The Pitch: BBQ Issue March 2024

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Independent publishers, writers, and literary magazines descend on KC for AWP Conference

On February 7 through 10, thousands of writing and publishing professionals assembled in Kansas City for the annual AWP conference. Considered to be the biggest writers’ convention in the world, AWP features hundreds of panels, a book fair, and off-site readings and has finally made its way to KC. Missouri writers, including Elizabeth Hoover, B Rivka Clifton, Ron A. Austin, Hadara Bar-Nadav, Sam Edmonds, Phong Nguyen, and Caleb Tankersley, were just a few of many to present their work at the event, along with Pulitzerprize-winning poet and essayist Jericho Brown who served as the keynote speaker.

Courtesy AWP

Coterie Theatre appoints Khalia Davis as new Producing Artistic Director

Deciphering eccentric Lindsborg artist Mike Hartung’s circuitous path to paint Reporter Maddie McBratney drove 160 miles out to Lindsborg, riding shotgun in a stranger’s car, in order to meet the reclusive artist Mike Hartung, who went to college with the goal of being a political artist and did so for some time. Eventually, he realized painting was “the only true medium.” In order to pursue this, he dedicated himself to it entirely. Living in a studio with little beyond painting supplies and a twin-sized mattress. Hartung has never sold his paintings. In fact, up until 2017, he never showed any interest in exhibiting his work.

12 Side Piece

6 FOOD & DRINK

13 Eat This Now

The Bleat Goes On Chef Vaughn Good’s Night Goat Barbecue gets permanent residence

BY JORDAN BARANOWSKI

8 Stoking the Fire

Holy Smoke BBQ’s philosophy on grilling and giving back

BY LAUREN TEXTOR

10 Hearth and Seoul

An exploration of eastern flavors by way of Choga Korean BBQ

BY JOLLENE HASTINGS

The nationally award-winning children’s theatre was shaken by a series of accusations in late 2022, which culminated in the death of its former artistic director. This came just days after the passing of The Coterie’s long-time executive director, leaving a massive void in leadership at a time when decisive action and empathetic reaction were most needed. Now, at the start of 2024, Khalia Davis will be tasked with the leadership role and moving Coterie forward while reckoning with its past. The San Francisco young adult theater veteran is a champion of diversity, inclusion, and safety above all else. Her ideas for the shape of stages to come are laid out in our exclusive interview.

Maddie McBratney

4 LETTER

Letter from the Editor Smoke gets in your eyes

BY BROCK WILBUR

Courtesy Coterie

Undercelebrated support dishes get their victory lap

BY MADDIE MCBRATNEY

Portobello Z-Man at Joe’s KC

BY SARAH SIPPLE Drink This Now BBQ brews at Vine Street Brewing

BY SARAH SIPPLE

14 Lost in the Sauce

Gates Bar-B-Q is the past, present, and future of KC barbecue

BY SARAH SIPPLE

15 Mise en Place

KC Cattle Company’s Patrick Montgomery on the gold standard of meat

BY GABRIEL FLYNN

16 MUSIC

Big Bang After 13 years, psych rock band Supermassive Black Holes releases debut full-length album

BY NICK SPACEK

22 KC Cares

KC Cares Unexpected Blooms

BY BETH LIPOFF

17 FILM

Little Gold Men 2024’s Oscars grapple with strikes and Barbenheimer? In this economy, yes.

BY KRISTEN THOMAS

18 EVENTS

March Events Calendar

BY THE PITCH STAFF

20 ADVICE

Keep Them Coming Nips

BY KRISTEN THOMAS

Cover by Cassondra Jones Photo by Zach Bauman

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We all need hope. Easter is God’s message to us that the worst thing is never the last thing, and that darkness doesn’t have the final word. Join us at Resurrection March 30 and 31 as we celebrate the meaning of Easter with moving music and an inspiring message that will fill you with hope.

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March 2024 THEPITCHKC.COM

Editor-in-Chief Brock Wilbur President & Chief Operating Officer Andrew Miller Director of Marketing & Promotions Jason Dockery Managing Editor Steph Castor Community Manager & Food Editor Sarah Sipple Music Editor Nick Spacek Film Editor Abby Olcese Little Village Creative Services Jordan Sellergren Art Director Cassondra Jones Contributing Editor Joe Ellett Editorial Interns Maddie McBratney, Gabriel Flynn Contributing Writers Michael Mackie, Barb Shelly, Beth Lipoff, Kristen Thomas, Jordan Baranowski, Lauren Textor, Adrian Torres, Scott Poore, Hana Kim, Nina Cherry, Brynn Winkler, Jollene Hastings Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Brooke Tramel, Maura Dayton, Isabella Galvan, Allison Scavo, Pilsen Photo Co-op, Tarik Sykes Contributing Designers and Illustrators Alex Peak, Chloe Freeman, Jake Edmisten

Letter from the Editor SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES

By Brock Wilbur

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Whenever I’m in a rideshare or taxi, I always ask the driver what his recent rides have chosen as a topic of inquiry or opinion. “What do folks think about the state of the city? What’s on everyone’s mind? What’s the weirdest argument you’ve had this week?” Akin to conversations with bartenders or politicians, it feels important to my job as a journalist—taking the pulse of the city by finding out where everyone else’s head is at.

I have learned that there is one, inevitably, that no driver can escape: The BBQ Question That Becomes Debate.

It begins when the passenger asks the driver what the best BBQ in town is. This is, of course, a trap. No one can answer this. It is a prank of a question. It is a question that I ask politicians in interviews when I want to startle them from the outset and let them know this will not be a walk-in-the-park conversation. Anyone can obviously answer with a degree of certainty a question about what their preference in BBQ joints might lean toward, but to answer the question of what is the “Best BBQ in KC” is to embark on a Sisyphean task. With a PowerPoint presentation full of charts, graphs, metrics, and other data, you could still not convince another hardened Kansas Citian to switch their allegiance. You would simply be shut down and labeled a fool unless you happened to share an opinion with the original speaker—

in which case, huzzah, you’re both geniuses and heroes among men.

“People in Kansas City like to talk about BBQ” is not, exactly, a revelation. This is not new information to anyone. To some, it might come as a surprise how quickly the opposite can become true—that two folks in the metro will start talking about cooked meats and just as quickly end the conversation, recognizing either that there are too many places this could go or that, with the aforementioned overwhelming number of options and styles, one can simply skip to the end by acknowledging some form of “BBQ good. Hm. Yes.” But what I find interesting is how frequently drivers tell me that, especially with folks coming into the city, this seemingly innocuous question about where to find pleasant food is insidiously a setup.

“They just want to fight with me. They just want to tell me how BBQ is better in the city they’re from or another city they’ve visited, and I don’t really have time to defend the concept of all restaurants in KC against the idea of every place with slow-cooked meat in Austin.” This quote was said to me by a driver picking me up from the airport, whose nickname is, unfortunately, “BBQ”— contributing to why I’m sure some outsiders feel the need to start this debate with him.

He’s certainly far from alone in having that experience.

My conversation with “BBQ” happened just before the Chiefs took their run at the Super Bowl this year and when the national football audience had seemed to decide they were all rooting against us. Sports commentators took to calling this our “Villain Era” in a butchering of Taylor Swift’s concept of boundaries and self-care, but sure—we were

A full plate of Chef J BBQ. Photo by Chase Castor

at the height of our Villain Era. Drivers who have repeated the same beats in various stories of travelers who come here, seemingly prepped for a fight they have invented in their heads against KC BBQ superiority, makes me think that perhaps our city’s cuisine has always been in its Villain Era. Sure, people from Texas or North Carolina or St. Louis have shit to talk on us, but the reason they keep talking shit is because we’re really fucking good at what we do. This city’s expansive BBQ offerings—and the culture around them—are enough to sustain a yearly issue from us on that subject and that subject alone.

No one swings at you if you aren’t the champ.

So welcome to the March issue of The Pitch, where we get real messy with a selection of fantastic foods from across the grill spectrum and the stories of our awesome neighbors who concoct such heavenly delights. We hope you enjoy flipping through these sauce-stained pages as much as we loved diving into this year’s crop of ridiculous offerings to the grill gods. We thank you, heavenly hog heaters, for guaranteeing that this city’s flavor palette will never be as “mid” as STL. Pitch in, and we’ll make it through,

For our 2020 feature story looking back at the full history of KC BBQ, check this out:

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5

FOOD & DRINK

The Bleat Goes On

CHEF VAUGHN GOOD’S NIGHT GOAT BARBECUE GETS PERMANENT RESIDENCE

By Jordan Baranowski When Chef Vaughn Good opened Fox and Pearl in 2019, the new restaurant quickly found a place on a number of “Best of Kansas City” lists—and even netted Good a James Beard Award nomination. His ability to marry bold cooking techniques with high-quality ingredients was a breath of fresh air for the local fine dining scene. These same elements also made it easy to transition to a sister concept: Night Goat Barbecue, which is currently available on Thursday nights in the basement lounge of Fox and Pearl. Though Night Goat has proven popular enough to warrant a standalone, five-nights-a-week location opening later this year, it actually began out of necessity.

