Fong's Pizza
223 Fourth St., 323-3333
Sunday through Wednesday
11 to 2 a.m. and Thursday
through Saturday 11 to 3
a.m. |
The new and the old on
Court Avenue - Fourth Street T
Each year, along with several
thousand high school wrestling
fans, I spend the third week of
February eating on the Court Avenue
- Fourth Street T. My psychologist
suggests it's just a perverse
reaction to watching wrestlers
spitting and starving themselves,
but I think it's a great way to
discover what foods are hot with
Middle America.
Either way, Spaghetti Works was
still the main attraction for
this crowd, though its lines were
not nearly as long as they were
last decade. One fan told me he
has made wrestling week pilgrimages
to Spaghetti Works for 20 straight
years, but he now moves to Legends
after three plates of pasta -
"for the beer and sports."
Another family told me they almost
didn't come this year because
they no longer knew any wrestlers,
"but we needed a Hessen Haus
fix."
I was more interested in new stuff
like Fong's Pizza, Des Moines'
first Tiki bar in four decades.
An owner evoked the sacred Tiki
name of "Psycho Suzi's"
(Minneapolis) when talking about
inspirations. Fong's stirs its
Tiki with pre-Communist Chinese
pop. Some marvelous vintage posters
were imported from Shanghai, and
exotic drinks were served in Trader
Vic's-quality Tiki mugs ($15 deposit
required). A 96-ounce Funky Monkey
cost $20. A kamikaze was served
with a Japanese fighter pilot's
cap. Fong's appetizer menu maintained
the theme of strange partnerships.
Cheese sticks in egg roll wrappers,
Polynesian (Canadian bacon, pineapple
and Asiago), Happy Family and
Thai chicken pizza were offered
with more the traditional handmade
egg rolls and crab rangoon.
In the old Trattoria space, Chianti
also keeps the cross-cultural
theme going. Chianti's atmosphere
is small town, as in friendly
and gracious. The Robles' family
operated Three Nations cafˇ in
Dallas County before buying this
place, to which little has been
changed. Three cozy dining rooms
compensate for an underground
location with warm colors and
soft light. Chef Izequiel Robles,
who cooked at Trattoria for seven
years, added Mexican and Iowa
diner fare to an Italian menu.
My food was inconsistent. The
pork tenderloin delivered a sorry,
processed patty. Homemade spinach
fettuccini and ravioli tasted
as fresh as any in town. Enchiladas
and a burrito were all right but
not memorable.
On a wrestling posse's insistence,
I tried my first ever Royal Mile
"Ingelhoffer." Unique
to that pub, the sandwich combined
a house-recipe banger (sausage)
with ham and white cheddar, all
grilled and served on a hoagie.
It earned Royal Mile a place alongside
Django and Hessen Haus' in Des
Moines' hot dog hall of fame.
After sampling every homemade
brew downtown, another posse declared
Court Avenue Brewing Company's
(CABCO) Bourbon Barrel Brown Stout
"awesome." I never disagree
with wrestlers about beer, but
I was more excited to discover
CABCO using Vande Rose (Oskaloosa)
beef and pork. I tried their flat
iron steak on soba noodles in
miso. I think the idea was to
compensate for the chewier texture
of that cut of beef with the broth,
but next time I will order my
steak on the side.
Sbrocco had some interesting new
cheese and olive plates, all with
ranges of texture and bite. They
also have added several dinner
entrees to their lunch menu, all
priced under $10 - shepherd's
pie topped with mashed potatoes;
lamb-stuffed grape leaves with
a mash of three root vegetables
and, best of all, shrimp macque
choux (Cajun creamed corn) with
salt pork and andouille sausage.
Sbrocco's version had too much
cream and not enough creamed corn
for my taste, but this dish should
become a Corn State icon - and
not just on wrestling week.
_
Side Dishes
I asked six wrestling fans to
test six pizza pies from Court
Avenue and Fourth Street restaurants.
Four picked CABCO's "sausage
and pepperoni" as the best,
and two preferred Azalea's "duck
confit with caramelized onions."
All six ranked Fong's "popper"
pizza as second best. CV
Comment
on this story | Return
to top | 
