Resturant Review: Cosi Cucina

Cosi Cucina

 Made a second trip to Cosi Cucina in Clive and was shocked to find out that I had not reviewed it the first time. Cosi Cucina has a very nice atmosphere, sophisticated but not stuffy, romantic yet not sappy. The service the first time was exceptional, this time a little let’s say weird. The waiter was trying to be funny and failed, and included himself in a toast due to the fact it was national wine day. But as far as service goes he was good. As far as the food goes it is as good as it gets, whenever a person can go to a place and say that they just had the best of something they have ever had that’s good, but when a person can say they just had the best two that’s great. Not too often I would get excited about a salad but the Candied Almond salad left a lasting impression with its feta cheese, blackberry vinaigrette dressing and oh yes the candied almonds. I am a true meat eater but it would not take much to convince me to just have the salad. One of the dishes at the table was the Balsamic Chicken pictured here.

 

It was as good as it looks.  The green beans were amazing! The other dishes were the Ziti Cucina and a tomato linguini both excellent but the dish of the night right shown here

 

 

is causing me to have dreams at night. The Potato Ravioli is the best pasta dish I have ever had. It included bacon and steak tips in a rich brown sauce. I wish I could have more. Overall the serving sizes were generous and when you include the price with the quality of the food the overall value it outstanding, possibly my favorite restaurant in all of Iowa right now.

 

1975 NW 86th St Clive, IA 50325
(515) 278-8148

 

Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) a night out

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  5

Service:         4                                                        

Food:            5

Value:          5

Overall          5

Resturant Review: Waveland Cafe

Waveland Café

 

Visited what could possibly be a Des Moines institution, The Waveland Café has been voted the best breakfast in the Metro for like 16 straight years. I’ll say not much for looks but that’s part of its charm. When we arrived the line was almost out the door I asked a regular if we needed to give our name to someone he said no seating is just kind of on the honor system. For a minute it was kind of nerve racking but in the end it just again added to the charm, along with the 80’s rock music playing in the background. I’m not really sure how to best say this but the appearance of the wait staff would make you wonder. But it was some of the best service I’ve had anywhere and they knew how to get people in and out while busing their own tables. Proves you can’t judge a book by its cover. The bacon left a little to be desired, and not often I say this but the eggs really had good flavor. The highlight was definitely the hash browns, not sure how they cook them but they were the best I’ve ever had. They were crisp on the outside and the insides literally melted in your mouth. I can’t wait to go back. The Waveland café just solidifies my phrase if there is not a wait, keep the plate.

 4708 University Ave Des Moines, IA 50311
(515) 279-4341

 

Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) everyday

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  5

Service:         5                                            

Food:            5

Value:           4

Overall          5

Resturant Review: Centro

Centro

I recently was able to have a meal at Centro in downtown Des Moines which has been consistently voted the number one restaurant in the capital city. The atmosphere is what I would call sophisticated but not stuffy.  Our waiter was attentive and very friendly and outgoing. However he did not know the soup and everything just happened to be his favorite. I didn’t buy it for a second but overall he was pretty good. We were started off with some bread and oil which was very good.  It was followed by the Centro salad the toasted pecans and the gorgonzola was a refreshing touch. The potato leek soup was full of flavor and something I would definitely have again. The main dishes at our table were all very good. They included Chicken Francese, Ricotta Gnocchi, Chicken and Prosciutto all very good, the Gnocchi was probably the least favorite of the three. But the best dish at the table was the Parmesan-Encrusted Halibut which included a lemon butter sauce, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. The lemon butter sauce turned what would have been just another piece of fish into a memorable meal. My next statement in many cases would not be seen as a positive one but the best thing of the night was the buttermilk mashed potatoes. Wow, the best mashed potatoes I have ever had. They were creamy yet had chucks of potatoes in them, not sure how they did it but I’m glad they did. Besides the small disappointment in the waiter the biggest let down was the fact that the online menu did not match what they actually had. Still everything else made up for it. A good place to go on any special occasion.

 

Centro
1003 Locust St Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 248-1780

Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) special occasion only

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  5

Service:         4

Food:            5

Value:           4

Overall          4.5

Utter fools

I was looking at a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon the other day after spending time with someone who just didn’t have all of their facts quite right, realized that Calvin  (not John) had just reminded me about some Biblical truths.

Have you ever had to sit and listen to that person that will not shut up? Then to top it off they so far removed from the truth they don’t even realize it. The problem is rooted in Romans 1:21-25.

