As readers remind me, new joints get far more media attention than the tried and true. For some older places it’s worse than that. For various reasons, they become lost in plain sight. Here are four such places.

Noodles has been serving old fashioned Calabrese dinners at bargain prices for nearly 20 years. Their recipes go back much further – to Aunt Jenny’s, a mid 20^th century restaurant where the movers and shakers of Des Moines hung their hats. Its Jenny Randa was a great grandmother to Noodles’ Pete Leonetti. Her marinara is the unofficial red sauce of south side Des Moines. Her manicotti recipe is still followed in Noodle’s best pasta dish.

Every day, one pasta is featured in a $5.75 lunch special that also includes garlic toast and a soft drink. Dinner specials run $6.75 to $7.50 and include huge servings of pasta and sauce plus hot garlic bread and salads.

Pasta dishes are also sold by the pan.

On my most recent visit, I found the place unchanged from a decade ago. Baseball and Rat Pack photos covered the walls and the media, meatballs still melted in my mouth, and marinara still had the deepest sweet tomato flavor in town.

Italian beef and sausage sandwiches still came with a choice of hoagie buns or the softer Italian bread of fifty years ago. Cigarette smoke wafted like it was 1953.

Not too long ago, Olympic Flame was the only place to dine in East Village. It’s almost invisible these days surrounded by many of the state’s best new cafés (Alba, Lucca, Miyabi9, Bagni di Lucca, Continental, etc.). The place had been spruced up, though more in keeping with old clichés about urban Greek restaurants than with historic building integrity. A cerulean and white paint job, travel posters, and faux Greco Roman columns dominate the décor. The menu still carried all the standards of Greek American cafes. I tried nicely seared gyros,

crunchy falafel,

and under stuffed spanakopita (cheese and spinach phyllo turnovers). All dinners included tiropita (cheese turnovers), spanakopita, dolma (meat stuffed grape leaves) & pasta. A “combo platter” included only pasticcio & moussaka, two dishes that resemble familiar Italian fare. A Greek village salad was superb, with no lettuce but lots of cucumber, tomato and Feta in good dressing.

An order of “baby squid“ delivered eight giant rings, a few broken, of a mature squid or cuttlefish. Tzatziki and the lemon butter sauces rocked. Belly dancers were scheduled for later in the week.

Rice Bowl has been a Beaverdale standby since the Kennedy era. On a recent visit several customers told me they had been eating there since then. Seniors have special radar for bargains. Here are wise words from one at Rice Bowl:

“If a place has been around for 30 years, it‘s probably retired its mortgage and can afford to compete for customers with lower prices.”

The menu was still dominated by under $10 dishes I have not tried in decades:

egg foo young,

 

chop suey, chow mein, and fried rice combos. Heavy sauces were Proustian in their timelessness.

Natural Thirst hasn‘t been around as long as these other places but they are nearly invisible in a hall way of the downtown library. A regular passerby, I had never noticed them until positive testimonies began piling in my email box. I visited twice for superb vegetarian sandwiches, with some of the richest pesto spreads anywhere, and fresh squeezed juices. One fan told me about losing 40 pounds after switching to their lunches last year.

Side Dishes

Smokey D’s BBQ bested 30 teams to win the Grand Championship at the inaugural Sam’s Club BBQ Series competition in Arizona, They beat forty more to win the regional in Las Vegas and move to the national chamiponship this fall in Arkansas.

Olympic Flame

514 E Grand Ave., 243-4361

Mon. 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Tues. -Sat., 10:30am – 9 p.m.

Noodles

2924 S.W. Ninth St., 515-283-1218

Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Fri. – Sat. 11 a.m.- 10 p.m.

Rice Bowl

2607 Beaver Ave., 255-0165

Mon. – Sat. 11:30 a.m.- 2:15 p.m. ; Thurs. – Sat. 4:30 – 9 p.m. .

Natural Thirst

1000 Grand Ave., 309-1582

Mon. – Fri. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

　

Eighth Street in West Des Moines was our first trendy suburban restaurant zone. Cork & Cleaver, Jimmie’s American Café (JAC), Eighth Street Seafood, Cabo San Lucas, Fratello’s, and Pain, Pane all launched there within three blocks of the freeway. Garcia’s thrived after moving from Douglas. Sam & Gabe’s buzzed a block off the street on University. All are gone now. Several were direct victims of a 1995 sexual harassment lawsuit won by Kelly Ayers, daughter of CIETC scandal’s Ramona Cunningham, over Jimmie Lynch (JAC). Others were indirect victims as a falling tide lowers all ships and JAC had been the mother ship.

In April, JAC’s long vacant parking lot filled with construction trucks as Tommy Mauro (Pelican Club) hustled to reopen the place with Italian menu. (Plans are stalled now because of personal problems.) Nothing ever dies in the service sector. Fine dining supposedly died on Ingersoll after Sherry’s, Lloyd’s London Grill, Rosie’s Cantina, Imperial House, Captain’s Cabin, Colorado Feed & Grain, etc. closed and fast food joints moved in. Downtown was pronounced dead after Babe‘s closed. Both areas roared back. So let it be with Eighth Street. I dined exclusively on the strip for a week and found each place offering something unique and interesting enough to make it a destination again.

