Daddy O’s Bodacious
Foods
11305 N.W. 54th St., Grimes
Mon. - Tues. 10:30 a.m.
- 5 p.m.
Wed. - Thurs. 10:30 a.m.
- 7 p.m. Fri. - Sat. 10:30
a.m. - 8 p.m.
|
Daddy
O’s Bodacious Foods
After a recent review of Baker’s
Food & Fuel, readers convinced
me that gas station dining is
an important, under-reported restaurant
genre. One letter writer pointed
out that alternative papers in
other cities include “Gas Station
Food” on their “Best of” ballots.
Thank you all for making me aware
that Baker’s is not the only gas
station in the metro with a kitchen
of originality. For instance,
there’s the Swift Stop 3 Phillips
66 station at Exit 127 off Interstate
35/80. Thanks to vigilant reader
Steve C, that’s where I found
the latest avatar of 21st century
Iowa’s most popular new food religion
— barbecue.
Daddy O’s Bodacious Foods is
not related to a similarly named
barbecue that has been voted Denver’s
Best Gas Station Food. Nor is
it one of those quasi cowboy franchise
joints with imitation barn wood
paneling and waitresses in red
bandanas. It is a remarkably efficient
one-man operation that manages
to do things others say are impossible
to do with only two or three workers
— like deliver smoked meats, even
during lunch rush, that have not
been refrigerated, sliced, portion
controlled and reheated.
Daddy O’s cafeteria line offered
smoked and fried foods of distinction.
All smoked meats had been pulled
or chopped in their entirety.
Pulled pork included whole butts
with crusted ends mixed into tender
bone meat. That’s a typical treatment
for pork shoulders around here,
but Daddy O’s gave brisket the
same presentation. While I would
always prefer a freshly sliced
brisket like Uncle Wendell’s serves,
Daddy O’s method delivers juicier,
tender beef than most places around
here. I found the contrasting
flavors I expect in perfectly
smoked brisket without the dryness
that cold slicing and heavy trimming
delivers. Yes, this version is
probably higher in fat but no
one on a low cholesterol diet
should be ordering brisket or
dictating how the rest of us eat
it.
Similarly Daddy O’s barbecued
turkey was much juicier than most.
He sensibly smoked whole turkeys
on the bone and then mixed all
the meat together. Boneless, skinless
turkey breast is the worst idea
ever foisted on a barbecue pit.
It lacks the necessary fat to
endure long hours in a smokehouse
without drying out. Daddy O’s
turkey, like his other meats,
needed no sauce at all. Sensibly
they were served naked, with several
sauces (including an excellent
vinegar-base) on an excellent
condiment table that also included
treats for which one pays extra
at many places: cole slaw, pickles,
pickled banana peppers, jalapenos,
etc.
Other things were worth paying
extra, beginning with freshly
cut, home made potato chips, yam
fries, potato salad and hand cut,
hand breaded tenderloins. My chips
came hot from the fryer, heavily
seasoned. Other than fine dining
restaurants owned by Paul Trostel,
I don’t know another place in
town that makes potato chips from
fresh potatoes. Certainly no other
one-man operation in a gas station
does! Potato salad was distinctive.
I’d return to this place just
to demonstrate the differences
between yams and sweet potatoes
— two foods with no botanical
resemblances.
That’s about it for scratch
made foods here — this is a one-man
operation after all. There were
several prepped items for those
who want them — regular fries,
nuggets, wings, nachos, onion
rings, etc. This place acts as
home base for a catering business
so special orders are part of
the show — including freshly sliced
brisket.
Side dishes
Mariana’s taqueria moved to 1309
University Ave. Her old venue
at 23rd & University is now
Tacos Andreas. … Chef Terrie Kohl
will teach classes on March 20,
26 and 30 at Country Club Market.
$35 each — call 987-5957. … Global
grain stockpiles fell in 2007
to the lowest level since record
keeping began in 1960. … Rising
grain prices caused recent riots
in several Africa and Middle Eastern
countries and Russia introduced
basic food price controls. CV
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