Growing up, my father sought out Lebanese restaurants, invariably named Cedars or The Palms, wherever we traveled. Since that genre never found its way to Des Moines in my youth, it remained in the romantic section of my mind. That’s probably why Lebanon was the first Middle East country in the I visited after I grew up. While the Lebanese restaurant still hasn’t taken off in Middle America, Lebanese dishes have gone mainstream the last two decades, mainly in health food stores and delis. Hummus, baba ganoush, tabouleh and falafel all scored healthy profile points with the popularization of both the “Mediterranean Diet” and vegetarianism. Those dishes are more apt now to be found in university cafeteria salad bars than in old fashioned kebab houses that brought them to America. Appropriately the full spectrum Lebanese restaurant rose from the dead last year with Adonis, named for the Semitic-Greco god who is reborn each year. That café is West Glen closed though before I had finished reviewing it.

Happily, it reopened as Open Sesame last month in East Village, a neighborhood much better suited to its adventurous menu. The new place seems to be thriving. I found it completely packed as early as 5:15 for dinner seating and as late as 2 p.m. for lunch! The smallest crowd I found at Open Sesame was larger than the largest I found at Adonis. It’s not big, I counted 32 table seats plus a bar. Burgundy and purple paint, minaret stencils and Arabic music transformed a former diner into an intimate ethnic café. A flimsy curtain subbed as a vestibule that allowed arctic air to wind its way to every table when the door opened on cold nights. I could never smell meat searing, a trademark of Lebanese restaurants in my mind. That could be because vegetarianism has co-opted the menu.

Baba ganoush is a famous roasted eggplant dish in which the eggplant is scooped into a mixture of tahini and lemon juice, often with a little sumac and olive oil. Chefs argue over the ratio of lemon juice to tahini and of tahini-lemon to eggplant. Open Sesame’s version tipped slightly to the tahini side. Hummus is a paste of garbanzo beans, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini. Open Sesame’s, like that made in most health food stores, was light on the olive oil and garlic. Tabouleh mixed fresh parsleys with bulghar, green onions, tomatoes, fresh mint and lemon juice but little olive oil. Fattoush produced a wonderfully zippy house dressing on romaine cucumbers, mint, tomatoes, onions and croutons.

Lentil soup varied from one visit to the next. One time the stock was so rich I wrongly suspected chicken broth. Another time there was precious little broth at all in the lentils, onions and rice.

Chicken shwarma was served with tomatoes, onions, garlic mayonnaise and pickle spears as expected. It also included fried potatoes, a method often called “Israeli style” though cookbooks say it’s also popular in the Balkans, Jordan and the UAE. Even cold, my chicken strips tasted juicy and had a seared flavor. The garlic mayo was excessive. Gyros were crusty on both sides, so likely not freshly sliced.

Kibbeh, a sort of grilled meat loaf, was the best meat I had, served hot with a good laban (yogurt).

Brunch mixed Lebanese and American dishes – gyros with potatoes and eggs. Thick crepes included one nicely stuffed with apples and walnuts.

Drinks included Turkish coffee ( cardamom and espresso), mint tea and jalab (incense infused rosewater and grape syrup).

Bottom line – Open Sesame seems to have found its niche particularly adding to vegetarian options downtown.

Open Sesame .

313 E. Locust St. 288-3151.

Mon. – Fri. 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. and 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.. Sun. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Southeast Asia’s contribution to Des Moines’ culinary diversity enters new territory with the opening of La Paris Café. Owner Chris Low explained that the River Bend neighborhood needed a sports bar and a coffeehouse, so La Paris became both in addition to an Asian restaurant. Chris and wife Sue have some experience with coffeehouses having partnered in the excellent French Belwood Bakery outlets in the western suburbs. La Paris’ croissants and Danish were freshly made, laminated pastries a la Belwood.

They anchored the coffeehouse menu along with desserts like Key lime calypso and verrines (creams, crumbs and compotes layered in a glass) such as tiramisu, dulce de leche and white raspberry. Asian pastries and desserts like sesame balls, steam buns and Asian donuts (which use no yeast and hence are not as flaky as American donuts) were also offered. So were the Vietnamese breakfast staple banh cuon — rice paper crepes filled with pork and mushrooms, and resembling rice noodle rolls in Chinese dim sum. La Paris is the first coffeehouse in town to balance Vietnamese coffee drinks, bubble teas and smoothies (taro, mango, lychee) with espresso bar drinks.

The dinner menu included just 14 items. Deep fried dishes appeased sports bar fans with tempura style chicken wings, shrimp wraps and calamari, all fried golden in panko. Wings had been marinated and brined so that meat fell off the bone. They were served with familiar sauces in three degrees of heat.

My calamari included strips, heads and rings, plus a side of tempura mushrooms and a sharp chipotle dipping sauce.

Shrimp wraps were a take on crab Rangoon, with whole large prawns wrapped in rice paper with cream cheese and scallions. They were served crisp with sweet & sour sauces and a side of tempura squash.

Salmon rolls were typical of spring rolls, only with grilled salmon replacing shrimp in rice paper wraps with noodles, cucumber, sprouts, greens, mint, carrots and cilantro.

