By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

Two recent restaurant makeovers are good news for Des Moines diners. 25th Street Cafè made changes significant enough that owner-chef Enosh Kelley considered a new name. In the end, he rejected that idea, but clearly divided the place into two distinct rooms with different menus. Tandoor's reinvention was less obvious, changing ownership and personnel, but not the physicality of the place. In fact, you might not notice at all until you taste the food.

At 25th Street Cafè, quality was never a problem but niche finding was. Its upscale menu wasn't working in the city's youngest neighborhood. Kelley had employed two young, high-profile chefs de cuisine there. Hal Jasa and Jon Benedict both brought a flair and panache to the restaurant, but, other than Sunday brunches, the double-bay space in Dogtown was rarely packed. So Kelley remodeled one side, installing booths and upgrading the bar. More significantly, he took over the kitchen himself and implemented a new emphasis.

"I always wanted this to be more of a cafè. It's not the right place for $100 tasting menus. I want something more family- and neighborhood-oriented," he says, mentioning Chef's Cafè in Beaverdale as a vague model.

There are some holdovers from the upscale days, but a more down-to-earth menu has been added and emphasized. The signature beef tenderloin with beet barley risoto ($29) is still available, but braises, pasta and pizza are now dominant, and hold within the family-friendly $11-$14 price range. Sheeder Farm chicken and duck are still featured. "Soba and chicken" has been added to fill a niche in its own rite. The kitchen still bakes some of the best pastries and breads in town and makes homemade ice cream and sorbet.

On the bar side of the cafè, I discovered something we have been searching long and hard to find - a pork tenderloin sandwich worth recommending to visitors from out of town. This is the essence of good cafè food - something simple that is done extraordinarily well: a hand-cut, thick pork loin, breaded and fried crisply. The accompanying fries didn't measure up, though, not in post-Dish Des Moines.

At Tandoor, things had slipped enough in quality that readers started asking us about it over the winter. Business was down when we visited in January. But, the bad news is all history now. Former manager Faraz, who had been pushed out a year earlier, recently purchased the restaurant. When Faraz left, chef Sheik Naseem did, too. Faraz kept the old name and menu, but started over, with new leases on the property and on life. Plus he talked Naseem into returning from California. On three recent visits, things were as brilliant as ever. It is again state-of-the-art Indo-Pakistani cuisine. Dazzling tandoori specialties, brilliantly colored and tender to the bone (there are also boneless versions) were back, even on the lunch buffet. Breads were consistently delivered to our table still hot from the oven. The vegetarian offerings, not for vegans, were as decadent as a sultan's table. Dhals of lentil, chickpeas and beans made me giddy. Graham flour pakoras of chicken, potato and onion are all fried crisp without a drip of oiliness.

Superb karhais (Kashmiri Dutch oven dishes), kebabs, curries and paneers of homemade cheese have all returned with the chef. Khir (rice pudding) and mango pudding have special touches, like essence of rosewater. Faraz runs the room like an old Italian pro, remembering everyone's name and preferences. The word is getting out, too, as crowds have been picking up again - especially on the patio. Tandoor has one of the best in town.

25th Street Cafè, 1229 25th, 255-0535
Tues.-Thurs.: 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat.: 5-11 p.m.; Sun.: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Tandoor
1221 Eighth St., West Des Moines, 440-2911
Tues.-Sun.; 11a.m. -2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.

Food News

Also on Eighth Street, Executive Chef Mike McGuigan has left Fratello's...We also heard about preliminary discussions for an Eighth Street food festival/block party, that could include Jimmy's, Garcia's, Tandoor and Fratello's. CV

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