dsmWeekly - April 17, 2024

Cosi Cucina's creamy potato ravioli is a time-tested favorite, either at the restaurant or to go, like the dish pictured here. (Photo: Seeta Lee)

FOOD & DINING

Tried and true: Cosi Cucina

By Seeta Lee

It’s 6 p.m. on a Tuesday night at Cosi Cucina, and there’s a wait. Tuesday is typically a slow night for most restaurants, but not here.

In a nondescript brick building at 1975 N.W. 86th St. in Clive, Cosi is somehow both easy to miss and impossible to pass up. It’s been open for more than 30 years, and there’s almost always a wait.

However, whenever I mention Cosi to others, they tell me, “I’ve still never been there,” and “Oh! I forgot about that place!”

Since it’s one of Central Iowa’s older restaurants, you might think its owners have mastered the art of social media and promotions. They haven’t. Most of Cosi’s Facebook posts announce temporary closures around holidays or bad weather, and its Instagram account has been quiet since July 2016. Instead, owner Peter Renzo said he relies on word of mouth and giving “free brownies to our ‘frequent flyers.’” He bought the place in 2017, and his approach has paid off.

Cosi is both hearty and hardy. When Bonnie and Dave Bartels opened the restaurant in 1993, it was among the first in the metro to offer wood-fired pizzas. The new eatery remained open during the floods of '93 and has persevered over the last three decades, despite occasional rumors that it had closed for good. As Renzo put it, the owners who took over after the Bartels “turned Cosi into a ghost town and were days away from shutting it down forever.” Yet, Cosi survived, even through the pandemic.

A lot of its success centers on dedicated service. The staff reflects the restaurant’s quiet, confident atmosphere, and several of Renzo’s employees have worked there for more than five years, an impressive feat considering the industry’s high turnover. A few have been there since the '90s.

That same quiet confidence shows up in the menu. I think of the potato ravioli. It’s a fairly common dish on other Italian menus around town, but Cosi’s take is unlike any of the others I’ve tried, thanks to five additional ingredients: potatoes, beef, red onions, bacon and a cream sauce. It’s the kind of beautiful, rich entrée that commands attention without making a fuss.

Almost everything at Cosi is made in-house, including the popular Ziti Cucina, a mix of penne, sun-dried tomatoes and Graziano’s Italian sausage. You can upgrade it with two meatballs and “Diana Sauce,” the house red sauce named after Renzo’s mother. Surprisingly, Renzo said that when he bought Cosi, the menu lacked meatballs and “a true authentic Italian sauce.”

Besides the pasta, Cosi’s staying power also comes from the pizzas and desserts. Thanks to the warm open kitchen, diners can watch their pizzas as they’re plucked from the flames. My go-to, the smoked chicken pizza, astonishes me every single time with its flavor and execution. Its crisp cracker crust withstands generous toppings without so much as a droop.

For diners who still have room, Cosi offers a smooth, housemade cheesecake topped with baked macadamia nuts. That might sound like a risk, but it works. Take a piece to go.

As I see it, Cosi Cucina is what Olive Garden aims to be. From the darkened, romantic ambiance to the local art and murals on the walls, every inch of Cosi Cucina is classy without being stuffy. It’s welcoming without being brash, busy without being loud. Renzo’s low-key strategy still prevails.

What’s your favorite “tried and true” restaurant in town? Drop us a note at editors@bpcdm.com.

Gladys Knight (Photo: Cineflix)

BEST BET

Take the 'Midnight Train' to Waukee

Get ready to welcome the legendary Gladys Knight back to town Sunday for a concert at the new Vibrant Music Hall in Waukee. The Empress of Soul has been captivating audiences with her powerhouse voice ever since she won a TV singing contest at the tender age of 8. Sixty years and 10 Grammys later, she’s still wowing audiences with hits like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

This weekend’s concert marks Knight's first return to Central Iowa since 2020, following a global tour, a whirlwind of TV and film appearances and a Kennedy Center Honor from President Joe Biden. Tickets are still available for the concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Week Ahead

Kane Brown (7 p.m. Thursday): The country-pop star who attracted a following on social media before releasing his first two successful albums, “Chapter 1” and “Experiment,” brings his “In the Air” tour to Wells Fargo Arena.

