Eat The Worm (Omaha)

Remember when Omaha had a 1am last-call? As a former frustrated night-owl, I certainly do. In those days, once you were kicked to the curb, hungry, cold, and probably pretty buzzed, your only options were fast-food or (dubiously) Village Inn and its ilk.

That’s why Eat The Worm was such a revolution when it opened a few years ago. At the time, there wasn’t much else that was open late downtown. Eat The Worm fills this niche nicely and sells its unique version of Mexican food well into the morning.

Now that Omaha has a 2am last-call, of course, I’m older and I don’t stay out much past midnight. But Eat The Worm is still a great place to go and it’s only improved. Supposedly when they opened they didn’t quite know how to make hard taco shells, so they improvised a kind of soft shell that’s rather particular to their kitchen. Whatever the real story is, the soft shell is still pretty good. The food is, on the whole, cheap, satisfying, and tasty. I’m a big fan of the taquitos.

I also can’t say enough about the margaritas. My first introduction to margaritas were the happy hour margaritas at Señor Matías. At first I thought hated margaritas. After trying just one of Eat The Worm’s house margs though, I realized I only hated terrible ones (a critical distinction). While the house margaritas are great, the top-shelf ones are even better and the margarita mix is fantastic.

If you must, you really can “eat the worm” as they say. You’ll end up paying dearly, of course. Not just in terms of dignity, but because they have to filter an entire bottle of tequila to get at the worm. Save your $50 and wait for the next rainstorm.

Alba Restaurant in Des Moines – Welcome to the Club

I’ve been to Alba Restaurant in Des Moines a number of times since it first opened. Each time I go I’ve been more impressed — that is a nicer way of saying that I wasn’t bowled over in my first visit. Alba has always gotten mostly rave reviews from my friends but after my first visit not long after it had opened I was not so sure that I would put on my list of “go to” restaurants. With this last visit, I can safely say that I would rank Alba along with the better restaurants in Des Moines. I think that chef-owner Jason Simon’s menus have now achieved a maturity and balance that was not quite there at the beginning. From other reviews I would say that Alba is sort of a victim of some rave reviews when it first opened and the kitchen and staff could not keep up with the early surges of diners. Alba has always had a devoted set of followers. Note that the website’s menu listing is a bit out of date.

I do not know what the purpose of the building was when it first built in the ’30s, (I’m guessing a car dealership) but the sweeping curved glass corner lends an air of sophistication that you cannot get today with new construction. From an architectural standpoint, this is one of only Streamline Moderne (a late version of Art Deco and an early version of the space-age inspired Googie designs of the ’50s) examples left in Des Moines. Other examples of that type of architecture include the Butler House and the Ingersoll Theatre. The interior design carries the curved glass corner through as a theme with many additional curves, though the interior designer did not carry through with the Streamline Moderne theme. When you visit, be sure to take in the architecture of the building before you step in. The decor is a combination of minimalist and “funky” with old doors suspended from the ceiling and large pieces of artwork on the walls. Having doors hanging from the ceiling has got to violate the principles of Feng Shui in a big way, but I doubt that many patrons care. I certainly don’t. It is interesting and may help with the acoustics. The tables are well separated, giving the place a kind of empty feel that also provides some privacy for each dinner party. Nothing puts the kabash on dinner time conversation quite like the feeling that the other people are listening to everything you say.

There is a full bar in an adjoining room. Service was top rate. The fact that the place was not packed may have helped, but our server and the Maitre d’ watched our table like hawks and were polite and knowledgeable. Our party of four tried a variety of different dishes. They were all very solid offerings and were great fun to eat.

Des Moines Root Vegetable Gratin:This entree featured root vegetables in a mushroom soy sauce with kale, and breadcrumbs. It was a subtle and savory dish while not being heavy or cloying. Tender veggies were also offered with a layer of light sauce.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi: The gnocchi was chewy (in a great way) with the texture of the frisee and pecans to break through the density of the gnocchi. There was a sweet and savory interplay between the two flavors. For the side, apples frisee (a type of lettuce) with toasted pecans. The side was not overly sweet.

Venison Terrine: The venison terrine was offered with pita chips and spicy mustard and a spinach salad on the side.

Sweet Potato Wrapped Catfish: This was a very interesting and tasty dish. There were little pecan granolas with lots of brown sugar, a few sweet potato gnocchi, frisee, and properly cooked (not fried) catfish wrapped in a covering of sweet potato. It looks kind of like a tamale, only with sweet potato instead of corn and catfish instead of beans and meat. I guess that’s saying that a salad is like a steak, only without the meat and with lettuce instead. But you get the idea.