Baby back ribs had been parboiled and deep fried, then served with sticky rice. They resembled Mexican carnitas with marvelous crunch and multiple textures. Catfish were fried whole with peppers and basil in sweet sauce. Lamb chops and two steaks completed the entrée menu with traditional grill work. House specialties included som tam (green papaya salad) in a medium hot sauce of chilies, garlic, fish sauce and fresh lime juice. It was served with cabbage and a bowl of rice.

Larb kai (chicken salad) was made with crispy chicken cracklings, breast meat, fresh herbs and a sweet vinegar dressing. (It can also be ordered with skinless chicken breast.) Nam kao (crispy rice salad) included pork cracklings, roast pork, sausage, three kinds of dried seafood, the freshest mesclun one can find this time of year, cucumbers and cilantro. Soups kao poon and kao piek were made respectively with bone stocks of beef and chicken.

The latter also included pig’s blood and coconut milk. Both added rice sticks, vegetables and herbs. They should gain immediate entry to Des Moines’ soup hall of fame.

Bahn mi sandwiches, made with fresh baked baguettes of the same name, were just as special with roast pork, home made headcheese and wurst, marinated carrots, pickled onions, cucumbers, herbs and vinegar dressing.

Bottom line – La Paris Café stakes a unique brand while highlighting Southeast Asian cultural integrity.

La Paris Café

1517 Second Ave., 288-3800

Mon. – Tues. 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. & 5 p.m. – 11 p.m.; Wed. – Fri. 9:30 – 2 p.m. & 5 p.m. – 2 a.m., Sat. 9:30 a.m. – 2 a.m.; Sun. 9:30 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Andrew Meek is the bellwether of Des Moines’ restaurant renaissance. This city’s prestige grew in direct relationship with the introduction of good regional products in its best cafés. Meek advocated more of those than anyone else. At Sage, he was among the first to use Niman Pork, La Quercia prosciutto, Northern Prairie chevre and Sheeder Farms poultry – the fouding quartet of Central Iowa’s artisan food revival. He introduced Des Moines to Malloy Game Birds, Grass Run Farm’s beef, Nueske’s cured meats and Christopher Elbo chocolates. Meek designed entire dinners to feature Templeton Rye whiskey and Sunstead Farms tomatoes. After closing Sage last year, he could have easily skated on his reputation. Recent visits to Sbrocco suggest he‘s still pushing the envelop.

Sbrocco looks like a good fit for Meek. This wine bar is the most sophisticated venture of Full Court Press, a local company that invigorated downtown with a half dozen distinctive, independent restaurants. Riedel stemware, vintage jazz, and a good, affordable wine list draw sippers and diners to an historic Court Avenue building remodeled with salvaged heirlooms and funky style. Copper ceiling tiles have been welded into bar tops, Deco banquettes escaped the Embassy Club and stained glass windows found refuge from several churches. Two things from the pre-Meek era might be missed. A cheese station made way for more tables and home made breads disappeared altogether. There was no bread service at all.

Lunch options ranged widely. Tempura battered halibut cheeks & frites, Meek’s signature New Bedford scallops (with cauliflower puree and cider syrup), and “Savannah style” crab cakes with pommery mustard sauce all showed off the chef’s exceptional Rolodex – dockside contacts he maintains from his previous life in Savannah. Braised Niman meatballs in La Quercia prosciutto red sauce, butternut squash ravioli, and beef brisket lettuce wraps all flaunted his Iowa stewardship. The chef’s entrees are anything but meek. In two recent tastings around town (of duck and short ribs), Sbrocco’s offerings were the heftiest. Short ribs featured Grass Run Farm’s beef, with a celeriac-potato mash.

A duck entrée featured Fox Hollow Farm’s mallard breast, larger and fattier than others. It revealed Meek’s tail to beak talents, with duck confit, duck demiglace and a mushroom cherry risotto. The new piece de resistance is Meek’s latest discovery – a red veal chop from Strauss Veal.

Red veal is the new old thing – raised the way all veal was before World War II – outdoors with their mothers. In the 1950’s “white veal” was invented by weaning boy calves a few days after birth, confining them so they couldn’t graze, and feeding them an iron deficient formula that made them anemic. Many ranchers tethered them to be sure they didn’t graze on any iron rich grasses. They even monitored and restricted their drinking water, lest it carried iron. Insidious marketers spun the resulting pale, flavorless flesh as a good thing.

Served with pain perdu and wild mushrooms in a veal and quince demiglace, Meek’s chop looked so good that strangers at the next table asked about it with envy. I shared and all agreed it had bold, spectacular flavor. So, I tracked the source. A few miles east of Dubuque (magically without snow cover like the rest of Iowa),

I found a jolly Strauss farmer named Barry Brodbeck running the most idyllic farm I’ve ever seen. Limousin calves and their mom’s roamed nine different cliff side pastures of 50 to 90 acres each, nursing, grazing and drinking from streams. Limousin cows came to the US from France in the 1970′s and are the preferred veal calf.

