Wichita Eagle: Restaurants

AVI expands Wichita’s high-end dining options

Denise Neil — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:46 CST

It’s easy for Wichita locals to forget about hotel restaurants.

They’re hidden inside, usually with no exterior signage, and in-towners tend to think of them only when it’s holiday brunch time. As a result, gems like Harvest Kitchen/Bar inside the Hyatt don’t get the traffic they deserve.

AVI Seabar & Chophouse could help change that.

Make reservations now for Valentine’s meals

Denise Neil — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:20 CST

The calendar just flipped to February, so you might think it’s too soon to start planning your Valentine’s Day dinner.

Wrong.

The big day may be more than a week away, but chairs will fill up fast — especially at the several restaurants offering special, out-of-the-ordinary Valentine’s meals.

Luca offers upscale Italian dishes downtown

Denise Neil — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:09 CST

When the once-popular Uptown Bistro stopped working at 303 N. Mead in Old Town Square, owner Melad Stephan did what he does best: He shut down the ailing restaurant and replaced it with a new concept not widely available in Wichita — upscale Italian.

He brought in Aspen, Colo., chef Gianluca Sciagata, who created a menu stocked with refined Northern Italian dishes offered at the higher-end of the Wichita fine dining price scale.

So far, the restaurant has earned mixed reviews from its visitors, and on several visits, we found dishes to swoon about — but we also found issues to sigh about.

Chef Chat with James Butler

Denise Neil — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:36 CST

Chef James Butler’s resume is quite a read.

He’s worked in the oil fields, owned a metaphysical renaissance shop and served as a hatchet man for sandwich shop managers who were underperforming.

But his list of kitchen jobs — including his latest stint as head chef at Tommy’s Restaurant & Lounge — is even longer than his signature hair.

Wichita restaurants opening for business this year

Denise Neil — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:52 CST

The big restaurant story of 2012 in Wichita will no doubt be the much-anticipated arrival of two free-standing Chick-fil-A restaurants.

If you’re not a fan of fried chicken sandwiches and waffle fries, though, the new year will bring many other new restaurants along with it, including a couple of new pizza places, some Asian eateries and a couple of restaurant re-dos.

Here’s a run-down of what’s been announced. But as the year develops, so will the list.

Rich red sauce stars at Ciao Italian Kitchen

Denise Neil — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:16 CST

Ciao Italian Kitchen is one of the many new Italian restaurants that appeared on the Wichita dining scene in 2011.

It opened in October in a space that so far hasn’t worked for any other restaurant, including Piztro’s, an eastside location of Sabor and the wine bar Press.

Ciao might work in the space, though. So far, it’s giving Wichita a lot of what it likes, namely big portions of pretty good food served at reasonable prices.

Wichita’s dining year dished out some surprises

Denise Neil — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:01 CST

Wichita’s dining scene is rarely dull, but 2011 was a particularly juicy year.

Local restaurants provided foodies a year filled with exciting openings, surprising closings and happy birthdays.

Every few days, it seemed, another restaurant was changing chefs, changing locations or changing up its menu.

PizzaTaco no longer just a Pratt thing

Denise Neil — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:35 CST

A PizzaTaco is to Pratt what a NuWay burger is to Wichita.

Both are sort of strange and don’t make a whole lot of sense to outsiders. But both have been around so long, they’ve earned loyal devotion among the locals.

Now, Charlie’s PizzaTaco is attempting to make its invention – which is pizza in flavor and taco in shape – a local “thing” in Wichita, too.

The restaurants that will be open on Christmas Day

DENISE NEIL — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:33 CST

The list of restaurants open and serving on Christmas Day is always an eclectic mix of Asian restaurants, hotel buffets and sports bars.

We’re presenting this year’s always in-demand list a little early because if we waited until next Friday — Christmas Eve eve, — it’d be too late for many.

Following is the list of many of the restaurants welcoming diners on Dec. 25.

Restaurant gifts go beyond gift cards

Denise Neil — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:22 CST

Restaurant gift cards are always a safe choice for food lovers on your Christmas list. And now that so many Wichita-area restaurants are offering bonus cards to gift card purchasers, they’re often a profitable choice, too.

But they’re not the only choice.

Several local restaurants, cooks and chefs offer items that would make delicious gifts for foodies this Christmas. Following is a list of ideas.

El Agave offers Mexican fare to North Rock Road

Denise Neil — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:31 CST

El Agave follows the Wichita Mexican restaurant script pretty closely: Walk in, and you’ll find wooden tables with brightly painted carved chairs, giant plates of food drenched in white cheese and businesslike waiters who deliver orders to the table hot and quickly.

The script also requires food that’s just OK in most cases and pretty good in some, depending on whether the diner orders correctly. El Agave stays on script here, too.

First-time restaurant owner Luis Zabrano opened El Agave in October in the building at 3320 N. Rock that most recently housed Top China Buffet and Monterrey Mexican Grill before that.

WSU students rate ethnic eateries

Denise Neil — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:22 CST

A few weeks before Wichita State University professor Les Anderson died, he asked me to speak to his journalism class about restaurant writing.

He was excited about a project idea he had: He wanted his students to visit several ethnic restaurants in and around Wichita and write their impressions, testing out their abilities as restaurant reviewers. He hoped I could print some of their reviews in GO! or on Kansas.com.

