Christmas splurge: Wichita restaurant dinner will feature ‘the most pricey food on earth’
The Rickard brothers understand that Wichita might feel a little sticker shock when it sees the price of the special holiday dinner they’re serving next week.
At $250 a person, the five-course meal, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jason and Jordan Rickard’s restaurant, FioRito at 3134 E. Douglas, is admittedly priced higher than even the most exclusive wine dinner a Wichita restaurant typically offers.
But the brothers also want Wichita foodies to understand the opportunity they’re being offered.
“It’s not meant to be exclusionary,” Jason Rickard said. “It’s meant to be a special occasion. You get to come in and try the most pricey food on earth.”
As a treat not only to their customers, but also to themselves, Jason and Jordan are putting on a dinner that will incorporate some of the finest ingredients restaurants typically serve — things like Burgundy black truffles, A5 Wagyu ribeye imported from Japan, wild chanterelle mushrooms, and top-end Italian wines.
The ingredients, Jason Rickard said, aren’t usually offered in Wichita restaurants because of their high prices. But the brothers wanted to give foodies willing to splurge a chance to get a big-city fine-dining experience without leaving home.
“Outside of traveling to New York or Chicago, I would say this is probably one of the best gifts as far as a tasting menu experience that you can give anyone in Wichita right now,” Jason Rickard said.
The menu for the dinner reads like a foodie’s dream. The first course will feature foie gras mousse with a bay leaf lemon curd on an English muffin topped with crispy garlic and paired with a high-end French champagne.
The restaurant will use the imported Wagyu beef to produce a tartare dish that also features smoked egg yolk, pickled shallot and black garlic. That course will be paired with a red Italian wine: Bruno Giacosa Dolcetto D’Alba 2023.
The beef will make a return appearance in the main course, when it will be served with the rare Burgundy truffles sliced table side. The main course also will include a 24-month Parmesan polenta and is paired with an Italian wine that costs more than $100 a bottle: Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 2019.
The main course will be something extra special, partially because of the quality of the beef.
“It’s the highest definition of Japanese beef you can get,” Jason Rickard said. “It’s probably three to four times the marbling of a prime steak.”
The truffles will take the dish to the next level, he said. Earthy, rich and hard to find, Burgundy truffles grow underground in France and are available only in the winter. Hunters use pigs and dogs to locate them in the forest.
Wichitans rarely get the opportunity to try the pricey delicacy at home. In fact, Jason said, the brothers originally wanted to use the even rarer white truffle — which can cost up to $250 an ounce — in the Christmas dinner, but that would have upped the price to $350 a person.
The menu’s third course stars Chanterelle mushrooms, which show up on Wichita menus from time to time but aren’t a common ingredient. They’re bright yellow and meaty and pack a big flavor, Jason Rickard said, adding that they’re “on a whole different level” from a typical mushroom. The Chanterelle course will be paired with a Tuscan wine: Petrolo Torrione 2021.
For dessert, the Richards will serve rum cake with Madagascar vanilla bean custard and candied pine nuts paired with hot mulled wine made in house.
“To be frank, to some degree, this is what you would get if you went to the big city and ate at a three-star Michelin restaurant,” Jason Rickard said. “It’s definitely a splurge. But it’s a learning experience.”
FioRito, which opened in May 2022, started offering tasting menus shortly after it opened. It now serves five-course tasting menus once every other month as well as four-course tasting menus that change at the start of each month. The monthly tasting menus are available every night the restaurant is open, and an optional wine pairing is available.
The Rickard brothers grew up in Wichita and both graduated from East High School’s International Baccalaureate program. After, they left and worked in high-end restaurants in Denver. Both worked in other Wichita restaurants until they were able to open FioRito together. They described it as a contemporary Italian restaurant.
Reservations can be made by calling 316-364-4707 any time the restaurant is open. The deadline is 2 p.m. Sunday. Customers will need to pay a $100 deposit.
‘A Very Fiorito Christmas’ menu
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 1:46 PM.
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