Brio Tuscan Grille:
Eating Well, Living Well

by Chris Becicka

It’s a mild, February evening. We’ve been told 45 minutes, and we grimace but accept the black beeper. It’s the Plaza; it’s Friday night. Portly companion and I shoulder our way through the trendies, pretending to be blendies. Up the curved staircase to the second floor bar, another fireplace, more crowded even than downstairs.

Egad! we say, or its equivalent, spotting a newly vacated table. We race, we win, yippee for the fifties. Then we notice: we’re surrounded by plastic sheeting. Polypropy-lene? We dunno, we don’t care; we’re outside, sorta; we can watch the sidewalks; we’re warm. At last, a Kansas City restaurant, even if it’s from Columbus, Ohio, one of 42 in a “group” of restaurants, that has figured it out.

Brio has lots going for it besides newbie status on the Plaza. Nice atmosphere. Club-like environment with overstuffed chairs and oriental rugs. Friendly waiters, with opinions, who let you take your time. Very good food. I’ve been there three times so far, and each time I’ve been happy I went. That’s eating well.

First, we went for lunch with a 15-month-old around Christmas time when the place had just opened. Though I would not call this a kid place at all, the staff was efficient, friendly, and cooed appropriately. The menu is huge (12”x17”) and decisions are difficult. For starters, we had the margherita flatbread ($9.95) which was scrumptious, the calamari fritto misto with pepperoncini ($8.75) which was done well. My son had the Chicken Milanese Pomodoro which had breaded chicken with pasta, fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce (the Pomodoro part). He loved it; so did Baby. Crispy green beans were a hit, too, as was the soup of the day, a pepperoni Calabrese (refers to the city of Calabria) pizza ($10.50) which was thin crust and delish.

The staff was equally accommodating when four of us went there early one evening just before Christmas—and couldn’t decide where we wanted to sit. After three tries, we were finally happy, and our doctor-to-be waiter was patient and accommodating, and also made suggestions. The Brio bruschetta, flatbread with shrimp, mozzarella and seared peppers was recom- mended, as well it should be. The crab cakes, either as appetizer for one at $9.95 or entrée for two at $18.95, come with a sweetish arugula salad and a bit of horseradish sauce—very satisfying.

The crusty and flat breads here come with both a seasoned oil and a separate butter—Portly was happy. He also liked the grind-your-own-pepper shakers. (Sometimes it’s the small things that make one happy.) His garganelli carbonara (a penne pasta for $13.95) with chicken, bacon, sautéed spinach was, while perhaps not as soupy creamy as he likes, still flavorful and I really liked it. But I splurged a bit and tried the oak roasted lamb chops ($20.95) which were an entire rack, separated and uprightly triang- ularized. I opted for asparagus instead of mashed potatoes—oh my, this was gooooddd!

We seldom get dessert, but since this was our third visit and we’d never tried one, we went for the big one—the menu said three-in-one or some such, and so we said, what the heck, the diet’s shot, let’s go for it. (We often say such things like that, I’m afraid.) I expected a plate with three different things—instead we got a three-tower of three full desserts, a melting chocolate cake with ice cream, crème brûlée and a cheesecake on a toffee-like crust. All were good, but, despite my twinges of embarrassment, I did manage to finish the oozey chocolate one, my fav.

I like Brio’s simple philosophy, “To eat well is to live well,” and I like their food. When our last, and still excellent, waiter, Aaron, said to me, “Was it everything you hoped it would be?,” I could only say, “Yes”… and smile contentedly.