dsm Dish - April 25, 2025

Greatest hits: summer food in Central Iowa

By Karla Walsh

Besides magnolias blooming and the fireworks erupting after Friday night I-Cubs games, another sure sign tells me “it’s gonna be May”: the Downtown Farmers Market season opener. Every year on the first Saturday of May, I grab my reusable bag, slide on my sunglasses, pop in my AirPods and walk over to Court Avenue, where I know I’ll find the early veggies, fresh pastries and countless cute dogs.

This tradition reminds me how much I anticipate other annual rituals. Summer always seems to fly by, but I refuse to let it pass without making a few pilgrimages for (what else?) good food and drinks. I think of these as summer’s “greatest hits” — as essential as any song of the season, like an “Espresso” that’s “Hot To Go!” and not “Too Sweet.”

Here’s my personal mixtape of 12 stops to hit before we fall back.

Now That’s What I Call Central Iowa Summer Dining: Volume 1
Grab a breakfast burrito from HoQ at the downtown farmers market.
Devour a kouign-amann pastry from Uncle Wendell’s stand, also at the farmers market.
Savor a soft-serve crunch cone at Snookies Malt Shop.
Share polenta cakes, a charcuterie board and a bottle of wine on Aposto’s petunia-lined porch.
Dig into a bit of baklava with vanilla ice cream at the Greek Food Fair, June 6-8.
On Taco Tuesday, bike down to the Cumming Tap.
Order from a food truck, lay out a blanket and take in a Thursday concert at Jasper Winery.
Order takeout from any local restaurant, take it to a park and declare it Picnic Day.
Enjoy a bright yellow scoop of lemon custard at Classic Frozen Custard.
Eat some Pizza on the Prairie at the Wallace Centers of Iowa in Orient or have a Pizza Picnic at Plant Life Designs in Van Meter.
Make a date for a farm-to-table dinner at Grade A Gardens in Earlham, Rose Farm in Norwalk, Lone Oaks Farm in Winterset or even Harvestville Farm in Donnellson. (I promise it’s worth the drive!)
Grab a drink and watch the Friday night fireworks from the Secret Admirer patio.

Quick Bites

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced this week that 33 Iowa farms and small businesses have been awarded Choose Iowa value-added grants. These grants are distributed to organizations expanding the availability of Iowa-grown, -raised and -made food, beverages, and ag products. Recipients include seven in Central Iowa: Bochner Farms (pictured) and Honey Hollow Apiary and Gardens in Indianola, Grade A Gardens in Earlham, Iowa Orchard in Urbandale, Rose Farm in Norwalk, Tranel Aronia Products in Madrid and V&B Farms in Ames.

The Market at Oak Park, the Ingersoll restaurant’s showcase of its produce and food vendors, will return for four Monday afternoons: May 12, June 9, Sept. 8 and Oct. 13.

Jesse’s Embers, the longtime staple Des Moines steakhouse, was recently purchased by Carter Annett, who has vowed to keep updates to a bare minimum.

Hy-Vee is moving fresh food production in-store and closing two food production facilities. The change was made to “significantly improve product freshness, quality, availability and customer service as more employees will be placed in retail stores,” a company press release said. Read more from the Business Record.

Events

May 1: The Valley Junction Farmers Market opens on Fifth Street in West Des Moines, with live music at Railroad Park every Thursday through the end of September.

May 1: The Cheese Shop hosts a wine tasting with eight high-end bottles from New York importer Grand Cru Selections.

May 2: Chocolate Storybook in West Des Moines is releasing a limited edition batch of Dubai Chocolate with flavors like bacon, truffle and other handmade combinations.

May 3: The Downtown Farmers' Market opens with the ceremonial cowbell on Court Avenue and continues every Saturday morning through October.

May 3: The Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival returns to the Iowa State Fairgrounds and promises a place for bacon lovers “to feast on tasty bacon delicacies, to get weird and to have a grand ol’ time.”

May 3: Cinco de Mayo in Valley Junction celebrates the neighborhood’s past and present connections to Latino culture with live entertainment and plenty of delicious food.

May 4: Table 128 is hosting an afternoon tequila cocktail class that includes a welcome cocktail, light bites and hands-on instruction for mixing your own craft cocktails.

For Formaro, every crust is a blank canvas

By Michael Morain

Last summer, when George and Sheila Formaro were in Italy for their son’s wedding, they had dinner at a pizzeria in Caiazzo, a little town about an hour north of Naples. The place is called Pepe in Grani — “peppercorns” in English — and it’s famous, even in the heart of pizza country.

The meal started with a pizza. And then finished with 11 more. After the last bite, they hauled themselves upstairs to the guest house and drifted off to dreamland.

“I’m not sure what heaven looks like, but if it looks anything like that place in Caiazzo, well, I’m there for it,” George Formaro said.

It inspired him to create the first iteration of “Chef George’s Slice House,” a pop-up dinner event happening tonight in Django’s private Reinhardt Room. It’s “an exploration of pies, from pizza to pastry, inspired by more than a century of pizza history.”

The theme of the first dinner at Chef George’s Slice House is pretty simple: pizzas the chefs want to eat. But Formaro has no shortage of ideas for the future. If he’s awake, he’s probably thinking about pizza. (And if he’s asleep, he’s dreaming about it.) Here are just a few themes he’s considering:

Hollywood Hits: A dinner that riffs on classics like “Casablanca,” with the American-expat Rick’s Cafe in French-occupied Morocco, and “Pulp Fiction,” with its Hawaiian-influenced Big Kahuna Burger and ’50s-era restaurant Jack Rabbit Slim’s.

Des Moines History: The story of the city’s evolution, including early Italian immigrants on the south side and more recent newcomers all around town.

Italian History: The whole grand saga, from ancient Rome to Marco Polo, the Venetian spice trade and the origins of modern pizza in Naples in the 18th century.

Football Smackdown: A menu inspired by the NFL playoffs, with pizzas topped with Green Bay Packers bratwurst, Chicago Bears giardiniera, Philadelphia Eagles cheesesteak and other sporty city specialties.

“I can watch anything and get inspired by it,” Formaro said.