10.18.2023

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Today’s Forecast

40º | Rain/snow mix | 98% chance of rain |
Sunrise: 7:37 a.m. | Sunset: 5:12 p.m.

🫖 Someone tell the Mad Hatter

Midwest Tea Festival returns with local tea sommelier as director

Attendees get en-brewed with tea knowledge. | Photo by Midwest Tea Festival

We’re spilling the tea on the Midwest Tea Festival.

Whether you’re a tea enthusiast or you just like to dabble, be-leaf us, this festival has brewed up plenty to tantalize your taste buds.

The full brew

Midwest Tea Festival is Saturday, Oct. 21-Sunday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Overland Park Convention Center.

Peruse the tea lounge to shop accessories and taste high quality brews using your complimentary tea cup. Between sips, enjoy sessions, tea business seminars, and a Jane Austen networking party (themed attire strongly encouraged).

Tea fest tickets start at $20, with options to add on specialty brews, eh, courses. Proceeds will be donated to the Tzu Chi Foundation.

midwest tea festival tea vendors hall — There’s tea as far as the eye can see.
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Photo by Midwest Tea Festival

Festival roots

The fest was founded by Kansas Citian Nicole Burris in 2012, and tea sommelier Dr. Sally Wei succeeded as director in 2020. Yes, tea sommeliers exist. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak forced the fest into a two-year hiatus.

Get steeped

With a one-year restart under its belt, Dr. Wei says this year’s fest will return as a full-bodied brew.

Its increased variety of sessions offer flavorful topics like making tea cocktails + mocktails, “musicali-tea,” and watching movies with iconic tea scenes like “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

Speakers hail from Africa, China, England, Japan, Nepa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and the United States.

Director Dr. Sally Wei leads a session — Watch Director Dr. Wei in her natural environment, teaching attendees all about tea.
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Photo by Midwest Tea Festival

Fun fact: According to Dr. Wei, the majority of the world’s tea — including England’s — is exported from Africa.

Wondering why you should care about drinking loose leaf quali-tea? Dr. Wei says you bypass bad additives and get wonderful flavor.

“Life is so short,” she said. “Why don’t you pay exactly the same amount of money but you’re actually drinking the authentic tea, not just tea dust? Don’t buy tea for convenience. Buy tea for life.”

Asked

Where do you shop for your tea?

Spill the deets. Stir the pot. Be tea-rrific.

Tell us your tea

Events

Wednesday, Oct. 18

Midwest Autoharp Academy | Wednesday, Oct. 18-Friday, Oct. 20 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Riverfront Community Center, 123 S. Esplanade St., Leavenworth, KS | $50-$200 | Fine tune your music skills at this combined intermediate and advanced autoharp workshop.

Thursday, Oct. 19

KC Job Fair | Thursday, Oct. 19 | 1-4 p.m. | Crown Center | Free | Find your future career at this job fair featuring KC’s top employers.
Spooky Skate presented by Crumbl Cookies | Thursday, Oct. 19 | 5 p.m. | Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, MO | $0-$5 | Enjoy ice skating, trick-or-treating, a haunted house, and a costume contest at this Halloween-themed night.

Friday, Oct. 20

Black Excellence Inc Launch | Friday, Oct. 20 | 3-5 p.m. | Keystone CoLAB, 800 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO | Free | Hosted by the Heartland Black Chamber, engage in a panel discussion about continuing support for leaders, programs, and communities that strengthen the Black economic ecosystem.
Decades of Death | Friday, Oct. 20-Saturday, Oct. 21 | 6:30-8:45 p.m. | John Wornall House Museum, 6115 Wornall Rd., Kansas City, MO | $15-$20 | Get scary with this guided tour including booze, death charades, and a performance by the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s Team Shakespeare.

Saturday, Oct. 21

Howl-o-Ween | Saturday, Oct. 21 | 10-11 a.m. | Tails & Trails Dog Park, 7600 E. 139th St., Grandview, MO | Dress your pup up in their best Halloween costume for a chance to win the scariest, funniest, cutest, or most original costume.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

Biz

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News Notes

Sports

You’ll get a kick out of this. The KC Current announced its first restaurant for the new stadium: Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. The beloved KC staple will be located at the northeast side of the stadium, serving Z-man sandwiches in both chicken + brisket options.

