JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

A few years ago, a good friend of ours — a woman we’ll call Suzanne because that’s her name — used to read my posts regularly. Occasionally, however, she’d urge me to write “more positive things.”

I told her I did write positive things and that I thought I struck a pretty good balance. It wasn’t good enough for her, though, and when we were together one time a year or so ago, she somberly said to me, “Jim, I stopped reading your blog; you’re too negative.”

Well, that hurt — it always hurts to lose a reader — but I powered on, continuing to write what I still consider a fairly good balance of negative and positive reports.

And that brings me to today, which marks a seminal occasion in the eight-plus-year history of JimmyCSays:

This is my 1,000th post. It all started March 23, 2010, with my “cub blogger rollout” column.

Number 999, about the random killers loose in Nashville, was decidedly negative, but it took a good turn yesterday when Nashville police arrested one suspect at a residence and another turned himself in.

Today’s post falls in the “all-positive” category because it’s about an acclaimed hamburger restaurant, Shake Shack, that is opening in Kansas City early next month.

Shake Shack got a lot of publicity when the announcement came early this year one would be opening in the former Talbots location at 47th and Central. I drove by the location recently and noticed that significant progress had been made.

Then, yesterday, on the way to Country Club Bank to cash a check, I did a double take when I drove by the location again and saw that the sign was up and a couple of guys were wiring the sign for lighting. I parked in an alley off Central and went back to get a photo. I struck up a conversation with one of the workers, who said, “Come by tonight and take another picture; it’ll be all lighted up.”

On the way back to the car, I saw that a space immediately north of the restaurant has been converted to a job-application site for Shake Shack. I stuck my head inside and saw a couple of people filling out applications and a couple of other people who must have been with Shake Shack’s human resources department.

“When is it going to open?” I asked.

“Sept. 6,” came the answer.

…This is exciting. A local website called Feast wrote temptingly about Shake Shake in February:

These are fast food burgers, yes, but ones made with vegetarian-fed, hormone-free Angus beef. The crinkle fries have no artificial ingredients, the frozen custard has no corn syrup, and beer and wine are served. Shake Shack’s workers make $2 or more an hour above minimum wage and can qualify for monthly bonuses. And as with their other stores, Shake Shack pledges to build its store using recycled and reclaimed materials. In the case of this new KC store, its tables will be made with lumber from old bowling alley lanes. So yes, it may just be fast food, but it’s fast food that you can feel (a little) better about eating. It helps that the food lives up the hype.

Shake Shack has several other sandwiches besides hamburgers, and Feast said the frozen custard at the Plaza location “will be developed in collaboration with a local partner.” I’m curious to see which local frozen-custard operation will be involved.

**

According to the Shake Shack website, the chain “sprouted from a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park in Manhattan to support the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s first art installation. The cart was quite the success, with Shack fans lined up daily for three summers. In 2004, a permanent kiosk opened in the park: Shake Shack was born.”

Now Shake Shack has more than 90 locations in the U.S. and about 19 abroad. A Shake Shack opened last December in the Central West End district of St. Louis.

Danny Meyer

That was fitting because Shake Shake’s founder, 60-year-old Danny Meyer, was born and raised in St. Louis. According to Wikipedia, Meyer graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, with a degree in political science. He took a fling into politics in 1980, working as Cook County (Chicago) field director for John Anderson’s independent presidential campaign. (Personal note: I attended a wedding reception in Chicago’s 74-story Water Tower Place about the time Anderson ran for president, and Anderson was one of the guests.)

Meyer got his first restaurant experience in 1984 as an assistant manager at Pesca, an Itialian seafood restaurant in the Flatiron District of New York City. After studying cooking at Italy and France, he opened his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe, in New York in 1985. In addition to Union Square Cafe and Shake Shack, Meyer has several other restaurants, all of which operate under the corporate umbrella of Union Square Hospitality Group, of which Meyer is chief executive.

Today, then, we celebrate the positive. For myself, I’m thrilled to be publishing my 1,000th post. And for Kansas City, I’m thrilled we’re getting a Shake Shack…I don’t have much reason to go to the Plaza any more, but I’ll be down there Sept. 6.