Ambiance abounds at the
Lagniappe’s Roof Garden. |
State of the art of outdoor
dining
Despite all the rain, I’ve received
a surge of inquiries about places
to dine outdoors. Lots of new
outdoor areas have opened in the
last year, so I spent a week eating
every meal outside. This is the
state of the art.
Best All Around (Food & Design)
— Dos Rios (316 Court Ave., 282-2995)
and Jethro’s BBQ and Sports Bar
(3102 Forest Ave., 279-3300).
The best new restaurant of 2007,
Dos Rios combines fresh and local
products with meticulously researched
Jaliscan recipes and a world-class
tequila selection. In the first
building on Court Avenue that
was actually designed to accommodate
outdoor dining, it has the only
sidewalk service area that is
wider than a single row.
Jethro’s is the best new restaurant
we’ve reviewed so far this year.
With wonderful scratch side dishes,
Drake’s neighborhood sports bar
outperforms all barbecue and sports
bar chain restaurants as dramatically
as Drake’s athletic teams outperformed
their big budget rivals in Ames
and Iowa City last year. Last
week, Jethro’s added an excellent
large patio, completely shaded
from the sun and rain.
Best Design — Baratta’s at the
State of Iowa Historical Building
(600 East Locust, 281-3294) and
Lagniappe Roof Garden (112 5th
St., West Des Moines, 277-0047).
Both places won architectural
accolades and government awards.
The terraced patio adjoining Baratta’s
has the best urban view in all
Iowa with perfect sight lines
to both Capitol Hill and the downtown
skyline. Their menu included pastries,
full lunch service and catered
desserts. Lagniappe’s terraced
roof garden rewrites the book
of ambiance for coffee drinking
and wine sipping. Ironically,
they have no kitchen despite occupying
a venue that housed one of the
trend setting cafes in metro history
— 112. They do plan to offer catered
accompaniments for both their
coffee bar and excellent wine
list.
Best Restaurant with Outdoor
Tables — Bistro Montage ( 2724
Ingersoll Ave., 557-1924). Because
they are unafraid to rewrite their
menu and introduce new dishes,
I could easily argue this is now
the best restaurant in Iowa. Their
new un-shaded, outdoor seating
area lacks the charm of the indoor
space, but one comes for the food.
Most Versatile — B & B (2712
Beaver Ave., 255-8521). Two new
outdoor spaces complete B &
B impressive expansion. Once a
lunch counter, this is now a charming
restaurant with multiple personalities:
A beach bar roof garden served
a limited menu. A shaded, street
level patio provided full steakhouse-barbecue
service, in environmentally happy
style.
Most Interactive — Trophy’s Sports
Bar (2701 Douglas Ave., 255-1112).
I had driven by Plaza Bowling
Lanes for years but I had no idea
how cool this place is, probably
because I don’t play beach tennis,
volleyball, baggo or sand football.
Trophy’s shaded, all wood outdoor
dining area observes a grassy
terrace and multiple sand game
courts. Bike Night and karaoke
broke out while I sampled a surprisingly
good $11 ribeye dinner special
and a grinder that impersonated
a Sloppy Joe. I returned for a
good breakfast (weekends only).
Most Political — Parrot Head
Burger Barge (Franklin at Second
Ave., 875-5226). This seasonal
grill convinced much of Des Moines
that exotic burgers should only
be eaten only in warm weather
months. It’s now a political potato
hotter than its poker chip French
fries. Because Parrot Head is
considered an institution docked
in a bait shop parking spot, fans
hope it will be “grand fathered”
into Des Moines’ new mobile vendor
ordinances. Since those laws are
criticized for discriminating
against Hispanics, it’s going
to be hard for authorities to
allow the Parrot to keep his perch.
Side dishes
Ames’ Eric Ziebold, who began
his career at Aunt Maude’s, became
Central Iowa’s first “James Beard
Award” winner last week when he
was named “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic”
for his work at CityZen in Washington,
D.C. Former Iowan Fritz Maytag
was later given the Beard Society’s
“Lifetime Achievement Award”.
… Baskin Robbins returned to the
Des Moines city limits after years
away, opening on Fleur Drive.
CV
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