Kirkwood Lounge Makes Its Break

Restaurants are subject to the same whims that bedevil other segments of the economy. Success and failure are as often determined by zip codes, synergies and dumb luck as they are by food and service. In 1929 Boston banned Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “Strange Interlude,” which dealt with an abortion. The play moved to Quincy where large crowds followed. It ran five hours with a dinner break and the closest restaurant to the theater was a place called Howard Johnson’s. Word of mouth spread so quickly that HoJo’s became a franchising pioneer during the Depression growing into a major chain of hotels and restaurants that flourished into the 1980’s when Marriott bought it and let it slide into obscurity.

Four years ago, Mike and Carter Hutchison opened the fine dining Azalea Restaurant on the street level of the Kirkwood Civic Center Hotel with spectacular designs and food by Jeremy Morrow, then as hot as any chef in Iowa. Perceived to be a destination for special occasions, the place looked like an instant classic. Big crowds filled its linen covered tables before shows at the Civic Center and Wells Fargo Arena. Caught though in a no man’s land between the skywalk system and Court Avenue revelry, the place always struggled on weekdays when there were no big events in town. Such inconsistencies never work well in the restaurant business. Last year Azalea, by then under talented chef Sean Wilson, downsized its prices to little avail though the food was better than ever.

Earlier this year, Des Moines Social Club (DMSC) was forced into a strange interlude between its original home in Gateway Park and a future, permanent home. The Hutchisons offered the Kirkwood’s ballroom and Azalea’s space, re-christened Kirkwood Lounge (KL). DMSC will hold their popular trivia nights and group meetings in the restaurant and theatrical production in the ballroom. Music events will play both venues but wrestling is out.

The restaurant ditched its linens, carpeting and daunting drapes. Overstuffed furniture, a stage and terrazzo floors took their places. Wilson again retooled the menu for KL, with even lower prices (everything under $20). His signature dishes seem intact. Home made vermouth, wild berry gin, and bitters add much to the cocktail end of the business. So do popcorn cooked in bacon grease and a slate of typical bar foods – chicken tenders, sliders, calamari and wings.

Wilson’s rotating charcuterie platter combines things like house made pâté de campagne (country style pâté),

rilletes (pork cooked in pork fat and sealed in duck aspic), green tomato jam, duck breast prosciutto, and roasted peppers with imported fermented meats like copa, fennel finocchiona, and soppresetta.

His roasted bone marrow with red onion marmalade and parsley salad rocked.

Low country egg rolls were stuffed with collard greens, smoked meats and apple chutney. Home made pimiento was served with fried pickles.

Oysters (Rockefeller) and scallops (Benedict) were deconstructed and reassembled as a fried dish.

Wood oven pizza delivered superb, crisp crusts and ingredients that included homemade sausages and smoked meats.

One pizza – roast beets with spinach, feta and chevre – was an epiphany. Half pound burgers, daily specials and comfort foods (pan roasted pork tenderloins on mashed potatoes and onion gravy) intend to keep things from becoming type cast.

Bottom Line – New synergies should produce a major hit for both the Kirkwood and the Social Club. Wilson is a local treasure.

Kirkwood Lounge

400 Walnut St., 288-9606

Hours Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – midnight ; Fri. 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. Sat. 4 p.m. – 2 a.m.

Side Dishes

Gusto pizzeria opened recently at the Ingersoll address of the former Colorado Feed & Grain. That was Paul Trostel’s first restaurant which changed Des Moines dining habits in the 1970’s. Gusto also opened on the day that Trostel died.

DSM’s New Regionalism

The last time I wrote about late night dining in Des Moines, I received this message. “Hey Dude, you must be going to bed early. There are late night options all over the place now – have been since Los Tigres came to town.”

