Get the Family Get Together for These Delightful Sunday Suppers
IN Kansas City Magazine by Michael Mackie
There was a time when Sunday suppers were a mandatory staple of the weekend. Several local restaurants are reinventing that time-honored tradition by offering inspired, get-the-whole-family-together Sunday menu offerings. We have a rundown of a few local chefs who think Sunday dinner is the most important (and nostalgic) meal of the week!
Cozy up in Prairie Village with chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen’s $10 Sunday entrée, which is offered in addition to the restaurant’s regular dinner menu. Often inspired by his purchases of local, seasonal produce from weekly visits to the Overland Park Farmers Market, the Story chef-owner creates varied entrées, such as petite beef tender medallions with brussels sprouts, sweet corn and celery root purée; sautéed shrimp with bacon, radish, purple hull peas and polenta; and wild salmon with carrots, fennel, crispy potatoes and tomatillo sauce, among many other flavor-layered comfort dishes.
“Sunday supper is a wonderful way to gather friends and family,” Thorne-Thomsen says. “Even though I’m working, I love creating food and ambience for people to enjoy a relaxing evening together.”
When does Thorne-Thomsen enjoy a supper with his wife, Susan, and three children? “Monday nights at our house is our version of Sunday suppers,” the chef says.
Announced every Friday in Story’s weekly e-newsletter and on social media, diners flock to secure a table in the bright and modern space, nestled in the center of The Village Shops. Story’s Sunday night suppers attract other culinary luminaries, like Farina and Extra Virgin executive chef Michael Smith, who is often spied in the dining room partaking of fellow chef Thorne-Thomsen’s creations on his night off from behind the stove. Continue reading here.
Story Named Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence Winner
Story receives the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for the 5th year in a row.
View the feature here.
Story Hosts Brewer-Clifton Wine Dinner - Herlife Magazine
Chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen Appears on KCTV 5's Better Kansas City
Story landed a spot in MSN's article, The Bucket List Restaurant in Your State, so Belinda Post of KCTV5's Better Kansas City paid Chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen a visit. Watch the video to learn how Chef prepares his popular lobster tagliatelle, halibut and octopus dishes. Watch the video here.
Notable Mixologists Serving Some of KC's Favorite Cocktails - VISIT KC
Self-taught bartender Daniel Purdue has been at Story since 2014, often incorporating cooking techniques into his cocktails, such as using a sous vide to make turbinado syrup for the spring cocktail list.
Local produce and seasonal ingredients are often the catalysts he uses in creating a new drink like the Strawberry Breeze, which contains a homemade strawberry shrub. One of the area’s more lighthearted cocktails, the drink leans on fresh fruits and is tied together with elderflower liqueur.
Strawberry Breeze
1 oz Tito's Vodka
.5 oz St Germaine
.5 oz Cointreau
.75 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
.5 oz house made strawberry shrub
3 dash Fee Brother's Peach Bitters
Shake all ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail shell. Garnish with some fresh mint. To make the strawberry shrub, heat up 1 cup of water and 1 cup of white sugar on the stove until the sugar is dissolved, then add 2 cups of sliced strawberries and let simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes and strain out the strawberries.
Purdue likes to add 1/4 cup of a mild white wine vinegar, but it can be left out. Store it in the fridge and it will stay fresh for a couple of weeks. It also makes a great strawberry lemonade: just mix 1.75 oz strawberry syrup and 1 oz lemon juice with 4 oz of water.
Full article here.
Your Guide to the Very Best Restaurants in Kansas City - Suburban Restaurant Jewels in Kansas City - 435 Magazine
by Natalie Gallagher and Sherry Kuehl
Guests are sure to have a storybook ending when they dine at James Beard Award-nominated chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen’s restaurant, Story, in the Village Shopping Center. His modern American dishes make for elegant, expressive characters.