Raul’s is a family heirloom restaurant from the 1960’s that disappeared after 40 years and then revived last year in the former Eighth Street Seafood building, a stunning venue with working fireplace, skylights, tall ceilings, an open kitchen and long bar. Raul’s hook is its original taco, a thick flour tortilla that could pass for a loaf of flatbread. There’s nothing else like it in town. The rest of the fare was what used to be called Sonoran style featuring ground beef fillings, fajita’s, very sweet enchilada sauces, red rice, smoothly blended frijoles. and mounds of yellow cheese on just about everything.

Bread is also the lure at the former Pain, Pane, another charming building built in the image of a French patisserie with fireplace, bricks & tile decor, and a lovely patio.

Thick naan was slapped on the walls of its clay oven, fast baked and served, complimentarily with the bargain lunch buffet. Owner Sheikh Naseem comes from a long line of chefs and traces some of his rich recipes to an ancestor who cooked for a maharajah. Dals (lentils) and curries were full of cream, clarified butter, and paneer (homemade cheese). Spice mixes were complex in flavors and textures.

Tandoori chicken was tender and moist.

 

With Namaste already drawing big crowds just off Eighth on University with their marvelous South Indian chats,

idlis, uttapams, ,etc.

 and Indo Chinese menus, the street now has the entire South Asian subcontinent covered in grand style. It also has two Indian grocery stores less than two blocks apart.

The Q now inhabits the old Cabo San Lucas / Garcia’s venue, another charmer with Spanish patio and live music many evenings. The Q has niche power even in what has become an extraordinary barbecue town.

Smokemaster Aaron A Train Byrd has a Gates family (Kansas City) pedigree and his dry rub brisket is as good as that gets. Hooks include “swine cigars” (pulled pork deep fried in a won ton wrapper and served with blackberry barbecue sauce), “Q-fuletta” (ribeye steak topped with pulled pork, olive salad and Provolone), and smoked meat loaf.

That latter item used to draw folks to the flood mourned Polehna’s in Cedar Rapids. They made it twice a week and sold out by noon. Eighth Street is a much shorter drive.

Bottom line – Eighth Street has reinvented itself as a unique destination for bargain dining. It’s more family oriented now but as inventive as ever.

Tandoor

1121 8th St., West Des Moines, 440-2911

Tues – Thurs: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Fri – Sun: 11 a.m. — 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. 10 p.m.

Raul’s
1261 8th Street, West Des Moines, 422-7802
Tues. – Wed. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Thurs. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

The Q

1250 8th St., West Des Moines, 224-7440

Mon – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Fri. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

New Asian Places Aren’t Completely New

Taste of Thai’s squid salad is one the best dishes I tasted all year.

Des Moines’ Asian restaurant history has three distinct phases. Before the repeal of Prohibition, notoriety dominated. Frequent police raids of George Wee’s many restaurants usually included arrests of “alleged actresses” and “patrons from fine families on self-described slumming adventures.” Stability then reigned through Governor Robert Ray’s refugee resettlement initiative in 1975. Several restaurants began decades of consistent neighborhood service then. The current chaotic era recalls the contradictory nature of the Chinese word “I,” which means “change” as well as “immutability.” Pho All Seasons has closed three times and reopened twice. Four Vietnamese cafés moved from the city to the suburbs and two others in the opposite direction. At least three more changed names while barely altering anything else.

Our three newest SE Asian restaurants have changed without changing very much. On the Asian strip of Second Avenue, Pho 888 has replaced Pho Ha Dao although the latter’s owner is the new place’s chef. Gone are karaoke equipment, a stage, ceiling high speakers, a dance floor, and disco lights. They were replaced by comfortable numbered booths and tables that give the place the look of an urban Asian family restaurant. A complimentary soup bar and $4 lunches are also gone yet the place remains a good bargain.

On recent visits, Pho 888 buzzed with mostly Asian diners. Crispy chicken wings were still large, golden and crunchy in panko breading.

Spring rolls still included a variety of greens plus rice noodles, split shrimp and cold sliced pork loin, served with chili oil, chili sauce, hoisin sauce, and peanut dipping sauce on the side. Fried pork rolls were still served golden and crunchy with mustard, fish and sweet sauces. Banh mi were still the best subs in town under $3.

Bun (wheat noodles) dishes came with perfectly grilled meats and raw vegetables and herbs, plus a bowl of lemon sauce on the side.

Pho is still the primary reason for visiting. Beef stock was rich and glistened with marrow bubbles, assuring it was made from shin and knuckle bones that were simmered for hours.

 It was seasoned with caramelized ginger plus star anise, then ladled over rice noodles and a choice of several meats, tofu, or seafood. Perfectly “rare” slices of beef round were served on the side as requested. Tendon, tripe and meatballs were also offered. One garnish plate included basil, mint, lime and bean sprouts. Another brought thinly sliced, fresh Thai chilies that flirted with the upper levels of the Scoville charts.

Taking over the superb Thai-Nigerian Jasmine Bowl, Mao’s Eggrolls is a Vietnamese pioneer on the south side. Jasmine’s bakery service and display counters have been replaced with tables and chairs. Weekend brunches, art work, and a few Thai and Nigerian specials remain. I found the place busy with mostly white diners taking advantage of free corkage.

Egg rolls and spring rolls were similar to those at 888 but were served with fewer sauces and condiments.

