pasta. They’ve got a slightly longer cooking time nonetheless they present no health dangers in any respect. Quite the contrary! Wholegrain pasta are very good for digestive system and weight reduction simply because they have a high amount of fiber. Considering that the flour utilized for this type of pasta is much less refined industrially, a lot more vitamins and minerals (such as minerals and digestive enzymes) remain in the pastas. This tends to make wholegrain pasta cooking recipes excellent for nutrition-concerned men and women.

Bodybuilders as well as men and women following a weight reduction diet plan can pick from your numerous pasta cooking recipes those that satisfy their dietary specifications and taste choices. The sole mention here remains that of employing wholegrain pasta rather than white-colored pasta.

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Technorati Tags: cooking, family, home, Italian Food, kitchen, pasta, pasta recipes, recipes

It has turn into rather a trend for women, mother and children or groups of friends to just take Italian cooking courses on holiday. It can be a type of vacation that attracts any kind of United states: an opportunity to see one of Europe’s most ancient cradles of civilization and study the secrets of a dishes of predominant Mediterranean affects. Italian cooking courses are prepared by different organizations. The trip packages are sometimes set together by travel agencies together with restaurant chefs, artisan cheese manufacturers or maybe wine producers.

If you arrange a month-long trip or perhaps a full summertime plan apart from property, then, going to areas may not be enough. Lots of men and women decide on Italian cooking courses for the benefit of mastering things that would otherwise be inaccessible to these because of the too active schedule. You will find day courses, longer programs which include lodging and foods or excursions which incorporate cooking lessons. You might be a cook or perhaps a cooking fanatic that wishes to learn authentic recipes and food types from the resource.

Italian cooking courses will introduce you to the main ingredients of Italian cuisine. Extra virgin olive oil, natural herbs, cheese varieties, zucchini and cherry tomatoes, pepper varieties and seafood, you may anticipate to learn regarding these all. A few cooking lessons concentrate on the specific form of dish only such as making pasta or pizza. Other people are focused on favourite Italian desserts like tiramisu or pana cotta. It all depends about the uniqueness and also the level of the study course. The tourist should make a decision in advance about the kind of Italian cooking courses to comply with on trip.

Therefore, you can make plans just before your departure to ensure that everything is set for you personally when you go to location in sunny Italy. In the event you run a short search online, you will see that there are many offers for Italian cooking courses. Several of these are arranged by service providers in the United States Of America, whilst other people are Italian unbiased firms that provide worldwide touristic offers to individuals intrigued to study regarding the Italian culture as well as the strategies of this Mediterranean cuisine.

Check all of the facts, compare the deals and find out what exactly is more suited and hassle-free to suit your needs personal needs. If you buy a ready-made deal within the United States Of America, you will not need to bother about getting very good airfare and help to make bookings for the different stages of the trip; that may all be planned. You may create the itinerary your self too, but then you definitely need to just take care of everything from travel and accommodation to your choice of Italian cooking courses.

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Technorati Tags: chef, cooking, cooking lessons, food, hobbies, home, home cooking, Italian Food, learn to cook, recipes

Drinking espresso for many is just that, drinking. However, many believe that other than the drinking per se, an espresso drink should also have an espresso cup that will go along with it. This cup is accepted by many as an essential partner of coffee drinking and in many countries is considered as a form of artwork.

An espresso drink will not be the same if taken from a Styrofoam cup. Espresso should be taken from an espresso cup which looks like a miniature cup and holds at least two ounces or shots of espresso. Despite being smaller than the usual cups used by many, it is interesting to note that there is no standard size made for such cups.

Espresso cups are essential when drinking espresso drinks. These are used to hold a shot of espresso and at the same time ensure that it stays warm until the drink has been already consumed. Some models of these cups are designed with double walls in order to keep the espresso warmer for a longer period. Some are even pre heated and given hot water bath before being used. Other than these, many also prefer to use espresso cups when drinking as they feel that by doing do, coffee drinking becomes more enjoyable and attractive.