That writer may have uncovered a cultural milestone. On September 19, 2008, Los Tigres del Norte played a “dance” at the Val Aire Ballroom in West Des Moines. At that time, the group had sold over 30 million records and had drawn 67,000 to the Astrodome, breaking the Rolling Stones’ stadium record. They had been dubbed BMI (songwriting) Icons, a few years ahead of Willie Nelson. Many thought Los Tigres played our small market to draw attention to the victims of Postville’s immigration raid in May of 2008. For whatever reason, it was a momentous event for Iowa‘s Latino community. The band is known for playing multiple 90 minute sets and continuing until all requests (written on paper and thrown on stage at the Val Aire, texted now days) have been played. Concerts last into the wee hours. Local Mexican cafes and taco trucks stayed open till 3 or 4 a.m. that Saturday morning and many have continued to do so after all “dances” to this day.

 My informant’s favorite such place is Taqueria Guadalajara (TG), a trailer parked near Lutheran Hospital that is covered with a mural of El Zorro, the fox mascot of Atlas, the lesser known of Guadalajara’s two big soccer teams.

Superb taqueria fare included standard meats served as tacos, tortas, burritos, enchiladas, flautas and chimichangas. Also amongst a dozen meat choices were more esoteric things: brains, beef cheeks, braised pork bellies, tongue, and tripe. All were superbly prepared to soft textures, even usually chewy tongue and tripe. Fried potato tacos played to Tapatia chauvinism as that regional specialty was served on tortillas freshly fried in chili oil.

A second dish of Mexico’s second city – tortas ahogadas – presented Jalisco’s version of a hot pork sandwich. A large hoagie style roll was stuffed with pork and smothered in a hot gravy of red chilies. TG is now my favorite taco truck too. A previous favorite graduated to brick and mortar status when Jalisco moved into a venue that previously housed Los Saucez, Mi Lindo Nayarit, and El Tapatio. Like TG, Jalisco wears Tapatia pride. Walls are covered with photos of Jaliscan towns, and the state’s agave business – the agricultural side of tequila. Unlike TG, Jalisco is a Chivas (goat) café, in more ways than one. Chivas are the most popular soccer team in Guadalajara and Mexico as it’s the only team that only employs Mexican nationals. Chivas’ banners fly at Jalisco. Cooks and customers often wear Chivas jerseys. On game days, a large TV in the kitchen and two smaller ones in the front command attention.

In the Aztec tradition of compassionate consumption, chivas are also served here – excellent “birria tatemada,” a Tapatia style in which goat is first steamed on the stove and then baked in the oven. Jalisco’s birria was redolent with flavors of chilies, both smoked and raw, and multiple spices.

Jalisco’s tortas (including tortas ahogadas) rose to a new level of culinary excellence by using rolls from La Mie Bakery. Birria and menudo (tripe stew with legendary hangover properties) are served daily. Cheeks and tongue were the best among six offerings of meats.

Ceviche tostadas were covered with fresh avocado

Bottom Line – Regionalism thrives at these cafes. Viva los Zorros, las Chivas, et los Tigres!

Taqueria Jalisco

1704 E. Grand Ave., 262-0102

Daily 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Taqueria Guadalajara

725 E. University Ave., 556-0072

Sun. – Tues., Thurs. noon – 11 :30 p.m.l, Fri. – Sat. 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 a.m., open till 3 a.m. on dance nights

Side Dishes

Salvadoran Restaurante El Buen Gusto in Perry has begun a $1 “taco Thursdays” special… Restaurante Los Cabos began $3 margarita (16 oz.) specials on Wednesdays… Taco Loco announced a new an “all you can eat” buffet.

My mother used to say that any number of new tea rooms might open in greater Des Moines but there would ever be another Tea Room. She reserved upper case reverence for Younkers Tea Room, a downtown institution from 1889 – 2002. Mom was more wistful for “The Tea Room’s” zeitgeist than its menu. It was a place where luncheon was always a major occasion, good manners were prerequisite, and challenges to its unofficial dress code were unthinkable.