Chicken dumplings (pot stickers) were sloppily sealed, leaving chewy edges.

Pho lacked the deep beef stock, anise and ginger flavors. Choices of meats were more limited too.

A Thai yellow curry dish delivered a thick sauce devoid of any heat, nor much coconut flavor.

A sampling of Chinese dishes included golden fried meats and heavy sauces.

My best dish was Pak She, a carryover from Jasmine Bowl, perfectly charred beef topped a bed of cabbage and rice in a wonderful dressing of cilantro pesto.

Taste of Thai

Spain and Thailand, two countries of nearly identical size, produced the most influential cuisines of the last 20 years. Thai food however became considerably more popular in North America, and particularly in Iowa, than Spanish. Governor Robert Ray deserves the credit for that, his 1975 initiative brought large immigrations here from SE Asia. Those immigrants brought woks, seeds, clay pots, fish sauces and a kitchen ken. I am frequently asked these days which is the best Thai, or Vietnamese restaurant in town. Not too long ago such a question would have seemed as preposterous as the idea of receiving telephone signals through the air.

Taste of Thai is the latest restaurant to toss its silk embroidered hat into the ring of such arguments. It inhabits a building in East Village that once housed Taste of Thailand, Des Moines’ first Thai restaurant and its first pop-up restaurant. Banh Thai came and went between the two. The new place ranks with Cool Basil as the most elegant of local Thai cafés. Linen cloths and silk embroidered sashes cover each table which are also set with fresh carnations and live bamboo. More silk embroidery covers walls while numerous lucky wooden elephants, including one propitious freak, lurk in nooks and crannies. Carpeting has been added and walls painted lucky colors. Chairs and booths have been reupholstered smartly. Music was unobtrusive on my visits. Gone were less subtle things (political polls, beer clubs and life threatening chili eating challenges) which characterized the original Thai café.

The menu sticks to Thai and Lao dishes including things the Chinese brought to Thailand such as wok cooking, deep-frying, stir-frying, and noodles. The menu does not include Chinese-American dishes like sweet & sour and General Tsao that appear on several SE Asian menus around town. Thai cuisine is traditionally characterized by the balancing five fundamental taste sensations: hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty, and bitter. It is also known for its enthusiastic use of fresh rather than dried herbs and roots.

In both ways, the salads and soups at Taste of Thai excelled. Papaya salad mixed garlic, chilies, shrimp paste, tamarind, lime and nam pla, the great fish sauce of Thailand from which Worcestershire and ketchup derived. Cucumber salad mixed freshly chopped peanuts with fresh coriander, peppers and sweet dressing with the soothing cool of cukes.

Calamari salad rose to divine levels with beautifully carved and tenderized pieces of squid in a dressing of freshly squeezed limes and fish sauce seasoned with fresh lemongrass, coriander, galangal, ginger and more traditional western salad vegetables. All five flavors were in harmony. Similarly a coconut soup delivered an interesting mix of sweet coconut with citrus and coriander while a tom yum gai soup epitomized the complex balancing act of Thai cuisine with a deeply flavored stock and mushrooms absorbing flavors of lemon grass, chicken, kaffir lime leaves, chilies, large chunks of galangal and coriander – a heavenly dish priced under $4.

Entrees did not balance flavors as well as the salads and soups.

A “three flavors” catfish brought only three levels of sweetness.

A red curry dish also was too sweet and not much else. I found a single small slice of eggplant, which was one of the primary ingredients on the menu, and way too much broccoli.

Put thai, the national dish of Thailand, was better with additional freshly chopped peanuts, intricate garnishes and complexly flavored rice noodles. Heat levels at the café were about a point and a half milder than at other Thai restaurants.

Desserts were delightful though redundnat after so many sweet entrees. Service was superior, with as much attention paid to packaging leftovers as to garnishing plates and keeping glasses full with icy lemon scented water.

    Bottom line: Different demographics dictate different styles: Pho 888 delivers deep Vietnamese flavors; Mao’s Eggrolls presents a gentle introductory experience to Asian cuisines; Taste of Thai is more elegant as its East Village address demands.  

Mao’s Eggrolls

2128 Indianola Ave., 284-0077

Tues. – Fri. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. ; Sat. – Sun. 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. for brunch and Sat. 2 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Pho 888, 1521 Second Ave., 288-1595

Tues. – Sun. 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Taste of Thai

215 E. Walnut St., 528-2407

Mon. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Side Dishes

Jimmie’s American Café’s remodeling stalled after new owner Tommy Mauro ran into problems… Long time Iowa Restaurant Association CEO Doni DeNucci announced a June retirement… Darrin Warth of Des Moines won the Las Vegas regional final and became the first person to qualify for Sam’s Club national championship final in October, the largest competitive barbecue competition ever… Aaron King, original chef at Dish, is now chef at Dos Rios. 

White brat and a veal brat from Strudel Haus’ 10 new Austrian sausages, sold at Farm ers markets in downtown DSM and Valley Junction. Among the others are weiss wurst, kaese wurst, Vienna, knackwurst, Nuernberger and Grobe bratwurst.

Waterloo: Poster child for Main Street mission

Waterloo has been putting a positive spin on messy matters for more than hundred years. In 1903, the city celebrated the completion of its sewer system by serving a formal dinner for 450 guests in a block long stretch of downtown sewer. Tables were covered with fine linens and flowers, waiters wore tuxedos and guests dressed to the nines. Pictures and stories appeared around the world.