The wine list is on the pricey side. Do people actually buy bottles costing $100 at restaurants? Apparently, they do. But, there were some lower-priced alternatives, including a 2008 Altovinum Evodia Grenache. It was a great and surprising wine.
Warm goat cheese La Quercia Prosciutto pear chutney and scallion slaw.

There were a number of desserts available, and it was pretty obvious that they were made there. Most restaurants that are not locally owned buy their desserts from food factories. That is why they taste the same. Alba clearly puts a lot of effort into making great desserts. Because the entrees were not gigantic it is actually possible to order a dessert. We tried the molten lava cake with buttermilk ice cream, the apple beignet the maple pot du crème. They were all divine.

The restaurant’s address is 524 E. Sixth St. Des Moines, Iowa.

The event formerly known as “Martini Madness,” is April 1st at Zart.

I thought I’d do a plug for an event that seems to be really hard to find information for online. I have at least three names that I’ve come across. The first name is “Project Variety: Taste, Give, Inspire, Des Moines.” The second name is “KDC Built presents Project Variety.” The third name I’ve found on the Metromix website is: The Project Variety: Cocktail Showdown. This used to have the eminently memorable (and googleable) name “Martini Madness.” Evidently, some dispute over that name must have forced a change to the hydra-headed name change that I now find. I really don’t care what the name is were it not for the fact that Google cannot track a name with three verbs and it is especially hard to find something when you don’t know what it is really called. Hence, it is impossible to get the scoop on where this is and when it is taking place. Even the Des Moines Register had the date wrong last week. It sounds like fun, and it is for a good cause, so to help people find out about it I am breaking protocol and making a post that google can find before the event takes place and use some SEO tricks to get google to pull all of the websites together.

Come to the Martini Madness happening this Friday at Zart, 1312 Locust Street, Des Moines. Zart also has google issues as I had to find a typed reference to the website to find it. The site uses flash or some other unsearchable method and it does not appear to be known to google. The website for the event itself is here: Project Variety. The project will benefit Variety-The Children’s Charity & the at-risk, underprivileged & special needs children of Iowa. Some additional description of the event shows up here: Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tickets cost $35 beforehand or $40 at the door.

Sample Signature Drinks and Appetizers from:
801 Steak and Chophouse
Cabaret West Glen
Cosmopolitan Lounge
Creme Cupcake
Firecreek Grill
Gino’s West Glen
Goodsons
Jethros
Johnny’s Hall of Fame
Kirkwood Lounge
Mojos on 86th
PF Changs
Splash Seafood
Live music from The Snacks
Vote for your Favorite Mixed Drink

Des Moines Gateway Market and Cafe

The Gateway Market and the Market Cafe have brought choice food ingredients and prepared food to Des Moines in an amazing package. Just about anything that a cook would want is available here. While the local grocery store might have a dozen different types of olive oil, Gateway Market offers an uncountable number of different oils. South Union Bakery has moved its production to the Market, so there is always the freshest selection of bread available. There is also a full cheese supply, meat, an olive bar, pastries, many imported and specialty beers, and a very sophisticated wine selection that includes less expensive bottles not found in many of the other wine stores. The wine department area is handled by certified sommelier Abbe Hendricks. The Market Cafe was a favorite location for media types covering the last Presidential election and I suspect that they will be back again. One reason for its popularity is the outstanding lunch menu and fast service. Rather than try to itemize the thousands of different products, here is a photo essay:

2008 Altovinum Evodia Grenache

While dining at the Alba Restaurant, I was faced with a difficult wine choice. The meals ranged from fish to pasta dishes, with the promise of some fairly interesting and intense flavors. While a white wine like a Pinot Gris might have worked, a Cabernet would have been too tannic to work with some of the dishes. I decided to try an old vine garnacha from Spain. The bottle was a 2008 Altovinum Evodia. It was a great and surprising wine. The Grenache vines that go into making this wine are from higher elevations of the Calatayud, Spain region and are grown on old vines that have largely been ignored by winemakers until recently. The wine has some complexity that normally is associated with oaking, but apparently, this wine spends no time in oak barrels. What the wine also offers is some minerality and earthiness on the front end with a very nice fruit aroma and flavor on the back end. It was a fabulous wine, and is not expensive.