Many models and types of espresso cups are continued to be offered in the market following the increase in popularity of espresso drinks. One way of identifying these types is through the materials used to manufacture them. Among these different types, the three most popular includes, stainless steel, glass, and porcelain cups. Stainless steel cups are among fastest growing when it comes to popularity. Such type is loved by many due to the thermally insulated double wall it offers which allow the espresso to be warm longer. The second type is the glass cup which also offers double walls but at the same time is often hand blown and feature a chrome handle and lip. The last and the most common type used is the porcelain cup. Many prefer to use this over the two other types due to their thickness.

Among the many types of espresso cups, it is important that one chooses carefully which one to buy. Before buying, make sure to define or identify the size of the cups to be purchased. This will largely depend on the amount of espresso one can drink in one seating as well as on the amount of espresso one’s machine can process. The cups should also be within your budget. Going over budget is never a good thing to do. Do not also forget to check the handles and make sure that they can be handled comfortably when drinking. Finally, look at the design carefully and choose the one that matches your preference and style.

Stylist and functional espresso cups should go along a hot delicious brew of espresso. These cups are not only essential but can also make serving coffee to visitors and guests more enjoyable.

Charrie Ramos is a coffee lover from Germany. Among the different brews of coffee, Charrie’s favorite is espresso. As such, she not only has the best types of espresso machines available, she also collects different designer espresso cups or “espressotassen” as they call it in German.

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If you are looking to savor Italian cuisine that can easily be a challenge just looking for a restaurant that is equally authentic as well as affordable. Italian casual dining and also cuisine is famous across the globe because of its diversity and richness. Quite a few recipes spanned generations which are ready utilizing a number of fresh ingredients. The majority of people’s knowledge of Italian dining is mostly restricted to dishes like pizza and some pastas including spaghetti Bolognese. Even so, there is actually a lot of diversity within the dishes too and because of Italy’s different local cuisines.

Whilst there are many restaurants claiming to replicate the casual dining experience of Italian cuisine, the vast majority of their food selection in fact includes greatly commercialized dishes that are a far cry from authentic Italian Food. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for an inexpensive Italian dining experience, there are numerous restaurant chains that can stay true to the food. Furthermore, another great way to experience the cuisine is via Italian food catering services.

Although a few Italian food catering restaurants offer featuring too, you will find that you can actually save on Italian featuring costs by looking for caterers that don’t possess a physical restaurant. This is because they’re not likely to end up renting a commercial space for which would usually account for high expenses. This is the great way to save on parties as well as events.

If you’re traveling around the country, you may find several good Italian restaurants stops that are able to offer light, but authentic Italian cuisine that’s perfect if you’re on the go. As the average Italian meal comprise of several courses, good Italian restaurants stops offer you budget meals at a fixed price, which can be perfect for those who find themselves trying to save. This is a smart way for the average person to experience fine Italian food without paying a premium for it.

One thing that prevents individuals from having the capacity to experience genuine Italian cuisine is definitely the misconception that it is either too expensive or too inaccessible. Nevertheless, Italian restaurants are plentiful across the country, and can range from the top end experience to the more reasonably priced restaurants for those on a budget. Furthermore, lots of contemporary dishes that people get their ideas come a lot of Italian recipes. With so numerous dishes both taken from Italian cuisine or even inspired because of it, it really is nearly impossible not to taste and experience it in one’s lifetime.

Learn more about casual dining. Stop by Graham Waller’s site where you can find out all about Italian dining and what it can do for you.

Technorati Tags: casual dining, Italian dining, Italian Food

If a non-Italian thinks of Italian food, two dishes come to mind: pasta and pizza. Making the dough for a pizza means some work, so the first meal that most people cook if they think to ‘cook Italian’, they try a pasta dish.

In spite of the fact that there are thousands of Italian pasta (and pizza) recipes, most non-Italians do not cook a dish that an Italian would recognize as Italian. In the rest of this article we will take a look at how to make these dishes more authentic without having to move home to southern Europe.

As this piece is about pasta dishes, we ought to begin with the pasta itself. Assuming that you want to use dry pasta and boil it, you should only purchase pasta that is made from durum wheat semolina flour. If you want whole wheat durum semolina flour, that is all right as well.

Do not be contented with a pasta merely because it has an Italian name. Check the ingredients. Once you have the pasta, inspect it.

Feel it, even look at it under a magnifying glass. It should be course and rough. When it swells up this roughness will cause the pasta to pick up more sauce than ’smooth’ pasta.

