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Day: July 5, 2025
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Don’t say fusion: a look at the NEW WORLD of blended BBQ
Forget the competing regional styles of barbecue. A few local pitmasters and chefs are looking to their roots to influence their smoked meats. Others are just getting creative. Either way, these joints are straying from KC-style ’cue and making something uniquely delicious.
One of the most interesting trends in Kansas City barbecue in recent years has been the growth of outlets that blend traditional slow-smoked meats with an array of cultural influences, including Mexican, Thai and Cajun/Creole. You could call the trend “cross-cultural” or “blended” or even a “mashup,” if that lights your coals. Just don’t call it “fusion.” Practitioners firmly reject that label.
“I try to avoid that word,” says Roman Raya, chef and co-owner of Barbacoa (5500 Troost Ave., KCMO). “It comes with a certain connotation of restaurants not really honoring the cultures they are drawing from.”
Barbacoa’s cuisine combines traditional Texas barbecue with Mexican culinary traditions in an upscale setting. Ted Liberda, chef-pitmaster of Thai barbecue restaurant Buck Tui BBQ (6737 W. 75th St., Overland Park), expressed similar feelings in a 2023 interview. Liberda prefers the term “crossover.”
“I hate the word ‘fusion,’” Liberda said. “It indicates that it’s not authentic.” He described his food as “the evolution of barbecue for the modern day.” Diners at Buck Tui can choose from among a variety of classic Kansas City barbecue platters or unique crossover treats, such as smoked beef brisket rangoons, pulled pork egg rolls, brisket pad thai and the X Man sandwich, which combines beef brisket and Thai sausage with pickle, papaya slaw and creamy, fiery tiger cry sauce.
Jazzy B’s BBQ (320 S.W. Blue Parkway, Lee’s Summit) offers a menu that’s a balance between Louisiana and Kansas City. Chef-owner Brandon Simpson smokes traditional brisket, pulled pork and baby-back ribs along with Andouille sausage that’s smoked, sliced, then crisped on the griddle. Other options include crab cakes, drunken shrimp po’ boy sandwiches and deep-fried crab balls with a real Cajun flair. Jazzy B’s even offers tacos and quesadillas filled with barbecued meat.
GG’s Barbacoa Café (1032 Minnesota Ave., KCK) combines a classic KCK Taco Trail joint setting with a wide-ranging menu that includes smoked brisket and pulled pork sandwiches, smoked chicken, and classic Mexican dishes such as quesadillas, pozole soup, enchiladas and tortas.Crispy birria beef barbacoa fried tacos, a menu favorite, are served with onions, cilantro and a smoky full-flavored consommé. Breakfast options range from chilaquiles to waffles.
Barbacoa, run by Raya and business partner Madeline Buechter, differs dramatically from GG’s disposable plates and workingman’s eatery vibe, with not just its upscale-casual setting and craft cocktails but also its deliberately concentrated menu.
“We have four entrees and six smaller plates,” Raya says. “We want to make sure we can focus on very specific foods. Turning that into something upscale takes a lot of effort. Keeping the menu very specific and focusing on what we do best is very important to us.“
Pollo Asado ($30) is marinated overnight in house-made adobo, then smoked to a gorgeous bronze color and served with an Alabama-style white barbecue sauce. Smoked carnitas ($25) come with tortillas, pico de gallo and garlic crema. Birria de res ($26) is beef chuck in a rich consommé with tortillas and garnishes; the subtle smoke flavor is derived from searing the meat in smoked beef tallow, then simmering in a broth with smoked chilies. Barbacoa also offers a pan-seared barramundi entrée ($24).
Raya grew up in the Mexican neighborhood on Kansas City’s west side, where his father frequently smoked briskets on Sundays and menudo was a staple. As an adult, he competed on the barbecue contest circuit for a while, then launched a food cart “to gain experience and capital” while working toward the concept that opened as Barbacoa in 2023.
“I really wanted to blend those two together and offer something uniquely me.”
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Parkville Author and Octogenarian Says Joy Is Contagious
Sieglinde Othmer woke up and she was 80. Her husband was dead, buried across the lake from their Parkville home. Her children lived far away.
“How was I going to be joyful?” she asked herself.
Othmer, who has a Ph.D. in social sciences from the University of Hamburg in her native Germany, had worked alongside her husband of 55 years till the day he died. Every moment of her life had been tied to him and to their children.
Just as she regained a little bounce in her step and some independence after losing him, the world shut down for Covid. By then, though, she’d decided to write a book—a guide, really—telling others how to wear their advanced agae as a badge of honor, and wear it joyfully.
Kansas City magazine caught up with Othmer, who is now 84, to learn more about the author before her July book talk at Kansas City Public Library’s Waldo branch.
“Kicking ass” comes up several times in your book. What does that mean to you? It means writing another book. It means going to Vegas like I did last weekend to see my son. Going on a cruise. Listening to the news and dealing with it. That’s kicking ass. And thinking, “How can this be a blessing?” That’s kicking ass. Not losing it in despair—that’s definitely kicking ass. Thank you for asking.
Under “J for Joy,” you wrote that “Gratitude and fear do not live in the same heart.” Do you feel fear? How do you deal with that? You read my book! Yes, it attacks us all, and it attacks me every day. In the U.S., we have it so good—most of us. But every morning I wake up and there’s this anxiety about life. Or when you wake up in the night, you get doubts, and the tape in your head goes, “What if? What if the book flops?”
I fight that with gratitude. Think about three things that I’m grateful for. Then I think about things that gave me joy in the past. What gives me joy in the next five minutes? Then I think about how I could help people with those three things. I think that’s essential to stepping back into a positive way of living.
Tell me about the merits of walking—that’s under “M for Movement.” I love walking. It’s free and it gets you out of the house. I use walking for a kind of meditation. I use it to satisfy my physical therapist. I use it for talking to my neighbors. I know all the dogs in the neighborhood. I use walking for catching ideas. You have ideas when you walk that you don’t have sitting in the house. I do it every day, rain or shine—but no ice. It’s number one for joyous longevity.
You write about socializing. How can that help save our lives? We feel connected. We exchange ideas. We are not lonely. Isolation is one of the deadly diseases. To connect is wonderful, and I’ve learned that a lot since my husband died and my kids are away. I realized just a couple days ago, the English language doesn’t separate between formal and informal like Spanish, Italian, German and certainly Greek. The English language doesn’t do that, and I think that’s lovely. If you think about attitudes, how they get shaped by your language—when you’re German, it’s so deeply ingrained; you wouldn’t dare call anyone by their first name unless you’re really family.
You mean that English’s lack of that formality shortens the space between us? Yes.
I gather from your book that you don’t quite like the idea of retiring to a beach and drinking margaritas. It’s nice for two weeks. I think we should get active. Volunteer. “P for Purpose.” That’s the key to longevity, and it can be anything.
GO: Sieglinde Othmer talks about her book, Joyous Longevity: The A-Z Field Guide, 2 pm, July 27, Kansas City Public Library, Waldo Branch (201 E. 75th St., KCMO). RSVP for the free event at kclibrary.org/events.