Editor’s note: The following is from the Let’s Dish newsletter from KC Food Insider Katelyn Umholtz, published weekly on Wednesdays. Let’s Dish also publishes on Fridays from restaurant reporter Jenna Thompson. You can sign up here to get them delivered to your inbox.
Welcome back to Let’s Dish — an inside look at food and drink in Kansas City. I’m Katelyn Umholtz, The Star’s Food Insider.
There’s a new restaurant coming to the Crossroads that, through random chance, put my food and drink interests into one tiny space. That upcoming restaurant is The Shuckers Union, and its menu will feature oysters and sparkling wine. More on that below.
On the other end of the food-social class spectrum, let’s talk sandwiches. And deep-fried tacos. And hangover-curing pho. And other comfort foods that this Italian beef obsessive eats when he’s not opening his first restaurant.
Let’s dig in.
Oysters + Bubbles in KC
A raw bar, a variety of sparkling wines and martinis? Sounds like a party to me.
That’s what Brandon Hayden wants The Shuckers Union to be — a stop before a show, a nightcap after dinner, or whatever reason you may have to celebrate with oysters from New England and sparkling wine from Italy.
Shuckers Union oysters Courtesy of Shuckers Union
Menu details aren’t final yet, but expect oysters from “everywhere.” Some from standard locales like Maine and Washington, but also bivalves from Alaska, small oysters from the Gulf Coast and even Baja California. There will also be non-oyster dishes, like shrimp cocktail, hot and cold lobster rolls and hot dogs.
Midwesterners get a little skittish when it comes to oysters, but Hayden (who jokingly called himself an “oyster evangelist”) has been behind a raw bar or two before, and he’s passionate about bringing the bivalves to more Kansas Citians.
Ethan Wheeler’s favorite bites 
Ethan Wheeler is a co-founder of Saul’s Italian Beef and serves Morty’s Chicago-style hot dogs. Courtesy of Ethan Wheeler
While working at highly-acclaimed restaurants in Kansas City (specifically, Extra Virgin and Farina), Ethan Wheeler became an Italian beef obsessive.
That’s probably confusing. Some of Kansas City’s best Mediterranean and Italian restaurants are not known for serving this messy Chicago sandwich. But behind the scenes, this chef was trying to perfect the sandwich and make a business out of it with his business partner, Michael Iammarino.
That business became Saul’s Italian Beef, and through an acquisition, they also took over Morty’s, which sells Chicago-style hot dogs out of a mobile food trailer. You can find their Chicago foods there, where the KCK food cart is usually parked, but soon enough, you’ll find it in its own brick-and-mortar space.
Where does an Italian beef fanatic like Ethan Wheeler eat? Our latest On the Menu features some truly great comfort bites and sips.
403 Club: Cheap beer and pinball? Say no more. Wheeler doesn’t go out much, but when he does, it’s for $2 tall boys. “It’s the cheapest tall boys anywhere in Missouri, Kansas and probably in the world.”In-A-Tub: Another place Wheeler loves because of its price point, In-A-Tub is also essential to the identity of the Northland. The classic order is the powdered cheese-covered, deep-fried tacos, and it’s also Wheeler’s go-to. “It’s greasy, and it’s amazing.” 
In-A-Tub, 4000 North Oak Trafficway, is famous for its deep-fried tacos topped with a powdered cheese. Tammy Ljungblad tljungblad@kcstar.com
You can get more recommendations from Wheeler. Want your recommendations featured here? Drop me a line!
À la carte
✴️ A beloved Kansas City LGBTQ+ bar known as the first restaurant to be nationally recognized as a Safe Place is closing its doors next month.
✴️ The couple behind a well-known custard shop is bringing more frozen dessert to the West Bottoms — specifically, New Zealand-style ice cream.
✴️ Following The Star investigation into its perpetually empty shelves, a grocery store has closed for good.
Eat like a food reporter
How does a Kansas City food reporter eat each week? Well! Here are the food and drinks I’ve enjoyed recently:
Sublime at La Fetta: How a sandwich wins me over is dependent on 1) the bread and 2) the ingredients that either shine or die at the tongue. At La Fetta’s newest location, the Sublime sandwich’s many components harmoniously dance together — particularly the hot soppressata, pesto and burrata — to make for a spicy and nutty bite of a sandwich.
Duck confit pasta at Westport Cafe Katelyn Umholtz/The Star
Duck confit pasta at Westport Cafe: I had the dreamiest, creamy pasta at Westport Cafe, complete with tender bucatini, foie gras sauce, a rich and shredded duck confit and a whole cluster of maitake mushrooms. Paired with their actually significant happy hour menu, it was one of the most divine dinners I’ve had in Kansas City.
Hungry for more?
Happy eating! We’ll see you next week.
Katelyn Umholtz
The Kansas City Star
Katelyn Umholtz is The Star’s Food Insider and covers Kansas City’s restaurant scene and food and beverage news. She comes to Kansas City from Boston, where she was an award-winning food and restaurant reporter for Boston.com and the Boston Globe Media Partners. She has worked in newsrooms across the country for nearly a decade as an education journalist, breaking news reporter and editor. Katelyn is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she studied journalism.
Dining and Cooking