Motley School Tavern
Serving common dishes uncommonly well Motley School Tavern does not take itself too seriously. Its name plays on Shakespeare’s motley fool, and the stock market analysis company of that name [...]
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Posted November 06, 2019in Food Dude
Posted October 02, 2019in Food Dude
Bistro Nomad
Stars of the appetizer menu included the pata de negro Iberico, the leg of the most coveted pig in the world for charcuterie. Bistro Nomad sits downtown with a view [...]
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Posted September 04, 2019in Food Dude
Cool Basil masters balance
The biggest Thai place in town is also my favorite. Forty years ago, Thai cuisine was a new thing in Des Moines. Prasong “Pak” Nurack and his wife, Beni, introduced [...]
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Posted July 31, 2019in Food Dude
Harbinger of less expensive things
For three years now, Harbinger is the only restaurant in Iowa whose chef has been recognized by the James Beard Awards as top 20 in the Midwest. It’s a 55-seater [...]
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Posted July 03, 2019in Food Dude
Trostel’s Greenbriar – culinary gunslinger
This place is on my list of top five restaurants in Iowa. July is America’s month of reckoning with all that is true and constant in our makeup. We celebrate [...]
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Posted June 05, 2019in Food Dude
Pad Thai Garden
Probably just what suburban diners want. Pad Thai is much more than a restaurant named for a famous dish. One of the world’s most famous inventions, Pad Thai is also [...]
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Posted May 01, 2019in Food Dude
Al Punto celebrates the Pampas
The most popular order is the Gaucho Experience. Al Punto is the first Argentine restaurant in central Iowa in a couple decades. It’s close to being the most thoroughly Argentine [...]
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Posted April 03, 2019in Food Dude
Tangerine and El Pollo Catracho
Des Moines’ food culture continues to diversify. Des Moines’ food culture has been diversifying and sophisticating for the last 15 years at a pace no one foresaw when it started. [...]
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Posted March 06, 2019in Food Dude
Panka brings Nikkei to town
Nikkei is the hottest kind of fusion cuisine in the world that has not yet visited Des Moines. Three of the most famous chefs in the world hang their hats [...]
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Posted February 06, 2019in Food Dude
Teddy Maroon’s and Wasabi Johnston raise their bars
Ten and 15 years ago, restaurants were trying to reinvent the wheel. Fusion was so free spirited that terrible mistakes were made. Remember bulgogi cupcakes, savory ice cream or haggis [...]
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