²¹ Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. ²² Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. ²³ And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. ²⁵ They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

To top this off those who are the most ignorant of the truth are the most convinced they are right and try to convince everyone else they are right. This is covered in Romans 1:32

³² They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

The ESV study Bible says this

Rom. 1:32 People do not generally sin in innocent ignorance, for they know God’s righteous decree (at least in an instinctive way) that their evil deserves condemnation. Indeed, the evil goes further when people give approval and applaud others for their sin, probably because having others join in their sin makes them feel better about the evil course they have chosen.

Sometimes those who claim to be wise are just utter fools and deep down all they are doing is justifying to themselves the evil that they do. Calvin is correct from the world’s perspective when he says “the secret to happiness is short term stupid self interest”

It's official: I'm certified!

It has been three long weeks but my badge finally arrived. The wait reminded me of being a kid and waiting for that item you wanted so badly off of a cereal box. So now it’s official I am a Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) certified barbeque judge. Just wanted to share a few of the tidbits from the class I took to become a Certified Barbeque Judge (CBJ) as we like to call it in the business. (just kidding)

These competitions are serious business with a lot of money on the line.

Right now the best competition cooks in the nation are right here in Iowa. Seven out of the top ten finishers at a national event in Arkansas were from Iowa and the guy who fixed the chicken for the class was won the overall grand champion.  

There are many rules for the cooks to abide by just in presentation alone

If a CBJ just takes a one ounce bite from everything they are presented with in a normal competition they will eat up to two pounds of BBQ that day.

Oh yea, ribs are not supposed to fall off the bone

However the biggest disappointment of the day was coming to the realization that much of the stuff you eat you will never be able to buy. Many of the cooks just compete they don’t have restaurants.

I was really concerned going into the class because I had built it up so much in my mind in the months leading up to it. Usually once something like that arrives you are disappointed. However in this case the class was even more than I expected.

Just remember you can still invite me over for a BBQ I won’t judge what you serve me unless I happen to be wearing my badge.  However if you want to get in a discussion over the best BBQ joints to eat I may have to whip out my badge on you if we don’t agree.

Now I am feverishly applying to become a judge at some of the upcoming events in Iowa.

The Blackstone revisited

 

This will be my first re-review of a restaurant. Over the week end I made my first return trip to the Blackstone in Iowa City, (one of the very few places to earn a perfect 5 on my grading scale. The atmosphere hadn’t changed which is good but the food and the service was even better than I remembered. After my fist trip I said I wanted to have an main entrée on my next so I was looking that one of the streaks. But they also had a Rueben special that looked wonderful (pictured below). I asked the waitress and without hesitation she said get the Rueben, you can get the steak anytime. Later I said to her you know I was impressed because the steak was about double the price and it would affect your tip. Her reply I just care about the customer and good food. Needless to say I tipped at the steak price. For me the Blackstone is the perfect combination of a fine dining experience at an affordable price. You should try it just not on the nights I want to go so I can get in. The best place to eat in all of Iowa City.

Resturant Review: The Radish

The Radish

The Radish is a strange name for a restaurant and yes they do serve a radish with every meal. Upon arrival I had high hopes for the place as it was located in what used to be a house. As we waited for a table the place looked pretty nice complete with a wine selection in plain sight. However that is where the night ended for us. We ended up getting placed in a secluded corner of the restaurant which sounds good in theory. Our table was in an isolated spot right next to the one, unisex bathroom with a nice cold draft running under the table. So under the circumstances the atmosphere for me that night not good. For the service, it almost started out good I do like a waitress that does not need to write the orders down. However the first thing we ordered they were out of, along with the second and yes, the third and it was not that late. The most disappointing thing about the service was that our waitress always had an excuse for the things that happened and threw anyone and everyone else under the bus. It was the guy who seated us that should have told us what they were out of. A Daddy Daughter Dance was the reason they were out of everything by 7:00 pm and when we had to go get our check it somehow was the fault of the bus girl. The radish is a fine dining establishment with fast food service. At this point the food would have to be perfect to be average. I had the walleye if it was my first walleye, it may have very wall been the last. I tried some mashed potatoes that were cold, the bread on both sandwiches was way too hard.  On the positive side the hash browns were good and the red apple coleslaw was amazing; the best coleslaw I’ve ever had. But it was too little too late. With prices of the entrees $20 and up my expectations increase the radish this night was more like a turnip bitter and hard to swallow.

 The Radish

721 E 1st St Grimes, IA 50111
(515) 986-1900

 Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) special occasion ony

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  2

Service:         2

Food:            2

Value:           2

Overall          2