I don’t get up to northwest Iowa often – especially on a weekend – but if/when I do, I plan to check out the Backroom Bistro, a restaurant in Sioux Center run by Giovanni Romano, a native New Yorker who somehow ended up in Iowa and is making killer bruschetta, stuffed shells, veal manicotti, giambotto, cannoli and lasagna Florentine, according to a surprising story in Sunday’s NYTimes. The bistro operates out of the back of the Fruited Plain Cafe, serving meals for 50 people on Friday and Saturday nights.
From chilly nyc (and missing cobra at the Bronz zoo) back to snowy Iowa
Didn’t expect snow when we landed at 10 this morning in Des Moines. Hope it melts soon. I got up at 3:45 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight from LaGuardia.
Yesterday we braved the Bronx Zoo – and my friend who had the idea conveniently neglected to tell us that an Egyptian cobra had gone missing from the Reptile House. No joke. Which may explain why the place was so empty. I thought it was the cold weather and a March Monday. The good part is we had the place almost to ourselves – and we did not chance upon any cobras (although we did see some snakes, safely behind glass enclosures.)
I wandered around the charming narrow backstreets of the Meatpacking District, passing by various foodie havens included The Spotted Pig (restaurant) and Murray’s (cheese shop) for a few hours before meeting my brother and his lovely wife at Barbuto – a fashionable restaurant on Washington and 12th Streets. The crowd was a little too self-consciously fashionable for me and the ambiance a little too stark (post car-garage interior) but the food, by bigname chef Jonathan Waxman – was terrific. And the company, the best! My brother loved the roasted chicken, which had skin that was crispy without appearing breaded or battered or even fried. I had pot roast atop creamy white polenta that I initially mistook for mashed potatoes. Delicious. The side order of potatoes appeared to be prepared similarly to the chicken – very crispy but also not greasy and served with fresh dusting of Parmesan and sprigs of Rosemary. Yum.
Filed under DINING, New York City, Uncategorized
Brunch on the west side, the Jewish Museum on the east side
Warmer today and just as sunny – we had a very nice brunch at Henry’s, on Broadway near 107th Street. Good service, good food (bacon! eggs! french toast et.al.) and no wait for a table on a Sunday midday. Then to the Jewish Museum on 92nd Street and Fifth Avenue which I’ve never been to and thoroughly enjoyed (sometimes it’s good to be among my own….) The Maira Kalman show was a lot of fun – thoroughly enjoyed. Also liked the gift shop a lot which had fun Passover items, good books, etc. Since we were in the neighborhood, we checked on the 92nd Street Y on Lexington which I’ve long heard about but never been to. Great bastion of culture – a concert and dance performance were going on during our visit.
We walked south along Madison Avenue windowshopping, admiring the lovely formal children’s clothing, the housewares (my friend bought beautiful shower curtain material at a French shop, Madera), the designer boutiques, chocolate shops. We bumped, literally, into large colorfully dressed crowd that had performed in what was apparently a parade celebrating all things Greek. Further south, we dropped in at The Plaza Hotel and walked through the new (or new to me) fancy food court in the basement, tried to get tea in the Palm Court (it was 5 p.m. too late), and paid a visit to the Eloise portrait (a sentimental favorite.) Then taxied back to 108th and Riverside Drive. Nice New York day!
Filed under DINING, museum exhibit, New York City
burgers in Texas, Mexican food in Houston!
More on-the-road suggestions from my friend Kathy:
We ended up eating a lot of Mexican food on this trip (not surprising, I suppose, since we spent so much time in Texas). We did hit a Whataburger once. It’s a chain that bills itself as a “Texas treasure” since the 1950s, and while it is still fast food, I must admit that when this semi-vegetarian first bit into a Whataburger, it reminded me of the drive-in burgers I used to eat when I was a kid. It’s a step above the big chains.
The other restaurant of note was Pappasito’s Cantina in Houston. It had come highly recommended. It’s a chain with restaurants scattered throughout the city and, from the lines forming out the door, a popular one. We waited for about a half hour with a pager in the parking lot, but since it was a balmy, full-moon spring night, the wait wasn’t terrible. The restaurant itself was roomy, and the food worth the wait. I had wonderful fish tacos: a couple of pieces of lovely fish, seasoned and grilled instead of breaded, with a big mound of homemade chunky guacamole and pico de gallo, rice and black beans. C. had steak and chicken fajitas that were also terrific.
Exploring downtown Chicago
I have walked past the Chicago Cultural Center dozens of times without ever noticing it – why, I don’t know. But today, I finally noticed and entered and was amazed at what a gorgeous building it is, full of intricate bejeweled mosaics, high ceilings with elegant mouldings, elegant glass domes including one by Tiffany. My son and I wandered through the public spaces and galleries (which were a bit tricky to find.) We stopped by the Vivian Maier show, which was worth a visit although not very extensive and seemed to be as much photos from New York and beyond as from chicago.
On the first floor, lots of people had gathered in seats in front of a stage where four musicians played a free concert. A sandwich bar in the lobby looked like a good lunch option.
For lunch, we went to The Gage, a lively gastropub on South Michigan – I had a hard time selecting an item from the menu because about all of them looked great. I finally settled on the mussels vindaloo – a huge bowl of freshly steamed juicy musles in a light burnt-umber colored broth with the not-over-powering Indian spice (Vindaloo can often mean searingly hot spice but this wasn’t.) My son had a huge hamburger with blue cheese that fortunately came with the upright fries piled into a mug-like bowl. All very good, pleasant and swift service, nice ambiance. Will definitely return.
