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makes it decorative or whatever mode you like. This particular find is an eggplant velvet curtain and just a shear. Very reasonable way to add ...

There&#x92;s something to be said for custom and consistency. When you do something very well, why tempt fate and tinker with it? Kansas City&#x92;s restaurant brouhaha is filled with come-and-go stories of trend-hopping, glitz-chasing and misplaced priorities.</p><p>Even chef Tatsu Arai took a attempt at contemporaneity a few years ago when he launched what proved to be a short-lived uninterested sandwich joint in Westport, followed by a short-lived serendipitous bistro.</p><p> But day in and day out, for the last 32 years or so, the French-trained chef from Japan has built his status be known on the fine-dining, suburban-storefront hideaway that bears his name. The walls are beige, evening sunlight dapples the interweave curtains that obscure the parking lot out front, and sauces on every dish are exquisitely subtle and magnificent. </p><p>In the realm of local French restaurants, Tatsu&#x92;s is reliable, insouciant and unwavering in its commitment to a kind of traditional satisfaction, a comfortable acne halfway between steak frites and creative high style. Call it the unshakeable feast. The restaurant exudes a gentle formality that you don&#x92;t find at Aixois or Westport Caf&#xE9; & Bistro. And with a mostly, ah, let&#x92;s say mellow, clientele, it stands as the polar opposite of the raucous, exuberant Le Fou Frog.</p><p>Continually and again, when I asked friends how long it had been since their last meal at Tatsu&#x92;s &#x97; <go over class="italic">no, not Tasso&#x92;s,</span> that goofy Greek locale, I sometimes had to interject &#x97; the answer was &#x93;forever.&#x94; Same with me. I think the last heyday I was there was in the &#x92;80s. On a recent Sunday evening, though, we rectified that lapse, and four of us found much to be beneficial about. </p><p>Let me start with dessert: I had a frisson of a sense memory when, after our perfectly cooked, to the nth degree satisfying meal, our server placed a Tatsu&#x92;s Delight before us. <flyover class="italic">I remember this</span>, I deem I said as I forked through the stack of flaky pastry squares, which sandwiched dollops of custard and cream.</p><p> With a strawberry on top and a sprinkling of chocolate on the cover, the dish might strike some as a little fussy, but it&#x92;s essentially simple and indomitable. Which sums up Tatsu&#x92;s formula for success.</p><p>On this night the main dining elbow-room was full and pleasantly abuzz. Before dessert, we liked the refreshing chill of the vichyssoise, and we savored a slab of escargots. Our Kenyan visitor was taken aback when he learned what that chat meant, but he enjoyed the classically garlicked, parsleyed and buttered titbit as much as he liked the poached salmon that came to him next.</p><p>The rack of lamb and the magret de canard (dip breast) were succulent and nicely pink in the middle.</p><p>I spent the most then with my entree of veau au citron <span class="italic">:</overpass> Three thinly pounded, milky white discs of tender veal wore a incandescent, lemony sauce. She Who Is Not Easily Pleased always expresses her discomfort with the goal of veal &#x97; no problem with lamb, I guess &#x97; but for an unconcerned omnivore this is the kind of dish that you wish would never end. Each bite was a bright and sensory amazement.</p><p>Our second meal, on a Saturday night, unfolded in the smaller side dining elbow-room with arcaded mirrors and a somewhat crisper finish than the main room. (Tatsu&#x92;s also has a brace of tables in the tiny bar area, which looked like it could be a fine and cozy context to spend the two hours or more that a three-course meal can last here.)</p><p> A shrimp appetizer was first evaluation in any case, a pleasant little essay in texture and buttery delight. A crab soup was touchy and understated; a carrot soup, its deep orange top marbled with an accent of cream, evoked a sweetness not to that of the lightly brown-sugared chunks of carrot that accompany almost every entree.</p><p> It&#x92;s hard to argue with other classics such as coquilles St. Jacques meuni&#xE9;re (an first-rate, though possibly repetitive, scallop answer to the shrimp starter) and copious in, tender, red-wine accented short ribs in the boeuf Bourguignon. </p><p>An entree of eggplant, softened and lightly tarted up by its Proven&#xE7;al tomato crust, offered surprising texture and taste. A filet in a shallot and red wine reduction disrespect is another dish to linger over.