September 21, 2011

• Leonetti’s Bella Cucina in The Palm

  

  Des Moines’ restaurant scenery was painted with an edgy palette. Early last century, newspapers frequently reported police raids of George Wee’s Chinese cafés. “Scantily clad women scurried out windows” as Wee was arrested to applause along with “alleged actresses” and “patrons from fine families on self-described slumming adventures.” During Prohibition, speakeasies ruled the scene. Many morphed into popular cafés during WW II. When downtown’s restaurant scene dried up in the latter quarter of the century, the edge moved to Eighth Street in West Des Moines where Jimmie Lynch operated Jimmie’s American Café (JAC) and three other ahead-of-their-time restaurants. He lost all of them after a notorious sexual harassment lawsuit won against him by waitress Kelly Cunningham. Lynch claimed he was scammed. When the plaintiff’s mother later plead guilty in the mother of Iowa scams – the CIETC scandal, some people began wondering about that.

  Still, without Lynch around, Eighth Street lost its edge. Some said it died. In the last three years, four different restaurateurs told me the JAC property had deteriorated irreparably. But nothing ever dies in the cyclical restaurant business – consider downtown Des Moines. It takes edgy vision to see that sometimes. Last year Pelican Club owner Tommy Mauro began restoring the JAC property. He filled its parking lot with trucks and crews for a couple months. Then in May Mauro lost his bid for a West Des Moines liquor license, by a 3-2 vote. Nay voters cited 14 misdemeanor convictions going back to 1982, the most recent a “bootlegging” charge after a Pelican Club bartender served Mauro through an open window.

  Mauro’s project was saved by another historic restaurant family – Pete Leonetti and son Joe. They are the opposite of notorious. People usually say things like “nicest guy you’ll ever meet” when speaking of Pete. Their family history has direct links to two of the most adored obsessions in Des Moines. Joe’s grandfather played for the Chicago Cubs and his great grandmother was “Aunt Jenny” Randa – the granduchessa of Italian Des Moines cuisine. Odds are very short that your favorite marinara is a slight variation of the one she served in her restaurant when Ronald Reagan worked at WHO and ate there. Her Italian salad dressings also influenced four generations.

  Restoration work here is fabulous though one would have needed to have seen how badly the vacant space had deteriorated to appreciate Mauro‘s efforts. The legendary patio now includes tented pool tables, ceiling fans, high def TV’s, a full bar, and superb terracing. Jimmy Buffet nights on Wednesdays ($10 margarita pitchers and buckets of Coronas) are attracting crowds. So are three hour nightly Happy Hours with $1.50 draft beers and well drinks. Exposed brick and woodwork has improved the old ambiance, with a large cocktail mosaic in the floor of the main dining room where Rat Pack era music plays.

  

  I tried marinara many ways: with hand fried pepper rings, hand breaded mozzarella sticks, garlic bread, and

  

  hand made ravioli for appetizers.

  

  It is also served with six different pasta and two other entrees.

  

  The best was chicken parmesan, a very generous two breasted serving crisply fried and plated on linguini with marinara and mozzarella.

  

  My only disappointment was a rib-eye served without any sear.

  

  However, a steak sandwich had a decent sear, so hopefully that was a one time glitch.

  

  Lunch brought one of the best BLT’s of the summer, with ripe fresh tomatoes and thick bacon, plus some deep flavored tomato based soups. Dessert menus and additional hand made pasta were being added to the fare.

  Bottom line – Excellent bargain priced foods with historic implications. Nostalgia trumps edginess on a revived Eighth Street.

  Leonetti’s Bella Cucina in the Palm

  1238 8th St., West Des Moines, 223-0801

  Mon. – Fri. 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sat. 2 p.m. – 2 a.m., Sun. 2 p.m. – 10 p.m.

  Side Dishes

  A US Department of Agriculture speaker recently announced USDA had more value-added agriculture grant money this year than was even applied for last year… Seed Savers heirloom tomato tasting and seed saving workshops will be Sept. 3 at Heritage Farm, Decorah.

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