December 22, 2013 · 9:02 pm

Big Step – trying out a new BBQ join in Kansas City! Oklahoma Joe’s

HomeScreen_8-21g short bottom.jpgAfter considerable family debate, we have decided to try out a new BBQ joint tomorrow in Kansas City during our annual Christmas drive to western Kansas. This is a big deal since the debate for years has been solely between Gates and Bryant’s – with Gates usually winning.

Not that we aren’t happy with Gates, but we’ve been hearing considerable buzz about Oklahoma Joe’s which contrary to the name was actually started by two Kansas City champion amateur bbq-ers. The Oklahoma name comes from their initial partnership with the owner of something called Oklahoma Joe’s Smoker Company (the owner’s first/middle name was “Joe Don”…classic) and their decision to open their first bbq join in 1996 in Stillwater Oklahoma, home of Oklahoma State University and not incidentally, where my stepdaughter spent her early childhood. Apparently the second Oklahoma Joe’s opened soon after beside a gas station in Kansas City. The first one closed, and additional Oklahoma Joe’s restaurants opened in Kansas City. (I guess by then it was too late to call them “Kansas City Joe’s.) Stillwater seems to have an affinity for restaurants that include the name Joe’s — the only other restaurant I remember there was called Eskimo Joe’s, which opened in 1975 and vowed to serve the coldest beer in Stillwater. Hence the name.

Here’s more about Oklahoma Joe’s below. Wish us luck!

Oklahoma Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que has earned local, regional, national, and even international attention for the quality of its barbecue and the uniqueness of its original gas station location.

Oklahoma Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que has earned local, regional, national, and even international attention for the quality of its barbecue and the uniqueness of its original gas station location. It has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Denver Post, The Chicago Sun-Times, Vanity Fair, numerous airline magazines, local magazines, and The Kansas City Star.  

Oklahoma Joe’s has also been featured on local and national television programs, including Anthony Bourdain’s “A Cook’s Tour” and “No Reservations”, the Travel Channel’s “Man vs. Food”, among many others.

In 2009, Anthony Bourdain named Oklahoma Joe’s as one of “Thirteen Places to Eat Before You Die” in an article for Men’s Health magazine.

Oklahoma Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que has been the Zagat #1 Rated barbecue restaurant in Kansas City every year since 2004. Zagat also named Joe’s famous sandwich, the Z-Man, the Best Sandwich in Kansas in its “50 States, 50 Sandwiches List”. In 2013, The Daily Meal website and USA Today both named Oklahoma Joe’s Kansas City’s ribs “America’s Best Ribs”.

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December 16, 2013 · 1:11 am

Hubbard street dance, Andy’s Thai kitchen, eataly, Chicago

We are unexpectedly encountering snow on our return home from Chicago but it didn’t start until we were west of Davenport and so far it hasn’t been as bad as our outbound trip Friday night. Right now, at 6:43 pm about 10 miles east of Iowa city the flurries have stopped. But we don’t know what lies ahead.

Before this I was going to write that our Chicago trip had been worth the sometimes harrowing drive. Easy for me to say since I am not the driver. Still, we had a really good albeit brief visit to Chicago. Hubbard street’s Saturday night performance of “One thousand pieces” was among the best I have seen during decades as a Hubbard street fan. The dancing, choreography, staging was superb and there were some “firsts” for this dance fan, notably the dancers performing on the equivalent of a giant slip n’ slide, with the water adding all kinds of interesting effects, from the sound of the water splashing to the sight of the water on the darkish stage with white clouds of drifting white smoke/dry ice, to the added challenge for the dancers of executing challenging moves on a slippery surface. The second act of the piece began with a solemn line of 20 some dancers staring out into the dark theater, then executing one twitchy move after another in unison. that gave us in the audience a lot to watch and ponder. I was also pleasantly surprised be the Phillip Glass score which was less monotonously repetitive and more stirringly melodic than expected. I do think they could have turned the lights on just a little – I’m not the only viewer who got a bit sleepy…

      Earlier in the day we had yet another excellent meal at Andy’s Thai kitchen in Lakeview. The crispy basil pork belly, yum. We tried a few different dishes and they were well done. The panang had excellent quality chicken and eggplant well cooked and a not too heavy, well seasoned sauce.

