LIVING IN KC

BY Patricia O’Dell

Caroline Swanson Price began her career in political communications, but when she moved to London in her 20s, she designed her own at, which was featured in British House and Garden magazine. is delightful turn of events and her studies in interior design led to a career in decorating. Recently, she’s taken the next step in her successful career by designing a line of fabrics, wallpaper, and trims for Vervain, the luxury textile house. e inspiration for the Montespan Design collection comes from a historical source.

“I became fascinated by Athénaïs de Montespan, maîtresse-en-titre to Louis XIV,” Price says. “It’s an incredible story. When I was reading about her, the stories of her life inspired the idea for fabric patterns.”

“Louis gave her the Hope Diamond, and I had a vintage kimono which reminded me of that. It became part of the story and inspired “Montespan Rocks,” she says. “Soon, I realized that I had completed an entire collection. Shortly after I received an email invitation to an event to meet David Finer, the CEO of Fabricut. “

She says the partnership evolved e ortlessly. e resulting collection is lled with color, texture, and patterns rich enough for a formal living room and whimsical enough for a casual sunroom. While the collection is inarguably beautiful, it lives well, too.

“As a designer I was able to bring common sense to my designs,” she says. “I wanted the collection to be practical and approachable as well as beautiful.”

Montespan Design fabrics are available to the trade through KDR Showrooms in Lenexa.

LET’S NOT become bogged down with the origin of the song that begins, “Here we come a-wassailing,” and instead borrow its lively spirit as inspiration for our yearend entertaining. Many of us do not need an excuse to bring family and friends together, while some— let’s admit—su er a bit at the idea. Whether you are entertaining with glee or grit, having a bit of glimmer on hand is never a bad idea. Brass and marble tool and shaker set, $150, available at Williams Sonoma.

Brass lanterns available in three sizes, $25-$100, from Crate and Barrel.

Twinkle gold outdoor string lights, $30, from Crate and Barrel.

REGIONAL CUSTOM RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE | LUXURY VACATION HOME ARCHITECTURE

3515 W 75th St #201 | Prairie Village, KS 66208 913.831.1415 | NSPJARCH.COM

BY Patricia O’Dell

My preference of seasons in Kansas City is autumn, summer, spring, then lastly, winter. (Spring, while it brings hope, usually turns out to be a cold, soggy disappointment.) Whether you agree or not, it’s di cult to argue with the enduring appeal of blue-and-white ceramics.

A classic for the ages, you can collect antique pottery, dishware, or porcelain, but there’s a wealth of great-looking pieces, like these available from Hiles Two in Waldo, that won’t break the bank. Blue and white can be dressed up for an occasion or hang out happily for morning co ee. shophilestwo.com

Cherry blossom scalloped tray, $48. Chinoiserie tray, $48. Chinoiserie Champagne/wine bucket, Champagne/wine bucket, $170. Blue-and-white $170. Blue-and-white candlesticks, $70. Bluecandlesticks, $70. Blueand-white scalloped-edge footed bowl, $25.

WHILE THE HOLIDAYS can be lled with fun, family, and friends, all the activity can lead to a need for. . . ahhhh. In addition to their popular candles, KC’s own Mersea has products to pamper yourself. Need a lift? e multicolor Fuzzy Woven row Blanket will liven things up. Looking for a little more ahhhh? e blanket comes in Winter, which is a solid cream hue, and a version that is cream with black stripes. solid cream hue, and a version that is cream with black stripes. mersea.com mersea.com

Mersea’s fuzzy woven throw blankets, $98 each.

Swing open our bright red doors—you’ll nd a warm welcome and a unique shopping experience. ere is so much to discover at Red Door Home Store, we hope you’ll visit us soon and explore our holiday collection!

Ranch Mart South Shopping Center 3805 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66206 913.608.3399 reddoorhomestore.com

words by Cindy Hoedel photo by Mindy Tucker

Standing in front of Rockefeller Center on a family vacation, 10-year-old Taylor Kay Phillips, born and raised in south Kansas City, promised herself she would live in New York City one day.

Now the 29-year-old Phillips not only has a sunny apartment in Harlem, but also a golden statuette of a winged woman holding an atom over her head to decorate the place. In September, Phillips won an Emmy for her work as a writer on HBO’s Last

Week Tonight with John Oliver. The win for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series was the seventh in a row for the show, which beat out Saturday Night Live, A Black

Lady Sketch Show, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which Phillips’s husband, Felipe Torres Medina, writes for. Phillips, who also does standup and sketch comedy, has a humorous book coming out in April 2023, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation (Ten Speed Press). In a telephone call from New York, Phillips chatted with IN Kansas

City about what she misses about her hometown, one way that Harlem is like Kansas City, and how she applies her comedic style to writing jokes for John Oliver.

