Forget the brew, its good for just the food

Today’s Thursday roundup for the weekend has another main feature on Worlds of Fun. This coming weekend is the final of three weekends for the BBQ and Brew Festival at Worlds of Fun. Betsy and participated in the festival this past weekend, and today’s post is a review, some words, and about 10 minutes of video.

When I read the description of the food, I thought it might be worth trying, even though we didn’t like the beer. And we were pleasantly pleased, felt it worth the $20 we paid as season pass holders. So for you who do enjoy beer, you should definitely get a good value.

We got to meet Executive Chef Kevin Williams and taste his creations. He is a very pleasant and enaging man, and his culinary visions have done a lot in the last couple of years to up the quality of the dining experience at the park.

His fare for the festival I described as a six-course mini-meal. The first course as bbq chicken in waffles. The point of the waffle cone was baked beans, then came the chicken, bbq sauce and finally coleslaw. It was a way to have all your meal portions in one cone. Quite the experience.

The second course was BBQ ribs. It was during this course that we met and got to speak to Kevin, and see how amiable and pleasant a man he is.

The third course was chicken sliders. These were good, and we got a lot of people to ask us where we got them as we sat and ate. They seemed to draw the most attention.

The fourth course was chilled spiced shrimp. Betsy doesn’t like shrimp, so I ate both of our samples — all four shrimp. I didn’t taste anything particularly spiced, but the shrimp were a very cool, clean taste, and quite refreshing. I’m not sure if I’ve had shrimp more simply but excellently prepared.

The fifth course was bbq wings. They were good, nothing to complain about, no special edge either.

The sixth and final course was dessert: Bananas Foster. I actually think it was reading this name on the menu published on the flyers that convinced me I wanted to try the food. THe taste was good, the presentation nice, but the eating was a bit tricky. The cookie portion was quite crisp. It was hard to break the cookie with the fork to get some cookie, banana and whipped cream at the same time. If there is a method for eating Bananas Foster, I apparently don’t know it. But I definitely enjoyed it!

While I’m talking I should also mention the people from the breweries were pleasant, and the waitstaff for the food were quite amiable as well. The lady who served the sliders was particularly noteworthy, followed by the lady who served us the chicken in waffles.

So now, here is the video:

In other news, Saturday morning is also the 5K race of the Kansas City Corporate Challenge. The race starts and ends at Burns & McDonnell in South Kansas City on Ward Parkway at 7:30 a.m. The race, and especially the afterwards, always seems to have quite a festive, party atmosphere. I will be at the race for my company, and look forward to running, and finishing. I don’t expect any special placement; I’m a mid to lower half type. But its just another way the Corporate Challenge gets people out and about and active and moving, while helping good causes.