Anderson collected the reviews, helped the students revise them, then e-mailed me file after file, photo after photo. The last e-mail he sent me, which I never had a chance to reply to, hopefully asked if I’d had a chance to look at his students’ work.

Thanksgiving offers plenty of options for dining out

Denise Neil — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:02 CST

Families who choose to observe a Thanksgiving Day tradition of not doing dishes have plenty of options this year.

Many local restaurants — from fine dining establishments to inexpensive family buffets — will be open on Thanksgiving Day and serving traditional foods.

Diners also have a new option this year: Newport Grill, the year-old seafood restaurant on Rock Road, is joining the Thanksgiving fray and serving plated meals with a choice of roasted turkey, beef tenderloin or grilled salmon.

Dine-and-donate events a win-win for charities, restaurants

Denise Neil — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:51 CST

A tasty local trend is resulting in a steady stream of cash for schools and nonprofits – and a steady stream of new customers for restaurants.

“Dine-and-donate” events, in which charities send traffic to a given restaurant on a given night and the restaurants donate a portion of the proceeds to the charity, are becoming more and more common in Wichita.

The setup is a win-win, say those who participate. The restaurants get exposure and big crowds on normally slow nights, and the charities get a decent payout for relatively little effort.

Holy land restaurant an exotic addition to downtown

Denise Neil — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:50 CDT

The restaurant space at 217 E. Douglas might as well have a revolving door for how often businesses come and go from it.

Just in the past decade, the space has housed La Shish, Reflection Park Cafe, Coli, Bamboo House, Thai Kitchen, Stang, DK Kitchen and Onyx Bistro.

Fans of Mediterranean food in Wichita are hoping that the latest tenant – Holy land Mediterranean Grill – will end the trend. The restaurant, which opened Sept. 1, features Mediterranean cuisine that’s a bit different from what’s offered at most local Mediterranean restaurants, which tend to focus on Lebanese-style fare. Holy land’s food has more Palestinian and Jordanian influences and features wood-grilled meats, exotic spices and lots and lots of garlic.

Come for the food, stay for the events at the Asian Festival

Denise Neil — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:46 CDT

Last year, Maggie Chan prepared 800 of her famous pot stickers filled with chicken, cabbage and Thai ginger for the annual Asian Festival at Century II.

They were gone in an hour and a half.

This year, Chan – a veteran vendor at the festival, put on by the Wichita Asian Association – is making more. She’s been working on her booth’s wares for more than a month.

Gaslamp Grille: a restaurant in transition

Denise Neil — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:10 CDT

Gaslamp Grille & Lounge opened last December, promising a luxurious dining experience unlike anything Wichita had seen. The opening-day list of high-end offerings included a fresh raw bar, steaks dry-aged in-house for 55 days and complimentary valet service.

Owner Whitney VinZant and then-partner Patrick Shibley (who has since left the restaurant) completely remodeled the former Shadow space at 550 N. Rock Road, creating an elegant bar full of mahogany-stained wood, a formal dining room with U-shaped booths and a private balcony dining room accessible by a marble staircase.

Almost a year later, Gaslamp is backing off of its high-end intentions and moving to a comfort-food approach, based on feedback from customers, managers say. The raw bar, dry-aged steaks and duck dishes are gone, replaced with beer can chicken and enchiladas. The prices are lower, and the restaurant is putting more focus on its popular and beautiful bar/lounge and less on the formal dining room. Gaslamp soon will offer a separate bar menu, and it’s already begun to provide live music after 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Two Tasty Fundraisers

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:02 CDT

Champagne & Chocolate Fantasy Evening: The Wichita Scottish Rite, 332 E. First St., is the site tonight of a fundraiser benefiting the Wichita State University RiteCare Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic. It'll feature appetizers by Corporate Caterers, chocolate from Nifty Nut House and champagne provided by R& J Liquor. Silent and live auctions also will be a part of the evening. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $40 a person or $75 a couple. Reserve tickets by calling 316-263-4218.

Wichita Wine Opener: The national wine tasting series benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Wichita's is from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Abode Venue, 1330 E. Douglas. The evening will include wine sampling and food stations with cuisine by restaurants such as Mike's Wine Dive, Newport Grill and more. Tickets are $50 a person and are available at http://heartofamerica.cff.org/wichitawine

Now open: El Agave

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Beerfest serves up side of wings

DENISE NEIL — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:08 CDT

Few things go better with an October afternoon than a frothy beer.
And few things go better with a frothy beer than a plate of chicken wings.
On Saturday afternoon, Century II's exhibition hall will be buzzing with beer, chicken wings and people who appreciate them at the 11th annual Midwest Beerfest, a beer sampling and fundraiser put on by the local chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food.
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Midwest Beerfest serves up another side of wings

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:03 CDT

Few things go better with an October afternoon than a frothy beer.
And few things go better with a frothy beer than a plate of chicken wings. On Saturday afternoon, Century II’s exhibition hall will be buzzing with beer, chicken wings and people who appreciate them at the 11th annual Midwest Beerfest, a beer sampling and fundraiser put on by the local chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food.
This year’s event will allow ticket holders the chance to sample from 372 beers, ranging from Budweiser basics to new-to-Kansas microbrews.
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