Another Go-Round at Blue Bird

I'm trying out a new thing with Napkins and I really want some feedback. So send some comments on this.

Basically, I realize that my posts can be long. And I don't mind that they are, because I like giving as much detail as possible. Whatever. You don't have to read it all. However, for those who would prefer a quicker read, I might start posts, now, with an at-a-glance overview. This review of Blue Bird will be my first shot at it. Let me know if you think I should make alterations.


Restaurant: Blue Bird Bistro
Location: 17th & Summit, KC, MO
What I Ate: Coffee, Biscuits and Buffalo Sausage Gravy
Food: Huge emphasis on local and organic ingredients is a plus. Menu could use some new options.
Service: Slightly better than average. Friendly, attentive, no mishaps.
Atmosphere: Relaxing and brimming with character. Superb.
Price: Reasonable given quality of ingredients
Rating: Two Napkins (rating from previous review: two napkins)

Full Review
The family was in town for Easter weekend and Elizabeth and I were charged with picking a brunch spot for Saturday morning. We knew we wanted to take them to a good local place, so we took a few places under consideration.

• Room 39: took them there recently 
• Bluestem: too pricey and upscale 
• You Say Tomato: too big of a group
• Succotash: scared of the tomato soup-eating painting on the wall
• Happy Gillis: took them there recently
• Eggtc.: too crowded
• reVerse: too "see and be seen"
• Bristol: didn't want to go to P&L
• Blue Bird Bistro: perfect

Blue Bird, with its emphasis on local ingredients and decently-sized breakfast/brunch menu was perfect for the occasion. Choose location: done.

I've reviewed Blue Bird before, so this is a "booster review", not a full-on assessment. Previously I rated Blue Bird two napkins. Would that change on this trip?

In short, no. It's worth every bit of those two napkins, but needs some menu  upgrades to go to the next echelon of mouth-dabbing napkindom. Here's the rundown:

The coffee at Blue Bird is done well - Roasterie Coffee. Cream is served in little metal kettles that fit the restaurant's throwback vibe nicely. If you take sugar, it's a high quality pure cane sugar (I don't, though, for the record).

Last time we went to Blue Bird for breakfast, I had eggs served in an out-of-season tomato which were a little lacking in flavor, so this time I went back to something I knew would be a hit - their biscuits and gravy with crumbled bison breakfast sausage added (only $6.40 for the full order plus an extra $2 for the meat). The biscuits aren't radically fluffy or over-the-top rich; they're just good, hand made biscuits with a nice crust on the outside and warm chewy center.

The gravy is heavenly - the perfect consistency, a balance of thick and creamy - and comes infused with mushrooms and herbs, giving it savory, almost earthy flavor. I love this depth. It's nice tasting more than cream, flour and black pepper which is what you often get with average B&G. The bison, then, lends some kick. A little more going on in  your mouth. Yes, it's got a hint of gaminess, but only in the best way. (Same goes for their terrific bison burger.) B&G with some originality yet all the things I love in the classic. Good stuff.

I also stole bites of my mom's green curry (can you tell I steal a lot of food from people who have the misfortune of going to restaurants with me?), which she asked for mild - unsure of whether she could handle its spice. What she was served was, indeed, mild. But it also lacked its signature green color, no doubt from the omission of much of the green curry paste. So, sadly, her first experience with green curry was not a very authentic one. It was mostly an experience with coconut milk. Her vegetables, including carrot, broccoli, roasted sliced potato and lots of onion were all crisp tender and nicely done, though she weeded out the onion - maybe a little too raw.

Elizabeth tried the black bean burger, which I will advise readers to avoid. Was it bad? No. But it's not a burger. It's a pile of black bean mash, which has a naturally starchy consistency to it, served on a bun. Too little contrast in textures and flavors. I've made some black bean and even a chickpea burger once, and the recipes always call for citrus. I don't know why. Yes, it does add flavor, but it seems out of place. Lime stood out in BBB's BBB but I'd advise the use of bell pepper, kernels of corn, and small diced carrot and onion to liven up the patty. Oh, and make it more of a patty, not a cafeteria-style mush lump. Not great.

Her side of potato salad was creamy and delicious with lots of scallion - a great touch in potato salad (which I'm deciding right now I'll be making tonight).

My wonderful, smart, talented sister Christy, a CPA, Dallas resident, dog owner, church goer, world traveler and my culinary polar opposite (just not as adventurous with food choices), set her sights on the French toast (pictured below). "I always get French toast!" she beamed. So I watched her to pick up signs on how it may have compared to the thousands of other French toasts she's had in her life. When prodded, she said it was good, but I caught her spending a lot of time looking at the plates of others. Her toast was thick cut and looked delicious, but was served pretty plain - two "sticks" of toast with maple syrup on the side. No fruit or other accompaniment. Modestly sized. I think she found it quite average in the end.

Overall, the two napkin rating was affirmed. My B&G hit the spot and stands out among the many B&G memories I have. The rest of the table had average dishes. The service is still friendly. The atmosphere will always be a dream.

Rating: two napkins

Blue Bird Bistro: Just How I Like It

I live near the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City and if you’ve been familiar with the area over time, you know that it is steadily becoming overrun with chain retail and restaurants, devoid of character or originality. Any time this fact gets me down, my thoughts begin to turn toward certain areas surrounding Kansas City’s downtown district which, to me, are the sections keeping the soul of the city alive. (Note – the new P&L is NOT included in these sentiments. It’s as guilty as the Plaza for bringing chains into what otherwise could have been a unique Kansas City epicenter of business.) We need a new epicenter of Kansas City, a new bastion for our unique food and culture. And high atop one of its western hills, Blue Bird Bistro serves as a beacon of this current paradigm shift.

