pick two

Julian

Kansas City, Missouri » Brookside

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Tina and I sat on the patio and enjoyed a really nice lunch after a morning at the zoo a few weeks ago. The insane heat had just broken, and although it was still warm out, the shade and breeze outside were beautiful.  It was so nice, we decided that's it, we're done for the day. Why ruin a perfectly good meal with going back to work? Am I right? Julian has three lunch options: Pick 1, 2 or 3 ($9, 12, $14) items from their menu. Tina and I both opted for two and washed it all down with glorious ice water.

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Tina's Pick Two, $12

Julian Chicken Salad Sandwich grapes, celery and walnuts

In House Fries housemade zingy ketchup

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Linh's Pick Two, $12

Pork Sandwich (not on the on-line menu at this time and oops, I forgot what was in it)

Macaroni & Cheese Boulevard Pale Ale cheese sauce, bacon

sebastian

Sebastian | Server

Julian

Years of Industry Service: 15

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Sebastian, a first time father, re-evaluated his life and his career after having his little girl almost three years ago. He had been in the corporate restaurant world for most of that time. His first job was at Pizza Hut and then at TGIFridays, off an on for 10 years, where he was started as a server and ended as a general manager. "I like managing," Sebastian said. "But being a GM is different. There's more planning and being in the office. You're literally in there for 8 hours at a time.

But being in the office all day wasn't exactly his idea of a dream job. So back to school he went, graduating early, and surprise, he got back into the restaurant business. "It's kind of like the Goodfellas thing," he said. "You think you're out, but it pulls you back in." This time around, however, he's working for Top Chef Master Celina Tio at the independently-owned Julian, where Sebastian says, "This is so much fun. It kind of reignited that flame for me. When food is done right, when people are passionate about it, it's really neat to see." He's now studying for his first-level sommelier certification and learning more about the wine side of the business.

Sebastian's wife is a business analyst and works one day from home, but for the most part, Sebastian plays the caretaker role. Before his daughter was born, he played a lot of first-person shooter games like Fallout or Call of Duty. "I'd have a glass of Scotch and play for a couple hours* each night," he said. But now, he's more likely to be watching Spongebob and reading to to his daughter, who is really into books. "Your perspective changes when you have kids. She is an absolute blast."

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*With a husband who used to also drink Scotch and play Halo,

I bet it was for more than a couple of hours. :)

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pig roast

Julian

Kansas City, Missouri

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We were burning some time on twitter a few weeks ago when we saw chef Celina Tio tweet about a pig roast. So we ditched our plans and headed to Brookside to check out this whole delicious piggy instead. It takes a couple of strong men to unload this hot sucker out of the roasting box and it smelled amazing. Thanks Chef for giving us a taste, it was utterly moist, heavenly goodness. You can find out about more pig roasts and other Celina Tio news here, here or here.