By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

In greater Des Moines, restaurant buzz broadcasts on two frequencies. As one corporate chain after another opens its first Des Moines area outlet store, the high modulation of full orchestral branding power dominates the western third of the metro. East of far west, buzz plays on more familiar ranges, where Italian baritones sing their own tune. For 40 years after World War II, Des Moines restaurants of distinctive personality were almost always Calabrese. In the 1990s, chef-owned restaurants with a California emphasis on fresh-and-local ingredients stole the thunder. But buzz is as trendy as the people who hum to it, so it's about to shift again.

When Tony Lemmo opened Café Di Scala last month, he surfed a new wave of locally owned, chef-operated cafés about to refresh the city's shores. And, like George Formaro at Centro, Lemmo combines traditional Calabrese culinary style with the fresh-and-local California thing. Café di Scala is named for Lemmo's mother's family town in Calabria. Mom is a Lacona, as in Noah's, Mama's, etc. Tony's paternal grandparents owned Lemmo's on Indianola Road. That's pedigree.

Using the wind-grieved food court at Metro Market as his apprenticeship in restaurant ownership, Tony mastered homemade pasta, which he wholesales to other restaurants. Then he bought the beloved Victorian that housed Chat Noir and remodeled it, with an original flair that includes a handsome new porch. This has instantly become Des Moines' most stylish outdoor lounge.

His opening menu included just two salads, three antipasti, two pasta, four entrees and four desserts. This was a mature decision for a guy who can't even see age 30 yet. Lemmo the chef, for the time being, became Tony the host.

"There's just too much that can go wrong out here. I feel more confident being on the floor and with the short menu for now. But I miss being back in the kitchen," he says, sounding more like an old Calabrese restaurateur than a newfangled owner-chef.

The short menu misses no marks. Particularly exciting were the zucchini alla Griglia, flaky cakes stuffed with fresh slivers of squash and served with lemon aioli and marinara for dipping. Lemmo's bruscheta used Formaro's ciabatta, the closing of a circle of mutual admiration, as Centro uses Lemmo's cavatelli. The third appetizer was toasted ravioli, stuffed with Wallace Farms' grass-fed beef and fresh herbs.

Cavatelli is Tony's signature pasta, tossed with pecorino Romano and fresh basil. The second pasta was penne with pancetta, in a vodka cream sauce accented with fresh-made pesto, another signature of the chef that was also featured in the most exciting item on the menu.

Scala's maiale ripieno is the kind of dish that inspires copycats, like the original steak de Burgo in Des Moines did. This Iowa Farm Families' pork tenderloin was coated with an underpowering spread of pesto, fresh grapes and pine nuts and then rolled. It was served perfectly done, with a flavor-enhancing sear on the outside and a delicate pink inside. His beef dish was a flatiron steak in a brandied brown sauce. His chicken entrée stuffed a breast with prosciutto and hard Italian cheeses. The vegetarian entrée was a classic southern Italian melanzane, layering eggplant with several cheeses, marinara and garden vegetables. It should be noted that Lemmo's marinara did not win "best sauce" awards this year's at Festa Italiano, but he was too busy opening the café to enter.

Desserts included two that we recommend eating together. Strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar made a sweeter-than-expected pudding, the perfect accompaniment for a family recipe cannoli with almond chocolate and ricotta cream. Wine list ranges
$18 - $180.CV

FOOD NEWS

Those little stickers on each piece of supermarket fruit could soon be history. The industry is testing laser coding in a blueberry-based ink, permanently etched into the fruit skin.

Sage now has some hot seasonal items: Wild salmon from Olga Bay Alaska, off the coast of Kodiak Island; pan-roasted chukkar partridge breasts from Malloy Gamebirds in Rhodes; an heirloom tomato salad and vichyssoise with potatoes from Sunstead Farms in Waukee.

Silvestrini's Pizza has added a full bar, meaning you can now enjoy their homemade sausage and porketta (seasoned pulled pork) pizza with martinis as well as with beer.

Tacos is now Rey Colima (3310 E. 14th St.) with the same great tacos and an expanded menu that includes seafood fajitas, chile rellenos and mixed gorditas, plus menudo and birria on weekends. Prices are still muy bueno.

The Center for Consumer Freedom announced the "10 Dumbest Food Cop Ideas" of the year. Some of our favorite winners included: The Liberal Party of Canada for trying to pass an extra 8 percent "sin tax" on all restaurant meals costing less than $4, but exempting more expensive meals; Numerous U.S. school districts for banning diet sodas and replacing them with high-calorie juice and sports drinks; The Center for Science in the Public Interest for advocating that candy be sold like pornography, behind store counters; Walnut Creek Elementary School in Texas for banning the sharing of birthday cakes; and trial lawyer John Banzhaf for advocating a mass lawsuit against doctors for not adequately warning fat people about the dangers of food.

FOOD FACT

Fifteen percent of American farms today are run primarily by women, the highest percentage in history and triple that of 1978. It's even higher among organic farms, where 22 percent are managed by women. Analysts expect the ratios to rise as modern farming methods level the gender field.

Comment on this story | Return to top