</p><p>One could begin to argue, however, as a sense of d&#xE9;ja vu creeps in and you awe why each dish has to have the same trinity of sides &#x97; carrots, broccoli, mashed potatoes; they&#x92;re superlatively cooked, mind you, but the effect feels less than inspired. More evidence of Tatsu&#x92;s pigheaded adherence to tradition: A Star critic made a similar complaint, about the very same sides, almost 20 years ago.</p><p>Nevertheless, the d&#xE9;ja vu dissipated and spirits were buoyed when we got to pud. We shared a terrific souffle and enjoyed the tableside skills of our server as she deftly spooned the lighter-than-air, egg-whitish poufs onto plates and drizzled the accents of Grand Marnier, creme anglaise and raspberry puree. Yes, it was old kind, but soothingly, successfully so.</p><p><span class="factbox_mentality">Tatsu&#x92;s French Restaurant</p><p></span>4603 W. 90th St.</p><p>Prairie Village</p><p>913-383-9801</p><p><a href ="http://tatsus.com/" quarry="_blank">Tatsus.com</a></p><p>Facebook: Yes</p><p>Star rating</p><p> <stretch class="bold">Food:</span>*&#xA0;*&#xA0;*&#xA0;&#8201;1/2: Unwavering commitment to exquisitely made Continental classics. </p><p> <extent class="bold">Service:</span>*&#xA0;*&#xA0;&#8201;1/2: Formal but comradely; occasionally slow.</p><p> <span class="bold">Environment: </span>*&#xA0;*&#xA0;*&#xA0;&#8201;: Comfortable, pleasant, easygoing.</p><p> <span class="bold">Hours:</overpass> Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; dinner: 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Sunday.</p><p> <span categorize="bold">Entree average:</span> $$$</p><p> <extent class="bold">Vegetarian options: </period>Eggplant Proven&#xE7;al is the lone vegetarian dish on the menu. Special diets can be accommodated, though lend notice is helpful.</p><p> <span class="bold">Obstacle accessible: </span>Yes.</p><p> <span class="bold">Kids: </term>Smaller portions and other accommodations are possible.</p><p> <span class="audacious">Noise level: </span>A genteel buzz when filled to duty.</p><p> <span class="bold">Reservations: </course>Recommended.</p><p>&#8199;</p><p> <span class="bold">Brilliant code:</span>*&#xA0; Fair, *&#xA0;*&#xA0; Good, *&#xA0;*&#xA0;*&#xA0; Supreme, *&#xA0;*&#xA0;*&#xA0;*&#xA0; Extraordinary</p><p> <span genre="bold">Price code: </span>$ Generally entree under $10; $$ Average entree under $20; $$$ Average entree under $30; $$$$ Standard in the main entree over $30 </p><p> <span class="bold">Rules of ethics:</span> Starred reviews are written after a minimum of two visits to a restaurant. When required, reservations are made in a name other than the reviewer&#x92;s. The Matchless pays for reviewer&#x92;s meals. </p><p><span class="factbox_cardinal">Recommended</p><p></span> <span class="unafraid">Shrimp meuni&#xE9;re,</span> $8.95</p><p> <span category="bold">Carrot soup, </span>$4.75</p><p> <spell class="bold">Poached salmon</flyover>, $22.95</p><p> <span class="bold">Magret de canard</term>, $26.95</p><p> <span class="bold">Boeuf Bourguignon</term>, $28.95</p><p> <span class="bold">Veau au citron, </interval>$28.95</p><p> <span class="bold">Superb Marnier souffle, </span>$7.25 a person</p><p><span descent="factbox_head">What to drink</p><p></span>Tatsu&#x92;s has a full bar, a straight-in the lead standing list of martinis and cocktails and beer. The wine muster offers a nice enough range, but for all the restaurant&#x92;s commitment to French bread it is surprisingly lacking in French bottles. (By contrast, I was surprised the other day when I looked over the directory at the Farmhouse, in the River Market, which is filled with almost nothing but French whites and reds.)</p><p> A forfeit and versatile choice is the Gerard Bertrand Corbieres, an earth-and-seasoning, south-region blend of grenache, syrah and mourvedre ($40 a nerve). A twist-off pinot noir from the same producer is light and innocuous at $28 a restrain.

Source: Kansas City Star

by Rachel

The garden enquiry of covering my eggplant seedlings with an old set of diaphanous window curtains (50 cents at my favorite restricted parsimony boutique) was just the hang feat for providence the leaves from being riddled with holes from flea beetles. The curtains let in the sun and rainfall but kept out the chompers so the plants were skilful to cadaver...

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