Something old. Something new. Both superb.

10/4/2023

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, that is realized through the farm’s stall at Downtown Farmers Market, Wednesday teas and Thursday farm-to-table dinners in the Des Moines Wallace House in Sherman Hill, plus Tuesday lunches and Friday Pizza on the Porch dinners at the Wallace farm in Orient. Those events help support the Center’s many programs, scholarships, internships and teaching programs. 

The Center carries on the legacy of three famous Wallace family members who together: revolutionized farming with hybrid innovations; founded Pioneer Seed (now part of Corteva); served as Vice President and Secretary of Agriculture; and founded Wallace Farmer magazine. 

For the last dozen years, the Wallace House has been managed by Carla Hicklin and the kitchen and farm by Katie Porter. Both retired last week. Things will continue under new leadership, but those women developed the public dinners into something very special, almost always sold out and wait-listed. Porter is one of the most talented chefs in Iowa and will be freelancing for a while. She was recently inducted into Les Dames d’Escoffier, the world’s ultimate recognition for female chefs and food professionals. 

We attended one of Porter’s final dinners. A cold cucumber soup, a great Iowa contribution to summer dining, starred. Pan roasted chicken, a trio of sliders (a Porter specialty), polenta, and pear tarts filled out a chance to see Katie off to her next phase of life. The holiday season dinners will recommence under a new chef/farmer in November. 

Either/Or opened in September in the former Advanced Auto venue by the volleyball and soccer fields south of Grand near 63rd. You have to go there if just to see what $3.5 million can do to an auto parts store. Slingshot Architects created two dining rooms and a 1,500-square-foot outdoor space with four different surfaces including a children’s playground with artificial turf. The result is the most eclectic dining space in town — part sports bar, part Machine Shed, part three-season patio and all fun. 

It continues a citywide upgrade of sports bar food. In fact, it takes that movement to a new level. Where else can you watch a game while munching caviar? That treat is California lake sturgeon and is created in a process that the Either/Or chef oversees. 

Most things do not try to reinvent the wheel, just make it better. Burgers are smash style and can get decadent with sauce and size. Fries are simply as good as they get. Corned beef sandwiches feature excellent homemade brisket and would be Reubens if they did not invent their own sauce to replace Russian dressing. They are skimpy on the corned beef by Des Moines standards. 

Finer dining options include a new take on de Burgo, with a vermouth-based sauce. It is served as steak frites with a New York strip. Sear was perfect. Sure, you can get wings or chips, but appetizers also include seared scallops, beef tartare and crispy pork belly. The latter reminded me of the legendary version of that dish from Momofuku. So much so I suspect this might be David Chang’s recipe. 

Momofuku uses it mostly in ramen, just saying. It’s soup season now, and the only soups I found on the menu were a fabulous mushroom velouté and a rice congee that reminds of San Francisco. Most Chinese cafés here don’t have congee. 

Desserts were all fine dining. Flan was the best I ever had with lemon instead of caramel sauce and puffed amaranth. Cheesecake is Basque with chocolate sauce and brown butter. Tres leches was made with bee pollen and lavender.

This place is special, and with 6,700 square feet of fun, it is ready to show that off. ♦

Jim Duncan is a food writer who has been covering the central Iowa scene for more than five decades.