Iowa Girl on the Go

I ate in a new restaurant in Grinnell recently that’s already famous.

The “Prairie Canary” restaurant and bar is run by Carly Groben, who won Iowa’s Best Bite Restaurant Challenge last year. Her prize? $10,000 in startup cash, $15,000 in starting inventory, $10,000 in “smallwares,” three months free rent, a $5,000 professional branding package, and free mentoring by Orchestrate Management, the company that runs Des Moines restaurants Centro and Django. Not a bad deal.

Groben, who is a Newton native and looks like Gwenyth Paltrow, had previously operated Proof and Flour in Des Moines. During the competition (according to a Des Moines Register article) she wowed the judges not just with her food, but with her answers to these question: “Will you love, honor, and cherish Grinnell? Will you stand by it both on busy Saturday nights and slow February days? Will you be a part of the community in good times and bad, in sickness and in health?”

Anyone who can answer those questions to the satisfaction of the judges is my kind of restaurant.

When I arrived there on a weekday before noon, only two tables were occupied. By the time I left, the lunch hour was in full swing, the tables were full, and the line to order was a dozen or more people deep.

That’s the drill at Prairie Canary: You go in and find a table, a server brings water and menus, and you place your order (and pay for your food) at the counter. The lunch menu is simple and functional, not one of those massive monstrosities favored by so many chain restaurants. There are soups of the day, several salads, half a dozen sandwiches, and a few pasta dishes.

The salads sounded wonderful, but it was a cold day so I chose a cup of cheesy potato soup and the sweet potato and black bean burger topped with buttermilk ranch, dilly cucumbers, leaf lettuce, and cheddar cheese on a homemade bun. I swear the patty was a full inch thick. I had to eat the sandwich with a fork — and I only ate half. It was divine. My dining companion ordered the soup with a smoked salmon sandwich that came topped with cream cheese spread, pickled radish, and alfalfa sprouts on toasted challah bread (shown above). It looked lovely.

As a vegetarian, I appreciated that the menu offered veggie options in all categories (salads, sandwiches, pasta, and soup) but there’s also plenty for the meat-eaters, too, with burgers, salads with chicken or salmon, a pork reuben, turkey BLT, meatballs, etc. The menu includes local, farm-fresh produce, and the food is served on hand-thrown bowls and plates.

I immediately loved the vibe of the place: It’s open and airy with high ceilings, modern light fixtures, and lots of light-colored wood (including a striking wood floor). To be honest, it wasn’t what I expected to find in Grinnell, which I consider to be a cool, funky college town but not especially upscale. I don’t know what the Prairie Canary is like at night, but I’d love to find out. And there’s a bar located downstairs that I’d also like to try.

If I could make two suggestions it would be these: Don’t have people pay upfront. I might have wanted to add a dessert or coffee after my meal, but since I’d already paid by credit card, it seemed like a hassle. Also, I don’t go in for leaving tips before I’ve been served and since (again) I had paid by credit card, the server lost out on the tip I would have eventually given her. The other thing that didn’t thrill me was the selection of desserts available on the counter. Although they smelled yummy, they were wrapped in plastic wrap, and I don’t find that especially appetizing.

But these are just very minor suggestions to improve an otherwise delightful lunchtime experience. I will definitely be planning return visits to this up-and-coming, uniquely Iowa restaurant.

The Prairie Canary is located at 924 Main Street in Grinnell. The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., brunch Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., and dinner Tuesday through Thursday 5-9 p.m. and Friday/Saturday 5-10 p.m. The bar is open Tuesday through Saturday nights starting at 5 p.m.

Visiting an art museum is a great activity on a cold January day. Earlier this week I visited two exhibits, both in the Christian Petersen Art Museum located on the Iowa State University campus. The exhibits were about as different as they could be – and I liked both of them equally well.

First I visited “Cabinet of Curiosities” in the museum’s lower-level gallery. “Curiosities” is a well-curated exhibit assembled from the collections of many academic departments (and, seemingly, every basement, attic, and storage closet) on the Iowa State campus. What a fascinating hodge-podge of “things”! I noted a mammoth fossil tooth and a Cuban toad in a jar; a stuffed tapir, gibbon, penguin, duckbilled platypus, and two toucans; a giraffe skull and gorilla skeleton…all juxtaposed with a horse whip, a sugar bowl, a fur hat, and some opera glasses. And so much more! Brass fingertips from Thailand, linen napkins from a German hotel, Indonesian shadow puppets, a cylindrical slide rule, a leaf-nosed bat, a dinosaur leg bone, and foam patterns used to produce aluminum castings.

Most of the items would be at home in a natural history museum. Indeed, many of these items came from the college museum in Morrill Hall that, beginning in the 1890s, was home to many natural history specimens. Many of the items are part of Iowa State’s land-grant heritage. Some of them are just bizarre. I found myself unable to look at some of the creatures preserved in liquid inside jars. (A frog? That’s OK. A cat? That crossed the line for me. I had a flashback to the storage-unit scene in “Silence of the Lambs.”)

The “cabinets of wonder” were easy to view – there’s a guide to each object just inside the main door – but difficult to photograph, given the gallery lighting and glass fronts on each of the cabinets. I’m sorry that my photos don’t do the exhibit justice.