When Waterloo became a Main Street community in 1996, its downtown represented the reason why The National Trust for Historic Preservation created the Main Street program – to reverse the decay of town centers and restore their physical and economic viability. The town’s reputation led to it being mocked in an infamous T-Shirt designed by Des Moines’ Raygun: “Waterloo, You May Recognize Us from ‘Cops.’” So Main Street Waterloo (MSW) was busy from the time it was formed by consolidating four previous organizations. By February 2010, MSW had helped create an impressive economic impact within its 32 square block core area: 161 new businesses created, 332 new jobs, 284 building rehabilitations, $31.9 million in private money invested in rehabilitation, 100 real estate transactions, $27.7 million invested in real estate acquisitions, and 53,500 volunteer hours.

Beyond that core area, MSW lends its aegis and support marketing and developing other downtown ventures. Those include the museum district, the Riverfront Renaissance ( a work in progress that will include an amphitheater, river walk, agricultural exposition center and much more), and the rehabilitation of the old John Deere plant’s 43 acres and 40 buildings into Tech Works, a green industrial center that offers 350,000 square feet to attract bio-technical companies.

“We include them in our definition of downtown, it’s on the edge but it’s essential,” explains Mayor Buck Clark, who also serves on MSW committees.

John Deere donated 43 acres and 40 buildings to WDC.

“We removed all but 2.  350,000 square feet in the two standing. We recycled 75% of the demolition and reused it the remodeling. That’s part of your mission, to encourage bio industry start ups to relocate here to produce and distribute bio products, explained Walsh of the biggest project on the outskirt of downtown.

Alhambra like pillars in the old plant were built to hold farm machinery on five floors above - in an earthquake.

“Deere removed the infrastructure, even the sprinklers, so their $10 million went fast. Half of it on demolition,’ Walsh continued.

National Ag Based Lubricants is first tenant of the new old Deere plant. They do high tech testing of ag fuels, diesel engines, etc.

Despite the huge volume of rehabilitation projects, it took awhile before efforts were appreciated. As late as 2002 the Wall Street Journal described downtown Waterloo as “a strip of mostly empty buildings with ‘For Rent’ signs in their papered over windows.” Even locals were dubious, as lifelong Waterloo resident June Hayes explained.

“I was against it at first, thought it was a waste of time and money. I’m 85 so I remember when downtown was full of businesses. I saw it all go down and I saw it come back up again. I never thought they could bring it back. Then about four years ago I went to a doings they had going on downtown and let me tell you, things had all changed again. I am so terribly proud of it all. I go downtown all the time now. I’ve been to every single establishment that the public is allowed in to,” she said.

Newton’s Paradise Café is the latest of about a dozen restaurants and bars to reclaim historic downtown space. Its story exemplifies that of many new business’ created on MSW’s watch. Newton’s Jewelry store closed in 2007 after being in business since 1914. The building’s carrara glass structure represented Deco architecture popular in downtowns during the 1920s and ’30s. Its neon sign was a civic landmark. MSW secured a grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development and enlisted Jim Walsh to rehabilitate the building. In order to preserve the sign, Walsh determined to build Newton’s Paradise Café. He hired AHTS of Waterloo to design a diner in his vision. Lime walls, aluminum counters and leather booths with antique formica tables all preserve a jewel like Deco look.

“I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to find a tenant if you create a business first rather than trying to rent vague space,” Walsh explained.

He’s had considerable experience. Walsh has purchased 34 properties in the downtown core area, within three blocks of the Cedar River, with a few in outlaying points. He’s completed the restoration of five large downtown buildings, all with apartments upstairs, offices in the middle, and retail (mostly restaurants and bars) on the street level. His first downtown project began in 2002, so his rehabilitation work the last eight years has been magnanimous, some even say angelic.

Walsh considers it more of a guilt trip. A founding partner of the VGM Group, which includes fifteen companies mostly in the medical supply business, he says that he and CEO Van Miller tried unsuccessfully to buy two downtown properties in which to locate their company in 1986.

“No one could accommodate us, so, we tore up a lovely cornfield and built out on the edge of town. Here’s the thing. I have been feeling a need for repentance ever since. So I make my money at VGM and I spend it downtown,” he explained.

Whatever Walsh’s motivation, Blake Landau is grateful. The 24 year old restaurateur grew up in Waterloo but moved away to attend Cordon Bleu cooking school and to work in famous restaurants in Wisconsin and Florida.

“When I heard about the space being created here, I knew it was an special opportunity,“ he said.

Landau is the kind of young professional that Waterloo leaders want to attract downtown. Being a Waterloo kid, he’s committed to the Fresh & Local movement, buying as much of his food supply as possible from local farmers and artisans. He also respects the heritage of his building.

The café’s presentations are veritable jewel boxes of design and style.

As June Hayes pointed out, downtown Waterloo’s charms are addictive. The trick is to get people there the first time. To that effort, MSW concentrates on promoting events like the annual Sullivan Brothers road races and the Battle of Waterloo wrestling tournament. Downtown Lights the Night kicks off Christmas season and Festivus is a rite of spring in which volunteers clean up the downtown. Friday ‘Loos in Lincoln Park draw good crowds all summer with music and libations.