 Brodbeck said his calves live months longer than most industrial veal calves. Plus, they only have “one bad day in their lives.” All Strauss farmers follow the same protocols that Barry does. Sort of like Niman Ranch pork farmers do.  

Meek is the first Iowa chef to use Strauss Veal. Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, Art Smith and Emeril Lagasse are among the more celebrated fans of the product. Tony Bourdain recently spent two days, with his camera crew, at Strauss, so look for them on one of his upcoming episodes of “No Reservations.”

Sbrocco

208 Court Ave., 282-3663

Mon. – Sat. 11a.m. – 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.

If our restaurants were promoted as aggressively as say Chicago’s or Santa Fe‘s are, we’d have a month long Winter Food Festival here. This year’s culinary season began with Iowa Pork Producers’ annual Taste of Elegance, an event that attracts top Iowa chefs competing for a place in the national finals. Barry Greenberg (University of Iowa Dining Services) won $1000 and a trip to the finals with an Asian pork trio: pomegranate barbecued St. Louis ribs on grilled asparagus slaw; sherry glazed belly on rice cakes; and spicy pork dumplings in consomme. Angie Kirton (Absolute Flavors) took second with smoked pork roast with hash and vinegar slaw. Cyd Koehn (Hy-Vee Conference Center) took third, and also won the People’s Choice award, with pork osso buco di miale.

Valentine’s Day and the first day of the Lunar New Year fell, inconveniently for dieters, on the same Sunday this year. Wong’s Chopsticks presented their annual New Year’s banquet, a sensational $30 feast that included auspicious foods like whole Peking ducks,

whole tilapia, long noodles, etc. A trio of female chefs – Shari Clark, Keri Rush and Koehn – rented the old Zen Sushi space for a far less traditional event – a raw vegan brunch which drew over 110 guests at $35, plus drinks. That dining room never looked better, with red linens and living wheat grass centerpieces on the tables. Their brunch included: a juice course of green lemonade (greens, apple and lemon juices)

or beet-carrot-apple juice; an ambrosia of agave and coconut; a granola course of chocolate oats and vanilla almond milk with raisins, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, or “buckwheaties“ with raisins and seeds;

a sweet potato latke which was spiced with the rare and powerful Iranian herb hing (a.k.a. asafoetida);

a spaghetti cut squash course with kale and tomatoes in garlic sauce with a rich sun dried tomato pâté; a Thai wrap with tamarind sauce and raw nuts that were marinated in cayenne and nama shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce);

and a dessert quartet that included flourless chocolate cake, coconut haystack, raw cookie dough, and a chocolate dipped strawberry.

Phat Chefs, West Des Moines’ best café the last 11 years, went out of business in February with high style. Dean Richardson and chef Hal Jasa prepared a customer “thank you” feast that included:

peppered ahi tuna surrounding a salad of capers, olive nicoise, sun dried tomatoes, tobarga and lemon oil;

corned duck (duck brined like corned beef) stacked around a salad of pickled root vegetables and black mustard;

foie gras ramekins that layered pâté and mousse; whole game hens stuffed with black mission figs on herbed couscous;

roasted root vegetable ratatouille; plus several other dishes including more applications of foie gras.

In its third year, the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival doubled in size, for the second year running. Its most elegant event was a Café di Scala dinner in which Phil Shires and Sam Auen presented: bacon & egg napoleons (puff pastry with garlic sausage béchamel sauce);

Korean style belly (braised in fish sauce, brown sugar, serrano chillies and lemongrass) with kim chee and cilantro pesto; cream of potato soup with chive crème fraiche; bacon-wrapped, Gorgozola stuffed pork loin on a soft polenta with pancetta and demi glace;

and a sensational dessert of reduced “butter shots” (rye whiskey & butterscotch Schnapps) on bread pudding with ice cream.

Sponsored by Pabst, Coors and Templeton Rye, the festival’s main event opened like a Black Friday shopping frenzy.

People pushed through doors and stopped caterers on their way to the kitchen, demanding samples.

Roller Derby athletes served others on skates. Talented impresario Brooks Reynolds established a Bacon Advisory Council on Nutrition and expressed ”deep regrets” that Lipitor did not return his phone calls about sponsorship. The Iowa Legislature proclaimed an Iowa Day of Bacon and all tickets sold out in 25 minutes.

Bottom line – Des Moines’ midwinter food events have serious tourism potential.

With 35,000 waterfowl hunters, Iowa is duck country. Yet until recently, duck dining here was isolated to Chinese restaurants and wild game dinners. No more. Thanks to expanded domesticated duck businesses, reader’s have been asking questions about breeds, sexes and even sexless-ness on their duck plates. We dutifully investigated.

PF Chang’s offered only one duck option. None would have been better. Their VIP duck presented half a dry bird, not as crispy as one expects in Chinese restaurants, with scallions, flatbread and a very sweet, very salty plum sauce. My server had no idea what breed or sex my duck was. Since Chang’s prides itself on recipe authenticity, it’s safe to assume it was a Pekin (aka Nanking), a mallard breed that originated in China, became Long Island duckling in America and is closely related to 95 per cent of all domesticated duck in America, and nearly 100 per cent in Asia.

