By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

Café Shi

Café Shi 2514 Chamberlain Street, Ames (515) 292-2066 Mon. - Sat.: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Mon. - Thurs.: 5-9 p.m., Fri. - Sat.: 5-10 p.m.

Although Café Shi's menu includes a few dishes from Southeast Asia, owner-chef Hong Willer's native land, it's hardly a Vietnamese café. Willer is a French-flavored graduate of the Iowa Culinary Institute. Her son and chef Daniel is also a culinary academy graduate, and several dishes are distinguished by classical sauces and stocks. But Café Shi's short menu comes from the whole planet, appropriate for the international campus town of Ames.

Appetizers best demonstrated the café's global reach. Eight choices included familiar dishes from Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Italian, Cajun and Middle American cuisines - namely sushi, pork ribs, spring rolls, Brie, bruschetta, shrimp cocktails (with a pure Remoulade), and artichoke dip. On lunch visits, specials added Cuban and Southwestern dishes, too. That might not seem commendably unique, but it is and here's why: A restaurant industry trend toward pre-processed foods has made it possible for chains to offer encyclopedic menu choices of everything under the sun. An untrained chef can handle simple reheating. Café Shi makes everything from bone scratch. The only other kitchen in Central Iowa that rivals Willer's eclecticism, from scratch, is that of Jeremy Morrow at Star Bar.

Other unusual touches at Café Shi reflect its unique community. Egg rolls and spring rolls were sold individually, so single diners need not order and an entire plate. Café Shi offered 17 wines by the glass ($4 - $6). Only five wines were sold by the bottle, but they included the Sokol Blosser's Evolution, a nine-grape blend from Oregon that has become quite popular in better Asian restaurants. It's not as sweet as zinfandel, as off-smelling as chardonnay, nor as dry as Riesling.

Soups were special. We've tried a chicken noodle (a daily special) and the signature pho, which was rich in broth and served in most civilized fashion, with the hoisin, Srichacha and fish sauce in china ramekins. But I actually missed the tell-tale glimmer of the fat that floats on top of the bowl in most Vietnamese cafés. Our request for rare beef on the side came well done. Still, the basil, mint and sprouts served here were fresher than in other places we've tried pho in the metro, and the flavor of the stock was deep.

"East meets West" salad presented a chicken breast covered with greens, blue cheese and ginger-chili sauce. I much preferred the busy-ness in the salmon salad that added couscous, toasted almonds and dried fruits to greens and citrus vinaigrette. Spare ribs were served with an excellent cucumber kim chi.

Café Shi's dinner entrees were all priced under $14 and all included a salad. A pan-fried Normandy chicken breast, in a mushroom cream sauce that had been spiked with an apple cider reduction, was a marvel of multiple textures. Salmon rolls were also impressive, wrapped in rice paper, baked and served with vegetable quinoa. Steak Diane and coconut-lemongrass vegetarian curry (where else are they on the same menu?) were by the book, albeit very different books.

Willer's pork tenderloin demonstrated how ethnic cuisine can accommodate broader audiences without changing its DNA. Her version of the Iowa classic was given an Asian treatment, not in the condescending manner of chains that douse things with hoisin sauce, but philosophically and invisibly. Two large pieces (on a lunch portion sandwich) were given perfect sear on both sides, the kind one only gets in a very hot wok or cast iron skillet, then served with kim chi of carrots, peppers and onions. Dinner's pork au poivre was similar, with a peppercorn-laden loin seared and served with perfectly caramelized leeks. Roasted potatoes and cooked apples completed the bargain ($12.95) dish.

Food Skinny

French Sunday lunches return next week to the Iowa Culinary Academy (Building 7 at DMACC Ankeny campus) - $35 includes wine. Reservations and schedule: Ici.dmacc.edu. ... Phat Chef's (1300 50th, WDM) celebrates the duck with a four- course fixed-price special dinner Oct. 26, and $55 includes wine parings. Call 327-9211. ... When Pigs Fly Bar.B.Que, boasting the "best sides in town," opened at 4640 N.W. 86th St. in Urbandale. Call 278-9777 or visit www.whenpigsflybarbq.com. CV

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