Kansas City: Snoots & Spleens

Andrew's first stop on a filling journey is none other than the 35-year-old institution, The Tenderloin Grill. Andrew meets Ashlee Ruhl, the owner who saved the family restaurant at just 26 years old! With no other choice, Andrew happily dives, nose first, into the KC-style pig snoot sandwich. A spicy sandwich of boiled pig nose, the dish has become so distinguished even the Kansas City Police Department uses it to initiate rookies to the force! Next on Andrew's excursion is The Local Pig, where Chef Alex Pope reinvents local tradition. After sampling the unique summer sausage, smoked beef heart, and smoked pig's head, Andrew moves on to his nemesis, the pig spleen! The spleen, which has a muddy flavor due to filtering blood, is lined with bacon and sage to neutralize the intense taste. Reinvented with a little texture and "pinwheel" presentation, Alex Pope does something to spleen Andrew never thought possible: makes it enjoyable! After Andrew gets his fill of pig, he heads to visual artist-turned-chef Jonathan Justus's 101-year-old Justus Drugstore. In Jonathan's laboratory, he wows Andrew with "mad scientist" takes on country classics like pear vinegar, dehydrated sweet potato chips and raw bass crudo. Jonathan takes Andrew to Paradise Meat Locker, operated by Mario Fantasma, a butcher shop that creates magical opportunities for Jonathan and other chefs to customize their cuts based on particular breeds of animals. Finally Jonathan invites Andrew to his family farmstead where they cook up a woodchuck trapped in his backyard on... a treadmill rotisserie, of course! The grand finale is a one-of-a-kind family meal where Andrew stuffs himself with rare woodchuck heart, home-made baked beans and pear-cid