Durum semolina flour is course, rough and solid which is why it is used. It is not being used because it is less expensive, so do not let anyone tell you that pasta made from high quality bread flour is better. It most certainly is not.

Pasta is best consumed al dente according to Italians, which translates as ‘to the teeth’ or a bit chewy. Pasta made from most flours other than durum will not attain that quality, because it goes straight from hard to soft or over-cooked. You can easily recognize this low quality if the pasta collapses or breaks up.

When you have bought good pasta, you have to cook it well. Pasta is starchy and will give off starch, just like rice, so it should be boiled in a substantial pan with lots of water. Add salt after the water has boiled, if you have to and then add the pasta.

Buying the correct pasta is only half the battle, unless you only want to pour some olive oil on it or eat it with a salad.

Different pastas take various amounts of time to cook, but most cooks will have started the sauce long before cooking the pasta anyway.

However, if the sauce is very thick and the pasta water is not too salty, you can use some of it to water the sauce down before serving. This blends the flavours fairly well.

The sauce is also of local importance, but it contains tomatoes more often than not in the south and less so as you travel north, where it is cooler.

In the north a sauce to be served with pasta might contain more vegetables and oil than in the south or the pasta may be consumed in a salad.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on a variety of subjects, but is at present involved with Recipes to Lower Your High Blood Pressure. If you want to know more, go to our web site at Gourmet Recipes and Good Health.

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The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is celebrating its grand opening September 16. The Performing Arts Center is the latest development in the area between 16th and Pershing and Wyandotte and Cherry Street.

A short walk from the new Kauffman Center is one of my favorite places to explore: Webster House. What was once a public school has been turned into an antiques shop and restaurant that offers some of the best shopping and dining in Kansas City.

Stop by the restaurant for an early supper before a show at the Kauffman Center: I recommend the sauted salmon, Gruyere macaroni and cheese, and lightly battered and fried green beans. Or if you’d rather, drop in for dessert afterward. Webster House has the best caramel corn in town, and you simply have to try the apple crisp during apple season.

Downstairs in the shopping area, the jewelry collection is exquisite. I’m still beating myself up for not immediately buying the multistrand pearls anchored by a cobra-head clasp that was gone soon after I saw it, and you’d be hard pressed to find one-of-a-kind antiques alongside the cutest little baby booties ever made anywhere else.

Retail Therapy

For something a little more personal than baby booties, head over to Birdies, which stocks elegant lingerie, including beautiful bras in hard-to-find sizes. After all, Oprah has made sure we all know that most women are wearing the wrong bra size and type, and I personally can testify that wearing the correct size makes a huge difference in everything from how you look in your favorite dress to how you feel after a very long day. Fortunately, Birdies’ helpful saleswomen won’t let you walk out in anything that isn’t right for your body.

Once you have the proper foundation, it’s time to move onto what goes over it. Whether it’s a gown to wear to a Kauffman event or a casual outfit for bumming around town, you’ll be able to find it in this neighborhood.

The Gown Gallery offers special occasion attire including wedding dresses and attendants’ attire, tuxedos and special occasion dresses. Floor-to-ceiling windows in this second-story, corner space add to its elegance. Check the Web site for the dates and times of trunk shows; that’s when you often can get discounts on dresses that rarely go on sale.

A bit farther north is the base of operation for Tomboy Design Studio. Head designer and owner, Laura McGrew, creates custom and off-the-rack designs that are comfortable, flattering and stylish. Sewing every piece in her McGee Street studio, McGrew guarantees the quality and fit of her garments. Even better, you can walk out knowing your money is going to local talent instead of faceless corporations.

The Shoe Loft is the perfect store to find that pair of shoes to go with that new dress. There’s surely something you can’t live without among this relative newcomer’s dozens of pairs of stilettos. Even if you haven’t been able to stop by yet, you might have seen their woven, strappy wares paired with local designer Tonia Barksdale’s collection at the 18th Street Fashion Show earlier this summer.

Palate Pleasers

On the east side of the Crossroads, two of my favorite bars serve up cold beer, delicious food and hours of stellar people watching. Get your smart friends together to play Trivia Riot at The Brick on Friday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. The winning teams get cash; the losers get needled mercilessly by the regulars.