Twice a week Farmers Markets in Expo Park put downtowners in touch with rural folks. BBQ ‘Loo & Blues Too! will return next July for its tenth annual celebration in Lincoln Park where the 5^th annual Iowa Irish Fest will be held in August. October brings a Pub Crawl, Witches Brew ‘Loo and the Tour de ’Loo, a mobile open house that highlights a year of new projects.

 “The ‘Loo” has become a popular brand. Even Raygun changed its Waterloo T shirt to “Just ‘Loo It,“ showing that a town that can have fun with sewer systems for over 100 years can overcome anything.

If You Meet Your Waterloo

Lodging

The Ramada Hotel & Convention Center offers 228 downtown rooms attached by skywalk to the Waterloo Convention Center. 1-800-2RAMADA

Dining

The following establishments are charming downtown rehabilitations:

CU offers a notable wine cellar and fine dining in handsome, stylish setting.

Jameson Public House is one of the most authentic Irish pubs in America, recreated with salvaged Irish barn planks.

Galleria de Paco offers continental cuisine in a dining room that recreated Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling in spray paint. Its basement bar is a replica of the Vatican catacombs. A-list Hollywood types have flown in for dinner here.

Newton’s Paradise Café is a classic diner.

The Screaming Eagle is a sports bar.

Rudy’s Taco’s uses locally sourced foods in nearly everything.

The Roux Orleans Bourbon Street Grille occupies the first floor of the historic Black’s Building, Waterloo‘s beloved department store for a century. The Sky Events Center took over Black‘s famous Gypsy Tea Room space on the eighth floor.

What’s in a Name?

For better and worse, language isn’t as rigid as it used to be. Nouns can pass for verbs (to effect, to sex) and verbs can impersonate nouns (a hire, a feel). Food definitions have loosened too. Ethnic cuisines are no longer bounded by their ethnicities: Taco pizza have been around for decades now and Cityview readers voted Hy-Vee the best “Chinese” restaurant in Des Moines this year. What’s in a name is often up to the user. Some places require all “farmers market” vendors to be personally involved raising the foods they sell. A new farmers market coming to 13^th Street this summer anticipates that only 45 % of its vendors will be farmers and local food producers who sell wine, cheese, salsa, jams and baked goods. Many of the rest will be mobile lunch stands that will compete with the six brick & mortar restaurants within a block of the market.

Lawyers are still bothered when words add up to less than half of what they claim to be. An Alabama law firm sued Taco Bell this winter for calling their beef “beef” even though it allegedly contains 65 % filler. That made me curious about meatless meat tacos so I headed out to Cumming where Sam Aune (Zen Sushi, Café di Scala) has been promoting taco events on Tuesdays. Aune sells tacos made with TVP (textured vegetable protein) plus others made of pork bellies and shoulders at Cumming Tap (CT).

According to the Wroburlto Rule, the Cumming Tap is a small town bar, not a suburban bar. That rule of language dictates that small town bars 1.) have more pickup trucks in their parking lot than SUVs and 2.) always have the TV tuned into the local news with the volume turned up loud. CT qualified on both counts.

All the tacos rocked. Aune made his own tortillas from scratch and they held his home made salsas and pickled relishes without turning soggy.

I could not tell the TVP from the pork either but I am not a class action lawyer. Sam will be selling his tacos at the Downtown Farmers Market beginning May 7, in partnership with greengrocer Larry Cleverley.

If Aune can reinvent pork, can someone also reinvent hamburger? George Formaro is making a stab at that. Because he’s opening Zombie Burger in East Village this summer, Formaro has experimented making burgers out of brains and other body parts preferred by zombies. His partners were not enthusiastic though. So wanting something new and different, he came up with “perfect burger.” That’s a combo of brisket and shoulder that is coarse ground in a single direction, rolled together in parallel strands and sliced into patties. That minimal processing and light packing delivered a distinct texture at Gateway Market, the only place selling “perfect burgers” until Zombie opens.

What is a deli these days? Des Moines’ biggest restaurant void remains for a true urban delicatessen – a place that bakes its own breads, corns its own briskets, smokes its own pastrami, pickles its own cucumbers, knows kosher laws, and caters delicacies like matzo, blintzes, pâtés, and cold smoked fish. After thriving in college towns, Quinton’s Bar & Deli became the latest new deli in Des Moines. Filled with ping pong and electronic games, the place bustled on my visits, perhaps too much. One time three different sources of music competed, making conversation difficult. One of them consisted solely of bass reverberations that moved the silverware on my table. Missing a deli counter, Quinton’s looked far more bar than deli. A reuben, a smoked turkey sandwich. and a Philly steak sandwich all disappointed. Costing just shy of $10 with potato chips, they delivered meager and overcooked meats. Corned beef had been made of rounds not briskets, an infamy in a true deli. Potato bacon soup, served in a carved loaf of bread, was much better.

I returned after hearing Sarah Hill rave about Quinton’s burgers.

She owns the marvelous restaurant Baru, so I take her raves seriously. Burgers were much better than deli sandwiches – perfectly seared patties on superb buns. I also checked out numerous drink specials, including $2 pints of beer and $2 well drinks. One special, for half price bottles of wine, actually undercut prices at two local liquor stores by several dollars. The Wroburlto Rule also states that that’s the true definition of popularity, even outside college towns.

