True Food Kitchen — Restaurant in Kansas City

In Kansas City, there are several amazing restaurants, some of which are connected to hotels and others are not.

Some restaurants have themes whereas others do not. Some offer embarassingly expensive drinks at fancy bars whereas others provide incredible food.

Kansas City has several great restaurants located in its famous Plaza. One of these is TrueFood Kitchen and I want to tell you about one of their desserts that blew everyone’s mind and is a new addition to their menu.

I am not a food critic but despite a lack of formal training, I know a superb carrot cake such as the one I had at TrueFood Kitchen. And you can tell if I liked it simply by watching my reaction as our server brought more than one fork, enough for everyone at my table to try my dessert. In all honesty, I am not generous when I am asked to share such a remarkable food creation-no the proper word that begins with “g” is more accurate when greedy is inserted in the sentence and generous removed!

All of this took place over the recent holiday weekend when I ordered this classic from our server Kate, and executive chef, Alfonso Torres felt he was up to the challenge. After I slowly ate the first bite, rolling it around my tongue as if it really was a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, I ate the remainder in 3 or 4 bites.

So yes, my dear Alfonso Torres, you have a touch for construction coupled with a secret recipe that should be sold equal to the price for a case of the above referenced Chardonnay or maybe 2 or 3 cases. How someone understands how each ingredient plays off the other ingredients is beyond my comprehension. And as an example how did the nuts make their way to my mouth without disturbing the softness of the cake?

What I do understand is I offered the challenge that was well met. Furthermore I had every intention to savor each piece slowly but after the first bite, I was totally unsuccessful and wondered if ordering a second dessert might make the members at my table a bit queezy.

Go for it. That is my strong suggestion to all of you looking for a wonderful meal ending with a dessert that will knock your socks...

Serving Average Vegetarian and Vegan-fare, This was a Disappointment.

I was pretty excited to try this new concept out--a vegetarian/vegan food, in the heart of the Plaza, with a great patio. It's good to find new things to try, unique food offerings that add a twist on favorites, but this was a big letdown.

For starters, we ordered the Seared Chicken Satay ($9), with achiote, pumpkin seed salsa, cucumber, and cilantro. You only get three barely-medium-size pieces, which were overcooked, and the salsa had little flavor. The idea is really good, but the execution is really bad. For that price-point add a little more zing to the salsa to add more robust flavor to bland chicken and cucumbers. We also ordered the Kale Guacamole, made from grapefruit, cilnatro, roasted poblano, sunflower seeds, and pita chips. While avocados are the perfect food, again, this had little flavors and no zest. Maybe add a little more grapefruit and salt to bring out the flavors of the avocados and sunflower seeds? For the entree, I ordered the Korean Noodle Bowl ($12), made up of sweet potato glass noodles, pickled shiitake, spinach, heirloom carrots, bean sprouts and sesame seeds; I also added tofu (+$4). I searched and searched for the right combination of ingredients to create a flavor profile, but was unsuccessful. Perhaps adding more sauce to the bowl will give it more oomph? It was a disappointment. My wife ordered the Grilled Fish Tacos ($19), made from Mauritius Island redfish, tomatillo avocado salsa, picked jicama, dried sweet corn, and coconut lime yogurt. While this too looked amazing, she was underwhelmed with the taste and also thought the flavors were muted. The kids each ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bowl ($8), that came with peas, brocolli, carrots, served over brown rice and quinoa. While they eat all that stuff at home, they weren't too fond of it here and didn't like it.

Overall, this place has lots of promise, but poor execution. They charge a premium price, which is fine, but they they should deliver premium ingredients prepared with more flavors. I would go back, maybe, but I worry this would be the...

2nd time visiting this restaurant. Ordered the Kale Aid drink mixed with apple, lemon, kale, ginger, celery, cucumber in a 16 oz. glass filled with ice. First tried the Grilled Sustainable Salmon*, baru nut, baby bok choy, edamame, watermelon radish, organic arugula, thai corn broth GF it’s $26.50. It was delightful! Very tasty. I finished the meal. Wait time minimum, fine staff.

The second visit, before a concert at Starlight, we were seated quickly with a slow wait for someone to take our order or give us water. One waitress could sense us waiting & took care of us right away. I order again the Kale drink, it was tasty, ginger flavor. Not sure if they use organic fruits for this drink? I order the Grass-fed Burger topped with umami, mushroom, caramelized onion, organic arugula, parmesan, mayonnaise, flaxseed bun it is $17.50 They ask how you’d like your meat done. I’ll ask for medium well next time, a lil to pink in some places. She ordered the Grilled Chicken & Mozzarella Panini organic DiNapoli tomato sauce, broccolini, mozzarella, herbs, chili flake, crispy house-made pita. It is $15.50. She thoroughly enjoyed this sandwich. The crispy house-made pita is delightful! The waitress was attentive with our check out and we left in a timely manner for the show.

Will probably return again, a bit pricey.

Edit: Online Pick Up Order. I proceeded to make an account here. I was surprised I still received a birthday deal, a free dessert. For signing up you receive a $10 off a $25 order. I’m not clear on when this expires. I arrived and was guided to the back to pick up order. I waited a good while with no on asking me anything. After 10 or 15 minutes from when the email said the food would be ready. I was taken care of. The food was good, ordered the burger again, this time well done and it was way better than medium imo. The flourless chocolate dessert was amazing. I definitely want that again. The small scoop of ice cream was not enough. I warmed up and added more personal...