In addition to having the best thin-crust pizza and chicken wings in Kansas City, Grinders offers live music at Crossroads KC. This month’s concert lineup includes Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Butler Trio, Jonny Lang, Yonder Mountain String Band and TV on the Radio.

For something a bit more refined, hit Christopher Elbow Chocolates, where the chocolates are so beautiful it may seem a shame to eat them-at first. This notion is disabused the minute you place one in your mouth and realize your mother was right about a beautiful interior trumping what lies on the surface. Elbow’s genius lies in his ability to create works of art that taste spectacular.

A discussion of food in the Crossroads isn’t complete without mentioning Freight House Row. Situated along 22nd Street and backing up to Union Station’s train tracks, these restaurants represent some of the best of their individual genres: If you’re in the mood for barbeque, Fiorella’s Jack Stack can’t be beat. Italian? Head to Lidia’s, of course. Craving wiener schnitzel or tafelspitz? Make a reservation at Grnauer, no questions asked.

Art and Soul

But it’s the many art galleries that first drew crowds to the Crossroads. Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. The gallery represents local, national and international artists and is celebrated for building relationships between artists and collectors.

The other side of the tracks from the Crossroads Arts District is anything but the wrong side. Union Station alone holds almost 100 years of Kansas City history. Built in 1914 and renovated in 1999, you probably know it as home to Science City, Pierpont’s and Kansas City’s largest movie screen, The Extreme Screen. You might not know that it also houses the Irish Museum and Cultural Center, a planetarium, The City Stage Theatre (offering performances for children during the day and adults at night) and endless rotating exhibits.

Through August 7, ArtsKC is holding its fifth annual Art/Work Corporate Arts Festival in Union Station’s Grand Hall. The exhibition features artwork by Kansas Citians with regular day jobs who spend their nights creating art. I’ve been every year, and I’m always amazed at the talent displayed-some of the pieces are even for sale.

Something Old, Something New

Just across the street from Union Station is a new store owned by Kansas City home design diva Geri Higgins. Located in the historic Pershing Building, the Portfolio Flagship Store features a showroom that rivals those in larger markets like Chicago and LA. It has a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen, numerous display environments a retail store and a lovely terrace. The space also will be available to rent for private parties.

Up the hill, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial overlooks downtown. Restored at about the same time Union Station was renovated, I think this is one of Kansas City’s greatest sites. The exterior grounds are awe inspiring and the Memorial itself offers the best bird’s-eye view of Kansas City you can get, short of chartering an airplane to buzz the Country Club Plaza.

If you head to the museum before December, you’ll get in on “Man and Machine: The German Soldier in World War I.” This special exhibit tells the story of the war from the viewpoint of a German soldier and includes personal items that soldiers carried into battle with them. Like many of the permanent displays in this, the only official American museum dedicated to World War I, it offers new insight and an opportunity to go beyond what we think we know about world history.

Crowning Glory

Back down on Pershing Road, Crown Center has long been a destination for Kansas City visitors and residents. With its wide variety of shopping, restaurants and activities, it’s easy to see why. This time next year it will be home to a new, $15 million aquarium. But one of my favorite destinations is an old standby. I first went to Kaleidoscope when I was about 8 years old, and I still have detailed memories of placing my drawing of an orange cat into a giant machine where it was magically transformed into puzzle pieces.

Crown Center also is home to one of the best theaters in the country for young people-Coterie Theatre-which offers performances and classes for children and teens and occasional special shows for adults. This fall, don’t miss “The Outsiders” for teens, “Children of the Damned Corn” for adults and young adults and “Seussical” for families.

While Crown Center houses other theaters, including American Heartland and Off Center, you can have a dramatic dining experience there, as well. Don’t miss Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant, where your meal is delivered to your table by a model train. Kids in your party will leave with engineer hats; the adults, with bellies full of hamburgers and fries.

While d’Bronx offers delicious pizza and sandwiches (without the New York City attitude) and Taste of Philly serves up a delicious gyro, my very favorite place to eat in Crown Center is Milano.

One of the most underrated Italian restaurants in Kansas City, Milano’s beautiful, glass-enclosed dining area offers the perfect view of the Crown Center fountains. I love the pizza Margherita, chicken saltimbocca and eggplant parmesan. And Milano’s tiramisu is so good that I have, on two occasions, ordered an entire pan for a birthday party.

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