Hot Dog Fix at a Moroccan Walk-Up

As the last days of summer pound us with their dry heat, I keep telling myself they should be appreciated, not despised, as I eagerly anticipate the coolness of fall.

Partly, that means enjoying summertime foods til they've run their course. Juicy tomatoes and peaches, corn on the cob and strawberries are magical this time of year, but to me, these are the final days of true   hot dog season! True, a hot dog is good just about anytime of year, but it never tastes quite as good as in the dusk of a late summer, when baseball and cold beer, too, are in their prime.



Looking for a cheap and quick lunch today, while I ran errands, I decided to stop by a little place on 39th whose black awning with "Chicago Dogs" printed on one side had been beckoning me for quite some time. I didn't know whether this place was a hot dog stand, sold ice cream cones (see the large plastic ice cream cone mounted above their entrance) or what. I'd never heard anyone say anything about it.

Come to find out today I was way off: it's Rock-n-Moroccan (also on facebook)!

This little shop is owned and run by Moroccan-born Amine Lamrani and serves up simple favorites, both familiar and Middle Eastern. Deli staples like a turkey club, reuben and roast beef sandwich are juxtaposed with the likes of gyros, zalouk and tabouleh. Not your style? There's a list of crepes available, both savory and sweet (like everyone's favorite - Nutella!).

And, of course, they have hot dogs. A basic hot dog runs just a buck fifty. Polish and smoked sausages are $3.50. A brat is a quarter more.

My selection, though, was the classic Chicago dog, which is a basic hot dog smothered in everything but the kitchen sink, namely: tomato, pickle relish, diced white onion, peppers, a dill pickle slice and plenty of French's yellow mustard. At a measly $2.75 this is a great buy, especially considering the hot dog was no weenie.

Judging by the salty, dark colored casing and equally dark coloration that penetrated the first few layers of internal meat, I'd say this frank had been slowly cooking on hot rollers in the r-n-m kitchen for a little while, which isn't a bad thing, but those rollers have made a bad name for themselves being pimped out as self-serve taquito warmers at QT.

It was a nice, thick beef hot dog off of which the myriad of toppings with cooler flavors and crunchier textures played nicely. Not only do I recommend this hot dog stand, I'm instantly obsessed with it. I'd imagine I'll be back there again and again, particularly if I'm alone for dinner or need a late night fix (open til 2:00 a.m. during the week, 3:00 a.m. on the weekends).

I'll reserve placing a rating on Rock-n-Moroccan until I've had a chance to sample the fare from the other categories of their menu, but as a hot dog purveyor alone, they're on the right track.

Cupcake Break!

Restaurant: Cupcakes a la Mode
Location: 1209 West 47th Street, KC MO
Food: Best cupcakes in town
Service: Friendly counter service

Atmosphere: Eclectic vibe - but the pink will give you a headache w/ prolonged exposure
Price: $3 plus tax for cupcakes
Rating: n/a



I'm not normally one for sweets in the middle of the day, but with my midday coffee, when we passed Cupcakes a la Mode on the way home, it was inevitable.

I've been here several times before. It's a good thing they're not open in the evening or else I'd come after dinner chronically (located within walking distance of my house).

The available selections are a combination of whimsical, unique and classic with selections such as the "Marshmallow Fondue", "PB&J" and "Raspberry Lemonade". Today we brought home two: the "Love Doctor", a chocolate cupcake with chocolate chunk strawberry buttercream and a chocolate-dipped strawberry on top, plus the "Stuffed French Toast" which is a vanilla cupcake topped with scrumptious maple cinnamon buttercream icing and with a decadent cream cheese icing.

If you don't have coffee on hand already, as I did, you can get a splendid coffee drink there, among other choices like Izze sodas. As sweet as they are, though, I recommend coffee or milk to wash it down.

Haute cupcakes and cupcake boutique shops have become a trendy thing as of late. I've not had many, as I like the savory things more than the sweet (e.g. charcuterie over cupcakes), but when comparing to Baby Cakes, located in the river market next to Harry's Country Club, I give the edge to Cupcakes a la Mode for the unique options on their menu that are truly delicious and for the unworldly texture of the cake in their cupcakes. Dense yet somehow fluffy, moist yet light, there's something special going on there that should be noticed.

They really are a treat.

New Tavern on Main: Jack Gage

In my previous post on Spin!, I mentioned that the East and West sides of Main street between 49th and 51st have become much improved of late, with several new bar and restaurants opening.

I popped into Jack Gage American Tavern at 5031 Main in the old Double Dragon location Wednesday night with my wife and her sister, Abby, to see what it was like inside and determine if we would want to go back to eat sometime.

Walking in, Jack Gage feels more like a restaurant than a bar. To the left are lots of tables and sturdy wood chairs. There are a couple TV's but not so many that it feels like a real sports bar. Lots of dark wood and dark colors... rich and inviting, but still felt pretty new. Carpeting is pretty dorky - kinda corporate feeling. Our seat by the front windows, next to the door were loud and a little cold, but when the weather is less frigid outside, I suspect it would have been quite comfortable.