At Alba we found a fabulous duck breast that came from an Indiana company that raises Pekins and distributes duck breasts. It was plated with a wonderful wild mushroom risotto, squash, cranberries and mint.

Chef Jason Simon also served a marvelous duck terrine, with his famous homemade crackers.

 At Phat Chef’s (now sadly closed) I found chef Hal Jasa’s corned mallard (Pekin) duck, a duck brined as if it were corned beef brisket.

He served it with a home made black mustard plus little ramekins that layered foie gras mousse and foie gras.

Be still my heart.

At Django, restaurateur George Formaro told me that an alpha diner had recently canceled an order of duck after learning it was a Pekin. So I called Fox Hollow Farm’s Tai Johnson-Spratt, who raises free range Pekins, low fat White Muscovies and Mule ducks, which are a impotent cross between those other breeds. She supplies Django, Sbrocco and Bistro Montage with whole ducks.

“Andrew (Meek at Sbrocco), Bill (Overdyck at Django) and Enosh (Kelley at Bistro Montage) all assure me they use the entire duck, that nothing goes to waste. Otherwise I would sell breasts and not know what to do with the other parts,” she explained.

I fact checked that. Meek offered foie gras, plus a pan roasted duck breast with a duck confit, mushroom-tart cherry risotto, and duck demiglace. Django went further with: potatoes fried in duck fat; duck liver served with apple fennel compote: roasted duck breast in duck demiglace with spaetzels, walnuts, apples, leeks and prosciutto;

confit of duck leg quarters served with duck demiglace, root vegetables, cabbage and bacon; and a duck leg cassoulet with sausage, bacon and white beans. Duck foie gras found its way into their filet Rossini (beef tenderloin, truffles and Bordelaise sauce) and a Django dog. The café even offerred a “foie gras of the month.” All those dishes were superb but Django had run out of Fox Hollow ducks and new supplies are months away.

Bistro Montage still had Fox Hollow mallards and Kelley served a duck breast with braised winter greens and turnips stuffed with fig compote – the best dish I tasted on this job. He also used the confit of leg quarters in his cassoulet. Formaro and Kelley both said they don’t care about duck breeds. They prefer anything Fox Hollow has to anything they can get from more distant suppliers.

Johnson-Spratt said that sex matters more than breeds. That’s why she raises quackless Muscovies and Mules. Those males and females are more uniform in size than mallards, in which females might be only 60% as large as males.

“Mallards rule though. Low fat duck misses the point of duck,” she offered.

At Le’s Chinese BBQ I found a choice of whole ducks in natural shapes, or whole ducks flattened before smoking.

The latter method produced crispier skin usually associated with the famous Peking duck. Le’s was the only place that sold whole ducks including heads, necks and innards. That’s important during the fortnight following a lunar new year, which began on Valentine’s Day this year. That’s when consuming foods that are less than whole is considered unlucky by a billion or so people. Le’s whole birds, with tofu, cost about $10 less than a breast entrée anywhere else did.

Hillel the Elder invented the sandwich (herbed Paschal lamb between slices of pita) about the same time he enunciated what would become known as the golden rule. So, to feed others as he would feed himself, George Formaro (Centro) recently gathered a “munch bunch” of serious sandwich lovers to share favorite local discoveries. Six chef/restaurateurs brought favorites, from restaurants other than their own, to share and judge. Everyone was born and raised in Iowa, so the group shared similar tastes in comfort food as well as in cutting edge style.

Formaro, Linda Bisignano (Chuck’s) and Tony Lemmo (Café di Scala) all brought Italian sausage sandwiches. Those from Noodles Pasta & Sandwich Shop,

Café di Scala and La Pizza House were traditional Calabrese, like those restaurants. All included Italian sausage (Graziano’s or homemade) on Italian bread (Krispy Krust, Fancy or South Union focaccia) with cheese, peppers and marinara.

The preferred Frank’s Special (Café di Scala) also included basil pesto, smoked provolone, fried eggplant, red onions, garlic & fennel marinated tomatoes and Pecorino Romano.

A fourth Italian sausage sandwich defied tradition. The Norwood Bar & Grill’s was made with ketchup and mustard.

“The idea of putting on ketchup and mustard is against everything I believed in growing up Italian. It sounds so wrong it made me cringe, until I tried my first one. It works. I love it,’ explained Formaro. Lemmo, Cyd Koehn (Hy-Vee) and Hal Jasa (Phat Chefs) all agreed. Bisignano wasn’t so sure.

Jasa and Koehn brought sausage sandwiches of a different sort –

cevapi from La Strada

and Royal Grill respectively. Those sandwiches were nearly indistinguishable – large unleavened buns filled with 8 to 10 link sausages of beef, onions and sour cream.

Barbecue was represented by: a burnt ends sandwich from The Q

that included rip tips on fresh white bread with a side of sweet sauce; and by Uncle Wendell’s brisket, served on that bakery’s home baked bread with a side of Russ & Frank’s medium sauce. The group appreciated them about equally. Two sandwiches from La Mie represented the high end of delidom, both made on that artisan bakery’s breads. The “French” featured brie and ham while

the flank steak sandwich included cold rare steak with arugula and aioli. Munchers preferred the latter. Jasa called it a wonder of flavor pairings. “You can’t beat the simplicity of good bread, arugula, aioli and beef.”