Billy Joel tribute (7:30 p.m. Thursday): Adam Shapiro fronts a six-piece band to perform “Billy Nation,” a roundup of the Piano Man’s greatest hits, at the Temple for Performing Arts.

Poetry Palooza (5 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday): After last year’s successful revival, the annual festival during National Poetry Month heads to Grand View University with readings, spoken-word slams and more.

Valley Junction Gallery Night (5-8 p.m. Friday): More than a dozen galleries, shops and restaurants welcome visitors for the bi-annual walkabout along Fifth Street in West Des Moines.

Comedy XPeriment (7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday): The local improv group has been keeping things fresh for 17 years now. Catch 'em again at the Des Moines Civic Center’s Stoner Theater.

“The Good Doctor” (7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through May 5): Tallgrass Theatre Co. presents an unusual mashup, a series of short comedies that Neil Simon based on classic stories by Anton Chekhov.

Drake Relays (Sunday through April 27): Pace yourselves: The week barely lets up between the half-marathon early Sunday morning and the final 4x400-meter relay Saturday night. Pro tip: Pack some sunblock, a poncho and a parka.

COMMUNITY
Presidential trees: The team at Hoyt Sherman Place plans to plant two Osage orange trees on the front lawn at noon Monday to celebrate Earth Day and the completion of their latest landscaping project (based on plans from 1910). The trees came from cuttings from trees that were planted in 1865 near the Springfield, Illinois, gravesite of President Abraham Lincoln, who worked with Hoyt Sherman's brother, Gen. William Sherman, during the Civil War. Monday's ceremony includes a visit from an actor playing Gen. Ulysses Grant, who plans to share a few remarks about an earlier visit to Des Moines to see the Sherman brothers.

The designer plans to show off a new garment (pictured) inspired by the 2001 movie “Spy Kids,” and he’s eager to support both his hometown and a charity that’s close to his heart.

As a child, McCoy spent some time at Blank Children’s Hospital, in treatment for chronic pain. “I’ve been in the same rooms as people whose lives have been altered by ChildServe,” he said. “It’s an amazing organization and an amazing cause. I’m glad I can be even a small part of this and inspired by everyone else who is working so hard on it.”

McCoy, 24, grew up in West Des Moines and took some fashion classes at Des Moines Area Community College. As he found his way into streetwear, he channeled his creativity into his own brand, HUMAN Clothing. He ran pop-up shops to sell his designs and gained a local following.

“I’d have lines that went down several blocks!” he said. “And then I thought, ‘If I can have this success in Iowa, I want to try and go bigger.” He moved to LA in 2019, but the first few months presented some roadblocks, and his internship fell through. He moved in with a few other guys in the fashion industry, including several from Iowa, and steadily worked to build up his brand.

Early on, he used a marketing technique called “product seeding,” which involved sending sample clothes and promo packages to rappers, influencers and other LA hotshots who might wear his designs. It worked. He befriended the rapper Trippie Redd, who began wearing McCoy’s designs and introducing him to his inner circle. By 2023, McCoy was working with several big-name rappers, including NLE Choppa and Action Bronson.

McCoy received the Shein Global Entrepreneur Award last year but said he still keeps his “blinders up.” “I don’t do this for the limelight or to gain celebrity status or anything like that. I just see it as growth, and taking those next steps to succeed in the industry I live in.”

Following his initial success with HUMAN, he created a full-service creative business called Limitless Manufacturing Group, which offers creative branding, business building, web design, merchandising and other marketing for music artists and creative professionals.

He plans to release a new HUMAN collection with B.B. Simon on April 26, right after his return to his roots.

“The CornFed Collection is actually inspired by the Midwest and the heritage of Iowa. It’s workwear — and vintage-inspired, with denim jackets, flannels, vintage T-shirts, the whole nine yards,” he said. He described the Midwest as warm, comforting and welcoming and hopes to capture that feel in his new designs.