Drake Diner anchors a neighborhood
Readers have alerted us about the avalanche of media interest in “the next new thing.” That is something that came with social media. Everyone with a smart phone is a [...]
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Posted March 06, 2024in Food Dude
Posted January 31, 2024in Food Dude
Romance by any other name…
Romance has been defined more ways than there are to ask for a date to the prom. Hollywood and the merchants of St. Valentine brand our young minds with very [...]
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Posted January 03, 2024in Food Dude
Kathmandu
Going to college in Hyderabad in the 1960s, there were many magical names calling my inner traveler — Ceylon, Burma, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Kerala, Puri. The most enticing of all [...]
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Posted December 06, 2023in Food Dude
Oak Park — an anthology of love stories
Oak Park opened in October generating more buzz than any restaurant since 801 Steak & Chop House opened in 1991. Much about the recent debut was remarkable. The restaurant was [...]
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Posted November 01, 2023in Food Dude
In the light of the dumpling moon
Early last month, NASA released the first-ever photos of Pan, the innermost moon of Saturn. To great surprise, the moon looks like a potsticker (gyoza in Japan). Asian media have [...]
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Posted October 04, 2023in Food Dude
Something old. Something new. Both superb.
Officially the Wallace Center’s mission is to “bring together diverse people and ideas to co-create solutions that build healthy farms, equitable economies, and resilient food systems.” For most of us, [...]
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Posted September 06, 2023in Food Dude
Grandeur and glamour west of town
When Jordan Creek Town Center was under construction the decade before its 2004 opening, developers told me they wanted to attract Ruth’s Chris Steak House so badly they offered incentives. [...]
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Posted August 02, 2023in Food Dude
Historic surprises — Two Iowa legacies morph deliciously.
The Chamberlain Pub is not like anything else in town. It occupies an historic building on Grand Avenue. The D.S. Chamberlain House at Wesley Acres is on the National Register of Historic Places. [...]
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Posted July 05, 2023in Food Dude
Summer sandwich world
Summer is sandwich time in Iowa. We consume more hot dogs, more burgers, more carryout and more sandwiches in the warm season, probably because we are looking for something to [...]
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Posted May 31, 2023in Food Dude
Road trip destinations
Road trips are for all seasons but winter. But without a truly special destination, why would we bother? Two places, one less than 40 miles from downtown, the other less [...]
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