Chicago Dog & Deli entries included a coney

and a traditional Chicago dog, which means the wiener is steamed, not grilled, and is covered with mustard, “nuclear” relish (sweet pickle relish dyed neon green), cucumber slices, tomatoes and onions. Preferences were divided. Manhattan Deli was represented by

The Betty – turkey, salami, pepper cheese and dressings on an onion bun.

Smitty’s Tenderloin Shop’s namesake sandwich drew the least enthusiasm of all.

 Most chefs thought it a less than stellar representative of an Iowa icon.

Carnitas tortas from Los Laureles were far more popular, with aioli, lettuce, tomato, onions, cilantro and crispy pork shoulder on a Mexican hoagie bun.

The overall favorite sandwich though, by a huge margin, was a bánh mì submitted by Lemmo from Pho All Season’s. Five of seven munchers declared it the best of show and raved about its diversity of “sweet & sour, spicy, salty and umami, multiple colors, crunchy and soft.”

They also remarked how well its French baguette stood up to travel, soaking up flavors from its dressings of fish sauce and mayo without turning soggy. (The bánh mì is named after those baguettes, which are made with half wheat and half rice flour.) Lemmo’s favorite bánh mì is filled with roast pork, cilantro, chilies, pickled carrots, daikon, cucumber and dressed in mayo and fish sauce.

Several munchers expressed regret about sandwiches not avaialble because of timing. The Fourth Street Italian Beef namesake drew praise from Lemmo, Formaro and Koehn. The tenderloin from Town House and the London broil from Jesse’s Embers were also missed.

The hero of Christopher Koch’s novel “The Year of Living Dangerously” is a journalist who beats everyone – the CIA, the Communists, other journalists – to the story of the Suharno coup by asking one simple question – Who has the most guns? Similarly, my completely unscientific survey of restaurant parking lots has found Texas Roadhouse to be the busiest place in the metro, just ahead of Hu Hot.

I tend to notice such things from a distance. It took me years to discover that big chains Cracker Barrel, Outback and Culver’s delivered decent food for reasonable prices. When Zagat’s far more “scientific” survey rated Texas Roadhouse’s steaks third best in the country among chains (Outback was first), I decided it was time to see what has been packing their parking lot.

Texas Roadhouse is 17 year old chain from Indiana. Like most transplants, it works hard to simulate authenticity. Its music, piney wood furniture, ubiquitous cactus and neon beer signs were as Texan as the many dead things mounted on their walls, including white tail deer, antelope, elk and big bass. I quickly discovered why the place was not cited by Zagat for good service. Upon entering for the first time, I found heavily perfumed, gum chewing hostesses talking to each other while three parties waited to be seated in front of a door blasting arctic air. No one was offered a chance to wait at a warm, empty bar. When I was seated, with no choice among scores of empty tables, I listened to a long spiel without being able to understand any words except for “legendary“ and “margaritas.”

I was appeased with free peanuts but was ordered to leave the shells in an empty bucket.

Things got better when my waitress appeared with superior diction plus wonderful hot yeast rolls and “honey butter.”

She cheerfully offered to bring some straight butter on request and she refilled my empty bread basket without being asked. Those yeast rolls would be the best things I tasted on multiple visits, though nothing was bad. “Rattlesnake bites” proved to be mild “poppers” of deep fried jalapeno bits and jack cheese. “Chicken critters” were above average chicken strips, in a crunchy batter. “Tater skins” were topped with melted cheddar, bacon and sour cream. Salads were gargantuan. One house salad included a Texas sized handful of bacon bits and cheese.

A Caesar salad included perfectly chilled romaine lettuce and a decent anchovy dressing with another large handful of grated “parmesan” cheese and croutons. “Fall-off-the-bone” ribs did, to a mushy fault. Pulled pork suffered from overly crunchy charred ends.

Country fried steak was as good as one expects in a roadhouse in Texas. Made with sirloin instead of round, it was exceptionally tender. Gravies served with beef and chicken dishes had good, natural flavors. Steaks ($9 – $20), including ribeyes, strips, filets, T-bones and sirloins, were displayed in the entrance. I wasn’t impressed with their marbling but was pleasantly surprised with the final product – cooked to order and tender, though overly seasoned. Interesting house steak sauce was laden with all kinds of fruit flavors. Two side dishes came with each meal and included sweet potatoes with marshmallows, cups of chili, and Caesar salads, plus the usual suspects. Gargantuan desserts ($5) included uninspired strawberry cheesecake and brownies. This was the first place outside Texas I ever saw a kids menu ($3 – $7) that included steak dinners. Early bird specials filled the place by 5:30 p.m.

Bottom Line – Bargain prices, good yeast rolls, decent steaks and huge servings explain the popularity of Texas Roadhouse. For my chain steakhouse money, it falls short of Outback or Fleming’s though.

