Bluestem: Kansas City Part 2
Oct 10, 2007 restaurants, reviews
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So a few months after my culinary awakening at The Stolen Grill my girlfriend at the time and I cruised across the state one afternoon, ate dinner, and cruised on back. Somehow I don’t think she was terribly impressed with this idea, and I’m pretty sure she thought I was just plain nuts. She was wrong though, it was worth every mile.
Several years and a new girlfriend (now wife) later, Ellie and I have discussed a few times whether I would feel as strongly about The Stolen Grill’s food if I ate there today. I honestly don’t know. The memory is clouded with romance so strong that while I’d love to say yes, the reality is probably that it was a long time ago, and some of the memories have been overshadowed by other great meals all across the country.
September 28 was our anniversary. Being our fifth, we had the lofty initial hope of going to Napa Valley since it was a bit of a milestone and we had honeymooned there. As it often does, life got in the way and the plan never quite came together. With a new job and unforeseen car repairs we instead decided on a one night trip to our Western rival, Kansas City, to eat one meal. Ellie did not think I was nuts and in fact, she thought it was a great idea.
I’d spent two years salivating over the thought of going to Kansas City for one meal since reading about Colby Garrelts and his restaurant Bluestem in the 2005 Best New Chefs edition of Food & Wine. I was shocked to see a winner from Missouri and knew I had to eat there after reading just one quote: “Then I got a job at a place called the Stolen Grill”.
We got to our hotel way earlier than needed, and with the restaurant only a few miles away, and time to kill, we decided to make sure we knew where it was so that we might, for once, be early. Venturing down Westport on foot and looking at the various shops the area seemed way to familiar and I made some crack about Bluestem being in the same spot as the Stolen Grill. As we approached the top of the hill, it became clear — it seriously was. I couldn’t possibly have been looking more forward to our meal at this point.
Bluestem has very limited seatings and upon arriving they sat us immediately. Unfortunately there was only one table left and it was somewhat in a corner. True gentleman that I am, I gave Ellie the seat facing the room. She’s a great wife though, and traded with me knowing that it would disappoint me to face a wall as I’d been looking so forward to this meal. You should know, that I’m a beautiful man, and she obviously wanted nothing more than to stare longingly into my eyes — plus of course the fact I complained and she didn’t want to listen to me.
With musical chairs out of the way our waiter greeted us. He and the entire staff were awesome. Throughout the meal they were graceful and attentive; always there when you needed something, but never overbearing. I rarely have questions about a menu, but when I do, they’re generally in reference to ingredients I’m unfamiliar with. Often they leave waiters stumbling for answers because I’ve pinpointed the strangest items on their menu. Tonight’s questions: What is bagna cauda, kalamansi and merluza were each answered eloquently and with terrific detail. Clearly well trained, the servers had obviously been given the opportunity to try each dish in order to better describe them.
The menu at Bluestem is such that on a weekend, besides being able to have anything on the menu a la carte, you can also opt for three courses for $55, five for $65 or 7 for $75. You make the choices yourself picking a combination of items between the left side of the menu (appetizers), and the right side (entrees). We were informed portions would be altered based upon the choice made. Wine pairings for each are $25, $35, and $45 respectively. Monday through Thursday there is also the opportunity to have 12 courses for $100 which they describe as a “Spontaneous Collection From the Chef.”
Ellie and I love menus like this. Rather than being unnecessarily weighed down by one item, restaurants serving small portions allow diners the opportunity to try several items to better see and taste the full range of what a kitchen has to offer. When we were in New York for instance, we ate at a restaurant called Degustation where we literally ended up eating over 80% of their menu.
I will warn you now to brace yourself because this post is ridiculously long. We chose seven courses (4 from the left, 2 from the right, and one dessert) and I will do my best to describe everything in as much detail as I can recall after the jump.
For those of you pressed for time, here is a copy of the menu from 2007.09.28. For the rest of you, get your jump on.
Tags: Bluestem, Colby Garrelts, Kansas-City, MO, Stolen Grill
