Baker’s Food & Fuel
Highway 4 at Southwest Ninth
Street, 285-9227
Kitchen closes at 8 p.m. |
Baker’s
Food & Fuel
The outskirts of town are a necessary
American myth. Suburbia’s polar
opposite, the outskirts exist
somewhat close in distance but
far distant in spirit. They are
where Rod Serling set “The Twilight
Zone,” Warren Zevon let go of
reality and Leadbelly locked away
faithless women. Iowa’s culinary
history is rich with legends of
the outskirts, from Prohibition
clubs and magical cafés
in the middle of nowhere. A main
street in Waukee is named after
such a place. Real outskirts are
hard to come by in today’s suburban
sprawl, but Southwest Ninth Street
leads to such a place — a gas
station that abuts two barns,
but sells no gas, and a truly
independent convenience store.
I found this strange little
place because I beg the best chefs
I meet to reveal their secret
dining pleasures. I thought Centro’s
George Formaro was kidding me
when he touted the falsely named
Baker’s Food & Fuel. Yet,
because he described the place
as inhabiting “the outskirts of
town,” I followed his directions
any way. A mile or so south of
the zoo I found Baker’s surrounded
on two sides by gas pump bays
that have been out of commission
so long that weeds grew in the
concrete. Inside, I found a business
being run single-handedly by a
cheerful lady who occasionally
belted out a little Aretha Franklin
while running a cash register,
checking would-be beer buyers’
IDs, operating a short order station
that included a flat top grill,
a scratch pizza kitchen and a
deep fryer and finding time to
sit down and chat with customers.
The difference between this
place and similar ones in “Twilight
Zone” episodes was that the food
is much better here — just as
Formaro told me before I started
making compulsive runs to this
place, which Leadbelly had in
mind when he sang “where the gas
man doesn’t come.” Most convenience
stores with no gas to sell would
just close. Baker’s thrives because
the short order food is fantastic.
That attracts a perpetual cast
of characters. About half of them
are locals and half come from
the other side of the galaxy.
One day, a guy from Kentucky with
a broken trailer hitch and some
fractious horses insisted I accept
an order of chicken gizzards as
thanks for sharing my copy of
the Daily Racing Form. Another
time, I noticed that a couple
left unscratched lottery tickets
as a tip. Another day, two guys
from Knoxville waited impatiently
for the judgment of their two
guests from Altoona. They then
cheered upon hearing his verdict
— “You’re right, this is way better
than Smitty’s.”
Pork tenderloins are treated
at Baker’s like a state icon,
hand cut from whole loins, hand
tenderized, egg washed, hand breaded,
hand dipped, hand seasoned, deep
fried and served with condiments
that include pickled banana peppers
— an influence from South Des
Moines’ Italian community that
attracted the horseman from Kentucky.
The loins are cut plumper than
most, pounded to below average
width and fried to a golden crispness
that in no way interferes with
predominant flavor of pork.
A state-of-the-art pork tenderloin
in an understaffed convenience
store was only the beginning of
the culinary surprises. Pizza
was excellent — thin crusted,
yet yeasty and covered with good
mozzarella and superb sausage
and marinara. They actually rolled
the dough here. Being a convenience
store, it was also sold by the
slice. Handmade burgers and spot-on
grinders, Philly cheese steaks
and home made chili all keep regulars
coming back to the outskirts.
Side dishes
Buy Fresh, Buy Local announced
winter farmers markets at Ames
Downtown Depot (Thursdays and
Saturdays, www.amesfarmersmarket.com)
and at St. John’s Lutheran Church,
600 Sixth St. in Des Moines (March
1, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., www.cclpmidwest.org).
CV
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