“Like every restaurant, Fox and Pearl got hit pretty hard by COVID,” Good says.

“The types of dishes we were making didn’t transition particularly well to a takeout-only menu. I started thinking about what pivots we could make, and the staff we had plus the resources at our disposal made barbecue the natural choice.”

During the first month or so operating under the new philosophy, Good and his team just sold their new barbecue menu under the Fox and Pearl banner. Once they started hearing overwhelmingly positive feedback, they decided to pivot even further. Maybe this little barbecue experiment could turn into something more. Good kept the fires going, and it wasn’t long until Night Goat Barbecue made its presence known.

“After just a short while, we knew Night Goat was here to stay in some capacity,” Good says. Once Fox and Pearl returned to standard operation, Night Goat became their weekend brunch/lunch outfit.

“For the last couple of years, we ran

6

THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

Night Goat like a more traditional barbecue restaurant,” Good says. Now that there are plans to evolve the concept with its own location, that mentality is starting to shift.

Good now operates Night Goat on Thursday nights in the basement lounge of Fox and Pearl. It lends a laid-back, “in-theknow” feel to things, with a hip atmosphere and a small selection of favorites and experimental dishes. This new way of running the show serves another purpose, too: It’s the perfect testing ground for the upcoming location’s menu. There isn’t a set-in-stone date, but Good hopes Night Goat will open sometime this summer. They will be open on the same schedule as Fox and Pearl, and you won’t have to go far to find it—Night Goat Barbecue will be in a new space but will still be located in the same building.

So, what sets Night Goat apart from dozens of other KC barbecue favorites?

For one, the quality of the ingredients. Before he opened Fox and Pearl, Chef Good served as the sous chef for Pachamamas, and he also opened Hank Charcuterie, both in Lawrence and both well-known for their top-quality meat. At Night Goat, Good runs the pit and does the smoking, but Guy Danforth serves as the butcher. Their collaboration is key to bringing Night Goat’s flavors to life.

The other key, according to Good, is the neighborhood.

“We draw tons of inspiration from being in the Westside area,” he says. “Night Goat has a strong Tex-Mex influence, both in how we flavor our dishes and the types of items we serve.”

Though a lot of Kansas City barbecue spots are known for “meat-by-the-pound,” party-style options, Good wants Night Goat

Courtesy photos

to be more focused on composed dishes.

You can see these elements come together in a number of Night Goat Barbecue’s dishes, like the Brisket Burrito and the Pork Belly Taco. Night Goat’s pork belly is something Good is especially proud of, and it’s easy to see why: He brines his pork belly and generally serves it sliced rather than cubing it like burnt ends. You still get the same basic flavor profile that everybody wants from pork belly, but with a wildly different textural element. With all the unique meats and produce that come through the kitchen, Good also likes to experiment with sausage flavors. Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage is the closest Night Goat has to a “signature” sausage, but you can never be 100% certain what’s going to be on the menu each Thursday.

That variance to the menu is part of what makes Night Goat so successful—every Thursday, there are dishes that ping those nostalgic backyard barbecue memories right there alongside dishes that push you outside of your comfort zone. When we paid Night Goat a visit, we tried the Pork Belly Taco, Smoked Beef Cheek Quesadilla,

and Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage Sandwich.

The first two were served with a fermented jalapeño hot sauce that was the perfect mix of tang and spice, and the meats in both were packed with a serious depth of flavor.

The sandwich was served alongside some deliciously crispy fries, and we tried Night Goat’s standard barbecue sauce with it.

This sauce also featured a hint of heat but balanced things well with plenty of vinegar and sweetness.

Most importantly, everything was really damn good.

For the time being, Night Goat Barbecue is only available on Thursday nights on a first-come, first-served basis. Keep your eyes peeled, however—it hopefully won’t be too long before you’re able to enjoy Chef Good’s barbecue brainchild five nights a week. It’s one of your best bets for a high-quality barbecue experience that’s a little outside the standard.

Night Goat Barbecue is located in the basement lounge of Fox and Pearl at 2143 Summit St., Kansas City, MO, 64108. It is open from 5–10 p.m. Thursdays.

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FOOD & DRINK

Stoking the Fire

HOLY SMOKE BBQ’S PHILOSOPHY ON GRILLING AND GIVING BACK

By Lauren Textor As a kid, Jeron Slater developed a passion for cooking while grilling with his father. Now, he owns and operates his own restaurant along with his wife, the rest of his family, and the young men they mentor.

Jeron and Nykita Slater—locally known as Mr. and Mrs. Holy Smoke—were both working full-time jobs in May 2021 when they began selling barbeque out of a mobile unit at 81st and Leavenworth.

“I was probably putting in 70 hours a week, Monday through Sunday,” Jeron says.

“When I got out of work, I barbequed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.”

He worked at the Kansas City, Kansas Public School District for 13 years but recently resigned to focus on his restaurant.

The Slaters opened a brick-and-mortar in Nov. 2023 and expanded their open hours with help from the Black MasterMind Group Charitable Foundation.

The Kansas City-based foundation provides education, mentorship, and funding to Black-owned businesses. Founder and CEO Dr. Donnetta Watson helped Holy Smoke develop its operating structure.

Now, the Slaters have two primary goals: smoke quality meats and give back to the community.

In the land of barbecue, their food stands out because the sauce is always served on the side.

“Real barbecue don’t need no sauce,” Jeron says. “You want to taste the flavor and the food and the meat. The sauce just covers up all the flavor inside of the meat, and we would like to let our flavors do the talking.”

Holy Smoke’s location is also unique.

The Slaters have built their business inside of a food desert.

“We used to ride past here every day once we used to leave our weekend location,” Jeron says. “We felt like trying to stay out west. We wanted to single ourselves out from other restaurants and barbecue places, and we felt like Leavenworth Road was the best spot for us because there’s nothing out here in the western area. We have a lot of support from the surrounding neighborhoods. We love this location.”

Right across the street from Holy Smoke is KCK Fire Department’s Station 4. The firefighters are among the business’ best customers.

Jeron has a special rapport with first re-

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THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

sponders. He was trained in one of the KCK department’s first cadet programs in 2005 but started working for the school district shortly after.

“Every weekend, the fire department comes in support,” Jeron says.

He and his wife are organizing specials for first responders, including an appreciation day when they’re open to serve this population exclusively.

Holy Smoke has catered to special events for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Royals, the KCK Public School District, and the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame. They have also provided hot meals to local warming centers.

The Slaters’ business is operated with family, friends, and young high school men whom they’ve begun mentoring. Jeron calls this program “Keep the Flame Alive.”

“We’re trying to uplift young men,” he says. “Basically, showing the kids how to start a fire, the proper temperatures of meat, cooking, barbecuing—all the stuff of that nature.”

“One of our things is that they’ve got to try to keep their grades up,” Jeron says. “We try to have conversations with them. We talk to them. We take them to get haircuts. We go to their sports events. We try to show them a lot of love.”

“There’s not a lot of father figures in these young boys’ lives,” he explains. “Myself as a man, loving to cook—I want to show these young boys. Some people think cooking is a woman’s job. It’s not. I have a passion for cooking. I’m noticing a lot of these youngsters don’t know how to start a grill or chop up meat. Now, I can step to the side, and they can start the grill and check the food. They can do all of that stuff.”

The Slaters implemented this idea before even owning their brick-and-mortar.

Their son, Jeron Jr., and nephew learn the same skills and help with the business.

Although Holy Smoke has only recently expanded to a permanent location, they’re already thinking about their next steps.

“We love where we’re at, but we also want to grow more,” Nykita says. “Who wouldn’t want to grow? We want to eventually look into having a sit-in restaurant as well. We still want to keep our carry-out diner. This is our home, our baby. We love it here. But who wouldn’t want to grow?”

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FOOD & DRINK

Hearth and Seoul

AN EXPLORATION OF EASTERN FLAVORS BY WAY OF CHOGA KOREAN BBQ

By Jollene Hastings Watch out, Kansas City barbecue lovers—there’s a new sheriff in town. Make way for Korean barbecue, interchangeably known as KBBQ. If you’ve never tried KBBQ, it is a unique approach to the barbecue experience that is rooted in tradition and culture.

The differences and similarities between Korean barbecue and American BBQ warrant a showdown of palates and flavors. The good news? There is certainly room for both in KC.

Meaty history The origin of American BBQ, particularly in Kansas City, is steeped in history. This dates back to the early 20th century, characterized by a slow-cooking process over wood, a smoky flavor, and a sweet, tangy sauce. Kansas City BBQ consists of a variety of meats, including beef brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends, and chicken.

