Kansas City Food Memories

Jasper Mirabile & Jim Eddy both helped turn this show into something none of us could imagine. Jim was not able to make in studio, but Thank You Jim & Jasper. We talk about what we all working together have stumbled upon and its importance

One of many legends of KC BBQ, among other things was one of the original competitors of the Great Lenexa BBQ. Paul share many stories and tips for BBQ enthusiasts.

Bill Crooks, the "B" of the PB&J Restaurants joins us with great stories & food history. He started as bartender in college & has worked with enough of the Greats to become one himself.

This is all calls from listeners with their favorite Christmas & Holiday memories at old KC Restaurants.

Today, I visit with another Kansas City food legend, Paul Khoury. Some of the places that have felt his impact were Annie's Santa Fe, Plaza III Steak, Paradise Diner, Ya Ya's Euro Bistro and more.

Jordan Kraft, one of the owners of several River Quay joints including Dinkledorf's Deli & Cindy's Bedspread shares stories from back in the day. As he says, they were just a bunch of kids having fun, opening bars & restaurants back in the 70's

Robert Duensing is joined by Ron Regan, whose family owned several restaurants, include Regans Riverboat, Whisker Rivey's and Sunset Grill.

Food & entertainment go hand in hand in the history of Kansas City and fond memories. Earlier we had Marilyn Maye, then Ian Byrne and now the lead singer from the Rainmakers. Bob showed up with his guitar and sang an original song about one of my previous guests. Next time I will be ready and also livestream the video. Live & Learn

Today Robert Duensing takes a deep dive into the legendary Gilbert Robinson Restaurants. My guests are led by Ken Hill, former president, his son Mike, Bill Latimer & Rob Baker. They share stories about Annie's Santa Fe, the Bristol, Houlihan's Old Place and more. This will obviously lead to more shows and more rabbit holes about the restaurant scene in KC.

Where to go eat for your Birthday Dinner is big deal in our house! Today we ask the question, Where Did You Love to Go for Your Birthday? Note, this is a recording of a live show, so do NOT call in when prompted. Enjoy!

Local weather personality and early morning talk show host is a perfect example of why KC is such a friendly and wonderful community. Always ready with a kind word or story and ready to make you smile.

Doug Frost and Jasper Mirabile join Robert Duensing to discuss the lasting legacy of Gus Riedi and La Bonne Auberge. Besides being the first French restaurant in KC, he has also mentored many while sharing his ways.

We set a new record for number of calls with favorite memories of restaurants. Cherrie & Robert Duensing heard many stories including a couple with be a theme for future shows.

This was an eye opening discussion with Susan Fielder, daughter of one of the founders of SMAKS, an iconic hamburger chain from Kansas City. This show goes back to the 1950's to early 60's. This is just one perspective of an obviously complicated family business. Hear about the Elephant and ties to pre-Gilbert/Robinson. There is history, with dates, names and facts, then there are the stories and visions that drove it all.

Thus begins our journey to learn & share stories about the legendary Gilbert Robinson Restaurants. They not only played a huge role in the KC restaurant scene, but changed the way restaurants were run everywhere. Richard McPeak was one of the early culinary directors of GR and their first chef trainer. This is just the first of many programs that we will be having. Be sure to subscribe and tell your friends with ties to KC.

Robert Duensing sits down with Doug Frost, Certified Master of Wine and Certified Sommelier to talk about old memories and wine.

Host Robert Duensing is joined by long time KC restauranteur Jim Eddy and his good friend, Jamie Farr. Both are such wonderful people that see the positives in life and quick to recall stories that will put a smile on your face. This is one that bring back many memories of the Good Old Days.

This week, the radio show was pre-empted my MY Football, so we went with Plan B. This was our first attempt at live streaming on Facebook Live. My special guest was Andrew Yates, the last producer for the Mike Murphy Show, While this was not totally about food, if you want to know about KC, you have to know about the legendary Mike Murphy.

Robert Duensing sits with Jerry Anselmo to share stories about St. Louis restaurants, including the Hill, Kansas City and the Brian Anselmo Memorial Foundation.

Today's show is about Romanelli's Grill that used to be on Wornall. Their catch phrase back in the day was, "Here in the Hell is Romanelli's?" Joe Mac Cabe shares stories about the place they called the Cheers in Waldo.

Robert Duensing has an interesting conversation with nationally recognized Chef, Colby Garrelts. After mastering his craft in the real world, he came back to Kansas City to open his own restaurants.

Today, Robert sits down with Thaddeus Stephenson of the famed & iconic Stephenson's Restaurant. Even though it has been gone for about 15 years, it is still remembered and treasured by thousands. This clearly in the top 3 most missed restaurants brought up during the show.

Today we get to hear some memories from Duane Daugherty including old favorites and a few gems from service stars from Knuckle Heads.

We get a sampling of the many stories from George Guastello, President & CEO of KC Union Station. As a lifelong resident of KC George has a lot of stories to share!

This is another flashback with a frequent guest of Mike Murphy, back in the day. Roger remembers many of the old restaurants in Kansas City.

Robert Duensing is joined by Rod Gray and Carlton Logan to talk about all things Onion Rings past and present in Kansas City. Whose do we miss the most, what makes them so different and where we can get old school rings today.

Pete Enich was probably the first local sports radio host in KC, back in 1974. He has partied with many local legends, including Mike Murphy and many others. We talk about Boots & Coates, Jazz and Ruby's among many others.

Today, we sit down with Luther, long time piano player at Stroud's and 2 long time servers, Elaine & Sherry to talk all things Stroud's.

