La Mie remains true to its French roots

Because we have been covering the local food scene since the late 1980s, we’re often asked what jump-started the Des Moines restaurant renaissance. Good bread is our best answer.

A quarter century ago, I ran into philanthropist Maddie Glazer several times on connecting flights home through O’Hare. We both usually carried on bread, usually from San Francisco in my case and New York in hers. Des Moines bread at that time was best covered by Fancy Bread’s crispy crusted loaves that were served in most Italian restaurants. The words “artisan,” “lamination,” “ciabatta,” “focaccia,” “baguette” and even “sour dough” were fairly unknown in Iowa. 

Then came George Formaro and Logsdon brothers Joe and Steve. Formaro went to visit his family roots in Sicily and then built a Sicilian style bakery that became South Union. The Logsdons went to Minneapolis’ National Baking Institute and studied under a fourth-generation baker from Alsace.

The brothers started selling French bread in the skywalk above Locust Mall. After a couple of joint, baking-forward cafés in East Village and on Ingersoll, Steve opened Lucca and Joe opened La Mie. Suddenly, Des Moines travelers didn’t need to bring bread back from the coasts. Des Moines’ third millennium dining scene was birthed then and there. 

La Mie remained mostly true to its French roots. Today, it has evolved into Iowa’s state-of-the-art pâtisserie and a breakfast and lunch joint with a dynamic carryout business. I have interviewed art installation crews from both coasts and artists from England, Austria, Czechia and Germany who ate at La Mie every day for two weeks while working here.

As a pâtisserie, one must look to New York, San Francisco and beyond to find La Mie’s match. That is because Joe willed it that way. 

“The most challenging thing we make is the simple croissant. Each one is a 25-step process that takes two full days. Lamination (the layering of dough and butter by repeated rolling and folding) is not easy, and I want to sell them for $2.50, with quality jellies. Simple isn’t as simple as it looks sometimes,” he explained. 

Those “simple” plain croissants are wondrously layered by at least a dozen laminations.

“High-quality food is usually a privilege for the rich in America. We want to be a place for everyone, so we use what is readily available and affordable. For instance, I have people who don’t understand why I don’t use French butter. It’s too expensive! I could not sell a croissant for $4 or $5. I am more down to Earth than that.”

If a plain croissant requires 25 steps and two days, what goes into the complicated delights rising from La Mie’s basement bakery? Tortes come in chocolate Chambord, German chocolate, chocolate pistachio, chocolate coffee buttercream, chocolate truffle, lemon raspberry, carrot and hazelnut. Besides, the tortes there are several tarts. 

Beside the croissants, which can come with many stuffings, there are pecan rolls, puff pastries, Danish, breakfast pizza and soleils. All are as good as I have had, anywhere. Breads now venture beyond France in inspiration with focaccia and ciabatta in many sizes. There are even ciabatta dinner rolls that make sandwiches exquisite. 

The café offers breakfasts, grain bowls, soups, salads and sandwiches. Surprisingly, Joe thinks that is as difficult as the pâtisserie. 

“Eggs are the hardest thing to make. There are so many different ways that people want their eggs cooked — boiled, poached, fried, over easy, casserole, baked, scrambled, omelets, etc. — plus some people want them soft and others hard and others medium. There is no way to systemize eggs, unless you serve them all the same, like fast food does.” ♦

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