In the 1980’s one New York salesman, whose regular territory included Younkers, told me that The Tea Room was “one of the last places in America where luncheon etiquette still requires elegantly dressed ladies to carry compacts in their purses to powder their noses.” During its last weeks of operation, a third generation customer compared the Tea Room to Scarlet O’Hara’s Tara as “representing a way of life that is gone with the wind.” Through the random laws of reincarnation, such lost, and by the wind grieved ghosts sometimes do come back again. Just not where one might expect them.

Patton’s Restaurant opened last month in the newly completed third and final phase of the handsome La Plaza development on East Grand. It anchors a entrepreneurial enterprise zone of mostly Hispanic businesses with a stylish minimalist design that features two story tall windows and an open kitchen. This soul food café would be chic in Harlem. In Des Moines, its sleek lines, glass top tables and tall ceiling stick out like a secular cathedral. On three consecutive visits, at completely different hours, Patton’s customers reminded me of The Tea Room’s. People dress up to dine here. Not just elderly ladies either but their great grandchildren too. Dressed in stylish toques and jackets, owner chef Pam Patton and her staff work in an open kitchen that also bustles with big city vibes.

Several of the southern dishes were the best of their kind I ever sampled in Des Moines.

Fried fish Po Boys included two large filets of Hawaiian pangasius that were breaded with flour and just the slightest crunch of corn meal and served with sliced tomatoes and chopped lettuce on a buttered and toasted bun that was plated with fresh strawberries and bib lettuce. A relative of both catfish and basa, pangasius tastes more like the latter delivering white fish texture without any oily bottom feeder flavor. A friend who despises catfish pronounced these delicious.

Patton uses the same fish in her jerk fish – two large filets grilled with mild jerk seasonings and served the same way as the Po Boy. Chicken wings included four large wings double breaded and deep fried tender to the bone.

Patton and her son Stanley smoke beef briskets, pork shoulders, chickens and turkeys in house with hickory. Such barbecue was nota s consistent as the fish and wings were.

Brisket and ribs both included some meat that was overly charred with tender meat. Both were served in sweet tomato based sauces.

A chicken picatta was similarly incomplete. It was served in a delicious whit wine sauce on fettucine that had a home made flavor and topped with freshly grated Parmesan but the chicken tasted like overcooked chunks, not fresh butterflied filets that had been tenderized for quick sautéing. Capers had no caper flavor either.

Side dishes were so good that my only complaint is Patton’s doesn’t offer a Southern style “veggie” plate. Red beans and rice were almost unctuous with shredded meats. Sweet potato fries were freshly cut and crisply fried – nothing like the processed product most northern places push. Collard greens had flavor only good stock lends. Mac and cheese was made southern style with real cheese, not creamy style like most northern versions. Cornbread dressing has the moistest, softest crumb possible and deep gravy flavor. Cole slaw and potato salad were both Yankee style, with mayo type dressing.

Cobblers (apple and peach) had better pastry than fruit filling

but sweet potato pie was perfect in crumb and filling with multiple subtle spices flavors.

On one occasion, I was served an amuse bouche called “soul roll” that stuffed a large dumpling wrapper with red beans & rice and greens before deep frying it. On another, a complimentary desert of strawberry cake.

Bottom line – Patton’s is the first great new restaurant of 2011. Its southern dishes are its strong suit.

Patton’s
1552 E. Grand Ave.

Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 4 – 9 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 4 – 9:30 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

It used to be said that attendance at funerals, no matter how famous the deceased, depended upon the weather. Then a million mourners turned out in torrential rains when Rudolph Valentino died. Fate still makes for ironic obituary linkages though. The great Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz was tied to the one hit wonder Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler in the Fort Worth Telegram under the headline “Death of a Pianist, and a Patriot.”

I think Paul Trostel would find the linkage here amusing. I hope those who loved him do.

No Business for Old Men

Menus and waiters tout “sustainable” foods these days but the Des Moines restaurant industry is itself caught in a dire sustainability crisis. The number of restaurants has been steadily growing faster than the population for fifty years. That worked all right for the first forty because new customers were coming from the swelling ranks of working women short of time to cook at home. That trend peaked. Then came recession and rising unemployment. Now almost every customer at each flashy new restaurant is a customer lost for existing restaurants. Only the very strong survive.

