EPLDSM Night @ Confluence Brewery

We are pleased to announce that our event on November 7th at Confluence Brewery raised $500 to donate to Greater Des Moines Buy Fresh, Buy Local.

There was plenty of food, beer and fun and we appreciated each and every one of you who came out to the event!

A Huge THANK YOU to all of the vendors, entertainers and donors that made this evening happen!!

 

Raffle Doantions:

Kritter Knits & More

Peace Tree Brewing

Moonbugs Art Classes

Padded Little Seats

Grounds For Celebration

Radiant Om Yoga

Dishcrawl Des Moines

The Durr Family

Vander Sluis Chiropractic

Chick –fil-a Paradise Pointe

Tarre De’Amore Farms

515 Brewing Co.

Rogue Sweets

Noodles & Co. – Jordan Creek

J Sayles Design Company

Buy Fresh Buy Local

Confluence Brewing Company

Mo'Rub

Norwex

Vendors:

Confluence Brewing

Mo’Rub

Tamales Industry

Noodles & Co. - Jordan Creek

Rogue Sweets

 

Entertainment:

Jerry Lorenson

Dishcrawl Des Moines

Des Moines Derby Dames

 

Shhhhh...It's a secret!

Dishcrawl Des Moines' first Secret Supper did not disappoint.  Tickets were $49 and guests were told of the meeting location and menu the week of the event.

The first Secret Supper was prepared by Chef Mike Holman in the private room at Dos Rios Cantina and Lounge on Court Ave.  I had the pleasure of interviewing him before October's Battledish competition and you can read about it here.

The venue was cozy and nicely decorated for the intimate group of 15 for the event.

This was seriously one of the best meals I've had in a while.  Chef Holman outdid himself on this one.  Drink pairings were also offered and got rave reviews from the diners.   I was smitten with the blood orange cocktail I had.

The Amuse course was a cold smoked seared foie gras with black mole, duck chicharron and black mint & apricot compote.  The flavors surprisingly blended so well together.  It was excellent.

The first course was an ancho infused tamale with slow braised goat shoulder, charred tomatillo salsa and jalapeno pickled onions that added just a little kick. It was superb and the goat was tender and delicious.  I loved it.

The second course was a sweet corn bisque with fried octopus, crispy chorizo, cilantro and garlic jalepeno crema.  These flavors
together worked so well.  This was a favorite among a lot of the diners.

The third course was a seared sea bass with Spanish cannelloni ragout, braised swiss chard and lemon ginger espuma.  They must have had this bass flown in today because it was incredibly fresh and and perfectly flakey.  It was my favorite dish of the evening.

The fourth course was picadillo stuffed rotisserie quail with crispy tacu tacu dressing and romesco cream sauce.  Chef Mike called it his version of Thanksgiving.  It was fantastic.  Almost too cute to eat, but the flavors meshed so well.

The fifth course (yes, another course!) was a chile crusted rack of lamb with fried smashed plantain, spiced black bean sauce and mint jalapeno jam.  The black bean sauce made the dish.  I didn't care for the texture of the plantain as I'm used to it a bit softer, but the flavors of this dish were great.

The sixth and final course was a dessert of leche fritz, goats milk caramel, vanilla apple chutney, powdered hazelnut espresso brittle and white chocolate cinnamon tuile.  Can you imagine fried cream?! It was stellar.  Heavy and sweet and heavenly.

This was an overall great event.  I feel like Dishcrawl's events get better with each one and I'm looking forward to Cocktail Wars next month.  Great job Chef Holman and the staff at Dos Rios and kudos to Dishcrawl on a great first Secret Supper event.

Eat Play Love Des Moines Night @ Confluence Brewery!

Don't miss it!  Proceeds from this evening's event will go to Buy Fresh Buy Local Des Moines!  This is a family-friendly event!  Please RSVP on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/407552842680118/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Ritual Cafe

I had a great experience hanging out at Ritual Cafe the other morning.  I had some blogging to do, so I brought my computer, grabbed a few (gluten-free, woohoo) snacks and did some work.

Located downtown, right near Proof restaurant, Ritual Cafe serves up coffee, smoothies and even vegetarian food.  They had an awesome selection of vegan and gluten free pastries at the front counter and I was super impressed with my gluten-free banana-chocolate chip bread and apple cider cupcake. Yes, I had to try both.  And they were out of pumpkin spice syrup, so I got a gingerbread-flavored iced coffee and it was really good! 

They also offer a full menu of breakfast items like bagels, oatmeal, and a breakfast plate with eggs and toast.  For lunch they have panini's, quiche, hummus plates and more.  They even have a kids grilled cheese sandwich meal available for kids.  

What a cool place to hang out.  Of course it's a great place for Vegans, but anyone can enjoy these healthy menu items and casual atmosphere.  I'll be back to chat with a friend over coffee or use the free wi-fi to get some work done.  

They also offer live music many nights of the week.  You can check the schedule here. Very cool.

Up-Down Vintage Arcade-bar

The newest addition to the ever-growing East Village area in downtown Des Moines, Up-Down, is best described as a playground for adults.  It's located at 500 E. Locust St.