Omaha’s Side Door Lounge

For once I’ll dispense with the flowery preamble and cut to the chase: Side Door might have the best cocktails of any bar I’ve been to recently. I say “might” because the bartender at the Boiler Room makes some really great ones and I don’t want to pick favorites.

The Side Door Lounge specializes in redesigns of vintage cocktails and some Frankensteinian chemistry-lab infusions (e.g., bacon-infused bourbon, Earl Grey infused gin). Every mixer (even the bitters and grenadine) is scratch-made, as their Facebook photos will show in rather pornographic detail. They also make a foam out of Maker’s Mark Grand Marnier that they use as a topping on margaritas like foamed milk for a latte. I loved the Sazerac and I was blown away by the Tom Collins. I’ve been ordering a Tom Collins everywhere I go (often mystifying the server), but nothing was like that first hit at the Side Door. I’m a junkie now, thanks.

The decor is eclectic and, frankly, weird. Abstract paintings of F1 cars hang on the same wall as tribal masks and lizard sculptures. It’s a little like I accidentally walked in to a showroom at Nebraska Furniture Mart, but in a good way (somehow). Don’t get me wrong, the decor has a theme that works, I just don’t know how or even what that theme is.

As a bonus, they cater Mother India from down the street. If you don’t know, Mother India is delicious and the size of a closet (being generous), so it’s good to have another place to eat it. Especially one where I can get a tea-infused gin mixed with green-tea brewed bitters.

Next time I go I’ll be ordering the newest, weirdest concoction, and I know I won’t be disappointed. Just hooked. Update: Last time I went I had the Earl Gray Martinez, a tea-infused gin with the homemade bitters and a spritz (yes) of oil of bergomot. It was weird and wonderful.

Iowa City’s Givanni’s

Givanni’s is a gem in the Iowa City food scene that has until now totally escaped my notice. Not any more. This restaurant is owned by Jim Mondanaro who also owns Iowa City’s Bread Garden Market, Mondo’s Saloon, and Joseph’s and Coralville’s Mondo’s Sports Cafe. Denizens of Des Moines may recall that Mondo’s and Joseph’s both made a foray into the West Des Moines restaurant scene years ago, first with Mondos and next with Josephs at the same location. It wasn’t for lack of me spending money at either location that they closed, however. It is simply hard for non-chain restaurants to compete for lemming dollars in West Des Moines.

Our fairly large party ordered a number of different pasta dishes. I’d include photos, but the place was bathed with red neon light and my camera was absolutely unequal to the task of taking flashless photos in red light (and for the sake of everyone’s dining experience I don’t like taking flash photos in a dark restaurant). The website has very clear photos of some of the dishes below.

Beef Tips. Beef Tenderloin Tips with roasted peppers, mushrooms, caramelized onions, spinach, blue cheese, balsamic cream sauce and radiatori. The beef was excellent and the savory balsamic cream sauce was fantastic.

Naked Noodles. This was Cappellini in Marinara Sauce. A true test of a restaurant’s ability to make good Italian pasta is to order naked noodles with the basic sauce. The pasta was reportedly excellent and freshly hand made. The tomato base sauce was very well made as well.

Beef Tips Pasta. The beef tips were cooked just right and were not made out of cheap meat, which is good. The dish had a bit of cheese and the savory sauce was really good.

Pasta Caprese. The Pasta Caprese was a deliciously dense spinach linguine was topped with tender artichoke hearts, and a lovely, fresh combination of tomatoes, fresh spinach, feta cheese and mushrooms, finished with a tangy lemon garlic sauce.

Spinach Ravioli with Shrimp. I ordered the Spinach Ravioli with Shrimp. The hand made pasta was great, but it was the lemon dill cream sauce that transported me to food nirvana. Unless you have a problem with pasta, shrimp, spinach, lemons, dill or cream, I recommend that you beat a path to the Givanni’s and take in this dish if it is the last thing you ever do. For some of you, this may the closest to heaven that you will ever get.

Givannis Main Level

Service was very good and the waiter was one of those “man of few words” types who only seems to move slowly if you watch, but somehow gets everything thing done in half the time and with half the effort — my favorite kind.

Not everything will be perfect anyplace. In a followup visit one of us didn’t really like the roasted beet salad. It was lacking enough dressing to get the salad out of the “bunch of dry greens” category.