Paul “Toasty” Trostel, who died last week, was the biggest character in the local restaurant scene. A bull rider and culinary gunslinger, Trostel rode into Des Moines about forty years ago from Colorado, though some say he came directly from the pages of a Larry McMurtry novel. Trostel was a two fisted bon vivant and a fighter of mostly good fights. His Colorado Feed & Grain introduced Des Moines to appetizer menus at a time when most fine dining restaurants offered a choice of “tomato juice or fruuit cocktail.” His Rosie’s Cantina was ahead of the curve by decades. By sheer force of personality, and with considerable epicurean foresight, he sustained three independent restaurants (Greenbriar, Dish and Chips) in suburban zip codes where only nationally branded chains dared go. He will be missed by the entire local industry, for which he fought relentlessly, and also by black jack dealers, bartenders and rodeo cowboys far and wide.

Modern times have been tougher for Donut King, an independent little family ranch of a business holding out against big chains. It has survived the range war between Dunkin’ Donuts and Mr. Donut, the onslaught of Krispy Kreme, and the “health trend” toward bagel chains. Donut King doesn’t do social media but social media recently did them. An unhappy first time customer (upset that credits cards aren’t accepted) posted a You Tube video called “Donut King A..Hole” in which that customer returns to the store to ask for an apology that is cursedly refused. Titles in the video include: “This is why we should hate old people. They suck;” “How does this guy stay in business. Drug operation cover maybe?;” and “How do assholes like this live to be so old?” A link to the video found a prominent placement on Yelp.

It didn’t appear to have affected business on my recent visits. The shop seemed frozen in 1954 when it was built. A fading sign proclaimed “This is not Burger King. You don’t get it your way.” Most customers sitting at the packed counter were older men. Most of the steady run of carryout customers were women with kids. One customer frequently broke out in song. Conversation ranged far from political correctness but was exchanged with laughter on both sides. Donuts were fried delights of nutritional incorrectness, as comforting in their dozens of flavors as Patti Paige‘s voice.

At 2 Fer’s Grill, Yannis Miras says he’s looked at restaurant life from both sides now. “I used to travel in a Lear jet, now I sleep in my car. I used to have a chain of restaurants and hundreds of employees. Today I am waiting tables, cooking and washing dishes by myself.” His comfortable new café is named for its bargain priced second meals. For instance, one lamb chops dinner cost $16 but two cost $10 each. Even the single prices were bargains though. Steak de Burgo ($13) included two tenderloin filets in a Mediterranean sauce of olive oil, butter, herbs and garlic. A meatball sandwich ($7) contained three giant meatballs, mozzarella and pepper rings on an expertly toasted hoagie. Eggplant parmesan ($9) was covered with Mozzarella and served with spaghetti and rich marinara. Soups were consistently homemade with rich stocks. Onion rings were super thin and lightly fried. Greek salads were heavy on Feta.

Bottom line – If you aren’t brand new, you’re old. It takes a hard edge and big spirit to keep a restaurant alive.

Two-fers Grill

2926 Merle Hay Rd., 277-7147

Mon. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Donut King

220 Grand Ave., West Des Moines, 274-9892

Daily 5 a.m. – noon

Bosnian cuisine can be as confusing as Bosnia & Herzegovina, a unique Balkan nation where ethnic identities are trumped by regional ones even though Herzegovina has no defined borders. In Des Moines, Bosnian restaurants have been unsettled and resourceful, like refugees of a diaspora: Jasmin Mrvoljak opened Saraj on Douglas then sold it to Fuada Aljic who moved it to West Des Moines; The superb Old Castle restaurant took over a Five & Diner and changed little, other than installing a dance floor and a walk-in rotisserie big enough to roast three sheep at the same time; Some of the best Bosnian food around comes from Ankeny’s California Pizza; Royal Grill built a reputation around exquisite cakes and pastries; Euro Bar converted an annex to one of the metro’s oldest motels into a pub that would fit right in to suburbs of Sarajevo. Sadly, Royal Grill and Old Castle have gone out of business and Euro Bar has been closed for remodeling. That prompted some readers to ask for guidance on their quests for cevapi, lepinja, lovacka snickla, and sampita.

