Posted December 09, 2015in Food Dude
During the current rancor about immigration laws for different ethnic groups, America’s history with such matters can be instructive. Few people today are aware that the Magnuson Act of 1943 repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. For the 62 intervening years, Chinese laborers were completely banned from entering the
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Posted December 02, 2015in Food Dude
Family-style Mexican restaurants in Des Moines seem to be copied from a single template. Can anyone tell the difference between recipes from Monterrey, La Hacienda, El Rodeo, Cinco de Mayo, Mazatlan, etc.? I can’t. Even their menus seem the same. There is a new chain in town that breaks out
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Posted November 25, 2015in Food Dude
“What cuisine does Des Moines lack most?” Ethiopian, South Indian and classical Turkish get mentioned frequently, but nothing pops up as often as Spanish. The Ethiopians, Tamils and Turks are moving on up now because Lurra Cocina has crossed Spanish cuisine off the city’s wish list. This is not a
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Posted November 18, 2015in Food Dude
The food business in the Jordan Creek area is so different from the inner city food business that one local restaurateur proposed a moratorium on new chains in the ’burbs and on new independents downtown. While a few excellent locals (Zombie Burger, Taste of New York, Wok in Motion) have
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Posted November 11, 2015in Food Dude
“The inevitable never happens, it is the unexpected always,” wrote economist John Maynard Keynes a century ago. Not much has changed in 100 years. Who foresaw the day when basketball players wore their pants below the knees and football players wore theirs above them? Or when the Des Moines Symphony
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Posted November 04, 2015in Food Dude
Too many restaurants try to do too many different things. Food writers call this “Cheese Factory Syndrome,” referring to menus so large they need book binders. Last week, I checked out some new restaurants in town that take the opposite direction, showing confidence that they can succeed by doing just
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Posted October 28, 2015in Food Dude
East Village’s restaurant scene has been developing in its own fashion. Unlike the west side of downtown, small restaurants pop up as often as places with hundreds of seats and James Beard Awards chefs. Because relatively smaller venues are available, interesting offbeat genres have a place in the village. Open
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Posted October 21, 2015in Food Dude
Some restaurants take confusing names. When Proof opened, it featured sandwiches, none of which used proofed bread. Scenic Route Bakery is in the middle of downtown. Bonefish Grill serves no bonefish and not too many kinds of seafood. It’s appreciated when a new restaurant let’s you know exactly what it
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Posted October 14, 2015in Food Dude
Iowa’s love affair with pizza is so intense today that young people can barely believe it when grandparents tell them about a day in the 1950s when they discovered the new miracle of baked flatbread with sauce, cheese and other toppings. Today pizza is being made from scratch in convenience
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Posted October 07, 2015in Featured Story, Food Dude
Two weeks ago, we wrote a paean here to the wind-grieved luncheonettes of central Iowa. We mentioned that they were victims of urban renewal and moms joining the workplace. One wily reader reminded us that we had forgotten a third likely reason for their demise in Des Moines — the
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