A Crossroads food hall will soon have a new kitchen offering bison meatballs, brunch and perhaps a crème brulée pizza.
Food Pedaler plans a February opening on the first floor of Parlor KC (1707 Locust St, KCMO).
Owner Todd Barlow grew up in the metro, learning to cook Southern dishes by his grandmother’s side.
He joined the Army after high school and served in Operation Desert Storm. In his off-hours, he worked in restaurants in Germany and Italy.
“I had a passion for it. I just wanted to learn more,” Barlow said. “Even today with cooking, I love learning new things every day. Seeing it online, reading about it. Cooking is just really cool.”
After he was discharged and returned to the metro, he worked his way up the restaurant ranks from dishwasher to line cook to chef and operations. He had stints at Kansas City’s iconic Gilbert/Robinson, along with Haddad Restaurant Group, Michael Forbes, Tomfooleries Restaurant & Bar, Metropolis and Shiraz and national chains.
He helped open a wine cafe in Hutchinson, Kansas, and then his own farm-to-table restaurant in Greensburg, Kansas, to showcase locally-sourced ingredients.
He founded Food Pedaler in 2021. The lifelong cycler wanted to create a healthy protein bar line – maple pork, chicken chipotle – as well as protein balls with fig and pistachio, along with a peanut butter flavor. The name is a play on his two passions – pedaling bikes and peddling food.
His Parlor KC menu will offer such appetizers as bison meatballs (with Green Dirt Farm cheese and focaccia bread) and baked cheese using suppliers in Missouri and Kansas.
Tuesdays will be steak night with a 4-ounce tenderloin from Belton’s KC Buffalo Co. with roasted seasonal vegetables and potatoes. On Wednesdays it will offer two pieces of roasted chicken from Lathrop’s Campo Lindo Farms over popcorn polenta with fire-roasted seasonal vegetables.
The Thursday special will be lasagna with housemade noodles and bison meat sauce, and on Fridays the special will be mushroom risotto.
Sunday brunch will include biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, Croque Madame (reimagined as a bread pudding with an Italian twist), breakfast pizza and French toast bread pudding.
Other menu items will include PC Pizza (PC for red potatoes and chorizo); a variety of panini; and panzanella salad. It also will have espresso.
Dessert will be added later, perhaps tiramisu and a crème brulée pizza. He also will have gluten-free bread and pizza options.
Before joining Parlor, Barlow was looking at opening a food truck.
“But then you have to contend with this cold weather,” he said. “Here we have a captive audience, lots of events, and a bunch of different food choices.”He joins Elephant Wings Indian Fusion, Ladybird Taqueria, Mother Clucker, Muncheez Smoked Wings + Mac, Sidos, and Slideshow Sliders.