Kula Grill & Cafe moved into the old Heavenly Ham in Urbandale. Don’t expect to find any pork on the menu though. An L-shaped bar, an outdoor patio and a parking lot full of cigarette butts testified to its authenticity. A waiter said that the owners Mirsad Causevic and Ramiz Dogic previously ran Old Castle and that a serious rotisserie was being planned. For the time being though, gyros (chicken and beef) were pre made and pre sliced products reheated on the grill. He touted the lovaca snicla and I am quite grateful.

A candidate for the ultimate chicken fried steak, this hand-tenderized beef loin was breaded and pan fried crisp and golden before being topped with an excellent mushroom demiglace. A second version (becka snicla) was seasoned with fresh lemon juice.

Cevapi (sausages) made out of veal lacked the spiciness of those at Euro Bar but compensated with a generous side of (red) ajvar, a Turkish invention that substitutes a puree of red bell peppers, chilies and eggplant for its namesake (caviar). Cevapi were served on lepinja from California Pizza – ten beef sausages on a whole loaf of one of the world’s most challenging breads. Also known as “three rise bread,” lepinja differs from other Mediterranean flatbreads in its spongy, English muffin-like interior, the result of the dough’s three proofs, and/or a small dose of baking soda or baking powder. Many burger snobs think lepinja makes the world’s best burger bun. They don’t count calories, though. French fries and onion rings were not remarkable but tart cabbage salad,

sampita (meringue topped sponge cake), and a marvelously creamy espresso were.

Saraj Restaurant and Bakery moved into the old Phat Chef’s, handsome as ever with blond woodwork and modern furniture. Cabbage salad here included carrots and peppers.

Greek style salads were covered in Feta. Cevapi were also on the mild side and served on similar bread to Kula‘s.

Gyros excelled. Saraj also bakes excellent stuffed breads: burek (ground beef), sirnica (cheese) and zeljanica (spinach). Kebabs and racks of lamb enticed with their aromas while tahrana (tomato dumpling soup), janjece potkoljenice (braised lamb shanks, served only on Wednesdays) and homemade baklava cranked the kitchen up to the level of bargain fine dining, with nothing priced over $17. Grah (beef and beans), sarma (cabbage rolls), and goulash added hard to find comfort foods to the menu.

Side Dishes

Trostel’s Greenbriar began a Saturday dinner special that offers a “bottomless glass of wine” for $8… Hy-Vee Conference Center recently served fabulous micro greens from Organic Greens of Kalona, a fresh product consisting of fresh snow pea tendrils, sunflower greens, daikon greens, China rose radish micro greens, and red cabbage micro greens. Owner James Nisley said that Loffredo distributes his greens but mostly in the Quad Cities.

Kula Grill & Cafe

2819 100th St., Urbandale, 252-2884.

Daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saraj

1300 50^th St., West Des Moines, 255-1133

Tues. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Fri. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Euro Bar & Grill

7625 Hickman Rd., Urbandale, 334-4298

Reopening soon

Centro

Jasmine Bowl - all Duck dinner

Appetizers: Duck tenderloin Siam Roll (pan-seared duck tenderloin, leaf lettuce, cucumber, carrot, basil, mint leaf and Chinese noodle wrapped in rice paper)
AND Slow roasted marinated duck drumstick& wings served with dark brown plum sauce.

Soup: Duck soup with lime preserved topped with fried shallots and scallion (warm up your body for this winter weather).

Salad: Smoked duck on spring mix, dried cherry, cherry tomato, blue cheese and drizzling with homemade Champagne vinaigrette.

Entree: Sweet duck breast cooked with fresh plums and star anise served with mixed wild & brown rice.