Tell us a story about you as a kid. Hmmmm. So, it’s been very, very sweet in these recent couple of months with people hearing about the Emmy and my book—I’ve had some people who were adults in my life when I was a kid, reaching out and telling me some things about myself that I don’t remember.

Like what? My sister is two-and-a-half years younger than I am, and we had two babysitters when we were kids who were also sisters. We called them the Herbers girls, and the best part of our week was when the Herbers girls were coming over.

One of them recently told a story that one time when I was two or three my teddy bear got sick, and we were doing surgery on my bear, and I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said, “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do for him.” [Laughs.]

Another time in summer they were watching us, and we went to the grocery store and we got stickers. They said, “You’re going to write a book and illustrate it with the stickers.” We would dictate what we wanted the story to be, and they would write it down.

I got horse stickers and ballerinas, so I made up a story about circus girls who were horse ballerinas. One of them got kidnapped and when they went into the kidnappers’ house, I wanted readers to encounter something scary, to know that this guy was bad news. Two things had recently happened in my life: I had gotten very, very into the Wizard of Oz, and I had started reading an illustrated storybook series about presidential assassinations. So, when these circus girls walked into the courtyard of the kidnapper, they found themselves face-to-face with a bust of John Wilkes Booth.

How old were you then? I know that I was seven, because the characters in the book were eight. Anytime I played make-believe, I always wanted the character to be one year older than I was.

So young Taylor was always ready to be one year older. Yes! But I wasn’t trying to be too much older. I just wanted whatever that next thing afforded.

How often do you get back to Kansas City and what do you miss about it when you’re not there? I come back for Thanksgiving, and I get back two or three times a year at least. My parents still live in the house I grew up in. I lived there my

Taylor Kay Phillips and her husband, Felipe Torres Medina, at the 2022 Emmys.

whole life, we never moved. So, home is just such a specific place for me there. There’s no ambiguity about it. My preschool is walking distance from the house, my high school, middle school, elementary school— Barstow—is walking distance.

But also, what I love now, going back as an adult, is: It’s a cool city! One of my best friends lives in the River Market. I never went to the River Market when I was a kid, and it’s beautiful, and there are breweries. I love the Truman Library. And I was in New York when I heard Buck O’Neil got into the [Baseball] Hall of Fame, so I want to go back to the Negro Leagues Museum.

It’s always great to be back in the city, and there’s always more to see and to love and more shirts with “KC” and a heart to buy. [Laughs.] It really is everything.

When and why did you move to New York? I went to college on the East Coast, to Harvard, so I was in Cambridge and Boston, and the summer between my junior and senior year I did an internship in Chicago at an advertising agency and took classes at Second City. It was so fun; an amazing summer. I lived with a friend of mine. It was a dream. And the advertising agency offered me a job after my internship and they said, “You can do it in Chicago or you can go to New York.”

And I thought, “That’s it. That’s how I’m going to be able to afford to move to New York.” Because when I was 10 years old, we came to New York on a family trip, and we went to 30 Rock and while we were standing there, I made myself a promise that I was going to live in New York someday.

What neighborhood do you live in? I have lived in Harlem since I moved here. I love it. I moved here with a roommate from college, and we filled out an application for the first apartment we visited, and I turned the corner to go look at the apartment and there was a coffee shop right there. And I thought, “This has to be fake. There’s no way I could get to live two doors down from a coffee shop in New York City.”

Eventually my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, moved into that apartment with me. It was a great first New York apartment, which means it didn’t cost a lot of money, and the landlord was decent, but there was no natural light and it was very, very small.

My husband writes for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—he’s been there three years, so he got his job long before I got my job. In the middle of the pandemic we got married, and my friends sent an espresso machine, just a little one. And my perfect husband was like, “Where are we going to put this? We can’t live here anymore, it’s too small.” He grew up in a city, but I grew up in a house in Missouri and then went straight to college, so I thought, “Dorm rooms are what apartments are: small and uncomfortable.” And he was like, “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Luckily, we found a beautiful bigger apartment with natural light three blocks away.

With room for the espresso machine. Plenty. We have two coffee machines and a pour-over. We are all set on the caffeine front. And it’s still in Harlem. Harlem is a lot like Kansas City in that it’s a beautiful, historical place where you can learn more about everything if you just have curiosity. There are beautiful trees that change color and all the kids are cute and there are lots of great dogs.

When Covid hit in 2020 you had not yet gotten your big break into TV writing. What was your life like at the ad agency during the pandemic? It was the perfect day job for someone like me. It was creative and cool, and they were so flexible. I worked on commercials and tweets for hospitals and finance tech—things that were a little bit more chill in the ad world. I wasn’t writing Nike commercials. They wasted no time moving us all to remote, and copywriting for advertising is something that transitions easily to remote. Also during the pandemic, I sold my book, and the agency gave me leave to write my book.

