Snake Saturday & Other Weekend Possibilities
Joe's Kansas City's Z-man sandwich is reborn as a burger at County Road Ice House. (Cole Blaise | Flatland)
Published March 8th, 2018 at 6:00 AM
Jeff Stehney has long maintained that he won’t open another Joe’s Kansas City, but that doesn’t mean he’s done experimenting with smoked meats and barbecue. In the past several years, he’s gone back on the competitive barbecue circuit and now has a new concept featuring his barbecue. County Road Ice House (100 E. 14th St.) opened last Friday in the former Gordon Biersch space in the Power & Light District.
The restaurant is a collaboration between Jeff and Joy Stehney of Joe’s Kansas City (along with Joe’s Ryan Barrows and Cary Taylor), and the Back Napkin Group (run by Zach Marten and Bret Springs — the team behind the Rockhill Grille, Westport Ale House and Parkway: Social Kitchen). It’s a take on the classic Texas ice house, a place to get cold beer and smoked meats (think smoked brisket nachos), burgers (the Z-man burger is a take on the Joe’s signature sandwich with barbecue sauce, smoked provolone and an onion ring on top), and tacos (burnt ends or smoked pork shoulder). Joe’s sauce is on the table and Joe’s fries are among the sides.
News broke this week that Vaughn Good, the butcher and chef behind Hank Charcuterie (1900 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Kansas), will close his restaurant in May. After four years of serving Lawrence, Good, and his wife Kristine Hull, are bringing a new concept to Kansas City. Fox and Pearl will likely open on the West Side at 2143 Summit this fall. But in the interim, you can still get dinner at Hank in Lawrence.
Make it a whole evening in Lawrence with this dessert tip. Wake The Dead (7 E. Seventh St., Lawrence, Kansas) knows what the people want. They’re pairing donuts and wine from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday night. Should you not be able to make this weekend, this is an every-other-Friday kind of thing.
The Snake Saturday Parade takes over North Kansas City from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. If you want to find a place to catch the parade or watch it beer-in-hand, you’ve got plenty of options. Check out #TapList below for all of the beer specials and where to grab some corned beef in hash or sandwich form.
Commune with nature. Learn how to grow vegetables. Meet some Kansas Citians. Longfellow Farm (30th and Harrison) is hosting a work day and potluck from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Lunch is first (bring a dish; it’s a potluck) and then volunteers will be prepping the urban farm for the growing session.
Unwind with Tea ‘n Art at Vault Studios (333 S. Hudson St., Buckner, Missouri) from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Shang Tea will be pouring hot tea and an instructor Twylia Ross will guide the class to help create a cherry blossom painting. Tickets are $35 for the tea tasting and painting.
Get a sneak peek at a new coffee shop in the works when Martin City Coffee has a pop-up at the KC Running Company’s Whiskey Run 5K. They’ll be serving coffee from 7 to 10 a.m. Sunday. The coffee shop is in the works at 13115 Holmes Road, and they’ll be using Intelligentsia Coffee for beans.
What say you to brunch and a bit of history? The KC Athenaeum will host a talk by Nancy Powell of Historic Kansas City about architect Nelle Peters. Learn more about her career in the early 20th century while chowing down on brunch at the Grand Street Cafe (4740 Grand Ave.). Grab a drink at the bar at noon, and then the brunch buffet begins at 12:30 p.m.
The Mockingbird Lounge (204 Orchard St., Kansas City, Kansas) is celebrating its first anniversary from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday. Dive into J. Rieger & Co. cocktails, and if they’ve got tamales, go for it. If not, a plate of nachos is a fine dish to split.
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