By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com
Dude’s
Best of 2007
Top New Restaurant —
Dos Rios
 George
Formaro, chef of 2007.
During the 14 years of these
reviews, this category presented
some tough choices. Sage, Bistro
Montage, 43, Mezzodi’s, Danielle
and Yamananem’s all opened in
2001. Four years later Dish, Café
di Scala, Star Bar and Chef’s
Kitchen all debuted. This year
tops them all though with Absolute
Flavors & Smokey D’s, AJ’s,
Azalea, El Corita, Gateway Market
Café, Grand Piano Bistro,
Lemongrass, Miyabi 9, Splash Raw
Bar, DuBay’s and Zen Sushi &
Noodle. A handful of those places
are good enough to win this distinction
some years. Azalea, Gateway and
Miyabi 9 all could have won most
years.
Dos Rios flooded the competition
this year. Karl Alterman’s Court
Avenue restaurant combines commitment
to sustainable and local foods
with devotion to the traditions
of Jalisco. Some foods (huitlacoche)
had never been served before in
Iowa restaurants. Some tequilas
had never been sold before in
the U.S. The restaurant opened
in October while its building
was still under construction.
Remarkable improvements have been
made since in acoustics, commitment
to sustainability, in tweaking
recipes, and in creating new specials.
Chef of the Year
— George Formaro
Formaro kept Centro among the
top local restaurants and South
Union at the top of deli choices
while also opening Gateway Market
Café — serving the city’s
best-ever, and most eclectic,
comfort food. In his spare time
he created a menu for the late-winter
opening of a new French restaurant.
Rising Star — Scott
Stroud, Dos Rios
This 22-year-old brings Bouchon
experience to Dos Rios specials,
which can out-rock the live music.
Top Chain Restaurant
— Fleming’s
In greater Des Moines, Fleming’s
has become the Warren Buffet of
corporate restaurants — a big
powerful player who behaves like
an ordinary good neighbor.
Top New Fast Food
Joint — Sushi Box
Reasonable sushi for the bargain
prices in Kaleidoscope Food Court.
Service Trend of the Year
— shorter hours
After years of expanded service,
many places reduced hours in 2007,
mostly after the new minimum wage
law.
Business Trend of
2007 — independence
The ratio of new independent
restaurants to corporate chain
restaurants increased dramatically
in the metro.
Local Kitchen Trend
of 2007 — charcuterie
Norwalk’s La Quercia introduced
several new products to America.
Brasserie announced that charcuterie
would be a focus of its new kitchen.
Bistro Montage, Gateway Market
Café, Dos Rios, Sage, Mojo’s
and several ethnic cafés
all delved deeper into the old
art.
Fast Food Trend of
the Year — diversified menus
What’s good for McDonald’s is
good for the industry. That means
espresso with fried chicken, salads
at burger joints, burritos and
ice cream for breakfast, etc.
Top Food Stories
Specialty markets come and go.
Four specialty grocery markets
opened in the metro this year
but two closed before cold weather.
Farm Bill turns Democrats into
Republicans and vice versa. The
Democrat-controlled House and
Senate approved Farm Bill legislation
that a Republican president from
Texas kept threatening to veto
because of lavish breaks for the
rich.
3. Big Ethanol demonizes Holocaust
hero. Swiss statesman Jean Ziegler
became a Nobel Prize candidate
for retrieving stolen assets for
Holocaust victims. When he questioned
the morality of ethanol subsidies
in rich nations, which drive up
food prices in poor nations, Big
Ag and their flunkies in the Iowa
press attacked, and smeared, the
messenger.
Conspiracy Theory
of the Year — Swift raids
A year after the federal government
raided ConAgra’s Swift plants
(and only Swift plants) across
America, suspicion grew that Tyson
and Cargill had been rewarded
for their superior acumen at insider-politics.
Quote & Book of
the Year
“Hospitality is present when
something happens for you. It
is absent when something happens
to you.” Danny Meyer, “Setting
the Table.”
Thanks for the Memories
Rick Murillo, Garcia’s, 25th
Street Café, Beggar’s Banquet,
Pat’s Corner Café, Cookery,
Off the Hook, Stella’s Blue Sky
Diner, 43, Dolce Vita, several
library coffeehouses. CV
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