Kansas.com: Restaurants

Reasons to eat at St. George's dinner

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

The food. For $15, you get a big meal of Lebanese specialties prepared by St. George parishioners, including stuffed grape leaves, kibbe, baklava and more. There are also homemade baked goods for sale, featuring recipes from around the world.

The tours. The focus of this year's tours are new tile mosaics on the cathedral's exterior.

Tradition. With the event now 75 years old, many of the cathedral's families have been helping stage it for four generations.

St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral is at 7515 E. 13th St. The dinner is held from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Dine-in and takeout available. Tours are held during the same time.

A GOOD DEAL

Loss of faith

BETHANY SCHNEIDER — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

'19TH WIFE' A COMPELLING PORTRAIT OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDS OF MORMON POLYGAMY

"The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff (Random House, $26)

In America, apparently, it's just about as common to lose your religion as it is to find it. For every high-drama rebirth, someone else quietly sloughs off belief and joins the ranks of the secularly inclined. Usually it's a little bit tricky but not too rough. For a while the folks pester you to go to church, to have a chat with the rabbi, to christen your kid, but eventually things even out.

For some, though, it's trickier -- say, for the children of Mormon fundamentalist splinter groups that still practice polygamy. For them, losing your religion is complicated.

David Ebershoff's third novel, "The 19th Wife," swirls around what it means for an individual to turn his back on faith, and what it means for a religion -- Mormonism -- to deny the contemporary effects of its own, long-disavowed past.

Bring your appetite

DENISE NEIL — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

If you like your food smothered -- in gravy, in chili, in cheese, in All-American caloric goodness -- you will like The Diner.

Kevin and Jennifer Bishop opened the restaurant at 1530 S. Webb Road (near The Port of Wichita) in July and now are regularly serving crowds of hungry Wichitans devouring burgers piled high, plate-sized chicken-fried steaks and breakfast dishes that are available all day.

ON THE MENU: A wide array of omelets, breakfast plates, burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, patty melts, salads and diner-style dinners such as meat loaf, pork chops and chicken fingers.

DON'T-MISS DISHES: It's tempting when visiting The Diner to order its outrageous eat-at-your-own-risk menu item called, simply, The Burger ($8.99).

But we quickly deduced that only steel-constituted humans should consume a burger topped with mustard, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, cheese, chili, barbecue sauce and a ¼-pound hot dog. Can a bun even physically support such a monstrosity?

REVIEW

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

The Diner

Three forks out of four

Where: 1530 S. Webb, 316-691-4000

Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday

Type of food: American diner fare

Three ways to have hot chocolate at Starbucks

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

The coffee chain has recently added a couple of sweet ways to warm up this fall:

1. Salted caramel hot chocolate: A sweet and salty combination infused with the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt, then topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of sea salt and Turbinado sugar.

2. Hazelnut hot chocolate: Creamy hot chocolate accented with hazelnut syrup and topped with fresh whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

3. Signature hot chocolate: Made with a blend of four cocoas, sugar, natural vanilla extract and milk, then topped with fresh whipped cream.

A GOOD DEAL

Best dishes, part II

DENISE NEIL — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

A few more restaurateurs suggest what to order when you visit

Two weeks ago, we published a list designed to help indecisive diners choose what to order in several popular Wichita restaurants.

The list was compiled at Zoobilee, an annual celebration of food, drink and animals that draws thousands of people to the Sedgwick County Zoo.

This year the event was on Sept. 6, and nearly 70 restaurants participated.

While there, we asked restaurant managers and owners to identify the dishes on their menus they thought were best.