By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

Chef Al Franco is a talent. Foodies know him from the Downtown Farmers' Market where he sold his homemade sausage, marinara, ravioli, sandwiches and other specialties. He also used to wholesale homemade specialty pasta to places like Baratta's, Sam & Gabe's and Cafè di Scala. But now he's given that up to run a cafè in the state historical building for South Side legend Baratta's.

Cafè Baratta's is open for breakfast and lunch and the word-of-mouth buzz has revived a venue where leases have rarely been renewed in the past. Because of the hours and the location, the restaurant has a bit of a tearoom ambiance. The dining room has spectacular windows facing the capitol grounds. The ceiling looks like a Martin Puryear sculpture, with angled wood panels of various grains. Unlike previous tenants, Franco promises that the magnificent terrace, a highlight of this architectural gem, will be fully utilized come fine weather, with outdoor grilling, etc.

His menu is short, mixing tearoom standards with some heartier plates. It's also temporary. No matter how popular a dish becomes - and his Japanese eggplant Parmesan is already selling out daily -Franco will replace it after two months. "I'll just have to come up with something better," he says, adding that challenges keep a kitchen innovative.

Breakfast's star attraction was a bagel, served with home-smoked salmon lox and homemade fromage blanc, plus onions and tomato dressing. The home-baked cinnamon rolls stood out, served with marscapone. There was a quiche of the day, plus homemade coffeecakes, scones and muffins.

Lunch brings us back to the eggplant, a fresh approach to a dish that is rarely treated with the respect it deserves. Franco shaves the elongated eggplants and layers their shavings with his homemade ricotta, mozzarella, marinara, Parmesan and a horizontal slice of eggplant. It's baked and served with a drizzle of marinara and a slice of focaccia. The layers of eggplant shavings were chewy and flavorful in their own right, something that most chefs lose to the habit of breading and frying.

Soups were winter blessings. An Italian sausage soup coaxed all kinds of flavors into its light, non-tomato broth. French onion soup got a classical treatment. Daily specials came from the blue-plate school, bargains at $5.95. I tried good roast pork in rich pan gravy, with grilled onions, carrots and Parisienne potatoes. Less successful was a baked chicken breast served with severely overcooked rice. A Maytag bleu cheese cake and a crispy duck salad, in fresh cranberry dressing, drew good reviews. Sandwich offerings included home-smoked salmon panini and turkey clubs, plus a wrap of the day. Waldorf chicken salad was straight from the Younkers Tea Room archives.

Bread pudding contrasted the textures of Franco's cinnamon rolls, orange blossom muffins and dried currant scones. He covered these with a Meyer's rum sauce and dressed it with whipped cream, sadly artificial. Cheesecakes and chocolate tortes were house made too.

Service is not at the level of the food, closer to what one expects from a
government bureaucracy. On occasion my entrèe was served the same time as my soup. When I wanted to ask if another entrèe could be reheated, there was no one around. Our check came before anyone even asked how things were. No one offered butter or oil for the bread. Warm food was served on cold plates, and vice versa.

Food news

Basil Prosperi owner Steve Logsdon is partnering with Minneapolis' Didier Rosada, the renowned coach of America's Prix d'Or pastry team, on Des Moines' first boulangerie-patisserie artisinale. That bakery genre is revered in France where it is defined by law. It means Des Moines will soon have a store practicing the most sophisticated of the pastry arts. Logsdon said the location is not finalized, but promised it would be "in Des Moines, not the suburbs." Basil's will continue as a bread bakery and lunch spot. CV

Comment on this story | Return to top