Dining News: Wine, cheese and chocolate to be featured at 'Indulge'
Wine, cheese and chocolate to be featured at 'Indulge'
Indulge - a first-time event that will celebrate both local and imported wine, cheese and chocolate - has been scheduled for 4-9 p.m., Jan. 23, at downtown's West End Architectural Salvage, 22 S.W. Ninth St.
Participants in the event include: Madison County Wine, The Grape Vine, Maytag Dairy Farms, Sbrocco Wine Bar, Bochner Chocolates, Chocolaterie Stam, and Frisian Farms. Music will be provided by jazz guitarist Ron Roberts.
Admission is $20. Price includes unlimited sampling and a commemorative wine glass.
Sample microbrews, bread at Living History Farms
As part of the Living History Farms "Fight Cabin Fever'' program, guests will be able to sample Iowa microbrewed beers along with fresh artisan breads and other savory snacks from 3-6 p.m. March 6. Local home brewers will talk about their craft as they compete in a brewing contest. Complimentary Millstream Sarsaparilla will be available as well. Tickets are $15 each or 2 for $25.
Saints now open in W.D.M.
Saints Pub + Patio, a sports bar with a full kitchen, opened last week at 50th Street and E.P. True Parkway in West Des Moines. Owners are Marc Mundt and Scott Anderson, who also have the Tonic bars and another Saints Pub + Patio in Lenexa, Kan. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 a.m. daily. Happy hour is 2-6 p.m. Call 440-4703.
Bubble tea shop will reopen, expanded menu planned
Rolling Wok Bubble Tea in the Kaleidoscope at the Hub, on the skywalk level, may be closed for several months. A sign on the door says it's closed for maintenance, but owner Pat Chan said the place is being restructured with the intention of expanding the menu.
Rolling Wok Bubble Tea opened in June and served primarily the flavored drinks with tapioca "bubbles" and spring rolls prepared in Chan's East Grand Avenue restaurant, Rolling Wok, and brought in to the skywalk location.
Caribou now offers oatmeal
Caribou Coffee, which has five locations in the Des Moines area, introduced this week a new food product - customized oatmeal. Available in two varieties, oatmeal blend or seven-grain, the oatmeal is available in five flavors.
Zen Sushi & Noodle Bar closes; new concept may fill space
Zen Sushi & Noodle Bar, the sushi bar that neighbors Azalea in the Kirkwood building at 400 Walnut St., closed last week.
Owners Mike and Carter Hutchison plan to redevelop and reopen another restaurant concept there in a few months. Mike Hutchison said his reason for closing is that the market is saturated with sushi restaurants. Hutchison opened Zen with then-partner Jeremy Morrow in mid-2007 in what was the lobby of the former Kirkwood Hotel. Several other sushi spots opened in the downtown area shortly after that.
Hutchison said he has "kicked around a few new concepts" for another restaurant, but hasn't settled on anything.
In the meantime, the space is available the next few weeks for private parties. The Hutchisons, who own Azalea restaurant in the same building and Star Bar on Ingersoll Avenue, also rent out the Kirkwood Ballroom. The ballroom seats 150, and the lobby can be used for smaller groups.
Hutchison said the new restaurant could open as soon as this spring.
Downtown's El Bait Shop to offer co-ed beer class
Hop HeadUCation, El Bait Shop's first co-ed beer education class, at 2 p.m. Saturday. The event will feature special guest Jason Wallace from Merchant du Vin, the distributor of Samuel Smith and Ayinger beers. For $15, participants can learn about the building blocks of beer while sampling the final products. E-mail elbaitshop@yahoo.com to make your reservation.
El Bait Shop also will also hold a free Craft Brewers Night featuring Big Sky Powder Hound from 5-7 p.m. today. Brewery draws are $3 all night. El Bait Shop, 200 S.W. Second St. 284-1970.
WineStyles opens in Johnston
Saturday is opening day for WineStyles, 8460 Birchwood Court, Johnston, which employs the concept of arranging its stock by style, or taste, of wine. So fruity wines are grouped, as are bolder wines, mellow ones and so on.
WineStyles sells wine by the bottle or glass and will have wine tastings from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Fridays, beginning Jan. 22.
The franchise is owned by Allan and Gina Graham. It will be one of more than 100 shops nationwide and the second one in the metro area. Another WineStyles franchise opened in 2006 at West Glen Town Center in West Des Moines. See www.winestyles.net/johnston or call 334-9463.