Quinton’s Bar & Deli

506 E. Grand Ave, 244-6624.

Daily 7 a.m. – 2 a.m.

Side Dish

Syngenta introduced a handful of GMO sweet corn seeds this year. Watch what you eat.

Iowa’s First Ecuadorian Café

Ecuador. Even its name suggests extremes. High as the Andes, primordial as the Galapagos Islands, with 1400 miles of coastline, it is the closest nation to the equatorial sun. Travel Channel food shows have portrayed its cuisine as extreme too – sea cucumbers in the Galapagos, guinea pigs in the mountains, tree tomatoes on the coast, goat everywhere. Yet Mi Patria, Iowa’s first Ecuadorian restaurant, is anything but extreme. No guinea pigs, sea cucumbers, nor goat stew. Just a good sampling of foods that are popular in Ecuador, from the coast to the mountains and the jungles. The biggest surprise is that, unlike cuisine‘s of most tropical countries, Mi Patria avoids spicy heat.

Ecuador is the number three banana producing country on earth and Mi Patria utilizes that fruited herb in many ways. Tortillas de verde presented green plantain patties that had been stuffed with shredded beef and topped with chili-free salsa.

Patacones delivered green plantains that had been fried in oil, mashed and refried, with cheese. Chifles differed from patacones in the shape of the slices. Far better were ripe plantains that had been sliced and fried – a waitress explained that this was mainly because green plantains supplies have been in seasonal slump.

Other vegetarian dishes used legumes, tubers and nuts creatively. Llapingachos delivered potato pancakes that had been colored and flavored with cheese and paired with peanut sauce. Yuca (casava) that been boiled and then fried into patties came stuffed with beef, chicken or cheese. Ecuadorian species of giant fava beans, superbly textured white hominy, black lentils, and rose-colored pinto beans (menestras) added variety to several different dishes.

Appetizers included fried foods and ceviches. Frito de mar presented fried calamari and tilapia with fried yuca and chili-free salsa.

Empanadas (meat stuffed turnovers) could have passed for Mexican empanadas, or for Russian piroshkis or Indian samosas. Served with large plates of rice and patacones, these mild ceviches worked better as light meals than as appetizers.

Ceviche de pescado presented thinly sliced tilapia, not the cubes one expects in Peruvian and Mexican ceviches. They had been marinated in lime juice and served with salsa of fresh vegetables. Ceviche de camarones substituted shrimp for fish and added some hominy and some parched corn. A mixed ceviche combined fish and shrimp with hominy.

Generous entrees were also paired with hefty side dishes.

A “Mi Patria for 2” platter included: a boneless, overcooked chicken breast; grilled marinated flank steak that resembled Mexican carne asada; and superb hornado, a cross between pulled barbecue pork and carnitas (whole pork shoulder roasted tender with crunchy ends); a fried egg; hominy; lentils; pinto beans; salad; ripe plantains; and rice. A quarter roast chicken on the bone was far better than the boneless breast. Churasco steak was grilled and served with fried egg, avocado, beans and ripe plantain. Arroz con pollo delivered pulled, roasted chicken with seasoned rice, beans and plantains. Chaulafan, recommended by the house, added pork, beef and seafood to a similar fried rice medley. Pork chops and salted beef strips also appeared on the menu. Seafood offerings are expanded on Saturday and Sunday afternoons to include tuna soup, two kinds of fried fish, three shrimp dishes, and a seafood fried rice medley that includes crab.

Desserts resembled those of a Mexican café. Flan and arroz con leche differed little.

Fried bananas were the best dish I tried. Ripe, sweet bananas were rolled in coconut and flour and fried crunchy and gold to be served with vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries, and chocolate syrup.

Bottom Line: If you avoid most Latino cuisines because they’re too spicy, Mi Patria is the place for you.

Mi Patria

1410 22nd St., West Des Moines, 222-2755

Tues. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 99 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

 

Overcoming Word Abuse

Like people, words that are frequently abused often behave perversely. Consider “the.” The Oxford English Dictionary ranks it the most common word in our language. When used emphatically to mark a noun as a categorical superlative, it’s the most overused word in marketing too. For every legitimate use, like “Chow’s is the school for gymnasts,” it’s used a dozen times as hyperbole, as in “the place to be seen.” Call yourself “the” anything and you risk becoming a joke. However, if you coddle your “the” with enough respect, you can create a meaningful signature. Consider The Café.

Along with sister restaurant Aunt Maude’s, this Ames company has graduated the most impressive chef alumni in Iowa, including James Beard Award winner Eric Ziebold (The French Laundry, CityZen). Maude’s sprung from 1970’s fern bar culture and owned its niche as “the place in downtown Ames for visiting parents to take their kids to dinner.” The Café was a child of 1990’s real estate bubble culture and anchors a faux downtown amidst a faux small town real estate development, several blocks north of the Iowa State campus. Authentic trappings compensate for whatever might be perceived as ersatz about this French Country style venue. The façade is real brick, the interior is dominated by plank floors, cork board table tops, brushed nickel ceiling fans, and brick ovens burning fires of real wood. Three distinctive rooms specialize in bar, bakery and dinner services.

