Strudl Haus — a trip to Austria
Des Moines’ food scene began simply some 20 years ago with flour, yeast and water. Before George Formaro built a Sicilian-style brick oven and Steve and Joe Logsdon began [...]
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Posted January 07, 2015in Food Dude
Posted December 31, 2014in Food Dude
Restaurant love stories
On a recent visit to Lincoln, Nebraska, I stopped at a charming French café in the Indian Village neighborhood. The Normandy specializes in French comfort foods like cassoulet with [...]
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Posted December 24, 2014in Food Dude
Joe Tripp and other new year blessings
The old year goes out bestowing gifts to the local food scene. Michael Leo’s Strudl Haus returned after years in limbo. This time the Austrian chef’s divine pastries set [...]
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Posted December 17, 2014in Food Dude
Wobbly Boots BBQ
Theme restaurants originated with the best of intentions. By using trappings and menus from another time or place, they transported diners into a more romantic experience. New York City’s Russian [...]
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Posted December 10, 2014in Food Dude
Eatery A — new place of the year
Good new ideas enriched the local food scene this year. The Drake Law School premiered Second Course. Students learning about hunger, waste and food insecurity partnered with Sodexo and Eat [...]
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Posted December 03, 2014in Food Dude
Female empowerment — trend of the year
This year has been one of rising food prices and falling energy prices. That is an odd couple of economic indicators that are rarely allowed to hold hands in public. [...]
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Posted November 26, 2014in Food Dude
Hy-Vee Market Café
After touring northern Arkansas, I came home with a new appreciation for the basic comforts of our local food scene. For instance, I ate 13 meals in the Delta and [...]
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Posted November 19, 2014in Food Dude
November — the best month for dining out
In the local food scene, November anticipates the holiday season with a bevy of special events. Nonprofits try to squeeze fundraisers in before people’s discretionary income is distracted by Christmas [...]
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Posted November 12, 2014in Food Dude
World shrinking at Rolling Wok
Years before Prasong “Pak” Nurack would open Des Moines’ original Thai restaurant, and decades before he would become a Thai national senator, he ran a diner on Court Avenue called [...]
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Posted November 05, 2014in Food Dude
The scoop on soup
Readers have been asking about my favorite places for soup. I also recently ran across Fiona Kirk’s latest book, “Soup Can Make You Thin.” Kirk amused me a few years [...]
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