On the other hand, KBBQ has ancient Korean roots when it comes to cooking practices. Dating back to the Goguryeo Dynasty in 37 BC, grilled meat was a standard part of meals for the royal court. Thus, it was a luxury not afforded to everyone. During the Joseon Dynasty in the 17th century, meat dishes became more accessible to the general public, eventually leading to what we know as Korean barbecue today.

A KBBQ meal is an interactive dining experience, involving tabletop cooking over a sizzling hot plate. This unique grill is built into the dining table. The protein differs from American barbecue because, in addition to meat, they also have many seafood options grilled on the table. You’ll most commonly find thinly sliced beef or pork, pork belly, beef tongue, beef intestines, short rib, squid, and shrimp.

Banchan Another factor that sets KBBQ apart from American barbecue is its marinated meats.

The marinade is a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, fragrant sesame oil, garlic, and usually a fruit (most often Asian pear or apple). This creates a complex flavor of sweet, savory, and a bit of umami. These flavors are further enhanced by the inclusion of banchan or Korean side dishes. These side dishes offer some spiciness, tartness, and balance to the meal.

Commonly eaten banchan you may find at your KBBQ experience include kimchi varieties (fermented vegetables), braised potatoes, pickled radish, steamed

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THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

spinach, spicy cucumbers, stir-fried octopus, steamed eggs, Korean pancakes, and marinated tofu. Each KBBQ may offer something a little different when it comes to banchan. The best part is there are free refills on the side dishes.

Banchan is a crucial, unique part of any KBBQ experience. Korean dishes are mostly cold versus hot and offer a tang to offset the richness of the meats. It is always a visual delight when all the banchan is brought out to accommodate the meats because there are so many colorful, little dishes.

The secrect sauce(s) Another significant difference between the two types of barbecue is the cooking techniques. Kansas City barbecue is all about the art of slow cooking, where meats are smoked over low heat for many hours. It really takes a good amount of patience and skill to achieve the perfect tenderness and flavor.

In contrast, Korean barbecue focuses on cooking meat rapidly. Much like the Korean philosophy of life, which is constantly being in a hurry and moving fast (Palli Palli Culture), their barbecue approach is more about instant gratification. There is also a focus on the social aspect of communal cooking around the grill and enjoying Korean barbecue as a social affair. The meat is cooked quickly over high heat in just a few minutes, allowing diners to enjoy the process of grilling and eating almost simultaneously. This method highlights the freshness of the ingredients and the joy of dining together with friends and family.

Diverging dining experiences also illustrate the differences between Korean BBQ and American BBQ. Here in Kansas City, BBQ is often enjoyed in a traditional restaurant setting, where dishes are prepared by pitmasters and served to diners.

It’s a hearty, sometimes heavy, meal of many meats and traditional sides like baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, cheesy corn, mac and cheese, cornbread, and fries. If you’ve got a stomach like a bottomless pit, you can end your meal with dessert—oftentimes pie.

Meanwhile, Korean barbecue is an interactive experience. It’s not just about the food but also the act of cooking together.

This dining style fosters a communal atmosphere of eating and drinking with friends and family. Whereas Americans may pair their barbecue with a cold beer, Koreans enjoy their barbecue with hot or cold soju

Cassondra Jones

(distilled spirit, fermented from grains) or makgeolli (sweet, fermented rice alcohol with a lower ABV than soju and a milky appearance).

In fact, soju is considered the national drink of Korea because it is a cultural icon, especially the traditional green glass bottles.

Soju and makgeolli come in various flavors like peach, apple, yogurt, plum, etc. Whereas soju can be sipped or thrown back like a shot out of short shot glasses, makgeolli is typically sipped from small, individual bowls but can even be more communal when served from a large bowl where you would ladle out the drink.

Room for two In Kansas City, our love for American barbecue runs deep, especially after adopting our own style of sauce and cooking. But we are fortunate to have Korean barbecue as an option that is equally tasty, as well. There is definitely room for both here. These two different styles and approaches to barbecue offer the chance to indulge in two different cultures and two different traditions.

Everyone is quick to name their favorite local (American) barbecue spot in Kansas City. Sometimes, it becomes a hot take of varied opinions and palates. There are endless options in the area. With Korean barbecue, the options are fewer, but what we have is pretty good quality.

My personal favorite Korean BBQ restaurant in KC is Choga Restaurant. This is a casual spot with speedy service in an unassuming strip mall in Overland Park. They do have a private dining room and a section of the restaurant that is partitioned for large groups. Fun fact: Choga is the only Korean BBQ restaurant in KC that offers AYCE (all-

CHOGA RESTAURANT 6920 W 105th St. Overland Park, KS 66212 you-can-eat), and it is a great deal.

AYCE BBQ at Choga includes the following 13-15 proteins: LA Bone-in Short Rib, Bulgogi (thinly marinated beef ), Chicken Breast, Thinly Sliced Brisket, Rib Finger Meat, Beef Tongue, Pork Belly, Spicy Pork Belly, Pork Bulgogi, Spicy Pork, Shrimp, Spicy Squid, Intestines, Ribeye Steak (premium option), and Short Rib (premium option). The shrimp come shell-on, so you do need to peel them. Intestines, or gopchang, are very popular in Korean casual dining but are an acquired taste. The meal comes with a trio of dip options, including sesame oil with salt, gochujang (red chili paste), and ssamjang (soybean paste). Depending on the meat, each dip highlights certain flavors that elevate the meat.

The price for AYCE BBQ at Choga is $32.95 or $44.95 (premium) for adults and $16.95 for children ages 3-6. Gratuity is automatically factored in at 18%. The meal includes steamed egg (gyeran-jjim), cheesy corn, choice of soup, radish wraps, salad, the three dipping sauces, and (refillable) banchan.

If you order pork belly, I highly recommend eating it the traditional way, as a wrap with radish or perilla leaf, sauce, kimchi, and raw garlic (if they have it). Trust me, this is the only way to eat pork belly.

Whether you’re drawn to the slowsmoked, saucy meats of Kansas City BBQ or the interactive flavor bomb that is Korean BBQ, one thing is clear: Both cuisines celebrate sharing good food with good company.

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FOOD & DRINK

Side Piece

UNDERCELEBRATED SUPPORT DISHES GET THEIR VICTORY LAP

By Maddie McBratney About eight years ago, my family set out on a quest to try as many local barbecue restaurants as we could. A record was kept of the process, which only continues to grow as new businesses open and we have the opportunity to try more places.

Throughout our quest, we rated restaurants on their ribs, brisket, pulled pork, sauce, fries, and beans.

It’s no secret that Kansas City has some of the best barbecue in the country.

In fact, Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives dedicated an entire episode to four of our very own restaurants: Johnny’s BBQ in Olathe, Woodyard Bar-B-Que in KCK, RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack in Merriam, and Smokin’ Guns BBQ in North KCMO. When one thinks of barbecue, images of fall-off-the-bone ribs, pulled pork sandwiches slathered in sauce, and burnt ends typically come to mind. The side dishes of the barbecue world are often sadly overlooked, though some of these restaurants prepare them as if they are the main event.

Slap’s BBQ: Fries ($4.97) Founded by brothers Mike and Joe Pearce in 2014, Slap’s BBQ is located on Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. What started as a set of brothers competing in local barbecue competitions quickly turned into a successful restaurant, and business has been booming ever since.

French fries are one of the most classic sides to pair with a barbecue meal, and the fries at Slap’s BBQ simply can’t be beat.

Described to be “as addictive as crack,” the fries are definitely not a menu item you’ll want to share.

They appear to be ordinary fries at first glance but have a soft and potatoey center encased in a crispy and golden shell. It is not the seasoning but rather the crispness that makes them so irresistible.

Joe’s Kansas City: Beans ($4.79) Formerly known as Oklahoma Joe’s, Joe’s Kansas City is one of the most popular barbecue restaurants in the area. Jeff and Joy Stehney of KCK opened the first location in a gas station on 47th Avenue and Mission Road. They have since opened two more locations in the area and have continued to increase their reputation as one of the best and most iconic barbecue restaurants in town.

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Holding such a high reputation, on top of that, is their barbecue baked beans. In fact, their baked beans are so well regarded that they can be shipped anywhere in the United States when purchased on their website.

Their beans are made with black, red, and navy beans and contain chunks of their own smoked brisket and pork. The beans are cooked in onions, garlic, and chiles in a tangy and spicy sauce.

Q39: Mac n’ Cheese ($9) Self-described as “Kansas City BBQ with a twist,” Q39 is an award-winning restaurant founded by classically-trained chef, Rob Magee. Throughout his life, Magee learned about and honored the food of the regions he was in. When he moved to Kansas City to work as an executive chef for Hilton, he discovered the art of barbecue. About a decade later, Q39’s first location opened. They currently have locations in Midtown and Overland Park.

Q39’s mac and cheese is an incredible showcase of what Kansas City barbecue can become.