I think that is something that gets lost in conversations about how to break into this [TV writing] industry is what a unicorn it is having a wonderful day job working for decent humans.

You have said that success is about 85 percent hard work and 15 percent luck, but the 85 percent has to come first. Your long resume of standup, sketch comedy, and writing credits demonstrates that you did the work. I’m curious to hear about the lucky bits. I mean, the thing about luck for me is, you don’t know your lucky moments until they’ve already happened.

Can you give us an example? Sure. e woman who put me up for this job—who put my name on the list to submit a packet for Last Week Tonight—I met her at an event that I only got a ticket to because someone else’s husband got sick.

That’s straight out of a movie. You know what I mean? Of course, then I had to go straight away and write the copy.

And you were ready because you had done the work. One hundred percent.

Last Week Tonight is different than other late-night shows because the segments contain a lot of reporting. Who does the reporting and who does the joke writing? So, I can’t talk a lot about the inner workings of the show. What I can say is that being a part of it is that we all get to learn and explore and give input, and it really stretches me individually as a writer to be able to think in a lot of di erent ways: When is the moment for a joke? When is the moment to let something settle? How on earth am I going to make a joke out of this?

Sometimes the joke comes because I have something I want to say, and sometimes it’s because I want to push myself to a new level, and sometimes it’s just because “that’s your job, so I don’t care if you want to or not today.” Nobody says that to me, of course. I say that to myself. Interview condensed and minimally edited for clarity. Interview condensed and minimally edited for clarity.

Your comedic style is quite different from John Oliver’s. He swears more and has a more combative delivery. Is writing for him like sketch comedy where you’re writing in a character’s voice instead of in your own voice? As someone who’s written scripts and who’s also written as myself, I feel that every joke I write comes from me. It just depends sometimes which side of me it comes from. First of all, I also certainly curse. I’ve made it 19 minutes on this call now without cursing because my mom told me to mind my manners.

Thank you for sharing that. When I was reading a lot of your stuff online, I was struck by how incredibly nice you sound. For a while my Twitter bio said, “So nice in New York City, cutthroat bitch in the Midwest.” Because in New York, everyone is like, “Oh my, you bubbly thing. How do you do this?” And in Missouri, they’re like, “Taylor only talked to me for seven minutes. I think she’s mad, and the city got to her.”

I also think that with regard to Last Week Tonight, as a bubbly girl from the Midwest, I have thoughts other people might not have, and I think that’s valued.

Helton Walker, a reporter for Barstow School, asked you in a recent video interview if you had a billboard what it would say. Your answer was, “So, just to be clear…?” What does that phrase mean to you? I think something that was di erent in my upbringing than in a lot of environments I nd myself in—on the coasts, in entertainment, online—is that in Missouri you do grow up with and directly interact with people who think and feel and experience all di erent kinds of things.

Increasingly it seems to me like people don’t always understand the full implications of what they are saying. It happens to me, too, so I’m grateful to have my sister and my mom and my husband and my in-laws and my friends, who say to me, “So, just to be clear—this is what you are saying.”

Something that I’ve always found both funny and important is to repeat back to people what they are putting out there. I think that’s what John does and our jokes do. I also think people are funny on their own. So, I love to say, for example, “OK, so you’re upset because what you wanted to happen happened exactly the way you wanted, but someone wasn’t wearing the right T-shirt.”

And also, I think it’s important to be able to say something ridiculous yourself and then stop immediately and say, “Oh my gosh, what did I just say?”

My sister and I very often when we’re about to say something potentially really vain or tone deaf will say, “I’m about to hear myself. . .” at’s a signal that the other person doesn’t have to respond with, “Do you hear yourself right now?” [Laughs.]

It also signals that I’m gonna say it anyway, like: “At the free lunch at work today, they didn’t have the salmon, and I really wanted the salmon.”

Phillips’s new book, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation, will be released in April 2023. Book cover design by Jovaney Hollingsworth.

words by Judith Fertig

Podcasting is to radio what self-publishing is to books. If you want your unique voice to be heard, you can record it yourself. “With podcasts, you can do something nobody else is doing,” says 610 Sports’ Bob Fescoe.

And people don’t need a radio to listen. According to KCUR’s Nomin Ujiyediin, “Podcasts reach a different audience. People listen on their phones and at different times.”

When episodes are available on both audio and video on YouTube, “Podcasts can be listened to over again and shared via social media,” says Hether Belusky, one half of the Who Dunnit Sisters. That’s important to their mission of helping find missing persons and solving cold-case crimes.

Tune in to Kansas City’s most popular podcasts, and you’ll discover a lot more.