Best bet: We’re in love with the colorful halibut entree featuring a pan-seared fillet arranged atop a golden butternut squash puree with Brussels sprouts and braised watermelon radishes.
Story Dinner Spotlights Huneeus Vintners
The Bucket List Restaurant in Your State
KANSAS: STORY
Prairie Village
This suburban Kansas City restaurant has been quietly turning heads with its contemporary American cuisine and upscale atmosphere, earning honors from Wine Spectator and The Diner's Club, among others. Diners can stick to à la carte fare or opt for a six-course tasting menu. Either way, reviewers say you can't miss the smoked duck empanadas, served with black beans, avocado, jicama, and barbecue sauce.
Reviewer rave: "The service was impeccable. The food, oh so delicious. The restaurant was quiet even though full of people, but it wasn't stuffy at all. It was so nice to have a conversation between the three of us where we didn't have to raise our voices to be heard. I had the green salad, Mahi Mahi, and a perfect lemon dessert. Oh, and did I tell you about the bread? Baked in house — it had soul. Altogether, a perfect meal!" — Roxy236 on TripAdvisor
See the full article here.
Story Named to The World's Best Wine Lists and Receives Two Star Award from World of Fine WIne
It is said that a dish tells a story, from the growing and sourcing of ingredients, the way they are prepared and paired, and, of course, the final eating experience itself. Whether eating a delicate scallop revives memories of childhood beach escapades, or to conclude a chapter by drinking a mature vintage, there is part of a story in each bite and sip. This is the idea behind the restaurant Story, where head chef and owner Carl Thorne-Thomsen spends time carefully selecting and pairing the freshest and most interesting ingredients to create a menu and dining experience with character and history.
The story continues to develop whilst browsing the wine list, taking the reader around the world, with particular lengthy chapters in California, France, and Italy. With over 500 labels now stocked, the breadth and depth of the wine program is commendable. What stands out, though, is its domestic selection, which celebrates the best of Napa Valley, Washington, and Oregon. View the feature here.
Story Named Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence Winner
View the Wine Spectator award winners here.
Bordeaux Wine Dinner at Story with Jules Coulaud
Revelry Vintners Wine Dinner
Story Hosts Dunham Cellars Wine Dinner
Story Hosts The Prisoner Wine Company Dinner
Carl and Susan Thorne-Thomsen Narrate Their Art At Story - HERLIFE Magazine
By Erin Jones Photography by Lauren Frisch Pusateri
Story Recognized by Wine Spectator with Best of Award of Excellence
Story receives Best of Award of Excellence for the second year
Story Named Best Restaurant in Kansas - MSN.com
The Best Restaurant in Every US State - MSN.com
KANSAS – STORY
Since opening in 2011 this restaurant in the Prairie Village Shopping Center has racked up the awards, including James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef in the Midwest and Food & Wine magazine’s best new chef for 2014. Dining here it’s not hard to see why it’s proved so popular with a menu full of beautifully-presented eclectic dishes with French and Italian influences.
View all winners here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/the-best-restaurant-in-every-us-state/ss-BBuC2iT#image=17
Story Wins Two Star Award in "World's Best Wine Lists"
Story was upgraded to a two star award this year from the World of Fine Wine.
To Market, To Market Chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen of Story in the Prairie Village Shops shares his regular farmer's markets stops - Kansas City Spaces Magazine
By contributing writer Leigh Elmore
It’s May and chefs all over the Kansas City area are chomping at the bit for the newest and freshest produce showing up at the farmers markets dotted around town. Chef/owner Carl Thorne-Thomsen of Story in the Prairie Village Shops is leading the charge.
“This is the best time of year in my opinion. Everybody’s excited,” Thorne-Thomsen says of his peers in the local culinary community. “We’re finally through with winter.”
Chef Thorne-Thomsen takes a hands-on approach to supplying his kitchen with the freshest available selections.
Continue reading here: http://spaceskc.com/articles/to-market-to-market/