January 6, 2012

• Best and Worst of 2011

  Chaos & Innovation

  Last year in this annual review, we praised 22 new food businesses that opened despite economic challenges. Eight of those places closed in 2011, along with older establishments such as Suzette’s, Urbandale Café, AK O’Connor’s, Brick’s, Casa di Vino, Nana’s, the Altoona Kin Folk’s, The Game, Jasmine Bowl, Tandoor, Banh Thai, and Timothy’s. La Pizza House re-opened and then closed again. Chefs also moved at a frenetic pace. Scott Stroud (Food Dude’s Rising Star of 2007) started 2011 at Orchestrate, moved to Hy-Vee, then to Tartine before finishing the year back at Orchestrate. Hy-Vee also poached top chefs Dean Richardson (Phat Chefs), Alex Strauss (Gateway) and Matt Pearson (Dish, Skybox). In Iowa’s Kardashian affair of the year, all four barbecues in the West Des Moines-Clive area divorced their venues in the same two months.

  Amidst the chaos, our food scene also produced a surprising amount of happy news. Standouts included:

  Top New Market. Saigon Market upgraded our grocery scene much like Gateway and La Tapatia did in other years. It’s immaculate, friendly and stocked with delicacies and bargains that one used to have to drive to Chicago to find.

  Top New Specialty Shop. Cheese Shoppe of Des Moines is a European style store where one can shop for the best charcuterie, pâtés and cheeses, or idle away an afternoon enjoying them with something from a marvelous, inexpensive wine list.

  New Chain of the Year. Abelardo’s (Omaha) changed the city’s late night dining habits with 24-7 drive through service.

  Design of the Year. Americana, by architect Dan Hunt, is one of the best looking places in years. Honorable mentions go to Patton’s, Haiku and Zombie Burger + Drink Lab.

  Rising Star of the Year. Bree Ann Leighton of Alba, 22, has already plucked wisdom from three of Des Moines best chefs – Sean Wilson, David Baruthio and Jason Simon. On her own, she also began a series of dazzling tasting menus.

  Farmer of the Year & Top New Food. Carl Blake recreated a legendary 19^th century bloodline by crossing Chinese Meishan pigs with Russian wild boars. The nation’s best chefs and charcuterie makers responded overwhelmingly to his Iowa Swabian Hall, comparing its meat to a cross between pork and duck.

  New Beverage of the Year. Peace Tree brought us Kolsch without the expense of a trip to Cologne.

  Boldest Advertising. Heartland corporations Post & Hy-Vee hired Australian sex symbol Curtis Stone to represent their middle American values after Stone had incurred the wrath of PETA by touting battery-raised hen‘s eggs.

  New Cuisines of the Year. Thanks to Hung Suan (Simply Asian) and Cesar Miranda (Mi Patria), Burmese & Ecuadorian cuisines debuted in the metro.

  Trend of the Year. Longer hours. Abelardo’s rocked the town with 24-7 service. Bisto at ICI and Luna added dinner service. Kelly’s Little Nipper added breakfast. The Palms instigated a four hour “happy hour.” Gino’s West added weekend brunch. We could go on & on.

  Hottest New Service. Americana’s brunch and Bloody Mary bar became a weekend ritual.

  Iowa Food Blog of the Year. Jess Jones’ http://www.jonesing-for.com/ pairs photos one wants to eat with recipes that makes that possible.

  Book of the Year. “1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created” by Charles Mann argues brilliantly that Columbus‘ most dramatic discovery was bird piss which led through a little known American war to the invention of industrial agriculture.

  Cookbook of the Year

  National – Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myhrvold is six volume set that will become a classic of the times.  

  Regional – “Heartland” by Judith Fertig shows deep respect for the great food artisans of the Midwest including many whom Cityview has been touting for decades.

  Lift a Cup of Kindness for… Paul Trostel revolutionized dining in Des Moines, introducing or upgrading things like appetizer menus, wine cellars and tapas at Colorado Feed & Grain, Rosie’s Cantina, The Greenbriar, and Dish. Bobby Braverman popularized organic and natural foods at his Friendly Farm.

  Restaurants of the Year

  2011 delivered more good restaurant news than one might expect from a stagnant economy. Chain restaurants expanded faster than at any time since 2008. That’s great news because big corporate expansions tend to be heavily leveraged. So some very conservative money people determined that metro Des Moines was a good investment for Burger King, Chipotle, Noodles & Company, Olive Garden, Subway, McDonalds, Little Caesar’s, Jimmy John’s, Taco John’s, etc.

  Innovation dominated our independent restaurant scene. Simply Asian and Mi Patria became Des Moines’ first Burmese and Ecuadorian restaurants. El Centro Americano added to the Central American offerings, Lemongrass to the Thai. Keller’s, Luna and City Bakery Café raised the bar for breakfast and lunch options downtown. Haiku, Taste of Oriental and Sakura expanded sushi definitions. The Garden Grill provided new family fare, particularly sea food. Tartine demystified French cuisine with affordable comfort foods. Patton’s became the city’s first fine dining option in soul food. Americana delivered stylish retro glamour, by architect Dan Hunt. Zombie Burger + Drink Lab and Jethro’s BBQ & Jambalaya presented small genres in grand scale.

  The top new restaurant of the year though was Wasabi Chi, our best example yet of both positive feng shui and stylish sushi. It’s hard to differentiate sushi in Des Moines – most places buy their fish from the same out of state purveyors. Jay Wang’s café upgraded the genre with original methods and personalized style. His presentations are sensational. One sushi-sashimi combo is served on bamboo leaves and adorned with giant mint and edible orchids. A simple sashimi lunch platter is served on a rack constructed of bamboo twigs raised on a core of compacted cucumber seeds. His kitchen also employs subtle treatments. Some raw fish cuts are briefly marinated in saki, others in sea salt, peppers and black sesame.

