The Cafe at Briarcliff Village

[butter_breath]

Stopped in for breakfast today, place looked nice. Not an urban feel, ladies luncheon feel. Had a cup of coffee and biscuits and gravy. After tax a little less than $10 kind of high. The gravy was made of ground hamburger(chipped beef style) and the biscuit was in the shape of a cup almost fried & hollowed out with no top. I was hoping to have a good o'l homemade style breakfast since they brag that they make their own sausages. The B&G was $7. The coffee was $1.5 the bean was really over roasted had a Starbucks flavor to it. 

http://www.thecafeatbriarcliff.com/#

[chrizow]

where do you get good coffee in this town that you don't consider overroasted?

[butter_breath]

Starbucks tends to take not so good beans and roasted the hell out of them. Broadway coffee shop is ok, but I feel like a coffee shop can roast darker but when it comes to matching coffee with food you need a balance.

[chrizow]

how do you know starbucks buys bad beans?  and how do you know they over-roast them (e.g. in comparison to what?)

i like Latteland and Roasterie a lot.

more on topic, thanks for the review of "The Cafe" (what a lame name).  i probably won't go there since there are two great breakfast places near my apartment (Succotash and Bluebird) but it's nice to know there's an option. 

is the place also a coffeeshop?  e.g. can i just walk in there and get a coffee to go?

[butter_breath]

They have a deli style counter with danish and such I guess you can get coffee to go. There is a Latteland drive thru about 50 feet from the place also.
I'm not big into the Roasterie's coffee. I like this little place in Overland Park called Action coffee and there's another roaster in Lee's Summit that supplies coffee to a coffee shop on the square in Independence. I have tried a little bit of the Parisian Coffee located close to the Roasterie, not bad either. There are about ten or so local roasters in town. I just feel like the Roasterie has gone down hill over the last five years. That's just my opinion. 

[chrizow]

i really like Parisian.  they serve that at You Say Tomato.

[butter_breath]

Starbucks buys so many beans at a discount, the only way to get uniform flavor is to over roast. So maybe I over used the words "bad Beans".

[DaveKCMO]

i really liked the beans i bought at the rivermarket coffeehouse. i also like coffee girls, who use broadway beans. roasterie is okay. i never buy starbucks beans. honestly, i'd rather use dunkin' donuts coffee.

[nota]

I dont' care for the DARK roast at Starbucks. I like Roasterie (some of the blends anyway) and coffee girls. I also think Starbucks is over roasted. Much of it tastes burnt to me.

That said, just up the road from The Cafe at Briarcliff, I had B & G this AM with hash browns and coffee for 6.48 which included $1 tip. That was at Corner Cafe' in Riverside.

[DaveKCMO]

still off-topic, but does anyone think that scooter's drip coffee is served way too hot? it's like 1,000 degrees.

[chrizow]

still off-topic, but does anyone think that scooter's drip coffee is served way too hot? it's like 1,000 degrees.

i dont remember thinking it was too hot, but i do remember that it was below average.

i think that some of starbucks coffees are actually quite good and blow many artisanal roasts out of the water.  the private estate coffees (that are uber-pricey) are awesome, and i think their Gold Coast blend is just as good as anything i've had.  Roasterie is good, but i only like their Full Vengeance, KC Dark, Brookside Blend, etc. not any of the light blends. 

[rigatonicarloni]

Hate to interrupt the coffee thread ( ) but thought I'd link to The Cafe website to answer some of the questions above.

http://www.thecafeatbriarcliff.com/

[butter_breath]

Stopped in for breakfast today, place looked nice. Not an urban feel, ladies luncheon feel. Had a cup of coffee and biscuits and gravy. After tax a little less than $10 kind of high. The gravy was made of ground hamburger(chipped beef style) and the biscuit was in the shape of a cup almost fried & hollowed out with no top. I was hoping to have a good o'l homemade style breakfast since they brag that they make their own sausages. The B&G was $7. The coffee was $1.5 the bean was really over roasted had a Starbucks flavor to it. 

http://www.thecafeatbriarcliff.com/#

Too slow elbow

[mean]

The gravy was made of ground hamburger(chipped beef style)

Unforgivable!

