Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

February 17, 2014 · 4:53 am

World Food Prize Headquarters and Howard Buffett photo exhibit in Des Moines: worth a visit

I finally got to walk around the renovated downtown library in Des Moines that is now the headquarters for the World Food Prize and was blown away by the restoration/renovation effort. It was always an elegant 19th century building but it got pretty shabby in the mid 1990s when my children visited the library there regularly as Downtown School students. With all its stain glassed windows and murals and wood it always hinted of a previous, more elegant life. Now it’s back to its former glory and well worth a walk around. The restored WPA murals on the bottom floor are particularly interesting, tracing the history do Des Moines from prehistoric era to 1941. And the Howard Buffett photos of people from across the world facing hunger issues is mesmerizing. So visit when
You can. (There was an open house last weekend.)

THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE HALL OF LAUREATES is open to the public for tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., free of charge, on most Tuesdays and Saturdays. Please call 515-247-2222 for open house dates. Click here for more information.

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February 9, 2014 · 4:38 pm

When in LA – maybe visit Chef Roy Choi’s Kogi or Pot

About KogiChef Roy Choi made a big splash on this season’s “Top Chef” by being remarkably candid and foul-mouthed about how much he did not like the food the poor frazzled chefs had cooked up for him. Padma looked aghast. But apparently HIS food is worth a try so maybe we will give it a go when we’re visiting my brother in LA next month. Maybe he’ll prove to me that Korean food is worth all the hype. Our options appear to be Kogi, kogi website which the NYTimes travel section dubbed “the city’s hottest food truck, selling his now classic Korean taco” and Pot,  “a veritable Korean market, at the Line hotel in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.”

The Pot website lists only drinks (“only” isn’t quite the right word since the menu sports four pages of drinks!) but the Line Hotel plugs the food….

POT – COMING SOON

KOREATOWN AND KOREAN FOOD THROUGH THE EYES OF AN AMERICAN WITH KOREAN BLOOD. HOT POTS, BLOOD SOUPS, FRENETIC ENERGY, BBQ. IT’S THE LATE NIGHTS ON THE STREETS, IT’S A JOYOUS CELEBRATION OF LIFE. MOST OF ALL, IT’S GOOD TIMES AND GOOD FOOD IN THE HOOD.

WWW.EATATPOT.COM

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January 29, 2014 · 2:41 am

New Des Moines Art Center Restaurant

Des Moines Art Center
Des Moines Art Center.jpg
Established 1948

Finally got a chance to check out the new restaurant at the Des Moines Art Center operated by the chef from Baru 66 – it remains a lovely place to dine, even on a cold winter Sunday. The food was good although I wasn’t bowled over.  The best entree was a special – a thick juicy hamburger topped with greens, a fried egg and prosciutto (I think.) My “artisan lettuce salad” had lots of fresh greens, with walnuts, croutons and yes, prosciutto (detect a theme?) which was good but it was underdressed and not much value for $11. My tomato bisque (for $3) was not as creamy, hot or substantially portioned as I’d hoped but good flavor and chopped texture. We also tried the La Quercia Melt , a toasted sandwich with prosciutto (La Quercia is the name of the award-winning, Iowa-produced prosciutto), brie, sweet mustard   and the presentation was pretty stark – small sandwich on white plate for $13 – but my niece seemed to enjoy.

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January 23, 2014 · 7:49 pm

The washington Post: “Why Iowa Rules”

Sally Field 1971.JPGGuess I’d agree with much of this (except the Machine Shed breakfasts which are a bit much)Washington Post story

but can’t help thinking of the famous Sally Field Oscars acceptance speech: “you like me right now. you like me!”

 

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January 20, 2014 · 5:18 pm

Wow and Norwegian airlines flights to london – cheaper?

This from airfarewatchdog on cheaper flight options to london:

How to Save: The big trick that will help in 2014 is finding affordable airfare; other than accommodations, this is going to be your largest expense. With new low-cost transatlantic airlines like Norwegian and WOW promising to undercut major carriers’ prices in the coming year, it will likely be easier to pick up an affordable plane ticket to the British capital this spring and summer.

WOW Air, the new Icelandic low-fare airline, announced it would start flying between Boston and London/Gatwick this spring. Similar to Icelandair’s long-term flying pattern, flights will be via Reykjavik: leaving Boston in the evening and arriving in London the following morning, with the morning departure, afternoon arrival reverse pattern.

So far, WOW hasn’t announced anything about Iceland stopovers, but I’ll be very surprised if the line doesn’t offer stopover packages.

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Flights will be in A320s, at a slightly below-average 30- to 31-inch pitch but average or better width. Although the airline is single class, you can reserve the extra-room exit-row seats and even guarantee an empty middle seat by paying extra.

Fares aren’t available yet, but the fare pattern will almost surely continue the carrier’s policy of offering very low fares to early buyers on at least some dates. Currently, for example, fares from London to Reykjavik are as low as £98 each way (about $157), including the onerous British passenger duty and a £6 “payment fee.” The only surprise is a very stiff charge of £19 for one checked bag.

Whether WOW flights will appeal to U.S. and Canadian travelers depends on one main factor: Will the fares be low enough to offset the increased flight time (compared to nonstops) and the hassle of an overnight stop? Back in the regulated days, low fares on Loftledir, the precursor to Icelandic, got a lot of budget travelers to accept those conditions, and many of them opted for a quick Iceland stopover. WOW seems to be hoping to replicate that formula.

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January 5, 2014 · 4:49 pm

Check out the Drake University Chamber Choir – in Des Moines and England!

The Drake University Chamber Choir performs at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2010.

The Drake University Chamber Choir performs at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2010.