ARTMOVES

After storied careers in other fi elds, two Kansas City art collectors/enthusiasts joined forces to create the monthly ArtMoves podcast, new this year. Their mission? “Highlighting the vibrant pool of visual artists in the Kansas City area and the regional Midwest,” says Regina Nouhan, a retired plastic surgeon. She teams up with Dwight O. Smith, a retired Major in the Army and currently a regional HUD administrator.

Each multimedia episode centers on a Midwestern artist/gallerist/ curator with both audio (monthly) and video (quarterly) so you can “meet” them, like having a private conversation at a studio, gallery opening, or museum. The podcast has featured textile artist Debra Smith, curator Kimi Katada, museum director and curator JoAnne Northrup, artist and catalyst Cesar Lopez, gallerist Lee Smalter, and artist Chico Sierra. “ArtMoves scouts the plentiful talented artists and art events that the central Midwest offers,” Nouhan says.

Where to listen: YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and more. YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and more.

HOMEGROWN KC

Historian Laura Darnell works in the insurance industry by day, researching and recording her history podcasts during her free time. “I think everyone needs something unrelated to their day job that gives them joy and stimulates them. That’s what the podcast does for me,” she says. “Every topic covers a person, place, or event in Kansas City history,” she says. Darnell is most proud of Series 5, People of the Island, focusing on the Wyandot Nation, originally from what is now Canada, and their experiences, including that of Second Chief Louisa Libby of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas.

Like many podcasters, Darnell is looking for sponsorship. “One of my goals is to continue to grow my audience,” she says. “A large audience means more downloads, and higher downloads mean I could get sponsors.” Meanwhile, she offers a shout-out on every episode to patron subscribers along with access to exclusive content.

Where to listen: Apple, YouTube, and more. Apple, YouTube, and more.

KANSAS CITY TODAY

If even two mugs of morning coffee are not enough to face all the politics and police blotter info that passes as local news, now you have another choice. KCUR’s weekly morning podcast is smooth and polished, created the previous afternoon from radio clips and content recorded just for the podcast, says host Nomin Ujiyediin, an NPR All Things Considered alum. This 15-minutes-or-less podcast highlights the news on both sides of the state line.

“We have certain standard journalism ethics,” explains Ujiyediin, to be “balanced and fair” while still being “informative and entertaining,” she adds. “Listen in!”

Where to listen: KCUR, NPR, and more.

KANSAS CITY: 2 STATES, 1 STORY

“Our podcast came about when two friends got together for a beer one night,” says Diane Euston, a historian, writer, and high school teacher. Euston and 610 Sports’ Bob Fescoe both serve on the board of the BMA Foundation (the nonprofi t named for Brian M. Anselmo that raises funds for children’s charities and animal welfare). “Bob pitched it to me that we should join forces and co-host a podcast together through Audacy Radio and 610 Sports. That’s part of the goal of the podcast, anyway—to tell our history in a fun and relatable way.”

“It’s fun, informative, and you’re going to learn something,” says Fescoe. Recent podcasts have featured Wolferman’s as a forerunner of boutique grocery stores and the Priests of Pallas Parade. “As I comb through old newspapers,” Euston continues, “a headline will catch my eye, and I stop to read it. If I fi nd the story to be interesting, I fi gure other people will, too.”

Where to listen: Apple, Audacy, and more.

MAJORITY 54

What does Majority 54 mean, you ask? “So sometimes we forget that 54 percent of the country did not vote for Donald Trump,” explains co-host Jason Kander, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and former Missouri Secretary of State. An avowed progressive, Kander joins Ravi Gupta, who worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign and continues to train Democratic candidates and campaign staff.

“We want to help the 54 percent of us who did not vote for Trump talk to those who did,” says Kander. In 30- to 60-minute episodes that drop every Friday (and more often during election cycles), Kander and Gupta explain and entertain with tongue-in-cheek topics, such as Lindsay Graham, ob-gyn, or Herschel Walker, Father of the Year.

Where to listen: Apple, Spotify, and more.

TACO THE TOWN

Like Marcel Proust’s famed madeleine, whose taste and texture prompted In Search of Lost Time, W. David Keith samples area tacos in his off hours. By day a talent/exposure agent, Keith is not expecting a book out of his gustatory experience, but more like a focused podcast that can then un-focus to cover local music, sex questions, taco news, and more. Much more. Like 181 episodes in fi ve years more.

“I love discovering new taco places,” says Keith. “Three times a month we have different guests, but we always bring it back to tacos.”

ARROWHEAD PRIDE Arrowhead Pride, hosted by Pete Sweeney and John Dixon, talks all things Kansas City Chiefs. An offshoot of the popular newsletter, Arrowhead Pride can be heard several times a week—long episodes wrapping up last week’s game and previewing the next, shorter segments covering Chiefs’ press conferences and post-game reaction. Where to listen: Apple, and more.

