dsmWeekly: January 17, 2024

Exlore uncharted flavors in these new cocktails. Photo: Nate Evans

FOOD & DINING

Take an immersive ‘semester abroad,’ no passport needed

Writer: Mathany Ahmed

Ever since they first worked together, local bartenders Ben Bourland and Nate Evans bonded over their shared philosophy: A good cocktail is one you actually want to drink.

That means ditching the gimmicky ingredients in favor of carefully balanced flavors and replacing vague menu buzzwords with a two-way conversation between bartender and patron. “It’s about doing things the right way,” Evans said.

Now, Bourland and Evans are ready to share their strong opinions and stiff drinks in a “Semester Abroad,” a cocktail tasting event Feb. 1-3 at Django. They’ll serve a flight of six cocktails that feature spirits from around the world, each inspired by the bartenders’ own travels. They’ve worked with the Django chefs to pair each cocktail with a small bite, which is also inspired by a foreign destination, but the unique drinks will take center stage.

“From what I’ve seen, none of the drinks we’re doing have been on other cocktail menus in Des Moines,” Bourland said. “There will be new flavors and new combinations that diners haven’t seen yet.”

Here are a few highlights from the tasting tour:

“Portugal. The Drink,” Portugal
The cacao-infused port in this Portuguese-inspired drink starts with a peachy taste, evolves into a minty chocolate and finishes with the bitterness of dark chocolate. “It’s all about what it tastes like, not just how you made it,” Evans said. “Everything in each drink has a purpose.”

“Venetian Sunset,” Italy
The bittersweet and aromatic notes of Cocchi Americano, an Italian aperitif, find harmony with citrus fruits. Evans and Bourland adjusted the pH level of blood-orange juice with citric acid to achieve just the right level of tartness. “We wanted that acid punch to balance out the cocktail,” Bourland said.

“Drink in the Sights,” France
The two types of brandy featured in this cocktail — armagnac and cognac — mix with a bitter spiced syrup to recreate the moody ambiance of a Parisian dive bar Evans once visited. “It reminds me of sitting in a dim bar, relaxing, sipping on a cocktail and watching people walk by on the streets,” he recalled.

Book your flight before tickets run out and don’t worry: They won’t make you gate-check your bag.

Dance, jive, have the time of your life with the return of "Mamma Mia!" this week. Photo: Des Moines Performing Arts

BEST BET

Here we snow again: ‘Mamma Mia!’ returns
If you're dreaming of a getaway to the Greek islands after the polar vortex, here's some good news: "Mamma Mia!" is back in all its disco glory with its 25th anniversary tour. The ABBA-powered musical about a young woman’s big fat Greek wedding and the three guys who might be her father returns to the Des Moines Civic Center from Jan. 23-28. Even better news: you can still get tickets. My, my, how can we resist it?

The Week Ahead

"Absurdities" (5-8 p.m. Friday): Moberg Gallery hosts a reception to open former Des Moines Art Center director Jeff Fleming’s new collection of layered, deliberately smudgy drawings that “record the process and history of drawing” and his own memories in an exhibition that runs through Feb. 3. (The event is postponed from last Friday, when a snowstorm smudged the whole sky.)

Hessen Haus’s 20th Anniversary (6 p.m Friday through 11:30 p.m. Sunday): Downtown’s cozy bier hall celebrates its first two decades with a weekend of polka music, beer-filled boots and various wunderbar giveaways, including a monthly three-course dinner for two.

Tallymoore (7:30-10 p.m. Saturday): Tally-ho! The Celtic Music Association hosts the Milwaukee-based Irish folk band for a concert at the Franklin Junior High Event Center. The name may ring a bell: The four-piece band is a perennial favorite at the Iowa Irish Fest in Waterloo.

Remix Trivia (6 p.m. Tuesday): The Des Moines Symphony hosts a music-themed trivia game at SingleSpeed Brewing. Eric McIntyre, who teaches music at Grinnell College, emcees the event, where you can play to win drinks, merch or symphony tickets. (Insider tip: You can study up in advance with the Remix Podcast.)

ARTS & CULTURE
Heading to Hinterland: The lineup for this year’s big music festival in Saint Charles, Iowa, was just announced this week. It’s a jam-packed schedule, Aug. 2-4, which includes Vampire Weekend and return visits from Hozier, who first played at Hinterland in 2019, and Noah Kahan, who made the trip just last year. Also on roster are popular indie artists Ethel Cain, Hippo Campus, Mt. Joy, Lizzy McAlpine and Chappell Roan. Ticket presales begin Thursday.

ARTS & CULTURE
Musical conference: The Des Moines Music Coalition announced the lineup for its Music University, an annual conference and showcase for Iowa’s music professionals, on Jan. 20 at xBk Live. The half-day event features industry panels on topics such as touring, organizing artist incubators, forging career paths for non-musicians and strengthening Des Moines’ music scene. The conference includes a ticketed show by the Cactus Blossoms. Music University is free to attend, thanks to a sponsorship from Community Choice Credit Union, but if you’d like to go, make sure to register in advance.

The painter John Singer Sargent (Thomas Glenn), left, danced with his model and muse, Thomas McKeller (Justin Austin), in a 2022 preview of “American Apollo,” a new show from the Des Moines Metro Opera. Photo: Duane Tinkey

COMMUNITY

Queer premieres: brand-new LGBTQ commissions
Writer: Brianne Sanchez

Love — specifically, LGBTQ love — will be in the spotlight this year when local arts organizations bring several new commissions to stages here in Central Iowa. A new ballet, an original opera, several fresh choral works and other events will invite audiences to consider the queer experience with empathy and to celebrate LGBTQ contributions to the community at large.

Jan. 20: "We Live Here: The Midwest" at the Varsity Cinema.
Feb. 8: "Assemblé," with Ballet Des Moines and Winefest at Willow on Grand.
Feb 15: Brea Baker, a Capital City Pride speaker at the Temple Theater.
Feb. 18: "Ballerina Boys" at the Varsity Cinema.
Feb. 20: "Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo," Des Moines Civic Center.
Feb. 22: "Beer and Ballet," with Ballet Des Moines at Big Grove Brewery.
March 8-9: "Love Letters," from Ballet Des Moines at Hoyt Sherman Place.
March 22-23: "Kelly: We All Need an Idol," Des Moines Gay Men's Chorus at the Scottish Rite Consistory.
July 13 and 18: "American Apollo," Des Moines Metro Opera in Indianola.

“In this day and age, especially in this state, we have lots of forces working against us,” said Eric Shepard, artistic director for the Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus. “As people are trying to dehumanize the LGBTQ population and, more specifically, our trans and nonbinary youth, we’ve been trying to find ways to tell those stories.”

Some of those storytelling techniques have been around for centuries. But the new companies are breathing new life into classical forms.

Read more about some of the productions and the creative minds behind them in this story from dsm’s new January/February issue.