By any other name
There was a bit of a dust up over the original name given to an upcoming 18th and Vine District restaurant. I guess the name "Empty" would have been too descriptive.
Anyway, the Star reports the the owner "naming her restaurant Strange Frut, after a Billie Holiday tune that dealt with lynching in the South, caused a public outcry. As a result, her new venue will be known as Harper's."
Considering that the place is going to solely serve organic food, I'm guessing that this new venture will only be using the name for about 4 months. Finally, in a story that involves someone upset about a name and organic food I guess it probably should have been titled "The bland leading the bland." Bleh.
posted by Tony Permalink
it's STILL coming?
it would be weird to eat something that calls to mind bodies swaying in the breeze. . .left to rot, etc.
whatever. one drives by and thinks that "harper's" sign is just a remnant from the movie shoot, like other faux storefronts.
What a person should understand is that these little pet projects strewn about Kansas City were never meant to provide long term relief for a previously blighted area. The true beneficiaries of such projects are the individuals who dream such projects up, craftily design them to disperse generous profits among friends, and as my adopted sicilian mama would say "forget about it honey". Kansas City has many of these although 18th and Vine just happens to be in the spotlight now. Look no further than Emmanuel Cleaver for blame placing purposes on this particular project. Of course Cleaver has his interests in this, the project was craftily pushed through during his watch over the "black" community in KC. His reward for all this.......stardom in Washington and support by a race of people who should be ashamed of his antics. I cannot wait until they unveil a seemingly similar project in Northeast KC backed by UMKC for Research Purposes (receiving millions in Federal grant money to study poor homeless folks of all colors), although craftily disguised as giving a shit with enormous community benefits to be dispersed by a local CDC, or its equivalent. The real winners (or losers, depending how you look at it) are the CDC itself and nobody else. Welcome to the world of corporate controled community based renovation. These projects should be utilized only when all other efforts to revitalize the area have been exhausted. Efforts to revitalize include Police protection, city services, and general upkeep by the city in which they are located and is a good place to start. Unfortunately, nobody holds our city accountable. At some point, this project was backed by city council, echoed by local Police, and cheered for loud enough by few individuals seeking to gain from this project while simultaneously being written about in the Kansas City Star describing it as the best thing since sliced bread.
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