Taste!
To Go
 Throughout
the 1971 movie “The Marriage of
a Young Stockbroker,” a self-absorbed
couple frets over which caterer
to hire for a house party. Should
they go with the famous omelet
buffet guy, or is that passé?
At the time, I found them hopelessly
frivolous, but my buddy Mike thought
they represented a higher level
of civilization than what was
then available in Des Moines.
He left the movie declaring, “I
don’t ever again want to live
in a town where choosing a caterer
is NOT a serious dilemma.” He
never did, either.
If he were still alive, Mike
might finally be comfortable again
in Des Moines. Although Hy-Vee
is still probably handling half
the catered parties in Iowa, options
here have recently upgraded. A
few years ago, doing something
special meant LaValle’s or Winston’s,
and that was pretty much it. Then
Flying Mango led the smokehouses-on-wheels
craze into a stampede of barbecue
options, Sweet Binney’s upgraded
breakfast and dessert services
and a number of immigrant operations
opened up a new world of tastes.
No caterer, though, offers more
creative or conscientious style
than Taste! To Go.
Sisters Emily Gross and Andrea
Williams worked with star chefs
Jeremy Morrow and Gary Hines (Bistro
43 and Bistro Montage) before
opening their store across the
street from Drake University’s
library a few years ago. They
originally served lunch and dinner
on weekdays, with what were then
the town’s best fish tacos and
fresh cut pommes frites. The catering
business grew until it became
the whole show. In fact, they
have been almost fully booked
this month, with two parties a
night.
They make everything from scratch
— that means each pastry is hand
made, each hors d’oeuvre is hand
crafted. They take no short cuts
either. For instance, their baked
brie is cooked in a pastry shell.
They even make sorbets from scratch,
and Williams’s grapefruit sorbet
has quite a reputation. They offer
an all-Iowa service, that means
Iowa-grown products from places
like Cleverley Farms, La Quercia
prosciutto, Hilltop Farms, Golden
Ridge Cheese and Cloverleaf dairy.
They have a shopping eye that
defies logic. How they find perfectly
ripe fruit in December is either
a secret they won’t reveal or
black magic.
Some of their specialties are
running off word-of-mouth. I heard
one host complain that the sisters’
skewered pistachio-covered grapes
caused a commotion of distraction.
Their bacon-wrapped figs, with
blue cheese and walnuts, are scene
crashers. Like their macaroni
and cheese bites, in cups of Parmesan
cheese. And their lamb chops in
martini glasses, their prosciutto-wrapped
tiger shrimp and their tuna lollipops.
I could go on.
Since omelet stations are indeed
passé now, the sisters
specialize in mashed potato buffets,
with Yukon gold spuds and myriad
accents. They also have mastered
a trick that virtually no diner
has ever figured out — making
a lean roast round of beef taste
so tender and juicy that guests
mistake it for brisket. That’s
another secret they aren’t sharing.
Mousse in cups, mini tarts and
finger-sized bites of fruit compote
are too rich for a single bite,
but that’s still how one eats
them. Their signature sweet treat,
though, is chocolate sushi, with
sticky rice, fruit and almonds.
Finish that with a barista-quality
espresso and one can almost stop
missing the fish tacos.
Food skinny
Star Bar owners Jeremy Morrow
and Mike Hutchinson are planning
March openings for three new businesses
in the renovated Kirkwood Hotel:
a noodle-sushi bar, a Northern
California-style restaurant and
a ballroom. … Zanzibar owner Julie
McGuire warns that one of the
stupidest ideas in food history
is back for Christmas. Percolators
made such bad brews that American
coffee consumption dropped off
by two-thirds during their first
run of popularity. Retro devotees
apparently aren’t in it for the
taste. … Hal Jasa’s New Year’s
Eve benefit extravaganza is looking
like a high-water mark for Iowa
foodie decadence. He’s offering
an exotic 35-item menu, which
pays homage to foie gras, Feran
Adria, Bacchus and just about
every forbidden fruit you can
imagine. Reservations ($250) and
details: www.desmoinesunderground.com
or (817) 689-2912. CV
By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com
Comment
on this story | Return
to top |