[monkfish_103]

I'm sorry, I spend too much time over on Chowhound, have been reading this forum for a while now and was curious about something........is butter breath actually Pete Peterman from Soredux?  The reason I ask is because Pete used to post as butter_breath on chef2chef and a couple other industry bulletin boards, and the original post on this thread is IDENTICAL to what another moniker of his, "sallyport" (nautical term for hidden door on a vessel) posted on the Chowhound Midwest board today.  Sorry if this is old news, it was just confusing when I was reading some Soredux reviews here and BB made it sound like he was only familiar with the restaurant, not the owner, which he obviously is.  Am I trolling?  Sure, but I really do have an interest in the KC Scene and it was weird to see what lengths he went to, to promote his own restaurant and pretend to be someone else. 

[Thrillcekr]

Man, that's pretty damn steep for some B&G and a cup of coffee.   :shock:  Hey Nota, have you tried out Caribou Coffee on 64th Street yet?  Just wondering if it's any good.

[Tim Doolittle]

Stopped in for breakfast today, place looked nice. Not an urban feel, ladies luncheon feel. Had a cup of coffee and biscuits and gravy. After tax a little less than $10 kind of high. The gravy was made of ground hamburger(chipped beef style) and the biscuit was in the shape of a cup almost fried & hollowed out with no top. I was hoping to have a good o'l homemade style breakfast since they brag that they make their own sausages. The B&G was $7. The coffee was $1.5 the bean was really over roasted had a Starbucks flavor to it.   

http://www.thecafeatbriarcliff.com/#

my name is Tim Doolittle. Obviously, and i am the chef at 'the cafe at briarcliff'.  i am not sure what "chipped beef style" is but i am happy to share how i make my gravy. hamburger is not part of the recipe.  it is natural organic pork sausage from missouri berkshire hogs, with an 80% to 20% meat to fat ratio. it is seasoned with salt, pepper, and sage.  the sausage is cooked and flour is added. then milk, more salt and pepper. period.  the biscuit is not hollowed but rolled out and formed into a cup. the cup is then filled with the gravy, as i think b&g is generally a little sloppy, just trying to tidy up the place. 

as for the coffee, it is actually 'parisi bros.' not parisian or whatever. it is locally roasted to our specs.  it is the same roaster that 'latte land' and several other companies use, we are all about local economy and sustainable cuisine, so we use a local roaster. really cool little facility they have over on the boulevard.  as for it being 'over roasted' i am inclined to say that is a matter of opinion.  i am also not sure what a 'starbucks' flavor is either, so no comment there.  anyway, would be happy to answer any culinary questions anybody has, as long as i remember to log in and read them.  but if i forget just call me at the restaurant.

thanks

tim doolittle

oh, and yes you absolutely can get a cup of joe to go.  or a turnover, or a pastry or a cookie or a sandwich or lots of things. all hand made. 

[chrizow]

whoa, thanks for posting!  all that food sounds great. 

[Tim Doolittle]

oh, and if i could be so bold, i would suggest that if anybody is not privy to all the information needed to make a statement such as 'the gravy is made from ground hamburger', that they prefice that statement with words like 'it seemed like' or 'i suspect' or 'it seemed as though' or 'my opinion is' or 'i thought' or 'my impression is'      ...not just make a statement that seems factual when in fact is is absolutely and obviously not true.

i am wise enough to never assume. as we all know, it makes an a-- out of u and me.


happy eats all..

chef tim

[kcdcchef]

oh, and if i could be so bold, i would suggest that if anybody is not privy to all the information needed to make a statement such as 'the gravy is made from ground hamburger', that they prefice that statement with words like 'it seemed like' or 'i suspect' or 'it seemed as though' or 'my opinion is' or 'i thought' or 'my impression is'       ...not just make a statement that seems factual when in fact is is absolutely and obviously not true.

i am wise enough to never assume. as we all know, it makes an a-- out of u and me.


happy eats all..

chef tim

as a chef, can i offer you a little advice?

get over it. i have been praised and ripped in food reviews. life goes on, especially on an anonymous message board.