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Sep 30, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
J. Rieger Distillery’s co-founder Ryan Maybee and master distiller Nathan Perry just dropped the best fall bev since pumpkin spice. In August, J. Rieger announced the inaugural bottling of Rieger Straight Bourbon Whiskey, an exciting triumph for the J. Rieger family, who say this Straight Bourbon Whiskey is “the 90-proof bourbon we’ve been dreaming of since reviving the distillery back in 2014.” This latest release is distilled, aged, blended and bottled 100 percent on site in Kansas City.
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Sep 17, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
When she started her major at Wichita State University, Rebecca Lepping planned on becoming a professional pianist. But in 1997, at 21 years old, she changed her major from flute and piano performance to psychology. She knew she was in for a long ride. She had lots of classes to take and a vision that she could somehow combine both her passion for music and psychology into a career. Thus began a 15-year journey that would marry her musical ability with her scientific training.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
Back-to-school season may be here, but summer isn’t over yet. Just ask the folks at Mo Pie, a locally owned pie company selling its baked fruit wonders throughout the metro. There’s still time to savor summer each time you bite into one of Mo Pie’s seasonal fruit creations, says founder Curt Lafferty.
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Jul 8, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Dawnya Bartsch |Rachel Layton |Patrick Moore |Tyler Shane
“I don’t want to be associated with the fast food crowd,” says Cocky Ocky Grill owner Mazin Jabr, who’s been on the scene for only seven months. On paper, it may be easy to make this mistake. Jabr’s convenience store kitchen off 39th Street and Cleveland Avenue serves the usual fast food staples like burritos, wings and burgers. There’s no seating in the store, and the food is bagged in to-go boxes meant to send you on your way.
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Jun 17, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
Central Soyfoods,a family-owned and -operated tofu purveyor, has been providing hand-crafted tofu to more than 30 metro restaurants and grocery stores for the past four decades. Established in Lawrence in 1978, Central Soyfoods was close to shutting down about five years ago, prompting current owners and tofu lovers Martin and Danielle Maigaard to step in and keep the business going.
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Jun 9, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Dawnya Bartsch |David Hodes |Rachel Layton |Reece Parker
By Dawnya Bartsch, David Hodes, Rachel Layton, Reece Parker, Ian Ritter and Hampton Stevens We scoured the history books, took a look at the last 180 or so years of Kansas City history and cherry-picked the moments and movements that shaped the city we live in today. Some events called for instant celebration or quick action, others for somber reflection and disciplined planning, but each moment in time led us to where we find ourselves now.
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Jun 5, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
Parkville’s English LandingPark has long been a gathering spot for jazz and blues musicians, so it made perfect sense to stage the city’s first Juneteenth Jazz and Blues Festival there. The free festival, rooted in the park’s musical history, will host four bands, paying homage to the city’s long-standing jazz history. “The sound of [the music] carries all over Parkville,” says Dave Basse, a local musician and one of the festival’s producers.
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May 9, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
Whether you’re an iced coffee ride-or-die or need a warm-up on a chilly spring morning, Café Equinox’s Pollinated Lavender Latte is just right for the occasion. Located in both Overland Park and inside the Family Tree Nursery on Nieman Road, Café Equinox (an extension of Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters) pays homage to their botanically inspired homebase with the Pollinated Lavender Latte.
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May 1, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
When Tech N9ne was first approached by the Kansas City Symphony to see if he wanted to collaborate, he was surprised to learn the musicians were fans of his music. “They had their whole list of songs that they wanted. I was so flattered, man,” says N9ne, who will be performing with the symphony at the Midland Theatre on May 4, which just so happens to also be the informal Star Wars Day celebrated by movie fans everywhere. “[It’s] such a wonderful feeling for them to choose you.
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Apr 7, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Rachel Layton
Last year in Kansas City and its surrounding areas, the Department of Homeland Security executed three successful busts of human sex trafficking. One of these operations, which occurred on May 3, 2023, focused on identifying and rescuing victims who were being trafficked for sexual exploitation. This operation led to the arrest of 22 individuals and rescue of two sex trafficking victims.