For my music-loving friends in London, here’s a treat from Des Moines – Drake University’s Chamber Choir will perform free concerts at St. Paul’s Cathedral at 5 p.m. Jan. 20 and at St. Martin-in-the-fields (Trafalgar Square) at 1 p.m. Jan. 21,  as well as at Oxford and Cambridge during a 12-day concert tour January 10-22. These are some of the talented vocal students that my choir, the Drake University Community Chorus, sings with during our semester concerts. Closer to home (in Des Moines) the chamber choir will perform a free concert on Thursday Jan. 9 at 7:30 at Grace United Methodist Church. Here’s the scoop on the England tour from the Register: Drake choir to kick off series

While in England, the choir will to sing in the cathedrals of Gloucester, Coventry, and Ely, at both Cambridge and Oxford (St. John’s College Chapel, Cambridge; Merton College Chapel, Oxford), St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, and St. Nicholas Church in Witham.  The Chamber Choir was selected by the American Embassy in London to inaugurate its new series at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

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December 14, 2013 · 4:53 am

Super duper super 8 in Le Claire

My husband warns that we haven’t yet heard the truck drivers likely to be partying here tonight, but so far I am liking this Super 8 in this eastern Iowa Mississippi River town. I do have to admit that my thumbs up may be colored by the relief I feel at no longer being on Interstate 80 driving in the dark through a “wintery mix,” with trucks zooming past us, their tires flinging rain, ice, snow onto our windshield. This Super 8 seems pretty new. It’s clean, the bed is firm with ok linens, there’s s big flat screen tv (we are watching a Seinfeld episode so old that George has hair. sort of.)

Anyway, we didn’t hit bad weather until after our delicious middle eastern dinner at Oasis in Iowa City and with any luck we won’t encounter much more during the duration of our trip to Chicago.

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December 10, 2013 · 4:33 pm

Spectacular photos by Howard Buffett – visit World Food Prize hdqters in Des Moines

I’ve heard great things about Buffett’s photos and about this building, which I last visited when it was the Des Moines Public Library! I’ll be there Dec. 21!

You Are Invited…

You are invited to join us at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Saturday, Dec. 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for our Holiday Open House. Come and hear the spectacular acoustics in this historic building, and explore our world through photos.

There will be a live performance of seasonal Christmas music by the Grace Church Ensemble, as well as the opportunity to tour our new 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World international photography exhibit by Howard G. Buffett. These two elements will bring us together around an important theme at this time of year, to unite us all in the spirit of alleviating hunger that is still experienced by so many in the world.

Please share this invitation with all of your friends, colleagues, family members, and other community members and encourage them to join us. There is no admission charge and it is a wonderful opportunity to experience our beautiful building during this special time of year. We hope to see you there.

Please visit www.worldfoodprize.org/visit for directions and more details.

The World Food Prize
100 Locust Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

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December 10, 2013 · 12:16 am

A good Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines

Cover Photo
TNT Vietnamese Restaurant - Des Moines, IA

TNT Vietnamese Restaurant

Be still my beating heart – I think I may have found a good Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines!! I tried the TNT Vietnamese Restaurant in the Harding Hills Shopping Center off  MLK Parkway and my main gauge – a dish I try at every Vietnamese restaurant, a noodle and lettuce salad called Bun with eggroll and sliced pork – was excellent. The eggroll was crispy and nicely seasoned. The meat tasted like real meat, had the texture of real meat and was crispy and juicy at the same time, if that’s possible. Nice lightly BBQ flavor too. A nice touch that I’ve never seen before on this dish (and trust me, I’ve tried it at a half dozen Vietnamese restaurants) was a little pile of what appeared to be crispy toasted onion bits. Sweet! My companion’s Pho (a traditional broth with noodle and meat) also had a good flavor and beef that tasted like real beef. Bravo! Alas, the atmosphere of the place is pretty spartan – making it more a lunch than a dinner or festive occasion option.

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December 7, 2013 · 1:25 am

Visiting famous Forest Hills (Queens NY) – a sentimental favorite for me!

A black and white image of four men are standing in front of a crowd of people at the bottom of an aeroplane staircase.

[The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964]

I have a particular soft spot for the Queens (NY) neighborhood of Forest Hills because 1) My dear college friend Myra grew up there and I visited her family’s apartment often, spending time with her warm generous parents and sibs 2) My parents spent the first night of their honeymoon at the Forest Hills Inn (see photo below).

[A view down Queens Boulevard, near its intersection with Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills.]

So it was fun to return briefly last Sunday with Myra as well as my son and husband who were relative newcomers to Forest Hills. (Once a fan of the HBO show “Entourage,” my son did wear a “Queens Boulevard” t-shirt inspired by the show until it was in tatters.) We did a quick tour of the fancy part of town with its English-village Tudor-style brick buildings (my friend lived elsewhere, in a high-rise overlooking 12-lane Queens Boulevard, although she admits she didn’t always correct people who assumed she lived in the fancy part) including the Inn and the famous West Side Tennis Club where the U.S. Open was held between 1915-1920 and 1924-1978 (As a kid, I attended a few times there…in the 1970’s, not the early 1900’s.) I also found out for the first time that Myra SAW THE BEATLES !!! at the tennis club when she was all of 7 years old with her older brother. Her biggest memory is of swarms of girls crying outside the venue. When she asked her mother why they were crying, her wise mum replied “Because the Beatles have to go back to England.”

The main characters of Entourage.

We also ate some good appetizers at Agora, a local Greek restaurant, that got a shout out in a recent travel story about Forest Hills. See: Forest Hills is a Gorgeous Queens Neighborhoodnoahthanksgivingphoto2013toprint

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