Texas Roadhouse

8744 Northpark Dr., Johnston, 251-4597

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

After three decades in Des Moines, the “Vietnamese café” has become a distinctive genre. It wasn’t easy. A Dong, the original Vietnamese café here, survived an eminent domain seizure and moved downtown. The superb “mom & pop” Pho All Seasons twice re-emerged after long closings. Saigon Café and China Garden moved west, morphing into restaurants serving less ethnic suburban constituencies. Fawn’s took the reverse path, moving from the suburbs to the eastside. After Café Fuzion took over the old HaDao space on E 14^th St., Pho HaDao re-opened on Second Avenue next door to Double Dragon Grocery and within a block of both Le’s BBQ and Lucky Dragon. Together, those superb establishments comprise a Second Avenue strip that is the closest thing in town to a Little Saigon – even a Mexican tienda is Asian owned.

On my recent visits to Pho HaDao, the place buzzed with big crowds of mostly Asian diners. Feng shui was respected with two aquariums, paintings of seven horses, seven Buddhas, and two bulls dispensing toothpicks. Karaoke equipment, now mostly reserved for special occasions, was inconspicuous. Ceiling high speakers and a stage, once the site of a memorable Asian Elvis-imitator duel, have been removed. Diners were respected with new, American takes on feng shui.

The fish tanks sat under a big screen TV, usually tuned to American sports channels and a free soup bar greeted customers with a different complimentary offering each week day. Coupled with a $4 daily special, that’s the best lunch bargain anywhere near downtown.

Crispy chicken wings were large, golden and crunchy in panko breading. Spring rolls surprised me with a variety of greens, plus the usual rice noodles and cold pork wrapped in translucent rice paper and served cold. Chili oil, chili sauce, hoisin sauce and peanut dipping sauce were all served on the side. Fried pork rolls, served golden and crunchy, were more typical.

Namesake pho (beef noodle soup) is still the primary reason for visiting. Broth was rich and glistened with just enough fat to assure it was made the old fashioned way – from baked beef bones that were simmered for 24 hours. The chef told me he prefers knees and shins when he can get them. That wonderful stock was ladled over rice noodles and a choice of several meats, tofu, or seafood. “Flank” could have passed for the best brisket.

Perfectly “rare” slices of round were served on the side as requested. Tendon, tripe and meatballs were also offered.

One garnish plate included basil, mint and bean sprouts. Another brought thinly sliced, fresh Thai chilies, both red and green babies that flirted with the upper levels of the Scoville charts. (Waiters happily accommodated thrill seeking chili freaks.) Lime wedges were served to add an acid kick.

Bun (wheat noodles) dishes resembled Chinese noodle stir fries, except they came with a bowl of lemon sauce. Basil dishes resembled Thai stir fries.

Curry dishes were milder than most Thai varieties. I couldn’t tell any difference between pad thai and fried egg noodle dishes. In all cases, lots of fresh vegetables dominated. Mi Xao (egg noodle stir fry dishes) could be ordered with deep fried, or soft noodles. My fried version was nicely crisped. Steamed rice pork chops were served delightfully under sunny side up eggs. Quail is a specialty I have liked but it wasn’t available recently.

Whole deep fried catfish, served with HaDao (tomato) sauce, could pass for Cajun. There was also a short Chinese menu. Bubble teas, smoothies and soy drinks (white or green) were not made with fresh fruits.

Bottom line – Pho HaDao anchors the Second Avenue Asian strip and that’s where one finds the best Vietnamese food in town.

Pho Hao Dao

1521 2^nd Avenue, 288-1277

Tues. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Sun. – Mon. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

A Food Lover’s Decade

When the last decade began, few people argued with a New York food critic’s assessment that “a gourmet trip across Iowa is non-stop.” At decade’s end, more semifinalists for the James Beard Award as Midwest’s Best Chef came from Des Moines than all but one other city (Minneapolis). In between, our food world turned upside down. Fishing moved indoors, hog farming returned outdoors. Cows were allowed to eat grass again and humans began to drink it. Iowa’s emerging wine industry survived the Chinese lady beetle while genetically modified seeds overcame the scorn of Europe to dominate Iowa agriculture. Best of all, an artisan food movement made Iowa products like La Quercia, Niman Pork, Eden Farms, Templeton Rye, Majinola, Sutliff, Cedar Ridge, Vande Rose and Northern Prairie into renowned brands of quality.

Earlier this month, the National Restaurant Association rated “locally grown entrees” as the number one food trend of 2009, followed by “locally sourced meat & seafood,” and “sustainability.” Cityview and its sister Relish rated those three things as Des Moines’ top food trends seven years ago. Foodwise, this city spent the 00’s way ahead of the national curve. That took individual vision and entrepreneurial fortitude, the best of which follows:

As bread rises from yeast, Des Moines’ culinary revival began in two bakeries. George Formaro reconstructed a Sicilian brick oven bakery on the southside while Joe and Steve Logsdon built a state of art French bakery on the east side. Together these “Catalysts of the Decade” spawned South Union Bakery Café, Centro, Django, Gateway Market Cafe, Basil Prosperi, Lucca and La Mie.