You must be 21+ to enter this "Barcade" that boasts just about every video game from your youth that you can think of like Mortal Combat, PacMan and The Simpsons.

Life-sized Jenga games and Connect-four can keep you busy for hours as you enjoy the wide craft beer selection as well as retro-inspired drinks like "Princess Punch" and "Super Mario-garitas".

Play some Skee-ball or see how your pin-ball machine skills are holding up.  I have faith that I was much better at Street Fighter when I was 15 than I am now.  But it's looks like I'll get to practice a lot more now that Up-down is open.

Games are all a quarter except for a corner where a Super-Nintendo has a spot in a complete living room set-up with coffee-table and all, where you can choose your game and play your heart out for free.  Jenga and Connect four are also free.

Drink prices are reasonable and that's a total plus since I can see a lot of young professionals spending many evenings getting reacquainted with the games of their childhood here.

The "Barcade" will be open 5pm to 2am every day starting Friday, October 11th.  On the 11th they'll hold a grand opening where the first 50 customers will get 10 free tokens each to play.

Check out Up-down for your next date-night, girls night out, or send the guys out for an evening of bonding.  You're sure to have some fun and most likely take a trip down memory lane.

Baru in The Art Center

As you might have heard, the Art Center restaurant has been taken over by Baru.  Chef David Baruthio, who also owns and operates Baru 66 in Windsor Heights is now in charge of feeding the hungry Art Center visitors.  How cool.

The beautiful courtyard dining is still available as well as indoor seating, all located at the Art Center (which has free admission every day) on Grand Ave in Des Moines.

The restaurant is closed on Mondays, but offers lunch Tuesday through Friday, Dinner on Thursdays and lunch on Saturday and Sundays.  

The menu boasts soups, salads, sandwiches and heartier entrees like duck leg, pasta marinara and salmon risotto.  All of the Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten-free items are clearly labeled on the menu and there are plenty of options in those categories.  

My friend and I ordered the cheese plate and appreciated that there were two of each item which was conducive to splitting along with some spiced walnuts and raspberry jam.

My friend enjoyed her salmon platter and I was most happy with my "Chef's Casserole" which was sauteed filet with mushroom, onion, bacon and fried egg. It was a nice portion and very tasty. A great gluten-free option.

I'd certainly visit again.  Entrees start around $10.  Service was efficient so you could probably take kids along if you were visiting the Art Center, but it wasn't particularly kid-friendly as far as menu choices.  

All-in-all a lovely meal with a nice selection of wine, beer and cocktails as well.  A great place to take out of town guests for a special occasion, Mom for her birthday or date-night on a Thursday evening for the Prix Fixe special.  When the weather cooperates, make sure to snag a courtyard seat.  The scenery is beautiful.

Grounds For Celebration

In Windsor Heights, right near the Mustards Restaurant on University Ave is Grounds For Celebration.  They have other locations in Beaverdale as well as the Somerfield plaza on Mills Civic in WDM too.

This is more than just your typical coffee shop.  They of course serve your normal line-up of lattes, smoothies, shakes and teas.  But, at lunch time, they have a full menu with table-service.  The menu includes pasta, salads, sandwiches fruit plates and my favorite, the chicken salad croissant.  The chicken salad is full of relish and grapes.  Sweet and tart with tender chucks of white meat chicken, just how I like it.  For about $8.75 you can choose two menu items served with fruit for a wonderful lunch.

They atmosphere is cozy and the staff is friendly.  They also carry an assortment of locally made bakery items including gluten-free cookies which is great because coffee shops don't always offer something for people with allergies.  They also had some gorgeous looking cakes and muffins all from locally-owned bakeries.

They had a selection of breakfast sandwiches available and even have gelato.

This is the perfect place to meet some friends over a cup of coffee or lunch and dessert!  I once attended a baby shower here and it was perfect.  Casual atmosphere with a relaxing feel and good food and coffee.  Check it out!

The Standard Martini Bar

Our first visit to The Standard Martini Bar last year was good, but despite an impressive martini and cocktail menu it was not particularly stand-out-ish, so we didn't find ourselves there quite often.

That will change after out latest visit.  I purchased a groupon because I knew we'd be over that way for a performance at the Civic Center.

We were pretty hungry so we ordered a few meals to share and they were all excellent.  My favorite was the vodka chicken and pasta.  The chicken with alfredo risotto was delicious and the Cajun shrimp were also very tasty.

To drink, I had a Crango Mule Cocktail and it was awesome.  The hubby just liked the name of the Honey Badger Martini and had one of those, along with a chocolate martini and a Strawberry Jammer and had no complaints with any of them.

We really enjoyed the Parmesan fries as well.

They have live music often and have tapas on special during happy hour.

The Standard is a fun place for a date-night or a night out with friends.  The food is was very good and the drinks are great.

Our waitress was outstanding and very friendly giving us drink and food recommendations.

We'll definitely be back, especially since it's in such a convenient spot.  You can park in the adjacent lot before a show at the Civic Center and walk to both spots easily.  Great place for dinner or tapas and drinks.