Best & Worst of the Decade in Des Moines

When the last decade began, few people argued with a New York food critic’s assessment that “a gourmet trip across Iowa is non-stop.” At decade’s end, more semifinalists for the James Beard Award as Midwest’s Best Chef came from Des Moines than all but one other city (Minneapolis). In between, our food world turned upside down. Fishing moved indoors, hog farming returned outdoors. Cows were allowed to eat grass again and humans began to drink it. Iowa’s emerging wine industry survived the Chinese lady beetle while genetically modified seeds overcame the scorn of Europe to dominate Iowa agriculture. Best of all, an artisan food movement made Iowa products like La Quercia, Niman Pork, Eden Farms, Templeton Rye, Majinola, Sutliff, Cedar Ridge, Vande Rose and Northern Prairie into renowned brands of quality.

Earlier this month, the National Restaurant Association rated “locally grown entrees” as the number one food trend of 2009, followed by “locally sourced meat & seafood,” and “sustainability.” Cityview and its sister Relish rated those three things as Des Moines’ top food trends seven years ago. Foodwise, this city spent the 00’s way ahead of the national curve. That took individual vision and entrepreneurial fortitude, the best of which follows:

As bread rises from yeast, Des Moines’ culinary revival began in two bakeries. George Formaro reconstructed a Sicilian brick oven bakery on the southside while Joe and Steve Logsdon built a state of art French bakery on the east side. Together these “Catalysts of the Decade” spawned South Union Bakery Café, Centro, Django, Gateway Market Cafe, Basil Prosperi, Lucca and La Mie.

Renaissances can’t live by bread alone. Formaro and the Logsdons’ genii were sustained by entrepreneurs whose visions covered a broader aesthetic. Minimalist architect Kirk Blunck preserved the historic integrity of East Village. His designs for Basil Prosperi and Lucca made those cafés into anchors of that neighborhood revival. Pam & Harry Bookey defied the city-endorsed forces of rubble lust to save the Temple of the Performing Arts while creating Centro with Formaro. The Bookeys would later give Court Avenue its defining restaurant - Dos Rios. Blunck and the Bookeys were the “Visionaries of the Decade.”

Centro was “Restaurant of the Decade” for reviving the concept that downtown could again be the heart of Central Iowa, with coal oven pizza, chic trappings and a dedication to fresh & local foods.

Formaro was the “Chef of the Decade” for being the face and soul of South Union Bakery and Deli, Centro, Django, Gateway Market Cafe and so much more.

All those visions might not have found financing were it not for a gang of friends collectively known as Full Court Press (FCP), the “Pioneer of the Decade.” When venture capital for local restaurants was directed toward “proven” franchise operations, FCP gave The 50309 a distinctive culinary personality. With sweat equity, they created Royal Mile, Hessen Haus, High Life Lounge, El Bait Shop, Fong's Pizza and Sbrocco while disproving the bankers’ myth that only cookie cutter operations were worth risk. FCP likely enabled other neighborhood developments like those that brought Café di Scala and Gateway Market to Sherman Hill), or those of our “Entrepreneur of Decade,” the Manuel Mora family, who parlayed a small tienda and café into La Tapatia supermarket and its adjoining strip mall.

The “Story of the Decade” was the curious magnetism that attracted so many owner-chefs to Des Moines from the American South and even further away. Doug Smith (Cosi Cucina), Jeremy Morrow (Bistro 43, Star Bar, Azalea, etc.), Gary Hines (Bistro 43, Bistro Montage), Andrew Meek (Sage, Sbrocco), Don Hensley (Danielle) and Rob Beasley (Varsity) all came from Dixie and raised the bar for fine dining here. Ephraim Malag (Oak Room), Miyabi Yamamoto (Miyabi 9), Liam Anivat (Cool Basil, etc.), Mao Heineman (King & I), Jesus Ojeda (El Chisme), Rosa Martinez (La Rosa) and Mark Lijadu (Jasmine Bowl) came further to upgrade our ethnic cuisine.

That story beats out the uglier stories that garnered more headlines while vainly denying the reality that America's dependence on artificially cheap food comes with immigration problems: the terrible Swift raids in Marshalltown that displaced mothers from nursing babes among other scandals; the fiasco that was Rubashkin's in Postville.

The “Worst Idea” of the decade sprung from the Des Moines Public School System, which centralized its cafeterias, at huge expense, and expanded bussing to include the food our kids ate. That converted school lunches from homemade to reheated, while driving students off campus to fast food outlets.