A five-cheese blend creates a creamy, rich glue for noodles topped with herbed breadcrumbs. The use of cavatappi noodles acts as pockets to hold the creamy cheese with a strong gouda taste. Q39 has the option to make it a “Mac & Q” by adding barbecued meats of your choosing, such as pulled pork, brisket, or pork belly.

Brobecks Barbeque: Corn Nuggets ($6.99) Located in Overland Park, Kansas, Brobecks

Barbeque does barbeque a bit different than most. Smoking their meat with their own special rub recipes, Brobecks serves their meat dry. Though they do have plenty of local sauces to choose from, they say that “the meats are good enough, you may just eat them without sauce.”

The corn nuggets have a crunchy, breaded exterior and are filled with cheese and whole kernels of corn. The subtle hint of cheese takes a backseat to the sweetness of the corn, which is the dominant flavor in this appetizer.

They come served with ranch for dipping, though the nuggets have plenty of flavor on their own and certainly don’t need any dipping sauce. Technically located on their appetizer menu, Brobecks corn nuggets are a must-try menu item.

Jack Stack: Cheesy Potato Bake ($7) Jack Stack started as a storefront barbecue stand with a small menu in 1957 by Russ Fiorella. In 1974, his older brother Jack Fiorella joined him, and they started Fiorella’s Jack Stack of Martin City. Now, with six locations and nationwide delivery, Jack Stack has grown substantially from the small stand that it once was.

A staple of Kansas City barbecue, Jack Stack is incredibly well known for their unique menu. As one of the only barbecue restaurants that offer smoked fish, Jack Stack proves to be more of a fine dining experience. But they don’t fall short when it comes to good, old-fashioned comfort food.

Jack Stack’s cheesy potato bake is made with sliced red potatoes and is covered in

Maddie McBratney

their special sharp, aged cheese sauce. The thin-sliced potatoes are cooked to a soft and almost mashed potato-like texture.

Wolfepack BBQ: Lemon Pepper Slaw ($3.50) Wolfepack BBQ, the youngest of the restaurants, opened just a few years ago in 2021.

Wolfepack is owned and operated by pitmaster Jared Wolfe and business partner Sam Parker. They are located up north in Columbus Park and pride themselves on serving up fresh meats smoked daily and always fresh sides. Online ordering is not available to ensure the highest quality of product.

Wolfepack takes a unique approach to coleslaw with a lemon pepper twist. The slaw can be purchased as a side for your meal or in larger quantities to take home.

Size options range from as small as a pint to as large as a gallon.

LC’s Bar-B-Q: Sauce LC’s Bar-B-Q is an award-winning barbecue restaurant located in east KC near the sports stadiums. Originally founded by LC Richardson, his granddaughter Tausha Hammett took ownership of the restaurant shortly after his passing in 2021. Though a few changes have been made, the heart of LC’s remains the same.

One of the staples of LC’s is their barbecue sauce, which can be purchased by the bottle or by the case in a hot or mild option.

Portobello Z-Man at Joe’s KC

By Sarah Sipple

Joe’s Kansas City Bar-b-que Kansas City, KS Olathe, KS Leawood, KS

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As a former vegetarian, now food editor, I couldn’t let a BBQ issue pass without at least one non-meat option.

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For an alternative that was accessible in multiple areas of KC and right at home in a carnivore’s heaven, it came down to Char Bar’s smoked jackfruit Jackknife sandwich and this Portobello Z-Man. Mushrooms are enjoying a mainstream moment right now, so let’s see how they fit into the local barbecue scene.

In the late 1990s, Joe’s co-owner Jeff Stehney went on the radio with local sports radio host (and Joe’s regular) Mike Zarrick to promote a new sandwich with a naming contest. Zarrick’s fanbase knew of his passion for Joe’s, and thus, the winning name was declared “Z-Man!” Now, the iconic Z-Man has its own section of the menu where diners can choose between a selection of meats ($10.79-11.29) and one veg-friendly portobello option ($11.29).

Smoky portobello mushroom strips and melty provolone are cradled by a soft Kaiser roll. Two onion rings don’t do much by way of structural integrity but add a welcome crunch and hint of sweetness.

A lot of the innards slide out of the sandwich, but the droppings are just as good without the bun. It is messy as hell—like it should be. It’s just another way to get that authentic barbecue feel when guests around you are going to town on ribs and dripping pulled pork. There are paper towel rolls on each table.

Speaking of messy, I opted to add more sauce—specifically, Night of the Living BarB-Q—the hotter variety of their signature. For sides, the Spicy Slaw and an order of Onion Rings made for a fabulous balance.

This sandwich is a reprieve for vegetarians and anyone trying to cut down on meat in a cow town. The Missouri white oak-smoked portobellos were expertly done. The bun did not sog and give up too soon, nor was it crumbly. This was a lot of food, and I did my best. Happily.

BBQ brews at Vine Street Brewing

By Sarah Sipple

Sarah Sipple

Vine Street Brewing 2010 Vine St, Building 2A Kansas City, MO 64108

Beer and barbecue go together as smoothly as Kansas City and jazz.

CHECK OUT THE FACEBOOK INVITE & NEXT MONTH'S PITCH FOR MORE PARTICIPANTS! Restaurants: contact jason@thepitchkc.com to participate

.In addition to beer on tap, sampling flights, and cans for purchase, Vine Street Brewing is simply a fun place to be. There is an outdoor patio and two levels of seating inside, with rotating live entertainment and food trucks keeping the experience fresh.

Co-founder Kemet Coleman and his team often draw inspiration from Kansas City’s history.

“Beer has long been intertwined with Kansas City’s BBQ legacy, enhancing the dining experience and adding another layer of flavor to an already rich tradition,” Coleman says. “Beer serves as the perfect companion, offering refreshing contrast and complementing the robust flavors of BBQ.” Two staple brews here are perfect pairings with barbecue: Jazzman Dark Lager and Maris American Pale Ale. Jazzman was the first Vine Street brew I ever tried. I love a dark beer, and despite its color, this is a surprisingly light one with a quick finish. With a 5% ABV and notes of roast malt, nuts, and cola, it is easy to drink on its own or with pulled pork and brisket.

For a brew that pairs well with chicken and smoked fish, try the Maris American Pale Ale. Coming in at 5.3% ABV, it is a medium-body brew with a sweet and citrus-forward scent. I found it refreshing and pleasant. The underlying notes are of stone fruit, coconut, and grass. Hello, spring!

Vine Street Brewing’s patio is open year-round, but as we begin to yearn for the sunnier outdoors, this will be a top spot to visit. Keep an eye out on their newsletters or social media for barbecue trucks popping up at the 2000 Vine building to get the full beer and BBQ experience.

THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

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FOOD & DRINK

Lost in the Sauce

GATES BAR-B-Q IS THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF KC BARBECUE

By Sarah Sipple Gates is synonymous with barbecue around here. From the sauce to the ribs to the man in the tuxedo, Gates is an icon. Ten Gates family members remain active in the business, blending Kansas City history with personal history.

George W. Gates II has his grandfather’s namesake and remains a primary storykeeper for the Gates legacy.

At age 7, he was redeveloping sauces in a washing machine. In his 20s, he was opening a Gates in Las Vegas after his time at UNLV. Now, he is the COO of Gates Bar-B-Q and running a tight ship as the Gates name expands city by city.

At the Gates Commissary, east of downtown Kansas City, we sat down for a chat with George in the Visitor’s Center. Between a factory tour and frequent redirection of guests thinking they were walking into the restaurant, he reminisced, shared the deep connections of local barbecue culture, and divulged what’s on the horizon for Gates Bar-B-Q. The Pitch: Tell us about your journey with Gates. Were you always part of the family business, or did you join in later in life?

George W. Gates II: I had no choice. You are kind of born into it. As long as I can remember, I’ve worked. I really started working when I was around five or six years old.

I started out cleaning up the parking lots and sweeping off the front. We had a restaurant and a nightclub called OG’s. We had half of the block, so every day, I had to make sure that it was clean—wash down the sidewalk, sweep, and make sure that it was presentable so people wouldn’t feel intimidated by coming in. That’s where I started. Then, when I was seven years old, I started reformulating the barbecue sauce.

Oh! I thought you were going to say started helping customers or bussing tables. It was in the basement, in a washing machine—a Maytag agitator washing machine. So it didn’t start out like this [gesturing to the Gates Commissary]. If I ran out of something, I would leave it out of the recipe. My dad did not like that. I would bring my friends down, give them some french fries, and they would help me do the work. From there, I evolved to making the sauce in a 100-gallon tub. That was huge to me. It would take me all day to make 100 gallons of sauce. Later, we evolved

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to a plant simulation.

My dad is a contractor by trade—a bricklayer. So he built the buildings we had. And I always helped, doing what I could to lay or carry bricks, digging trenches for the lines, whatever we needed to be doing.