Desserts: Mocha Mama (Brushed chocolate cake with kahlua and layered it with mocha buttercream)
AND Dark Caramel Cheesecake (wonderful, rich dark caramel is swirled through New York cheesecake on an Oreo crust. Yum!)

This full course for 2 costs $59.99. We open the house on Sunday Feb 13th and Monday Feb 14th from 5.00 pm – 9 pm.

Due to limited seats and quality of the food, reservations only. Please call only at 515- 284-0077.

Demand for corn flour tortillas grew steadily last decade nearly everywhere except their Mexican birthplace where they have been in decline since price supports were lifted in 1999. They are now the second most popular bakery food in the US, trailing only sliced bread. Kellogg’s, Nabisco and Pepperidge Farm have joined the highly competitive tortilla market. Staying a few steps ahead of them, Gruma, the world’s largest corn tortilla maker, opened plants in China and Japan last year. In greater Des Moines, two new Mexican restaurants opened this month in rather foreign locations: Isla Cozumel (IC) took over the former Mama Lacona’s, an iconic Italian restaurant in Urbandale; Plaza Acapulco (PA) debuted in a building best known as the home of Kim Anh, one of the pioneer Vietnamese restaurants in Iowa. Both places appear to be following a time tested plan for successful Mexican restaurants in Central Iowa – give customers long menus and lots of food for very little money. With corn prices hitting record highs, is that still a viable plan? After visiting both places, the short is yes, for now.

The two restaurants had more in common than names of famous resorts. Both places loaned me a menu that rivaled “The Great Gatsby” in word count while introducing far more subjects. Both offered a number of dishes (burritos, flautas) that employed flour tortillas instead of corn. Both included breakfasts served anytime, lots of fajitas and seafood offerings, plus soups, salads, desserts, vegetarian menus, lunch specials, and dinner combo platters.

Five dollar lunch plates and $8 dinner combos were rife.

Despite all the similarities, the two places differed dramatically. IC retains much of the considerable charming ambiance of its predecessor – wall murals, large red leather booths, fireplace seating, music. It also added some Caribbean touches – Tiki-like thatch overhangs on an old bar and also on a second new bar, and a new mural with a Mexican subject. No one at IC addressed me as “amigo,” but everyone was genuinely friendly, quite well informed and helpful. I was directed to take advantage of specials that saved money. Substitutions and extra salsa were forthcoming without attitude or surcharge.

In contrast, I felt like an intruder at PA even though I was addressed as “amigo.” On one visit, I was asked three times “Is everything good?” but when I asked if I could have some salsa verde, the answer was simply “No.” When I suggested that a menu item was not as described on the menu, the response was “yes,” period. The only music there was playing in the kitchen. Furniture was less comfortable and even napkins were rationed.

Food was bargain priced, at both places – a little cheaper at PA. My IC carnitas were as good as that braised pork dish gets. Tacos were as generous with meat as they could possibly be, with all other accompaniments served on the side. IC’s chile rellenos were served with processed American cheese that oozed from a stem-on poblano like salty liquid. My PA dishes employed harder cheeses. PA’s Monday only “pollo con crema” brought back fond memories on my middle school cafeteria’s creamed chicken. Contemporary corn economics had one side effect: An order of corn tortillas cost half again more than an order of flour tortillas at IC.

Isla Cozumel

2743 86^th St., 331-7675

Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Fri – Sat. 11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Plaza Acapulco

1537 Sixth Ave., 243-4746

Daily 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Side Dishes

Des Moines’ 26^th annual French chef exchange with L’Association des Cuisiniers de la Loire culminates with three dinners prepared by French chefs Gilbert Grandsire and Didier Lassaigne at the Iowa Culinary Institute January 25-27, $125 per person ($50 is tax-deductible). Reservations 964-6655… Hy-Vee Conference Center is preparing to host at least 2000 people for The Chocolate Breakfast January 28.

Within the local food scene, 2010 went out with a bang. In the final quarter people opened new restaurants and created new products at a pace unseen for years. It‘s a good news, better news situation for a change.