Before the ballet, we braved the crowds at the new Eataly that just opened on Ohio Street just west of Michigan Avenue (next to Room and Board, one of my favorite furniture stores. Eataly Chicago seemed brighter and less chaotic than its cousin in New York City. It was a perfect place to get a light bite before the ballet. We decided on a plate of well picked Italian cheeses served with some
Candied fruit, figs in balsamic, honey and olive oil. We were swiftly served and our plucky Midwestern server made sure we were on our way when need be to make our show on tome.

Now back to now-snowy interstate 80. (postscript: we made it home safely – and slowly…)

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December 14, 2013 · 4:30 pm

Snowy drive on I 80 through Illinois

so far we have seen two cars in the ditch along Interstate 80 heading east through Illinois from Iowa but the roads aren’t that bad and we have seen several plows. very foggy and wintery scene. wish I was in the country Peru rather than Peru Illinois.

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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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December 2, 2013 · 9:13 pm

NYLO NYC a real find

NYLO Hotels - 4300 Marsh Ridge Road, Suite 110 Carrollton, TX 75010I knew the NYLO hotel on NYC’s Upper West Side passed muster when I got a thumbs up email from my brother, who also decided to stay there and had arrived at his room before we did. The hotel turned out to be a real find, especially for $120 a night ($151 with tax). The room was small, as expected, but well appointed, huge bed, comfortable linens, edgy but not  too edgy furniture, art, light fixtures, clean and streamlined bathroom. Not too noisy at night even though we ended up with a room overlooking Broadway when I had asked for a presumably quieter interior room (my brother’s room got no traffic noise). I found out NYLO stands for New York Loft and the Texas-based hotel chain has outposts in Texas, Warwick (near Providence) (RI) and soon Nyack (NY). Good to know!

Catering

Remarkably, the restaurant my uncle had chosen for dinner turned out to be connected to the hotel. It’s called Serefina and it had good affordable Italian food (I had good bolognese, pizza etc). Monday morning we went for coffee and pastries to Irving Farm, a little basement cafe on 79th just south of Broadway (there are several other Manhattan locations). After a quick visit to Zabars for bagels to take home to Iowa (I still miss H&H bagels) we walked across the park to meet my aunt at PJ Bernstein, a good deli on third ave near 71st street (that’s their cheese/meat plate above).

Our flight home from Newark went well despite a few stressful moments when we inadvertently left the subway station at 34th street and had to figure out where Penn Station was – above ground – and drag our suitcases through throngs of people at 5 p.m. At the airport, we somehow ended up again in the TSA pre-screened category but it didn’t make much difference this time around. We still had to stand in the same long line and take out our stuff and even take off our shoes (hrrummphhh). A guy in line ahead of me said that TSA pre-screened only really produces perks at Newark if you’re passing through  Terminal C (we were in Terminal A). Whatever…I was just happy we made it to Newark with ample time to catch our flight – and it left on time and we got home on time! Love that direct flight!

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November 28, 2013 · 3:31 pm

Obligatory movie star sighting already accomplished and not yet in NYC

CAught sight of Naomi watts, Lieb Schreiber and their two tow headed boys looking about as harried as we did this morning in the Newark airport. Keeping it real! Our direct flight from Des Moines went without a hitch. For some reason, d and I were given “TSA preselect” status so we jumped the queue at security, didn’t even have to take off our shoes or take out our liquids. Woohoo. I am usually the person randomly selected for a pat down so nice change. So far so good traveling on thanksgiving day.

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November 26, 2013 · 3:10 pm

Last minute scramble for a hotel room in NYC – argh

NYLO Hotels - 4300 Marsh Ridge Road, Suite 110 Carrollton, TX 75010So my carefully laid plans have collapsed (twice….long story) and I’m now scrambling to find a hotel room in NYC’s Upper West side the Sunday after thanksgiving – as in this Sunday night. Not my favorite position to be in but at least it’s not the Thursday of Thanksgiving (let’s hope that plan doesn’t collapse…) I’ve stumbled upon the NYLO hotel at 77th and Broadway which is surprisingly affordable ($150 including tax) but the affordability has me a little suspicious. I’ve looked it up on Trip advisor and Yelp, for what that’s worth and I’ve tried to find out if it’s listed on any recent bed bug reports and so far nothing alarming has cropped up so guess we’ll give it a go. It’s only for one night (famous last words)…. (What does NYLO stand for?)

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