  Tempura dishes come with ginger aioli in addition to the usual accompaniment of dashi (fish based soup stock), mirin (rice wine) and soy sauce. Squid salad is made with black fungus and cucumbers that had been completely seeded and peeled. A shrimp mango salad includes cashews that have been pan toasted in honeyed oil. Ceviche might include tender octopus, shrimp, whitefish, tuna and salmon. Even cocktail stemware becomes stylish.

  Last year’s top new café is this year’s restaurant on the year. Named one of America’s top 20 new restaurants by the James Beard Awards, Baru has become a destination dining draw. Chef and owner David Baruthio comes from Strasbourg, as did Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Hubert Keller and Jean Joho, all regarded among the best French chefs in the world. Audaciously, Baru flaunts the connection with street scene paintings of Strasbourg by Jamie Navarro. Linen covered tables are set with cobalt blue vases and single yellow tulips (a French signature employed by above mentioned chefs). Other trappings are elegant. Flatware is Laguiole. Some plates are from JB Prince and some are hand made stone ware by Sarah Hill, Baruthio’s wife and partner.

  Menus are seasonal. Last spring my sea bass was served on fresh pea risotto with a foamy pea emulsion and a garnish of crisply fried basil. Last week it was served with leek and black truffle fondue, a palm fondant, salsify and chanterelles. Last spring, foie gras was presented as a terrine with bacon, a poached egg, raisin chutney and a reduction of balsamic vinegar. Last week it was paired with poached pear and radish micro greens. In any season, no one coaxes more flavor out of emulsions, foams, ice creams, soups and sauces than Baru’s state of the art kitchen. Six course degustations here rank with those costing triple their price in Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

  Restaurateur & Chef of the Year

  The three biggest restaurant openings in the metro this year reflected Des Moines’ independent spirit. Americana, Zombie Burger + Drink Lab, and Jethro’s BBQ & Jambalaya (Jambalaya) are all fresh ideas. None are franchises. All are locally owned and represent confident investments in local real estate and local talent. They shared the same biggest problem – coping with the large crowds that appeared on day one. That all added up to something in which local diners took considerable pride. Just a few years ago, the only metro restaurant openings that created enough buzz to draw TV crews involved outlets of out of state corporations. Such carpetbaggers erase culinary distinctions among the towns or suburbs they inhabit. Original visions give their towns unique character.

  Groups led by Scot Carlson, Paul Rottenberg and Bruce Gerleman turned 2011 into a year of creative new restaurants on grand scales. Gerleman edges the others as Restaurateur of the Year by taking his vision into the most hostile zip code, at least in the minds of demographers and bankers who think that growing suburbs will only respond to national brand names. He opened 8000 square foot Jambalaya on the West Des Moines border with Waukee this month. It was packed on my visits, at hours that typically are not busy for restaurants.

  “I’m not afraid of anything,” Gerleman responded when asked about the suburban shibboleth. “We produce really good products at extremely friendly prices. That’s all people want anywhere.”

  Jambalaya is the third Jethro’s Gerleman has opened with chef Dom Iannarelli. They are also the principles at Splash, one of the city’s top restaurants and its very best wine server. Jambalaya became their largest endeavor with nearly 400 seats indoors and another 100 on the patio. It claims to be the biggest sports bar in town, with 24 beers on tap, 17 big screen TV’s and 15 different satellite receivers.

  “Three quarters of million dollars buys a lot of kitchen,” Iannarelli explained while showing off things like a 46 foot long grill hood and separate smokers that can each hold up to 900 pounds of meat. Each of four fryers holds 106 pounds of oil.

  “It costs $4,000 to change the oil,” he added.

  In barbecue, size matters. A really busy place moves their product so fast that it’s usually served at its prime, not refrigerated and reheated. Jambalaya smokes all the same meats as the original Jethro’s, adds exquisite smoked prime rib from the second Jethro’s, plus an entire Cajun/Creole menu, some of which is from Splash. I found Wondra-coated “Buster’s shrimp” a fresh take on Buffalo wings. Fried Louisianna gator was more tender than in my previous experiences. Smoked chicken and sausage gumbo was Cajun style, with a dark roux. Jambalaya featured sweet plum tomatoes, large shrimp, and smoked andouille. Crawfish etouffee was my favorite dish, a rich creamy gravy with lots of delicious little crustaceans that someone else had picked out of their clingy shells. Red beans & rice featured smoked andouille, pit ham and bacon. Catfish filets were corn breaded and fried. Mahi mahi was seared. Salmon and chicken seemed to be the new redfish as far as blackening goes. Smothered smoked chicken, cavatappi (pig tail pasta springs) in cream sauce, and Po Boy sandwiches completed the Louisiana menu. The most extreme Po Boy included 18 inches of sausage, a pound of shrimp, a pound of blackened chicken, fried gator, Provolone, lettuce, tomato and remoulade. Twelve specialty cocktails included Hurricanes and a crawfish coolers.

  “Someday I will open a fifty seat restaurant and cook there every night. For now though, I can’t think of anything more exciting than big projects this,” Iannarelli said. For that, and for his serious commitments to non profit food events all year, he’s our Chef of the Year.

  Food Dude’s Predictions for 2012

  Ingersoll will be the year’s hot spot. Look for a new soul food café with live music, the comeback of a 1970’s legend and a shuttle bus service connecting the boulevard to downtown… Soberdriver.com will have a breakout year here delivering folks and their cars home safely from bars and restaurants.

   　

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