Food Dude’s
best of 2006
 Best
new restaurant — Lucca
During the 13 years we’ve been
compiling “Best of” lists, this
category presented some really
tough choices when superb restaurants
opened in clusters. Danielle,
Sage, Mezzodi’s, Bistro Montage,
43, Cajun Specialty Meats &
Seafood and Yamananem’s all opened
in 2001. Then Dish, Star Bar,
Café di Scala, Chef’s Kitchen
and 777 all came along four years
later. By contrast, 2006 was a
two horse race.
While several new places added
missing ingredients to the community
pantry, Joseph’s redefined romantic
dining and Lucca became an instant
cultural icon, to win by a neck.
The East Village restaurant’s
architectural restoration, by
Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck, dazzled
while still keeping faith with
minimalism — the bathrooms look
like something Donald Judd might
have dropped off. While chefs
came and went, Steve Logsdon kept
that distraction invisible to
most customers. The cheese cave,
the in-house pastry work, the
exclusive relationship with Coyote
Run’s organic farm and the splendid
grand piano were all in a class
of their own. So was the zeitgeist
— this became the place to be
and to be seen.
The
rest of the top 10
Joseph’s, Sonny’s Bistro, Sweet
Binney’s, Coach’s Corner, Namaste,
Spaghetti’s, Crave Italian-American,
Wong’s Chopsticks and Amici Espresso
(yes, the espresso IS that good).
People of the year —
the Mora family and the James
family
Five years ago the Manuel Mora
family moved the small tienda
and café into their newly
constructed La Tapatio supermarket
(with one of the best take-out
delis anywhere). Now they are
about to open a brand new $1 million
strip mall west of it. The speed
with which this private project
developed, compared with a similar
public-aided project on East Grand,
portends good things for the entrepreneurial
future of East Des Moines, at
least in “Jaliscolito.” Similarly,
Dogtown got a huge boost this
year when the Phil and Larry James
families opened Mars Café
in the midst of their stylish
restoration-construction of University
Avenue between 23rd and 24th streets.
Significantly, the James’ did
this without taking developer
fees and with almost no public
assistance. They stand in dramatic
contrast to more politically savvy
developers who have become adept
at influencing tax breaks and
public grants that negate their
personal risk, while securing
profits off the top. The Mora
and James families are “all-in”
creating jobs and multi-ethnic
businesses (many food-related)
in parts of town where fatter
cats fear to tread.
Milestones
• After 10 years of subsidizing
a living history hotel and restaurant,
the Ahmanson family decided to
“close” (sell) the Hotel Pattee.
We thank them for the long bargain
ride.
• Chuck’s celebrated its
golden anniversary as the server
of the city’s finest pizza, and
as the beating heart of Highland
Park
• Noah’s re-opened after a fire
as the west side of Des Moines
sighed in relief.
• After Four Seasons and Bakers
both closed, Crouse Café
in Indianola became grand dame
of Central Iowa diners, with the
last of homemade pie racks.
• Chocolaterie Stam moved
to exclusive use of local, free-ranged
cows’ milk in their wonderful
gelatos.
• Goats became the fastest growing
segment of the Iowa livestock
industry.
• Ames and Roosevelt Farmers
Markets went natural, requiring
vendors to actually produce their
produce.
• Iowa got back in the distillery
business (and not just for automobiles)
when Templeton Rye Whiskey was
revived in Carroll County.
Trend of the year — barbecue
Four brand new Q’s opened this
year — just in Ankeny!
Best new corporate carpetbagger
— Bandana’s
This St. Louis company knows its
P’s (boiled peanuts) and Q’s.
Fast food trend of the
year — deli-style sandwiches
KFC got the headlines by finding
a hydrogenated oil without trans
fats, but this was the big move
in the industry.
Service trend of the
year
Curbside pick-up. Cell phones
+ speed dial = an upscale makeover
for the drive-by culture.
Top
Food Stories
“Rise and fall of Denise
O’Brien”
The Democratic candidate for Secretary
of Agriculture caught the populist
fancy with a dramatic primary
election upset. She articulated
an alternative vision to that
of converting Iowa’s rich black
dirt into a giant ethanol pipeline.
She reminded us of the consequences
of turning the once proud profession
of farming, where the majority
of Iowans made good money at proud
work, into a new kind of mining
in which a few industrialists
exploit our natural resources
with underpaid laborers. Then
O’Brien ran a stubborn, arrogant
campaign and managed to let a
Republican beat her up during
a perfect political storm for
Democrats.
“World Food Prize goes
chemical”
The World Food Prize cuddled closer
to industrialism and further from
sustainability. The 2006 prize
honored its most controversial
beneficiaries ever — the main
players in the chemically-induced
conversion of Brazil’s Cerrado
from an endemic ecosystem into
the world’s largest soy plantation,
complete with slaves and massive
corruption. Ironically, the Nobel
Peace Prize was given this year
to a past-WFP laureate, from the
days when the food prize was more
about empowering poor farmers
than justifying industrial agriculture.
“Lucca opens”
And East Village got its groove
back.
“East Side fights back”
After three institutions (Four
Seasons, Hilltop and Paccheno’s)
with four score and plenty years
of service to the East Side announced
closings, that neighborhood fought
back: D’s Main Gate Lounge, previously
known as a NASCAR bar, began serving
breakfast and lunch; Waveland
East was recruited to the Four
Seasons venue; and East Side Grill
& Vineyard opened with the
same friendly style of Four Seasons.
“ICI doffs its toque”
Des Moines Area Community College
upgraded Robert Anderson’s crack
culinary academy, doubling its
size while bestowing an arty new
name — Iowa Culinary Institute
— and logo.
“ISU discovers third
crop”
Iowa State University and the
Leopold Center found a cure for
Iowa’s dependence on two crop
agriculture: Field peas are a
short season crop that can be
grown before late-planting soy
beans and stored when bins are
empty. Humans and, more importantly,
pigs eat them — at significant
savings compared to grain.
Thanks for the memories…
We will miss Baker’s Cafeteria,
The Crystal Tree, Dotty’s DoNuts
(now sold at South Philly), Four
Seasons Diner, Hilltop Lounge
and Restaurant, Gaucho’s, Wine
Experience at Sherwood Forest,
Coffee Merchant, Westy’s and Five
& Diner. CV
By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com
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