New Heights, also on audio

Travis and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason. Since debuting in September this year, their entertaining weekly podcast has amassed a following of 165,000 subscrib-

Where to listen: Podbean, Apple, and more.

WHO DUNNIT SISTERS

Real life sisters Hether Belusky and Haley Hancock are on a mission to help solve missing person cases and unsolved crimes. Says Belusky, “The Kansas City area has over 700 unsolved homicides and over 350 missing persons cases. We rely on our listeners and viewers to share our episodes so that these cases get maximum exposure.” It’s also personal. “Our fi rst episode was on the unsolved murder of Donny Herron, who had lived with Haley and her family briefl y while he was in high school. On June 6, 2016, Donny was shot and killed by three armed men during a home robbery while Donny was protecting his fi ancée and young son.”

Says Hancock, “We are here for the families who feel they don’t have a voice or feel abandoned. We’re here to help them stand up for themselves and their loved ones.” GOLF UNDERGROUND

Golf Underground offers interviews with sport personalities, golf tips and tricks, inspirational content, and more. An extension of the holistic golf academy founded by host Kevin Ward, Golf Underground is available with audio and video, showing guys (like George Brett) sitting on a sectional sofa, microphones in hand, talking golf and life, etc. Episodes drop every week. Where to listen: Apple, and more.

NEW HEIGHTS New Heights, also on audio and video, features the Kelce brothers—Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason. Since debuting in September this year, their entertaining weekly podcast has amassed a following of 165,000 subscribers, making it the Number One sports podcast in the country. Where to listen: Apple, YouTube, Spotify, and more.

WAVIN’ THE WHEAT Wavin’ the Wheat celebrates everything KU sports. Alum and current 610 sports broadcaster Nick Schwerdt talks “Lance Leipold, baby” since KU’s football resurgence and basketball’s continued dominance under Bill Self. Episodes drop weekly. Where to listen: Audacy, Apple, and more.

Where to listen: YouTube, Apple, and more.

THE YADDA YADDA PODCAST Joe Cornejo balances his work as an on-air radio host for KPRS-Hot 103JAMZ with his The Yadda Yadda podcast, which drops monthly. “Seinfeld is often referred to as the show about nothing and having that freedom allowed them to change the storyline every episode without explanation,” says Cornejo. “I wanted the podcast to have that same freedom by being a podcast about nothing, but mostly about music.” Especially hip-hop, funk, R & B, soul, alternative, and punk rock. “I’m proud of every KC artist we’ve had on. They all have unique stories to tell.”

From its debut in 2018, Yadda Yadda has grown to include a record label and apparel. The Yadda Yadda album includes a diverse group of KC artists, “making us the fi rst podcast to ever put out an album,” says Cornejo. WAVIN’ THE WHEAT

DIVE IN

Clockwise from top left: John Hardy Tahitian pearl, freshwater pearl, 18K-gold and sterling-silver ring, $695, from Halls (Crown Center). Baroque Keshi Tahitian cultured-pearl necklace, $2,900, from TIVOL (Country Club Plaza and Hawthorne Plaza); Assael three-bubble Tahitian pearl, 18K-gold ring, $6,400, from TIVOL. Tahitian pearl, pavé diamond, and 18K white-gold pendant necklace, $2,495, from Meierotto Jewelers (North Kansas City). Tahitian pearl and 18K white-gold drop earrings, $9,900, from Mazzarese (Parkway Plaza).

MAKING WAVES

Above, clockwise from top right: Jewelmer gold South Sea pearl, diamond, and 18K-gold pendant, $8,140, and 18K-gold paperclip-chain necklace, $760, both from TIVOL. Vintage pearl, diamond, and 14K white-gold necklace, $7,400, from Lilliane’s Jewelry (Ranch Mart). John Hardy sterling-silver and fresh-water pearl necklace, $495, from Halls. Tahitian and golden pearl 14K-gold necklace, $1,295, from Meierotto Jewelers. Opposite, left to right: John Hardy freshwater pearl and sterling-silver Asli necklace, $2,200, from Mazzarese. Pearl, black diamond, and 18K white-gold bracelet, $849, from Meierotto Jewelers. Bergio South Sea pearl, black diamond, rose-gold and white-gold ring, $9,980, from Mazzarese.