The bar featured large jars of vodka infused with fresh fruits, peppers and other vegetables. Juices were freshly squeezed and infusions were “buddled,” a bartending term (borrowed from mining) for a trendy method of filtering. Though the wine list has been upgraded over the years, it still disappoints oenophiles compared to downtown Des Moines standards. However, its $4 – $6 wine by-the-glass list would cost a few dollars more in the 50309.

The bakery was totally scratch – every bread, pastry and ice cream was made in house from fresh ingredients. French toast used raisin walnut bread, farm fresh eggs, real maple syrup and real butter, for just $4.95. Sourdough griddle cakes came with an option of chocolate chips and strawberries. Bruschetta was served with house cured prosciutto and Hollandaise sauce. Deli sandwiches ($4.45 – $5.25) featured house cured charcuterie. Desserts were better than I ever remember here.

An almond cherry “galette” featured an unexpectedly flaky crust and cherries soaked in cardamom and citrus.

Mascapone bread pudding starred an intense banana bread and deep cream flavors. Chevre ice cream was as good as it gets north of Baru.

Dinner kept the “fresh & local” faith of old fashioned small town Iowa.

A “plowman’s platter” showed off house charcuterie with cured pork belly and home stuffed sausages surrounded by eggs, imported cheeses, and home made giardinera. Pork belly tacos were served with sesame slaw, sweet chilies and pickled mushrooms.

Shawarma was a disappointing use of the wood-fired oven. Its chicken was overcooked throughout, not thinly sliced quickly from the outside as its name implies.

A Philly style leg of lamb beautifully captured a wood sear without becoming overcooked. Served with artichokes, salty Manchego cream, crisp fried chard, and home made potato chips, it was a star.

A flat iron “churassco” also defied implied expectations for seared, skewered meats sliced repeatedly tableside. Instead it was grilled, overcooked, and served as a single piece of meat with good chimichurri and chipotle cream.

Bottom Line – The Café is the place for old fashioned, small town café fare – three meals a day with scratch made, fresh & local foods at bargain prices.

The Café

2616 Northridge Pkwy., Ames, (515) 292-0100

Mon – Thurs: 7 a.m. – 9.p.m.

Fri – Sat: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sun. 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Side Dish

Long time The Café sous chef Mike Holman will be head chef when Americana opens on Locust in late May… Ancient White Park cattle were upgraded from “critical” to “threatened,” thanks to Heritage Farm in Decorah.

 Hal Jasa’s Latest Adventure

Pop ups are not just another name for underground restaurants. The latter were a symptom of easy money. According to lore, they originated in Latin America’s drug capitols and notoriously featured smuggled contraband. In most places, they flew under the radar of health inspectors, liquor-control boards, ADA compliance, and tax collectors. Even when perfectly legal, they advocated decadences like 36 course meals and rare wines.

Pop-ups bloomed after the banking crisis of 2008 when chefs suddenly had more creative ambition than access to capital. By temporarily taking advantage of legal, underused kitchens, they could experiment without risking bankruptcy. Now a celebrity chef, Los Angeles’ Ludo Lefebvre is often credited with starting America’s pop-up craze but Des Moines was actually way ahead of the trend. In 1977, Benichang Luangaram and Prasong Nurack took over the kitchen of Little Joe’s diner on weekends to introduce Des Moines to Thai cuisine.

Since then, both underground and pop-up movements in Des Moines have been linked to Hal Jasa, an envelop pusher who experiments with culinary ideas that are as edgy now as Thai food was three decades ago – molecular gastronomy and deconstruction. His underground years featured extreme meals served in construction zones, on roof tops, and sometimes all night long. The aforementioned 36 course meal was a Jasa extravaganza that didn’t work as perfectly as the chef’s vision. Zingaro (Italian for gypsy), his latest innovation, is methusalean for a pop-up. Though Jasa says he’s looking for a new venue, it’s now in its fourth month in the same Sherman Hill home, serving a completely new menu each week.

Recent visits featured $30 (no credit cards) three course dinners in which limited choices kept things simple.

Cheese and charcuterie boards were also offered with some of Jasa’s best creations finding subtle expressions as: marmalade of blackberries smoked with tobacco leaves; paste of fermented black garlic; and mustards made with raspberry juice as well as with whiskey. Jasa restrained his molecular experiments to intermezzos that aroused the nose instead of the tongue.

Herbs were burned like incense and clouds of citrus were created by pouring nitrous oxide on hot infused water. Amuse-bouches included:

a marinated peppadew (pepper) with milk chocolate; and

a leaf of endive with quince paste and blue cheese. First courses featured excellent soups:

truffled cauliflower with sherry; chicken with fennel and spaetzel; smoked sweet potato with challah croutons; and sun dried tomato with guanciale (jowl bacon). Each time I tried salads, they featured fried egg:

endive with miso paste, crisp bacon and a yuzu reduction;

and pâte of pork with chicory and mustards.

Main courses were rather conservative, a good business move even at edgy places in Des Moines.

A simple New York strip with roast yam, onions and a balsamic reduction was so popular one night Jasa had to send out for more steaks.

Caviar-textured Israeli cous cous and acili ezme (Turkish salsa that includes pomegranate juice and sumac) nicely complimented a trout that was served headless and tailless.

Pork loin medallions were served with a peri-peri (chili) sauce, peppadew and a smooth, mild polenta.

