Courtenay Bouvier, Author at Little Village

Dumpling Darling, Banh Mi Amore take home Top Chef: Downtown 2018 top savory honors

Posted on Mar 1, 2018 by Courtenay Bouvier

Sponsored by the Iowa City Downtown District, the eighth annual Top Chef: Downtown event sold out quickly once again, packing the Hotel Vetro on Feb. 26 with revelers who relished food and drink from 24 Iowa City food and drink establishments. This year, there was balanced representation from food trucks, higher-end restaurants and smaller, more casual eateries, offering a spectrum of gustatory delights and creative cocktails. […]

Iowa City RadTour heads out Sunday, Sept. 10 for 43 miles of culinary delight

Posted on Sep 6, 2017 by Courtenay Bouvier

Iowa City Rad Tour convenes at New Pioneer Co-Op — Sunday, Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. This year’s Iowa City RadTour, formerly known as the Iowa City Culinary Ride, will welcome riders Sunday, Sept. 10 for a 43-mile ride around area farms, featuring local chefs cooking even-more-local produce. RadTour promotes the local-food movement and celebrates […]

Mother Lovers Ride takes bicyclists on a gastronomical tour of Cedar Rapids May 14

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Courtenay Bouvier

On Sunday, May 14, RadTour LLC will host the Cedar Rapids RadTour Bike Ride (formerly known as Culinary Ride), a 52-mile bicycle tour and celebration of farms, food and fermentation. […]

LV Recommends: Caucho

Posted on Apr 18, 2017 by Courtenay Bouvier

Tacos are perfect, no matter what form they take: Whether hard shell or soft, spicy or mild, meaty or vegetarian, a taco’s deliciousness and convenience are peerless. I’d argue that, like sex, even a bad taco is still pretty damned good.

A margarita, on the other hand, is easy to ruin. Too often, the flavor of tequila is barely discernible in the too-sweet tang of frozen sour mix, and the whole thing amounts to nothing more than a mediocre Slurpee. A middling margarita can dull the shine of even the most stellar taco.

This is part of why Caucho is such a gem: Their margaritas are perfection. Whether delivered as a mixed-from-scratch top-shelf cocktail rimmed with smoked paprika salt, or as a frozen, blended house margarita straight from a machine, the drink combines perfectly with their fresh, farm-to-table, eclectic selection of Mexican favorites. […]

Top Chef: Downtown Iowa City wows the crowd at Hotel Vetro

Posted on Mar 1, 2017 by Courtenay Bouvier

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Iowans to bike in RadTour Bike Ride for farm-to-table food

Posted on Sep 5, 2016 by Courtenay Bouvier

RadTour Bike Ride New Pioneer Co-op — Sunday, Sept. 18 at 8 a.m. On Sunday, Sept. 18, RadTour LLC will bring RadTour Bike Ride (formerly known as Culinary Ride) back to Iowa City for a 37-mile harvest bicycle ride that perfectly exemplifies what’s most magical about Iowa: community, bicycles and farm-to-table values. Riders will gather […]

LV Recommends: Sauce Bar & Bistro

Posted on Jul 6, 2016 by Courtenay Bouvier

When people ask me to recommend Italian food in Iowa, it prompts a string of questions that usually culminates in, “Do you mean real Italian, or, like, sickly sticky cream sauce and overcooked pasta like you’d get at a chain Italian restaurant?” Usually, thankfully, they mean the former, in which case, I often send them […]

Cedar Rapids’ Cobble Hill visits Pullman for Corridor Mash-Up

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Courtenay Bouvier

On Monday, May 9, Pullman Bar & Diner hosted the first Cobble Hill + Pullman Corridor Mash-Up. The sold-out event featured meals and cocktails prepared by the staff at both restaurants, and, thankfully, this will not be the last time the two restaurants will work together. On Wednesday, May 25, Cobble Hill returns the hospitality, […]

LV Recommends: Chef David Burt’s Four Square Meals

Posted on Dec 8, 2015 by Courtenay Bouvier

If you’re one of the long-time Iowa City residents who fondly remembers the now-defunct Red Avocado, you’re in luck: Chef David Burt’s succulent vegan fare is still around, and you can eat it at home. Burt’s Four Square Meals — a professionally prepared weekly meal service — is a delicious and convenient addition to your […]

Chicken Little Reviews: Pho Zaika

Posted on Jun 1, 2015 by Courtenay Bouvier

The flavors of Vietnamese food — garlic, lemongrass, ginger, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, chilies, fish sauce — are some of my favorites. Thankfully, and at long last, there is delicious, complexly flavored Vietnamese food in the Iowa City area, at Coralville’s Pho Zaika. Pho Zaika, also known as “I ♥ Pho,” opened early this year […]

Outside the box: An interview with Will Shortz

Posted on Sep 10, 2013 by Courtenay Bouvier

If the clue were, “America’s most acclaimed contemporary crossword puzzle master,” the answer would be, unquestionably, “Will Shortz.” In addition to holding the world’s only college degree in enigmatology, the art and science of puzzle-making, Shortz has been the puzzle master for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday since the program’s start in 1987 and crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times since 1993; additionally, he was the editor of the legendary Games magazine for 15 years, and he is the founder of both the […]