By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

It's tempting to describe the closing of Younkers Tea Room with Margaret Mitchell clichès: the end of an era; the passing of a way of life; etc. Frankly though, Joni Mitchell better explains the last days of the grand old downtown ballroom: "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you got till it's gone?"

Between the time that Younkers' parent company announced the closing and the final day of operation last week, business soared at the Tea Room. Emotional people filled the hallowed room to capacity, with waiting lists for one last communion with sticky rolls and ghosts. Many brought children too young to understand nostalgia's power to summon the glories of the past.

Where were all these people the last 10 years? Probably busy being human, chasing the next processed, programmed, test-marketed new thing by the mall. In its final years, the Tea Room was reduced to niche status, for foodies, curiosity seekers and odd-duck business meetings. We know a rare antiques dealer from New York City who went out of his way to visit Des Moines - simply to have lunch "where ladies still carry compact cases and powder their noses for the arrival of the pastry cart."

When I cooked at the Tea Room in the 1960s, it was directed by Escoffier-trained Andre Barrais. And while the Tea Room lost its French luster over the years, it always maintained a pastry chef, decorating an extraordinary dessert cart. Yet both the local media and the affluent shopper came to value the franchise, fast-food pastry concept over the Tea Room. Last year's opening of a Cheesecake Factory outlet was treated here like a major event, rather than a sorry settling for less.

To those parts of the civic brain that are ruled by emotions, the closing of the Tea Room changes our culinary culture as much as anything that has happened in the past 30 years, even the demise of Babe's. The rarebit burgers and chicken salad will become the culinary equivalence of Ante Bellum Tara, much better in romantic lore than they ever really were. The pragmatic parts of the civic mind are less affected. Downtown dining is healthy with Centro, Splash, 43, 801, the East Village and Court Avenue all having more distinctive character than anything in the suburbs. So if there is a void to fill, it is simply where to go now for long, gabby tearoom luncheons, with exceptional homemade desserts.

Desperately seeking the future of powdered noses, we visited Flarah's last week. The Beaverdale store began when caterer Erin Williamson outgrew her home kitchen. Her lunches are built around two of the Tea Room's signature items: good chicken salad and cheesecakes.
The lunches we had were quite nice - homemade soups had real stock flavor, a roast beef sandwich was house roasted without being over-cooked, a rare thing, and served on homemade ciabatta. It came with taro chips and a frozen fruit salad. Salads were both imaginative (strawberries and pecans with field greens in a raspberry cinnamon vinaigrette) and seasonal.

Williamson's desserts already have a following. We waited for a table. She makes 14 signature cheesecakes, plus "bars" (to-die-for brownies) and cookies. Flarah's offers all cheesecakes in small cupcake servings for $1. At a time when desserts hover close to the $10 plateau and one shuns them because of supersizing, this is an idea to hug. Less embraceable was her use of imitation whipped cream. That doesn't measure up to the pure scratch baking going on at La Mie, Basil and South Union, but we're hoping she'll work that kink out. CV

Food News

"Underground cafès" are officially the first major restaurant trend of the millennium, particularly hot in Los Angeles, but are catching on in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Dallas and Miami, too. Basically they amount to private dinner parties with a professional chef hired to handle the menu, shopping, cooking and cleanup. He is paid for his services and guests share the cost. There is no "restaurant" to be licensed and regulated. Former 801 Steak and Chop House chef Hal Jasa is running Des Moines' first underground restaurant, with a menu devoted to fresh and local ingredients. If you want to know more, ask him: (817) 689-2912.

Phat Chefs owner-chef Dean Richardson and Ingersoll Wine and Spirits are co-hosting an "All Iowa" dinner Aug. 15. Jasper and Tabor Home wines will be paired with: salads featuring Cleverly Farms greens from Mingo and Northern Prairie chevre from Woodward; BLT sliders, with Niman Ranch bacon from Thornton, La Mie's foccaccia and Cleverley's arugula; bone-in Niman pork chops, with fresh sweet corn relish and local potatoes; deep dish apple tarts with Richardson's home-made ginger vanilla bean ice cream. $45. Reservations: 327-9211 or 327- 9191.

Tom Osborne, the once and eternal king of Nebraska football, now has a game plan to end hunger in America. The congressman is sponsoring the Hunger-Free Communities Act that would provide grants, technical assistance and the production of an annual hunger report.

El Dorado Mexican Restaurant (4345 Merle Hay) advertises that it carries all Mexican beers and tequilas. We'll take their word for that and commend their tongue tacos and sports bar class TV.

Food Fact

Total U.S. production of ice cream and frozen desserts in 2004 was 1.6 billion gallons, or 21.5 quarts per person. The U.S. ice cream industry uses 9 percent of all milk produced by American dairy farmers and generates $20 billion in annual sales.

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