Wasn’t the Midwest weather gorgeous this week? It was SO NICE I decided a little holiday road trip was in order! But, then again, when am I NOT ready for a road trip? Practically never! 😉

I took a few days this week and breezed down south to Kansas City to primarily do two things. First I reconnected with my first college roommate (as a result of this blog - YAY!) and I also wanted to check out a few holiday events. I love Kansas City and was pleased I was able to do both!

KC is a great holiday destination with more holiday events to offer than you could possibly do in a month. One area where KC excels is in the arts. With that in mind, I decided to check out the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, which I had not been to before. To my delight, not only is it a wonderful museum but both admission and parking are free! There were three wildly different and unique exhibits while I was there - a photography exhibit from a Missouri photographer that was both fun but also made you think, an exhibit of 1950’s and 1960’s female artists, and an exhibit of Indian women who completed needlework over the top of their own photos. I enjoyed all three exhibits immensely.

I was running a bit short on time so I decided to have lunch at the museum cafe, called Cafe’ Sebastienne, and am so glad I did! I entered the cafe and was offered one of two places to eat - a large open and airy enclosed courtyard with sunlight streaming through the skylights and a large painting on one wall and another smaller room with the walls covered in more than 100 colorful works of modern art by Frederick James Brown. Both rooms were beautiful, but I chose the smaller room because I love color and it just seemed more cozy.

I ordered a BLT, which sounds pretty mundane, but it was anything but. The sandwich had scrumptious candied bacon, heirloom tomatoes, warm and toasted multigrain bread with an absolutely fabulous condiment blending all the flavors together. I have had many, many delicious BLTs in my life with tomatoes grown on our farm. This, however, is the BEST BLT I have ever had in a restaurant and possibly the best restaurant sandwich I’ve ever had. Accompanying the sandwich were small perfect circles of home fries. Yum!

I don’t usually do this, but I asked to meet the chef. A few minutes later, she appeared and I thanked her and raved about my meal. Her name was Terri Allen and she explained that she had competed in a tournament on the TV show Chopped with a number of celebrity chefs. I’m telling you all - I was NOT surprised. She went on to invite me to come back for a fabulous Saturday or Sunday brunch which featured her famous French toast. She also added that everything served was made from scratch, including their ice cream. Suddenly realizing I probably wouldn’t get dinner, I then decided to try their vanilla ice cream with bits of candied bacon on it. OH MY WORD was it good with the whole sweet and salty thing going on. Best meal since I went to Europe and one of the best I’ve ever had. Tracy, my server, also did a tremendous job, checking with me frequently to see if I needed anything. And, YES, you better believe that I will go back someday soon for brunch! Check out the links and photos below so you, too, can experience this gem!

https://www.kemperart.org/cafe-sebastienne

https://www.kemperart.org/