Renaissances can’t live by bread alone. Formaro and the Logsdons’ genii were sustained by entrepreneurs whose visions covered a broader aesthetic. Minimalist architect Kirk Blunck preserved the historic integrity of East Village. His designs for Basil Prosperi and Lucca made those cafés into anchors of that neighborhood revival. Pam & Harry Bookey defied the city-endorsed forces of rubble lust to save the Temple of the Performing Arts while creating Centro with Formaro. The Bookeys would later give Court Avenue its defining restaurant – Dos Rios. Blunck and the Bookeys were the “Visionaries of the Decade.”

Centro was “Restaurant of the Decade” for reviving the concept that downtown could again be the heart of Central Iowa, with coal oven pizza, chic trappings and a dedication to fresh & local foods.

Formaro was the “Chef of the Decade” for more reasons than we have room to recount.

Those visions might not have found financing were it not for a gang of friends collectively known as Full Court Press (FCP), the “Pioneer of the Decade.” When venture capital for local restaurants was directed toward “proven” franchise operations, FCP gave The 50309 a distinctive culinary personality. With sweat equity, they created Royal Mile, Hessen Haus, High Life Lounge, El Bait Shop and Sbrocco disproving the bankers’ myth that only cookie cutter operations were worth risk. FCP likely enabled other neighborhood developments like those that brought Café di Scala and Gateway Market to Sherman Hill), or those of our “Entrepreneur of Decade,” the Manuel Mora family, who parlayed a small tienda and café into La Tapatia supermarket and its adjoining strip mall.

The “Story of the Decade” was the curious magnetism that attracted so many owner-chefs to Des Moines from the American South and even further away. Doug Smith (Cosi Cucina), Jeremy Morrow (Bistro 43, Star Bar, Azalea, etc.), Gary Hines (Bistro 43, Bistro Montage),

Andrew Meek (Sage, Sbrocco), Don Hensley (Danielle) and Rob Beasley (Varsity) all came from Dixie and raised the bar for fine dining here. Ephraim Malag (Oak Room), Miyabi Yamamoto (Miyabi 9), Liam Anivat (Cool Basil, etc.), Mao Heineman (King & I), Jesus Ojeda (El Chisme), Rosa Martinez (La Rosa) and Mark Lijadu (Jasmine Bowl) came further to upgrade our ethnic cuisine.

Runner-up for the story of the decade is the remarkable number of high quality food artisan start-up companies.

La Quercia Prosciutto, Northern Prairie Chevre, Reichert’s Dairy Aire,

Niman Ranch Pork, Eden Farms, VandeRose Farms, Majiola Wagyu, Becker Farm,

Templeton Rye, Iowa Bison and Aaron’s Best all made national names. The latter ended ignominiously in the number three story.  

The “Worst Idea” of the decade sprung from the Des Moines Public School System, which centralized its cafeterias, at huge expense, and expanded bussing to include the food our kids ate. That converted school lunches from homemade to reheated, while driving students off campus to fast food outlets.

Alba – Des Moines’ Restaurant of the Year

Photo courtesy GE Wattier

Occupying the north edge of East Village, Alba swaggers with edgy style. The venue is an architectural treasure, a Deco era Ford dealership dashingly redesigned by cutting edge architect Greg Wattier with orangewood tables, fishbowl windows, antique door ceiling tiles, curved walls, a door-less “private” room and oversized Tiki lounge of a bar.

The latter’s faux lava walls focus on the best table in town – a six seat semicircular bar bellying up to an immaculate open kitchen. This year, owner-chef Jason Simon recruited top new talent, including Scott Stroud, who had been a head chef at Dos Rios, and Greg Moore, who used to manage the bar at Centro. No place has better overall service.

Simon and three other chefs manage more than a 100 seats efficiently with a sensible menu of barely 20 items, brilliantly tweaked several times a year. Last spring’s tartare hamachi duo, with paprika aioli, mango paste, micro greens and blood orange segments was replaced in summer with a Kobe beef carpaccio, rolled and served gorgeously with a five pepper sauce, scallions, bulls blood beet sprouts and blood orange segment. This month, that became a carpaccio of bay scallops with lemon and fresh mint. Similarly tempura seafood fritters with mango morphed into chicken and chile fritters with tarragon aioli and pineapple.

Fabulous terrines changed during the year and included both duck and venison versions that accompanied wonderful home made crackers and mustards. Deviled eggs were served last spring with beets, pickled squash and blood oranges. Last week they came with chives, shallots and scallions.

Other memorable appetizers include braised pork belly on a frisee, radish and onion salad; warm goat cheese with prosciutto and chutney; and bruschetta with multiple chutneys plus a pear & chorizo ragu.

 Chorizo fries rank with Centro’s duck fries as the best in town. Butternut squash soup has developed into a super star. Most recently it was flavored with fennel and hand poured at my table over seared homemade cinnamon marshmallow – then topped with green apple slices. I matched that once with a warm salad of calamari, chorizo, spinach and pickled peppadew peppers in aged sherry vinaigrette.

“Soup & salad” never had it better in Des Moines.

Simon’s entrees evolved too. Huge seared scallops, accompanied last spring by a saffron-colored cauliflower puree with nuts, were served last week in a veal sauce, with sun dried tomatoes, leeks, potato gnocchi and petals of Brussels sprouts.