SOMETHING TO SEA

Opposite, clockwise from top left: Assael Tahitian pearl, blue-green tourmaline, and platinum ring, $11,800, from TIVOL. John Hardy Naga pavé diamond, blue sapphire, and pearl dragon ring, $2,300, from Mazzarese. Armenta Old World pearl, diamond halo with seed pearl trim, 18K yellow-gold and blackened sterling-silver ring, $1,990, from Meierotto Jewelers. Vintage pearl, diamond, and 18K white-gold ring, $3,800, from Lilliane’s Jewelry. Above, top to bottom: John Hardy Classic freshwater pearl, silver, and 18K-gold interlinking earrings, $1,395, from Meierotto Jewelers. Elizabeth Locke Fiesole 19K yellow-gold link necklace $15,050, and South Sea pearl pendant, $4,950, from Halls. Vintage diamond, pearl, emerald, and 14K-gold bracelet, $5,000, from Lilliane’s Jewelry.

PEARLS OF WISDOM

Above, clockwise from top left: Marmari phases of the moon mother of pearl, diamond, and 18K gold necklace with compass on reverse side, $5,640, from Pendleton Jewelry (Crossroads). Piazza mother of pearl and gold earrings, $489, from DelBrenna Jewelry (Crestwood Shops); Aperitivo pendant in black with mother of pearl, $259, from DelBrenna Jewelry. Renna Mother of Pearl, rock crystal, and 18K-gold necklace with carved octopus, $5,000, from Pendleton Jewelry. Opposite, clockwise from top: South Sea pearl, blue sapphire, and 18K white-gold earrings, $3,740, from TIVOL. Cultured pearl and diamond 14K white-gold earrings, $830, from Meierotto Jewelers. Pearl, diamond, and 18K white-gold earrings, $2,200, from Lilliane’s Jewelry. Cultured pearl tassel, black onyx, and pavé diamonds on silk cord necklace, $9,875, from Mazzarese.

WORDS BY Jenny Vergara

If you still think of Champagne and sparkling wine like your grandmother’s fi ne china, something only brought out once a year to celebrate a special occasion, then perhaps you need to rethink your position on what could be one of the most versatile wines we have at our fi ngertips.

Sparkling wines today are being produced all over the globe, and yet you can also fi nd domestic sparklers made right here at home that twinkle just as bright as any import. Bottles of bubbly are being produced for every preference and palate, from fruity and sweet to bone dry. They also come in a wide variety of colors, (white, yellow, orange, pink and yes, even red) and excellent bottles are available at a variety of price points. Perhaps the best secret factoid about Champagne and sparklers that every sommelier knows is that they are the perfect thing to pair with any food you put with it. Charcuterie and cheese? Yes. Caesar salad? Yes. Steak and frites? Yes. Crème brulee? Yes. By itself? Well, of course, sweetie darling.

If these points aren’t enough to convince you, then let’s talk about the emotional lift you get from drinking sparkling wines. Just listening to the sound of a cork popping off the top of a bottle of Champagne or bubbles has the power to lift moods. (No, literally, it has been proven that drinking sparkling wine or Champagne will get you feeling good faster than non-sparkling wines.) It can make any random Monday suddenly feel much more meaningful. Sparkling wines are also incurably happy whether enjoyed alone or with friends and family.

From a tactile standpoint, drinking a glass of sparkling wine is a seduction of all your senses. You stare at your fl ute as the silver bubbles slide from the bottom to

the top in an endlessly slow, even rhythm as they shoot up to the surface and spill out across your glass before they fi nally, gently, drift away like tiny shooting stars, here and then gone. As you lift the glass to your lips, the bubbles tickle your nose fi rst, then your mouth, caressing your tongue and fi nally your throat. You savor every single fl avor of the cool, crisp liquid in your mouth as it teases your palate before slipping away, and another sip is urgently needed. See? Told you. Sexy stuff.

As you prepare to gather with your special someone, loved ones or friends here at the end of another year, why not meet them for a glass of Champagne or sparkling wine. These ten spots will allow you to sparkle and shine with a glass of bubbly in hand.

Where else would you grab a glass of tiny bubbles other than a tiny bar? Cheval on Main proudly fi ts that bill, with no more than 35 seats available and no reservations needed. Located on Main Street, across the street from owner Heather White’s French-inspired café, Tailleur, this intimate and stylish cocktail lounge offers a few select sparklers to choose from on their list, but with a large colorful print of the wine label hanging on the wall, showing a woman holding a glass of sparkling wine over her head, a glass of the Italian Contratto Millesimato, Pas Dosé, 2016, is not only highly suggested, but highly recommended. chevalonmain.com

With a champagne bar in your own backyard that was recognized this year as one of the top ten spots in the country to order a glass of bubbly, you now know where to go. The Champagne Bureau that bestowed the award noted that Ça Va “specializes in grower Champagne (meaning Champagnes produced by the estate that owns the vineyards where the grapes are grown), has rustic-chic décor, and delicious French cuisine.” All true! With a motto like “Champagne for the People,” Ça Va demonstrates that with a serious bottle and by-the-glass list from Champagne to sparkling wines to Pét Nat, this is the place to fi nd your sparkle. cavakc.com