Upstairs in the main gallery is “Post-Pop Redux,” an exhibition of material-based art by Andy Magee. Think Andy Warhol. Now think Andy Warhol if he used found items instead of paint.

It’s an interesting show. Magee crafted Marilyn Monroe out of artificial sweetener packets, reinvented the Obama “Change” poster out of real change (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters), and built a huge “100% Juice” billboard out of real juice cans.

His artwork provides commentary on war (a map of the continents made of nothing but plastic army men), religion (the word “God” made with dollar bills), and smoking (a “stairway to heaven” built from packs of cigarettes, all of which the artist smoked himself. The exhibit also includes a portrait of George W. Bush made from beer-bottle caps, a baby elephant made from plastic babies, and a really cool Popsicle sign made from Popsicle sticks.

Born in 1972, Magee is a native of Arkansas and has lived in St. Louis, Mo., for the past 15 years. He will be on hand in the Petersen gallery during the noon hour on Feb. 4, 5, and 6, plus he’ll be the guest of honor at a public reception with food and live music at 6 p.m. on Feb. 5.

“Cabinet of Curiosities” runs through April 21; “Post-Pop Redux” will be on display through April 26.

The Christian Petersen Art Museum is located in Morrill Hall on the Iowa State University campus in Ames. The cost of admission is free; however, there is a suggested donation of $3 per visitor. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Parking can be tricky: There is some meter parking on Morrill Road, but it’s very limited. I suggest parking at the Memorial Union Ramp (a short walk from Morrill Hall).

With the Oscars race in full force, the year’s best movies being shown right now, and winter weather keeping us inside, this is a great time to see a movie. Fleur Cinema & Café is my favorite movie theater in Des Moines. I sort of think of it as a movie theater for grown-ups.

You can always count on the Fleur (4545 Fleur Drive) to have the best movies playing at any given time, and that’s the most important thing, of course. They’re grown-up, well-made movies. You never have to wade through a bunch of families with little kids, nor loud groups of teenagers.

The hip, jazzy décor is a bonus, as is the food selection: Rice Krispies bars (in two different flavors the last time I was there), cheesecake, chocolate cake, muffins, blueberry streusel cakes, biscotti, and brownies in addition to the usual movie popcorn. Drinks, too, are a big plus:  They sell beer (Sam Adams, Amber Bock, Coors Lite, Guinness), wine (Big House chardonnay and cabernet), bottled lemonade, Italian cream soda, coffee drinks (espresso, cappuccino, lattes, mochas, etc.), hot tea, hot cocoa, and chai. Take that, Cinemark!

In recent years, I’ve seen “My Week with Marilyn,” “Young Adult,” “Melancholia,” “The Queen,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Descendants,” “Black Swan,” “An Education,” and dozens of other independent and art films. They do offer Hollywood films, but only the best, Oscar-worthy kinds of films.

For example, right now they’re showing “The Impossible,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” and “Les Miserables.” I’ve seen two of the four, and I plan to see the other two. I am picky about movies…believe me, four-for-four would NEVER happen at any other theater.

Prices are reasonable, too: $6.50 for matinees, $8.50 for evening shows, $6.50 for seniors/kids.

The Fleur is also home to the annual Wild Rose Film Festival, which features student films, shorts, documentaries, international entries, animated films, and feature films. Last year’s festival was Nov. 8-15.

The last time I saw Bob Pace was with his band at the Gas Lamp, a live music venue at 15^th and Grand near Western Gateway Park in Des Moines. He plays the Work Release Party every Friday from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Even at that early hour, the band was on fire, trailing its Baby Boomer fans around the bar while playing a rousing blues version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

He was a bit more subdued at Sunday’s Botanical Blues event at the Des Moines Botanical and Environmental Center. To start with, the band was mostly absent – he had only a keyboard player and a sometimes harmonica player. Mostly it was just Pace, with his electric guitar and Joe Cocker-esque voice playing such hits as “Walking in Memphis” and “With a Little Help From My Friends.” I have great respect for this guy’s talent (and his keyboardist is good, too).

The atmosphere both enhanced and detracted from the music. On the plus side, you’ve gotta love a steamy rain forest in the middle of Iowa in the middle of winter. On the flipside, there’s not nearly enough seating, if you pick the wrong place to stand the sun can bake you to a crisp, and the audience is made up of mostly retired folks. I’m not sure Sunday afternoon is really the best time for a blues concert, but at least you could buy beer and wine.

Botanical Blues runs every Sunday through the month of February, from 1-3 p.m. Concerts are free with regular Botanical Center admission ($5 adult).

• Jan. 13: Cindy Grill & Alan Smith
• Jan. 20: Big Mike Edwards & Jonathan Rowat
• Jan. 27: Jodi Bodley & Dewey Cantrell
• Feb. 3: Super Bowl Sunday Bella Soul Duo (Tina Haase-Findley & Brandon Findley)
• Feb. 10: Terry Shropshire
• Feb. 17: J.D. Flanaghan & Pat Hemann
• Feb. 24: Mojo Jono Smith