Flour is the latest minimalist café to open in the Western Gateway. Communal seating and self service ordering don’t appeal to everyone but they help a small place function efficiently during lunch rush. Owner Carly Groben says she opened this pizzeria in order to cover an underserved niche.

“I just didn’t see much here in the way of Sfincione (Sicilian style pizza), especially sold by the slice. So I spent some time in New York City eating at as many Sicilian pizzerias as I could,” Groben said, adding that she synthesized her own creation from those experiences.

Her dough was made with a recipe for focaccia and was proofed for several hours, then rolled into rectangles on large baking sheets (Sicilian style). Both the dough and pans were brushed with olive oil. Pies are covered with five different combinations each day: sun dried tomatoes and artichokes; shrimp and red peppers; cherry tomato with clams and Brie; fresh herbs and potato; pears and blue cheese, sausage with marinara, etc.

On three different occasions, my crusts were consistently super crisp. Significant air holes kept the dough from taking on that heavy, breadstick-like texture of most thick crust pies. Toppings, including herbs, were fresh and hefty. All my slices were oven-finished after I ordered them, and served hot. Because they were heavy on cheeses, that was essential.

Flour also makes two “Cañadas de azucar” daily with proofed dough rather than flatbread. Those sugar sprinkled pies were covered with savory toppings (salami, pesto and Brie; hummus and Brie, etc.). Salads offered a choice of greens and home made dressings. Brownies and cookies completed the menu. Drink options included Peace Tree root beer, an Iowa product.

Sticking to the flour theme, Angelica Tejeda has been making corundas and expects to add them to the wonderful Tamales Industry menu this month. Much prized in Morelia, corundas are made with a masa similar to tamales but are usually formed into in triangular shapes and eaten with chicken or turkey broth – a Michoacan version of tortellini en brodo. Like Tamale Industry’s tamales, they are made with white corn that is coarsely ground in the kitchen.

Although it opened in October, I made my first visit to Players Sports Bar & Grill during football bowl week. I think I had a subconscious issue with the name, assuming it referred to slang defined as an “individual skilled at sexual seduction or a male that will date a female and then dump her almost immediately.” I couldn’t have been further off the mark. Instead of hairy chests covered in golden bling-bling, I found a family café with a small town vibe. Owner Chelsie Lyons, just 27, is simply a big sports fan. She’s from Humboldt County, so her ideas of “players” are NFL homeboys Bruce Reimers and Dallas Clark. Iowa State University is also enshrined here with pennants, named dishes, and specials during Cyclone games. The menu had an old fashioned small town virtue too, with generous portions, ice cream fountain drinks (ever see a purple cow?), and beer battered fried foods dominating. Flame grilled burgers employed prime beef and full dinners cost just $8 – $15 with kid’s meals going for $3.50.

Side Dishes

Sometimes what’s new is old. Randy Boswell. Owner of the wind-grieved Boswells, has been rediscovered making his legendary hash browns at Grandma Max’s truck stop in Urbandale… Waterfront has two big nights coming for Francophiles. January 19 will be Bouillabaisse (legendary seafood stew of Marseilles) night and January 26 will be their annual French Night.

Players Sports Bar & Grill

1760 Beaver Ave., 274-8639

Daily 11 a.m.- 2 a.m.

Flour

1220 Locust St. 288-2935

Mon. – Fri. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

If the food business is a harbinger of general economic vitality then the new year is going to rock. 2010 expired in a flurry of openings, expansions and innovations that resembled the “irrational exuberance” of the dot com days more than the “stagnant growth” of our current daze. Hardly a day went by last month when some reader did not inform us about something new and exciting on the local scene.

El Blue Burrito seems like an eastside version of El Rey, with a similar shopping center location, menu and late night hours. El Blue is a true “have it your way” tacqueria serving tacos, burritos and tortas to order, plus salads, seafood, grilled chickens and steaks. Curiously, they do not serve blue (corn) tortillas.