Approachable wine knowledge may sound like an oxymoron, but it perfectly describes the tableside manner that Barry Tunnell and his team have at Tannin. Their carefully curated wine list includes a fi ne list of bubbles to sip and sample. For the money, their sparkling wine fl ight is a great deal. You get four, two-ounce samples of each of their sparkling wines by the glass for only $24. A sparkling fl ight, one of their famous cheese plates, and a friend and you have all you need to celebrate the season. tanninwinebar.com

After being named a James Beard Award semifi nalist for Best Chef: Midwest this year, chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen and his wife and business partner, Susan, are having a good year at their Prairie Village restaurant, Story. Their wine list also continues its own winning streak with Wine Spectator bestowing their Best of Award for Excellence for the eighth year in a row. With over 2,000 bottles of wine in inventory, their list of sparkling wines is clearly worth celebrating. There is no better place to enjoy dinner and a bottle of bubbles right now. storykc.com

For 33 years, JJ’s Restaurant has enjoyed a fi ne reputation for having an excellent wine list, with a convivial wine bar where professionals gather after work or evening events for a glass of fi ne wine. With longtime GM and wine director, Matt Nichols, managing the wine list that now consists of 11,000 bottles and 1,200 labels with over 30 wines available by the glass, fi nding an excellent glass of Champagne or sparkling wine only takes a few quick questions to fi nd the perfect bottle that will fi t the bill. Toast the holidays together, then walk to the Country Club Plaza to see the lights before they are gone. jjsrestaurantkc.com

With chef Michael Corvino managing the kitchen, and his business partner and wife, Christina, managing almost everything else, including their stellar wine program, you can see how this power couple divides and conquers at Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room. As a certifi ed sommelier, Christina is the wine director for the restaurant with a personal passion for sparkling wines, so who better to consult when you are ready to celebrate with a series of small plates from the Supper Club menu and a glass or two of bubbles? Her bottle list has an excellent selection of French Champagnes and a few Italian and Spanish sparklers for good measure. corvino.com

The Antler Room is the kind of restaurant that continually surprises and delights with a menu from chef Nick Goellner and his team that is always changing with inspiring and interesting seasonal dishes. It takes a nimble wine list to keep up with a menu that innovative, but it is a challenge that Leslie Newsam Goellner has taken head on, with a wine list featuring a mix of Old World and New World grape varietals. With 17 bottles of sparkling wine on the list, many from organic producers, and nine bottles of French Champagne to choose from, you might want to grab a seat at the bar and ask Leslie where you should start—both for dinner and to drink. theantlerroomkc.com

Travis Wallace and his wife, Kathy Richman Wallace, opened their casual wine lounge in the Prairiefi re entertainment center in Leawood in 2020, after Covid accelerated their retirement plans. Wine Bunker, named after their own wine cellar in their basement at home, is a fun and interactive place to taste a lot of different wines in one spot. They have wines by the glass, fl ight, or bottle pulled from their selection of over 200 wines you can try. Stop in and explore their list of wine fl ights, taking a deep dive when you come to their sparkling wines and Champagne options. The wine and the conversation will keep you buzzing all night. winebunkerbar.com

Westport Café has been in excellent hands since co-owners Kevin Mouhot, who manages the front of the house and bar, and Romain Monnoyeur, who serves as executive chef, bought into the business six years ago. With a menu of French bistro favorites, a central location in Westport and a kitchen that stays open later than most, you can always count on fi nding good food and drink inside their doors. Of course, you’ll also fi nd a glass of French bubbles to enjoy with your meal here, but if you are planning to share, why not order a bottle of bubbles from Monnoyeur’s grandfather’s winery, Domaine Desire Petit, Cremant du Jura Blanc, made from 100-percent Chardonnay grapes and produced at his home in Jura, France. westportcafeandbar.com

When you are ready to “drink pink,” it is time to head over to the historic dining room at The Savoy restaurant inside the 21c Hotel and check out their impressive selection of sparkling rosé by the bottle curated by Taylor Tantillo, the director of food and beverage. With executive chef Brandon Brumback and team in the kitchen, you could start with chilled blue point oysters and then move to Maine lobster thermidor for dinner, or you could be a rebel and order the Savoy “smash” burger with your pink bubbles at the bar. With a lobby full of interesting art to explore, and hotel rooms at the ready, you could come for dinner or just make a weekend of it. thesavoykc.com

Graceful, sculptural antique chairs and tables dance across the living room floor in the home of Kenneth Sherman and Jim Schanbacher.