 Gnocchi have become an Alba signature and recently included: potato gnocchi in crème fraiche, with large prawns and truffle oil; and sweet potato gnocchi in brown butter with bacon and kale. Currently Simon’s best starch is a venison & pear ragu on homemade parpadelle with peppadews.

Alba steaks are bistro style. A ribeye came with a superb foie gras sauce earlier in the year. This month hanger steak was hard seared, sliced and served with mashed potatoes, tomatoes and kale. Braised and pulled veal breast was warmed in veal demiglace and served with leeks and tomato petals, plated with butternut squash and radicchio. Duck breast, cooked perfectly rare, was sliced and served on a heavenly shiitake risotto, with cranberries and fresh mint. Root vegetables were offered au gratin with kale, mushrooms, farro and Grana Padano.

Short ribs were braised in Guiness and wine, pulled and served in their jus on kale and home made spaetzels.

Desserts were all scratch made, even the ice creams and the syrups. They were more extravagant in size than style. The most innovative were layered panna cotta, mixed one time with fruit jelly and espresso cream, another time with root beer jelly and root beer syrup. Lava cake and claufoutis were more by the book.

Bottom line – Right now, Alba has an edge over other cafés in town.

Theme of the Year – Upping the Ante

2009 was a fabulous year for consumers as restaurants improved their games and cut their prices. Django began offering $1 oysters at happy hour and started a “no corkage fee” policy that spread. Splash, Fleming’s and Alba initiated sensational discounts on appetizers. Fixed price dinners at Bistro Montage and Centro offered better choices and lower prices, with more vegan offerings in Centro’s case. Half price wine nights at Dos Rios and Dish spread. Chuck’s upped its free jazz lineup. Free wine tastings escalated.

Chef of the Year – Troy Trostel (Greenbriar)
Trostel has won more culinary awards than anyone else in the state, including a pair of silver medals in the American Culinary Federation competitions and a national Beef Backers “chef of the year.” The top advocate for Iowa’s Majinola wagyu and Eden Farms pork, Trostel mixes classic European style with fresh and local ingredients and a knack with game. This year, all three Trostel restaurants (Greenbriar, Chip’s and Dish) innovated, introducing more bargain priced menus.

Best New Restaurant – BOS

This category has been so hot in recent years than restaurants as good as Alba, Sage and Azalea didn’t win. This year, most of the best “new” restaurants were turnkey operations – established cafes changed hands and menus but not much else. Tally’s (B&B), Timothy’s (Tedesco‘s), The Q (Town Hall), John & Nick’s (Vern’s), Margarita’s (Raul’s) and Jasmine Bowl (Florene’s) were the best of that bunch. Restaurants created from scratch included Sakari and BBQ2Die4, neither of which brought anything new to our culinary table. Overall the best new restaurant of 2009 is BOS. This dining room in Renaissance Savery Hotel combines fabulous ambiance with an eagerness to provide the best fresh and local ingredients, three meals a day, seven days a week.

Patisserie of the Year – La Mie

Joe Logsdon’s La Mie is a state treasure, probably the local place most likely to impress food snobs from the coasts. This year Logsdon dared changed some classic French pastry recipes, and improved them.

Rising Stars -  Anthony Johnson (Mojo’s) and Jed Hoffman (Dish)

Like a testimony for the Iowa Culinary Institute, these chefs seamlessly took over major Iowa kitchens before leaving their mid-20’s.

Farm of the Year – Butcher Crick

Jennie Smith gave farming a new, young look this year. Her devotion to heirlooms and rare seeds caught the eye of many top restaurants and media.

Best New Chain – Smashburger

This back to the future burger joint makes a better sandwich the old fashioned way.

Promotion of the Year – Italian wine dinners at Café di Scala

Tony Lemmo visited the boot of Europe to keep one of America’s best (all Italian) wine lists contemporary. Chef Phil Shires food pairings were sensational. Honorable mention: 10^th Street’s Local Ingredient of the Week.

Technology of the Year – Coca Cola’s Free Style
If you haven’t seen this yet, just wait. Borrowing medical technology from intravenous feeding devices, Coke’s new machines let customers create soda fountain beverages from scores of choices and flavors, while increasing Coke business by leaps and bounds.

Best New Design – BOS by Spaces Design Group

BOS fuses Neo Renaissance and Deco designs into a cosmopolitan ambiance befitting a downtown hotel. Original art, by TJ Moberg and Tom Moberg, played surrealistically off Deco fixtures. Honorable Mentions: BBQ2DIE4 for its devotion to high end, real guy stuff; Smokey Row for combining friendly Wi-Fi connections with historic restorations.

Thanks for the Memories
Sage, Robin’s Wood Oven Grill, Michael’s, Maverick Grill, Mosaix, Crave Italian-American, Simo’s, Skybox, Vern’s, Town Hall, Torocco, Frank’s Pizza, Mexico Viejo, Chef Joe’s, Boilin’ Catfish, Mythos, Florene’s, B&B, Bella Petras, Zen Sushi & Noodle Bar.