Desserts pushed multiple flavors: vanilla ice cream with chocolate ganache, anise and salts; sour cream ice cream with almonds, raisins and smoked chilies;

a Bourbon caramel bread pudding with dark chocolate ice cream and salts;

and a eye-popping plate of reduced beet juice, anise seeds, chevre, walnuts, and vanilla ice cream.

Bottom line: Jasa’s latest adventure reveals a mature chef mastering the many tools with which he plays. It also provides an extraordinary dinner experience at bargain prices.

Zingaro

http://zingarocuisine.com/location, 661 4371.

Currently serving dinner from 5:30 p.m. Thurs. – Fri. at the Kirkwood Lounge, but subject to change.

Menu for next wine dinner ($85)

April 28

Con Class- Verdejo, Rueda, Spain

Soup- Pineapple/mascarpone/Thai basil/ginger/grains of paradise

Salad- Watercress/almond/yuzu/apple

Quinta da Alorma, Tinta Roriz, Ribatejo, Portugal

Main – Salmon/cabbage/prune/lemon thyme

Lamb/casis/demi/cocoa nib/yam/rosemary

Samos Cooperative

Muscat, Samos, Greece 99’

Dessert

Chevre/honey/papaya/thai chili/caramel

 

Pizza Is the Answer

While Republicans and Democrats argue whether tax hikes or spending cuts can best stimulate the economy, true Panglossians believe pizza is the answer. Their argument: USA’s trade deficit to China rose last year to a record $273 billion, not counting interest on the Treasury’s $757 billion debt to the Chinese. It would be much worse without pizza. Yum Brands opened 500 new Pizza Hut and KFC stores in China last year yet same-store sales rose 6%.

That logic has spread to Des Moines. In a very tough market, three successful young restaurateurs all opened pizza joints recently near their existing restaurants. The first two introduced something different to our culture. Steve Logsdon (Lucca) brought exquisite steam injected pies to Bagni di Lucca then Carly Groben (Proof) found a way to make deep dish, proofed pies crisp and crunchy at Flour. Finally Tony Lemmo (Café di Scala) joined this pizza rush with Gusto, emphasizing more traditional pie pursuits.

Lemmo’s second pizzeria after closing Frank’s last year, Gusto maintains Frank’s ambiance from the golden age of Italian-American culture when DiMaggio, Sinatra and Valentino became the biggest stars in America. Art work, music, old movies, black pizza boxes, and “fedora nights” swagger nostalgically at Gusto. Pizza names now reach back to the Renaissance (Mona Lisa, Francesco) and the 19^th century (Il Figaro), or forward to more modern Italian-American cultural icons (The Stallion, Soprano). An L-shaped room offers far more seating than Frank’s had but the self serve system remains.

Lemmo began his career with a stall in the Metro Market and his signature sandwiches from those days reprise their rolls at Gusto. Frank’s special ($8 with a side) provided fried eggplant on garlic focaccia with pesto, Provolone and vegetables. A meatball sandwich ($8) was topped with giardinere, Mozzarella, and lots of dark marinara. Sausage sandwiches used Graziano’s product ($8). A pesto chicken salad sandwich ($9) included roasted peppers and walnuts on focaccia. In all cases, bread was fresh and perfectly toasted when appropriate.

Salads delivered fresh mesclun and five homemade Italian style dressings – garlic-fennel vinaigrette stood out.

Appetizers included superb home made soups: Italian meatball in vegetable stock from chef Sam Auen; and Lemmo’s traditional tomato basil starred.

Pizza chips came with a creative dip of ricotta and roasted red peppers. Bread sticks were served with marinara.

Pizza ($9-16) are the focus here but pizza ovens were temperamental, particularly when doors opened too often. On busy visits soon after the opening, crusts lacked the crispness they had on visits during slow hours, or at Frank’s. When that problem is adjusted, this should become a favorite pizzeria for old fashioned crust and new fangled topping lovers alike. Lemmo has sworn he will never serve a “de Burgo” dish at Café di Scala but he’s making “de Burgo” pies at Gusto that use shrimp and mozzarella with the iconic sauce of Des Moines. Another pie brought pears, La Quercia prosciutto, dried figs and blue cheese with freshgreens .

 

Another mixed roast chicken with mozzarella and a Thai style peanut-cilantro-carrot-sprouts topping. The most inventive pie, tentatively titled “Harry Caray” honors that Italian-American baseball announcer with Niman Ranch brats and brown mustard sauce, plus chives, onions, parsley and a mix of cream cheese and goat cheese. Another signature will feature rillettes, arugula, truffle oil and Tallegio, a legendary smear-ripened cheese.

Lou Ann Lemmo’s lasagna was served in a marvelously different marinara that had been relatively undercooked and perfectly complemented the dish’s several cheeses.

Cannoli came in both chocolate and classic flavors. Daily chocolate specials were also offered. Two happy hours and sustainable suppliers like Pickett Fences played to broader audiences, just like Rudy, Joe and Frank did.

Side Dishes

Bagni di Lucca is now open for breakfast on Saturdays… 86 year old Russ Reel reopened La Pizza House to huge crowds.

Gusto

1905 Ingersoll Ave., Suite 106, 24-GUSTO, www.gustopizzaco.com

Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Fri. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.