food
Des Moines dining:
then and now
Central Iowa has come a long way, developing a sophisticated, diverse culinary scene by Wini Moranville, special to the des moines register
I
n 1991, I returned to Des Moines after living 10 years in New York City, England and elsewhere. Missing my daily a.m. cappuccino, I mentioned to a small-business consultant that someone in town really needed to open up a coffeehouse that served espresso drinks. He said, “It’ll never fly. You’ll never get Iowans to pay more than a buck for a cup of coffee.”
Wini Moranville was the Des Moines Register’s restaurant reviewer from 1997 to April 2012. Join her on Facebook at: All Things Food DSM-Wini Moranville, where she continues to cover items of interest to cooks and food lovers in Iowa.
Thank heavens that visionaries like Julie McGuire, who opened the ever-thriving Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure in 1993, didn’t listen to the naysayers.
chefs, restaurateurs and food purveyors combine inspiration, risk and hard work to forge new ground on the food scene.
Throughout the 14 1/2 years I served as The Des Moines Register’s Datebook Diner restaurant critic, I witnessed
And they’ve done so in spite of plenty of people who likely told them (as many people told me): Des Moines is
Meat and cheese plate with ciabatta bread at The Cheese Shop located in the Shops at Roosevelt.
8 2012 Ultimate Guide to Des Moines
Register file photos