#16 Kansas City Here I Come, September 25-27, 2009

#16 Kansas City Here I Come, September 25, 2009

Jack Stack BBQ came very highly recommended and it was a beautiful location. I had a combo BBQ plate which included Beef Ribs, Beef Rib Tips, Potato Salad and Fries. A feast so large and promising that no amount of Bugles along the way would have spoiled my appetite. Unfortunately the tips were tough and chewy, and the ribs were the same. I ended up eating it straight off the bone, since using a fork and knife just didn't work. Ribs are finger food anyway.

I was told my original picture for Jack Stack was kind of unpleasant for the food and myself, so I bow down to my loyal reader. Yet if you have the stomach for it you can click here.

Then I was off to a Kansas University football game. I wasn't concerned about KU football, or if they won or not, or even that Southern Miss gave a gallant effort and were barely beaten by a score of 35-28. I had side bets to win, like if a Southern Miss player would use the stationary bike to warm up or not. I circled the bike in question in the photo, and for the record #17 was addicted to it. He couldn't stop getting on the bike and I might have won a clean dollar and a quarter off it.















The Wing Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings. The challenge: 12 Blazin' wings (their hottest ones) in 6 minutes. Now one wing every thirty seconds doesn't sound too difficult, and I had practiced my technique with a salt shaker prior to this challenge. In the end, it wasn't the heat that hurt as much as the amount of chicken I was trying to quickly eat. Yes, I completed the challenge. Yes there is a picture of me in the restaurant's hall of fame (listed as Rocco Riz). Yes, I did win a T-Shirt. Yet, it was the pride and prestige of such an accomplishment that I will remember. I could see the envy (or pity) from those seated at tables near us. Man Vs. Food has nothing on me, and you can tell his happy self that I openly challenge him any day of the week.


Ahhh...the White Boy Uniform. I'm not sure if this is regional, and hopefully my faithful reader will let me know. I've noticed that every Caucasian person I know owns the following outfit: a horizontal stripe polo shirt worn over jeans. I tried to fit in as best I could in America's Heartland and even purchased my only pair of jeans (no I didn't own a pair of jeans prior to this) and a polo shirt for this trip. Although you couldn't tell, the whole "outfit" cost a total of $15 at Wal-Mart. Man, Ocean Pacific brand has certainly gone downhill since I was a kid.


Meet the Beef Brisket sandwich at Gate's BBQ, accompanied by three sauces (sweet, regular and spicy). This sandwich was amazing with perfectly tender meat and I couldn't even decide which sauce I liked best. Gates had none of the glitz nor glamour of Jack Stack, but it focused on the meat, and I recommend you know what you're ordering before you get in line. A waitress was kind enough to help me in line, and I was grateful. Gates was very good, but in all fairness, I didn't try the brisket at Jack Stack. I may need to return.



We even had time to catch a Royals game at Kaufman Stadium on Sunday. For maybe the only time all year, the stadium was actually sold out. So, we got some cheap standing room tickets where we stood in a beautiful standing section in the outfield surrounded by cascading waterfalls. It was a beautiful day in a great stadium, and we witnessed Zack Greinke pitch another gem (he deserves the AL Cy Young). Thanks but I'll stick to the river and the streams that I'm used to (I need to stop chasing waterfalls), go Cardinals in 2010! Is baseball still going this year?


Video of the Week: My man the ODB (Original Dream Boat). The Morton Pumpkin Festival was on my original schedule, but I had to cancel it. Luckily someone else was able to not only attend the festival, but record my favorite festival musician of all time. Enjoy yet another gem from Matt Barber with his trusty light show by his side. Please click the Matt Barber Experience for more info.

Ok, so this wasn't really a festival as much as it was a road trip. My thanks go out to Matt, Tim, and Nathan for their company and the laughs they provided. Although this wasn't planned as a ?Triple "F" (Festive Festival Festivities) trip, I noticed just how much food was involved in the trip. Thus I eventually decided to post it.

Kansas City is one of the Kingpins of the BBQ world, and I was surprised to see the old staple I had known as KC Masterpiece is now out of business. Now I had heard many a Kansas Citian(?) tell me about Jack Stack, Gates, Arthur Bryant's or Oklahoma Joe's as being the best BBQ I would ever eat. I will need to return for a more in depth review, but so far Gate's is definitely in the lead.

BBQ has a history as old as time as both a cooking method and as a type of food. If you don't want to take my word for it you can check out someone else that has done a lot more research than I have here. Or, you can check out this TIME magazine article, sorry but I wanted a link to a TIME article in the sad hopes of some future return link (yes I'm talking to you TIME). There is so much information on BBQ out there, but to be honest every real man out there has their own version of a secret sauce/rub. In fact if you meet a man that doesn't claim to be a great BBQ artist, I would suggest running away or discussing the latest fashion trends. But that is neither here nor there. I've always liked Steve Raichlen since I saw him on PBS. Now he can be a little too much at times, but he definitely knows what he is doing. In fact, he has his own BBQ University and that's fairly impressive within itself.

KC and Lawrence, Kansas were both fun due to the company and for the locale. I can't fight the feeling that I didn't eat enough in my travels in this trip, so Kansas City Here I Come again sometime soon.