May 28, 2006
[Farmer's Market][1] The new location of the Saturday market was a good move and a boon to several downtown businesses. [Mirth][2] is packing them in for breakfast on Saturdays, and nearby coffeehouses report increased business on market day. The new market feels better: more 'stop & chat' areas, more vendors, more people, more music. Goat and lamb, peonies and irises, snow peas and asparagus, local honey, rhubarb juice and baby tatsoi caught my eye last Saturday. [Aimee's Coffeehouse][3] Give me your aimless, your freaky, your fragrant masses yearning to hang out. And an order of those biscuits with vegetarian gravy--the best in town.[Krause Dining][4] Krause Dining will be closing on Saturday, June 24th. Molly, Robert and the kids will spend July on the West Coast, and then return to re-open, at long last, the thirty-seat, [Rockhill][5]-designed dining room attached to their home on Delaware Street in East Lawrence. That's the ideal situation, anyway. Last year, the Krauses were forced to move from their home operation to their current location at 811 New Hampshire (former home to Bleujacket and Meat Market)--prompted by a rave review from the Kansas City Star, which caught the attention of Lawrence city officials and highlighted some gray areas in the zoning code. On July 1st, zoning officials will meet to consider revisions, and the Krauses are feeling good about the outcome. By Lawrence standards, Krause Dining is an expensive restaurant--coursed dinners, with wine, from $80 to $110 per person. Worth every penny and then some. A $50 a la carte experience is equally memorable. The Krauses deliver the whole package: food, wine, service, manner, setting, choreography, appointments, lighting, gestures--all those categories of details and variables, attended to beautifully. Krause Dining is the sincere expression of the hospitality of its owners, amplified by its staff, a place of delight and restoration, of excellent quality, and its location has nothing to do with its spirit. If things don't work out here for the Krauses, it's a portable show.You don't always need a reservation, though most regulars, including Governor Sebelius, know to book in advance. The menu on Friday, May 26th lists a stone crab salad with mango ketchup, avocado, red pepper and cress ($14); a torchon of foie gras in a rhubarb crust ($18); grilled marlin with peanut shiitake jasmine rice ($16/28); quail with honey and vanilla ($21); steak and a salad ([Kobe beef][6] with curried carrot puree and a frisee-mint-macadamia nut salad, $38); and hot chocolate souffle with chocolate sauce and chantilly cream ($8). The four course menu, drawn from the carte, costs $55, with course-paired wines for an additional $30. The six course menu ($70 food, $45 wine) is a generous expansion of the four course. If nothing else, before closing day, stop in for a taste at the bar and glimpse this carefully hidden jewel before, once again, it is spirited away.[The Sandbar][7] Under a pink moon, they break from a deep, breathless kiss. He nuzzles her ear and whispers: "Baby, you're the one for me. Let's get married at The Sandbar." Dave Johanning, manager of [The Sandbar][8], is waiting for that magic moment to happen. When it does, he's ready. On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, a mere $250 buys the loving couple "[a] legal civil service at our simulated beach scene [1200 pounds of white sand] upstairs at The Sandbar; full length video of service on DVD; use of The Sandbar for your wedding reception; fun wedding snacks; wedding cake for 25 people; champagne toast." The wedding program is just two weeks in the running; so far, there's been interest in a vow renewal ceremony, and an anniversary or two. Would they consider other kinds of parties? Probably.Most days, around five in the afternoon, The Sandbar lays out snacks (popcorn, peanuts, cheese and crackers), and the place soon fills up with Chamber of Commerce types. As the Bahama Mamas flow, the crowd gets looser and louder and not necessarily younger. By midnight, parrotheads are dancing on the bar. This place is a serious funhouse, every time. Calm down, it's only ectoplasm If you've seen Leo Nightingale onstage, you know he's an unusual talent blessed in peculiar ways. The June 2006 issue of [The Lawrencian][9] features Leo's literary debut: advice from the stars and beyond--channeled via Casanova, extruded by Leo--to help you "get yours in bed" and show you how to "stick it to your boss the tarot way." Private consultations available. [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/events/search/?category=&q=farmers+market [2]: http://www.lawrence.com/places/mirth/ [3]: http://www.lawrence.com/places/aimees_coffee_house/ [4]: http://www.lawrence.com/places/krause_dining/ [5]: http://www.rockhillandassociates.com/ [6]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef [7]: http://www.lawrence.com/places/the_sandbar/ [8]: http://www.thesandbar.com/ [9]: http://www.lawrencian.com/index.aspx
Comments
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mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Tried to do breakfast at Mirth once. They had given their one highchair to Pachamama's the night before, so it was kind of a no-go (ever tried to eat more than a saltine cracker while trying to hold a squirming toddler in a chair?).
They were quite nice about giving us our orange juice free when we had to leave without ordering, though.
May 29, 2006 at 9:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scary_manilow (anonymous) says...
Um... TK, I don't care how good a plate of food is, $80- $110 a person is never justified. The attitude that it's "worth every penny" is the same mindset that keeps people starving in this world. Not to let my heart bleed all over your blog, but it's the fucking truth.
Also, the Sandbar can suck a fat one because they won't accept anything but a driver's license at the door... I tried to get in once with a valid Kansas ID card, and was met with, "If you don't have a license anymore, we don't want you drinking here." Which I guess means they publicly endorse drunk driving there. And who wants to drink with "Chamber of Commerce types," anyway? Aren't they the ones who are trying to turn this town into a giant strip mall? NO THANKS! Rob+ Booze+ Bureaucrats= A bloody fistfight waiting to happen.
May 29, 2006 at 4:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Dazie (Aileen Dingus) says...
Misty- try it again. :) I just hollered to the hubby "Did you get the highchair back from Pachamama's yet?"
Evidently they have.
May 29, 2006 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lazz (anonymous) says...
Wasn't Krause Dining looking to relocate into the former office furniture store next to Cap Fed at 11th and Vermont? Or do I have restaurants mixed up? Isn't some nice dining joint going in that spot?
May 30, 2006 at 9:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luxor (anonymous) says...
Highchairs at Pachamama's. Jesus wept.
May 30, 2006 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Yeah, that's kind of what I thought, Luxor. If I'm gonna slap down that much money for a meal (which we do, about twice a year) why the HELL would I want it to get cold while I try to wrangle the young'un and keep her crackers and sippy cup picked up off the floor?
And if I were in there for a romantic dinner with my hubby, I would be sorely pissed if someone hauled in any brat under 5, no matter how well-behaved. (Well-behaved for a toddler is not actually *hitting* anyone with flung mashed potatoes.)
Hell, I feel guilty when she acts up at Zen Zero. Or anywhere else people are trying to enjoy a meal that doesn't consist of hamburgers or pizza, for that matter.
May 30, 2006 at 11:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bialosky (anonymous) says...
Anyone who would bring a high-chair-requiring-aged-child to Pachamama's is probably used to paying someone else to pick up the saltines and sippy cups.
May 30, 2006 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednekbuddha (Kelly Powell) says...
Close the sandbar and bring back AJ's.....that was a knife and gun club a man could sink his teeth into......a place where you could make a drug deal...bang a underage hooker,get ina fight and projectile vomit all within the bathroom and under 3 hours is a place that deserves a second chance.
June 4, 2006 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )