dsmWeekly: April 24, 2018

Party preparation? No, this is an image from a story about wine cellars in the new dsm magazine, which we'll distribute later today.

JOIN US TODAY FOR OUR NEW-ISSUE UNVEILING

We hope you'll join us later today to celebrate the arrival of the May-June issue of dsm magazine. If you're a regular, we look forward to seeing you again. If you haven't attended one of these parties, this is your chance! It's a beautiful day, and we're eager to see you.

Details: A drop-in-anytime reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at Grand View University's Student Center on the east side of East 14th Street. Our Grand View hosts have food and beverages for you, and we'll have brief comments at 6 p.m., plus free copies of our new issue. For parking, turn east from East 14th onto Morton Avenue, where a parking lot awaits just south of the Student Center. We'll be waiting to greet you inside.

Looking fairly scrumptious, this bowl of goodness awaits diners at Aroy Dee.

LUNCH OF THE MONTH: BUN AT AROY DEE

By Wini Moranville

Most food lovers in town have their favorite Vietnamese hideaway—those unassuming spots tucked away in forlorn strip malls and aging buildings in less-than-trendy parts of town. I’ve visited many of them, and enjoyed them all. My favorite is Aroy Dee.

Granted, this little hideaway specializes in Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese food, but it’s the Vietnamese selections that always draw me in. The Pho often comes to mind first, but as we finally head into mild-to-warm temperatures, I highly recommend the Bun, dishes anchored by vermicelli rice noodles and brimming with so many good things.

The big bowl brings room-temperature noodles topped with the warm ingredients of your choice (marinated grilled pork, tofu, eggrolls, shrimp or a combination). Arranged in the bowl next to the warm ingredients are fresh and cold raw vegetables cut into bite-size shreds: cucumbers, bean sprouts, pickled carrots and lettuce. Served alongside the big bowl is a little bowl of thin, clear sauce—a lightly acidic, little-bit-sweet mixture that includes fermented fish sauce for a salty-savory angle. The little bowl of sauce is meant to be poured directly into the bowl of Bun.

The result, as you can imagine, is a study in contrasts. Imagine warm, chewy-in-a-good-way pork with cool and crunchy vegetables and soft and slippery white noodles. Add chopped eggrolls—and you must—for another irresistible angle: finely chopped, densely packed ingredients inside a crisp, flaky wrapping.

These delights can be had for $8.75 when you order dish #12: Egg Roll and Pork Vermicelli.

Aroy Dee is at 2128 Indianola Ave.; 515-528-8009.

Wini Moranville writes about food, wine and dining for dsm magazine and dsmWeekly. Follow her on Facebook at All Things Food–DSM.

Parking for drop-ins: This troubling sight drew attention this week, which was the goal of a plan for unexpected encounters with art.

CITYWIDE PUSH FOR THE ART OF THE UNEXPECTED
By Michael Morain

From the looks of it, a satellite fell from the sky the other day and crashed onto a black Volkswagen parked in front of Raygun. A woman passed by and reflexively looked up to see if another might be on the way.

The source was not the sky, in fact, but the imagination of a Toronto artist named Brandon Vickerd. It’s similar to a stunt he pulled in Denmark, called "Sputnik Returned," and was commissioned here as part of Bravo Greater Des Moines’ new plan to promote pop-up art throughout the metro area. The nonprofit’s recent study concluded that Central Iowans want more "everyday, everywhere" art to make the city a better, cooler and all-around more creative place to live.

Bravo has also recruited a gang of "transit troubadours" to politely ambush passengers this week on various DART bus routes with music, spoken-word acts and quick-draw portraits. Over in West Des Moines, on the Jordan Creek Trail near 50th Street and E.P. True Parkway, the sound artist Alex Braidwood is installing a "water-quality xylophone" with audio recordings attuned to the changing quality of the trail’s namesake creek.

More projects may pop up later, depending on the response to these first few. (If you’d like to chime in on social media, use #bravodsm and #everywhereart.)

"I’d love it if people started to get excited about the idea that art or cultural experiences can happen anywhere," says local artist Mat Greiner, a co-founder, with Teva Dawson, of Group Creative Services, which is coordinating Bravo’s initiative. "We’ll start to expect that our hometown will provide more vibrant culture and more exciting things to experience."

So that’s how Greiner found himself with a sledgehammer earlier this month, wailing away on a donated Volkswagen. (The car came from Community Lawyers of Iowa, by way of Iowa Public Radio’s donation program.)

When he parked the car this weekend at Walker Johnston Park in Urbandale, "a lot of people were driving by and rubbernecking," he said. "Two moms with their kids in the backseat pulled up and were kind of astonished. They were really scared at first but saw me working on it and realized it was OK."

United Way of Central Iowa reported progress for local families yesterday in its annual Community Impact Report.

UNITED WAY REPORTS COMMUNITY PROGRESS

At yesterday’s annual Live United celebration, United Way of Central Iowa released its 2018 Community Impact Report and honored Glen Hall, Pam Schoffner, Kellie Markey, Bankers Trust, and several other organizations for their efforts to improve Central Iowa.

"Those we honored today represent our community’s genuine compassion and willingness to roll up our sleeves and tackle the issues we need to address," said Elisabeth Buck, president of United Way of Central Iowa.

The report highlights progress toward the organization's 2020 goals in education, income and health; view it here.

The cabaret performance and fund-raiser presents the lighter side of the talented Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble.

DES MOINES VOCAL ARTS PRESENTS A CABARET

Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble presents its cabaret performance Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates, 100 Locust St. In addition to the musical entertainment, you can enjoy drinks and desserts while bidding on silent auction items. New to the cabaret this year: a raffle for 50 bottles of wine. For tickets and more information, click here.

Trees protect people from invasion in the allegorical tale behind "Embrace," presented May 4-6.

GATEWAY DANCE PRODUCTION EMBRACES NATURE

Gateway Dance Theatre presents the premiere of "Embrace"—an environment-focused production—May 4-6 at Grand View University’s Viking Theater.

"Embrace" combines dance, world music, the spoken word and shadow puppets to tell the story of Indian villagers protected by trees from an invading army. It is based on a heroic tale from India that has been a cornerstone of many environmental movements around the world. "Embrace" seeks to increase awareness of climate change, the greenhouse effect, and how it all connects to humanity.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5, plus 2 p.m. Sunday, May 6. Tickets are $20 ($15 for seniors and veterans, $10 for students). Tickets can be purchased online at gatewaydance.org. Viking Theater is at 2811 E. 14th St. More info? Call 515.283.8383 or email info@gatewaydance.org.

This Market Day event last year drew a crowd of shoppers to the atrium of Capital Square downtown.

MARKET DAY SATURDAY MARKS 10 YEARS

A rite of spring now for 10 years, Market Day will present the work of 69 producers of arts and crafts in the Capital Square atrium Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s an opportunity to meet the artists and other creative people whose imaginative goods include jewelry, basketry, candles, prints and children’s clothing.

Market Day was first held in 2009, and has since developed a loyal following that includes
Suzana Dobrosavljević of Ankeny and several of her friends. For them, she says, "it’s become a tradition to get downtown, grab a coffee and spend the day meeting new artists."

Organizers will give away screen-printed "swag bags" stuffed with coupons and freebies to the first 100 shoppers to arrive on Saturday morning.