dsmWeekly: April 12, 2023

DSM Pasta Co. owners Kali and AJ Brudos make their pastas by hand, including this pappardelle. Photo: DSM Pasta Co.

More cooks in the kitchen is a recipe for success

Writer: Karla Walsh

When several local entrepreneurs noticed a vacancy in a former Godfather’s Pizza place, well, they spotted an opportunity they couldn’t refuse.

The idea behind Moxie Kitchen + Events, at 4119 University Ave., arose because four local food businesses wanted to share a kitchen. The collaborators shared a passion to “cultivate the next generation of talent and food entrepreneurs, while continuing to build our personal brands,” according to Marti Payseur, who owns the downtown bakery Thistle’s Summit.

Payseur and Beth Jackson of Nourished met while prepping alongside each other at another shared-use kitchen. Kali and AJ Brudos, owners of DSM Pasta Co., joined in since Kali had helped Beth’s husband, Rob, open the Iowa Taproom. And somewhere along the way, Beth and Jacob Schroeder of Crafted Food Services bonded over a mutual appreciation for fresh food.

The result of this lovely braided loaf of challah is Moxie Kitchen + Events. Its co-owners will use the space to prepare food to share across Central Iowa and, as the facility’s schedule allows, rent it out to others for meal prep, culinary classes, private dinners and more. They hope the space lowers the usual financial barriers for culinary startups.

The Moxie team launched a Kickstarter campaign on March 28 to raise money to support the final parts of the build-out. They surpassed their $12,000 goal just a week later but plan to keep the fundraiser open until April 26 to generate extra funding that could accelerate their late-April opening. Donors who pitch in at various levels will receive an invitation to the opening reception, a dinner for six at their home, or even a year’s supply of fresh pasta and sauce or oatmeal cream pies.

Help clean up the Gray's Lake watershed and reward yourself with a drink at Confluence Brewing. Photo: Manny Becerra.

PLAN YOUR WEEKEND
Happy Earth Day! Now pick up your trash.

The annual Earth Day Trash Bash begins this weekend, and volunteers are getting ready to celebrate Mother Earth across the metro April 15-22. If you’d like to pitch in, you can register to pick up litter, plant flower beds or remove invasive species.

The first event is a Gray’s Lake watershed cleanup from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, organized with support from Confluence Brewing. Register online and use the password “confluence” to receive a free drink and a Confluence Brewing tote bag after the dirty work is done. Other volunteer events begin at 1 p.m. throughout next week, culminating with a party on April 21.

PLAN YOUR WEEKEND

Eat. Drink. Architecture. (11 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Saturday): The Iowa Architectural Foundation’s new season of downtown walking tours opens this weekend with a tour that starts at Ken’s, the “not-so-secret speakeasy” under the Iowa Taproom. During the event, architects point out notable architecture throughout the Market District, Historic Court Avenue, along the Des Moines River and back into the East Village, with stops along the way to refuel at several local bars and restaurants. Tickets are going fast, so run – don’t walk – to sign up while you can.

“Spring It On” comedy (7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday): Live from Des Moines, it’s Friday night! The comedy group Des Moines Sketch Pad puts on two shows at Teehee's and plans to donate a portion of the ticket sales to help a local comedian buy a wheelchair and wheelchair-accessible van. Then on Tuesday, Chicago’s famous Second City opens “Swipe Right: An Incomplete Guide to the Ultimate Date Night” for a six-day run at the Temple Theater.

Gina Chavez (7:30 p.m. Saturday): Latin Grammy nominee Gina Chavez takes a turn in Des Moines Performing Arts’ Live at the Temple concert series after sharing her indie Latin pop sound on tours across several countries. Curious? Check out her NPR Tiny Desk concert and get tickets to her upcoming show.

Gross Domestic Product Music Festival (5:30 p.m. Saturday): This year, the annual showcase of local talent sets up shop for the first time at Hoyt Sherman Place. Headliners include Annalibera, B. Well, and the Envy Corps. A pre-party starts at 4 p.m. at Big Grove Brewery, and the after-party continues, as it should, right across the street at Carl’s Place. See the full lineup and get tickets.

ARTS AND CULTURE
Stoic sculpture: There's a new face at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. "Even Stones Have Eyes" by Pakistani-American artist Huma Bhabha was installed this week at the park's western edge. The 12-foot-tall bronze figure depicts a female with a peg leg and a single arm. Bhabha's work explores themes of displacement and disillusionment derived from the war-torn region of her birth, where, she has stated, “cities can look like architectural digs.” This new addition is the park's 32nd sculpture, which, like the others, belongs to the Des Moines Art Center.

Jim Autry read a few of his poems last week during Poetry Palooza's opening reception. Photo: Salmon Photography.

ARTS AND CULTURE
A grand prize for Autry, inspired by the Grand Prix

Writer: Michael Morain

If you ever plan to win an award, it doesn’t hurt to have a few eloquent friends. When Jim Autry received the inaugural James A. Autry Achievement Award last Thursday at the new Poetry Palooza festival, one of the presenters read a citation from Ted Kooser, the former U.S. poet laureate who grew up in Ames.

“I hope you can feel the gratitude for your many contributions,” Kooser wrote to Autry, the prolific writer, retired Meredith executive and longtime dsm contributor. “Thanks for all you’ve done for poetry.”

Another citation came from Nebraska’s poet laureate, Matt Mason, who was a Drake student when Autry helped kick-start the Des Moines National Poetry Festival in 1991. “It changed my life,” Mason wrote. “That whole night refreshed everything I had come to love about poetry.”

When it was Autry’s turn to speak during the reception at Franklin Junior High School, he explained that he and his friend Tom Lynner had cooked up the idea for the festival when they were grousing about the Des Moines Grand Prix that tore through downtown from 1988 through 1992. “Wouldn’t a poetry festival be cheaper?” they mused. So they invited A-list poets from across the country and put Des Moines on the literary map for the next 15 years, until the festival's funding fizzled in 2005.

The nonprofit Poetry & rekindled the event this past weekend, renamed it Poetry Palooza, and filled it with readings, workshops, a spoken-word competition and an art exhibit at Mainframe Studios. “I’m so happy to see it being brought up again, to see it resurrected,” Autry said.

Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, a poet himself, emceed the kickoff and observed that poetry draws its power from community, from the way each poet finds a unique way to express a universal experience. “One thing poets do, we recognize the shoulders we stand on,” he said, “and we continue to do the work.”