Okay, maybe that suit of armor is a skosh heavy for this Bird. But credit BBB for what it does represent so well: locally grown and organic foods prepared with pride and care.

Perched at the crest of the west downtown area on 17th and Summit, this quaint restaurant draws deeply from the history of the neighborhood around it, which dates back to the 1870’s. Filled with original Victorian homes, the area provides a perfect example of old Kansas City charm, not to mention a fantastic view of the Bartle Hall spires and crossroads district in the valley below. Blue Bird’s exterior carries the same old-world feel but stands out nicely with its brightly painted woodwork and corner location. You can’t miss it (and you’ll be glad you didn’t).

Seating is laid out in four equally pleasant areas. First, are four small two-seat tables with crisp white linens hugging the north and east walls of the brick exterior. With little traffic in the area, the outdoor seating is fantastic on a warm fall day. Just inside the yellow front door frame, is one of the main dining areas and the design and architecture-adept will immediately treasure its hexagonal tiled floors, vaulted pressed-tin ceiling, and antique trim and cabinetry housing art from local galleries. Filled with natural sunlight from the large front windows and doors, it is a wonderful place to wake the senses at breakfast or brunch hours. I call the bar a third seating area because unlike most restaurant bars, this one appears so welcoming one might actually enjoy dining there. The weathered stone table top is a beautiful aesthetic blend with the historic-feeling room. Soft lights on the shelves of alcohol create a transfixing visual backdrop. And with plenty of elbow room and service that’s neither intrusive nor neglecting, it’s far less formidable as a dining space than most bars. The fourth seating area is a more formal dining room at the far west end of the property. With no wall cabinetry or notable décor, the tight grid of elegant tables amid exposed brick walls creates an intelligently engineered sense of formality which helps justify some of the menu’s weightier selections, e.g., Bison Tournedos for $32 or the cheddar, chevre, colby Ravioli for 25. Regardless of your mental or emotoinal state upon arriving, there is a seating area that will envelop your mood perfectly.

With such high marks for décor and ambience, I had to make a concerted effort to focus on the taste and preparation of the food while dining, lest I sophomorically bestow BBB with an A++. My first entrée experience was like a good first kiss – sweet, spicy, memorable and had me coming back for more. Analogy aside, we’re talking about a scrumptious green curry here. Since the farm fresh ingredients are all locally grown, I can’t say much for its ethnic authenticity, but the tender Yukon gold potatoes, snappy carrots, crunchy onions and succulent mushrooms are right at home in the mild sweet curry sauce and bed of jasmine rice. To me, this curry has a dangerously inviting blend of all the things I love in a light, refreshing meal – spice, sweetness, salt, vegetables and starch. If you’re a carnivore, look elsewhere on the menu. This curry is actually vegan fare and if I could have it every day the rest of my life I’d gladly become one.

My second entrée choice, however, was decidedly UNvegan. In fact, bison meat is an extremely dark red meat. I’d heard a hundred and one times that bison was a lean alternative to beef, but given my unchanging genetic predisposition to stick figure proportions, that factoid had little bearing on my decision to try it. My foray into “the other red meat” was meant as a discovery of taste and texture alone, and I was pleased with what I found on the adventure. The bison was very tender and juicy (despite my special request that it be cooked to medium-well as opposed to the waiter’s recommendation of med-rare). You ask about the gaminess? Not bad. Really, not bad. It does have a unique flavor and one might call it gamey, but if gamey is the right word, it shouldn’t necessarily be understood as a bad quality. I found the flavor quite pleasant as did my skeptical companion. It carries the same qualities we love in a beef hamburger. It’s meat. It’s protein. It doesn’t taste like a foreign creature, it tastes familiar and satisfying. Also, go for the local white cheddar cheese on top. It comes nicely melted and brings a wonderful flavor to the burger.

Condiments did not come with the bison burger but were offered up by the waiter. I asked for them and was brought house-made ketchup and whole grain mustard. Impressive as they were, I will leave them off next time and consume the burger with the bison, cheese, lettuce and tomato only, as the bison meat’s flavor belongs as the focus. Organic potato chips were served as a side and even though they were entirely forgettable, at $9 this burger was a bright spot on the menu that will no doubt have me coming back, even on nights when I don’t feel like spending much of money.

At this time I have not yet tried any of Blue Bird’s desserts, which leaves me with good excuse to go back for another “review”, however, as I conclude, I’ll mention the wine list. Often, wine lists in this city suffer from collections of over-exposed grocery store mega labels (Cavit, Woodbridge, Ravenswood, etc.). Blue Bird’s wine list is a natural extension of its menu with diverse selections from all over the globe, including even some rare organic choices (and none of which can be purchased at Price Chopper).

As we who cherish all that is original to Kansas City struggle against the harrowing infestation of chain restaurants and retails stores, and as our suburban areas expand like the city’s metaphorical waistband, Blue Bird Bistro serves as an important culinary refuge. Its hilltop location is a foodie’s fortress and I know I’ll go back often to ensure it remains the important stronghold that it is, while benefitting from the sustenance it provides.

Rating - 2 Napkins