The ambiance and interior design was also very interesting. The interior of this west end Pedestrian Mall storefront had been totally gutted at some point and refinished with a modernist design with a lot of neon and white plaster work on the second floor. It conveys a very clean and sophisticated look. One of my fellow diners commented that it transported him to the ’60s. Well, I can remember the ’60s and it was not quite that clean-lined and sophisticated. Anyway, the main floor featured a full bar and a more traditional layout. I am not certain how they get the food to the second floor, but they must employ a dumbwaiter. I will be coming back to Givanni’s in the future.

Iowa City’s Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro

Iowa City’s Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro is a tough place to pigeon-hole. It is located in the Iowa City Sheraton. The entrance is just at the east end of the ped mall at 210 South Dubuque Street. Is it a hotel restaurant? Is it a chain (locations in Pittsburgh, PA, Culver City, CA, Tampa, FL, and Iowa City)? And what sort of restaurant is it?

Share seems to be somehow associated with Davidson Hotel Company, a higher-end hotel operator as all of the Share locations seem to be located in hotels that are operated by Davidson. Normally, I like to focus on locally-owned restaurants, but a deviation from the norm is allowable if someone is willing to bring a fairly unique concept to Iowa, if it is well executed, and if the food preparation shows some real passion.

Of course, this expectation may have more to do with the fact that this is Iowa than anything else. You would not expect anything but the best food at the Four Seasons or I always expect that the better Hotel restaurants are usually competent in preparing food but I seldom expect local ingredients, local recipes or that extra touch that tells you that the food was prepared by a professionally trained chef who has some passion for food preparation. Of course, Iowa does not really have its share of top end luxury hotels. Des Moines has its downtown Marriott but I can attest that food quality has wavered wildly over the years.

First, what is Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro? As the name implies, it offers a fairly long wine list along with plates that are suitable for sharing, in the tapas tradition. Fans of Trostel’s Dish in Clive, Iowa know about this way of serving food, though the serving sizes at Share struck me as larger. In fact, the serving sizes seemed to be larger than other tapas restaurants I’ve tried, including the superb El Farol in Santa Fe.

The service was top-notch and utterly professional. The waiter knew all about the dishes and was able to speak intelligently about the very good 2007 Sonoma County Coppola “Directors” Chardonnay bottle that we selected. The fact that the service was well-trained and enthusiastic coupled with expertly prepared food is a signal that top-notch management must be involved and that they are hiring competent chefs. The biggest impediment to Share in Iowa City is the fact that a lot of people who are in town for a game will just want to go to the same place that they went to “back in the day.” It helped that this was a slow non-game weekend in Iowa City and the crowds were non-existent (the best time to visit Iowa City in my book). Share features a wine bar and they also serve a large number of wines by the glass. I understand that Share has also struck a deal with Francis Ford Coppola Winery to feature that winery’s products.

The food itself was very agreeable. We started by passing around some shrimp and lemon gremolata flatbread. It was topped with mozzarella and sweet basil. The bread was very tasty and had just the right amount of chewiness. Next up was a roasted pear salad and a portabello and prosciutto salad. Both were large and had complex flavors. The most interesting and exciting dish was the spinach gnocchi. The gnocchi pasta was hand-made and sauteéd with garlic infused olive oil, sweet basil, artichoke hearts and toasted pine nuts. It has in fact started us on a quest to try to make gnocchi that good here at home. So, far, we can’t compete.

If you are in Iowa City and you want to try some tapas-style dishes, then give Share a try.

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery is one of the most amazing Iowa business ventures I’ve come across. Like many states, Iowa is awash with vineyards and wineries. But how many of them are also distilling vodka or whiskey? Only one, and that would be Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery. Sure, we have Templeton Rye and Mississippi River Distilling Company, but how many of those distilleries are selling whiskey that is fermented and distilled here in Iowa? Only one. Making this a destination worth putting on your calendar is the fact that Iowa law has been changed so that you can even buy some distilled spirits while there. You are limited to two bottles per adult per day. This is the only location like this in Iowa and, I believe, several states around Iowa.

Lured by these attributes, we stopped by the Cedar Ridge Winery just outside of Swisher, Iowa. Swisher is southwest of Cedar Rapids at 1441 Marak Road just west of I-380 at the 120th Street NW ramp (Exit 10). Just go south one mile on Marak Road (follow the sign) from 120th St. NW. It sits on top of a hill surrounded by vineyards. The day we visited the weather was nasty and we assumed that the place would be deserted. We were wrong. The place was packed, with a lot of people coming through to buy wine, taste the wines and spirits and to enjoy the pizza that the Winery serves.