Centro chef George Formaro told me El Blue has the best tripas in town. Mine were offal good – tender and flavorful.

A golden milanesa de carne (chicken fried steak) was served on buttered bun with grilled jalapenos, melted Provolone, avocado and fresh tomato. Tongue was quite tender and pastor was cooked LA style, on a rotisserie stacked with pineapples and onions. A “Hawaiian” option added even more pineapple plus red and yellow peppers.

Ceviche tostadas were served with so much marinade they became too soggy to pick up.

When Mondo’s opened a West Des Moines restaurant a decade ago, they advertised fresh hand cut fries. At that time, I could only find two other places in town that were frying fresh, rather than frozen, potatoes. Industrial processing had conquered the spud. The last decade brought potatoes back to the future.

Now even the Iowa Methodist Medical Plaza’s Atrium (one of the best bargain lunch spots in town) is making excellent freshly fried potato chips, once a week. They usually are cooked and bagged on Tuesdays and are almost always sold out by Thursdays. Mine have not been prepared the same way from one week to another. One batch was slightly seasoned and the next week’s were almost too salty to eat.

One reader wrote: “What’s up with Dahl’s? All of a sudden, every employee in the store wants to be best friends. If Dahl’s wants to copy Hy-Vee, they should to add convenient entrances, rather than chatting up their customers.” A visit to the Ingersoll Dahl’s indeed revealed a new friendliness that seemed right out of the Hy-Vee playbook. Only one entrance, at a far end of the parking lot, was for customers‘ use. Another was just for employees and a third for “emergency.” Speaking of Hy-Vee, they recently introduced a new line of breads that combine stone baking with steam ovens to produce a soft crumb with a crisper crust. French and focaccia loaves both delivered textures about half way between an artisan European style bread (South Union, La Mie) and a traditional supermarket bakery loaf.

Elsewhere on the supermarket scene, Saigon Market was busy stacking it shelves last week and “hoping to be open by New Years.” A peak inside the slick new store at MLK at Euclid suggested it will be Des Moines’ most comprehensive Asian market. Also on MLK, Gateway Market scored shipments of the three of the hottest cheeses in the world: Uplands Cheese’s Rush Creek Reserve (featured in the New York Times as a holiday treasure) is a smooth, mild, aged cheese wrapped in spruce bark; James Montgomery is a third generation artisan cheese maker in Somerset, England. His sharp cheddars are made from unpasteurized milk of Friesan cows that roam a hill that King Arthur allegedly defended from the Saxon hordes; Capriole’s O’Banon (American Cheese Society’s top cheese of 2009) is a goat milk cheese aged in chestnut leaves soaked in Woodford Reserve Bourbon. That’s a take on a legendary cheese of Provence that is illegal to export from France, with whiskey substituting for Eau de Vie (brandies made from various fruit juices). If you have any bubbly left, it’s been called “the ultimate champagne cheese.”

El Blue Burrito

1434 Des Moines St., 265-8660

Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Fri. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 3 a.m.

This just in from Zingaro for Valentine’s Day week. The news is that the restaurant now serves wine.

“The Seduction of Chocolate”

We will be serving this menu on the 10th, 11th and 14th of February. Seating times will be at 6 and 8pm all three days.

Cost $45 per person main dining room

Wine pairing $25

Chefs table $75 per person

wine pairing $25

Start

Scallop/orange/vanilla/olive oil/dark chocolate/sea salt/tomato

Soup

Cauliflower/challah/cocoa

Yam/bacon/balsamic/dark chocolate

Salad

Endive/white chocolate/pear/chevre

Main

Chicken/mole/polenta/scallion

Halibut/sundried tomato/vanilla/white chocolate/tobiko/speatzel

Parsnip/sage/white chocolate/risotto/scallion/

Dessert for two $6

“truffle tasting”

Champagne/orange/milk/raspberry/dark chocolate/hazlnut/lemon  

Individual Dessert

Strawberries/white chocolate/balsamic

Ancho/dark chocolate/almond