We stopped at the Chicago Art Foundation to browse in the gift shop, one of the best around, and admire the huge model of downtown Chicago buildings. It’s got every building west of Oak Street and way past the loop. Incredibly cool. And every 15 minutes, the lights dim to simulate the sun hitting the buildings, casting some in high relief.
Filed under Chicago, DINING, museum exhibit
Where to eat in Memphis’ Germantown…
This comes courtesy of my friend Kathy who is on a road trip with her family from Des Moines to Houston via some of my favorite places, including most recently, Memphis. Before they left, Kathy’s family got some road food recommendations from a well-known BBQer in Des Moines who owns Woody’s. Here’s the first restaurant they tried in Memphis’ Germantown area. Can’t go wrong with a place that offers complimentary deviled eggs!!
The Germantown Commissary, 2290 S. Germantown Road in the Germantown area of Memphis. According to the menu, a commissary is another term for a Southern general store. Interesting decor, with twinkle lights, and bleached animal skulls, movie posters and old tin signs on the wood-paneled walls. Great dry-rub ribs and tamales smothered in chili and cheese. Excellent coleslaw. Almost every dish comes with a deviled egg. Homemade lemonade and sweet tea. We didn’t have room for dessert, but they looked great: tall layer cakes and cream pies.
Filed under DINING, Memphis, Uncategorized
Italian food in San Francisco
An old friend in San Francisco called today which reminded me that I have some new Italian restaurants to try when I next visit her and that city I left my heart in after my first trip there with my mother when I was 16. These are from the NYTimes:
Delfina Pizzeria – actually been there, done that, in 2008 when I was last there (and I gave it a nice plug in Real Simple, which I wrote a travel story for). Would love to return.
Perbacco – 230 California Street. The pastas sound particularly good (taglierini with ragu of pork, porcini and Parmesan!)
La Ciccia – 291 30th Street (in Noe Valley, not far from the Sunset, where my friend lives) specializing in Sardinian food, a region I haven’t visited in Italy but is on my list – one more reason: its sheep’s cheeses) octopus in dark tomato sauce sounds great and thin-crust pizzas too.
Farina – 3560 18th street. (in the Mission District) – Ligurian specialities
Filed under California, DINING, San Francisco
Gdansk again
The New York Times travel section seems to have discovered (rediscovered?) Gdansk in a big way. In January they included the northern Poland city in its “Where to Go in 2011.” Last Sunday, they plugged it again in response to a reader’s request for somewhere else to go after visiting Warsaw.
Gdansk has been on my list for the past two years since we hosted two students from there at our home here in Iowa – and my son visited them later that summer. The NYT also recommends Sopot, as “the Hamptons” of Poland. In 2012, Gdansk (formerly Danzig) will host the European soccer championship. Place to stay – new boutique-style Hilton (or Sofitel Grand in Sopot); Place to visit: Ergo arena (a symphony hall in a former power plant with a hip restaurant) and a beloved amphitheater in Sopot that’s reopening called the Forest Opera.
Filed under Poland
Anecdote to a drab winter’s day in Des Moines: The Des Moines Art Center
We’ve had several days of grey damp dreary weather – so yesterday I tried to chase the blahs away by visiting the Des Moines Art Center with two friends. It was quiet on a Sunday afternoon and peaceful. Admission is free – which always amazes me given the $18 to $25 fees charged to get into big city (albeit bigger) museums. I try to drop in a few bucks donation regardless.
The Art Center’s new exhibit – large modern installations by German artist Anselm Reyle – didn’t do much for me but worth a look. And I always enjoy wandering around the galleries – for the art and the architecture. The IM Pei wing’s giant windows offered a dramatic view of a snow squall blowing across the Andrew Goldsworthy Cairn sculptures and Greenwood Park’s frozen rose garden which will soon, I hope, be full of blossoms.
Before visiting the Reyle exhibit it does help to read the art center’ s blurb about him: (I must look up the word: perspicacity)
Anselm Reyle is a taxidermist. He breathes life into the exhausted or dormant visual motifs of Modernism and reenergizes these familiar forms to make them new. Reyle frequently utilizes clichéd modernist shapes, artificial colors, and non-traditional materials such as Mylar foil and straw bales to extend the prevailing aesthetics of painting and sculpture. In the process, he constructs a bond between art and popular culture, while simultaneously questioning the authorship of the artist and forging a distinct bond between the production of art objects and the marketplace. (
Reyle updates the history of modern art by borrowing its visual elements that have become overused or even considered tasteless in contemporary dialogues. These elements range from stripes to gestural drips of paint to fractured abstractions. Each format in Reyle’s arsenal recalls a predecessor and reflects his interest in the codes of taste that determine our attitudes and thoughts. Although an enlivenment or reconsideration of the past is a cornerstone of post-modern thought, Reyle’s approach retains vestiges of the modern era through his emphasis on the personal experience afforded by abstraction. This archeological memory, its subsequent manipulation, and the resulting shift in perspicacity formulate Reyle’s contributions to the art of our time.
Filed under Des Moines, museum exhibit
When next in D.C.
I haven’t been to Washington D.C. in several years but I inevitably end up returning and when I do, here’s some suggestions from a recent NYTimes article about the Columbia Heights neighborhood in NW DC.
– Room 11, 3234 11th STr. NW. “tiny bodega turned wine bar.”
– Bloombars, 3222 11th St. non-profit “art bar” showing late-late night indie movies from 2:30 to 6:30 a.m. (don’t think I’ll be doing that.)
Filed under Washington D.C.
TakeBetsywithyou 