I'm eating again! This time in Wichita. I was there working on an assignment about meetings and conventions so I spent a lot of time doing site visits. I did get to see some of the beautiful attractions, though. And talk about feeling pampered -- Carol Jones and the sign at the CVB -- Go Wichita -- couldn't have been more welcoming. My host, Ken Vandruff and his co-worker Rachel Janes took me to lunch at a neat Latin American American restaurant, Sabor, in Old Town. I tried to go light with a wonderful soup -- Sancocho Soup -- a chicken broth (the red color is from a chile paste) with chicken, corn, onion, peppers, plantain, potato and avocado. Not so light -- the appetizers included fried calamari with a pepperoncini garlic mayo and a white cheese queso with corn and roasted tomato served with flatbread triangles!
More site visits after lunch then dinner at Hangar One Steakhouse. I'm not eating steak these days because of my braces but there were several other good choices including the one I ordered -- L-Bird Chicken Pepper Pasta -- diced chicken, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, lemon pepper pasta and a light wine sauce. I righteously rejected any suggestion of dessert!
After dinner, Ken took me out night shooting. The iconic image of Wichita is the Keeper of the Plains which stands on a rock promentory above the Arkansas River.
There's a pedestrian bridge which crosses the river there -- the design reminiscent of native bows -- most attractive.
Breakfast this morning was at the Hyatt where I was staying. Rachel and I split a breakfast burrito. It came with salsa verde, queso, grated cheese and a stuffed mushroom. The burrito was super and the salsa much bolder than I expected. Most restaurants outside the southwest in general and New Mexico in particular just don't "get it." This one did!
We toured the Hyatt and the adjacent convention facilities -- pretty amazing -- then flew by the River District museums -- Botanica, the art museum, the science museum, the American Indian museum and Old Cowtown -- looking, again, at meeting spaces.
And it was time to eat again. This time we pigged out at Pig In Pig Out. The chef-owner, Derek Cochran knows his 'cue -- the walls are covered with ribbons he's won at BBQ competitions. Again, the braces kept me from attacking everything -- but the chopped brisket and the pulled pork worked fine -- and I wound up bringing home containers of both the hot and mild sauces. I'd have brought meat -- but several hours in the car without a cooler seemed a little risky to me.
We toured the Hyatt and the adjacent convention facilities -- pretty amazing -- then flew by the River District museums -- Botanica, the art museum, the science museum, the American Indian museum and Old Cowtown -- looking, again, at meeting spaces.And it was time to eat again. This time we pigged out at Pig In Pig Out. The chef-owner, Derek Cochran knows his 'cue -- the walls are covered with ribbons he's won at BBQ competitions. Again, the braces kept me from attacking everything -- but the chopped brisket and the pulled pork worked fine -- and I wound up bringing home containers of both the hot and mild sauces. I'd have brought meat -- but several hours in the car without a cooler seemed a little risky to me.
Wichita was wonderful. I couldn't believe how much is going on there -- lots of cultural opportunities, entertainment and great attractions. Can't wait to go back and play tourist!
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