^ vintage dining
The ‘Fric & Frac’ of Sidewalk Dining Neighborhood gathering spot gets intimate with the outside A middle-aged man in blue jeans and a white ball cap stands next to a parking sign, dragging on the last of a cigarette. Near his feet, a plastic bucket filled nearly to the brim with water, is marked with the generic word “DOG”. A roly-poly pit bull by the name of Fitzgerald waddles over to the bucket and laps up the liquid. His tongue is the shade of strawberry lipstick. Nearby, a man in a cowboy hat and boots, with his lady friend, sun at a picnic table. A woman in dark sunglasses sits alone at a sidewalk table, sipping a Bloody Mary, its lime sunk like a green ship in a red sea. A harried mother, followed by two, rambunc- tious young children slurping ice cream cones, walks past us. One child is so close, I could reach out and touch his sticky hand. I watch this Sunday afternoon street life from a sidewalk table at Fric & Frac, a funky Kansas City neighborhood tavern on the corner of 39th and Genessee. Sharing my table is Sharon Eiker, aka “Mama Diva”, a well-known local poet, visual artist, musi- cian and performance artist. “I’ve been eating at Fric & Frac weekly for 20 years,” she brags. “I’ve literally watched people grow old here.” Eiker calls the tavern, with its sunset pink, brick exterior and broad, storefront win- dows, her neighborhood bar even though it’s located two miles from her Hyde Park home. She compares the West 39th Street corridor in the Volker Neighborhood – known as KC’s “restaurant row” – to New York City. “New York City is a big place until I figured out it’s a series of neighborhoods with wine bars, grocery stores, laundries, and pubs,” she says. “This is one of the few places in Midtown Kansas City where Words RHIANNON ROSS Photos PATTI KLINGE
and a picnic table. Several nearby restaurants on the row offer enclosed patio seating or sidewalk seating set back from the street. Yet, at Fric & Frac, no barrier separates sidewalk diners from passersby. Eiker and I embrace the European appeal of al fresco dining and the opportunity to people watch. Strollers pass us as if we are separated by an invisible wall. There’s an unspoken pact to respect mu- tual privacy. Occasionally, some do smile and nod “hello” but only if eye contact is made and the invisible wall is breached. Bartender Patrick Martin says sidewalk din- ing is popular with diners and drinkers alike,
everything is within walking distance. And Fric & Frac is the heart of this area. It has a personality. People working here are unique and they make you feel at home.” Our server sports a pierced nostril and a sleeve of tattoos on her right arm, and a tat- tooed heart with the words “You Are Sweet” on her left bicep. An outdoor mural on the build- ing features cartoon characters jamming to a boombox. Pop tunes from the ‘70s are piped outside via speakers. Only a window separates our table from an inside table where two men chomp burgers and swig frothy beers. Sidewalk seating is limited to four tables
8 VINTAGEKC SUMMER 2017
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