A THOUGHTFUL RENOVATION RESULTS IN A CHIC RETREAT

words by Patricia O’Dell photos by Aaron Leimkuehler

Above: The floor-to-ceiling mirrored fireplace visually expands the living room.Top left: In the library, a vintage French Art Deco poster dominates the space. Bottom left: The mohairupholstered antique high-back settee is the perfect spot for reading. The couple calls the high-gloss paint hue used in these rooms “Grey Poupon” Sherman says with a laugh.

Kenneth Sherman and Jim Schanbacher have lived in their home since 1991. Content, but not entirely satisfied, the couple decided to renovate rather than relocate. “We were lucky in that our house was on a lot and half,” Sherman says. “It made sense to expand, and we really did not want to move.” As simple as it sounds—and in many ways it was—the renovation was still a two-year process. They were fortunate that there were many great elements to the house in addition to the double lot, so they did not have to “fix” any significant problems. Sherman is the vice president and event director at Trapp and Company and responsible for some of the most beautiful events in town. From the start, he had a clear sense of how the space could work and what the men needed to enjoy it the most. In addition, he has a keen eye for detail. “My passion is millwork,” he says with a smile.

Also, he has a depth of experience and sleight of hand when it comes to visually creating engaging space, but not everything in the house underwent significant change during the renovation. “The living

Gloss white cabinetry and walls, mirrored soffits, a raised ceiling, and an open plan make the small kitchen live large.

room didn’t change much in the renovation,” he says. “But the mirror surrounding the fireplace makes it seem much bigger.”

The reflection of the high-gloss ceiling provides a lift as well. While much of the furniture is antique and vintage—a product of a lifetime of collecting—the bare floors and sculptural tables and chairs lend a modern air. Upholstery is largely neutral and muted colors, while pottery and ceramics throughout the house bring a bounce of color.

“I like to enhance rooms with accessories and fixtures,” Sherman says. “It’s the same in the garden, which is mostly green and white.”

The library just beyond the living room is a charming mélange of dozens of books, traditional antiques, Louis Ghost chairs, functional brass floor lamps, and a crystal chandelier. The wall of books makes it the perfect spot to lounge on a day at home.

It’s the bar area, dining room, and kitchen just beyond that underwent the most renovation. “The dining room was basically the double car garage,” Sherman says.

The room is now both charming and functional. The seemingly compact table where the couple dine on nights they are at home has

Above: The plate rails display antique china, mostly English, ranging from Imari to Regency, which the couple uses every day. Left: In the dining room, antiqued mirror on the bar cabinetry borrows light from the French doors leading to the garden.

leaves that expand to accommodate 12 people. Just as entertaining is Sherman’s work, it is also his pleasure. “My family always says, ‘You set the table.’”

It’s a job he enjoys. The plate shelves in the dining room display a portion of his extensive collection of china and dishware. “We eat at the table every night we are home,” Sherman says. “Even if it’s pizza, it’s on a good plate.” The bar nearby reflects the light from the windows beyond, as well as holding the ice maker and barware.

But it is the kitchen that drove renovation and there is no doubt that the couple feels it was worth any headache that any renovation entails. “We opened up the soffit and raised the ceiling more than a foot,” Sherman says. “That made a huge difference in the way the room felt.”

The couple added custom details that have turned out to be some of the elements they enjoy the most— the antiqued mirror on the upper cabinets, the ogee edge of the marble countertops and the custom stain-

In the primary bedroom, the headboard is custom-upholsered in linen, the horizontally striped pillows are custom from Trapp and Company, and the needlepoint pillow was a gift from a friend.

Traditional cabinetry in the primary bath is topped by two vintage silver-gilt Louis Philippe mirrors from Pear Tree Design & Antiques. “It’s extremely rare to find a pair,” Sherman notes.

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less hood delight as much as today as they did during design. The push latch on the dishwasher, which allowed them to avoid a handle that would disrupt the design, Sherman claims was “absolutely worth it.” In lieu of an island, they chose a demi-lune table, providing a place to set a dish without the heft.

The garden room, which is home to Sherman’s antique Chinese export frog planters, overlooks the garden and was largely untouched.

“We did put in heated floors and the gas fireplace,” Sherman says. “It may be the most used room in the house. It’s so beautiful when it snows.”

The primary bedroom and bath, both part of the addition, are their sanctuary, and the light and finishes here are equally impressive. Cool northern light floods the bedroom, while the bath addition, with its classic marble tile and traditionally styled double vanity, feels as if it could be original to the home. The entire project took two years and finished just at the start of the pandemic. Fortunately, they had the perfect place to isolate.

Sherman’s extensive collection of orchids adds color to the garden room. “It’s the perfect light—facing three ways, east, north, and west,” he says.

Pear Tree Design & Antiques peartreedesignantiques.com

FHI Construction & Remodeling 913-208-8495

Trapp and Company trappandcompany.com