March 2, 2025
As the last of the mourners crammed into the room, the organ began to play that soft and gentle, almost peaceful music.
There had never been a casualty before. But he had assumed any and liability by assuming the role of judge.
“The Kansas Gastronomist was one of those people that you can just meet once and you do not really ever need to be around him again. Once is enough. Ya know?” Wichita By E.B. began the eulogy. “And me and Fert The Foodie and Dining With Denise and even that other judge that doesn’t have a food blog, Rob Roach or whatever the hell his name is. We all told TKG ‘TKG it is your first year judging at Exploration Place’s Death by Choclate and you don’t want to get deathed by chocolate. Be careful with your chocolate intake.’ But that damn man wouldn’t listen!!!” Wichita By E.B. screamed as he slammed his fist on the pulpit and let out an audible sob.
After the eulogy had terminated and the people that had come to pay their respects to THE Kansas Gastronomist trudged away, something mysterious happened. A little light thingy that sort of looked like lasers or something struck the casket where TKG had been lying in state. And all of a sudden TKG jumped up and out and shouted in a cunning way “Did you miss me…? I guess not!!!”
EVENT NOTES: For the record, I don’t think, but don’t know that you can get deathed by chocolate. But thanks to Exploration Place asking me to judge and find out. It was a great event. 39 vendors was a lot. Shout out to the spots that won awards this year — NICHE (Best Sweet Treat), Candle Club (Best Savory), Mulligan’s Pub (Best Beverage), INTRUST Bank Arena (Best Use of Chocolate), The Rusty Nail (Best Use of Theme) and Sharky’s Island Bites (People’s Choice). I’d give a shoutout to all of the other 33 vendors and folks that I ran into including the many Gastrofreaks, but I already made you sit through that long a** story. But I will say this — supporting science, technology, engineering and math for the little girls and boys of Gastroland is always a worthwhile cause. And the chocolate only makes it sweeter.
