dsmWeekly: March 16, 2021

Ramen Club features a new menu every month and serves it up every Wednesday.

GRAB NOODLES EACH WEDNESDAY AT RAMEN CLUB

Writer: Karla Walsh

The little details make a big deal for Trish Myers, owner of Ramen Club, a noodle and more restaurant in the Kitchen Spaces location near Drake University.

“People can taste how much care you put in. Everything is handmade," Myers says. "Our noodles and broth are made from scratch weekly, as are our toppings and the soft-boiled eggs. Every single egg is peeled by hand."

Myers perfects her ramen noodles through “countless trials and errors” by scouring cookbooks and websites and talking to noodle pros. She ran Ramen Club speakeasy-style throughout 2019, then hosted an official pop-up with Lucky Lotus in February 2020. Then the pandemic hit, pressing pause on the brand’s progress.

“I had momentum and it seemed to have abruptly ended; I wasn't sure what I was going to do," Myers says. "That's when Gas Lamp reached out and gave us a little hope.” Myers took her menu and sold it takeout-style out of the music venue’s kitchen for a few months in summer 2020.

After serving lines around the block at Gas Lamp, Myers officially decided to establish Ramen Club as its own business in October. She and her team of four fellow cooks began hosting weekly Wednesday sales out of the communal cooking area at Kitchen Spaces (1139 24th St.), which continue with a new menu each month.

I was lucky enough to order during February’s Mexican-inspired lineup and am still thinking about the zingy citrus-infused pozole broth, roasted hominy and chewy ramen noodles. And the Miso Brussels ($6), which are still on the menu, are umami-rich, yet not overpowering or overly greasy in the least. The March lineup is in partnership with fellow Kitchen Spaces brand Dumpling House and features Pork Shoyu ($15) and Vegetable Matcha ($13), plus sides and desserts. You can also find Ramen Club’s noodles at other spots, too, like in the Bartender’s Handshake’s ramen menu items and Lucky Lotus’ non-instant noodles.

What’s ahead for the eatery, Myers is hesitant to say—likely because the journey the past 18 months has been unpredictable. Myers works as a freelance food stylist for the Mittera Group by day, then spends evenings and weekends prepping for Ramen Club.

“We’ll keep pushing this forward and eventually find something that fits our needs more permanently as a business," Myers says. "Ideas will change, but the soul of Ramen Club will still be a special part of the future."

Keep up with Ramen Club at facebook.com/dsmramenclub and on Instagram at @dsmramenclub. Place an order for Wednesday pickup at ramenclubdsm.square.site.

HOME DESIGN: WASH AWAY THE WINTER BLUES

This project was an entry to dsm’s inaugural Home Design Awards, announced March 9. See the winning projects at dsmhomedesignawards.com.

Designed by Eden and Gray Design Build, this laundry room is the perfect utility space for an active family—including their two dogs.

Originally a front play room, the design team converted the space with a stacking washer-dryer, built-in cabinetry and several areas to hang clothes. The pets have plenty of amenities, too, including a shower, a cabinet with a sink for filling water containers, a pop-out with food bowls, and a built-in kennel.

Because the room is in the front of the house, “it was also important that it was beautiful,” says designer Hanna Shiplett. The greige cabinetry complements the patterned tile, which adds a playful note underfoot.

Photographer Janae Gray captured Billy Weathers as a musician, nonprofit leader and civil rights activist. “I decided to interpret this visually by taking each image and creating a duotone exposure to give the portrait transparency—in retrospect, the same transparency Billy was sharing with me and others,” she says.

THE MANY SIDES OF BILLY WEATHERS

Writer: Kyle Munson

Billy Weathers grabbed the microphone, but this time he wasn’t onstage as a hip-hop artist, galvanizing 4,000 fans as the opening act for Lil Uzi Vert. He was on the streets as an activist, in front of the Des Moines Police Department, surrounded by a throng of protesters.

“I didn’t come here to explain white privilege,” he said. “I didn’t come here to explain the Black experience in America. And I certainly did not come here tonight to bring more hate into this world. I promise you that. I came here to motivate and share my opinions.”

That drew applause.

It was May 29, 2020. Weathers acknowledged the legitimacy of the crowd’s anger just several days after George Floyd, a Black man, was suffocated by Minneapolis police over an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

“I come to you as a flawed man who’s trying to control what he can,” said Weathers, 29, framed by a beige fedora, bushy beard and torn blue jeans. He occasionally read from prepared remarks on his phone.
“We’re fighting a systemic racial injustice,” he said. “This goes a lot deeper than George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Kalief Browder or Tamir Rice.”

The rally—hastily organized on Facebook by Weathers and his friends Michael Turner and Louis DeMarco without them realizing how quickly it would balloon—was one among countless such scenes in a historic year of civil rights protests worldwide. If the remedy to many of these stubborn social maladies were purely political, Weathers said, they would have been fixed long ago.

Data backs him up, including here in the capital city. The One Economy Report released in 2017 as a socioeconomic snapshot of Black Polk County detailed a vast wealth gap: The median income for Black households is $26,725, less than half the $59,844 median for all households.

Read the rest of our feature story on Billy Weathers in the March/April issue, which released last week. You can view the publication online here.

A still from one of Ballet Des Moines' "Spirit" triple bill performances, "Padam Padam." Photo: Ballet Des Moines

WATCH BALLET WITH THE EXPERTS

Ballet Des Moines is following up last weekend's triple bill performance, "Spirit," with a virtual watch party with special guests at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The event is part of the Ballet's "Acts of Resilience" virtual season, created in partnership with Iowa PBS.

Choreographer Ma Cong, associate artistic director of the Richmond Ballet, will hold a live conversation after the ballet "In Formation," which he helped create. Next, the performance of "Padam Padam" will be followed by an interview with Serkan Usta, artistic director of Ballet Des Moines. The event will close with pieces of beloved ballets, including "Sleeping Beauty" and "Le Corsaire."

IOWA STOPS HUNGER
RESERVE OR CONTRIBUTE TO EASTER DAY MEALS

Hope Ministries is currently accepting meal reservations for its Easter delivery program on Saturday, April 3, providing food to those in need. The deadline to reserve is Friday, March 26, at 4:30 p.m.—unless the meal capacity is reached earlier. Those who need a to-go meal can also stop by the Hope Ministries' Hope Cafe (1310 Sixth Ave.) from 12:30 to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 3. No reservations are needed.

And if you'd like to contribute to the cause, Hope Ministries says it will cost $33,000 to provide the 17,850 meals needed. You can make donations here. You also can volunteer to deliver here.

Hope Ministries will deliver meals to Altoona, Clive, Des Moines, Johnston, Pleasant Hill, Urbandale, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights.

Iowa Stops Hunger is an 18-month Business Publications Corp. initiative to bring awareness and action to food insecurity in Iowa.

Sarah Heimer, an ICU nurse at Broadlawns Medical Center, said during the pandemic, nurses have to act as emotional supports for patients. “We always do that,” she said, “but this is a new level.” Photographer: Emily Blobaum

WHAT A YEAR: STORIES OF HOPE AND RESILIENCE

When everything changed a year ago this week, dsm pivoted to respond in ways that we believed would be relevant, timely and inspirational for you, our readers. The pandemic isn’t over, of course, but the 12-month mark gives us a reason to reflect on how our community has met (and continues to meet) the challenges with resilience and hope. Here’s a selection of stories that still resonate nearly a year later:

Artists and cultural leaders shared their sources of comfort and joy—books, music, artworks and more. Des Moines Symphony music director and conductor Joseph Giunta, for example, turns to Frank Sinatra’s 1973 album, “Ol' Blue Eyes is Back,” while Jeff Fleming, director of the Des Moines Art Center, finds assurance in how Ai Weiwei’s work of hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds illuminates the human experience.

As restaurants were forced to shut down, dsm contributor Wini Moranville wrote a moving ode to 40 years of Des Moines dining. “If we expect a city of great restaurants, it will be on us to show up, with gratitude and in full force,” she wrote.

Our city’s front-line workers became overnight heroes of hope as they risked their lives to treat the sick, house the homeless, feed the hungry and work other jobs to help keep the rest of us safe.

As people hunkered down in their homes, local interior designers reminded us of ways to add cheer and joy to our homes, from embracing “beautility” to incorporating natural elements.

As venues closed and events were canceled, we reminded you of local parks worth rediscovering.

Thank you for reading dsm (on all our platforms) and for virtually engaging with us over the past year; as vaccinations continue to progress, those of us on the team look forward seeing you in person!