[Guests come to the commissary door, thinking it is the restaurant. George directs them across the street, pointing out the smoke stacks: “By the way, if you are headed to a barbecue restaurant that doesn’t have smoke coming out of those stacks—don’t go in.”]

People get mad at us for not having a microwave. No, we don’t have microwaves. Do you want a hot one? We’ll get one out of the pit. But we won’t microwave it.

Tell us about Gates’ time in Vegas. I stayed in Las Vegas for 10 years. It’s like my second home. We had a spot just less than a mile off the strip. We were there trying to see how we could expand with barbecue that is very regional. Memphis got a taste. Carolina got a taste. Texas got a taste, and Kansas City got a taste.

We knew that the restaurant would be hard to expand. But the barbecue sauce has no barriers, no boundaries. You can make different flavors and different seasonings.

And once it’s packed, it’s gone.

That’s why I really feel our future is the restaurant that will complement the sauces.

It’s like being at Disneyland. Normally, I can see Mickey Mouse on the screen. But at Disneyland, I can actually participate in it. You know, that’s how it is with this. I can have the sauce at home and in a few different cities.

But then I can eat in the actual restaurant. So it is the combination. We’re here. But we’re trying to expand that, you know, nationally and internationally. It takes a while.

What came next? I came back from Vegas, trying to see what we do. How can we expand? How can we do more things? How can we be about the community and, at the same time, grow our business, you know? That’s sort of a hard mix—to be community-minded. My dad did an excellent job with it.

Is community-minded a guiding principle? He

had a saying, and we’re gonna try to install it somewhere on 18th Street with a beautiful fountain that says, “My cup runneth over, so you can partake out the saucer.” And that’s how we feel about the community and about putting back in it.

We started one restaurant, and over the years, we built and built. So then we had an area that we think is an asset to the community—to the city. But it was an area that few people would go into at the time and develop.

When my dad had just gotten out of college and the army, he returned to this spot here at 12th and Brooklyn, and he told his dad, “Hey, we gotta go south. Everyone is going south.”

He brought my dad to stand on that corner and told him to look west. “What do you see,” my grandfather asked. “Downtown.

And it ain’t going nowhere.” And to that day, it ain’t went nowhere. It got better.

My grandfather saw things that my dad didn’t see. And my dad sees things that I haven’t seen yet. It’s a lineage that goes on and on.

How have you used that generational wisdom? We worked on cleaning up the barbecue business. See, at one time, everybody thought barbecue would mean dirty and greasy. That’s why we put the “Struttin Man” in a tuxedo to let you know that you can eat barbecue in jeans or in a suit. Prom nights, graduation nights, ROTC balls, boom, we were busy.

We’ve been asked to go to the Legends, but we wouldn’t be doing anything special out there. We would just be making a living, and we prefer to make the statement that, hey, we’re part of the community. We’re here to help. That’s our motto.

That’s one reason why we opened over in Kansas City, Kansas, though it burned down six years ago. We have occupational hazards in the way we cook because we don’t have no thermostats. We don’t have no regulators.

And every now and then, the fire would catch that grease and boom, if you ain’t careful.

We haven’t reopened there because we want to make it bigger and better than what it was, you know, because that’s right downtown KCK, an area that needs a lot of growth

(Left) Throwback to the Gates beginning. Courtesy photo (Right) Conveyor Belt at the sauce factory.

Sarah Sipple

and a lot of urban redevelopment. So, in order for us to get going there, we have to make it something special.

Speaking of special, can you speak to Gates’ sports connections? If you’ve always wondered, “How did sports and Kansas City come together with barbecue?” It’s because the Royals and the Chiefs were at Municipal Stadium until the early 1970s, and there were two well-known barbecue joints within walking distance.

You would smell all these aromas from Gates Bar-B-Q and Arthur Bryant’s from the stadium then. We started taking food to the press box, and soon enough, they started relating. It’s like Pavlov with the dog, you know.

The operations manager over the old Municipal Stadium would give us a heads-up on who was going to be there.

Now, for the last four or five years, we have served every opposing team that comes into Kansas City to play the Chiefs. We’ve got a lot of good rapport with the NFL. When they come to town, they look for us. The Raiders, Eagles, and Bills are all some of our best.

What is the future of Gates? The products (sauce and seasoning) are the current growth area that could be international. The next expansion would be diversification like we already are in real estate. We own a lot of the apartments right here to help invest in the area and support the businesses.

The restaurant phase will be the hardest because it’s hard to maintain the product we have without somebody watching it every day. Because, again, we don’t have thermostats. We don’t use gas or electricity. This is wood. You really gotta be into it and know what you’re doing. And have a love for it.

But those three facets—restaurant, products, real estate—are great. The thing I think will keep us going, the staple, is the restaurant. That’s the glue that keeps the rest of them together.

FOOD & DRINK

MISE EN PLACE KC CATTLE COMPANY’S PATRICK MONTGOMERY ON THE GOLD STANDARD OF MEAT

By Gabriel Flynn

KC Cattle Company is a butcher shop specializing in American-raised Wagyu beef.

Back in 2017, retired First Ranger Battalion Patrick Montgomery officially launched his site to sell online, opening a physical location in 2022.

After coming home, Montgomery decided to open his shop in his hometown of Parkville. As for what makes Wagyu beef unique? It has a lot more intramuscular fat, which gives more flavor when cooked.

The Pitch: Why go from military to butcher shop?

Patrick Montgomery: You know, kind of a big thing I think a lot of military veterans don’t think about is losing that camaraderie and purpose when you exit, so I went to a few corporate America job interviews after I got done with my undergrad.

That was the biggest part of this. I decided, young and crazy, to start a business where you’re doing that. The idea for KC Cattle Company came from my undergrad in animal science while pursuing a career path in veterinary medicine.

Where do you get your Wagyu? Either we raise it on our property here in Weston, or we get it from another place in Texas.

How do you like to make your Wagyu? I mean, rib eye is always the best for Wagyu, but there are a ton of other cuts I thoroughly enjoy that come up off that animal.

I always sound bougie when I say this, but I do eat a lot of Wagyu.

How do you make your rib eye? Salt is what I tell somebody if they’re buying high-quali-

ty steak. Start with just salt so you can really taste the difference. Salt and smoke. My favorite combo is just salt on a rib eye on a white oak fire. If you’re going beyond that, I’d say pepper and garlic powder.

What challenges have you recently had as a butcher? The challenges aren’t necessarily the retail storage. The market, in general, has been pretty wonky for the last couple of years, just with commodity pricing and a lot of things going on in the marketplace. The war in Ukraine and the lack of beef inventory in the country—there have been a lot of challenges on that side.

Is there a unique meal or anything you think people should try? Probably one of the most underrated cuts to come off Wagyu beef is chuck roast. The chuck region of all cows marbles out really well, especially on Wagyu. I have one recipe, and it’s spicy Italian beef sandwiches. That would probably be my favorite outside of steaks. All you do is put a Wagyu chuck roast in a slow cooker or a Dutch oven and cook it on slow for eight hours. Throw a jar of habanero peppers in—or however spicy you like.

Add half a jar of pepper cheese, and then one packet of zesty Italian seasoning. Let it cook for about eight hours, and then shred that meat. It’s gonna be super wet and juicy.

Normally, you’d have a beef stack or something like that. But there’s so much muscular fat, and you don’t need any of that. Let it render down. Shred that thing up. And then just take a hoagie bun with provolone cheese. Broil that in the oven for a minute.

Slap that meat on the sandwich. It’s one of the best things you ever tasted.

Mise En Place is a series of questions, answers, recommendations, and culinary wisdom from the food and drink masters that push KC flavor further.

The following answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Courtesy photos THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

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MUSIC

Big Bang

AFTER 13 YEARS, PSYCH ROCK BAND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES RELEASES DEBUT FULL-LENGTH ALBUM

By Nick Spacek Formed in 2010, Kansas City’s Supermassive Black Holes define themselves as playing music as a “mind-bending sonic experience that defies boundaries, with entrancing drumming, rock-solid bass, and mesmerizing guitar work,” and there is no more perfect example of how that all comes together than their new album, Stop Safely Now. Released in October of 2023, it is a grandiose and, yes, supermassive affair that moves through psychedelia, prog, dad rock, and myriad other genres while still feeling as though it’s an album proper rather than some loose collection of songs composed over the decade-plus since the band’s self-titled debut EP. That realization led to our first question when we spoke with the band from their rehearsal space one January evening. Given their extensive pedigrees outside Supermassive Black Holes, we had to ask drummer Matt Davis, vocalist and guitarist Chad Brothers, bassist and vocalist Alexis Barclay, and vocalist and guitarist John Johnson if the fact that their debut full-length took so long was because they’re all in other musical projects.

“I would say that’s maybe 15% of it,” says Davis.

“I mean, yeah, we had other things going on,” agrees Johnson. “The last six or seven years, we’ve been trying always to get together and record something. We always had it in the back of our minds to do an album, but two years ago, we got a little nudge.”

