I wonder, sometimes, what our great-grandparents might think of the term “farm-to-table.” It is a phrase that has gained serious traction in the past decade, but not without some scrutiny. In “The 10 Most Annoying Words and Phrases on Menus, Ranked,” Los Angeles Magazine lists “name-dropping
Helaina Thompson
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Get Fresh Cafe, Iowa City
Food is imperative to a dining experience, of course, but in my opinion, it’s the windows that really define an eating establishment. Hear me out: When a ray of sunshine enters through a pane of glass and accentuates the dramatic peaks and valleys of a scoop of curry chicken salad? *kisses fingertips* Perfection.
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Morning Glory CSA Food Truck
“Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming?” I sit in the air conditioning, scrolling through my photos of the Morning Glory CSA food truck, and I think of this question by farmer and writer Wendell Berry.
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Sing-A-Long Bar & Grill
The Sing-A-Long Bar is a comfort food pub at the crossing of Highway 1 and Mount Vernon’s main street. A 1910 player piano is the first thing you see when you walk in. On busy evenings, pub-goers gather around the piano as rolls of paper dotted with little holes tell the piano what notes to play. Patrons can pick a roll from the shelf
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide
Meet a farmer: How Shanti Sellz works to make fresh food accessible
Located down a rolling gravel road just about eight miles west of Iowa City is Muddy Miss Farms at Walker Homestead, where farmer Shanti Sellz grows vegetables for her 22-week CSA share. The season begins in early May and continues through October, when her members regularly visit the farm to pick up a weekly supply […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Family Dinner: Brenda Nations and Art Bettis discuss food justice over food
The good news concerns zucchini: There’s plenty of it. Arguably too much of it, although environmentalists Brenda Nations and Art Bettis (armed with an abundant CSA share and a very tasty summer squash galette recipe torn from the pages of a Better Homes and Gardens) do not seem to mind. The bad news is the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: The Agape Café, 25 years of free, feel-good fare
Iowa City’s Agape Café proves true to name. Since 1993, the café, located in Old Brick Church on Market Street, has been serving free, restaurant-style, made-to-order breakfast to the Iowa City community on Wednesday mornings, 7 to 8:30 a.m.
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide
Mercy Hospital Chef Ron Hall serves some of Iowa City’s best food
Mise en place. That’s the term that comes to mind when Jeff Donar thinks about Chef Ron Hall. It’s a French phrase Donar learned in culinary school; it means “everything in its place.” Donar, a cook, has worked for Hall in the Mercy Iowa City kitchen for nearly four years. “You can tell when [Chef […]
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide
How Pig & Porter Chef Matt Melone makes time for family dinner
Matt Melone worked all day in the kitchen, and he’ll work more tomorrow. It’s December, an especially busy time of year at Pig & Porter, the downtown Cedar Rapids restaurant Matt co-founded with his business partner, Will Monk. Outside, the temperature sits below freezing. “I see people I work with more than I see my […]
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide
LV Recommends: Bread Garden Market’s food kiosks
Bread Garden Market executive chef Christian Prochaska said the idea for the kiosks came, in fact, from a visit to Whole Foods in Washington, D.C., where customers were lining up “10 people deep” to order personalized meals from kiosk stations.
Posted inCommunity/News
Rent a kitchen with Iowa’s new community kitchen website
Maybe you’ve been told, “This tastes so good — you could open a restaurant.” But starting a food business is a lot harder than it sounds. A new website makes that leap a little less daunting, partnering commercial kitchens in Iowa with people looking for a licensed place to prepare food.
Posted inFood & Drink
Big Grove Brewery and Pullman Diner usher in fall with seasonal dinner
On Sunday evening, Sept. 17, nearly 90 people gathered around picnic tables at Kroul Farms to celebrate summer’s transition to fall with a six-course meal prepared by Pullman Bar and Diner and Big Grove Brewery. “The idea behind this when we started writing the menu was to … show this [seasonal] transition,” said Ben Smart, […]