The crown jewel of the tavern, though, and reason for its name, is the painted wood cutout that encases the bar. According to our server, it was purchased by the bar's owners from an auction, and was once the sign used when Jack Gage traveled town to town in England back in the early 1900's, promoting  boxing events. It's a neat touch that helps bring out the theme of the bar.

Framed photos of historic moments in boxing cover the rest of the walls in the restaurant and are a nice, classy touch, but I still felt like there was more that should have been done to carry through the theme of the restaurant. The cutout on the bar is so cool the rest of the dining room seems unfinished.

Surprisingly, there is a nice bar upstairs, as well, with more cozy seating. It wasn't being used that night but when I stumbled upon it on my way to the restaurant, I gasped... it looked like the perfect area for a little private party. Very cozy and private, but accommodating, too. I'm racking my brain for reasons to suggest using it for an upcoming event.

Unfortunately, the drink prices were a little high. At happy hour, we were still paying $3.50 for Boulevard drafts - not bad but you can do better on Blvd in this town - and import beers are $5.00 or more. It reminded me of another pub in town, O'Dowd's, which strikes me as equally overpriced. The beer and wine list were extensive, though, including the Boulevard Smokestack Series. I was impressed, but due to prices, I can't see this place turning into my favorite neighborhood bar (I'd rather be across the street at the Peanut, in fact).

Didn't eat anything but the menu looked pretty disappointing. Fried and fatty were the themes, true to most pub food but not special enough to get me to bite. The owner also owns Baja 600 on the Plaza, which stunts my optimism that there is much promise for improvement at Jack Gage (I've never had a great meal at Baja).

In the end, I don't see myself returning anytime soon unless I hear that the prices come down or the menu changes. The restaurant's ambiance wasn't special enough to overcome the sting to the wallet and there are better alternatives in the area. The food looked equally pricey and like a collective yawn. Let's see how long it lasts...


Rating: No Rating

Blue Good-o

Last Friday my team at work got to take the afternoon off for a fun outing. After a few beers and a severe beating in "fearsbie", as we called it, I returned home and took an uncharacteristic nap. When I woke up at 8:00, a couple hours later, I was completely discombobulated - wasn't sure if it was 8:00 am or pm. The only thing I really did know at the time was that I was hungry.

A light pizza sounded good, so we headed over to Brookside to try Blue Grotto for the first time. Walking in, I immediately felt the name's representation in the decor and atmosphere - dark colored walls with a high ceiling created a cavernous feel, though cozy at the same time.

After checking in at the hostess' stand in the middle of the restaurant (weird, but smart - gets you into the interior where you feel almost obligated to have a drink in your hand while you wait to be seated), we sat down at the long bar in comfortable chairs for a beer, but were immediately retrieved and shown to our seats before ordering.

I have a soft spot for multi-level dining rooms because I like a certain level of intimacy at restaurants. Houston's, upstairs at Lidia's and the second-floor at Blue Grotto, where we had a nice table for two, are some of my favorites. PF Chang's, where it feels like every person in the restaurant is staring at you all night, exemplifies my least favorite type of floor plan.

Forgot to take a picture of our salad, but that's probably a good thing for Blue Grotto. We went with the Greek, and the presentation bears a second-thought. Rather than chopped romaine, whole leaves are laid side-to-side and dressed with plenty of crumbled feta, a pile of red onion slices, a couple olives and cucumbers and a dressing that had more dill in it than any other I've had. It was good, but not befitting of the $9 price tag. The assembly of the romaine leaves gives the plate a very sparse, de-constructed look that says "lack of effort" more than "artful". I can't imagine the typical BG Brookside diner is pleased when this salad is set before them.

Our pizza, the "Funghi" selection, came topped with delicious, large chunks of roasted cremini mushrooms, "champagne marinated onions" (maybe), beautiful fresh mozzarella, tangy, savory fontina and a delicious san marzano sauce. Briefly I'll mention that the crust was nicely done and I enjoyed the pizza very much, but in an admittedly anticlimactic way, I'm going to cut the description and rating short here...

I'm going to find a way to conduct a city-wide pizza comparison in the near future. This might be done as a dinner party where everyone is in charge of bringing a pizza from one of KC's different artisinal pizzerias, or with a one-week tour of my own. Please feel free to leave comments suggesting how I should go about conducting this tasting/rating or different restaurants to be included, but here are the parameters I have already decided: only restaurants focused on pizza will be included. Lots of places have pizzas on the menu. Heck, even Kona Grill does. But I want to focus on the places that hang their hat on their pizzas, so those joints are out.

Completely Americanized or the "non-artisinal" places, I'll call them, won't be included either. So, the major chains like Papa John's and Dominos: no. And even the local places with similarly styled pies won't either: Minsky's. Look, I love all kinds of pizza, down to the greasiest, cheapest types imaginable. But pizza is a huge category and only a handful of pizzerias use fresh enough ingredients or a thoughtful enough approach to warrant a KC Napkins rating, so I'm setting my sights on what should be the best of the best.

A few of the places I know I'll include: Spin!, Blue Grotto and Pizza Bella. I need more recommendations so if you know of others that fit the criteria above, please, please let me know!

For chorizo fans, something hard to find on menus in KC, hit up El Rancho after a night of drinking for their chorizo torta. Hugely satisfying. (mobile post)