As Brothers explains, Supermassive Black Holes have worked on a full-length album before, but it never came to be. About five or six years ago, they recorded around a dozen original songs, but due to this, that, and the other thing—marriage, moving, etc.—the band just never quite got it finished.

“A completely different set of music than what’s on this album now,” Brothers says. “We’ve always been kind of working at it, but we never quite got it.”

Davis agrees, saying that he always thought the band was going to finish that album.

“Then we started doing our lives and growing up and stuff, I suppose,” says the drummer. “At least for me, you know, and then when we all were in close proximity once again, we realized that we needed to do this.”

Davis continues on to say that the four members of Supermassive Black Holes didn’t realize how much they needed this group until it was something they put on the back burner.

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“Within the last couple of years, we’ve been closer than we have ever been in our whole time together, and recording this album just solidified it,” Johnson says.

Once back together, the members of Supermassive Black Holes decided to take the opportunity that had been returned to them and chose to write all new songs—or 85-90%—if we’re still crunching numbers.

In addition to new songs, it was a new songwriting process for the band, too. Previously, as all four members were songwriters in their own right, they would each bring in their own songs and then assimilate them into the band, but they chose to forge a new path for what would become Stop Safely Now. “When we first met, we all had a bank of songs that we drew from, from either older projects or things that we’d had in our minds,” Barclay says. “This was the first time we’d really, absolutely wrote everything together.”

Listening to Stop Safely Now, it is an album that feels like it needs to be this extensive (big) to encompass all the ideas and concepts being explored, be it the sinuous opening feedback of “Spaghettification IV” or the dreamy looseness of “Young and Childlike,” and everything in between. It also feels like an album where the members of this band decided that if they’d waited this long to make a full-length record, they needed to go way big.

“That was the approach, and it was just necessity, too,” says Brothers. “We had all these new songs, and when we were in the studio, we got all of our new songs done faster than we thought we would, and so we had a whole extra day to track.”

Because of this, each member picked one of their older songs, upping the total by four more tunes, thanks to the fact the process was going so smoothly. That’s how they ended up with the 17 tracks that make up the album.

“We knew we were on the right track ‘cause everything seemed so effortless, you know?” Johnson says. “That’s why it ended up being so big to me. We each contributed some newer songs, but then more stuff started coming out, and we’re like, ‘No, we got to put this on there too.’”

“The excitement level of that really, really helped the creativity,” Barclay agrees.

That creativity was an absolute necessity because the songs were put together thanks to a weekend at Table Rock, where the four members brought their recording equipment and finished writing all the ideas and songs for this album. It was all brand new, with none of the old stuff from the previous attempt several years before. That helped

Courtesy photo

lay the foundation of what these songs were about, then the band went back home, rehearsed before they went to the studio, and were ready to go with the bones of the songs.

However, they didn’t rehearse a whole bunch because it was in the studio where the songs would come together. Most of what would become the tracks on the album had not been played live at that point, which is the opposite of how Supermassive Black Holes had previously treated the recording process. This has made for some challenging experiences introducing the new material into the band’s live sets promoting Stop Safely Now. “We’re normally gigging the songs before we go into the studio,” Brothers says of past experience. “I feel like we had to find our sea legs, so to speak, when we started playing them live.”

Case in point, he says, was vocals.

There were harmonies they were able to do in the studio that they then had to figure out how to wrap their heads around when playing live. Many of the songs on Stop Safely Now have three, four, and even more part harmonies, thanks to the members of Supermassive Black Holes really exploring just what the studio had to offer.

“There’s an exciting level when we took it live,” says Barclay. “I was a lot more nervous taking it from the studio to the stage rather than vice versa because we didn’t know what kind of reaction we were going to get. I mean, we had a feeling. We loved what we were doing, and we were excited about it, but also, it was more of a leap than I expected it to be mentally and emotionally.”

“The nervousness is because we were always a little more adventurous in our previous compositions,“ Johnson says as he struggles to find a way to describe the

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES play a special two-set acoustic performance to benefit the Kansas City Folk Festival at Mike Kelly’s Westsider on Thursday, March 14. material on Stop Safely Now. He rejects “stripped down” and “poppy” before settling on “song-y,” with Brothers chiming in to explain that they’re pretty intricately arranged, which is a little different than what people might expect.

“We’re still maybe internalizing all that to take it live,” Brothers says. “I mean, we’ve played quite a few shows now, and it’s come a long way, but like, I feel like we’re still working on it.”

“Some of the songs are coming together so well,” says Johnson. “It’s almost like, ‘Oh man, can we record that again?’ That’s a fun part of playing live, is that we can do different things.”

“We’re starting to let them breathe live,” Brothers says. “We have a tendency to improv and kind of jam a song out. Some of these songs, we’re starting to do that, and we’re finding even more lifeblood in the songs live and different places to go.”

FILM

Little Gold Men

2024’S OSCARS GRAPPLE WITH STRIKES AND BARBENHEIMER? IN THIS ECONOMY, YES.

By Abby Olcese Do the Oscars matter anymore?

I’ve heard that question come up more this awards season than ever before. It’s true that viewership for awards shows has steadily declined year over year. There’s also the uncomfortable truth that the awards were created in 1929 by studio heads to redirect PR attention from labor issues, and to re-assert studios’ control over their contracted talent. Celebrating Hollywood’s legacy of union-busting feels a little weird after a year defined by historic writer and actor strikes.

However, the Academy Awards function for plenty of people as a way to prioritize watching cinematic achievements they may have otherwise skipped—or never even heard about. Yes, the internet and streaming services place a lot of entertainment in front of your eyeballs, but if you know something has an award, it may help you narrow down your options. The Oscars are also voted on by people who work in the industry, so there’s ostensibly a sense of expertise behind the choices (even if the logic doesn’t always match up).

In any case, this year’s ceremony should be an interesting one, both for the year it’s recognizing and the crop of films it produced, one so jam-packed with awards-worthy contenders that what got left out (Napoleon, May December, The Taste of Things, The Iron Claw, Asteroid City, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem—I could go on and on) is as interesting as what made it in. There’s the possibility to make some history (come on, Lily Gladstone!), and we get to celebrate Barbenheimer all over again. A performance of “I’m Just Ken” live on TV! Who’s gonna be mad about that?

If you’re following this year’s race (and you should be), here’s a guide to the big contenders, and who’s likely to take those categories—along with a little wishful thinking about what could have been.

Best Actor:

Best animated film

Bradley Cooper, Maestro Colman Domingo, Rustin Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction This will likely come down to a battle between Giamatti, who won best actor in a comedy at the Golden Globes, and Cillian Murphy, who won best actor in a drama.

The Golden Globes matter less than they ever have at this point, with the Hollywood Foreign Press having blessedly died out after decades of shady tinseltown supremacy.

However, they’re still a useful barometer of how Academy voters might ultimately sway.

Oscar typically hasn’t been kind to genre when it comes to matchups like this, which suggests it’s Murphy’s award to lose (and good for him! He’s earned it).

The Boy and the Heron, Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki Elemental, Peter Sohn and Denise Ream Nimona, Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary Robot Dreams, Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal This race is a fascinating tossup. Saying Pixar is usually a juggernaut in this category is like saying trans fats are bad for you (We know! We’ve known for years!) but this is a stacked group of nominees, and Elemental had mixed performances. Meanwhile, The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki’s long-awaited return to animation, and he previously won this category for Spirited Away. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most dazzling movies of the last decade, but could suffer here from superhero fatigue, or the reports of poor working conditions for its animators. The bummer is that TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, which achieved Spider-Verse’s glorious aesthetic heights sans employee exploitation, didn’t make the cut.

Best Actress Annette Bening, Nyad Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan, Maestro Emma Stone, Poor Things This is a three-way race between Gladstone, Hüller and Stone. Gladstone is stunning in Killers of the Flower Moon, and it’s a historic nomination: she already made history by being the first indigenous woman to win a Golden Globe. Hüller took home Best Actress at Cannes for her rock-solid work in Anatomy of a Fall, which has done well throughout awards season. Stone picked up a Critics Choice award and a Golden Globe for Poor Things, and hers is the kind of allin, marathon performance the Academy voting body tends to love.

Cinematography El Conde, Edward Lachman Killers of the Flower Moon, Rodrigo Prieto Maestro, Matthew Libatique Oppenheimer, Hoyte van Hoytema Poor Things, Robbie Ryan It’s neat that El Conde—a niche arthouse satire that imagines Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as an aging vampire—made it in here, giving a nod to Edward Lachman’s goth-

Cassondra Jones

ic, inky cinematography. Poor Things is also a real artistic achievement, with Robbie Ryan making a meal out of the production design that calls to mind Terry Gilliam’s best films (this is code for “we don’t see movies like this hardly ever”). However, given the attention Hoyte Van Hoytema has received for Oppenheimer, and how visually ambitious that film is, this is likely where the laurels will land.