The tasting room has tables and very comfortable chairs so that you can take it easy. We asked our host what the crowd was like when the weather was nice and were told that people are stacked five to ten deep waiting for their turn to try some of the wine. The day we were there there were several groups that were spending time relaxing and eating pizza. There is also a small private dining or conference room available for groups as well. Service was very friendly and casual, as is the norm for these sorts of places.

Cedar Ridge Wine Barrels

What makes Cedar Ridge one of the most unique wineries in the country, or perhaps the world, is the fact that they make and sell both wine and their own distilled spirits. I am not just talking about selling vodka. They make and sell an astonishing variety of wine and spirits. They make six white wines, five red wines, two blush wines, and two dessert wines. All are for sale at the store, including the distilled spirits, though We have only now started to try the whites and I can tell you that the Candlelight White is a very solid white wine. It is a blend of Chardonnay and LaCrosse grapes. I believe that the Chardonnay is brought in from California. That explains the fact that this is a dry wine. I also perceived some minerality and a “just” noticeable oakiness. The local LaCrosse grape gave it just a bit of that familiar Iowa fruity taste as well, but it was not all that sweet.

Even before making the trek to the winery/distillery, I had purchased both Clearheart Vodka and Cedar Ridge’s new Iowa Bourbon Whiskey. The Bourbon was first poured from the aging barrels and bottled for sale in July of 2010. I made sure that I grabbed some. I have not performed a proper blind taste test of either product, but I have certainly been impressed with both so far. In fact, I am eager to put the Bourbon against some of the mainstays of the industry to see how it fares. I can say that it is one of the smoothest bourbons I’ve tried, so I strongly suspect that it will fare well. A writer for the New York Times recently awarded it a five star rating so I appear to have some company. The Vodka, which includes some spirits distilled from apples, has also won high ratings in some competitions.

The mash bill for this Bourbon includes the minimum amount of corn (51 percent) for it to qualify as a bourbon, with the rest made up of rye and barley malt. The bourbon was first moved into American oak barrels in 2008 to begin the aging process. I do not know if the distillery is keeping any bourbon in barrels past the three-year minimum for some special premium release some time in the future, but you would hope so. (put me in for some!) Next on the agenda is the sale of a new Cedar Ridge Single Malt Whiskey, which may debut any time now. Other dark spirits that are already for sale include a dark aged rum, an apple brandy and a grape brandy. In addition to the vodka, Cedar Ridge makes and sells several other clear spirits under its “Clearheart” brand. These include a white rum, a gin and a grappa. Fruit liqueurs include both lamponcella and lemoncella liqueurs.

This was one of the toughest blog entries to write. Cedar Ridge can be described so many different ways. I could have written about a winery, a distillery, a tourist destination, a vineyard, a prime example of a business overcoming the Flood of 2008 and persevering, a story about making value-added products here in Iowa, or even try to get behind the story and figure out what makes Jeff Quint one of the most hyperactive Iowa entrepreneurs I’ve ever heard of. Does he ever get any sleep? I don’t see how. So, I finally gave up trying to choose a single theme and just plowed ahead, trying to cover as much ground as I could. The scattered approach to the blog article reflects, in a way, the Medusa-like nature of this business. While some businesses can falter by spreading the talent and effort across many different ventures, as far as I can tell, the execution is flawless in all of these areas. The wine is one of the best being made in Iowa, the whiskey and vodka are world-class, the facility and grounds may be one of the top tourist destinations in the state for the “no kids” crowd. What is next for this business? I am expecting even greater things.

I encourage everyone with any interest in wine or distilled spirits to venture out to Cedar Ridge to take a tour. Meanwhile, here are some other articles written about the place:

Cedar Ridge Winery hopes to lead Corridor trend to distilled liquors

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery
A Small Distillery Emerges in the Midwest

Iowa Bourbon Whiskey to Make Debut July 1st

Smokey D’s Des Moines Skywalk Location – Get your Wednesday-Only Smoked Ribs

It is Wednesday and you want to eat some good food on the Skywalk. Where do you go? Smokey D’s BBQ! They have smoked barbecue ribs, in four-rib, half-rack and full-rack selections. We are not talking about adding smoke sauce to some ribs. These are honest-to-goodness smoked ribs. The BBQ sauce is great, of course, having won numerous awards around the country, but smoking the ribs is what makes them extra-special. So, if it is Wednesday and you are downtown and have a hankering for some real smoked meat, then visit the skywalk location of Smokey D’s BBQ.

Smokey D's Ribs