Profiles

Outta The Blue, Park Place

Made in KC opens beachy JoCo café Outta The Blue — complete with indoor palm trees and tropical drinks

By Tommy Felts / June 10, 2021

In an era of online ordering, curbside delivery and quick departures, Made in KC’s latest concept — a breezy beach café in Leawood — envisions an oasis where Kansas Citians swing by, but stay, for local coffee, natural wines, hard-to-find tropical cocktails, and vegan sandwiches from Mattie’s. “We’re not quite a full-on restaurant experience with this…

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Fanny Ruiz de Chavez, Sabor Latino

‘I have to make it’: Fanny Ruiz de Chavez refused service to failure; 16 months later, she’s still cooking

By Tommy Felts / June 10, 2021

 Story and photos by Channa Steinmetz, Startland News | Video by Catherine Hoffman, Flatland Sitting in fear was quickly off the menu for Fanny Ruiz de Chavez — told less than two months after her Lee’s Summit restaurant’s 2020 grand opening that she’d need to close down because of COVID-19 restrictions, she recalled.  [pullquote]…

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Fund Me, KC: It’s more than a card game; Parkville woman channels inner Philosopher to evolve humanity

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2021

Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners — like Parkville creator Loni Louise Bernard with her Philosopher game — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially gain backing from new…

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Willa Robinson, Willa’s Books and Vinyl

KC’s only Black-owned book shop — forced to find a new home — hits crowdfunding goal in just a few days

By Tommy Felts / June 4, 2021

More than 3,000 books and records surrounded Willa Robinson as her eyes danced between decades of knowledge and culture gathered in her neighborhood shop, Willa’s Books and Vinyl — the only Black-owned brick-and-mortar book store in Kansas City.  “Opening a store hadn’t been in my plans. I’m a collector, but then collecting got out of…

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Christopher Cook and Nathaniel Bozarth

KC-built game simulates segregation, racism with one way to ‘win’: disrupt, destroy white supremacy

By Tommy Felts / June 3, 2021

Developing a game that sparks meaningful conversations on systematic racism requires nuance and balance, Nathaniel Bozarth explained, noting the goal is to create an emotional impact while not causing harm to the player. “It’s tough because you want to teach a topic that’s really hard — and you want to do it delicately enough that…

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