Best Director Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer Let’s address the elephant in the room first: This should be Greta Gerwig’s award. Barbie was critically acclaimed and was the highest-grossing film of the year, and it’s ridiculous she isn’t even in the conversation. That said, Christopher Nolan has the Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice awards, and he’s the favorite to win here, too. While we’re here, though, let’s give a tip of the hat to Yorgos Lanthimos and Jonathan Glazer, two arthouse favorites who don’t usually get this kind of love, and turned out incredible work that was true to both of their artistic proclivities.

Best Picture American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest Oppenheimer is the favorite to win here, with Killers of the Flower Moon and the steadily performing Anatomy of a Fall not far behind.

American Fiction won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is historically an indicator of victory, but its campaign has lost momentum. Barbie could be the dark horse winner, though the snubs in several other categories indicate it would be a really dark horse. Personally, I’d love to see Celine Song’s lovely Past Lives come out of nowhere and wipe the floor with everyone, or to see prestige freakball Poor

Things or capital-A Arthouse entry The Zone of Interest take the competitors out. I’m resigned to the fact that these possibilities only live in my dreams.

Best adapted screenplay American Fiction, Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson Barbie, Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach Oppenheimer, Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan Poor Things, Screenplay by Tony McNamara The Zone of Interest, Written by Jonathan Glazer Among these, the screenplay I’d most like to look at is The Zone of Interest, given that 90% of the strength of Glazer’s film, about a Nazi concentration camp commandant and his family who live a frighteningly pastoral life in the shadow of Auschwitz, is cinematography and sound design. Anyway, the big faceoff here is between Barbie and Oppenheimer, with the award potentially going to Barbie as a make-good for cutting Gerwig out of the director race (it also has the Critic’s Choice award). However, don’t count out American Fiction, which has lots of goodwill and a newcomer success story behind it in writer-director Cord Jefferson.

Best original screenplay Anatomy of a Fall, Screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari The Holdovers, Written by David Hemingson Maestro, Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer May December, Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik Past Lives, Written by Celine Song The Academy has the potential to do something really interesting here, awarding best original screenplay based fully on the merits of writing rather than a movie with multiple nominations, as Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers and Maestro do. It would be great to see this go to May December or Past Lives, both of which feature incredible writing (in the case of May December, it’s also the only nomination, which feels unfair: Justice for Charles Melton!) Given that Anatomy of a Fall grabbed the Golden Globe in this category, plus its multiple nominations, it’s the current favorite to win.

THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

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THE PITCH EVENTS March 2024 CALENDAR

THE PITCH Events March 2024 Calendar ONGOING March 1-3

13 Years of Vintage Revival, Bella Patina Yachtly Groove with Big Bam Boom Hall & Oates Tribute, Knuckleheads

March 1-16 Dolly Pop-Up: The Best Little Tribute Bar in Kansas City, Vignettes

March 1 - April 14 Orchid Delirium, Powell Gardens

March 2-3 Drake & J.Cole, T-Mobile Center

March 5-10

Uncorked: KC Wine Fest, Union Station Kansas City The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Starlight Theatre Hike with a Naturalist Winter Edition, Lakeside Nature Center of KC 12th Annual Kansas Craft Brewers Expo, Abe and Jake’s Landing

March 3 Loveless, The Madrid Theatre Martin Farrell Jr., Blood Daubers (Early Show), Replay Lounge Swallow the Rat, Discotek Mama, Powerline Lisa, Replay Lounge Got Hair’s Got Drag!, 315 Westport Rd.

March 5

Jenny Lewis

62nd Kansas City Gem and Mineral Show, KCI Expo Center

HEELS w/ Tina Rojas, Crossroads Hotel Kansas City Lany, Uptown Theater

March 9, 15, 17

March 5

March 10

Roméo et Juliette, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The Moss, recordBar

Around the World in 80 Days, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

March 8-10

March 22-24 Vintage Market Days Kansas City presents “Homemade,” Village West Kansas City Heartland Men’s Chorus Presents “Princes of Pop,” Folly Theater

EVENTS March 1

Grande Wine Affair, Pierpont’s at Union Station Emo Nite LA, recordBar

March 4

March 6 Dancing With the Stars: LIVE!, The Midland Chris O’Leary Band, Knuckleheads

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Season to Risk, recordBar

March 12

Vine Street Bingo Night, Vine Street Brewing Co. The Psychology of Serial Killers, Uptown Theater

Letterkenny Presents: A Night of Stand Up, Folly Theater

March 8

Young Professionals Social Networking, Nighthawk Guster, The Madrid Theatre

March 2

March 9

Voivod, Prong, Violenteer, recordBar INZO, The Truman Braxton Keith, PBR Big Sky

Brunched: A Boozy Breakfast Club, The Guild KC Queer Bar Takeover, Shark Bar KC

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March 11

March 7

Flogging Molly: Road to Rebellion Tour, Uptown Theater The Surfrajettes, recordBar

THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

The Truman

Jenny Lewis is a singer-songwriter born to a set of entertainers in Las Vegas. She had her first taste in the limelight as a child actress. She spent time acting in the ‘80s and ‘90s and formed Rilo Kiley, her first indie group, in 1998. She participated as a member in several groups before making her debut as a solo artist in 2006 with the album Rabbit Fur Coat. Join Jenny and friends for the Joy’All Ball at The Truman on Tuesday, March 5. Tickets range from $30-65. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.

Blackberry Smoke: Be Right Here Tour, Uptown Theater Westport St. Patrick’s Day 4 Mile Run, Westport Gear Swap, Big Muddy Gear Exchange The Disappeared, Red Kate, Gascan, miniBar

Mamma Mia, Kansas City Convention Center

March 8

March 13

March 14 Jo Koy, The Midland

March 15 KC Metaphysical SPRING Fair 2024, Harrah’s Kansas City Casino & Hotel

Tropidelic, recordBar Truck Noises, The Bird Comedy Theater

March 16 Lucky’s St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl, Howl at the Moon The Arcadian Wild, recordBar Snake Saturday Parade, North Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Downtown Overland Park Retro Market, Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill Heroes & Heroines for the Arts: A Celebration of Impact, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Hembree Money Time Love Release Show

The Ship

Local group Hembree is coming back home to celebrate the release of their newest album, Money Time Love at The Ship on Friday, March 8. They will be joined by Wildermiss from Denver and local DJ duo #ASSJAMZ. Tickets are $20. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. This event is for ages 21+.

March 22

March 29

Warrant with Lita Ford, Firehouse, and Jack Russell’s Great White, Hy-Vee Arena Adam Ant with special guest The English Beat, Uptown Theater Boogie T, TRUTH, Saka, VEIL, The Midland

MoonShroom with Shakedown Strings, Knuckleheads Kaivon, The Truman Doubledrag Record Release Show, recordBar

March 23 Kansas City Goth Coffee Swap N Shop, Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill Sisters, Birdhands, miniBar ‘68, The Rino Jim Jefferies, The Midland

March 24

3rd Sundays w/ Daisy & Mark, Enzo KCMO

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976), Stray Cat Film Center

March 19

March 25

Necrot, Final Atomic Battle, miniBar Venus Twins, Foil, Joust, Farewell KCMO

Sleater-Kinney w/ Palehound, The Truman

March 17

March 20 Night at the Arboretum, Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

March 26 Bad Bunny, T-Mobile Center

March 28 Ryan Caraveo: Trouble in Paradise Tour, recordBar

March 30 Emo Prom, Nimble Brewing JAM: Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars Tribute, Knuckleheads Spring Fest at Zona Rosa, Zona Rosa Central Park Bunny Egg-stravaganza, Broadmoor Park Taylor Fest, Granada HOP IN DOP, Downtown Overland Park Winter Farmers Market, Lenexa City Hall Quinceañera w/ Making Movies, The Ship

March 31 Edhochuli, Horseboy, Farewell KCMO R&B Super Fest starring Anthony Hamilton & Friends, Cable Dahmer Arena Savage Master, Screamer, Bloodstar, recordBar

THE PITCH EVENTS March 2024 CALENDAR

March 8-10

Planet Comicon Kansas City

Kansas City Convention Center

Planet Comicon returns with Ian McDiarmid, known to many as Emperor Palpatine, as their featured VIP. It features a variety of over 100 writers, artists, actors, and other creators.

Guests will be hosting their own stands, and some will have full panels. More information on vendors, panels, guests, and other general things will be added to their website closer to the day of the event. Three-day passes for adults start at $91.99, with single-day and youth tickets available.

March 9

West Bottoms Beer Fest

Hy-Vee Arena

Featuring over 100 craft beers and ciders from local and national, West Bottoms Beer Fest will take root at Hy-Vee Arena on Saturday, March 9, from 2-6 p.m. Tickets start at $50 for general admission. VIP tickets are available for $75 for those looking to get an extra hour in, along with a few other bonuses. This year, the special event will be a cornhole tournament hosted by KC Crew. Participation in the tourney costs $150 and includes two general admission tickets.

