Taste Of Park Place Recap

Saturday we packed up little Tinsley and headed to Park Place in Leawood, KS for the Taste of Park Place. The event was held to benefit Newhouse Women's Shelter, which serves abused women and their children in the Kansas City area. The tasting event was held from 2-4pm on April 26th and included small plate tastings from all the restaurants and several of the specialty food shops of Park Place.

Image from www.chefaaronsanchez.com

This was a well organized event in my opinion. Upon arrival, you head to the Newhouse tent to pick up your goodie bag. I made Hunter Hann "wear" Tinsley so I could be free to EAT take pictures. Thank you baby bjorn!

The goodie bag included a $5.00 gift card to use at any restaurant or store in Park Place. It also included a map, a menu of the tastings and a brochure of the specials of the day that the event offered.

Our first stop was 801 Chophouse where we enjoyed the beef kabobs with onions and peppers and a port wine ju.  This is also where Tinsley had her first cheesecake bite with raspberry and strawberry sauce. I'm raising this little foodie right!

Our next stop was Pig & Finch. This was our first time at Pig & Finch and it was fantastic! The executive chef, John Smith, prepared our favorite plate of the day: Espresso Rubbed Porchetta served with an Alabama White Sauce, and {drumroll please!} Bacon Marmalade with Blue Cheese Crumbles served on Grilled Toast Points.

Hunter Hann and I both agreed this was our favorite stop of the day and can't wait to go back and try the whole menu, er, more of what they have to offer. We also liked the decor in there and it would be a great spot to grab some drinks with a few friends or even snag a baby sitter and have a date night! 

Next, it was off to Mestizo for some flavors of Mexico by celebrity Chef Aarón Sánchez. Here we had spicy chorizo sliders on a brioche bun with chipotle aioli, and vegetable empanadas. We also used our gift cards and got a few of Mestizo's specialty drinks. Hunter Hann got the Smokin' Rita and I had one of their Mojitos and had them add a shot of Chambord, {basically one of my Cowgirl Cocktails!}

I was also fortunate enough to get to meet Chef Aarón Sánchez. He was there to judge the Celebrity Chef Competition later that afternoon, but he was kind enough to snap a photo with me.

From there we went to California Pizza Kitchen and had the sausage & poblano flat bread {spicy and super yummy!} and the spinach & mushroom flat bread. 

Next on our culinary adventure of Park Place was Gordon Biersch. This is where things got a little dicy. They were extremely busy and we were warned that they were under staffed. Hunter Hann was excited  to try the beer cheese soup, but we never got to. We did however get to try the stuffed shrimp and the chocolate torte {I would totally go back for that!} 

At this point we felt like we started running out of time so we kind of hurried things along. We have been to Ra Sushi several times and really like the place, so we just popped in quickly for 1 roll each. But if you ever ARE in the area, you must try the Scallop Dynamite Roll. It's like the best sushi roll ever had a baby with the sauce of the Bang Bang Shrimp at Bone Fish Grill. Yeah, it's amazing! 

Next was down to the t. Loft for a few of their protein balls. On Saturday they had the peanut butter ones out to try {peanut butter, oats, nuts, flaxseed, maple syrup and honey. But I've been there before and had their Sunbutter Protein Balls, and they are so good, I had to get a few for Hunter Hann to try! {Sunbutter balls- sunbutter, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flaxseed, sesame seeds, maple syrup, and honey}.

Next we went down the street to Cupcake A La Mode for a sweet treat. Hunter Hann got the red velvet, and I got the chocolate obsession {holy delicious!} and the Stuffed French Toast cupcake. {That one tasted like the cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so yeah, it was pretty dang good!} Tinsley did get a few bites of the goodies. After all, I did get 2 cupcakes. 

The last stop on our foodie parade was Carma. There we had the chicken spiedini skewers, which were fantastic. They were almost out of everything and we did have to wait a bit, but it was nearing the end of the tasting. I look forward to going back to this place as well. The atmosphere looked great but we only had a chance to pop our heads in quickly. Plus I have looked at their menu, and everything sounds wonderful. 

Our last stop of the day was to just hang out for a bit outside Ingredient Restaurant. It was after 4 by the time we got there, but we did order one of their soft pretzels and cheese. YUM! 

If you've never been to Park Place, there is a great little open area this time of year between Ingredient and Mestizo's with the cutest little baby adirondack chairs. I may or may not have made Tinsley pose for a photo op. What can I say, I can made her sit but I cannot make her look at the camera! 

Overall we had a great time at this event! My only criticism was that there was simply not enough time to get through everything, and we really were rushing along. Some places were understaffed, but that's to be expected. The staff at every single place we went was extremely hospitable, even to our 16 month old. It was a great family atmosphere and we got to try some amazing new restaurants that I look forward to going back to.

A few of the places we did not even have time to make it to were Parisi Cafe, 801 Fish, Burger Fi (opening soon), 

Side note: In the picture with Aarón Sánchez, I'm wearing my Banded2Gether headband from the Go Blog Social event I attended in KC earlier this month. Banded teamed up with Amazima Ministries and the proceeds from these adorable headbands goes to feed children in Uganda. Amazingly enough, 1 headband provides 3 meals to a child. Check them out! 

Please check out NewhouseShelter.org for ways to help their amazing cause {taken from their website}: It is our mission to break the cycle of domestic violence by providing the tools which allow women to make positive choices and lead self-sufficient lives.

logo from newhouseshelter.org

I want to hear from you. Have you been to any of these places? Or did you attend Taste of Park Place? If so, what was your favorite stop?