A short discussion of why this show is possible and how Best Regards Bakery & Cafe came about. Open calls bring up several new show topics that we will need your help to turn into actual shows.

Today's guest personifies the genuinely fun and friendly nature that makes Kansas City such an amazing place to live. We get to hear some of the behind the scenes stories about Bowling for Dollars and other stories that will take you back to simpler times.

Kathy Quinn, reporter at Fox 4 and Grand Daughter of the founder of the original Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant shares stories of growing up in the restaurant business.

The legendary Jasper Mirabile, Jr. joins Robert Duensing & Toby Tobin to share stories and our favorite memories regarding the Kansas City food scene.

Today, we take on the topic of the iconic Pork Tenderloin with special guests, Rod & Sheri Gray. This show is a mixture of places that we miss and a few tips on where to go in KC today to satisfy that PT craving.

On this Memorial Day weekend we open calls for the entire show. We love having you, the listeners help to set the agenda for this show over the next few weeks. We also put the call out to help us find the real people that were involved with these iconic restaurants from the 80's & 90's. They deserve to have their stories told and shared.

Josh, Robert & Toby what made for the legend that was Dean & Deluca. We talk about their gourmet ingredients, soups, sandwiches and nurturing environment for local foodies starting their own new businesses.

Our stroll today takes down to the Boulevard, Southwest Boulevard as we hear stories from the family of Tony DiBenedetto, Jr. Even if you never had the opportunity to experience the random joy of Tony, you are sure to enjoy this show.

This is one of those episodes that 10 years from now, I will look back on as one of my favorites. If you were a fan of Mike Murphy, back in the day, you will love this show. Ian was one Murphy's most popular guests, and you will understand why. Be sure to tell your friends and family from around the world that are homesick for KC about our podcast. We now have listeners in 15 countries! Thank you and enjoy.

We bring in the Boss that makes all of this possible, Cherrie Duensing, owner of Best Regards Bakery, Sponsor of our show. We also took open calls with memories of about a dozen of our favorite restaurants. Of course, Fried Chicken came up a time or two.

After hearing several guest state that they fell in love with BBQ because of Haywards BBQ and specifically, Haywards Spears, we just had to dedicate a whole show to him. Since Mr. Spears had passed recently, we did the next best thing and had the current owner, Eric Sweeny on to share some memories.

We did not have enough time to enough stories from Jim Eddy when he was on last, so we brought him back to hear more stories of Kansas City's rich history.

Vince Costello may no longer be with us, but the memories of the restaurant that he created live on. Vince's wife and 2 of his kids share some great stories this memorable restaurant that was on Ward Parkway, across from the mall. Back then that was considered the southern part of the city.

Hosts Robert Duensing and Toby Tobin were joined by brother Mark Tobin. We take a full hours of calls from listeners about their favorite memories of Antoines on the Boulevard, Pauls Drive In and Haywards among others. We also talk about your chance to bring history alive.

Sometimes you make a plan, things change and turn out way better than you could dream of. Today's guest is Jim Eddy, of Eddy's Loaf 'N Stein. I have a feeling that Jim will be back again with more stories, but the big surprise was the iconic and world famous Marilyn Maye called in to the show. This happened to be the day after her debut at Carnegie Hall.

Charlie Keegan, news reporter for KSHB 41 in Kansas City has a personal connection to Kansas City, as he grew up here. You get to hear some of his personal stories about restaurants and their impact on his life. Be sure to share this with your friends and family that now live outside of KC.

Anytime you do live radio, you hope and plan for the Best and prepare for the worst. In this case, we had the Van Noy's of RC's as guests, so that was planning for the Best. Despite all of your efforts, it could still be a train wreck or about a colostomy. Sometimes it can be all of the above.

New stories about Marilyn May, Ken Bakers & Gold Buffet were brought up and convinced us that these 3 deserve a whole dedicated to each of them. Go on a stroll with us down memory lane.

Robert Duensing and Toby Tobin are having so much fun taking calls from our followers that is is hard to get to our mission of Deep Dives on specific restaurants and topics. Calls today include some first timers that deserve a second look or two. Shoot us an email if you have some info or had worked at any of these Iconic restaurants. Be sure to sign up for our weekly email to keep up with next weeks topics or info requests. Our website is MakeThemSmile.com

We threw caution to the wind again this week to 100% open lines to hear stories from our listeners. They did not disappoint. We had a few new places mentioned this week along with a surprise caller about New York Bakery and Deli. Join hosts Robert Duensing and Toby Tobin live every Saturday at 10 am, CST on KMBZ, 98.1 FM.

For this episode we decided to fill the proverbial Bucket and go 100% with the phone and text line. It was a good decision as this was a very fast hour with several fun stories, questions answered and old memories revived. Robert Duensing & Toby Tobin both agreed that we would do this one more time next week. Enjoy and be sure to subscribe & tell your friends!

Today's stroll down memory lane takes us to the famed Overland Park Restaurant, John Francis. Mike Venneman, Toby Tobin's childhood friend has told me several stories about John Francis an Chicken in the Rough to the point I had to jump at the opportunity to bring in the Grandson of the original John Francis that opened the restaurant. Enjoy and be sure to tell your friends.

Robert Duensing & Toby Tobin welcome a Kansas City Legend, Ed Holland to share stories from behind the scenes of EBT Restaurant. I will give you a heads up before you upset at how fast this went. Ed has already agreed to come back to continue our discussion. Please tell your friends and family about what we are building here. Thank you very much.