March 29

Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The Golden Girls reunite for one last hurrah. With one out on bail after being busted for running a drug ring for retirees, two having founded a thriving sex app for seniors, and the fourth with a much younger and sexcrazed love interest, the night is sure to entertain. The show is not intended for younger audiences. Tickets range from $55.59-66.99. The event starts at 8 p.m.

Stay in the know about KC’s upcoming events on our interactive online calendar!

THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

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Photo by Nicole Bissey. Illustrations by Shelby Phelps

THE PITCH ADVICE KEEP THEM COMING

NIPS

The nipple can be an erogenous zone on all bodies, regardless of gender. There can be psychosocial reasons for people not wanting their nipples played with, such as taboos or bad past experiences. Some women who once loved to have their partner suck on their nips while they came can find that reconnecting to their breasts in a sexual way after breastfeeding can be a hurdle.

A 2017 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine concluded that “manipulation of the nipples/breasts causes or enhances sexual arousal in approximately 82% of young women and 52% of young men, with only 7-8% reporting that it decreased their arousal.” This was also a study on college-aged participants ages 18-29, so there’s a good chance that more than 52% of older men enjoy a little nip-sucking or pinching from time to time.

A 2011 study by Rutgers University found that nipple stimulation activates the genital sensory cortex the same as stimulation of the clitoris, but this study was only conducted with female participants. It took another five years for the same research team to prove that this was also true for men. Was it that hard to find penis owners to tweak their nipples for a study?

Sex expert Goody Howard identifies

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THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

16 distinct types of orgasms (some being unique to gender), and yes, nipple orgasms are one of them. Sexologist Gigi Engle recently wrote a piece for Mashable about how to achieve nipplegasms.

The areola and nipple take in different sensations and have vastly different sensitivities from person to person; therefore, learning what you and/or your partner enjoy is the first key to a good time together.

If you’re not into nipple play, of course, no

Explore what that mouth can do... one should be pressed into participation.

You can skip to the end of the column for advice about saying “no, thanks.”

As we age, our bodies change, and we may have life events that alter our physical and psychological feelings about nipple play. For example, mothers may experience a kind of sexual detachment from

their breasts, even for a time, once they have breastfed. Breast augmentation, both increases and decreases in size, can affect sensitivity.

“The sensitivity change was immediate, but I still enjoy nipple play,” says M, 44, of her breast enhancement. “I was probably over-sensitive before.”

Nipple play can still be enjoyable after a reduction. Many transgender men can experience sensation and enjoyment after top surgery. As many as 80% reported in a German study that they had “good” or “very good” nipple sensations once fully healed.

Again, every person’s body will respond uniquely.

Factors like temperature, arousal, and individual differences contribute to nipple sensitivity. Hormonal changes around menstrual cycles and aging can also influence sensitivity, so learning patterns, listening at the moment, and knowing when to adapt to lighter sucking or less biting will earn you plenty of good lover points.

There are as many ways to stimulate areolas and nipples as your imagination can conjure. If you want to explore nipple play after having had a conversation about exploration and boundaries, there’s no better way to start than by using what’s free— hands and mouths. Caressing, pinching, tweaking, and other forms of manual stimulation require no special tools.

“I enjoy just plain sucking,” says K, 40s, female.

Explore what that mouth can do—licking, biting, hot breath, and sucking—but also various versions. For instance, biting can range from light nibbles to a pretty hard bite.

There have never been so many sex toys on the market dedicated to nipple stimulation. Suction, clamps, electrostimulation, and vibration are among the top ways to bring about pleasure and pain from online retailers such as Unbound Babes and Adam & Eve. You can keep it simple with household items such as feathers, ice cubes, bobby pins, or an electric toothbrush. Food play can be incorporated for a delicious adventure together. Try this with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, or, hell, in this city—BBQ sauce.

Incorporate as many different textures and sensations as possible until you find what turns you on.

What if you don’t like it and want someone to stay far, far away from your nips?

“I’ve never liked it.” T, 36, says. When asked how she prevented partners from playing with her nipples, she says, “Consent wasn’t something I was familiar with.” Recently, though, direct communication has been her main tool. She tells them, “I don’t like it. It’s not my thing,” and that has been the end of the conversation. “No” is a complete sentence; every partner should understand this.

Hearing your lover when they tell you that touching, kissing, or sucking a body part isn’t enjoyable, or is a full-stop turn-off, is fundamental to any successful sexual encounter or relationship. Don’t count on all the tricks that worked for a former partner to work on the next.

Al Vernacchio gave a compelling TEDtalk years ago that has stuck with me as an educator. He proposed we discuss sex the way we do pizza—talk about your turn-ons/ offs, what you each consent to, and what your boundaries are before you have sex.

Vernacchio says with pizza, you talk about what you’re going to order together, and once you come to an agreement, it’s with the idea in mind that “we’re looking for an experience both of us will share that’s satisfying.”

In addition, consider a barrier layer during sexy time. You can wear a shirt, a bra, a binder, or lingerie to bed to prevent any accidental stimulation. Ultimately, communication is your best bedfellow, but do what you gotta do to be your most comfortable, sexually confident self.

You can find Kristen @OpenTheDoorsKC on Instagram or openthedoorscoaching com.

Check out her podcast Keep Them Coming.

The source for all things cannabis. explore new heights scan to see our menu

THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

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Breanna O’Brien of Roeland Park adds some hyacinths to an arrangement while volunteering for Unexpected Blooms. Beth Lipoff

Unexpected Blooms

By Beth Lipoff

Recycling to brighten someone’s day is the core idea behind Unexpected Blooms.

The group collects flowers from all kinds of events—corporate dinners, weddings, galas—and repackages them into small arrangements.

Those arrangements go to rehab hospitals, hospices, and senior living communities.

“We’re target people who are not able to get out and about,” says A.J. Miller, volunteer chief operations officer.

Usually, the recipients are within a 1015 minute drive from the workshops. Right now, there are 44 on the list, but that’s always changing.

“We see smiles every time we deliver. I feel like even the volunteers go out happier than they did coming in,” Miller says.

Volunteers work together in south Overland Park and in Kansas City whenever they get a haul of flowers from one or more events.

No one gets paid at Unexpected Blooms, and it doesn’t charge for any services.

It works like this: Volunteers take the larger flower arrangements, break them down into individual stems, and then make completely new arrangements in small vases.

That’s a lot easier if the flowers have at least a 6-inch stem.

Ward Parkway Presbyterian Church and Village Presbyterian Church donate the workshop space.

Previous flower-arranging skills aren’t necessary, though it does give volunteers some tips and occasionally offers classes.

Volunteers can also do pick-ups or drop-offs if arranging isn’t their thing. Right now, it’s actually in need of someone to revamp the Unexpected Blooms website.

Miller says it’s best to have three to four weeks’ notice of an event, but sometimes they can pull enough volunteers together quicker than that.

“It’s surprising to realize how many flowers would go in the trash if we were not around. When we do have to deny somebody

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THE PITCH | March 2024 | THEPITCHKC.COM

who wants to donate to us, maybe because we don’t have enough staff, you’d be surprised how disappointed they are,” she says.

It all started in 2016 when a husband and wife funeral director and florist team saw how many perfectly usable flowers were thrown away at the end of events.

Keeping with the recycling theme, the group also accepts vase donations and collects its own vases after the recipient has had the Unexpected Blooms arrangement for 10 days.

Things got stalled for a couple of years with the pandemic because large events just weren’t happening, but the group has been re-establishing itself. In 2023, they delivered 4,094 bouquets. Overall, 19,062 have brightened people’s spirits since the nonprofit began.

Some of the bouquets go to individuals, like a hospice patient stuck in one room. Others go on display in common areas so more people can enjoy them.

Llinos Leisy, community events coordinator at St. Luke’s Hospice, sees the bouquets’ impact firsthand.

“People’s lives, they get very diminished when they’re in one room, and they get to appreciate some of the simplest delights of life that other people just take for granted,” Leisy says. “Someone walking through the door holding a beautiful arrangement of flowers can just brighten their day and their spirits and give them something to gaze at.”

What she was able to do for one hospice patient with help from Unexpected Blooms mainly sticks out to her.

“When we had a very young patient, and it was her 31st birthday, and we did everything we could as a staff to make it a very special day, knowing it was her last birthday on Earth. We had just had some flowers delivered. We made sure her room was full of flowers,” she says.

She’s seen the effect of the bouquets over and over again.

“It’s so meaningful for the families, the patients, and our staff. It brightens the place up. It brings beauty and joy. We are eternally grateful and have loved this relationship that’s been going on for several years,” Leisy says.

For more information about volunteering for or donating to Unexpected Blooms, visit unexpectedblooms.org

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