Programs A-Z

"La cuenta, por favor!" is the closest I've come to uttering the phrase, "Check, Please!" in a restaurant, but that's in Mexico where time and service is a little slower. However, "Check, Please!" is now a phrase ever on my lips since KCPT began production on a new six-part series called, Check, Please! KC. And, believe me, that phrase generates a lot of enthusiasm.

The show Check, Please! originated in Chicago and has become a popular local restaurant review show in America. Those who know about the show rave about it and love that it has come to Kansas City.

Check, Please! KC is not just a source for local restaurant reviews from real people, like you. It also provides local restaurants an opportunity for free promotion. To top it off, Kansas City's very own Master Sommelier and Master of Wine, Doug Frost is hosting the show! But the enthusiasm skyrockets when it comes to the reviewers chosen to be on the show.

Each episode features three guests; each recommends his or her favorite restaurant. The other two guests then go and experience it for themselves. After the guests have experienced each other's recommendations they meet at KCPT's studio to discuss their experiences. The reviewers are not affiliated with any restaurant, nor are they food experts. They come from all walks of life—attorneys, scrub techs, self-proclaimed media darlings—and the list goes on. They live all over the metropolitan area, including one intrepid soul who trucks in to work every day from Baldwin City, Kan. The one thing the guests do share is their passion for food and for their chosen restaurant.

Just to be clear, this program is not only for bon vivants; it is also for the run of the mill "foodies." All of the guests are equally enthusiastic with their critique as they are with their praise. And that's where the drama comes in. Thankfully, there are no fisticuffs or brawls and nobody wields a knife in defense of a bad review, but offense is taken and words are exchanged. That excitement you'll have to see for yourself.

The 18 restaurants featured in the series are as varied as the reviewers. From burger joints to haute cuisine; from Mediterranean to Pan Asian; from the River Market to South Kansas City to Lawrence, Kan., each restaurant is as unique in style and ambience as its menu. Of course, each of the restaurants had to agree to participate in the program before the reviewers were sent on their assignments. Cushioned in the comfort that someone had chosen them above all others, the restaurant owners also knew the risk of a bad review. To their credit, not a single restaurant turned us down.

Now personally, I classify myself as a "foodie" in the most modest sense. I've enjoyed each of the restaurants I've had an opportunity to visit. I love the food, the atmosphere and the people who run the confounded businesses. It could be because I'm not a fussy eater. Or it could be because I simply love that someone else is cooking for me. But whether I utter the phrase, "Check, Please!" or not, the bill always arrives.

Pam James is an Emmy® award-winning producer at KCPT and is currently producing Check, Please! KC.

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