Eat

Next week, Monday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 29, is Nacho and Taco Week. Enjoy crunchy goodness from Cluster Truck, Gaels Public House, and Mission Taco Joint, which will all feature limited edition menu items for the celebration. (The Pitch)

Opening

There’s a new game bar in town. On Friday, Oct. 27, Westport Bar & Rec hosts its grand opening celebration. Attendees can enjoy 50+ free arcade, tabletop, and yard games alongside 100+ beer options.

Award

Two local breweries returned from the Great American Beer Festival as winners. North KC’s Cinder Block Brewery brought home silver for its Juicy Pilsner; and Shawnee’s Pathlight Brewing claimed bronze for its Kha Point brew. A total of 9,298 beers were entered countrywide. (Kansas City Magazine)

Community

Is Disney Kansas City bound? Maybe. Union Station made a cryptic post saying a historic announcement is coming on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The post uses classic Disney font and references “100 years,” making it seem like this news will be related to the Disney 100 celebration.

Gallery

UMKC’s new Healthcare Delivery and Innovation building is now ~80% funded. The $120 million project is expected to open in August 2026. Want a closer look? Take a peek at the renderings of the six-story, 200,000-sqft building.

Real Estate

Four historic buildings at W. 31st and Main streets are up for sale, along with 1.25 acres of land. The asking price is $3.5 million. Owners say the buildings have too many needs to be realistically renovated, but offer a promising location for a new project. (Kansas City Business Journal)

Finance

One card, all the perks. A $200 welcome bonus, unlimited cash back, and 0% interest into 2025 (all with no annual fee) almost sounds too good to be true — but this card has it all.*

Listen

Getting a second opinion after a cancer diagnosis can sometimes seem overwhelming to patients and their families. In episode 14 of the Bench to Bedside podcast, Roy Jensen, vice chancellor and director of The University of Kansas Cancer Center, speaks with Dr. Elizabeth Muenks, director of KU Cancer Center’s Onco-Psychology Program, about how to get comfortable asking for a second opinion. Stream the podcast.*

Try This

🥗 Fall into lettuce leaves

Try This: Treviso and Bartlett pear salad with Gorgonzola recipe

TREVISO AND BARTLETT PEAR SALAD WITH GORGONZOLA FARINA CHEF MICHAEL SMITH .jpg

Photo by Jenny Wheat Photography, Styling by Janie Jones

Spice up your salad game with this fall recipe from a cookbook by Chef Michael Smith — Kansas City’s first James Beard Award-winning chef + executive chef of Farina.

Ingredients

1 head of Italian Treviso lettuce
1 head of Castelfranco lettuce
1 cup diced fried pancetta lardons
2 Bartlett pears
1/3 cup orange fennel pollen vinaigrette
6 Spanish white pickled anchovies
2-3 ounces of sweet Gorgonzola cheese
1⁄2 teaspoon of cracked black pepper

Preparing
1. Pull off bruised lettuce leaves. Cut cores off each end. Discard.
2. Pull apart lettuce heads. Leave Treviso leaves whole. Tear Castelfranco leaves until they are ~3 inches in diameter.
3. Toss Castelfranco leaves with parsley in a large salad bowl. Set aside.
4. Cut Bartlett pears in half in four long wedges, leaving the skin on. Set aside.
5. Add pancetta, pepper, and vinaigrette to the bowl.
6. Toss gently, fully dressing the salad.

Plating
1. On four separate plates, place two Treviso leaves each and divide salad.
2. Tuck four pear wedges into each salad.
3. Top with three slivers of anchovies.
4. Sprinkle teaspoons of Gorgonzola cheese all over salads.

The Buy

The Buy 10.18.23 (Affiliate + Six & Main)

An arched floor mirror. Because the modern shape will complement any room’s decor and refresh your space.

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The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Charmaine

From the editor

If you see me at Midwest Tea Festival make sure you come say hi.

Also, thanks to everyone who sent me new shows to watch. I have successfully re-filled my watch list. I think I’m going to start with “The Bear.”

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