@Verdigris
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From the Bar
Kansas City Sunday mornings feel just right — relaxed, a bit dressed up, and full of simple pleasures like someone else brewing the coffee and everyone being present in the moment. Mother's Day is here, with a special charm — the beautiful Plaza in May, the perfect restaurants that know exactly what to serve, and a gathering of people who come with genuine intention.
If you're looking for the move — start with the Kansas City Ballet's production of The Great Gatsby at the Kauffman. Lonnie McFadden is there. If you've spent any real time in this city, you know what that means. Singer, trumpet player, tap dancer, KC institution — the man has been making this city sound like itself for decades. Eboni Fondren is present and you’re in for a treat if you haven’t heard her vocals. Two of Kansas City's finest, inside a Jazz Age production with live ensemble music running throughout. Take your mother, your kid’s mother. Take whoever matters most to you. Dress up.
For Sunday morning itself — J. Rieger's Monogram Lounge overlooking the distillery, Chaz on the Plaza with live jazz and Bananas Foster French Toast, Westport Cafe doing French bistro brunch the way it's been doing it for years. Three different rooms, three different moods, all of them right for the occasion. Book ahead. Thank me later.
Happy Mother’s Day.
I’ll see you at the bar ☾
—Jay, SecretKC editor
🥃 The Can’t Miss List
Rooms that always understand the assignment.
The Lobby Bar of KC · Evening
Bar Stillwell
Grown Ass Bar Energy
Best place to begin and end adventures.
Cocktail-first lounge · Evening
Verdigris
Swanky cocktails.
Personal Favorites
Core Coffee
Cozy cafe, great coffee & brunch spot
The Monarch Bar
Serious cocktails, intentional energy.
A clean handoff between dinner and night.
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🍸 The Weekend
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band · Thu May 7 / 8:00 PM One of the hardest-working blues-rock guitarists alive. KWS earns every minute of stage time. → Uptown Theater
Samantha Fish · Fri May 8 / 8:30 PM Kansas City-born, nationally known, and still one of the best live players working in blues and rock right now. → Ameristar Casino Hotel KC
The Yards · Sat May 9 Original soul-funk fusion out of Lawrence, celebrating 25 years. New album just dropped. → The Yards @ NIghthawks
The Moss · Sat May 9 / 8:00 PM Atmospheric indie rock with real texture. Building a national following from a local stage. → Madrid Theatre
American Idiots x Drink-182 · Sat May 9 / 7:30 PM Green Day and Blink-182 tribute double bill. Doors at 6:30. All ages. Westport's newest room being loud, fun, unpretentious. → Warehouse on Broadway
Shayfer James + Katacombs · Sat May 9 / 8:45 PM Theatrical indie-rock songwriter with a cinematic live presence. Unity Temple on the Plaza is an unusual room — worth going to see. → The Sanctuary — Unity Temple on the Plaza
🥂 Date Nights
Kansas City Ballet — The Great Gatsby · Fri May 8 / 7:30 PM or Sat May 9 / 8:00 PM Live jazz from Billy Novick's Blues Syncopators throughout the performance, with Lonnie McFadden tap dancing and Eboni Fondren on vocals, and Tanner Rose narrating. Art Deco sets by Academy Award-winning designer Tim Yip. The most genuinely cinematic evening KC has on offer this season. Dress up. → Kauffman Center — Muriel Kauffman Theatre
Chris Hazelton Quartet · Sat May 9 / 7:00–10:00 PM Hazelton is one of KC's most respected organ jazz voices. An intimate Saturday night set in one of the city's better-kept rooms. I’ll see you there! → 1909 Club
Lonnie McFadden · Thu May 7 / 6:30 PM Start the weekend early. Brass, voice, and a crowd that came to listen. Lonnie's Reno Club is a proper KC room and McFadden is an institution. → Lonnie's Reno Club
🌸 Mother's Day
J. Rieger & Co. Mother's Day Brunch · Sun May 10 / 10:00 AM–1:00 PM Buffet brunch with chef-curated dishes and handcrafted cocktails in the Monogram Lounge, overlooking the working distillery. One of the most distinctive rooms in KC for a Sunday morning. RSVP required. → J. Rieger & Co.
Chaz at the Raphael — Jazz Brunch · Sun May 10 / 10:00 AM–1:00 PM Lobster Eggs Benedict, Bananas Foster French Toast, live jazz in the background, Plaza views out the window. One of KC's most reliable Mother's Day rooms — elegant without being stiff. Reservations essential. → Chaz at the Raphael
Westport Cafe — Sunday Brunch · Sun May 10 / 10:30 AM–4:00 PM Paris-style bistro brunch — every plate arrives with a complimentary specialty cocktail. Steak frites, brioche French toast, lemon ricotta pancakes. Casual French energy in the heart of Westport. Walk-in friendly but book ahead this weekend. → Westport Cafe
Kansas City Ballet — The Great Gatsby Matinee · Sun May 10 / 2:00 PM Mother's Day afternoon at the Kauffman. Live jazz, tap, and Fitzgerald's story on a proper stage. A genuinely considered way to spend the afternoon with her. Student rush tickets available. → Kauffman Center
KC Royals — Mother's Day Brunch + Baseball · Sun May 10 / 11:30 AM Brunch in the Hall of Fame Tent before the game at 1:10 PM. Theme ticket required for tent access. Easy, fun, and genuinely festive — the ballpark does this one well. → Kauffman Stadium
Lenexa Art Fair · Sat May 9 Juried outdoor art fair in Lenexa. Free, walkable, easy with kids. A low-key Saturday morning before the evening fills up. → Lenexa Art Fair
Last Call 🍸
Last-minute date plans had me at Verdigris. The stArt Coffee Espresso Martini Takeover. I went in planning to drink one thing and ended up drinking two.
The Espresso Martini first. It's a relatively young drink as cocktails go — London, 1983, Dick Bradsell at the Soho Brasserie. The story goes a young model walked up to the bar and asked for something to wake her up and then put her to sleep. Bradsell reached for vodka, fresh espresso, coffee liqueur, and sugar syrup, shook it hard over ice, and strained it into a coupe. The foam on top — that three-bean float — became the signature. For two decades it was considered a relic. Then somewhere around 2020 it came roaring back, and it hasn't stopped since. When it's made with serious coffee, which is the only way it should be made, it earns every bit of the revival.
Then the Carajillo. I was TYO when I learned about the Carajillo, the second coffee cocktail. This one has roots that run deeper and farther. Spain by way of Cuba — the word itself likely derived from coraje, courage, which is what Spanish soldiers allegedly added to their coffee before heading into battle. Hot coffee, a shot of spirit — traditionally brandy or rum, sometimes anise — taken together as one.
The modern Carajillo most people encounter in Mexico and across the American Southwest is built around Licor 43 — a Spanish liqueur made from citrus, fruits, and vanilla, softened with espresso poured over ice. It's cooler, sweeter, and more seductive than its ancestor. Less battlefield, more late evening on a warm patio.
Two cocktails built around coffee. Two completely different philosophies about what coffee can do in a glass.
Stay sharp, KC ☾
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