dsm Dish - May 16, 2025

New finds at the Downtown Farmers' Market

By dsm Staff

The Downtown Farmers’ Market opened this month with the clang of the cowbell, and just as traditions continue, some things have sprouted up afresh. Here are a few of the new vendors we’re eager to check out as they show up in the Saturday morning rotation.

Exoticas. In addition to selling Iowa produce, this business sells fresh South American fruit like mangos, custard apples and adorable baby bananas. As they always say (somewhere), a dragon fruit a day keeps the doctor away.
Find them this weekend.

Buckets of Blessings. A small business from Boone offers mixes to make homemade ciabatta, focaccia and pizza crusts. Their website asks, “Have you ever wanted your kitchen to smell like an Italian bakery?” Why, yes. Yes, we do.
Find them May 24.

Pofferbites. The tagline for Lay’s potato chips applies to poffertjes, too: “Betcha can’t eat just one.” These mini Dutch pancakes are addictive.
Find them May 24.

Sweet Bee’s Macarons. Sure, an old-school French chef might scoff at some of the avant-garde flavors, but we’re here for it. S’mores macarons? Caramel latte macarons? Magnifique.
Find them May 31.

Baan Vaan Ice Cream + Goodies. The name sounds Dutch, but it actually means “sweet village” in Tai Dam and Lao. The owners whip up small batches of ice cream in a kitchen in Sherman Hill and experiment with flavors you can’t get at most grocery stores — blueberry, chocolate stracciatella, toffee cookie crumble and more. On their website, they had us at “high butterfat.”
Find them June 6.

Yonderbound. A husband-and-wife team sells hemp-derived “trail mixers” so you can infuse any drink with a low dose of cannabis (3 milligrams of THC and CBD). Their slogan: “Made for those who wander.” Find them June 6.

Tastemaker

If you opened a restaurant in Des Moines, what would you serve?

"Focaccia with olive oil from Crete. During a vacation a few years ago, we took a cooking class on the island of Naxos, in Greece, using veggies we picked from the owners' garden and their homemade olive oil — an amazing experience and absolutely divine. Another meal, at a restaurant, started with a round of appetizers, known as 'mezedes' (pictured below).

"We’ve done taste tests with olive oil from all over the Mediterranean, and Cretan olive oil is so buttery compared to the others. We love it. We buy it in a 3-liter tin from a store in Omaha and use it in everything, including lemon olive oil cake."

— Julia Franklin, executive director, Mainframe Studios

Quick Bites

The Des Moines Biergarten is open for the season. The family-friendly, German-style beer garden offers large steins of German and local draft beers, bratwursts, hot dogs, Bavarian pretzels and other street foods. Visitors can also enjoy picnic tables, hammocks and lawn games during open hours Wednesdays through Sundays until the end of October. Find it under the trees at Water Works Park, just east of the Lauridsen Amphitheater.

Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse in Des Moines was honored as the "Restaurant/Bar of the Year” at the Annual FUSE Awards Dinner. The recognition highlights the restaurant's commitment to excellence, outstanding hospitality and exceptional service.

Oak Park is hosting a tequila dinner July 24 to celebrate the release of the special Oak Park Don Julio Reposado barrel selection, which will be exclusively available at the Ingersoll restaurant. The reposado, along with several other Don Julio bottles, will be paired with a five-course tasting menu designed to complement the unique flavors of each tequila.

Events

Today: The Norwalk Farmers Market is now open for the season, 4-6:30 p.m. every Friday through October at the Norwalk Christian Church.

Sunday: Hotori is hosting a DSM Ramen Club pop-up event, featuring fluffy egg sandwiches 10 a.m. until noon, while supplies last.

May 23-24: CelebrAsian, Iowa’s largest Asian American festival, features dozens of food booths from 16 cultures, plus exhibits, entertainment and more, at Western Gateway Park.

May 30: “Live, Laugh, Lamb,” a dinner at Moxie Kitchen + Events, features a cooking demonstration by chef Jacob Schroeder and a three-course dinner featuring lamb from H8R Acres in Indianola.

June 4-5: The World Pork Expo attracts thousands of pork producers from around the world for educational sessions, seminars and networking at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

The choicest cut for the grill

By Wini Moranville

When it comes to beef, ribeye has always been king of the grill, but all that opulence comes at a price. I asked Nick Lenters, owner of Old Station Craft Meats in Waukee, for another contender to the throne, and he had a quick answer: hanger steak. It’s a great cut when you’re up for some beefy swagger, but not feeling quite so flush.

While hanger steak is a favorite among hardcore grilling aficionados, you likely won’t find it on most supermarket shelves; there’s simply not much of it to go around. “On a 900-pound animal carcass, there are only about 2 pounds of hanger meat,” Lenters explained. Indeed, thanks to the steak’s relative rarity, it’s sometimes called the “butcher’s cut,” as butchers traditionally reserved this rewarding piece for themselves.

So what’s so great about it? According to Lenters, it’s a muscle that hangs from the center of the animal, supporting the diaphragm. Because this muscle doesn’t get much exercise, the meat is notably tender; also, fat on a hanger steak is primarily external, close to the kidney fat, with minimal fat inside the muscle itself. “When you cook it, that outside fat renders beautifully,” he said.

Lenters offered a few cooking tips:

High heat and speed: Whether you’re grilling it outdoors in summer or broiling it indoors in winter, hanger steak is best cooked quickly over high heat.

Don’t overcook it: Lenters prefers the steak medium-rare and advises marinating the meat if you want it more well done.

Slice it right: For the best texture, cook the steak whole and then slice it crosswise. Encourage diners to slice each bite perpendicular to the muscle fibers. Doing so shortens them, making for a more tender bite.

Lenters’ butcher shop sells ready-to-grill hanger steaks and also uses it in one of the shop’s most popular summer dishes: Mongolian marinated beef skewers. “Those are one of our top-selling skewers in the summertime,” he said.

P.S.: A great way to get a taste of hanger steak without having to cook it yourself is to order it at Roots 95 in Johnston. Based on my experience, chef-owner Arturo Mora’s soy-marinated hanger steak expertly showcases this particular cut’s appeal.

When we received a press release this week about this year's Cajun Fest, set for June 14 at the Hall in West Des Moines, one particular detail jumped right out at us like a creature from the bayou. For $800, you and your bravest buddies can partake in "the Gator Table experience, a private table for eight guests featuring a 16-pound, bacon-wrapped alligator." The deal includes drinks and "additional Cajun goodies," which, if we're being honest, sounds like a dare or a thinly veiled threat.

The website's tagline did nothing to allay our curiosity and/or fear: "Get ready to put some South in your mouth!"